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tt0079817 | Rocky II | Picking up immediately after the events in the first Rocky movie, Rocky II begins with the events of 14th round of the Bicentennial New Years Day fight from the first movie. The fight lasts the entire 15 rounds with each fighter suffering many devastating injuries. After the fight, Rocky calls out for Adrian, who runs down to the ring. As Creed is announced the winner by split decision, Adrian and Rocky embrace, and Rocky tells her that he loves her.After their championship bout, Rocky (Sylvester Stalone) and Apollo (Carl Weathers) are taken by ambulance to Pennsylvania Hospital in Center City (a WCAU-TV Channel 10 news truck follows behind the ambulance), where they meet once again in the hospital lobby with a mob of reporters. Apollo Creed, who retained the championship on points, is furious at Rocky, the first man to go the distance with him, and starts clamoring for another chance to knock Rocky out. Rocky goes to Apollo's room that night and asks "Did you give me your best?" to which Apollo answers "Yeah." Rocky declines talk of a rematch and tells Apollo that he is quitting boxing. Rocky's decision to retire is strengthened when doctors tell him he needs surgery for a detached retina.Following his hospital stay, Rocky proposes to Adrian (Talie Shire) in front of the tiger exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo, and they later get married in a private church ceremony. Rocky begins to enjoy the profits from his fight with Apollo. He buys his first brand new car which is a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am (even though it's still supposedly 1976), goes on a shopping spree (purchasing a black leather jacket with a tiger on the back for himself, a fur coat for Adrian, and some gold wristwatches, to name a few), and buys a two-story row house in another Philly neighborhood. He also convinces his previous employer, the loan shark Gazzo (Joe Spinell), to give Paulie (Burt Young) his old collecting job. Rocky then opts to earn money by appearing in television commercials. His new career, however, is quickly derailed by his sub-par reading skills, which leads to a clash with the director of his first commercial.Over the next few months, Rocky, unable to find white-collar work due to his lack of education beyond the 8th grade, and after being laid off (because of cutbacks) from the meat packing plant where Paulie previously worked, gets a job "helping out" as an assistant trainer at Mickey's gym. Adrian, now pregnant, returns to her old job at the pet store. Running short on money from his unwise spending spree, Rocky also hands over his new Trans Am car to Paulie, who agrees to take over the insurance payments.Meanwhile, Apollo Creed has been receiving hate mail about his split-decision win over Rocky and is filled with anger and frustration: the letters alternately accuse him of deliberately carrying "that chump" (Rocky) the distance or state outright that he should have lost and has no business calling himself the champ. Determined to prove himself and win back the respect of his fans, Apollo elects to try and pressure Rocky into another fight, despite protests from his trainer, Tony "Duke" Evers, to find a new contender to fight against (when asked by Apollo what Tony is afraid of, Tony replies "He's all wrong for us. I saw you beat that man like I ain't never seen no man get beat before. And the man kept coming after you."). Rocky himself begins to have second thoughts about the fight, but because of the pressure applied by Apollo, Rocky decides to accept the challenge for a rematch against Apollo on Thanksgiving 1976 and begins training once again.Mickey is unwilling to train Rocky at first, due to his bad eye. However, after seeing Apollo making fun of Rocky on public television, he becomes furious with Apollo and agrees to train Rocky. Mickey decides he wants the left-handed Rocky to learn to fight right-handed in order to better protect the eye, and to give him a surprise advantage by switching back to left-handed with the intention of throwing off Apollo's timing and confusing him. He also focuses on improving Rocky's speed by using an old training method from his own boxing days: he forces Rocky to chase a chicken around a vacant lot, stating, "If you can catch this thing you can catch greased lightning."However, Adrian's opposition saps Rocky's resolve and his training suffers. When Paulie confronts Adrian about her opinion, her angry reaction creates a serious medical condition that breaks her water prematurely. During the birth of their son, Adrian falls into a coma, and as a result of the premature birth, their son is placed into an incubator at the hospital ICU. Rocky breaks away from training to spend every waking moment either at her side or in the hospital chapel with Mickey, not even seeing his newborn son until several days later when she recovers. When Adrian emerges from the coma, she tells Rocky to "win" and he restarts training in earnest with Mickey for the rematch with Apollo. His condition improves dramatically with increased strength and speed.As with the first fight, Rocky's training includes his famous brisk run throughout the city of Philadelphia. This time, however, he is greeted with the cheers and encouragement of onlookers as he runs through the streets of South Philadelphia, having become a local celebrity following his narrow loss to Apollo. Along the way, children and pre-teens begin to follow him, their numbers increasing dramatically block by block. By the time he reaches the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City, hundreds of young people have joined in. Ultimately, they follow Rocky to the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, enthusiastically chanting his name as he lifts his arms in a victory pose.Rocky and Apollo once again fight an intense battle in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Paulie and a still-recovering Adrian stay home to watch the match on their TV set. Gazzo personally attends the match with a front-row seat as in the first film. Unlike the first match, Apollo gets off to a fast start, flooring Rocky twice in the first two rounds and building a huge lead on the scorecards as the fight goes on. But throughout the fight, Rocky pounds away at Apollo on and off, turning the fight into a brutal battle.At the start of the 15th and final round, Apollo's trainer begs him not to try to go for a knockout, as he can win simply by avoiding Rocky. Apollo, desperately wanting to prove he can knock out Rocky and very frustrated that he keeps coming back, disregards the advice. Mickey tells Rocky to switch back to boxing left-handed now, and although Rocky initially refuses, he switches back, landing several crashing lefts. Rocky hits Apollo with a final punch that knocks him down, but from sheer exhaustion, Rocky also goes down to the canvas. The referee starts the final ten-count as the fighters struggle to their feet.At the count of 9, Apollo, finally realizing all but too late that the last fight was not fixed, collapses while reaching for the top rope, while Rocky picks himself up and is declared the WBA's new Heavyweight Champion of the World. In his post-match speech, he thanks Apollo for another hard-fought battle, Mickey for training him, and God. Rocky states "Except for my kid being born, this is the greatest night in the history of my life, and I just want to say one thing to my wife who's home: Yo, Adrian! I did it!" | violence, revenge, cult, romantic, flashback | train | imdb | I like them; they entertain me, and I think they all serve their purpose.What's particularly interesting about 'Rocky II' is that apart from repeating the central theme of fighting Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Rocky (Stallone) goes through a character arc here that many sequels totally ignore we see the after-effects of his fight, and him struggling to adapt to the 'New Life.' Rocky is not a smart person.
After winning a small fortune from his famous fight with Creed, he goes out on an impulsive shopping spree, buying a cool car, a new leather jacket (with a tiger the beast with the 'eye' that Rocky re-captures in 'Part III' printed on the back), and a new luxurious apartment for him and his wife Adrienne (Talia Shire).The problem is that Rocky soon runs out of money.
Rocky decides that he must fight again, which upsets Adrian due to the health risks he may face.This film succeeds mainly due to the fact that it does a great job continuing the Rocky saga.
And when Adrian is first to go down for the count, it puts it all in jeopardy.It's not until his wife is ready to accept him as he is, for what he is, that he can continue his quest, one more fight, for his family, for himself.The story arc feels so similar to the first movie that this one is often tossed to the side, yet it truly is amazing how Stallone managed to re-imagine all the magic of the first movie and, better still, give us a second helping of it that's just as sweet.
At times it goes a bit far and may look a bit like ego-massaging by Stallone, eg the scene where he is out on his training run and is followed by hundreds of supportive children!Stallone is good in all his roles, the playing of Rocky as a working class bum made good is bang on.
Carl Weathers is good as Apollo Creed and this is one of his best roles.Overall this isn't a classic but by repeating the basic formula of the first movie and taking Rocky back to the gutter, this remains an entertaining soap that is driven by mushy, if formulaic, emotion..
Unfortunately, his post-boxing career has not flourished which sees him going back to dead end jobs such as working at the meat packing company with his best friend and brother in law Paulie (Burt Young) to keep his head above financial dire straits and his newly wedded wife Adrian (Talia Shire) vows to stay loyal to him.
Stallone dedicates time to character development and quirky humor (the scene where he attempts to star in commercials is really funny), making the movie more suitable for viewers who prefer dialogue over action - although the actual fight is more dynamic than the one in the original..
It's the rematch of the century as Rocky Balboa takes on Apollo Creed in this powerful follow up to one of the most acclaimed movies in film history.
The ring beckons once more for the "Italian Stallion" and he must prepare once more for the fight of his life.This film starred Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers & Burgess Meredith In my opinion this was not as good as the first film but it is still a really good movie and like I said in my summary Rocky 2 is a winner****/***** very good.
****SPOILERS**** After the spectacular 15 round World Championship fight against heavyweight champ Appollo Creed, Carl Weathers, that he lost in a unpopular, to almost everyone watching, split decision club fighter Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone, decides to hang up his gloves before he ends up either getting blind or killed in the ring.
Finally marrying his sweetheart the former Adrian Pennino, Talia Shire, Rocky tries to use his new found fame, in going the distance with the heavyweight champ, to make a decent living for him and his future, Adrian at the time was expecting, family.As things turned out nothing went right for the Balbo's, Rocky & Adrian, financially with Rocky unable to get a good paying job and Adrian having to get her old job back at the local pet shop that barley paid the couples rent.
That motivated Rocky who was half hearted in his training program to go all out in getting himself in shape for the big rematch between the two on Thanksgiving Day at the Philadelphia Spectrum: The very place their first fight took place!Every bit as good as the original "Rocky" with the fight scenes where Rocky finally learned, with his trainer's Mickey's help, to fight defensively as well as slugging it out with Appollo Creed that are even better then in he first Rocky movie.
The movie recreates the heart thumping and stirring scene of Rocky seriously training for the big fight ending with him sprinting to the finish line, after a five mile run, at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the music of "Gonna Fly Now".
But unlike in the first "Rocky" movie this time he's not alone but with what looked like the entire city of Philadelphia tagging or running along with him!***SPOILERS****The highlight of the film the fight between Rocky and Appollo Creed even outdid the original with Rocky not a bit intimidated by Creed and after getting belted around taking the fight to him before the bell ending the first round, where Creed decked Rocky, sounded.
Picking up right where the first film left off, Rocky II follows Rocky Balboa as he starts to adapt to family life after barely losing his match to Apollo Creed and then marrying his girlfriend Adrian.
If you liked the first film then I would definitely recommend watching the sequel, as it's just more great Rocky Balboa action, and a pleasant continuation of the story.
The 2nd chapter follows the first very much but it is good at its place too!!!it is directed by Stallone and the acting was good the boxing was also good and well presented.It somewhat falls short from the Original but its good.As a Stallone Fan I liked it Rocky Finally beats Apollo Creed in this one and it made me proud.I cheered at the film's end Rocky Balboa!!!
but doesn't add much to the appreciation of the film anyway.Another weakness is in the pacing, too slow and not as rich in characterization and content as the first, basically, it's all about Rocky losing the money he won, trying to find a job, becoming a bum again, teased by Apollo for the rematch, facing Adrian's refusal, and then Adrian's coma leading to a whole sequence where we're waiting for her to wake up and give her blessing.
The problem is that nothing can ever catch us by surprise, the viewer is inevitably ahead of the characters, we know Rocky will play (and certainly win) the fight, it's just a matter of time; we know he'll endure all the humiliations, from Apollo or Mickey, before becoming a hero again.
Here, we're 100% sure that he will become the Worldwide Heavy Weight Champion.So, inferior to the first film, "Rocky II" is, but it's so superior to the following sequels, that nonetheless, the movie works on an emotional level.
Whatever you say about "Rocky II", it's a very good film that remains faithful to the spirit of the first one, it sins by being a little over the top sometimes, but overall, it's a great work from Stallone, and as the first film I saw from the series, it'll always have a special place in my heart
I remember how I wished I could be among those schoolchildren who ran with Rocky through Philadelphia.Now, I'm more skeptical toward that running scene, which is too 'cinematic' to be fully appreciated on a realistic level ...
The fight's not as well done as in the original film, for most of the time you may find yourself wondering why Rocky, from start to finish, doesn't block Apollo's punches at ALL, but it is no less exciting.
Rocky II is a good continuation of the characters so strongly portrayed in the earlier film.Stallone seems completely at ease with his character to the point where its hard to imagine he's any different in real life.The cast all the return for this sequel and once again their strong performances lift the film above what should be its level.The main crux of the story is that Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed is out to regain his damaged pride and sets out to beat Rocky in a rematch in more style thus taking things more seriously this time round.Its hard not to root for old "Rocko" during the fight scenes and Rocky II cements the character as one of cinemas most lovable and endearing.The Rocky films that followed in the 80's and 90's steadily decreased in quality but Stallones interpretation of the character was always spot on.Rocky II is in my opinion, the 3rd best Rocky film behind Rocky Balboa (2006) and Rocky (1975).
Rated PG for Violence and Some Language.Rocky II is the sequel to the highly successful "Rocky".I think this one is the third best in the series.Rocky 1 and 3 were better in my opinion but this film is still great.It has more humor than the first one but it still has the emotion that the first film had.The film takes place after the events of Rocky 1.Apollo Creed wants to fight Rocky again in a rematch so Rocky trains once more and tries to beat him.At first his wife Adrian does not want him to fight but after she falls into a coma.She wants Rocky to "win".This motivates Rocky even more.Rocky II was a good sequel to the first film..
All the main characters return from the Oscar winning original and Stallone wrote this one too, plus he also DIRECTS it, and does a stunning job too, especially in the actual fight at the end.
Rocky 2 is a great movie with a good and well developed storyline from Sylvester Stallone and a strong cast.I like how the movie takes place right where the first Rocky left off,but at times it kind of felt like a complete copy of the first one,he's training once again to fight Apollo Creed,but it didn't bother me too much because the main thing that I thought made the movie enjoyable was the development in Rocky and Adrian's relationship and his intense training.It made not be as good as the first Rocky but the cast still put all their heart in their performances.Fans of the first Rocky will be disappointed but will still enjoy Rocky 2 very much.Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone),the boxing underdog,is challenged to a rematch by the world heavyweight champion,Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers)..
It was as good as the first Rocky!So let compare the two movies because they are a bit similar: same characters, same antagonist, similar story lines...I start with Stallone aka Rocky.
Mickey and Apollo Creed are as good as in the first movie.The chemistry between Rocky and Adrian is a little bit better than in the first movie, but still bad.
LOVE all the Rocky Films except Rocky V (5) This is my favourite as it recaps the classic ending to the first & then proceeds to show us the build up to the rematch which Creed's entourage do not want.Bill Conti's Music is Incredible & Epic & Stirring (I JUST CAN'T IMAGINE THE ROCKY FILMS WITHOUT THIS MUSIC) The first movie is superb & is more of a drama film than this and the subsequent films but this remains my favourite although who doesn't like Rocky 3 (Clubber Lang) or Rocky 4 (Drago from Russia) & how Sylvester Stallone managed to make his last outing of Rocky as good as he did is a miracle after so long away...he returned it to a more drama based film with plenty of heart.If it ends here then the guy did good.I LOVE THESE FILMS & I LOVE STALLONE...ENTERTAINMENT with a Captial E.Rocketeer rating of 9/10.
the best thing about the rocky movies are the fact that you can always watch the fight scenes and get into the mood to actually box yourself.
The second instalment in the Rocky series, Rocky II follows the aftermath of the events that transpired in the first picture and follows Rocky Balboa who, after his loss to Creed, retires from boxing and gets busy enjoying his new found fame but after failing in multiple facets of life, he returns to the boxing arena to face Creed, who's been consistently goading Balboa for a rematch.Written & directed by Sylvester Stallone, Rocky II stays faithful to the spirit of the original but is highly erratic with its theme & characters.
Much of the picture feels like plodding for we already know what awaits in the end and can't wait for that final battle, which fortunately is as impressive as it was in the previous chapter.The set pieces do benefit from a bigger budget, Stallone's direction isn't very good but it's still passable for the most part, Camera-work is best during the training & boxing segments, Its 119 minutes of runtime is excessive for the story it packs in, Bill Conti delivers another sensational soundtrack that's in tune with the last feature while the performances from its entire cast is a step down when compared to their input in Rocky, although it isn't a major departure.On an overall scale, Rocky II heads into the right direction and tackles the right themes but due to Stallone's inexperience as a director, it isn't able to address & execute them properly and is certainly no match to its groundbreaking predecessor.
this is also not so much a sequel but more of a continuation of rocky's life which starts exactly where the first film ended.After being forced into the re-match with Apollo Creed, rocky is faced with the prospect of losing his wife after she slips into a coma after giving birth to their son.
While this is by no means as effective a movie as the first one, this is however a worthy sequel and entertaining as hell.You all know the story; Rocky, a media sensation after the fight with Appollo Creed agrees to fight the champion one more time.
Stallone, director here as well as the writer, does a good job in every department, making Rocky II an entertaining (if a bit overlong) sequel that's sure to delight everyone who liked the first film.
Spurred on by this and with help by Mickey, his trainer and Adrian's brother, Paulie, Rocky gets back into shape and once more enters the ring for the fight of his life a second time!This movie is a great follow up to the original.
The story is about a boxer named Rocky Balboa.Who fights the heavy weight champion of the world Apollo Creed.Both boxer fall at the same time.They are sent to hospital.Rocky gets brain damage from the fight.After he heals he retires from boxing.Apollo seeks revenge to beat Rocky Balboa in another boxing match.Well Rocky gets married.And he is rich so.His wife becomes pregnant with a baby boy.Rocky gets a job at a meat warehouse.His life is going well until the warehouse is closed.And he and his wife are forced to get jobs.He goes to his friend and old trainer Mickey.To work at his gym.Apollo is so desperate to destroy Balboa he tries everything.Until a news interview with Apollo Creed.He bad mouths Rocky.Mickey and Rocky Are ready to get there revenge on Apollo Creed.But during the training Rocky`s Son is born.And his wife goes into a coma from stress.rocky heart was broken.Mickey calms him down.A couple of weeks later his wife wakes up and tells him to be a boxer and beat Apollo Creed.In the end Rocky beats Apollo.The movie is a classic it`s great!A good drama movie for everybody..
The love story between Rocky and Adrian is hands down the best part of the film, as a matter of fact, I find myself growing bored near the climatic ending fight.
Stallone continues the legend of Balboa enough good as the first and with a few things that work better than the 1976 movie.But the second part didn't change the plot a lot so we see some twists that looks familiar and the first movie had for sure more iconic scenes in it.But the Rocky II is for sure a very good film has some better technically tricks and the final fight is a bit better than the first movie..
This movie begins essentially where the first film left off with both "Rocky Balboa" (Sylvester Stallone) and "Apollo Creed" (Carl Weathers) being taken to the hospital following their brutal match.
But Apollo Creed, feeling Rocky winning was a fluke,wants a rematch and Adrian is pregnant, Rocky has to make the decision to retain his greatest accomplishment-his pride.A excellent sequel to the first, Rocky II stands strong to the original and tells a fresh new story.
This movie is set right after the fight between Apollo and Rocky and leads all the way to their rematch.
The best 45 seconds, give or take a couple, is at the end of the movie, during the fight, where Rocky and Apollo both hit each other at the same time and fall down simultaneously...
The second part of Rocky falls in originality because you know exactly what will happen.Rocky,who wants the retire,gets a new opportunity to fight against Apollo Creed,but he is not as good as the past to fighting with him so he begins to train with his all life coach (Great Role by Burgess Meredith)and the final of the film you can imagine it and probably you are right.Rocky II is a film for watching but if you have better things to do or to watch look at another film..
Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire give a great performance and I can't believe Rocky II isn't on the top 250 best films. |
tt0339489 | Palabras encadenadas | Locked in a dark basement, Laura, a psychiatrist in her early thirties, contemplates in horror a video where a man confesses to be a serial killer. Its Ramón, an apparently normal man in his forties, who seems to be quite harmless. Gagged and bound to a chair, Laura realizes that its the same person who kidnapped her and who is now pacing in the shadows. Ramón continues to speak as he turns off the television. He walks over to her, takes off the gag, and challenges Laura to play the Word Game. If she wins, she gets to go free; but if she loses, hell poke her eye out. Laura is terrified, but reluctantly accepts. The game begins. Laura makes a mistake. Ramon menacingly moves towards her. Lauras screams are useless.A month later, we see Ramón giving a class at the University where he teaches. Hes a charismatic philosophy teacher. Two policemen discreetly interrupt his class and kindly ask him to come with them to the police station. Once there, commissioner Espinosa and inspector Sánchez interrogate Ramón, the two of them are investigating the strange disappearance of Ramons ex-wife, the psychiatrist, Laura Galán. Ramon lies, as he calmly tells the two policemen that he hasnt seen Laura in ages. As he ably dodges the two inspectors questions and insinuations he begins to tell them about what had happened in the basement the month before. It seems that Ramon left Laura unharmed when she lost at the word game. However, he decided to torture her psychologically, humiliate her and avenge himself by terrifying her, while he forced her to find him an effective therapy for his mental illness. Ramón admits to having killed eighteen people in order to create the alibi that would allow him to murder Laura. As he tells his story, the two policemen begin to corner Ramon with the evidence at hand. His violent behaviour, well documented in the divorce trial is brought together with a series of hard evidence: photographs, blood samples, a video... His tremendously confusing statement will soon make it clear that he has something to hide.Ramon becomes more and more nervous and tries to justify his conduct. Little by little he begins to reveal what happened in the basement with Laura. The two policemen relentlessly hound him until he finally breaks down. His final confession will be more than surprising. | murder | train | imdb | null |
tt0073486 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | In 1963 Oregon, Randle Patrick McMurphy (Nicholson), a criminal who has been sentenced to a fairly short prison term, decides to have himself declared insane so he'll be transferred to a mental institution, where he expects to serve the rest of his term free of prison labor and in (comparative) comfort and luxury.His ward in the mental institution is run by an unyielding tyrant, Nurse Ratched (Fletcher), who has cowed the patients (most of whom are "voluntary" or there by choice) into dejected institutionalized submission. McMurphy becomes ensnared in a number of power games with Nurse Ratched for the hearts and minds of the patients. All the time, however, the question is just how sane any of the players in the ward actually are and whether they really belong there.Throughout his stay at the hospital, McMurphy forms friendships with his fellow patients but the bonds are deepest with two in particular: Billy Bibbit (Dourif), a suicidal, stuttering manchild whom Ratched has humiliated and dominated into a quivering mess; and "Chief" Bromden (Sampson), a 6'5" muscular Native American who has schizophrenia. Recognized by the patients in the ward as deaf, and unable to speak, they ignore him but also respect him for his enormous size. In the former, McMurphy sees a younger brother figure whom he wants to teach to have fun, while the latter is his only real confidant, as they both understand what it is like to be treated into submission.McMurphy initially insults Chief when he enters the ward, but attempts to use his size as an advantage (for example, in playing basketball, for which his height is favorable). When Mac sees how submissive the patients are under Ratched's tyrannical control, he resolves to antagonize her and undermine her authority as much as possible. At a counseling session, McMurphy proposes that the ward's work schedule be altered so that the patients can watch the World Series on television. When the 1st meeting comes to a halt under Ratched's authority, Mac takes wagers on whether he can lift the ward's marble water-treatment control panel and throw it through a window to escape and watch the Series at a bar. He naturally fails, but puts forth an extreme effort.The next discussion over changing the work detail quickly becomes a battle of wills when Ratched announces that a majority vote will be acceptable. However, Ratched, upon realizing that the vote may go McMurphy's way, deftly alters the rules, stating that votes must be taken from the Chronic and Vegetable patients . When the vote doesn't favor McMurphy, he begins to imagine the game is on TV and rallies most of the other patients behind him, causing a major ruckus.McMurphy leads the patients in a basketball game against the ward's orderlies. Chief Bromden proves to be an effective player, scoring several baskets. While the orderlies claim that the patients are cheating, McMurphy ignores their objections. While the patients later relax in the hospital pool, Mac finds out, from an orderly, that he won't be released at the end of his prison sentence, but will remain in the hospital for as long as the board and Ratched deem necessary.Another counseling session ensues and McMurphy, very upset at the orderly's revelation, finds out that he's been listed as a "committed" patient and will only be released when Ratched permits it, a highly unlikely scenario. Murphy also discovers that many of the patients in the ward are there voluntarily: they can leave any time they wish but due to Ratched's dominance, they are afraid to take the chance. McMurphy seems particularly upset that a young man like Billy remains on the ward voluntarily when he could be free and maybe enjoying his youth.The session quickly erupts in violence however, when the subject of Ratched's cigarette rationing is addressed by an upset patient named Charlie Cheswick. A fight breaks out with the orderlies and Mac, Bromden (who'd pulled Mac off one of the orderlies) and Cheswick are sent to a detention area where electro-convulsive therapy is conducted on disruptive patients. Cheswick is sent first to undergo ECT, while McMurphy and Chief wait on the bench. In the few moments they have alone, McMurphy offers Chief a piece of gum, and Chief verbally thanks him. A surprised McMurphy realizes that Chief can speak and has actually been faking his situation at the ward the whole time. McMurphy resolves to allow Chief in on his escape plan because of his hidden wisdom. Ending this scene, a more defiant McMurphy emerges from the detention area to an awaiting Nurse Ratched.Closer to Christmas McMurphy, fed up with Ratched's oppressive methods, sneaks into the nurse's station and calls his girlfriend, Candy, to bring booze and assist in his escape. She brings a girlfriend, and both enter the ward when McMurphy convinces the ward's night attendant, Mr. Turkle, to open one of the ward's secured windows. The patients drink, while Billy flirts with McMurphy's girlfriend.Later in the evening, when McMurphy and the Chief plan to finally leave, Billy, upset at Mac's departure, hints to Mac that he wants a date with Candy. Billy and Candy are given a private room and Mac boosts Billy's confidence & allows him to have sex with her. McMurphy, however, while waiting (believing the encounter will be quick), falls asleep with the rest of the patients.Nurse Ratched and the orderlies arrive in the morning to discover the patients asleep hung over. Though clearly upset and angry, she commands the orderlies to lock the open window and conduct a head count. When they discover that one patient, Billy, is missing, Ratched demands the others to reveal his whereabouts. Billy is discovered with Candy, who is immediately led out of the hospital.Ratched demands that Billy tell him who allowed him to have sex with Candy. Billy, his stutter noticeably gone, tells her that McMurphy did, and that the rest of the ward encouraged him. A passively angry Ratched then threatens to tell Billy's mother, citing her long-time friendship with her. Billy's stutter returns very quickly and, very upset, begs Ratched not to tell his mother. When she explains that he should have thought of the consequences, he breaks down into tears and is dragged away to Dr. Spivey's office, screaming. McMurphy, still in possession of Turkle's keys, unlocks one of the windows and is about to escape when Ratched's nurse assistant, Miss Pilbro, screams loudly.McMurphy and everyone else rush to Spivey's office where Billy had been led to. Having been left alone momentarily, he commits suicide, using a jagged piece of glass to slit his throat. After McMurphy sees what the ward has done to his friend and hears Ratched's orders for everyone to remain calm and return to their routine, he explodes into a violent rage, strangling Nurse Ratched until she is near death. She survives, but McMurphy is knocked unconscious by one of the orderlies and taken off the ward.Rumors float around the ward of McMurphy's fate. Some believe he'd escaped, others seem to know he was lobotomized. Late one night, McMurphy is quietly returned to his bed by orderlies. The Chief sneaks over to Mac's bed and finds him unresponsive; he also sees two scars on Mac's forehead, indicating that he'd been lobotomized. Unwilling to leave McMurphy behind, the Chief suffocates his vegetable-like friend with a pillow. He lifts the heavy marble hydrotherapy fountain that Mac was unable to before and, hurling it through a barred window, escapes to Canada. | psychological, depressing, dramatic, cult, violence, insanity, satire, claustrophobic, sadist, sentimental | train | imdb | But nonetheless, I was surprised at how easily the film surpassed my expectations and easily led me to understand how it merited all that praise.Based on the novel by Ken Kesey, the story follows Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), who, in an attempt to get out of spending more time in prison, pleads insanity for his crime, and is therefore sentenced to time in a mental institution.
However, he quickly finds out that surviving the institution with it's desolate patients (including Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Vincent Schiavelli and an absolutely brilliant Brad Dourif as the stuttering Billy Bibbit) and the monstrously repressive Nurse Ratchet (Louise Fletcher, in a career defining role) is considerably harder than he imagined.
His constant optimism and reckless defiance to the out of date rules in the institution can be very uplifting, and often quite funny as well, but much of the movie can be very depressing - the generally decrepit state of the institution is a consistently (and intentionally) bleak background to a superb story with a truly bittersweet ending.Jack Nicholson is at his best here, head and shoulders above other excellent performances such as in 'Chinatown' or 'As Good as it Gets'.
He makes friends with lunatics and starts his own circle of admiration within the hospital, much to the dismay of Nurse Ratched, the central authority figure in the story and one of the greatest movie villains ever.The movie exists to show not only how corrupt and poorly-constructed society's approach to the "mentally unstable" is, but it creates characters that we have all met in life and shows how the McMurphy-like figure that we all wish we had fights for freedom of choice and basic human rights.
What really impressed me was the editing, especially as far as the use of audio goes: some parts just made me go "...wow."My only complaint is that I believe the movie could've been slightly more effective if it were based more closely on the novel at certain points, but the modified point of view of the film does make a great point; anyone who has ever hated their job, been accused of something, had some person so self-righteous and convinced of their own authority and dependency on order get in your way, or attended the American public school system at any point in their life should be able to identify with this movie..
I once worked in such a hospital as a volunteer and still saw things like forced feeding, giving people so much medication until they no longer know who or where they are,...When the movie first came out, some people were shocked because when you watch the movie, you can't help it feeling more attached to the patients than to the doctors and nurses.
Her strong will to keep things monotonous leads to a final showdown with the free spirited "McMurphy" in what is easily one of the most shocking and disturbing climaxes in recent memory.ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST does not try to make a statement about mental illness or how the unstable should be treated.
The two main powerhouse performances are golden, the cinematography is morbid and gritty like it should be, the "Chief" is great as Nicholson's right hand, ah, protagonist, and you care a lot about what will happen as the film moves on.
And rightfully so, it became only the 2nd (1 in 3 films in history along with It Happened One Night and Silence of the Lambs) film to win the top five Oscars- Best Picture, Actor (Jack Nicholson), Actress (Louise Fletcher), Director (Forman), and Screenplay (Bo Goldman).The story (based on Ken Kessey's astounding, though not too similar, novel) focuses on a rowdy misfit named Randle Patrick McMurphy (Nicholson) who is put in a mental hospital with other people (some voluntarily in) who are not all there.
The central character in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" played by Jack Nicholson is also one of those characters, that wants to break the routine and even starts a revolt against the staff and nurse Ratchett in particular, in a mental institution.The movie is perhaps more comedy and entertainment than heavy drama.
The tension between the patients and the staff gets more and more notable and grows throughout the movie, which eventually leads to a 'wonderful' ending which I'm not going to spoil.Yes, Jack Nicholson is truly splendid in his role and it seemed like he was improvising all his lines and actions during the entire movie.
Viewing it again recently, I 'got' it.Set in the early 60s, the story involves R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) and his arrival at a mental institution in Salem, Oregon (where the film was shot).
Everything appears well at the hospital and Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) seems to be a benevolent overseer of McMurphy's ward, but there are sinister things going on beneath the surface.The movie criticizes the way institutions deal with mental illnesses.
McMurphy set him free from the shackles of mental illness and, worse, the institution that refuses to actually heal because it needs mentally ill people to exist; it only goes through the motions of caring and healing (not that there aren't any good people in such institutions, of course).No review of this film is complete without mentioning the notable character of Chief, played effectively by Will Sampson.The film runs 2 hour and 13 minutes.GRADE: A.
Jack Nicholson, who as always plays his character absolutely excellent, and makes the viewer want to hand him an Oscar himself.The supporting cast, Louise Fletcher, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, and Brad Dourif also give terrific performances.
'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), based on the novel by Ken Kesey and directed by Milos Forman, centers around R.P McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) a prisoner serving time for the statutory rape of a 15 year old, among other things.
There, he befriends many of the other patients in the ward and attempts to break them out of the strict and monotonous routine set by Head Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher).OK, first of all, it has to be said, I had quite high expectations for this movie.
Louise Fletcher did a great job as the leading actress and strong performances by all the supporting characters made the movie brilliant.
Douglas bought the screen rights, but by the time anyone was interested in doing the film version, Kirk was too old for the part.That may have been a break for the movie fans because as much as I like Kirk Douglas, I can't see anyone but Jack Nicholson doing this role as the free spirited McMurphy.
He's sent there by the state and the state determines when he's ready to go even if it's past the allotted jail time he was sentenced to.The state in this case is Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched, one of the great Dickensian names ever given a movie character.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest swept the main Oscar categories, it won for Best Picture, Best Director for Milos Forman, Best Actor for Jack Nicholson, Best Actress for Louise Fletcher and Best Adapted Screenplay to Lawrence Hauban and Bo Goldman.
In the movie I feel that Jack nicholson, the one who plays mcmurphy in the film did an amazing job portraying who mcmurphy is.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is definitely one of those movies that would not be made the same if made today, and as far as I can tell, it is actually pretty accurate for the way mental hospitals worked at the time.
Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Randy McMurphy was fantastical, also Louis Fletcher and Brad Dourif, who surprised me very much.Until the end, I was enjoying this "must-see masterpiece" without caring about the fact I knew how it would conclude, so, when the time came, I started to feel like talking to McMurphy, literally, to make him aware of what would happen to him.
The constant mental battle between McMurphy (played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson) and nurse Ratched (played by Louise Fletcher) is a delight to watch.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a story of patients in a mental hospital and how their life was changed by R.P. McMurphy.
Overall, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a great movie with excellent characters, a well written script, an interesting, and entertaining storyline.
Jack Nicholson does an excellent job playing the role of the stubborn McMurphy, and Louise Fletcher does a good job playing the role of the mean and scary Nurse Ratched.
an iconoclastic book crafted into a brilliant but difficult movie; obvious cudos to nicholson (back when he was acting), screenplay, direction; shooting is average; oddly, was recently shown (nov '12) on tcm as part of their series on handicapped, disability in film; the strange take being that films showing demented people (or crippled people, or otherwise disabled people) are somehow off, not true, not up to par; the PC culture reigns supreme- even, according to tcm, for movies set in the 17th century, like bedlam; as though best years of our lives should not have shown homer with no hands- even though the book it's from showed him with a horrible series of much more disturbing problems; so if you approach the movie with that PC view in mind it's so flawed; on the other hand it's a tight look at the individual versus the system, the loner versus the crowd, what you think you should do even when everyone says you should not; the late 60's-early 70's message, unfortunately, is that you lose- as though it presages the coming of the nanny state, the transposing of jfk's what you can do for your country to obama's what can your country do for you;though there are many movies about asylums and dementia, this one stays almost till the end on the edge of sane or not; that's what makes it interesting.
Misses the point on virtually everything from Kesey's masterpiece, casting decisions are awful (Jack Nicholson is completely 1 dimensional), sluggishly boring attempt at redoing a book that will never work as a good movie.This amateurishly simple movie turns One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest from an exploration on the nature of the mind & sanity into just a loudmouth guy goofing off in a hospital.
One of my all time favorite films: Winner of five Oscars in all major categories (the first film since "It Happened One Night" in 1939 and only recently succeeded in 1991's "The Silence of The Lambs"): Best Actor (Nicholson in his best performance of his career); Best Actress (Fletcher); Best Picture; Best Director (Milos Forman) and Best Screenplay Adapted From Another Medium (Lawrence Hauber and Bo Goldman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey).
As Kirk Douglas read the story and wasted no time in buying it He was so exhilarated from the story that he produced a play of One flew over cuckoo nest, but it didn't get that appreciation but it was his young son who fulfilled his dream of turning this story into movie after 9years .The stage was set and the project was given to not so famous Czech native director Milos Forman.
A softened (albeit no less hard-hitting) film-adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel about sex-deviate Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) sent to a mental institution instead of prison, quickly butting heads with the stony head-nurse on his ward (a hissable Louise Fletcher playing Nurse Wretched--uh, Ratched).
Winner of five Academy Awards, director Milos Foreman's ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST is without question one of the greatest movies ever made and I think it also contains some of the greatest assembled acting that you're ever going to witness.Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is put into a hospital where he's going to be evaluated and right from the start this rebel butts heads with the main nurse (Louise Fletcher).
He went form doing almost nothing to moving around and even speaking but only speaking to Jack Nicholson's character Randle McMurphy.The director of the movie, Milos Forman, had different actors in mind for certain parts of the film, made the right decision in the actors that he chose.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of the most beloved classics of all-time and features Jack Nicholson as McMurphy, a man who's been ordered by a court to undergo psychiatric evaluation at a mental hospital.
Nicholson and Fletcher are perfect in their roles, and their scenes together make for some of the best drama in film.An excellent story whose style accentuates the strengths of the film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is not to be missed..
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" would not be complete without Nicholson and its supporting cast, and is one of the greatest prison movies of all time..
A tragedy drama that makes you look forward to what Jack is going to do next.I remember the feeling I had the first time I watched this movie over 10 years ago, the feeling was mutual watching it again in 2012.The movie is based on the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey and it was shot at Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, which was also the setting of the novel.The director Milo Forman made sure that you get to feel a sort of attachment with the characters so you share their feelings of joy, sadness, remorse and loss at various times in the movie.The movie is blessed with some nice classic actors like Jack Nicholson, Brad Dourif, Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito just to mention a few.The movie focuses on the free spirited Randle P.
McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) who is sent for evaluation at a mental hospital.Upon getting there Randle had an idea that he was to do time, not knowing that he was there till the doctors say he is free to go.He made friends with some of the patients in the institution like mama's boy Billy (Brad Dourif) and silent Native American Bromden (Will Sampson) who all thought was deaf and dumb and whom he called Chief.The psyche ward is handled by Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), who is seen more like the antagonist in this flick.McMurphy was an instigator of unruly behaviour from breaking him and his fellow patients out from the hospital to go on a boat trip and to a night party at the hospital which led to a tragedy.The movie did have a message, live free, be happy don't allow yourself to be tied down by anyone or anything or let either stand in the way of your happiness.Two of Milo Forman films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Amadeus (1984), both gained him an Academy Award for Best Director.The movie was the second to win all five major Academy Awards which were Best Picture, Best Actor in Lead Role, Best Actress in Lead Role, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, an accomplishment not repeated until 1991 by The Silence of the Lambs.The thing about the movie that gets to me most has always been the ending, tragedy never sits well with me sometimes especially in the case of this movie.Well if you haven't had a dose of this movie, then you need to.www.lagsreviews.com.
I remained wholly unconvinced that a man like McMurphy (at least as depicted in the film) would truly act in that way, eschewing his own personal freedom.I felt that the movie was well made and that the acting was top-rate (watch especially for a great performance by a young Brad Dourif), but the way the story plays out ultimately left me feeling unfulfilled.
Milos Forman's film may not be entirely true to Ken Kesey's novel, but it is still, in its own right, an inspiring, well-crafted, emotional and intelligent telling of the choice to conform or rebel.One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest stars Jack Nicholson as Randal McMurphy, a prisoner who decides he'd have a better time serving out his sentence in a mental ward, but ultimately ends up enlivening the patients there and showing them the beauty of life.Jack Nicholson's performance as McMurphy is deservedly Oscar-winning, inspiring, and is surely one of the best of his career.
Film Review: "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)Based on a mental-institution-researched novel by Ken Kesey (1935-2001), who receives a stroke of ingenius gestures at the age of 26 in order to obtain the publishing in 1962 of the title-given book, when producing Michael Douglas, at just 30 years of age, accompanied by San Francisco Bay-based "The Saul Zaentz Company", led by supreme filmmaking Producer Saul Zaentz (1921-2014) himself, who options a arguably mediocre novel to engage director Milos Forman, who then in its own right and capabilities as calm-as-decisive, actor-intercepting-then-freedom-granting director even exceeds the long-time running Broadway version of the previously-published material adapted by Dale Wassermann (1914-2008), when Academy-Award-winning double Jack Nicholson as inferior R.P. McMurphy and Louise Fletcher haunting portrayal as Nurse Ratched as the head of an anonymously interior designs by art-directions-striking production designer Paul Sylbert (1928-2016) that I, as spectre of this exceptional film, actually am sitting with the inmate patients, including first notable acting receptions by Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Brad Dourif and William Redfield (1927-1976) as wife-denying as heart-breakinbg character of Harding in a therapy group sessions to exposing weakening as self-marking laughs, where no-laughs are given, stucking-in-my-throat of the utmost honesty-sharing beats of struggling humans in the zone of conditioning mind sets, when a Native American means to find his way back to nature in the maze of a mesmerizing cinematic experience.The Character of McMurphy carries the picture as the seemigly sane and lively man in an arguably disconnected-from-the-outside-world state of microcosm in moments when McMurphy becomes the beacon of a single day of bliss and happiness for any playing inmate involved in a rare-sweeping Oscar winner of all major five Academy-Award catogories from "Best Picture" over acting, directing to "Best Writing" at the infamous ceremony of honor on March 26th 1976 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillon, Los Angeles, California.Copyright 2018 Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC. |
tt2395385 | 1 | While on the phone with his girlfriend Jill (Ashley Hinshaw), who has moved away to attend college, David (Rhys Wakefield) prompts her to explicitly wish that he were there to see her compete in a fencing tournament, only to surprise her with an unplanned visit. After the competition, David approaches Jill's similarly attired opponent (Hannah Kasulka) from behind and flirts with her, thinking she is his girlfriend. Intrigued, she kisses David, and Jill storms off angrily after walking in on them. Later, David meets with his friend and roommate Teddy (Logan Miller), a sex-obsessed student who tells him that Jill will attend a house party later. Hoping that she will speak with him in person, David decides to attend the party, too.At nightfall, David and Teddy drive over to the large house where Angad (Rohan Kymal) is hosting the party in his parents house. Dozens of people are already there, drinking, partying, smoking dope, and other wild things.Meanwhile, a strange meteor lands near the site of the party, and electrical arcs cause a momentary blackout. The wild revelers do not notice brief, anomalous phenomena that occur during the blackout, such as a mirror image out of sync, but a drug dealer's girlfriend outside the party becomes spooked.As the raucous party proceeds, David searches the house for Jill, and Teddy attempts to charm Melanie (Natalie Hall) a very attractive blond student. To Teddy's surprise, Melanie invites him to join her upstairs in ten minutes. Meanwhile, David spies on Jill as she flirts with a friend. Elsewhere, Allison (Colleen Dengel), an outsider, unsuccessfully attempts to fit in. David attempts to apologize to Jill, but she becomes more angry with his fumbled apology and says that he makes her feel replaceable. When a small fire starts caused by a flying tennis ball, the sprinklers put out the fire. So, Angrad moves the party outside, and the house empties except for David, Teddy, Allison, and Melanie.When Teddy joins Melanie upstairs, he finds her naked on a bed. They proceed to have sex, and she steps into the shower afterward. During a second blackout, a duplicate of Melanie appears on the bed, surprised to find Teddy in the room. When the original Melanie exits the shower, the two Melanies come face-to-face, and Teddy flees the room in a panic.David confirms that the house has filled with duplicates of the party-goers, who repeat the actions their originals took ten minutes ago. Outside, the drug dealer Kyle (Adam David Thompson) and his duplicate get into a violent confrontation, and David watches as one of them murders the other. Worried that the duplicates may be hostile, the originals attempt to hide. Eventually, the duplicates disappear when another blackout happens due to the strange supernatural event.With each blackout, the duplicates momentarily reappear and reenact increasingly more recent actions. David becomes convinced that he can save his relationship if he crafts a better apology to Jill's duplicate. At the same time, Allison befriends her duplicate (Suzanne Dengel). Also, Teddy accidentally ruins the rendez-vous between his and Melanie's duplicates.Teddy runs outside and warns the other partygoers that his duplicate will now become belligerent, and he convinces the party-goers, most of whom are still skeptical, to hide from their duplicates in a pool house. When the duplicates reappear, David knocks his own duplicate unconscious and charms Jill's duplicate, and Teddy's duplicate attempts to convince the skeptical crowd of duplicates to attack the originals.Worried about their safety, several of the originals sneak out and murder their duplicates, which turns the enraged duplicates hostile. The originals retreat back to the pool house, and the duplicates lay siege. The next blackout causes the duplicates to appear inside the pool house. The crowded room erupts in violence, and several people die, including Teddy.David tracks down the original Jill, who had wandered back to the house, and he murders her so that he can be with her duplicate. In the meantime, the narcissist Allison seduces her duplicate, and they share a kiss.The final blackout causes the duplicates and originals to merge. David and Jill leave together and make their way to the pool house and have a make-out session. The confused party-goers stagger out of the pool house, and they begin to disperse. In the final shot, two meteors, like the original, are shown passing through the sky and appear to be leaving Earth. | paranormal, murder | train | imdb | I guess the one thing everyone can agree on is that it's a 'B-movie.' Therefore, most likely everyone concerned with making it knew that it was never going to be a massively commercial box office smash.
It starts off like some sort of adult-humour piece like American Pie, then it progresses into a looping version of Groundhog Day. There's also a fair bit of 'gratuitous' nudity which (judging from what I've read online) seems to have put a lot of people off from taking the plot seriously.When I read that synopsis I thought it was going to have something to do with aliens.
Without giving too much away about the plot, it tries to be a little bit different (and succeed), but then it strays into that area where it starts to become too clever for its own good.
Any film concerning time travel is going to have some major plot holes.
It's just here they took that concept a little too far.For fans of sci-fi B-movies only.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/.
I really liked the plot idea for this film.
The ending seems misplaced and rushed.Except Rhys Wakefield who was very doll-like, the acting was quite good.
Some kind of weird meteor hits the ground and causes an otherworldly electrical disturbance in the vicinity of a big college party.
It appears to try for them all, but doesn't achieve any with particularly flying colors.A lot of people will probably like this just for the awesome party depiction; and that's cool.
This movie has a lot of other things going for it, including a good premise, decent acting, glossy big-budget-looking production values, and some nudity (yay!).
A bunch of one-dimensional characters try to say deep things once in a while, and their reactions to the strange situation are a little contrived, as if the writers chose to force a horror/thriller show from a premise that should've taken a more intriguing route.
I guess the party was just that good.It turned out fun, somewhat entertaining, and a bit disturbing, but could've been more.
A sci-fi twist on a standard college party movie.
I don't know if that was the reason I liked it so much or not but I really thought this was a neat movie.
What started off as just another college party movie became something that isn't really seen in movies anymore...originality.
I don't want to give anything away so I can only describe this as the first "let's get drunk and have sex with other college students/sci-fi" movie I have ever seen.
Because of the seemingly decline of cinema creativity, i am nowadays tempted to highly rate any movie that shows up with a different concept, plot, history or whatever.I am so fed up with the repeating and predictable tons of films out each year that i was indeed very pleased with this one.The plot is brilliant and something new and exciting.
It could have been easily a box office scifi movie but, instead, became an almost obscure mix between an good base story and a bad teenage college movie.Boobs included..
Plain and simple, they were both negative.I disagree with them.If you're looking for a movie with quality cinematography, well-written dialogue, and mature/growing characters, then yes, you will probably be disappointed with this feature.I on the other hand look beyond such things with this film.
It definitely sparked some crazy conversations amongst friends and I, going anywhere from morals to string theory.This film blew my mind, in an Inception/Fight Club-esque sort of way, especially after the credits rolled.I know this review may not reveal a lot about the film, but that's what is fun about it.
The actors are competent for their age which probably means they're all older than their characters, but some like Logan Miller's "Teddy" are muted, not given quite enough from the script.
Not quite enough explanation is given for the cause, but the story concept actually turns out good.
Most of the horror comes from the characters, especially one story line, and that serves the movie.
Pacing is a problem for the film, you come out of a funny or scary scene, and then the movie hits the breaks.
I think if the director had gone through one more edit, one more script revision, and the better actors given a little more meat on their plates, this would have been great.
If you expect your average teen party gone wrong movie, then you are in for a surprise (and a pleasant one in my opinion).Although the movie borrows forms and cinematic elements from horror sci-fi movies, it goes way beyond that.
But what is interesting is that "Plus One" characters are not just some beautiful people screaming for their lives (going always to the wrong direction).The people involved are complicated forced to deal with them selves and the choices they make in life.To me the movie is more of an allegoric tale about growing up, maturing, evolving, packed in a film genre that most of the time has nothing but chills to offer.
The trailer didn't give me too high hopes, but after just 5 minutes into the movie I was hooked.The camera-work was great and you really got the feel for the atmosphere at the party.
I felt like I wanted to be at that party, it wasn't fake nor forced in any way.
Very good natural acting by many of the actors.If you like unique sci-fi mixed with ordinary well played drama, and with an edge to it all, then this is the movie for you.
David (Wakefield) makes out with another woman in front of his long-time girlfriend, Jill (Hinshaw) and gets dumped in the process.
David shows up at a party to try to get Jill back, but there is a little detour along the way.
People show up at the party that look EXACTLY like everybody else.
Therein lies the foundation for this exceedingly odd yet mildly engrossing and mostly worth the while story (say, 2 3/4 out of 5 stars) written and directed by Dennis Iliadis, whose previous project was the 2009 remake of "The Last House on the Left".The plot revolves in and around a completely hedonistic pagan ritual of a college bash thrown by a rich kid in his folks mansion while the parental units are away.
Teen party, Science Fiction, Murder, Sex, Comedy, Exs and Time Paradox...what else do you need?.
It's a fast film, It has occasional and well-fit comedy, It has a very interesting time paradox that's like a mindf***, It includes three great stars who you can be related with, It has moments where you can see how fu**** is the human in one very particular scene.
I'll never understand how AWESOME movies like this pass by so fast and get so underrated.
If you are the type of viewer that a little nudity can satisfy the lack of a good story and acting then this is the movie for you.
For crying out loud even Keanu Reeves and Ryan Gosling look like Oscar winners compared with what the most actors but especially the main male actor have to offer in this total waste of time.
To think that this could actually be a good movie if you had a real director, writer and actors LOL.
Time Travel is a kinda tricky thing to deal with in movies.
Another recent example which barely makes it to the list would be Looper, once again not without flaws but the movie itself addressed the issues of time travel and thereby negating some that it could have had.
The point being few movies can nail it and the best is already out there: Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future Trilogy, GroundHog Day and TimeBandits.If you are not gulled into thinking this is a sequel to the Google pwned The Internship, +1, comes from Dennis Iliadis, the director of The Last House on the Left (the 2009 one, which I found amusing) is not essentially a time travel movie but a genre mash up.
Its a mix of college party movie, a romance drama and sci-fi.
Anybody who's seen this movie can't possibly deny that its got some nifty ideas but it all tumbles down the hill due to lazy and amateur performances, inconsistent pacing and gaping plot holes.
The only scantily commendable performance comes from Pretty Little Liar's Natalie Hall along with gratuitous nudity.Loads and loads of flaws and some unexplained sequences makes an otherwise novel movie just barely watchable.
The movie definitely has a interesting and unique premise, the idea of self at each instance of time and meeting oneself from a different moment and not knowing what to do, and wondering if you're friend or foe to yourself.
I think the idea of this movie is ingenious.
The idea of dimensional collision, similarly like movie "Coherence" is so grasping that the execution becomes the key.
Strong logic and high detail about what each characters have done.If you love "Back to the future" or "Butterfly effect" must watch this movie.++ Sorry for bad grammar.
This movie is only 3 stars for me because it has tried something new and other than that it is just a waste of time, so I am giving 3 stars only for trying something new..There are many mistakes in this movie which I will not even go into details, especially logic mistakes.Dennis Iliadis has tried something different but hasn't been able to deliver something satisfactory..This movie made me curious at the beginning as it promised some space action with some good looking girls and a mystery around all but as the movie went on I became more and more disappointed....
Triangle starring the cast of American Pie. The plot: During an out-of-control party, a group of college students experience a timeline disturbance that causes duplicates of themselves to appear.The basic concept of this film is interesting, even if it is a bit of a retread of many other recent films, including Triangle, Timecrimes, Primer, etc.
I'm inclined to take a charitable view of both films, but it's difficult to say with certainty that they are intentionally taking a stance against misogyny.If you're the sort that enjoys gratuitous nudity, ignores plot holes and other contrivances, and thinks that people read way too much into films, you'll probably enjoy this.
it is a scary film to be watched at night time, that is for sure.
actually, she didn't speak any common Asian language at all, i think that she just said whatever to make it sounded like Japanese.it is supposed to happen in a college, but it has no Asian students in it.
The writing and ideas are original and interesting, and the movie leaves you thinking.It does start with typical teenage nonsense, including a young couple that reach a crisis and are about to break up, and a debauched party that includes tons of sex, nudity, alcohol, strippers, flaming tennis balls, and Nyotaimori (naked sushi).
But even this party has a purpose in the overall plot.A meteor hits, and strange things start to happen.
And finally, one guy manages to exploit the phenomenon in a very dark way to ensure that reality goes his way...There is also fun to be had in the tightly-plotted time-loop and overlapping of events and reactions from the various copies.Altogether, an underrated sci-fi movie that does what it should: explore humanity through a bizarre idea.
A few reviewers have said that there's a good premise in this movie.
Every now and then the mains power flickers on and off, there's a little bit of dubstep music, and the clones catch up a few minutes on the time delay.
Finally the delay disappears entirely and the clones seem to merge with the originals.It's not a good idea for a movie.
Unfortunately it feels pretty moronic.This movie does have a lot of genuinely young-looking actors in it however.
I watched this movie together with 2 friends and we had a really good time.
We all liked the idea of replicants appearing at a party.
The actors did a good job and there's a lot of humor during the entire movie.
But maybe the movie is just trying to show us that we are our own enemy...something along the lines of "homini hominis lupus est"All in all the whole scenario including the ending reminded me a lot of the replicant story from Stanislaw Lem's "The Star Diaries".
Your usual college party movie, but with enough of a twist to stand out..
Admittedly, I was drawn into this movie for it seemed like it would sort of be like About Time since it seemingly featured a guy trying to work things out with his girlfriend after failing the first time, but seemingly getting a second chance due to time travel.
What also helped is a lot of the actors are people who you may have seen in bit roles from other films, or in TV shows, so it makes it where you have this occasional feeling of thinking you saw that face somewhere.Now, in the film we have quite a large cast, but the main people we focus on are David (played by Rhys Wakefield), who is our lead and is all about his girlfriend Jill (played by Ashley Hinshaw), a girl who is starting to do really well in life, but wondering if maybe David is stuck in the past.
Then there is Teddy (played by Logan Miller), who sort of fits your Teen movie best friend role to a T, and his love interest Melanie (played by Natalie Hall) who we really don't learn much about, besides her being a bit kinky in bed.
Lastly, there is Angad (played by Rohan Kymal) who is throwing the party in which most of the film takes place.In +1, the story begins making you believe it is going to be a romantic film about a guy (David) and his girl (Jill), but rather than be lovey dovey throughout the movie, the climax part where the guy messes up comes within the first 10, or so, minutes and then he for the rest of the movie is trying to win her back.
Aside from that, we have Angad's big party, a day after David messes up with Jill, if not that night, and this is when everything gets weird for a meteorite hits earth.
This meteorite, seemingly, makes it so everyone who goes to Angad's party, or attempts to, ends up getting a doppelganger.
Thing is, these doppelgangers are part of some time paradox so they are always about ten or so minutes behind the originals, but coming close to the present quick.
You could possibly consider it a thriller, but it doesn't feel like the film is that serious; you could call it a romance, but considering how twisted it is that seems like it isn't the best choice; and at the same time there isn't anything to really fear so it isn't a horror.
At the same time though, the movie can be quite predictable.
Having everything take place during a college party made things feel very familiar, and having the weird best friend, well in this movie's case: friends, also took away from the appeal.
My biggest issue though is the ending since after all the buildup, things just end and though there is shock and horror on the casts' faces, I didn't leave the film feeling all the interested nor affected.Overall: TV watchingBeing someone who sees far too many movies makes films like this leaving you feeling indifferent.
While it was decent, it didn't quite pan out and hit the expectations I had for the film.While the foundation for the story is interesting as a concept, the story itself is pretty sloppy and lacks a lot of development that it sorely needed.
These matters aren't helped by some pretty subpar acting and special effects that are just barely passable.However, even with its problems, the concept of "+1" is pretty cool and when the story actually has all of its stuff in order and in pretty little rows, it plays out nicely and took me on a strange mind-trip and left me pondering the events that I witnessed as the credits rolled.As it stands, "+1" feels like an adaptation of the first draft to the film's script and it makes the film pretty average but also pretty watchable.
It looked like "Groundhog Day" except that the time leap led to a double.
Rhys Wakefield is the sucker that actually just wanders around at that party the whole time, looking for his girlfriend Jill so he can apologize for the mistake he made.
Eventually I hope I will never experience a time jump that brings me back to where I started watching this movie..
This plot tool allows the story to explore a couple of different and very interesting ideas.
I must admit though, that face suited the story in The Purge because those characters needed to look a little strange (or is that...
I only wish the party goers looked at themselves with love and friendship rather then being scared and thinking they wanted to hurt them.
The first half is like Buffy with Boobs - something for the guys & gals, a little shy lesbunism, the world turned upside down - although nothing too dangerous, things will work out in the end.
The meteorite has caused a time shift where the party goers have doubles who are 15 minutes behind, at each light flicker the doubles catch up.
it is not scifi, not horror, maybe a frat house movie but just has goes nowhere, at times we are hinted at a back story which might have saved the movie but this is never developed.
A few feel great to be alive; many are still reeling from the horror with blood on their hands.------Scores------Cinematography: 8/10 Mostly OK, except for some of the low light scenes.Sound: 4/10 Unbelievably poor.Acting: 5/10 Not very convincing, except from the actors who looked like they were 25 to 30 years old.Screenplay: 7/10 Fairly good what-if movie. |
tt0032484 | Foreign Correspondent | In mid-August 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II, the editor of the New York Globe, Mr. Powers (Harry Davenport), is concerned about the crisis in Europe, the growing power of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and the inability of celebrated foreign correspondents to get answers about whether war will ensue. After searching for a good, tough crime reporter for a fresh viewpoint, he appoints Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea) as a foreign correspondent, under the pen name Huntley Haverstock.
The reporter's first assignment is Stephen Fisher (Herbert Marshall), leader of the Universal Peace Party, at an event held by Fisher in honour of a Dutch diplomat named Van Meer (Albert Bassermann). On the way to the party, Haverstock sees Van Meer entering the car that is to take him to the party, and runs to interview him; Van Meer invites him to ride along, but diplomatically evades his questioning. At the party, Haverstock meets Fisher's daughter, Carol (Laraine Day). Van Meer disappears mysteriously. Later, Fisher informs the guests that Van Meer, who was supposed to be the guest of honor, will not be attending the party; instead he will be at a political conference in Amsterdam.
At the conference, Van Meer is shot in front of a large crowd by a man disguised as a photographer. Haverstock commandeers a car to follow the assassin's getaway car. The car he jumps into happens to have in it Carol and another reporter, Scott ffolliott (George Sanders), who explains that the capital letter in his surname was dropped in memory of an executed ancestor. The group follows the assassin to the countryside, where they see a windmill begin turning backwards: obviously a signal.
While Carol and ffolliott go for help, Haverstock searches the windmill and finds a live Van Meer; the man who was killed was an impostor substituted to make everyone believe Van Meer was killed. The old man has been drugged and is unable to tell Haverstock anything. Haverstock is forced to flee when the kidnappers become aware of him. They escape with Van Meer in an aircraft before the police arrive.
Later, back at Haverstock's hotel room, two spies dressed as policemen arrive to kidnap him. When he suspects who they really are, he escapes out the window and into Carol Fisher's room.
Haverstock and Carol board a British boat to England, and while a furious storm thunders overhead, he proposes marriage to her which she accepts. In England, they go to Carol's father's house, where Haverstock sees a man whom he recognizes as one of the men at the windmill. He informs Fisher and Fisher promises that he will send a bodyguard to protect him. The bodyguard, Rowley (Edmund Gwenn), repeatedly tries to kill Haverstock. When the assassin tries to push him off the top of the Westminster Cathedral tower, Haverstock steps aside and Rowley plunges to his death.
Haverstock and ffolliott are convinced that Fisher is a traitor, so they come up with a plan: Haverstock will take Carol to the countryside, and ffolliott will pretend she has been kidnapped to force Fisher to divulge Van Meer's location. After a misunderstanding with Haverstock, Carol returns to London. Just as Fisher is about to fall for ffolliott's bluff, he hears her car pull up.
Fisher heads to a hotel where Van Meer is being held with ffolliott on his tail. Van Meer is being interrogated using sleep deprivation to discover a secret clause in a treaty he signed. Just as he is being forced to divulge the information the organization wants, ffolliott distracts the interrogators. When Haverstock arrives, Fisher and his bodyguards escape, leaving Van Meer behind. Van Meer is rushed to the hospital in a coma.
England and France declare war on Germany. While Haverstock, ffolliott and the Fishers are on a Short S.30 Empire aircraft to America, Fisher confesses his misdeeds to his daughter. Carol believes Haverstock does not really love her but only used her to pursue her father. Haverstock protests that he was just doing his job as a reporter. Seconds later, the aircraft is shelled by a German destroyer and crashes into the ocean. The survivors perch on the floating wing of the downed aircraft. Realizing that it cannot support everyone, Fisher sacrifices himself by allowing himself to drown. Jones and ffolliott attempt to save him, but are unsuccessful. They are rescued by an American ship, the Mohican. The captain refuses to allow the reporters to file their story using the ship's communications citing American neutrality, but Jones, ffolliott, and Carol surreptitiously communicate the story by radio-telephone to Mr. Powers. Later, back in London and now a successful war correspondent, Haverstock, with Carol at his side, describes London being bombed in a live radio broadcast to the United States, urging Americans to fortify their country and "keep the lights burning" as they go dark in the studio. | murder | train | wikipedia | After a short intro we are thrust directly into the action and from there on in, it's one thrilling set-piece after another.We go from kidnapping to assassination, to car chase, to discovery of plot, to escape from a hotel, to a twist regarding the leader of the enemy, to a wonderful sequence with a hired bodyguard who is in fact an assassin, to a fake kidnapping set up by the heroes, to torture scene, to rescue, to plane crash at sea...It's dizzying that this was all intended for one film and when the end credits rolled you really felt like you'd got your money's worth.
While not as well-known today as some of his later films, Alfred Hitchcock's spy thriller "Foreign Correspondent" is entertaining, exciting, and masterfully constructed.
It has everything we hope for from Hitchcock: action, suspense, and a good dose of humor.The plot is a complicated one, beginning when American reporter Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea) is sent to Europe just before the outbreak of World War II.
It does take some effort to follow everything that is happening, but there are many action sequences and a lot of good writing - with many fine touches of humor - that make it easy to pay attention.In the lead role, McCrea performs with the easy-going understatement that typifies the heroes of Hitchcock's earlier films.
George Sanders for once gets to play a good guy, Robert Benchley is very funny as McCrea's fellow foreign correspondent, and Albert Basserman is touching as an old diplomat who has seen too much of the world's troubles.But it is the action sequences and the settings that really make the film.
This final sequence is not only thrilling, it also perfectly completes all of the film's action and themes."Foreign Correspondent" contains plenty of excitement, humor, and suspense, along with some of Hitchcock's best set pieces.
Alfred Hitchcock directed many great movies, but few testify to his ability at marrying suspense, action, and comedy as does "Foreign Correspondent," a film which coincidentally carries Hitchcock's boldest political statement: That neutrality doesn't work when others are bent on war.Joel McCrea stars as American newspaperman Johnny Jones, sent to Europe on the eve of World War II by the newspaper's publisher precisely because he's a man of action unschooled in politics and economics, "someone who doesn't know the difference between an 'ism' and a kangaroo," the old publisher declares.
Jones goes along with the idea, even with changing his byline to the pompous "Huntley Haverstock," because as he puts it, "give me an expense account, and I'll cover anything." Fate intervenes when a photographer apparently murders Europe's last hope for peace right in front of Jones, spurring the reporter to react in a way that leads to a series of outrageously precarious and double-crossing incidents culminating in a plane crash-landing into the Atlantic Ocean.Hitchcock arrived in the U.S. with a flourish, his first Hollywood movie being the Oscar-winning "Rebecca," and this his second that same year, 1940.
It had many of those dazzling Hitchcock sequences: the assassination in Amsterdam, the scene in the cathedral tower and, especially, the sequence in the windmill, which is pure magic!Of course, it also had that classic sense of humor and a slew of terrific character roles, including Edmund Gwenn as the most cherubic and cheerful hit man you've ever seen!
The final scene was strictly American propaganda, but that can probably be forgiven considering the subject matter of the film and the time of it's release.All in all, a wonderful example of the master at his best, that deserves to be dusted off and enjoyed alongside some of it's more celebrated cousins!.
In the film, Johnny Jones, writing under the pen name of Huntley Haverstock, is given the assignment of going to Europe and digging around for information about the impending war - and particularly to have a conversation with Professor Van Meer, who may be one of the men who can help keep the peace.
The final scene of the film, a radio broadcast, was added some time later - five days before the Germans started bombing, in fact.Shot in black and white, "Foreign Correspondent" is loaded with atmosphere and the tension of the coming war.
"Foreign Correspondent" is a highly entertaining adventure, with a suspenseful story of espionage and an enjoyable romance, with Joel McCrea and Laraine Day showing a perfect chemistry.
Not worthy of the master of suspense.Foreign Correspondent was the second film that Alfred Hitchcock made in America and it was a one shot deal for independent producer Walter Wanger.
The chase scene through the windmill country, the climax when the Atlantic clipper with Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, George Sanders, and Herbert Marshall is shot down after war is formally declared.
Hitchcock and McCrea got along well, he wanted to use him for later films like Saboteur, but they never worked together again.And that's a pity because Foreign Correspondent isn't Hitchcock at his best..
Although the Second World War was one year old when FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT came out, it is set in the year 1938-39, and ends after September 1939.Joel McCrae is "Huntly Haverstock" (actually Johnny Jones), the new foreign correspondent sent by an American news service to Europe to cover the collapsing international situation.
Ignorant American reporter Joel McCrea (John Jones) is given the pseudonym Huntley Haverstock and sent on a mission to Amsterdam to get a story about politician Albert Bassermann (Van Meer) and obtain some news about the impending war in Europe.
When the diplomat is assassinated right in front of him, Jones sets off after the killer and finds himself embroiled in an international conspiracy plot.Exciting thriller from the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.
The supporting cast boasts George Sanders, best known for his portrayal of vicious gossip columnist Addison DeWitt in "All About Eve," playing a quite different and heroic character here, and Edmund Gwenn, unrecognizable without his Santa Claus beard, playing a quite different and villainous one."Foreign Correspondent" maybe feels more like a product of its time than other Hitchcock films, which is maybe also why it seems to be less well known.
Work began on the film shortly after Hitchcock released Rebecca, and this must have been something of a controversial picture at the time of release as the war was, at that time, confined to Europe and I guess all America got to hear about it was the reports of foreign correspondents such as the one in this film.
The acting is more than adequate also, with Joel McCrea delivering a fair lead performance and receiving good backup from the likes of Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall and best of all; George Sanders, who steals every scene he's in.
This one, unfortunately, does not.For a basic plot summary, "Foreign Correspondent" sees American reporter John Jones (Joel McCrea) sent into Europe to get the "scoop" on the upcoming war (WWII).
While there, Jones and fellow lady friend Carol Fisher (Laraine Day) get caught up in an espionage plot involving the start of the war.I'll admit that the visuals are very well done for 1940, and a few sequences even provoke genuine suspense, but I just could not get into the plot whatsoever, as it seemed to drag on and on with little action or character development to move things forward.Thus, if you are a hard-core Hitch fan, watch this one.
One of Hitchcock's first films after leaving England, 'Foreign Correspondent' is a well written yarn about a Yankee crime reporter (Joel McCrea) who gets caught up in European political intrigue in the days leading up to WWII.
While the story has a typical 'heroic reporter' B-movie plot, it is very well directed, written and acted, especially by Herbert Marshall and George Sanders and includes some excellent special effects, including the famous seaplane crash.
It's not one of his greatest films, but it is an entertainer through and through, a crowd pleaser that gives a great nod to the hard-edged reporter who just needs to get the story, and gets much more than he bargained for.This reporter, Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea, meaning business but with more layers within his typical binding character) has to change his name to Haverstock for the sake of sounding not so 'American'.
The old double crosses start to happen, not least of which by his love interest Carol Fisher's (very charming and well-played leading lady Laraine Day) father (Herbert Marshall, fantastic at being both an exquisitely nasty character, and one with at least some humanity and even a touch of humility once war looms even more), who is really the one pulling the strings.In between all of this almost dense plot are many memorable set-pieces by Hitchcock, the first one being in two parts starting with the murder and get-away of the shooter of the fake Van Meer on the steps, with the rain and the crowds of people in umbrellas creating adding to the chaos of the crowded town square.
But possibly my favorite, even if it doesn't have the quiet sense of total danger when Jones hides from the Dutch-speaking spies and other nefarious types in the windmill, is when Jones/Haverstock is back in Britain being kept "under guard" by a man sent by Mr. Fisher (I forget his name now, but you'll know him when you see him, the kind of seemingly polite, shifty-eyed old British chap probably in other Hitchcock films in another form).
It's superbly done, even if it's a little shorter than the other big and exciting set pieces.Meanwhile, there are certain scenes between the actors that add to the fun- if that's an odd word to use for an espionage/journalism thriller- like with McCrea and Day. They're romance comes forward pretty quickly, which I'm sure was probably not uncommon in a Hollywood picture during this time.
It's the kind of thing that could only happen in the movies, though maybe not, but it's that line of something really entertaining and yet sort of truthful to the characters that makes the film worthwhile at times (this too goes for little scenes with Mr. Fisher as well, where you think at first he's cold and bloodless to anything, but then comes that scene on the plane).
For the most part, it was quite dull, and really, not as gripping as many of Hitch's other fine films.Johnny Jones (McRea) is a New York reporter sent to Europe as a foreign correspondent to inform America on the impending doom of the war.
Joel McCrea is an ambitious American reporter that refuses to sit on a story that would expose spies in Europe.An all star cast at the top of their game includes; Laraine Day, George Sanders, Edmund Gwenn, Eduardo Ciannelli and Ian Wolfe.
They're joined by a smooth British Intelligence agent played by the suave George Sanders as they race against time to foil the nefarious plot, although by the movie's end, it's somewhat irrelevant as Britain is by then already at war and gpfighting for its life.The tone of the film starts in a humorous vein, almost like a Preston Sturges but once the feckless McCrae, under an assumed name, finds himself directly involved in proceedings as opposed to just reporting on them, the movie picks up pace and becomes altogether more serious.Boasting a number of classic Hitchcock scenes, in particular the murder of Van Meer in the pouring rain under umbrellas which is reminiscent of Eisenstein, the remarkable plane crash into the sea at the climax and the rousing "wake up, America" message McCrae broadcasta as the bombs fall in London, this is a pacy, contemporary thriller, which keeps you on your toes throughout.
In retrospect, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT may be a lesser compelling romance due to the insipid chemistry from its two leads, but no doubt it is a top-notch spy thriller from the master of suspense, with a trio of upstaging supporting players (Bassermann, Marshall and Sanders), plus its FX are rather cutting-edge at its time, a distinguishing precursor of the similar themed NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959, 8/10), which would arrive nearly 2 decades later.
For Foreign Correspondent we have an American lead in Joel McCrea the propaganda here is aimed at US audiences, so they obviously needed to show things from the point of view of a US citizen but the action takes place in Europe and by and large the supporting roles are British.
Add to all this the fact the love angle with Laraine Day has no chemistry to it, and not even a supporting cast featuring Edmund Gwenn can save us from Foreign Correspondent being pretty boring.The film's saving grace comes in its final moments.
full of memorable scenes: the windmill, the killing, the bombing of england at the end, the tower scene and of course one of hitchcock's best scene: the plane crash that includes suspense and good for the time special effects.
Alfred Hitchcock directed this exciting espionage tale that stars Joel McCrea as New York newspaper reporter Johnny Jones, who, on the eve of WWII, is sent on a mission to get the inside story on a British diplomat named Van Meer(Albert Bassermann) who is supposed to sign a secret treaty between European nations.
George Sanders plays a friend trying to help, and get to the bottom of the plot, which involves treachery in unexpected places...Highly entertaining thriller creates a good balance between humor and suspense, with many fine action sequences and memorable characters, especially in the windmill and climatic plane crash.
Out of the Hitchcock films that I've seen for the first time as well Foreign Correspondent has also been the best one.
Laraine Day gives a charming and sensitive performance, and works together well with Marshall as her father, while Martin Kosleck's striking features can be glimpsed in a bit-part scene in a windmill.This may not be a great film, but it is an enjoyable one, with genuine thrills spiced up with wry or overt humour: as often with Hitchcock, it probably doesn't pay to examine the plot too closely (and it would be nice just for once to see a film about a *genuine* peace movement: I suppose that would be too boring...), but it's a fun romp, especially if you genuinely don't know what's coming next.
While "Foreign Correspondent" isn't a more fully realized film, it outdistanced all others with several innovative suspense sequences - witness the umbrellas, windmills, tower, and the plane crash - all providing technical brilliance as a visual treat; even today, Hitchcock can make you forget you are seeing special effects.
Ironically, there were cheers from the Hitler camp; Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels praised the film, especially admiring how quickly the real "Van Meer" surrendered to torture.********* Foreign Correspondent (8/16/40) Alfred Hitchcock ~ Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders.
There are some of his most memorable set-pieces:the 'assassination' in a downpour surrounded by umbrellas,the windmills turning backwards,the fall at the cathedral,and the final plane crash at sea.That isn't to say the material in between is dull;very far from it.A witty,exciting script,a uniformly fine cast and a director and his most fluid and inventive make this a movie to enjoy time and again.Joel McCrea is perhaps slightly too lightweight a leading man for Hitchcock,but nevertheless is perfectly fine and likable as the US reporter transported into a Europe on the edge of War;Albert Basserman is underused yet still effective in his fairly brief part as a kindly and elderly peace-monger;and George Sanders and Robert Benchley give splendidly witty and charming performances as two of McCrea's confused,if still willing,allies.The equally witty and charming Herbert Marshall is somewhat hard to believe as a would-be Nazi sympathiser,with McCrea's character reluctant to hand him in to the authorities when all is found out.Marshall is still good in his role,but one suspects his character would've himself been horrified when the Nazi regime's true evil fully came to light some years later.Other veterans such as Harry Davenport and Eduardo Ciannelli make the most of their smallish roles,and Edmund Gwenn is convincing as a seemingly innocuous,but in fact ruthless would-be hit-man.Laraine Day is merely adequate as Marshall's daughter(a rather underwritten part),and although much of the film has a great wit and humour about it,Alfred Newman's score is something of a disappointment;too repetitively enclosed to one mood,namely happy.More variation and darker,more atmospheric background music would possibly have made great scenes even better.Hitch himself has a cameo as a passer-by reading a newspaper,and he even manages to fit in an amusing bit for Laurel & Hardy's most famous catalyst,Jimmy Finlayson,as a frustrated Dutch peasant trying unsuccessfully to cross a road!
Not the best Hitchcock film, but exciting enough as a correspondent (Western star Joel McCrea) is sent to Europe before the war to find out the truth.
Not the best Hitchcock film, but exciting enough as a correspondent (Western star Joel McCrea) is sent to Europe before the war to find out the truth.
But with all the praise heaped on Hitchcock's first American movie, his second has often gone unnoticed, although it is certainly up to par with - if not better than - "Rebecca".Foreign Correspondent tells the story of Johnny Jones, an American newspaper writer chosen to go to England to report on the war as Huntley Haverstock for the New York Globe.
There's also a brilliantly filmed plane crash which is remarkably realistic as is another tense scene involving a high-level escape from a hotel room.Joel McCrea does well as an ordinary guy who's totally out of his depth in his new job and George Sanders, Laraine Day and Albert Bassermann are all excellent in their supporting roles."Foreign Correspondent" which is overtly anti-Nazi and made a strong appeal for the United States to end its policy of neutrality, made its point so effectively that it even drew great praise from Joseph Goebbels who was the German Minister of Propaganda at the time! |
tt0773262 | Dexter | {{This synopsis covers the story arc of all eight seasons. Without naming names, it still spoils storylines. It is provided as a reference for viewers who have seen the show from beginning to end.}}Dexter is a serial killer with a "code" which directs his compulsions to kill only the guilty. As a blood spatter analyst for the Miami police, he has access to crime scenes, picking up clues and checking DNA to confirm a target's guilt before he kills them. His dead adoptive father Harry, a policeman, created the code after recognizing Dexter's problem when he was very young. Harry decided to teach Dexter to focus his urges on killing killers who would otherwise escape justice in the legal system. He creates the steps Dexter must take to keep from being caught. In the present, Harry sometimes serves as his mental partner, discussing cases and always reminding him of the code. Before his death, Harry had also charged Dexter to take care of his stepsister Debra - she is unaware of Dexter's secret and his complete lack of feelings, but they try to be close to each other.Season one features the Ice Truck Killer, who intrigues Dexter personally. The killer finally reveals their surprising connection, but when he seizes Debra, Dexter has to kill him.In season two, the bodies Dexter had been dropping from his boat are discovered. He scrambles to cover his tracks as the department searches for the Bay Harbor Butcher. He is drawn to a woman who eventually reveals her sinister side. In the finale, events allow Dexter to frame a dead police department member as the Butcher.In season three Dexter is ready to kill a target, but is surprised by another man in the house. Dexter is forced to kill him, but it turns out he is related to a public official. Rita announces she is pregnant. As Dexter pursues The Skinner killer, a person discovers Dexter's secret and begins ordering Dexter to kill certain people. Dexter marries Rita.Season four features the Trinity killer, as well as Dexter's exhaustion facing the demands of being a husband and father. The season ends with the death of a major character.Season five revolves around the Barrel Girl murders. Dexter finds and releases the only victim who lived, and she insists on helping him take down the guilty men. Dexter enjoys her company, but at the end she explains she has achieved her goal and will walk away from their relationship. Without knowing their identities, Debra tracks them down but decides they have done the world a service, and lets them go free, sight unseen.Season six focuses on the Doomsday killer, who connects his kills to religion. In the season finale, Debra walks in just as Dexter stabs the killer.In season seven, Dexter admits to Debra that he is a serial killer. LaGuerta privately re-opens the Bay Harbor Butcher case. The Ukrainian mob becomes a special nuisance. Hannah McKay also appears, but Dexter ultimately lets her go free. In the finale, Debra is forced to kill an innocent person to preserve Dexter's secret.In the final season, Debra is a shambles from her guilt. Dr. Vogel, a psychologist who specializes in psychopaths, joins the police pursuit of The Brain Surgeon, and privately reveals to Dexter her past connection to him. Meanwhile, Dexter forms a serious relationship with a woman from his past. He realizes he is experiencing emotions, and that his need to kill has vanished. They decide to take Dexter's son and leave Miami forever. In the season finale, a major character dies and Dexter realizes he has destroyed everyone who came in contact with him. | comedy, murder, violence, flashback, satire, sadist | train | imdb | null |
tt0791304 | Georgia Rule | Rebellious 17-years-old Rachel screams, drugs, drinks, fights with everyone and has sex with several boys; she is, in a word, uncontrollable. With her latest car crash, Rachel has broken the final rule in her mother Lily's San Francisco home. With nowhere else to take the impulsive and rambunctious girl, Lily hauls her daughter to the one place she swore she'd never return—her own mother's house in Idaho. Matriarch Georgia lives her life by a number of unbreakable rules—God comes first, and hard work comes a very close second—and wants that anyone who shares her home do the same. Now saddled with raising the young woman, it requires each patient breath she takes to understand Rachel's fury.
Georgia arranges a job for Rachel as the office girl of Dr. Simon Ward, the local veterinarian, who also unofficially treats people. His two nephews Sam and Ethan are often at Georgia's house. Simon does not show interest in Rachel or other women, so she thinks he is gay. However, Simon's sister Paula reveals that he is still mourning the death of his wife and son who were killed in a car collision three years earlier. He refuses to have sex with Rachel even when she tries to seduce him, but feels some passion for her mother Lily, whom he has dated in the past.
Rachel performs oral sex on Harlan Wilson, who, not yet being married, was still a virgin because of his LDS (Mormon) religion. He confesses to his LDS girlfriend, who is shocked. A team of LDS girls spy on Harlan to make sure he does not "have sex" again. After almost running them over with Harlan's truck, Rachel explains to them that what happened was over and that they can go back to having their summer fun. They agree to do so, but they tell Rachel to go home, leading Rachel to threaten them by saying if they have anything to do with her and Harlan again she will find all of their boyfriends and "fuck them stupid", at which point they stop insulting her and stop spying on Harlan.
While trying to make a point to Simon about survival, Rachel bluntly says that her stepfather Arnold sexually molested her from the time she was 12 until she turned 14. Seeing the effect of her revelation, Rachel tries to convince him she lied. However, Simon tells Georgia about the abuse, and Georgia tells Lily, who thinks Rachel is lying. Heartbroken, Lily comes to believe her daughter, begins to drink heavily and asks Arnold for a divorce.
When Arnold arrives, Georgia tells him to leave, and refuses to allow him in the house. Finally, she forces him to leave by hitting him with a baseball bat; when he still refuses to leave the property, she threatens to hit his new red Ferrari. Rachel sees that Lily cannot accept the truth, and lies to her about being molested.
At the motel where Arnold is staying Rachel tells him that she has a video tape of the two having sex when she was 14, and Arnold seems worried. Rachel demands $10 million if he does not keep Lily happy. She admits to him that she told Lily lies because she does not want her to be upset anymore. On the way back to San Francisco Arnold tells Lily that he is giving Rachel his Ferrari, and Lily realizes that he is guilty.
Lily starts a raging argument/attack and Arnold finally admits to having molested Rachel numerous times, using the excuse that Rachel seduced him, Lily's alcoholism drove him to it and that Rachel enjoyed it. so Arnold drives off, leaving Lily to walk home. Georgia, Simon, Rachel, and Harlan catch up with Lily in Harlan's pick-up truck and a tearful Rachel apologizes for her behavior. Harlan tells Georgia that he is in love with Rachel and plans to marry her when he gets back from his two-year mission. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Felicity Huffman, played Lindsay Lohan's distressed mother and slowly throughout the movie it is seen how closely alike they are.
From the looks of the finished product, I'd say a lot of the film ended up on the cutting room floor - too many scenes are simply not dealt with the way they should have been - like when Jane goes to buy the liquor - where's the struggle with the issue of what she is doing?
The Difference Between Truth and Lie. The rebel, reckless and spoiled teenager Rachel Wilcox (Lindsay Lohan) travels from San Francisco to the conservative Mormon Hull, Idaho, with her alcoholic mother Lily (Felicity Huffman) to spend the summer with her grandmother Georgia (Jane Fonda).
While with Georgia, Rachel reveals a traumatic secret from her past that explains her rebelliousness and brings her mother back to Idaho to check whether her daughter is telling the truth.The screenplay of "Georgia Rule" is unusual, beginning with comedy but developing in a touching drama related to child abuse and relationship among three generations of the same family.
The lead female characters are dysfunctional: Rachel lies, uses drugs and booze and behaves like a slut, with no sense of morality; her mother Lily is an alcoholic woman; and her grandmother Georgia does not express her love with her tough rules.
The gorgeous Lindsay Lohan and Felicity Huffman are amazing, but Jane Fonda performs a strange but fair character.
Given the press surrounding Lohan during the filming, my expectations were pretty low and I was very surprised at how good she was and how good the movie was.
I'm not sure why I decided to rent Georgia Rule, but I guess you could just color me intrigued since this is the film that I heard where Lindsay Lohan caused all that trouble on being late constantly or not showing up on set.
But the rest of the story was really good, funny at times, and very touching.Rachel is a young trouble maker from California coming to Idaho to see her grandmother, Georgia, and stay with her for the summer.
Georgia won't tolerate this though, she knows there's something wrong and has to let Rachel know that there are people there who love her and remind her the difference between right and wrong.The story was really good I think, some of the characters could have used a little more developing, but it still worked.
Opening with an unbelievable scene of mother-daughter conflict on the open highway, rebellious teenager Lindsay Lohan goes to sleep on the side of the road, is awakened by a Mormon hunk who inadvertently feels her up (thinking she's dead), and ends up hitching a ride into town with a veterinarian whom the girl decides must be gay because he didn't look at her exposed legs once.
Lindsay, Ms. Jane Fonda, and Felicity Huffman are wonderful in this very poignant and said tale of the relationship of mother and daughter and granddaughter.The R rating is what spoils it for the kids.
Of course all three generations come to an agonizing reappraisal of their situation and in that fateful summer they get to know each other better.Life does imitate art because the film is now getting reams of publicity due to Lindsay Lohan's behavioral problems in real life.
Georgia Rule has been pushed by the three main stars, Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lindsey Lohan in all the talk shows during the past week.
Dermot Mulroney does fine work, as the Idahoan doctor/veterinarian, who helps Lohan "find her way home." Huffman is truly touching as a mother torn between truth and lies.
Lohan's character was exactly as I envision her to be in real life, except that in the end she comes down to earth.This was so bad that my daughter wanted to see another movie immediately just to get this one out of her thoughts - - yeah, it was sick.The best part of this film is the house and town that Georgia lives in!
There are some great comedic bits in the movie, but majority of the story revolves around whether or not Rachel (Lindsay Lohan) was raped by her stepfather for two years starting when she was 12, or if she is simply lying to get attention.
Jane Fonda was good, but nothing too stellar from the actress whose character's name is in the movie title.
This film, of course, is marketed as a family comedy where a stereotypically rebellious "bad" girl gets put in her place by her stereotypically strong-willed grandma.I sure was surprised when this turned out to be a rather serious drama about sexual abuse.
Garry Marshall did a wonderful job in the performances he elicited from the cast, especially Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan.
The story focuses on the unraveling relationship between mother Lilly and daughter Rachel, who have driven all the way from San Francisco to small-town Hull, Idaho where grandmother Georgia lives.
She does what she can with the role on both fronts, but her efforts never add up to a flesh-and-blood human being.At close to seventy, Jane Fonda looks great, even as weather-beaten as she is here, and has the star presence to get away with the cartoon-like dimensions of the flinty Georgia.
Cary Elwes plays on a familiar suspicious note as Lilly's husband, an unfortunate case where predictable casting appears to telegraph the movie's ending.There is also the omnipresent Dermot Mulroney in the morose triple-play role of the wounded widower, Lilly's former flame and Rachel's new boss as town veterinarian Dr. Simon Ward.
Transcending and unforgettable, Lohan definitely takes the cake as Rachel.The trailer was misleading, and what I expected was Lindsay to be playing another character too much like her ownself - however this movie surfaced the morals of family and trust.
While I can say my experience was not as bad as some of the experiences I have heard others have experienced, I would like to say that to truly understand this film and the actions taken by the character portrayed by Lindsay Lohan, you would have had to have been molested and/or sexually assaulted yourself.
The character Rachel behaved EXACTLY as you should expect a young woman who had been sexually abused as a child by a father or a father-figure to act.Rebelliousness and lying, drug abuse, promiscuousness, cynicism, using sex as way to show affection and control, the need to be just loved by a man without sex ...
I don't know why is it a comedy ;I don't recall laughing a lot during the movie.Lindsay Lohan had an amazing performance, and she really got into her role from the beginning to the end!
The story is good and not as predictable as these films usually are.Lindsay Lohan is Rachael, a temperamental, rich LA teenager sent by her struggling mother (Huffman) to a primarily Mormon town to stay with her estranged and rigid grandmother/drill sergeant, Georgia, played by Fonda.
I shouldn't have been, because the three leads, Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan, are all talented actors with impressive resumes.
But there are also many really good moments, and some terrific acting by Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman, and especially, surprisingly, Lindsay Lohan.
In a way, I get irritated when I watch this movie, because I see how good Lindsay Lohan is, and how she has the potential for greatness - and how her personal life seems to be eclipsing her considerable talent.
She gives a terrific performance as well as the other two fine ladies of the cast, Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman.Yeah, it's not as emotional and as truthful to the serious topics in the film.
Yeah, this film is inconsistent at many times, but overall, Georgia Rule is a decent movie with some great performances..
As it is, Georgia Rule is a fairly hard-hitting family drama, and I thought it did a great job of showing both the flaws and strengths of three generations of women: Rachel (Lindsay Lohan, who is absolutely great, aside from the semi-valid criticism that she is basically playing herself), a bratty California sex-pot who's been hiding a traumatic secret in the interest of her mother's happiness; Lilly (Felicity Huffman, consistently strong), who clearly loves her daughter despite her struggles with alcoholism and guilt over her role in her daughter's troubles; and the eponymous Georgia (Jane Fonda, fantastic), a somewhat self-centered disciplinarian who honestly takes the interests of her family at heart.I think a lot of the poor reviews for this film are based on the fact that it simply is not a comedy (which I understand is how it was advertised).
Even the infamous blow-job scene is actually one of the saddest parts of the whole movie, as Lohan really expresses the pain of a teenager who has come to believe that her sexuality is the only part of her that is worthy of attention.The film itself is by no means Oscar-worthy, but it's not worthy of a Rotten Tomato either.
Compelling family drama-comedy, great acting by all three leading actresses (Felicity Huffman, Lindsey Lohan and Jane Fona), entertainment combined with depth.
While there are tons of movies that could be described by that tagline, Georgia Rule is perhaps the best representation of the "troubled teen at Granny's" genre.Perfectly cast Lindsay Lohan comes to stay at grandmother Jane Fonda's house for the summer.
Jane Fonda stars as Georgia, the tough as nails bad ass grandmother that will do just about anything for her daughter (Huffman) and granddaughter (Lindsay Lohan).
Felicity Huffman brings daughter Rachel (Lindsey Lohan) on a trip to Idaho to visit Grandmother Georgia (Jane Fonda).
As a matter of fact, there are few moments of comedy in this serious depiction of a young woman in crisis brought about by generations of family dysfunction.Lindsay Lohan plays the young woman, Rachel, who is sent to spend the summer with her grandmother, Georgia, by her exasperated mother, Lilly.
Lohan is incredibly attractive and sexy, but she goes far below the surface to give us an insightful look at a confused young woman poised upon the edge of disaster.Rachel's mother, Lilly is at her wit's end as to how to deal with her daughter, so she takes her to spend her last summer before college with her no-nonsense grandmother from whom Lilly has been estranged for years.
Lilly is a person torn asunder by her daughter, her husband, her estranged mother, and her own addiction to alcohol, and Huffman offers a raw and shattering look into Lilly's life.As for Jane Fonda, - the object of my initial interest in the film - she is good, damn good, but, I think, somewhat miscast in her roll as Georgia.
I think that Jane Fonda's persona is just a bit too sophisticated for this part, but she is still a joy to watch in this roll of Georgia which is very reminiscent of her father's role of Norman in On Golden Pond.I would be remiss if I didn't mention the performances of the actors playing the three major male characters in the film.
Starring Lindsay Lohan, Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman, Dermot Mulroney, Garrett Hedlund, Cary Elwes & Hector Elizondo.
Originally appeared in LakewoodBuzz.com June, 2007.OVERVIEW:Rachel (Lohan) is a rebellious, sexually precocious California teen whose alcoholic mother, Lilly (Huffman), exiles her to Idaho to spend a precollege summer with her tea-totaling, rule-making grandmother, Georgia (Fonda).
"Georgia Rule" is clichéd and it's somewhat unbelievable, but Garry Marshall pulls off an effective drama nonetheless with the help of a truly talented cast.Backstory aside, Lindsay Lohan provides a decent performance as Rachel, a troubled teenage girl who has a history of drug/alcohol abuse and rebellious behavior.
(I'm talking about her character.) Felicity Huffman is Lily, her mother, who, on the verge of a mental breakdown from the stress of keeping up with Rachel, forces her daughter to stay in a remote Idaho town over the summer with her grandmother.Jane Fonda is the most entertaining presence in the film as Georgia, Lily's mother, who agrees to take Rachel in and hopefully get some sense into her.
The three actresses are a great match together and they play off one another well, and Lohan proves she still has talent, if only she could clean her act up off screen then maybe more people would take her films seriously..
She gives an interesting performance along with some funny lines!Jane Fonda made me laugh a few times with the things that she did.Felicity Huffman did a great job at playing Lohan's alcoholic mother, didn't get too many laughs out of her lines or actions..
I watched this movie, thinking it was going to be some teen-focused over dramatic film courtesy of Lindsay Lohan but shockingly, it was really well written and the acting was...fantastic.Jane Fonda was hilarious with her "No taking the lord's name in vain" even though you can still say "f*ck you" and her crazy bar of soap antics and threats to take a bat to Arnold (Cary Elwes) Lindsay Lohan was one of my greatest fears for this movie.
But surprisingly she delivered a great performance for the emotional scenes and kicks of humor thrown in.When first began watching the movie and saw how promiscuous Lohan was acting I thought "Oh great just some stupid movie for her to pimp herself out in." But as the story develops you realize that Rachel is the way she is for a reason and a damn good one at that.Another awesome performance is by Garrett Hedlund, a fairly new actor whose starred in quite a few major movie hits.
The character of Rachel (Lohan) is a very sexually aggressive person and it sort of reminds us of the real Lindsay so it takes away a lot from the film.I do however, think that if you put Lindsay aside, you will enjoy this film.
(I can appreciate the nuance of Polanski directing Dunaway in Chinatown, but not Marshall directing Lohan in Georgia Rule.)Nevertheless, I liked this movie, and I enjoyed watching it.
I expected very good performances by Jane Fonda and Felicity Hoffman but I was overwhelmed by what an excellent actress Lindsay Lohan is.
And in more than a couple situations Jane Fonda really did try her best to salvage this mess.What a terrible mess ms lindsay lohan created in this "thing on celluloid" (to call or in any way refer to "georgia rule" as a movie is to insult everyone in the movie industry - all the way back to the silent film era).
I really would have liked to see her character receive more exposure in this movie.I am surprised that Lohan and Huffman did not receive more acknowledgment for their dramatic roles..
I was shocked when I actually started enjoying it, and like a good novel, i couldn't wait until the end to see how it all "wrapped up." The story is far from a comedy; it's all about personal demons and how three women in a family deal with those demons.
The movie has charm and beauty, but its overwrought plot and strange mixture of melodrama and slapstick distracts from its grace.Lindsay Lohan, an actress who in many ways resembles the aforementioned uncle, plays Rachel, a wild child from California sent by her alcoholic mother (Felicity Huffman) to live with her grandmother Georgia (Jane Fonda) in Utah.
And this is a predominantly feminine movie since female characters are here much more important than men's and very well performed by the three actresses with special prominence to Jane Fonda in one of the best roles of her career as the granddaughter who tries to impose strict rules to her ill behaved daughter and granddaughter.
What happens in this film is the examination of a severely dysfunctional family of women: Rachel (Lindsay Lohan) is an oversexed 17 year old tyrant whose alcoholic mother Lilly (Felicity Huffman) can no longer tolerate and ships her miscreant daughter off to the 'hell world' of Lilly's distant controlling mother Georgia (Jane Fonda) to shape Rachel up for college.
Rachel (Lindsay Lohan) is a mess and forced to stay with her grandmother Georgia (Jane Fonda) in Idaho for the summer before college.
The director, Gary Marshall, is best known for lighter comedies.Jane Fonda plays her part well, but Lindsay Lohan's performance is questionable.
Cary Elwes is very good but, while his character is important to the plot, he isn't on the screen till the end and then not that much.Still, I was interested enough in the movie to see the whole film..
An spoiled, rude but bright young teenager Rachel (Lindsay Lohan) is forced to live with my grandmother Georgia (Oscar-Winner:Jane Fonda) for the summer.
This is a great drama with excellent actors, including Lindsay Lohan, who show us one of her biggest interpretations.The story is really good, about three generations of women and their relationship as a family, including an alcoholic mother and her daughter, who's abused by his father.
Yet, I went to see the movie because in one of the reviews I read it was about "child molestation".The movie is the story of three women grandmother Georgia (Jane Fonda), daughter Lilly (Felicity Hoffman) and granddaughter Rachael (Lindsay Lohan).
But as the story progressed, the character with such weirdness looked so real and acceptable.All the actresses acted well Jane Fonda, Felicity Hoffman but this very talented Lindsay Lohan captures the show - all in all.
There is enough drama, emotion, comedy, and overall scenes of pure joy to make this a good movie.I'll start with Jane Fonda.
Yes, the ending is somewhat Hollywood happier than real life my be--but not in the way you might expect, and not without an understanding of many of the difficult underlying realities.Lindsay Lohan's performance in this movie blew me away.
I like Lindsay Lohan, but I don't remember thinking before this that she deserved an Academy Award.Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman also bring powerful performances to this movie. |
tt0082351 | Eye of the Needle | A man calling himself Henry Faber (Donald Sutherland) is actually "the Needle," a German spy in England during World War II. The Needle dropped out of sight in Germany in 1938 and now inhabits a series of drab bed-sitting-rooms in England while he spies on the British war effort. He is known as the Needle because of his trademarked way of killing people by jabbing a stiletto into their rib cages. He kills with a singular lack of passion, and will kill even the most innocent of bystanders if he thinks they might somehow threaten his objective, or just get in the way.The Needle is a very lonely man. He was raised by parents who did not love him, he was shipped off to boarding schools, and he spent parts of his childhood in America, where he learned English. Perhaps none of these experiences fully explains his isolation and ruthlessness, but maybe it's just part of being a spy.The Needle manages to remain in Britain until the eve of D-Day in 1944, when he learns that the D-Day invasion is to take place on Normandy, and he discovers phony plywood "airplanes" intended to look, from the air, like Patton's invasion force, but it's a ruse to throw off the Germans. Hitler has summoned Faber to come brief him about the Allied invasion plans in person.In his attempt to return to Germany with the information, the Needle travels by boat to an area off the coast of Scotland, intending to rendezvous with a German U-boat, but a fierce storm strands him on the nearby Storm Island.Storm Island is isolated and occupied only by a lighthouse-keeper and by a young married couple, a woman (Kate Nelligan), her partially paralyzed husband David (Christopher Cazenove), their son, and their shepherd, Tom.Lucy is frustrated, mired in a loveless marriage with her emotionally damaged husband. David had been a Royal Air Force commander, but he was paralyzed as a result of an automobile accident on their wedding day.The Needle pretends to be merely a lost sailor. And Lucy, frustrated by her husband's drunkenness and refusal to love, becomes attracted to him. They make love. She grows fond of him. It's not clear if he's fond of her, but he tells her things he has told to no one else.The love affair suggests there's a sympathetic personality buried somewhere inside the Nazi spy, though he remains enigmatic. Early on, we discover that he may not enjoy the hand life has dealt him. When a courier asks him about the way he lives, and "What else can one do?" the Needle answers, "One can just stop."The Needle kills David and the lighthouse-keeper. Lucy realizes that her lover has been lying to her after she discovers David's body, and she prepares to turn him in. The Needle must get to the only radio on the island in time to report to his superiors the exact location of the D-Day invasion. Lucy is the Allies' last chance to keep the details secret. Tension mounts as the Needle races against time to make contact with the U-boat and/or stop Nelligan before she blows the whistle on him.The Needle threatens Lucy, first in a psychological way and then with violence. "The war has come down to the two of us," Sutherland tells Nelligan, as they struggle with what they should do. Nelligan isn't sure if Faber is a treacherous spy or an unloved child, but in the end, she shoots him as he tries to escape in a boat. | suspenseful, intrigue, murder, romantic | train | imdb | null |
tt0424136 | Hard Candy | The movie opens with a chat window between Lensman319 and Thonggirrrrl14. It is obvious that they have been chatting and they make a plan to meet at a local coffee shop that day at 11am. At the coffee shop (called Nighthawks after the famous painting by Ed Hopper) we meet Thonggirrrrl14, Haley Stark (Ellen Page) who is eating a piece of chocolate cake. Jeff Kohlver (Patrick Wilson) walks up to her. She turns and sheepishly smiles and asks, Jeff? She has chocolate on her lips and tells him it is amazing and he has to try it. He wipes the chocolate off her lips and sucks on his thumb. She tells him that he does not seem like the kind of guy that needs to meet girls on the internet (since he is clearly good looking). He says that he prefers it that way because he gets to meet the person first and that as a photographer, he has found that faces lie. She asks if her face lies. He studies her faces and says she is longing, wanting, needing . . . more chocolate. She laughs and a rapport is established between the two. She turns back to the counter and orders more chocolate and coffee and he pays for it. He also buys her a Nighthawks T-shirt. She models the shirt for him. When she is in the bathroom, she quickly opens the door to reveal herself in only her top and we see the Jeff is visibly agitated. He keeps saying that she is only a little girl and that he has to wait 4 years before he could be with her. They sit and talk in there for a while as the camera pans over a poster of a missing girl (Donna) on the message board behind them. He has an live concert MP3 of a band that she loves at his apartment and she invites herself over to listen to it even though they both decide that it is crazy to do so. As they are talking, he points to a huge book in her bag that she covers up and says is a medical textbook from her dad who teaches at a University.They drive in his car to his home. It seems to be some distance from town and they show the windy roads he takes to get there. Jeff lives in a clean well decorated apartment. There are pictures of scantily clad young models on his wall. Haley takes an immediate interest in these pictures and asks how many of these girls he has slept with. One in particular, Janelle, has the date 3/19 on it and Jeff gets antsy when Haley takes it off the wall. He grabs it from her and puts it back. He gets her a drink while she is listening to the MP3 and she says she doesn't drink anything she hasn't mixed herself. She goes into the kitchen and mixes screwdrivers. When Jeff is slow in drinking, she insists that he keep pace with her. She asks to be photographed and plays music loudly and jumps on the couch. He is getting dizzy and weak and finally collapses.When Jeff wakes up he is tied to a wheelchair and Haley has completely changed. The innocent shy girl we met in the beginning was just an act. She has come with a purpose. We learn that she drugged him and that she specifically chose this day to meet him because his neighbors were out and no one would hear him screaming. He accuses her of stalking him. She says that he has been stalking her. Haley has been chatting with him under many screen names on line with different ages and he was only interested in the ones that were under 18. Jeff claims to have had a connection with her. She accuses him of researching topics that she says she is interested in and reveals that she hates the band that she came over to listen to. She accuses Jeff of being a pedophile and says she is going to search his house for clues. He denies it saying he didn't do anything and that she invited herself and was the one being forward. She says that he is the adult and should know better.Haley searches the house and doesn't find anything. She thinks this is suspicious because men usually have some sort of porn around and he doesn't even have that. He does have records on his computer that pictures were downloaded but the pictures are not there. She suspects that this is where the kiddy porn is. In the search, she finds a gun in a box under his bed. She takes out the gun and throws in on the bed She finally finds a safe hidden in the middle of the room in a sort of coffee table with an inset that is filled with stones. Under the stones is the safe. She figures out the code of the safe as the 3/19 on the picture of Janelle whom Jeff is still madly in love with. His screen name also had 319. Her reaction to what she finds in the safe leads us to believe that is where Jeff has been hiding his kiddy porn, but of course, we never see it. There is also a picture of a girl in front of the Nighthawks. Haley throws the picture at Jeff and asks him why she gets to keep her clothes on. He says that he met her once at the cafe but that he never took her back to the house. He denies being a pedophile. The picture is of Donna, the missing girl from the poster in Nighthawks. It is now clear that Jeff had something to do with Donna's disappearance. He tells her to call the cops, that he will confess. She says that what she has in mind is worse but assures him that she does not want to kill him.She leave the room for some reason and he wheels himself to the bedroom and gets the gun. When he wheels back into the kitchen, she is waiting for him with saran wrap. She wraps his face until he passes out. When he comes to again, he is strapped to a wheely table with his pants off and a bag of ice on his genitals. Haley is wearing a green surgeon's smock. She announces that she will castrate him, goes into his studio and sets up his camera so he can watch it. He begs and cries for his balls but she says it is the only way. She begins to try to make a deal with him but then changes her mind. When she begins the surgery, we can hear the cutting noises and see blurrily the screen as the surgery takes place. When she is done, she holds up his balls and contemplates what to do with them. She jokes about seeing how far they will bounce. She finished by putting them down the garbage disposal. She then says she is done with him and she will take a shower and then call a cab and leave.He is furious now and struggles to get free. He manages to do so and immediately feels for his balls. They are still there! She didn't perform the surgery! He checks the video recorder and sees in the VCR a tape of castrations. He runs for the phone and almost dials 911 put instead gets the scalpel and goes into the bathroom for Haley. We can hear the shower running but when he pulls back the curtain, she isn't there. She is behind him with a taser. She zaps him and he falls into tub unconscious again. She then begins to clean the apartment of her fingerprints. In the most comic scene in the movie, Jeff is pathetically crawling in the hallway with the scalpel as Haley moves around him cleaning. She walks by him and zaps him with the taser again until he falls unconscious again.Then we see him tied up in a contraption with a noose around his neck and standing on a chair. She lets him know that she has called Janelle and that she is coming and will see the evidence that he is a pedophile. He freaks out at this. She offers him redemption in the form of a clean reputation. If he would hang himself, she would get rid of the evidence and no one would know that he was a pedophile and Janelle will think he killed himself because of his unrequited love for her. If not, she will see it and then what would she think of him? A neighbor visits at this time and there is a moment that we think Haley will be found out, but she isn't. She tells the neighbor that she is his niece. The neighbor asked her what she was doing on the roof because she saw her there earlier while she was in her garden. The girl slips up when she says that she was on the roof to check a leak. The neighbor informs her that she knows that it hasnt rained and with that the girls just runs in the house. He lunges at her and manages to free himself. She runs around the building, gets the rope and goes to the roof. He grabs a knife and finally finds Haley on the roof. She has his gun. She offers him the same deal again. A noose is set up on the roof. If he will hang himself, no one will know about the little girls. Jeff confesses that he watched and took photos of Donna but that he didn't kill her. He says he will give Haley the name of the person if she would spare him. Haley says she already knows the name and the funny thing is that Aaron said that it was Jeff who did the killing right before he hung himself. Jeff understands now that Haley has set this all up from the beginning. She puts the noose on his head and says, "I promise to get rid of the evidence. No one will know." Meanwhile Janelle has arrived and is downstairs ringing the doorbell. Jeff jumps. Haley looks over the ledge and says, "Or not" | comedy, suspenseful, cruelty, murder, mystery, psychological, cult, sadist, violence, insanity, claustrophobic, revenge, storytelling | train | imdb | The slow, suspenseful film is set mainly in the Los Angeles home of photographer Jeff, a 32 year old man whom Hayley, a mature 14 year old girl who met him online, suspects to be a pedophile.
It is a movie about Hayley (more than excellent Ellen Page) and Jeff, about pedophilia and about how a pedophile must feel.
It is more like disturbing to hear a teenage girl speak how she does, and it is fascinating how your feelings will go from one character to the other during the movie until you realize that no matter what the end is, everyone is guilty of something and it is not to us, humans, to decide what bad actions can be justified by other bad actions.Try on it, and be open-minded.Sorry about any orthographic mistake, I'm not used to English writing..
This sure is some thriller.Darn those MTV filmmakers,when they really use their heads they show some of their true visual talents.Like the debut made by Mark Romanek in One Hour Photo, David Slade really excels as a director who keeps things extremely intense and gripping with a touch of shocking elements and pure disturbance due to its story.A film about a pedophile who invites a 14 year old girl into his house only to lead a disturbing game of cat and mouse with shocking consequences and shocking twists.Along with the superb debut and impressive writing ,it is actually the young Ellen Page who carries the film.You won't find her not mentioned in any review to this film.Hers is a performance worth mentioning,because she takes a huge shift towards her character.
The effect is that the viewer never quite feels he's getting the whole story, and never really feels like he's engaged with the main plot line quite yet.Frequent reference is made to the male character's long-lost childhood girlfriend, but we never really meet her (her face is only shown briefly at the very last moment in the film).
By the end of the movie, you have a basic understanding of these off-plot events you didn't see and people you didn't meet...but it comes only at the very end, and it leaves you wondering why you watched the whole movie just to get that little bit of information.Another reason this film fails is the extended scenes of physical struggle between the two main characters.
I watched this movie tonight...throughout the whole movie it is the story of a little girl torturing a nice man simply because he believes he is a "pedophile." There is no justification to back this up, simply the love for a former model and a fully clothed picture of her.
It's a shame the film industry feels this way.In the entire file I was rooting for the stupid little girl to be murdered and was constantly spouting off things that the poor, tortured individual could do to escape from this evil bitch.WORST MOVIE EVER!!!
This film tries and fails miserably to raise the profile and problem of paedophilia, This film could have had a real impact on people but a very weak story ruined a good opportunity, it neither left me feeling uncomfortable nor wanting to do something to stop paedophile grooming via the internet.This film could have been used as a vessel to really get the authorities to notice and clamp down, but they exchanged story line to try and get shock value IE with doing 'grudge' like stunts and torture.Simply Awful.Avoid at all costs..
It's a 10-minute short stretched beyond belief by way of talk, talk, talk and then some more talk, talk, talk, like really bad one-liners, lame plays on words, characters speaking obvious things like it's some kind of debate on sexual matters that it's actually afraid to talk about.It's a PG-rated afterschool special posing as an R-rated "edgy" "indie" masterpiece.You'll find no gore or anything at all shocking in this movie, so don't bother torturing yourself is that's what you're expecting.To make matters even more annoying, this movie screams of first-time filmmaker.
Just Bad. I read the reviews, and went into the theatre thinking, "alright, this should be good" I was wrong.Basically a short film stretched out to about 2 hours, this movie was overlong with nothing happening.
Although I don't share the common guilty with Jeff (at least not now...), but I'm not quite sure in the days coming I won't hate or be afraid of teenage girls with short hairs and smooth tongue--not because the film successfully portrays the character, but for as obviously enough a reason as that you get sick, for the rest of your life, of somebody violently sweared to you without a cause.However, one point to its visual style, that's all.
The ideas are RETARTED, He is not a pedophile PERIOD he might find young girls attractive but last time I checked a pedo would much rather knock the little annoying excuse for a human out and go to town NOT SEDUCE HER WITH REAL HUMAN EMOTION (THIS MOVIE WOULD NEVER EVER HAPPEN), learn how life works before you make movies about life, don't run before you can walk.Don't watch it, yeah thats right don't is in my vocabulary.No No No No and No, this film is an example of the dropping intelligence of the human race, another example of scientist who could be saving lives but instead decide to make a new faster acting hair color.
People who could be recommending good movies to passers by like me instead of tricking us into watching ABSOLUTE GARBAGE because their morals are messed up and they are brainwashed by the system and the government and they live in fear.Thanks but no thanks i'll be sure to set out time in my life to mess up the live of people who recommend bad movies and worship fake, flawed, undeserving people/things..
The same could be said for the embarrassingly bad dialogue, but what else would you expect from a film completely focused on an out of character, sadistic, 14-year-old-girl and a mentally weak, pussy whipped child photographer.
the great acting in no way makes up for this sick propaganda.i guess there is a 10 line minimum for entering comments so disregard everything i am now typing as it is here to fill up space yes excruciating movie do not see unless you want to use it as fuel to write angry letters to the studios insisting that they stop putting out such morally reprehensible crap.
The close-up style certainly makes for (pleasing) uncomfortable watching but then the pudding is over-egged with the other effects (speeded up/slowed down action; changes in colour, shaky effects etc).The potential questions raised about victim/villain and what exactly is paedophilia are never addressed (despite what other glowing reviews might say) and what we are left with is a movie that is nothing more than a horror movie that is trying to be far to clever for it's own good.A real disappointment when you bear in mind that the topic of the movie should have provided for a really thoughtful and suspense-filled challenge to our notions of young girls and adult men..
HARD CANDY is a movie with a couple of excellent actors in the two lead roles and some nice photography...it goes without saying the script was all about exploitation, but it is utterly without nuance or cleverness of any kind.as is all too often the case with poorly developed and underfunded indie movies, this story (and the audience) would have been better served with a 20- to 30-minute short, rather than a feature-length mess.
the dialog, completely unbelievable/unsettling plus not to mention boring, to the sense where you start to figure out, within the first 5 minutes, that this movie isn't going anywhere good...(and it doesn't help that the whole film deals with a whining teenage girl; oh what could be worse) ....
Well to start off it doesn't deal with the issues; it seems to say the way to treat paedophiles is to castrate them; it says don't go to the police take the law into your own hands; it also has a smart mouthed 14 year old girl in the lead who we, as the audience, are not too sure about; is she mad or is she hell bent on some kind of mission or revenge?
She also has the dialogue of a mature woman when she should be speaking like a 14 year old - bad dialogue writing Mister Nelson.In the movie 'Misery' the audience has sympathy for the writer who has been kidnapped by a stalker; in this film we learn early on that the paedophile has been stalked but after the initial exuberance of his capture our sympathies seem to change when he is abused and tortured.
However, the direction and cinematography are brilliant and there is a technique in one of the tracking shots, used a couple of times, when we go around the table, out through a door and back into the room through another door to look at the scene from the other side of the room, which looks very impressive; there are also semi strobe like affects in a couple of the action scenes which I liked.The Internet is a godsend to paedophiles and if this film does nothing else at all it points that out; it is also aimed at a young female audience, where it might do the most good, so it is a pity that it will be rated 'R' in the US and '18' in the UK.I'm not sure of the significance of the red hood which is seen on the publicity cards and posters unless it is some kind of homage to Nicolas Roeg's 'Don't Look Now' or some reference to Little Red Riding Hood, as it is only seen for a fleeting moment during the movie.
There are also terrific performances from Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page in the two leading roles and a good directorial debut to feature films from David Slade but there are certain moments in this film when the audience claps at the same kind of things that were applauded in 'Thelma and Louise' which made me feel a little uneasy and 'part of the mob.' These scenes made a few male members of the preview audience last night at the Director's Guild squirm in their seats and hide their eyes so be warned it isn't pretty..
The writing is awful, wordy and pretentious, and the director should have stuck with music videos, which this seems more like than a real movie.The only suspense or thrill involved is wondering if there isn't some way to kill off BOTH of these obnoxious characters before the end of the movie.Both Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page are at their worst, and Page is extremely lucky that (for some reason that I can't imagine) Jason Reitman cast her in Juno based on this performance; this movie is so bad that I doubt her budding career could have survived it without a much better movie right on its heels.
It's rare to find a movie that treats the subject fairly really, The woodsman is perhaps the only one recently.I'll keep this short and sweet, basically this movie makes you root for the bad guy, for the so called monster, simply because the female protagonist is so full of teenage arrogance and self righteousness it makes you want to vomit.If she had stopped at one point and not done the most terrible thing at the end, one could have maybe sympathised with her, even understood her motives, but no matter how you do it, she is guilty of far worse than the pedophile and so is beyond our forgiveness.Patrick Wilson puts in a really good performance and makes you give sympathy for the Devil, which is good, but really the poor character's fate is predetermined which is a shame.So we have two monsters and one decides to judge the other because their crime is taboo, even though the girl will comitt perhaps the ultimate crime, it's OK because it's not taboo.I heard this movie was bad and the girl in it was annoying, but I had no idea how truly disappointing this movie is, save your money and go watch something interesting of this pedo genre like 'The woodsman'.
At one point I was just annoyed at the constant impossible events just popping one after the other.On the other hand, the plot is cunning and original and the acting is good, but the development is absolutely nonsensical and the action improbable.In conclusion, the movie is worthwhile although personally I did not enjoy most of it..
The whole movie (that's about one hour and three quarters - still very long for me) was only about the vengeance or justice-making (or however you want to call it) of a 14 year-old girl towards a supposed pedophile.
Anyway, I think that maybe girls would like this movie more, because, well, it talks about an independent girl making justice for herself, but that's just for teenager girls probably seeing Hayley and saying "hey, look, a girl can be independent".
The movie is predictable and cheesy and the ending is of no consequence.Then there's this: if viewers are supposed to believe that a petite fourteen year old girl is capable of such things, then at the very least, she should have the power to consent to sexual intercourse, right?
And I actually admire Sandra Oh.There are a few good things though: the story actually plays out properly (in a cinematic/screenplay sense only, though it gets weaker and less watchable as it progresses), the character interaction is absorbing, and the acting is top-notch (Patrick Wilson is awesome in this film; Ellen Page is quite annoying and sickening but does her job well).
And when you learn the true motives and intentions of the characters, the first half of the film makes little sense.I'd also like to comment on the acting of Ellen Page - just because a young actress has so much dialogue and gets to pout and shout a lot DOES NOT MAKE HER A GREAT ACTRESS.
Hell, no: the only thing truly disturbing in this film was that poor little girl trying to act like a cold-blooded killer.
A 14 year old girl who says things like "Hayley" does when she first meets "Jeff" would instantly come across as too mature and is really not very authentic.
Since then Slade has gone on to direct "30 Days of Night" and the upcoming Twilight film "Eclipse."Ellen Page plays Haley, a 14 year old girl, who meets Wilson's 32 year old character, Jeff, over the internet.
Let me justify my summary: The character development is so incredibly weak that you are left to conjecture about the motives of the characters, or even their identities after you've watched it.The screenplay leaves little to be desired in terms of depth and is so horribly cliché that you'll think that you've stumbled upon some kind of MTV movie, which is actually a flattering category for this pile to be in.Ellen Page overacts her part to such an extent that she merely functions as a "mouthpiece for the writer" as another reviewer had put it; her exaggerated tone and uneven emotional transitions throughout the flick really make it feel almost as horribly directed as a high school play.The male actor does a mediocre job, but nothing that could salvage the terrible dialogue and unrealistic events that really prevent any kind of appreciation for the theme.Without "spoiling" (sort of like letting a dog turd dry in the sun I suppose) this flick, all I can say is that physics and biology is lost to the people who cast and directed this abomination.How it got more than 2 stars is a mystery to me; maybe there are just that many rabid feminists on IMDb..
This movie was a real hard candy to swallow!!!Ellen Page has no face expression, lacks emotions, it is clear that this girl lacks acting skills at all...Patrick Wilson brilliant as usual..I was laughing because some people said Jeff was a pedophile but my question is...Hayley provoked him all time and Jeff never touched her....should he be called a pedophile??
And it's in this climate of fear over paedophiles that this film is released."Hard Candy" is the tale of a fourteen year old girl, Hayley, who meets a thirty-something man online, Jeff, and who after three weeks of chatting, suggests that they should meet each other in person.
I do not understand how a man directed this film, it is a load of feminist rubbish.The lead girl is so annoying you want to rip your hair out and although the guy is a paedophile, he most definitely deserves both to live and to get his revenge by not just raping her but by raping her while she is hanging.At the end and it makes you feel like there is no justice for troubled man that needs help.
Made for a small budget (yet the production values are so very artistic that it feels like an expensive film), HARD CANDY is essentially a duet for two actors: the actors Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson deliver performances that become indelibly burned on the mind of the viewer.32-year old photographer Jeff has been chatting online with 14-year old Haley for three weeks using standard chat room seduction lines.
This movie focuses on two people, Hayley who is a 14 year old girl and a 30 something pedophile named Jeff.
The film is so serious at times, it was nice to get a chuckle here and there to allow audiences to take a breather from being pinned to their seats with suspense.Like I previously stated there are only two real characters in this movie those being Hayley and Jeff.
A big problem with this film is that we can't care about any of these people; Jeff is a creepy, but boring "photographer", who likes to photograph young girls, and talk to them on the internet. |
tt0081248 | Le notti del terrore | Professor Ayres obtains a tablet from an ancient Etruscan cave. He proceeds to hack at a cave wall, while a stone mechanism activates behind him. Turning around, he sees a skeletal zombie looming towards him and within seconds, several more catch him and eat him.A group of people arrive at the country mansion where Ayres is staying. They make up of couple Evelyn and George with their 13-year-old son Michael, and other couples Mark and Janet, and Leslie and James. That night, Michael pretends to be asleep and he walks in on Evelyn and George having sex, upon which Evelyn angrily shoos him away. Janet has a nightmare that something terrible will happen but Mark manages to calm her down.The next day, James and Leslie head outside to make out. Mark photographs Janet around the estate, while George shows Evelyn the artifacts that Ayres had unearthed from the caves. In the house, the butler Nicholas and the maid Kathleen witness several bulbs exploding due to some electrical interference.Meanwhile, the countless zombies emerge from the caves and into the countryside. While Janet and Mark make out, a zombie rises from the ground and grabs Janet. They both flee the zombies, as do James and Leslie when they witness one emerging from a stone crypt. Another few zombies encounter Evelyn, George and Michael in the cellar. George attempts to shoot them with his pistol, while Evelyn and Michael escape. They eventually overcome George where they rip him apart and devous his innards.Janets foot is caught in a bear trap in the garden, after which two zombies catch up with them. Mark is grabbed by a zombie and strangled, while the other zombie attacks Janet. James and Leslie arrive and kill the zombies by cracking their heads open with rocks. Evelyn and Michael are caught in the cellar, but Evelyn douses their attackers with flammable paint and sets them alight. All the survivors make it to the mansion and Nicholas lets them inside.Night falls and they barricade the windows and doors, while the zombies utilise the tools from an old shed. Mark sends Kathleen to make sure all the windows are boarded up upstairs but she finds one open. She goes to close it but a zombie throws a knife at her hand, piercing it and nailing it to the window. While screaming in pain, the zombies decapitate her with a scythe. James goes upstairs to the second floor and sees Kathleen's corpse, which he throws out to distract the zombies while he closes the window. The zombies meanwhile hack at the doors of the house with the tools. James and Mark open fire on them with shotguns they find in a closet, killing several of them by shooting them in the head. After a few minutes, with their numbers dwindling, the zombies retreat out of range.During this lull in the siege, Leslie goes to find bandages for Janet's foot but a zombie grabs her by the hair when she passes a window and pulls her towards the sharp edges of the glass, impaling and killing her. Janet is cornered when zombies break through one part of the house, and she repels them using a spear. James and Mark arrive to help her, while Evelyn defends Michael from some zombies with a long dagger. Eventually, they kill the zombies that are inside the masnion and barricade up the room.A while later, Evelyn tells Michael that she's sorry she brought him here, after which she is shocked when he makes incestuous sexual advances on her. She angrily slaps him and he runs away. He stumbles upon Leslie's corpse which reanimates and ambles towards him.Meanwhile, Janet sees the zombies in the courtyard gathering for a second assault on the house and Mark suggests they let them in and hide. Evelyn goes to find Michael, and spots Leslie's blood near the window. Following the trail of blood, Evelyn steps into a bathroom where she is horrified to see the zombie Leslie devouring a dead Michael's arm. After crying over his corpse for a moment, she madly attacks the zombified Leslie, bashing her head against the bathtub and killing the zombie.The zombies use a log as a battering ram to break through the front door, and the group flees upstairs. They hide inside a cupboard while the zombies amble to the top floor. A broken Evelyn joins them and they make their way out of the house. Nicholas falls behind everyone else and meets a zombified Professor Ayres on his way out. Ayres attacks him, ripping his throat out and eating his innards.The remaining survivors flee into the nearby woods and they decide to wait til morning before moving out. In the morning, the group spots a monk walking into a monastery and follow him. James attempts to find the monk and stumbles into a room full of monks, but they are actually zombies in shrouds who immediately kill and feast on James. Evelyn, Mark and Janet discover this and flee while James reanimates as a zombie.The three survivors of Mark, Janet, and Evelyn flee to a nearby architecture workshop and shove one the models in front of the gate. They are soon besieged by a stray zombie, while the rest of them attempt to break through the gate. Evelyn and Janet hold the gate closed while Mark dispatches the zombie by throwing him over a balcony. They attempt to escape but a zombie Michael appears and Evelyn is overcome with happiness, believing him to still be alive. Still regaining the desire, Michael exposes her breast but bites it off viciously, while more zombies pile in trapping Mark and Janet. Mark is grabbed by two zombies who force his head into a buzz saw killing him. George, now a zombie, arrives and feasts on his dead wife's face, while others devour her body. A zombified James joins the majority of the countless zombies who simultaneously reach for Janet. Janet screams as the zombies attack and kill her as well. Apparently there are no more humans alive in the area. The zombies have won."The earth shall tremble, graves shall open, they shall come among the living as messengers of death and there shall be the nights of terror."'Prophecy of the Black Spider' | revenge, cult, grindhouse film, murder, violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0111973 | Fushigi Yûgi | Middle-school student Miaka Yki feels a lot of pressure to pass the entrance exam for the competitive Jonan Academy. Her friends do not believe she will get in, but she is determined to because her mom expects her to. Her best friend, Yui Hongo, is smart and has also applied to the Jonan Academy. While at the library one day, Miaka and Yui encounter a strange book known as The Universe of the Four Gods. As a result of reading this book, they are then transported into the novel's universe. However, Yui is transported back to the real world almost immediately. Inside the novel Miaka discovers that she is the Priestess of Suzaku and destined to gather the seven Celestial Warriors of the god Suzaku in order to summon Suzaku and obtain three wishes. She falls in love with the Celestial Warrior Tamahome, who eventually reciprocates and Miaka's desire to use a wish to enter the high school of her choice begins to shift towards finding a way to be with Tamahome. Yui, who is also drawn into the book when she was trying to help Miaka to come back to the real world, becomes the Priestess of Seiryuu, working against Miaka out of jealousy over Tamahome and revenge for the humiliation and pain she had suffered when she first came to the book world.
The series describes the various trials that teenagers Miaka and Yui face, both quest-driven and personal. Feeling betrayed, the two oppose one another as priestesses, bringing together their own respective warriors and vying for the chance to be granted one wish by the gods whom they hope to summon. | romantic, alternate reality, murder | train | imdb | null |
tt1467304 | The Human Centipede (First Sequence) | Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie), two American tourists in Germany, are drugged and involuntarily detained by crazed surgeon Dr. Josef Heiter (Dieter Laser) when they seek help at his house after they get a flat tire. The women awake in a makeshift medical ward. They witness Heiter kill a kidnapped truck driver after Heiter informs him he is "not a match". Heiter secures a new male captive, Japanese tourist Katsuro (Akihiro Kitamura). The doctor explains that he is a world-renowned expert at separating Siamese twins, but dreams of making new creatures by sewing people together. He describes in detail how he will surgically connect his three victims mouth-to-anus, so that they share a single digestive system.
After Lindsay tries to escape and fails, Heiter explains that he had previously experimented with creating what he called a "three-dog", also joined mouth-to-anus. However, the three-dog died shortly after surgery. Heiter tells Lindsay that one dog tried to escape and that dog became the middle, thus this caused the most pain to the dog and as punishment for her escape attempt, she will become the middle part of his centipede. Heiter performs the surgery, placing Katsuro at the lead, Lindsay in the middle and Jenny at the rear. He removes the front teeth of both women and mutilates the buttocks of both Katsuro and Lindsay in order to provide easier access to the rectums, to which he hideously stitches and grafts their mouths. During his procedure, he severs the ligaments within his victims' knees to prevent leg extension, forcing his victims to crawl. He then connects his victims together in a straight line with their mouths surgically attached to the anus of the victim in front of them.
Once the operation is complete, Heiter attempts to train his centipede as a pet, often belittling Katsuro with racist insults and beating him with a crop when he becomes rebellious. When Katsuro defecates, Lindsay is forced to swallow his excrement while the doctor watches in delight. However, he eventually becomes irritated after being kept awake by the constant screaming of Katsuro (who, as the front part of the centipede, has his mouth free and is still able to speak) and the realization that Jenny is dying from septicemia. When two detectives, Kranz (Andreas Leupold) and Voller (Peter Blankenstein), visit the house to investigate the disappearance of tourists, Heiter comes up with an idea to add them as replacements for Jenny in a new creation; a four-segment centipede. He offers the two detectives water spiked with sedatives in hopes of knocking the two unconscious. After being given the water, the detectives become suspicious and obtain a search warrant for his home. While the detectives leave Heiter's home, the victims attempt to escape. Katsuro attacks Heiter in the process. Their attempt to escape ultimately fails. Katsuro confesses to the doctor that he deserves his fate because he had treated his own family poorly, then commits suicide by slitting his throat with a glass shard.
Upon returning to Heiter's home, the detectives forcefully conduct separate searches as an injured Heiter hides near his swimming pool. Kranz finds the ward along with Heiter's victims. Voller begins to feel ill from the earlier drugging, and Heiter stabs him with the scalpel pulled from his leg during Katsuro's attack. Upon finding Voller dead, Kranz is shot by Heiter with Voller's sidearm. Kranz responds by shooting Heiter in the head before dying. Back in the house, Jenny and Lindsay hold hands as Jenny dies. Lindsay sobs as she is left alone in the house, trapped between her deceased fellow captives. Her fate is left unknown. The film ends with the sounds of her sobbing while the camera pans to the roof of the house. | comedy, murder, stupid, cult, horror, insanity, sadist | train | wikipedia | If you want to know what this movie is about in a nutshell, here are some key plot points - mouth sewn to anuses, swallowing feces, and humans turned into slaves without dignity.
Wow, what a pointless and redundant film.It would seem word of mouth has spread into the anus of the internet and shat out this crap film.Despite the hype, the Human Centipede does nothing interesting with its premise or characters - its almost as if Six thinks the *concept* can do most of the leg work for him.And apparently those taken by the original concept require little else from a film - like working through the implications of its own premise or delivering an experience that can stand on its own feet.
Take away the striking *image* of three people turned into a human centipede, and you are left with an indistinct film with few thrills.The mad scientist trope barely transcends hackneyed cliché, and the film completely squanders a great opportunity for subtext: what (for example) is the meaning of a male Asian as the head of the centipede and/or what does two American women following him mean?
Despite the 'logical' (linear) approach of the 'narrative', the characters motivations generally defy logic and rational explanation.Unlike great horror movies, this film literally has nothing to say about modern culture, gender roles, human fears or scientific hubris.Even worse, the cheap thrills are standard fare.
Instead of (say) feeling sorry for the two female characters in the film, you pity the two female *actresses* playing bare breasted women on all fours and eating crap in the form of Six's 'script'.Dieter was typically creepy as the mad scientist, but he can do this stuff in his sleep.
Contrary to so many of the torture porn films that try to punch up the shock value through sadism The Human Centipede has almost no blood and lets your imagination fill in the horrific blanks.If you know nothing about this movie, allow me to enlighten you.
This combined with slicing ligaments in the knees to prevent erect walking and you got yourself one human centipede.Likely, your mind is already made up on if you want to see this movie; you are either intrigued or repulsed (likely both).
The good Doctor Heiter is played by German Dieter Laser (or as I like to pronounce in a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, 'Deeder Lazer') and he is truly terrifying; icy, ruthless and completely unsympathetic towards his captives.
The slogan for this movie reads '100% medically accurate' and while I'm unsure of the validity of that statement it really stands as a moot point; plausible or preposterous, The Human Centipede does its job the best since the original Saw.Tom Six is already planning a sequel entitled The Human Centipede (Full Sequence).
Just gonna do a quick review here, there's way too many reviews that go on way too long about the the whys and wherefores of this movie.It's a relatively low budget horror film about a very loony, very angry scientist who clearly does not like humans.
Okay, American tourists with a car that breaks down - of course they go wandering through the dark German woods (you could play a drinking game and have to take a shot every time they say "Lindsay" and "Jenny" to each other - you'd be wasted) - and they come about a remote house and wouldn't you know it - just their luck - the house belongs to a complete nutjob surgeon who used to separate conjoined twins and now is obsessed with stitching people together.
The film is kooky but well made, the lead guy (who looks a bit like Lance Henrickson) gives 100% and is fine as the mad doctor but the whole concept reeks of teenage boys getting stoned for the first time and playing a game - let's come up with the grossest thing that could be done to you in surgery.
I found myself squeamishly anticipating the capture/torture/operation of the victims, but even that was a letdown, and once the centipede is created, it just gets boring.This was essentially a low-rent version of Silence of the Lambs; a guy kidnaps people and puts them in his basement where he turns them into a perverse personal art project.
EPIC FAIL.I wasn't expecting much when my friend talked me into watching this one but this movie isn't just bad, it is without a doubt the most horrendous film I have ever seen.
I love horror movies, and can put up with more cheesy, idiotic ones than most people, but The Human Centipede takes the cake as the most painful to watch, pathetic example of a movie that has ever been made.
"The Human Centipede" wasn't that bad.Sure the concept idea of connecting three individuals together in that matter is twisted, but it hardly qualified to be as gross as people made it out to be.
The not-so-good doctor drugs the Americans and makes them part of his insane ambition to make a human centipede.I will say that the story progressed nicely at a good pace, and there were some great moments throughout the movie.
Dieter Laser's character Dr. Heiter also had the best comment in the entire movie; "I don't like human beings".
46 minutes into the movie you see the actual Human Centipede, which is three people with stitch effects on their faces and tons of bandages.
Now, that is true horror, ladies and gentlemen!!And I don't know which of the critiques I find most funny, on the one hand you have the boring, moralistic nay-sayers, pettily warning other people to not watch the film because of its disgusting, horrifying nature.
But it was fairly well done, and I have to admit that I've never seen anything remotely like it before.I think it's worth pointing out that The Human Centipede does the same thing as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in that while people remember it as being a disgusting and violent film, it's practically bloodless.
Honestly if you can get past the fact that this is a movie about a mad scientist that sews people together mouth-to-anus, then you can watch it.
All this "worst movie ever made" is utter nonsense, By retrospect, Cannibal Holocaust, A Serbian Film, or even Twilight were more disturbing, not by much, but still, I rate their frights higher than Human Centipede.
For everyone that's seeing all these reviews about it being horrible, suck it up, honestly, it's not that bad, when my friend and I had finished watching it all we could think about was how the scientist looked "REALLY" excited about his injections, in fact, we were laughing by the end of it.
There's a lot of hype going around about this film being the most shocking, disturbing and outrageous horror movie in decades but don't believe it.
This isn't an exploitation movie so don't expect any gore, shocking violence or disgusting situations based around what actually takes place in the film.
Yes, what these three people go through is horrific but the film doesn't try to exploit the situation so those just looking for scenes of gross shocks are going to be disappointed.
I feel ashamed to be a member of the human race when I see a film like this is making money for some sicko movie makers.
I have mixed feelings about this film, I liked the originality of the concept and some thrilling and suspense filled chase/crawl scene when the victims were trying to escape the mad surgeon,it's sorta like a psychological thriller.
But of all the merits of these film , sadly it is over shadowed by a sick and disgusting concept, its original but I think only a person with a fetish for eating human waste would like the idea of a human centipede horror movie.Honestly i would prefer senseless gore rather than a concept as TASTELESS as this film is, I just feel that some ideas were not meant to be put on film such as this one had.I hear they are making a sequel, I definitely am NOT gonna see that one, I already had enough disgust for this one..
Last but not least, although he did not speak any lines in a language that I could understand, I think Akihiro Kitamura played the part of some Japanese guy wonderfully.All in all the film makes for a promising start of what should proves to be an exciting franchise not unlike such hits as Look Who's Talking Now and Harry Potter.Viewer discretion: some scenes graphically depict the consumption of alcohol.
And this nimbly bimbly thought process of mine is backed up with the ridiculousness that is, The Human Centipede.And I'm speaking for myself now, so don't get all prissy, but one of my favorite ideas in
really any genre of film is when the Mad Scientist is involved.
If you don't know about the movie...just read the title.Besides that other Serbian Film being talked about so much this year, The Human Centipede is easily the other most talked about horror film coming out.
This entire escape scene feels tagged on in order to pad out the running time.For a supposedly disturbing flick, with a totally twisted premise, THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE is actually quite blood-less.
You can definitely see the suffering and downright agony in their eyes after the "procedure".If you want to see people in crazy situations, you'd be better off watching the Saw movies.
Don't waste your time seeking this movie out to watch it; it really isn't worth the effort.Anybody calling this "art" needs to head out and find their nearest museum so they can see what they are comparing this trash to..
I wish I could say this movie was self aware of how bad it was executed, sadly I truly think Tom Six is not only proud of this but finds it revolutionary...Here is A quote from Mr.Six himself paraphrased "Why make movies unless they are original." and i respect that quote on a lot of levels...now lets review this movie.A mad doctor is kidnapping people (Totally original), in his house thats in the middle of nowhere and apparently never checked on unless of course you are a lost tourist (UNDENIABLY ORIGINAL), so he can experiment on them and make his mad vision come to life.
(Most original concept ever amirite?) So generally speaking this movie kicks Tom Six's own quote in the balls, put thats fine why cant there be a good movie about a mad scientist and his whacked out brutal experiments the answer there is none, but there is a reason why it didn't work here.Six seems to have problems moving his characters out of the first dimension and this starts to show almost immediately instead of a proper prologue of some sort the film just simply begins, we are almost expected to know why this scientist is a mad scientist, and why he wants to make this human centipede.At this point we met our (loosely put) protagonist 2 American tourists who get lost on the way to the club...apparently there are no highways in Germany, so their car gets stranded in the woods (Tom's originality once again shines in such a plot device) after not being able to get help because their cell phones aren't getting reception (there goes that loss end) they stumble into the doctors house where we begin our last 75 minutes of useless shenanigans another tourist is kidnapped off screen and brought in then seriously it plays out like every movie involving A kidnapped person ever has...and to top it off there is some Tommy Wiseau quality acting in this baby, that comparison being made there is a lot of similarities between this and Wiseau's work, id go as far as to call it, "The Room of Horror Movies".Its badly acted, written, directed, and just plain annoying to sit through, it doesn't even have the camp value movies like Troll 2 or Plan 9 have its just all around bad film creating...but then again Tom Six did make it..
Further, he exposes his insane project of creating the human centipede, joining three human beings through the mouths and anuses."The Human Centipede (First Sequence)" is a gruesome and repulsive film with excessive black humor (and bad taste), but also an original trash movie.
a low budget poor quality film badly acted i have seen more scarier Disney films really over rated i wish i could give it a 0 but sadly the lowest score is one i have watched house of a thousand corpse and the devils rejects those are sick films this is no where near sick its like a film from pound land but worse i really do not know what the hype is about but obviously the producer loves this because people will pay such good money to watch a peace of rubbish like this really i advise you all not to watch this film unless this is your very first horror film and you are a real big wimp i would not even class this as a horror more of a thriller due to the fact that it is so stupid and I'm only blabbing on because it has to be ten lines so sorry..
This entire movie revolves around the work of the classic mad scientist who sets himself to the task of kidnapping three people and turning them into a "human centipede" - by attaching the mouth of the one behind onto the anus of the one in front.
This black Horror story written and directed by Tom Six began as a sick joke on such a night but somehow ventured onto the silver screen as a mad adaption of 'Saw.' The movie is called " The Human Centipede " and is definitely not for the squeamish or easily offended.
The director's idea intrigued me alone, since i had doubts about how something like this could be shown on screen.WATCHING THE FILM: Okay time to state the opinions!
Still, "The Human Centipede" remains a harrowing experience to watch.When the movie was over, all I could think of was that the girls would've save themselves from A LOT of trouble had they known how to change a flat tire.
I found the girls (like most B grade horror) to be fairly poor actors , and yes-their lack of ability to even attempt a tyre change and then to traverse thick woods instead of walk along a road?-well-that fits with B grade well enough-so i wasn't phased by it, but i found the anxiety and distress of the resulting creature rather moving and realistic, and a wonderful little exercise in horror..sure the Christian family person who loved Titanic and Mission Impossible, who thought 'Precious' and 'The Killer inside me' was sick-and who doesn't like horror is always going to slam this kind of thing-but for the toughnuts who like black stuff-i actually think this is quite well done and satisfying once you get past the initial bore of poor decisions.
While I'm not a fan of the torture porn genre, I very much love mad scientists and so I sat down to watch The Human Centipede, knowing that it would probably be quite disappointing.So now, a good hour and a half later, I'm sitting here confused and bewildered.I have seen a lot of film, but never before have I seen a film completely missing a script.
The Human Centipede has less of a plot than a music video.The acting is a mixed bowl of good, decent and bad, but as this is a horror flick, great acting is not something you'd expect anyway.
on the surface it's a horror film with one of the greatest mad scientist performances ever from Dieter laser it also has a really disturbing central idea.
When I read the short synopsis for this I thought, sounds like it might be a new horror film idea and not some redone crap.Well, while the story's concept was possible interesting this film was completely ruined by terrible acting.
Not Sure What To Say. Well first things first.I am not sure why i give this movie 5*.I liked it and i didn't.Guess that sounds confusing.Sorry but i am confused.I like this because it is way f-d up.The plot is pretty original in my opinion.I can't say I've ever seen anything quite like it.This is one twisted Doctor.The writer/director Tom Six is pretty twisted himself.I mean where do you come up with this kind of idea?I know in all the Horrors i have seen, some can be way out there,and twisted but this puts twisted on the map.If you know what i mean.I feel the movie was a bit slow.My biggest and really only problem with it was i found the acting to be real poor(sorry to the actors who had to endure).Without giving anything away i guess it's hard to act in this type of predicament.I will have to wait for the next installment which i will watch,maybe there can be some better acting.If you like twisted and i mean twisted give this a shot.Let's read your review..
'THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE): Zero Stars (Out of Five) I really like and respect horror movies; I think they often require the most imagination, creativity and talent to produce out of any genre of film.
The Human Centipede First Sequance was quite a disturbing film and some scenes made me feel a bit sick.
The whole concept of the film is some huge gross-out thing about a mad scientist creating a human centipede out of some unwilling test subjects, and that's all there is to it.It's not enough material to sustain a genuine running time, so we get lots of dull scenes elsewhere.
And people who are down on that level are going to level with The Human Centipede, a film about virtually nothing.
The film is utterly pointless, pure trash, and if ANYBODY needs to be turned into a human centipede, its the entire crew who worked on this movie, with Six as the tail end! |
tt0060666 | Manos: The Hands of Fate | While on vacation near El Paso, Texas, Michael, Margaret, their young daughter Debbie and their dog, Peppy, drive through the desert in search of a hotel called "Valley Lodge." Margaret insists they are lost, and Michael claims they are not. They are then pulled over by a local deputy for a broken taillight, but are let go after Michael asks them for mercy since they are on vacation. After long shots of driving through farmland and the desert, intercut with scenes of two teenagers making out in a car and being caught by the deputies, the family finally reach a house, tended by the bizarre, satyr-like Torgo, who says he takes care of the place "while The Master is away." The house seemed to appear out of nowhere, and Torgo acts very strange. Apprehensive, Michael and Margaret ask Torgo for directions to the Valley Lodge; Torgo denies having knowledge of such a place. Frustrated, Michael asks Torgo to let him and his family stay the night, despite objections from both Torgo and Margaret.
Inside the house, Michael and Margaret find a disturbing painting of a dark, malevolent-looking man and a black dog with glowing eyes; Torgo says the man it depicts is The Master. Margaret becomes frightened upon hearing an ominous howl; Peppy breaks away from Debbie and runs outside after the howl. Michael investigates, retrieving a flashlight and revolver from his car, and finds Peppy lying dead on the ground. Michael buries the dog in the desert, and goes back to the house. Meanwhile, Torgo reveals his sudden attraction to Margaret and tells her that although The Master wants her to become his bride, he intends to keep her for himself. Torgo then spends the next few minutes trying to grope her shoulder. Margaret threatens to tell Michael of Torgo's advances, but Torgo convinces her not to say anything by promising to protect her. Michael returns and is unable to start the car. Torgo tells them there is no phone in the house, so the family reluctantly decides to stay the night.
After another scene of Torgo peeping in on Margaret changing clothes, Michael and Margaret find Debbie is gone and go to look for her. Debbie returns, holding the leash of a big black dog, the same dog from the painting. Following Debbie, Michael and Margaret stumble upon The Master and his wives, sleeping around a blazing fire. The wives are dressed in diaphanous nightgowns, The Master in a robe with two red hands on it. Margaret and Debbie run back to the house to get their things and escape. As Michael runs behind them, Torgo appears and uses a stick to knock him out and then ties him to a pole. The Master awakens and summons his wives, telling them that Michael must be sacrificed to the deity Manos, and Margaret and Debbie will become his new wives. He then leaves.
The other wives argue among each other about whether Debbie should become a wife or be sacrificed as well. This turns into a catfight, where the wives tumble around in the dirt. The Master returns and breaks up the fight, and decides to sacrifice Torgo and his first wife instead. Meanwhile, Michael wakes up and unties himself, going back to the house to collect Margaret and Debbie. The family leaves the house and runs off into the desert to escape. The Master summons Torgo and hypnotizes him, ordering the wives to kill him. The wives "kill" him by running their hands over his face, The Master then severs and burns Torgo's left hand. Torgo runs off into the darkness, and The Master then sacrifices his first wife.
As Michael, Margaret and Debbie run through the desert, Margaret falls and says she can't go any farther. A rattlesnake appears in front of them and Michael shoots it, the noise attracting the attention of the deputies, who think the noises come from Mexico and leave it at that. Margaret convinces Michael to return to the house, as the cult would never think to look for them there. They go back and find The Master and his dog waiting for them. As The Master comes towards them Michael fires several shots into The Master's face at point-blank range, but they have no effect.
The film then cuts to another pair of travelers, two women starting their vacation. They drive through a rainstorm, searching for a place to stay. After more driving they end up at The Master's house. An entranced Michael greets them, telling them "I take care of the place while The Master is away." The ending scene shows Margaret and Debbie have become wives of The Master, and all are asleep. | good versus evil, cult, psychedelic, murder | train | wikipedia | That's what makes a film truly bad: the fact that despite its overbearing weaknesses it isn't even entertaining!Many people look back at the sixties and think, with obvious resentment for today's cinematic output, that "they don't make them like this anymore!".
Every so often, someone comes onto IMDb (or a similar forum) and declares that such-and-such a film is, and I quote, "THE WORST MOVIE EVER!!!" Usually the culprit is the latest big-budget, little-story extravaganza, or some popular work receiving its expected share of backlash.
Clearly, these innocent souls have never seen an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Specifically, they have never been exposed to the horror that is "Manos: The Hands of Fate." Sure, plenty of movies are bad, but usually if you look hard enough, you can see some evidence that someone on board had at least a vague idea of how to make a film work.
Anyway, things happen, arguments go in circles, the mom of the family yells for her husband so much you wonder how she ties her shoes in the morning without him, the husband makes so many wrong decisions you wonder if he'd be any help with the shoe-tying thing, and the female cultists get into an extended wrestling match, revealing that under their diaphanous Grecian robes they're wearing modern bras and underwear.There's much more, of course, but "Manos" is like a train wreck, or a natural disaster: I could describe it to you, but you'd never understand the full level of horror unless you witness it for yourself.
Not because it's poorly done, because there are movies, like "Monster A-Go-Go", that are more poorly conceived, acted, directed, filmed, and edited.
Almost nothing happens (certainly not anything interesting) and if you survive the first ten minutes of driving around the countryside you'll just want everyone in the film to die.However, because this movie is so brilliantly and incredibly bad, I suggest everyone watch it just to know it.
I also doubt you would find a regular version of this movie, since I doubt anyone would be crazy enough to have one.Interestingly, the guy who plays the mean, stupid, and totally useless husband wrote, directed, and produced the film, and the guy who plays "The Master" did the art direction.
This ends up being a horror film with virtually no horror, an action film with the most poorly shot action sequences I've ever seen, and an artsy jazz vehicle with such poor acoustic sound quality that it would have been much better with just the groovy soundtrack and no dialog.The biggest problem with Manos is what we call "Production values".
The acting is not entirely awful - but the sound, editing, pacing and camera work are so bad that the actors all look totally ridiculous at all times.
The script is not the worst I've seen, but it is lost in the jerks and irks of the pace (dramamine recommended), and finally, the plot is no worse than some of the recent Hollywood horror catastrophes I have seen, but it to is swept up in the maelstrom of maleficence emanating from the director's chair.The result would make a great object example for a film production class in "what not to do".
The leading man is a Frank Zappa lookalike with only a fraction of the talent Zappa (being dead) has.However, the real star of the film, Torgo (a goat-man), performed in some of the best walking-from-one-end-of-the-set-to-another scenes I have seen since 1950s Corman films.Finally, the fights (or are they orgies?) between Manos' wives, which we are asked to believe to be deadly, are utterly hilarious.The MST3K version of this incredibly dreadful bit of late 60s trashola is one of Joel and the Bots' best, but even their antics fail to make this movie wholly tolerable.Rated: For Insomniacs Only..
What can I say about a movie so bad that it makes Plan 9 From Outer Space look like Casablanca?
Well, after reading quite a few extremely hyped reviews and discussions throughout the internet, I decided to try my luck and buy the alleged worst film of all time: ''Manos': The Hands of Fate'.
Almost every aspect of the film is done poorly, yet as odd as it sounds, the movie generates a charming and enjoyable little atmosphere; it simply does not feel like the worst one out there.
I would know, since reading the IMDb comments, getting a load of laughs from them and feeling a complete sense of empathy with other poor souls who dared to watch this movie, knowing exactly where they are coming from, is just about the only good thing I have gotten out of MTHOF.
In Manos we basically have: driving; boredom; more driving; more boredom; a feeling of being mentally raped within the first 15 minutes (not many movies can do that, you know!); more driving; some rather purposeless necking; (did I mention the driving?); Torgo, our favorite strange person with deformed knees; a family, in whose creation Darwin's laws of natural selection seem to have been completely ignored, gladly deciding to spend the night in "the master's" house; a touching display of affection through holding hands (or is it?); a bored kid; a dead dog, i think; some melodramatic "hand-waving"; a puzzlingly out-of-the-blue all-out wrestling match amongst the ladies, thoroughly making me question my previous enjoyment in watching such activities; how massaging someone to death would look like and last, but quite least, the absolutely tasteless ending, complete with a subsequent cast introduction to give it a "campy" feel.
When Torgo describes his master as being `not dead the way you know it' and `with us always' he is speaking for all of us, how we truly live on through the memory of our words and deeds in the minds of those who follow us, be they righteous or malevolent.Hal Warran not only changed the face of the Texan film industry by encapsulating such a grand story in less than 75 minutes, it also helped usher in a whole new perspective of looking at film, discovering different forms which never would have been conceived.
This is Manos: Hands of Fate.Years ago, in the dusty desert outside El Paso, an unknown fertilizer salesman decided to craft a horror film with the assistance of friends throughout the El Paso area, and a legend was born.
It isn't as bad as Monster-a-Go-Go, but it almost manages to snatch the sorry laurels of worst movie ever made from that Lovecraftian abomination.Manos must have put good directors like Kubrick or Capra in convulsions during its production: so powerful is the elemental force of badness flowing from every stinking pore of its perverse form.
The shocking orgiastic violence and the horrifying screen presence of Torgo, the master's minion, have yet to be topped by today's unassuming and bland filmmakers.I have watched Manos several times and each time I see another facet of sparkling genius in this diamond of a movie.
The true horror is this movie's sweeping destruction of the elements of film -- direction, editing, writing, acting, etc.
The angles in the ten minute car ride, showing the Masters picture 5 times in 30 seconds, while the picture is at the other end of the screen, it really makes me wonder how it can be that bad.Directing -- Hollow.
The movie, though scarcely 70 minutes long, seems willing to devote 15 of those to POV countryside watching, random make-out scenes, and cops who harass the love birds without any seeming relevance to the plot.I will always remember Torgo, though.
Often called "the worst movie ever made", Manos: the Hands of Fate is a surreal excursion through the depths of underground cult cinema.
Over the years, this has been a piece that I go back to as a foundation for low-budget film anomalies.Shot in what looks like my grandfather's super 8 camera, Manos is the story of a family of three lost in a desert maze in search of a vacationing area.
Memorable characters include Torgo, a spastic underling of "the Master"(the ashen, mustached leader of the cult), Michael,the father/husband of the family who may well be the worst actor in history aside from being the director of the film.
Family driving through rural Texas stops at an isolated lodge where a cult of weirdos live.Legendary, bad B movie made by Texan fertilizer salesman Hal Warren was brought back into the light when it appeared on a 1994 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
If I could I'd give the movie two ratings, one--1--from what my logic and better sense tells me (it's crap), and another rating--say around 6 or 7--simply because I was entertained, I would.There are things I find frustrating, yet humorous about Manos: How all the actors seem to wait a full minute or two before saying their lines, as if waiting for some cue; the odd repetition of dialog like something out of the nightmares of Samuel Beckett (but done unintentionally, it seems); the sheer lack of anything resembling narrative consistency or internal logic.Make no mistake, this is a bad, bad, movie.
We watched it.Its is not funny, it is just so bad, I've seen some funny bad films, cyber tracker because they are bad but this is impossible to watch as it just makes you depressed.Throughout the film i was just so down and thinking why am i torturing myself by watching this.The acting is utter crap, fair enough since none were even proper actors, there is no plot and none of the characters know why they are there or if a camera is pointing on them.
From reading the reviews for this movie (which is right now #12 on the bottom 150 films), I can tell that less than 1% of the people who reviewed this have even seen the complete un-MST'd "Manos the Hands of Fate".
The bizarre music, the bad lighting, the average acting, Torgo's sickening costume, and the strange dubbing help make it one of the more intriguing low-budget films of the 60s.
You can watch the MST3K version of "Manos", but you'll lose a great deal of the movie and its atmosphere.
First I'd like to thank the guys at MST3K who made watching this movie possible...really, THANKS, couldn't have done it without you."Plot" summary: A family is driving (and driving...and driving...and driving...) through the countryside and (beleive it or not) gets lost.
It is quite remarkable though how the crew (yes, they had a crew) managed to put in so much sexuality in a movie of the 60s...hmm.I have seen a lot of bad movies in my life, but none of them came even close to the HORROR that is "Manos" th Hands of Fate.
I can only imagine they spent the entire budget on renting the cabin,so there was no money left for acting lessons, or directing lessons for that matter...If you are one of those people who gets a kick out of sharpening pencils, suffer from schizophrenia, personality disorder or have had HALF OF YOUR BRAIN REMOVED, I highly recommend you watch "Manos" the Hands of Fate.
If you have a taste for BAD movies, if you like to sample IMDb's bottom 100 list, if you enjoy watching MST3K and other hosted bad-film shows, then you MUST see this episode.
Love it or hate it, MST3K's Manos is a landmark in entertainment, one of the bad-film shows by which all others are measured.However, for goodness sakes do NOT watch Manos without Joel and the Bots - even the Kaa-Kaa Gourmet would end up screaming in the loony-bin !.
It kind of has this twist, that is OK in a way, but it is not as unique as the rest of the movie.I especially love it when the husband tells his wife to go into the house THREE times after another because of bad cutting(and she's about to enter the house in all of them).
And since there's probably about five people in the world who have actually seen the original film, I doubt anyone can really argue with that.First of all, bad editing aside, the movie has an eerie, surreal atmosphere that makes it seem more like a long dream sequence than an actual movie.
I honestly believe that with a MUCH bigger budget and better actors, this could be remade into a really good movie.Now, with that said, I must admit that "Manos" has one extremely funny element that is the downfall of the entire movie, and that is Torgo.
Manos actually had a decent horror story to it and I think would have made a very good horror film but it suffered from an exceedingly low budget and abysmal production.
Hal Warren and his little Manos film shouldn't even be ranked in a worst category, simply because it didn't take much of a budget and no one was destroyed (except maybe Warren's ego.) But I do agree, this movie was bad.
I also thought that the ending, as cliché as it was, would have worked if I understood how the owner of the house survived being shot four times.Manos is a watchably terrible movie, but it's still garbage..
From a purely technical perspective, this film would be 70 minutes of blinding pain, were it not for the fact that, much like the visual quality, the sound transcends the realm of bad to the point of being comical.
This is in case you've read all other reviews and are still thinking about watching the horror that is Manos the Hand of Fate, the first thing that should warn you is the title.
I warn you, if you've little patience for really really really bad movies, you may want to skip this, or at the least watch the MST3K version.
Manos: The Hands of Fate is one those movies, which you watch and think "what the hell am I watching anyway?".
The narrative is jarring and odd, the actors are amateurish at best and the dubbed voice work is just hilariously awful.To top things of, Manos is lazed with a bizarre fusion jazz sound track, which knock the movie in an entirely different ball park among bad movies.For people, who like bad movies Manos is a must watch event.
Also only in a film like Manos would all actors be dubbed by only three people – two men and a woman – and this leads to some very inappropriate voices, such as the one given to the little girl.
That film is "Manos" The Hands of Fate, which has been deftly recycled for your bad movie enjoyment by MST3K.In 10 years and countless searches, MST3K never did find another character/performance to equal the nadir of John Reynolds' `Torgo'.
I've always thought that Manos was a great film, although it IS the WORST movie ever made!
Manos: The Hands of Fate, currently ranked #5 on IMDb's Bottom 100, is a rite of passage for serious fans of trashy horror movies, marking the transition from 'merely bad' to 'completely and utterly inept in every way imaginable.
Warren, proving that acting wasn't his forté either), his wife Margaret (Diane Adelson), and daughter Debbie (Jackey Neyman) soon find themselves lost, eventually pulling up to a strange desert hostel where they are greeted by twitchy manservant Torgo (John Reynolds), who looks like he stores bags of popcorn or cotton wool down his trousers.Torgo warns that his master (Tom Neyman) won't be happy if they stay the night, but they won't take no for an answer; their stubborn insistence puts them in serious peril, for the master is the head of a Satanic cult and he wants to add Margaret to his collection of brides.To list everything that is wrong with this film would take longer than it took me to watch it (including the times where I fell asleep and had to rewind), suffice to say that there are fewer examples of poor editing, dreary pacing, atrocious direction, woeful acting, and diabolical dubbing.
The negative criticisms and those slamming it as the worst movie ever do not lie, Manos: The Hands of Fate is as bad as all that.
His achievement cannot be understated.Let me offer my explanation on why so many people love Manos: By watching this film you become part of a psychological experiment in hypnosis.The countless landscape scenes serve as the passage to the hypnotic state one needs to be to appreciate this movie.
Bottom line if you don't want to watch a bad movie , then stay away from this film.
I'm talking about Manos: Hands of Fate, which is widely regarded as the worst film ever.
The acting is horrendous and to make it even worse, the dialogue, however bad it may be, is actually dubbed over itself making the movie appear even more low budget.
We want to see the mistakes, the poor editing, amateur acting errors (the actors overall were good in this film-they only made the mistakes of beginning actors) the inappropriate music and improperly timed sound edits, the incredibly long pauses and illogical cut aways.The use of a silent camera may have actually influenced the actors and directing on this movie.
It's hilarious when you watch it that way.ON THE OTHER HAND This movie has a emaciated plot, terrible sound/acting/lighting/story progression/camera.
After reading all the negative hoopla surrounding the "worst film ever", I decided to rent "Manos: Hands of Fate" to see if it was really as bad as everyone says it is.And they were right.
The pain that Torgo felt after the Master lit his hand on fire is nothing compared to watching this movie..
Manos: The Hands of Fate is a 1966 horror movie directed, produced, written, and starring farmer Harold P.
They didn't even try!Manos: The Hands of Fate has overthrown House of the Dead as the worst horror movie ever made.
When it comes to how bad a movie can be, there are movies that are made by inexperienced and untalented people who don't know the first thing about film-making ... |
tt0064780 | The Over-the-Hill Gang | Jefferson Rose, a young, Boulder, Nevada newspaper publisher, tries to run for mayor of his corrupt town. His father-in-law, Captain Oren Hayes, is a former Texas Ranger who happens to visit town the day Jefferson is roughed up by a few of the Sheriff's finest. Captain Hayes admires young Jefferson's desire to clean-up the corrupt politicians and decides that he and three of his pals will come to town and take care of business for young Jefferson.Each of Hayes three friends had something unique to offer the Texas Rangers. The first pal was the quickest draw. The second had "eyes in the day like an eagle and at night like an owl." The third had "spotless character, courtly manners, and spit-and-polished appearance." By the time Hayes' telegram finds each of them, we see that they aren't quite what they used to be - slow, near-blind, and a card cheat.When their first attempt at riding into Boulder and ridding it of the nasty trio of Sheriff Barnes, Mayor Lundy, and Judge Polk doesn't go over so well, they reconvene and decide to try to divide and conquer. The Sheriff becomes convinced that Mayor Lundy has hired one of the Rangers to kill him. The Judge becomes convinced that the Mayor is going to dump him after the election because of some unmerited early releases from prison.While the Texas Rangers succeed in convincing the Sheriff and the Judge that the Mayor is out to get them, they don't quite outsmart the Mayor. In fact, the Mayor hires several outlaws to do the work for him. This requires the Rangers to really think about their next move. The end result is a shoot out at Cassie's Corral that is clever, surprising, and cheesy all at once. | violence | train | imdb | Laughs and a Tear or Two. A cast of grizzled veterans make this film a joy to watch, if you can get over the script, which falls weak in the midst of skillful actors.
Still, 'The Over The Hill Gang' was well-casted by virtue of the fact that virtually all the stars were veterans of Westerns, and played their roles admirably.This movie is your typical victory for old folks.
A band of retired Texas Rangers (the Law Enforcement Rangers, not the baseball team) are called into action by their old boss, Captain Oren Hayes (Pat O'Brien) after dubious town officials rough up his son (Ricky Nelson) and trash his newspaper business.
When these three Rangers arrive in town to save the day, slow and well past their prime, they team up against a more powerful and energetic foe.
Despite being out-numbered and out-hustled, TOTHG proves that (at least on TV) brains can win over brawn any time, and is always a crowd pleaser.
If anything, it is a good family movie that teaches the values of courage in the face of adversity, and that good can overcome evil, no matter how young that evil is.If you'll notice, you will see some great individual performances.
Chill Wills plays a boozing, poker-cheating Texan better than anyone.
His facial expressions and his Texas drawl are a delight.
Without a doubt, Edgar Buchannon had to be the best semi-blind man with a gun in Hollywood history.
Andy Devine, playing a 'bad guy,' didn't even need a good script to be funny.
Devine could read the Gettysburg Address and make even the most cantankerous cuss chuckle.
And what else can you say about Walter Brennan?
Like Chill Wills, Brennan is synonymous with Westerns, and proved that even when he played a straight-man, his part of the script didn't allow him to be so much funny as it did to make you feel good because he was just one of those 'good guys.' Still, it was Gypsy Rose Lee, playing a 'has been' show girl, who turned in the best acting performance.At the conclusion, the three Texas Rangers, who had not seen each other for many years until their reunion, split up and guided their mounts in different directions for the ride back home.
Not knowing when they would 'ride again,' I must admit to shedding a tear or two as those three friends rode into the sunset.
The soulful harmonica music completed the emotional scene.'The Over The Hill Gang' is a fun movie to watch.
You won't find Oscar winning performances or dazzling special effects.
But you'll feel good when it is over.
And that's what it is all about, right?.
Veteran Performers - "B" Movie Script.
"The Over the Hill Gang" is interesting if only for its cast of veteran performers.
Unfortunately they were saddled with a "B" movie script that doesn't know whether it should be serious or funny.
It appears that some scenes were cut out in order to fit the film into a 90 minute TV time slot.
The story has former Texas Ranger Captain Oren Hayes (Pat O'Brien) arriving in town to visit his daughter Hannah (Kristen Nelson) and her husband Jeff (Rick Nelson).
He finds Jeff embroiled in a mayorality race with corrupt town boss Nard Lundy (Edward Andrews).
When the baddies rough them up, Hayes decides to call on his old Ranger buddies Nash Crawford (Walter Brennan), George Agnew (Chill Wills) and Jason Fitch (Edgar Buchanan) for help.
When they arrive they soon realize that their old skills have eroded with age and then decide to fight the bad guys with their wits rather than with force.
Assisting Andrews in his evil deeds are Andy Devine as Judge Polk, Jack Elam as the Sheriff and Myron Healey and Bruce Glover as deputies.
Gypsy Rose Lee is also along as a once famous entertainer.
Burt Mustin and Billy Benedict appear in minor roles.
It was great to see all of these veteran performers in one film.
Most were at or near the end of their careers at the time.
It was also interesting to see Rick and Kristen Nelson who in spite of their youth were also at the end of their movie careers.
Too bad they couldn't have had better material to work with.
Followed by "The Over The Hill Gang Rides Again" (1970)..
Golden Years.
In the modernizing old west, idealistic young married Ricky Nelson (as Jeff Rose) wants to become mayor of his corrupt town.
Wife Kris Nelson (as Hannah Rose) is concerned about Mr. Nelson, especially after he gets beat up; to help the Nelsons, her elderly grandfather Pat O'Brien (as Oren Hayes) summons his old Texas Rangers: Walter Brennan (as Nash Crawford), Edgar Buchanan (as Jason Fitch), and Chill Wills (as George Agnew).
Then, "The Over-the-Hill Gang" faces off against the less long-in-the-tooth gang led by Mayor Edward Andrews (as Nard Lundy), Judge Andy Devine (as Amos Polk), and Sheriff Jack Elam (as Clyde Barnes).
Former burlesque tease Gypsy Rose Lee (as Cassie) provides the old-timers with considerable feminine support; it was her last screen appearance.
The ordinary production scores points for casting and story idea, qualities which guaranteed a fair level of success on television.
**** The Over-the-Hill Gang (10/7/69) Jean Yarbrough ~ Walter Brennan, Pat O'Brien, Ricky Nelson, Chill Wills.
Rick Nelson and his wife Kris...and Gypsy Rose Lee WOW!!.
Made for TV and it looks it...they musta used the Gunsmoke lot...lots of great classic old grandpa actors...like Andy Devine as a villain...Jack Elam...which eye do you look at?....and Ricky...It was also GYPSY ROSE LEES final film...she died within a year...you never woulda thought by seeing her here...she looked pretty good.
Pat O'Brien...Chill Wills...Edgar (clear your throat)Buchanan and GRANPA McCOY himself WALTER BRENNAN....the villains were really funny.
Its fun and nostalgic...and that fight scene with Ricky dodging those fake stunt man hits was the best scene for laffs.
Available now on Ebay for one cent plus shipping or pick one up a DOLLAR TREE or 99 cent store near you.....
More Scene Stealing Larceny In This Film..............................
I do love both of the Over-The-Hill Gang movies mainly because you will never get a chance to see so many scene stealing character actors in one film no matter how hard you look.
All these familiar faces, familiar in mostly westerns.
I'm betting these guys didn't appear together for the most part before now because it was impossible to have had that much ham in any one film.Yet comedy director Jean Yarbrough took a chance.
So did Walter Brennan who co-produced this along with Danny Thomas and Aaron Spelling.
I guess Brennan was not afraid to show his acting chops against some of his fellow best scene stealers.Pat O'Brien is a former Texas Ranger captain who is retired and visiting his daughter and son-in-law, Kris and Ricky Nelson.
Ricky is the editor of the town newspaper who's running for mayor against crooked Edward Andrews the incumbent.
Andrews has sheriff Jack Elam and judge Andy Devine in his pocket and pretty well runs things in that Nevada town.
After the sheriff and a few thug deputies beat up Ricky, O'Brien summons some of his most trusted former Rangers to action.The problem is that neither O'Brien nor his former company members have seen much action recently.
The other Rangers are Brennan, Chill Wills, and Edgar Buchanan.
Looking at the cast of this film, it's got to be one of the oldest aggregate casts ever assembled.
And all of these guys stole more scenes from more stars than any other group you could put together.
Gypsy Rose Lee is even on hand as a saloon owner and rival of Andrews who wants to see him put out of business because he gives honest folks like herself a bad name.This is a film to be treasured and savored by lovers of westerns and those who just love great character actors..
It's fun.
You see lots of familiar Western faces...
There aren't any surprises, but it's great to have Brennan, Wills, Andy Devine, Buchanon, etc go around the track one more time.
Familiar character actors-Bert Mustin, R.
Karnes and Harry Swogart(played a bartender on Big Valley, Bonanza, etc 48 times) just add to the nostalgia.
Ditto Jack Elam too.
Odd to see Rick Nelson in such a bland role, though.**1/2 outta ****, for the nostalgia..
many big names stars of Westerns (and other genres )past.
this is a pretty decent western with some good comic moments.it features many famous names of the genre,such as Walter Brennan,Jack Elam,Edgar Buchanan,Gypsy Lee Rose,Pat O'Brien and Ricky Nelson.all had previously been in earlier westerns and here were in the twilight of their careers.i won't give away the plot,but the title certainly fits the movie and the characters.the actors themselves aren't over the hill,even though their characters may be.in fact,they all put in good performances,though Jack Elam was the best of the bunch,in my mind.one thing about the movie i should mention is that it actually felt more like a TV episode than a movie.the version i watched was only 70 minutes.still,it is an entertaining diversion.for me,The Over the Hill Gang is a 6/10.
Gypsy Rose's part is short, but well worth watching..
A well made TV movie with a typically short performance by Gypsy Rose Lee. This is a somewhat believable western with good writing, acting and direction.
Gypsy Rose's part is much too short, but is a pleasure to see.
I found the ending a little sad, despite the fact that it should be a happy one.
I would recommend this film to any fan of Gypsy Rose, or of western style movies..
Oldies But Goodies.
When newspaperman and mayoral candidate Ricky Nelson finds himself the target of his crooked rivals, father-in-law Pat O'Brien gives a call to his old partners in the Texas Rangers, Walter Brennan, Edger Buchanan, and Chill Wills.
The only problem is that they're all old as dirt and very rusty when it comes to their law-enforcement skills, making them a laughing stock, but not for long.Although this has a great concept, it's a little too tongue-in-cheek and devoid of action most of the time.
Then again, how much action can you expect from a group of elderly actors?
Still, the climax is decent.A great cast, also including Jack Elam, Andy Devine, and Gypsy Rose Lee (who died soon after), helps make this made-for-television movie way more entertaining than it otherwise would have been.The next year brought a somewhat superior sequel, followed nineteen years later by a second, Once Upon A Texas Train, in which Elam replaced Buchanan..
William Smith?
Hi, Everyone, The title credits list William Smith as "Amos." If William Smith is in this at all, he is one of the bad guys who comes into the movie very late.
Each of the new villains is introduced by the mayor who is the chief bad guy.
Not one of the outlaws is called "Amos." In one scene, the mayor refers to the Judge (Andy Devine) as "Amos." I think they might have planned to use William Smith in a major way in this movie and maybe he was not available right away.
They might have used him as a bad guy at the end, but I am not sure if that is William Smith or someone who bears a resemblance to him.
If it is William Smith he does not have a speaking part.My DVD might be missing some scenes because the length is supposed to be 75 minutes but it is actually just over 70 minutes.Anyway, the movie was a good idea that was well cast and poorly executed.
It is not a comedy movie and it is not a drama, but somewhere in between.
This could have been as funny as Laurel and Hardy or The Three Stooges or it could have been a Western as good as Ride The High Country (which also featured Buchanan).
It is just another good idea that was sculpted into a meaningless glob of celluloid that will be on display in the Museum of Hollywood's Attempted Classics.Tom Willett.
An amiable but ridiculous geezer western..
The reason to see "The Over-the-Hill Gang" has very little to do with the script, as it's clichéd and a bit silly.
Instead, you see it to get a chance to see some veteran actors once again...here in their twilight years.The film begins in the western town of Boulder.
A nasty mayor (Edward Andrews) is making it hard for the honest newspaper man to stay and run against him in the election.
This ticks off the newspaper guy's uncle (Pat O'Brien) and as a retired Texas Ranger, he decides to call in his decrepit old friends to clean up the town.
But, when these guys (Edgar Buchanan, Chill Wills and Walter Brennan) arrive, they are pathetic and no match for the baddies.
So, they come up with a plan--to use their wits to defeat the jerks and free the town from their grip.All in all, this isn't a very good western.
The script is often silly and utterly ridiculous.
The ending, in particular, is impossible to believe.
But, it also isn't without some merit.
Seeing these guys as well as Andy Devine is enjoyable for fans of classic Hollywood.
For younger audiences, however, it probably just isn't worth your time..
Not a waste of time.
Review: Overall, I felt this was a decent way to spend 70+ minutes.
I couldn't find a rating for this movie, but think it would probably by PG based on current standards.
There was no profanity, no sexual innuendos, and the only violence came at the beginning when Jeff was roughed up by the Deputies and then again during the shoot out at the end.
Even within these violent scenes, there was no blood and no one died; again, compared to today's standards, they were very tame.One minor complaint for my modern ears is that I sometimes had difficulty understanding what the characters were saying.
Their old, wild-west accents didn't work too well with my modern, Florida ears.Bruce gives this movie 2 out of 5 stars.
He says it was reasonable entertainment for the cost of 1/20th of $5 that we paid for the set.
In the end though, this movie is rather forgettable and I agree with Bruce.
It was definitely worth the $0.25 we paid to have the privilege of owning this movie..
"No Ranger retires perpendicular!".
If you have a choice of watching only one Western and want to catch a corral full of great character actors of the genre, this would be a good choice.
Not so much for the story, but just to get to see Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan, Chill Wills, and Andy Devine all in one picture, with a little help from Edward Andrews, Jack Elam and Myron Healey.
It might be pretty close to one hundred percent accurate to say that one of these guys appeared in almost every Western made during the '50's and '60's.
The puzzler is having Pat O'Brien in charge of the good guys; I can't recall a single other Western he might have appeared in.
The other interesting casting decision places Mr. and Mrs. Rick Nelson at the center of the story, with Rick's character Jeff Rose challenging crooked Mayor Lundy (Andrews) in the upcoming election.The story winds up fairly predictable, made somewhat interesting by Nash Crawford's (Brennan) idea to pit the bad guys against each other via insinuation and innuendo.
It was a little too convenient with Jack Elam's deputies knocking each other off, with Mayor Lundy and Tucker (Healey) skipping town when things got a bit heated.
A little more thought could have gone into the story to come up with a more dramatic showdown between heroes and villains, but considering their ages, I'd say the good guys probably needed a pass just to finish the picture.Not a lot of substance here, but for a good old fashioned story one could do worse.
It's got a pretty good balance of humor amid the skulduggery, and old time fans of TV and movie Westerns will get a kick out of seeing all the Rangers in one place at one time.
Brazos!.
Calling all cottonballs!.
"If your gray, we pay." That must have been the casting call for this TV movie, the "Cocoon" of its day minus the aliens.
Actors who looked old in the 1930's, some probably presumed dead, all doing their best to show they still got it.
The gathering of western veterans sharing the leading roles (split into quarters) makes this a curiosity from the start.
Three time Oscar winner Walter Brennan, grizzled TV uncle Edgar Buchanan, old mule Chill Wills and the plain spoken Pat O'Brien are the four, going up against hot aired Edward Andrews to replace him as mayor with young Rick Nelson.
But with squeaky voiced judge Andy Devine and sheriff Jack Elam in Andrews' crooked pocket, it seems unlikely that this odd foursome can get any support, that is until Andrews goes too far with the supporters he has.With John Carradine and Boris Karloff apparently the only available senior actors not cast, this is filled with nostalgia, coming out at a time when TV audiences definitely needed it.
Hatchet faced veteran nosy neighbor Almira Sessions, the eternally old coot Burt Mustin and campy strip teaser Gypsy Rose Lee are other veterans cast in juicy supporting roles.
Lee, decked out in pettycoats, lace and feathers, is a campy hoot.
Each of the veterans gets a moment to show what they do best,and for that reason alone, this is a must for fans of classic Hollywood.
The story is far from complex, the humor moderate and the plot revelation predictable.
A sequel would increase the gang with a still dancing Fred Astaire, making me wonder if this was ever thought of as a weekly series. |
tt0220100 | Timecode | We begin simultaneously with a screen showing 4 different stories that will converge during the film. Lauren Hathaway (Jeanne Tripplehorn) clandestinely flattens the tire of the car belonging to actress Rose (Salma Hayek) her lover. Lauren is suspicious of her faithfulness and plants a secret microphone on Rose so she can overhear her conversations when they are apart. Rose is eager to get to the casting sessions for a new film, being directed by Lester Moore (Richard Edson). Alex Green (Stellan Skarsgard), the studio executive overseeing Moores project, has problems of his own connected to his wife Emma (Saffron Burrows), who is discussing her relationship problems with her Therapist played by Glenne Headly. Alex also has a substance-abuse problem and this negatively affects his ability to perform executive decisions and his sexual involvement with Rose compromises his marriage and his career. At the studio a local spa has sent over Quentin (Julian Sands), a Latin-speaking masseuse to give everyone back rubs during their business conferences. Rose has come to the studio to meet up with Alex as part of a seduction to obtain a favorable introduction and audition for the current film being cast. The story also spins out the day of producer Evan Watz (Xander Berkeley) and his relationship with Alex and the other executives of the film company and attempts to push forward in spite of Alexs obvious problems. When Scott "Bunny" Drysdale (Kyle MacLachlan) brings in his client, Euro filmmaker Ana Pauls (Mia Maestro), an artist with ideas to pitch a new project to the executive group with the assistance of white rap musician Joey Z (Alessandro Nivola), the film clearly moves into the realm of screwball comedy, but with a pacing and delivery of some very bitter-sweet reality show. During this slice of the work day a variety of actions disrupt the actions including drug and alcohol consumption, fornication physical abuse and a few earthquakes to further shake things up as well as the actual camera work. | psychedelic, avant garde | train | imdb | null |
tt0884224 | War, Inc. | The movie opens with Brand Hauser (John Cusack) in Iqaluit, Northern Canada. He enters a bar where some German gentlemen are chatting. He asks for a shot glass, fills it with hot sauce, and throws it back in one gulp. His synapses start firing as he pulls out a gun and shoots each of the Germans. He takes a photo of one of the gentlemen, sends it off, and disposes of the cell phone.Cut to a jet aircraft. Hauser is the only person on board, but he is regularly chatting with the GuideStar voice. Though it is helping with navigation, it also is providing psychiatric advice.On the flight, he chats with the former Vice President (Dan Ackroyd). The VP is sitting on the toilet throughout the video call. Hauser is instructed to fly to Turaqistan, where the VP's company, Tamerlane, is engaged in the first war to be entirely outsourced. His mission is to assasinate the Oil Minister, Omar Sherif (Lyubomir Neikov). He is to be hit because he is insisting that Turaqistan build a cross country pipeline on their own, shunning a bid from Tamerlane. For cover, he is to act as the Chair of a Tamerlane Trade Mission, which is holding a trade fair within the Green Zone (the Emerald City) of the Turaqustan capital. A highlight of the fair will be the marriage of pop star Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff) to the son of the Emerit.Hauser arrives, and meets his contact, Marsha Dillon (Joan Cusack).Tanks with sponsor decals, city is a mess, lots of bombs & explosions in various marketplaces.Please help fill this in! Various shots of hot sauce, flashbacks to a row with his CIA boss.Reporter Natalie Hegalhuzen (Marisa Tomei) can't get into the show (not the right pass). Cusack invites her to his office. Realizes she is left wing biased, gets rid of her, but sets up meeting for that evening over drinks.Hauser goes into Popeye Chicken restaurant to meet "The Viceroy" of Tamerlane - . After Get Smart style secret tunnel, he meets a video screen projecting American media heros (John Wayne, Mr. T, Donald Trump, etc.), speaking with an altered voice.Yonica and entourage arrive. Hauser is not impressed.Tries to kill Sharif with remote control rifle, but interrupted when dry cleaning is delivered to his Humvee.Milking cobra for poison when Yonica drops by. She tries to seduce him, but he is disgusted. Takes Sharif out to dinner, but can't get the venom in due to the close scrutiny of Sharif's bodyguards. Sharif spots the reporter, and Hauser arranges a meeting.Yonica & entourage arrive, and in the chaos, Hauser crushes the vial of cobra venom, breaking it in his hand. He goes to the restroom to clean up, and is confronted by 2 members of the entourage. He easily dispatches them both.Reporter wants to get out and see the country outside of the Green Zone. Hauser sets her up with a local film crew. She discovers a DVD case (premade) for Yonica's XXX rated wedding night video. She exposes Yonica and her husband on CNN.Hauser "fixes" the situation with Yonica, her fiance, and the emerit father. The fiance will blame one of the entourage, the principals will be blameless, and the wedding will go on.Finds Yonica in her room, playing simple accoustic ballad - realizes she's not who the press make her out to be. He arranges for an interview with the reporter.While waiting for the film crew to set up in an abandoned house, Hauser finds some nice wine, caviar, and other snacky things. He opens the wine with a compressed air needle cork popper - then discretely pockets the device.Just prior to the interview, in a heart-to-heart discussion, Hauser tells the girls about his ex-wife (murdered) and daughter (kidnapped). He tells them it happened because of who he is.The entourage burst in. Hauser kills all (one with a shot of compressed air to the brain). The girls walk in as he dispatches the last person. They now have confirmation that he is not who he seemed to be.The girls take a taxi from the interview location to their respective hotels. Yonica gets out first, and the reporter is kidnapped. Kidnappers make some rather silly demands (destruction of Israel & a star ball player for a player to be named later).Hauser now has to rescue the reporter, kill Sharif, and oversee the wedding at the trade show. He emails Sharif, and under the name of the reporter, invites him to a hotel suite. He jumps in a Humvee, and takes off looking for the reporter outside the Emerald City. He asks some kids if they know where a kidnapped person might be. They tell him there are 3 in the immediate area - he's got to be more specific. They direct him to the group that has a dark-haired female.Flashbacks take place here, and we learn that his old boss, Walken (Ben Kingsly) tries to kill him when he tried to quit some years ago. Instead, Hauser kills his boss (crushed in a garbage truck).The reporter is rescued, and brought back to the trade show to be in the wedding party. Hauser heads to the hotel to meet Sharif.Sharif walks into the hotel suite, expecting to find the reporter. Instead, Hauser grabs him, and warns him that someone else will likely be coming for him. He heads back to the Popeye Chicken shop, looking for the Viceroy. Hauser realizes that he must be behind the projection screen, so smashes it. Sees that Walken is still alive, but crippled, and restricted to a wheelchair. Not only is Walken the Viceroy, but he admits that he had his wife killed, and Yonica is his kidnapped daughter!!Now the guards are after him, so he uses Walken as a shield, and gets out to the wedding, disrupting the ceremony. Walken escapes and heads back to his bunker. He calls for a cruise missle to level the trade show building. The missle is launched, but goes off course, and hits the Popeye restaurant, killing Walken.Yonica, the reporter, and Hauser get to the airport, where Yonica's honeymoon plane is waiting.Just as we think they've gotten away, we see a heat seeking missle heading towards the plane.The former Vice President holds a press conference, and blames extremists and terrorists for the explosion at the Popeye, and the killing of our beloved Viceroy.Credits roll to a Joe Strummer song.Need to add the corporate references, slogans, etc. Can't wait for the DVD! | absurd, comedy, satire, entertaining, flashback | train | imdb | It isn't.This is an old-fashioned screwball comedy, with ridiculously coincidental plot twists, stock characters (given some depth in fun performances by John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Marisa Tomei and Hillary Duff) and a straightforward approach to the political content.You see, the filmmakers' political points are things nearly all of the country already knows are true.
Yeah, we understand that the corporations profiting off the war are corrupt, inept pigs, the political leaders in charge of it are even more inept buffoons, and American imperialism has never looked crasser and more out of touch than it does right now -- but none of that is the point.Here, all of that noise is the setting that they lampoon -- sometimes in genius ways -- as the backdrop for a silly romp, as John Cusack's character (the hit-man with a heart) tries to change his life with the help of the do-gooder journalist who doesn't trust him (Tomei) and the young Middle Eastern starlet who wants to call off her marriage (Duff).
It's simple fun, but if somehow you can't see reality and you think the war is going well and everyone involved with it is doing a good job and there's no corruption and people in the Middle East wish our Western culture would supplant theirs, then you might not find it as funny.For all the rest of us, it was a light comedy with a political edge..
Joshua Seftel's first film - a satire of memorable proportions - is about just as the title suggests: The corporations effect on War.The film is about a mercenary (John Cusack) traveling to Turaqistan (not a real country, fyi) to help the American government 'get their message across' to Turaqistan's leaders.
The comedy involved the film isn't obvious at all - it's quite subtle (Tamerlane tanks, dry-cleaning service etc), and it changes with the twists & turns in the plot.I may be the only one, but I won't compare this with "Grosse Point Blank", because, it's different.
On the other hand, his sister (Joan Cusack) was incredible in her delivery of lines & comedic timing - even though she was hardly in the film (I'd say the same about Ben Kingsley).Marisa Tomei plays a convincing reporter, and manages to pull it off.
In this satire of the commercialization and 'lightheartedness' of war, John Cusack plays Brand Hauser, an assassin sent to to 'Turaqistan' to take out Omar Sharif, who is doing some oil business that will spell trouble for the former Vice President of the US's own company.
In addition to this, Hauser must juggle his fake position as a trade show producer, a wedding for pop princess Yonica (Hillary Duff), and a nosy Liberal journalist, Natalie (Marisa Tomei).Assessing the technical aspects: The acting (by the main characters,at least) was good, as was to be expected.
In fact, the predictability of the end is the only thing that keeps me from rating it higher as the story twists and turns it's way to the expected conclusion.If you like your comedy broad and physical, there is probably not enough here to keep you interested the entire movie.
My point is this: don't discredit this review by thinking I'm not a part of the choir Cusack is preaching to in War, Inc. There's no question WI's politics are tailored to appeal to my demographic, but the problem is, the tailoring is substandard and the the film Cusack co- wrote, produced and stars in, fits worse than a cheap suit.As they say "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Cusack, his co-writers, director Joshua Seftel and even the actors involved, no doubt had every intention of making an anti- war film every bit as biting and funny as Robert Altman's M*A*S*H, unfortunately for the viewer, they ended up with one as unfunny and unintelligent as Michael Moore's Canadian Bacon.The current state of US politics, foreign policy and the war "effort" is already absurd and, as a result, tragic, pathetic and, regrettably comical -- just watch The Daily Show and see for yourself.
John Cusack was just so funny in this,, throw in Dan Akroyd, and you have lot's of laughs,, then throw in the sexy Hillary duff, so America needs to come up with an imaginary war to get the ball rolling on an assassination attempt,, Cusack who plays a down and out hit-man,, didn't we see this before,, lol, so he has to pretend that he is a producer of a trade show,, and he is trying to produce a show that will have a young teen star performing,, Hillary Duff.
In the first 45 minutes you don't always understand the scenario of the private security forces, the American soldiers, the company etc etc, it does get a little confusing.However the performances of John Cusack and Hilary Duff are top drawer and with the humour this is certainly worth watching..
No wonder why it was largely ignored in the U.S.: it exposes our murderous foreign policy for what it really is.Another good film from this era, Rendition, was also totally dismissed simply because it showed, accurately, that the U.S. is a war machine bent on torturing, murdering, and maiming civilians in its quest for total world domination.A clever plot, good acting, some big stars (John Cusack, Ben Kingsley, Marisa Tomei anyone?) and some scenes of hilarity should have made this movie a hit.
With a string of anti-military/anti-war movies already being destroyed at the box office, it's almost inconceivable that a studio of any kind would want itself associated with this script.At first, it may have seemed like some kind of politically motivated derivative of Grosse Point Blank with Akroyd and Cusack(s) all over again.
Then satire in the background creates big comedy situations and then back again to our hero whose background we are told little by little until we can foresee how it will all be brought together.On the whole it's pretty funny, the acting is great, but you don't feel there's a real big movie, only an independent flick struggling with settings - well, working its guts off to get the most of each set to be honest, pleased with its premise but lacking a real steady stance.
In the end, "War, Inc." became too aggressive to laugh along with it like we supposed to.John Cusack, once again, plays a hit man (which seemed like a sequel to "Gloss Point Blank").
Before making War, Inc., John Cusack stated that he had starred in 10 good movies to date.
The movie attempts to use the plot lines as tools to set up shock and surprise, but suffice to say that everyone in attendance was able to spot the film's major "plot twists" a full hour before they were revealed, which is surprising considering the movie is barely an hour long.Cusack is a talented actor, and gives a decent performance that attempts to instill some emotion into this unimaginative script, yet even his talents cannot salvage the writing he has to work with.
the "turakistan" country and "the emerald city" are definitely trying to resemble Iraq and Baghdad just as much as the corporation "Tamerlane" goes for "haliburton" (with the vice- president Dan Aykroyd playing Dick Cheney, LOL).there are quiet a moments actually where the movie is DEAD SERIOUS, not even sarcastic anymore (main example would be as how John Cusack character deals with his depression, but not only).
Joan has a line at one point that goes like this: "and here we have a book written by you know who, about how i conquered the world and resolved the issues with my dad".PRICELESS)))the sister and brother Cusacks play good together as always, same as in "Grosse PointeBlank" i would say a bit more "mature".Marisa Tomeihere does not show her butt and breasts to "impress" us (like she did recently in "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"), but instead she has a very serious role, and manages to pull it off quiet well.many critics don't get it (can not do so, or do not want to).
this feature stands to deliver a message and NOT to get Oscars, or have "visuals" sort of getting the viewer into buying the latest "HDTV experience" TV sets...i have noticed even in my local papers that this movie gets bad re-views because is not "artistic", while PRO Iraq war movies get good thumbs up for being "balanced" apparently and "engaging".makes one wonders how much all the world mainstream media is concentrated in the hands of a bunch of guys...i bet this feature will prove a hit overseas as much more then it will in north America.
having the "regular" American soldier wearing the "Tamerlane" corporate logo on its combat dress is pretty insulting BUT EFFECTIVE in showing reality as it IS, or will be soon the way things go so far.some PRICELESS shots: upon "liberation", the country gets invaded commercial advertisements; a hilarious scene about how future journalists will likely gather "news"("anything is got to be better then this x-box bullocks"))); soldiers dealing with their "frustration"; overall, i do not recommend this to "conservatives" or "hard core" patriots of some kind or another.this feature is not made to reach to the "minds of souls" of the people(as mainstream propaganda and commercial interests always try to do so).instead it contains a message well defined for realists, and towards some ideological goals apparently "always" short of realizing..
I love all the actors in this movie, so I brought it without checking IMDb and would really advice people to skip it, not to waste precious time.The plot is convoluted, acting - so so, there is nothing funny, there is nothing to make you think about what this "satire" is trying to tell.
The story could've better executed had the film not diverted from its initial promise.John Cusack was good, Duff was also better than expected playing an over-the-top Mideast pop star.
This is a terrible film, poor directing, script, and cast.It was like someone was trying to make a modern remake of "Catch 22",but failed.The comedy sucked, the satire sucked, everything sucked.I hope whoever wrote the script is out of a job, along with anyone else involved.Cusak does his best to carry the film, as lets face it hes not going to turn down a million bucks just because its s**t.This could have been good, the general concept is sound, just not the execution.But i will be making a note of the director, and writers so i can steer clear in future.I felt sorry for Dan Aykroyd and Joan Cusack , two comedy greats put to shame in this debacle.And how they ever got Ben Kingsley to be in it i don't know.This film is everything thats wrong with Hollywood at the moment, I'm just glad European films are carrying the team.Looking at past projects of the writers and director will tell you all you need to know, they have never done anything good.Please i beg you don't watch this film, because if i see this win an award, i do not think i could take it.So many bad films win awards these days despite, everyone thought it sucked.Just because a lot of people watch a film does not mean its good..
this movie have all.The Cusack brothers were in the movie perfect, John making the whole action but Joan made this movie really funny.Tomei worked really good in this one, John, Hilary and Marisa make the best team i have ever seen...
This film offered three of the stars of one of my favorite movies, "Grosse Point Blank", (John Cusack, Joan Cusack and Dan Aykroyd).
I'd like to begin my review by thanking John Cusack for taking the time to write such a convincing review anonymously to try to trick people into watching this "comedy" film.
He co-produced this one and also had a hand in the writing, so I guess he's got to take his share of the blame for turning what could have been a sharp satire into a turgid, vaguely confusing drama.Cusack plays Brand Hauser, a hit-man of a future in which corporations are hired by nations to fight their wars for them.
Sadly, that's about as cutting as the satire gets, and as the story unfolds, spending way too much time focusing on the non-romance of Hauser and journalist Marisa Tomei, the number of missed opportunities keeps mounting until they reach an embarrassingly high quotient.The film has a few moments where it briefly comes to life, but they're few and far between.
John Cusack, co-produced, wrote, and starred in this black-comedy that using some hard edged dialogue, scenes with dark twisted humor that makes a strong statement about business and war.
I feel so sorry for John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Ben Kingsley, Marisa Tomei and Hillary Duff for getting involved with this movie.
It's a confusing mix of genres and a confusing and busy plot.Immediately as the movie begins, a sense of déjà-vu will hit some viewers, as John Cusack's Brand Hauser is almost a carbon copy of another character of his: Martin Blank from Grosse Pointe Blank.
To be Honest the reason i went to see this movie is because of Hilary is in it and i gotta say it turns out to be a big disappointment, she surely changed a lot since 18 years old you can tell from the material girl and this one, it's not that i don't like her outfit, i just can't stand all the dirt talk and seducement it's just doesn't like her, but one of the good things about this movie is the performances by John Cusack, Marisa Tomei was excellent, some people found this movie funny but i didn't laugh the entire time all, i can say is this is a meaningless, political joke and it needs better editing and better screenplay..
It's one of my favorite satires of all time, up there with Bulworth or the Truman Show, with some bits of brilliant writing, asking real questions about corporate war, evil, and compassion, and with good performances by Cusack, Cusack, Kingsley, Tomei, Duff, & many supporting cast.
As the title suggests, "War, Inc." is a satire about the "business" that is war, in particular the American propensity for bombing a Middle Eastern country to smithereens (i.e., Iraq and Afghanistan), then exploiting it for everything it's worth – all in the name of "democracy." In this particular case, it is the fictional nation of Turaqistan, which the U.S. has recently invaded and where it is now contracting out all its security and reconstruction services to a private corporation called Tamerlane, modeled, none too subtly, on Halliburton and KBR.John Cusack stars as Brand Hauser, a covert operator working under the auspices of the former vice-president of the United States (Dan Akroyd), whose mission is to take out the CEO of an oil company at a gala wedding reception that Brand himself is supposed to organize.
While in the "safe zone" - known in common parlance as the Emerald City - Brand meets his high-strung assistant (played by Cusack's real-life sister Joan), the promiscuous celebrity bride (the typecast Hilary Duff), a fellow hit man (Ben Kingsley) who has some personal issues with Brand, and Natalie Hegalhuzen (Marisa Tomei), a liberal reporter from the Nation, who is there to expose the multinational skullduggery and corruption taking place in the country – or as she affectionately calls it "a democracy on the march land-grab." Written by Cusack, Mark Leyner and Jeremy Pikser and directed by Joshua Seftel, "War, Inc." is a largely hit-and-miss affair, with moments of insight and humor alternating with moments of silliness and juvenalia.
- Corporations take over war in the future and use a lone assassin Brand Hauser (John Cusack) to do their wet-work against rival CEOs. A dark comedy satirizing the military and corporations alike.
(2008) **1/2 John Cusack, Marisa Tomei, Hilary Duff, Joan Cusack, Ben Kingsley, Dan Aykroyd, Sergej Trifunovic, Lyubomir Neikov, Ned Bellamy, (Voice of: Montel Williams)A hit-and-miss-21st Century "STRANGELOVE"John Cusack who co-wrote the script with Mark Leyner and Jeremy Pikser stars as a jaded hit-man named Brand Hauser who is burnt out but decides to follow thru on one final assignment by icing a Middle-Eastern oil minister named Omar Sharif (yes, not THAT Omar Sharif but you get the tone here from this misfire for a laugh) commandeered by the ex-Vice President of The USA (Aykroyd, Cusack's old "Grosse Pointe Blank" co-hort, doing a mean Dick Cheney manqué turn here), enlisting Brand to do the deed under the guise of a Trade Show Producer in mythical Turaqistan (read: Iraq/Afghanistan) for the American private corporation Tamerlane (read: Halliburton).
STRANGELOVE" but for all intense and purposes there are sadly more misses than hits in this broad try for laughs amidst political message (an unjust war being outsourced by American capitalism, check!) While Cusack riffs on his Martin Blank from the aforementioned "Pointe" he does add some nice touches of his man in black (he does shots of Tabasco sauce to take the edge off), the rest of the cast plays catch up (except sister Joan who is a riot as the high-strung aide- de-camp for Hauser and has one of the film's funniest laugh-out lines: "My mass communications skills are finally paying off") for the most part.
If a Joan Cusack sex tape ever comes out, I'm sure she'll do a better acting job in that than she does in War, Inc. Hilary Duff is so terrible, this role should end her career.
The only job she should be able to get is something in the field of medical waste disposal.The only way I could make it through this movie without killing myself was to squint really, really, really, really hard and pretend that the Cusacks and Dan Aykroyd were making a sequel to Gross Pointe Blank where Martin Blank was having a very bad acid trip.The only people who should like War, Inc. are George W.
This John Cusack film of what it would be like if Big corporations directed our wars.
It stars John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Hillary Duff, Marisa Tomei, Ben Kingsley, and Dan Akroyd.The gist of the movie is that hit man Hauser (played by John Cusack) has been assigned to assassinate the president of some middle eastern country with a made up name. |
tt0070814 | Tom Sawyer | Tom Sawyer (Johnny Whitaker) and Huckleberry Finn (Jeff East) play hooky from school and have a plan to revive a dead cat with the spirit of a man who is on his death bed. Sawyer and Finn talk with Muff Potter (Warren Oates), the town drunk, but are interrupted when Injun Joe (Henry O'Brien) says that Doc Robinson (Richard Eastham) wants to see them. Potter and Joe meet Robinson and he informs them that they have a job to dig the grave of Williams. Joe is angry that Robinson didn't fix his leg correctly.Meanwhile, Sawyer continues to skip school and comes up with fantastic stories about why he's not home for dinner, where he tricks the children of the town to do his punishment chores for him.After Williams dies, the two go to the graveyard and find out that Potter and Joe are digging up a grave on the advice of Doc Robinson. Joe continues to be angry at Robinson and demands more money for the job. When Robinson refuses, Joe picks up a shovel, accidentally knocking Potter out, hits Robinson into the grave with the shovel, then grabs Potter's knife and jumps in after Robinson. Sawyer and Finn witness all this and then run off, making a pact not to tell anyone what they saw. Joe frames Potter for the murder and Potter goes to jail.Meanwhile, the beautiful Becky Thatcher (Jodie Foster) moves to town which sends Sawyer into a romantic daze. At the trial for Potter, Sawyer is unable to contain himself as Joe is called to the stand and lies about the incident, continuing to frame Potter for the murder. As Sawyer is called to the stand, he relates what happened, not mentioning that Finn was with him. Suddenly, Joe throws a knife at Sawyer, narrowly missing Sawyer's head and jumps out the window of the courthouse, fleeing.After the trial, Sawyer and Thatcher get "engaged" but that quickly ends when Sawyer mentions he's also engaged to Amy Lawrence. After sulking, Sawyer is attacked by Finn for "breaking the pact" and they both decide to run away. While paddling down the Mississippi, their raft is capsized by a passing riverboat and they end up on an island where they enjoy freedom and muse over what happened to Joe.While on the island, they witness some people "dragging the river", a process where a cannon is fired to bring up any bodies from the bottom of the river. Sawyer and Finn decide to "go home" and find out that there's a funeral being held for them. The funeral service breaks up when Judge Thatcher (Noah Keen) sees them in the back of the church. The Widow Douglas (Lucille Benson) takes Finn under her wing after that.Later, at a 4th of July celebration, Sawyer and Becky Thatcher go into McDougal's Cave for a drink of water from the underground spring and run into Joe. Joe chases them through the cave, intent to kill Sawyer. However, Judge Thatcher, Muff Potter and Huckleberry Finn catch up to Joe and Potter throws a torch at Joe and he falls to his death.Later, Finn disappears, worrying the Widow Douglas and Sawyer finds him at the old fishing place they hang out at. Sawyer berates Finn for worrying Douglas, and Potter decides to leave the town. | murder | train | imdb | null |
tt0976026 | Cheeni Kum | Two extremes... in age, character and attitude, meet and against all odds fall in love. They decide to get married. And, like any Indian man, Buddhadev Gupta [Amitabh Bachchan] respectfully comes to ask Nina's [Tabu] father, a true Gandhian played by Paresh Rawal.. and chaos ensues.Cheeni Kum focuses on Buddhadev Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan). Buddhadev is the 64-year-old chef and owner of London's top Indian restaurant, Spice 6. He lives with his 85-year-old mother (Zohra Sehgal) and his only friend and confidante is his 9-year-old neighbour, Sexy (Swini Khara) who is diagnosed with cancer and been to the hospital seven times. Buddhadev Gupta is an arrogant, ego-centric, pompous man with a singular passion in life cooking. He is a confirmed bachelor who has never been in love until 34-year-old Nina Verma (Tabu) walks into his restaurant and his life. Nina is a beautiful and charming Indian woman. Cool, calm, quiet, always smiling but independent and strong willed. The two extreme in age, character and attitude, meet and against all odds, fall in love. They decide to get married and like any Indian man, Buddhadev respectfully comes to ask Nina's father, Omprakash Verma (Paresh Rawal), who is a true Gandhian living in Delhi, for her hand. The main problem here is the Buddhadev is older than Nina's father. Omprakash is horrified when Buddhadev asks his daughter's hand and intentionally refuses, he start to commit suicide by starving himself to death. Buddha explained to him why he loved Nina and what kind of father is he keeping Nina single for 34 years. He left them with his mother and is horrified when Sexy's father (Vinay Jain) calls him and said that Sexy just died. Omprakash finally realises his mistake and let Nina go after Buddhadev and with his in-laws family, he let them go to London to his restaurant. He bonds with Omprakash when he tells him he got tickets to the cricket match. [Source: Wikipedia] | romantic | train | imdb | At the point in this romantic comedy where they are definitely getting interested in each other, Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu are sitting on a bench in a park in London, and she tells him animatedly to run to a tree across a meadow and touch it and run back.
It's the kind of thing you tell a little boy to do -- a brilliant touch that captures so much of what's good about the movie: their fresh dynamic, her self-possessedness, his readiness, if reluctant, to step out of a somewhat ossified "grownup" character.
Tabu and AB are really good together - it's nice to see them both matched in terms of their size, for one thing, and Tabu emanates the kind of intelligent, self-confident, unsentimental, serious young woman who often is happiest with an older man -- like Jo in Little Women.Story takes place in both London and Delhi, which is fun.
And eventually there's her father in Delhi to deal with.AB lives with his 90-year-old mother (Zora Seghal, she's the grandmother in most movies) and one of the great things about the movie is their totally mutually insulting relationship -- she is a horrible cook and he is very mean and funny about it; she watches wrestling and Sex and the City or something on TV all day and nags him to go to a gym.
This is delightful in an Indian movie, as relief from the standard Mataji of the brimming-over compassionate gaze -- and we also unexpectedly see his deep reliance on her, and her availability, when something very distressing happens to him.Alongside the AB-Tabu story is the story of AB's relationship with a little girl next door who has leukemia.
And the scene where he goes into the video store and demands "adult dvds that are suitable for small children" is the kind of thing this movie excels at.The presence in the story of people of all ages, from little girl to 90-year-old Mother, as well as Tabu's father who is younger than AB and thinks of himself as elderly (and carries on to AB about how AB is so-lucky to have been "old enough to see Gandhi-ji") -- all of them written as anti-stereotypes -- makes a very nice philsophical background score about life, love, and mortality.I like the actual music a lot too - no "singing" by characters, but some nice scored passages that won't leave you, if Bollywood is your home, feeling exiled..
I laughed almost throughout the movie and I loved the flawlessly spiced dialogue between Amitabh and Tabu.
Cheeni Kum is about the unadulterated but sweetened love-story of a 64 year old man (I'm pretty sure Amitabh Bachchan is at that age right now in his real life) and a 34 year old woman.An arrogantly sarcastic Buddhadev Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan), who is still a bachelor at 64 meets a 34 years old spinster, simple and sweet Nina Verma (Tabu) at his restaurant, one of London's top authentic Indian Restaurant.
The similarities in their difference brings them together which culminated into a romance of a funnier genre.There were many ingredients of spices, little more than a typical romantic Hindi Movie; besides Amitabh and Tabu, the sizzler of curly straight dialogue from the 9 year old Sexy (Swini Khara) is refreshing to make you laugh all along.
Of course, Amitabh's 85 year old mother (Zohra Sehgal) who loves TV shows with muscle man and "Sex and the City" added enough flavor to make you reach out for the side dish that she flaunts..
Amitabh Bachchan is a crabby 64 year old chef / owner of an Indian restaurant in London.
The second half primarily depicts Tabu's 58 year old father, Paresh Rawal's viewpoint on the relationship.
Whether it's the interaction amongst the chef's in the restaurant, the waiter hilariously nicknamed Colgate because of his protruding teeth and the jokes at their expense ('Iske Liye Dimaag Ki Zaroorat Hai, Daant Ki Nahin', he is gently admonished on one occasion), the Sardarji pharmacist and Amitabh's interactions with him, Amitabh's mom's fascination with the gym in the face of her sons obvious reluctance to go anywhere near it, his acerbic comments on his mom's cooking ('yeh Tihar Jail Waali Dal ?'), Paresh Rawal's love of cricket and Gandhism.
I'm still laughing as I remember some of the jokes
.And I haven't even mentioned Amitabh and Tabu their running joke around the umbrella, the ruthless way she teases him the first time he tries to ask her out, their almost every conversation was beautifully constructed.
Everyone was excellent from Amitabh to Paresh Rawal to each chef / waiter in the restaurant, Amitabh's neighbour and his daughter (a nice sub-plot here and at last we get a real child who talks like today's kids actually do, unlike the saccharine mumblings of the girl in TaraRumPum).
The music, with the title song playing constantly in the background, the settings (even Qutab Minar looks beautiful in the movie), everything, like spices, enhance the brilliance of the dialogue.Take a bow, Mr Balki (an ad maker and first time director).
Amitabh is truly the King of Hindi movies, you just have to watch him in those suits and Tabu has come of age as a seasoned actress, Paresh Rawal is OK.An unusual story depicted with very realistic situations and laced with light-hearted humour.
Another highlight is the role played by the child actor aptly named sexy, who is very witty and worldly wise.I think the bottom line of the movie is that girls mature faster than men do and thus age should really not be a bar when one looks for a life-partner.After a long time,(for Hindi movie-goers) one gets to see a movie and say Ya!
I am not too sure if Cheeni Kum is the first Bollywood movie which fits into this genre of "Sarcastic Comedy", but definitely there could be many more to follow.
With the ad-man at the helm of affairs, its no wonder that every line of the movie seems to have been written by a copywriter.Amitabh and Tabu share a great chemistry and for once you wonder if you have been focusing on Tabu's performance than Big B.
Fanstastic performance indeed and the same for the little girl "Sexy" who gets one of the best lines in the movie.
It is during one such outburst that he sees a dish, Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao no less, returned by a customer (Tabu) because it's too sweet (and hence the recommendation to reduce sugar or Cheeni Kum).
He now owes her an apology, thus setting into motion a series of events that lead to attraction between the two, and finally love.Although the age gap between Amitabh and Tabu is there to see, it is totally downplayed and doesn't even come into focus until later in the second half.
The tight script and screenplay make sure the movie progresses at a good pace although it was slow at times for my liking.
power packed performance from amitabh bachchan and tabu..Buddha(amitabh) is the owner of spice6 restaurant which is the best in and around London....
JBJ was an AWFUL pile of bakvaas, and Amitabh's appearances in that movie were pointless and embarrassing (why was he trying to look like Stevie Ray Vaughan?) Cheeni kum was a very good movie.
A little slower than it could have been, and maybe Amitabh's character was a little bit TOO "cheeni kum", but overall it was an intelligent and well put together film.
Amitabh,Tabu,Paresh rawal have all acted great in this movie.
While the movie is appealing and a delight to watch in the first half and slowly seems to change track in the second half, things get a little too messy in the last third after Buddha goes to India to meet Neena's father.
The first half works as a romantic comedy where Balki introduces the love story of the two interesting protagonists, Buddha (Amitabh Bachchan) and Neena (Tabu) There are some very funny feel good scenes.
The comedy between Amitabh and Tabu works well and Zohra Sehgal is absolutely hilarious.
Zohra Sehgal is a delight to watch and Swini Khara is wooden (her voice sounds a little monotonous but her non-verbal expressions are good at times) Why did the writer choose to give a little girl a nickname like 'Sexy' (forced humour?)?.
I watch in awe at every movie Amitabh stars in these days with such admiration and respect for such a fine man and gifted artist, a true jewel in the crown of India.
Apurv Nagpal pretty much sums up the greatest of this film in his review, I had tears coming down my face for the first half of the film, and the one on one scenes between Amitabh and Tabu touched my heart like nothing else has done before.
all the best bits of the movie were in the trailer itself, and the item numbers you could watch later on you tube.Well, Cheeni Kum, was no such thing.
Tabu was superb, and Amitabh was absolutely outstanding.This film isn't just about the possible romance between a 64 year old and 34 year old.
It is a great movie indeed, very funny dialog and some great acting by Mr Bachchan, Tabu & Paresh R.
This is a kind of movie u can ask your friends to watch, who r not used to Indian movies (foreigners, or those who think Indian movies r not good enough).A great work by the director, Mr Balki and the entire team.
CHEENI KUM is a rare recent film which defies stereotypes and entertains you thoroughly from start to finish .It has excellent performances by an eminent cast and brilliant soundtrack by the maestro Illaiyaraja .
special mention to tabu, for playing her role at the right tempo - at just the right pace.balki handles the film with finesse, in the first half.
zohra sehgal is sooooo sweet, you wish she was your mom.paresh rawal is strictly okay.watch this film without having too many expectations.
Cheeni Kum is Fine Film with Great performances.
The movie concludes on the desired note after some interesting twists and arranging not only rib-tickling but also heart-piercing and sentimental moments for the audience.The title of the movie has been kept as Cheeni Kum(sugar in little quantity) because the first encounter of the lead pair starts with the preparation of Zaafraani Pulaao in the hero's restaurant for the heroine who is dissatisfied with the dish prepared on her order and then the hero who considers himself as a great chef, tells her that Zaafraani Pulaao is to be prepared with a little amount of sugar only because it shouldn't be very sweet.
There is an ample dose of sentiments also through the character of a little girl fondly called as Sexy (Swini Khera) and her sad demise leaving the lead characters especially the Mrs. Gupta and her son as soaked in grief.The movie is undoubtedly very interesting without boredom at any place and that's the victory of the writer-director R.
Musical score prepared by Illayaraja is completely in sync with the mood of the movie.Both Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu are highly talented actors and they have sparkled in this movie right from its opening to its conclusion.
Cheeni Kum boasts of a peculiar tagline 'Sugarfree Romance', the never paired Tabu and Amitabh Bacchan and also Illayaraja's superb music.
Cheeni Kum is one of finest works till date with superb performances, good storyline and everything one wants in a perfect entertainer.
That one is completely different.34 year-old Neena Verma (Tabu) meets the 64 year-old short-tempered chef of an Indian Restaurant in London, Spice 6 - Buddha Dev Gupta (Amitabh Bacchan).
Love blossoms between them and Buddha travels all the way to Neena's residence in Delhi and asks her father (Paresh Rawal) for his daughter's hand.
4. 9 year-old cancer affected neighbor, Sexy's interest for Adult movies and the way she talks like grownups.
Cheeni Kum,is a fresh movie,in term of its story for the Indian Audience and R.Balki has beautifully narrated the story.
Performance wise-Amitabh Bachchan is outstanding.I am sure no actor less them him, could done this role wit ease.Tabu is also too good.Paresh Rawal is hilarious.Zora Sehgal is both cute and humorous.This 98 year old woman must be appreciated for the way she acts.She is so confident and energetic.The child enacting Sexy is good.On the whole Cheeni Kum is a must watch..
Cheeni Kum. My expectation to see this movie was low after reading a The Hindustan Times poor review written by ex-Times of India film critic, Khalid Mohammed.
The story is about a 64 years old London based chef Buddhadev (Amitabh Bachchan) of an Indian restaurant, who is arrogant and proud of his Indian gourmet knowledge and cooking; and a 34 year old lady tourist to London, Neena Verma (Tabu), who lands up in the restaurant to be in argument with the chef over Hyderabadi Jafarani Biryani.
The second half of the movie is devoted to how Buddha tries to convince Neena's father Omprakash (Paresh Rawal), who is a hypocrite 58 year old Gandhian and against the relationship of his daughter and the chef.
Both, even with the huge age differences hold unique relationship with Buddha.The movie script is good and the first time advertisement agency director R.Balkirshnan has done a wonderful job.
Guyz if you've watched promos of "cheeni-kum" and expecting it as outstanding hilarious movie.....
Where old man Amitabh Bachchan(64) and young lady Tabu(34) falls in love..
A weak script, screenplay that made me want to eat myself, poor performances, and music that I didn't like filled my ears, screeching away.I thought a lot of Cheeni Kum was very cheesy.
I would have thought more would be displayed from Tabu, a wonderful performer, and Amitabh Bachchan, who does do good work.
I was sadly disappointed.Cheeni Kum could have been a powerful movie, but it was made in the wrong way.
Had the lady been 50 Plus in the film – played by may be Dimple Kapadia or Revathi – then the falling in love at an old age could have been made to present rather sweetly!In the film Tabu is 34 and Amitabh is 65!
But the lines spoken by Amitabh Bachchan during that scene are clap worthy.On the whole, Cheeni Kum needed to have more sugar!.
The subject this latest adman-turned-movieman tries to tackle in his debut (ad)venture is quite an age-old topic of discussion by almost any cultural standard -- timeless romance (pun intended).However, the exploration (and exploitation for Desi auds) falls woefully short as the usual inclinations to 'pepper, spice and sugar' up the usual masala mix of b/g score, dialog, dance, drama, etc creates a nice-looking package with not much inside.In the first 40 minutes of the movie, the kitchen scene has been repeated at least 8-9 times.
Reasonably good acting by Paresh Rawal who has the only sensible role in the film.
other than few good dialog there is nothing in this movie.the big b rt now is preaching to fall in love with girls of half of you age.
Now the task in hand is to convince Tabu's father, played by Paresh Rawal, to accept a man 6 years older than him as his son-in-law.
Worth watching at least once, for a different kind of a movie, than the usual, loud, Bollywood fare, which goes under the name of a comedy, or drama, and yes, specially for Amitabh, who has made justice to the main character , by his handling of it , with underplay and a beautiful sense of timing .
For some reasons, Amitabh played a role where he falls for younger girls, it started with KANK, then NISHABD and then Cheeni Kum. while in Nishabd there was more of late Jiah Khan's legs here this is a more mature love story.
The second half starts well but the entire fast part seems odd but the emotional scenes and last 10 minutes are awesomeDirection by R Balki is good Music is decent though Illayaraja used most of his tamil, kannada songsAmitabh is a natural and handles his role perfectly, he is simply awesome Tabu compliments him beautifully and adds realism to the part Paresh Rawal is fantastic in a clichéd role Zohra Sehgal is a delight, the lady was 94 when the film released but her energy is simply awesome, Swini Kara is delightful too rest are adequate.
A very clean movie with some double meaning dialogues, Cheeni Kum is a very mature love story between a 64 year old man and a 34 year old woman.Amitabh Bachchan is the owner of the best Indian restaurants in London Spice6.
Paresh Rawal as Tabu's father has also done justice to his role.
When you have two tower house of performers pitched against each other, the least you can expect is the superb camaraderie and that is the case in this film where we have a 64 yrs old Amitabh Bachchan romances a 34-yr old Tabu.
Nina's father is one who doesn't respect their relationship because of the age difference and therefore doesn't respect their decision to be together forever.Cheeni Kum has the potential to be a very well known Bollywood movie, but because of the long drawn out way in which it was performed, it is not one that I would recommend that anyone go see.
An Amitabh Bachchan, fresh from the failure of Nishabd, and Tabu, still reeling from the success of the Namesake.However the film does not deliver.
Why an intelligent woman would fall for an old cynical and expressionless man is never explained.Supporting characters of the mother (Zohra Sehgal), a precocious young girl ("Sexy"!!?), Shalini and the staff at the restaurant are easily summarized in two words: Annoying and Unnecessary.Tabu was good in her role, as was Paresh Rawal.
In this movie, the old Amitabh Bachchan falls in love with a much younger woman, again. |
tt0023649 | Vampyr | NOTE: Quotes indicate text titles from silent movie."This story is about the strange adventures of young Allan Gray [Julian West]. His studies of devil worship and vampire terror of earlier centuries have made him a dreamer, for whom the boundary between the real and the unreal has become him...One afternoon, during one of his aimless journeys, he arrived at a lonely inn close to the village of Courtempierre..." where he takes a room. That evening, he hears a strange chanting, goes exploring and sees a man with a horribly misshapen face. "In the moonstruck night light and shadow, voices and faces, seemed to take on hidden meaning. Allan Gray felt the darkness take control. In vain he tried to protect himself from unspeakable terror. Fear of the intangible followed him into a restless sleep." Allan is awakened by a noise at his chamber door. A man enters, says only "She must not die...do you hear?' and gives Allan a package on which is written "To be opened after my death.""What was going on? Which horrifying secret was revealing itself? One thing became clear to Allan Gray. A human soul in fear of Death cried for help--and an inner voice ordered him to follow its call." Again, Allan goes snooping. He finds shadows--the shadow of a man UNdigging a hole, the shadow of a man with a wooden leg, shadow dancers. He hears barking dogs and a child wailing. The village Doctor [Jan Heironimko] appears and asks Allan: "Did you hear it? There are no children or dogs here." Allan leaves, and the man is joined by an old woman who gives him a bottle of poison."(Allan) followed the shadows and entered a park. Among the ancient trees a chateau raised its towers into the haze of summer night. The man, whom Allan Gray had seen that same night at the inn, lived here in seclusion--with only his two daughters and a few servants." The daughters (Gisèlle [Rena Handel] and Léone [Sybille Schmitz]) appear to be ill. The family awaits the arrival of the village Doctor. Gisèlle lies in her bed and cries out, "The blood! The blood!". The old man, lord of the manor [Maurice Schutz], is killed by the gun-carrying shadow. Allan is asked to stay with the family while a servant goes for the police.While he waits, Allan opens the mysterious package to find a book entitled "The History of Vampires" by Paul Bonnard. He reads "...about horrendous demons called vampires. At full moon the Dead, not at peace because of terrible deeds they did while living, rise from their coffins--to suck the blood of children and young people--and prolong their own life in the land of the shadows. The Prince of Darkness is their companion, and...at night, creatures of the Abyss visit homes of the living to sow Death and Despair. Whoever falls into the hands of a vampire withers away hopelessly...a wound on the throat, as by a bite of a rat or a cat, is the mark of Damnation. Neither Doctors nor..."As Allan reads, Léone looks out the window to see Giselle wandering across the yard. Allan and Leone find her lifeless body and see an old woman walking away. While servants tend to the girl, Allan continues to read about vampires "...to grow accustomed to their miserable fate--which, besides pain in the body, brings untold agony to the Soul. Therefore, like an epidemic, a vampire's craving for blood is carried over to the victim, who himself becomes a vampire and goes searching for more victims among his dear ones. Whole families, yes, whole villages, in this way have been sucked into the curse...Shadows of executed criminals are their helpers. Living people may also be forced to do their dreadful bidding. A tale from Hungary tells how a village Doctor, having sold his soul to The Evil One became the helper of a vampire--and was accomplice to a series of horrid crimes in that parish. Here, vampires..."The Doctor arrives and determines that Gisèlle needs blood. While Allan donates blood for a transfusion, the manservant reads from the book. "The vampire, who had obtained complete power over its victim, tries in every possible way to drive it to suicide; for the one who takes his own life is lost for all eternity. For him, the golden gates of Heaven are closed--all hope is gone! Oh, you Devilish...the riddle of life? Who can penetrate the secrets hidden from the light of Day? Just as strange as the life of the vampires is the manner of breaking their might. These monsters, who cannot find peace, must be murdered so that persecuted Mankind may be freed from its nightmare. Many monasteries and libraries have, in their secret...how sometimes vampires have been made harmless. In the village of Kisiloba, which was haunted by a vampire in the body of an old woman, they went about it as follows. At dawn the grave was opened; they found the old one lying down, as if asleep. They drove a metal bar into her heart--and nailed her detestable soul to the crypt. She now died a true Death, and the crime, that rested over...Certain places were beset by vampires. Many years ago there was a foul epidemic in the village of Courtempierre--claiming eleven victims. Doctors gave the sickness a scientific name. Yet among men a rumour spread that a vampire was playing its game. People believed this vampire was one Marguerite Chopin [Henriette Gerard], buried in the village churchyard. All her life, Marguerite Chopin was a monster in a human body. She died without remorse, and at the hour of Death the Church refused her..."As Allan rests from his blood donation, a voice in the background is heard saying "Come with me. We will be one soul...one body...death is waiting." The manservant awakens Allan just in time for them to stop Gisèlle from taking the poison left at her bedside by the Doctor. Gisèlle must not die till sunrise. The Doctor escapes, but Allan follows. Allan's shadow separates from his body. He goes to the Doctor's house where he finds his own body in a coffin, and the body of Léone tied to a bed. As Allan's shadow watches, the Doctor and his wooden-legged helper nail shut the coffin. Is this actually happening, is it a memory or perhaps a dream induced by Allan's lack of blood?Now Allan watches the manservant digging up a grave, and he goes over to help. Is it his own grave? Will he find his own body? They open the grave to find the old woman's body. As the morning sun rises, the manservant drives a stake through Marquerite Chopin's body. Gisèlle sits up in bed. "I feel strong," she says. "My soul is free." The man with the wooden leg falls down the stairs and is killed. The Doctor becomes entrapped and buried in a grain elevator. Allan unties Léone and they go home together. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl] | good versus evil, cult, psychedelic, murder, gothic | train | imdb | "Vampyr", one of the first horror movies with sound, is the work of the highly influential danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer.
After directing the monumental "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc" in 1928, Dreyer decided to make this modest film based on the novel "In a Glass Darkly" by Sheridan Le Fanu; while this is indeed his first movie with sound, it was conceived as a silent film, and the movie contains very few dialog.I must admit that as many, I was left with a big question mark in my face as the story was progressing; but the apparently disjointed storyline do make sense, as it is worked as a surreal experience of the lead character, it is as if Dreyer had filmed a nightmare, complete with the haunting images and eerie atmosphere.The movie is about a traveler, named Allan Grey (Julian West), who gets involved in a nightmarish plot when the owner of the inn where he is staying asks him for help to save his family from what he believes is a vampire.
We follow Allan Grey in his surrealistic trip to madness as he finds out more and more about the supposed vampire that haunts the manor turned inn.The highly inventive camera work is truly outstanding, the combination of light and darkness is among the finest work in a black & white film and alone makes the movie worth a look; the movie not only has the structure of a nightmare, it also looks like one.
The Gothic manor and the lonely rural exteriors increase the haunting atmosphere and the beautiful images Dreyer conceived are the work of a genius.The structure of the script may be complicated, but it shows its influence over David Lynch and other filmmakers with similar surrealist story lines and dreamlike sequences.
It is probably not a masterpiece of the likes of the aforementioned "Passion" or the more well-known "Day of Wrath" (Vredens dag, 1943), but "Vampyr" shines with its own light as one of the finest horror movies of that period.The only real flaw in my opinion, was that the lead actor, Julian West, was probably not the best choice for a lead role, as his acting seems unnatural and not believable.
I'm not sure if this was intended that way or had more to do with the fact that West produced the film, but it is my only complain about "Vampyr".This modest masterpiece is a must see for any horror fan or anyone who likes silent movies.
With its fragmented plot, eerie imagery, and air of undefined menace this film more nearly realises the dream state than any other film I've seen.The story, which follows a young man's discovery of vampiric doings while on a trip to the country, is secondary to the fascinatingly uncanny mood generated by the cinematography and effective use of sound and silence.Yes, yes, it's old and unconventional, and requires either some extra concentration or complete surrender to its unique world, but the effort is worth it.Vampyr should especially appeal to fans of cinefantastique, cinema history and maybe even the arthouse crowd..
Dreyer's terror lies in a world of shadows, surreality amplified by some remarkable cinematography, the roots of nightmare ever subtle, where camera movement can excite as much dread and anticipation as any vampire out clawing at a victim.Vampyr's story, such as it is, tells of Allan Grey (Julian West), a man studious of vampires.
Indeed, Vampyr's influence arguably began at once, for a similar tone of silent mystery pervades some scenes in White Zombie, incidentally one of Bela Lugosi's best, made just the same year - another film which made in sound which often plays like a silent.
(Both this and present film are much better than Tod Browning's famous version of Dracula also made at about the same time, which these days seem positively wooden by comparison.) And, years later, Ken Russell was to mimic the premature burial sequence of Vampyr, glass windowed coffin and all, in his uneven Mahler while arguably a similar, dreamlike, touch can be found in the work of the French horror auteur Jean Rollin, who in the 1970s made of soft tinted vampirism almost a genre of its own.Of his original film Dreyer said, "I wanted to create the daydream on film
to show that horror is not a part of the things around us, but of our own subconscious mind." To help achieve this, he and his cameraman Rudolph Mate shot much very early in the morning and frequently through fine gauze - a creative decision increasing the sense of mystery surrounding events.
And unlike Nosferatu's celebrated settings of castles, doom laden ships and spectral carriages, Vampyr's unease is primarily set amidst the domestic: an inn, a to-do private home or in common place out-buildings.Dismayed by distracting subtitles, often faded visuals and poor soundtrack elements, admirers of Dreyer's masterpiece have long cried out in vain for a restored version, especially now that the later films of the director have been reissued.
The one minor flaw in the film as well is, unlike Joan of Arc, the performances are less than brilliant, outside of the girl in the bed and at times West (Schultz, while believable in the look of the character, is a little too 'shocked' in most scenes).
Certain scenes are like terrifying little masterpieces of gothic torture- the droplets of blood falling onto the ground from the bed; the coffin point of view of the world; the close-ups; the way Dreyer moves around the chateau and outside; the creepy, somehow appropriate over/under exposure of shots.
Overall, this is definitely a horror film with a an artist that doesn't sell himself short of the goods in his arsenal.Vampyr is recommendable, if for nothing else (however the story seems like it would be easier to figure out on a repeat viewing, it would lessen the effect it leaves the first time), for the sheer vision.
In the case of Carl Dreyer's "Vampyr," however, all you seem to hear is high-brow rhetoric about how the film's dream-like illogic makes it a meditation upon death.
The main attractions are the images: shadows that kill people, a spirit that leaves its body, a corpse-eye view of a burial, and other uncanny occurrences that lead young Allan Grey to a girl suffering from a mysterious illness, and to her doctor, a vampire's accomplice who supplies his crone-like patroness with fresh victims.Possibly the film's poor reception by critics and audiences was because the 1930 soundtrack was too primitive to be appreciated by viewers in 1932, who by then were used to lots of chatter - and because the earlier release of "Dracula" blunted its impact.
But with little dialog and without the stagnating influence of a stationary microphone our eyes feast on Hermann Warm's eerie art direction, and are guided by Rudolph Mate's camera, which keeps us off balance, misdirecting our point of view as when it pans to a door through which a nurse exits her patient's room, then pans back again to reveal an empty bed just before the victim's sleep-walking rendezvous with the vampire.The film bears even less resemblance to its source (Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla") than "Dracula" does to Stoker's novel, possibly because it borrows from another story, Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "Good Lady Ducayne," in which a young man comes to the aid of a young paid female companion of an extremely aged woman whose doctor draws the young woman's blood for his patient to consume.
Sybille Schmitz in particular, as the vampire's victim, conveys with her subtle expressions emotions for which spoken language is inadequate.For those who already know this film, Martin Koerber's restoration on the Criterion release eliminates the large, black-bordered, Gothic subtitles, and corrects the too-bright day-for-night scenes that were so distracting on the Image disc.
Much of this may be the fault of the poor print I saw - a bleached frame that makes the credits illegible (although Mate's filtered blinding lighting is one of the sources of the film's unease); disjointed editing that suggests an ornery distributor's hand; the feel that this print is actually an assemblage of different prints - German language scenes alternate with dubbed English ones, the music seems to halt with jarring regularity.Normally this kind of vandalism is simply unacceptable to any work by a master, but somehow this butchery adds to the film's enigma.
The film itself, Dreyer's first sound film, features little dialogue, and is in many ways shot like a silent, with intertitles, stylised acting, and flickering, chiaroscuro imagery, further making ambiguous the status of what we see, the music and sound effects being vital.Unlike most horror films, VAMPYRE does not move towards explanation of mystery and resolution of rupture.
whether you see Vampyr as proof for blood-sucking vampires, or just as a fantastic tale of one man's tenuous grip on reality, this is an experience that will hold you for a long time past its running time.What Dreyer, and possibly Tarnovsky, gives us as an audience, is the rare chance to see ourselves through the magic of highly personal filmmaking.
What I realized as I watched this amazing film was not allan grey's viewpoint, but a real chance to explore my own spiritual and intellectual ideas of reality and fantasy and how blurred they are for each of us at various times.because Dreyer did not give us much background on the main character and cast a non-actor for the part, it gives us a rare chance to feel the experiences he encounters in whatever way we wish.
A conveniently published book explains (believe it or not!) that there is a monstrous vampire in the mist (Henriette Gérard), assisted by a frightening old doctor (Jan Hieronimko).This is an anemic "Vampyr" story, substantially elevated by artfully direction and photography by Carl Theodor Dreyer and Rudolph Maté (with Louis Née).
From time to time, there's a shadowy character with a scythe (the grim reaper!) and a one-legged man who can only be detected in the dark and who gives off no shadow.Dreyer's bold camera captures amazing sequences - especially the hero's terrifying dream of being sealed in a glass-lidded coffin, watching the world pass by upside down en route to his burial.
This man offers him an ominous warning and gives him a package that is to be opened "after his death".Upon waking, Allan is led by "shadow people" to the house of this same man...just in time to witness shadowy demons murder him.He tries to intervene, but it is too late...the man dies...Seeing Dreyer's mindblowing display of light and shadows in action, really makes you realize how effective such a device can be- and what a lost art it has become in modern horror.Watching this segment of the film is kind of like going on one of those carnival haunted house rides.
Vampyr the film from Carl Th. Dreyer is really the creepy kind with its weird looking sets, surreal events and just characters whose emotions are conveyed through body language much more than by words.
The story revolves a young man who is introduced to the world of vampires and the supernatural, as the plot moves on we see more about what they are and what they can do.Dreyer uses a cast not very well known if not in some cases at all and puts Nicolas de Gunzburg in the lead role as Allan Gray the young man whose fascination with the supernatural takes him to a small inn in the village of Courtempierre.
Dreyer knows though how to use his actors well though, even if they aren't too believable, he does this in a spooky way and although they move around just a little strangely, at times that strange movement can be kind of freaky and used to nice effect.Dreyer co-writes the film with Christen Jul and the script but in more specifics the dialogue is very well, not much there, but that is one reason this movie works so well.
But to admirers of refined horror and cinematic art, this movie from the film history vaults is nothing less than a revelation.Dreyer's take on horror was very European, with a good deal of German pre-war expressionism in the mix, featuring lots of shadows, weird angles, dream-like picture distortion throughout the film, fascinating camera movements, a difficult to follow, intentionally fragmented narrative, and hauntingly surreal imagery.
A few indelible, recurrent still images dominate the film: the man with the scythe, the hero's face under glass, a distorted feminine grimace, and an angel's silhouette.While I cannot recommend Vampyr, with its narrative incompetence and long boring stretches, as entertainment, nor--for Dreyer was certainly on the "wrong side of history"--for its influence, the film asks an important question: why is it that we do not ask our horror films to any longer resemble, exactly and uncannily resemble, our bad dreams?.
The movie is based on the classic "Carmilla", of Sheridan Le Fanu, and tells the story of a man called Allan Grey (the actor Julian West), a studious of vampires.
If you're seriously looking for a "horror" movie that contains more "WTF!?" moments in it than David Lynch's "Eraserhead", then this truly absurd and eccentric, little vampire flick (from 1932) may just be what you're hankering for.Unfortunately - For me to say that "Vampyr" could have been a helluva lot better (on all counts) would definitely be an understatement.But, with that said, "Vampyr's" creepy, grungy, grainy visuals did, at times, tend to have a nonsensical appeal to them (that was all their own).
During the thick of its vampyr-myth debunking sequences, our protagonist, the spiffy young man named Allan Gray (played by the French scion and later illustrious magazine designer Nicolas de Gunzburg under the alias of Julian West, who invests the movie with his own money to secure his dabbling into filmdom, which is his only screen credit) is afflicted by an out-of-body experience and witnesses a burying ceremony of his own body, swapping between camera's (subjective/objective, body/soul) viewpoints, the film reaches its most eerie, preternatural actualization of a blurred vision between real and unreal.
As co-scripted and directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, it's done in the best tradition of silent film, with the occasional bits of spoken dialogue mouthed in different languages by the actors and then dubbed by speakers of those languages.What Dreyer chooses to do is to tell his story not with words so much but with images, and he creates some very stark and wonderfully chilling visuals.
I think the culmination of what I am talking about is when the main actor splits in two, with the "body" remaining to rest on a bench while the "spirit" wanders around, discovers another body of his that gets buried, then returns to the first body.As a side note, the film also features a "drowning in flour" scene that I always saw as connected to Witness, not Vampyr.Bottom line: hard to watch, harder to follow, but it did open my eyes towards the perceptions of that era and the beginnings of cinematography.
and that's not necessarily a bad thing,certainly in this case.this is an odd film,to be sure.there seems to be problems with continuity and flow from certain scenes into others.but that might be on purpose.i can't really explain that,but the director may have been trying to make a point.a film historian might no what's going on,but i'm certainly not one,so i can't be sure.one thing i am sure of is the acting,which i feel is exquisite from all concerned.the atmosphere is certainly one of gloom and death.there some things which are not fully explained and so the viewer has to come to their own conclusions or use their imagination.one things for sure.it's a movie you can't watch just once.i plan on watching it again,to try and pick up on something i may have missed.for me,Vampyr-Der Traum des Allan Grey is a 7/10.
But, due to it being a German production, the viewer was actually expected to sit there awestruck, believing that what they were viewing was, indeed, superior film-making.Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough happening (action, drama, interesting situations) in Vampyr's story to hold this viewer's attention for more than just a few brief moments at a time.Vampyr's weak storyline, literally, has its main character running around (all bug-eyed) in an old, country inn, encountering one forgettable character after another until the whole situation turns into a somewhat blurred (and decidedly silly) nightmare..
Vampyr (1932) *** (out of 4) Dreyer's first sound film has traveler Allan Gray (Julian West) landing in a remote castle where he begins to see strange things ranging from shadows to possible vampires.
It definitely looks like a film made in the transition between silent and "talkie" movies; between static cameras and moving ones, and as such feels very experimental (this is a high point for me, actually), since the primitive special effects (such as the "clouding" of the images, or the transition between man and cadaver) are disturbing, to say the least.
Released a good four years after his silent film masterpiece 'The Passion of Joan of Arc', his choice of making a genre film had alienated his admirers who had been expecting something far more ambitious than an adaptation of '''Carmilla''' but time has revealed 'Vampyr' to be among the most dreamlike of Dreyer's films.Allan Gray(Nicholas de Gunzburg) is an adventurer and traveler who's had a particular interest in the occult.
Dreyer's first sound film is a masterpiece of mood, as an obsessive young student of the occult begins chasing shadows and is drawn into a world of dreams, death and vampires.
Although difficult to watch and not exactly entertaining, VAMPYR is nonetheless a fascinating horror film which taps into some of our deepest fears.Despite having a vampire, this is a film which actually feels like a ghost story due to some spooky scenes of character's spirits coming out of their bodies and walking about in dream states.
Vampyr was the first sound film for Carl Theodor Dreyer, but it must as well be silent. |
tt0257756 | High Crimes | Claire Kubik (Ashley Judd) is happily married to her husband, Tom [Jim Calviezel]. The movie opens with her having sex and becoming pregnant.Claire is a high profile lawyer who is pretty famous. While Claire and Tom are strolling along the street, a SWAT team swoops down on them and takes Tom away.He is charged with murder while serving in the army. Apparently, three American students were killed in a cafe in El Salvador. A terrorist was suspected of the killings, and Kubik's battallion was sent to a remote village where the terrorist may be hiding. Their search was fruitless; but, apparently, a soldier lost his cool and killed nine civilians. The Government is accusing Kubik.Claire has no experience in a military tribunal, so she enlists the services of Morgan Freeman.Tom Kubik claims another member of the platoon named Hernandez shot the civilians in a fit of rage and convinced the rest of the platoon to lie and say he (Tom) did it.Freeman tracks down another former member of the platoon and gets him drunk. Freeman tapes the ex-soldier admitting he was bribed into accusing Kubik. The tape is not allowed in court because the man mysteriously vanishes. Apparently, there is a huge conspiracy because many of Claire's associates are attacked many times during the course of the movie, and Claire is attacked by a Mexican man.Claire confronts the Mexican man and he tells the real story: Hernandez threw the bomb into the cafe because the head terrorist was really there and was really killed. The Army didn't know there were Americans in the cafe. As a cover up, the Army claimed the head terrorist did it and sent in the platoon to look for the terrorist in that remote village. Clarie verifies this because Hernandez had a patch in his eye from when the Mexican dude claimed Hernandez got cut from the debris from the blast. Medical records prove this.Later, for some reason not known, the case is just thrown out. Apparently, Freeman has dug up some dirt and found out that two witnesses were murdered in Texas and Mexico. Tom happened to be in both towns on the day of the murders. We then learn that Tom was also involved in this whole conspiracy.That blew me away because all this time, they were trying to prosecute him....Tom finds out that Claire found out about him attacks her, and Mexican dude comes in at last second to save her.End of movie. | violence, murder, sadist, flashback | train | imdb | Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd (`Kiss the Girls') team up again in this courtroom thriller, which is entertaining despite its worn plot and obvious ending.
The reason it doesn't descend to a level consistent with the screenplay's unoriginality is the superior acting by the three principal performers.Claire (Ashley Judd) and Tom (James Caviezel) are living an idyllic and romantic married life, trying hard to have a baby.
She hires Charlie Grimes (Morgan Freeman) to assist her because until he became a broken down alcoholic, he was once one of the top lawyers in the military.The film is paced well and balanced between courtroom drama and other related storylines like constant death threats, a dirty general and a mystery man.
Peet is no serious dramatic talent, but she has this character down and comes across as believably ditzy and concerned about her sister despite their obvious sibling rivalry.This film doesn't fool anyone with its surprise ending, but it does deliver good suspense, a tried and true formula and some excellent performances.
This was an involving story of a military man accused of murdering civilians 15 years earlier and then going A.W.O.L. The whole story revolves around one question: did he do it or is he innocent?That question keeps the viewer guessing for much of the film and provides some very good suspense.
Ashley Judd, Jim Caviezel and Morgan Freeman are three attractive lead actors, all interesting to watch, as usual..
It has enough actors that we love that there is something you will enjoy.Besides Judd and Freeman, it has Jesus (James Caviezel) as the husband who is hiding his past, Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards) as the slutty sister, and it is directed by Carl Franklin (Out of Time, Devil with the Blue Dress).Anyone who has watched more than a dozen movies can easily predict what comes next as the film unfolds, maybe even the ending, although that is the most illogical part for me, so it's not going to tax your brain.
Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, after starring in 1997's Kiss the Girls, reunite in this story about powerful attorney Claire Kubik (Judd), who finds her husband Tom Kubik (Jim Caviezel) arrested for the murder of Latin American villagers while he was in the Marines, with the name of Sgt. Ron Chapman.
Claire teams up with Charlie Grimes (Freeman) to navigate through the military justice system in attempts to clear Tom, all while dealing with the deaths of key eyewitnesses.Like Kiss the Girls, this movie is full of mystery and tension that will captivate an audience and keep the movie's pace going strong despite its simple and predictable plot.
Jim Caviezel gave a strong and mysterious performance as the accused Tom, whose unknown background will leave the audience guessing.With some good suspense and tension, it's a worthy courtroom drama for a popcorn movie night.Grade B-.
Fortunately, Judd manages to hold this less than sterling film together as it worms and squirms its way through the story of a happy wife and trial lawyer who finds her husband might not be who she thought he was and has to try to wrest him from the clutches of a military courtmartial, a possible death sentence, and a coverup conspiracy.
KISS THE GIRLS stars Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman reunite in HIGH CRIMES, a movie that turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting.
It seemed to drag on a little, and the genre seemed to be more like a courtroom drama instead of a crime thriller.Morgan Freeman is OK as the lawyer Claire hires.
Claire has been kept in the dark about her husbands past, but despite her doubts she still believes his innocence and takes it upon herself to act as his defence attorney with the help of a disgraced military lawyer (Morgan Freeman) The film is both suspenseful and intriguing, with very fine performance from all the cast.
The film draws many parallels with Robert Zemeckis's What Lies Beneath, but lacks both the subtle art and spirited nature of that movie.Claire Kubik (Ashley Judd) is a high-profile lawyer who lives as part of an idyllic marriage.
Near the end the crudely typical vengeful South American character stands valiantly at a doorway, reversing his role from throughout the film, and you almost expect him to say que pasa?'Dialogue in the movie is unoriginal and contrived, but is not poor enough that it stands out, and overall is utterly unremarkable, Ashley Judd exhibits an excellent performance in playing a confused, loving, strong woman, and in her skill highlights the lack of acting ability in James Cavizel, who is ill-matched with her.
Despite its faults, it is an entertaining ride, and the surprise ending (so necessary to complete the movie that it is half-predictable) will act as redemption in the eyes of those who would otherwise leave with a bad taste in their mouths.`High Crimes' is rated PG-13.
This movie is a remake in disguise of Costa-Gavras 's "Music Box".Ashley Judd takes on Jessica Lange's part.In the eighties work,Lange was defending her father ,accused of high crimes during WW2 .Take San Salvador and the hubby instead and the job is done.Besides,both ending are almost the same,"high crimes" being more nervous and more "moral" so to speak.Freeman investigates in San Salvador as Lange did in Hungary,to come to the same final conclusion.Needless to say,Judd's brilliant brave attorney and Freeman's alcoholic character have been seen by the average viewer a thousand times or more..
This film features Ashley Judd as an ambitious female attorney who suddenly finds out that her husband (a zonned out looking Jim Caviezel) has a secret past and is suddenly on trial in military court for murder.
High Crimes is a decent movie with a very well developed storyline and a great cast.I was expecting it to be more of a thriller,which it certainly wasn't,but it was still an enjoyable movie,mainly because of solid performances and very great character development,the movie does drag out a bit however and isn't completely interesting the whole time.Morgan Freeman was certainly the movies highlight,he delivered a brilliant performance like he always does and his character is certainly the most likable,Ashley Judd also did a terrific job,I've complained about her acting before in Kiss the Girls,but she had certainly improved between the gap of these movies and the character was more suited for her.The thing that bothered me the most about this movie is that the "big twist " at the end was really predictable,the writers were clearly expecting it to shock the audience but it was obvious this would happen about a half hour in to the film.Predictable but still enjoyable,High Crimes is a good movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good crime film.
"High Crimes" contains some throw-away characters, is a little too clever for its own good with the plot twists, and some loose ends dangle at the end, which I did not find satisfying.The acting is OK and it's hard to make Ashley Judd look bad, even when her on-screen character has some bruises.Who should see this film:-- Action / suspense movie buffs who have nothing better todo on a rainy day, and who aren't expecting the well-plottedand original Kiss the Girls.-- I can't think of anyone else.I'll give High Crimes a 6 out of 10..
The benchmark was clear, events followed had some nice twists and turns, but types of attorneys were trivial in a politically correct manner (although nicely performed, particularly Morgan Freeman), and the middle of the movie or so gave rather plain hints about the solution and the role of the accused.
The only remarkable thing about this movie is Ashley Judd's new hairstyle which suits her very well and makes her look at least ten years younger.I found myself to be concentrating more on her delightful appearance than on the story itself.
Very interesting story and great acting by Morgan Freeman, who was a drunken lawyer, Charlie Grimes),"Edison",'05 who really held this picture together and gave an outstanding performance..
I must admit that my own expectations based on the actors starring in it (Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman) were a bit too high.The acting is okay although the constellation of characters seems like a cliché I've seen too often in these kind of courtroom drama's; a husband being accused of murder, the wife fighting the system with a little help from an old hand with alcoholic problems.The plot is too thin and only 15 minutes old are you able to guess how the plot of the movie sticks together.
There is not enough of drama in it to make it very exciting and the acting in the courtroom is just too thin.All things considered; if you feel like seeing a movie starring some famous actors but you do not want to do a lot of thinking during the movie then I will suggest High Crimes as the choice to make.
The obviousness of some of his staging and camerawork make some of the plot twists a bit predictable, particularly that last surprise (which is anything but, once you get past the "false" ending), but Franklin does keep the pacing tight; High Crimes is never dull for its entire running time, and he manages to craft a few sharp, suspenseful setpieces, particularly during the finale.But what makes High Crimes recommendable and ultimately quite watchable are the performances.
From the lovely Ashley Judd (who needs a better haircut) to the somewhat meek Adam Scott, almost everyone here delivers top-notch performances, most especially Freeman, who can excel in just about any role and continues to prove why he's the best actor around.
This film relies heavily on character empathy (because the plot is primarily generic courtroom mixed with non-humorous-sillyness), and one finds it very difficult to relate to-, let alone LIKE Ashley Judd's character: by the time Morgan Freeman is introduced (in a generic, seen-it-before kind of way) you're already regretting sitting down to watch.
"High Crimes" runs into both issues and does nothing to distinguish itself as original or exciting.For a basic plot summary, "High Crimes" sees Tom Kubik (Jim Caviezel) and his wife Claire (Ashley Judd), a lawyer, living a happy, married existence while trying to start a family.
Yes, the title is a bit generic but this film warrants more than one viewing and Morgan Freeman is excellent (as he usually is).Ashley Judd is Claire Kubik married to former Marine, Jim Caviezel.
Breuce Davison is also good as the nefarious General who knows the true facts.Normally the film would be an 8 but Morgan Freeman elevates the performances here and is believable as a man who has "hit zero" too many times and now must make a comeback.
Claire learns a few disturbing truths as well, her life is changed for the better, though she endures a miscarriage and murder attempts as she is defending her husband during the murder trial.Overall a definite must see for anyone who likes a decent story, and Morgan Freeman.
Apart from that, the movie is really average, the acting is mediocre, even Freeman is not convincing as the renegade lawyer, not to mention that the story of the redeemed drunken lawyer has been already seen in about 1,000 movies.But the movie does worse, it convey some negative messages, I think, although I suspect that this effect was not intended:1) Lawyers are not really coming out as a nice category, you see a media-self-complacent, couldn't-care-less, top-flyer Ashley Judd in the beginning and you already hate her.
Lastly, add a nice dose of Jagged Edge, and pow, you have High Crimes.Predictable to say the least; the definition of boring, High Crimes is plagued by Ashley Judd playing the same character she plays in every movie, and good old Morgan Freeman doing another turd for a dollar.
High Crimes a good thriller that stars Ashley Judd as Claire Kubik, a lawyer who's husband is a soldier who has been accused of murdering some Latin American villagers.
When I think of a movie about military justice with a military cover-up involving a high ranking officer in the background, my mind automatically goes to the superb "A Few Good Men." I wouldn't rank "High Crimes" anywhere near that film in terms of story or acting.
Adam Scott as Lt. Embry (the young military lawyer first assigned to the case) and Amanda Peet as Claire's sister Jackie really didn't do much for me.However, the story was decent enough and Morgan Freeman always pulls any movie up a notch or two.
And it becomes, then, a story about courage and commitment, and most importantly, trust and truth, the basic ingredients that make up the mortar that holds our society and our very lives together; and as this film points out, if the mixture of that mortar is not pure, it is a very tentative seal, indeed, that binds us together.Claire Kubik (Ashley Judd) seemingly has the perfect life; she's a successful criminal defense attorney (about to become a partner in the firm), has a beautiful home in the San Francisco Bay area and a wonderful husband, Tom (James Caviezel), with whom she is hoping to have a baby soon, which would make her life complete.
Most importantly, he keeps it all moving right along and keeps you guessing; he never tips his hand too soon, and it makes for some riveting suspense.Franklin knows how to handle his actors, too, and he gets some first rate performances out of them, especially from Judd and Morgan Freeman, who are great on-screen together (as they were in their previous collaboration, `Kiss the Girls,' in 1997).
Judd gives so much more than a by-the-numbers performance, and she gets results accordingly; Claire is very real, and because of that, you care what happens to her.As Charlie Grimes, the former Marine lawyer (who back in the day had more than some trouble with the system of military justice) now in a less-than-thriving private practice, Morgan Freeman effectively creates a memorable character, bringing that extra something to the part-- as he has in films throughout his career-- with yet another excellent performance.
HIGH CRIMES (2002) ** Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Jim Caviezel, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet, Bruce Davison, Tom Bower, Juan Carlos Hernandez.
High Crimes has Ashley Judd as a lawyer whose husband (Caviezel) is arrested in a military installation for murder on 9 counts from 12 years past and she decides to defend him.
I only watched this film because 2 of my favourite performers - Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd were starring and I thought High Crimes will be a good film because of these 2 talented performers, but really, to my surprise it was a disappointment.
His wife Claire (Ashley) does all she can within her power to defend her husband Tom (Jim) with the assistance of Charlie Grimes (Morgan Freeman)I was disappointed because the plot of this film was uninteresting and it was kind of predictable.
Its not a terrible movie - High Crimes since the acting by Morgan and Ashley was good, gave life to the film, but definitely not a good film.
Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman team up in this engaging, but ultimately predictable military cover-up/conspiracy drama.
High Crimes is a movie that wants to keep your suspicion on the wrong party the whole time, and throw you off completely at the end by twisting the whole story around.
But in reality, it is a low-thrill thriller, where the court scenes are too light, intersected by after hour scenes, consisting mostly of threats and scare tactics by unknown parties.The movie is about Claire, played by Ashley Judd, whose husband Tom/Ron, played by James Caviezel is being charged by the military for a massacre in Central American.
I guess some things are more righteous than others, like saving one's husband with the secret past.So as a whole, this movie could be watched as a suspense thriller, albeit a low thrill one, if you don't care if everything fits at the end.
Works like a charm!Too bad, I think Ashley Judd is as cute as they come, and a good actress; Morgan Freeman steals the show as always, but this movie....AAAAARRRRGGGHHH..
Based on R1 DVD 115 min.High Crimes gives some good character acting by Judd and the ever dependable Freeman.
Very good and enjoyable thriller with great performances by Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman and surprisingly good performance by Jim Caviezal.
High Crimes is meant to be a thriller but it's predictable enough to only thrill a dill.Ashley Judd (Kiss The Girls) plays Claire who's a hot shot San Francisco lawyer.
They want to lock him up big time.Of course Claire takes on his defense and enlists Charlie Grimes (Morgan Freeman, Kiss The Girls, The Unforgiven), a drunken expert on military law to assist her.High Crimes rushes about at a furious pace, presenting red herrings, leaving loose ends and failing to explain itself.
Although the star power is good (Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman
you bought it last time, remember?), the story has more holes than Swiss cheese.
I like Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman and enjoyed High Crimes until the end, when it appeared that the director decided the story wasn't beefy enough.
Ashley Judd's performance as a supportive wife and lawyer was portrayed as best as she could, but it fell short of the expectations that I would have put on any other actress in the role.The plot, while formulaic and predictable, is a favorite of many people, as the film has done well since it's premiere.
I get a little tired of it happening all throughout the movie, especially when you are really trying to pay attention more to the story than anything else, however, I did like the performances by Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman who were in Kiss The Girls a while back. |
tt2446980 | Joy | The film opens with a scene from a soap opera. One woman (Donna Mills) convinces another woman (Susan Lucci) that she needs to be a strong woman. Hands her a gun. Two male actors walk up and add to the scene, all filmed in a master shot from set so you can see how silly it looks when seen this way.We are told this film is a true story is inspired by strong women everywhere but mostly one in particular.The films narrator introduces herself she is Mimi (Diane Ladd) who introduces the girls we see playing outside her dad's auto body shop is a young Joy, there is her half-sister Peggy (from Joy's father's previous marriage), and there is Joy's close friend, Jackie. Mimi also introduces us to Joy's mother her daughter, Carrie (Virginia Madsen) who is obsessed with soap operas and Joy's father, Rudy (Robert De Niro), the owner of the auto shop. We also see Mimi for the first time when she tries to instill confidence in Joy despite her dysfunctional upbringing she tells Joy she is going to grow up to be a strong woman, meet a nice man, have beautiful children, and is going to build wonderful things.Young Joy is an inventor and she has built a house made of paper in her room. She tells her half-sister, Peggy, a story about a princess and her friends that live in the house Joy, herself, is represented by an origami swan and invited to play. Peggy tells her there needs to be a prince if there is a princess in the but Joy is adamant that there is no prince.In present day, Carrie (Joy's mom) is now watching a soap opera in her bedroom, which she never leaves. Because of this, Joy constantly has to cater to her and take care of her. At this moment, the adult Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) is in her airline uniform, looking in her mother's closet for the lanyard she needs for work. Instead she finds an old dog collar. She shows it to her mother, reminding her she invented it after choking their dog on a walk -- it has a breakaway material so dogs can't be choked. But her mom wouldn't get a patent for her and now another company has patented it and is selling it. Carrie just responds that she doesn't know how to do patents. We meet Joy's two children as she wrangles them up. The doorbell rings, surprising everyone. It turns out to be Joy's father who is having problems with his girlfriend of two years so he's moving back into the basement. Joy says he cant because her ex-husband lives down there. Carrie tells Rudy he can't stay there and he mocks her for watching soap operas and never leaving her room -- he tells her she's like a gas leak that is silently killing them all. They get into a quarrel and Rudy breaks a bunch of things, which upsets Carrie. Rudy goes downstairs into the basement to move in and Joy's ex-husband, Tony (Édgar Ramírez) is down there practicing a song in Spanish for an upcoming gig. Rudy and Tony begin to bicker. Joy tells them not to kill each other and uses a roll of toilet paper to divide the room in half. She goes upstairs, charging out the door with her cup of coffee to get to work. At the airline desk, a customer yells at her and throws her itinerary in Joy's face, demanding to speak to her manager. Joy's coworkers pull her aside and tell her she's been moved to the night shift which Joy points out she can't do because of her family.Joy visits her dad at his shop, tells him about her job. Her older half sister, the adult Peggy (Elisabeth Röhm) is there, and she tells Joy she should take over Peggy's position at the shop so she can do more important, managerial things for the company. She obviously has rivalry towards Joy and a self-aggrandizing attitude. It is mentioned that they have gun practice across the street (which will come into play later). Rudy makes a phone call about a woman he liked -- he reveals to Joy he joined a service via a 900-number where he finds single women based on their four digit ID number. He talks on the phone to his selection, who is named Trudy -- he finds this funny as his name is Rudy.At home, Carrie continues watching soaps in bed while Joy tries to fix a huge leak under her floorboards. The entire bedroom is flooding and Joy chastises her mom for rinsing her hairbrush (and hair) in the sink. It is now so clogged, Joy says it's beyond her abilities and she'll have to call a plumber. Carrie is nervous about a man coming into her room because she has retreated from the world. Joy falls asleep while the soap opera plays and dreams she is in a soap opera, with the characters from the show harassing her alongside her own family.We now flashback to what Joy's life has been like and why her family causes her such anxiety. Her parents get divorced 17 years earlier. They argue over visitation rights and Rudy accidentally destroys the origami house that was shown to be so important to Young Joy earlier.Years later, Joy's childhood friend Jackie (Dascha Polanco) invites Joy to a house party. When they arrive, a Mexican band is on stage, singing in Spanish. The lead singer is Tony, who grabs Joy and begins dancing with her. They go to the back room and have a conversation -- he brags that he's going to be a famous singer, the next Tom Jones. She tells him she was valedictorian of her class and got into a great college in Boston but had to give up on her dreams to stay home to watch her recluse mom. He tells Joy that her dreams are just on hold.The next time we see the two, they are performing in a musical theater show together. As fake snow falls on the stage, they sing a song to each other.Then we see their wedding. While Rudy is putting Joy's veil on her head, he tells her she should have married a lawyer or a doctor. She is annoyed he is telling her this at that specific moment (her wedding). When it's time to give a toast, Rudy goes into a huge speech about he likes Joy more than Peggy, he acknowledges his new girlfriend (the one who kicked him out at the beginning of the film), and tells Joy that her marriage won't last. He then accidentally breaks the glass he is toasting with. Cut to Joy and Tony fighting, with their two kids in the room. He thinks she's mad at him because he hasn't becoming famous and is just playing gigs at the same club over and over. She tells him it's because he drinks too much hence his current hangover. Her infant son begins to cry in Joys arms.Back to present day. There is a ring at the doorbell. Joy now remembers she hired a plumber, who is a handsome black man from Haiti named Tousssaint. At first, Carrie is very nervous about him entering the room, citing a soap opera plot line where a woman is kidnapped in her home. Carrie asks Toussaint how long hell be; he says it should only take a day. She then asks if he can put a sheet up so she can have her own space while he works. He politely agrees and calls her mademoiselle. This changes her feelings about him and she now seems entranced.Joy joins Rudy and his new girlfriend, Trudy (Isabella Rosallina) on a date. She is an Italian woman whose husband has recently just died and she has been left with a lot of money. She tells Rudy about her husband's boat that she inherited and invites Rudy's family for a trip. Trudy asks them to bring wine but not red wine because it will stain the wood that her husband has had laid down on the deck.Cut to Tony bringing bottles of red wine onto the boat despite Trudy's discouragement. The yacht gets rocky and everyone struggles to keep his or her glasses from spilling. Joy's glass actually breaks which horrifies Trudy. While the others lounge, Joy tries to mop up the glass and when she goes to wring the mop, she finds her hands are all cut up from shards of glass.Back at her house, Joy's cuts are catered to. She begins to fall asleep on the stairs, terrified of sleeping in her bed because of all the weird dreams she's been having (i.e. the soap opera dream). The group gives her children's cough syrup to put her to sleep. When she wakes up, she begins thinking. She has a new idea for an invention. She runs upstairs to her daughter's room and begins drawing out her idea in crayon. Studies the yarn on a doll's hair.When Joy next sees Tony, she tells him she needs him to move out. He needs to get on with his life. Her father is ecstatic that he will now have the basement to himself but she tells him to move out, too. She says she has an idea for a new invention and she needs Trudy to put up the money. Rudy arranges for Trudy to pitch the idea in his office. Joy explains that she wants to design a self-wringing mop that you never have to touch, using her crayon drawings as visual aids. While she gives her speech, the work in the auto shop drowns out her voice so Rudy has to tell them to be quiet via the intercom. Trudy is skeptical, saying Joy doesn't have a prototype but instead just some drawing. Rudy chimes in, saying Trudy will have to see a model of what she is envisioning. Joy goes to one of the welders in her dad's shop and asks him if he can weld something for her.Joy works and develops a mold of what she wants. Her mother surprises her by leaving her room to say hello -- the plumber, Toussaint, is with her and it's obvious they are smitten with each other.Joy now pitches the prototype to Trudy, in the office again. This time, Jackie and Peggy are there. Joy loops 300 feet of cotton around Jackie's hands for several minutes until it's all combined into a mop head. She demonstrates how this means the mop is one continuous loop, which can easily be cleaned (instead of individual strings like most mop heads). She also adds you can remove it and clean it off in the washing machine. Trudy gives a speech that her husband worked hard every day for 50 years to earn his fortune and he said he would never forgive her if she mismanaged even one dollar. She was given four questions for prospective investment deals -- the first is, where did Joy go to high school? The second is, what was her position in school? (Joy answers she was valedictorian). This appeases Trudy. Peggy interjects, saying Joy has never run a business in her life. She points out that shes been managing the auto shop and any investments should go towards that and not Joy. Jackie interjects, asking what the third question is. Trudy asks if Joy can promise a return in six months. Joy agrees which makes Tony nervous. Joy is then asked the fourth question, which is in the form of an analogy -- "There is a gun on the table. The only other person in the room is an adversary in commerce. Only one of you can prevail. Do you pick up the gun?" Joy says it's a weird question but assures her she will, in fact, pick up the gun. Trudy says she will have to tell her lawyers that Joy said that. She's also going to check that there aren't any existing patents similar.After Trudy's lawyer does a search, he finds a patent filed in Texas for a similar design by someone in Hong Kong. They work with a manufacturing plant in California and so Trudy arranged that they would be a part of the enterprise in exchange for providing work for the plant. It's cheaper, anyway, than manufacturing it locally so Joy doesn't have any issue with this. Edgar is angry, complaining that Trudy's lawyer doesn't specialize in but Rudy tells him to shut up and they bicker as usual.Trudy gives Joy $50,000 to start up the operation. The plant in California sends over parts but they have overcharged her, billing her for redoing mistakes they made. This makes everyone nervous that they're dealing with unscrupulous people. Joy phones Gerhardt, the man who filed the patent in Texas, and tells him that he's overcharging her. He claims they were redoing her mistakes but she is not stupid and points out it was the plant's and he's trying to take advantage of her. She tells him she wont pay the overcharges. Joy hangs up to end the discussion, which impresses everyone else. She then tells all those in the office never to pay the overcharges.Now Joy has to find a place to sell the mops. She starts by going to the head of a local store and pitches the mop to him. He tells her he doesn't want to sell a $20 mop that you only have to buy once -- he wants to sell a $5 mop that you have to buy hundreds of in your lifetime. The fact that the mop only needs to be purchased one time is a bad thing, in his mind, because there's no return revenue.Now, with an excess of product, Joy has to try to sell one by one. With her daughter in tow, she sets up a display in the parking lot of Kmart and tries to convince women passing by to purchase one. Nobody stops or engages in conversation. So Jackie jumps in and Joy walks by with her daughter, pretending to be a customer who is talked into trying the mop. Right as people begin to take notice, the police come and confiscate the mops, telling her she can't solicit customers in their parking lot. Joy is upset they have taken three of her mops and goes back to her car -- she has to kick the car door to get it to open. When she gets home, there is a bill taped to the door -- she hasn't paid the phone bill. Joy has now reached a new low. She has been given a huge loan from Trudy but cannot find any way to sell the product.Then Tony, her ex-husband, visits and tells her he might have a friend who can help her sell the mop. (Its now clear that even though their marriage didn't work out, they still care a lot about each other). Tony drives Joy to Amish country for a meeting but the large corporate building they're headed to isn't related to the Amish it just happens to be nearby. They wait and wait all day but are ignored -- Tony hadn't scheduled a meeting; he just happens to know someone who works there. That friend comes out and says they have to come back tomorrow for a possible chance to meet the guy in charge. Joy demands just two minutes and steps inside with her mop. There is a large meeting going on in a boardroom and Joy promises she just needs two minutes. She tells them about the mop but the guys just make sexual references when she talks about wringing the head. The man in charge Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper) apologizes, says they're tired after a long day. He asks her if she knows where she is. She says, no. He tells her the company is QVC and gives a history of his track record -- he was a manager of several Kmart's and worked his way up and up until he became appointed to run QVC. He tells her it stands for Quality, Value, Convenience. They sell great products, not junk, which is what her mop is. She confidently tells him it's not junk.In the QVC bathroom, Joy mops up the entire place until it is clean. She points out that she didn't have to wring the mop once because it has 300 feet of continuous cotton. She then points to the adjacent kitchen, saying she has cleaned all over the toilet and would he use his family mop to then clean the kitchen, spreading those germs? With her mop, he can remove the mop head and wash it in the washing machine. Neil is convinced and he asks her if she can get 50,000 units by next week. Joy tells him, "I think so."Neil shows Joy around the makeup room in the building. The male spokesman is having a meltdown and he calms him down by telling him hes the best seller which upsets a spokeswoman seated nearby. Joy then is led out into the rotating studio. A dog runs to Joy as the stage rotates and it's revealed to belong to Joan Rivers (Melissa Rivers, playing her real-life mother). Neil points out they use celebrities to sell along with their hosts. We see Joan and the spokeswoman sell jewelry to the audience. Neil points out they're masterful at selling the product with their hands. The phones light up. The jewelry sells thousands and thousands, all kept track of on a large display nearby while dozens of phones are answered and callers gush about the product on air. Joy realizes she can sell out all her mops with this opportunity. But she needs more money.Trudy is reluctant to give Joy another $200,000 because she hasn't gotten her initial investment back. Peggy complains again, saying Joy shouldn't get that kind of loan when she actually has ideas that pertain to her father's business. Trudy decides it is only fair if Joy takes on the risk herself, putting up half of the money. It is suggested that she takes out a second mortgage. Joy is nervous but confident enough in QVC that she agrees. Now, realizing she might lose her home, Joy goes over to the gun range behind her father's shop. She asks the man if she can shoot off a few rounds. He tells her he's seen her grow up, coming in and out of the shop, but never talked to her. Joy shoots several rounds, apparently hitting her targets (we don't see). She then hands back the gun, having gotten the rage out of her system.An operation is set up in Rudy's auto shop, with the order supply is kicked up to fill the 50,000 units. Joy is polite and speaks in Spanish to a group of women who she trains to assemble the mops.Joy and her family gather around the TV to watch her mop being sold on QVC. The spokesman tries to demonstrate how to use it but he doesn't know how instead he drips water all over his shoes and complains about getting wet. No calls come in. After dead air, they move on to another product. Joys family is horrified they have $250,000 tied up into this product selling. Joy receives a phone call from Neil. She tells him the salesperson didn't know how to use the product but he said it just wasn't a good product. She explains she is going to lose her home; he tells her that her contract says QVC will cover one-third of the expenses lost but even that isn't guaranteed.Trudy is distraught, saying she will have to declare bankruptcy and suggests Joy does, too. Instead Joy drives to the studio, demands a meeting with Neil. She tells him she has to be the one on camera. He tells her, "We don't use regular people. We use spokesmodels and celebrities". He asks her if she's ever been on TV before, points out that most people freeze when the camera is on them. She tells him she uses the product so she will be the one to sell it. He is finally sold when she points out her demonstration in the QVC bathroom is what convinced him to put it on the air.Backstage, Joy gets all dolled up in the same makeup room she saw during the tour. She is given an early 90s hairstyle and then changes into a poofy black early 90s style dress. She tells Neil she wants to make just one change. She comes out and her hair is down and she's wearing a shirt and trousers. Joy tells Neil that's what she wears and that outfit is her. Joan Rivers walks by and says Joy looks good but she should be in a skirt to show off her great legs. Joy says she's going to have to ignore Joan Rivers suggestion.Now Joy goes on the QVC stage. The camera rolls. Countdown. And then she freezes. She mumbles on-air that she's Joy and doesn't know what else to say. The family is watching once again from home. At the station, there is dead air. Everyone is panicking. Then a stage manager says they have a call. Neil says to patch it through. Joy is confused; how can they have a call already? She hears Jackie's voice asking her about the mop. Joy perks up, knowing who's on the other end. She tells the caller that its a mop with 300 feet of continuous cotton that you can clean an entire floor with, without having to wring it. Jackie replies, "That's perfect for my family. I want three". Now Joy gets more confident and begins pitching the mop. The phones light up. Orders pour through. After its sold tens of thousands, she tells the audience she hasn't told them the best part you can remove the mop head and wash it in the washing machine. At the end of the broadcast, it has sold 50,000 units.Neil congratulates Joy backstage. She said she was afraid he was going to tell her the counter was broken.Joy goes on the QVC again, now selling 100,000 units. Neil tells her he is proud of her, and says that if they ever become adversaries in commerce, he hopes they'll still respect each other. The love fest is broken up when Joy receives an urgent phone call.The next scene shows Joy at the funeral of Mimi (ironically, Mimi narrates this event). Peggy shows up to the funeral late. Back at the house, Joy learns that Peggy was attending to some business in California. The manufacturing plant halted production until it could get more money. Peggy claims she took care of it by paying the money owed (when they overcharged Joy) and offering an extra $2 a unit. Joy is shocked, pointing out that if they paid that price, they would lose money. She now has to go to California herself with the argument that Peggy doesn't represent her company. She tells Peggy, Never speak on my behalf about my business again.Joy arrives in California in a dilapidated manufacturing factory. The waiting room has her mop on display, listed as their latest invention. When a man notices Joy waiting, she asks to speak to Marv Brickman but is told he's not there. But Marv shows up and begins to debate with Joy about the deal he's made with her half-sister. She says she didn't approve that deal and she will go broke if she agreed to it. Joy finds it funny that ever since they had a lot of sales on TV, the plant want to demand more money. She accuses him of shaking them down. He tells her she should be paying more now because the increase in demand causes wear on their machines, that her molds break and have to be replaced every day. She is skeptical of her molds needing daily replacement and asks to see them. She is told no. It's obvious she's not getting anywhere with them. She asks to use their bathroom.In the bathroom, Joy notices a side door that opens up into the factory. On a table is a blueprint of her mop design that they are claiming is their own. Marv finds Joy there and she screams at him, saying its her design. She tries to take back the molds but the police come and arrest her. Marv said he called them as soon as she showed up in the building. Outside, Joy is arrested for trespassing and put into a cop car.Joy is bailed out of jail by Trudy, who has flown to California with Rudy and Joy's daughter. Trudy points out that not only is she at a loss of over $150,000 but they now have new expenses flying there, bailing Joy out of jail. Joy has been told by their lawyer that when Peggy paid off the overcharges, it validated Joys work relationship with the factory. She can go to court and explain that Peggy had no jurisdiction to make business decisions on her behalf but the court case will take years and they'll probably not even rule in her favor she shares a patent with the guy in Texas, therefore its his product as well as hers. Joy complains that they should have dealt with a patent lawyer, like Tony had originally said. Trudy and Rudy tell Joy they need her to declare bankruptcy and a notary is outside the room, with the paperwork. Rudy tells Joy its his own fault for giving her the confidence to think she was more than just an unemployed housewife. Joy now begins crying, tells her young daughter never to believe that shes special or that the world owes her anything. Her daughter reminds Joy of Mimi's prophecy but Joy says Mimi was wrong; she wont achieve dreams. Hesitantly, Joy signs the bankruptcy papers. She then tears her crayon designs for the mop off the wall.Joy goes to sleep. Then in the middle of the night, she cuts off her long hair in the bathroom. With a shorter hairdo, she seems more mature and now has a new confidence about her.Joy flies out to Texas. She walks into her hotel and goes into her room. A man enters shortly after. She asks if hes Gerhardt. He says he could be or he could have been sent as a representative. Joy tells him that last night, she was distraught and called Hong Kong at 1:00 AM which is 5:00 PM their time she mumbles that it always amuses her how time works like that. When she mentioned to the Hong Kong inventor (who hired Gerhardt) about the patent, he said he was never told about the deal Gerhardt made with Joy. She points out this is fraud. She then looked into his design and realized its nothing like her own mop, after all. This is another count of fraud. She said her lawyers are very insistent that she file a lawsuit on these grounds. Immediately, Gerhardt backpedals and says hell pay back the $50,000 initial investment. Joy isn't happy with this deal. He offers another $20,000. She ignores him. Then he offers another $50,000. She now acknowledges him and suggests he adds interest, too. He does. She smiles and pulls out a contract that absolves their relationships. She writes in that he will pay her $50,000 plus $50,000 and interest. He signs.Joy walks down the street confidently. She looks into a stores window display. There is a house inside similar to the one she created as a young girl. A TV in the window says, Is it snowing? and on cue, fake snow begins to fall on her from overhead. Joy walks away.Mimi tells us, as the narrator, that Joy didn't know, when she walked down the street, what her life was going to become.We now see a giant estate and are told Joy moved into a nice home. She had 100 more inventions things like velvet hangers who conserve closet space. Hundreds of million sold because apparently this is the kind of thing that consumers want. Joy employed her family and remained close to them, even after they sued her, claiming they were owed some of her money and that they were more involved in the inventions than they were.Neil stops by and visits Joy on her estate. He wants her to work on the Home Shopping Network as QVCs biggest success story but she is hesitant. Their fondness for each other is adamant after all these years.Joy sets up an office in her house for inventors like herself. A woman comes in with her husband and baby. Joy is very sweet and respectful to her, unlike the men she met with when she was pitching the Miracle Mop. Joy asks the lady where she's from, what hotel she's staying at. The woman shows her product to Joy a lint roller you can bring with you when you travel. Joy compliments the prototype and asks the woman to come back tomorrow. The woman tells her she only has one day off from work. Joy says she will have her team make a call to ensure the woman can stay an extra day. She also upgrades the woman to a nicer hotel so shell have more room for her baby. Joy says shes eager to have the design team meet with the lady so they can begin working on developing her invention for mass consumption. | flashback | train | imdb | A convention of idiots came together to write some reviews of Joy. This movie isn't about a mop.Nor is it about feminism.Nor is it about the QVC channel.The movie is about not giving up, and trying to realize one's potential.I noticed that most of the reviews weren't about the movie, they were personal attacks aimed at the director.For those who say, "The movie has no plot." Biographies aren't plot driven like fiction films.
No. Not really.The characters (including Robert De Niro's who plays her father, Elisabeth Röhm's who plays her half-sister, Virginia Madsen's who plays her mother and Isabella Rossellini's who plays her father's girlfriend and serves as the initial investor) are heavily unsympathetic.The direction is blunt, the pace uneven (I wont spoil you but the resolution of all problems comes in just a few seconds near the end), the situations unbelievable (like going to the...bathroom and unveil a conspiracy by pure luck) etc.Overall: A blunt movie with weak script and plot.
Unlike American Hustle (2013) and Silver Linings Playbook (2012) where the rushed, overlapping dialogue and melodramatic mugging serves to highlight the immediacy of, say dealing with the mob, here there's nothing holding us to the characters and their goals...except Joy. Russell seems to be aware of his own style and juxtaposes the lives on screen with an 80's era soap opera which consumes the life of Joy's mother.
David O Russell in my opinion has truly become one of the best directors working today he's so great at creating character driven pieces that really get you to look into their mind set and get behind and in this regard Joy succeeds.
The great cast with names such as Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen and Isabella Rossellini gives the sensation to the viewer that "Joy" might be a great film.
The film is loosely based on the true story of inventor Joy Mangano, but the screenplay also written by its director is a mess that needs to clean up its act.
Still her creative impulses compel her take action and change the direction her life is taking, which leads Joy to her long- time friend and adversary in business, Neil (Bradley Cooper), who gives her moral support on her latest venture.
From the director of The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook & American Hustle, Joy advertises itself to be a biographical comedy-drama but isn't faithful enough to qualify as a biography, has nothing but disappointment in store if what you are looking for is a compelling drama & forgets midway that it's supposed to be a comedy as well.Joy tells the story of its titular character, a divorced mother of three children who attempts to overcome the overwhelming obstacles in her personal & professional life by bringing her invention into the commercial market, which becomes an overnight success and marks the first step in her rise from a nobody to the founder & matriarch of a powerful business dynasty.Written & directed by David O.
Russell, the first act of Joy has no trouble at all in getting on your nerves for Russell goes horribly smug about his ability to create interesting characters and overburdens the plot with way too many irrelevant people, who never for once allow its titular character to breathe comfortably, plus their contribution amounts to pretty much nothing in the end.Russell tries too hard in the beginning because of which the supporting cast he introduces us to turn end up being annoying much earlier than expected, thus leaving the responsibility of taking the story past the finish line on its leading lady.
Editing also is an issue for the story meanders on moments that are tiresome, Cinematography adds nothing to the experience, and even the soundtrack isn't effective.Coming to the performances, Joy features quite an ensemble in Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Edgar Ramirez, Isabella Rossellini, Bradley Cooper & others, amongst whom only Lawrence is able to deliver the goods.
It is an uneven film that is inspired by Goodfellas in the way Joy's story is told and unfortunately for this film, gangsters are much more interesting than housewives making a fancy mop...no matter how kick ass that mop may be in real life, the film feels like a rip off in more ways than one..
With the help of her failed lounge singer ex-husband Tony (Edgar Ramirez) and despite the machinations of her crazy family she pitches the product to a home shopping channel mogul (Bradley Cooper).The film Joy is what you would get if ingested psychedelic mushrooms, wrote an infomercial about Miracle Mop and got an excellent cast of Hollywood stars to appear in it.
Nothing is more absurd than the very idea of this movie getting made as a wide release feature with the exception of the inexplicable critical acclaim it has garnered.Auteur David O.Russell (Who wrote, produced & directed) has been so successful in recent years with films like Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle that it has perhaps made him complacent and even bored.
That is what Russell did here in trying to turn an idea that wouldn't normally have been considered for a movie of the week on the Lifetime network and making a feature film out of it.I feel like seeing it again just to make sure the actors were really saying the goofy lines of dialogue I heard.
Cinematography nicely colors the movie, but adds nothing sufficient to the story.Overall Joy isn't as enjoyable as Fighter and Silver lining Playbook the film is casual and easy to watch.
I didn't believe one minute of it.It wasn't the actors fault there was just nothing for them to act with and don't get me wrong I love a good "poor girl done good" story like Erin Brockovich but this was just tedious.I am also a big fan of Jennifer Lawrence, but this is the worst film to date I have seen her in and I can't believe there was talk about an Oscar for her performance in it.It has nothing to redeem it.
This whole film is a sell-out on the highest order and a class action lawsuit should be filed so that people who paid actual money to see this disaster could get some compensation.There are many times where I, as the viewer, wished that Jenifer Lawrence had a bow and arrow and could go Katniss Everdeen on the rest of the characters.Bradley Cooper seemed like he was reciting lines in a hypnotic trance.
You actually start caring about the characters rather than just saying "Wow, their lives suck." The ensemble cast, which includes Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, does typically great work and salvages the movie's slower parts.
This biographical comedy-drama on a woman's struggle, only to become a millionaire, has fine performances, but dull writing & uneven pacing, spoil the fun!'Joy' is the story of the title character (Played by Jennifer Lawrence), who rose to become founder and matriarch of a powerful family business dynasty.'Joy' is a joyless experience.
A movie written and directed by David O Russell and starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper - a trio involved in the wonderful "Silver Linings Playbook" and "American Hustle" - is one to excite any cinema-goer and, as the cast list also includes such veteran actors as Robert De Niro and Isabella Rossellini, expectations were understandably high.
Not as a great as Silver Lining Playbook and a completely different film in comparison to the Fighter and American Hustle, though Joy once again delivers a very good movie due to the performance of Jennifer Lawrence.
Russell, Bradley Cooper, and Robert De Niro hasn't been given the same love as past films such as "Silver Lining Playbook," and "American Hustle." The story is partially based on the real life entrepreneur Joy Mangano, but many of the characters are changed or invented, and the struggles of Mangano are sometimes supplemented by other women's struggles and life stories.
Just from having watched the trailer, I wasn't even sure what this film was about, and the shot of Lawrence firing the gun made me think it would be about her committing a crime of some sort, but it's a rags to riches story about Joy, who cannot even afford a surname, who invents a mop, ...
Russell is making a movie starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, and second time with De Niro and the other two all together.
With evil henchmen, a jealous half sister, and kind of a nasty wealthy Stepmother.Ruined it for me, knowing the real story, and liking the real story of Joy Mangano.Just an excuse to make another movie starring JLAW and Bradley Cooper IMHO.It's not bad, but it's just a rehash of David O's favorite movie formula.
Russell's has taken his as per usual A list cast on a journey to of all things, the world of mops.Mop enthusiasts don't often get the chance to see their beloved cleaning tools take centre stage in big budgeted Hollywood affairs so Joy, the at one stage mooted biopic of Miracle Mop inventor and TV sales star Joy Mangano, will likely be quite the event for them whilst for the rest of us (as Joy's so-so reception over X-Mas will attest to), Joy will be a curious little experience that is highly unlikely to leave a lasting impression.A very uneasy mix of strange Russell infused comedy and family/trial over the odds drama, Joy has what seems like on face value the elements to create a really special something but with a bunch of characters that feel either underused or just not at all likable, Joy's central story of Jennifer Lawrence's hard done by mother and inventor Joy's journey with her wondrous new self-wringing mop isn't the stuff of thrilling or inspiring big budgeted film making.Teaming up with Russell for a third time, Lawrence certainly is Joy's biggest win.
With Lawrence in awards worthy form, Joy's lack of meaty narrative drive is further hampered by an underused support cast from Bradley Cooper's TV big man Neill Walker, Robert De Niro's frustrating fatherly figure Rudy and Point Break star Edgar Ramirez's odd turn as Joy's ex-husband Tony who all seem to be floating along in a plot line that was perhaps as uninteresting to them as it is to us.In some ways just as good as American Hustle (which isn't saying much) and better than the downright tortuous Silver Linings Playbook, Joy is a watchable experience thanks to a spirited Jennifer Lawrence turn and a few nice moments but overall in the big scheme of things, Joy is yet another example of Russell's flaws as a filmmaker that will eventually catch him out badly after a string of wrongly praised oddities.3 melodrama loving mothers out of 5.
Russell wrote the screen play and directed this engrossing film about the determination of a little girls whose need to create things is squelched by life in general until she has a big break, invents a mop, makes it big, loses is all then climbs out of the hole of bankruptcy and depression and wins - supremely!Jennifer Lawrence is splendid in the role of Joy but she is supported by some of the best written minor character roles in recent movies – her grandmother Mimi (Diane Ladd), her mother (Virginia Madsen), her errant father Rudy (Robert DeNiro) and his current (among many) affair with Trudy (Isabella Rosselini), her divorced but support husband Tony (Edgar Ramírez) who lives in the basement with Rudy, her best friend since childhood to present Jackie (Dascha Polanco), the man to whom she is referred to start her business Neil (Bradley Cooper), and the cast from the dopey soap opera that constantly plays on her mother's TV, etc.The story blends the multifaceted cultural flaws we observe daily – dysfunctional families save for the matriarch grandmother who has wisdom, step-sibling greed, failed marriages, the effect on children living in the midst of constant squabbling, dreams that are trampled by insecurities and life changes, corporate greed and corruption, etc – but it also shows how stamina and determination and believing in one's self can ultimately allow a person with vision to rise above it all.Great cast, good script, fine film – all underlining the realm of possibility of the American Dream..
Not only was the promotion for this film so vague that it obscured her story to audiences, who may have even wanted to see the film, it also undermined what is otherwise a strong story about the cyclical patterns of being an entrepreneur in modern-day American and what it means to aspire to be more than a woman being forced into domesticity by restrictive parents.As stated, the film follows Joy Mangano, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is living every woman's worst nightmare - a single mother feeling anchored by her two young children, living in a house with her separated mother and father, in addition to her ex-husband and grandmother.
Joy makes multiple deals with the devil in terms of leaving herself vulnerable and helpless if things don't work out exactly the way she needs them to, including taking out a second mortgage against her home and borrowing copious amounts of money from her father's girlfriend all in the name of giving her daughters a better life.The biggest setback with "Joy," other than the lack of confidence in its story judging by the film's approach and the fact that it undercuts Mangano's namesake and significance for so long, like it's ashamed it exists to tell her story, is the disjointed direction.
One young woman tries to get her great idea noticed in Joy.The idea behind this movie is that it's sort of a bio story on Joy Mangano, the inventor whose products have been featured on QVC and Home Shopping Network, but the movie makes it clear that this is a fictional Joy. Anyway, Joy (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is a divorced mother of two who's already working hard as a booking agent for an airline while living in a house that's also occupied by her soap opera obsessed mother Terri (played by Virginia Madsen), supporting grandmother MiMi (played by Diane Ladd), and her ex-husband Tony (played by Édgar Ramírez).
Calling it the Miracle Mop, she takes it to QVC where executive Neil Walker (played by Bradley Cooper) gives her the chance to go on TV and try to sell this thing.Joy seems to have an interesting story in there and even a good set of actors to pull this off, so where could they go wrong?
This film is full of great performances from the whole cast (especially Jennifer Lawrence as the title role) and brilliant directing from David O.Russell.
This film manages to be inspiring as it tells the story of the title character, Joy Mangano, a divorced mother- of-two, who struggled to support her family and pay the bills.
Russell for this sluggish, unconvincing non-feel-good movie, loosely based on the life story of Joy Mangano (who served as executive producer), a single mother and self-made entrepreneur from New York.
A film that brought me no Joy. Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and In particular Robert De Niro are all great actors in their own right.
Just finished watching this on DVD and I was pleasantly surprised I enjoyed it a lot!I was surprised because I'd seen the many lukewarm reviews for this movie and I'd wound up with pretty low expectations.Putting aside the filmmaking/acting/directing/editing/story aspects that others have commented on (and yes I do agree Jennifer Lawrence gave a terrific performance).I just wanted to add that I can only assume the movie worked so well for me because ever since I was young I was inspired by inventors/innovators/entrepreneurs.e.g. This is going back some years but this movie put in mind of another I'd really liked that I never heard much praise for - "Tucker: the Man and His Dream" (if you're not familiar think of the story of Tesla and Elon Musk - in the 1940s!).
Russell's "The Fighter," any moment I was just expecting Jennifer Lawrence to get in the ring and point to people around her and say, 'I'm the one fighting OK, not you, not you, and not you.' But in all seriousness, I think part of the appeal of stories like "The Fighter" and "Joy" which I'm sure captivated David O.
(I could add a joke in here about coming out of the cinema all wrung-out, but that is beneath me).Creating the emotional backbone to the story are the dysfunctional family and friends who orbit planet Joy: her lothario father (Robert De Niro) and his latest belle (Trudi played by Isabella Rossellini as a conveniently very-well-heeled widower); her soap-addicted and virtually bed-bound mother (Virginia Madsen); her divorced husband Tony (Edgar Ramirez) who lives in the basement; her half-sister Peggy (Elisabeth Röhm) always trying to get one better; her childhood friend Jackie (a stunning Dascha Polanco) and her encouraging grandmother (Dianne Ladd) who also narrates the story.Supporting this core is the "beautiful" (my wife's words) Bradley Cooper as the lead buyer/producer with the QVC shopping channel.Russell's style is to utilize flash-backs, flash-forwards, dream sequences and some startlingly unusual cinematography, making for a hypnotically watchable movie.
She did a great and strong performance in this movie, but her Long Island accent was a bit off at times and you may think that the actually person herself that Lawrence is playing (Joy Mangano) sounds like that, well I did my research and let me tell you no, she doesn't.
Russell who previously brought us Silver Linings and American Hustle, once again brings together Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper as cast, as he directs, writes, and produces, 'Joy'.
But it's definitely hard to say the same thing for the movie itself.I think it has the right and perfect idea to film but it's is mediocre that even an actor like Robert De Niro seems to be extinguished.If you're either a Jennifer Lawrence fan or you just like her acting, you should watch it. |
tt0040522 | Ladri di biciclette | The film tells the story of Antonio Ricci, an unemployed man in the depressed post-World War II economy of Italy. With no money and a wife and two children to support, he is desperate for work. He is delighted to at last get a good job hanging up posters, but on the sole condition that he has a bicycle which must be used for work. He is told unequivocally: "No bicycle, no job." His wife Maria pawns their bedsheets in order to get money to redeem his bicycle from the pawnbroker.Early on in the film, Ricci's coveted bicycle is stolen by a bold young thief who snatches it when he is hanging up a poster.Antonio thinks that the police will take the theft very seriously, but they are not really interested in the petty theft of a bike. The only option is for Antonio and his friends to walk the streets of Rome themselves, looking for the bicycle. After trying for hours with no luck, they finally give up and leave.Desperate for leads and with his better judgement clouded, Antonio even visits the dubious backstreet fortune teller that he had earlier mocked, in the hope that she may be able to shed light upon the bike's whereabouts. However, she merely doles out to him one of the truisms that form her stock in trade: "you'll find the bike quickly, or not at all." Feeling cheated, a crestfallen Antonio hands over to her some of the last money that they have. After a rare treat of a meal in a restaurant, Antonio admits to his son that if he isn't able to work, they will simply starve.Antonio finally manages to locate the thief (who, it seems, had already sold the bicycle) and Bruno slips off to summon the police to the apartment. Antonio meanwhile, angrily accuses the thief of stealing his bike but the boy denies all knowledge of the crime. When the policeman arrives, he sees the accused boy lying on the floor feigning a seizure and surrounded by irate neighbours who blame Antonio's accusations for causing the "innocent" boy's fit.The policeman tells Antonio that although he may have seen the boy stealing the bike, he did not catch the thief red-handed, nor has he any witnesses and that Antonio making an accusation is not good enough. With no proof and with the thief's neighbours willing to give him a false alibi, he abandons his cause. Antonio walks away from the house in despair, as the thief's neighbours follow, jeering at him about his lost bicycle.At the end of the film in one of the most resonant scenes, Antonio is sitting on the curb outside the packed football stadium. He looks at the hundreds and hundreds of bicycles that are parked outside the stadium and as he cradles his head in despair, a fleet of bicycles mockingly speeds past him.After vacillating for some time about whether to steal one for himself, he decides he has no other option but to snatch one that he spots outside an apartment. Unluckily, he is seen taking the bike and caught by a crowd of angry men who slap and humiliate him in front of his son. Ironically, this time with an army of witnesses who catch him, he is frogmarched off to the police station but after seeing how upset Bruno is, the owner of the bicycle declines to press charges.The film ends with the man and his son, sad and let down from what has just happened, they walk along in a crowd, leaving us with a dim outlook for the two. Holding hands, they are both reduced to tears. | paranormal, romantic, bleak | train | imdb | "The Bicycle Thief" was originally released in 1948 and won an Honorary Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film the following year (the movie was not released in the U.S. until 1949).
THE BICYCLE THIEF is the best of a group of films that depicted the hardship and despair that Europeans, specifically Italians, went through after the death and destruction of the war.
A simple thing such as a bike can be someone's entire world at that time and losing it means doing something irrational or perhaps necessary.The lead in the film is played by Lamberto Maggiorani who seems to be a very good actor.
Rita Hayworth from GILDA is on the walls all over the city, a sign of joy to some, a representation of their own lowly status to others.When the bicycle is actually stolen, the "title" character is sought after by Maggiorani and his young son (Enzo Staiola), a little kid with so much acting ability, you swear this must be a documentary.
A grueling search throughout Rome has the essential parts of the movie, because we see up close the actual people and places the neo-realist film movement came to represent.
These are the tense moments of the film's climax.There is a lot of THE BICYCLE THIEF in Benigni's LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and some obvious comparisons have been drawn because of the father-son relationship.
In order to keep the job, he and his young son walk around Rome, desperate to find the thief, and more importantly, the bicycle before his next day of work.
Vittorio De Sica's ground/heartbreaking motion picture, The Bicycle Thief, is based on a very simple ideal for a story- man against the elements.
In this case the elements are of a society that is often cruel and unforgiving, and that a job in post-war Rome is looked on as the luckiest of good luck charms.Such a man as presented by De Sica is Maggiorani (an actor who really is the type of actor right off the street), a father of a little boy who gets a job putting up movie posters along some walls in Rome.
Now, without it, he and his son search the crowded streets of Rome for the only thing that can give him back his dignity as a man.This is a simple, but very powerful film and I found the relationship between Bruno and his father especially touching.
In the post-war Rome, after more than two-year unemployment, the family man Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) finally finds a disputed job position putting up posters that requires having a bicycle.
Antonio and his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) spend the Sunday chasing the bicycle and the thief on the streets of Rome."Ladri di Biciclette" is a heartbreaking masterpiece of the Italian Neo- Realism and one of the best movies of cinema history ever.
Bicycle Thieves is an Italian neo-realist film by Vittorio De Sica.
The loss of the bicycle is for Antonio and his family an immense tragedy, their dreams of a better life are stolen; like every time we lose something or is taken away which could prevent from poverty and sufferance.
It is in these magnificent films that we best see and know ourselves and feel relate to other people beyond the simple psychology of social provenience – it's just a film, but by watching it we look up on the most beautiful reflector of excellence and come close a little more to the understanding on how to become better persons; in both the arts and reality, it is an act of love.
The actors are literally amateurs and look and sound the part.Yes, this movie can bring emotion and frustration as the feeble man and his son search desperately for the bike.
But I have to say, I didn't really think Bicycle Thieves was as good as the critics have rated it, or good enough to be on one of the all-time greatest films list.There's nothing bad about the film though, it's a unique story about a family in war-time Italy and the struggles that everyone went through in finding a job at that time.
But I did get a little bit of that Life is Beautiful vibe from their relationship at times, that much I liked.The problem with the film is that I didn't care enough about the characters to feel something when the going got rough.
The Bicycle Thief is classic piece of mid-20th century Italian film-making by veteran workhorse director Vittorio De Sica.
"The Bicycle Thief" is most certainly a serious film about poverty and desperation, and perhaps it was strikingly dramatic at the time it was made - but I do not regard it as a truly great film because the characters do not come alive for me at all.
While infusing a beautiful depiction of post-war Italy with the bitter tale of a man struggling to survive, Ladri Di Biciclette is a perfect example of neo-realist film.
The grim reality of post-war Italian life is immediately apparent in this film, as a group of unemployed men all crowd around in the morning, desperate to have their name called out for possible job opportunities.
The feeling is magnified when director Vittorio De Sica shows us a huge rack of pawned items early on, and later in that brilliant crowd scene at the end, both of which made me think that this is just one story of many, that there is so much suffering in tough times, and most of it we're completely unaware of.
BICYCLE THIEVES has gone down in film history as a classic for its ability to transport the viewer effortlessly to a different time and place: to post-war Italy, blighted by poverty and restrictions on general life, where the mere possession of an ordinary push bike is the difference between life and death for an ordinary family.The film follows a father and his kid as they pursue the thief who has stolen the father's bicycle.
There are other (Italian) movies that make me bawl more while watching them, but Vittorio De Sica's supremely downbeat Bicycle Thieves can hold its own in a "I'll never laugh again" kind of way.
So far my look into Italian cinema has been awful to say the least (The Titanic Animated movies and Troll 2 were the only Italian films I have seen before this) I wanted to know what the best of their cinema is like because I have clearly seen the worst.The plot is that a man named Antonio Ricci found a job that was very difficult to get in those times.
A comi- tragedy as opposed to a tragi-comedy, it has a very simple but well delineated narrative, with an ending of rare pathos and sadness.To watch this honest, hard-working and well-meaning family man brought down by wretched luck to the extent where in an act of desperation he debases himself in front of his adoring son, is almost like intruding on private grief.
Earlier on in the film, before the father loses all hope in changing his fortunes, there are some nice comedic touches, with the young son "caught short" at one point and later when the father blunders into a brothel in pursuit of the bicycle thief, with his infant son in tow.This was my first experience of Italian neo-realism and while I more usually prefer some escapism with my movies, I was quite absorbed in the story here as it unravelled with an inevitable certainty which could never end up well, indeed I guessed that the father was going to lower his scruples by stealing a bike himself, long before he actually did.Yes, it does have some longueurs and the landscape of post-war Italy as well as a full understanding of the Italian psyche was difficult for me to naturally relate to, but the universal themes of honesty, self-respect, human dignity and of course father-son relationships shone through.The open-air cinematography was excellent, the background music was sympathetic to the action and the acting unsurprisingly wholly natural, engaging and involving, given that most of the participants were amateurs.
The young lad playing the son, in particular gives the best performance by a child actor I think I've ever seen.For my tastes, I wouldn't include it in my list of favourite films, but can certainly appreciate its qualities and why it's so beloved of critics and cinema-lovers alike..
In that respect Bicycle Thieves quite clearly differs from many other Italian neo-realist movies like Ossessione, because it does not directly criticise the capitalist system, instead preferring to remain ambiguous and leaving the audience to arrive at their own conclusions about the fate of Antonio and Bruno (the most lovable and sympathetic father-and-son pairing I've ever seen on film, I hasten to add) and of Italian society in general.
This film was one of the greatest films to come out of the Italian "neo-realist" movement.An unemployed man is given a job putting up posters, however a condition of his employment is that he needs a bicycle, eventually he manages to buy one from a pawn shop, but on his first day at work it's stolen and thus the man and his young son begin a desperate search through the back streets of Rome to find the missing bicycle.The film (shot entirely on location with non-professional actors) highlights the grim economic realities of post-war Rome.
On the first day of the job his bicycle is stolen, the rest of the film follows as Antonio and his son Bruno search the streets and interact with many sects of the Italian public shining a light onto the life of Italians.The film is not grandiose and is often simple and understated, the acting feels natural.
The relationship between man and country, and father and son are the core of the film and are well written and performed.Worth watching if you have the interest and time to put towards a well constructed and thought provoking look at Italian life post-war..
Lamberto Maggiorani as Antonio, the father, Enzo Staiola as Bruno, his eight year old son, and Lianella Carell as Maria, his wife, are very believable and natural from start to finish.The story is a very simple one about a man who depends upon a bicycle for the very livelihood of his family in a post-war Rome that is plagued by rampant unemployment and poverty.
Set in Italy after the second world war, Bicycle thieves is an example of Neo-Realism Italian cinema, looking at broken Italy and its broken people trying to survive in poverty.From the opening shot we can see Antonio Ricci as lost all hope.
He finally has hope.This hopes come crashing down when his bicycle is stolen by an opportunistic thief and he searches all over Rome with his son Bruno looking for the bike and thief.Antonio gets increasingly desperate in the search for his bike, by the end he is humiliated and fatalistic.
Antonio explains to him how important this job was and the money he was going to make meaning he could afford treats like this for the family.Antonio may not had been good in his job but the film explored the men who were marginalized in Italian working class society and it was their wives who had to be practical in order for the families to survive.This is a raw film it is not an easy watch, you suffer as Antonio goes on his fruitless search and you will him to steal a nearby bike and just ride off..
In this movie we have a man with his little son who is trying really hard to get his bicycle back from the thief that he stole it but in his path he finds many difficulties.I really liked this movie because of the emotions that it gave and because I believe it represents something that is true.
About the interpretations I have to say that I was amazed from the interpretation of Lamberto Maggiorani who was played as Antonio Ricci and he was simply outstanding and I also liked the interpretation of the little one Enzo Staiola who played as Bruno Ricci his son.Finally I have to say that "The Bicycle Thief" is a great movie and is a must see movie because it shows us and give us to understand that we have to fight for a better life.
Plot: In the times of great depression--post WWII--a poor man searches for his stolen bicycle without which he won't be able to retain his new job.It is an economically unstable time and an average family is barely scraping a living.
A man has his bicycle stolen away from him and spends the next day with his son trying desperately to find it.A simple story in a sobering look at depression era/post war Italy.
So powerful in it's simplicity, The Bicycle Thief is not only a standout human drama but also the best possible look at life in post war Rome and the human misery among it's lower classes.Director Vittorio De Sica chose to film in the crowded streets of Rome and use non professional actors to capture the mood appropriately.
The scene in the end where the father has given up hope and resorts to desperate measures is not easily forgotten and the simple look the boy gives him is the most pure moment I've ever seen.I doubt The Bicycle Thief will leave many viewers untouched..
With the recent Life is Beautiful as the only popular example of recent Italian cinema, De Sica's The Bicycle Thief is a startling surprise, with its brutal realism and strong undertones of desperation.
In The Bicycle Thief, where people are so destitute that they would pawn off their bed sheets in hopes of employment, the most poignant aspect of the film, as seen in the final harrowing scene, shows how humanity triumphs over any material shortcomings..
THE BICYCLE THIEVES is an Italian "Neo-realist" film--so called because it used real people in rather ordinary situations.
Some see these as anti-Hollywood but the actual reason for them was that after the war, the Italian film industry was in ruin and they were practically broke, so making these simple films about simple people was a natural outgrowth, though some of the groundwork for this style began during the war.The story itself is about a poor man who is out of work but is finally able to secure a job using his bicycle.
The story is good, a man and his son hopelessly looking for a stolen bicycle in Rome.
In post-World War II Italy, poverty-stricken Lamberto Maggiorani (as Antonio Ricci) gets a job pasting up posters, but only if he has a bicycle to get around town.
Then, joined by sensitive young son Enzo Staiola (as Bruno), Maggiorani desperately searches the streets of Rome for "The Bicycle Thief".
His Bicycle Thieves is a lean film, utilizing the suffocating poverty of Italy in its post-war era as a defining factor.Lamberto Maggiorani stars as Antonio Ricci, a poor father and husband looking for work.
He is elated, as you might imagine, and becomes overjoyed at the prospects of earning money to help lift his family out of abject poverty.One day, while working at his job of posting Rita Hayworth posters in Rome, Ricci has his bicycle stolen.
With his son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola), he traipses through Rome in all conditions to track and hopefully recover his bicycle.Watching Maggiorani, who was a factory worker and not a trained actor of any kind, put life into Ricci is an astounding experience.
Even though the film is about the fathers job & stolen bicycle the movie follows the young 5 year old son & the boys reaction to all the things that happen that Sunday afternoon when he & his father go about Rome trying to find the fathers stolen bicycle.
The difficulties and despair faced by a father and son in searching for a stolen bicycle are a profound embodiment of the challenges faced by so many others in a time of great poverty.An incredibly expressive lead performance by Lamberto Maggiorani, a non-professional actor, lends a voice to the hope and frustration of a generation.
Alas, on his first day his bike gets stolen; from here on the film follows the Antonio and his son's search for the bike.The Bicycle Thief is certainly not an upbeat film; rather it is a depressing slice of honest realism of how cruel the world really is.
"The Bicycle Thief" was filmed entirely on the streets of Rome, has no major movie stars in it, and includes no special effects.
Set during the aftermath of post war Italy, it tells the story of a poor working class father that just wants a job so he can support his family.
The film is a universal story about a working class man that simply wants a job to better his families lives, and despite all his best efforts his desperation turns him towards corruption.The film is held up wonderfully by the two main performances from the father Antonio(Lamberto Maggiorani) who gives a heart-wrenching performance as man close to breaking down, and his son Bruno(Enzo Staiola) who gives a stand-out performance.
To me everything in this film is perfect – the performances are splendid and very true to life and the story is simple but wonderful.In the center of the movie is a story about Antonio Ricci – a men living in poor Rome neighborhood, who acquires a bicycle to get a job posting film posters in the city, to support his family.
Looking at just one family during this period, the film follows the breadwinner Antonio Ricci (Maggiorani) around town as he tries to find his stolen bicycle.
De Sica, however, subverts viewers expectations with a fundamentally flawed character, Antonio (played by Lamberto Maggiorani) – Mr Everyday Ordinary Italian Citizen – who, after having his bike stolen, desperately searches his neighborhood over a weekend to find it – and dragging his young son Bruno (Enzi Staiola) along with him as helper... |
tt0143860 | Der schwarze Tanner | During the Second World War Tanner (Otto Mächtlinger), a swiss mountain farmer, refuses to follow the government policy for the so called Anbauschlacht, a plan to increase self-sufficiency with produce. In his opinion, the steep mountain pastures are not suited for agriculture. Most of the villagers agree. However some begin to cultivate. Even after all his fellow farmers have given in and have started to plant potatoes, wheat and rye, Tanner continues his opposition and ignores all letters and instructions. This leads to a series of reprimands, for instance, some of his hay is seized and his wife (Renate Steiger) cannot buy at the local grocer's since the family won't comply with the government policy. One of the daughters is caught trying to sell cheese and eggs on the black market.
Finally, Tanner is arrested and imprisoned. He demonstrates his obstinacy and strength with a hunger strike. When the wardens try to tempt him to eat, he tells them that he will start eating again back at home.
The authorities finally see that the risk is too great and decide to let Tanner walk free. The weak old man is taken home by car and sleigh where he is welcomed by his family. He asks the men who brought him home to go inside and have a cup of coffee. In the meantime Tanner stays outside for a bit in the snow and dies. | satire | train | imdb | null |
tt0083658 | Blade Runner | In 2019, humans have genetically engineered Replicants, which are essentially humans who are designed for labor and entertainment purposes. They are illegal on earth, and if they make it to our planet they are hunted down and killed.Rick Deckard is a blade runner, a hunter of replicants. A group of replicants makes it to Los Angeles seeking a way to extend their life span. Replicants have a built-in 4 year life span, and this group is near the end.==========================================A crawl after the opening credits informs us that, in the near future, technology that has created synthetic humans has entered a new phase: replicants, sophisticated androids that are virtually identical to humans, are now equal in strength and emotion to their creators. Replicants are designed and built by the Tyrell Corporation, a giant multi-conglomerate headquartered in two pyramid-like towers. The latest version of replicant technology is the Nexus 6 model. Replicants are mostly used as manual laborers in the "off world" colonies out in space. Because of their advanced nature and tendency towards violence, replicants have been outlawed on Earth. Specialized police units, "blade runners," are charged with the difficult task of detecting replicants who come to Earth. If found, replicants are executed or "retired." An opening title tells us that the setting for the story is Los Angeles, and the date is November, 2019. Los Angeles and the surrounding area have become heavily industrialized, crowded with people and rain falls constantly.At the Tyrell Corporation, a blade runner, Holden (Morgan Paull) is interviewing a new employee using a special device called a Voight-Kampff (VK) analyzer. The machine is designed to detect any physical changes in the test subject in response to questions that are deliberately meant to affect the subject emotionally. After a few questions, the man being tested, Leon, becomes obviously agitated and eventually hostile, shooting Holden. (We learn later that Holden survived: "He can breathe okay, as long as nobody unplugs him.")Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner, is eating at a Japanese noodle bar when another man, Gaff (Edward James Olmos), tells him he's under arrest. Deckard tries to ignore the man but eventually agrees to go with him. Gaff flies Deckard to police headquarters and delivers Deckard to his old boss, Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh). Bryant tells Deckard that a small group of Nexus-6 replicants have come to Earth illegally. Two of them were killed trying to scale a high-voltage security fence outside the Tyrell Corporation. Four have survived; Bryant shows Deckard their files. The leader is Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), the most advanced and intelligent of the group. The others are Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), Pris (Darryl Hannah) and Leon (Brion James), the replicant who shot Holden. Deckard is charged with tracking them down. Bryant also tells Deckard that the Nexus-6s are believed to be advanced enough that they may have developed emotions, which might make them harder to detect via VK testing. Subsequently, the scientists designed the Nexus-6s to have only a four year lifespan. Bryant sends Deckard to Tyrell Corp's headquarters to test the VK machine on a Nexus-6.Deckard and Gaff fly to Tyrell headquarters. While Deckard awaits Tyrell, he meets Rachael (Sean Young), a beautiful woman who welcomes him and who acts as Tyrell's personal assistant. Tyrell (Joe Turkel) appears and questions Deckard about the Voight-Kampff test, doubting its processes in detecting replicants among humans. Tyrell offers Rachael as a test subject, saying he wants to see a negative test result on a human before providing a replicant to be tested. Deckard asks Rachael over 100 test questions before the VK machine finally alerts Deckard that Rachael is actually a replicant. Rachael leaves and Tyrell explains that Rachael is a Nexus-6 and one of the most advanced replicants ever designed. She has been designed to possess memories, however, the memories given Rachael have been culled from Tyrell's nieces or other family members. Deckard is surprised to realize that Rachael doesn't know she's a replicant.Deckard's first lead takes him to Leon's apartment. He finds a stack of photographs there, as well as a scale from an animal's hide. Not far away, Roy Batty is waiting on the street for Leon to return from his apartment. Leon appears and tells Roy that there were policemen there and he was unable to retrieve his photographs. Roy is perturbed but takes Leon with him to a shop called Eye World, owned by a Chinese man named Chew, who engineers eyes for replicants for Tyrell. He is confronted in his subzero lab by Roy and Leon, the latter of whom rips open Chew's thermal coat to make it easier for Roy to interrogate him. Roy asks Chew about "inception dates," the date marking a replicant's first activation and beginning of their four year lifespan. Chew, quickly freezing to death, desperately tells them that they need to talk to Tyrell about increasing their lifespans. Roy suggests that meeting with Tyrell will be difficult, however, Chew tells him that a Tyrell employee, JF Sebastian, may be able to gain Roy access.Deckard takes Leon's stack of photos home with him. He is surprised by Rachael in the elevator. Deckard, seemingly feeling betrayed, is quite rude to Rachael, who was unable to talk to Tyrell himself after she found out she is a replicant. Though Rachael shows Deckard a picture of herself with her mother, Deckard insensitively quashes Rachael's insistence that she has actual memories, telling her they'd been taken from other people. Rachael leaves, extremely hurt. Later, while drinking, Deckard examines old photographs on his piano and dreams of a white unicorn. When he awakes, he examines one of Leon's photos and finds that Zhora was in a back room. Deckard notes that she has a prominent tattoo on her neck of a looped serpent.In another part of Los Angeles, near an old, neglected hotel called The Bradbury, a woman walks into an alley and covers herself with waste paper to keep warm. She dozes for a bit until a man approaches her and startles her awake. She runs away, breaking the window of his van, but the man kindly returns one of her bags and she becomes friendly. The woman is revealed to be Pris, one of the Nexus-6s Deckard is pursuing. The man is JF Sebastian (William Sanderson), a genetic designer for the Tyrell Corporation and the person Chew told Roy to find. Pris agrees to stay at Sebastian's place where he designs lifelike toys and dolls.Deckard visits the crowded streets near Chinatown and has a old Asian woman examine the animal scale. Deckard believes it to be from a fish but it's from a snake and, like most animals of the time period, is artificial. The maker's serial number is also visible under the microscan, a man named Abdul Ben Hassan, whose shop is right up the street. Deckard confronts Hassan, who tells him he'd made a snake for a dancer working at a club owned by Taffy Lewis. Deckard goes to the club and places a quick call to Rachael, apologizing for his insensitivity and asking her if she'd like to join him at the club. Rachel refuses.Deckard finds that Zhora is an exotic dancer at the club who uses artificial snakes in her performances. Deckard poses as an irritating private eye investigating abuses by club owners who may spy on female performers. Zhora sees through Deckard's ruse and beats him violently and dashes from the club into the streets. Deckard quickly catches up and chases her until he's able to shoot her. Zhora crashes through several plate glass windows and falls to the street, dead. When a passerby examines Zhora, they see the snake tattoo under her ear.Bryant arrives on the scene and talks to Deckard, congratulating him for finding and retiring Zhora. He tells Deckard that there are four more replicants to retire; Deckard insists that there are only three left. Bryant tells him that Rachael has disappeared and Deckard now has to find her. Deckard spots her a few moments later across the street. As he follows her, he's suddenly grabbed by Leon, who beats him severely. As Leon appears poised to kill Deckard by stabbing his fingers through Deckard's eyes, his forehead explodes; he has been shot by Rachael using Deckard's own pistol, which Leon had batted from Deckard's hand a few moments before. Deckard returns to his apartment and Rachael joins him. Deckard appears to be much more sympathetic toward Rachael since she saved him from Leon. When she asks him if he'd hunt and retire her, he tells her he wouldn't, but someone else surely would. He gives her a drink and the two play together on Deckard's piano. Deckard becomes more amorous and Rachael rejects his advances. Deckard prevents her from leaving his apartment and the two have sex off screen.Pris wakes up in Sebastian's apartment. She talks to him about his strange skin condition, "Methuselah Syndrome," which makes him age quickly -- he is only 25, but looks older. Suddenly, Roy appears (likely summoned there by Pris). He sadly shares the news that Zhora and Leon are both retired. Roy and Pris both reveal to Sebastian that they are Nexus-6s and they need to get "help" for Pris or she'll die. Pris proves to Sebastian that she's artificial by grabbing an egg from boiling water and tossing it to Sebastian, who finds it too hot to handle. Roy notices that Sebastian plays chess and asks him about his opponent, who is Tyrell himself. Roy convinces Sebastian to use his connection to Tyrell to arrange a personal meeting. Sebastian reluctantly agrees.Roy and Sebastian go to Tyrell's pyramidal home and take an elevator to his penthouse. They are stopped as a security measure but are allowed to proceed when Sebastian voices two moves to Tyrell himself that win the chess match they'd been playing; the last move is given to him by Roy. In Tyrell's bedchamber, Roy confronts his creator, saying specifically he wants an extension of his short lifespan and calls Tyrell "father." (In the 1982 Theatrical and 1992 Director's editions, Roy says "fucker" in place of father.) Tyrell explains, with technical details, that artificial beings like Roy have been permanently designed not to live longer than their lifespan and that no known biological process has yet been able to change that. Roy becomes more despondent, telling Tyrell he's done "questionable things." Tyrell patronizes him, saying he's also accomplished great things. Roy, still despondent, first kisses Tyrell, then begins to crush his skull, poking his thumbs through his creator's eyes. Tyrell falls dead and a horrified Sebastian, unable to escape, is killed off screen by Roy.Deckard flies in his car to the sector where JF Sebastian lives. He receives a report from Bryant who tells him that Tyrell is dead and Sebastian has also been found dead at the same scene. Deckard places a call to Sebastian's apartment claiming to be a friend. Pris answers the call but hangs up without a word. Deckard has to move his car when some street people climb on the back, apparently hoping to scavenge parts they can sell. Deckard enters Sebastian's apartment and searches for evidence or leads. The apartment is full of lifelike toys and mannequins. As Deckard searches the mess, he is surprised by a disguised Pris, who assaults him using acrobatics. As she performs a series of back flips to finish Deckard off, he shoots her through the abdomen. She twitches violently for a few moments before Deckard shoots her twice more and finally kills her.Roy finds Pris dead, and he kisses her lifeless lips. Deckard shoots at him, and Roy accuses him of "not being very sporting to shoot an unarmed man." Roy stalks Deckard, seizing Deckard's hand through a wall and deliberately dislocating and breaking two of his fingers in memory of Zhora and Pris. Deckard escapes to an upper floor in the building but is easily found by Roy, as he howls from the pain of trying to reset one of his fingers. Deckard keeps moving, but is in great pain and drops his gun. Roy is already showing signs of his own impending death - he stabs himself through the hand with a large nail to temporarily stabilize his condition. Deckard seizes an opportunity to beat Roy with a large pipe but he cannot incapacitate Roy, whose superhuman strength is too much for Deckard. Deckard eventually escapes to a window ledge. Deckard climbs to the roof, but Roy appears moments later. Deckard tries to jump to another roof across the street. He nearly plummets, hanging on by one hand. Roy makes the jump quite easily and peers over the ledge at Deckard, saying "Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave." Deckard slips and Roy catches his arm with one hand, dragging him to safety. Roy sits down near him, holding a dove he found on the other roof, and tells Deckard that he's seen more in his short life than most humans would see in a full lifetime. Roy is saddened by the idea that all the memories he's acquired will be lost "like tears in rain." Then, echoing the last thing Leon said to Deckard, Roy says "time to die" -- but he's referring to himself. As he finally dies, the dove in his hand flies off. In the original theatrical version (1982) the rain has stopped and the dove flies toward a clear blue sky. In the Final Cut (2007) the rain continues and the dove flies toward an overcast sky. In a Deckard notes that the replicants only want the same things that humans do.Gaff meets Deckard on the roof and throws his pistol back to him. He congratulates Deckard on completing his investigation; Deckard tells him he's officially finished with hunting replicants. As Gaff walks away, he looks back over his shoulder, and yells, "It's too bad she won't live, but then again, who does?", referring to Rachael.Deckard returns to his apartment and is alarmed to find the door ajar. He takes out his gun, and calls Rachael. When she doesn't answer he walks through the rooms with his gun drawn. In the bedroom, Rachael is completely covered by the sheet. He fears that she is dead. Much to his relief, she wakes up when he pulls the sheet back and touches her. He asks her whether she loves and trusts him; she replies that she does. A few minutes later, she is dressed and Deckard, after checking the lobby outside his apartment, motions for her to join him in the elevator. On the floor of the lobby is a small origami unicorn, left there by Gaff. Deckard studies it, and Gaff's words about Rachael not living echo in his head. He realizes that Gaff was there but let Rachael live. Deckard studies the unicorn for a moment, then crushes it in his hand. In the Final Cut and Director's (1992) editions, the film ends when the elevator doors close. In the Theatrical edition, Deckard and Rachael drive into a mountainous area and Deckard explains in voice-over that Tyrell told him that Rachael has no termination date. Echoing Gaff's sentiment atop the roof, he muses, "I didn't know how long we had together... who does?" | dark, boring, neo noir, gothic, murder, fantasy, mystery, dramatic, cult, atmospheric, action, philosophical, romantic, blaxploitation, sci-fi | train | imdb | Dick's post-apocalyptic bounty hunter story 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep' is a visionary work of art; it's a dystopian masterpiece and I'd personally call it as much a milestone of science fiction as Kubrick's '2001' (and be advised to watch the version known as the "final cut" if you want to catch 'Blade Runner' as it was intended by its director).
These themes are set in a fairly basic detective story that moves slowly but gradually builds power as the viewer is immersed in a dystopian futuristic Los Angeles.Harrison Ford fans accustomed to the normally dynamic roles that he plays may be dissatisfied with the seemingly lifeless lead character that he portrays here as the replicant-hunting detective known as a "blade runner".
Anyone who "gets" the film should be moved by this; others will sadly miss the point and may prefer watching some mindless action flick instead."Blade Runner" is a masterpiece that deserves recognition and long remembrance in film history..
Dark, deep, uncertain, unsettling imagine the most beautiful nightmare you've ever had this is Blade Runner (1982).Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is a brilliantly crafted science fiction film that not only touches upon, but bravely plunges into deep philosophical questions, making it simply ten times more important than any film of its genre.
It is timeless beauty with huge doses of emotion.Set in 2019 Los Angeles, Blade Runner zooms in on the eerily-lit, urban streets of the city and follows Richard Deckard superbly played by Harrison Ford who brings an exquisite moral ambiguity to his character a special policeman who tracks down and terminates artificially-created humans called replicants, who have escaped from an Off-World colony and made their way to earth and need to be stopped.
Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, is a Sci-fi slash Noir film about a cop named Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) in a decrepit 2019 Los Angeles whose job it is to "retire" four genetically engineered syborgues, known as "Replicants".
The movie itself is a detective noir quest for the meaning of life in a science fiction environment, but the story is a commentary on what it means to be human and the questions each one of us have about life, like: How long have I to live?
By merging together the moral conflict and the emphatic character arc of the private detective, a trait that is exclusive to and definitive of the Film Noir genre, with a futuristic dystopian environment, Blade Runner creates the ultimate Neo-Noir setting, the only one capable of supporting such strong ideas and posing such significant questions to the viewer, without compromising on an interesting plot development and an appealing pace, things that are masterfully achieved via a tight script and persuasive performances.In a dark, future dystopian portrait of a 2019 Los Angeles, where humans have alienated themselves with their true nature and claimed the title of god/creator of life, effectively manufacturing artificial intelligence and bioengineering androids, called "Replicants", a retired "Blade Runner" named Rick Deckard is assigned with the undertaking of terminating four rogue such replicants that have illegally returned to Earth in a quest to force their maker, Tyrel, into postponing their grim destiny, basically prolonging their already predetermined four-year lifespan.
Blade Runner's unique depiction of the future has been imitated numerous times quite unsuccessfully, mostly due to the fact that no other film to this date has managed to create such an engaging atmosphere so beautifully connected to every part of it, effectively enhancing every scene and allowing for a strong conveyance of all the moral and existential questions that are posed during the whole duration.
Vangelis has also composed one of the best and most awe-inspiring scores of all time, effectively managing to capture the very essence of each scene, thus making all sound a significant and inseparable part of the whole cinematic experience that Blade Runner has to offer.
The moral and existential complexity of this reality that Blade Runner has offered to the world reaches depths unparalleled by the majority of the films available, therefore greatly distinguishing it from all others and thus emphasizing its uniqueness through the most complete portrayal of science fiction to date..
Blade Runner (either version) stands the test of time as an epic story which transcends a disparity of genres, as well as the seminal "dark" sci-fi film which has been mimicked so frequently (to varying degrees of success) since its original release.
I would suggest picking up a reader by someone like Nietzsche, Foucualt, Descartes, Kierkegaard, or any of the great existentialist philosophers after viewing this film in order to appreciate the story & its concepts at a whole new level, regardless if you're watching it for either the 1st, or the 100th time.
The film gives no answer - it just opens our eyes and makes us aware that we should be grateful for being alive.Some people prefer the Director's Cut, but I like the original version better - mostly because of the wonderful end line: "I didn't know how long we had together.
But it's almost like an art movie, the first science-fiction art film
It's a futuristic film beautifully put together
It's really impeccably made by one of the great visionary directors
And you really saw a future that looked very different from the future you had seen before
A future that looked very believable like the visual-effects shots of the flying car going over a futuristic city
The fight sequence doesn't prepare you for the traumatic emotional side that there is in the film, it leaves you sort of broken
There is a beautiful, delicate emotional great scene that I remember when I first saw the movie
I'm in the theater and I'm so drawn in what Rutger Hauer's doing
I'm so drawn in by what the theme of the movie has brought us to
The magnificent moment where he is letting go of life
And in those last moments of letting go of life he's really learned to appreciate life to the point where he spares Deckard's life, and where he's even holding a white dove because he just wants to have something that's alive in his hands
It's an amazing sort of crescendo that's going and there's Rutger saying: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
All these moments will be lost in time like tears in rain." Hauer puts all the things that are so amazing about people: sense of poetry, sense of humor, sense of sexuality, sense of the kid, sense of soul
Scott brought out the best qualities in his performers
He coaxed and very gently manipulated performances from his actors that in some instances I think they've rarely topped
You feel the story, you feel the emotions of the characters and you will be lost in the middle of this wild world, you know, it's so rich and it's painful
I mean it's a very bluesy, dark story and told very compassionately
The overpopulation, the sort of crowd scenes is so rich and varied and there's such an extreme detail designing the magazine covers, designing the look of the punks, the Hare Krishnas, the biological salesman, everything is designed
You have just Piccadilly Circus punks walking by
You have a sense of layers in that society
That is one of those things that you see again and again
The city landscape with the big billboards à la Kyoto or Tokyo
Scott was able to create the look based on what goes on in various cities all over the world
Whether it is Tokyo, Kyoto or Beijing or Hong Kong or whatever, you're right in "Blade Runner" country
"Blade Runner," to me, embodies the elegance, the power, and the uniqueness of a film experience
It's the most classical, beautiful, purest movie-making writing and then the film-making itself is
The images and the sound and the music, it's pure cinema
Ridley came out with an amazing, brilliantly executed future of an absolute dystopia
The intensity of his perfectionism on "Blade Runner" made the movie
This is a master at his best.
Director Ridley Scott seems to want to savor every shot, and an astute audience will be able to sense this.Now, I say the film is told in a classic Noir style, but this can be misleading.
Instead, we find Rick Deckard questioning his own existence and drinking away his constant doubts, all the while embroiled in a romantic relationship with someone he's sworn to kill.Blade Runner requires audience participation, particularly in the Director's Cut, which is entirely devoid of some rather necessary exposition provided by the Original Cut's much-maligned voice-over.
Blade Runner is not for the adrenaline junkie, nor for those who like flashy gadgets and bright explosions, with a healthy Hollywood-made dose of convincing storyline spoon-fed for their satisfaction.The film is set in the apocalyptic, suggestively post-war future Earth, where there seems to be a lag in technology.
Despite being made over 25 years ago, Blade Runner still looks very much state-of-the-art.Scott says this is the best version and the best his film has ever looked and sounded.
For the life of me I can't think of a reason why this movie is held with such high regards in the sci-fi community, except for having the holy trinity of geekdom (it's set in the future, sexy robots and Harrison Ford).
Blade Runner is like a hand-made classic European sports car whereas most modern films are like a Toyota Corolla, supposed to be better than the old ones but they are not, made out of plastic in an assembly line, and they look cheap.Another thing, other than the visuals, that makes this film so good is the soundtrack.
Because it's visually and story-wise so good, It would still be a great film with different soundtrack, but at the same time, the soundtrack of Blade Runner is probably the best soundtrack for a movie ever, even though it didn't depend solely on its soundtrack for the mood.The story and acting are also very good.
The film mixes extraordinary (well, for 1982) visual effects, great acting and a genuinely original and deep plot about what it means to be human.The plot, on a base level, concerns the exploits of "Blade Runner" Deckard as he hunts down rogue Reploids; advanced human-like androids that have a four-year lifespan to compensate for their other advantages.
In "Blade Runner", Scott explores corruption, man's destructive nature, but he also delves into emotion and the possibility of someone ELSE creating those emotions for us, as is the case for the replicants.The plot plays second fiddle to the set design and costumes.
Maybe not 2019, but somewhere down the track the science fiction of films such as these may become science fact."Blade Runner" is one of THE definitive sci-fi movies ever made..
When Roy Batty chases Deckard in his shorts (when a few moments before he was fully clothed?) The film goes over-the-top to the point where I find myself asking, "why in the world would the characters do that?!" But here's what's interesting: as silly as Blade Runner may get it never betrays its own world.
Everything that happens, in some queer way, feels natural to this strange futuristic world.I like the movie in its action scenes, but I simply adore it during the quieter moments – the parts where not a whole hell of a lot is happening, and you can simply watch and absorb Jordan Cronenweth's marvelous cinematography.
He finds another clue that might lead somewhere (albeit, since it's a movie it's a good guess the clue does lead somewhere.) In my mind at least moments such as the Voight-Kampff scenes, Deckard's briefing, the photograph analysis, both of Rachel's scenes in Deckard's apartment gives the world of Blade Runner a solid grounding so later on it can get away with the absurd.Which brings me to the replicants.
Why should a shmuck like Deckard live for 50+ years when Roy in his 4 short years has seen attack ships burning off the shoulder of Orion and seen C-beams glitter in the dark
"If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes," he proudly and warmly tells one of the scientists who helped create him.As for which cut of the film, I don't think any single one is perfect (and I'd honestly watch any of them in a heartbeat.) I prefer the "Final Cut" over the others and admire Ridley Scott's restraint in his definitive DVD release.
It's all clear now.Blade Runner is one of a precious few pantheon of science fiction film that has become even more prescient as time passes (the other that comes to mind is 2001: A Space Odyssey).
When a replicant starts to piece things together before it dies, Deckard must take it out before it harms humans.As the film progresses, we can see that Deckard doesn't particularly like his job despite the fact that he is the best Blade Runner in town.
The replicant Rachael (played by Sean Young) seems to trigger a re-evaluation of his life, and he takes no pleasure in hunting the group of dangerous androids he's been hired to "retire".This film is Sir Ridley Scott's masterpiece, and the one that best shows his talents.
Also, we get the complete unicorn scene, which is crucial to the film's big question, as well as sticking with the DC's omitted voice-over narration (which is such a blessing, by the way).In the end Blade Runner is a masterful look at that which makes us human.
Set in post apocalyptic Los Angeles, the film tells the tale of Deckard (Harrison Ford), a semi retired cop who is persuaded back into his role of a Blade Runner (special units trained to identify and kill outlawed androids, or "replicants", who illegally return to Earth).
Scene-after-scene reminded me of a Stanley Kubrick film or another bizarre 1980s movie called "Jacob's Ladder." Because there are so many things to see and hear, and the story is different, one filled with strange characters, I can see where people would watch this film multiple times and enjoy it very much each time.
Scene-after-scene reminded me of a Stanley Kubrick film or another bizarre 1980s movie called "Jacob's Ladder." Because there are so many things to see and hear, and the story is different, one filled with strange characters, I can see where people would watch this film multiple times and enjoy it very much each time.
Sci-fi films usually get dated in a hurry, thanks to ever-increasing special-effects progress in the movie industry, but this still looks very good.
Sci-fi films usually get dated in a hurry, thanks to ever-increasing special-effects progress in the movie industry, but this still looks very good.
Ford's OK, Young is pretty and dull, Olmos is cool, twenty years before being cool fighting Cylons, and Hannah is sexy but hopelessly out of her depth.Apologists for Scott's fiasco blame the evil "suits" for messing up their Lord's film but in truth the directors cut is worse than the original movie.The sound is badly mixed too..
Human after all?If you're not interested in such questions, this is still a beautiful film for the unequaled visuals, music, atmosphere and acting.I like the simple, original romantic ending, it's less ambiguous than the director's cut and I didn't mind the voice over at all.
After seeing this movie over 10 times (over the years) I have to say that the 'directors cut' does not hold up to the stand of time when compared to the actual 'first release' version.The release version had the classic 'detective voice over' which really added A LOT to the plot and the depth of the characters.I moved my rating down from '9' to '8' for this reason.
Who knew a film named "Blade Runner", a movie with such high praise, could be so boring.
maybe creating perfection is more of a fluke than a norm but Riley has given us some of the best movies ever.if you get a chance please read or watch Ridley's interview regarding the making of Blade runner, you will find it very revealing, he was constantly being pushed and threatened by the mob who had financed the movie.the final scene with Rutger Hauer had to be shot in one take
One of the best science fiction movies ever made, Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" has survived the passage of time thanks to Scott's impressive attention to detail and the strengths of Philip K.
Blade Runner is quite simply wonderful, and not only is it one of Ridley Scott's best films, but also one of the best of the genre.
Ridley's Scott masterpiece, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, transcends the typical troupes of the genre and uses great thematic imagery, writing, characters, and beautiful direction to make a truly defining piece of science fiction that demonstrates what stories can be told with the power of film making, and despite its age, Blade Runner contains a world full of imposing characters, a thought-provoking narrative, and exquisite themes that has not been well replicated (no pun intended) ever since, and with the recent final cut in 2007, it also looks better than most Sci-Fi films today..
"Blade Runner" is one of the best science-fiction movies ever made.
This masterpiece, is probably the finest Sci-Fi movie ever made, and i can't see a reason for it not to have a place in everyones collection.The story, direction and cast are all perfect, and although i agree that the directors cut is better, i still believe that the original Harrison Ford voice over is pretty good, even if the end of that version was s**t.I first saw the movie when i was about 15 years old, and it blew me away (and yes that was the original cut of the film).
Rating-5/10Blade Runner is a movie starring Harrison Ford set in a future full of crazy robots and Rutger Hauer.
Which would make perfect sense because the movie is a very noir like film.Sets and effects. |
tt0100409 | The Prince and the Pauper | Tom Canty, youngest son of a poor family living in Offal Court, London, has always aspired to a better life, encouraged by the local priest (who has taught him to read and write). Loitering around the palace gates one day, he sees a prince (the Prince of Wales – Edward VI). Coming too close in his intense excitement, Tom is nearly caught and beaten by the Royal Guards; however, Edward stops them and invites Tom into his palace chamber. There the two boys get to know one another, fascinated by each other's life and their uncanny resemblance; they were born on the same day. They decide to switch clothes "temporarily". The Prince momentarily goes outside, quickly hiding an article of national importance (which the reader later learns is the Great Seal of England), but dressed as he is in Tom's rags, he is not recognized by the guards, who drive him from the palace, and he eventually finds his way through the streets to the Canty home. There he is subjected to the brutality of Tom's abusive father, from whom he manages to escape, and meets one Miles Hendon, a soldier and nobleman returning from war. Although Miles does not believe Edward's claims to royalty, he humors him and becomes his protector. Meanwhile, news reaches them that King Henry VIII has died and Edward is now the king.
Tom, posing as the prince, tries to cope with court customs and manners. His fellow nobles and palace staff think "the prince" has an illness which has caused memory loss and fear he will go mad. They repeatedly ask him about the missing "Great Seal", but he knows nothing about it; however, when Tom is asked to sit in on judgments, his common-sense observations reassure them his mind is sound.
As Edward experiences the brutish life of a pauper firsthand, he becomes aware of the stark class inequality in England. In particular, he sees the harsh, punitive nature of the English judicial system where people are burned at the stake, pilloried, and flogged. He realizes that the accused are convicted on flimsy evidence (and branded – or hanged – for petty offenses), and vows to reign with mercy when he regains his rightful place. When Edward unwisely declares to a gang of thieves that he is the king and will put an end to unjust laws, they assume he is insane and hold a mock coronation.
After a series of adventures (including a stint in prison), Edward interrupts the coronation as Tom is about to celebrate it as King Edward VI. Tom is eager to give up the throne; however, the nobles refuse to believe that the beggarly child Edward appears to be is the rightful king until he produces the Great Seal that he hid before leaving the palace. Tom declares that if anyone had bothered to describe the seal he could have produced it at once since he had found it inside a decorative suit of armor (where Edward had hidden it) and had been using it to crack nuts.
Edward and Tom switch back to their original places and Miles is rewarded with the rank of earl and the family right to sit in the presence of the king. In gratitude for supporting the new king's claim to the throne, Edward names Tom the "king's ward" (a privileged position he holds for the rest of his life). | good versus evil, action | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0104029 | Cronos | "In 1536, fleeing from the Inquisition, the alchemist Humberto Oganelli disembarked in Veracruz, Mexico. Appointed official watchmaker to the viceroy, Oganelli was determined to perfect an invention which would
provide him with the key to eternal life. He was to name it the Cronos device. Four hundred years later, one night in 1937, part of a wall in a building collapsed. Amongst the victims was a man of strange skin, the color of marble in moonlight, his chest mortally pierced. His last words: Sua tempore. This was the alchemist. The authorities located the residence of the dead man. What they found there was never fully revealed to the public. After a brief investigation, the mansion and its contents were sold at public auction. Never on any list or inventory was the Cronos device mentioned. As far as anyone knew, it never existed."What was not revealed to the public was that a human male was found hanging from his feet, his blood draining into a basin. Also unknown to the public, except for a dying millionaire named de la Guardia [Claudio Brook] who will stop at nothing to obtain it, the Cronos device had been hidden in the base of a statue of an archangel. De la Guardia had spent his life acquiring old statues of archangels, always in search of the hidden Cronos device... so far in vain... until the day that the archangel shows up in the antique shop of Jesus Gris [Frederico Luppi]. Jesus and his granddaughter find the device and, not knowing what it is, Jesus activates it. He is horrified as claws protrude from the orb, hold fast to his hand and proceed to dig into
his flesh.Meanwhile, de la Guardia (who lives in an antiseptic chamber) sends his nephew Angel [Ron Perlman] to buy the archangel. When the statue proves to be empty, however, Angel is forced to take strong measures. He kills Jesus. Fortunately, Jesus has come to realize that the Cronos device confers immortality, and he uses it. But there is a cost. He begins to crave human blood, and his flesh starts peeling off, exposing a strange layer of skin, the color of marble in moonlight. In the final confrontation between Jesus, de la Guardia, and Angel, Jesus emerges victorious. Still, he smashes the Cronos device and goes home to Aurora and his girlfriend... to die. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]___
A voice over (Jorge Martínez de Hoyos) tells the story of Humberto Oganelli (Mario Iván Martínez), an Alchimist who arrived to Veracruz in Mexico running away from the Inquisition. In 1937, a building collapsed, and a grey-skinned men was discovered. It was Oganellli, the inventor of the Cronos device. He is supposed to die at that moment, impalled onto an iron stick. Every together renmant of that building was auctioned, including the small statue of an angel.Years later, the angel appears at the antiquarian's shop. Somebody (Luis Rodríguez) enters to look at it but leaves without buying it. Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) has bought it. He realises that the angel is hollow, because, through one of the eyes' empty plaster socket, several huge bus fall down to the floor. Jesús picks up a kind of oval machinery thingy; it's the Cronos watch, a golden watch in the shape of a metal scarab. His mute granddaughter, Aurora (Tamara Shanath) is with him when he finds it.Ángel de la Guardia (Ron Perlman) is told where the angel statue is. In his turn, he tells his uncle, a millionaire De la Guardia (Claudio Brook) the news. De la Guardia wants the angel statue at all costs. Ángel buys it for him.Jesús wants to keep the watch. He sets the machiney onto motion. At first, it looks safe, but then 6 cocroach-like legs protude from the watch and make a hole on his hand. He doesn't let Aurora to get near the thing. His girlfriend Mercedes (Margarita Isabel), a tango-dance teacher, tends to his wound. She takes out a kind of metal sting from his hand and gives him some stiches.At night, Jesús doesn't feel very well. He goes to drink some water to the fridge, but the thing which attracts him the most is the bright red meat. Jesús feels restless. He sets the watch in motion again. A fourth sting comes out of the back side of the watch. That morning, the sun is shining outside. Jesús draws the curtains. His face looks much longer, but he shaves and he tells his girlfriend that he looks much younger because he has saved his white-haired moustache.When Jesús arrives to the shop, it has been vandalised. He contronts Ángel. He is frustrated because the archangel statue was hollow... and empty. De la Guardia tells him about the history of the Cronos mechanism. He also admits that he's dying of his sickness, and no treatment has worked so far. Jesús doesn't want to lose the Cronos. Jesús leaves on a hurry by the rooftop trying to look for Aurora, as he suddenly realises she's in danger. Aurora has picked up the Cronos to play with it. When he finds Aurora, he realises that she is frightened and tries to hide from him, or maybe she's scared about him, in any case she stops playing with her toy teaset and hides away from him. He tries to calm her down. She has hidden the Cronos inside her teddy bear. Immediately, Jesús uses the Cronos again, this time on his chest.Jesús is still guessing at the nature of the Cronos, but he feels that it's doing him good. His chest wound now expels a kind of mucose, and his eyes feel weird. Mercedes insists on his leaving the bathroom and go with her to the New Year's Eve party. Mercedes wonders how anyone can change so fast in such a short period of time. They dance in love there at the party. Aurora goes with them, but the girl usually stays on her own, silent as always. During the party, a man (Javier Álvarez) gets hurt and starts bleeding profusely. Jesús can't refrain from following that man to the gent's. They make small talk, but Jesús can't stop himself from staring at the spilled blood. He gets down on the floor to lick a blood stain. Somebody kicks him while he's doing that, knocking him out. The countdown to the first day of the year is being celebrated by everybody else. Meanwhile, Jesús is pushed out of the place where the party takes place.When he wakes up, he's in a car with Ángel, who beats him up. Ángel won't stop seeking the Cronos. Jesús asks what they want it for. Ángel leaves Jesús unconscious. Ángel pushes the car down from a cliff with Jesús inside.A funeral technician called Tito (Daniel Giménez Cacho) is preparing Jesús' corpse for burial. He is told that he'll be cremated, so all his excellent artistic work will be useless. De la Guardia tells off his nephew because he couldn't get the scarab and probably Jesús is still alive. Ángel goes to the funeral home and tries to wake Jesús up by closing his nostrils. Ángel leaves him for dead. Tito prepares the crematorium to burn the coffin - but there are problems with the gas and the piping, as all the tubes and pipes are really old and they would need maintenance. The technician leaves the room for some seconds to solve the problem. He doesn't realise that the coffee is empty, he just closes it down again without thinking about it. Ángel appears with the funeral house director (Juan Carlos Colombo) to enquire about the body of Jesús. The technician shows him the empty coffin burning to ashes in the oven. Ángel smiles.It's freezing. It's night. Jesús walks dazed confused and with a grey wounded face. He stops by a rubbish bin and he sees printed his own orbituary. Jesús tries to phone Mercedes. When he finally speaks up, Mercedes hangs up. Jesús limps home. It's Christmas and decorations are on the streets and the main hall of his building. He is opened the door by Aurora, who offers a towel for him. Jesús uses the Cronos mechanism again.Daylight really hurts him, so he hides inside an old trunk. Aurora paints the trunk and keeps on playing. Jesús writes a long letter to Mercedes. Jesús' faces is worst still. Jesús comes back to De la Guardia's warehouse, and he realises that Aurora has followed him. He tries to scare her away. She finds the little book written by Humberto Oganelli. There are some pages missing, and De la Guardia says that he's eaten them. De la Guardia takes off some pieces of dangling skin from Jesús' face nows feels metalic. De la Guardia rings the bell for his son. Ángel is pissed off at being disturbed by his uncle. De la Guardia tells Jesús that he needs to artifact to keep himself alive, and that he also needs blood. Jesús shows the Cronos to him and asks for the exit.De la Guardia knighs him. He fights with Jesús, but Aurora hits De la Guardia with a long stick. Jesús wakes up. Ángel appears and he tries to talk to his uncle. Jesús drinks the blood from De la Guardia's body. Ángel gets off from the lift and finds his uncle dead. Jesús and Aurora have hidden away. Ángel laughs with joy as everything will become his. However, at that moment, De la Guardia asks him for help, but his nephew kills him, fed up of being kept waiting.Jesús and Aurora hit Ángel. They run across the rooftops. He tells her granddaughter to leave by doing down the façade's ladder. Ángel hits Jesús. His victim looks week and unable to defend himself: he can only crawl away from him. To end the matter, Jesús throws himself agains Ángel's body, making him fall to the floor. Aurora sets the mechanism onto motion. Inside the scarab, a huge bag gives Jesús life. Aurora caresses Jesús' deformed face. Jesús peels off his own skin. Aurora was a bit hurt, so she's broken her lip. She offers her blood to Jesús, who finally decides to reject it with a supreme effort.Jesús shouts "NO!", and he removes the Cronos from his chest. He uses a stone to break it into pieces. He repeats his own name over and over again.Jesús dies, being cried by his granddaughter Aurora.---written by KrystelClaire | cult, comedy, gothic, atmospheric | train | imdb | null |
tt0104691 | The Last of the Mohicans | It is 1757, the French and Indian War rages across the English Colonies and the British have been fighting the French for territory in North America for three years. Indian tribes fight on both sides and the colonists are caught in the middle. Three men, Chingachgook (Russell Means), his son Uncas (Eric Schweig), and adopted white son Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), visit the frontier home of the Cameron's; John (Terry Kinney), Alexandra (Tracey Ellis), and James (Justin M. Rice). Colonist Jack Winthrop (Edward Blatchford) tells Hawkeye that he is gathering volunteers to fight for the British army in hopes that their homes on the frontier will be guarded against Huron war party attacks, loyal to the French. He and a group of others leave the next morning for Albany in New York to obtain these terms of agreement from General Webb. Webb agrees to grant them leave if their homes are attacked. Satisfied, Winthrop and the others agree to lend their services in the militia and join the British forces at Fort William Henry, sixty miles north of Albany.Meanwhile, Cora Munroe (Madeleine Stowe) and her frail, younger sister Alice (Jodhi May), travel along a forest trail accompanied by a British garrison to see their father, Colonel Edmund Munroe (Maurice Roëves), having received notice to meet him there. The garrison is commanded by Major Duncan Howard (Steven Waddington) who is betrothed to Cora. Their route to Fort William Henry is led by a native guide named Magua (Wes Studi) who acts distant towards Duncan and expresses dissent towards the British in his native language, though Duncan is unaware that anything is amiss. Magua then, without reason, turns and walks toward the back of the formation and the garrison is suddenly ambushed by a Huron war party. The women are knocked off their horses and huddle in the undergrowth together as they watch helplessly as the British soldiers are overtaken. At that moment, Chingachgook arrives with Uncas and Hawkeye and fight off the remaining Huron. Magua himself takes aim at Cora but Hawkeye forces him to flee into the forest. When the dust settles, only Cora, Alice, and Duncan are left alive. Hawkeye filters supplies from the dead and assures the survivors that he and his companions will escort them to Fort William Henry. Uncas sends off the remaining horses, explaining that they're too loud and easy to track. The party sets off on foot.En route, Duncan questions Hawkeye and the reason he and his band were traveling west instead of fighting in the militia. Hawkeye explains that he's no scout or militia man, implying that he takes no orders. They soon all come to the Cameron's farm where Hawkeye discovers the inhabitants murdered and the cabin burned. Hawkeye and Uncas note that nothing was stolen and they come to a conclusion that a war party was responsible and are most likely scouring the frontier for hapless colonials. To Cora's astonishment, Hawkeye refuses to bury the dead but assures her that they are not merely strangers to him. Later that night, as they camp, Hawkeye explains to a contrite Cora that if they had buried the Cameron's anyone looking for their trail would see it as a sign of their passing. He speaks with her about how he was found by Chingachgook at a young age after his family was killed and raised as a Mohican and tells her a folktale about the creation of the stars, supposing that therein lies a monument to the Cameron's and his family. He finds an understanding soul in Cora and keeps watch through the night. A Huron hunting party comes close and they ready their defenses, but the party turns back since Hawkeye camped on burial grounds. They are followed by the party through the next day as they near the fort. When they arrive, they find it being bombarded by French cannon fire.They sneak into the fort where they are welcomed and the girls reunited with their father. He is astonished to see them there and maintains that he never sent word for them to come -- Magua had tricked them into joining their father. Grateful to the trappers, he offers them whatever they need, including gunpowder and food. Munroe explains their current situation: the French are persistent and dig trenches daily that, when close enough, will allow range for mortars to bombard the fort. They have three days at best. Having heard that his previous couriers failed to deliver pleas for reinforcements, Munroe decides to send out one more to General Webb (Mac Andrews) at Fort Edward as a last resort. When Hawkeye delivers the troubling news that innocent colonists are being attacked in the frontier, Munroe reacts with disinterest and even Duncan refuses to acknowledge what he saw at the Cameron farm. Winthrop and other militia are angered to hear Munroe's indifference to the colonists and demand to go home to tend to their families, but Munroe threatens them with sedition and commands that anyone seen deserting will be shot on sight. Hawkeye surmises that if the colonists receive no help from the British, they should go to the French. Munroe claims treason but Hawkeye assures him it's nothing but the truth. Munroe dismisses everyone.Magua returns to the French encampment just outside the fort and addresses General Montcalm (Patrice Chéreau), giving him the latest updates. When asked why he was targeting Munroe's children, Magua explains his deepest hatred for the man and says that he will kill the women and show Munroe that his bloodline has ended before ripping his heart out. It is later revealed that Munroe was the one responsible for an attack on Magua's village that resulted in the deaths of Magua's children. Magua was sent into slavery and by the time he was able to return to his wife, discovered that she had remarried, thinking him dead.Later, when Cora again meets with Hawkeye in the infirmary, she realizes that she is falling in love with him. When Duncan comes to her, assuring her that all that has happened will be forgotten once they return to England, she dismisses his marriage proposal on the grounds of morality, having witnessed his lies about the Huron war parties attacking the colonists. She sends him off as a man with admirable qualities, but with none she holds highly. She later meets with Hawkeye and the two share a moment of passionate love.Days pass without reinforcements and it's soon discovered that Hawkeye assisted his colonist friends in abandoning the fort. He is arrested for sedition and sentenced to hang. When Cora questions him, asking why he didn't leave too, he claims his only interest remains in the fort: her. She confronts her father, proudly asserting her beliefs that, maybe, the British do more harm to the colonists than good. The fort is soon overrun by the French and Munroe is forced by Montcalm to surrender. The British are allowed to leave the fort with their families to Albany, on condition that they return to England. Reluctantly, Munroe accepts but only after seeing an intercepted letter from General Webb, explaining his refusal to send aid.The British march away from the fort defeated and are quickly ambushed again by a large Huron force led by Magua. Magua seeks out Munroe and personally cuts out his heart, telling him that his daughters are next. Hawkeye is freed by Chingachgook and they take Cora, Alice, and Duncan with Uncas away from the fighting to a cave behind a waterfall. Their gunpowder wet, Hawkeye and the others have no chance to defend themselves if they are found. With Hurons approaching, Hawkeye promises Cora that he will come back to find her, as long as she stays strong. Uncas' feelings for Alice, having grown over time, are evident as he, Chingachgook, and Hawkeye leap into the waterfall. Duncan and the women are then captured by Magua and his men.The captives are taken to a Huron village where Magua discusses with the Sachem (Mike Phillips), or elder, what he intends to do with them. He is then interrupted when an unarmed Hawkeye walks into the village. He is beaten down by Huron warriors as he approaches but maintains a peaceful demeanor. With Duncan translating into French for Hawkeye, he pleads with the Sachem to reconsider what Magua has told him and convinces him that Magua is simply acting out of selfish fulfillment rather than for the good of the tribe. The Sachem renders his decision: Cora is to be burned alive to atone for the loss of Magua's children. Duncan is to be sent back to the British to placate them and Alice is to be given to Magua as a bride so that both their bloodlines can continue. Hawkeye is to be released for his bravery but he speaks again the Sachem's decision, pleading with Duncan to translate that he will take Cora's place instead. However, Duncan purposefully mistranslates so that he, not Hawkeye, is taken to be burned alive. He tells Hawkeye to take Cora as Magua resentfully leaves with Alice and Duncan is taken away. Hawkeye takes Cora into the forest where they are reunited with Chingachgook and Uncas. There, Hawkeye takes aim and mercifully shoots Duncan to spare him further pain as he's burned on the stake.Uncas immediately runs ahead of the others in pursuit of Magua's band, set on rescuing Alice. He manages to kill several members of the group before facing Magua. However, Magua quickly dispatches Uncas by stabbing him in the side. Uncas looks at Alice, apologetic, before Magua slits his throat and throws his body over the cliffside. Chingachgook and Hawkeye see this and, in a rage, Chingachgook charges ahead. Magua then motions for Alice to rejoin him as she looks at Uncas' body over the edge. She moves away and, as Cora watches, throws herself off the cliff to join Uncas in death. As Chingachgook races ahead to face Magua, Hawkeye covers his trail, shooting any Huron who comes in his way with deadly accuracy. Chingachgook and Magua face off with Chingachgook coming out the victor and effectively avenging his son. After a ritual for Uncas, Chingachgook tells Hawkeye that this land is not meant for his kind anymore and that it will be lived upon by those like Hawkeye, Cora, and their children. He then says a prayer to the spirits and asks his family to be patient in death and wait for him, the last of the Mohicans. | murder, cult, violence, romantic, revenge, historical | train | imdb | Its vision of early America, as it was during the French and Indian War, is captured in its utter brutality and beauty, complete with the many driving ambitions and clashing cultures of everyone involved.This movie has a bit of everything, including action, romance, war, and passionate drama.
The director, Michael Mann, knows the story well and does all but completely discard James Fenimore Cooper's source material, which some have dubbed as being racist and totally unfair in its portrait of Native Americans.The story (and what a story) is all over the place, with three frontier scouts - Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), Chingachgook (Russell Means), and Uncas (Eric Schweig) - escorting a British colonel's daughters - Cora and Alice Munro (Madeleine Stowe and Jodhi May respectively) - to safety at the besieged Fort William Henry.
Major Duncan Heyward (Steven Waddington) rivals Hawkeye for Cora's affections and a vengeance-driven Huron named Magua (Wes Studi) seeks to have both daughters killed in retribution for the loss of his own children.This is by far Mann's best film yet (it ranks #15 on my all-time favorite movies list) and he uses the lush wilderness settings to great effect.
The film's last 20 minutes are a definite stunner that can only be described as classic and vicious.This is a great movie that shows America in its infancy, complete with the rivalries, intrigue, and violence that I'm sure was an everyday part of life during this hectic time period.10/10.
James Fenimore Cooper's trusty old nineteenth century novel 'The Last of the Mohicans' has provided a surprisingly sound springboard for a film that tries and succeeds in restoring a profound respect for the Native Americans.
Yes, it is a story about the Indians and their culture desecrated by the arrival of European entrepreneurs and colonists all relating to Hawkeye/Nathaniel Poe (Daniel Day-Lewis), who as a child was taken by the Mohawk tribe and raised by wise Chingachgook (Russell Means) with the graceful skills and philosophy of the Native Americans.
Suffice it say that Hawkeye becomes the scout who leads British family Munro including Colonel (Maurice Roëves) and his daughters Cora (Madeleine Stowe) and Alice (Jodhi May) into upstate New York and along the way find altercations with the French and with the Huron Indians, especially one Magua (Wes Studi) whose loathing for Munro's devastation of his village drives him to vengeance against the entire Munro family.
Based on James Fenimore Cooper's literary genius, The Last of the Mohicans transports the viewer back to a time of America's youth in a brilliant, mesmerizing fashion.The story centers on an eclectic band of travelers, thrust together by fate and their attempt to escape danger and reach the besieged British fort, William-Henry.
Even the story's main antagonist, Magua (wonderfully portrayed by Wes Studi, Dances with Wolves) draws in a fair amount of empathy.The Last of the Mohicans is a marvelous, visual adventure that thoroughly reveals the horrors of warfare, the wildness of a chaste frontier, and the fated and ill-fated romances of the characters involved..
Just a great, great movie.It boasts an interesting story filled with intense characters, beautiful scenery, a fantastic score, good action and a nice romance.
However, even if it may be a little too intense or frequent, the action is always interesting and varied, from all-out assaults to individual battles.The story takes place in Eastern New York State but, in reality, was filmed in beautiful Smokey Mountain areas in Asheville, N.C. This movie looks spectacular and with an epic, sweeping soundtrack is quite a feast for the eyes and ears.The eye candy includes a handsome leading couple: Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeline Stowe.
Wes Studi is mesmerizing as the "bad guy." If you liked him in "Geronimo: An American Legend," you'll like his work here.If you are fairly young and only know Michael Mann through his crime movies like "Heat" or "Collateral," please check this earlier film out.
The attack on the defeated column in the woods also appears to be historically accurate.This film, though imperfect, ranks with me as one of the best action movies of all time..
Policier specialist Michael Mann steps way off his usual beaten path with this adaptation of that hoary old James Fenimore Cooper tale of frontiersmen, Indians, Redcoats and the French -- the latter back when they knew how to fight.Chameleonic actor Daniel Day Lewis is totally convincing as Hawkeye, tracker, warrior, and adopted white son of Chingagchook, last of the Mohicans tribe.
Along with adoptive brother, Uncas, the three are swept into the French and Indian war of 1757, treading lightly between the antagonists: French and Hurons on one side, British and colonials on the other, each faction potentially treacherous and deadly.Mann doesn't waste time on exposition or character development; he just hurls us into the fast-paced, brutal action and the effect is like snagging the tail of a galloping racehorse and trying to hang on to the finish line.
Not an "action adventure" as IMDb calls it.It is very painful to watch this film, because of the deep sense of longing to be that man in the story who gets to be with this woman and survives this extreme experience of being so intensely alive.
One thing I must say is that while Daniel Day Lewis and Wes Studi were both incredible, it was Madeleine Stowe who made this film.
It was the first movie I ever saw in the widescreen format of video tapes and, after watching it again after about three years of not seeing it, everything I loved about it then still holds true.The film is no more anti-British than it is anti-Indian.
Of all the eight major characters (Hawkeye, Chingachook, Uncas, Cora Munro, Alice Munro, Colonel Munro, Maghoa, Maj. Heyward), half of them are dead by film's end and everyone has lost at one person they very deeply care about.
Now that I've seen this movie I want to go out that way again, start at Fort William and Henry and work my way North to Crown Point, learning all I can on the way.What I really recommend is to see the movie once, enjoying the scenery and the love stories, as well as the action.
I just don't understand why it is so under rated.When non-realistic and hypothetical movies can be in the top 250 than why not such a great flick?!Madeleine Stowe,Daniel Day-Lewis,Russell Means they were all amazing.
You should see it yourself.Well, for me it is one of the best love stories I have ever seen.I would recommend everyone to see the movie one time and I can bet they would be captivated by it.10/10.
Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans is often overlooked when lists of great movies are compiled but this is a film of such astonishing beauty and raw energy that it deserves to be reassessed.
This has a lot to do with the stunning score - the last ten minutes demonstrating all aspects of cinema operating on the highest level - as it reinforces the primal beat and rhythm of the piece while still maintaining a colonial heart and hauntingly epic sweep.The Last of the Mohicans is a thrilling, fierce adventure tempered with attention to historical detail, heightened yet not melodramatic emotion and a sympathetic yet seethingly tense depiction of the time.
Set in the West of its historical time period (Hawkeye's isolationist view was that his dad, his bro and he were heading to "kan-tucky" to escape the encroaching modern civilization since you couldn't get any bare bones farther west than that in the human knowledge of the day), this is the first real chase story in literature and Mann makes it so on screen, it starts with them running and finishes with them running; everyone is pursuing something, and few reach their destination without death and violence interrupting their personal chase.
I especially liked how a particularly arrogant and unlikable character, a British officer, in the end completely redeems himself with an unmitigated selfless act of great personal sacrifice.This was at the time unlike any movie I had seen before.
Best performances were from Stowe, May (although she didn't say much her acting towards the end of the movie is as good as you will see anywhere) and without a doubt Wes Studi as the brutal Magua was the best of them.
Don't get me wrong the acting was of high class, only the two lead characters, who were to convert the main love story to my screen, Daniel Day Lewis as Hawkeye and Madeleine Stowe as Cora Munro, were disappointing.
Even supporting cast like Eric Schweig (Uncas-son) or Russell Means (Chingachgook-father) seems to be carefully selected as they all seem to give their best, look and act real while they help to the development of their characters.This part (The character-development, which I never really understood why ONLY this should be every time the element that defines a good and a bad movies, but anyway...) is sufficiently deep in my personal opinion.
This is because the Brits have no idea what they were doing in the war and so it's up to these three men to save the day...or at least rescue a couple women from certain death.It is interesting to note that when the film began, it did NOT say it was based on the original James Fenimore Cooper story but on the 1936 version of "The Last of the Mohicans" (which starred Randolph Scott).
It is Daniel Day Lewis playing the role of lead Nathaniel Poe, nicknamed Hawkeye, a humble enough local based in the north east of where Canada now meets the United States whom crash lands into a scenario of intense industrial warfare having survived this long on somewhat ancient, more traditionalist, methods of living.The aforementioned person Poe and his accomplices are charged with transporting for the early part is the daughter of a top British Colonel out on the front-line, a certain Edmund Munro (Roëves) who's in the midst of fighting the French at a secluded fort.
She observes the worldly wilderness she's presently occupying as quite serene, even beautiful; her somewhat air-headed and bubbled demeanour suggesting a lack of exposure to what is truly unfolding within this place and much like the opening shots of the film, the cutting from something serene and easy on the eye into the object itself plus the revealing of the brutal manner in which this world functions coming to resemble how far along it is Cora goes in her own discovering of the nature of the land she's actually in.
The classic James Fenimore Cooper's novel is brought to screen is this suspenseful adventure.We're in 1757, Seven years wars, between French and English soldiers,French supported by Hurons and English by Mohawk and settlers and tribes allied to each side.The story is partially based on true events ,it's a historic fiction.The scout,frontiersman Hawkeye(Daniel Day Lewis)raised by Mohicans,and companions,his foster-father Chingachgook(Russell Means)and his son Uncas(Eric Schweig)rescue a small party headed for Fort Henry,constituted by the lovely Cora(Madeleine Stowe), and beautiful Alice(Jodhi May),they're Colonel Munro's(Maurice Reeves)daughters.Fort Henry is defeated by French colonel(Patrick Chereau)and the expedition is attacked by the nasty Magua(Wes Studi) and the Hurons,causing an authentic massacre .The brave Hawkeye save to sisters and along with the Mohicans and an official(Steve Waddington)flee ,being pursued by the revenge-minded Magua.This is a thrilling film,plenty of graphical violence,blood,love with interracial romance included and breathtaking outdoors.Excellent action sequences with bloody attacks and spectacular and realistic battles.Charismatic performance for all casting.First rate acting for Daniel Day Lewis as a valiant Hawkeye.Madeleine Stowe is wonderful.Special mention to Wes Studi as an appropriately villainous in a powerful performance.Look for secondary actors to Peter Postlethwaite,Dylan Baker,Jared Harris among others.Rousing,memorable score by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman.Colorful cinematography by Dante Spinotti.The film achieved Oscar winner for best sound.The motion picture is marvelously directed by Michael Mann.Another version about this classic story: 1922, mute adaptation by Maurice Tourneur and Clarence Brown with Wallace Beery as Magua; the classic 1936 by George B Seitz with Randolph Scott as Hawkeye ;1985 TV movie by James L Conway with Steve Forrest and Ned Romero.
How anyone who doesn't already know the story is supposed to interpret the sudden outburst of meaningful looks in the last scene, I'm not sure.To be honest, "Last of the Mohicans" is the sort of modern motion picture that reminds me why I prefer the older variety: bloody, sickening, short on dialogue and character (your average silent film does a far better job of conveying events clearly without words), long on scenery, and a sight keener on giving the impression of being 'meaningful' than on actually telling a story.
Gorgeous scenery, colorful and vibrant characters, a well-written storyline and plot, beautiful and very fitting musical score all come together to create this remarkable film and make me fall in love with it every time I sit down to watch it.
I think my friends are a little amazed at my continuing admiration for the film, but they can, at least, understand my point of view and agree that it's very well done.Daniel Day-Lewis is a fantastic actor and played the part of Hawkeye fantastically and was for the longest time an ideal historical hero for me; Madeleine Stowe gave credibility to the heroine with her brilliant acting skills and carried her character through from a well-bred lady to a strong and independant woman not afraid to defend herself; Chingachgook, Uncas and Magua was played out wonderfully - and even Major Heyward who we all detest until he redeems himself - were all also wonderful characters.
I am amazed at Mann's ability to draw out such emotion with action, music, cinematography while few words are spoken.Stowe's scenes alone with D.D. Lewis were memorable - especially her 'soul stirring' lines.The guns sounded real, the actors were not acting, the settings and cinematography were riveting, and the celtic score constantly pulled you in.Jodhi May's and Steve Waddington's final scenes still makes me cry after having seen them twenty times.
Fantastically directed by Michael Mann, the supporting cast is great: Wes Studi is suitably terrifying as Magua and Jodhi May as Alice almost steals the show in one of the film's most haunting images in the final scenes.Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe are the improbably drop-dead gorgeous romantic leads; the chemistry between them is electrifying.
Daniel Day-Lewis is a commanding lead, and Madeline Stowe is both alluring and convincing, likewise with Jodhi May. Russell Means is suitably composed, wise and well-meaning, but for me Wes Studi's marvellous and quite malevolent performance is the standout.All in all, a spellbinding film.
Music is scored by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman and cinematography by Dante Spinotti.1757 during the French and Indian War, Hawkeye (Lewis), a white man who was adopted by the Mohicans, finds himself on a perilous journey to escort a couple of British sisters to their father's fort.
This journey brings him, and his companions, into conflict with Magua (Studi), a sadistic Huron warrior seeking revenge on the girls' father.Inspired by the Randolph Scott film of the same name made in 1936, Michael Mann gives his all to create a stirring classical epic fit to sit in the company of the historical greats of old.
Daniel Day Lewis, Russel Means and Madeleine Stowe get the leads, but I have to mention the stand-out performance from Wes Studi (as Magua) - stunning!
The epic historical film The Last of the Mohicans is directed by Michael Mann and stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, and Jodhi May. The films take place in 1757 in the American Colonies.The films starts off with three of the Mohicans hunting and successfully killing an antelope.
While the Major, Cora and her sister, and other British troops they are ambushed by Native Americans that are supported by the French only to be saved in perfect time by three Mohicans, including Hawkeye (Day-Lewis).
From there Hawkeye and Cora begin to start falling for each other as the tension between the Native Americans, French, and British grows in this corny adventure story.The plot of this film is extremely weak.
Loved this movie, Day-Lewis and Stowe are so good when acting off one another in close up like after the Cameron massacre.
Plot In A Paragraph: Three trappers protect a British Colonel's daughters in the midst of the French and Indian War.I think this is a fantastic watch, but I have watched last of the Mohicans three times now, and every time I watch it, it seems to be a different movie.I first seen it in when I rented the video in the early 90's and I loved it.
Before Terrence Malick lyrically explored the relationship between settlers, natives and nature in The New World, Michael Mann crafted the emotionally gripping, beautifully feral The Last Of The Mohicans, which to me me is the best film version of Cooper's book.
I have recently re-watched the movie, and this time around Daniel Day-Lewis has gone from being really to cool to being really good looking but I still am thrilled by the action, only I am now drawn to the romance as well.
Chingachgook (Russell Means), an Indian of the Mohican tribe, his son Uncas (Eric Schweig) and his white adopted son Nathaniel Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis).
The latest version on film is Mr. Mann's 1992 production starring Daniel Day Lewis, Madelaine Stowe, and Wes Studi.
Over ten years old now, Michael Mann's direction in this film is much like his others: great.
Actors' work is very good, particularly Daniel Day Lewis, in the role of Hawkeye, a European who was adopted by a Mohican elder and grew up in Native American culture.
Daniel Day-Lewis is a magnificent actor and this is the second film I have seen him in prior to Gangs of New York, but my favorite character in the movie was the old Indian chief who helped Hawkeye and his son. |
tt0066132 | Nella stretta morsa del ragno | In an attempt to convince journalist Alan Foster [Anthony Franciosa] that his horror
stories are not pure fantasy, Edgar Allan Poe [Klaus Kinski] challenges the journalist to
spend All Soul's Eve in Lord Thomas Blackwood's [Enrico Osterman] mansion, a challenge from
which no one has ever returned. Alan's evening in the uninhabited,
spiderweb-invested castle starts out uneventfully, until Alan discovers
that he is not alone. Sharing the house with him is Elisabeth Blackwood [Michèle Mercier],
sister of Lord Blackwell and the most beautiful woman he has ever seen,
along with Elisabeth's lover Julia [Karin Field], a murderer named Herbert [Raf Baldassarre], one Dr
Carmus [Peter Carsten] who writes books about metaphysical medicine, and an entire
ballroom full of dancers.Within 15 minutes, Alan and Elisabeth have fallen in love, but it is
Dr Carmas who explains the scene that begins to unfold before them. While
Elisabeth's husband William [Silvano Tranquilli] was away on business, Elisabeth took up with
Herbert. Upon William's return, Herbert stabbed him in a jealous rage.
When Herbert turned on Elisabeth, Julia killed Herbert. Elisabeth then
killed Julia in revenge. Yet, there they all are, alive and Well.It's like a snake, Carmus explains, that will continue to bite even
after having its head separated from its body, because its sense of
defense does not die when the body dies. The soul and the senses can
continue to live on, even when the body has passed and begins to
disintegrate. Now, each year on All Soul's Eve, the dead ones come to life
in search of human blood to tide them over another year.Suddenly all the players begin advancing on Alan. "We need your
blood," says Carmus. "Your blood is our life," says Julia. "It's the only
way to assure us a night of life one year from now." Alan tries to escape
but all the doors are locked. Out of love for him, Elisabeth offers to
help Alan escape. She leads him out to the front gate but, being dead, she
can go no further. Alan tries to pull her with him, but she disappears. As
Alan goes through the front gate, he is impaled on a wrought iron spike.Epilogue: Poe and Lord Blackwood ride by the gate in their carriage.
Seeing Alan impaled on the gate, Lord Blackwood pronounces him the loser
of the wager. Elisabeth's voice is heard asking Alan whether he stayed for
her, and Alan replies, "Yes, Elisabeth." [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.] | gothic, murder | train | imdb | Still, he sets the tone admirably for the next 90 minutes of flickering candelabra, ethereal vampire beauties and white muslin curtains billowing softly by moonlight.It would be easy to dismiss this movie as a compendium of Gothic horror cliches.
In truest Gothic horror tradition, Nella Stretta Morsa del Ragno does very little that's new - but does it in grand style!In a nutshell, the fiendishly deranged Poe inveigles a young journalist (Anthony Franciosa) into spending a night in a creepy old mansion.
The problem is that he tried to make it much too more -- to explore the period detail in particular -- and in doing so the focus of the film became muddled.One of the aspects that made CASTLE OF BLOOD so remarkable was Marghetti's use of light and dark in such a calculated manner -- whenever Alan Foster strikes a match or lights a candle, it is an EVENT within the framework of the shot.
The result is a series of events that look like they were filmed on a movie set, not a nightmare playing out in front of our eyes in living black and white.
It is the segment when Dr. Carmus takes his little trip down into the Blackwood family crypt and finds something that should probably have best gone undisturbed.'Tis a pity, though, that an adventurous company like Blue Underground or Anchor Bay Entertainment doesn't resurrect and "restore" this bizarre, flawed but interesting bit of Eurohorror; With his widescreen shot compositions and color schemes intact, the Italian cut I found not only runs circles around the prints turning up on the Brentwood and Diamond DVD sets, but it does away with the "another film where every shot is a closeup" charge -- those closeups are the result of a widescreen image being chopped, reformatted and blown up to play back on television sets.
And, as is evident in the latest DVD release by Diamond, some of the distributors looped, slowed down or even froze individual frames to cover up what little graphic luridness that Marghetti used and was deemed unacceptable.Yet right there we come to the meat of the thesis on why NELLA STRETTA MORSA DEL RAGNO will always be looked upon as less than a success -- it is too tame for the time period it was made in.
The Italian print does include some very brief nudity and, like the Synapse DVD release of CASTLE OF BLOOD, spends more time establishing the illicit lesbian relationship between Elizabeth and Julia ...
For the present, the version to go with for US buyers is to be found on Diamond's double bill DVD with CIRCUS OF FEAR, runs about 98 minutes, has a somewhat richer color range and much better quality audio, and for it's budget line price you really can't beat it.I give WEB OF THE SPIDER/NELLA STRETTA MORSA DEL RAGNO *** out of ****, but only because I have a soft spot for it, and still feel the hair rise up on my neck whenever Dr. Carmus lights his candle and goes looking for that breathing sound ....
Nowhere Near as Great as "Danza Macabra", but still Atmospheric Gothic Horror.
Right after Mario Bava, the late Antonio Margheriti was arguably the second-greatest Italian Gothic Horror director, his doubtlessly most ingenious work being the 1964 masterpiece "Danza Macabra" (aka.
"Danza Macabra" easily ranks among the most brilliant and fascinating Gothic Horror films ever made, and I was therefore sceptical about this "Nella stretta morsa del ragno" aka.
"In the Grip of the Spider" (1971), a remake which Margheriti made of his own film only seven years later.
While "In the Grip of the Spider" does in no way equal (or even come close to) the greatness of "Danza Macabra", however, it is nonetheless an atmospheric, creepy and highly entertaining film that every fellow fan of Italian Gothic Horror should enjoy.The storyline is more or less the same as in "Danza Macabra": When interviewing Edgar Allan Poe (Klaus Kinski), a journalist Alan Foster (Anthony Franciosa) makes a bet with a sinister count.
Anthony Franciosa is always great, most fellow Italian Horror fans will agree that he had his greatest moment in Dario Argento's "Tenebre" (1982); and who would not love a film that begins with the credits: "Klaus Kinski as Edgar Allan Poe"?
Barbara Steele is my all-time favorite actress and her mere appearance is such an enrichment to all the great Gothic gems she has starred in that a remake with someone else in her role is most likely to disappoint.
"Danza Macabra" is one of the most atmospheric and eerily beautiful Horror films ever made.
While the film mostly keeps the storyline of "Danza Macabra", Margheriti added a long opening sequence which consists mainly of Kinski wandering through eerie tombs in search of a grave.
Overall, "In the Grip of the Spider" is nowhere near as brilliant as "Danza Macabra", but it is definitely still atmospheric, creepy and vastly enjoyable Gothic Horror.
When Michèle Mercier appears in the sequence when she's still "alive" and puts on a necklace,it is obvious that the director was thinking of her "Angelique " character.The scene looks like an outtake of the Bernard Borderie's saga."Nella..." is certainly an underrated work:it does not rely on special effects or on gore and sex is kept to the minimum.Probably influenced by Bava,Margheriti creates fear with his camera ,using elements of the settings ,a mirror for instance.His lead is an earnest thespian,Anthony Franciosa, a former student of the Actor's Studio,not a mediocre amateur as we often meet in European horror movies.Supernatural is smartly introduced and the screenplay is much more elaborated than usually.Many people will disagree but Amenabar's style in "the others" is not that much different,even if that director is infinitely superior to Margheriti."Nella..." was also certainly influenced by Robert Wise's classic "the haunting " (1963!!!) as far as the conclusion is concerned.Poe's presence (Klaus Kinski) and the fact that the hero's first name is "Allan" do not bring much to the movie.In spite of the poor rating,I sincerely believe that fantasy and horror buffs won't waste their time if they watch "nella....".
"In the Grip of the Spider" revolves on a guy who accepts a bet to spend the night in a secluded and reputedly haunted castle and if he survives the ordeal, he receives the astonishing, stupendous and exhilarating reward of
10 pounds!
"In the Grip of the Spider" is an accomplishment of the hugely underrated Italian director Antonio Margheriti (better known under his international alias Anthony M.
Dawson) and apparently a remake of his very own Gothic horror classic "Castle of Blood" starring Barbara Steele.
By doing this Margheriti was far ahead of his time, as it's extremely popular among directors nowadays to remake their own earlier movies.
Unfortunately I haven't seen "Castle of Blood" (or at least not yet), so I can't compare, but reliable sources tell me this early 70's version can't hold a candle to the original.
This may be so, but I still wouldn't call "In the Grip of the Spider" a bad film especially not if you're a sucker for Gothic atmospheres.
Admittedly the storyline is a little flimsy and unspectacular, but the film nevertheless has several things going for it, like the presence of Klaus Kinski (depicting no less than Edgar Allen Poe), lovely luscious ladies and a downright sardonic finale.
The American journalist Alan Foster is desperate to get an interview from the notorious novelist Edgar Allen Poe, but he gets more than he bargained for when Poe and his friend challenge him to spend the night at Blackwood castle.
The rare moments when Kinski appears on screen are sublime even though he doesn't even remotely resemble the real Edgar Allan Poe since there is no other actor more suitable to play a neurotic and lightly inflammable genius than him.
Michèle Mercier (as Elizabeth) and Karin Field (as Julia) are both extremely beautiful and sexy starlets, but I'm sort of convinced that Barbara Steele was even better than the two of them combined in the original.
Although I haven't seen CASTLE OF BLOOD, the earlier film version of this movie.
I picked this film up in a 20 movie- 10 DVD boxed set titled NIGHTMARES FROM THE CRYPT.
Seriously, as if I have got enough of these to watch already, we get Castle of Blood remade in colour, with no real differences at all, except that this time Klaus Kinski gets to play Edgar Allan Poe (and therefore 'do a Kinski' by only showing up for a fraction of the film's running time).To jog your memory, a friend of Poe's called Alan Foster takes up a bet that he can't stay the whole night in the haunted old castle of Lord Blackwood.
Foster heads for the seemingly deserted castle, wanders around a bit, then realises that he's not quite alone as Lord Blackwood's sister turns up and starts putting the moves on him, but don't get excited though, it ain't that kind of film.Is there any point in describing the plot?
I didn't think Castle of Blood was that great a film the first time around, but at least it had Barbara Steele in it.
In comparing this 1971 remake with its 1964 original, one immediately misses the presence of Barbara Steele, although in both titles the 'heroine' only makes her first appearance at the half hour mark.
Director Antonio Margheriti must have felt the absence of color in "Castle of Blood," and really adds little else to this new version, with Michele Mercier's Elisabeth fleshed out to some degree, as we see more of her absent husband, barely seen in the original.
For some reason, Italian maestro Antonio Margheriti felt the need to remake his masterpiece 'Danse Macabre' almost a decade on; and personally, I can't see a single good reason for doing so.
In the move from black and white to colour, the film has lost the main thing that made it great; and the fact that Margheriti doesn't handle the plot as well this time around ensures that this film isn't much more than an interesting cult film.
In typical Italian fashion, the plot doesn't make a great deal of sense; and this is made all the more infuriating by the fact that it doesn't have the stunning Gothic atmosphere to fall back on.
The plot follows a journalist by the name of Alan Foster, who ends up making a bet with the great Edgar Allen Poe that he can spend a single night in an old Gothic castle, which is rumoured to be inhabited by ghosts.
While in the castle, the journalist encounters several strange characters; and soon finds out that they're more than they seem.The only real name on the cast list belongs to cult German actor Klaus Kinski, who gives the only memorable performance of the film in the role of Edgar Allen Poe. The original film benefited from the presence of the beautiful Barbara Steele; but this film has to make do with Michèle Mercier, who isn't particularly bad; but is no Barbara Steele.
Anthony Franciosa ('Tenebrae') takes the lead role, and like much of the rest of the film; is instantly forgettable.
Margheriti does help the film along by way of a number of shots that help to build the atmosphere; the scene that sees smoke edging down a flight of stairs being the standout.
Seven years after giving us the very enjoyable Castle of Blood (1964), one of the most gothic of '60s gothic Euro horrors, director Antonio Margheriti decided to tell the exact same tale again, only this time in colour and without cult favourite Barbara Steele.
The result is entertaining enough but also rather redundant if you've already seen his earlier, better movie.The promise of Klaus Kinski as Edgar Allen Poe is undoubtedly a draw, and sure enough the actor chews up the scenery with a typically wild-eyed performance, but his appearance is little more than an extended cameo to kick off proceedings.
The majority of the film follows American reporter Alan Foster (Anthony Franciosa) as he endeavours to spend an entire night in a haunted castle for a wager.
As in Castle of Blood, he meets several mysterious characters, all of whom turn out to be ghosts who feed on the blood of the living to ensure their existence.The film is atmospheric enough and the performances adequate, but I had hoped that Margheriti would have moved with the times, opting for a more exploitative approach this time around, just to make the film a little different from its predecessor (I'd have happily seen more of Michèle Mercier and Karin Field, who play ghostly babes Elizabeth and Julia).
Web of the Spider (1971) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Journalist Alan Foster (Anthony Franciosa) is having a conversation with Edgar Allan Poe (Klaus Kinski) when a bet is made.
The bet is that Alan can't spend an entire night inside the Blackwood Castle where there are rumors of strange things inside.I've always enjoyed watching remakes because it gives someone a new stab at some familiar material.
Italian director Antonio Margheriti made CASTLE OF BLOOD in 1964 and seven years later he'd do a color remake with WEB OF THE SPIDER.
As I said, I really do enjoy watching remakes but there's no question that this film is really lacking when compared to the original.
The original film contained some great B&W cinematography that actually added to the atmosphere and it actually helped make a rather eerie picture.
Yet another problem is that there just isn't anything fresh or original done with the material outside of the opening scenes with Kinski playing Poe. These early scenes were actually quite good and it's too bad that Kinski doesn't stick around for long.I thought Franciosa was good in the lead role and Michele Mercier is good as the mysterious Elisabeth.
Nylund '03) - since you'll likely come across the more commonly available pan and scan version, you can add fun here, not only watching to guess all the likely shouted direction to Francis in his ponderous constant close ups (look this way Anthony; now the other; smirk, smile, grimace
) as he wanders almost wordlessly around the haunted mansion, but also, being it is largely dialogue free, you can surely add extra enjoyment by shouting in your own dialogue, instead!
Gives it his all, mind you, perhaps because he has the role of Edgar Allan Poe. Bit too energetically at one point for the flimsy set, where he is bashing away at the grave and we see the headstone bouncing up and down.
Things brighten up when Michele Mercier materialises and even more when another beauty, Karin Field emerges from the depths of this haunted house that is the setting for the entire film.
Antonio Margheriti's 1971 remake of his classic "Castle of Blood" has always been criticized for being inferior in every level to it's predecessor.
While I do think "Castle of Blood" is a better film, "In the Web of the Spider" does not stand so far behind.
Made on a bigger budget than the 1964 version, Margheriti does a good thing by taking a different aesthetic approach than the candle-lit B&W nightmare that is the latter, and instead lighting up the set with a nice range of deep blues and orange gels to show off the more elaborate locations.
It also enjoys a better cast than the original, with a highlight being the presence of Klaus Kinski as Edgar Allan Poe. At first glance, he might not seem very right for the role, but he truly nails it in a absolutely maddening performance.
They even made his role slightly larger than the original, by adding a superbly creepy introduction scene in a crypt that sets the tone for the rest of the picture.
Albeit not as memorable as Barbara Steele, Michele Mercier (the protagonist from the Telephone segment of Mario Bava's "Black Sabbath") is a good replacement and she has great chemistry with Anthony Franciosa (Argento's "Tenebre"), even more so than Steele and Riviere in "Castle...".
Also, where "Castle of Blood" felt provocative and ahead of it's time with it's depiction of sex and lesbianism, "In the Web of the Spider" feels way too restrained and tame, specially for a film that came one year after "The Vampire Lovers", which dealt with some similar themes.
If you're a fan of this type of film and haven't seen "Castle of Blood" yet, I think you might better watch this one first, but otherwise I unfortunately can't go as far as calling it the forgotten gem of continental horror it could have been..
Great Looking Gothic Ghost Tale.
They are taking the time and putting the effort into putting out some long lost films in the most gorgeous looking condition that can be found anywhere.
When these same films were released on video way back when the worst looking prints were found and a quick buck was made.
Now they've released another film that is worth picking up for fans of horror films, especially those made in Italy.WEB OF THE SPIDER is a remake of the film CASTLE OF BLODD, the much loved black and white Italian production that starred Barbara Steele.
Dawson.The story revolves around a drunken Edgar Allan Poe (Klaus Kinski) telling tales in a bar for drinks while in England.
In walks Alan Foster (Anthony Franciosa), a journalist who has been seeking out Poe for an interview.
The movie is a classic styled Gothic horror film from the setting and costumes to the customs of the time, both past and present in the tale.
Early '70s Italian Gothic horror about a journalist, Alan Foster (Anthony Franciosa), who makes a bet with Lord Thomas Blackwood (Enrico Osterman) that he can stay overnight in Blackwood's castle...
Blackwood is good friends with Edgar Allan Poe (Klaus Kinski). |
tt1214962 | Seeking Justice | In New Orleans, Will Gerard (Nicolas Cage) is a humble English teacher at Rampart High School. Will's best friend Jimmy (Harold Perrineau) also works at the school. Will's wife Laura (January Jones) is a musician who is in a local orchestra. One night, after a performance, Laura is beaten and brutally raped by a stranger named Hodge (Alex Van).
At the hospital, while Will is waiting for news about Laura's condition, Jimmy tells a distraught Will that he's confident that the rapist will be found. A stranger who calls himself Simon (Guy Pearce) tells Will that he represents an organization that deals with criminals the justice system has not. Simon describes his group as "a few citizens seeking justice." He says Hodge has raped other women before, and was paroled three weeks prior to his attack on Laura.
Simon proposes an intriguing offer; in exchange for a favor from Will to be determined later, Simon will arrange to have a complete stranger make Hodge pay for Laura's rape. This would spare Will and Laura a drawn-out trial, which would make Laura suffer even more than she already has by repeatedly forcing her to relive the rape, and to be traumatized by defense attorneys. Distraught and grief-stricken, Will consents to the deal. Hodge is killed, and a picture of Hodge's body, along with a medallion that Hodge took from Laura during the rape, are sent to Will as proof. The organization's code phrase is: "The hungry rabbit jumps."
Six months later, Simon returns. He wants Will to follow a woman and her two children to the zoo and to look out for a man. If Will sees this man, he must call a number attached to a picture. Will agrees, hoping this will fulfill his debt. Simon, however, continues to call Will, asking him to continue what he's doing, claiming the man is a sex offender. Having no choice, as Simon promises to exact revenge if he doesn't obey, a reluctant Will agrees. He is instructed to kill the man on a pedestrian walkway that's under a high overpass by "accidentally" bumping him off it to his death, making it look like suicide.
Instead of killing the man, Will decides to see if the man has any knowledge of Simon. The man, already paranoid, becomes suspicious that Will is there to kill him. He throws his bicycle at Will. As they struggle, the man falls off the walkway despite Will's efforts to save him. The man lands and is hit by a truck. Will goes home, where Detective Rudeski (Joe Chrest) and Detective Green (Marcus Lyle Brown) arrest him for murdering the man, whose name is Alan Marsh. At the station, Will can't get Green and Rudeski to believe anything he says.
The detectives' boss, Lieutenant Durgan (Xander Berkeley), wants to talk to Will alone. Durgan wants to play a game, asking Will to complete sentences. After a few rounds, Durgan asks, "A hungry rabbit..." to which Will responds "jumps. A hungry rabbit jumps", signifying his connection to Simon's organization. Durgan lets Will free, giving him 24 hours to get out of the city before Simon and his henchmen Scar (Irone Singleton) and Cancer (Wayne Pére) come looking for him.
Will runs, but he's looking for answers. He goes to a memorial for Alan, finding the man is not a sex offender but actually an award-winning investigative reporter for the New Orleans Post who was investigating the vigilante organization. Will now knows why Simon wanted Alan dead. Simon, Scar, and Cancer suddenly turn up. Scar chases Will out onto a busy street, but is killed by a SUV that hits and drags him.
Will goes to a storage facility that Alan used and finds a DVD describing some of the people in the group, along with their missions. Will explains what's happening to Laura, who says she would've done the same had their situations been reversed. Will then tells Laura his whereabouts, advising her to stay away from the cops and anyone else who's asking questions.
Will learns that Simon's real name is Eugene Cook and that Jimmy joined the organization years ago, after his brother was murdered, when the cops were unable to find the killer. Will sends Cook a copy of the DVD, outraged at its implications. Cook agrees to a trade where Will would receive security camera footage proving his innocence in Alan's death, as he was acting out of self-defense, in exchange for the DVD. Will agrees, and they agree to meet at the Louisiana Superdome, during a monster truck show.
At the dome, Will is told Laura has been kidnapped as an extra incentive to make him give up the DVD. Jimmy, Cancer, and a man called Sideburns (Dikran Tulaine) are holding Laura. They go to a nearby mall, abandoned since Hurricane Katrina. Will gives up the DVD, but Cook reneges on the deal, saying that Will and Laura will both be killed to remove all threats to the organization. He orders them to be shot.
Cancer is about to pull the trigger on Laura when he is fatally shot by Jimmy, after which Will forces Sideburns down an inactive escalator, then through the glass at the bottom of the escalator. Sideburns is killed when a chunk of the glass becomes impaled in his neck.
Jimmy says that they didn't get into the organization to kill innocent people. Cook and Jimmy exchange gunfire, until Cook kills him with two shots to the chest. Laura flees with a gun in her hand. Cook throws her into a glass display case, causing her to drop the gun. Will arrives and begins beating up Cook, but both fall onto another escalator, rolling to the bottom. Laura, who has grabbed the gun that Cook forced her to drop, shoots Cook six times, killing him.
Happy to be alive, Will and Laura walk back up the escalator. Durgan arrives, asking who killed Cook. Will responds that it was him, but Durgan says that the way he sees it, the dead guys killed each other. There was no one else there.
With both DVDs in hand, Will clears his name. He decides to follow up on Alan's work by giving the DVD to Gibbs (Mike Pniewski), another reporter. Thanking him, Gibbs says, "The hungry rabbit jumps, eh?" indicating to a surprised Will that Gibbs knows about or is also in the organization. | suspenseful, neo noir, murder, flashback, action, revenge | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0416185 | Resurrecting the Champ | Erik Kernan Jr. (Josh Hartnett) is a young sports reporter for a major Denver newspaper. He is frustrated that his editor is burying some of his reports on sporting events. Ralph Metz (Alan Alda), the editor, explains that Erik's stories are boring, too dry with no personality. Erik's father, dead for some time, had been a famous sports broadcaster. Erik apparently has profited from his father's name, but also has the burden of his style being compared to his father's. Because of his frustration with his editor, Erik is hoping to find other reporting work.Erik has a 6 year old son who lives with Erik's wife, Joyce (Kathryn Morris). Joyce and Erik are separated. We learn that Erik has tried to make himself seem more important in his boy's eyes than he is by falsely claiming friendships with famous athletes.Near the parking lot of a sports arena, three possibly drunk young men are deriding an old homeless man (Samuel L. Jackson), who calls himself "Champ" and claims to have been a professional boxer. They obviously don't believe him and force him to fight one of them. He resists but eventually fights back, showing that he really can fight. The three then gang up on him. Erik, leaving a fight he was covering at the arena, comes to Champ's aid. Eventually Erik learns that Champ was once a well regarded contender, Bob Satterfield, who had fought several famous fighters, such as Ezzard Charles and Jake LaMotta. People thought he died long ago.At a job interview to be a sports writer for a weekly magazine, Erik commits to do a feature story on this fighter and what happened to him after he lost a humiliating major fight. If the magazine owner and editor like the piece they might hire him. Erik gets Polly (Rachel Nichols), a research assistant at the paper, to dig into old records for information about Bob Satterfield's career and family, while keeping the search secret from Erik's boss. Meanwhile, Erik meets more with Champ. He takes Champ to a relatively minor fight he is assigned to cover, and becomes impressed with the man's boxing expertise that allows Champ to predict a knockout by the underdog.Erik contacts many of the still-living people who knew Satterfield when he was still up and coming. They are surprised to learn that Satterfield is alive, saying that they had heard he died long ago. He even gets Champ and Jake LaMotta on the phone to talk about old times. However, one contact, Satterfield's son, hangs up on him as soon as he hears Erik's name. Eventually the magazine publishes Erik's article. It is extremeky well received and is picked up by the national media. People suggest it be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.But the publicity brings Erik into contact with morer old timers who knew Satterfield and are pretty sure he is long dead. Eventually Erik learns that Champ is not Satterfield after all, but another lesser fighter who Satterfield defeated. Erik is faced with a moral dilemma of announcing his error or suppressing the information and bask in his "success." Erik initially makes the self-serving choice, but he does not find his success to be satisfying. Eventually he decides to tell his editors about the mistake but before he can do so he learns that he and his paper are being sued by Satterfield's son. The son is upset because he and others had long known that Champ was impersonating his father, and because Erik's story falsely said that Satterfield, Jr. and Sr. were estranged. Everyone accuses Erik of not having done due diligence in checking out Champ's authenticiy.In the end, Satterfield, Jr. is satisfied with Erik's proposal to write another article about his error and including material about Bob Satterfield that Jr. had long wanted someone to publish. Erik discovers that his 6 year old will be proud of his father even if his father does not know the famous people he claimed to know. | flashback | train | imdb | Jackson in a lot of movies and so I am quite aware what a fine actor he is, so I wasn't surprised he was so good in this film.
Josh Hartnett was fine in the co-leading role of this story but it was Jackson who really got my attention in every scene.This is a very involving story that grabs you and won't let go.
You leave the movie feeling great and for reasons that I will not get into, it makes you want to call your dad and tell him how much you love him (or your son).
Jackson's portrayal of the worn-out boxer, but the true revelation of the film is the acting of Josh Hartnett, who I have never thought could be so believable or appealing.
This movie was able to provide a great story without the usual trash that's seen in many of the films we see today.
For those of you use to films by Rod Lurie, this movie will take you by surprise; in a very good way.
Resurrecting the Champ delivers all that, but in so many ways it was better than the Lurie movies I have learned to love.
This was a great risk for Rod, but it paid off because it resulted in a movie that will no doubt become the part of many film libraries.While this move is set around a newspaper and boxing, this is really a movie about fathers and sons.
Jackson stands out in this heartfelt movie about a sports writer (played by Josh Hartnett), estranged from his wife (Cold Case's Kathryn Morris), who works to shine the limelight once more on a former boxer (Jackson) who has become homeless.
In addition to Jackson, there's great work from young Dakota Goyo as Hartnett's son, and Rachel Nichols as the co-worker who assists in the writer's research.
Sam Jackson completely immersed himself in this role and gave an Oscar worthy performance and Josh Hartnett was subtle, thoughtful and honest.
The performances are stellar across the board, with a special mention to the film's leads, Josh Hartnett and Sam Jackson.
Jackson plays "Champ", a one-time up and coming boxer who climbs the ranks to #3 in the world, to eventually be reduced to a homeless man scaling the trash cans of Denver.Hartnett and Jackson create an unexpected friendship in his quest to write a magazine article about the journey of this man's forgotten life.
The way that Hartnett's characters comes to understand the damages he could do to his relationship with his son, by living through it with champ is powerful and a important lesson for all parents.I truly hope this film gets the respect and attention it deserves from critics and audiences alike.
The film is passable, and even enjoyable at times, with a good message and a meaningful story about fathers and sons at its core.Hartnett, like the rest of the cast, do a serviceable job and the acting is pretty good throughout the film, though people thinking Jackson will win or even be nominated for a flick like this need to put down the Kool Aid. It's a nice little film, a modest surprise even, but hardly anything award worthy.You can read my full review online at RazorFine Review..
The movie becomes long in the second half and though Teri Hatcher plays a small supporting role, I felt the story could have done without her character all together.
here's about the highest compliment I can pay the film and its maker: On the one hand, this is very much a contemporary film, once that addresses all the issues that are most important to thinking people, those who still try to live a moral life in what appears to be an amoral world, in a way that touches very deep at what the best movies have always been all about.
Jackson and Josh Hartnett, in which struggling sports writer Erik Kernan (Hartnett) meets a homeless man who claims to be "Champ," a former boxing champion who many believe to be dead (Jackson).
At the same time he is writing the story, Kernan is also attempting to save his failing marriage and be a father his son can admire and be proud of.Hartnett is an award-winning actor who has most recently starred in The Black Dahlia and Lucky Number Slevin (2006).
Resurrecting the Champ is directed by Rod Lurie who has also directed television series "Commander in Chief" (2005) and "Line of Fire" (2003-04).The actors in this movie play their roles convincingly, from Hartnett and Jackson to Dakota Goyo, who plays Hartnett's six-year-old son.
It has boxing for those who are sports enthusiasts, it presents the issue of ethics in the work place, particularly journalism, but the movie can also appeal on a more all-inclusive level as we watch the characters struggle with the consequences of the lies they have told in order to live up to others' expectations.This movie can appeal to anyone who enjoys a straightforward drama.
Director, Rod Lurie, who until a few years ago, was a - gasp!- critic, could have moved things along a little faster and perhaps cut down the subplots a little, but this is still an enjoyable film, with an Oscar-worthy performance from Samuel L.
The project is apparently a true story (sort of) based on a Los Angeles Times article.Josh Hartnett is Erik, a struggling sports reporter who comes across a homeless man with a tale to tell.
It seems the indigent man, known around the neighborhood as 'Champ', whom Erik saves from the cruel attentions of some young idiots, was once a semi-successful boxer named 'Battling Bob' Satterfield who had been rated 3rd in the world.
Really wonderfully crafted film.Excellent acting particularly by Sam Jackson, Josh Hartnett and Peter Coyote.
Luckily, the story zig-zagged thereafter.To be honest, I wasn't really sure I wanted to watch Resurrecting the Champ, a drama about a young reporter who discovers that a former boxing great is living on the streets of Denver.
Meanwhile, Erik is dealing with his separation from his wife Joyce (Kathryn Morris), who has custody of their young son Teddy, and he feels as if he's stuck in stasis with his current job.All of that changes when, while walking home late one night, he comes across a trio of drunken college-age kids beating up a homeless man.
(Josh Hartnett) for the Denver Times finds homeless Champ (Samuel L.
He interviews secretly with magazine editor Whitley and in desperation, comes up with a pitch to write about Satterfield.Josh Hartnett is living off of his good looks and it's very douchy.
The twist takes the movie from a sappy feel-good story into someplace a little bit deeper..
I had saw this movie advertised but never bothered with it.Then i decided to give it a go as i was bored.It was a heartfelt and very touching story.It was sad to see a former champion who had lost everything and was getting his chance to get back in the spotlight.Samuel L Jackson really stood out in this movie.Even Josh Hartnett gave a decent performance.Rachael Nichols stood out as well i thought.Teri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives gave a nice performance.Also all the cast were great acting in this movie.I really enjoyed it.Its sad to think that former champions and heroes really fall apart and that sometimes there is not life after the ring in this case.I could see that the actors and actresses were actually trying their best in this movie to give the best performances that they could give..
Resurrecting The Champ isn't your typical boxing movies like Rocky, Cinderella Man nor Million Dollar Baby.
Jackson's role as "The Champ." When we think of Samuel, first thing that pops in our head are, The eternal all time badass mother****er, a man built with guts made of steel and endless slang of swear words with comedy naturally in them.
Resurrecting the Champ a good film worth watching..
Resurrecting the champ has the exact story line as a real life incident where a guy was claiming to be Buckwheat from the Little Rascals.
The story is basically a meeting between a ambitious journalist that wants his son to be proud of him and a boxing champ who climbed to be #3 in the world, reduced to being a homeless man scaling the streets in Denver, and they start a friendship but soon Josh Harnett's character starts to dig and find out all is not what it seems.
It was a good film but I think it dragged a bit and was a bit longer than necessary since at some points the film goes in a direction where the audience already consumed while not adding anything much, and the long running time doesn't add anything extra to Eric and the Champ to the point it fleshes them out very well either which makes the movie a bit slow, especially the champ cause it don't really show how he got to where he was, and so you just don't care for the characters as much and some of it is just dull while it don't explain any of the stuff the audience may have questions about.
Despite the flaws it was a good movie, although Jackson carried the film.7.8/10.
when i saw the trailer i thought it was going to be a sports movie (so I went!) but this is actually a great drama about love, friendship, family, and--no kidding--how to live a worthwhile life.
The camera work is very good with flashbacks done very smoothly which is always a danger with the "old champ" style story.Where this movie failed is focusing on all the white people's reaction to the old boxer man's story when the most important thing was the story itself, which was not fleshed out enough.Samuel Jackson's character was fascinating, and it was a real missed opportunity to follow HIM more often in the plot instead of following our pretty boy reporter everywhere.
Samuel Jackson stars as a high pitched talking' old boxer- the only interesting character in the entire film other than the fat drunk rich kid that wants to fight.Scenes of the reporter's family relationship were especially unnecessary waste of film that belonged in some other movie, not this story..
Erik, a young newspaper sports writer (Josh Hartnet, in a surprisingly great acting job) is stalled in his career because, as his editor (a nicely aged Alan Alda) points out, his writing has no personality, no pizazz.
Erik lies to his kid, claiming to know all the famous sports heroes; the kid is chirpy and so innocent and Hollywood sweet you almost want to slap him (not really, but the kid character WAS annoying).Erik then meets an old bum named Champ (Samuel L.
Everyone thought the famous boxer died 20 years ago.Erik sees a chance to score big in his career by doing a major story on Champ, his old glory days, and his fall from grace, etc.
They crammed in things involving the ex-wife, the kid, the lying, the Champ, the real old dead boxer's surviving son, lawsuits, possible disgrace, etc.Then at the end of the movie, all the problems mysteriously and magically disappear!
Not that there is anything wrong with that sort of thing I just like the way this movie turned out since it takes a turn you wouldn't necessarily expect.Josh Hartnett plays a young-ish reporter whose career isn't moving quite as fast as it should.
But Hartnett is the star of this movie and I think he does really good work.
Jackson is awesome and convincing, as is Alan Alda as the tough old school editor, Peter Coyote as the wizened old boxing insider, Terri Hatcher revved up like on amphetamines, but Hartnett brings the movie down.
Jackson) did.This was a beautiful story about that relationship between fathers and sons and it was also a great story about being a man.It had some great performances besides the two mentioned: Kathryn Morris ("Cold Case") as Erik's wife and co-worker, Alan Alda as his boss, Teri Hatcher as a perfect Cougar, and Rachel Nichols (The Woods, Charlie Wilson's War)..
The first half of the movie is mostly focused on Erik (Josh Hartnett) getting to know more about Champ (Samuel L.
In a turn of events toward the end of the movie, Erik winds up having more in common with Champ's struggle in life as a child with his father and then as a father toward his son, than he thought he ever would.
Josh Hartnett fumbles in a role that Topher Grace perfected in Shattered Glass; he lacks the charisma of a journalist and his performance is overshadowed each time he shares the screen with Samuel L.
In five minutes, Jackson is able to conjure the emotion that Hartnett works to achieve in several scenes.The glaring flaws in this movie are made all the more obvious because of its painfully slow pace, which was created to expose a strained relationship between Hartnet and his on-screen wife, Kathyrn Morris--but you never know why the relationship is on the outs.Most refreshing was a fast-talking Hatcher who, much like Samantha in Sex and the City, used her feminine wiles and quick talking to get what she wants.The denouement was just as ridiculous as the oversights of the characters (who, we're supposed to believe, were considered for Pulitzers!) and highly unbelievable.Wait for it on DVD, where it will undoubtedly be in a month..
THE PLOT: It's the story of a hard-working young reporter (Josh Hartnett) trying to prove himself to his boss (Alan Alda), his son, his wife, and himself.
He writes a spectacular "where are they now" story about an ex-professional boxer (Samuel Jackson) who has since become homeless and pitiful.
Just watched this film and I'll tell you straight away I am not one of these critics who will tell you all about the art of a movie, Im just a movie fan.The acting in this film is superb and if Samuel Jackson ever deserved an Oscar it is for this film, but its probably not the sort of "in" film the Oscar committee go for.The main reason I am writing on here is because this film like many others got me interested in the subject matter as it is based on truth, so I looked up on the web about the real writer (J.R.Moehringer), and it turns out one of the main parts of the story is not very flattering to him.
It is a great bit of writing and it is easy to tell how it inspired a film, I'm just not quite sure why they changed this important part, it does seem a bit hard on Moehringer who did spend a lot of time checking his facts and did get to the real story.......
My problem with Josh Hartnett is he is a bore, I've never met him but I bet he's got no personality, I don;t think I've seen one film he;s in that I've liked.
If there was a saving grace to this film, it was samuel jackson ( a man who definitely has a personality) who was excellent as the homeless, deceiving bum, there was also a good cameo from teri hatcher and she should definitely have had a couple more scenes.
Satterfield is stumbled upon by a journalist desperate for a unique story, played by Josh Hartnett.To say any more about "Champ" would be to spoil several key revelations.
And in the end it turns out to be a pretty moving and powerful statement about the importance of honesty in life and how we all need to live (and die) with integrity, honest about ourselves and able to be proud of ourselves.You get the impression (from the title and from the early direction of the movie) that this is going to be a story about a down on his luck ex- boxer and how he got there.
He's "discovered" one night by Erik Kernan (Josh Hartnett) - a reporter covering the local boxing beat for the Denver Times who dreams of bigger things and is frustrated both by his limited role with the paper and by having to live up to the reputation of his late father - a famous sportscaster.
Kernan stumbles upon the homeless man after covering a fight, discovers that he's a former contender named Bob Summerfield (but who goes by the name of Champ) and decides that this is his path to greater things - he'll write a human interest story about this guy that will get him national attention.
This film sends a good father-son message out there with Erik (the journalist), his son, and the Champ.
Hard to categorize, good movie for acting of Samuel Jackson..
Josh Hartnett is Erik Kernan, a sports writer for a newspaper but isn't in great favor as the movie begins.
It is a good movie, and the character Samuel Jackson creates is just great, in an Oscar-caliber performance.
"It may all be a lie, but the movie is about true friendship, and the true bond between father and son." Whether you've had a good relationship with your father/son or bad, this movie will most likely bring tears to your eyes.I have always thought Josh Hartnett ("Erik Kernan") is a great actor, and I have always thought Samuel L.
Jackson is playing his role remarkably good, or if Josh Hartnett is the one to make Samuel L.
Sports reporter Erik (Josh Hartnett) meets former boxing champ Bob Satterfield (Samuel L.
Muddled melodramatic adaptation of J.R. Moehringer's LA Times Magazine article about a down-and-out homeless man whose claim to be a former professional boxer (Jackson in a terrific performance) has ramifications for the young, determined writer (a miscast Hartnett) whose dream of hitting the big-time with an exclusive story gets lost in the shuffle of what could've been a fine film but filmmaker Rod Lurie fictionalizes a father-son paradigm that is a strain on an otherwise noble attempt..
By chance Erik comes to the rescue of a homeless man that calls himself the Champ(Samuel L. |
tt0324216 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | In the beginning of the film, there is archive footage of a police search of the Hewitt house. The two officers survey the house and desend into the basement, noting the fingernaill scratch marks, human blood and hair embedded into the walls.It is August 1973, where five young adults, Erin (Jessica Biel), Kemper (Eric Balfour), Morgan (Jonathan Tucker), Andy (Mike Vogel), and Pepper (Erica Leerhsen), are on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert after coming back from Mexico. As they drive through rural Travis County, Texas, they see a distraught hitchhiker (Lauren German), who eventually gets in their van. After trying to speak to the hitchhiker, who speaks incoherently about a "bad man," she shoots and kills herself with a .357 Magnum pistol.The group decides to contact the police in which they drive up to a rural country store where the elderly clerk tells them that the sheriff is at the mill. The group drives over to the mill where instead of the sheriff, they find a little boy named Jedediah (David Dorfman) who tells them that the sheriff is drinking at home. Erin and Kemper go through the woods to find his house, leaving the other three at the mill with the boy. They come to a large plantation house where Erin is allowed inside by the owner, an amputee with both of his legs gone, named Monty Hewitt, to phone for help. When Erin finishes, the semi-sinister old man asks her for help, using the opportunity to fondle her without her noticing. Kemper goes inside to look for Erin and is killed with a sledgehammer to the back by Thomas Hewitt, a.k.a.: Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski), who drags his dead body through a large steel door to the basement.Meanwhile, Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey), a strange-looking policeman, arrives at the mill and disposes of the hitchhiker's body, wrapping her in cellophane and putting her in his trunk and drives away. Erin arrives and finds that Kemper is still missing. Andy and Erin go back to Monty's house, where Erin distracts him while Andy searches for Kemper. Monty realizes Andy is inside and summons Leatherface, who attacks him with his chainsaw. Erin escapes and heads towards the woods, but Leatherface cuts Andy's left leg off as he is running through the back yard. Leatherface carries him to the basement and hangs him on a meat hook with his feet hanging over a piano, where he rubs salt on Andy's stump of a leg before wrapping it in butcher paper and tying it with human hair.Erin makes it back to the abandoned mill and tries to escape in the van, but Sheriff Hoyt shows up and, after finding marijuana, orders Erin, Morgan and Pepper out of the van. The sheriff gives Morgan the gun he took from the hitchhiker and tells Morgan to reenact how she killed herself. Morgan, scared and disturbed by the sheriff's demeanor, attempts to shoot the sheriff only to find the gun is unloaded. Sheriff Hoyt handcuffs Morgan and takes him to the Hewitt house, leaving the girls in the van where they are attacked by Leatherface. Pepper runs, but is cut in half by Leatherface's chainsaw. Erin also sees that Leatherface is wearing Kemper's face over his own. He begins to chase Erin throught the woods with his large chainsaw buzzing.During the drive, Sheriff Hoyt continues to taunt Morgan over his well being, and for no reason, smashes a liquor bottle in Morgan's face, knocking a few of his front teeth out. Hoyt pulls out his own set of front false teeth and mentions an intresting story about how he lost them some time back when they arrive at the exact same sinister house. Hoyt drags Morgan out of his squad car, into the house, and to the basement.Meanwhile, Erin manages to escape from Leatherface and hides in a nearby trailer with two women inside, who offer her tea and try to soothe her. The two women, a morbidly obese middle-aged woman known only as the 'Tea Lady' and a younger woman named Henrietta, whom is presumably her daughter, act strange. After they tell Erin that they don't have a phone for her to call for help, a telephone in the trailer rings and Henrietta picks it up and tells someone on the other end that "she's here". Erin discovers they have kidnapped a child when she sees that the baby with them is the same child in a photograph with the woman who committed suicide earlier in the kid's van. However, the tea is drugged and she passes out when she tries to leave.Erin wakes up at the Hewitt house surrounded by the entire crazed and murderous Hewitt family: Thomas 'Leatherface' Hewitt; his mother Luda May; Sheriff Hoyt (whom is actually Leatherface's cousin Charlie Hewitt); Monty (Leatherface's uncle); and the little boy Jedediah. Luda May tells Erin that her excuse for her son Thomas's actions, was that her son was tormented by teenagers during his upbringing while working in the closed-down slaughterhouse and that she felt no one cared for her family besides themselves.Erin is taken to the basement, where she finds Andy. She tries to help him off of the meat hook but when he sees he will land on the piano keys and alert Leatherface, he begs her to kill him, which she does, though suffers severe emotional trauma. She finds Morgan, still handcuffed, and Jedediah leads them out of the house. Jedediah rejects Erin's plea to come with them and distracts Leatherface long enough for them to escape. Erin and Morgan find an abandoned house in the woods and barricade themselves inside. Leatherface breaks in and discovers Erin, but Morgan attacks Leatherface, causing him to drop his chainsaw. Morgan grabs Leatherface and wrestles him, but Leatherface is too heavy and easily lifts Morgan upwards onto a chandelier before releasing him and Morgan gets tangled in the chandelier by his handcuffs. Leatherface picks up his chainsaw and slices up into Morgan's groin, killing him.Erin runs out of the shack and escapes through the woods. Leatherface trips and cuts his leg while pursuing her. Erin finds a slaughterhouse and hides in a locker. Leatherface opens the locker across from hers and she attacks him with a meat cleaver, and chops off his right arm.As it begins to rain, Erin runs outside and flags down a trucker, whom she tries to convince to go away from the Hewitt's house, but he stops to find help at the eatery. Erin sees Luda May and watches as Sheriff Hoyt arrives and talks to the trucker. Erin sees Henrietta watching over the kidnapped baby in a highchair. When Henrietta walks outside to join Luda May and Sheriff Hoyt whom are talking to the truck driver, Erin sneaks the baby out of the eatery and hot-wires the sheriff's car before running him over repeatedly until he is dead. Leatherface appears in the road and tries to stop her, but Erin and the baby escape unharmed.The police archive footage continues to play. The officers inspect the basement noting the hanging meat hooks when suddenly one of the officers is grabbed and severely beaten. A blurred figure viciously shakes the camera and the other police officer is heard screaming. The narrator states that "The crime scene was not properly secured by Travis County Police. Two investigating officers were fatally wounded that day. This is the only known image of Thomas Hewitt, the man they call Leatherface. The case today still remains open". | insanity, violence, murder, sadist | train | imdb | null |
tt0951318 | Bra Boys | Bra Boys, the documentary, is a film about the cultural evolution of the inner-Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra and the social struggle of its youth the tattooed and much maligned surf community known as the Bra Boys. The story is narrated by Australian actor Russell Crowe and is told through the eyes of members of the Bra Boys.It shows how the evolution of Maroubra, coupled with the historical stigma associated with Australias rebellious surf community, has contributed to their social displacement. It is a surf documentary, yet one that looks beyond the clichéd artistic beauty of the sport to expose the sometimes-troubled tale of its participants.It is the first full-length film project being undertaken by, and officially sanctioned by, the Bra Boys. It is their story. It shows their success in professional big wave surfing, it explores their international reputation for hard partying and rough justice, it touches on their running battle with authorities and it shows their absolute reliance on one another to fit into a society in which they are displaced and, at times, disinterested.Central to the story is the true-life struggle of the Abberton brothers Sunny, Koby, Jai and Dakota one charged with murdering a Sydney standover man, another pursuing a professional surf career but charged as an accessory in his brothers legal fight, another trying to hold the family together and a young brother whose inheritance is his siblings notoriety.Bra Boys, the documentary, uses archival footage shot by the Bra Boys and blends it with current surf vision and interviews to create a story that is compassionate and confronting. It is a story of contrast involving against-the-odds success and predictable failures and, ultimately, a story exploring the legacy and hopes of the next generation of Bra Boys members.SUNNY ABBERTONSunny Abberton is a 34-year-old first-time writer, director and producer.Sunny was born in Sydney, Australia, as the oldest of four brothers, and spent his formative years between Maroubras housing estates, New Zealand and a hippy commune in Nimbin. Sunny, and brothers Jai and Koby, were taught to surf by their grandfather and would find the beach their only escape from a troubled and destitute home life.Sunny showed talent as a young surfer and left school at age 15 to pursue a career in the sport. Sunny competed on the competitive ASP Pro Tour in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in which he gained a reputation as one of the best junior surfers in the world. Fortuitously, this early career path took him to countries such as Brazil and South Africa where he was introduced to class injustices and economic oppression for the first time on a global scale.While he was in Brazil, he discovered a childrens reading book written to teach the poorest Brazilian children about the Landless Movement, which was a turning point for Sunny. Through this piece of literature, he first gained an insight into the power of the arts to have the potential to enlighten and inform - particularly the young and the oppressed. Sensing parallels between the injustices experienced by the lower echelons of these societies, and the poverty he had witnessed in the housing commission estates of his native Maroubra, Sunny set out to create a voice which could inspire the youth of his own backyard. Thus the idea for BRA BOYS was born.Meanwhile, back in Maroubra, an escalation in tensions among various Sydney communities was beginning to manifest in violence on Sydneys eastern beaches. Gangs would regularly travel to the beaches and it sparked a series of bloody confrontations. The youth at Maroubra banded together to defend their beach and create a brotherhood to protect one another. Sunny was part of the resistance and, together with a small group of mates, formed a group they termed the Bra Boys.From his days on the Pro Surf tours, Sunny had a wealth of experience in front of the camera, and he used this exposure to learn the tricks of the trade, through a mixture of osmosis and curiosity. Years of filming surf travelogues on home video cameras also helped to equip him for his first feature documentary shoot.It was about six months into the filming of the documentary that his brother Jai was charged with murdering a Sydney standover man, a blow later amplified when his brother Koby was charged as an accessory after the fact. Together with a local production company Sunny spent an additional three years filming the central figures within the Bra Boys community, including the legal struggle of his two brothers.He collected hundreds of hours of film out of which the Bra Boys documentary was compiled. Sunny was the writer, producer and director of the film.As the informally appointed patriarch of both the Abberton family and then the larger group known as the Bra Boys, Sunny had always felt a deep responsibility for both the internal and external perception of the group. Through this documentary, Sunny hopes to give inspiration and a voice to the youth of Maroubra, and others in Australia who have grown up in similar circumstances, as well as provide an arena to share their experiences in a public forum.Sunny currently lives at Maroubra Beach in Sydney, Australia. BRA BOYS is his first feature film and he currently has another two projects in development, one of which is a feature adaptation of the BRA BOYS documentary.KOBY ABBERTONKoby Abberton is a 27-year-old professional surfer who has built a career as a specialist big wave charger. He is one of just a handful of surfers paid to find and surf the worlds biggest waves.He was born in Sydney, Australia, and grew up the third eldest of four brothers. He was raised in the government housing estates of Maroubra Beach, save for two years of his early childhood spent between temporary homes in New Zealand and, subsequently, a commune in Nimbin in northern New South Wales.His early years in Maroubra were spent living in the garage of his grandparents home, only moving out when his mother was issued with a small apartment in a nearby government housing estate.Koby, like his elder brothers, was taught to surf by his grandfather and found the beach the only escape from a troubled family life. He was educated at Maroubra Bay public school but, after failing to adjust to the regimented school life, he left when aged just 14. Shortly thereafter he left home after being struck with a baseball bat by his mothers heroin addicted partner. He moved from house to house, staying for extended periods with the families of his mates from the beach, before moving in with older brother Sunny. He would also go on to become a founding member of the Bra Boys surf group, a fearsome brotherhood founded at Maroubra Beach to protect the local youth from frequent incursions by various Sydney gangs seeking to attack surfers. He wears the Bra Boys tattoo proudly, along with a range of others including a large necklace tattoo with the signature words My Brothers Keeper.Koby showed early potential as a surfer, picking up a range of sponsorships before travelling internationally to compete on the World Qualifying Series (WQS) in the hope of gaining entry onto the premier World Championship Tour. However, with the WQS events generally staged in small wave locations he was finding it difficult to register strong results. That all changed when the tour headed to a new destination the little known Teahupoo reef in Tahiti for the 1999 Gotcha Pro. The waves were treacherous, with many of the more seasoned competitors fearful of the consequences of the shallow-breaking barrels. The 20-year-old Koby reveled in the conditions and went on to win the contest and cement his place as a big wave specialist.He was later sponsored by international eyewear company Oakley to continue his big wave surfing career. However, he regularly courted controversy with his fearsome reputation both in and out of the water resulting in running battles with the law. This was amplified in 2004 when he was charged with accessory after the fact in the murder of a Sydney standover man. His brother Jai had earlier been charged with murder.The fallout from the incident, coupled with a range of other controversies, saw the collapse of his sponsorship and the onset of severe financial hardship. However, he toughed it out and was found not guilty on the accessory charge but guilty on the backup charge of perverting the course of justice. He was spared a jail term and vowed to intensify his assault on the worlds biggest waves.Kobys exploits in the surf have reportedly earned him more Australian surf magazine covers than any other surfer. He has also picked up a series of new sponsors, including Analog clothing, Globe International Ltd for shoes and Sabre Vision eyewear, to join his long-time surfboard sponsor Warner. He also has his own apparel label called My Brothers Keeper. | prank | train | imdb | "Bra Boys" is a tribe they don't like to be thought of as a gang that have each others back in the financial struggle that some of the families have.
The story is centered around the Abberton family, as Russ said, with the film being written and directed by famous surfer brother Sunny Abberton.
The film also follows the murder of Anthony Hines and the involvement and trail of Jai and Koby Abberton.
But Sunny does not only concentrate on just his own family, but how Maroubra and the "Bra Boys" came to be, as well as introducing other people important to him like his apprentice surfer.
The folky surf music and often interesting interviews provide an entertaining and insightful window into the lives of these bra boys, even if it is a very blurred window.
The film 'Bra Boys' begins by describing the settlement of the Maroubra area and goes on to detail the often chaotic living situations of some of the areas younger citizens.
From then on the story follows the journey of the Abberton brothers - Sunny, Koby and Jai - as they face court cases, gang violence and some massive waves.While I can appreciate the rags-to-riches story of the Abberton brothers, for me the story never really seemed to hit home.
It provides an interesting insight into one of Australia's most notoriously tight-knit surf cultures, yet the Abberton influence raises questions of bias regarding the various events which envelop his brothers.
Bra Boys Review.Bra boys is an interesting one sided documentary about a group of surfers in Australia and a story into their lifestyle.
Bra boys is based in Maroubra, Sydney, NSW, on the 2nd most popular beach in Australia.The documentary is made and directed by Bra Boys, Sunny Abberton and features many gang members and pro-surfers.
It shows the early life of the four Abberton brothers: Sunny, Jai, Koby and youngest brother Dakota.
Another incident that happened was on 22nd of December 2002 when the Bra Boys had a party for pro-surfer Mark Mathews 21st.The party consisted of 200 drunken men who got into fights with off-duty police officers who were celebrating a Christmas party one floor below them.
We can determine who belongs to the Bra Boy's gang as most of them have 'Bra Boy's tattooed on them but in Koby's case he has 'My brothers keeper'.Bra Boy's has a very Australian feel about it, this may be because the narrator is no other then Russell Crowe.
I think it was a wise idea to include some history of the place where it was filmed because it could show why the Abbertons are the people they are today.Also in the documentary it features the Cronulla Riots, and it shows how the Bra Boy's were involved.
Bra Boy's also said that it wasn't all the Lebanese who were fighting, most of the people protecting the beach were multi cultural, Koby said some couldn't even speak English but was standing and fighting for Australia.At the end of the film it shows people from Maroubra telling people what nationality they are, this is a way of showing that it doesn't matter if your not full Australian or born in Australia you are still apart of it.
I don't think the Abberton brothers made this documentary to promote themselves or to make themselves famous, they just want to tell their side of the story.
The story is centered around the three Abberton Brothers Jai, Sunny and Koby who joined together with other young kids going through disadvantaged upbringings.
The three brothers, as well as their younger brother Dakota (who isn't mentioned in the story much) are looked after by their grandmother Ma, who becomes the boys mother, mentor and gang leader after drugs and abuse, tore apart their relationship with their mother.
The director of this film, Sunny Abberton tells his side of the story on the notorious 'Bra Boys' and their story of hatred, distrust, and the love and pride they have for each other.
The movie is mostly male dominated with the only females really mentioned being their mother Lynn who couldn't look after them due to her Heroin addiction and abusive partner, and the lady who becomes the most influential person in the boys lives, their grandmother Ma, whose house the boys hung out at and were treated with as close to a family life as some of the boys could get.
One disappointing aspect of the story was the fact that Jai didn't use his brothers documentary as a way to tell his side of the events that happened on August 5, 2003, when he shot Tony Hines and disposed of his body over the cliff.
As you can imagine, the story is the Bra Boys, therefore it's their version and side of events so you can be sure that the police would completely disagree on most of the information mentioned in this documentary.
For example to be told that the gang was involved in the Cronulla riots as peace keepers using their multicultural backgrounds and friends to call about peace was news to me as I was under the impression they were to blame for it, and also the fact that they payed for Jess, a young talented surfer to go surfing with them.
Russel Crowe narrates the story, his voice giving the impression of the tough, strong, masculine Australian men that the Bra Boys seem to be.'Bra Boys' is a great piece of work, if a bit contradictory in parts, but then life usually is.
So seeing BRA BOYS today is rather enlightening that such a generation has reveled in actual Bad Boy behavior, living out grubby 90s gang fantasies projected from distressing poor and illogical family schisms.
She pivots the film and it is her initial understanding of the basic needs of teen boys to bond which initiates the surfing gangs of Maroubra as seen in this generation.
This is not to detract from BRA BOYS (that title might be a bit misleading for non English audiences though) because this documentary is ultimately a very rewarding and emotional display of astonishing family unity, care and unruly behavior.
The three Abberton brothers of whom this is basically about, and their multicultural tribe of BRA BOYS now to be more Jackass than ever given the huge success of this film, will come out of this well, and I hope for the sake of everyone in Maroubra past and future take a more mature role and become tribal elders to a very influenced generation of young males.
This movie is astonishingly biased and is based on the opinion of gang members rather than true fact.The movie basically attempts to justify a murder committed by one of the Abberton brothers, who head the group.
It also accuses policemen of starting a fight with gang members when both groups were attending functions at the same location."Bra Boys" encourages youngsters to leave school and take up a life of dangerous surfing, drug use and crime.
After being in Sydney last July I decided to take a visit down to Maroubra, I wasn't there long, but just knowing I was in the place that Sunny had learnt to surf made me want to surf again even more, unfortunately where i live thats not always possible.But this documentary was definitely worth the time it took trying to find a place that sold it!
I heard Bra Boys was a gang related story and straight away was not interested in seeing it even though a few friends had seen it and they had said it was a good movie I still had my doubts.
Bra Boys was one of those few movies you come across that take you on an emotional roller coaster ride, often feeling anxiety as the story unfolds.
It's not the slightest bit interesting or intriguing.When young men have no soul, they resort to brutal, pagan tribalism.Boooring.Why not tell us about their schooling, their ladies, their other hobbies, their religion, and how they make a living?Gangs need a source of income.Do the schools and police let these guys just do their thing?
Just a little ways east of Sydney lies a place called Marouba Beach, home to the Bra Boys, a band of hooligan surfers founded by the Abberton Brothers in the 1990s, now made famous courtesy of a documentary entitled "Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker Than Water." When they're not out hanging ten or catching a monster wave, the boys are busy duking it out with rival gangs and even the local police.The film, directed by Sunny Abberton himself, makes for reasonably interesting viewing, though one wonders whether the material itself truly merits a full-length documentary.
Bra boys is a suggestive documentary about the surfing lifestyle in Australia.
It shows aspects of the lifestyle outside of the surfing itself, including things like drinking, violence, friendship, family, murder and the involvement of the police and the law.
It shows all of these things and the impacts that they have had on their lives.The documentary was directed by two members of surf gang ‘the Bra Boys’, Sonny Abberton and Macario de Souza.
Because the Bra Boys are just assumed to be the bad guys by the media and police they want to defend themselves and their reputations.
I think that is a fair representation and why wouldn’t they want to show themselves in a positive way.The Bra Boys are made up of male surfers that live in or around Maroubra Beach in New South Wales, Australia.
They all have a lot of similarities so this is probably why they have bonded in the way that they have.The main people appearing in the documentary are the Abberton brothers.
Her house was close to the beach so it was somewhere for them to hang out and from here they formed the Bra Boys.The documentary is narrated by Russell Crowe so from the start it gives it a kind of Australian feel.
With things like them being against the police, larrikin characters, strong manly representation of men this can be associated as part of Australian culture.And so the documentary shows these troubled kids trying to do good for themselves and them just having fun and surfing all day.
This part of the documentary they show the two sides of the story so it’s not really fair to say the whole film in biased.One of the main parts of the movie is when Jai Abberton is charged with murdering Anthony Hines.
Jai spent 10 months in prison though before the trial happened.Perhaps one of the positive things that the Bra Boys do in the film in when they apologise to the Lebanese community when the riots where happening in Cronulla, New South Wales.
I think that while this could be genuine and what they are really like it could have also just been to make themselves look better in front of the public.I don’t think that this documentary was at all a way to promote themselves because they started filming the documentary before a lot of these events happened.
i have been out of Australia for several years and had not heard of the bra boys although i have been to maroubra beach as a young lifesaver in the early 90's.this documentary unravels to reveal quite a moving story of the Abberton bros.
their struggle growing up, their love of their family & friends, surfing formidable waves and ultimately their fight for freedom.i enjoyed this documentary greatly and hope to see russell crowe involved in a movie based on these surfers lives.highly recommended.
Filled with action and adventure it tells the story of notorious Abberton brothers, Jai, Koby and Sunny.
The narration is by the manly Russell Crowe.In summary this movie is the Bra Boys response to everything in the media about the notorious beach gang in Maroubra.
They do the most they can to use surfing to get them out of the rut of their lives and then become good role models to the younger boys in the group, or at least compared to their home life.
Bra Boys is a fascinating exploration of the Maroubra surf scene, or more correctly the boys of the Maroubra surf scene (there is no room for the female in this landscape) particularly focusing on the Abberton brothers.Coming from hardened backgrounds and neglectful parents, the brothers rose up to form a clan of fraternal solidarity with the Maroubra local boys as well as strong reputations as world class surfers of big waves.While the subject matter is fascinating and there's almost enough material here for 3 documentaries, the fact that the film is written, directed and produced by Sunny Abberton causes a problem.
This becomes a real problem for the film when it explores the incidents surrounding the murder of Anthony Hines and the involvement of Jai and Koby Abberton.
After watching this documentary, you would almost walk away believing that the Abbertons should be praised for their actions involving Hines and single-handedly soothed the Cronulla riots.They're keen to play up their tough home life and upbringing.
Besides the Abberton grandmother who opens her home to the local boys, women are almost completely missing from this film.
And despite the tattoo that claims he is his "brother's keeper", Koby is visibly absent from his brother's trial verdict where he will discover whether he faces a 30 year imprisonment.Although it isn't connected to the Abbertons, the drug ties to the Bra Boys probably deserved a bit more screen time rather than the disjointed opening 30 minutes of weird historical narration and bad animation.
It also could have served to make more sense of the events surrounding Anthony Hines.The Abbertons have led an amazing life and the hope they offer the local boys through the Bra Boys and their surfing achievements IS commendable and worthy of praise.
Bra Boys ReviewGenre Documentary Run time 85 minutes Rated M Country Australia Director Sunny Abberton Rating Bra Boys is a documentary about a gang of middle aged men, who live to surf and stick together in a brotherhood to defend themselves and their beach in an urban community called Maroubra in East Sydney, Australia.
Life at home was terrible for most of these guys from a very young age, so they would hang out at the three Abberton brothers' grandma's house.
The Bra Boys only show their side of the story which begs the question Are they telling the full story of what their life and gang are all about, or are they hiding something and trying to better their reputation?
I'm sure that the police would have quite a different view of some of the events in which the Bra Boys have been involved in.
By the end of the movie the Abberton brothers show us how strong the connection is of the Bra Boy brotherhood, how they are always there for each other, and how big a part of their lives the beach is.
The Bra Boys are a strong cult and a big part of the Australian culture, a brotherhood that never backs down and lets other people push them around.They live to surf and surf to live!I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and think that it is a great insight into what the Bra Boys have achieved to have come out of the slumps and make something out of life.
Bra Boys is a bias documentary about a gang of Maroubra surfers with the focus on the Abberton brothers- Sunny, Jai, Koby and Dakota.
Using the beach as a saviour for troubled kids, Sunny, Jai and Koby tell their story of struggle and hardship whilst growing up with a heroin addicted mother.
This left them in the care of their grandmother, which they called Ma.This film was made to make the bra boys look good.
By putting a young member of their gang in the documentary and saying that they encouraged him to give up drugs and live for the beach, otherwise he was not allowed to be apart of their gang anymore, gives the boys a reputation that they are heroic.
Failing to state anything about the other chargers, this makes the boys look like heroes to their fellow gang members and the audience watching the film.
This documentary directed and written by the eldest brother, Sunny shows the bra boys side of events in Maroubra and defends their status as notorious gangsters.
The documentary includes their side of the Cronulla riots, the murder trial in which Jai was found not guilty of murdering fellow Bra Boy Anthony Hines and Koby's chargers of perverting the course of justice.
Bra Boys (as in residents of the Sydney beach-side suburb of Maroubra rather than intimate female apparel) may well represent further evidence of a newly emerging style of Australian movie making.
Her home is one block from the beach and isn't just welcome to her grandsons also to there friends.It's a very one eyed view documentary directed by Macario De Souza and one of the Abberton brothers Sunny.
Bra boy shows an interesting overview of the historical clash between surfers and authorities and also the Abberton brothers dealing with maybe losing two brothers to jail.
The bra boys call themselves a tribe while the media call them a "gang".
You can understand while the media would recall them gang, by all the trouble they course like example one of the bra boys was having a 21st party while the police where having a Christmas party in the same place but upstairs.
The Abberton brothers didn't have much at all while being brought up but they have made there own success and money especially Koby who is now one of the biggest big wave surfers in the world.
I recommend people to watch this movie because it can make you think differently of the bra boys and see how there not just a gang there a brotherhood.Liv GYC |
tt0089767 | Pale Rider | Somewhere in California, at the end of the Gold Rush, several horsemen come riding down from the nearby mountains. They ride as if on urgent business.At a mining camp by a creek, prospectors calmly pan for gold and inspect their sluice boxes. A woman hangs up laundry. The riders approach the camp, crossing through the creek and through the local woods. Suddenly the dogs start barking furiously, and people stop what they're doing to look. A girl looks for her dog, Lindsay. The horsemen emerge from the woods, shooting guns as they enter the camp. They knock down shacks and tents, and kick people as they ride by. Megan's mother (Carrie Snodgress) shouts for Megan (Sydney Penny) as she runs after her dog Lindsay. Prospectors fight back feebly, but are no match for the horsemen. The horsemen shoot cattle and Megan's dog, and then chase donkeys as they leave. The people come out from hiding and assess the damage; the town is devastated. Megan is bent over her dead dog when her mother catches up to her. A man spits and calls the horsemen "sow-wallowing monkeys". Megan picks up her dog, crying. She takes the dog into the woods.Still crying, Megan buries her dog in the woods, and then recites the 23rd Psalm, interjecting her comments.
Calm music plays, and local scenery is interspersed while she prays:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
"But I do want."
He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul.
"But they killed my dog."
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.
"But I am afraid."
Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
"We need a miracle."
Thy loving kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
"If you exist."
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
"But I'd like to get more of this life first.
If you don't help us, were all gonna die.
Please. Just one miracle. Amen."
As she prays the last few lines, an image of a man (Clint Eastwood) riding a white horse mottled with black is superimposed on the screen, along with foreboding music.
The man on the white horse continues riding through the snow-covered ground into the woods.Mr. Barret (Michael Moriarty) rides out of camp in his wagon and Eddie (Chuck Lafont) asks if he's quitting. He says no, that he's going into town. Eddie asks him if that's dumb, because of what happened to him last time. Barret doesn't answer. Barret passes Teddy (Jeffrey Weissman), who asks him the same question, again with no response.Hull Barret arrives in the town of LaHood, and people look through their windows. After Barret ties up his wagon, he walks into the Blankenship mining supply store as four men stare. Hull greets Mr. and Mrs. Blankenship (Richard Hamilton and Fran Ryan). Mr. Blankenship calls Hull a "damn fool", and asks him if he couldn't wait until the smoke cleared away. Hull says that they needed some supplies. Mr. Blankenship tells Hull he has "sand but no sense". Hull says that they didn't have any choice because of the damage the men did to their shacks. Mr. Blankenship expects payment in gold. Hull says that as soon as he gets a couple of ounces, he'll bring them in. Mr. Blankenship says it will take more than that. Some thugs are now gathering by the supply store and looking in. Mr. Blankenship tells Hull that the last payment he made was 8 months ago, when Old Lindquist brought his dust in, and says that all the gold is gone from Carbon Canyon. Hull replies that if there were none left there, why is LaHood driving them out? Mr. Blankenship says to tell Spider and everyone else no more credit. Hull thanks Mr. Blankenship. Mr. Blankenship says that he's not doing it for him; he's the only merchant in town that LaHood doesn't own. Hull promises that one day they'll strike it big and he will pay them back with interest, and leaves the store.Hull walks outside, passing the men waiting there. After he loads up his wagon, they pick up some pick handles and confront Hull, saying that he forgot to say hello when they rode through the canyon. They also say that they told him to stay out of town. They joke that when they kicked him it made him forget, and they need to kick his head again to jar his memory. They also make crude remarks about his "Wheeler women". One of them pauses when he sees the man on the white horse at the edge of town. They ask Hull why he won't fight. Hull says he didn't come here to fight. One of them says that he shouldn't have come here at all, and then he looks at the edge of town and the horseman is gone. Another calls him a "Tin Pan", saying that he made a big mistake. They look inside his wagon and grab his goods. When he tries to stop them, they pull him down and beat him with the wooden handles. Hull crawls under the wagon, but they pull him back out. One of the men lights a match to burn Hull's goods he just bought. The stranger from the white horse throws a bucket of water on him, putting out the match. He says, "You shouldn't play with matches," and then grabs the last handle and walks towards them. They attack the stranger, but he counters every swing easily, knocking away their handles and knocking them down. He breaks the last man's handle in two and knocks him down too. Hull thanks the stranger but he just walks away. The bullies lie on the ground, badly injured and groaning. The stranger rides away towards Carbon Canyon, and Hull follows him in the wagon, as Mr. and Mrs. Blankenship still look out, worried.Hull catches up to the stranger and introduces himself. Hull warns him not to stay in Carbon Canyon after what he did. He offers the stranger to stay at his cabin because it has two rooms. The stranger says he doesn't want to be a burden on them. Hull says that it's a pleasure not a burden.The stranger follows Hull into Carbon Canyon. Ulrik (Herman Poppe) rides past them on his horse and pulling his mule as they enter camp and tells Hull goodbye. He says he's going away because he can't fight anymore. He says he's not the only one, and wishes Hull good luck, that he would quit too if he were smart. Hull and the stranger continue into camp.Inside their cabin, as her mother prepares dinner, Megan reads from the Bible, Revelation:
The power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the Earth, and that they should kill one another. And there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see.
Megan's mother says, "Very good. Fetch me some butter and some syrup."
As Megan does she continues reading:
And I beheld, and lo, a black horse, and he that sat on him, had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say A measure of wheat for a penny.
Megan's mother looks out the window, and then mysterious music plays as Megan continues:
And three measure of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
Hull and the stranger approach the house. Megan continues:
And I looked. And behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was death.
Megan stops and looks out the window too, seeing the stranger stopped there.
She finishes:
And Hell followed with him.
They watch as he rides past.The stranger took his shirt off and is washing his face. Hull sees scars that look like bullet wounds on his back. He tells the stranger that dinner will be ready soon, and leaves.Hull describes the fight between the stranger and McGill and his men. Megan's mother, Sarah says he sounds no different from McGill, Tyson, or any of LaHood's roughnecks. Hull says that at least the stranger wasn't afraid of them, and that's what they need up here. He tells them that Lindquist left. Sarah says that the colony is beaten, that Hull is the only one who doesn't know it. Megan says that shes not leaving until LaHood's men are whipped. Sarah reprimands Hull, telling him that Megan talks more like his daughter than hers. She wants him to tell Megan this business about fighting is nonsense. Sarah asks if the stranger is a gunman. Hull says he hopes so, and would he pay for protection. Sarah threatens to leave with Megan unless Hull gets rid of the stranger. He says that he will, but he saved his life. They continue to argue and then the stranger enters. They stop and stare at him, seeing his white preacher collar. He hopes he's not the cause of this excitement. They suddenly become very polite towards him. Sarah Wheeler thanks him for helping Hull, and then introduces herself and Megan. Megan smiles at the preacher.At a large mining camp, high-pressure water from pipes blasts the hillsides, the massive water runoff running into sluices. The thugs arrive, cut and bandaged. Their boss, Josh (Chris Penn) tells them that they're late for work. McGill (Charles Hallahan) apologizes to him, saying that they were at the doctor. Tyson (Allen Keller) says that they tangled with Barret. Josh is surprised that a "Tin Pan" beat them up. Jagou (Marvin J. McIntyre) says that a stranger helped him, a big guy. McGill says he left with Barret. Josh orders the men to their duties and then walks to a tent and calls Club. Club (Richard Kiel) steps out, over 7 feet tall.Hull is outside, telling the preacher that they've had a feud with Coy LaHood and his son, and that LaHood is a powerful man. LaHood came there in '54 or '55, and was the first man to strike it rich. He would use money from his mines to continue staking new claims. During the last couple of years, he has used the big hydraulic monitors and blasted all the hillsides. Megan says that although LaHood is more powerful than ever, Carbon Canyon is the only place his crew hasn't ruined yet. She adds that he's greedy for it, too. The preacher asks if he has any lawful rights to their canyon. Hull says no, all their claims are filed in Sacramento; the only way LaHood could take the land legally is if they leave it. The preacher says that LaHood is persuasive. Megan says that even if they all leave, she's staying there; they killed her dog and her grandpa. The stranger asks about the law, someone they could take their case to. Hull says if there were, LaHood would own them, just like he owns everything else. Hull says that a lawman couldn't do anything because LaHood hasn't killed anyone yet; Megan's grandpa's heart gave out on him. Hull has been taking of Sarah and Megan ever since. Hull says quietly that they're not living in sin, that he does want to marry her. A few years back her husband, Megan's father, walked out on them; it's been hard to get them to trust a man. He asks the preacher if he would marry Hull and Sarah when they do get married. The preacher tells Hull that if he's waiting for a woman to make up her mind, he may have a long wait. The preacher asks to be put to work, holding a sledgehammer. Hull declines at first and then agrees.Hull points out a boulder in the stream, saying that he wants to split it, that the gravel underneath it could have gold.; every morning for two years, he's been hitting it. He thought of drilling it and blasting it, but it would wreck the stream. The preacher swings away at the boulder, as Megan watches up on a hill. Hull gets another sledgehammer and they take turns hitting it. Megan gets closer and sits down to watch. Sarah comes out and sees them, and then so does everyone else as they chip away. Sarah and Megan both smile. Josh and Club rides up slowly, and Megan sees them, getting up. She calls Hull and Preacher. They stop swinging, and everyone looks at Josh and Club. Hull tells Preacher that he recognizes LaHood's son Josh, but not the other man. Hull tells Josh that he's their new preacher and Preacher nods yes. Josh says that Preacher messed up some of his men. Preacher says it wasn't anything personal. Josh replies that it's not personal when he's telling him to get out of Carbon Canyon. Preacher says there is lot of sinners around, that he can't leave before he finishes his work. Josh says, "Club", who gets down and walks into the stream. Everyone is apprehensive. He rolls down his sleeves, and then... quickly grabs Hull's sledgehammer with one hand and strikes the boulder once, screaming, splitting it and smiling. Josh asks Preacher if his work is done now. He replies that part of it is. Josh motions at Club, but before he can swing at Preacher, Preacher hits him instead with his sledgehammer. Club drops down holding his genitals, and Preacher helps him back up onto his horse. Josh and Club ride away. Preacher strikes the boulder and it splits again. The other men come over with sledgehammers and join in hitting the remaining pieces of the boulder.A train pulls into the station from Sacramento while Josh and McGill wait. Josh's father Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) exits the train, and then he goes with Josh and McGill. Josh and McGill report the conditions of their various locations and Coy asks about Carbon Canyon. Josh tells Coy that a stranger pulled them together. Coy asks if they explained to him who they are, that once they explain things to him, he'll decide to move on. Josh says that he's a preacher, and Coy gets upset that they let a preacher into Carbon Canyon. Josh says that they didn't invite him, that he went with Hull. Coy said that when he left for Sacramento, "those Tin Pans" had given up, but a preacher could give them faith; with faith, they'll never leave. He tells them to bring the preacher to him and then changes his mind, saying that he doesn't want to make him a martyr. Coy says that Sacramento is useless because they didn't sign the writ; also, some politicians want to end hydraulic mining. Coy says that they have to move on Carbon Canon quickly because they may be out of business in a couple of years. He also tells them that he'll deal with the preacher.Megan asks her mother if her grandma and grandpa were happy when she got married. Sarah says they didn't have any choice. Megan asks if they were surprised. Sarah replies that they were more than surprised. Megan asks if it was because they thought she wasn't old enough. Sarah replies that Megan's grandma was 15 when she got married; they got upset because of who she married. Megan asks Sarah if she'll be happy married to Hull. Sarah asks Megan, who said that she will marry him? Megan says that Hull is nice enough. Sarah agrees that he's nice. Megan asks if preachers get married. Sarah replies she doesn't see why not and then tells her that she's the prettiest daughter she could ever have.Preacher and Hull are working in the stream when Hull finds a large nugget. He yells excitedly and then runs off and shows the nugget to Sarah and Megan. Others talk are excited too, except Spider (Doug McGrath), who is angry. Hull says it came from underneath the boulder, that he was right. Hull wants to celebrate, and Megan wants to go into town. Sarah thinks that's not a good idea. Preacher says that it would help clear Hull's credit. All four of them go to town in the wagon.When they arrive in town, Hull tells them to wait while he clears things up with Mr. Blankenship. Josh comes out of the LaHood residence, next to their business, and then walks toward the wagon. He greets Sarah and Megan, and then tells Preacher that his father wants to see him. Sarah says that it's a trick. Preacher says that it's all right and goes with Josh inside.More of LaHood's men are inside. Coy LaHood introduces himself and gives Preacher a drink. LaHood says that when he heard a parson had come to town, he "had an image of a pale, scrawny, bible-thumping easterner, with a linen handkerchief and bad lungs." He says, "It must be difficult for a man of faith to carry the message on an empty stomach, so to speak, so he would invite him to preach in town. The town could be his parish. He could build that preacher a new church." Preacher realizes that LaHood is trying to bribe him and plays along, suggesting that he would need new clothes and would appreciate the generous collections. Preacher finally tells LaHood, "That's why it wouldn't work. Can't serve God and mammon both, mammon being money." LaHood gets upset and shows Preacher a writ that supposedly gives him mineral rights to Carbon Canyon. Preacher replies that if he had those rights he would have exercised them; those people have legal rights, and he can't mine that canyon until they leave. LaHood then gives Preacher 24 hours to pack up and leave, or his men will "ride through that canyon and run them out." He says that if any blood gets spilled will be on Preacher's hands, and then calls him a troublemaker. Preacher starts walking out. LaHood tells Preacher as he leaves that he tried reasoning with him. He says that the marshal, Stockburn, won't be as patient as he is. Preacher asks LaHood if he would pay cash for the claims of the people at Carbon Canyon. LaHood says he would do anything to prevent bloodshed, and offers $100 each. Preacher asks for $1000. LaHood laughs, and so do all his men. LaHood offers $125. Preacher tells LaHood that Stockburn and his deputies will cost him a lot more than that. LaHood angrily settles for $1000 per claim, but says that he wants them out in 24 hours.Hull comes back to the wagon; he paid off his debt and had money left over to pay off Spider's debt too. Preacher comes out, followed by Jagou, McGill, and another one of LaHood's men. Hull grabs a hickory handle. He asks Preacher what he was doing in there, and Preacher replies that LaHood was buying him a drink.Nighttime around the campfire, the Carbon Canyon men vote on whether or not to accept LaHood's offer. Spider is the only one who doesn't want to accept the offer. He says LaHood is greedy, but not a fool, and that if he's willing to pay $1000 per claim, he knows it's worth 5 times that. Another man counters that the way LaHood works it's worth that much. Preacher walks up and Spider asks for his opinion. He tells them that it's their hard labor and its up to them; they should sleep on it, and then decide in the morning. Spider asks what if they can't agree? Preacher replies that LaHood would take that as no and then call in the marshal, Stockburn. He tells them that he's not an ordinary marshal. He travels with 6 deputies, and they uphold whatever law pays them the most. Killing is a way of life for them. Spider asks Preacher if he knows Stockburn. Preacher replies that he's heard of him. Hull tells the others that they all know how to pull a trigger; its still 20 against 7. Ev Gossage (Graham Paul) wants to take his money and start over somewhere else. Hull says that starting fresh sounds good when you're in trouble, but before they pack up and leave, they should ask themselves why they're here. He reminds them what Spider said about one of them finding $1000 worth of nuggets, that he wouldn't quit. He says that he came here to raise a family; it's his home. He says they all buried members of their families here; would they take $1000 and leave their graves unattended? Hull says that if they sell out now, what price do they put on their dignity next time? The men vote to stay and not take LaHood's offer, and then they all leave.Preacher leaves the campfire. Megan meets him and shows him where she buried her dog. She says that she said a prayer for her dog after the raid, and prayed for a miracle. Preacher replies that someday she might get that miracle. She says that it was the day he arrived. She tells Preacher that she loves him, and then asks him if they could ever get married and make love. Preacher replies that there's not anything wrong with love or making love, but politely tells her that some day she'll find the right man for her. He also tells her that her mother is probably looking for her. Megan looks at him suspiciously and gets the wrong message, and thinks that Preacher loves Sarah. She goes on a tirade about him, and then angrily storms off.The next day Preacher goes to LaHood's camp and stops to observe as they blast the hillsides. He rides past Josh and tells him, "Tell your father they turned him down," and then rides away.A train pulls up to the train station. The telegraph officer notices Preacher waiting on his horse on the other side of the tracks before the train stops. McGill comes over to the office and the telegram officer tells him he's just in time for the mail. McGill doesn't worry about the mail, but gives him a telegram from his boss that he wants sent right now. McGill leaves and the officer keys the telegram. When the train departs, the officer looks up and notices that Preacher is gone, and then continues keying the telegram.In Yuba City, the telegraph officer receives the telegram McGill sent and then walks immediately to the marshal's office.Hull goes to Preacher's room and finds out that he left. Hull tells Sarah and Megan that he doesn't know why Preacher left. Sarah says that he must have gone to tell LaHood about the vote last night, but Hull says that he took his bedroll and coat. Hull thinks they will survive. Sarah tells Hull that he got the others to vote his way. They argue, bringing Megan nearly to tears. Sarah says that the preacher was holding them together and they were counting on him to beat LaHood himself.There is an explosion and they all go outside. Hull sees a cloud of smoke, and then he runs down to look at the stream. The water has slowed to a trickle. Hull tells Sarah and Megan that LaHood dammed up the creek. Sarah tells him that if he had accepted LaHood's offer, this never would have happened.At Wells Fargo and Co's. Express, Preacher retrieves the contents of his safety deposit box: a Remington 1858 New Army in a holster and a Remington Pocket. He removes his collar and puts it into the box, revealing a blood spot from a bullet wound.Back at Carbon Canyon, the men are gathered around a campfire again, discussing what they will do now. They seem to have given up, that they have no choice except to leave. Spider asks Hull if he has any ideas. He shakes his head no. Spider asks where the preacher is; hell know what to do. Hull replies that hes not there. Ev stands up, unable to believe that Preacher left. Hull says that Preacher went to tell LaHood that they turned him down. And then lying, he continues, "But before he left... he said that if anything happened, that he hoped that we'd do like he'd do... if he was here." Ev looks down sadly, and says that they could dry pan for a couple of days. Hull says that he'd hate to see them quit. Another man says they could try for a couple of days, because they don't have anything to lose. The men sadly agree, resigning themselves to their situation. They agree to try two more days then laugh and leave. When Spider gets up, he tells Barret that he's "got sand" but can't lie well and suggests that he leave with Sarah and Megan; Spider walks away. Hull turns around and sees Megan sitting on the porch, poking a stick in the ground as she watches. She throws the stick on the ground and walks the other direction.The marshal and his six deputies ride quickly down from the mountains.Megan comes over to the stream and asks Hull if he's angry with her. He says no. She asks to borrow the mare and he lets her.Spider finds a large golden rock in a puddle. He stands up and shouts that he's rich, and jumps around. He shows it to Gossage and Henderson (Terrence Evans). Everyone close by comes over except Hull, who just sits there. Spider tells his sons Eddie and Teddy to get the horses because they're going to town.Hull apologizes to Sarah. He says that it looks like Spider's payday came. She replies that maybe it's just his turn. Hull tells her that when they pack up, there's room in the wagon for whatever she wants to take. She wonders if he's asking them to leave with him. He assumes that they're all going. He tells her that when her father died, he did the best he could to help her and Megan, without any conditions attached, and asks if there is a chance for them to be together. She looks at him sadly and says, "You are the decentest man I ever met, Hull Barret. The answer is yes." She apologizes for being so high-strung lately, but has been confused. Hull says that they can start over somewhere else and find another preacher, and she agrees.Trying to find Preacher, Megan arrives at the LaHood mining camp and stops to look around. Josh asks her if her mother knows where she is. She says that she's 15, doesn't tell her mother everything, and can do what she wants. He explains what they're doing: how diverting Cobalt Creek into a large pipe, and then downhill into smaller pipes, makes the water pick up speed and pressure. Megan says it hurts her ears. He says that the water has enough pressure to blast gravel off the cliff, into the riverbed, and then into the sluice. Megan says that it looks like hell. Josh asks what she really came for. She replies that she's just riding, taking a look around. Josh says he wants to take a look too, at her real close. He pulls her off the horse. She screams as he carries her downhill. The men stop work and he shows Megan to them, still struggling. He puts her down and walks towards her as she backs up. More men come out of the tents and shacks to look, and then surround her. Josh grabs her hair and kisses her. They both fall to the ground. The men cheer him on while Megan begs him to stop. Club walks towards the crowd, saying, "No." He pushes men aside, and then a gunshot sounds out. Josh gets up and everyone turns around. Preacher, on his horse, is up on the hill holding his gun, smoke coming out. His gun is trained on Josh. Megan sees him and smiles, relieved. The men back away from Josh and Megan. Josh pulls out his gun and tries to shoot, but Preacher shoots it away. Josh falls to the ground. He reaches for his gun, but Preacher shoots his hand and then shoots the gun again. Preacher rides down, helps Megan up onto his horse, and they ride away.In town, Spider Conway walks into the street drunk, holding a bottle of liquor and his golden rock. He shouts for LaHood to come out. Inside, LaHood tells Stockburn (John Russell) that for a while "he had them buffaloed", but the preacher gave them sass. LaHood tells Stockburn to take care of him and the rest, and tells him that the preacher beat up four of his men. Stockburn asks what the preacher looks like. LaHood replies, "Tall. Lean. His eyes... his eyes. Something strange about em. That mean something to you?" Stockburn says that it sounds like a man he knew, but that man is dead. Outside, Spider is still ranting and then falls to the ground. Stockburn and his six deputies, all armed, walk outside and stop on the porch in front of Spider. Spider insists that he wants to talk to LaHood, not them. Stockburn tells Spider that LaHood doesn't want to talk to him, but might like to watch him dance. Spider's sons come out, and Spider tells them to stay there. Stockburn and his deputies shoot at Spider's feet, and he hops around. Stockburn signals for them to stop. He shoots the bottle Spider's holding and then the rock. Spider pulls his gun out, yelling, and all the deputies shoot Spider, emptying their guns. LaHood watches through the window as they kill Spider, Stockburn finishing him off with one final bullet through the head. Spider's sons run to him as the deputies go inside. Stockburn tells Spider's sons to take him back to Carbon Canyon and tell the preacher to meet Stockburn here tomorrow morning.Preacher rides into Carbon Canyon with Megan. Ev Gossage excitedly tells Preacher that LaHood dammed up the stream and other news, including how Megan's horse returned without her. Gossage stops talking when he sees Megan on the horse with Preacher as they ride by.Preacher puts Megan in bed. Sarah is crying. He tells Sarah that Megan got caught up at LaHood's place but is fine. He tells Megan that she's home now, that her mama's here. Megan gets up and hugs him. Sarah sees his gun. Hull calls out for Preacher and he goes outside. All the people are gathered around a wagon holding the deceased Spider. His son Teddy is finishing his story that Stockburn and his men shot him. He then tells Preacher that Stockburn wants him to come in the morning. Preacher tells them that Spider made a mistake and went into town alone. He tells them to bury Spider and then walks away.Preacher is checking his guns inside his room when Sarah comes in. She tells him that Megan is sleeping, and thanks him. Preacher says that he's just glad he came by. She says that Megan told her what he did with Josh LaHood; who but a gunfighter could have done that. She asks him not to go into town to face the marshal. He replies that it's an old score; it's time to settle it. She says that when he left that day, it reminded her of when someone else left her. She tells him that she needs a man who would never leave her, and then says it's best for her to marry Hull. Preacher agrees that Hull is a good man. She kisses him, saying that it's so she won't wonder for the rest of her life. Outside, a voice calls for Preacher in the distance. Preacher tells her that it's a voice from the past and tells her to close the door. She asks who he really is. He says that it doesn't really matter, and she goes to him.The next day Preacher gets on his horse and greets Hull, who is waiting outside. Hull insists on going with him so Preacher agrees. They go to the LaHood camp and blow up their pipes, sluices, tents, and the barracks with dynamite. After fooling Hull to dismount, Preacher scares away his horse. He then tells Hull to take care of Sarah and Megan, and rides into town.At their cabin, Sarah tells Megan that Preacher is gone. Megan asks Sarah if she loved him. Sarah replies that he knows they both love him. Megan tells her that she didn't say goodbye to him and runs out.Preacher rides into town. LaHood watches through a window and tells Stockburn that he's the preacher. Stockburn can't see his face yet. Outside, LaHood's men stop working and walk towards Preacher as he rides by, and watch as he walks into the cafe. Mrs. Blankenship serves him some coffee and he sends them both out. The men all draw their guns and storm the store, emptying their guns everywhere. LaHood tells Stockburn that he won't have to bother with the preacher. As the men reload, Preacher comes from the side and asks if they are through. Two men run away, but the others continue to reload. Preacher waits with his gun drawn. They draw their guns on Preacher but he shoots them all.LaHood and Stockburn watch as Preacher comes out. He walks to the edge of town, turns around, and replaces the cylinder of his Remington New Army, like a speedloader. Stockburn goes outside with his deputies. Only Preacher's hat is left where he was standing, so Stockburn tells his deputies to spread out and find him. Stockburn waits there. Preacher shoots the first deputy as he enters a store. Another deputy goes to investigate and Preacher shoots him too. Preacher hides behind some crates and shoots two more deputies. Another deputy sees the open door of the outhouse and stops by a water trough to shoot at it, but Preacher was hiding on the ground behind the trough and shoots him. The remaining deputy walks into the livery stable. A noose grabs his neck and his gun goes off wildly. A shadowy figure hooks the rope to a horse's saddle and the horse runs out, dragging the deputy as he screams. Stockburn watches the man get dragged out of town. The shadowy figure, Preacher, returns to the spot where he left his hat, puts it on his head and then turns to look at Stockburn. With his Remington Pocket in his belt, Preacher walks towards Stockburn while reloading his Remington New Army again, and then puts it back in its holster. He stops a few feet from Stockburn, his hat still shading his eyes. When he raises his head, Stockburn recognizes him. Stockburn says, "You!" and reaches for his gun, but Preacher draws his New Army first and unloads it into him. Mortally wounded, Stockburn collapses to his knees and looks up at Preacher, who shoots him in the forehead with his Remington Pocket, killing him. LaHood tries to shoot Preacher from inside his residence, but Hull bursts in, shooting and killing him instead. Hull goes outside to look for Preacher, who emerges riding from the livery. Preacher tells Hull, "Long walk." and then rides away. Megan comes into town with the wagon. She asks Hull where Preacher is and he replies that he's gone. She jumps in the wagon in order to chase after Preacher but Mrs. Blankenship tells her that the horses are exhausted and she would kill them. Megan runs to the end of town and shouts out thank you to Preacher, that they love him, that she loves him. Her cries echo through the mountains, but it is uncertain whether the Preacher hears them as he rides though the snow. Hull and Megan drive the wagon back towards camp.The final shot of the movie shows Preacher riding through the snow in the mountains.Synopsis written by Mu_Ve_Watchr_89. | revenge, psychedelic, murder, violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0068284 | Blacula | In 1780, Prince Mamuwalde (William Marshall), the ruler of the Abani African nation, seeks the help of Count Dracula (Charles Macaulay) in suppressing the slave trade. Dracula refuses to help, and transforms Mamuwalde into a vampire, whom he names Blacula and imprisons in a sealed coffin. Mamuwalde's wife, Luva (Vonetta McGee), is also imprisoned and dies in captivity. In 1972, the coffin has been purchased as part of an estate by two interior decorators, Bobby McCoy (Ted Harris) and Billy Schaffer (Rick Metzler) and shipped to Los Angeles. Bobby and Billy open the coffin and become Prince Mamuwalde's first victims
At the funeral home where Bobby McCoy's body is laid, Mamuwalde spies on mourning friends Tina Williams (Vonetta McGee), her sister Michelle (Denise Nicholas), and Michelle's boyfriend, Dr. Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala), a pathologist for the Los Angeles Police Department. Mamuwalde believes Tina is the reincarnation of his deceased wife, Luva. On close investigation of the corpse at the funeral home, Dr. Thomas notices oddities with Bobby McCoy's death that he later concludes to be consistent with vampire folklore.
Prince Mamuwalde continues to kill and transform various people he encounters, as Tina begins to fall in love with him. Thomas, his colleague Lt. Peters (Gordon Pinsent), and Michelle follow the trail of murder victims and begin to believe a vampire is responsible. After Thomas digs up Billy's coffin, Billy's corpse rises as a vampire and attacks Thomas, who fends him off and drives a stake through his heart. After finding a photo taken of Mamuwalde and Tina in which Mamuwalde is not visible, Thomas and Peters track Mamuwalde to his hideout, the warehouse where Bobby McCoy and Billy Schaffer were first slain. They defeat several vampires, but Mamuwalde manages to escape.
Mamuwalde lures Tina to his new hideout at the nearby waterworks plant, while Thomas and a group of police officers pursue him. Mamuwalde dispatches several officers, but one of them manages to shoot Tina. To save Tina from death, Mamuwalde transforms her into a vampire. After Peters manages to kill the vampire Tina, Mamuwalde believes he cannot live any longer after losing her twice. Mamuwalde leaves for the surface where the morning sunlight rots his flesh quickly and kills him. | cult, blaxploitation | train | wikipedia | Though it may not be the best vampire/horror flick in the world, and it takes liberty with historical facts (a slave trade in Transylvania?!) it does contain a rather touching love story.
The great Shakespearean actor William Marshall (Dr. Daystrom to you original Star Trek fans) plays the tormented African prince magnificently; asleep for 200 years, he awakes to find an African-American culture riddled with blaxploitation cliches.
But in fact, not only is "Blacula" well-made, it ranks as one of the best vampire films of all time."Blacula" certainly doesn't age very well; the music, clothes, and Afros alone drive a stake into the movie's hip status!
In 1972, this movie was at the early end of the blaxploitation era, and besides the fact that the main character was a bloodsucker, the characters were generally positive (i.e. no pimpin' drug-dealin' gangstas) You'll be hard pressed to find another early seventies black movie that can say that!I think, for the time, it was a pretty good low budget horror movie.
In 1780,African Prince Mamuwalde visits the castle of Count Dracula in Transylvania seeking his support in ending the slave trade.Dracula curses his noble guest,murders his wife and transforms Mamuwalde into a vampire,imprisoning him in a coffin to suffer the unending thirst of the damned.Released nearly two centuries later by a pair of homosexual interior decorators,Mamuwalde emerges as Blacula,a vampire with a strong urge to kill.On a nightly quest for human blood he meets and fells in love with Tina,the woman who reminds him his long time dead wife..."Blacula" is a campy and enjoyable horror flick.William Marshall is perfect as a lonely and sympathetic vampire Blacula.The acting is fine and there are some nice scares including slow-motion attack on Sam,the morgue attendant.Overall,"Blacula" is an ultimately satisfying blacksploitation flick that is surely destined to be a cult classic.8 out of 10..
This film is pure style and coolness, which is delivered in a highly entertaining manner.In 1780, the African Prince Mamuwalde (William Marshall) is on a visit at Count Dracula's castle in Transsylvania with his wife Luva (Vonetta McGee).
Almost two centuries later, a black/white couple of (very) gay interior decorators buy several pieces of furniture from Dracula's castle, including the coffin in which Mamuwalde was locked.
William Marshall fits perfectly in the role of Blacula, and so does Thalmus Rasulala, who plays the hero character as a super-cool Shaft-style forensic specialist.
I also love the fact that it's unique to all other "blaxploitation" movies in the sense that it has a story with true backbone, and the film's main player, William Marshall, gets so into the role he plays and isn't just another Afro-American leading man that talks the lingo and prances around in a fur.
This film is a love story (of the "long lost" variety, an approach also used by the DARK SHADOWS tv show of the same era), but it definitely has TEETH: The slo-mo attack on Elisha Cook, Jr., for instance, helps make BLACULA one of the scariest horror movies of its era.
(Trust me on this: I've seen some movies whose production values would make BLACULA look like THE GODFATHER by comparison.) Sure, it's dated- but the love story at its heart is timeless..
The name "Blacula" indicates a less than stellar cinematic experience but the flick actually delivers the goods in most things; solid acting (particulary the lead), decent scares and a surprisingly thoughtful and tragic story.William Marshall registers strongly as Prince Mamuwalde who travels to Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania and is soon attacked and cursed by the vampire Count.
In the end; Blaxploitation film or not; "Blacula" is a good horror film that's treading much covered ground but imbues it with a fresh take on the material (that's often been covered since), a sense of style, very decent scares and a great central performance by a very forceful actor.
As a stand alone vampire movie, the best thing about it is William Marshall's strong performance as the title character and the lovely Vonetta McGee, one of the more popular starlets in the blaxploitation genre.
In terms of transplanting a Gothic style monster in a contemporary setting, it is less awkward than Hammer's "Dracula A.D." but not as good as "Count Yorga, Vampire".Nevertheless, "Blacula" was a hit and this led to a small wave of average to truly bad horror films featuring black casts including "Abby", "J.D.'s Revenge", a sequel to Blacula and the wonderfully awful "Blackenstein".You would be hard pressed to find a decade that had a greater variety (but not necessarily quality or quantity) of horror films than 70's and "Blacula" is an example of a movie that came from the same decade that gave horror fans "The Exorcist", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Alien"..
the film has the makings of a Gothic romance but with a funk soul atmosphere, driven by a lively rhythm and blues soundtrack composed by Gene Page the acting is hit-and-miss, with excellent performances from Thalmus Rasulala as Dr. Gordon Thomas, the film's version of Van Helsing, and William Marshall in the title role.
1780: African prince Mamuwalde (William Marshall) and his wife Luva (Vonetta McGee) visit Count Dracula to enlist his help in the fight against slavery.
Meanwhile, scientific investigator Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala) comes to believe that the spate of recent deaths are the work of a vampire and tries to convince the police of what is happening.The first example of Blaxploitation horror, Blacula succeeds in being both scary and silly, with a side order of camp.
Marshall plays his role surprisingly straight, but the general atmosphere is one of lightheartedness, the film even taking time out for a couple of funky musical interludes courtesy of The Hues Corporation (who would later top the charts with their disco hit 'Rock The Boat').
I a good, solid vampire movie.Some will start to feel bad for Mamuwalde aka Blacula towards the end of the film but I find that for me it was at the very beginning that he had my sympathy.
I was Dracula himself that turned/cursed the Prince - he is now doomed to walk the earth as the vampire Blacula.The movie is not only a fun horror film but a beautiful romance film.
Cheesy but fun blaxploitation horror classic about an African prince turned into a vampire by Dracula.
It's still an often laughable movie with no real scares but a couple of good shock scenes such as when the lady cab driver awakens as a vampire and attacks poor Elisha Cook, Jr. I like the ending, too.
An ancient African prince (William Marshall), turned into a vampire by Dracula himself, finds himself in modern Los Angeles.According to Colin McCracken, this was "the first successful horror film to star an almost entirely black cast".
This one stands up fairly well, despite a limited budget and formula story, thanks to the strong central presence of the deep voiced and dignified William Marshall, plus a good supporting cast that included Denise Nicolas and Vonetta McGee. Plus, the production values are actually quite decent for a low budget, quickly shot movie, thanks to effective use of shadow- filled urban settings that create good nightmare landscapes.
And lead William Marshall lends great dignity in portraying Mamuwalde, the African prince cursed by Dracula himself (Charles Macaulay), as a smooth operator especially when he finds his late wife Luva reincarnated as Tina (Vonetta McGee in both roles).
While I don't think of this as a great movie, I was so entertained by Blacula especially when The Hues Corporation-St. Clair Lee, Fleming Williams, Hubert Ann Kelley-were performing that I wouldn't mind seeing it again much sooner than later.
Any film titled "Blacula" doesn't really deserve to have high hopes surrounding it, but this horror piece is really rather good.Sure, it's difficult to watch Thalmus Rasulala's performance without thinking of Richard Ayoade in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, but William Marshall brings such sincere dignity to the lead role it's hard not to be dragged along.While not exactly literary, the script is what compels.
It is simultaneously a "time capsule" as many of the Blaxploitation films are, very "a la mode" films with the latest afro wigs, the longest eye lashes and fangs, popular R&B music, and attractive players besides good actors as William Marshall, or cult favorites as Elisha Cook Jr. On the negative side, the very annoying single factor of the film for me was Ji-Tu Cumbuka whenever he appeared on the scene.
This was a lot better than I thought it would be.In 1700s Transylvania (which actually looks like 1970s cheap Los Angeles sound stage) Count Dracula invites a proud African Prince and his lovely wife to dinner.
It's humorously bad one moment; it's well-crafted and insightful the next.The interracial gay couple spells out the campiness of Dracula in the film's first present-day scene, as they explain it as their reason for buying the late Count's possessions, including Blacula locked up in his coffin.
That is, when he's not growling while biting his victims or being transported by a dolly with parts visible in frame.As the film's Transylvanian prelude set in 1780 establishes, Blacula was once the African Prince Mamuwalde, who traveled to Castle Dracula to request the Count's help in suppressing the slave trade.
(After some footage of a coffin being transported, which was cannibalized from another Dracula-esque film, "Count Yorga, Vampire" (1970).) The first time an officer sees Blacula, he chases him--presumably because he finds a black man running to be suspicious.
"Blacula" follows the usual complex discovery plot, the common formula of horror movies as outlined by Noël Carroll, so most characters are unaware or skeptical of vampirism at this point in the film.
The same may be said of the Doctor's killings of White vampires, although his character manages to successfully align himself with the White ruling class, as represented here by the police force, whereas Blacula, 200 years ago, was betrayed in his attempts to cooperate with the White Dracula.
And were you to put these movies side by side, "Blacula" would probably be the much more watchable of the two.Watch it if you want to see '70's unintentional camp, if you want to see a period piece of media in the relatively primitive 1970's, or if you are a fan of any of the actors for some reason (William Marshall's only other notable role seems to have been as the "king of cartoons" on "Pee-wee's playhouse" - I just KNEW I'd seen him again in something.).
Accidentally awakened in Los Angeles, an African Prince bitten by Count Dracula finds a young woman who is the reincarnation of his dead wife and woos her while leaving a trail of bodies in his path forcing them to stop the prince before she becomes his new bride.This was pretty good and had a lot to like about it.
The first scene goes 180° in regards to the opening, where we see a mixed gay couple making the unfortunate purchase of blacula in his coffin and shipping said coffin to Los Angeles where the entire movie takes place.
Marshall is on a mission to stop the African slave trade, but Charles Macauley who plays the infamous count defends the institution and then he and his vampire minions attack the visiting prince and make him a vampire in a sealed coffin with McGee locked in a sealed tomb.Two centuries go by and a pair of gay and flamboyant antique dealers buy the contents of Dracula's castle and unloose Marshall on 20th century Los Angeles.
However, this film is different in that it really pointed out the excesses of the era.William Marshall played Mamuwalde/Blacula as a proud Black man who was thrust into a world of sex and alcohol and greed.
My wife thinks I am crazy to have watched it several times (as well as the sequel, SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM), but I think it's a silly little trip back to the 70s and a welcome relief from many movies that take themselves way too seriously.The sad thing about these two movies is that William Marshall was a really good actor with a beautiful voice--it's a shame he didn't get more starring opportunities in Hollywood other than this, an episode of Star Trek and a few other odd jobs..
Decent Fun. Blacula (1972) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A racist Count Dracula bites the neck of an African Prince (William Marshall) because he wants to stop slave trading.
The pre-credits opening sequence is terrific and hugely atmospheric, as it involves a flashback set in Transylvania during the year 1780, where the black prince Mamuwalde and his adorable fiancée Luva visit Count Dracula's castle, hoping he'll support them in their quest to end slavery.
William Marshall is an African prince who's turned into a vampire by none other than Dracula in 1780, then placed in a coffin.
Campy and entertaining, Blacula is a clever modernization of the Dracula story with events and characters that largely parallel the classic film adaptations somewhat more closely than Stoker's original novel.
In full boom of the genre Blaxploitation, appeared this new version of the myth of Dracula, represented in the figure of an African prince who invited with his wife by Count Dracula, and who will be converted by this, or rather cursed to be a vampire, an undead for all eternity.Saving his modest media Blacula, is a more than worthy entertainment, quite well posed, putting him as a romantic antihero, whose goal is to recover the lost love in a girl who is the reincarnation of his wife cruelly murdered by Dracula centuries ago.In that aspect Blacula has more to do with the work of Coppola than with the films of the Hammer or the Universal, where the count is the incarnation of evil, without any kind of empathy or affection towards humans, here is a tortured soul and betrayed that seeks justice and redemption.The undervalued William Marshall totally gives the hit as Dracula with his air of seductive and aristocratic, one of the most interesting and charismatic Dracula that has been seen.The photography is excellent, and its rhythm quite well taken without bored at any time.It is curious to see a gay couple appear at the beginning of the film, taking into account the era in which it was shot, it is something of the most unusual, which does nothing but enhance the cult status of this film.
Blacula, as the title suggests, is a variant on the classic Dracula story, only with a black vampire in the lead role.
In any Dracula film, a lot of responsibility for how good it is rests on the shoulders of the man playing Dracula, and while William Marshall was somewhat treading unknown territory; in fairness to all the great Dracula performances, he's a bit of a let down.
I was sorry to hear that the lead actor William Marshall passed away from alzheimers For the time the movie was quite nice and didn't relate to the other films in that genre.
All you have to do is watch one of the Dracula movies that are faithful to the book and imagine that every character is black and you've seen Blacula..
Still, it's a campy film, and I'm sure a number of black comedians from Richard Pryor to Flip Wilson could have provided input on how to make Blacula more unique.Additionally, this is one of the few vampire movies of the time that took place in America.
Bass-voiced and classically-trained William Marshall was perfect for the role of Prince Mamuwalde, who came back after 200 years as Blacula.
Tina's friend, Dr. Gordon (Thalmus Rasulala) and his girlfriend Michelle (Denise Nicholas) soon begin to suspect that the undead are in town and that they must be destroyed.The film is very dated now (Looking at some of the fashions may make you blind), but the saving grace was (And is) the late William Marshall, who gave Blacula some dignity and grace despite his surroundings and ridiculous situations: When he attacks one woman, you swear he's on skates!
Blacula (William Marshal-creator of the M-5 Multitronic system) comes back to life in the United States two hundred years later and does typical vampire stuff.The film wasn't as camp as I thought it would be.
In the opening to this film, William Marshall as Prince Mamuwalde visits Charles Macaulay's impressive Count Dracula about suppressing the slave trade.
I was obsessed with the old film monsters and anything with a vampire was cool with me, especially one like William Marshall's Blacula who was such as classically Gothic vampire, yet modern and hip at the same time.As I'm now in my 30s and have re-watched the movie several times in recent years, I find that the cracks are far outweighing the positives and my opinion of this movie is lessening with each view.For those who haven't seen, it's essentially an update of the Dracula story.
Fortunately although 'Blacula' has moments of cheap B movie exploitation in other regards none of them come in dealing with our main character.This film is so fortunate in having William Marshall in the title role.
With a title like 'Blacula' one would expect this film to play up all the rape aspects of vampirism.
William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Thalmus Rasulala, Denise Nicholas and Charles Macaulay star in this 1972 horror film based on Bram Stoker's character, "Dracula." This begins in 1780 where we meet Count Dracula (Macaulay) who has dinner with African Prince, Mamuwalde and his wife, Luva (McGee).
After a disagreement, Dracula decides to turn Mamuwalde into a vampire like him calling him, Blacula.
At the beginning of the film, we see the first black actor William Marshall who plays the well known blood killer Dracula and his wife being invaded by vampires.
The principle characters were blacks, if there were any whites in the film, they were authority figures and the heavies.Blacula tells the story of an African Prince who is turned into a vampire by Dracula, and his wife dies while he is locked in a coffin. |
tt0170691 | Tigerland | It is September 1971 and it is clear that the US is losing the Vietnam War. In the opinion of the average American soldier who came of age during the Peace movement of the 1960s, Vietnam was "lost a long time ago". Roland Bozz (Colin Farrell), a draftee who is opposed to the war, is shown to be an unruly soldier with no respect for authority; he disobeys orders and talks back to his superiors. He quickly befriends another recruit, Jim Paxton (Matthew Davis), an aspiring writer who records his experiences in a personal journal. Unlike Bozz, Paxton volunteered for the Army. Upon reaching their post, the company commanding officer Captain Saunders makes it clear that every soldier who passes through Fort Polk and Tigerland will be sent to Vietnam. He also states that any political views on the war are irrelevant at this point.
As the film progresses, another side of Bozz is shown. Having "x-ray vision for loopholes", Bozz finds ways for soldiers to get out of the army—one because he not only has children but also a handicapped wife; another soldier, Miter (Clifton Collins Jr.), who joined to prove his manhood but finds himself way over his head. At one point, another soldier approaches Bozz while on leave and asks for help getting out, saying "I was told if you don't wanna go to 'Nam, you either pray to Jesus, or go see Roland Bozz." Bozz also shows his reasoning behind being opposed to the war: his human compassion. Eventually Bozz's natural leadership and ability earns him the title of squad leader (sometimes called acting Jack). Another private, Wilson (Shea Whigham), a racial bigot and instigator, continuously demeans Miter and Bozz. Bozz is the only one that retaliates, which results in a fight between the two. Paxton helps break up the fight and also earns the hatred of Wilson.
Later, while doing live fire exercises, Wilson threatens Bozz with a pistol. Bozz tries to disarm Wilson, and the two wrestle each other to the ground, Wilson getting the upper hand and putting the gun to the back of Bozz's head and pulling the trigger. Miraculously, the gun misfires, saving Bozz's life. The Commanding Officer lets Bozz choose the punishment: have Wilson court-martialed or "let me deal with him", strongly suggesting the latter. Despite the commanding officer strongly pressing to let him deal with it, Bozz says he wants Wilson "out of the army" because he recognizes Wilson has taken an emotional beating ever since his inability to command became obvious. Bozz leaves the office saying he wants Wilson out.
The platoon is sent to "Tigerland", a forested training area designed as the best possible replica of Vietnam. During an exercise, Bozz's squad acts as villagers in a mock Vietnamese village, with one squad member designated as a "VC sympathizer". They compete with another squad charged with rooting out the sympathizer. This other squad is led by Wilson, who was not kicked out of the army after all. As the exercise ends with Bozz's squad "winning", Wilson tells Bozz he will kill him no matter what it takes. Soon thereafter, Bozz is about ready to make an escape to Mexico with the aid of some civilians he has paid. Platoon member Johnson (Russell Richardson) sees him and tells him to stop; Johnson tells him if he runs away, Wilson will go after Paxton instead of Bozz and he will be responsible for his friend's death. The scene ends with Bozz apparently climbing into the van, but the next morning as the platoon falls in, Bozz comes back, acting as if he had merely gone off to urinate.
During the last training exercise, Bozz's squad and Wilson's squad are pitted against each other on patrolling missions. As Wilson's squad prepares for an attack, he replaces his blank cartridges with live ammunition and removes his blank-firing adaptor. As Bozz's squad nears, he opens fire. Though he does not hit anyone, it is obvious he is using live ammunition, and the trainer for the exercise tries to intervene. As he does, Bozz is standing above Paxton and deliberately fires a blank round with his rifle muzzle near Paxton's face, the flash wounding Paxton's eye. The trainer aims a pistol at Wilson's head to get him to hold his weapon up and surrender, telling him he will be court-martialed.
At the end of the film, the entire platoon gets ready to head to Vietnam, except Paxton whose eye injury, though not permanent, has earned him a medical discharge. Bozz and the others board a bus, and he and Paxton exchange farewells through a window. Paxton tells Bozz he is going to write about him, but Bozz says he won't. He has stolen Paxton's journal and rips out pages as the platoon's bus drives off, leaving Paxton scrambling to recover them. Bozz tosses the journal as the bus speeds away.
Paxton then is told that Bozz died in Vietnam but he was never listed, others say he just disappeared, but another soldier calls Paxton and says that he thinks he saw Bozz three years ago in Mexico with a beautiful woman. | violence, cruelty, storytelling | train | wikipedia | But the point the film is making is that many, if not most, of the young guys drafted into the army in the late 60s and early 70s absolutely did not want, or deserve, to be there.Roland Bozz is one of those young men.
However, his actions do not just affect him and he starts to change his ways slightly, but the stresses and the potential for death in Vietnam push all the men to breaking point.Sold as a war movie, this film is more like the first half of Full Metal Jacket than a full on war movie set in a combat zone.
Outside of him, everyone plays well but are generally in their various stereotypes; aside from Farrell, Collins is the standout role - too often seen playing gang bangers and such on TV cops shows, he delivers a solid character and presents a believable breakdown over the course of the film.Keeping my habit of never paying to see an Schumacher film since Batman & Robin took the last faith in his talent, I waited for this to come onto TV.
TIGERLAND Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: Dolby DigitalLouisiana, 1971: During basic training, a rebellious army conscript (Colin Farrell) causes dissension within the ranks.Given Joel Schumacher's reputation as a schlockmeister par excellence, most critics were caught off-guard by this low-budget drama, filmed without any of the frills and fripperies normally associated with Hollywood blockbusters, and headlined by little more than obscure (but hugely experienced) character actors and talented newcomers, including Farrell, whose bravura performance launched him to international stardom.
Far removed from the extravagant Vietnam-operas favored by Francis Ford Coppola and Oliver Stone, Schumacher's film examines the contradictions of war and the dehumanizing effect of combat on ordinary men through the experiences of Farrell's anti-hero, a compassionate man who despises the self-serving patriotic nonsense peddled by his superiors, and who refuses to compromise his own ideals, despite the sometimes painful repercussions of his disobedience.Though backed by a major studio, TIGERLAND has the look and feel of a low-budget indie production, using hand-held camera-work and grainy film-stock for documentary effect, and this uncompromising 'Dogme'-like approach allows Schumacher to focus his attention on the characters and their situation rather than the pyrotechnics which usually dominate such movies.
Set circa 1971 Louisiana in a special Army training camp for new recruits prior to shipment in the ongoing war and told in flashback by one of the survivors the film centers its bare bones plot around the able shoulders of Irish newcomer Farrell in a potential star-making turn as Private Roland Bozz (think 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' in fatigues and you get the overall impression), a feckless troublemaker of his platoon whose antics have a method to his madness: keeping yourself alive despite the odds.
It focuses on two men--Booz (Colin Farrell) and Paxton (Matthew Davis)...how they meet, become friends and deal with a corwardly squadron leader (Clifton Collins Jr.) and a borderline psycho (Shea Wingham).A surprisingly non-commercial film directed by Joel Schumacher.
TIGERLAND / (2000) ***1/2 (out of four)By Blake French: Throughout the years audiences have seen and understood war films with every point of view possible, and somehow producers and writers always come up with new and innovative methods of portraying various soldiers on the battlefield.
Joel Schumacher ("8MM," "A Time to Kill"), easily one of the riskiest directors currently working, has found resemblance with "The Thin Red Line" in the way his new drama "Tigerland" steps in an individual soldier's shoes.
I am sure some of them are, but the movie views its uncompromising world through the eyes of a young man named Roland Bozz (Colin Farrell), who is rebellious against the ideas of war.
Not for a single moment does "Tigerland" know weather it wants to be an anti-Vietnam movie in particular or an anti-war movie in general or a study on the effects of harsh, often even inhuman military training on young, unsuspecting males or a melodramatic comedy or a buddy movie or a too-clever-for-its-own-good-remake of Walter Hill´s masterpiece "Southern Comfort" (1981).
The longer the movie is running the more does it back my suspicion that for box-office-reasons Mr. Schumacher secretly wants his audience to root for "Tigerland"´s hero because of his warrior´s abilities and not because of his contrasting, alas half-hearted tries to desert the army.
The film itself does NOT actually go to Vietnam.The whole character of Roland Bozz (memorably played by Colin Farrell) is utterly intriguing.
While TIGERLAND's plot is quite gripping, it's essentially a character-driven film in the end, and the exemplary acting by just about everyone is what makes it such a success.I've noticed some other reviewers'--some of whom actually trained at Fork Polk during the Vietnam years--objections to TIGERLAND's depiction of the U.S. Army, particularly in regards to its training methods and employment of borderline-psychotic instructors.
Directed by Joel Schumacher, Tigerland stars Colin Farrell as Private Roland Bozz, a reluctant recruit to the war effort who upsets his superiors by having a canny knack for exploiting loop holes in the rule book.
Helped enormously by Klavan drawing on his real life experiences in the army, Tigerland doesn't hurtle towards its climax (a climax that is understated and poignant), it takes its time, characters are formed and with the then unknown Farrell on stupendously bewitching form, it's as engaging as a Vietnam film gets.
A forgotten film and a war film with no actual war in it, Michael Schumacher's criminally underrated and vastly underseen gem is one of the eclectic filmmaker's best feature films and the film that launched its then relatively unknown star Colin Farrell into the Hollywood scene.Released to solid reviews but a paltry box office run in 2000, Tigerland is a fictionalised account of the Louisiana based army training camp of the same name that operated in the 1960's/early 70's to get American soldiers ready to not only make it in the US Army but to survive the harsh, unrelenting and life and death surroundings of the increasingly hated Vietnam war.Focussing its attention on a small core of raggedy wannabe soldiers that includes Farrell's disruptive and calculating Roland Bozz, Matthew Davis's thoughtful Jim Paxton, Clifton Collins Jr's on edge Pvt. Miter and Shea Whigham's unhinged Pvt. Wilson, Schumacher's film doesn't feel dissimilar to one long extended take on the beginnings of Full Metal Jacket but it carves out its own unique slice of war pie and becomes a totally unique and quietly moving study on the Vietnam war and those that inhabited it.It's a brave move by Schumacher to eschew going to the muddy battlegrounds of Vietnam but it pays dividends for Tigerland's fortunes.Filmed in a grainy, documentary like style with 16mm cameras, Tigerland feels like a genuine product of the era and there's very little cinematic flair to the film which is unusual for Schumacher who has found his greatest successes with over the top productions and big budget events.
With a realistic feel, Tigerland's power to portray war away from the actual gunfights of Vietnam is impressive as these man all begin to understand themselves and come to realise what they really want, whether it's to fight or flee.Farrell's character of Roland Bozz is also one of the more memorable creations in the war genre of cinema.
A man who could clearly be the type of one-eyed American pride soldier the Army is seeking but instead becomes a constant nuisance, refusing to give in to a war he doesn't believe in and a cause he can't get behind, it's a transfixing performance by Farrell and Bozz is a character that will continue to surprise for the entirety of the running time.Overall Tigerland features a hugely impressive ensemble of actors and will likely remain one of Schumacher's most impressive feats as a director of actors and a restrained yet powerful piece of the filmmakers varying catalogue of feature films.Final Say - A war film with a truly identifiable difference, Tigerland is easily one of Schumacher's best films and actor Colin Farrell's finest moment in front of camera, a turn he slowly seems to be inching towards once more with his recent works.
This will culminate in a visit to the infamous 'Tigerland', an area made to look and feel like Viet Nam. One soldier, Pvt. Roland Bozz, doesn't want to be there and he tries everything he can to get himself discharged, but the Army won't budge.
Good performances all round, particularly from; Colin Farrell as Bozz, Matthew Davis as Paxton, Clifton Collins Jr. as Miter, Tom Guiry as Cantwell and Shea Whigham as Wilson.As I said at the beginning, I have seen this film before, but I really couldn't remember much about it.
Joel Schumacher's 'Tigerland' follows the standard template, we see men treated like dirt but emerging as soldiers, with a degree of mutual respect for their commanding officers, and judgement is reserved on whether such an extreme process can be considered justified; as is judgement of the merits of the war for which they are being trained (typically, as here, Vietnam).
Not mine, of course, but nevertheless a maxim that seems especially relevant in these times of fighting first and seeking answers to the important questions later.I like that Colin Farrell as 'Bozz' is not necessarily an anti-hero in the "Catcher-in-the-Rye" style sense; or a character who's too strong for his own movie (it belongs to a few other notables just as much as he).
If you want to watch a movie and feel good about watching it, then Tigerland is the film for you.
When this film was released at the cinema in the U.k. I heard lots of complaints because it was at very few cinemas, what I was not that fussed about at the time because I didn't know to much about the film.But with the many positive reviews I read in many film magazines I decided to buy it when it was released on DvD at my local film store.So that night when I sent down to watch it I was completely fixed on my television screen because of the great storyline and great characters that you hated, liked and felt sorry for.This film really showed the horror of war and this was before they had got to Vietnam yet.The best character in the film has to be Private Roland Bozz(Colin Farrell) who took all of your attention every time he was on screen which make sense as he was the main character, and who would of thought the actor from the BallyKissAngel would ever get this big.But all of the actors who played the young recruits were very good and also the high ranking soldiers were great also with some of them really making you hate them conpletely, and that most be great for an actor who is playing that sort of charactor because it shows they have played them well.THis sort of film makes you not want to join the army and it also shows you what a war can do to people in these emotional and stressful times.So Tigerland is one of them films that you wish people took more interest in when it was at the cinema because it deserved it.Even if the director of Batman & Robin was directing it, he has completely redeemed himself in my eye.Rent it now or buy it you will not regret it8/10.
Acting is good - though I don't think the Bozz-character would've got away with a thing like this in real life, the story still feels very real..
"Just released from the base stockade, recruit Roland Bozz (Colin Farrell) joins a platoon of young soldiers preparing to ship out to Vietnam.
But when the platoon is sent to Tigerland, a hellish training ground that is the last stop before Vietnam, Bozz's leadership and loyalty brings his men together - triggering extraordinary consequences," according to the film's official synopsis.Mr. Farrell won a "Best Actor" award from the Boston Film Critics; and, the film's characterizations are a strength.
Training for Viet Nam. Colin Farrell stars in a film by Joel Schumacher.
Most interesting is the complexity of the lead character "Bozz" (played by Farrell) who looks for trouble, causes lots of friction, brings excessive problems upon himself, yet manages to get many of the men behind him in a time when that war was no longer a "gung ho" effort.
And of course, we have the overzealous, on the edge soldier who just wants to kill Charlie.Colin Farrell's performance is good as Bozz, but I can't help notice that his Irish accent steps in ocassionally in every movie I've seen him in.
Tigerland at least uses a fairly innovative setting (a training camp in the US rather than the actual war theatre -- which had the nice side effect of making it a fairly inexpensive movie to make, and which spared me the usual "Argh!
Takatakataka"-battle scenes), but any attempts to deliver new insights are stunted by director Joel Schumacher who instead prefers to go for a visual celebration of hunkiness coupled with wobbly hand-camera / digital video visuals.One particular scene that stuck to my mind, if only for it's unabashed campness, is when the film's lead buddies hang out together after they have just had sex with two nightclub floozies (like in all Vietnam movies, when the soldiers are not being yelled at by sadistic drill sergeants or engaging in battle scenes with more fireworks than July 4.th, they're instantly having sex with whorish women).
Tigerland has been created by the military to mimic the Vietnamese conditions and surroundings that the soldiers will experience - so it is kind of like a dry run, if you will, but it is no walk in the park, that's for sure!Colin Farrell is amazing in this film and is supported by a decent cast of unknowns.
The film actually reminds me a little of Full Metal Jacket, which certainly isn't a bad thing.I strongly urge you to watch this film at your next available opportunity, even if you don't like war movies - the film is more of a study of human nature - the war just provides a kind of backdrop for the well-written and well-acted story..
But Schumacher makes this work to his advantage (he usually makes his best movies,when he takes chances and tries something out of the ordinary) and,in blissful cooperation with Farrel, gives a very interesting look into the minds of young men pondering issues such as death and honor in the face of combat.
Colin Farrell, in his first American film, gives a wonderful performance.This is not a very long movie, unlike other Vietnam War epics, and the concentration on mainly character development and not on action means it's not for die-hard action fans.
He can flat out act.Tigerland may be the best Vietnam movie I've ever seen, even better than FULL METAL JACKET or PLATOON..
Tigerland is a film that starts off like most other army training type movies and turns into a very watchable and intelligent movie that is very well acted and leaves you will that thought of " wow , that was good" which in my opinion is the mark of a good film.
Joel Schumacher's "Tigerland" is indeed such a film.With a bravura debut by Irish actor Colin Farrell, Farrell plays Pvt. Bozz, a troublemaking soldier who has a method to his madness.
Director Joel Schumacher has given us a gripping, raw war movie about a group of army soldiers and their experiences on their last stop before being shipped over to Vietnam.
Although not a huge fan of war films, I thoroughly enjoyed this welcome return to form from Joel Schumacher.The photography and performances are excellent throughout and Colin Farrell is superb as the reluctant trainee Bozz.
The hidden star of Tigerland is the Vietnam war itself which, although never shown, overshadows events with a brooding presence you can actually feel.The film isn't without it's flaws (some of the characters and dialogue are stereotypical boot-camp stuff) but the most pleasing thing is that Joel is obviously prepared to take risks and not attempt an easy route back into favour.
Even when, in a postmodern moment, the cliches are acknowledged within the film by the main character, you always know what's coming, who's gonna fight, and when the big climax will occur.And so, in that sense, this movie was a disappointment.But the acting was great, the camera work was intense, the music was effective, and I enjoyed myself.
Just when you thought you'd had enough of Vietnam movies, comes Tigerland, a refreshingly poignant coming-of-age film that follows a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears Army recruits in the days before they're to be shipped off to war.Joel Schumacher recovers nicely from the car wreck otherwise known as Batman & Robin, invoking subtle performances from a cast of unknowns, led by the magnetic Colin Farrell as Private Bozz, a ne'er-do-well whose motives become clear as the movie unfolds.
Director Joel Schumacher used a hand held camera to film the movie and how he handles the direction is terrific.
I wasn't expecting the highest calibre of film-making with Joel Schumacher directing this one, so I was surprised that TIGERLAND wasn't a complete waste of time.In technique, it's often derivative of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN with the shaky camera work, grainy shots, the film occasionally running like it's skipping a sprocket---all those techniques Speilberg used to make his film seem more realistic but in the end was more distracting than anything else.But unlike SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the emotional component wasn't as weak, as the characters in this film seemed more like real people and the story less contrived, not so wrapped up in the American flag (Speilberg gets an 'F' in subtlety).Next to the first section of Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET, this is the most realistic portrayal of boot camp that I have seen in a film, and for that I think it's worth watching.It's not a great film, but neither is it a bad film.. |
tt0120694 | Halloween H20: 20 Years Later | Marion Whittington (Nancy Stephens)--formerly Marion Chambers--returns home to find that her house has been broken into. She goes to her neighbors and phones the police, but her teenage neighbor insists on investigating her house. After getting the all-clear, Marion goes in and finds that her office has been ransacked; she was responsible for taking care of Dr. Sam Loomis, now deceased, and she discovers that the file she kept on Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has been stolen. Marion feels as if she's not alone in the house. Rushing next door, she finds her teenage neighbors murdered, and Michael Myers appears, wearing a trademark white mask. Michael stalks and kills Marion, then gets into a car and drives off just as the police arrive to investigate the break-in, discovering the bodies.Laurie has relocated to California. She is now known as Keri Tate, headmistress of a small private prep school. Laurie has a teenage son named John (Josh Hartnett), and the two of them live on campus with the rest of the students. Laurie still struggles with the events of Halloween night 1978, when Michael Myers stalked her and killed those around her. As a means to escape her past, she faked her death and has been living under her assumed identity of Keri ever since. Her past trauma, as well as the stress of living under false pretense, has turned her into a functioning alcoholic. She is also heavily dependent on medication for her emotional condition.Laurie has a secretary named Norma (Janet Leigh) who dotes on her like a parent, and notices how Laurie gets particularly shaken around Halloween. Laurie's boyfriend, Will Brennan (Adam Arkin) is a guidance counselor at the school, and the two of them share a semi-discreet relationship. But Laurie's relationship with John is becoming strained; she is overprotective of him and refuses to allow him much freedom. He is to stay within the locked school grounds at all times, and she denies him the right to attend an annual school camping trip to Yosemite, which is on Halloween. John's girlfriend Molly (Michelle Williams) also stays behind due to some problems with her tuition. Their friends Charlie (Adam Hann-Byrd) and Sarah (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) also fabricate reasons to stay behind so that the four of them can celebrate Halloween together on the near-deserted campus. John and Charlie convince the school's security guard, Ronny (LL Cool J) to open the gate and let them out so that they can walk into town and shoplift a bottle of wine for their party.Laurie meets Will for lunch in town and opens up to him a little, acknowledging that she's been unable to deal with something in her past. While he's in the men's room, Laurie chugs her glass of wine and orders another, hurrying the waiter so that Will won't realize she's had two instead of just one.On her way back to the school, Laurie sees John and Charlie walking down the street and becomes enraged that John has left the school grounds. John also gets angry at Laurie, asserting himself and telling Laurie that she needs to accept the fact that Michael Myers is dead. Laurie drives Charlie and John back to school and scolds Ronny for allowing the boys to get out.Meanwhile, Michael Myers has arrived at the school. He follows Laurie downtown and lurks outside the school later, staring in at Molly as she sits in Laurie's literature class. Laurie addresses the students before they leave for Yosemite and lectures them to be on their best behavior. Afterwards she surprises John by telling him she's changed her mind and she will allow him to go with the others. Since he has already made plans with Molly, Charlie and Sarah, he stays behind anyway without Laurie's knowledge.That night, Michael Myers slips onto the grounds of the school by distracting Ronny at the gate. Ronny is unharmed but knows something is wrong. John and his friends get ready to eat dinner together when Charlie goes off in search of a corkscrew. Sarah follows him, and they are both murdered by Michael Myers.Will and Laurie carve a pumpkin together and Laurie tells him that she is not Keri Tate and that her real name is Laurie Strode. Will thinks she is joking when she tells him that her brother killed her sister with a kitchen knife, and that years later he came after her. Will eventually realizes she's telling the truth and wonders how old Laurie was at the time. She tells him she was 17, then suddenly realizes that John has just turned 17 as well. Her sense of panic sets in and she tries to call John; the phones are dead. She immediately goes to her bedroom and retrieves a gun, discovering John's camping gear in his closet; she now knows John never left for Yosemite. Ronny appears at the front door and tells them that there is a strange car parked in the driveway. They decide to search for John and the others.Meanwhile, John and Molly get restless and search for Charlie and Sarah, finding Sarah's body hanging from a light fixture. Michael Myers appears and gives chase, and they flee back to John's residence. Myers corners them in a doorway blocked by a gate. Laurie and Will open the door and let the kids inside just barely in time before Myers can get inside the gate; Laurie and Michael stare at each other momentarily through the door's tiny window. Before Laurie can get her gun, Myers disappears.Laurie puts John and Molly in a room and locks it, while she and Will look for Myers in the hallway. Will sees a shadow and thinks it is Myers, grabbing Laurie's gun and shooting. It is really Ronny; Will has shot him in the head. As they panic about the mistake, Myers appears and stabs Will to death, chasing Laurie down the hallway. She hits him over the head with a fire extinguisher and runs off with John and Molly. They make it to their vehicle and Laurie drives off to the front gate.Before she drives off, Laurie has a sudden moment of revelation. Instead of running, she sends John and Molly off and closes the gate behind them, breaking the mechanism that opens it. She then grabs a fire axe and sets out looking for Michael. She finds him back in the school and the two of them stalk each other, wounding each other with the axe and various knives. Finally Laurie stabs Michael several times in the chest, sending him hurtling over a balcony into the mess hall. He seems dead, but Laurie knows better.Help arrives at the school; John and Molly have sent the police. Ronny is alive, the bullet having just grazed his head. Laurie's wounds have been bandaged, and she sees the coroner carrying Michael's body on a stretcher. She knows ultimately he will return, and that she must make sure he's dead once and for all, so she steals a policeman's gun and forces the medics at gunpoint to load Michael into a nearby van. Laurie takes off at high speed.While she drives down the mountainous road, Myers begins to reanimate and pulls himself out of the body bag. Laurie slams on the brakes and sends him through the windshield, driving into him with the van. The van plunges over the hillside and both Laurie and Michael are thrown from it. Michael gets the worst of the deal; the van slams into his body and pins it against a fallen tree. Laurie finds the fire axe and approaches Michael, who is still alive, but helpless. She calls to him and he looks up at her, mute but seemingly asking her for help. Laurie reaches out for him, their fingertips touching briefly, and she feels pity for Michael. Suddenly her rage wells up inside her, and she decapitates Michael with a single blow. | murder, cult, horror, violence, good versus evil, insanity | train | imdb | It proved that not only could horror be widely appealing at the hands of gifted writers and quality filmmakers, but also showed that the old tropes and clichés could be "hip" and "cool" again when handled with care and a degree of nostalgic love.So, it should come as no shock that after the colossal misfire that was the previous film ("The Curse of Michael Myers"), the "Halloween" series got a new lease on life with a post-"Scream" sensibility in this 1998 release- "Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later." A minor degree of self-awareness, a focus on modern teenage and young adult culture and a fun blast from the past by way of original star Jamie Lee Curtis made the series relevant and modern in a way that both worked to re-invigorate interest and also pay homage to the series origins.The film was lovingly crafted to serve as a book-end to the original, cleverly taking advantage of being released on the twentieth anniversary of the John Carpenter classic as part of it's schtick.
And a "Halloween" that honored the long- beloved roots of the series.Directed by Steve Miner, the film revolves around Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode, now living as a teacher under a false name.
But when her brother comes calling, the stakes are set for a final and apocalyptic battle from which only one can emerge alive.The success of the film really falls onto its clear adoration of the original and the desire to "evolve" and "complete" the story that it started in a new and fresh way.
Whereas prior sequels truly did feel like they were simply trying to re-create the magic of the original to increasingly diminishing results, "H20" actually has the guts to say "No, the best way to pay tribute to the origin of the series is to make homage and continue the story, but allow it to change with the times." A huge part of that is the result of that late-90's self-aware mindset popularized by other films, and I think it works wonders.
it's already a fairly short film, and it rushes a bit too much for everything to really set in.Still, those flaws being stated, I can't help but feel that for my money, this is the best of the "Halloween" sequels.
The notable feature here is the return of Laurie Strode, Jamie Lee Curtis making a comeback in a very different, commanding turn as the character she started out as so many years before.
I'm not saying I hate Season Of The Witch,I loved it,it's just that if you think about it,this is the real Halloween III.First,the good,Jamie Lee Curtis,her character is well written and well acted,this movie is the perfect closure for her,and it's even cooler that this movie was all her idea.The kills are cool,and there is still some good suspenseful scenes.The acting is good,and I like all the horror movie references.My last and biggest pro,the ending,it was perfect and unexpected.Now,the cons,I think that the movie feels a bit too dated,it could have been a bit longer,and there isn't enough Michael.My last con,is the fact that the previous three movies are completely ignored!That means that so many fans were just left out.Otherwise,Halloween H2O is a fun movie that should have been slower..
With Williamson in an unacknowledged, co-producer role, H20 added a bit of hip teen class to the Halloween series, with Dawson Creek's Michelle Williams, Jodi Lynn O'Keefe, and the debut of Josh Hartnett heading the cast along with scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis.
HALLOWEEN H2O: 20 YEARS LATER is the seventh picture in the Michael Myers film franchise and it is directed by Steve Miner.This film is a direct sequel to both the 1978 original and the 1981 sequel, HALLOWEEN II and set in an alternate timeline in which the events that transpired in HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS, HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS and HALLOWEEN 6: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS never occurred (rendering those films non-canon).Set 20 years after the events of the first film, H20 centers on a post-traumatic Laurie Strode living in fear of her murderous brother, Michael Myers, who attempted to kill her all those years ago.When Michael eventually appears, Laurie must face evil one last time, while the life of her teenage son hangs in the balance.The story is amazing and it was developed and created by Robert Zappia.
HALLOWEEN H2O: 20 YEARS LATER is the seventh picture in the Michael Myers film franchise and it is directed by Steve Miner.This film is a direct sequel to both the 1978 original and the 1981 sequel, HALLOWEEN II and set in an alternate timeline in which the events that transpired in HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS, HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS and HALLOWEEN 6: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS never occurred (rendering those films non-canon).Set 20 years after the events of the first film, H20 centers on a post-traumatic Laurie Strode living in fear of her murderous brother, Michael Myers, who attempted to kill her all those years ago.When Michael eventually appears, Laurie must face evil one last time, while the life of her teenage son hangs in the balance.The story is amazing and it was developed and created by Robert Zappia.
He created a darn good story and it was spectacular to put on screen.The screenplay is written by Robbert Zappia and Matt Greenberg and the script I am giving a lot of praise, because the dialogue, action and violence is so intense and so great that the performances are really good in this flick.Another thing I will give praise to is the direction of Steve Miner and he does a really amazing job with this feature film and he was so fantastic and he was also the perfect choice to direct Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and the film just really shines in every single sequence.The acting is getting credit to and this goes to Jamie Lee Curtis and Josh Harnett in his first feature film debut and they had great chemistry and they both did an amazing job in the film.LL Cool J is not bad as Ronnie, but he could have been a hell of a lot worse.
He created a darn good story and it was spectacular to put on screen.The screenplay is written by Robbert Zappia and Matt Greenberg and the script I am giving a lot of praise, because the dialogue, action and violence is so intense and so great that the performances are really good in this flick.Another thing I will give praise to is the direction of Steve Miner and he does a really amazing job with this feature film and he was so fantastic and he was also the perfect choice to direct Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and the film just really shines in every single sequence.The acting is getting credit to and this goes to Jamie Lee Curtis and Josh Harnett in his first feature film debut and they had great chemistry and they both did an amazing job in the film.LL Cool J is not bad as Ronnie, but he could have been a hell of a lot worse.
Michelle Williams was also amazing in this film and she does a good job.Chris Durand as Michael Myers, he is just spectacular in the role and he is much better than all of the other Michael Myers before him and while not the best, but considering the shoes he had to fill, he could have been a hell of a lot worse.The only criticism is the short run time and the film should have been at least an hour and 54 minutes long, but the short run time works for this movie and I think that is enjoyable for me.
Michelle Williams was also amazing in this film and she does a good job.Chris Durand as Michael Myers, he is just spectacular in the role and he is much better than all of the other Michael Myers before him and while not the best, but considering the shoes he had to fill, he could have been a hell of a lot worse.The only criticism is the short run time and the film should have been at least an hour and 54 minutes long, but the short run time works for this movie and I think that is enjoyable for me.
The music by John Ottman is good, but they used some of Marco Beltrami's score from Scream, which was released two years before HALLOWEEN H20 and this had John Ottman outraged, on a positive note, I love his version of the HALLOWEEN theme and it is really great with the orchestra.Overall, HALLOWEEN H20: 20 YEARS LATER does everything right, but the only flaw I have is the short run time, they could have made it longer, but they did not wanted to.This movie is an ABSOLUTE CAN'T MISS SPECTACULAR SMASH HIT, 10/10..
The music by John Ottman is good, but they used some of Marco Beltrami's score from Scream, which was released two years before HALLOWEEN H20 and this had John Ottman outraged, on a positive note, I love his version of the HALLOWEEN theme and it is really great with the orchestra.Overall, HALLOWEEN H20: 20 YEARS LATER does everything right, but the only flaw I have is the short run time, they could have made it longer, but they did not wanted to.This movie is an ABSOLUTE CAN'T MISS SPECTACULAR SMASH HIT, 10/10..
In 1998, with Wes Craven's 2 "Scream" films maintaining the public interest to great financial success, Dimension decided to put their acquisition of the "Halloween" franchise to good use (especially after the atrocious "Curse of Michael Myers") by making a sequel to end all sequels (at least until the atrocious "Halloween: Resurrection" turded up multiplexes).In addition to being one of the most instantly-recognizable titles in all of horror, "Halloween: H20" came to screens with an added incentive: it marked the series return of original protagonist/victim Laurie Strode (played with cat-like veracity by Jamie Lee Curtis).
"Halloween H20:20 Years Later" made by Steve Miner("House",the second and the third part of "Friday the 13th" series)is quite good,especially if you liked John Carpenter's classic "Halloween".The film disregards Parts 4-6,which is not necessarily a bad thing.Luckily it has plenty of suspense,and a good amount of scares-especially the prologue is quite terrifying.There is only a little bit of gore,so gorehounds will be disappointed.Jamie Lee Curtis is pretty good as a Laurie Strode,but the other characters played by the supporting cast are shallow and empty.The score by Marco Beltrami sounds exactly like the one from "Scream" and this is surely big mistake.All in all I enjoyed this one and you should too if you are a fan of "Halloween" series.7 out of 10-a solid horror flick!.
Possibly since we see two teenage girls watching a clip from SCREAM on TV so make up your own mind and it's good to see a horror film with some lighter moments which come from a performance by LL Cool J as a cop while at the same time the humour never becomes OTT By no means a classic example of cinema H20 is a fairly impressive movie for what it is - Yet another sequel in a horror franchise but one that kept this sometimes demanding viewer entertained.
This seventh entry in the wonderfully eerie Halloween series brings back a familiar face in Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), and continues Michael Myers' killing spree on the dreaded holiday.
It's also great to see Laurie again after all these years, and watching her fight Michael again brought back lots of memories from the original films.
The End. Taking place 20 years after the second film, and pretending the other sequels never happened, the Halloween series has come to an end.
but not all of it.What makes Halloween 7 a worthwhile story and a good watch is the fact that Laurie Strode/Keri Tate (Jamie Lee Curtis) is back in the storyline.
It doesn't come close to succeeding, but it does manage to become, in my opinion, the second best of the series, though that's pretty faint praise.There are some creepy scenes early on in this film (the one in the deserted rest stop bathroom, most notably), but this movie really exists for the sole purpose of having Jamie Lee Curtis kick Michael Myers's ass, and the catharsis in watching her do so is worth the price of admission.
But when Laurie Strode takes matters into her own hands and comes after Michael with guns blazing (so to speak), hold on to yourselves--violent tendencies seem to run in this family.The producers of this movie use a bigger budget to add some modern "scary" sound effects for atmosphere and fill out John Carpenter's original score with a sweeping orchestra--it's like John Williams' version of the Halloween theme.
The cast is uniformly excellent, but this one is all about Jamie Lee Curtis as original heroine Laurie Strode, who walks away with the movie thanks to a strong, effective and commanding lead performance.
The fact that they decided to make a Halloween 2 irks me a bit, but Halloween H20 was so good as a sequel and as a horror film that it more than makes up for it by concluding what I and other fans like to refer to as the "Halloween Trilogy" (Halloween, H2, and Halloween H20) or the "Laurie Strode Trilogy".
This might not be the scariest of all Halloween movies but it sure is the most fun filled and action packed of the lot.Jamie Lee Curtis finally returns as Laurie Strode the sister of the unstoppable serial killer Michael Myers and she does some serious butt kicking.She is one badass woman Michael Myers shouldn't have messed with I'll tell you that.The cast is pretty decent too...Josh Hartnett would be my pick next to Jamie Lee Curtis.I got my money's worth although I expected something completely different,I rather enjoyed the pleasant little surprise this had to offer instead.Some cool kills,great laughs,real kickass action and suspense....Great entertainment overall.My Rating-7.5/10.
this is what i call horror!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and so disgusting,bloody,painful...i love every second of this film.the theme songs.it's so dark i've seen this film like 300 times!!!i love the way Michael Myers acted in that film.best sequel of all Halloween's movies best teen movies and sexy.
I liked the way Jamie Lee acted in this movie and the fact that Laurie Strode came back in the series.
Jamie Lee Curtis had seen Scream, and realizing that Halloween was approaching it's twentieth anniversary, she approached it's writer to help her develop a new Halloween film starring Laurie Strode.
And of course, Michael Myers comes after her and her son.Right away H20 recreates the mood and tension that the first Halloween film was so good at.
Even though H20 is a little gorier than the original, it mimics it's style perfectly and makes for a very fun and scary ride.Unlike some of the previous Halloween films, especially the sixth one, H20 got Michael Myers right.
To this day it's still one of the freakiest films personally seen and introduced the world to one of horror's most iconic villainous characters Michael Myers.Which is why it is such a shame that not only are all of the sequels nowhere near as good but that the decline in quality is so drastic.
Of the sequels, 'Halloween H20: 20 Years Later' is by quite some way the best acted, Jamie Lee Curtis' wonderful performance being the film's best asset.In summary, the best of the sequels/follow ups and worth the wait.
Halloween H20 is the best Halloween movie in the series, there is once again a sequel that is better than the original, it has a better story line than all of the Halloween movies put together, there is a star studded cast, with LL Cool J from In the House,Michelle Williams from Dawsons Creek and Jamie Lee Curtis from near enough every decent horror film out.Now with all these successful movie stars in one of the most successful movies in the 90`s it is pretty obvious that this Movie will be a huge success, perhaps the greatest horror since Halloween the original.Now there is,unlike most Halloween movies, a very good story line,......
Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode/Keri Tate and her crazy brother Micheal Meyers is back to terrorize her,for another Halloween.Hot young talent Josh Hartnett makes his impressive acting debut as John Tate,the rebellious 17 year old son of Curtis who is sick to death of living under his tortured mother's thumb and yearns for independence.The fact that he is the nephew of a psychotic killer doesn't phase him.Dawson's Creek actress Michelle Williams performs decently enough as Molly Cartwell,Hartnett's intelligent girlfriend,who soon learns her boyfriend's family secret.
Anyway, the movie reunites Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, and her brother Michael Myers.
This being the first of the Halloween films that I've been able to see at the cinema because of the fact that the movies have been in straight to video hell here in England for years.This film I like more than the others even the first one though it is probably because this is the first time I've been able to see Michael Myers hack his way through the big screen.The movie isn't perfect and you can see that more than one mask was used at one point which could have ruined the film for me if it wasn't for the great ending.Jamie Lee is good as the battling old person who finally stops her brother and hopefully they will leave the series alone now and finish it on a high, a really good creepy film though one or two more scares and a longer running time would have made it better..
Overall this is a GREAT horror film - the first Halloween remains the best but as far as sequels, and especially endings to a long-running series, you couldn't ask for anything better. |
tt0876563 | Gake no ue no Ponyo | Deep under the surface of the ocean, a sea-wizard named Fujimoto (English: Liam Neeson Japanese: George Tokoro) stands at the bow of his submersible, surrounded by an air bubble and an assortment of sea creatures. They swim circles around him as he pours magic potions into the water. Out of a side porthole, a red goldfish peeks out, making sure not to be seen, before waving goodbye to her smaller siblings and swimming off to join a school of jellyfish. She rests on top of one, domed by another, as they float towards the surface and far from her home.When she wakes up, she finds herself in the harbor of a seaside town, Tomonoura. When a large bottom trawler comes towards her, the goldfish swims away from the jellyfish in an attempt to escape but is quickly pulled into the mess of garbage and debris that the trawler picks up in its net. She becomes trapped within a glass jar but manages to escape the net and make it towards shallow water. Meanwhile, a young boy named Sosuke (English: Frankie Jonas Japanese: Hiroki Doi) runs down the hillside path from his home to the water's edge to play with his toy boat. There, he notices the goldfish stuck in the jar and breaks her out of it, though cutting his thumb in the process. As he holds the seemingly lifeless fish in his hands, she licks his wound clean. Happy that she's alive, the boy takes her back up the hill as a series of strange waves come in and reach for him. The waves return to deeper water where Fujimoto is waiting. He is horrified to hear from them that the goldfish, his daughter, has been taken by a human.Sosuke puts the goldfish, which he names Ponyo (English: Noah Lindsey Cyrus Japanese: Yuria Nara), in a bucket full of water and brings her with him to the car where his mother, Lisa (English: Tina Fey Japanese: Tomoko Yamaguchi), is waiting to take him to school. Just before she gets in, she notices Fujimoto crossing her yard with a portable pump on his back. She scolds him for spraying what she thinks is fertilizer, though he attests it's merely pure ocean water to keep him from drying out on land, before driving off. Lisa drops Sosuke off at school before going to work at the nursing home next door. Sosuke hides Ponyo's bucket in the bushes but his secrecy doesn't go unnoticed. Kumiko (English: Jennessa Rose Japanese: Eimi Hiraoka), a classmate, asks to see what he's hiding but snubs her nose when shown Ponyo, calling her a boring fish. Ponyo squirts water into Kumiko's face and she begins to cry. Startled, Sosuke goes through the side fence and meets with a few senior citizens sitting outside. While some, like Yoshie (English: Betty White Japanese: Tomoko Naraoka) and Noriko (English: Cloris Leachman Japanese: Tokie Hidari), adore Ponyo, bitter Toki (English: Lily Tomlin Japanese: Kazuko Yoshiyuki) is suspicious of Ponyo's odd appearance and gets squirted in the face as well. The commotion attracts Lisa and Sosuke rushes to the water's edge to escape punishment. However, Fujimoto's waves surround him and take Ponyo back to sea. Sosuke calls after Ponyo but is collected from the water by Lisa who does her best to console him.Ponyo is taken back into the submersible and placed within a bubble. Fujimoto calls her by her given name, Brunhilde, but she rejects it, claiming her name as Ponyo. She declares her love for Sosuke and her desire to be human and sprouts arms and legs in a defiant act of magic. Fujimoto believes humans to be too much trouble and forces Ponyo to revert back into her original state, putting her in a deep sleep. He then leaves to consult Ponyo's mother who he must summon.Arriving home, Lisa is disappointed to hear that Sosuke's sailor father, Koichi (English: Matt Damon Japanese: Kazushige Nagashima), is unable to come home that night. As his ship passes their hill, Sosuke sends his father a message via Morse code using his signal light. Still peeved, Lisa sends her own unfriendly message, but Sosuke manages to cheer her up.Presumably the next day, Ponyo is awoken by her smaller sisters and quickly evolves feet, hands, and teeth before breaking out of her bubble home. She floods her father's study and releases his most powerful magic. The surge of energy turns Ponyo into a fully fledged human girl and sends her and her siblings rushing towards the surface of the ocean where a massive storm has formed.Sosuke leaves school, braving the strong winds and rain, and runs to meet his mother at the nursing home where the power has gone out. Lisa is encouraged to go home though the roads soon become treacherous due to the high waves. As they drive up the hill towards their home, Sosuke notices Ponyo waving at him as she runs atop the massive waves at sea. The waves follow the car as Lisa struggles to stay on the road. When they reach the house, Ponyo transverses a wave to the road and runs up to Sosuke, hugging him tightly. Lisa takes them both into the house as the waves get bigger and the storm continues. There, she dries them off and goes to start the backup generator where Ponyo helps it using some of her magical talents. For dinner, Lisa gives them hot tea and ramen noodles. Ponyo is fascinated with the new tastes and experiences but soon grows tired and falls asleep on the couch.The storm dissipates to reveal some flooding. Worried about the senior center, Lisa leaves Sosuke in charge and drives down the hill to check on the seniors. Sosuke falls asleep on the couch with Ponyo. Fujimoto, having discovered the breach in his magic, finds Ponyo with Sosuke. He leaves to contact her mother, Granmamare (English: Cate Blanchett Japanese: Yûki Amami), an ocean spirit. She appears at his submersible where he tells her that Ponyo's actions have spun everything into chaos. The moon has come closer to the earth causing a surge in tides and sending satellites plummeting from orbit like falling stars. Granmamare assures Fujimoto that if Ponyo and Sosuke pass a test, everything will go back to normal.The following morning, Sosuke and Ponyo wake to find that the house is completely surrounded by water. Only the tops of hills and the tallest trees are visible. Sosuke worries for his mother so Ponyo helps him by enlarging his toy boat. They pack a few things and set sail together. Along the way, they meet a family adrift with a small baby. Ponyo shows her generosity by offering the baby and his mother some of her soup and uses her magic to cure the baby when he comes down with a cold. As time passes and they continue their journey, Ponyo becomes more and more tired. When they reach a stretch of road that's not flooded Ponyo's magic wears off and the boat is reduced to its normal size. Sosuke sees his mother's car further up the road and runs to it, calling for Lisa. But she is no where to be seen. Sosuke becomes upset but Ponyo cheers him and encourages him to keep looking. They walk down the road hand in hand.Meanwhile, the senior center is completely submerged, but the elderly run about the yard with renewed energy; a result of the magic keeping them safe underwater. Fujimoto explains to them that theyre about to witness a testimony to true love while Lisa stands nearby talking to Granmamare. She returns to the others, worried about Sosuke but confident that he'll be ok.Sosuke and Ponyo reach a tunnel and, as they walk through it, Ponyo suddenly reverts back to her fish form and falls asleep. Sosuke quickly runs to the end of the tunnel and places her in his bucket which he fills with water. He tries to wake her up but Fujimoto appears to him. He tells Sosuke that he must accompany him to help Ponyo but someone shouts to Sosuke not to trust Fujimoto. Toki stands on a mound where the other senior citizens were brought under water, but she refused to follow. She calls to Sosuke who runs to her. As he leaps into her arms, Fujimoto's waves engulf them and bring them to the senior center under water. There, Sosuke is reunited with his mother. Granmamare approaches him and Ponyo, now awake, and calls Ponyo to her. She asks if Ponyo is willing to live as a human and give up her magic. Ponyo nods yes. Granmamare then asks Sosuke if he can love Ponyo whether she is a little girl or a fish, to which Sosuke says yes.Granmamare then brings everything back to normal and sends everyone back to the surface. Fujimoto shakes Sosuke's hand and bids Ponyo farewell. As he leaves, Ponyo leaps out of Sosuke's bucket, kisses him, and transforms into a little girl right before his eyes. | romantic, cute, magical realism, entertaining | train | imdb | I thought that the trailer featured its song which was quietly hypnotic, and I didn't have to wait for an invite to make sure I got my ticket for the sneak preview of the movie, scheduled to open here next week.For fans of Studio Ghibli films, you'll probably know what you're in for, as Miyazaki has yet another winner in his filmography, that will win new fans over.
Characterization here is top notch, and it's hard not to fall in love with Ponyo, in whichever form adopted, especially when she's such a playful being who doesn't hide her emotions - if she's upset with you, either she turns away or you could expect a jet stream come spewing from her mouth into your face!Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is a definite shoo-in to my top films of this year without hesitation.
After I thought about the other Ghibli movies, I may know the reason: this film had most of the elements of a great Miyazaki anime: cute characters, wonderful key animation, a great soundtrack composed by Joe Hisaishi and the warm story telling giving you the feeling of watching a high quality Japanese animation film.
Ponyo may at times feel so unique and fresh, it may feel alien like.The viewing experience provide a wonderful change from all the generic children's products that are generally commercialised to please the adult demographics (ie/ Animals that talks like their human counterparts, Eddie Murphy in Shrek.) It is perhaps comforting to know that good old fashioned hand drawn cells still work so incredibly well in this digital era where Toystory/WallE/Shrek/Cars generally triumph.
While Hayao Miyazaki's movies have always been hit-or-miss with me with regards to story, they are unequivocally gorgeous to the eye, with characters of simple animation against a backdrop of artistic images.
Ponyo sticks to that formula, with a lead character so adorable I want a plush doll of her and scenery so pretty it wouldn't look out of place framed up as a picture on a wall.The story, on the other hand, I didn't enjoy quite as much as his last two wide-releases, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle.
Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli shows his wonderful touch animating, infusing life, in every little action of the characters in Ponyo.
Ponyo (G, 1:43) — Fantasy: Fairy Tales, 2nd string, remakeWell, I suppose it was unrealistic to expect to hit the trifecta in a single weekend, but I must confess my surprise that the flik that proved to be the dud in the trio was this confection from Hayao Miyazaki, acknowledged master of anime and the genius behind My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke.As expected, the artwork was ethereal, whimsical, and utterly charming.
(I'm usually happy to encounter mention of Darwinian processes, but what the heck this is doing in a kids' fairy tale is beyond me.)Once near the surface, Ponyo gets her head trapped in a jelly jar, but she's freed by 5-year- old Sosuke (Frankie Jonas), an unfailingly kind and polite little boy whose mom (Risa or Lisa, Tina Fey) works in a retirement home and whose dad (Koichi, Matt Damon) is a frequently absent ship's captain.
Oh, and balloons up to the same size as Sosuke.There's a Greek chorus of old ladies at Lisa's workplace, the Moon comes to visit for an extended stay, a typhoon covers everything in 20 metres of standing water but causes no damage, ocean waves turn into fish with eyes, a toy boat gets magically enlarged to become a seaworthy craft, and Guran Mamere (Cate Blanchett), the spirit of the sea, arrives in time to help rebalance the karmic equilibrium of the planet.Wonders to behold, to be sure, but bearing no obvious connection to each other, just a bunch of novel ideas thrown together at random.
We later find out that he is the father of one of the main characters, the fish girl Ponyo who wants to become human after befriending Sotsuke, a 5-year old boy living in a house by the sea.
The film's subplot of Ponyo's magic causing a rift in the natural order and causing the moon to come closer (which explains the flood) is never sufficiently delivered to the audience.I was simply expecting a better delivery from a master storyteller like Miyazaki.
Return to Innocence - A Review of Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. Said to be inspired from Disney's The Little Mermaid, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is Japanese animation master, Hayao Miyazaki's next big work after the well-received Spirited Away in 2001 and Howl's Moving Castle in 2004.
In Ponyo, his signature style of animating fantasy realms and children characters are on display once again.Sosuke (Hiroki Doi), the boy lead in the film discovers a 'goldfish' trapped in a glass jar while playing by the seaside below the cliff.
Aside from Miyazaki's ability to cast vivacious and animated characters, the film lacks elements of thrill and wonder when measured against previous works, resulting in a deficit of big screen presence.The sparks of Ponyo and Sosuke failed to light up the film in a big way but moments of warmth, kindness, and love can still be found in recognizing the film as one that is not made for the kids, but of the kids who everyone is or once was..
After watching the film, I knew that it is another Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli classic.This film, inspired by my favorite fairy-tale "The Little Mermaid," is about a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke, and his relationship with a goldfish princess, whom he named Ponyo, who longs to become human and be with Sosuke.
The worlds he depicts are beautiful, teeming with life, color, and spirit, and "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," his latest, is no exception.Allegedly Miyazaki's final film, he abandoned even the aid of computers in crafting "Ponyo," each frame being hand drawn and colored by his Studio Ghibli artists, and with stunning results.
"Ponyo" has a simple beauty to it that rivals that of "My Neighbor Totoro," and fantasy sequences that recall the best of "Spirited Away."For its great cast (Tina Fey, Matt Damon Cate Blanchett, and Liam Neeson comprise a great dub, however blasphemous that may sound to Miyazaki purists), easy-going earnestness, and beautifully inventive visuals, "Ponyo" is my pick for animated film of the year, 'up- setting' Pixar's 2009 heavyweight, which had emotion to spare but came up short in adventure.But those select few will share my disappointment when the envelope is opened and the monosyllabic winner is read on Oscar night.
"Ponyo" is a modern family classic on par with "The Little Mermaid" and the rest of the Disney golden-era library.Miyazaki is a magician, and like a magician, everything he shows you isn't essential to your comprehension of the trick, but the end result is so beautiful that there's no sense in questioning it..
Miyazaki, recalling his earlier works, paints a brightly-colored world obviously geared for the younger audiences and the raw effervescence gleefully strips off the grim thematic elements that distinguish its immediate predecessors.Ponyo (voiced lovably by Yuria Nara), a fish with a young girl's face (making her look like a cuddly child in a pink overgrown Halloween costume), escapes away from her underwater home and her school of siblings to explore the surface.
Hayao Miyazaki has captured the imagination of audiences young and old across the globe, and his most recent cinematic work of art is "Ponyo," a children's fairytale borrowing on story elements from The Little Mermaid.
Of course like other Miyazaki classics such as "Spirited Away" and his last film, "Howl's Moving Castle," "Ponyo" is full of a creativity that can only be truly appreciated by adults, but this it is distinctly more a children's story than those recent efforts.
It's a magical story best described as beautiful and lovable, aiming for charm instead of conflict."Ponyo" is the story of a bug-eyed childish-looking fish of the same name, the daughter of an undersea sorcerer, who longs to escape the sea and become a little girl.
Among the highlights are droplets of water that Fujimoto sends after Ponyo that move like living waves, as well as a variety of other magnificent sea creatures and breathtaking storm scenes make "Ponyo" as awing as any other Miyazaki film.As a children's story, however, "Ponyo" concentrates its efforts on being adorable.
Most glaringly, its climax is uneventful despite how overall likable all the characters are."Ponyo" will surely satisfy Miyazaki's fans in every way with its imagination, and newcomers will still be smitten by his simple yet visually ambitious storytelling, but this is distinctly more of a children's movie, best for families and others who love fantasy regardless of its form or target audience.
Now I seriously wish more animation could be like Hayao Miyazaki's new Anime' (Japanese animation) film, "Ponyo." In an age where most animation (American and Japanese) is so highly sophisticated and overdone with CGI and special effects, Miyazaki's "Ponyo," on the other hand, revels in its hand-drawn simplicity and epic fairy tale storytelling dynamics that easily brings back memories of better, simpler times.Miyazaki's films in recent years - since roughly the beginning of the 21st century - have avoided taking on the current trend to mix their hand-drawn animation with CGI and special effects magic (and if they have, he does a damn good job of concealing their use or making them less obvious), and I make it a point to place his films in a much higher regard than many of his contemporaries in Japan and the United States.
(His "Spirited Away" in 2002 happens to be my favorite animated movie of all time, American, Japanese, or otherwise.)The story of "Ponyo" is something straight out of a children's fairy tale: 5-year-old Sosuke (voice of Frankie Jonas, younger brother of the musical Jonases) is a young boy who was playing by the ocean one day when he manages to rescue Ponyo (Noah Cyrus, Miley Cyrus's younger sister), a rebellious young goldfish who had just escaped from her father Fujimoto's (Liam Neeson), the god of the sea, underwater kingdom.
Ponyo manages to adopt a human form as a little girl about Sosuke's age so that she could live on land, but in the process, however, setting off a chain of events that have upset the delicate balance of nature, a change that may have grave consequences for both humanity and the world below."Ponyo" is an amazingly spirited animated fantasy-adventure about the power of love and friendship in the unlikeliest of places, from one of the unlikeliest of places.
And even though you get the idea that Fujimoto is this film's villain, he's really not such a bad guy; he's just a doting and concerned father who obviously loves his daughter and wants to keep her away from harm and danger, although he is aware that her actions can have grave consequences for both his undersea kingdom and the rest of humanity.The story and animation soared beyond my wildest dreams and expectations about what "Ponyo" could do in either respect.
On the surface, "Ponyo" could be seen as a simple story about a little fish-girl who gets a taste of the human world and wants to join it and the friend she makes there, a little boy names Soske (somewhat like "The Little Mermaid"), but there is an entire different level at play here.
Ponyo is the kind of movie you'll want to see to enjoy the- insert superlative/great-awesome-wonderful adjective here- animation, the outstanding and eye-popping wonders of water (yes, water) and all of the characters who have a purity and goodness that reaches to everyone, even the supposed villain.
And no wonder: it's about a little boy living with his mother- we get the sense, as in E.T., that the parents have some problems getting along, though in this case it's because the father works on a ship out at sea- and one day he finds a goldfish by the water at his home (the 'cliff by the sea' that the Japanese title originally had), accidentally cuts his little finger which the goldfish suckles at, and takes the goldfish home.Unbenownst to the little boy, Sosuke, little Ponyo as she is called turns into a human - or rather, wants to become human once she is taken away by her father, the underwater wizard-of-sorts Fujimoto (voiced perfectly by Liam Neeson).
This should not detract you from watching this fun film of growth, hope, and friendship.What does come across well is Miyazaki's very elaborate and magical animation and story that has elements of wonder and fantasy.
Similar to Spirited Away, we see the different worlds of the humans and the sea creatures and I feel that Miyazaki may be trying to draw the viewers attention to the vast and undiscovered nature of things that live beneath the sea and our acceptance of them and thing that are different.I managed to watch the subtitled version of this last year and was pleased by the story and plot.
Set in a small port town, Ponyo is the tale of an independent young boy, effectively living in a single-parent household with his father continually at sea, who discovers an odd creature with shifting human features at the water's edge.In Hayao Miyazaki's hands, the ocean is a wild, vibrant collection of churning life, and its residents (particularly that one determined, shape-shifting fish) an irresistible, elemental force of passion and curiosity.
Director Hayao Miyazaki is one of the modern titans of worldwide animation cinema, even though his films have not had as much diffusion as they would deserve.Unfortunately, his most recent film Ponyo on a Cliff, suffered from the same destiny because, at least in my country, it was released on very few cinemas and with zero publicity.That's a shame, because Ponyo on a Cliff is an excellent animation film which tells a very imaginative story, which is simple on its shape but complex on its depth.Ponyo on a Cliff does not obey to Hollywood formulas, there are not any musical numbers or well defined villains.It simply tells an ingenious, deep and hugely entertaining story.It would be a mistake to compare it with the Disney film The Little Mermaid only because both are based on the traditional fable from Hans Christian Andersen.They are so different with each other that it would not have any sense to say Ponyo on a Cliff is "better" (although I definitely enjoyed it much more), because it is based on a different value system, where selling toys or satisfying marketing requirements is not important...the emphasis is on showing the vision of a true artist like Miyazaki, whose amazing imagination forges a story of an unusual and unpredictable structure, but with human and realistic characters who are easy to identify with.The only fail I found on this movie is that some details feel a bit forced.In spite of that minor fail, Ponyo on a Cliff deserves a very enthusiastic recommendation for many things but mainly, because it is full of magic and imagination.It may not be Miyazaki's best movie (I think that one is Princess Mononoke so far), but still, this is an excellent film worthy of admiration..
Like the other Miyazaki films I've seen, Ponyo showcases beautiful animation, creative characters and interesting settings.
It's also great how the film teaches that trying to be a magical creature and a human simultaneously doesn't work out well, as you must choose one side to live a better life.As usual for a Studio Ghibli film, the animation is richly defined and gorgeous to look at, with the same lovable Miyazaki character designs and some impressively crafted effects and backgrounds.
On the surface, 'Ponyo' might sound like a simple fairy- tale, but with such youthful and altruistic protagonists, the film soon becomes less of a love story and a more a fantasy indulgence movie in which a boy's greatest dream of being able to play with his new pet like a best friend comes true.
The animation is beautiful, Ponyo (Nara) and Sôsuke (the little boy, voice by Hiroki Doi, who finds Ponyo) are adorable, and the music is great, and it has a happy ending.If you were unfamiliar with Miyazaki, I wouldn't recommend this as your introduction to his movies because of the odd plot.
The two bond quickly but her father brings her back into the ocean after which she unleashes enough magic to cause an imbalance in the natural order of life & makes her intention clear of becoming a human.Written & directed by Hayao Miyazaki who has continued to defy every expectation with his subsequent features, Ponyo is another wonder from the master storyteller that presents him capturing the beauty & cheerfulness of early years with same passion & simplicity that was evident in his very own 1988 classic My Neighbor Totoro.While the story continues to evoke a sense of warmth & love from its audience throughout its runtime, what's really heartwarming about it is the attention it gives to a few elements that actually mean a great deal to children but is often overlooked by adults.
I'm embarrassed to say the least that I've so far watched only My Neighbour Totoro (eyes that pile of Ghibli DVDs) and love it to bits, but I guess this would serve as a final push for me not to continue missing what would likely be animated films that I would enjoy.Ponyo (voiced by Nara Yuria) is a magic goldfish that yearns to know what is life beyond the sea, with her constant forays in a bubble to the surface of the water to sneak a peek.
I'm embarrassed to say the least that I've so far watched only My Neighbour Totoro (eyes that pile of Ghibli DVDs) and love it to bits, but I guess this would serve as a final push for me not to continue missing what would likely be animated films that I would enjoy.Ponyo (voiced by Nara Yuria) is a magic goldfish that yearns to know what is life beyond the sea, with her constant forays in a bubble to the surface of the water to sneak a peek. |
tt0481536 | Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay | Following the events of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold Lee and Kumar Patel purchase plane tickets to Amsterdam so Harold can pursue a romance with neighbor Maria. Before boarding their plane, they encounter a friend from college named Colton, and Kumar's ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, who are getting married in Texas. During the flight, a woman suspects Kumar is a terrorist after mistaking his bong for a bomb. Sky marshals detain them and the plane diverts to Washington D.C. Ron Fox, an obsessive and racist Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, sends them to Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, thinking they are agents of a joint Al-Qaeda and North Korean conspiracy, against the advice of NSA Vice-Chairman John Beecher. With the inadvertent assistance of two other prisoners, Harold and Kumar escape and board a Cuban refugee boat to Miami, Florida. They meet with their college friend, Raza, who loans them a car so they can travel to Texas to get help from Colton, whose family has political connections.
During the car ride, Kumar remembers meeting Vanessa at the library and smoking a joint for the first time. Fox interrogates Harold and Kumar's parents utilizing an incompetent interpreter, despite their English fluency. Harold and Kumar crash their car in Birmingham, Alabama. They flee on foot after mistaking an approaching group of helpful African-Americans for gang members. They meet a friendly hunter and stay with him and his wife at their well-kept trailer home. When someone knocks at the door, Harold and Kumar hide in the basement and discover the couple's inbred cycloptic son. At night, while Kumar dreams of a threesome with Vanessa and a large bag of marijuana, Harold is shocked to find the son in his bed, and they promptly leave. In the woods, Harold and Kumar encounter a Ku Klux Klan rally. They hide until some members arrive with a beer keg. After knocking them out, and putting on their robes, they mingle until the other two return, declaring them to be "Mexicans". The Klansmen chase Harold and Kumar until their leader accidentally sets himself on fire. The two run into Neil Patrick Harris, who offers them a ride.
Fox interrogates the African-Americans Harold and Kumar encountered in Birmingham, as well as Harold and Kumar's Jewish friends, Rosenberg and Goldstein. Under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms, Harris smuggles Harold and Kumar past Fox's security checkpoint. They stop at a brothel, but while Harris leaves with a big-breasted prostitute, Harold and Kumar talk about their friendship issues with their girls. Harris causes a situation by branding his woman. As they flee, Harris is shot in the back. While grieving, Harold and Kumar look through Harris' possessions, finding Chris Fehn's mask, a jar of human hair, and a dozen mace cans. Harold and Kumar arrive in Texas, where Colton promises to help them out of their situation, but when he sees Kumar reconnecting with Vanessa, he turns them over to Fox. On a flight to Guantanamo Bay, Kumar apologizes to Harold for getting them into this situation and they forgive each other.
Harold uses Harris' mace to incapacitate two guards, but Fox catches them. As he prepares to shoot them, an infuriated Beecher knocks down Fox and calls him out on his incompetence. He tries to tie Fox up but slips and knocks the plane door open, falling to his death. Everyone is sucked out the plane, and Kumar hangs on to Harold, who deploys a parachute. Fox tries to shoot them, but falls to his death, and they crash through the roof of President George W. Bush's Texas house. Bush brings them to his recreation room, and they bond by smoking weed. Bush promises to pardon Harold and Kumar and to help them with whatever they need. Escorted by the Secret Service, Harold and Kumar interrupt Colton and Vanessa's wedding. Colton confronts Kumar, but Harold punches him, and Kumar reconnects with Vanessa by reciting a poem he was writing when they first met. The three head to Amsterdam where Harold reunites with Maria, and they tour Amsterdam.
In a post-credits scene, Harris is shown to have survived the gunshot. | bleak, cult, humor, satire, flashback | train | wikipedia | As a fan of Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, I really didn't think they could recapture the magic of the first film in the sequel.
I thought Neil Patrick Harris shined in this movie, along with the guys who play Harold and Kumar.
In a world gone crazy where reality TV humiliates and tears every shred of decency from human beings both the people taking part and the mindless minions who watch countless hours of reality drivel (funny that these are the people who find films like Harold and Kumar rude, crude and offencive)and countless romantic comedies and boring Diaz and Sandler un-comedic vehicles comes the throwback that is Harold and Kumar well acted well written with every cliché and grossness you can think of and then some thrown in for good measure no group is spared the relentless assault made me smile from start to end, watching Neil Patrick Harris as a foul mouthed stoner and the constant stereotyping of everyone from rednecks to terrorists was priceless lets hope Harold and Kumar still have some more adventures to come, and by the way I'm in my 40's my girlfriends in her 20's and my mothers 64 and we all loved it..
One has to wonder then why the best that the writer/director partnership can come up with is a muddle of insultingly predictable, unoriginal set-pieces and gags, presumably aimed at an audience which can barely tie its collective shoe laces let alone conceive of an original thought.Anyone familiar with the first 'Harold & Kumar go to White Castle' film should expect much the same this time; very much the same in fact, but without any originality, creative humour, spontaneity, sensitivity, inventiveness, (the list goes on).While the first outing addressed significant issues with a refreshing lack of pretension, this sequel fails miserably from the outset and just goes downhill fast from there.Definitely aimed at the sub-100 IQ audience.IF YOU CAN READ THIS YOU ARE TOO SMART FOR THIS FILM..
I'm a 19 year old guy from Montreal: I laugh at stupid nudity jokes, south park episodes and I am a huge fan of the first H&K movie so hear this, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo bay is at best a 2 dollar download from Itunes or a 1 dollar rental from your nearest store..
Let me count the ways: a sequel to a pretty funny movie that makes you wonder whether blindfolded monkeys typing on keyboards could have produced a better screenplay...the reduction of two funny characters into unpleasant unredeemable wastes of celluloid...pre-adolescent sexual humor that wouldn't be funny to Bart Simpson...a stoner movie that a stoner would think was made as a DEA warning film filled with attempts at visual and verbal jokes that only a team of GS 14s with twenty years in writing memos could produce...I could go on.The worst movie of the year.
the characters are a great couple of friends that do stuff that are funny and you get a great feeling of appreciation of them.As Soon as me and my friends watched the first one, we waited like 2 years or so for the sequel to come out because we thought H&K was such a great movie that the sequel HAD to be good.
As soon as we found out, it was out, we watched it and it started quite good but after like 15 minutes the story just got quite weird and the jokes were terrible, but because we taught "This movie HAS to be good, come on it's Harold & Kumar" but the further we got in the movie we found out that it makes absolutely no sense at all...
Though sequels usually have a hard time measuring up to the first movie, I was expecting at least a few laughs from 'Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'.
"Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" is enjoyable on so many different levels, mainly because of the complete and utter lack of thought behind it; that being said, the filmmakers managed to distract me from the fact that everything that was happening was absurd by the simple act of comedic timing.I was neither surprised nor shocked to find out that a sequel was in the works and had little doubt that it would probably be a terrible film.
Not only because it is so hard to recapture an almost nostalgic feeling from a preceding film, yet also because it is so hard to try again the second time."Escape from Guantanamo Bay" seemed like and hour and half of trying way too hard to be funny.
What was so great about the first film, at least to me, was that the filmmakers knew they weren't making an Oscar worthy flick, nor a film that would be widely accepted: they were making a movie that they found funny, pot jokes and toilet humor included.And while the sequel included all of these immature things, it also came with a sense of being forced, all these cliché jokes which have been overused so many times by countless up-and-coming comedians that anyone could see them coming a mile away.I will give credit where it is due, however.
Those scenes were so very different than I was expecting that the comedy that happened in them seemed liked gold, even if what was happening was the same stuff I have seen in countless other films.I usually try to leave the brain at the door when I am seeing these kind of movies...and that usually works.
But it was almost too hard to even do that as I watched "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay." Even the thoughtless stoner comedy had me going..."Um, this is stupid." I'm not saying it's not funny...nor am I saying it isn't enjoyable.
But if the sparse first-weekend turnout in my theater is any indication, then this may be the death knell of the outrageous, pop-culture obsessed gross-out "comedy." Now before you point out my elitism and lack of humor, I will say that I watched "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" prior to this sequel, and enjoyed it quite a bitthe movie had a flawed yet endearing imbalance between sending up racial and cultural stereotypes, misogynist behavior, and stoner humor, all while leaving us enthralled by the quest of Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn), two wildly different roommates who embark on an often-hilarious misadventure to the titular location.
That would go a long way in explaining why certain scenes (including a much-appreciatedbut also much less funnyappearance by Neil Patrick Harris) are repeated almost verbatim from the original."White Castle" had its share of incisive satire amid the vulgarity, using the quest for some munchies as a framing device, but "Guantanamo" feels aimless and meandering for most of its run timethe conflicts between our two main characters feel inauthentic, their encounters stale (including a run-in with the KKK and an inbred cyclops-child), and the sense of satire completely ineptnowhere is this more pronounced than in the character of Ron Fox (Rob Corddry), a Department of Homeland Security operative whose over-the-top character is one of the most vile, grotesque, and unfunny ever to appear in a motion picture; the writing and Corddry's own overblown performance is a blatant indicator of how off-the-mark John Hurwitz' and Hayden Schlossberg's direction really is.Based on "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," I doubt we'll be seeing a third installment in the series...but at least we'll always have "White Castle.".
So I decided to kill time by bringing my friend to the movie theater and watch Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Was it worth it?
Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay was the funniest movie I have ever seen in my whole entire life.
The return of one movie that changed the minds of the world comedic geniuses, this movie was a great sequel in all aspect, lets start with Kal Penns character, what a great way to add to career, after Namesake and White Castle, this movie easily was amongst his best performances, hes still one of the best comedic people alive, every scene with harold was hilarious, the scene during the plane and getting on was amazing, truly enjoyed the scene with them going on, and lets get to Harolds character, he felt a lot more loose for this movie, his character was more loosely based, and he had a lot of dramatic scenes in this movie then the first one that he did.
this sequel to the first Harold and Kumar has some funny moments,but i didn't think it was anywhere near as funny as the first.the good news is that the laughs are full belly laughs,that will leave you crying.the bad news:there aren't very many of them.however,i did find that the story was better and more fleshed out.Rob Corddry is hysterical in his scenes.well most of them anyway.one thing i didn't care for is that there's a scenes which shifts the tone away fro the comedy.i found this inexplicable and also unnecessary.this movie is at least as offensive as the first one,probably more so.if the first one offended you,you'll want to avoid this one.for me,Harold and Kumar 2 is a 6/10.
I thought some of the content involving Neil Patrick Harris was hilarious (although I also thought that whole thing went on far too long) and the Alabama family they stayed with was a hoot.The story - lame though it is - revolves around Harold and Kumar (John Cho and Kal Penn) being mistaken for terrorists on board a jet bound for Amsterdam and sent off to Guantanamo Bay, from where they escape and proceed to a series of adventures, pursued by an over the top Homeland Security agent played by Rob Corddry.
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is a good movie with a decent but predictable storyline that was clearly only set up for the comedy aspect,but a great comedic cast.I certainly did not enjoy it as much as the first Harold and Kumar,it just wasn't as funny and the jokes and the story wern't as original,and a lot of it was very cheesy and cliché,something that was gladly absent from the first.John Cho and Kal Penn did a great job,they both play off each other really well,and Neil Patrick Harris is great playing himself as usual.What I disliked the most was the title because they aren't in Guantanamo Bay for most of the movie.Fans of the original should still check it out,but you will be disappointed.Harold and Kumar land in Guantanamo Bay after getting caught with marijuana on a plane to Amsterdam..
The first Harold & Kumar movie was better, although this is a good film as well.
There's a scene with Neil Patrick Harris at a police check point and Harold and Kumar's parents being questioned by the authorities, but overall the silliness that made White Castle great (such as a guy peeing beside you in the middle of an open forest), is somehow lost after our duo escape a cockmeat sandwich.If you enjoy the first movie, by all means Guantanamo Bay is perfect for you, but I feel that the whole purpose of adding Vanessa to the storyline is to give both our buds a happy ending for everyone once they reach Amsterdam.
While H&K Go to White Castle wasn't the prize taker for best pot comedy of the decade (Pineapple Express takes that title), it was about as cool, witty deranged, and crazy a post Cheech and Chong romp as one could ask for, especially considering the director did Dude Where's my Car. The trailer for the sequel basically gave away the premise right away: Harold and Kumar, on a plane going to Amsterdam, are thrown off for being suspected terrorists, with Rob Cordrey's government agent saying in true one-dimensional tone, "Al-Quaeda and North Korea working together!" The trailer was perfect on a first viewing...
The filmmakers- the first film's writers- pick up the story right where the last left off, following the love/hate friendship of Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn), who this time have a similar climactic blow to Clerks 2, and up until then are anxious nice guy and slacker horn-dog respectively who each have their own romantic flames somewhere out of reach.
A good example of this is the ignorant assumption that an Asian man on an airplane is a terrorist, again very funny, but if you've seen the trailer you've already seen one of the best gags.Overall, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay wonderfully reworks the original film but on a larger scale, it is a comedy that is definitely above average as the jokes are well paced and mostly well written.
Two highly educated stoners, one a Korean American, the other an Indian American accidentally end up in Guantanamo Bay due to a misunderstanding on an air plane trip to Amsterdam.I really liked the first Harold & Kumar film; it was silly albeit vulgar comedy done right, carried by some great performances and surreal scenes.
The film does feature some comedy that make you laugh out of control though some of the characters could have been without the film is only for fans of these two I give Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay an 7 out of 10.
With the sequel now being screened, I am so there already.Beginning directly where the first movie had left off, Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Karl Penn) are now en route to Amsterdam, weed capital of the world, where they can indulge in their favourite drug and be high all the time.
I remember way back in 2004 getting pretty stoked for Harold and Kumar go to The White Castle (as eloquently put by the great Fred Willard) because this was something I certainly could relate to after a great night of partyin' like a rock star.However, after watching the movie with such high expectations I honestly came out a little unsatisfied.
Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay is the second in what could be a great new stoner movie series like Cheech & Chong during the 70's and 80's.The first one was a very funny stoner film, I enjoyed it greatly.The second one blew me away as well!
The trailers looked hilarious and the movie was hilarious as well.The plot involves the two stoners going to amsterdam to meet up with Harold's girlfriend from the first movie.In the airport they see Kumar's ex who is about to be married.On the plane, Kumar tries to smoke up in the bathroom using a weird looking bong, an old lady confuses it for a bomb and shouts "TERRORIST".The two get sent to Guantanamo Bay, escape and go on a series of wild misadventures trying to clear their names.This is a funny and great stoner film and I recommend it..
Wow what a letdown.I loved the first movie with these two lovable stoners.And I was set to laugh my booty off to this movie.But it never happened,in fact,I don't think I had one real good laugh the whole movie.In this adventure the boys set out to go to Amsterdam ,supposedly to find Harold's girlfriend, but of course it was as much about getting to the weed and porn capital of the world as it was about finding Harold's girlfriend.Of course a trip is never an easy thing with these two and Kumar just can't wait to smoke some weed so he gets out his bong on the plane, which is mistaken for a bomb ,and all heck breaks loose.This movie had a weak plot and a terrible script....no good laughs at all was to be had the whole way through this thing.I kept waiting for it to get better but it just never did.It seemed the writers had no clear concept of a plot,they just strung a bunch of unfunny feces and oral sex jokes together and hoped it made a movie.It didn't.Even Neil Partick Harris,who was superb in the first one,just appeared to be going through the motions in this one.The guy playing George Bush didn't even really look like Bush but by the time he appears you don't really care.I don't remember any boobies in this thing but honestly I watched it a few weeks ago and I'm writing this review about half loaded so there could have been some.After the first movie I was hoping this would be another good series of stoner movies,ala Cheech and Chong,but this one was so bad it's probably killed any hopes of a third one,at least that I'll bother to watch.I'd recommend re-watching the first one and skipping this one all together so you'll have a fond remembrance of these two guys.How this thing is getting a 7 out of 10 by the reviewers at this website I'll never know.I gave it a 4 and that was being generous because I like the first one so much..
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo BayStarring: John Cho, Kal Penn, Rob Corddry, Neil Patrick Harris, David Krumholtz, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Paula GracesGenre: ComedyRated: ROur favorite stoner dynamic duo return in another hilarious adventure.
The only thing that they did like in the first movie was all the quirky situations that Harold & Kumar run into while on the adventure and of course the return of the womanizing (yet fictionalized) Neil Patrick Harris.
Definitely not as funny as the first, it took the easy route with a lot of the jokes and pretty much sunk itself trying to outdo Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.
After disliking the first Harold and Kumar film, I wasn't sure if should even bother watching Escape from Guantanamo Bay. However, I slightly liked this one better.
It had way funnier jokes way more actors also very funny people and much higher production values which is great because a couple of the scenes from the first one were almost hard to look at.This movie is about Harold and Kumar who decide to go to Amsterdam. |
tt1020885 | Lesbian Vampire Killers | Jimmy (Mathew Horne) and Fletch (James Corden) are two friends living in London, experiencing life problems. Jimmy is dumped by his unscrupulous girlfriend, and Fletch is fired from his job as a clown for punching a child. They decide to escape their woes and hike to a remote village in Norfolk that they find on an old map. As they arrive at a pub in the village, with Jimmy upset about Fletch destroying his phone, they see a number of attractive foreign female history students leaving.
Hoping to find more beautiful women inside, they are greeted by a morose crowd of men and approached by a seemingly crazed vicar (Paul McGann) who believes Jimmy is a long lost descendant of a local vampire slayer. As the barman offers the two men free ale as an apology for the vicar, they learn the students they saw earlier are going to a cottage - where they are to stay the night. Jimmy and Fletch pursue the students' van, catching up to it as the engine has broken down, and are introduced to four girls (Heidi, Lotte, Anke and Trudi). They are invited to join a party on the bus.
The group arrives at their destination, only to learn that a curse rests over the village and that every female child turns into a lesbian vampire on her eighteenth birthday. There is an old legend stating that the Vampire Queen, Carmilla, descended on the village during the night of a blood moon, killed its menfolk and seduced its women to her evil. When the ruler of the land, Baron Wolfgang Mclaren (Jimmy's great ancestor) returned from the Crusades, he discovered one of the women corrupted by Carmilla was his wife, Eva. The baron forged a sacred sword, then defeated Carmilla, but before dying, Carmilla cursed the village, adding that when the blood of the last of Mclaren's bloodline mixed with a virgin girl's blood, Carmilla would be resurrected.
Fletch and Jimmy spend the night with the women. Heidi and Anke are turned into vampires. After Lotte insists that the others try to find her missing friends, they witness Trudi being turned. Eva, Carmilla's mistress, tries to draw Lotte to her growing clan of lesbian vampires. The trio runs back into the cottage after killing Heidi and Anke and barricade themselves in after the vampires destroy the van. Jimmy's ex-girlfriend Judi arrives at the door and Jimmy, not ready to give up on the relationship, takes her into the bedroom. Lotte reveals to Fletch that she is a virgin and wants to sleep with Jimmy.
At the church, the Vicar researches the vampire slayer who killed Carmilla before arming himself and setting off to find Jimmy. Judi reveals herself to be a vampire, and after a struggle, Fletch and Jimmy kill her. The vampires approach the cottage and Jimmy inadvertently invites them in. Eva discovers that Jimmy is the descendant of the baron who killed Carmilla and that Lotte is a virgin and kidnaps them.
The Vicar saves Fletch from Trudi and tells Fletch the truth about the village and Jimmy's identity. They go after Jimmy and Lotte in the Vicar's crucifix-covered car. As the vampires prepare to sacrifice Lotte and Jimmy, Fletch and the Vicar try to recover the Sword of Dylldo, the sword that killed Carmilla, from the baron's tomb. While Fletch works to open the tomb, the Vicar checks on his daughter Rebecca, but does not notice that she has been turned. Rebecca attempts to seduce Fletch, who does not know what she is. When she attacks him, she is inadvertently impaled on the sword. Fletch decides not to tell the Vicar of his daughter's death.
At Carmilla's tomb, Lotte reveals her love for Jimmy. The vampires begin draining the two of their blood to resurrect Carmilla. With the sword, Fletch and the Vicar drive to Carmilla's tomb. When they enter the woods, they bring various weapons, but forget the sword. Despite not having the sword, the pair reach Jimmy and Lotte. The Vicar releases them, but not before enough blood gathers to resurrect Carmilla. The Vicar sacrifices himself so the others can get back to the car for the sword. Eva separates Lotte from the men, attacking and seducing her. Lotte fights back while Fletch and Jimmy fetch weapons. Lotte kills Eva with her cross necklace, infuriating Carmilla. Fletch tries to kill Carmilla before Lotte is turned, but is captured himself. Jimmy saves them by hurling the sword at Carmilla, piercing her heart and destroying her for good. With the curse lifted, the three survivors decide to continue ridding the world of evil.
The film ends with the shot of a "Gay Werewolf" howling before the full moon. | comedy, boring, satire, sadist | train | wikipedia | It's audacious, rude, blasphemous and somewhat morbidly erotic—and yet, I couldn't have been more pleased with such a piece of popcorn-trash-cinema.The movie takes place largely within a small rural area of Norfolk which has a history involving an ancient curse that creates lesbian vampires out of all the town's females as soon as they turn eighteen.
Off on an unsuspecting break from their dreary lives which are shamefully going nowhere, best friends Fletch (James Corden) and Jimmy (Mathew Horne) soon end up in the middle of a group of scantily clad, tantalising lesbians who take a special interest in Jimmy because of his supposed lineage dating back to their hybrid queen who wants to rule the world again.
Not only does help to solidify the movie's satirical edge towards fooling no-one to take all this seriously, but it offers plenty of brilliant one-liners and character humour too, resulting in a light, almost care-free experience that entertains more than disgruntles.With that being said however, it should also be noted that Lesbian Vampire Killers isn't all dumb and sophomoric; in fact, there's plenty of intelligence going on behind the scenes, and it isn't hard to see.
Of course, a large majority of that very same dialogue gets most of its laughs from the odd curse here or there, but it's all so well timed and perfectly played out that you don't care if it's cheap and rudimentary—Lesbian Vampire Killers, isn't necessarily out to impress through any other means, and it's refreshing to be treated to such a movie that stays true to that ideal without succumbing to tired, derivative writing.Furthermore, it has to be said that while the feature comes from an ensemble of largely unknowns within the business, you would never be able to tell.
Essentially unless you like lesbians vampires and killings, and unless you one of those people who sees Matthew Horne throwing a sword at the bad guy who is in the middle of his two friends and think 'that doesn't make any sense he could have missed and hit James Corden, why didn't he just stab the sword' instead of thinking 'wow that was kick ass' then don't go and see this movie because you won't enjoy it..
It is neither violent nor scary, but this is not necessarily a bad thing and it might be here that lies its charm, those who will let go of politically correct preoccupations of what a film or a title of a film should be about will inevitably enjoy this light hearted comedy as it has plenty of opportunities to laugh out loud, if you are not too worried what the person next to you or the eminent critics will think of you and you just join in the fun!.
If you think you're going to get Shaun Of The Dead with vampires as one comment suggests you will be massively disappointed.This film is not without it's laughs, but sadly they are few and far between and mostly in the trailer (the werewolf line is still the best in the whole film so work out how much that made you laugh in the trailer, figure that's the best you're getting and decide from there).It is only 87 minutes but it still manages to get dull, something Shaun avoided.
They are abducted by the vampires, but Fletch escapes and meets Reverend Vicar (Paul McGann) that tells him that Jimmy is a descendant of the baron and only hope to stop the evil curse of Cragwich.The B-movie "Lesbian Vampire Killers" is indeed an entertaining silliness with a funny story, supported by a stylish cinematography, very sexy women and two imbeciles in the lead roles.
This movie will certainly never be nominated to an Oscar and is not recommended to intellectuals or fans of art movie; however, for an average viewer like me that knows what might expect from a movie with the title "Lesbian Vampire Killers", he or she will not be disappointed and will certainly laugh a lot.
But they discover that there is an ancient curse on the girls in the village, where when a girl turns 18 they become a lesbian vampire.....This movie is the latest to try and combine the horror and comedy genres.
It could be that this movie is aimed purely as a comedy, that happens to be horror set, but as it is billed as a horror-comedy it has to be judged on those terms.The effects and make-up are pretty good, and because of a lack of blood (when the vampires die, a white substance erupts from them), it is only rated a 15 in the UK.The movie is fast paced and never out-stays it welcome and for it's running time, will have you laughing a lot.
Outside the more obvious things like the parodying of different horror movie antagonists, and the "loser with a fat best friend" pairing of Horne and Corden, the first 10 minutes is pretty much how Shaun of the Dead starts without the zombies and through Corden's acting you can hear him screaming "I want to be Nick Frost!" to himself.Outside of this though, the movie is still terrible.
Of all the lame movies made by the British film industry in the past decade, LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLERS stands as the worst of the lot.
Some fans of James Corden and Mathew Horne – if there are any – may get a few more chuckles out of it than I did, but I think even those with the most forgiving of temperaments are going to find this hard going.The "plot", if you can call it that, appears to have been written on the back of a beermat with as little insight as possible: two good-for-nothing blokes go on holiday to Norfolk (not that you'll recognise it) and fall foul of an ancient curse involving lesbian vampires.
In fact, the plot was written around the title, but if you're hoping for a cheesy, blood-soaked B-movie in the vein of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN or TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT, then you're going to be disappointed.There's barely any nudity and the decision was made to have the vampire blood white instead of red, so any would-be splatter scenes are completely awful.
Obviously spurred on by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's meteoric success following their appearance in British zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, 'Gavin & Stacey's James Corden and Mathew Horne attempt to pull off the same trick by starring in Lesbian Vampire Killers, the tale of a luckless pair of lads who find themselves neck deep in sexy vampires whilst on a hiking holiday.However, rather than catapulting them into Hollywood blockbuster territory, this puerile effort is more likely to send the hopeful duo hurtling into obscurity.Playing a pair of foul-mouthed losers obsessed with sex and beer isn't the problem—after all, the main characters in 'Shaun' were hardly upstanding role models.
No, the main reason this film fails so spectacularly is that it just isn't funny, with the comedy rarely rising above the level of schoolboy toilet humour, and the incessant swearing only serving to highlight the lack of genuine wit (to my shame, I sniggered at the phallic sword hilt, but that joke was the best of a very bad bunch and was repeated ad nauseum).In addition to the laugh-free script, Cordon and Horne fail to make their characters likable, director Phil Claydon irritates with his dreadful directorial gimmicks, the acting is absolutely crap, the film lacks blood 'n' guts (when the vamps are killed, they spew white goop; what's up with that?), and the lesbian vampires themselves disappoint by never getting completely naked and properly getting it on with each other (there's a little bit of girl on girl snogging, but what's the point of giving your film such a cool sounding title if you're not really going to try and live up to it?).All in all, this film is a complete embarrassment and an insult to fans of horror comedy..
The only thing remotely funny about this movie is the "Lesbian Vampire Killers" title.
They obviously are going for the Shaun of the Dead crowd by having British comics and replacing the zombies with vampires, but the jokes in this movie as well as all the actors/characters in it are just painful.
Examples as "Vampyros Lesbos" (1971) and "The Hunger" (1983) standing to take the more erotic stance than the suggestiveness of a hidden look, a darkened room to hide her pleasure and a moment lost, the censorship's have been cruel to her ways, but the times have now truly changed.The latest sex-drive of this female fantasy comes along in the guise of "Lesbian Vampires Killers", a guise too, if preferred, in the shape of the old Hammer Film Productions circa of "The Vampire Lovers" (1970), a contemporary version, then, of Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla".This genre has now been striped down and is a fully loaded parable of the way of the lady vampires', that's lesbian lady vamp, though a somewhat sedate and too laid bare for any real scope of narrative and personality, it is, in the end, a glorified T & A, comic book if at all black comedy.Phil Claydon (Dir), Paul Hupfield and Stewart Williams (writers') are not unfamiliar to comedy, but this, sadly, just misses the mark.
Well, "Lesbian Vampire Killers", directed by Phil Claydon and written by Stewart Williams & Paul Hupfield, fortunately does manage to be pretty entertaining stuff, although viewers reading the title and hoping for something REALLY trashy are going to be sorely disappointed.The story is yet another borrowing of J.
I saw 'Lesbian Vampire Killers' on sky and I wish I didn't , it stars 'Gavin and Stacey' stars James Corden and Mat Horne, it's their movie debut – The plot is easy: dumped by his deceitful girlfriend Judy, unlucky Jimmy (Horne) drags his friend Fletch (Corden) on a trip to Norfolk.
Low budget British film-making is consistently a bad joke but a good director and cast can work wonders even on zero budget – take a look at Brad Watson's 'Asylum Night' which is everything LVKs makers were probably hoping it would be..
Unfortunately, this dire attempt at comedy sees James Corden playing a childish fatty with a penchant for expletives and chummed up with poor Mathew Horne as the straight guy.Presumably this was supposed to be a homage to some Morecambe and Wise farce with lashings of low-budget Hammer Horror thrown in for good measure.What we find is a cast struggling with below par dialogue and a script that must have seemed funny down the pub over a gallon or two of high-strength lager.Horne and McGann (what was Paul McGann thinking?) try their best with inadequate plotting and dire fight choreography and despite some passable cinematography, James Corden manages to drag this almost passable farce into a grave where it should have remained buried, playing "Smiffy" all over again.I watched all six episodes of Horne and Corden expecting it to get better - it didn't; and this is even worse.
Some can say that it is derivative and juvenile, but, what the heck, what can one can expect from a movie called "Lesbian Vampire Killer"?Give it a try, it is much better than most comedies produced by Hollywood these days.
The girls however come and save the day making this movie a much more pleasant experience, but without a rating 18 the title Lesbian -vampire killer is not actually to the point.
OK about the film its an okish British small budget comedy horror that given some time and some money and some interest could have been the best lesbian vampire film for about 30 years, but I've had a few beers and just watched it and feel a bit hard done by cos it could have been so much better!OK the film is about lesbians and vampires and has a good story there are 2 British comedy actors "gavin and Stacey" which has taken off hugely in the last few months or so in Britain, so a cult following ensues for the film ,very good effects for a British film slapstick comedy!
OK, I don't actually like James Corden and Matthew Horne but one of the reviews for this movie stated that it was "Shaun Of The Dead With Vampires" and seeing that Shaun Of The Dead is my favourite movie of all time, I thought I would take a look!
Let The Teeth Sink In. Lesbian Vampire Killers is a good one time watch, a mindless but entertaining horror-comedy with some strong and some not so strong moments.
No new classic or must-see but if you like Brit horror comedies like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz or Doghouse you will like this one too.The ingredients: a curse, blood-thirsty sexy lesbian vampires and some beer-drinking silly not too grown up heroes and something called love.Not outstanding but good.
It is not out to emulate any other film, but it is an homage to Roger Corman, Ed Wood, Vincent Price, and many other films of the genre, but done in a totally funny way with James Corden ("Gavin & Stacey", "Fat Friends", The History Boys) as Fletch, and Mathew Horne ("Gavin & Stacey") as his really crazy buddy Jimmy.Paul McGann (Dr Who, "The Monocled Mutineer") plays the Vicar.Lots of gore, disgusting fluids, and very funny lines.Sorry lads, the lack of nudity really detracted from the film..
After being more well-known as Smithy and Gavin in the award-winning comedy-drama series Gavin and Stacey, James Corden and Mathew Horne decide to hit the big screen with Lesbian Vampire Killers but should you judge the movie because of its title?
They decide where to camp wherever the dart lands on the map and the dart lands on- tada!- Cragwich, a cursed village.Many men who watch this might find the title a little misleading as it isn't entirely about Lesbian Vampires and you won't see much girl-on-girl action but it's still not a bad comedy.
Things look promising and perhaps both men would get lucky, were it not for a centuries old curse which sees all the girls of the village become lesbian vampires when they turn 18 years old.All I know about Corden and Horne is what I have gleamed from the critics.
I'd have to admit that this comedy is really great for a Monday night after a start to the work week, and seriously, you're not going to care much about the flimsy excuse of a plot that would've raised some interest due to its focus on the sexuality and sensuality of vampires.Written by Paul Hupfield and Stewart Williams, the story tells of two losers in life Jimmy (Matthew Horne) and Fletch (James Corden), the former being stuck in a cyclic romance interspersed by moments of being dumped by the other half, while the latter is just having no luck with women because of his size.
Some jokes are still rather juvenile of course, going through similar formula also seen in other movies, and Corden easily romps home with favourite comedic artist seen this year, thanks to having delivered some of the best lines and moments in the film.Plenty of throwaway characters here as well especially that of the female of the species, but it was the swearing Vicar (Paul McGann) who was just hilarious in the role of a man racing against time with a personal agenda, and that's to prevent his own daughter from falling prey to the curse and becoming a lesbian vampire herself.
Plot In A Paragraph: Their women having been enslaved by the local pack of lesbian vampires thanks to an ancient curse, the remaining menfolk of a rural town send two hapless young lads (James Corden and Matthew Horne) out onto the moors as a sacrifice.I don't understand what some people were expecting going to see a movie called "Lesbian Vampire Killers".
So if you like horror-comedies then you should NOT let "Lesbian Vampire Killers" pass you by.
Of course, the title is a blast, but so is "Zombie Strippers!", and in this last one the poor production quality annoyed me far too much to find it enjoyable.This problem is not present in "Lesbian Vampire Killers" though, the filming is great and the special effects are quite satisfactory, so if you're thinking: "Alas, this oughtta be one more of those amateurs thrash movies", think again, because this really isn't the case at all.
Lesbian Vampire Killers is an unpretentious comedy B film that pokes fun of the horror genre especially the campy lady vampiress ones.When Jimmy (Mathew Horne)is again dumped by his girlfriend, he and his best mate Fletch (James Corden) go on a hiking holiday in the country.
All the girls casted were very beautiful and most of the jokes were fun too.Watch this movie is if you want to see blood, disgusting fluids and a funny nonsense film!.
Fletch and Jimmy decide to hike in the English countryside, however they son find themselves in the company of beautiful women in a deserted cottage....And then the Vampires come out to play.I genuinely wanted to like this, I wanted to laugh...But for some reason the laughs were hard to come by, it seemed that the 'Gavin and Stacey' actors were trying to use there fame as a 'Comedy' factor....The one thing that was good about the film was the beautiful women, ..It includes beautiful British actresses such as 'Myanna Buring, Vera Filatova'....But the accents are not the best, neither is the acting any good...
Friends Jimmy (Mathew Horne) and Fletch (James Corden) go on a hiking trip to take their minds off of things and wind up in Cragwich, a small town right of one of the old Hammer 'Dracula' films, Vicar and weird townsfolk included, only this town is haunted by LESBIAN VAMPIRES.
I quite like the comedy of James Corden, and Mathew Horne is a pretty good comic actor as well. |
tt1600196 | The Drop | We open with a montage explaining what a drop bar is. Its the central bar that holds all the collection money from other mob owned businesses to be picked up later. In this story, it's the Chechen mafia. The drop bar location always changes.Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy) is a bartender at neighborhood bar in Brooklyn called Cousin Marv's. A group of old timers toast to a kid (Richie) who died ten years ago. Cousin Marv (James Gandolfini) is angry that they keep doing this and even angrier that his soft bartender lets an old woman drink for free and smoke cigarettes illegally inside when he's not around.On his way home, Bob finds a whimpering pit bull inside a garbage can. Nadia (Noomi Rapace) wants to know who's snooping around her trash. She comes out and sees that the dog is badly injured. She agrees to help Bob, but only after she takes a picture of his license and sends it to a few friends. Together they patch up the dog. Bob tells her that he can't take care of it right now. She tells him that because it's a pit bull, it'll be put down at the shelter if its owner doesn't show. Bob agrees to come back in a few days to take the dog. Someone watches them from across the street.Bob goes to church. The congregation is small so its not hard for him to always notice fellow parishioner Detective Torres (John Ortiz). He also notices a statue of Saint Rocco, who has a dog. Bob picks up the dog and confesses to Nadia that he doesn't know how to care for a dog. Together they go to the pet store to buy supplies. They also make a name tag for him. Bob names him Rocco.Cousin Marv's is robbed by two guys. During the robbery, Bob notices that one of the gunmen has a broken watch. Detective Torres shows up to investigate and Bob tells him about the watch. This really upsets Marv, who knows that the Chechens are going to be pissed. Torres says that he noticed he goes to church with Bob and asks if he knew that the church was folding to be part of another church and that the land was probably going to be turned into condos with stained glass windows. He also asks why Bob never takes communion. Bob tells him that's none of his business. Torres questions whether or not it is. Bob assures him, "it isn't."Chovka (Michael Aranov), the face of the Chechen mob shows up while Marv and Bob are shoveling snow. Chovka reveals that he has captured one of the men responsible for the robbery. The man is gagged and impaled by his right foot to the floor of the van with heavy bolt. Chovka asked Marv and Bob if they know this man. They both say no. He wants to know why the cops know about the broken watch. Bob apologizes. Chovka tells Marv to find the money. Marv freaks out because if he knew how to find that money, that would mean he had something to do with the robbery.Nadia and Bob take Rocco to the dog park. Nadia lost a night of work and asks if she can dog sit Rocco for a little extra money. Bob agrees. After they part ways, Eric Deeds (Matthias Schoenaerts) shows up and tells Bob that he has a nice dog. Bob takes Rocco and leaves.Marv lives with his sister Dottie (Ann Dowd). Dottie tells Marv that a collection agency has been calling because they need to pay for their dad's life support. She suggests maybe its time to let him go. Marv disagrees strongly. He storms out and meets up with one of the robbers to tell him to tell his brother to get a new watch. From their conversation, we learn that Marv was in on the robbery after all.Deeds shows up at Bobs house and welcomes himself inside. He asks questions about the dog and tells Bob he wants it back. Bob says he doesn't get to hurt the dog anymore and he should leave. Deeds takes Bob's umbrella and sees himself out. Bob brings Rocco to work with him.On his way into the bar, Marv is stopped by a man asking for directions. Marv is freaked because something about the man is suspicious. He tells Bob that Deeds is a local thug who claims to have killed the kid, Richie,who the old timers were toasting. Between Deeds and the guy asking for directions, something is weird. They go out back to get in the garbage and there's a bag tied to the fence. In the bag is a severed arm with the broken watch and all the money taken from the robbery.Bob wraps up the arm and throws it in a duffel bag. Marv is unsettled by how casual Bob is being. Marv comments that it seems as though Bob has done this a thousand times. Later, Bob takes the arm and throws it in the river. Torres shows up and asks Bob if he knows Eric Deeds. Bob says not really. Meanwhile, Marv washes the robbery money.The Chechens show up and Marv returns the money. They tell him that his bar will be the drop bar for the night of the Super Bowl.Nadia is a little angry that Bob didn't let her know that he was taking Rocco to work. He apologizes and they have some drinks and get to know each other. She has scars on her neck that she reveals are from when she used to have a drug problem. She explains that she stabbed herself with a potato peeler.Marv finds the robber and tells him to get in the car. The robber doesn't want to because last time he saw his brother was when someone else told him to get in a car. He wants to make sure Marv doesn't have the trunk lined in plastic. Marv pops it open, its fine. The robber gets in and they go for a ride. Marv tells him that they're going to rob the place again during the night of the Super Bowl, but the robber refuses. The trunk pops open again and Marv tells the guy to get out and slam it shut. When he does, Marv runs him over and kills him.Eric Deeds stops by and starts asking Bob about Nadia, specifically if she's stabbed herself with a potato peeler lately. Bob asks Nadia how she knows Deeds. She freaks out and storms off. Later she apologizes and confesses that they used to date. She also warns Bob that Deeds is crazy and says he killed that kid. Bob says he heard.Bob goes home and calls for Rocco, but there is no answer. He goes to his crate and Rocco is fine, but his umbrella is there too. Deeds has been in his house. He goes to ask Deeds to back off and tells him hes not returning the dog. Deeds says he can keep it for $10,000.Torres gets a cop friend to show him Deeds's psych file. Something in the file catches his interest.Marv meets with Deeds and tells him that Bob is scared of him and says that he has a solution where everyone can win.Marv calls Bob and tells him he won't be into the bar for the Super Bowl. Bob asks if he's planning on doing something desperate that they can't clean up this time. Marv yells at him and tells him how he used to be feared and respected, but lost that when he lost the bar to the Chechens. He also knows it's a slap in his face that Bob lets the old lady sit on his old stool. Bob says its just a stool. "That's all it is. It doesn't mean anything."Bob takes $10K hidden in his basement with him to the bar, along with Rocco, for the Super Bowl. He puts it behind the bar next to a pistol.Deeds breaks into Nadia's home and forces her to go to Cousin Marv's Bar with him. While he's there Marv calls him and asks where he is that's so noisy. Deeds tells him that he's at the bar. Marv warns him not to underestimate the very soft spoken and gentle Bob. Marv lines his trunk with plastic and heads to the bar. He parks a block and a half away and watches.Different mob guys drop off money throughout the night. Eventually the bar clears except for Deeds and Nadia. Deeds shows Nadia that he has a gun, then he goes outside to smoke. Nadia cries and warns Bob that Deeds is planning on shooting him. Deeds comes back in and Bob offers him the money for the dog. Deeds asks how much for Nadia and says he'd rather have the money in the safe. Bob says he can't do that and tells him the story of the dead kid.Bob tells the story. Marv had a horrible gambling problem when he was a loan shark. A lot of people owed him money. The kid was one of those people. But the kid won a bunch of money at the casino and paid back Marv. But it wasn't enough to cover Marv's debt, so no one could know that the kid paid anything. Bob found the kid and shot him in the face twice. He explains in detail how he disposed of the body with lye in an oil tank. So, says Bob, if he (Bob) killed the kid, how is it that Deeds is running around claiming to have done it himself?As Deeds starts to answer, Bob shoots him twice in the face. He tells Nadia that she is safe now and she can go. She can't believe that he trusts her to not tell anyone of the shooting. Terrified, she runs out. The Chechens come and dispose of Deeds body. Chovka tells Bob he should rename the place "Bob's Bar." Bob says he's just a bartender. Chovka tells him he's the new Marv.Outside, Marv sees the man who asked for directions earlier approaching his car. He knows what's next. The man shoots Marv in the head.Torres comes to investigate. Marv is dead and Deeds is missing. Bob isn't surprised because that's the kind of neighborhood it is. Torres tells him that the church was in fact bought for housing development and asks if he'll see Bob at the closing. Bob says he'll be there. Torres is about to walk away, but comes back and says that Deeds couldn't have killed the kid because he was in the psych ward at the time. He starts to leave, and then he steps back, leans into Bob's ear, and in a whisper asks, "I bet no one ever sees you coming. Do they?"Bob takes Rocco to Nadia's home so Bob can apologize for that night at the bar. In her front yard, he explains that's not really who he is anymore. He asks if they can hang out. She's thoughtful for a moment, and then says, "Let me get my jacket". | plot twist, murder, violence | train | imdb | The Drop is getting a lot of attention because of Gandolfini, who gives another memorable performance, but The Drop is much more than an opportunity to see one our generation's greatest actors one last time, it's one of the best films of the year.
It makes sense that The Drop is written by Dennis Lahane (writer of Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island) who adapted the film from his short story "Animal Rescue," a title with more than one meaning.
The Drop is a character driven film that constructs each scene with great dialogue and fantastic acting.
The Drop is a dark, brooding crime film starring Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini.
But every now and then America still shows signs of movie-greatness with beauty's like "Killing them softly", "The Counsellor" and now this crime drama that I think can most definitely be compared with those films.
Enough has been said about the beautifully understated role by Tom Hardy, and James Gandolfini, whom I've always enjoyed watching perform, certainly leaves a big void with this being his last performance, man, will he be missed.
Right away you get a feel for those previous works as we are again introduced to a gritty, seedy, and corrupt underbelly of a big city environment that introduces us to a bunch of low lifes who are caught up in doing the wrong things just to "make something of themselves".What makes "The Drop" different from some of these other films is that these are different characters compared to what we're used to.
You believe that any of these characters is capable of beating another ones head in and when something of that sort actually happens, it sticks with you and has a lasting effect that carries throughout the remainder of the film.The story follows Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy) and his Cousin Marv (the last film of the late James Gandolfini) who run what's known as a drop bar which simply mean that they serve as a place where mobsters leave large amounts of illegal money to pick up at a later date.
It's the kind of performance that has a low-key profoundness that makes you hope the academy rewards a posthumous Oscar nomination.Hardy is no less brilliant here as the quiet and mysterious Bob. Bob is not a big talker and just lives quietly in his own little bubble tending bar and handling the drop.
Hardy especially is a master of accents and the way he handles his blue collar, Brooklyn speak is amazing to watch as we follow the mysterious Bob throughout the film, always wondering what he is thinking and what he really is about.The other stand out performance in the film comes from Matthias Shoenaerts as the loose cannon, Eric Deeds.
However, it also could be one of those small festival films that develops a cult following after people realize how good it is for being a slightly slower paced thriller that delivers great performances and a good story.
Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Naomi Rapace, and Matthias Schoenaerts star in "The Drop" from 2014.
Roskam, and brilliant acting, this is an excellent film.Bob Saginowski (Hardy) works at a bar formerly owned by his cousin Marv (Gandolfini), now mob-run, which means that every once in a while, the bar is the drop for the mob's collections.When masked men hold up the bar and get $5,000, Bob has to find a way to make it up - it's the night's take; the mob money was already collected.
And Rocco, an adorable pup, beaten and thrown in the trash, has the right stuff as well, surviving a miserable beginning.Tom Hardy is magnificent as Bob - totally American; he is truly film's male chameleon, believable as a quiet bartender who tries to stay out of the way.Gandolfini, in his last performance, is great - he has a monologue toward the end of the film that is quite powerful - he's a man who has seen his dreams shattered and chosen the wrong road.
It's a good movie, and a dark one, but in the hands of other actors could easily have been written off, given that the story is derivative."The Drop" is a must see if you're a James Gandolfini fan and to see the amazing Tom Hardy.
These performances just live up to the depth of what's written for these characters.The Drop is plain simple, that the only value it provides to its audience is some entertaining cluster with the stars like Hardy, Gandolfini, and Rapace, and some grounded tension.
Right.It reminds me a little of "A History of Violence" in that it builds the tension very nicely and you know that some where down the line violence is going to happen, but when, how and why?I am really sad that James Gandolfini is no longer with us, he is such a presence in the film.
The film stars Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, John Ortiz, Matthias Schoenaerts (who also starred in Roskam's 2011 crime-drama flick 'BULLHEAD') and James Gandolfini (in his last film role).
I found the movie to be really dark but extremely involving and suspenseful, at times, as well.Hardy plays Bob Saginowski; a Brooklyn bartender who works for his cousin Marv (Gandolfini) at a local tavern.
James Gandolfini plays Marv (who runs the bar) and Noomi Rapace is here as Bob's main squeeze.The story isn't a complicated one, but the characters stay busy and have clear motivation.
It was fun watching Hardy here with his thick Brooklyn accent - he clearly stole the show.James Gandolfini holds his own as an old, washed up gangster in his final role - the same magnetism he always had on screen - but I think that the other main key to this flick is the terrifying Eric Deeds, played by Matthias Schoenaerts.
I found her role in the movie to be pretty organic and unforced, but I do think she is the weakest thing about the story.Overall, I thought that The Drop was a very good crime story.
In the end the wait pays off as everything culminates to the final intense climax.Full Review:Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini
Are there any more reasons you need to watch this movie?
Don't let this negative detract you from watching the film, because the slow build-up is worth it in the end (can't say more without spoiling it).The Drop is a strong character driven movie.
Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises), Noomi Rapace (Prometheus, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and everybody's favorite soprano James Gandolfini star in this gritty crime-drama that reminds us all that you don't mess with people's bars.
In his first English language, American film, Roskam works with a script by the great author Dennis Lehane to tell the story of Brooklyn bartender Bob, waitress Nadia, has-been Cousin Marv, and the mysterious Eric Deeds.
She does a great job playing a damaged woman trying to lead a good life, and her scenes with Hardy (and the dog!) are some of the best of the movie.
Bleak and fascinating, "The Drop" stands in the higher ranks of crime drama films of the last few years and provides for yet another flawless performance by the great Tom Hardy and a testament performance by Gandolfini, who shines in all of his brightness, accumulated through a glorious career."The Drop" isn't at any moment doing, nor trying to do, something highly original, but thanks to the fact that it knows perfectly well what it's doing it shines on many level, including the story that could be looked as weak from a synopsis, but reveals itself to be quite well thought out as it unveils.
Gandolfini as I said is a blast to watch, but what truly makes this movie rise above is Tom Hardy and his amazingly written character.
Along-side the great man is the ever impressive Tom Hardy playing a character somewhat reminiscent to Rocky Balboa, with his good heart, chequered past, devotion to dogs, and even the relationship with Moomi Rapace has a similar feel to the one heavily featured in the Rocky movies.
James Gandolfini's last film, THE DROP is a good one starring Tom Hardy (who I loved in LOCKE), Noomi Rapace and James Gandolfini...my kinda movie full of contrasts.
Written by MYSTIC RIVER'S Dennis Lehane and directed by Michael R Roskam, this darkly filmed tale of "redemption" - an "innocent" man beautifully played by Tom Hardy as Bob Saginowski, a seemingly clueless individual bartender tending bar in a neighborhood Brooklyn hangout; a place where there is both laughter, joy, and deceit, working for his burly cousin Marv (Gandolfini ) whose questionable ethics precipitates a deadly confrontation with Chechyan mobsters who use The Bar as a place for their underworld "money drop" (laundering) operations.Great actors operating in luscious, yet stark environs, with a tension that does not let up evident in the terse, almost silent dialogue.
The cocoon that encased Hardy unravels with the yelp of a vulnerable near-death puppy; and with it a protective instinct is generated which extends to Noomi Rapace - a frightened demoralized young woman whose house and property are pierced by the cries of the anguished dog - a psychotic message delivered in a garbage can.Other characters menace and stir unrest and danger - the plot becomes convoluted and there are scenes giving us the back story of Marv's (James Gandolfini) domestic arrangement with his sister, a man in debt, a father in a nursing home and enormous pressure to get out of town - to get away from it all.
His cousin Bob Saginowski is unflappable observing what is going on, but at the same time sympathy and tenderness begin to penetrate his sentient "stillness." This could be considered a familiar oft-told- tale, but what makes it a successful movie is THE DROP 's study of the humanization of a person who has "dropped out" and the stoic Tom Hardy who does not say much, but through facial and body movements conveys the deeply human need for connection..
In addition to Hardy's and Gandolfini's unsurprisingly fantastic performances, we have a whole cast from the likes of Noomi Rapace (an emotionally vulnerable single woman), Michael Aranov (a chilling, dubious villain as the head of the Chechen mob who makes the viewers anxious with his every glance and subtle threat), and Matthias Schoenaerts (a mysterious and unstable figure) that all share the energy of each scene they appear in.
It's a small movie with some big actors (Tom Hardy as Bob, Noomi Rapace as Nadia, and the late James Gandolfini as Cousin Marv) in a small-time noirish story that has been told many times before: mean streets, laconic heroes, troublesome women, secrets.
I liked the slow moving build up and the unrolling of the side stories (the dog rescue, the awkward friendship, maybe a hint of romance between Bob and Nadiya) and the almost complete lack of sensational scenes that seem to pervade many movies depicting organized crime.
You actually believe what happens in the film is real, the characters are well fleshed out, the acting great, the direction very good.The plot itself is not something I want to talk about, let me just say that people never really learn not to hurt dogs, do they?
I enjoyed that slow buildup and didn't mind it at all because I loved how the story focused on Tom Hardy's character arc and was drawn to his performance.
It might just be another crime thriller that doesn't stand out from other films in the genre, but if you are a fan of these stories you will have a great time with The Drop.
The Drop is directed by Michael Roskam and despite not being as groundbreaking as his Oscar nominated Belgian film, Bullhead, it is still one of the best thrillers of the year thanks to the wonderful performances from the cast and the attention to details of the Brooklyn scene.
In The Drop Tom Hardy stars as a lonely bartender named Bob. Along with his cousin Marv (James Gandolfini) they run things at a local bar as a cover for dangerous Chechen gangsters.
It's the cutest puppy I've seen on film this year.The greatest thing about The Drop is without a doubt Tom Hardy's lead performance.
A crime drama with Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini(plus Noomi Rapace)?
The movie starts with Bob Saginowski(Tom Hardy) monologue on the bar he works and how crime is involved with it.
For those of you who want to see the character Tony Soprano one last time, James Gandolfini basically plays Tony in The Drop and he does not disappoint.
The movie in question has 3 great performances: James Gandolfini (as Cousin Marv; his final movie, RIP!), Noomi Rapace (as Nadia), and - particularly - Tom Hardy (as Bob Saginowski) whose character and role presentation is so different from the ones he is known of.
Bob Saginowski finds himself at the center of a robbery gone awry and entwined in an investigation that digs deep into the neighborhood's past where friends, families, and foes all work together to make a living - no matter the cost.The Drop is directed by Michael R.Roskam and stars James Gandolfini, Tom hardy and Noomi Rapace.
I was really waiting for this movie to come out as I love Tom Hardy's work and it's unfortunately James Gandolfini last role.
Indeed the movie is taking its time with characters but there are good chemistry between the couples, whether it's between Gandolfini and Hardy or Hardy and Noomi Rapace, they all work well together.
Nice, tight cast with James Gandolfini (A bit sad seeing him - such a fine screen presence he was) along with the haunting Noomi Rapace - but this is a Tom Hardy showcase.
Take the main character of the film, Bob, brilliantly played by Tom Hardy.
Couple this with a story of a stray dog and Bob's unwitting entanglement of the heart and we have enough in the mix to keep most fans happy.There are excellent performances here from everyone including Naomi Rapace – there is some visceral violence and some earthy language but this is a solid film and also shows Gandolfini as the true talent he was – he is, as ever, more than able to steal the scenes he is in and cinema will be lesser without him.
I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a film this much from this side of the country (Maybe Good will hunting) very solid performances from Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapaceand James Gandolfini - I was always wondering whats going to happen next - characters you feel so connected too and some you really want to take a baseball bat too it shows the hard side of the streets with a great amount of honesty.
As a farewell, Gandolfini leaves us a final reminder of what a powerful screen presence he was, and what a terrific feel for character and scene he possessed.The real attraction and the main reason to see the film is the outstanding and mesmerizing performance of Tom Hardy.
Clearly, this movie carries some violence and might not be everybody's cup of tea, but it is pillared by superb performances by Hardy - perhaps his best to date - Gandolfini, Rapace and Schoenaerts.Good dialogue, strong direction, impeccable photography, and a very credible storyline make this one of the more unexpected gems I have watched recently.Well deserved 8/10..
But yet I don't believe the short story title is entirely ironic, because so much of the film is devoted to revealing Tom Hardy's lead barman Bob character's care and attention for a brutalised and neglected dog.
And when the movie ends and the HUGE plot twist is revealed, you will see how amazing the screenplay is - the truth is obscured not because lies are constantly reinforced, but rather, the characters are written so cleverly and with so much complexity that it is our own reading of the characters themselves that led us to make certain wrong conclusions.Ultimately, The Drop benefits greatly from the excellent screenplay and the impeccable performance of the cast (mainly Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini).
Tom Hardy gives a good low key performance as a simple man who tends a bar where criminal cash gets dropped off and picked up.
In terms of the story, we have seen many movies like this but The Drop flips the script a little bit with a great ending.
The film takes too much time developing Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace.
Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace perform very well and James Gandolfini truly is one of the best gangster actors ever.The pacing is awful.
It stars Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace and Matthias Schoenaerts.
07/30/2018 I went into this movie because of James Gandolfini and Noomi Rapace who both guarantee excellence, never suspecting that Tom Hardy would outshine them both.
Supporting Hardy in a very good way, we find Noomi Rapace, the Belgian Matthias Schoenaerts and the late James Gandolfini who delivers a sublime, nostalgic, and final interpretation taken from his favorite niche.The Drop is a story filled with metaphors and concise small details that work together to reveal the violence that lies in every man, guided by the hand by a great and meticulous direction and a dark script made by a writer always faithful to his style (Dennis Lehane.
I still can't believe that James Gandolfini isn't with us anymore and this is sadly his last movie role we are ever going to see him ever again, but he has left us with a pretty damn good film.The story is about a dive bar acts as a front for the local mob, funneling money nightly.
Tom Hardy Saves The Day. The movie is more about character development and strong acting than a strong and enticing story.
The story may be nothing to brag about, but the acting is great, Tom Hardy plays the quiet guy caught in the middle of the crime world and just wants to move on with his life. |
tt0455967 | John Tucker Must Die | The movie begins with Kate (Brittany Snow) discussing her mother Lori's (Jenny McCarthy) series of bad relationships which always causes them to move to a new town. She and her mother move to a suburb of Portland, Oregon and Kate gets a job as a waitress. While at work, she sees popular local boy John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe) on dates with three different girls: Carrie (Arielle Kebbel), a chronic overachiever; Heather (Ashanti), who is head cheerleader; and Beth (Sophia Bush) a promiscuous and liberal vegan activist. Kate learns from a co-worker that he dates girls from different cliques at his school so that they never interact and convinces the girls he dates to keep their relationships secret.
One day in gym class, Kate, Carrie, Heather and Beth end up on the same team for a volleyball game. During the game, Carrie brags about being with John Tucker, and the girls learn about his scheme. Carrie, Heather and Beth begin fighting. Kate tries to intervene, only to get all four of them sent to detention for the fight. Later that evening, the girls enlist Kate's help in seeking revenge against John Tucker. Meanwhile, Kate becomes friends with John's brother Scott (Penn Badgley), better known as "The Other Tucker". The girls' initial attempts to undo John (making people believe he has genital herpes and with Heather undermining his confidence by pranking him with estrogen, causing him to become weak and say strange things about himself) initially work in humiliating John, but eventually backfire as John manages to use them to his advantage. After he breaks up with all three girls, they agree that breaking his heart is the ideal revenge. They then enlist Kate to be the heartbreaker.
Kate joins the cheerleading team in order to get John's attention, and the girls give her advice on how to act around John and spy on the dates using surveillance equipment. Kate also gets a make over and John immediately notices Kate and tries to win her attention, but Kate dismisses him. With his ego insulted that there is a girl he cannot charm, John becomes determined to get her. Kate and John eventually go on a series of dates, the first of which at a bonfire at the beach. Kate is unprepared after John asks to take her home and Beth intervenes to teach her how to kiss. However, John arrives, forcing Beth to hide in the back of his Land Rover. At her house, Kate manages to buy Beth time to escape by kissing John, with Beth's skirt being ruined in the process after getting it caught in the car's door. The plan seems to be working as John relentlessly chases after Kate, even going to her house in the middle of the night while talking to her on the phone at the same time (where Kate tells him that she needs to call the police because there is a stalker outside the house, and John drives away in panic, hitting a trash can). The next date is a romantic boat ride, and Kate and John have a good time together. Beth later notices that Kate is starting to fall for John. To counteract this, Carrie tapes John bragging to his friends in the locker room, saying he'll be scoring "more than baskets" at the away game, and shows the tape to Kate in order to get her to snap out of it.
The girls try another plan to embarrass John Tucker at a hotel on the night of the away game. Kate seduces John on a video-chat and tells him to put on a woman's thong and climb out of his room and into hers. He is misled and climbs into a teacher's room and ultimately becomes the laughingstock of the school. John again uses this to his advantage, starting a fashion trend that helps the boys in the basketball team play better. Meanwhile, Kate's mother and Scott both discover the plan and lament the change in Kate's behavior. Afterward, Kate tells John that she heard about what he said in the locker room about her. John makes amends by giving her his watch and asking her to be his girlfriend. Kate tells Heather, Carrie and Beth that she wants to be out of the plan, as whether they are dating or plotting to destroy John Tucker, it is still all about him. At John's birthday party, the tape the girls made of John's destruction is played, and Kate reveals the entire plot as John stares in disbelief, seemingly hurt.
Heather, Beth, and Carrie defend her after a guest throws his drink at Kate. Still, John Tucker becomes unfazed, and the party devolves into a cake fight. A few days later, John and Kate agree to be friends, and John resolves to be honest. Scott, happy that Kate confessed, becomes her lab partner again, and it is hinted the two will begin dating. Kate is now good friends with Beth, Carrie, and Heather. Kate finishes saying, "as for the girl who made John Tucker fall in love, well, she's a legend". After the credits, Kate warns viewers at home wanting to try this that destroying a man has consequences, and the camera pans to several male teachers bending over to grab some papers, all wearing thongs. | revenge, adult comedy, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt2428170 | Creep | Aaron, a freelance videographer, is driving to the home of a person who has hired him to do eight hours of work. He arrives at a house in the wilderness with a long stretch of stairs leading to the front door. Aaron knocks but no one answers so he decides to wait in his car. He turns the camera to focus on an axe lying on the ground. Suddenly, Josef appears and greets Aaron with a hug. They make their way into the house that Josef says he's spent many summers in with his family. Josef explains that he wanted to hire Aaron to make a video of him for his unborn son. He explains that he has an inoperable brain tumor and wants his son to have something to remember him by. Aaron agrees to film him.Josef leads Aaron to the upstairs bathroom where he proceeds to run the bathtub and undress. Aaron is uncomfortable but Josef assures him this is important and not in any way inappropriate. With the camera rolling, Josef proceeds to explain to his future son what "tubby time" is and mimes giving a child a bath. Josef begins to become morose and asks Aaron if he should just end it all. He sinks beneath the water until Aaron approaches him and then pops back up to give him a scare. Josef insists he's just joking and asks Aaron if he wants to go for a hike. Aaron agrees.Josef suggests Aaron grab something warm clothes from the closet for their hike and Aaron opens the closet door to find a terrifying wolf mask on a shelf. Josef calls the mask "Peachfuzz" and puts it on while he sings a song he says his dad would sing while wearing the mask. Both men get into Josef's car and head for the hiking trail that Josef explains will lead to a spring that supposedly has healing powers.While hiking through the woods, Josef's behavior begins to get even stranger. He darts away from Aaron and continues to try to scare him by popping up out of no where. He also happily admits he has no idea where they're going despite Aaron's obvious discomfort. They finally find the heart-shaped spring and wade into it. Josef grabs Aaron for another hug and suggests they go to his favorite local diner for pancakes.When they get to the diner, Josef says "Let's see what's good here". When Aaron expresses confusion, stating that he thought Josef was familiar with the place, Josef says they changed the menu. Josef asks Aaron how he felt about seeing the axe in the yard and rattles him by asking if Aaron thought he was going to kill him with it. Aaron jokes that he did at first but now he knows him better. Josef asks Aaron to tell him about a time he felt ashamed. Aaron tells a story about wetting his pants when he was little. Josef shows Aaron some pictures he took on his phone. The pictures are of Aaron when he first pulled up to the house and was knocking at the door. Josef tells him he thought that if he got to know Aaron before Aaron got to know him then he'd be less nervous. Aaron admits he thinks what Josef did was creepy but he forgives him.When they get back to the house it's dark out and Aaron, obviously still unnerved by Josef's confession at the diner, tells Josef he's going to head home. Josef insists Aaron come in for one more drink and Aaron agrees. They do shots of whiskey and Aaron begins to head out again. Josef protests and asks Aaron if he could confess something he's never told anyone. Aaron agrees but doesn't turn the camera off like Josef requests. Instead, he leaves the microphone on and we hear Josef confess to raping his wife. He tells Aaron he found porn involving beastiality on his computer and knew his wife was watching it. Josef tells Aaron that he and his wife came to the vacation house and then Josef pretended to have to leave for work. Instead, he went and bought the Peachfuzz mask, came back to the house and proceeded to wear the mask while having sex with his wife after tying her up. He says he knew she enjoyed it but never realized it was him and never confessed to him what had happened.Aaron tells Josef he's going to go but then can't find his keys. Josef insists Aaron stay the night since it's dark and he's been drinking. Aaron is shaken but agrees to stay. He mixes them both a drink and slips Benadryl into Josef's drink to make him sleepy. When Josef falls asleep next to the fireplace, Aaron tries to go through his pockets. Suddenly, Josef's cell phone rings and Aaron answers it while hiding in the bathroom. It's Josef's wife asking who Aaron is and where Josef is. Aaron explains he's in the house and Josef has taken his keys. The woman tells Aaron to simply leave the house and keep walking because her brother isn't well. Aaron panics as he realizes Josef has been lying to him the whole time, using his sister's name as his "wife's". Aaron asks if he's in danger but the signal drops. When Aaron leaves the bathroom, Josef is missing. Aaron finds him crying on the porch and Josef tells him he doesn't want to die. When Aaron reveals he knows that Josef has been lying, Josef bolts down the hall toward the front door. When Aaron descends the stairs to the front door, Josef is standing in front of it with the Peachfuzz mask on, growling and gyrating. Aaron tells him that he's afraid and wants Josef to let him go. Suddenly, Josef launches at him and the camera goes black.The camera turns back on to a video of Josef dragging two garbage bags into the woods and burying them. Aaron turns the camera around to reveal he's alright but terribly disturbed. After Josef launched himself at Aaron, he ran off, leaving Aaron to get towed home. Aaron interprets the video as a threat. He's also very worried that Josef now knows his address. Aaron awakens in the night and turns on the camera to describe a dream he just had where he and Josef are back at the spring wearing Peachfuzz masks and bathing in blood.Not long after, a box is delivered to Aaron. When he opens it, there's another DVD along with a knife and a stuffed wolf. He turns the DVD on to reveal Josef making a confession of love and threatening Aaron. He tells Aaron to cut open the stuffed wolf. Aaron does and finds a heart locket with pictures of Josef and him inside. He calls the police who are unable to help since Aaron doesn't know Josef's real name or where he lives (the house he went to was just a rental). He hangs up in frustration. Aaron throws the DVD and locket into the trash.Aaron awakes that night, again from another bad dream. He hears a sudden noise and turns all his lights on. As he searches his apartment, Josef appears just outside his doorway. He disappears just as Aaron peeks toward the door. Aaron takes the camera to search outside and finds his trashcans overturned.The camera turns on to reveal Josef watching a sleeping Aaron and cutting off a lock of his hair. The next day, Aaron finds another DVD inside his window. When he plays it, Josef is outraged that Aaron would throw the locket away. He insists he loves Aaron and apologizes for lying to him. He tells Aaron that he's been sad and lonely for a long time and no doctors have been able to help him. He begs Aaron to come meet him in a public park so he can apologize and have closure. Aaron watches the video and begins to feel very sorry for Josef.The next day, Aaron goes to the park. He begins filming the spot where Josef told him to meet. He also tells the camera that he has 911 on speed dial. Aaron sits on a bench in the distance and looks out at the lake. Josef appears behind him and pulls the Peachfuzz mask out of his coat. As Aaron continues to stare off into the distance, Josef puts the mask on and pulls the axe from under his coat. Aaron doesn't notice him and Josef buries the axe in the top of Aaron's head.Josef turns on the camera to make a final confession to the now dead Aaron. He asks why Aaron would agree to meet him at all considering how deceitful he had been. He admires that Aaron filmed their last encounter and had 911 on speed dial but wonders as to why Aaron wouldn't be looking around in paranoia. Josef says he knows it's because Aaron is a genuinely good person, and that's why he's his favorite of all.Josef talks on the phone with another videographer as he adds Aaron's video to his collection of DVDs. Josef tells the person on the phone he looks forward to meeting him. | murder | train | imdb | Employing found footage in a way that actually makes sense in the context of the plot, Creep is the story of an increasingly awkward relationship between two men that feels frighteningly plausible.The film rests upon – and succeeds because of – Mark Duplass' excellent performance as the type of person we've all met at one time or another; someone a little bit too keen to be your friend, inspiring conflicting feelings of suspicion as to their motives and empathy with regard to their ill-judged attempts at social interaction.
Seen through the eyes (or rather camera) of Aaron, the only other on-screen character (played by writer/director Patrick Brice), it's clear fairly early on that something isn't quite right, but should he be worried?Despite an occasional reliance on cynical jump scares (presumably included to ensure that the tension doesn't sag – the film is dialogue-heavy) the suspense ebbs and flows nicely and keeps you guessing as to where it will end up going.
Thankfully, for a film that always feels like it's building up to something, the resolution is well-judged and perfectly executed.Overall this is a very impressive effort and marks Patrick Brice out as a filmmaker to keep an eye on..
The found footage horror genre feels like a train that should have left the station a long time ago but sticks around waiting to see who else they can cram on board so they can squeeze a couple more bucks out of.
Brice and Duplass are able to funnel the mumblecore's priority of character development and use of a more natural dialogue, or in this case, a very naturally unnerving dialogue, into the staples of a Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) produced horror film.
Brice plays Aaron, a normal guy looking to make a little extra cash when he answers a craigslist ad that will pay him $1,000 for a days work to videotape a day in the life of Josef, played by Duplass.
That last sentence pretty much captures the film experience as you go back and forth from shocking jump scares and very unsettling interactions between the vulnerable Aaron and the assertively goofy Josef.Kudos to Mark Duplass for creating a character that is thoroughly terrifying but relatable enough and more importantly sympathetic enough to believably keep Aaron in a situation that just gets weirder and dangerously weirder.
"One jump scare every 10 minutes to keep them in the mood." Another one of my horror pet peeves is when the holder of the hand held camera in a found footage film only see's what the lense sees.
If we contrast this movie with its great grand-pappy, Blair Witch, we see just how far the found footage genre has come, which is surprising, considering that around the time of Blair Witch, it didn't really feel like there was a lot of mileage in that particular sub genre.For me, Creep's greatest strength is the black humor.
We've seen this kind of stalker idea many times before in conventional cinema of the nineties, such as Hand that Rocks the Cradle, The Fan and Cable Guy but this one really puts the viewer in the shoes of the one who is stalked.Mark Duplass puts in a legendary performance as Josef.
Having already accepted payment for the day, Aaron takes things in his stride, but alarm bells really start ringing when the time comes for him to go home and he cannot find his car keys
I'm not the biggest fan of found footage horror, but was surprised to find myself drawn in by the unusual nature of Creep's antagonist Josef, who is, without a doubt, a very disturbing (and disturbed) individual.
Although it's obvious from the outset that he's full of crap, blatantly lying about his illness, his bizarre behaviour and the mystery surrounding his real motives kept me watching.What a shame, then, that the film fails to live up to its early promise, any hope for a truly demented denouement dashed as Josef is revealed to be nothing more than your average common or garden obsessive homicidal nut-job.Aaron's actions throughout the film also undermine its effectiveness: I could get past the dubious notion that he would accept a job without any prior details, but his decision making skills thereafter prove increasingly questionable, the character failing to react in a logical fashion (only one call to the police, even with all that evidence—gimme a break!).
There are also numerous scenes that will have the viewer questioning why Aaron would continue filming given the situation (a common complaint about found footage films).An over reliance on very silly jump scares (one of Josef's strange traits is to hide from Aaron and then jump out on him) soon gets tiresome, and a daft ending where Aaron makes one last really, really, really bad decision is the final nail in the coffin..
The movie is filled with uncomfortable and awkward moments that will creep you out in a psychological way, and I guarantee you'll groan at the main character's stupidity on more than one occasion.
If you like horror/thriller movies and you can't decide what to watch, I'd recommend giving it a shot..
So, if you are like me and hate shaky video just endure the first minutes because you are in for a great ride.The movie has two main characters, and that's all that is needed to make it work.
You will get feelings for the characters, and you will arrive at the expected destination enjoying the ride.I fully recommend this movie for what it is: Good simple entertainment..
But things get out of control.Looks like simple found footage, but the two psychological types and their relationship ring true, so this two-hander is well played and ends up with a tight climax.
Low budget "reality" horror film that is disturbing at best but not worth the 90 minutes I wasted watching this trash.
The use of only 2 main characters was great made it more simpler.Creep follows Aaron a videographer who answered an ad on craigslist for a $1000 for 8 hours work with Josef.
Within hours he was acting a little strangely but always shrugging it off with "Weird Sense Of Humour" soon enough Aaron has had enough, He intercepts a call from Josefs supposed wife but instead his sister telling him to leave immediately.Im not going to give away the ending it has a few good scares but also a few loose ends...
(No spoilers)Creep (not to be mistaken with the 2004 horror with the same name, featuring a mash up of Gollum and Nosferatu) is a Blumhouse production and a found footage thriller from first time director Patrick Brice, that admirably serves its purpose in a swift running time of under 80 minutes.
Brice plays Aaron, the man behind the camera who has answered an advert on Craigslist - $1,000 to drive up to a cabin in the woods in the middle of nowhere and follow Josef (Mark Duplass) around for the day and film him going about his day.
Aaron's character may aggravate you somewhat (or a lot - but hey, that's a horror film for you) throughout the film, with you constantly asking questions about his impractical actions (or lack of) - especially why on earth he trusted a total stranger's vague Craiglist's ad in the first place, however Duplass' enthusiasm and deranged performance make the entire thing seem eerily realistic.
The suspense continues to build up by the halfway mark of the film so much I personally was struggling to watch the film due to covering my face with my hand and peeking out of a gap in my fingers, also unable to shift the memory of the film later on.As previously mentioned, this is a relatively short film but with the strong combination of unbearable tension paired with sitting on the edge of your seat in fear, this will seem a lot longer than a mere 80 minutes.
Creep, directed by Patrick Brice and starring Mark Duplass, follows Aaron who answers a sketchy craigslist ad for a one-day job to shoot a film.
I was actually expecting that Wolf Creek would play out more like this film...only to be blown away by it's extreme violence; realistic gore; and how long McLean was able to keep the shock-fest going for.The main characters in both films have over the top personalities- which are borderline laughable.
But it so mild and unsatisfying...that it just makes you want to punch the director in the face.Personally, I was more disturbed by the fact that people actually found this film to be "creepy", than I was by anything presented in the actual film.Seriously, are there that many people in this world, who are so psychologically weak...that they were driven to anxiety or forcibly terrified by such a paltry "horror" offering?Cause that is some sh*t to be scared about...the future of humanity is grim...3 out of 10..
This low budget found-footage film doesn't actually do anything new for the horror genre other than make it overly simple and minimalistic.
This mumblecore experimental artistic film focuses exclusively on two characters: Aaron (Patrick Brice) and Josef (Mark Duplass).
Josef explains that he is dying and wants to leave his unborn son a video of him so that he gets to know him kind of like in that Michael Keaton film, My Life, he explains to Aaron.
Patrick Brice directs and stars in Creep and he also co-wrote the script with Mark Duplass who helped produce the film.
it's a found footage film about a videographer named Aaron (director Patrick Brice) who responds to an add on craigslist for a one day job in a remote mountain town.
things are revealed to not be as they seemed and Josef begins progressing into a very assertive and creepy person.the found footage aspect is used in an effective and plausible way.
extremely chilling and convincing, he goes from weird and creepy assertive behaviour to being genuinely sincere and sometimes funny.the film does a great job of balancing humorous moments, excellent jump scares, seriously dark scenes of dialogue between the two characters and moments of suspense and tension.
most of the film is just scenes of dialogue between these two men and it works so well in terms of building a realistic and believable story that the audience can be immersed in.this is one of the best found footage horror films of all time.
It gets pretty disturbing on a more emotional level, rather than having bad jump scares (there are jump scares here and there, but they seem to be more for comedic purposes) and overly shaky camera movements to get some cheap scares, "Creep" is scariest when it has a disturbing silence to it.A truly great horror film..
I need to go there and bask in the beautiful scenery, while trying to forget the disturbing film I saw one time that was filmed there.It was definitely a unique take on the hand-held camera horror movies and that uniqueness kept me on the edge of my seat.
I love how the movie takes it's time and nothing is rushed as they usually do in horror movies, the footage view and the incredibly creepy creep..
The set up actually worked, and there was none of the usual "but why are you still filming??" BS that spoils most found footage.The acting was great, the characters were great and it was surprisingly scary.
No spoilers, but for some reason Duplass in a mask was weirdly frightening!It was even better on a rewatch, knowing the ending, the acting and the characters were that good..
I'm not a fan of Found Footage, and the story here is far for impressive, but Mark Duplass's charcter and acting make this a truely terrifying film..
Duplass is absolutely unforgettable as the neurotic and disturbed creep-type, always keeping you on the borderline between pity and sheer terror.The story itself is nice, though too full of holes for my liking (the ending in particular, which was completely unconvincing and forced, you'll know what I mean when you reach it).
Add to that Duplass's amazing acting and on-the-spot role and you get a film that is scary enough to be enjoyed even by those who, like myself, prefer to avoid this sub-genre.All in all, I'd say this film is a must-watch for fans of the sub-genre and possibly rewarding enough for other Horror fans.
Videographer Aaron (Patrick Brice) takes a job to film oddball Josef (Mark Duplass) living in a remote mountain cabin.
So it's pretty dumb, and even though it's technically a horror film, most of the "jump scares" in the film are literally the creepy guy running away from the camera guy and then jumping out at him from the corner like a 9 year old.
even though this wasn't the scariest movie ever - there still are jumpy parts, there is still the element of not knowing what is going to happen next, there definitely is a creep factor and the uncomfortable feeling you get while watching it.
If you do decide to watch it - remember to watch it knowing it is meant to be amateur style filmed, not a horror movie, no twists, but is creepy, uncomfortable and original and i really think you will enjoy it!.
Before watching "Creep", I would have had a hard time imagining improvisation working in a horror movie.
It seems like you could all too easily stray from the fearsome undercurrent each scene is supposed to carry with it - or, you could try to make everything you say scary, and thus merely become ridiculous.It must have been a tightrope, but Duplass and Brice were more than up to the challenge."Creep" has possibly the most naturalistic acting seen in a found footage film since "Blair Witch"..
Not what i expected to be,i don't get scared easily but this one's really creepy,finally a movie with found footage that i like and that i think it's creepy and scary.This one's a new kind of found footage that i really looked forward to seeing the end,really liked it.This movie is not like other horror movies.Even if it's not that scary it just seems so real and it can happen to anyone.The trailer is different and doesn't say much,but you won't regret watching it..
For a good slow burn, however, you can't do much better than Creep in my opinion.In summation, Buddy: Creep is a found-footage slow burn horror film that is one of the best of its kind, and I, for one, can't wait for the sequel..
Unlike other found footage there's little reliance on jump scares and gore and more of a building tension created through the conversation and actions of Mark Duplass' character.
How in the Hell we ever made it though - other than the shear comical nature of the film..............SO sick of these fake "best horror movie in a long time" reviews.
They saved a ton of money on this movie because there were only two actors, Aaron (Patrick Brice) and Joseph (Mark Duplass) (if you don't count the female voice on the other end of one of the phone calls).
So,Creep is the new found footage horror film which I just decided there to watch after getting up out of bed,I remember having seen a bit of it before and I strangely did not like it,but,I haft to say,Creep has become one of my favourites!
I watched this because of it's high ratings, it wasn't worth it in the least.For a movie that's supposed to be a horror/thriller there's no real tension, they try to build some up but the improvisational nature of the movie just derails it as none of the conversations are interesting and they rely on fake out jump scares to try and fill in for this.There's nothing new or clever in this, it doesn't execute the genre norms well and it does nothing to bring anything new to them either(there was one moment where I thought it might go somewhere interesting in that there was a chance to throw a curve-ball in who the creep was but no, it just charges head-long into predictability), the characters are uninteresting and I had no attachment to out wary and bored feeling protagonist.The initial premise is clichéd, the build up is dull and the pay-off is zero, don't bother at all..
I love that feeling when you go into a movie with zero expectations and within the first 5 minutes you are captivated and know you are watching something great.
this movie is pretty short, at 82mins, but there is so little that happens, that even that seems too long, the idea is that you see them have a nice day out and then there's a nice little end scene, could be done in twenty minutes, but it's dragged out, it's good enough story, just not enough to it, the park bench scene is brilliant, and i think thats what makes the film.don't expect a horror movie, but it's worth a watch and done pretty well considering such a lack of story.
Creep (2014)*** (out of 4) Aaron (Patrick Brice), a videographer, is broke but gets a job from a guy named Josef (Mark Duplass) who is dying of cancer and wants to make a diary for his unborn son.
Aaron and Josef are to spend eight hours together with Aaron videotaping everything but things take a strange turn.If you're going to watch CREEP then it's best that you don't know too much about the plot other than what I just gave you.
The next reason the film works so well is that it's actually pretty darn creepy and that's not something that's easy to do.Obviously you're walking into a horror movie so you know something bad is going to happen to where the suspense is going to come from.
I am a bit bioss when it comes to this "franchise" but i love this movie Mark Duplass gives a great performance and the twist at the end really surprised me.. |
tt0810913 | Jack and Jill | When you get together with your family for the holidays, everybody has that one family member who drives you crazy. They mean well, and you love them, but stillFor Jack, that's his sister his twin sister Jill. Growing up, their lives were incredibly intertwined. But ever since Jack moved away, they have moved in different directions. Jack has become a highly motivated and successful ad executive in L.A., while Jill was the one who stayed back east and took care of their parents. Now, they see each other only once a year, at Thanksgiving, when Jill comes to L.A. for a visit. Time and distance have taken a toll on their relationship and now Jack finds himself enduring Jill's annual visit, rather than enjoying it.Still, its just a couple of days, right? Wrong. Jack and Jill get off on the wrong foot just like always and the only way Jack can make things right is to ask Jill to stay on through Hanukkah, giving her some time to enjoy everything L.A. has to offer, from game shows to horseback riding. Still, Jack isn't exactly pleased that his sister is extending her tripAnd adding to Jacks stress is the fact that things aren't going all that well at his ad agency. His biggest client, Dunkin Donuts, is demanding that Jack deliver Al Pacino to perform in a new Dunkaccino commercial. Jack wonders how in the world he is going to get Pacino does he even do commercials? and his quest is intensified when he finds out that the famous actor is having a nervous breakdown and losing his mind. Having played one too many roles, the actor is starting to confuse reality with the parts he is playing and is acting out in some increasingly erratic ways.When Jack takes Jill to see the Lakers, he approaches Pacino about the commercial, but is stunned when Pacino is much more interested in talking to Jill. It turns out that Jill reminds Pacino of everything he left behind his boyhood home in the Bronx, his childhood and for Pacino, who is preparing to play Don Quixote on stage, something clicks. Because hes having trouble with reality, suddenly, Jill isn't Jacks wacky sister shes Dulcinea, Don Quixotes idealized romantic love and Pacino must conquer her affections to realize his quest.Trouble is, Jill isn't interested. But Pacino will not be brushed aside so easily. Inviting himself to Jack and Jill's surprise birthday party, he sweeps Jill off her feet and takes her for a private party at his home but Jill still isn't biting, which only inflames Pacino's passion (and insanity). Its not clear who's more upset Jill, from the experience, or Jack, who thinks his chance to get Pacino could be over, or Pacino, who is completely losing it for Jill.For Jack, now the shoe is on the other foot: he has to try to convince Jill to extend her trip even further and give Pacino one more shot. Its a move that sets in motion a wild, outrageous series of events that reveals to Jack who the most important people in his life are and have always been.Sony Pictures | comedy, entertaining | train | imdb | null |
tt0870117 | Hammer & Tickle | What would happen if they introduced Communism to Saudi Arabia? Nothing at first but soon there would be a shortage of sand.Why, despite all the shortages, was the toilet paper in East Germany always 2-ply? Because they had to send a copy of everything they did to Moscow.This is the first ever film about Communist jokes, the most extraordinary cultural legacies of eighty years of socio-political experimentation in Russia and Eastern Europe.Under the oppressive Communist regimes of the Soviet Union and its satellites, ordinary people told thousands of jokes about the society they lived in and the political system they suffered under. Denied free speech, and confronted daily with the gap between political propaganda and everyday reality, jokes became the language of truth in the world of Communism. They were a way for ordinary people to resist the regime but the Communist regimes also used to jokes, to diffuse opposition. Jokes were thus the real battleground between state and people under Communism.Using this unique folkloric archive, this funny and insightful feature-length documentary tells the real history of Communism through the jokes. On the way it tells the stories of what happened to the joke-tellers, some of whom ended up in the Gulags, while others became stars of the stage and screen. This Monty-Python-esque history of Communism recreates the jokes using sketches, tricked archive and special animations. There are interviews with the legends of Communism and legendary Communist joke-tellers including Solidarity Leader and former Polish president Lech Walesa, the hardline Polish leader General Jaruselski, German actor Peter Sodann, , German satirist and author Ernst Roehl, East German newspaper editor and Politburo member Guenter Schabowski, and Britains own Professor of jokes, Christie Davies.The film unearthes never-seen-before archive of the jokes that President Reagan told at Press Conferences, of the only anti-Communist comedy show ever broadcast on a Communist state television channel, and of the jokes and cartoons that the Czechs graffiti-ed on their town square when the Russians invaded in 1968.
Uncovering extraordinary stories never before told on television, director Ben Lewis met the man who collected jokes for Ronald Reagan, the Polish prankster who gave away toilet paper to deprived fellow citizens, and the Romanian amateur statistician who collected and analysed Communist jokes scientifically to reveal the part they played in the downfall of the system. | humor | train | imdb | Interesting and accessible film that gets the structure, content and tone just right. Having been to Russia for a few weeks for work recently I was interested in the night of programming that the ever reliable BBC4 screened recently. With this film the focus is less on the specific history of Russia but more the status of satire and joking down the ages of Communism. With the film mainly focusing on Russia we also learn of the experiences of those in Hungary, Germany and other countries where Communism was the ruling political ideal.At first I wondered if the material would be able to fill out 30 minutes, far less 90 because it does seem to be a very superficial subject and have a very light approach. However the film lays the subject out very well and the delivery is accessible without being superficial. The structure allows for the film to deal with Russia and Communism in easy historical chunks and for each one the delivery allows the casual viewer to sufficiently understand the context when the film looks at the nature of the joking. Saying the film is about "jokes" is doing it a bit of a disservice though because really it is about dissension, satire, gallows humour and how they were grown from and treated by the political leaders and social conditions of the various times.As such i was surprised by how interesting I found it and I think director Ben Lewis does himself down when he sets the film up while being filmed reading joke books really it is about much more than that. The use of talking heads is selective and well placed across the whole film but what I found more effective was the use of animation and "sketches" to tell typical jokes from the periods. I had seen this same device used recently in a film about humour in the time of Nazi Germany and I must say that here I saw how well it could be done. The animation is cool and the sketches come over natural and well timed.Overall an interesting and accessible film. The subject matter suggests that there will not be much to cover but the reality is quite the opposite as the film is well structured to deliver a comprehensive look at satire over a long period while avoiding feeling either too detailed or too superficial. |
tt0046446 | Torch Song | Jenny Stewart (Joan Crawford) is a Broadway musical star of renowned drive and perfectionism. In her relentless determination to give her audiences her best ("No Jenny Stewart show is going to be a flop."), she orders everybody around with incessant demands. When her rehearsal pianist suddenly quits, he is replaced by blind pianist Tye Graham (Michael Wilding). Though Graham knows all her arrangements backwards and forwards, he offers one innocent suggestion that Stewart alter a tempo -- and she demands he be fired (while his seeing-eye dog, Duchess, growls menacingly).She soon recants, however, because she realizes he was right. As rehearsals continue, she grows to respect his musicianship and his opinion, because he's the one person she realizes is always honest with her.It soon becomes clear that Jenny is isolated and lonely in her hard-earned stardom. Her boyfriend, Cliff Willard (Gig Young), is a handsome but alcoholic hanger-on who cheats on her. Her mother (Marjorie Rambeau) and sister (Nancy Gates) depend on Jenny's financial support.We learn that Tye lost his sight in the war -- and also that he paid Jenny's original rehearsal pianist to quit so that Tye could take his place. We learn that Tye is in love with his remembered vision of Jenny when he saw her in a show before he lost his sight. Tye is a man of independent means who lives well, to Jenny's surprise when she visits him to demand that he come back to rehearsals.Jenny does all she can to disguise her growing feelings for Tye. When he resists her subtle manipulations and finally refuses to accompany the cast to the out-of-town tryouts at the end of rehearsals, Jenny and Tye have an explosive argument during which he mentions her "gypsy madonna" hair.Later, at her mother's, Jenny confesses her love for Tye and mentions his comment. Her mother seems to remember the comment from somewhere and asks Jenny to get out one of the the scrapbooks her mother's kept throughout Jenny's career. There it is: the "gypsy madonna" comment made in a review Tye Graham wrote just before he left for the war.Now that she realizes how Tye really feels about her, Jenny returns to his apartment and silently takes her place near him while he plays a furiously angry version of "Tenderly" -- one of Jenny's early hits. He's incensed when he discovers her presence, but the two finally confess their love and their need for each other. | romantic | train | imdb | null |
tt1130080 | The Informant! | As the film opens, Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) is explaining that nearly everything people eat contains corn and that his company, ADM, is involved in almost all meals. He is overseeing ADM's production of lysine, an additive used in the commercial livestock industry, but there are problems and the company is losing money. Whitacre reveals that ADM is the victim of a saboteur and his source is a Japanese colleague who wants $10 million to name names. As a result, ADM asks the FBI to intervene and tap Whitacre's business line at his home. When the agent Brian Shepard arrives at Whitacre's house to install the recording device, Whitacre is prodded by his wife Ginger to tell the truth. Whitacre reluctantly asks to speak with Brian in the agents car because he believes that ADM has likely bugged the house and reveals to the agent that ADM has been engaged in price fixing with Japanese and Korean lysine producers. Brian informs his superiors that ADM is engaging in rampant corporate crime, but when ADM realizes that the FBI has in fact tapped more than just Whitacre's business line, the company refuses further cooperation with the FBI and orders Whitacre to stop working with Brian.Whitacre initially refuses to cooperate with the FBI and tells Brian that there is no longer any price fixing at the company, but Brian and another agent, Robert Herndon, confront him in a hotel and force him to admit that this isn't the case. Whitacre also admits at this point that he invented the story of the mole and the Japanese extortionist in order to take some heat off himself and his failure to produce results. Whitacre decides to work with the FBI and becomes an informant. Initially, Whitacre explains that he wants to do the right thing but later he admits that he wanted to eliminate the other executives at ADM and take his place as President of the entire company. Whitacre begins to record tapes at work and in meetings he eventually submits over 200 recordings to the FBI which he narrates in an amusing way. He also shows the wire to his maintenance man at home and says that he's Agent 0014 because he's twice as smart as James Bond 007. The FBI eventually records video of ADM's meetings with Japanese and Korean competitors with Whitacre's help. The FBI is happy with the evidence that Whitacre supplies, but the Justice Department takes more convincing, though eventually everyone feels that the case against ADM is strong.As a result of Whitacre's evidence and after two years of work, the FBI launches a massive raid on ADM, seizing files and computers. Whitacre, in an effort to avoid casting suspicion on him as the informant, is confronted by the FBI in a restaurant with fellow executive Terry. The FBI advises Whitacre to tell his company that he is cooperating with the government and to secure his own lawyer as opposed to one the company will offer him. Once the raid is over, Brian learns that Whitacre compromised the raid by warning his secretary and two colleagues but continues with the case. The morning after the raid, Whitacre accepts a company lawyer who spends all day with Whitacre listening to the story of his work as an informant. The company lawyer advises Whitacre to get his own attorney and together they inform several executives that Whitacre will be cooperating with the FBI.After the FBI raid, Whitacre's story begins to unravel and his family is shunned by the corporate community. Whitacre's new counsel is amazed by his story and advises him not to speak to anyone about the case. Somehow, the story is leaked to the Wall Street Journal and Whitacre continues to meet with the FBI agents Brian and Robert. Whitacre confesses to the agents that he has been taking kickbacks for several years the total amount Whitacre embezzles is never made clear in the film because he keeps changing his story, but the final figure he gives is over $11 million. In truth, Whitacre asked a colleague to set up a shell company that sent ADM bogus invoices that the company paid. The film does not clarify exactly how Whitacre's scheme worked; probably because he has never explained the mechanism in detail himself. This revelation results in Whitacre losing his immunity.When confronted with evidence of his embezzlement, Whitacre loses control of himself and it becomes clear that he is suffering from Bipolar Disorder, and his diagnosis will eventually become his defense. It is revealed that the story Whitacre tells of how he was adopted by a wealthy man when he was young is false. Whitacre also fakes a kidnapping attempt in an effort to gain public sympathy and continues to speak to the media despite the advice of his attorneys. He parts ways with the legal counsel when they refuse to file a lawsuit against Brian Shepard for assault and when Whitacre refuses to accept a plea bargain for 3-5 years in prison. Whitacre's new attorney is portrayed as the worst kind of ambulance chaser. He confronts the FBI with evidence that his client was assaulted by Brian, who supposedly hit Whitacre with a suitcase. In order to bolster his case, Whitacre forges a letter from his psychiatrist but no one is fooled. Whitacre is confronted by Brian, who asks him why he keeps lying. Whitacre replies that he doesn't know why and announces that he should go back to the hospital.The film flashes forward to Whitacre's sentencing. Whitacre delivers a meandering statement and admits that he is now on medication. The judge, however, finds no connection between having Bipolar Disorder and committing so many counts of fraud. Whitacre spends nearly 9 years in prison, three times what the executives his tapes help convict served. He petitions, with the help of Agent Robert, for a presidential pardon and admits that he embezzled money in case he lost his job at ADM as a result of working as an informant. It was his severance. It is also suggested that Whitacre embezzled money to compensate for funds he lost when scammed by scammed by a group in Nigeria in an advance fee fraud. The pardon is refused, but Whitacre's evidence was invaluable to one of the largest price-fixing cases in history and the government was able to collect millions in fines. Were it not for the fraud activity, Whitacre would be regarded as a hero. In the final scene, Whitacre is released from prison and is met by Ginger. The viewers are told that Whitacre is currently the COO of Cypress Systems. | insanity, plot twist, comedy | train | imdb | With Mark Whitacre as the main character, we follow him into the case and we immediately start to get the impression that this guy really doesn't have his head in the real world – like he doesn't understand the consequences of anything he says and does, which perhaps accounts for his rather cheerful outlook and easy personality.
This is true but the full extent of his actions are unveiled nicely across the whole film – leaving me at times a little like the FBI lawyer during the presentation from ADM's attorney, mouth open not quite believing it.It is not a hilarious movie by any means but the comic air makes it easy to enjoy and the story is engaging and entertaining.
Yet somehow, Steven Soderbergh manages to turn Kurt Eichenwald's book, which depicts the true story of former ADM employee Mark Whitacre in the manner of John Grisham's best legal thrillers, into a thoroughly entertaining, often very funny movie.
This, of course, is aided by Matt Damon's brilliant, spot-on portrayal of the corporate executive-turned-FBI informant, as well as solid work by the supporting cast.When I first read Eichenwald's book after learning about this movie, I was slightly skeptical.
While some of the darker elements have been left out and the film is undoubtedly lighter than its source material, Soderbergh stayed true to reality, keeping the events mostly accurate to what Eichenwald described in his book, and hence, to what really happened; in fact, on a side note, after seeing the movie, the real-life Mark Whitacre commented that the film was "very accurate", which is a bit of a surprise considering Soderbergh made the decision to not consult any of the people involved in the actual 1990s investigation.Oddly enough, while this probably sounds contradictory to the opening statement of my review, much of the humor actually springs out of the events and dialogue depicted in the book, almost all of which took place in reality, rather than jokes or quips written by the screenwriter or improvised by the director or actors.
The supporting cast does a fine job as well and perhaps the most noteworthy of these actors are Scott Bakula as the benignly professional FBI agent Brian Shepard and Melanie Lynskey, who portrays Whitacre's devoted wife, Ginger, with a sort of Mid-western bubbliness.In typical Steven Soderbergh mode, the director adds a quirky, unique tone to the movie.
Everything feels authentic, from the hairstyles to the ADM office and even the colorful array of ties sported by various cast members throughout the movie.Furthermore, by using voice-over narration, Soderbergh effectively manages to enter the mind of Mark Whitacre, who is, to say the least, an extremely fascinating personality.
And I'm not saying that to put movies like Bourne or Oceans down, they are a lot of fun (on different levels), but performance wise he didn't have to stretch that many "muscles" (action wise on the other hand, he obviously had to, at least with the Bourne Trilogy).The story is pretty simple and the anti "Hero" is quite ordinary.
he exposed price-fixing at Archer Daniels Midland, the ag-giant.Matt Damon takes this quasi-caricature and turns him into a comedy act along the lines of Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar.
Power and Greed are all-consuming.While, I don't know the details of the real story, it was interesting to watch Whitacre's interacting/playing with the FBI agents (Scott Bacula and Joel McHale).
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning The true story of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) who worked for a giant firm that produced lysine chemicals in products to be consumed by humans.
Whitacre maintained a degree of honesty and integrity to his work, but when he uncovered evidence of price fixing with rival foreign companies, he turned undercover informant for the FBI...but, as events rolled on, it would appear he may have known a bit more about what was going on himself than he was letting on.Playing like a lighter version of 1999's The Insider, Steven Soderbergh's dramatization of corporate corruption in the early 90s is amusingly on edge through-out, with Damon's constant muted voice-overs gently guiding us along this tale of principles and ethics clashing with corporate greed and deception.
Matt Damon gives an excellent performance as the main character, Mark Whitacre, a man who on his own initiative feeds the government information while he continues to embezzle huge sums of money.
The story line has fantastic segways that catch you off guard and make you feel blundered but in complete understanding of the main character.Matt Damon is a great actor and this will probably be his proof for future castings in "not so ordinary" roles.The movie is not as corky as the commercials seem.
a feeling of apathy and love builds for the main character.Reasons to watch = the cynical dialog from Matt Damon pays for the price of your movie ticket itself.
Veteran director Steven Soderbergh who's well known for the Ocean series returns here with a pretty good dark comedy drama that's based on a true story, yet it's realness is overshadowed by humor and comedy.
Veteran and now well rounded actor Matt Damon teams back up with Steven as Damon stars as the central character and somewhat anti-hero Mark Whitacre who as a biochemist for a processing giant ADM(Archer Daniels Midland)exposes the greed and dirty corruption as he blows the whistle on the company's alleged global price fixing methods.Set in Illinois taking place from the early 90's till the story wraps up in 2006, you see that from the get go that Mark Whitacre is well rounded, a married family man hard working successful yet a mind wandering oddball who's intelligent and he has plans to expose the top company brass.
Anyway this even though a spy film Soderbergh blends the drama and suspense with slapstick humor and funny lines all of which feed off of Damon's crazy character.
Still you as the viewer even with the humor and joke intersection are intrigued by observations of searching for the truth.And you as the viewer want answers especially when it involves exposing corporate crime, the truth takes a spin, yet really it wasn't that surprising considering the mind and wandering thoughts of Matt Damon's character.
Overall "The Informant!" is a well done film with a top notch performance from Matt Damon who's now a sharp polished actor, I cheer for the film's telling of the real life tale of corporate fraud and corruption which relates to the times so well with banking, wall street and company scandal.
They are encouraged to continue and launch an investigation of price fixing at the instigation of the lead character, Whitacre (Matt Damon), who agrees to participate in the investigation as an informant.
On the other side I am not a very big fan of Soderbergh - yes I enjoyed some of his movies but I would not rate any of them higher than a 7/10 - and after this evening I would think twice before ever watching another one of his movies.What triggered me to write this review is that I felt the story had potential and this could have been a nice movie.
It stars Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, an executive at ADM, one of the world's largest agricultural conglomerates, and in regards of the film, one of the front runners in corn processing technologies.
Aside from the physical changes Damon went through, you can tell just by the simple lines of dialogue that every word is important and that he is trying to speak through the character and not as an actor.His supporting cast does a fantastic job, especially FBI agents Shepard and Herndon played by Scott Bakula and Joel McHale.
Soderbergh is very good at presenting the right mood for a film.It doesn't hurt to have an amazing soundtrack by Marvin Hamlisch, who has done scores for all different types of films like The Sting, Bananas, Ordinary People, and The Spy Who Loved Me. The score is over the top, but so is the story.
has an exclamation point after the title for a good reason - it suggests that even the writers and actors as well as the usually superb Steven Soderbergh had a tough time figuring out how to make this story into an entertaining while quite implausible movie.
Though based on a true story the movie is basically a running monologue by the hyperkinetic Matt Damon in a role that suits him not at all.
I'm not sure if it's because the story is complicated or if it's because i lost interested very early on.Matt Damon tries his best while playing the strange businessman Mark Whitacre and at times it's quite interesting but the problem is that Director Steven Soderbergh has made a film that does not know if it's a comedy or a serious piece of drama, in the end it turns out to be neither.The Informant could have been so much better if only the director had been on his A game..
I get it that we are seeing things somewhat from the skewed perspective of the pathologically lying protagonist Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) who fancies his megalomaniacal personal greed as rooted in a desire to do the right thing and bring down the price-fixing corporation for which he is the vice president.
Casting in the supporting roles a large roster of individuals known for comic acting rather than dramatic (Patton Oswalt, Dick Smothers, Joel McHale) makes the film feel more smart-ass than hip, as each escalating lie that gets unearthed about Whitacre is greeted with the kind of looks normally reserved for "Dennis the Menace" when caught in a fib.I find guys like Whitacre scary and dangerous.
I don't care how charming Matt Damon is, no one in his right mind is going to want to spend more than 20 minutes in the all-white corporate environs of this film and find his character anything less than a despicable weasel.
I found it absolutely boring and long winded to watch.It doesn't happen a lot, but that was one of the films I had to quit before it was over...almost falling asleep while watching it.I normally think that Matt Damon is a really decent actor and most of his roles, including Jason Bourne and his character in Ocean's 11-13, were appealing and interesting.
It is about Mark Whitacre, the VP of an agribusiness giant, who turns into an informant working with the FBI to expose a price fixing scheme within his firm.The film is a true story but that does not make it more interesting to watch.
Sort of.Which brings us to Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!, where we follow the (mis)adventures of a company whistle blower, who acted in his own self, delusional interest in believing that confessing to the Feds his activity and what he intimately knows about his company's shenanigans in price-fixing, would absolve him of his guilt, and hey, fast track him to the CEO position as well, since he's wearing the white hat and with the good guys.
Here, it seems that Soderbergh had plucked Damon from his Ocean's films, identifying that he can play low-key with aplomb, and does so as the lead protagonist in the film, without whom I believe this movie will fall flat.Damon hides behind that thick moustache and paunch to bring out possibly one of his best roles in recent years highlighting some serious versatility so far unseen, punctuated by a quirky narrative complete with a very 80s feel in art direction.
The story evolves around Mark Whitacre(Matt Damon)who in the early 90's is asked by two FBI agents(played by Scott Bakula and The Soups Joel Mchale) to be an informant for them, when the company Whitacre is working for suspected of price fixing.
But for the next few years while Whitacre is there Informant, more surprising twists start getting revealed.I like the way it was funny, but not a comedy.
The film stars Academy Award Winner Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre, the VP for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) who uses his knowledge of the price fixing within companies and turned it into one of the biggest scandals of the 90s.
Described as a "quirky comedy-crime film" I was bored throughout following a puffed up Matt Damon in the role of informant for the FBI, who after discovering that his company is involved in price fixing (and convinced he'll be a hero) wears a wire to gather the evidence needed to convict his bosses.
This is based on a true story and the case becomes threatened when it turns out that Mark Whitacre is also a compulsive liar and embezzler.I'm not even sure how to review this, the story was convoluted, random, long winded, and had a Farrelly brothers vibe to it, (but not in a good way) including a distracting (terrible) soundtrack.
He is a chunky monkey, wearing bad clothes and sporting a terrible 80's moustache, who as a character is all over the place; paranoid, angry, accusing, nerdy, comical, intense and a big fat liar.I think my favorite part of this (long) movie was the ongoing voice-over where we get to hear the random internal dialogue going through Mark's head, and wow does he have some obscure thoughts, often hilarious.1/26/15.
Based on a true story, Steven Soderbergh's 'black comedy' follows whistleblower and closet psychopath Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon).
But it works -- brilliantly.Matt Damon stars as Mark Whitacre, a senior executive at Archers Daniels Midland (ADM), who becomes an FBI informant in connection with investigations into ADM's business practices in the early to mid-1990's.
The thing to really notice in The Informant!, after also taking in Matt Damon's mind-boggling good performance and Steven Soderbergh's creative cinematography and compositions, is the narration.
I loved just looking at the film as a piece of masterful direction.But for all of Soderbergh's tricks, and the brilliance of the narration, and the comedy that comes out of reaction takes of the supporting players (i.e. Joel McHale and Scott Bakula as the FBI agents), it's Damon's show.
The only other people on the screen are some understandably confused and bewildered FBI agents who get taken for a long ride by Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre...the audience too gets suckered in by our main man.Whitacre is an unlikely hero and Soderbergh counts on the audience not knowing what's ahead as a tale of price-fixing unfolds.
Fast paced, interesting story; this is what most movies should include.The Informant!, however, had neither of these two.This movie, starring a fat Matt Damon, who looked like he would win a Ned Flanders lookalike competition, is about a man who basically "tells on" his company, regarding some price fixing on their behalf.The movie sets itself out to be a fight between an ordinary man and, what I was hoping to be some evil Japanese corporation with ninjas sent out to kill Matt Damon, but no, this did not happen.Honestly, the only exciting part about this movie, was the fact that I got the chance to say "Matt Damon" like a loony over and over again.This movie was more boring than watching grass grow.
More than comedy I felt like the Mark Whitaker was stupid.Only positive about this movie for me was acting of Matt Damon..
Director Steven Soderberg delivers a one-of-a-kind gem with "The Informant!", a movie about bipolar conflicts which, itself, is a bipolar conflict.The main character, Mark Whitacre (played by Matt Damon), is presented as a swiftly-shifting bundle of complexities.
Everything about "The Informant!" leads one to expect a comedy, from the exclamation point in the title to the idea of hunky action star Matt Damon playing an overweight corporate dweeb (complete with pedo moustache).
A dressed-down Matt Damon is "The Informant" in this 2009 film directed by Steven Soderbergh, from a book by Kurt Eichenwald.
This film is purportedly based on a true story that must have been a pip.Damon plays Whitacre, who goes to the Feds accusing the company he works for, ADM, as being partners in price-fixing with their competitors.
Good points: 1) Matt Damon is truly believable and his performance is noteworthy; 2) Movie keeps you guessing, is unpredictable, and is thoroughly engaging; 3) Good script, with interesting and memorable narration; 4) A smart, though not brilliant; 5) Look and style of the film was effective;Not-so-good points 1) Odd casting- there was a decision to cast many comedians, including the Smothers Brothers and several stand-ups, in serious roles (mostly attorneys and associates), to the point that it became distracting.
The story is about a guy named Mark Whitacre(Matt Damon) who works for a company in the 1990's and tries to get the FBI to take down people that are in higher positions than he is by making false accusations, so basically he thinks by taking down the head figures he would be the person to replace that position.
After the first half hour, you start checking the time every 10-15 minutes until the end of the movie.I don't want to write a long review but I just want to mention a few things.First, the story line is not that interesting.
Not the other way around...Finally, I just want to mention that Matt Damon delivered a good performance in this movie.
Without them the story would have been a bit boring.You do not feel sorry for Mark Whitacre when you see him do prison time and in fact more than any of the people involved in the price fixing scam.
I don't think I've ever seen Matt Damon play such a quirky, dark character, like that of Mark Whitacre.
To the pantheon of movies about corporate greed we can now add Steven Soderbergh's comedy "The Informant!".
Steven Soderbergh is always trying new things, so his movies are always, on some level, quite interesting.The Informant follows an executive who helps the FBI to investigate shenanigans at his company.
Steven Soderbergh crafts a great movie using this snowballing insanity and Matt Damon's acting skills.
"I'm the good guy in all this." Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon)He's not. |
tt0065214 | The Wild Bunch | The movie takes place in 1913, during the height of the Mexican Revolution. In the fictional town of San Rafael, Texas, the Wild Bunch - led by Pike Bishop (William Holden), and also including Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine), Lyle and Tector Gorch (Warren Oates and Ben Johnson), Angel (Jaime Sanchez), Buck (Rayford Barnes), and Clarence 'Crazy' Lee (Bo Hopkins), among others - enters the town, with half of them dressed as United States cavalry soldiers. They ride past a group of children who are torturing a pair of scorpions by putting them on a hill of red ants (this image was suggested by Emilio Fernandez; he said that he and his friends had done similar things as children), a very symbolic image which symbolizes the events of the film. The gang breaks into the bank and holds it up, but on the roof of a hotel across the street is a ragtag posse of bounty hunters, led by Patrick Harrigan (Albert Dekker), a railroad detective, and Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), a former member of the gang being ambushed, along with scruffy bounty hunters Coffer (Strother Martin), T.C. (L.Q. Jones), Huey (Paul Harper), and Jess (stuntman Bill Hart).The gang's escape is interrupted by the local temperance union, which is holding a parade in the town, led by Reverend Wainscoat (Dub Taylor), playing "Shall We Gather At The River?" (a hymn used as a funeral song in innumerable John Ford Westerns, used here for ironic effect). Various members of the gang, inside and out of the bank, spot the bounty hunters and Pike uses a bank teller as a decoy, throwing him out of the bank to draw the fire of the bounty hunters, allowing for the gang's escape.A vicious, confusing gunfight occurs, with gang members, bounty hunters, and civilians caught in the crossfires, resulting in numerous deaths. Only six members of the gang escape - Pike, Dutch, the Gorches, Angel, and Buck, who has been shot in the face and blinded - and the rest of the gang is killed. Crazy Lee is left behind to hold the bank patrons as hostages; when Harrigan and Thornton's gang descend from the roof of the hotel to scavenge from the various dead bodies, he is ultimately killed by Harrigan. Outside of town, Pike executes Buck, who is unable to continue riding due to his injuries.The surviving gang members arrive at a small Mexican town, where another gang member, the old Freddie Sykes (Edmond O'Brien), is waiting with horses and saddles. In this scene, they realize that the robbery was a set-up by the railroad - all of their earnings have been nothing but bags of steel washers. The excitable Gorches very nearly turn on Angel and Sykes, but they are held in check by Pike and Dutch. Later in the film, Sykes reveals to Pike that Crazy Lee - who had been deliberately left behind by Pike - was his grandson.We also learn as the film progresses that Thornton has been given his parole in exchange for his tracking down his old colleague Pike. Though Thornton continually disparages his posse as "gutter trash", he reluctantly continues his pursuit of the gang throughout the film. Pike reveals through flashback (most of which were cut by the studio in the original version) how he abandoned Thornton to the railroad detectives, and also how he developed his painful leg wound (he had an affair with a Mexican woman, played by Aurora Clavell, and was shot by her husband) which he suffers from throughout the film.Pike and his men return to Angel's village and remain there for a day and night. Pike learns from the village elder, Don Jose (Chano Urueta) that the village has been attacked by General Mapache (Emilio Fernandez), a Mexican general working for the government of General Huerta. Angel's father was hanged, and his girlfriend was taken by Mapache for his own. Though he tells Pike that he will not avenge his father, Angel remains obsessed with getting his vengeance on Mapache throughout the film.The gang then heads to the small town of Agua Verde, Mapache's headquarters, to trade their horses. As they go to visit the General, Angel sees Teresa, his girlfriend, presenting a pony to Mapache. Angel shoots her in the arms of Mapache, nearly leading to a tense confrontation between the Mexicans and the gang, but Pike and Dutch diffuse it. They are later hired by Mapache and his German military advisers to steal a US arms shipment for him, which they agree to for a price of ten thousand dollars - but Angel insists that they allow him to take a case of rifles to his village to protect them from Mapache. Pike and Dutch agree.The Bunch holds up the train and kills the soldiers guarding the weapons, but Thornton and his posse are also on board the train and pursues them to a bridge over the Rio Grande, themselves being pursued by a squad of inept cavalrymen. After a confusing three-way shootout, the Bunch recrosses the border into Mexico. Thornton and his men are blown into the river when the dynamite wired to the bridge explodes, and the gang makes their escape. After getting themselves back together, Thornton and his men pursue the gang into Mexico.Out on the trail toward Agua Verde, the Bunch are met by a small group of Pancho Villa's men -- Angel had convinced his comrades to give one of the sixteen cases of rifles to these men to use in their fight against Mapache and Huerta. Angel's Mexican comrades silently sneak up on the Bunch after dark and hold them hostage for a few minutes until Angel can square things. Pike and Dutch seem quite impressed with the ability of the revolutionaries to get the drop on them, however the Gorches are angry that they'd been made to look like fools. The Mexicans leave as silently as they arrived.While waiting for word of the Bunch's robbery at a telegraph station, Mapache and his entourage are attacked by forces led by Pancho Villa and routed. Mapache sends one of his subordinates, Captain Herrera (Alfonso Arau), to meet the Bunch in a ravine with a large group of soldiers, but the confrontation nearly turns violent after a nervous Mexican soldier fires at the wagon holding the weapons. The Bunch has wired the wagon with dynamite, and Pike lights the fuse until Herrera diffuses the situation by executing the soldier who has fired on the gang. The Bunch then elaborately hides their weapons haul - fifteen cases of rifles, plus a Browning M1917 machine gun - and gives it in installments to Mapache in exchange for their money. Unfortunately, when Angel and Dutch arrive in town, Mapache reveals that he has been tipped off by Teresa's father of Angel's perfidy -- for killing his daughter, the father revealed to Mapache that one of the cases of rifles was given to the rebels by Angel. Angel is captured by Mapache's men, and Dutch simply rides off.The gang regroups at a canyon outside of town, waiting for Sykes to return with their packhorses, and they argue over what to do. Then they watch as Sykes is ambushed and seriously wounded by Thornton's posse. Pike decides to abandon his old friend, who is being pursued hotly by Thornton's men, and return to Agua Verde to retrieve Angel. Mapache refuses to turn over Angel, who has been badly tortured, and invites the gang to spend the night in town whoring and drinking.The next morning, Pike decides to make a final stand. The four gang members load up shotguns, rifles, and semi-automatic sidearms and march through Agua Verde to Mapache's headquarters. After demanding Angel's release again, a drunken Mapache slits Angel's throat, and he is subsequently gunned down by Pike and Dutch. After a tense moment, the drunken Mexican soldiers under Mapache react, unsure of what to do. After a few seconds, Dutch looks at Pike and laughs, actually thinking that they might get away with killing Mapache over it being a justifiable killing. However, Pike is not amused. Apparently, he has already decided to die there. Pike takes deliberate aim at Captain Mohr, Mapache's adviser, and shoots him dead.At this point, a vicious, bloody gunfight (referred to as the "Battle of the Bloody Porch" by the film's crew) results as the Bunch shoots their way through Mapache's officers and seizes the machine gun. They inflict scores of casualties on the Mexican solders but finally fall due to the sheer number of their foe. Lyle and Tector are shot repeatedly as they try to man the machine gun; after being shot in the back by a Mexican prostitute (whom he kills afterwords) Pike is finally killed by a Mexican boy and other soldiers in a hail of bullets while manning the machine gun; Dutch is gunned down rushing to his side.After the battle, with Mapache's army nearly wiped out, Thornton and his surviving men ride into town and begin looting the dead bodies of the Mexican soldiers and their prey, while Thornton looks at his fallen colleagues in pity, taking Pike's unused revolver. Thornton declines to join the bounty hunters as they return to the United States, remaining at Agua Verde; they are ambushed and killed somewhere down the trail.In the final scene, Sykes, Don Jose, and a large group of Villista rebels later arrive at the town, and Thornton decides to join them. | comedy, suspenseful, murder, realism, bleak, cult, violence, atmospheric, flashback, psychedelic, revenge | train | imdb | null |
tt0210047 | Fool's Fire | A family of "little people" are peacefully having dinner when the thundering sound of horsemen is heard. One of the male adults helps the other family members to hide, but with nowhere else in the house to hide he jumps out a window and flees, only to be ridden down by a horsemen, captured and kidnapped to a foreign kingdom. He is dragged before a royal court of monsters (literally and figuratively) consisting of the monstrously fat king and his equally repulsive court, called "Hop-Frog" because of his now-limping gait, and forced to become the new jester.One morning, the practical joke-obsessed king orders the inventive yet sensitive Hop-Frog to provide entertainment for the arriving Duke and Duchess of Siri-Siril. Following Hop-frog's physical comedy and a sumptuous banquet, the king's guests wheel in a giant bird cage, containing a young dwarfish woman named Tripetta, as a gift for the king. It's love at first sight for Hop-Frog, but his feelings and the condescending and cruel treatment at the hands of the so-called "normal" courtiers only tortures him even more. Events take an even uglier turn when the king summons Hop-Frog, orders him to come up with a original idea for an upcoming costume ball and forces him to drink goblets of wine (which the poor dwarf can't handle). Trippetta, who has been forced to be present, tries to halt the bullying, but has a goblet of wine thrown in her face for her efforts. This in turn has the effect of immediately sobering Hop-Frog up, and he comes up with a brilliant idea: the king and his councillors will be covered in fur and pretend to be ourangutangs bound together by a lengthy chain and, most appealing to the King's sadistic nature, scare the you-know-what out of everybody. The conceit is a strange one, but the King and his men readily accept it. Later that night, Hop-frog frees Trippetta from her cage to assist him in carrying out his plans for the costume ball.The night of the ball arrives and the plan is carried out; the king and his councillors are sewn into tight-fitting body-suits (which are painted all over with tar and covered with flax) and equipped with carved wooden masks. The illusion is a flawless one, so much so that when the "Eight Chained Ourangutangs" bust into the party at midnight and create their commotion, none of the guests complain when Hop-Frog lowers a chandelier chain down from the ceiling, hooks it to the chain connecting the beasts and has it and the "apes" hoisted into the air. Using a torch to pretend to try and find out who these costumed people are, he sets them all afire, with the other partygoers too far out of reach to help. He and Trippetta (who has been waiting on the roof) watch coldly from the roof as the fire claims its victims, then escape into the air on a makeshift flying machine as flames slowly spread through the kingdom. | revenge | train | imdb | Eerie,strange and beautiful adaptation of great Poe story.
I accidently caught this strange and beautiful tv movie when it first aired in the early 90's, while I was on a ski trip.
With its weird and eerie and incredibly beautiful fairy tale atmosphere it is very reminiscent of Jim Henson's "Storyteller", and it's a shame that it only seems to have aired once and never rerun.
I have no idea whether it's available on video or not, but if you can find it, I highly recommend watching it, and reading the Edgar Allen Poe story(titled "Hopfrog") it is based on as well..
Add me to the list.
I'm one more of the folks who saw this film years ago, and have found it stuck in my heart and gut ever since.
Dark, beautiful, tender, sassy and way ahead of its time, this one's a keeper.
The setting, the costumes, the characterization -- all exceed most films made since.
Most haunting, however, is the mood that's set.
This film has an emotional color that is as compelling as any of its characters.
At least once in their lives, a genius gets it altogether.
This was an early outing for Taymor, but she gave it everything she has.
And that's a great deal.
I, like the other Fool's Fire junkies, would give anything to get a good DVD copy of this film.
I know I would find something new, deeper each time I watched!.
One of the best things ever broadcast.
If only available on DVD!.
My wife & I saw Fool's Fire when originally broadcast on PBS.
We were totally blown away.
Talk about fresh & original.
Quite a coup for Julie Taymor, who is more noted these days for the Broadway production of "The Lion King".
Having Michael Anderson (one of David Lynch's favorite actors) cast as the court jester, Hop Frog, while casting all the "normal" characters of the court with puppets was amazing.
This is one of the most human stories.
More pathos than the original E.A. Poe story, without loosing any of the original's impact.
With Julie Taymor's success with "Titus", there should be an enterprising soul willing to put this production out on DVD, where it can get the audience it deserves.
Is anyone listening?.
What I saw was fascinating.
Late one night, I had the chance to catch this play.
I never saw the entire PBS production.
Still, I was captured by the fanciful atmosphere and very much intrigued by the puppetry.
I would love to see this brought to DVD.
I've been searching for it for years and I'm surprised that it's not available..
Amazingly original treatment of obscure story.
I was captivated by this film when it first appeared on PBS...and have since been captivated by most of what Julie Taymore has involved herself with.I would love to have this available on DVD.
How unfortunate that it is not!For those who are fans of absurdist theatre (such as Ionesco and others), or who enjoyed the films in the City of Lost Children genre, I definitely recommend getting a hold of a copy of this.
It is odd, haunting, and a stroke of design brilliance!.
Fool's Fire Copy???.
I am also looking desperately for a copy of Julie Taymor's Fool's Fire PBS production done in 1992.
My mother absolutely loves this production and when I was in middle school she mistakenly gave me a permission to show it to my class for a project.
Unfortunately, the VHS came up missing.
As you can imagine, I have been blamed for losing this amazing broadcast ever since!
If anyone has a copy or knows of a place I can get one that would be amazing.
I am willing and able to pay a good amount for the copy of this production.
I will be surprising my mom with it as well!
Please email me at the above email address if you any information on Fool's Fire or if you have any hope at all!!!!
Thanks so much! |
tt0078239 | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | The original Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band performed during WWI in France, as the Allies' "most effective weapon." Their melodies cheered troops engaged in battle and
stopped hostilities, leading to their receiving the coveted Golden Eagle Award. Back at
their hometown of Heartland, they continued performing through the Roaring '20's, the Depression, and through another Great War, until the demise of the bandleader in 1958.
He left his magical instruments to the town of Heartland. These items have the power to
make dreams come true, and as long as they remained in the town's possession, humanity would live happily foreverafter. He left his wholesome grandson, Billy Shears, (Peter Frampton) his Golden Eagle and musical legacy. The town's venerable mayor,
Mr. Kite (George Burns) tells the tale of the new Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band,
consisting of Billy, his best friends, Mark, Dave, and Bob Henderson (The Bee Gees), and managed by his jealous stepbrother, Dougie Shears (Paul Nicholas).The new band debuts in their wholesome small town one sunny summer day, introduced by money-hungry Dougie. Dave, Mark, and Bob start off the performance, joined by Billy after he shares a brief moment with his sweetheart, Strawberry Fields (Sandy Farina). Townsfolk of all ages instantly take to the boys, who receive a
telegram from Big Deal Records requesting a demo tape, with the promise of big success.
Mr. Kite briefly imagines himself as a superstar, performing a number in the town square,
alone except for two little girls who join his jaunty dance.The town's magical weather vane picks up a strange signal, the arrival of Mean Mr. Mustard (Frankie Howerd). His mission: to Take Over Heartland. He is apparently
directed by the FVB, who reminds him: We hate love; We hate joy; We love
money. The band is recording their demo tape at a farm near town as he arrives. Back
in Hollywood, Big Deal's B.D. Hoffler (Donald Pleasence) hears the tape and begins his plan to sign them to his label. The band is summoned to Hollywood immediately, giving Billy and Strawberry scant time for tender goodbyes. They share one night in the farm's hayloft before the band's hasty departure.Arriving in L.A. by Big Deal's private jet, the band is welcomed personally by B.D. and his
sexy assistant, Lucy (Dianne Steinberg). They are transported by stretch El Camino
to B.D.'s mansion, where the naive bandmates are immediately corrupted by liquor, drugs, and
women. Later that evening, the intoxicated boys are duped into signing B.D.'s exploitive contract. The next morning they commence recording sessions, leading to instant superstardom with sold-out concerts, intense media coverage, and enormous record sales. During their rise to success, B.D. requires Lucy and her backup singers, the Diamonds (Stargard) to control the band by exerting their evil and sexual influence.Back in Heartland, Strawberry pines for Billy while Mr. Mustard steals the magical instruments from Mr. Kite's office at City Hall. Mustard begins his mission to deliver the
instruments to various villainous characters. Without the protection of the instruments,
Heartland instantly degenerates into a den of iniquity.Strawberry leaves home in pursuit of her beloved Billy, leaving her parents heartbroken in her absence. Mr. Mustard's robots alert him and his Brute (Carel Struyken) of Strawberry's departure. When she arrives in L.A., she sees a billboard showing Billy and the rest of the band, next to
another featuring Lucy and the Diamonds. Both billboards come to life. The women's seductive performance lures the men into their embrace, horrifying the distraught Strawberry. When she momentarily turns away, the billboards return to their inanimate
states.The next day, Strawberry arrives at the band's recording session, witnessing some flirtatious glances between Billy and Lucy. B.D. and Dougie try to get rid of her, but she is able to get in and explain the treachery that has befallen Heartland. Mr. Mustard
arrives moments later, and the band accosts his van in an effort to recover the stolen
instruments. The van's computer indicates the first instrument went to Dr. Maxwell Hammer (Steve Martin), a cheerfully deranged and money-driven physician. Billy, Mark, Dave, Bob, and Strawberry make haste to Dr. Hammer's office and retrieve Sgt. Pepper's silver cornet after a non-contact fight sequence. They find the drum in the van, then seek
Father Sun (Alice Cooper) for the tuba. In his Orwellian lair, he drums the message, "We Hate Love; We Hate Joy; We Love Money" into the heads of militant young cadets. The band and Strawberry retrieve the tuba, but Billy is injured by an electrical shock. Back safely in the van, Strawberry lovingly tends to the unconscious Billy. He dreams of her, then revives at the sound of her beautiful singing.Mark Henderson, working at the van's computer, causes a malfunction and cannot retrieve the location of the final missing instrument. Heartland continues to deteriorate
into desperate circumstances. B.D. is forced to cancel several tour dates, but Dougie suggests a huge benefit concert to save the town.One day, as the townsfolk drudge through the town, bewildered at its delapidated state,
they are surprised by the arrival of a singing and acrobatic troupe, anchored by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band and the lovely Strawberry Fields. Mr. Kite, along with the rest of the town, is cheered at this fortunate turn of events. B.D., Dougie, and
Lucy are pleased at their business cunning in exploiting the situation for financial gain. Dougie and Lucy go into City Hall, where the day's proceeds are stored and load up a wheelbarrow with several bags of money. They transfer the money into the van's refrigerator as Earth, Wind and Fire perform the evening show for the town, Billy and the
Hendersons enjoy front-row seats. Mr. Mustard and the Brute get to town and find the
van. They kidnap Strawberry and drag her into the van, then drive off. Dougie and Lucy manage to hide in the van without being discovered. The band sees the departing van and sets off in hot pursuit via the town's hot air balloon.Mustard was headed for FVB Central with the recovered instruments where the evil genius would suppress the magical instruments and make the world safe for his legions. Unless the band could arrive first and stop them. Mustard, who has admired
Strawberry all along, attempts to woo her via serenade in her bound-and-gagged state.
Soon, the balloon comes into view, and Dougie and Lucy try to escape the van with some of their lot., They are discovered and led into FVB Central along with Strawberry,
then tied up and forced to endure a performance by FVB - Future Villain Band
(Aerosmith). Billy and the Hendersons break into the complex and wrestle FVB into submission, killing the evil genius (Steve Tyler). Unfortunately, Strawberry falls to her
death in the struggle.Back in Heartland, the cleaned-up town mourns the loss of Strawberry Fields, who lies in state in a coffin of clear glass engraved with Heartland's signature hearts. Billy, Dougie, and the Hendersons are all pallbearers. Mr. Kite questions whether it was worth the loss
in order to restore the town. Leaving the church after her service, Billy sadly walks off for
some time alone, remembering the good times he shared with Strawberry. He then attempts suicide by jumping from a rooftop. As he falls, the Heartland Weather Vane (Billy Preston) comes to life and returns him to the rooftop. Billy Shears is not only saved, but apparently cured of his depression by this surprising turn of events.The Magical Weather Vane then changes Mr. Mustard and the Brute into a bishop and a monk; Dougie and Lucy into an altar boy and a nun. Next, he brings a hale and hearty
Strawberry Fields back to life. She runs to Billy and they embrace warmly in a fairy tale ending.The townsfolk are joined by dozens of celebrity guests of 1970's fame for a rollicking and joyful finale, in a tribute to the cover of the original Beatles album that inspired the film. | brainwashing, cult, psychedelic, flashback | train | imdb | The SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER backlash was just beginning with PEPPER'S release, and even though Peter Frampton had proven himself still able to chart with such current hits as his cover of "Signed, Sealed and Delivered" and "I'm In You," (please hold your snickers), his album sales had begun to wane, a surefire indicator that his status as a pretty-boy guitar god was fading fast.For the most part, the audience demographic the movie was aimed at was served as well as they could be.
None of the teenybopper females in the theater audience I saw it with, (yes, I DID see it in a theater), gave one whisker on a rat's bee-hind that the album the movie was derived from was a classic, or that George Martin actually produced the soundtrack (well, most of it.) They sighed in rapture on cue when a dreamy closeup of The Brothers Gibb or Frampton came whizzing by, or sobbed uncontrollably at the 'oh-my-GAWD-this-is-so-maudlin' ending.
I guess what makes it so hard for most people to watch, are the scenes that are almost painful indicators of what the movie COULD'VE been, because the energy and drive is so different from the rest of the goings-on.Meaning Aerosmith's ball-busting cover of "Come Together," the finger-snapping, funk-injected "Got To Get You Into My Life" from Earth, Wind and Fire, and Steve Martin's super-manic "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," echoing his even better turn to come in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.
ALMOST.I bought this (and I'd be embarassed to tell you how much I spent) for a So-Bad-It's-Good movie party I decided to throw for some friends on New Year's Eve. Just to see if it was as bad as I remembered, (and as bad as people have credited it to be), I gave it a spin just for old time's sake.
This movie is a forgotten landmark of the 70s.The Bee Gees are known for their disco hits like "Stayin Alive" and such, but did you know that in the 60s they were a moderately successful psychedelic rock band quite similar to the Beatles?
Love em or hate em, you gotta admit they took the world by storm for a brief moment in music history.Notable guest musicians Earth Wind & Fire, Peter Frampton, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, and a hilariously bizarre appearance by fancy-footed soul singer Billy Preston shooting laser beams of love from his fingertips round out this one-of-a-kind experience (Billy played electric piano on the Beatles' original "Get Back" which he sings here).
Starring Billy Shears (Peter Frampton) and the Hendersons (the Bee Gees) "were all there" as well, "Sgt. Pepper" featured Strawberry Fields (Sandy Farina) as Billy's leading lady, and Mr. Mustard (Frank Howerd) was "such a mean old man." Let's not forget Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Dianne Steinberg), the Sun King (Alice Cooper), and Sgt. Pepper played by an old Beatles protege (Billy Preston).
The movie also depicted countless cover versions of Beatles songs, including Earth Wind & Fire's "Got to Get You Into My Life." As the narrator, Mr. Kite (George Burns) even covered "Fixin' a Hole." Critics of the movie should be so critical"when they're 64," let alone 82!
I have one final case for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." It had one of my favourite comedians (Steve Martin) singing one of my favourite Beatles songs (Maxwell's Silver Hammer).
I stumbled across an unlicensed videocassette of the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees.
The basic premise is that they took all these Beatle's songs and strung them together to make a story, so the characters had to come from names or words from Beatle's songs: for instance, Frampton's character (the lead singer for the Lonely Hearts Club Band) is Billy Shears (if you'll recall Billy Shears is introduced by the Beatles at the beginning of Sgt. Pepper as the singer of 'get by with a little help from my friends...
There are about 20 Beatles songs in the movie not sung by the Beatles, and the lead characters never speak - all the narration is done by Mr. Kite ('a benefit for Mr. Kite' and yes there is such a benefit) played by George Burns who even dons a guitar to sing 'fixing a hole'.
I think the Bee Gees destroyed what they've created, because they began the disco movement unintentionally (Main Course 1975) and then again they began the disco backlash (Sgt. Pepper's 1978) they almost said to the world: "Hey, remember the good music, that was rock!".
The Bee Gees beat any sales record in the world, and if they're BIG, I wonder what happened if they had never filmed Sgt. Pepper's.And my vote is 10 because this film is a beautiful and completely entertaining "Sunday-movie" antique.Weird but it's true: If I could have been in 1978 I would hate it.
It hurts all the more if one likes the Beatles' originals of these songs (OK, Aerosmith did a decent version of "Come Together," but that is not enough to mitigate the damage caused by the rest of the performances).There are certain films that seem to be made just to put the tolerance of a badfilm watcher to the test.
A classic!Last night, presented by the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian in Hollywood, we saw Sgt. Pepper on the big screen for the first time in 25 years, and it not only "holds up" (as aging movie geeks like to mutter while their fantasies needlessly crumble), it is as fresh, funny, charming and touching as it was when we saw it in the summer of 1978.
Simply, just try to watch Billy Preston (those boots!), Sandy Farina (!), George Burns, Steve Martin (!?!?!?!), Alice Cooper, Frankie Howerd, Paul Nicholas, Aerosmith, Donald Pleasance, Dianne Steinberg, The Earth, The Wind and The Fire, Stargard (????) and the rest without smiling or getting one of those weird "tingles."Particularly, Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees -- Barry, Robin, Maurice (goodnight, Brother Gibb) -- commit themselves to a unique, today almost unknown sense of silly good humour.
If you love Rocky Horror, Shock Treatment, The Magic Christian, The Robe, Python's musical offerings, Visconti's The Leopard, Phantom of the Paradise, The Star Wars Holiday Special, Intolerance, The Muppet Movie, Xanadu, Summer of Sam, Happy Campers, The Conversation, The Wiz, On the Waterfront, Spice World, Infested, Yojimbo & Sanjuro, X-2, Bugsy Malone, Potemkin, Grease, Repo Man, Richard Lester's oeuvre, Pennies From Heaven, American Graffiti, Badlands, The Tigger Movie, Little Odessa, The Tattoo Connection or, heck, Singin' in the Rain, High Society or Disorderlies, there's plenty to enjoy here, and no reason to be a mindless bully or snob about it.Everybody sings really splendidly, too, and Sandy Farina's presence in her one lead role (to date) is unforgettably lovely.Nice one, Sandy.While we're at it, why not commend Carel Struyken for being a really good "Brute," and Patti Jerome, Max Showalter and those disturbing robots for tugging our heartstings in "She's Leaving Home" (this version still moves me more than Tori Amos' nice take).Who knows what bizarre energies converged behind the scenes to bring this thing together (not to mention landing Etta James, Leif Garrett, Barry Humphries, Tina Turner, Sha-Na-Na, Jose Feliciano and Wolfman Jack on the same risers at the finale), but whatever it was, thank you.
Let's get them!" So we get George Burns, hot from his "Oh God" movies; Steve Martin, who was the hottest thing in comedy at the time and gives a King-Tutty performance; Frampton (no guitar solos?) and the Bee Gees; Alice Cooper, etc.
Take probably THE greatest rock-n'-roll album in recorded history, bring together the combined powers of producer Robert Stigwood, fresh off the awesome force that was the Brothers Gibb and the incredible magic of Saturday Night Fever, and its equally legendary follow-up, Grease --- and Dee Anthony, manager/guru of then-hot rocker Peter Frampton --- and then call critic-journalist Henry Edwards and have him put together a storyline involving Lennon and McCartney's classic legends, Billy Shears and the Henderson Brothers, as they take on a star-studded cast of evildoers out to take over the world.
Ladies and gentlemen: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band!The film version, long dismissed and celebrated by many students of 'bad' filmmaking all over the world, remains a topic of discussion for many of us who just can't get enough of the Beatles.
In fact, this was the last film to be shot at MGM under the management which controlled that studio at that time.Even now, I still own the Official Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Scrapbook, wherein Stigwood and Anthony attempt to justify in print their reasons for spending $12 million on bringing the Beatles' magic to the big screen.
But Stigwood has obviously forgotten that he produced the movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar --- and there was an extremely limited amount of spoken dialogue in that one, too!Nonetheless, you still can't help but get a groove going with all those marvelous tunes --- from Aerosmith's ultra-scream rendition of "Come Together" to Earth, Wind and Fire's cool-jazz style take on "Got to Get You Into My Life"; from Steve Martin's hilarious take on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" to British comic Frankie Howerd (in the only movie he ever made, by the way) practically talk-crooning "Mean Mr. Mustard"; and of course, Sandy Farina's two haunting solos, "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Here Comes the Sun".
She was the first to put out her passion for this particular film on the world wide web --- and, although her Sgt. Pepper Movie Website no longer exists (at least, to my knowledge, anyway), it stands to reason that, were it not for Denise, those who continue to love and respect their favorite bad movies would not be able to post online their undying affection and admiration for some of cinema's greatest clunkers --- whose number just happens to include a little thing called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.And on that note (no pun intended), we're sorry, but it's time to go..
This was considered one of the biggest cinematic disasters of its era---a film that virtually destroyed the careers of the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton, and recording mogul Robert Stigwood (a giant at the time) likewise disappeared from view.
It is fun watching people like Steve Martin, Frankie Howerd, and Donald Pleasence hamming it up, and George Burns is always enjoyable.Once, I said all of this to an acquaintance in person, and his response was: "Why would I want to hear Beatles songs if the Beatles aren't doing them?" Herein lies the film's problem, I think.
They were interested in having fun, in making a fun movie and in providing the artists involved with the opportunity to cover some of their favorite Beatles songs within the framework of a loosely told fairy-tale like story.In terms of what so many viewers seem to be expecting, this film is a dismal failure.
Half-hearted attempt to turn music by the Beatles (including the songs and mod look of their album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band") into some kind of screen story ranks right up there with the most ill-fated ideas to leak from Hollywood.
Bringing together the Bee Gees with Peter Frampton may have seemed like a good idea when this was in pre-production; truth is, 1978 saw a decline in both acts' popularity, and the movie was pretty much dead on arrival (the soundtrack sold better, but wasn't the blockbuster expected).
Let's take the biggest disco stars (Bee Gees), combine them with the biggest rock stars (Peter Frampton and Aerosmith), toss in the most popular comic star (Steve Martin), and mix in current pop idols (Paul Nicholas) and camp attractions (George Burns).
And there is no better documentary than "The Compleat Beatles", in my opinion.But whatever possessed the celluloid criminals involved with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" to make a movie ABOUT Beatles songs with characters NAMED AFTER Beatles songs is an interesting story they should probably talk about in therapy sometime.Ever wonder why the Bee Gees don't make more movies?
Here's the movie for all you curiosity seekers that like to chase after tornados, train wrecks and other disasters.Of course, some of the music is tolerable ("Come Together" is a great Beatles song made into a better Aerosmith song), George Burns adds a much-needed touch of class, the '70s kitsch factor is off the scale and if you've ever wanted to see Donald Pleasance turned into a nun by Billy Preston, this is your one and only chance.Robert Stigwood would have tanked if the soundtrack hadn't done the platinum business it had.
The plot is insipid, the covers of The Beatles songs are insultingly bad, and the whole thing stinks from beginning to end.OK, I liked Earth Wind and Fire and this is Steve Martin's first movie, and a lot of the people in the background are famous.
At least some of the actors purposely went "over the top" with their perfromances - Steve Martin in the Maxwell's Silver Hammer number comes to mind.I still highly recommend this movie as a cult classic "so bad it is good" kind of experience.
It is even more of an accomplishment when you take a look at the cast list: Billy Preston, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Steve Martin, George Burns and then, get ready for this, The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton.
"When I'm Sixty-four," I think I'll still get a kick out of this movie "Because" it's a simple, innocent excuse to have fun...with music, no less."Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is the last of the Beatles' films (unless you count "The Rutles"), yet ironically, they do not appear in it.
The only time you hear others is when they're singing."I Want You" to understand that I'm not the biggest fan of the Beatles (themselves) or their films, but their music keeps "Getting Better" everytime I listen to it, even in this movie when they're not the ones performing it.
The Brothers Gibb actually sound okay when they sing, as long as it's something other than disco
nice harmonies.You might as well add George Burns to the things I don't like, as long as we're at it, and seeing as he's here.During my most recent viewing, it finally occurred to me that perhaps Beatles fans actually see this kind of thing in their minds when they listen to the original music
perhaps they understand the odd lyrics and find meaning in them independently.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) 1/2 (out of 4)Thankfully the entire "let's turn a great album into a horrid movie" genre didn't make it past this abomination, which is just one bad idea after another.
Everyone else, more or less, was making crap--either pretentious slice-of-life snobbery aimed at the critics that bored audiences to death, or cheesy, adolescent schlock that made audiences giggle in inappropriate moments.This movie, like "Xanadu", and "Rocky Horror Picture Show", was a silly 1970s schlock musical that had a little charm amongst the cheesiness, largely due to the raw material involved in the project.'Sgt. Pepper' had George Burns---who, arguably, played no logical role in a film based on Beatles music--but who was still George Burns, which is to say a likable character who is consistently fun to watch.The musical performances by the BeeGees and Billy Preston were pretty good.
I'm a BIG Beatles fan, and a fan of Earth, Wind and Fire, the Bee Gees, AeroSmith, Billy Preston and Peter Frampton.
For jaw-in-your-lap appalling, this movie is right down there with the Eighties classic "The Apple," but the fact that Sgt. Pepper had resources -- money, well-known performers (I can't bring myself to say "stars"), and licensed access to the greatest catalog of popular songs ever -- makes the depths of its failings all that more profound.First I'll tell what I saw, then I'll tell you what I thought.I saw: The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton being directed in a style that (I think) was intended to emulate the body language of silent film comedy.
In the film's defense, (what little there is) I will say that some of the music is quite good, and it's interesting to hear the Bee Gees and Frampton re-record classic Beatles tunes their way, even if it doesn't always work.
As a result we can all celebrate some of the classic "bad" movies of all time, which of course brings us to "Sgt Pepper"I was in the perfect target demographic for this film when it was released, which is to say, a teenager too young to have ever appreciated the impact of the original Beatles album.
I sat there freezing to death as the heating wasnt working in this particular cinema ..but i can honestly say 22 years later ..I remember in full that i thouroughly enjoyed this film .Bizzarre seeing the Bee Gees singing Beatles songs at the time ..for an 8 year year brought up by hippy parents ..this appeared to be so strange ...but I have for as long as i can remeber been trying to obtain this movie on VHS (not availiable in UK)..Hurrah I have just ordered a copy from the states (Amazon.com) and i shall be watching it the moment it thuds through the door...Wayyhheeyyyy More then anything I want to see if the mind of a 30 year old me agrees with a 8 year old me ..in the fact that at 8 ..I thought this film was superbly enjoyable ..watch this space for an update :):):):).
This is a movie featuring the Bee Gees singing Beatles songs.
I guess it's easy to put down a film that uses the music of the Beatles as sung by the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, and even Steve Martin (!!!).
This movie featured all Beatles music and Aerosmith had an awesome song in it!
"Let's do old Beatles songs in a movie with Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees and celebrities from Alice Cooper to George Burns." The shucking-and-jiving of Billy Preston at the end will blow your mind ... |
tt0076168 | Hong Xi Guan | An opening narration explains that the ruling Manchurian Court has tracked a resistance movement against its rule, to the Shaolin Temple, which they were using as a cover for their activities. They ordered one of their chief enforcers, priest Pai Mei, to lead a raid on the temple. Pai Mei and his right-hand lieutenant, Governor Kao Jinzhong, led an army and set the temple on fire. In a bid to save his students, the head priest of Shaolin, Chi Shan, engaged Pai Mei in a crucial duel to the death.The opening credits play as Chi Shan and Pai Mei are shown engaging in their battle against a plain red-screen backdrop. The kung-fu duel seems close to evenly matched until Chi Shan executes a kick to Pai Mei's groin. But Pai Mei, as a eunuch, has no testes, and has further trained his body that someone trying to kick him in the groin only ends up with their foot stuck between his legs. Pai Mei knocks Chi Shan to the ground and drags him backward, by his trapped foot, several yards, before finally breaking both of the Shaolin high priest's legs.A contingent of rebels, led by a senior member of the movement, Hong Xiguan, is fleeing the Shaolin Temple. Many rebels are wounded from fighting, some dropping as they run. Hong has to urge his best friend, Xiao Hu, another leader, to keep running.They meet up with another of the rebel captains, Tong Qianjin, who is leading another contingent of rebel fighters. Hong is alarmed that Tong is the only member of his contingent to escape. Tong brings news that Chi Shan was killed by Pai Mei. Hearing that his teacher and master has been killed, Hong Xiguan goes into a rage and tries to run back to the temple to exact revenge. Tong, Xiao Hu and all of the other men led by Hong, all run after him to stop him. They know they've lost the battle, but a lot of their men escaped, and trying to avenge Chi Shan now will only result in their rebellion being completely wiped out.They run into an ambush of Manchurian archers, who take some more of the rebels down. Tong is wounded, an arrow piercing his leg. He pleads with Hong to take command, and then Tong takes a few soldiers to provide cover by engaging the archers. While the archers are reloading, Tong and his men rush at them, attacking with swords and hand-to-hand. Archers not under direct attack cannot fire again without hitting their own fighters.Tong is handling nearly the whole contingent of Manchurian swordsmen by himself when Governor Kao Jinzhong arrives. Governor Kao orders the small group of men with him to take Tong alive, but they are no match for him. Kao then sends his majordomo, a Qing Court Fighter, to battle Tong. The Qing fighter is more of a match for Tong and seizes an early advantage. But when Governor Kao mocks Tong and tells him not to resist, Tong becomes angry and and more fierce, taking on the Qing Fighter and the rest of Kao's men all together and beating them. Finally Tong reaches Governor Kao himself, and even Kao's kung fu fails against Tong's onslaught. Governor Kao is badly injured, and losing his patience, orders the archers to kill Tong, even at the cost of friendly casualties. The rain of arrows take down several Manchurian fighters as well as Tong, and even in death, Tong's face is frozen in a look of stoicism and determination that gives Governor Kao pause.At the Manchurian Court, Governor Kao, still hurt from his duel with Tong Qianjin, reports to the Royal Highness. The court is pleased with the success of the raid on the temple, but Kao is still deeply concerned with the ferocity of the Shaolin rebel resistance. Pai Mei is not worried. He is sure that his victory over the Shaolin high priest has spread fear through the resistance and sent the message that his kung-fu is unbeatable. He tells Governor Kao to simply continue his search without letup, and in the end, Pai Mei is sure that Kao will capture or kill all of the rebels.Hong Xiguan and Xiao Hu have split up. Xiao and his men make their way to the border of Gwangzhou and come across a small town where a theater troupe is putting on a play based on a local figure named Yue Fei. The troupe is also part of the resistance movement, and the Manchurians have tracked them to the town. A squad of Manchurian soldiers raid the theater. The troupe's leader, Master Chen, and a number of his men escape. Xiao Hu sees them being pursued and rushes to aid them, killing the Manchurian pursuers.Chen brings Xiao Hu to a 'red boat,' a group of Shaolin rebels that have established cover as theater performers traveling along the riverways by boat. Hong addresses the men on the boat, telling them to remember the temple and the priests and brothers who died defending them. They have come back to Kwangtung, a province under Governor Kao's control, to continue the fight. Hong says they must divide their strength and thus become more vulnerable, to ensure they are never completely wiped out. They will continue traveling and performing, discreetly giving aid to oppressed townfolk wherever possible and engaging Manchurians in ongoing guerilla tactics.At a riverside village, a woman named Fang Yongchun is giving a kung-fu demonstration. The Red Boats arrive as she is giving her demonstration, and many of the villagers run to greet them, which makes Yongchun jealous. She complains to her uncle about their continued arrival wherever she and he go to stage their own performance.The Red Boat troupe debarks from their boat, giving their pitch to the villagers about their latest show, and giving a small kung-fu demonstration as a sampler. A jealous Yongchun marches up to them and tells them that she thinks their kung fu is nothing special and orders them to leave the village. Xiao Hu, flustered, tells his men to escort Yongchun away. But Yongchun handles all of them easy with her own kung fu, proving far better than them. Xiao Hu spars with Yongchun himself, to find that she is able to take a stance so firm and stable that he cannot budge her legs and feet, even by kicking at them. She shrugs his blows off and then kicks him away, causing the villagers to laugh.Hong Xiguan arrives and he's impressed with her technique. Yongchun offers to take him on, saying she has plenty of fight left in her. Intrigued, Hong spars with Yongchun, and the two of them are evenly matched. As they battle, they recognize each other's style and technique: Hong is expert in tiger kung fu, while Yongchun is a crane kung fu artist. Uncle Fang finally tells Yongchun to back down. Hong is impressed with Yongchun's skill, apologizing on behalf of his men. Seeing that Yongchun is also a traveling kung fu performer, he invites her and her uncle to travel with them on the Red Boat. Yonchun isn't too thrilled about the idea, until she and Uncle Fang overhear Xiaohu call Hong, 'Brother Hong.' Immediately they both recognize the name and know that he is Hong Xiguan.Yongchun and Uncle Fang travel with the Red Boat, and Yongchun and Hong begin to grow increasingly close. Xiao Hu, who has become something of an incorrigible prankster from his time posing as a theater performer, jokes about needing to start calling Yongchun, 'Mrs. Hong' (a brief, amusing scene follows where Yongchun chases Xiao Hu about the boat to smack him one). But Xiao proves right, as soon after, Yongchun and Hong are married. Even on their wedding day, Xiao's mischief is near relentless, and both Hong and Uncle Fang must keep both Xiao and Yongchun (who's ready to give him another thrashing) reined in. Even when a cabin is prepared as a bridal suite for the marriage to be consummated, Hong has to throw Xiao Hu and the other performers off to get some peace with Yongchun.Xiao's persistence in trying to eavesdrop and spy finally drives Yongchun to some mischief of her own. She clamps her knees together while lying on the bridal bed, challenging Hong to push her knees apart if he wants to consummate the marriage that night. Hong finds that all his strength cannot budge Yongchun's sturdy legs, and she smiles in complacent satsifaction as she bids her husband good night.The next morning Xiao Hu finds Hong asleep outside the cabin, and Hong angrily drives him off the boat. Later in the day, as Uncle Fang is returning with the rest of the men with more supplies for the boat, he and Hong talk, and Uncle Fang has some advice for keeping Xiao Hu in line. That night, Hong tells Yongchun he's ready to give another try. She lies down on the bed and presses her knees together. After a few moments, Hong comes up with a kung fu technique that successfully pushes her knees apart. Yongchun petulantly swats at Hong, who fends her off as he tumbles into the bed and draws its curtains closed with his feet.Governor Kao finds out that the Shaolin rebels are using the Red boats as cover. He dispatches soldiers to burn the boats, flush out the rebels and kill them. Over several months, a number of boats are burned and its crew slaughtered. A few survivors manage to make it to Hong's boat. Hong says they have to give up their last boat, get to shore and all scatter, keeping in contact as necessary to continue their work. Xiao Hu, his demeanor properly respectful and disciplined now, wants to go with Hong and Yongchun, since Uncle Fang has gone up north.Months pass. Hong and Yongchun have settled in a house in a quiet town. One day Xiao Hu comes to Hong with urgent news. Yongchun is about to deliver a baby. The two rush back to Hong's home where Yongchun is being tended to by the town midwife. The baby is a boy, and Hong and Yonchun name him Wen-Ding.Nighttime, six months later. Yongchun sews a baby garment, her infant son in a crib nearby, while Hong studies a manual of advanced tiger kung fu. Hong is concerned because he hasn't been practicing lately, and he needs to get his kung fu back into peak form. His primary goal is still avenging his master, and his friend Tong. Yongchun is deeply worried. Tiger kung fu is nearly unbeatable, but Pai Mei is no ordinary kung fu expert, having strength unmatched by any. Yongchun wants to teach some of her crane style to Hong to supplement his tiger technique. But Hong, proud and stubborn, refuses to do this. Against Yongchun's better judgement, he's gotten her to make an agreement that they will not learn each other's kung fu technique. When Yongchun tells Hong that he'll have to practice ten years in order to depend entirely on tiger style, Hong says without hesitation, that he'll do so.Ten years have passed and Hong is able to rip the bark off of trees, and even knock down young trees with his bare hands. Meanwhile, Yongchun has been teaching crane kung fu to Wending.Yongchun has had Wending practice holding a basic crane stance for as long as he is able to concentrate on holding it. A group of young boys comes by and starts making fun of him. Because of Wending's hair style and learning the style of kung fu practiced by his mother, rather than his father, the other children think that Wending is overly effeminate. They hop into the yard where he is stancing and try to pull his legs apart to topple his stance, but he holds firm and throws them all off with a simple knee flex, which brings a smile to his mother's face. Finally Wending chases all of them away from the house and into the field. Yongchun tries to call him back but then relents.Hong, however, is less pleased when he sees Wending wrestling with one of the boys. However, when Wending hangs his head very sadly after a scolding, Hong also backs away and becomes more gentle. Moved to mischief, Wending leaps up on his father's shoulders, challenging Hong to topple him. If Hong can't, Wending says he gets to ride home on Hong's shoulders. Hong is at first reluctant because he doesn't want Wending to be hurt. But he finds that the ten-year-old's stancing and leg and foot strength has become very firm in its own right, and he can't topple his son off his shoulders. Looking both impressed and vexed, Hong carries his son home.But on arriving home, Hong needs to talk seriously with both his wife and son. Resistance scouts have found the location of a temple that serves as Pai Mei's base of operations. Hong tells Wending why Pai Mei has to be killed. Yongchun is still deeply worried that Hong will not be strong enough to beat Pai Mei using only tiger kung fu. She tells him that if Hong can, to kill Pai Mei, but if not, he should run. Hong looks at his wife and gives a nod of assent.Hong finds the Pai Mei temple relatively unguarded. Two acolytes sweep the long stairway leading up the hill. He easily subdues them and drags them to the outer cloister of the temple, where a group of acolytes see him and rush to defend. Even all together they are no match for Hong, and he is beating them from pillar to post.Pai Mei finally comes out and orders his acolytes off. Pai Mei is unworried and amused on realizing that Hong Xiguan has come for him. He tells Hong that the rules of the temple dictate that Hong must defeat two swordsmen before he can challenge Pai Mei himself to battle. The two swordsmen attack, and Hong dodges their swishing blades until he is able to disarm them both and use the swords to kill them.But in Pai Mei, Hong finds he's met his match and more, as Pai Mei easily fends him off, hardly attacking, seemingly toying with Hong as he taunts his adversary, trying to get Hong to admit that Pai Mei is better at tiger kung fu. When Hong lands a tiger claw strike to Pai Mei's groin, Pai Mei merely asks him, "Can't you find it?" Hong delivers a tiger claw strike to Pai Mei's eyes and face, but Pai Mei takes the impact like a stone statue and strikes Hong aside like a paper doll. Suddenly Pai Mei starts hitting back, delivering several blows that cause blood to trickle from Hong's mouth. Hong hears Yongchun's words to him in his head and, despite his pride, is able to silently force himself to admit he's been beaten. Striking aside the acolytes who are behind him, Hong turns and sprints out of the cloister to make his escape.Hong loses his footing as he rushes to the stairway and starts to tumble down them. Rushing to a massive urn-shaped stone sculpture at the peak of the stairs, Pai Mai shoves it off its small dais, causing it to roll down the stairs after Hong. The urn is about to roll over Hong and crush him when Xiao Hu leaps in front of it, deflecting it just enough that Hong is able to roll out of the way.In so doing, however, Xiao Hu is mortally wounded. With his dying breath, he tells Hong something crucial that he's learned; Pai Mei is weakest between the hours of 1 pm and 3 pm. Hong is distraught at seeing Xiao Hu die before his eyes, but Pai Mei and his acolytes are starting to run down the stairway. Turning, he leaps over a stone fence and finishes his escape.Back home, Hong is nursed by Yongchun. Wending is also saddened at the death of Xiao Hu, who was like an uncle to him. He rushes away, crying out that he needs to finish growing up into adulthood.Seven more years pass and Wending is a young adult. Although more mature, he has developed a determination to be able to outspar his parents that borders on obsession. Again, Yongchun is more forgiving than Hong. Over the last few years, Hong has been studying and relentlessly training in the more advanced aspects of tiger style kung fu. In his practice area is a bronze training statue, with many metal ball bearings fitted into various groves. Hong strikes areas on the statue to make the ball bearings slide down the grooves, and then plucks one out. Some of the ball bearings are painted with symbols corresponding to various times of day. Nearby are several wooden markers that catch the sun's shadow, and are also painted with similar time symbols. Hong finally catches a particular ball bearing with a particular symbol and starts to speak Pai Mei's name.Wending picks that moment to moment to leap in and try to catch Hong off-guard. Unfortunately, despite his growing skill and self-confidence, Wending can't quite match his father. Adding to this his obsessive desire to do so, and even at the dinner table he can't resist a chance to sneak in a blow. One night the sparring gets out of control, and several freshly washed clothes are knocked off the clotheslines, and a few of them are torn. Finally losing her patience, Yongchun makes them re-wash the clothes, and sew up the torn ones.Yongchun smiles as she sees Hong prick his finger on a sewing needle, but when the sight of his blood brings a hard look to Hong's eyes, her expression becomes concerned again. She goes to him and he says that the last few days have had him thinking hard about his oath. He's practiced particularly hard the past few years, and while he and his Shaolin brothers have continued fighting Manchurian rule, they can't make much progress unless Pai Mei were killed. Yongchun looks particularly worried, and more so the next day when Hong sets out. When Wending asks her about it, she confides in him that she's positive that Pai Mei let Hong escape last time because Pai Mei was far superior to him. But Hong's tiger kung fu has improved significantly by now, meaning Pai Mei will take him as much more of a threat. Yongchun is sure that if Pai Mei defeats Hong again, he'll make completely certain that Hong doesn't escape again.Hearing this, Wending rushes out to stop Hong from leaving. He's even ready to fight his father again to keep him from going to his death; battling harder than ever. After defeating his son again, Hong gives him a hard lecture on how many of Hong's fellow Shaolin fighters died for him and those who still fight today; including Chi Shan and Tong Qianjin... and Xiao Hu, who Wending himself said he wanted to emulate as a hero. Despite all this, Hong has bided his time, also waiting for Wending to reach young manhood, but now he feels that if he continues putting off his oath, he will lose the will and courage to continue fighting.When acolytes spot Hong's approach, they race in fear back to the inner parts of the temple. This time Pai Mei has many more fighters and Manchurian soldiers at his disposal, all of whom try to stop Hong. Wielding his staff with fury, Hong sweeps them aside. At the top of the stairs, Hong notes the sun overhead and jams one end of his staff into the earth, noting by its shadow that it's 1 pm. Fighting unarmed now, he again sweeps aside the guards and soldiers toward the inner cloister. Acolytes tell all the other fighters that Pai Mei has ordered them to disengage and block off all exits from the temple to prevent escape.Governor Kao is with Pai Mei in the inner cloister. Pai Mei looks pleased to see Hong, saying he knew there was no need to search for Hong, since Hong would return to the temple eventually, looking to make another attempt to kill Pai Mei.Governor Kao engages Hong first, and Hong handles him and his personal guard almost as easily as the rank-and-file fighters; Pai Mei noting how much improved Hong is. Hong engages Pai Mei and seizes an early advantage, staggering him briefly and ripping a patch off the front of his tunic. He staggers Pai Mei again, landing several tiger claw attacks. Pai Mei sees he can no longer toy with Hong and starts to fight more aggressively, like in his duel with high priest Chi Shan. But after striking Hong aside, he says that Hong is using the tiger style to lead his attack, and can't hope to reach Pai Mei's vital point.They clash again, Pai Mei hitting Hong hard and sending him sprawling. Hong notes by more shadows cast by the sunlight that the time is 3 pm. Pai Mei spots Hong looking at another shadow on the ground and smiles, taking a guard stance that gives Hong a moment's pause. When Pai Mei's hands both move to guard low, Hong attacks again. Once more they clash hard until Hong lands a kick to Pai Mei's groin.As with Chi Shan, Hong's foot becomes trapped there, and falls prey to the same counterattack that beat Chi Shan. Pai Mei knocks him to the ground, drags him backward by his foot several yards, and delivers crushing blows to both of Hong's legs. Standing over Hong and gloating, he says that Hong was almost right in deducing the location of Pai Mei's weak point, but over the years he's learned to move it at will, and now, when it's supposed to be down low near his groin, it's actually up high at the crown of his head.Pai Mei tells Governor Kao to take Hong alive, as there is much information about the Shaolin resistance that the Manchurian court can torture out of him. But as Kao's men move to seize Hong, he suddenly strikes out again, smashing aside the men and suddenly taking out Governor Kao's leg and using a finger strike right at his throat. Pai Mei executes a sweeping blow that sends both Hong and retinue guards all flying. Much to Pai Mei's outrage, Governor Kao is dead... and so is Hong.Hong had told Yongchun and Wending that he would return in ten days. When twelve have passed, Yongchun knows that her husband is dead. She tells Wending that if he wishes to truly aspire to be a hero, as his father and Xiao Hu, it falls on him to face Pai Mei. But she tells him that he shouldn't use his crane kung fu until necessary; at first he should use tiger style. But Hong had never been willing teach tiger style to Wending, because Yongchun had been teaching him crane. Hong's pride and stubbornness were such that he believed that tiger style should never be combined with crane. Yongchun remembers that Hong kept a study manual, and they need to find it.When Wending finally finds the manual, he finds to his dismay that age and vermin have caused most of the pages to be badly damaged, and it looks plausible that Hong had torn many of the pages himself after moving on to more advanced technique. When Yongchun asks to see the manual, Wending is afraid to show her how badly damaged it is, and manages to talk her into backing down by reminding her of her agreement with her husband never to learn each other's styles.Wending spends a year practicing and learning as best he can from the manual, although he cannot be certain exactly what it means when he catches specific ball bearings from the grooves in the brass training dummy. When he catches unmarked beads, he's not sure of the exact moment that a particular time marked bead fell out of the dummy, so he's not sure if he hit too fast, or too slow, or the wrong part of the dummy.Yongchun asks to see Wending do one of the exercises. When she tells him that one movement didn't look right, and he needs to do it again, Wending uncomfortably says that he worries it will remind her too much of Hong and make her upset. Yongchun becomes quiet again and tells Wending that he was right. She leaves the training area so Wending can practice alone again.Wending goes into the field, performing a number of tiger movements. Unfortunately the manual is too damaged to show the next followup moves. Finally Wending decides that at this point he'll stick to crane style.Finally Wending and Yongchun feel that he's as ready as he'll ever be. Wending has only trained in tiger style for one year, but he's trained very hard, and he has his crane style as a supplement, something Pai Mei has never faced in the Shaolin resistance.Wending goes to the Pai Mei temple. With the death of Hong Xiguan, the temple is mostly unguarded again, and Wending has little difficulty sneaking to the inner cloister where Pai Mei is meditating. Wending first asks if Pai Mei is the same person who killed the Shaolin high priest and Hong Xiguan. Pai Mei simply nods affirmative. Wending attacks, Pai Mei noticing that the initial strikes are tiger style. A large number of acolytes rush in after an intial clash between Pai Mei and Wending.Pai Mei notes that Wending's tiger kung fu is nowhere near the match for Hong Xiguan. He wonders aloud how many more Shaolin fighters there are, and asks Wending his name. When Wending tells Pai Mei his full name and says he's Hong Xiguan's son, Pai Mei is pleased. He's more than ready to kill Hong's son. Still, Pai Mei doesn't take Wending as much of a threat, until one of Wending's attacks rips loose a piece of Pai Mei's beard, and then in another clash, Wending tears the sleeves off of Pai Mei's robe. Pai Mei is confounded, as many of the moves Wending moves seem almost custom developed; he is used to facing standard tiger style, while Wending is combining it with crane. Pai Mei becomes angry and starts to fight harder, grabbing initiative and smashing Wending around several times. And even when he has the advantage, and after delivering a hard blow that has Wending bleeding from the mouth, Wending's kung fu is leaving him confounded and increasingly angry.They clash on the outer cloister. Wending fakes being hurt worse than he is, collapsing to the ground, and then delivers a kick. The kick hits Pai Mei in the groin, taking him off guard for a brief second, but then Pai Mei traps Wending's foot, the same as with Chi Shan and Hong. Pai Mei asks if Wending has any further tricks up his sleeve, before throwing the deadly attacks meant to break his legs and end the fight.But Wending does have another trick; he vaults up in the air with a crane maneuver and sits on Pai Mei's shoulders. As with Hong so many years ago, Pai Mei finds he cannot break Wending's crane stance and can't topple the young fighter from off his shoulders. He manages to throw Wending's weight backward and lands a scoop kick, but this only rights Wending's posture, and with a tiger move, Wending tears a large patch of hair off the crown of Pai Mei's head, and follows with a crane-beak attack right to the crown of Pai Mei's head, and then a double crane beak strike to his eyes.Having struck Pai Mei's vital point, the double crane beak attack proves completely devastating; Pai Mei screaming in wild agony, spinning around on his feet. He loses his balance, taking Wending with him as he rolls down the stairs. The camera freezes as Pai Mei convulses wildly into the air; a closing narration stating that the combination of tiger and crane kung fu was what finally killed Pai Mei. | grindhouse film | train | imdb | null |
tt0190138 | The Whole Nine Yards | Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky (Matthew Perry) is a Quebec dentist from Chicago, who happens to be genuinely likable to almost everyone who knows him. However, he is trapped in a miserable marriage to the daughter of his late ex business partner. His wife Sophie (Rosanna Arquette) and mother-in-law (Carmen Ferland) hate him, and his deceased father-in-law has saddled him with a lot of debt. He can't divorce his wife because her father embezzled from the dental practice, and he has nothing but debt if they separate. As the movie opens, Sophie tells Oz she needs $5000, but won't say what for.
At the office, we are introduced to his assistant, Jill (Amanda Peet). Jill and Oz have lunch and she tells him that his wife isn't a good person. They joke about the fact that, due to his insurance, he's worth more dead than alive, and discuss having her taken out of the picture, and Jill playfully tells him to name a price. When Oz gets home, a new neighbor is moving in next door. Oz thinks that "Jimmy Jones" looks familiar, and after recognizing a tattoo on Jimmy's forearm, realizes that he's Jimmy "the Tulip" Tudeski (Bruce Willis). Tudeski is an infamous contract killer from Chicago who was given amnesty after ratting out Lazlo Gogolak and other members of the Gogolak gang.
Oz runs home in a panic and tells Sophie they're moving. But Sophie insists that Oz return to Chicago to collect a finder's fee by giving up Jimmy's whereabouts to Lazlo's son, Janni (Kevin Pollak). Oz is picked up by Jimmy in a sudden trip to the city, where he reveals his predicament to Jimmy: his wife's father got involved with an underage boy who blackmailed the father, who embezzled money to pay off his blackmailer, and then committed suicide, saddling Oz with the debt. Jimmy sympathizes with Oz, and tells him he honestly likes Oz. Even though Oz has warmed to Jimmy, he still goes through with the trip to Chicago to pacify his wife. Upon arriving in Chicago, Oz has lunch with an old friend and confesses that he has no intention of meeting with Janni or giving up Jimmy; unfortunately, when Oz returns to his hotel room, he is greeted by Frankie Figs (Michael Clarke Duncan) who turns out to be one of Janni's enforcers. Frankie roughs Oz up to get the truth out of him and then takes him to Janni.
At Janni's estate, Oz meets Cynthia (Natasha Henstridge), Jimmy's estranged wife. Janni instructs Frankie to accompany Oz back to Canada and keep an eye on Jimmy until Janni and his men arrive to take him out. Back at the hotel, Oz calls Jimmy in a panic, warning him to run, but Jimmy casually reassures him everything is okay. He is then visited by Cynthia, who asks Oz if he really knows where to find Jimmy, explaining that Janni and Jimmy both want her (as well as each other) dead in order to collect on $10 million, which is being held in trust in their names (the "whole nine yards" of the title). Oz and Cynthia share a bottle of scotch and end up sleeping together. Afterwards, Oz vows to find a way to protect Cynthia from Jimmy.
Back in Canada, Frankie and a very nervous Oz enter another hotel room and see Jimmy waiting inside. It turns out that Frankie and Jimmy are old friends and together, are planning to take out Janni and Cynthia; they both praise Oz's genuine personality, his unwillingness to give up Jimmy, and his faithfulness, even to a wife that hates him. Oz returns to work and tells Jill about the events in Chicago. Jill is extremely excited when she finds out Jimmy the Tulip is Oz's neighbor and makes Oz take her to meet him. Jill tells Jimmy that he's her hero and the reason she wants to be a contract killer. She also tells him that Sophie tried to use the $5000 to have Jill kill Oz, but Jill ended up liking Oz after getting to know him (like nearly everyone else does) and refused to follow through on the contract. Jimmy reveals that Sophie visited him while Oz was in Chicago and tried to seduce him into killing Oz, and offers to kill Sophie as a favor to Oz.
As Jimmy and Jill discuss the upcoming ambush, Oz gets angry and says that he won't stand by and let them kill Cynthia. Oz is back at home and tries to call and warn Cynthia about Jimmy's plan, but she is already on the way with Janni. When they arrive at Oz's house, Oz gets a chance to warn Cynthia, while she warns him that Janni will kill him after killing Jimmy. The two watch from Oz's garage as Janni's gang walks into the trap.
Down the street, Sophie and her new hitter (Harland Williams) are in his car. She is discussing the payment and promises that her mother will pay the remainder of his fee after the job is done; she notes scornfully that she hates and doesn't understand why everyone else who meets Oz seems to like him. The hitter is distracted when he recognized Janni Gogolak heading toward Jimmy's house. When Sophie tells him whose house it is, he realizes what's about to happen, pulls out a gun and exits the car, taking the car keys with him.
When Janni enters the house, he is distracted by a naked Jill, and she, Jimmy and Frankie are easily able to kill Janni and his men. Oz and Cynthia make a break for it. Sophie's hitter is in the yard when he hears Oz's car peel out behind him. This draws Jimmy's attention to the window. He has Jill get the mystery hitter's attention and then shoots him. Sophie sees this and runs, screaming, down the street. When they get the body inside, they realize he is an undercover cop.
As they start to get a plan together to dispose of the bodies, Oz calls. While they are on the phone, Jill reveals that Oz slept with Cynthia in Chicago—which she thinks is great—but it infuriates Jimmy, who feels that friends shouldn't sleep with each other's wives. Oz makes a deal with them that will benefit everyone. Back at his office, he alters the cop's teeth to exactly match Jimmy's. They then put the cop's body and Janni's into Oz's car and set it on fire, rendering the bodies unidentifiable, except by dental records. The next day, two investigators think that Janni and Jimmy are both dead. This allows Cynthia to collect the $10 million, which as a part of the deal, she has agreed to transfer to Jimmy in exchange for her and Oz's lives. The investigators also find the undercover cop's car when they go to check out Jimmy's house. Inside the car is a tape recorder with Sophie and the cop's conversation to kill Oz, the contents of which are more than enough to put Sophie and her mother in prison, even though Sophie tearfully claims that Jill is the killer that she hired to kill the undercover cop, but the cop does not believe her story. Oz, who is observing behind one-way glass, asks if the detectives know a good divorce lawyer, and is reassured.
Some time later, after the death certificates have been processed, the key players meet up in the city. While Cynthia and Jill go to the bank to transfer the money, Oz heads to an art museum with Jimmy, where they will be around people and Oz thinks he'll be safe. Jimmy has other plans though and takes Oz (along with Frankie Figs) out on a private yacht. Back at the bank, Jill asks Cynthia to split the money with her and run, leaving Jimmy to kill Oz if he is double-crossed. Cynthia decides that she loves Oz and can't leave him to be killed by Jimmy. Jill tells Cynthia that it was a test, and that Jimmy wants her and Oz to have $1 million as a wedding gift, and the two women make the transfers.
On the boat, Jimmy gets the call that the money has been received. He pulls out a gun and points it at Oz. Frankie grins knowingly before Jimmy turns and shoots him instead; Jimmy explains that he had to kill Frankie or Frankie would kill Oz and then potentially come after Jimmy himself or send others after him in the belief that Jimmy had gone soft. Oz is floored, but happy to be alive. He tells Jimmy that it's obvious he's in love with "her." Jimmy acts confused, thinking Oz is referring to Cynthia. In the next shot, Jill runs on the boat and jumps into Jimmy's arms. Oz leaves to meet Cynthia. As soon as he sees her, he asks her to marry him. She looks disappointed and asks if Jimmy told him (about the money), but when Oz asks what she's talking about, she realizes he truly doesn't know and happily agrees to marry him, assuring him they'll be okay financially. In the closing scene, the two newlywed couples are on a hotel balcony overlooking Niagara falls, dancing to a bluesy version of Ira Gershwin's "They All Laughed" as the credits roll. | cult, comedy, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | At first the actors seem to be each in a parallel movie, with Matthew Perry doing physical slapstick comedy, Bruce Willis deadly serious, Rosanna Arquette just nasty, Amanda Peet being her "Jack and Jill" character (one of my TV guilty pleasures) and Natasha being like a super-model.Then something clicks in and it just gets funny and I couldn't help laughing and laughing.I hope Michael Clarke Duncan gets to keep those fancy suits, because it must be hard to get ones to fit him; with "Green Mile," this performance impressively shows his range.(originally written 3/19/2000).
But this comedy starring Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry is very well done and had me laughing about it even when it was over.
I liked about five out of all Bruce Willis' movies and Perry I've seen on his tv show and enjoyed him but never really thought about him much.
Which is exactly what happens in `The Whole Nine Yards,' directed by Jonathan Lynn and starring Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry.
It may not be the most original movie ever made, but `The Whole Nine Yards' is funny, has a great cast of actors who have taken characters you've basically seen before and made them their own, and does exactly what a film like this is supposed to do: Entertain.
I rented The Whole Nine Yards a few days ago, and just watched it this morning, I'm such a huge Bruce Willis fan, I don't see him that often in comedies, so I was curious how this would work.
The story was just very clever and worked so well with the cast.Nick is just your average guy, he is a dentist and a very likable guy, but he gets walked on quite a bit, especially by his wife who he feels like he owes her family, so he won't divorce her.
I really had a good time watching this movie, Bruce Willis was just so great.
"The Whole Nine Yards" is a great movie to simply sit back and enjoy.Nicholas "Oz" Ozeransky (Matthew Perry) is a mild-mannered dentist whose stuck with a wife who hates him (Rosanna Arquette in a hilariously over-the-top performance) and a huge debt that his partner (his father-in-law) left him when he kicked the bucket.
Kevin Pollack and Rosanna Arquette are so over-the-top that their performances must be seen to be believed.But as good as this cast is, and it's great, the film is stolen from all of them by newcomer Amanda Peet.
Director Jonathan Lynn has a lot of fun with the conventions of each genre, including mixing and matching the character traits of the femme-fatale and the "good girl" (you'll see what I mean when you watch the movie).
But Bruce Willis is always good, Amanda Peet stole the screen in almost every scene she was in, and the plot line was just quirky enough to be entertaining.
I have always liked Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry, and I also quite like Michael Duncan and Amanda Peet.
Oz, along with another hit man named Frankie Figs (Michael Duncan) finds himself unwittingly helping, but he starts to fall in love with Cynthia and won't let her die.My plot description sounds quite bad, but the movie is very good and funny.
The actors are better, the characters are cooler, the jokes are funnier (I was laughing out loud on many occasions) and the mixture of crime and comedy is pulled off a lot better in this movie, which is strange because there is more crime in this one than in ANALYZE THIS.
and it's just great when you can find a movie nowadays where you can't predict the ending cause everything is possible to happen.It's very funny It's enjoyable It's a pleasure to watch, alone or even better with friends You're gonna be in for a real treat...Although, if you like this one, don't get your hopes up too high...
THE WHOLE NINE YARDS (2000) ** Matthew Perry, Bruce Willis, Natasha Henstridge, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosanna Arquette, Kevin Pollak, Harlan Williams.Matthew Perry is one of my favorite comedic actors in that he's kind of a throwback to the light comedy fare of Jack Lemmon and Tom Hanks: handsome, charming and an utter neurotic mess with a sharp self-deprecating wit with his nonchalant sarcastic jibing that is all play and totally harmless, with a twist of slapstick.
But when Oz's wife approaches him he is hard-pressed to do what comes natural since Oz turns out to be the good neighbor he never had and an unlikely ally as things progress in the plotline that eventually involves Jimmy's estranged, va-va-va voom wife Cynthia (Henstridge, best known as the sexy alien in the `Species' sci-fi flicks) who wants a divorce but knows that it's more likely a hit would be necessary.Meanwhile Oz is struck by love at first sight when he meets Mrs. Jimmy and winds up bedding her (in spite of the fact he knows who Jimmy is after some hilarious reaction shots as the story moves on with each new trickle of information on his new `friend'), which only complicates things when Jimmy announces he is going to `whack' her and Janni, the mad Russian.Perry is a marvelous reactionary actor and plays very well off a unique ensemble including the babelicious Peet as Jill, his receptionist- turned - assassin - wannabe , who has a knack for displaying her natural assets to dissuade any potential violent threat and Duncan (recently nominated for a Best Supporting Actor as the gentle giant in `The Green Mile') has a sweet low-key turn as the hulking pal of Willis who provides some funny sight gags (including his first meeting with Perry who literally bounces off this wall of a man).Yet no matter how game the cast is - including off the wall comic Harland Williams as another seedy character who doesn't appear to be who he claims to be - and the fast pace of the storyline, there aren't that many memorable lines of dialogue or full grasp that a lethal killer like Jimmy actually has a heart of gold for the likes of a schnook like Oz.It would be easy to blame the less than compelling story line on screenwriter Mitchell Kapner (who gives an original spin on a plot twist and complex scenario involving dental records and a corpse) or director Jonathan Lynn (`My Cousin Vinny'), but both make the best overall.
(You haven't seen him like this since "Blind Date" or "Death becomes her")Matthew Perry is hilarious in this move, and the rest of the cast has their moments, and they are using them good."The Whole Nine Yards" is funny and entertaining like a comedy of this sort should be.I mean that this is a good move, and I will recommend it to others.
This film proves 1) Matthew Perry Cannot act 2) Bruce Willis cannot save every film he's in 3) There is something worse than Dick Van Dyke's attempt at a cockney accent--just try to sit through 2 minutes of Rosanna Arquette's attept at a French Canadian accent 4) Patricia & Alexis are the only talented Arquettes 5) With the exeption of Lisa Kudrow, NOT ONE PERSON from the "Friends" cast should be allowed in from of a movie camera.
Unlike the previous mentioned, this one is a pure comedy that is first successful by its cast: mixing some experts in comedy (Perry, Peet) with others who play against nature: Rosanna is cute as a dangerous desperate housewife and Willis plays a hit-man "à la" Brando in the "Godfather": no action, just a presence with his stare and words.
The plot of this escapist romantic crime comedy sounds like a TV situation comedy, but the film far exceeds expectations.Nicholas 'Oz' Oseransky (Mathew Perry) is a dentist in Canada trapped in a horrible marriage.
The dentist's unloving wife, Sophie (deliciously played by Rosanna Arquette), is secretly trying to have her husband killed for his life insurance.Jill St. Claire (beautiful and talented Amanda Peete in a great major supporting role) is the dentists vivacious assistant, who turns out to be a Jimmy "The Tulip" groupie.
She also pleasantly displays her other talents in a nude scene.A comic "tangled web" is woven as Sophie tries to cash in on the vendetta and Oz tries very credibly to prevent anyone from being killed.Both lead actors, Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry, have played similar parts in the past.
But Perry appropriately plays the Oz character straight and believable, somewhat like the straight man in a comic duo.The various twists in the plot are fun and the ending is very satisfying.
That's why The Whole Nine Yards was a great surprise, since Perry fits well into his role, and the movie isn't yet another Friends-style copy either.
The stage is set justifiably for the actors that make the best work in the movie, Bruce Willis, Natasha Henstridge, Amanda Peet and Michael Clarke Duncan besides Perry.
It is a comedy, yes, but very subtle, and keeping with the realistic even when the characters, or Perry's Oseransky, mostly, find themselves in absurd situations, and the plot keeps turning until the end, when it reaches a classic 50's-like tone.
Bruse Willis as the hit man "Jimmy Tulips" and Matthew Perry as the hapless dentist "Oz" are funny in this movie.
It's a funny movie starring Matthew Perry of Friends fame as a nervous nelly of a dentist, Oz Oseransky, living in Montreal suburb to a wife who really has no use for him (Rosanna Arquette), so little use that she tries to have him killed.
There are certain plot moments that sustains the movie, something to do with Jimmy's former wife Cynthia (the always fantastic looking Natasha Henstridge) who falls in love with Oz, and a humorously strange relationship that develops between Jimmy and Oz's dental hygienist Jill (Amanda Peet) who has an unusual interest in the world of mafia hit men.
Michael Clark Duncan plays Jimmy's bodyguard, and the physical contrast between him and Matthew Perry makes for some of the funniest scenes in this light farce.
After a while it boils down to trying to find a way to reason with Bruce to not kill his ex-wife for money.It's not brilliant cinema making at work, but it's funny because the cast knows it's all ridiculous and Bruce himself is funny as this laid back every-guy who just happens to be a retired hit man.
Matthew Perry is just like Chandler Bing from Friends in this movie, and that keeps things funny, and Bruce Willis and him work well together.
It's as if the writer was just writing down whatever came to mind and thought "When Matthew Perry says it, it'll be funny." Friends is not the best sitcom on TV, but it has much better writing than this movie.None of the acting was impressive at all.
To rent this movie would be a waste of money, to watch this movie would be a waste of your life.A pathetic attempt at humour - Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis - WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?.
There ARE a few laughs here and there, and Matt Perry TRIES to squeeze some comedic juice out of this, but it's hard going.The characters are all either too cool, along the lines of the characters in another terrible film "Get Shorty", or they are over the top phony, as in the police inspectors in this movie.
Here's a guy who can do practically anything and is reduced to babbling and, I think, confusing Ws with Vs or something--nevermind, not important and I couldn't really get it anyway.If you like black comedy mob pictures that aren't funny, don't have engaging characters, action limited to shooting a few characters at close range, the lead character trying to bring in a little slapstick, and a bizarre "happy ending", here's the film for you.
I don't know what the competition was that year, but it must have been something out of this world for this movie to be so overlooked.This is a comedy to set the acting standard for, not only, Best ACTING IN A COMEDY category, but for drama category as well.Fabulous acting AND directing, since it is hard to get such fabulous performances without a terrific director.Matthew Perry's timing and style is ever so right for his character, I cant imagine it being played by any other actor.
Matthew Perry (he of Friends fame) is Oz, a dentist with a horrible wife (Rosanna Arquette, with a 'comedy' French accent).
He is the comedy quarterback in this film.But while Perry and (to a lesser extent) Willis front the team decently enough, the featured cast comes off more like bench-warmers than players -- supportive but ineffectual.
What is difficult to determine is whether it's Matthew Perry, from FRIENDS (1994-2004) or Mitchell Kapner, the writer of the movie that makes the comedy mesh so well, from the physical gags that seem to be pretty lame but are artfully presented on screen so that they are fresh and really funny.
Natasha Henstridge from SPECIES (1995) has the elegance and style to carry off her serious character while the rest of the supporting cast along with Bruce Willis add that sure and charismatic charm of a solid romantic comedy.
However, he soon realizes that his new neighbor is a notorious hit-man named "Jimmy Tudeski" (Bruce Willis) who has just been released from prison and has a contract out on his head for turning state's evidence against a powerful mafia don by the name of "Janni Gogolak" (Kevin Pollak).
Matthew Perry, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Clarke Duncan, Amanda Peet.
Deep in debt, a suburban dentist is persuaded to inform on a contract killer (with a bounty on his head) when he moves next door, only to experience a crisis of conscious after befriending the man in this zesty comedy starring Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis.
The movie is also unafraid to treat murder, deception and infidelity in a very lighthearted way, which in turns makes it more laugh-out-loud funny than the average black comedy out there..
Egged on my his loathsome wife Oz sets off to Chicago to let the mob know where Tudeski is and, with a bit of luck, claim part of the reward...A movie which makes full use of Matthew Perry's prodigious comedic talents, especially for physical comedy.
While Bruce Willis is solid in his role, Perry makes the movie.
His wife convinces him to go to Chicago and inform the mob boss who wants Jimmy dead.Bruce Willis as a hit-man?
Matthew Perry is working hard and has good chemistry with Bruce Willis.
Not only does this have pretty funny one-liners, there is an ample amount of physical comedy such as when Matt Perry keeps on running into doors or Michael Clarke Duncan himself.Jonathan Lynn's film is about a dentist named Oz who lives unhappily with his wife.
Willis has enough wit and charm to lead a comedy and like he proved in his Die Hard films, he does know how to be funny when time is called for.
The movie's general theme is comedy after all, Matthew Perry's strong point, but definitely not Willis's.
Some of the deliveries in the script are pretty funny and the whole situation built up around 'the tulip' (one of the main characters - portrayed by Willis) is very nicely depicted throughout the movie.
Whole Nine Yards, The (2000) Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Clarke Duncan, Natasha Henstridge, Amanda Peet, Kevin Pollak, Harland Williams, D: Jonathan Lynn.
Matthew Perry plays a dentist who becomes unintentionally a good friend of a criminal, played by Bruce Willis.
At the time I had watched this film, I wasn't big into Willis or Perry, in fact I purchased the DVD because it was on sale and it was recommended as a `good laugh.' I had no idea that it would be as entertaining as it was.
Jonathan Lynn had put together a wonderful cast, Matthew Perry, Bruce Willis, Amanda Peet, Natasha Henstridge, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Clark-Duncan, and Kevin Pollak.
As director Lynn said on the commentary on the DVD, "You could make it a drama and not take out any words." But, it's a comedy, and Perry adds some physical humor to the otherwise "wordy" humor.Willis plays great in these type of roles-the comedic bad guys, the part where he can be funny but is also in a serious role.
I watched this film for two reasons; Matthew Perry from "Friends" fame, and Bruce Willis!
'The Whole Nine Yards' is quite good as Perry hams it up as Oz the Dentist, and Willis plays the cool sauve tough guy in Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski.
Definitely worth 100 minutes of your time.Bruce Willis is decent, Michael Clarke Duncan is good, Matt Perry is good (especially as he isn't simply recreating his Friends persona), Amanda Peet performs well (with an interesting way of, well, distracting, shall we say, the villains), whilst Rosanna Arquette and Natasha Henstridge are slightly wasted in their roles.One point though.
Really funny, Matthew Perry is gorgeous in this movie !.
It doesn't matter if you like action, comedy, love stories, or if you just enjoy seeing Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis act, this movie IS for you!!!
Matthew Perry is great as the successful yet hard-luck dentist and Bruce Willis is awesome as The Tulip.
I won't repeat the plot, if you don't know it, watch the trailer.Bruce Willis, and Matthew Perry play off each other well.
Well I've spend a great hour and half in the Theater tonight.I went to see The Whole Nine Yards with the basic idea of watching a fun comedy with two actors I love Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis.
However you should go this movie and spend a really good funny time With Willis and Perry.
Bruce Willis is pretty good in his role as "hit man with a heart"(see: his character in THE JACKAL). |
tt0065126 | True Grit | Mattie Ross's father was murdered by Tom Chaney when she was 14 years old. While collecting her father's body in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Mattie asks the local sheriff about the search for Chaney. He tells her that Chaney has fled with "Lucky" Ned Pepper and his gang into Indian Territory, where the sheriff has no authority, so she inquires about hiring a Deputy U.S. Marshal. The sheriff gives three recommendations, and Mattie chooses Rooster Cogburn. Cogburn initially rebuffs her offer, not believing she has the money to hire him, but she raises the money by aggressively horse-trading with Colonel Stonehill.
Texas Ranger LaBoeuf arrives in town, pursuing Chaney for the murder of a Texas State Senator. LaBoeuf proposes joining Cogburn, but Mattie refuses his offer. She wishes Chaney to be hanged in Arkansas for her father's murder, not in Texas for killing the senator. Mattie also insists on traveling with Cogburn but he leaves without her, having gone with LaBoeuf to apprehend Chaney and split the reward.
After being refused passage on the ferry that conveyed Cogburn and LaBoeuf, Mattie crosses the river on horseback. LaBoeuf expresses his displeasure by birching Mattie with a stick, but Cogburn eventually allows Mattie to accompany them. After a dispute over their respective service with the Confederate States of America, Cogburn ends their arrangement and LaBoeuf leaves to pursue Chaney on his own. Cogburn and Mattie meet a trail doctor who directs them to an empty dugout for shelter. They find two outlaws, Quincy and Moon, and interrogate them. Quincy insists they have no information about the Pepper gang, but eventually Moon divulges what he knows; Quincy fatally stabs Moon, and Cogburn shoots Quincy dead. Before dying, Moon says Pepper and his gang will be returning for fresh horses that night.
LaBoeuf arrives at the dugout and is confronted by the Pepper gang. Cogburn, hiding on the hillside with Mattie, shoots two gang members and accidentally hits LaBoeuf, but Pepper escapes. However, Cogburn and LaBoeuf argue the next day, and the latter departs again. While retrieving water from a stream, Mattie encounters Chaney. She shoots him, but he survives and drags her back to Pepper, who forces Cogburn to leave by threatening to kill her. Pepper leaves Mattie alone with Chaney, ordering him not to harm her or he will not get paid after his remount arrives.
Chaney tries to knife Mattie, but LaBoeuf appears and knocks Chaney out. They watch from a distance as Cogburn fights the remaining members of Pepper's gang, killing two and wounding Ned before his horse is shot and falls, trapping his leg, whereupon LaBoeuf snipes Pepper. Chaney regains consciousness and knocks out LaBoeuf, but Mattie seizes LaBoeuf's rifle and shoots Chaney in the chest. The recoil knocks her into a deep pit, where she is bitten by a rattlesnake. Cogburn cuts into her hand to suck out as much of the venom as he can, then rides day and night to reach a doctor, carrying her on foot after her horse collapses from exhaustion.
Mattie's left forearm is amputated due to gangrene from the snakebite. Cogburn stays until she is out of danger, but leaves before she regains consciousness. She never sees Cogburn or LaBoeuf again, despite writing a letter inviting Cogburn to collect the money she owed him. Twenty-five years later, she receives a note from Cogburn inviting her to a travelling Wild West show where he now performs. She arrives, only to learn that he died three days earlier. She has his body moved to her family cemetery. Standing over Cogburn's grave, she reflects on her decision to move his remains, and about never having married. | revenge, murder | train | wikipedia | "Come see a fat old man sometime!"John Wayne's parting comment in this film is directed as much at us the viewers as it is at the young woman his Rooster Cogburn character is addressing.
In a way, Wayne throughout the film plays off the image he cemented in dozens of great and near-great westerns, with a nod that by 1969, he along with the western genre had fallen behind the times, that his shoot-first approach to law and order had worn thin with the critical establishment just as it does in Judge Parker's courtroom.In that way, playing a character of such dogged homicidal cussedness as the hard-drinking, one-eyed ex-Quantrill Raider Rooster Cogburn and giving him a teenaged girl seeking justice to play off so as to showcase his essential decency seems a clever means to win Wayne an Oscar, which he finally did here, a sentimental triumph over some more heralded performances.
As the heroine, Matty Ross, Kim Darby provides Wayne with a fantastic foil, doughty to the point of rudeness, forever finding fault in others but earning your good will through her simple faith in justice and loyalty to the memory of her slain father, for whom she wants Rooster's help avenging.
I'll shake their hand or buy 'em a Daniel Webster cee-gar," Rooster tells his braggart riding companion, a young Texas Ranger played by country singer and ex-Beach Boy Glen Campbell.Campbell may be a novice and a third wheel in the interplay between Wayne and Darby, but he acquits himself well and delivers a worthy performance in a cast stacked with talented actors like Robert Duvall, Jeremy Slate, and Strother Martin, not to mention Dennis Hopper, hiding the long hair he made famous in "Easy Rider" that same year.
Some of these actors portray bad guys, but Roberts' script and director Henry Hathaway's languid pacing allow them to present some humanizing qualities that go a long way toward making "True Grit" more than your typical shoot-em-up oater.Even Jeff Corey, who plays a no-account named Chaney who shot Matty's father, has a funny scene when he tells Matty how to cock her pistol, then whines after she shoots him with it: "Everything happens to me!"About the only fault I can find with the film is Elmer Bernstein's bombastic score, which employs overly ornate orchestration like kettledrums when Matty has her showdown with Chaney and is tuneless apart from the title song, which is Campbell's best moment here.
Hathaway's direction is somewhat pedestrian but serves the script, and showcases some incredible autumnal vistas of tall birch and pine where Rooster and Matty search for Chaney, photographed by Lucien Ballard in a style akin to (but more dreamy than) his work on the same year's "The Wild Bunch."1969 was the last great year for westerns, with this, "The Wild Bunch," "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid," "Support Your Local Sheriff" and "Once Upon A Time In the West," and its interesting how Ballard, Corey, and Strother Martin turned up in more than one of them.
And certain films like The Commancheros and McLintock and Big Jake I find to be more entertaining.What True Grit does is succeed on both levels, being both great entertainment and giving John Wayne the acting role of a lifetime in the person of Rooster Cogburn.
There was no such thing as mass-communication, a good percentage of the population didn't read, and newspapers, the only "organized" form of news at the time, were hard pressed to report on anything more than a day's ride from town.This basic, shared innocence is achingly portrayed by Robert Duvall in two short sentences near the end of the movie when he's caught Mattie and he's attempting to threaten her.
The two of them set out into the Indian Territory in search of Chaney, accompanied by La Boeuf (shouldn't that be Le Boeuf?), a Texas ranger who wants to arrest him in connection with another murder.This is perhaps best remembered today as the film for which John Wayne won his only Oscar.
Great actors do not always make great casting directors."True Grit" does not perhaps have the depth of meaning of some of the truly great Westerns, such as "High Noon", "Unforgiven" or Wayne's last film, "The Shootist", but it is a very good one.
It is a fast-moving and exciting adventure, notable for some beautiful photography of mountainous landscapes (although it is ostensibly set in relatively flat Oklahoma, it was actually filmed in Colorado and California), for one of the great iconic moments of the Western (the scene where Cogburn gallops alone into battle, guns blazing, against four opponents) and for two excellent performances in the two main roles.
Away from the more congregated goodbyes sits a young girl inside of an establishment, she shares an exchange with her father which is granted a more personalised and lower-key sense, during which she is established to be quite the one for having her own voice; rather sharp on the accounting side of things and takes a stance on an issue to do with the purchasing of ponies before stating such a standpoint in a concise manner.The young girl is a certain Mattie, played extraordinarily by Kim Darby; a character whose role it is to waltz into the male dominated patriarchy of the western genre and upset the balance as this young; seemingly frail, but ultimately female, presence putting her foot down.
Worst though was Kim Darby, I am not going to go through a debate about whether she was too old for the role(I'll drop a hint, I think she was), but for me she is one of the blandest and most annoying leading ladies in a John Wayne movie.However, the film does look great.
While I would have not personally given the Oscar to this particular performance(I thought he was better in The Searchers, Red River and The Quiet Man) John Wayne is excellent here, and while he doesn't appear until quite later on Robert Duvall also makes a positive impression.All in all, a very good film but could have been better in my view.
Stunning Western based on Charles Portis's novel and adapted by Marguerite Roberts about a hard-nosed , tough U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger who help an obstinate 14-years-old young woman track down her father's murderer in Indian territory ; being object a recent remake by Coen Brothers , Joel and Ethan with Jeff Bridges .
Renting a room at a Fort Smith boarding house, she meets a Texas Ranger , LaBouef ( Glen Campbell , posterior character performed by Matt Damon) and they along with Cogburn go to track down Cheney , Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall) and hoodlums .Gentle entertainment about a tough-minded , hard-bitten bounty hunter and a fearless bargainer , stubborn adolescent in the Old West starred by the master of the western , an over-the-hill John Wayne , he is magnificent expert in the art of conjuring stylish , here stars this atypical but amusing western with a lot of jokes , distinguished moments , comical attitudes but also violence and action .
John Wayne finally won a Best Actor Oscar for playing Rooster Cogburn, an old and tired U.S. Marshal.
He is hired by a fourteen year old girl, Mattie(Kim Darby) to track down Tom Chaney, her father's killer who is on the run with Ned Pepper(Robert Duvall) another notorious outlaw who has had previous run ins with the lawman.
The fact that she insists on coming along to help him is perhaps the weakest aspect of the story but the end result is so enjoyable that we can forgive this.Robert Duvall, as Lucky Ned Pepper, makes a great job of playing the leader of the outlaw band Rooster, Ross and Ranger have to confront.The action culminates in a scene that no other western has matched before or since..
"True Grit" provided John Wayne with a long overdue Oscar for his performance as the crusty old whiskey swilling Marshal Rooster Cogburn.
La Boeuf joins Rooster and Mattie and the unlikely trio begins their dangerous journey seeking out Tom Chaney in the Indian Territory."True Grit" is a great western by Henry Hathaway with magnificent performances of Kim Darby, who deserved at least the nomination to the Oscar, and John Wayne, who won the Oscar of Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Kim Darby as Mattie Ross was particularly good, but the fact that the dialog in Charles Portis' novel was retained it is like nothing that I have heard in any other western and that is was so well delivered by the cast made this movie a real standout.Glen Campbell really surprised me as the Texas Ranger.
John Wayne,it can be said,played the same type of character many times over.In fact,we were basically seeing John Wayne on screen every time, he was just given a different name for character's sake,but we never minded really,did we?With True Grit,we see a different John Wayne,one with more spirit than we had ever seen before or after.He was Rooster Cogburn,the liquor swilling bounty hunter,with the eye patch.With all of his bad points,we couldn't help but like him.Surpassing John Wayne was no doubt a difficult task,but in my opinion,young Kim Darby pulled it off with flying colors.I'm not sure whether she was even nominated for an Oscar here,but she sure was worthy of consideration.The story is a solid one,Henry Hathaway's direction superb,and the cinematography is among the best I've ever seen in a western.The supporting cast,which includes Hollywood heavyweights such as Strother Martin,Dennis Hopper, and Robert Duvall,does their job superbly.The only possible exception is Glen Campbell,who never quite seemed comfortable in front of the camera.This is probably why we have seen him in very little else since.
It's a good thing he had his music career to fall back on.Despite this, you have an overall great film in True Grit.So watch it,and "Come see a fat old man sometime!"..
A young woman (Kim Darby) hires a one-eyed drunken marshal named Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) to track down her father's killer.
******** True Grit (6/11/69) Henry Hathaway ~ John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall.
Well, I've known characters in my life like the Duke in True Grit, as well as the Glen Campbell and Kim Darby types.
I have seen this movie more times than I can tell ya.Being a big fan of the Duke,I consider this one of his top performances.I remember going with my family to see this movie at the drive -in, in Lexington,N.C.I'm really not sure what year it was but,considering it was made in '69,and I was born in '59 I could not have been any bigger than a "CORN NUBBIN'".No matter what I may be watching on T.V. if I'm flipping the remote and come across TRUE GRIT the remote gets laid down!One thing though,I read on the profile of this film that Karen Carpenter was considered by the Duke to play the part of Mattie,makes me wonder how that would have turned out.I am not a real big fan of Kim Darby,but I'm sure she was a better actress than Karen Carpenter.As Carpenter was a better singer.Of course with Carpenter in the film then maybe there would have been a duet with Glen Cambell,ha ha..
Duvall is superb in this low key performance where you won't see any "moustache twirling".The always very reliable director of photography Lucien Ballard makes the film look just gorgeous, and Elmer Bernstein composed a wonderful score.There's an absolutely delightful line-up of talent in supporting and character roles: Jeremy Slate, Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin (his scenes with Darby are very amusing), Ron Soble, John Fiedler, James Westerfield, John Doucette, Myron Healey, James McEachin, Jay Silverheels, and Hank Worden.Ultimately, this is charming and poignant and Wayne makes the most out of the material, with Cogburn emerging as one of the most colourful parts of his career.Nine out of 10..
It has a marvelous script by Marguerite Roberts working from great source material, (the novel by Charles Portis), a great score by Elmer Bernstein at his most expansive, wonderful location photography by Lucien Ballard and a superb performance by Kim Darby as Mattie Ross, the girl out to avenge her father's murder.Best of all it had John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, the one-eyed Marshall Mattie hires to track down her father's killers.
Set on avenging her father's murder, a teenager hires a US marshal reputed to be a man of "true grit" in this Henry Hathaway western, best remembered nowadays as the film that won John Wayne an Oscar.
"True Grit" is primarily remembered today as the movie for which John Wayne finally won an Oscar, thirty years after his star-making performance in John Ford's "Stagecoach".
However, I think that the actors generally do a good job of making the material sound natural, unlike in the more recent version.Ultimately, the legacy of "True Grit" goes beyond John Wayne's Oscar win.
True Grit is a good movie with a very well developed storyline with a good cast and terrific character development.I read the book which is why I wanted to watch this movie,and as I was reading the book all I could picture while reading Rooster Cogburn's dialogue was John Wayne,it really was perfect casting and it's without a doubt one of his finest performances,an Academy Award dosen't lie.Other than John Wayne however,the cast is my biggest issue with the film,none of the other actors come across as even slightly inspired,I really didn't think the actor that played LaBeouf suited the character one bit,but the worst casting decision was without a doubt Kim Darby,she put no life in to Mattie Ross,she just said her lines,mostly in a very irritating manner,also Mattie comes across as a strong independent character in the book,and she did absolutely nothing to convey that personality in this film,he was like a robot and is the Mai reason why I give this movie a seven and not an eight.I would recommend the remake over this without a doubt,I don't think Jeff Bridges is as good as John Wayne was as Cogburn but still does a great job and every other actor is a huge improvement over the actors in this movie (Hailee Steinfeld,Matt Damon,Josh Brolin,etc.).Despite a mostly very mediocre cast,True Grit is still a very enjoyable movie with a solid performance from Wayne and a well written turn from a book to a film.
Not quite so good, performance wise, was Glen Campbell as La Boeuf (he latterly decided to stick to singing
good move).It's probably the best film I've seen starring John Wayne, but I'm sure I'll be corrected on that point by someone.
Seeking out Rooster Cogburn based on his gritty reputation, and aided by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, they head off to find the killer.It's not bold or foolish to say that John Wayne has not only been in better films, he's also given better performances than his Oscar winning turn here in True Grit.
Eye patch over one eye, Rooster Cogburn is a rapscallion that is impossible to dislike, and that comes down to Wayne and his mannered performance.True Grit is boosted by the sparky performance of Kim Darby as Mattie Ross, with the chemistry between herself and Wayne warm and honest, and this gives the film its emotional core, with both characters needing each other without even knowing it.
A young Kim Darby enlists the help of one-eyed drunk U.S. marshal (John Wayne in his Oscar-winning role) and a Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) to help her track down her father's killer in this uneven and sometimes dry-as-dirt western.
The resurrection of western genre has tumbled through a long and bumpy way, sometimes it seems to be a pipe dream because we all admit time is a ruthless bitch, but in the hands of Coen brothers, the clicking steps are by far the firmest one to satisfy our nostalgia for that era (who could forget NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN?).It's hard to believe that TRUE GRIT actually is my first John Wayne's film if my memory doesn't fail me (which partially testifies that Western film usually is not my cup of tea), also I discovered it got Wayne an Oscar winning for Best Actor, which honestly speaking, is far from academy's normal criterion, the performance is particularly unexceptional, to me it's rather a tribute to his entire career, which is a stock and unfair trickery using by the academy (Paul Newman for example), Jeff Bridge's interpretation also doesn't take my breath away as well, mainly because his weird accent does bug me a lot.
True Grit is about a fourteen year old girl named Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) who employs the hardboiled and drunken Marshall Rooster Cogburn, played by John Wayne in his only Oscar winning performance, to hunt down the killer of her father, Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey).
True Grit also has some terrible things, the acting of Kim Darby and Glen Campbell are horrible, some of the worst ever in movies, TG would have been a lot better with different actors playing the parts.
Released in 1969 and directed by Henry Hathaway, "True Grit" is a Western starring John Wayne as an overweight, one-eyed, alcoholic Marshal who signs on to help a stubborn, mature-beyond-her-years 14 year-old girl (Kim Darby) track down her father's murderer (Jeff Corey) in Indian Territory.
It owes to Wayne, but not just Wayne.Story-wise, "True Grit", if anything, is a movie about determination, I can't find another word to characterize the young strong headed Mattie Ross (Kim Darby), the fourteen-year old girl who wants to avenge her father by capturing and giving to the Law his murderer Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey).
John Wayne won a best actor Academy award for his amusing performance as veteran, no-nonsense(but often drunken) U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn, who is enlisted by determined tomboy Mattie Ross(played by Kim Darby) to locate the scoundrel(played by Jeff Corey) who murdered her father.
This first filmed version of True Grit can still entertain thanks to John Wayne's Oscar-winning performance. |
tt4573800 | A Deadly Adoption | Robert Benson (Will Ferrell) sits in his luxurious garden on a sunny afternoon chatting to his friends, with his baby in his arms. He is an author and his friends agree that his bestselling books have helped them manage their money. They toast him and wish him well on his journey as a "financial guru".Robert's pregnant wife, Sarah (Kristen Wiig) calls to him from the jetty at the bottom of the garden, "Hey! Let's take the boat out!" Robert tells his friends that the dock is rotten. Sarah is insistent and she leans back against the jetty railing which gives way. She falls, in slow motion, into the water. Robert (in slow motion) dashes into the water after her and they disappear below the surface. Suddenly bubbles arise and he emerges from the water with Sarah in his arms.As his friends stand around and watch, he pleads for her to wake up. He performs perfunctory mouth-to-mouth which appears to do nothing. He places his hand on her heavily pregnant stomach with another "Please, Sarah!", which appears to revive her.An ambulance drives her to the hospital. Robert walks into her hospital room and she shakes her head. "I'm so sorry," he cries.Opening credits begin to roll over a bird's eye view journey over a dark river and a wintery pine forest."Five years later" appears on the screen as we pan up from Storm Lake to the Benson's dark, forlorn house. The remains of the dismantled jetty are strewn across the bottom of the garden.We are introduced to Robert's office. He is typing busily and we see certificates of his philanthropic endeavours from 2010 and 2011. He is interrupted by his New York agent, Debbie. "My word, the recluse!" she exclaims. Robert discusses his desire to help people with his new book. He confirms that he is "clean and sober", when she asks him how everything else is going. However he opens his desk drawer to a large bottle of alcohol, and sighs.Sarah is at an outdoor local farmer's market full of happy, good-looking families. She is selling her organic, refined-sugar-free pies and honey. Her assistant Charlie (Bryan Safi) confirms that all the gluten-free produce went fast. "Either this town's getting hip, or it actually tastes good." Sully Benson (Alyvia Alyn Lind) runs up to her mother with Robert not far behind. It is Sully's birthday and Sarah gives her a new bike. Robert looks aggrieved and complains that they had decided to wait another year before giving her a bike. "We've talked about this, you know exactly what this will do to her blood sugar level!" he declares. He relents in the face of his daughter's excitement.At Sully's birthday party, Sarah complains to her friend Julia (Antonia Stout) that Robert babies his daughter and is obsessed with checking her blood sugar levels. "Something's different", she says. She confirms that Robert hasn't had a drink in 6 months. Julia asks how the baby search is going and Sarah is excited that the agency has a new birth mother for them to meet. She thinks that another baby will bring "the old Robert" back. Julia says she remembers the old Robert. "He used to dance around this kitchen to corny old music!"Later in bed, Robert and Sarah talk about the day. Robert says he is distracted by his book deadline and his anxiety around the day of Sarah's accident. "Robert, stop beating yourself up. You know what happens," Sarah warns. Sarah hopes that meeting the new birth mother will improve matters. Sarah and Robert cuddle.The next day Sarah is watering the garden when a car pulls up. A lithe leg in high heels emerges from the car. Bridgette Gibson (Jessica Lowndes) appears. She is doe-eyed with a dewy complexion and long luxurious locks. Her white slip covers her large, pregnant belly. The adoption agency contact, Ellen (Debra Christofferson) introduces Bridgette, who is eager to see the Benson's huge luxurious house.Bridgette and Sarah chat nervously and Sarah shows her a photo of their daughter. Robert meets Bridgette and appears taken with her. When Bridget extends her hand in greeting she drops the photo and the glass breaks. She is flustered and apologies profusely. Bridgette says she lives in Idaho Falls and had to drop out because she couldn't afford it. She says she read one of his books: "Debt: Not just a four letter word" which preaches fiscal responsibility. She says she is living in a shelter, and that it would probably be better if she could rest a little more. She is carrying a boy and is 6 months pregnant. The Bensons look at her approvingly as she declares her love for her baby, and her desire to afford a house like theirs and to give him a life like the Bensons could.As Bridgette leaves she scolds Scully for not wearing a helmet. "Let's keep that head safe so you can grow up smart like your mom and dad," says Scully gently. The Bensons are concerned about Bridgette living in a shelter. They invite her to live with them until the baby is born.Robert broods over Sarah's accident. Later that evening, they decide that they like Bridgette. "If she's read one of my books she can't be that bad," affirms Robert.Bridgette arrives to her new home in a flowery slip. Sarah shows her the guest room. "It's nice, it's so big!" says Bridgette happily. Sully runs into the room. Sully asks her how the bike riding is going. "My daddy won't let me take off my training wheels," she says sadly. "Is that a baby in there?" Sully asks, looking at Bridgette's belly. Bridgette says it is Sully's baby brother and asks her if she wants to feel it. Sully shyly declines. Bridgette asks for a bowl of ice-cream. Sarah says that because Sully is diabetic they don't keep sweets in the house. "Just to warn you, I'm one of those organic people," says Sarah. Charlie arrives and meets Bridgette. "I like her!" he exclaims.Later that evening Bridgette texts someone, "I'm here." She sighs and looks at photos of the family. She sees a magazine with Robert and Sarah on the cover, and rips Sarah's photo away. ""Oh Robert, what a mess," she says, rubbing her belly.Bridgette comes down to breakfast in a tiny camisole and shorts. They discuss plans for the day. Bridgette asks if she can head down to the dock to read. The Bensons look at each other awkwardly and say that the dock is off limits. Sarah and Sully head into town and Bridgette stays at home while Robert works.Robert's agent presses him to go on a book tour to sell his new books. She doesn't understand why he refuses to go on one since his last book tour 6 months previously. He "blacked out last time" and doesn't want a repeat of his boozy book tour. Bridgette knocks on his door and nervously asks him for sunblock. She bashfully says that she must be bothering him, but he assures her he is just used to being in his own Writer's world. "It must get hard, Robert," she says demurely. "Hard?" he asks nervously. "It is sometimes," he admits. "Alone, all the time," she replies.Bridgette and Robert head into the store room. She hides the sunblock behind a bottle. "I don't see it," she says. He reaches over her should in triumph. "Found it!" She turns around quickly into his arms and they share a too-close-for-comfort moment together. She looks up into his eyes disarmingly. "If you need anything else, batteries, lighter fluid, it will be in here," he says uncomfortably.Back at the farm stall, Charlie asks Sarah about Bridgette. "You just leave her in the house with him?" Charlie wonders. "She's six months pregnant," Sarah scoffs. "Some men like that!" says Charlie, and acknowledges that though he might be gay, he knows what men like. "Although knowing Robert, he's probably hiding in his attic too afraid to even talk to her."Robert steps outside onto the patio to see Bridgette sleeping lazily in the sunshine. Her breasts heave gently, and she opens her eyes to see Robert staring at her. Bridgette says she is too tired to go into town. Sarah is disappointed to see Robert's text letting her know they are staying at the house.Later that day, Bridgette argues harshly with someone on the phone while in a coffee shop. "These things take time! Would you stop freaking out!" Charlie bumps into her, and she softens completely once he reminds her of his friendship with the Bensons. When he asks to feel her belly, she declines awkwardly. Charlie watches her walk away with a questioning look in his eyes.Later at dinner they discuss the town. Bridgette agrees with Robert that she prefers a smaller quiet lake. She tells a story about an ex-boyfriend who made her sit on the front of his large boat in a bikini "just to show me off." Sarah talks about her relationship with Charlie and how he encouraged her to expand her business. Robert says he hopes to retire. "Sarah can work and I'll stay at home with the two kids." "That sounds perfect," says Bridgette wistfully. Bridgette shares with the family that she is overjoyed her baby will have such a perfect home. Sarah says that she, too, will have a perfect life one day. "I hope it's in a town like this with a family like yours," Bridgette replies. That night Bridgette watches over Sully as she sleeps.The next morning Bridgette teaches Sully to ride without training wheels. She lets her go straight into the road as car drives by. Sully screams and disappears out of sight. She runs into a greasy looking tattooed hunk. Bridgette knows the man, Dwayne. She tells him he has to wait for her at the cabin, and leave straight away. As he leaves, Bridgette soothes Sully. "Men like that, you gotta be careful, Sully. Most of them just want to use you." She tells Sully to keep the encounter with Dwayne a secret.Later Sarah and Charlie agree that Robert has been "a little off" lately. She sends Charlie to the store for coffee.Bridgette and Robert sit watching the lake. He tells her about Sarah's accident and the loss of their child. "The worst part is, I blame her. If she just hadn't acted so foolishly. Sometimes I think I may never love her the way I used to. It's funny, I've never told anyone that before." He agrees that he might feel safe around Bridgette. He asks her if she is happy. She think she will be happy, "soon". "You really are a strange girl," Robert muses. They chuckle.Charlie, on his coffee run, sees Bridgette and Dwayne arguing in the street next to his green pick-up truck.Sarah and Charlie sit by the fire in the evening. Charlie blames Sarah for leaving chocolates in the pantry. "You know the dangers of diabetic ketoacidosis!" he accuses. Sarah says that Robert has to trust Sully. "Even since you got back from your last book tour you have completely shut down! It is suffocating! What is going on?" Sarah demands.The next day Bridgette prepares to have a shower, Sully rushes into the room and sees her in her underwear. Bridgette is wearing a fake pregnancy belly. She assures Sully that some women don't show when they're pregnant and she wants the Bensons to believe her that she really is pregnant. Bridgette makes Sully promise not to tell, "otherwise something really bad is going to happen".The next day, Bridgette asks Sarah if she can take Sully to the park. "Robert's idea. Wanted to check w/ you :)" Bridgette tells Robert that Sarah asked Sully to take her to the farm stand. Robert agrees, but looks suspicious. He goes to her room, which is vacant. He feels her silky pink camisole. He finds the Debt book Bridgette mentioned earlier ("Dare to Save"). It has an inscription: "To Joni - Don't stop Daring. Robert".He flashes back to his last book tour at a busy bar. He is drunk and a red-head asks her to sign his book to her, Joni Mathers. They run out into the rain laughing and kissing. "Not here", she says and takes him to her motel room. After they have sex Robert sits with his head in his hands. "It'll be our little secret," she says. Lightning flashes and we see that Joni is, in fact. Bridgette.Robert rushes to Sarah to ask her where Sully is. They call the police. Robert is asked why he went into Bridgette's room and why she might want to take Sully. He says he is just concerned and has no idea. Sarah thinks that Robert is overreacting. The police show the adoption agency's picture of Bridgette to the Bensons. She is a different woman and not the Bridgette they know. They realise they have been duped.Bridgette/Joni drives to the cabin in the woods with Sully. "We'll get crazy money," smiles Joni.That evening, Robert admits his infidelity to Sarah. "I did something I can never take back. And it consumes me every day. I know you hate me, but I hate myself more." Sarah denies hating him for lying. "I hate you for endangering our child!"In the morning, Sully wakes up groggily as Joni watches her from the doorway. Joni has transformed: she wears heavy make-up has ratty hair extensions and is dressed in a very revealing outfit. Joni says that Sully's parents had to go and help a sick friend. Sully says that she has a stomach ache. Joni realises that she forgot Sully's diabetic medicine. Dwayne says that his brother had the same condition: "Low blood sugar. Just give her a couple candy bars". Dwayne heads into town to find candy. He tells Joni to call Robert and demand ransom.Charlie is at the police station and informs them about the fight he saw Joni having with Dwayne. Charlie can't remember anything much about the car. He describes Dwayne in detail.Robert searches through his emails to Ellen, the adoption agent. He hasn't heard anything from her. Charlie spots Dwayne in town. He follows him to the lake cabin, and calls Sarah along the way. The call breaks up.Charlie snoops around the house and is knocked unconscious by Dwayne. Dwayne just wants to leave. Joni wants to stick to her plan. Dwayne and Joni take Charlie out to the forest and shoot him.Slow motion montage of missing child posters, and sad folk music.The police tell Sarah that Ellen has been murdered. They show her a picture of Dwayne, and tell her he is wanted in Texas in connection with two murders. The policeman asks Sarah if it possible that Joni and Robert are together. Sarah is speechless.In the cabin, Dwayne is concerned that Joni is going to meet Robert. Sully is still sick. Dwayne fights with Joni. "You're not keeping the kid! I'm in this for the money," he says. Dwayne is not happy.Joni confronts Sarah in her garage. Joni reveals that she was 3 months pregnant with Robert's child. She lost the baby and was furious when she saw Robert and his family on the TV. "I hate you for stealing him away from me," she growls. They fight and Sarah is overpowered. Joni puts an unconscious Sarah in the drivers seat and pipes the running car's petrol exhaust into the car, in an attempt to suffocate Sarah.Joni finds Robert and attempts to persuade hi to run away with her. Robert demands to know where Sarah is and pushes Joni away. "Robert, you're acting very strange. Don't you get it? We have everything ok? We can start our lives together. This is what we always wanted. You told me you were unhappy." Robert tries to call the police and Joni shoots him in the arm. Robert tries to convince Joni to take him to Sully. He lunges for the gun and it goes off. Robert falls to the ground. Joni runs away.Back at the cabin, Dwayne realises that their plan was about Robert all along. He refuses to let Sully go with Joni. Joni shoots Dwayne. "I'm your new mommy now," Joni assures Scully.Back at the hose Robert comes to and rescues Sarah from the garage. He walks out of the slowly opening garage with Sarah in his arms to the sound of heroic trumpets. He lays her on the floor. "Sarah, breathe!" he demands as he gently touches her face. Sarah tells Robert about the cabin.Robert is determined to rescue Scully. "The only other way out of Storm Lake is across Mackinaw Bridge." "Robert, you, you can't," says Sarah faintly. Robert looks up, determined.Robert powers his boat down the lake, his wedding band gleaming in the early dawn light. He wears a look of grim determination. A distressed Sully and erratic Joni drive out of town. Dwayne is found by the police and arrested.Sully looks at Joni, crying and sick. Robert motors down the lake, parks his boat and stands in the middle of the bridge. Joni appears in Dwayne's pick-up and tries to mow down Robert. Sully squeals and pulls the steering wheel. They crash. Sully runs towards Robert. Joni interrupts their reunion angrily and the Bensons stare down the barrel of her gun. "You used me, Robert. You are never going to use me again," she declares. She demands Sully return to her. Robert whispers something into Scully's ear. "I trust you, ok?" Robert says to Scully.Scully walks hesitantly towards Joni. She stops and dives off the edge of the bridge. Robert follows her. They swim to the motor boat and struggle to start the engine. Joni takes careful aim and is about the pull the trigger. We hear a shot ring out and see a bullet wound on Joni's shoulder. Sarah stands at the end of the bridge, having mortally wounded Joni. Joni falls, in slow motion, into the water.Six months later, Scully is riding on her bike without training wheels. The sun is shining. Gospel music is playing. Sarah and Robert are in the kitchen. Robert looks on adoringly as Sarah rolls out some pastry. "She sure loves that bike. I told her she could ride it into town tomorrow," says Robert. "Look at you," smiles Sarah. "Not a care in the world!" Robert acknowledges that she can't be a baby forever. "At some point you just have to trust her."An upbeat song comes on the radio. "I love this song!" Robert exclaims. He turns up the volume. He invites Sarah to dance with him. Scully skips into the kitchen and dances with her parents. The dancing goes on. They keep dancing. Sarah boogies. Robert pretends to play the trumpet. Sarah does the twist. They continue to dance.They fade away and the words "inspired by a true story" appear. | murder, flashback | train | imdb | After much speculation it turned out the movie wasn't at all a comedy/parody, although some moments could've been interpreted in a funny way(the garage door opening being one of them), it is actually a Lifetime tribute with essential elements of their movies that have been popular with its audience: a life-altering accident, a fresh start after couple of months/years(it occurs twice in perfect sync at the beginning and ending of the movie), alcoholic husband, naive partner/wife, dark past that gets everyone in trouble, a crazy ex-lover, best friend who knows too much for his own good, phone that stops working in a crucial moment, police getting involved all too late, saving the day ending and lets not forget the classic handgun shooting happening between almost all characters in a row.For a Lifetime casual fan this will a great movie of their beloved genre full with all the dramatic bits that they enjoyed throughout the years involving 2 A+ listed actors who attracted attention, in order to celebrate their 25th anniversary of hilarious clichés.For non-lifetime viewers this will be a new and enjoyable experience which they could find funny in some scenes given the 2 comedy Gods involved in it, but you need to have seen at least 1 Lifetime movie to understand the replicated elements that are included in this anniversary.
Its not a parody per-se because they didn't had to exaggerate the already overly-dramatized bits which are usually found in Lifetime movies and which some of their casual viewers find hilarious, its simply a replication of those but bunched together in a single movie.10/10.
If what my wife tells me is correct, A Deadly Adoption actually has practically the same plot as another Lifetime movie not too long ago - a pregnant woman with nefarious intentions gets her way between a husband, wife and their child and wreaks havoc while seemingly about an adoption scenario.
This is, I'm sure, intentional on the parts of executive producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay; they not too long ago made Casa de mi Padre, a stone-faced take-off on Spanish tela-novellas with Ferrell playing Mexican full-tilt, and Wiig herself was in a series on IFC, The Spoils of Babylon, which was also a take on soaps (the writer of this film, Andrew Steele, was one of the writers for Babylon).But what a strange, entertaining beast this is.
One may go into A Deadly Adoption with Ferrell and Wiig at the top of the cast and wonder what's up, if this is going to lampoon Lifetime movies.
There are lines and scenarios that are very funny, such as referring to the main couple's daughter's condition: "You know the dangers of diabetic ketoacidosis!" Or the fact that Ferrell's character, Robert Benson (like Bob Benson from Mad Men, I wonder, maybe just a coincidence), is now a reformed alcoholic who used to go on benders during his book tours...
But all of the other actors are the people who you would usually see in a Lifetime movie, and the director, Rachel Goldenberg, is not a Hollywood pro exactly.
Steele has more of a foot in comedy, as a writer and collaborator on SNL, though he, the director, and the actors do a remarkable thing: they completely commit to the scenario, the drama around this crazy 'new woman' who comes in to turn everything upside down and cause violence and kidnapping and affairs revealed and shocks galore.
And I wouldn't want it any other way.I thought about other made-for-TV cable movies that come out, like the Sharknado movies and the like on the SyFy channel, which probably have about the same self-awareness as A Deadly Adoption.
Ferrel, Wiig and company aren't out to make anything cheap or silly here (though maybe the last scene is goofy, perhaps just like a Lifetime movie).
The funny thing is, because Ferrell and Wiig and co-star Jessica Lowdnes play everything completely straight - and Ferrell and Wiig are better actors than a Lifetime movie should ever deserve - and it's all believable, sometimes verging on maybe, kinda, sorta being dramatic in a *good* way...
until one realizes what they're saying, more often than not, is absurd, as are the situations they get themselves in.The tropes are all recognizable if one is into Lifetime movies, and that's also the idea, from the happy white family and the "bad" girl that comes in to make things chaotic.
It's not something that can be easily parsed into 'Oh, it's just a parody' or 'Oh, it's actually just another Lifetime movie with these actors'.
Lifetime wanted to make fun of itself by doing a very typical Lifetime movie starring two comedic kingpins, but play it deadpan so that nobody will actually know what's what.
Although there are a few moments that seem to be a parody of a Lifetime movie, mostly it is just played straight and the result is just a really poorly written plot orchestrated by two very talented actors.
Ferrell and Wiig play this straight and that is what makes this work.
This is no spoof and Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell are merely playing a standard Lifetime script totally straight.
It can have a life of it's own as bad Lifetime but it's not really bad enough.I don't know why Ferrell and Wiig did this movie.I will say, however, that Lifetime, had a coup with this because it is has created a stir in social media and that may have been the outcome desired all along..
However, whether the complete film is meant as a parody, satire, comedy, or straight drama, it's pretty darn bad.
Kristin Wiig is actually a very good straight actor but if she's really going legitimate here, she can't overcome what she has to work with.
I know he's trying "to take the stuff (word prohibited" but he's a seriously bad actor, in a so far dull movie.
Great movie - first time watching an entire Lifetime movie!
Quality directing, producing, casting, all around good judgement for everyone who was involved with putting this film together.This movie was an excellent treat and I thank Lifetime, for what felt like a night out at the movies for free..
If you watch Lifetime movies of the week you can guess they tend to be overwrought, supposedly true life melodramas with a cookie cutter story.The script and acting are no great shakes.A Deadly Adoption could had gone for the parody route like Scary Movie, Austin Powers or Naked Gun films.
Will Ferrell plays a financial management guru with a string of successful books.Kristen Wiig is his wife who sells organic food in market stalls in their small town.
Some years later as the story progresses they meet Jessica Lowndes who is homeless and giving her baby up for adoption however she is not all sweet and innocent and her path has crossed with Ferrell before.Ferrell and Wiig play it straight.
In a sense Ferrell and Wiig just made a better Lifetime movie than Lifetime normally manage to do.
So I was a little bit disappointed when I got around to actually watching 'A Deadly Adoption' only to find a slightly above average movie by TV standards.
Her role wasn't written overly well and didn't give her a lot to do, however the scenes she did have she handled well and overshadowed Ferrell in the acting sense I'd have to say.There's a lot of "by the book" writing involved and the clichés are a little bit overbearing at times (ie.
Kristen Wig is only a little better.I know it is a Lifetime movie and we expect less because the plots are predictable, the acting less than stellar but we usually adjust because we know the actors aren't A listers.Will Ferrell is great as a comedic actor and one of his best movies was "Elf".
I'm not sure what this a was trying to be, I think like most people with Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig attached I went into this expecting a parody of Lifetime movies.
The problem is the parody is missing so all this is, is a Lifetime movie.Yes every cliché is used and emphasized just a little bit more (slow motion tragedy scenes, overbearing mood music, bright happy outdoor scenes, the gay best friend etc) and I did laugh a couple of times (Robert's little indiscretion while drunk off his ass during his book tour, "based on a true story" tagged on at the end) but this is not funny ha, ha like you'd be expecting.
Wiig and Ferrell play it straight up until and for the most part including the final super HEA musical scene.I guess really the only parody thing this has going for it is how predictable it is; story, music situations.
Ferrell plays Robert Benson a successful (bearded) author, wearer of bad khaki pants and husband to Sarah of organic food fame, Together they have a daughter 'Sully' and are expecting another when tragedy strikes (in slow motion) and Sarah loses the baby.
Will Ferrell's version of dramatic acting looked like he was trying to work out a math problem in his head.
What I could not process was watching Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig attempting to do drama, and Lifetime drama at that.At first, you would think they lowered themselves to sign on to this crap.
It's a parody, after all, and Ferrell makes the mistake of playing it too straight, apparently believing that being good at being a bad actor will make it funny.
I figured it was meant to be a parody on a lifetime movie, however, was the content or the waste of time the joke?
You could think otherwise when you see that Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig are playing in it but don't get fooled.
Looks like he wants to play it straight so who knows, might be good.
Now I Enjoy will ferrell's movies (anchorman being the one), but this lame, disjointed, disappointed and mean-spirted spoof of lifetime TV movie is so incredibly hapless and silly that it makes you think twice about getting out of your seat, farrell and wiig playing a couple who want to adopt a child with deadly results, they kill and many more, the whole TV movie is embarrassing, farrell is completely wasted here, the teleplay is a mess and brings us nothing to work it, the writing is very cheesy and predicable and everything else falls flat on it's face, now i enjoy TV movies with suspense and all, but this thing is dull and not that good at all, a deadly adoption is a pointless mess and another candidate for one of the years worst Television.
Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig, like a number of comedians and writers associated with Saturday Night Live, have been intrigued by the original movies produced the cable channel Lifetime.
Instead, viewers who come to this 90-minute TV movie due to the announced presence of two prominent American sketch comedians are likely to be disappointed by how seriously it's all played.Will Ferrell plays a money-management guru who writes mass-market books on financial responsibility.
Jessica Lowndes plays a pregnant woman who is down on her luck, and wants to give her baby up for adoption to this family so it has a better chance at life.
The plot then enters standard TV movie fare with gunplay, kidnapping, and a police investigation.All of this is played straightforwardly, with the only humour being the unintentionally risible elements that are found in every Lifetime original movie: bad stunts, hammy acting, a small-town America where everyone is financially secure and gets along swimmingly, with none of the social and economic issues that we know millions of Americans must grapple with daily.Now, if you are aware of the flaws inherent in what Lifetime does, then this production with two famous actors, who do an excellent job of hiding their long experience in comedy, may make you chuckle.
Middle-aged writer Will Ferrell (as Robert Benson) and his attractive blonde wife Kristen Wiig (as Sarah) are expecting a second child.
Since this is a "Lifetime TV Movie", you can expect things will not go smoothly for the growing family...Getting a vision of Ferrell, at home, watching "Lifetime" TV Movies involving sexy young surrogate mothers who seemingly go psycho.
So, you have an average "Lifetime" TV movie.***** A Deadly Adoption (2015-06-20) Rachel Lee Goldenberg ~ Will Ferrell, Jessica Lowndes, Kristen Wiig, Jake Weary.
A deadly adoption is a Drama with some Mystery/Thriller elements thrown in there, and stars Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig in roles that you would not be used to seeing them in.
And i would have to say they did a pretty good job in these serious roles, Will Ferrell especially i thought for the most part got me to see him as a serious character rather than the funny guy, so i wouldn't mind seeing him do more of this.
After that you start to get a little bit of mystery and before you know it the tone flips again and you are almost watching a completely different movie.
This was just a very weird movie, i'm not sure what the director was trying to show but it looked like they just got it all wrong.
Apart from some good convincing acting from Ferrell and Wiig, and some intriguing mystery themes in the second act, the whole film was a complete mess and it made it hard to stay interested for long periods of time.
It pokes fun at Lifetime movies: the moronic plots, the stereotypical characters, and the predictably happy endings (the painfully long happy dancing at the end subtly asks the audience, "did you catch the joke?") How many times had you asked yourself, "WTF?" An author's book signing tour becomes a debaucherous drunken spree, where he scores as much tail as a rock star?
(WTF?) Other reviewers caught most of the funny moments that I recall, like the slow-motion heroic garage door opening scene, the intense look of concern and determination on the slow-motorboating Ferrel's face, the psycho's high heels following her off the bridge as she plunged to her death from her fatal shoulder wound...
I came in late in the movie, where the family was eating breakfast, but by the time the scene with Ferrel and the girl in his study took place, I knew from the dialog that the film was tongue-in-cheek: "IT must get HARD sometimes..." she says provocatively.
Looked forward to seeing Wiig and Ferrel either in a spoof or in serious roles.
There's a reason I dislike Lifetime movies..The ONLY reason I even watched this movie was because Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig was in it.
"A Deadly Adoption," in my opinion, found that perfect formula.The film looks and feels like a real Lifetime Original (only with far better acting) and in that realism is where the film becomes very funny.
This Lifetime movie never sits there and childishly mocks these specific types of film like you'd get from a "Scary Movie" or equally poorly produced parody.
Not to mention, it's just cool that both Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell are refusing to allow their comedic talents to become stagnate and repetitive and it's pretty neat that Lifetime has a good enough sense of humor about itself and allowed this all happen..
This TV movie was a bit of a strange one, it was advertised is if it was a serious dramatic film, but you cannot ignore the fact that two comedy stars are in the leading roles, which made you question whether this film is a joke, I had to watch and decide for myself.
Ferrell and Wiig are reasonably good at playing serious, Lowndes is too soapy to be believable as an antagonistic bitch, this apparently is supposed to be a humorous imitation of those late 80s and 90s films with twisted affairs and evil characters playing happy families, it does have moments inspired by Fatal Attraction or The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, but it is not quite executed as well as it could have been, you can see the funny side of it though as it is awash with clichés, not a completely terrible parody psychological thriller.
It's got A list movie stars like Will Ferrell and Kristin Wiig in a lifetime thriller.
An evil woman scams a couple into thinking she's giving up her baby for them to adopt.Will Ferrell rising from being shot and going after the bad guys is just laugh out loud.
I'm convinced that it was meant to be a parody.I'm married so I've watched more of the Lifetime adoption/nanny/dream-spouse gone bad movies than I'd like to admit.
When compared to other movies in this genre, this one is actually less cheesy, but with the main characters being played by Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig, I was never able to shake the feeling that something hilarious was going to happen.
Somewhere in the middle of the movie there is an off handed comment from a minor character that Will Ferrell's character doesn't dance to silly music like he used to.
This is also written to bring closure to those who have spent the two hours watching it.The overall plot was used previously in another Lifetime movie no doubt.
Sitting through a real Lifetime movie is difficult work at times.
If anyone is looking to kill two hours, this flick will do the trick, just like any real Lifetime movie, but with the added subtext of some extremely subtle humor..
When I saw the trailers for "Deadly Adoption" I thought it was interesting that Will Farrell and Kristen Wiig were taking on dramatic roles instead of their normal comedic roles.
I give the movie a 6.5 just for Wiig's, Jessica Lowndes and Alyvia Alyn Lind's acting.
(I thought that was a mistake.) I got through 3/4 of this movie thinking it was a worse-than-normal LifeTime movie.However, when Will Ferrell is kneeling over his unconscious wife and the cheesy music kicks in and he looks up and stares, it hit me. |
tt0108211 | Stalingrad | The movie begins in 1942 with some German troops relaxing in Italy. They are playing cards, swimming and drinking. They are enjoying themselves until they hear music and realize they are late for their formations, and they rush to join their ranks. Everyone is praised for their fighting in Africa and the soldiers are awarded medals for their victory, though simultaneously scolded for being late. They are told to be ready to move on to their next mission, and they get on a train and leave. On the train the new platoon leader, Lieutenant Hans von Witzland (Dominique Horwitz), writes a letter to his love. The men discover that this is his first time to the front.On the way to Stalingrad the men see many wounded soldiers. The Lt. sees the way the Russian prisoners are treated and tries to convince higher-ups to treat the Russians better but they rudely ignore him. A preacher gives a pep-talk to the troops.Now in Stalingrad, the Germans are trying to take a factory. They suffer many casualties as they move toward the factory. The man who gave away their position in the first place is sent on a suicide mission to stop the Russian machine guns, which allows the rest of the soldiers to reach the factory. One man is told shoot anything that moves, and he accidently shoots his friend, which makes him break down. As he stays with his friend he hears a fallen Russian soldier talking to his mother as he dies. They finally take the factory, despite the casualties suffered.Nov 8, 1942: the troops listen to a broadcast from Adolf Hitler about why he wanted to reach Stalingrad and speaking of their victory there, with only a few pockets of resistence left. The troops talk about how they started with 400 men and now are only 62. The Lt. wants to agree to a short truce with the Russians to gather their wounded. The Russians agree but only if the Germans go first. The Lt. goes out first along with one of his men, Otto (Sylvester Groth). Otto and a Russian trade breads as they gather their wounded. One German back in the bunkers decides to shoot at the Russians and everyone begins shooting. The Lt. grabs a young Russian boy (Pavel Mang) and brings him back to their base, and yells at the man who began shooting.In the morning the mail and food arrives. The Russian boy finally speaks to the Germans as the Russians begin singing. One soldier, Rollo (Jochen Nickel), gets a letter from his wife that she is leaving him for a French prisoner of war. Rollo says he will make the Russians pay for it. Just as the Lt. is trying to comfort him, the Russians bomb their shelter and begin attacking. The Lt. and a small group take flamethrowers and try to find a way out through the sewers. The Lt. gets lost and finds a Russian girl, Irina (Dana Vávrová) in the sewers, who happens to speak German. She makes a truce with him, to help him find his friends if he lets her go. However, when they get deeper in the sewers she pushes him into the water and runs away. Fritz (Dominique Horwitz), one of the Lt.s men, finds the Lt. and helps him to safety. Emigholz (Heinz Emigholz), who they brought for luck, is found with his leg blown off. As they carry him off, they discover a Russian woman and her children hiding and give them some bread as they move along.When they get Emigholz to the medical area, they can not find a doctor so Fritz holds a gun to a doctor to get him to work on him. Captain Haller (Dieter Okras) shows up and says that they are under arrest. The Lt. wants to speak to the General about it, who says the event will not go unpunished.Dec. 1942: the 6th Army has been surrounded for four weeks. The men are now prisoners, and must look for land mines in a snow field. They are told they will be sent to the front to help defend Marinovka. They are also told that they will be honorably reinstated when they leave for the front.The men sit in foxholes waiting as fleet of Russian tanks drives by. The tanks notice them and begin to drive toward them. A battle ensues in which some of the men dig holes in the snow, wait for the tanks to drive over them and then stick grenades to the back of the tanks. With a combination of grenades and Molotov cocktails the Germans manage to destroy all of the tanks, though they suffer heavy losses. They are all honorably reinstated.The Germans are then seen burning down a village while taking all of the Russians prisoner. The Lt. and his men are told that they are not going on leave. Instead they are forced to execute Russian prisoners. The Russian boy is amongst the prisoners. The Lt. tries to say that the boy worked for them and therefore should not be executed. Captain Haller makes them execute him anyway. Fritz says he is going to leave, and the Lt. says he no longer feels bound to his oath to stop him. Fritz leaves along with GG (Sebastian Rudolph) and the Lt. As they are on their way they encounter a camp of Russian refugees. A man tells them how to get to Pitomnik in exchange for some bread. As they travel further they find some dead German soldiers who were wounded and had passes to go home for being wounded. They each get a pass and plan to use them to go home.At the airport the wounded are being inspected to ensure they are truly wounded and that it wasnt self-inflicted. After passing the inspection they are part of a large group pushing to try to get on a plane. They do not make it onto the plane. They meet back up with the other men. A plan flies over and drops a container of food and medals. The men begin to eat some chocolate and Rollo finally gets his Iron Cross that he wanted. As they do this, Captain Haller comes out and points a gun at them, telling them that he wants a report filed and that in the German army looters are to be shot. The Lt. tries to grab the gun from him and the Captain shoots GG. Rollo shoots the Captain, who proceeds to beg and plead with them. The Lt. says, You want a report? The Russian boy was named Kolya. And his name was Müllerlike a lot of others. They then shoot Captain Haller.They go to the Captains house that he told them about and find it full of supplies. They find a girl in a room, tied up in a bed. They decided to go by rank, which means the Lt. would go first. The rest of the men leave the room, and the Lt. walks over and cuts the girls ties. The other men are listening to music, drinking and washing themselves. They begin playing cards, as they were in the beginning, and the line Hertz ist trumpf is heard again. We see the Lt. in the room with the girl, who happens to be Irina, the girl he met in the sewers. She says she wants to be shot, so the Lt. gives her his gun and says to shoot herself. She can not, and they end up sitting and talking. Their injured Captain, Captain Musk (Karel Hermánek), who they brought with them, points a gun at them and tells them to be soldiers not deserters. Otto tells him that every night he prays to be killed. He then pulls out his gun, says Heil Hitler and shoots himself in the head. Rollo carries Captain Musk out and discovers a line of German officers, including the General, walking in a line with their hands raised, surrendering. The remaining two go with the Irina, who says she can get them out.Irina leads the two through the snow. As they head to where she is leading them, shots are heard. Irina yells I am Soviet! but they continue to shoot, killing her. Fritz and the Lt. crawl away, and sit in the snow holding each other and talking to each other about the best thing about the cold until they both freeze to death. The movie ends with them covered in snow and tells us that over 1 million people died in the battle of Stalingrad. It says that of the 260,000 people of the 6th Army, 91,000 were taken prisoner and only 6,000 of them ever returned home. | anti war, cruelty | train | imdb | That he is a German and she is Russian is not as important as that they are both souls in torment with no way out.The human agony of that scene is superior to anything I have seen in over 60 years of watching movies.The other is the final scene between Dominique Horwitz and Kretschmann as Fritz and Hans clinging to each other overwhelmed and miniaturized by the vast Russian winter.That final scene reminds me of Napoleon's death march from Moscow in 1812.
And as you watch this film, remember one thing, not every German soldier who fought in the war was a criminal.
The film is also successful in the sense that it doesn't allow character or plot to dominate it - it is simply a tale of survival, that attempts to depict the battle mainly from the ordinary (German) soldier's point of view.
As far as a 'war' movie goes, I would give honors to Stalingrad over Saving Private Ryan and even Liberal Hollywood's take on the siege of Stalingrad (from the Soviet point of view): Enemy At The Gates.
This film is one of the historically most accurate war films ever made in that it displays the reality of soldiers in a battle situation as well as the particular circumstances of the Battle of Stalingrad, obvious when one compares this film to works such as Anthony Beevor's book "Stalingrad".Unlike the better known "Enemy at the Gates" where the plot diverts into a sniper/hunting story, this film shows what war can do to individuals.
I liked particularly the contrast of the opening scenes in sunny Porto Cervo (where the Germans are celebrating their recent victories) with the tragic scenes which followed when calamity overtakes them.I thought too that the three struggling figures exhausted in defeat symbolised the horrific loss of human life and the futility of war.
Well-meant attempt to depict the events concerning the battle of Stalingrad, though the individuals Vilsmaier concentrates on, remain - due to his direction - too far away from the viewer to have him/her really involved and the result is that the drama of the war is never really felt.
The movie's essence was delivered by one of the German soldier's comments after taking the building [in Stalingrad], "....62 men left out of 400." Expensive real estate which, as in so many other conflicts regardless of uniform, has its costs in blood.
To those people I recommend Antony Beevor's highly readable book, 'Stalingrad'.Viewed from a straightforward standpoint, Stalingrad is a pretty compelling war film that is nevertheless a league below US celluloid depictions of the battlefield: when it comes to depicting the fate of the 'poor bloody infantry', the second half of Full Metal Jacket, the first quarter-hour of Saving Private Ryan, or much of Black Hawk Down is infinitely superior.
As the Holocaust, through the global ceremony of Holocaust Day on January 27 and through the power of global films like Spielberg's Schindler's List, becomes transported away from a specific time and place into a world parable of evil, so we are able to reappraise the role of the German soldier as victim.
The characters war in sewer tunnels, rail yards, and from building to building in the hellish bomb-scape of ruined Stalingrad, only to be defeated by the unforgiving Russian winter.The film deals with the issue of Nazism and the vilification of Germans in that period in the way that many other films from both Germany and the rest of the world do.
This portrayal adds another layer to the suffocating envelope of trapped hopelessness that pervades the film.A sort of ground based companion to Das Boot, Stalingrad frames the epic struggle of World War Two in a personal light and from the unexpected perspective of the ordinary German soldier as a sort of hero made tragic by circumstance and a brutal government that would pervert his sacrifice..
A brief history of the facts behind this film have been well stated: 'The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in southwestern Russia.
It was amongst the bloodiest in the history of warfare, with the upper estimates of combined casualties coming to nearly two million.' The horror of this battle as written by Jürgen Büscher, Christoph Fromm, Johannes Heide, and director Joseph Vilsmaier manages to allow us to see the 'other side' of the German forces, those not committed to the Nazi hunger for world domination, but instead were simply men serving their required time in the army, hoping to return to their families.
The unit is directed by Lt. Hans von Witzland (Thomas Kretschmann, in a role that should have won him every award possible, so fine is his performance): he is a man who appears more human than soldier and indeed when his troop arrives in Russian territory he is appalled by the treatment of Russian POWs by German officers, a response that places him in a negative light with the Nazis.
There are many very tender moments between the 6th army and the Russians trapped by the siege of Stalingrad and as the bitter winter sets in the battle-weary soldiers are dying, committing suicide or attempting to escape and find their way back home.
The over two hour study of the cruelty of war ends with a solemn statement, both emotionally and visually and the Battle of Stalingrad, a victory of the Russians, shows the defeat of the minds (and lives) of the Germans.
An authentic view on the horrors of the most tragic and meaningful battle of World War 2 - just like "Das Boot" this is a masterpiece which could never come out of Hollywood..
But unlike shown in weekly propaganda news films, the German soldiers are neither depicted as heroes nor as Nazis, but simply as fathers, abandoned husbands and football fans, which share one common will: to somehow survive and return home.This movie may not be taken light hearted as there is a lot of fighting and dieing and the effects of weapons and ammunition are presented in a rather impressive and authentic way.
I think this film succeeds in depicting the decency of the people on both sides of the conflict as well as the obligatory sadism of the Officer who ordered the firing squad shootings of Russian civilians.It's pity the Germans still feel no WW2 Film is complete unless traces of the 'evil Nazi' are included.
The Germans lost 300,000 frontline combat troops and later, the second World War. This is the best Film ever made on the subject.
You easily see some of the German hierarchical relations, very different from the ones in US army.This is a movie which tries to get a real sight of what was Stalingrad, and I was not there, and I doubt most people were there now, but if I would choose one movie depicting this battle, for sure would not be the all American Enemy At The Gates.
This movie concentrates on a group of German soldiers who after fighting in the North Africa campaign are send to Stalingrad, Russia, where one of the most notorious and bloodiest battles of WW II is being fought.It's interesting to see the other side of this battle, since we mainly just always see the Germans simply as the 'villains'.
But of course you get accustomed to it quickly and you soon adapt the Germans as the main characters of the movie and you even start to care -and be interested in them.The way this story is told isn't however the best.
All of the actors aren't the best known actors around (Thomas Kretschmann was also at the time still a fairly unknown actor) but each of them fit their role well and gives its characters an unique face and personality.All in all not the best or most consistent WW II drama around but definitely worth a look, due to its original approach of the German side of the battle of Stalingrad and its good production values.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
On the eastern front of World War II a group of Wehrmacht soldiers, fresh from time off after a successful campaign in Africa eagerly proceed to their next line of duty: the Soviet city of Stalingrad, the site of history's most brutal battle.
And it came after the most brutal battle in all of history.Without question one of the best war films of all time.
I watched the film with my father who fought in WWII and the first thing he said was: "This is like real, this is how the war against Germans looked like".
But this was my first world war 2 movie seen from a German soldier's point of view.
But they had no options, if they didn't kill , they would have been killed by their superiors.This thing is evident when a young Russian boy is captured by the German army, and the soldiers who are protagonists in the movie are told to shoot the boy with dozens of other people.
Stalingrad is an attempt by the director to earn some sympathy for the German soldiers, who were always seen as culprits, but this film shows they were victims too.I don't want to get into the war crimes that Germans committed in Russia and other nations, but when you view a film you have to see it impartially.
This film doesn't show that Russians were bad despite being a German film, nor it shows that Germans were heroes, but still makes its point of earning sympathy for all the soldiers who lost their lives in the battle of Stalingrad..
I give "Stalingrad" credit in the sense that it doesn't completely portray German troops in the simple demonic quality which is the stereotype that many people now have, yet the movie includes stereotypes of its own, such as an almost too-good-to-be-true infantryman who has attitudes more akin to the 1990's than the 1940's, and two completely evil infantrymen and a rear-echelon officer.Some recent movies such as "Stalingrad" and "Saving Private Ryan" are frequently praised for their "authenticity" in depicting graphic scenes of combat, yet these same movies are deeply flawed and distorted in their depictions of the attitudes, values and behaviors of 1940's soldiers and civilians.
While many people these days like to denigrate war movies from the 40's and 50's which present more patriotic messages and aren't as graphic about combat, many of those earlier movies such as "Battleground" are much more accurate in their depictions of typical soldiers' attitudes, and they are often successful in showing the horrible effects of war in more indirect ways.One well-done part of "Stalingrad" is a battle between German infantry and Soviet tanks, which does a reasonable job of capturing some of the horror and confusion in such combat."Stalingrad" does a poor job though of showing the common look of the frontline soldier.
Books written about the battle by Antony Beevor and William Craig are recommended also, and the latter one is especially good about the common soldiers and civilians on both sides.Relatively recent movies which, in my opinion, are much better than "Stalingrad" and "Saving Private Ryan" in depicting attitudes and characters of persons during World War II, and the general feel, look, horror and grittiness of that war, are "Der Untergang" ("The Downfall") and "Talvisota" ("The Winter War").
Even if the beginning with its views of the beaches of Italy gives an impression of gradation to the subject, we're very quickly confronted to the reality of what was to happen: young guys who would prefer to be attending their everyday life with families and friends and brought into a storm by a megalomaniac scoundrel named Hitler.The best example of this is the huge lie of the general in the scene at the beginning of the film when he states that Germany has been victorious at El Alamein!All along the movie, we can feel the sense of betrayal of the battalion and Hans.
This showed the true brutality of what went on at Stalingrad and although I was not there I would think it resembled the image this movie created.As a response to some earlier posts where people said they didn't like this movie because it attempted to humanize the German soldiers.
It depicts the ordeals of some of the German soldiers that fought --- and died --- in and around Stalingrad during World War 2.
On the other hand, Soviet Russia was no innocent victim, its treatment of own and neighboring people in the 1930ies was nasty and lethal as well, and Soviet (non-)activities were largely a reason why Hitler had courage to start this horrible war.As for the movie, the events and background seem realistic (probably shot in Finland), most of actors performing Russians speak decent Russian, and leading men are catchy to follow (primarily Dominique Horwitz as Obergefreiter Fritz Reiser, Thomas Kretschmann as Leutnant Hans Von Witzland, Jochen Nickel as Unteroffizier Manfred "Rollo" Rohleder).
Nevertheless, if you like war movies based on real events, Stalingrad is worth watching..
Meanwhile, both films portray the reality of a distraught civilian populace.Unlike most American war films which one-dimensionally portray the enemy as 'bad', Stalingrad provides a far more realistic view of blended morality, showing warcrimes committed by all sides, whilst truly good-natured and moral individuals are also seen on both sides.
In the end, we are thus left with a sense of war as a senseless waste, as a struggle between corrupt leaders who exploit the naive youth who believe it is their duty to defend their country.Of course, the most controversial aspect of this film is that it deals with the Nazi movement and uses German soldiers as the protagonists.
It could be to debate that not so much time was spend on the war crime committed ( even by Wehrmact ) in Russia, but actually in Stalingrad, this was not a issue , it was pure survival for the German soldiers under siege.
But I've read now three different histories of the battle (most recently Antony Beevor's excellent book) and the movie does an excellent job of showing you a cross-section of life for German soldiers who fought, starved, froze and eventually died during the campaign while avoiding a superficial "check all the boxes" plot like the one in the truth-bending yet inexplicably popular "Platoon".
"Stalingrad" was the first realistic war film i saw .This was 4 years ago.Since then , i only have seen another :"Das Boot".Both films shows the real war ,not the surrealist things you see in American war movies.In "Stalingrad" you see normal people having to fight in a (like all of them),horrible war.In a war not everybody is a monster ,that is what American films show about the Germans ;most of them were normal people.Of course there were monsters ,like the German official this film shows, but most of them were like you and me.This film don't try to show German soldiers like saints ,try to show them like humans.
It has it all and it also quit accurate in portraying the fight around ,in and below the ground in the city as well as avoiding to glorify it ,but going directly to the meat of the case : The hell that it was and the suffering of the Soldiers in the front lines.As is the standard, the movie follows a platoon of German which is send to the city in order to help in the capture of the city and all of them soon release that this is not going to be walk in the park for the Soviet resistant is fierce and almost from the first minutes of combat you think "The crew doesn't waste any time , they go straight to the front lines.
Germans at War. A depiction of the brutal battle of Stalingrad, the Third Reich's 'high water mark', as seen through the eyes of German officer Hans von Witzland (Thomas Kretschmann) and his battalion.There is something historically and culturally significant about this film.
It will be interesting to see if there is a 'Directors Cut' in a few years time!If you want a warm fuzzy war film, aka 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Stalingrad' is not for you.
What is therefore missing is a depiction of the suffering of the civilian population and the Russian soldiers.The battle scenes, however, are well-produced and seem realistic from a technical and historical viewpoint and overall manage to portray the futility of the battle.To sum it up, the movie fails to give a three-dimensional image of the Stalingrad battle and therefore to some degree distorts the historical facts..
The battle for Stalingrad left one million dead, and this brilliant movie shows it all from the point of view of the German Sixth Army.
Movies and documentaries showing the German perspective realistically and objectively during World War II are far too rare outside of Germany; there is Das Boot and there is Stalingrad.
At some point, you need some historical background, before or after watching it.You can't expect any one movie to fully cover even a limited topic like the German-Russian battle in Stalingrad.
This movie was well-done in achieving its apparent aim of showing how horrible the conditions were for the Germans in the battle of Stalingrad, and in the Russian winter in general.
I think my feeling towards the German soldiers in this movie were different than, say, "All Quiet on the Western Front" because of who and what they were fighting for.
This does have value is showing what war is, however.Now, when are we going to get a good movie that tells things from the Russian point of view?
Dark, depressing portrait of the defeat of the german army at Stalingrad.Good at depicting the utter destructiveness of war.
The futility of War. Having just read 3 books on the Battle of Stalingrad, I expected this film to gloss over many of the events, and the thoughts of the average German soldier.
Have japanese film makers come to the point of making a movie in a lost battle where Japanese soldiers are decimated?
An excellent movie which shows the grim, terrible face of war from the point of view of a German Assault Engineer Platoon in Stalingrad. |
tt0042248 | Big House Bunny | Needing to get away from hunters, Bugs digs a tunnel and accidentally winds up in Sing Song Prison (a clear reference to Sing Sing Prison; "No Hanging Around") and utters his catch phrase " . As he tries settling himself to his hiding spot, prison guard (later a prisoner) Yosemite Sam (here called Sam Schultz, presumably as a character role, possibly a reference to Dutch Schultz) beats Bugs with a billy club, telling him, "Trying to pull an escape, 777174, huh?" To which Bugs replies, "I'm not 777174 - I'm only 3½."
Sam believes that, but he does not believe that Bugs is not a prisoner. Thus, Bugs is arrested, numbered 3 1/2, and is sent to the rock pile ("My mother told me there would be days like this.") When Sam smugly tells Bugs that he will be locked up in jail for 50 years, Bugs quickly comes up with an escape plan. He screams that a prisoner is escaping and points into the distance, allowing Bugs to insert his chain ball into a cannon when Sam isn't looking. A few seconds later, Sam fires the cannon to shoot down the "escaping prisoner", sending Bugs over the wall to freedom. However, it doesn't take long for Sam to get wise; he drives out of the prison with a police car and recaptures Bugs.
For his attempted escape, Sam punishes Bugs by ordering him to be confined in his jail cell. When Sam locks Bugs inside, Bugs pulls a switch so that Sam is tricked into locking himself in the cell and freeing Bugs.
Sam breaks out and holds Bugs at gunpoint, threatening him with solitary confinement for 99 years. Bugs pulls another switcheroo by telling Sam that a real tough person would not use his uniform to intimidate another ("Eh, you wouldn't be so tough if you weren't wearing that uniform!"). Accepting the challenge, Sam takes off his police officer suit and aims his fists at Bugs, who has taken off his prison outfit. Bugs quickly admits to Sam that he is tough without his uniform and they redress with Bugs putting on the police uniform and Sam absentmindedly putting on the prison outfit. Bugs blows a whistle and Sam, realizing too late that he's been tricked again, is beaten up by several police officers for trying to escape and thrown into a jail cell.
Inside his cell, Sam throws a tantrum and demands a "habus corpeas". Bugs, who is having too much fun with outsmarting Sam to leave, pretends to be a sympathy guard and gives Sam a loaf of bread, which is an "Ajax Escape Kit" containing a shovel, pickaxe, jackhammer, and map ("I'm getting ya out of here, see? I haven't forgotten what you've done for Mary an' the kids, see?"). Sam starts digging and comes up in what appears to be a jungle but is oversized plants... in the warden's office. The warden scolds Sam for fooling around, gives him a new officer's uniform and dismisses him from his office. Resuming his pursuit of Bugs, Sam chases him up a ladder to the gallows. Bugs escapes through the trap door but Sam accidentally hangs himself. As Sam angrily rants at this latest failure, he is called upon by the warden ("SHULTZ! OFFICE!") who is Bugs in disguise. The faux warden tricks Sam into sitting on an electric chair but then his moustache slips off, revealing the ruse. Sam chases Bugs out of the warden's office and around the prison, corners him back into the office and whacks him over the head with his club, only to find that he has clubbed the real warden.
The warden furiously warns Sam that he'll be fired if he messes up one more time. Having had enough of Bugs, Sam finds him and orders him out of the prison. Bugs walks out and Sam celebrates, but the warden, having had enough of Sam, arrests and imprisons him for apparently letting a prisoner escape (which is a false pretense since Bugs was never a prisoner to begin with). Sam, back in prisoner garb, groans over his predicament at the rock pile and asks "I'd like to know what dirty stool pigeon squealed on me". Nearby, a grinning Bugs acts like a pigeon while standing on a stool. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0068416 | Cosa avete fatto a Solange? | Enrico and Elizabeth are making out in a rowboat when Elizabeth sits up and thinks she sees a girl running along the shore. She interrupts the kissing session again when she sees a knife being swung. Enrico, thinking she just wants an excuse to stop, angrily rows the boat to shore Enrico and Elizabeth leave, and a pen is dropped. Enrico, at home with his wife, Herta, hears a radio report of a murdered girl. On his way to school where he works as a teacher, Enrico stops by the crime scene. Inspector Barth is at the school with the headmaster Mr. Leach and some teachers with Enrico walks in late. Enrico leaves, passes by a classroom, and sees Elizabeth (she's a student). He goes to gym class and tells his students that their classmate Hilda has been killed.Later, Enrico asks Elizabeth what she saw then they were together. She says she saw a shadow like a man and "something funny". Enrico asks her not to go to the police, for fear that they will ask Elizabeth who she was with. At home, and an irate Herta asks Enrico where he was that morning (he had lied by saying that his car and broken down). She shows him the front page of the newspaper, with a photograph of the crime scene and Enrico pictured in the background. Inspector Barth talks to Enrico and asks him how he found such a obscure local in such a short time. Barth is shown a pen that was found on the victim's dress, and he talks to Hilda's parents, who say that their daughter went to confession the afternoon she was killed.Enrico calls Elizabeth at home and gives her an address for a place to meet. She tells her uncle that she is going to study with Brenda. She rides her bicycle and is followed by someone in a car. Enrico lets Elizabeth into a small apartment and two lovers kiss. Some calls from a pay phone and hangs up.Enrico is back at home grading test papers, and Herta asks him if he had sex with Hilda. The inspector arrives at the front door, and he slyly places Enrico's pen on the table. Enrico sees it. Herta leaves the room, and Barth states his belief that Enrico was a witness. The teacher admits to being there with Elizabeth and says she claims to have seen the killer.Janet is at home with the maid when a man, saying he is Helen's father, calls and says that Helen needs to borrow Janet's Italian book. As she goes to the car outside, tape is slapped over her mouth and she is driven away. Janet is dragged out of the car and stabbed to death.Elizabeth wakes up in bed, thinks back to Hilda running and calls Enrico. Elizabeth runs to her car when Enrico arrives and tells him she remembers that the killer wore a black habit, like a priest. The next day, Elizabeth tells Mr. Bascombe she knows something about Hilda's murder. He leads her to a room of teachers (including Enrico) where she tells of the priest-like pursuer. Afterwards, Enrico thanks the girl for leaving him out of the story. Later, the killer walks into Enrico's apartment and takes the needle off of the record that is playing. Elizabeth is attacked and drowned in the bathtub while taking a bath. Outside, a bearded man sees the killer run away.Enrico is arrested for Elizabeth's murder, and Barth interrogates the other teachers at the school. At the police station, Barth receives the autopsy report that hair was found under Elizabeth's fingernails which turned out to be dead hair. The report also says that Elizabeth was not sexually assaulted and was in fact a virgin. The bearded man is brought in for questioning and later looks at a line-up of priests and says that the man he saw running away from the building had a beard. Barth is told that, because of the dead hair, it was probably a false beard.Barth tells Herta that Enrico did not kill anyone and that Elizabeth was a virgin, and the teacher seems happy. Enrico says he wants to find out who killed Elizabeth, and Herta offers to help. In Herta's class, Barth asks the girls if they know a bearded priest. Brenda says that Janet confessed to a priest with a beard at Hilda's funeral. Herta talks to the girls and learns of a secret society. She tells Enrico about the society and says that Hilda and Janet once dated university students, and she has a name.Enrico goes to see Phillip and asks him about Hilda and Janet; he talks about the girls hanging out with him and his friends. He says that, after a while, they no longer had sex with boys after what happened to Solange, a girl who used to go to the school and has suddenly disappeared.At the funeral for Elizabeth and Janet, a man hands something to Helen, who passes it on to Brenda. Enrico talks to the two girls and asks about Solange, whom they claim not to know. Bascome wants Enrico about "prying" with the girls.Herta calls some schools and learns about one Solange that did not return. Brenda leaves a note in Henry's mail. The next day, Herta goes to the school and Enrico goes to the address where Solange once lived' the woman who answers the front door says she did not know the previous owners. Enrico picks up his mail and drops Brenda's note. The killer calls and suggests he take a vacation or he will not see "her" again. Enrico calls the rental agents, but the offices are closed.Downstairs, Enrico is handed the fallen note, with the name Ruth Holden written on it. Enrico goes to her place and finds a dead dog, a bloody shovel, and Ruth dead with a sickle in her neck.Herta asks Helen and Brenda if they know Ruth, but they respond negatively. The inspector stops them and says that Brenda's mother told him Ruth was the girl's maid. Brenda says she forgot the woman's real name.Enrico, lying in the sun with Herta, says he thinks that the killer dressed as a priest and confessed the girls. A quiet girl stands near the couple and runs away and a woman calls after her: "Solange!"The killer calls Brenda and tells her to go somewhere, and the cops (listening in) set up a trap for the killer at a carnival. Brenda sees Solange on the merry-go-round and takes the quiet girl away. A cop dressed as a priest loses sight of the two girls, and they are seen being driven away by another priest. Bascombe comes into the station and says that his daughter, Solenge, is gone, and he shows a picture of her. The inspector tells an inquisitive Enrico that Solange is sick in the head and has experienced "infantile regression". Enrico, Barth, and Herta go to Bascombe's house and the inspector sees a green pin by a photograph of Solange. Solange is in the next room with a restrained Brenda, and the killer tells her to explain everything. Brenda recalls the girls going to see Ruth, and Elizabeth and Hilda trying to talk to Solange out of going in and letting "nature take its course". But the others lead her inside and hold her down as Ruth gets a needle and performs a painful abortion on the pregnant Solange.Enrico and Herta to go Janet's place, and Enrico looks for her Italian book. He returns to Bascomb's place with Barth and another officer. When the man does not respond, Enrico kicks the door open and shows a second form Italian book (Solange did not get that far in school). Solange is at the door, and Bascombe returns and hugs his daughter. The men talk to him, and Solange pulls Herta away and leads her to a priest's habit. Herta calls Barth, and he and the cops run into the corridor and find the still-living Brenda. In his office, Bascombe pulls out a gun and shoots himself. Barth tells of the girls society (signified by green pins), their sex parties, and Solange's traumatic abortion. Solange sees her dead father and cries. | pornographic, cruelty, murder, cult, horror, violence, insanity, suspenseful, sadist | train | imdb | Be it the convoluted plot, the ingenious camera work, the brilliant score by Maestro Ennio Morricone or the constant, tantalizing suspense - there is not a single aspect that is not brilliant about this stunning film, that I highly recommend to any suspense-lover in general.Henry Rossini (Fabio Testi), a married Italian teacher at a Catholic London private school for girls, has an affair with one of his students (Christina Galbó).
Great performances also come from the sexy female cast, most memorably from Camille Keaton, who is best known for the infamous Exploitation shocker "I Spit On Your Grave" of 1978.Like two other excellent Gialli (Argento's "Bird With The Crystal Plumage" and Lenzi's "Seven Blood-Stained Orchids") this was heavily cut and sold as an Edgar Wallace film in Germany.
But the direction is good and the music by Ennio Morricone is one of the best scores he has ever made.If you like the movies of Dario Argento, you'll love this one..
However, unlike many of the giallo thrillers that have managed to make it to the US (dozens and dozens were produced in Italy during the early 70s, only a fraction of which were distributed in the US one way or another), "Solange" is a film which can certainly be ranked on the same level as some of Argento's classics.
In a desperate attempt to clear his name, Enrico turns detective and eventually discovers the secret of a young woman named Solange (Camille Keaton), whose shocking past is linked to both the killer's choice of victims and the gruesome manner in which he dispatches them.
In London, the Italian gym teacher Enrico 'Henry' Rosseni (Fabio Testi) is having a love affair with his eighteen year-old student Elizabeth Seccles (Christine Galbo), who is the daughter of the owner of the Catholic School where he works and she studies.
A lot of Italian horror movies seem to fall down at the end as their conclusion doesn't make perfect sense, but that is not true of this movie; and that is a definite plus point.This movie is given another edge over a lot of other giallo thanks to a great score by the king of great scores, Ennio Morricone.
This movie isn't as heavy on style as other giallos; as previously mentioned there's no overly gory death sequences, but it more than makes up for this loss in style with an abundance of substance, and that is better for this kind of intricate mystery.Overall, What They Done to Solange?
While the less said about its twisty-turny story, the better, I can mention that the plot here concerns a string of brutal murders that have been plaguing an all-girls' Catholic school in London, and the hunky Italian gym teacher (well played by Fabio Testi) who is having an affair with one of the young women (the gorgeous Spanish actress Christine Galbo).
If you like the late 60s, early 70s "giallo" thrillers of the Italian cinema, than this movie is for you.Although the story can hardly be called original, a mad killer on the loose in an all girl school,the movie does manage to give the viewer a satisfactory explanation as to the killer´s identity and motivation.The sex and gore scenes are pretty tame by todays standards.Supposedly, this movie is based on a story by Edgar Wallace.Since it was co-produced by Germany it got released under the title: "Das Geheimniss der gruenen Stecknadel" albeit cut by approximately 8 minutes..
The murders were mostly brief and not as violent as they could've been, but still there was a somewhat original way they were carried out (I won't spoil it for anyone.) Really, I prefer Dario Argento and Mario Bava when it comes to giallo, but seriously, you have to be fair when judging this film and not compare this director to the greats, like Argento.
Fabio Testi is a young italian professor in a all-girls London High School, falling for a student who is able to see a murderer slashing several of her friends.
Though 'What Have They Done to Solange?' (1972) certainly has elements of this, it remains a success, regardless; mixing an interesting story that reveals itself gradually as the film progresses, whilst simultaneously establishing a largely satisfying approach to the depiction of the characters in which almost anyone could be a seen as potential victim, or indeed, a potential suspect.The atmosphere created in the film grabs our attention from the first scene on; juxtaposing the pastoral serenity of the uncharacteristically British locations - and the traditional, bourgeois even, middle-class environment of boarding schools and trendy London flats against which the story plays out - alongside a typically perverse sense of immorality, murder and worse.
The girls school setting is obviously used for the purposes of pure exploitation, as famed cinematographer turned film director Massimo Dallamano treats us to an early scene in the girls' changing room, as the young ladies wander around full frontal in an early precursor to Brian De Palma's much more iconic realisation of Stephen King's Carrie (1976), whilst the emphasis on young girls as the principal focus of the narrative allows the writers to engineer an illicit relationship between student and teacher in a way that is actually beneficial to the plot.If you can overlook the more exploitative, sensationalist moments of the film, which including the depictions of lesbianism, rape and implied vaginal impalement, then the stark theatrics of stalk-and-slash brutality and the Argento-like preoccupations with sight and perception make this a more than worthwhile experience, especially for those of us with a real taste for this particular style of film-making.
'What Have They Done to Solange?' might not be on a par with the work of Argento or Mario Bava, or indeed, a film like Torso - aka Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence (1972) - however, it is definitely an entertaining and engaging work, and one that should be of interest to anyone with a predetermined fondness for the Giallo sub-genre of storytelling and the work of the filmmakers aforementioned..
We have a killer going to work on several girls in an Italian Catholic school, a teacher carrying on an affair with a student, a disgruntled wife, a long line of red herrings, all of which are tied together through a traumatized girl named Solange.
While reading up on the Gialli genre of Italian exploitation films, one title gets constantly mentioned as the best of the lot and that's "What Have You Done to Solange?".
With staple elements such as violence, gore, horror, gratuitous nudity, dubious dubbing (yes this got to me as I was trying to figure out the actual languages used) and an excellent, suspenseful score (thanks to the legendary Ennio Morricone), if anyone were to ask me whether this is worth the watch, the answer is a firm yes.It's not just because of the shock elements as described, but essentially this film had a better than expected storyline.
For its age (some 37 years old!), it certainly had enough legs to keep you engaged, and paced itself with enough twists and turns, that kept my interest piqued in trying to figure out the red herrings, and the tangential nature of its narrative.Starting off with an illicit affair between a married Italian language and gymnastics teacher Enrico (Fabio Testi) and beautiful student Elizabeth (another Gialli legend Cristina Galbo), their pleasure of the flesh session aboard a boat in an English river got interrupted when Elizabeth catches a glimpse of a murder in progress, witnessing a knife being plunged into the pubic regions of a semi-nude female (well, it's exploitation after all)While both are trying hard to keep their affair a secret, and no thanks to a couple of missteps, they had to come clean with fellow peers in the school, made worst when Enrico's wife Herta (Karin Baal) happens to be a colleague as well, and the murdered victim a student of their institution.
This is where the audience will probably get the most fun out of, trying to apply contemporary sensibilities to try and solve the mystery ahead of time, but failing to do so because of Massimo Dallamano's tight direction and constant keeping of an ace up his sleeve.The titular Solange doesn't appear until late in the movie, and from there you would have been rewarded with some clarity and semblance of the plot, which has so far been spread eagled with affairs of the heart and a whodunnit, where everything seems remotely related, and the connecting the dots is half the fun.
Morricone's score is not as memorable as his works on the Sergio Leone films, but it did maintain that sense of moody, mysterious atmosphere befitting of the genre.What Have You Done to Solange?
'What Have They Done To Solange?' can be seen sitting in the top ten list of many a giallo aficionado, and it's easy to see why: it offers fans of the genre almost everything they could possibly ask for, including, of course, the obligatory gloved killer, a ridiculously complex narrative with umpteen likely suspects, lovely cinematography and deft direction, plus a cool jazzy score (from the great Ennio Morricone).
In addition to these 'essentials', there's also one hell of an unexpected death that packs quite a punch, and the application of a particularly unpleasant modus-operandi by the murderer—one that you certainly won't forget in a hurry!Set in an exclusive London girls' college (where every student is gorgeous, of course), the film sees a homicidal lunatic working his way through a group of pretty young things, all of whom are harbouring a dark secret from the past.
As the police investigate the murders, student Elizabeth Seccles (Cristina Galbó)—who glimpsed the first murder whilst romping in a rowboat with handsome, married Italian professor Enrico Rosseni (Fabio Testi)—struggles to recall a vital visual clue that could help identify the maniac.Of course, this being a giallo, the plot doesn't always make perfect sense (it's a rare giallo that allows logic to get in the way of style) and the second half of the film definitely requires the suspension of disbelief: Enrico's estranged wife forgives her husband's affair on discovering that he hasn't made love to 18-year-old Elizabeth, and having reconciled their differences, the pair proceed to track down the killer.
I don't know what is harder to believe: the fact that she forgives Enrico his infidelity so quickly, or that the Italian lothario wasn't banging a beauty like Elizabeth 24/7.Fortunately, these lapses in reason do little to mar one's enjoyment of the film as a whole: director Massimo Dallamano provides just enough clues as the story unfolds to keep us guessing until the very last moment; the clever script ties up all the loose ends with a satisfyingly sick motive for the murderer; and those of us who like the sleazier aspects of the genre will get a kick out of the constant female nudity (including a totally unnecessary, but very welcome shower scene), and several shocking glimpses of the victims' mutilated bodies..
Hunky Italian star Fabio Testi stars as Enrico Rosseni, gym teacher at a Catholic girls school in London.
(The inspector on the case (Joachim Fuchsberger) DOES explain it all for us at the end, just in case we didn't completely understand.) The film is made in slick fashion (Joe D'Amato was in charge of the widescreen cinematography), yet we are never distracted from the story by the filmmaking technique, making this quite satisfying indeed.The tale being told does include some pretty sordid details, all given the proper punctuation by one of maestro Ennio Morricones' most haunting scores.
Like all good murder mysteries, it may make you think you've figured it out early on, but still manages to catch you off guard anyway.The performances from the international cast are extremely engaging, with American-born Camille Keaton as the traumatized title character.
The German variant wasn't nearly as explicit and rather amusingly childish, but also lacked the gialli's stylistic flourishes.Here we've got good old reliable Blacky Fuchsberger and the Italian stud Fabio Testi to find out who the brutal girls' killer is and the comparatively tame proceedings are quite entertaining in their stupid fashion.
Fabio Testi plays Enrico Rossini,a married professor who is having an affair with one of his students,lovely Elizabeth(Cristina Galbó).One afternoon on a boat she sees a woman on the shore running in fear.She subsequently witnesses the lady's murder,though Enrico doesn't believe her.When he hears the crime reported the next morning on the radio,he visits the scene.The police become suspicious and then more girls are killed.
After discovering a secret cabal among a group of girls,the professor and his spouse do some detecting of their own and discover the secret of Solange(Camille Keaton)and what it has to do with the series of crimes taking place.Beautifully shot and misanthropic Italian giallo with copious amounts of suggested sexual violence and female nudity.The performances are surprisingly good and Ennio Morricone's score is strikingly haunting.One of the best in its genre.9 out of 10..
It starts of fairly giallo like, with Italian teacher Enrico floating down the Thames on a boat with schoolgirl Elizabeth (Cristina Galbo, who hasn't aged a day since playing a schoolgirl in The House That Screamed three years earlier).
Enrico embarks on a journey where everyone around him is a suspect, from the priests as the girls school, to the janitor, and what has the mysterious girl Solange got to do with it all?This is the beginning of a giallo trilogy by Massimo Dallamano that continues with What Have You Done With Our Daughters and Rings of Terror (written by Dallamano, but filmed after his death).
is one of the masterworks of the giallo genre, a truly beautiful film that comes across as something of a masterpiece thanks to a strong and literate script, excellent cinematography and music, and a good cast being put through their paces.
The only thing I'm surprised about is that I haven't got around to seeing it before now, because this viewing was long overdue.The film is set in London and features Italian crime film regular Fabio Testi as an Italian teacher at a girl's school.
Apart from Giallos by such top class directors as Dario Argento, Mario Bava and Sergio Martino, "What have you done to Solange?" is a brilliant and sadly overlooked Giallo by Massimo Dallamano.A horny married P.E. instructor(our Hero folks!!), in Catholic Girls' School, Enrico is educating a hot girl, Elizabeth in the ways of love while they are in a boat.
Finally after all of these years watched the 70's horror film "What Have You Done to Solange" and I must say it entertains with interest and suspense as it's a drama film of blood mixed with an erotic feel of sex and secrets!A sexually sadistic killer starts to prey and kill young girls at a Catholic college and one of the killings has a witness only this stirs up drama and a cat and mouse search game by the police.Many of the scenes are erotic showing the breast of young girls and the killer has an MO of taping the victims mouth with white duct tape before the private part knife carving!
The knife to the private parts is a rather uneasy thing to see and director Massimo Dallamano certainly uses it to great effect.Another major plus that the film has going for it are the performances including Testi in the lead role.
The latter is one of the finest giallo I've seen, favouring tension and character above blood and boobs - although there's plenty of the red stuff too, and an admittedly unnecessary all-girls-school-shower scene.Enrico Rosseni (Fabio Testi) is a suave Italian teacher at a School for Girls in London.
With the police and his wife breathing down his neck, Enrico tries to divert suspicion without his secret getting out.Backed by a tremendous Ennio Morricone score (are there any movies he didn't provide the music for?) and gorgeous cinematography by Aristide Massaccesi (a.k.a. shlockmeister Joe D'Amato), Solange's great hook is its engaging plot.
The murderer is targeting students at a Catholic girls school, and one of the teachers, Rosseni (Fabio Testi), is a prime suspect, especially after a girl is killed in his hideaway apartment.
He has to find the killer, before he offs his favorite student, Elizabeth (Cristina Galbó).Police inspector Barth (Joachim Fuchsberger) is dogged in pursuit of the truth, and what he finds is shocking.Outstanding Giallo, and some really good acting..
Catholic School teacher Enrico Rosseni(the very cool Fabio Testi)and a student he's in love with are on the verge of having sex in a canoe when she partially sees the murder of a fellow classmate take place.
and Red Rings of Fear) in the trilogy involving pubescent female misbehaviour leading to murder in girls-only schools.Set in London (a fresh location change to begin with) an Italian teacher, named Enrico (played by cult favourite Fabio Testi, star of Contraband, Red Rings of Fear and Fulci's Four of the Apocalypse and many more).
The film stars Fabio Testi as Enrico Rosseni, a teacher at a Catholic girl's school.
The acting in the film is surprisingly good; Fabio Testi gives a solid performance as the hunky schoolteacher, while Camille Keaton (pre-"I Spit on Your Grave") is angelic, terrifying, and haunting in the title role.Overall, "What Have You Done to Solange?" is a remarkably creepy and intricately-mapped giallo thriller.
She was much much better in the Killer will Kill Again, a superior movie, not great, but a hell of lot more fun than this garbage.We have Fabio, Italian with a stupid accent, having an affair with an underage girl, then lying to the police.
They're assessment is that Solange is a great movie, a clean poignant giallo, with drama and mystery with well-drawn characters and thoughtful plotting, Wonderful thriller, beautifully realized.
Anyway - as to the film itself - just as I was recovering from "Night TRain Murders" my second genital mutilation thriller turns up in the same month - this time in (an Italian) UK nubile schoolgirls are being offed and Teacher Fabio Testi - (unhappily) married but nailing one of his students - becomes the main suspect. |
tt0051746 | How to Make a Monster | We open with the title and credits written on a makeup mirror using a lipstick. We zoom in on a drawing of the Teenage Werewolf, then dissolve to an actor in Werewolf makeup getting a last minute touchup. The Teenage Werewolf is Larry Drake (Gary Clarke) and the makeup artist is Pete Dumond (Robert B. Harris). Also present is Rivero (Paul Brinegar), Dumond's long-time assistant. Rivero praises his boss as having twenty-five years of experience creating movie monsters for the studio. Dumond walks Larry walk over to the set. They encounter other studio employees and a tour group. On the set, the director, Martin Brace (Thomas Browne Henry) approves, telling Dumond, "Great Pete, just great, exactly what I want." The Teenage Frankenstein character, Tony Mantell (Gary Conway) is brought on set. The director works with each actor rehearsing the final scene of their picture.In the makeup office, Dumond and Rivero are cleaning up. Dumond likes working with teenagers, "They've got spirit and they cooperate." Two men walk in the office, unannounced and without knocking. They scope out the space, then inform Dumond that they are part of the group that has taken over the studio. They introduce themselves as John Nixon (Eddie Marr) and Jeffrey Clayton (Paul Maxwell). They blithely announce that after the picture Dumond is working on is completed his services will no longer be required. The monster cycle is done and the studio is going in a different direction. Dumond tries to convince the pair that his services are still required, but they are adamant. This starts Dumond over the edge and he vows ominously, "And before I leave this lot I intend to prove I'm right."That evening Dumond returns to his office. He stops to admire posters of the Teenage Werewolf and Frankenstein and waxes philosophical about his contribution to the financial success of the studio. He vows, "I'll destroy this studio...see it goes up in flames before I." He stops short and reconsiders, then vows to destroy the new owners first using his monsters. Rivero shows up and they enter the makeup room. Dumond explains his plan to Rivero. He will add a drug to the makeup foundation that will render the actors susceptible to hypnotic suggestion. He will direct Tony (Frankenstein) and Larry (Werewolf) to kill the new studio bosses. Two studio guards, Richards (Malcolm Atterbury) and Monahan (Dennis Cross) meet at the guard shack. Monahan complains that nothing ever happens on the night shift.The next day, Larry stops by the makeup department to have his Teenage Werewolf makeup applied. Dumond tells Larry the makeup department will be closed at the end of the picture he is working on and Larry won't be able to get any future roles. He applies the new makeup formula and starts the hypnosis and tells him the plan. In the Screening Room, Nixon, Clayton, and Banks (an uncredited Herman Cohen) review the rushes for Banks' latest musical. Banks leaves, then Clayton also exits the Screening Room leaving Nixon alone to watch the rushes from the Frankenstein and Werewolf film. From behind, Larry, in full werewolf makeup, attacks and kills Nixon, choking him while growling and foaming at the mouth. Back in the makeup chair, Dumond asks Larry, "Now you're sure my boy? Nobody saw you?" Larry nods in the affirmative. Dumond notices the blood on the Werewolf gloves and directs Rivero to wash the blood out of them. He wakes Larry from his trance.At the Screening Room, the projectionist is fingerprinted and questioned by the police about the death of Nixon. The doctor examines Nixon's body. He concludes that the time of death was probably 8:34 based on the broken watch and a broken neck is the cause of death. Clayton meets with detectives Thompson (Walter Reed) and Jones (John Phillips). Clayton tells the police that Nixon had no enemies on the West Coast, but they did have to pink slip about one hundred employees at the studio.Larry Drake and his girlfriend Arlene Dow (Heather Ames) are at a party. Larry complains of not feeling well. He complains of feeling like he blacks out. They rejoin the party. Monahan stops by the makeup department on his security rounds. He asks Dumond, who is working late, why he continues to keep late hours even after being fired. Monahan has been playing detective and tells Dumond that he thinks Nixon's death was an inside job. He infers that Dumond and Rivero may be involved, as they were still on the lot when Nixon was killed. He adds that all his observations including the time they left the lot are noted in his little black notebook, which he waives about provocatively. Monahan continues his rounds on the studio lot. Richards stays in the guard shack listening to the radio. Monahan enters the commissary and is accosted by a visage with a scar running from forehead to chin. He is beaten to death with a hammer or club. His black notebook is taken by the assailant. Back in the makeup department Dumond is cleaning up his face. Richards notes the time Dumond and Rivero leave the lot. Richards gets anxious that his partner, Monahan, has not checked in. He goes to look for him. He finds the body in the cafeteria. Richards calls the police and waits for Jones and Thompson to arrive and start their investigation. Again, Pete Dumond and Riveros names come up as being on scene when the murder occurs. The next morning Jones meets with Dumond to question him. On a sound stage a John Ashley musical number is filmed. When the number wraps, Clayton reminds Dumond, both of whom were on the set, that singing, dancing, and beautiful women are what the public wants and what the studio will produce.Dumond and Rivero are preparing Tony's Frankenstein make up when they are interrupted by two high school girls from their school newspaper doing an article on the studio. They interview Tony while he is sitting in the makeup chair. After they leave, Dumond applies the drugged foundation then hypnotizes him. Clayton checks out of the studio with Richards on guard that evening. He drives home in his Lincoln convertible and parks in the garage. As he exits his vehicle he is surprised by the Teenage Frankenstein waiting for him. Tony kills Clayton on the front seat of his car, sounding the horn several times. While struggling with his attacker, he gets some makeup on his hands. Tony flees the scene. While running back to Rivera's house, he knocks down a maid, Millie (Pauline Myers) walking down the sidewalk. She screams when she sees his makeup. At the house the two makeup artists remove Tony's mask and take him out of his trance. Rivero is starting to get cold feet as the body count climbs. The pair have been invited to police headquarters for questioning. Dumond reminds Rivero to keep his mouth shut. He'll do all the talking. As they are leaving, Gary Droz (Robert Shayne) arrives. He is Larry Drake's agent and is unhappy with Dumond. He warns Dumond, "You leave my boy alone. Don't you tell him that after this picture is finished that he'll never get another job." He finishes reading Dumond the riot act, then storms off.While Dumond and Rivero wait to be questioned, Richards tells Dumond he isn't getting any sleep. He spends his nights at the studio and his days being questioned by the police. Police Capt. Hancock (Morris Ankrum), along with detectives Thompson and Jones, questions Mille about what she saw when Clayton was killed. Richards is next to be interviewed. They review the Monahan killing. Finally, Dumond and Rivero are called in for questioning. The police tell the pair that the reason for their questioning is that they suspect the killer or killers may have been in full makeup and they may have information important to solving the murders. Thompson senses weakness in Rivero and starts to browbeat the now rattled assistant. Questioning finished, they are released, and walk to Dumond's car in the parking lot. Dumond is convinced that his sniveling assistant is about crack. Rivero reminds Dumond that Tony and Larry are still to be questioned and they may reveal something. Dumond reminds Rivero that, "Those boys are still under my control." A lab technician (Rod Dana) tells Capt. Hancock and detectives Thompson and Jones that he found greasepaint and putty under the fingernails of Clayton. The pigment and base suggest a homemade blend rather than a commercial product. Hancock orders the tech to accompany him to the studio with his equipment for a spot analysis.When Dumond and Rivero arrive at the makeup department, Larry and Tony are there waiting. Their supplies have already been packed. Dumond invites the boys to his house and asks them to help move some boxes to his car. Dumond packs a few missed items, but discards a jar of makeup in the trash can. Martin Brace stops by to say goodbye to Dumond. As Dumond, Rivero, Tony, and Larry exit the lot in Dumond's car, the police drive up. They go to the makeup room and discover the discarded makeup in the trash can. The tech analyzes it on the spot.At Dumond's house, the boys carry the boxes inside. Dumond locks the door and lights some candles. [Note: in this copy of the movie, the cinematography changes from black and white to color for the balance of the film.] The room is decorated with multi-colored curtains and masks of creatures are displayed. Dumond tells the boys the masks are his family and children. Tony and Larry are uneasy and for good reason. Dumond continues to light candles and mumble to himself. He invites the boys to examine the masks while he and Rivero go to get refreshments. The boys begin to exchange information about their encounters with Dumond. Rivero voices his concern about Larry and Tony, "I don't think they can be trusted." Dumond reassures Rivero, but becomes suspicious when Rivero reveals that he intends to leave the state and visit his brother in Arizona. Dumond is now convinced Rivero plans to leave him out to dry with the police. Dumond kills Rivero with a dagger, then moves his body into a closet. Dumond joins the boys in the mask room with refreshments. He hands them glasses of wine. The boys voice their discomfort with Dumond, his ideas, and his desire to, "Add them to his collection." They notice the door to the room is locked and demand to be allowed to leave. Dumond tells Tony and Larry that they were responsible for two of the murders. He pulls a machete on the boys. In their escape attempt they knock over a candle and start a fire in the room. The masks are destroyed as Dumond screams, "My children! I must save my children!" As the room burns, the masks melt and Dumond is consumed by the fire. The police break a window to the home and unlock the door and enter. They force the door and rescue Tony and Larry. We close with a shot of the room fully engulfed in fire. | revenge, murder | train | imdb | Those that did were largely of a teenage audience, something that AIP clearly understood, and the success of their movie ensured a revival of the whole genre.In this clever, self-referential sequel (of sorts), American International Studios are closing down production of horror movies in order to make more musicals, which sounds fairly true to life in what may have been happening in some studios at the time.
He isn't too happy about all this, so he decides to take revenge on the new owners of the studio by turning his "Teenage Werewolf" and "Teenage Frankenstein" actors into real monsters using a mind control makeup paste thingy.
It all takes place during the filming of a "Teenage Werewolf meets the Teenage Frankenstein" movie.This is a pretty neat idea, and the script explores it very well.
The two 'teenage' stars, who were actually in their early twenties when this film was made, play their roles with that all-American wide-eyed innocence that actually works pretty well in parts such as this.AIP were famed for producing their horror movies on low budgets, often less than a hundred thousand while at the time major studios generally set their budgets in the millions.
This also features a dramatic shift into color so that you can appreciate his mask collection even more, which is pretty neat."How To Make A Monster" is a very entertaining film, which I'd recommend to anyone who likes these cheesy old horror movies.
It also provided an effective means of saving money on the production, since not many sets had to be built or dressed, and even when that was necessary, AIP was able to use materials on hand from other films, such as the gallery of masks, in a way that makes this a self-referential treat for horror fans.
His unwitting targets on that end, Tony Mantell (Gary Conway) and Larry Drake (Gary Clarke), are played with an appropriate wide-eyed and willing innocence.If there's a flaw in How to Make a Monster it's that nothing about it--except maybe the very final scene--is particularly atmospheric or suspenseful, but oddly, it really doesn't matter, because it's a good story told well enough that it keeps you engaged for its length.
I still haven't quite figured out why a few American International Pictures, including this one, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) and War of the Colossal Beast (1958), have the final scenes in color (I know it was a gimmick, but I don't really get the attraction of it as a gimmick), but it doesn't disrupt the flow of the film and it's nice seeing the gallery of masks in color..
This film is in many ways an inside look at the workings of the movie business and its thinking in the 50s as well as the ending chapter in the Teenage Trilogy cycle at AIP.
Movie audiences attracted by the sensationalistic advertising proclaiming, "See the ghastly ghouls in flaming colour!", doubtlessly expected that the film HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER was actually a colour movie and were surprised and disappointed to discover that the film was essentially a black and white feature with the final 8 minutes shot in colour (Leonard Maltin in his movie guide review states it is the final 18 minutes but this is probably a typographic error).By the late 1950's, Britain's Hammer Films was producing, to great critical acclaim and financial success, a series of well-crafted horror movies which boasted that they were filmed in colour.
These pioneering efforts marked the beginning of the end for the relatively inexpensive black and white programmers which had been the mainstay for the success of film companies like American International Pictures.
With his next project, HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM, producer Herman Cohen would present his own answer to the Hammer movies by filming it in England and in colour.For those interested, the colour footage begins after Pete Dummond and his captive guests, Tony and Larry, along with Pete's accomplice, Rivero, enter his house and Dummond lights some candles in his living-room/macabre shrine.
Kenneth Langtry is a pseudonym for a writer actually named Aben Kandel (he also employed the pen-name Ralph Thornton), who collaborated with producer Herman Cohen on a number of film projects including I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, BLOOD OF DRACULA, I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN, HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM, THE HEADLESS GHOST, KONGA and THE BLACK ZOO.Kandel's script for HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER is a reworking of much of the same plot elements found in his TEENAGE WEREWOLF and FRANKENSTEIN films, but the villain of this piece not only employs those under his control to commit murder, he also participates in some of the mayhem himself.
Perhaps sensing that the late 1950's audiences were becoming too sophisticated for outright monsters in horror films, author Kandel decided to weave a story utilizing this theme and present the movie audience with a much more realistic menace, the psychotic mastermind/killer (Cohen and Kandel would carry this concept to its logical extreme the following year in HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM, a horror film without a monster in sight).The efforts behind HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER would be much diminished without the presence of character actor Robert H.
His skilled interpretation of the deranged makeup artist Pete Dummond is a multi-faceted one eliciting a wide-range of qualities which at one moment engenders our respect as he encourages a young actor to give his utmost to his film role, our sympathy in the wake of the overbearing new studio executives and their pragmatism and crassness toward horror films and his art, and our dread as he tells his two guests in his monster museum that he wants to include their "heads" in his collection.
Since the story supposedly occurs at American International studios, instead of utilizing an actor to portray the director of "Frankenstein Meets Werewolf," it's a pity AIP standby Roger Corman wasn't approached to fill the role and it seems only fitting that James H.
All these additions would have given HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER a more auto-biographical and self-parody tone.HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER is an engaging and fascinating oddity from American International Pictures of the 1950's and marks an interesting phase in the chronology of Herman Cohen productions for this movie company..
Besides many familiar (and unfamiliar) monster heads, the film is a virtual who's who of American International Studio players from the 50's.
And certainly, the plot of killing off studio executives must have appealed to all the writers, actors and production staff making the film..
Harris) seeks revenge on a group of new studio executives who fired him by unleashing his Frankenstein and Werewolf creations upon them!
He controls the young actors in the costumes via a special make-up which turns the actors into Pete's zombies.This film is a little bit more serious than most of Herman Cohen's productions and a such just a little bit less fun.
Strock once again directs a horror thriller for AIP, but this time with a twist: This story is about AIS studio make-up artist Pete Dumond(inspired by real-life Universal make-up artist Jack Pierce?) who turns homicidal after new owners fire him, intending to phase out horror pictures altogether!
Enraged, he uses a combination of hypnosis and his own chemical compound to transform actors Gary Conway(Teenage Frankenstein) and Gary Clarke(Teenage Werewolf, in place of Michael Landon)into real monsters, who kill all those who would put Pete out of work.
Harris stars as makeup man Pete Dumont, the new owners are taking over the studio, that Pete works for,(American International).
The young actors are Gary Conway, and Gary Clarke, as Tony and Larry, the teenage Frankenstein, and the teenage werewolf.
Given such an unusual, original premise, the results of the film are not too disappointing: several brutal killings, lots of monsters, and even John Ashley's B-grade Elvis impersonation (surely done for laughs, let's hope).
the film supposes the existence of "American International Studios" -- a nice thought, but filmmaking had already changed a lot, and AIP was never able to rent a steady digs, so this one just has to stay a fantasy.
Pseudo "behind-the-scenes" look at Hollywood from American International Pictures, filmed (naturally) on the cheap though still retaining a certain cheesy style that is both commendable and entertaining to watch.
A nefarious make-up man for a movie-studio is up to no good, turning the actors he's working on into killers.
It begins in a major Hollywood studio where a prop artist makes actors to look like monsters for a film they are shooting.
Look for a young Gary Conway(who would later appear in a dozen or so AIP films,and was later the regular in a Irwin Allen series called "Land of the Giants" on television)as the werewolf and Gary Clarke as a young but terrifying Frankenstein.
Harris) is told the studio is closing down his shop because they've decided to stop making horror films.
The final film he's on has a teenage werewolf (Gary Clarke--not Michael Landon) and a teenage Frankenstein (Gary Conway reprising his role from the original).
He puts a drug in their makeup that make them obey him and orders them to kill the studio heads.Pretty much forgotten horror movie--for good reason!
We get to see a good bunch of AIP monster masks, some blood, and Harris, Clarke and Conway in full color.
The studio that gave us such classics as I Was A Teenage Frankenstein and I Was A Teenage Werewolf joins the two teen monsters in a cute satire of the genre.A new day is dawning at American International, the new studio heads want no more monster pictures that were the bread and butter of its existence and paid a nice living for makeup artist Robert H.
A new makeup base applied to the skull allows Harris to control those he applies it on and he takes his two teen stars from Teenage Frankenstein and Werewolf and starts sending them on a murder spree and bringing back trophies.Gary Clarke and Gary Conway were Harris's two subjects and they and Harris went along with the fun.
Somewhat lame movie has fired makeup artist using his talents to turn to teens into the monsters (neither of the original actors plays the monsters which might have helped) and he uses them (of course) for revenge!
Harris) will soon be out of a job when the new heads of the movie studio he works for tell him his services are no longer required as they tell him they plan to stop making horror films to concentrate on musicals.
This movie actually has a decent plot.Most of the acting is terrible but the main character is good.I do find it odd that he was just a normal make-up artist for 20 years and as soon as he gets fired he becomes a mad scientist but whatever.Everything that happens is very predictable.Normally that would be bad but somehow it doesn't seem to hurt this movie.This movies does something I have only seen one other time, it goes from black and white to color.It's cool how they do it but there was really no reason for it.It just left me wanting the entire thing in color.I'm sure the director thought it was some great artistic expression but it was totally awkward.If you like old sci-fi/thrillers you should give this a chance..
The main point of this one here is the fact that there's a lot of great work going behind the scenes of the movie-production system, creating a lot of studio in-jokes that are quite fun.
The early attacks in the theater and the kitchen where the creations come out in some really thrilling encounters, and the later scenes of the Frankenstein stalking the last owner and then fleeing afterwards through the town which makes this quite fun as each creature gets a chance to shine here in a fine sequence while nicely setting the stage for the finale.
MORD39 RATING: **1/2 (of ****)A sort-of sequel to AIP's I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF and I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN, this is a neat little picture that I grew up with on TV in the early 70's.Pete the friendly makeup man for AIP is devastated to find out that the new company heads at the studio are going to discontinue their monster movie productions and switch to musicals instead (yeeeccchhh).
In order to get even, he hypnotizes the two teenage actors playing the teen FRANKENSTEIN and the teen WEREWOLF to get revenge for him.A cool idea that provides tightly paced fun and thrills for thirty-something's of all ages..
Set in American International Studios (How Arkoff and Nicholson must have wished this was true), it is an interesting satire on Hollywood politics.It seemed that AIP were trying to move in a new direction, away from the teen-centred themes of the first two.
I sewed it there myself!), and has less to say about the awkwardness of adolescence which gave I Was a Teenage Werewolf its resonance with audiences, but is still an interesting and entertaining movie, and one which completes the trilogy with the wit and style that you associate with the majority of American International Pictures drive-in movies.DVD extras: This DVD was released as part of The Arkoff Library Collection in the UK.
So, to get revenge, the makeup man hypnotizes two young men who are in his makeup chair for one final monster film.
It's a nice behind the scenes look at the studio and it is a pleasant little diversion.By the way, for a long-time makeup man, you sure think the guy would have done a better job with his Frankenstein.
It just looked like some guy who was standing too close to an A-bomb blast and not the famous monster!Also, interestingly the film changes from black & white to color towards the end.
At this point, the makeup man shows the actors his little home gallery of masks--it's really actually very cool, as many of the American-International monsters and aliens are there in this room.
It's a shame that movie was never made) Pete Dumond, the make-up artist of 25 years is fired from his job after the studio, American International Studios is sold and the new owners decide to stop making horror movies and make more musicals.
Ole Pete then does what any red blooded American would do, drugging and hypnotizing the young stars of the monster mash up to go kill various people at the studio in hopes of shutting it down.
Poor but Mildly Fun. How To Make a Monster (1958) * 1/2 (out of 4) Semi-sequel to I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein deals with a makeup artist (Robert H.
Harris) who is fired by the studio so he turns two teens into the werewolf and Frankenstein monster for revenge.
More fun and games with teenage monsters from American International.
How To Make a Monster is the third of the movies from American International to feature teenage monsters and follows I Was a Teenage Frankenstein and I Was a Teenage Werewolf.A movie maker, Pete Dumond is fired when new people take over the studio where he works, American International.
Pete gets revenge on the new owners by murdering them using his movie monsters, the werewolf, Frankenstein monster and also himself dressing up as a caveman.
He then takes his assistant and the two boys he uses for the monsters back to his place and after killing his assistant, he accidentally sets fire to his home but the boys manage to escape the inferno just as coppers arrive.We get to see heads from various other monsters from AIP movies in Pete's home, including the carrot monster from It Conquered the World.The cast includes Robert H Harris, Paul Brinegar, Gary Clarke, Gary Conway (Land of the Giants) reprising his monster role from I Was A Teenage Frankenstein and sci-fi regulars Morris Ankrum (Invaders From Mars, Earth vs the Flying Saucers) and Robert Shayne (The Giant Claw, Teenage Caveman).This movie is a must for all 50's sci-fi/horror buffs.
A clever mix of studio publicity and the popular monster movie genre takes place on the studio lot of the studio that made this film, American International.
Fired from his job as the monster movie makeup man, Robert H.
Instead of making a straightforward sequel to the earlier I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF and I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN, Cohen here weaves a tale which not only integrates the two monsters from those films but serves as a fitting, clever finale to his trilogy.Wes Craven must have seen this film before he made WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE as both movies detail with murders occurring while such films are being made (if you're with me).
It's the studios top makeup man Pete Dumond, Robert H.
Harris, who' job is on the line who decides to takes matters into his own hands by using his monster makeup on his actors playing Teenage Werewolves and Frankensteins as well as Neanderthal men to do his dirty work for him.
That's by decapitating them and putting their prized heads, in Werewolf and Frankenstein makeup, on display in his secret head-shop that he keeps hidden in his basement.***SPOILERS*** It's by then that the local police lead by actor Morris Ankrum known among bad movie aficionados as the "Eternal Colonel" playing police Captain Hancock ,there's no colonels in the police department, raid the place only after it's accidentally set on fire by the boys in them trying to escape from Harris' insanity and at the same time save their heads.
Harris seeing his life time of work going up in flames ends up joining it by not wanting to live in a world without movie monsters that he created!
There are certainly some satirical bits that poke fun at the Hollywood system, but the overall storyline is presented seriously, favoring horror over humor.Robert Harris is brilliant as the veteran makeup man let go by the new owners of the movie company he has worked for most of his life.
Good horror film from American International.
It mixes the two genres that helped American International Studios become successful: teenage exploitation and horror films. |
tt1302169 | Desperate Hours: An Amber Alert | Edward "Eddie" Larson (Tom Berenger) is a criminal who doesn't refuse to commit any crime. He attacks some cowboys around a bonfire, steals the car of two sweet elderly ladies, and then steals a convinience store. He also steals a Betty Boo doll belonging to the young daughter of the owner. With all that, he approaches his old home, where he used to live with his ex-wife and his daughter. There, the audience learns that Larsan has just left prison. He demands to see his daughter, Sandie (Jessica Parker Kennedy), but she is out with her friends celebrating her birthday. His ex-wife, June (Dana McLoughlin), is already engaged to somebody else. Larson wants to revenge himself, but he seems to disregard his old wife, as she used to work as a stripper.Two girls are leaving a party: they want to go somewhere else, among the woods, to find boys. They park close to Larson, whose car has a burst tyre. Chris Geiger (Alexander Mendeluk) phones one of the girls, and he's told that there is only an old Cadillac with a glass-wearing old man -Larson, who goes over and over in his mind about his ex-wife's words. Chris is spending the holidays home from university and offers to pick the girls up.Katie Hughes (Torri Higginson) wants to travel to Italy on her own, but her mother won't allow it. Her boyfriend Pete (Tyler Johnston) arrives when Katie is thinking of leaving home. Katie and Pete go out to talk in a quiet place at night.Larson breaks into the two girls' car. He ties one girl to a rail. The car with Katie and Pete arrives. Larson also steals from them. Larson says that "it's going to be a horrible night". Larson kidnaps Katie and ties her with the other girl at the back seat with cellotape. Larson runs away with the two girls, Debra Gleason (Genevieve Buechner) and Katie. Pete phones the police. Agent Martha Gayer, (Tracie Hansen) the chief officer, thinks it may be a joke, but Sgt Lamm (Chad Cole) goes to check what's happening. The two mothers panick. Martha establishes an amber alert. The radio networks give public announcements.Tom (Greg Kean), Katie's father, arrives to console his hysterical ex-wife, who is about to go out to look for her daughter herself. Eddie stops at a road petrol station. His ex-wife recognises him, and Kaylie (Britt McKillip) says that he's written to her father some times, unbeknowst to June. Larson is the son of a violent father and a battered mother. Kaylie says that there is a lake where he used to go as a child, which used to make him feel free.Katie and Debra ask for a toilet break. Katie uses it to try to get a stone into the car which she'd try to hit Larson with. Larson discovers it, but doesn't hurt Katie after all. Katie's parents reconcile due to the harsh circumstances.A boy (Jake D. Smith) recognises him. Larson falls asleep, and the girls puck up his knife. The girls won't dare cutting his throat, but Debra finally stabs a knife onto his chest.The girls run away. They are found by the police, and their parents are really happy to have them back. However, Eddie doesn't sell his life easily, until he is killed. | violence | train | imdb | only Tom Berenger and not much else. Larsan (Tom Berenger) is a dangerous armed drifter. He gets out of prison and confronts his ex-wife looking for his daughter Kaylee. The car breaks down. He carjacks 18 year old Debra (Genevieve Buechner) leaving her friend Sandy (Jessica Parker Kennedy) behind. 17 year old Katie (Britt McKillip) storms out of home with boyfriend Pete. Larsan kidnaps Katie. Pete is able to call the cops. Chief Geiger (Torri Higginson) activates the Amber Alert system.Tom Berenger is a veteran actor, and he's able to give a threatening performance despite some cheesy talking-to-himself. Britt McKillip shows some acting skills. But mostly both girls cried a lot.... I mean a whole lot. The whole movie is either an advertisement for the Amber Alert, or a really lazy writing assignment for a film school. There really isn't much here. The only drama comes from the girls and Tom Berenger. Nothing else is really that interesting. Don't expect anything more than the simplest TV movie-of-the-week.. Amber Alert:Terror on the Highway. On Lifetime the movie is called "Desperate Hours". I wish they wouldn't do this, it's very confusing.I notice that a lot of movies do this. So when looking for info, you might have to just search for info on the character themselves., which sometimes takes extra time,but I guess if you really want to know you will take the time.I enjoy Tom Berringer movies every since I saw him in the movie The Substitute where he played a teacher undercover after his girlfriend is assaulted by some gang members. That movie had a very good story line and it was exciting from start to finish. Don't know why he wasn't in any of the sequels.But I really enjoyed this movie.. terrible. terrible editing! you can see numerous scenes where the editing is poorly done and the actor they used as the kidnapper is awful.there's no way that you should seriously watch this movie unless you have nothing else to do or you are being forced to watch it as a sign of torture.It's just not a very good movie at all. poor writing and poor film editing really make this a sub par quality movie.Just avoid the pain of having to sit through this movie!perhaps if they were to replace the actor with someone who actually knows how to act and improve the editing quality of this film it might be worth watching on TV. don't buy the DVD as you are wasting your money.. A Poor TV Movie Despite Tom Berenger. Tom Berenger stars in a TV movie called "Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway". He portrays a criminal named Eddie Larson who decides to kidnap two young women below 18 after he was rejected by his wife into becoming a part of his family once again after he was released from prison. Or as what the first few scenes intend to imply.Torri Higginson co-star as the policewoman who handles the amber alert case together with Genevieve Buechner and Britt McKillip as Debra and Katie respectively as the young women kidnapped by Larson. No question that the viewers already know the ending to the story after the scene wherein Larson kidnaps the two children.All we are going to watch are subplots to the story like Chief Geiger and his son Pete's poor relationship and Pete and Katie's romantic relationship that was on the brink of breaking up until the girlfriend got kidnapped.Despite having a great actor in Tom Berenger who did very well as Eddie Larson, what happens is the fact that the TV movie instead becomes substandard in the end. The subplots were simply clichéd and have already been done before.Added to that,there was nothing really told in the story except the fact that the police conducts an amber alert when a person below 18 years of age goes missing. Too bad that Berenger's presence does not even make it better despite of having a good performance.As for the young actresses portraying the kidnapped children, both practically did nothing except crying and bawling.The scenes a la "Two For The Road" wherein the communication between the kidnapped young women and kidnapper while driving out of state until the Larson was killed provided nothing interesting at all. |
tt0100507 | Rocky V | Shortly after Rocky Balboa's victory over Ivan Drago in Moscow, he, his wife Adrian, his brother-in-law Paulie, and his trainer Tony "Duke" Evers return to the United States, where they are greeted by Rocky's son, Robert. At a press conference, boxing promoter George Washington Duke attempts to goad Rocky into fighting his boxer Union Cane, who is now the top rated American challenger. They want the bout for the World Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo, but Rocky declines the offer. Duke refuses to give up on the huge payday fight with Balboa and surmises he needs to come up with an angle to convince him to fight.
Shortly after returning home, it is discovered that Paulie unknowingly had Rocky sign a "power of attorney" over to Rocky's accountant, who had squandered all of his money on real estate deals gone sour; in addition, the accountant had failed to pay Rocky's taxes over the past six years, and the mansion is discovered to be unpaid by $400,000. His lawyer confirms this, but he tells Rocky the situation is easily fixable with a few more fights. Rocky, not wanting to go bankrupt, decides to accept the mega fight with Cane for the money. However, after seeing a doctor, an examination reveals permanent and irreversible brain damage from the fight with Drago and at Adrian's insistence, Rocky opts to retire from boxing. He files for bankruptcy, has his mansion and belongings auctioned off, and moves his family back into Paulie's old house in South Philadelphia. Adrian returns to working part-time at the J&M Tropical Fish pet shop while Paulie goes back to the Shamrock Meat Packing facility. Rocky arranges plans to refurbish and reopen Mighty Mick's Boxing Gym, willed to his son Robert by his late trainer Mickey Goldmill. He walks through the abandoned gym and reminisces about a training session between the two just before Rocky fought with Apollo Creed years before.
One day, Rocky and Paulie meet a hungry young fighter from Oklahoma named Tommy Gunn, and Rocky takes him under his wing. Training the young fighter gives Rocky a sense of purpose, and Gunn fights his way up the ladder to become a top contender. Rocky eventually becomes so distracted with Gunn's training that he winds up neglecting Robert. He falls in with the wrong crowd at school and as a result, he begins acting out at home.
Union Cane wins the vacant world heavyweight title while Gunn continues his rapid and impressive rise through the ranks. Still wanting to do business with Rocky, Duke sees Gunn's knockout streak and relationship with Rocky as a way of getting control of him. Duke showers Gunn with luxuries and promises him that he is the only path to a shot against Union Cane for the title. Duke hopes to take control of Gunn as his manager and keep Rocky on as head trainer.
On Christmas Eve, Duke visits the Balboa house with Gunn to explain the new scenario which would financially benefit all of them However, Rocky insists dealing with Duke will end badly and is dirty business. Gunn drives off in a huff, leaving Rocky for good. Adrian attempts to comfort Rocky, but his frustrations finally boil over. He confesses his life had meaning again when he was able to live vicariously through Gunn's success. She reasons with him, telling him Tommy never had his heart and spirit—something he could never learn. When this realization hits him, Rocky embraces his wife and they begin to pick up the pieces. After finding Robert hanging out on a street corner, Rocky apologizes to his son and they mend their broken relationship.
Gunn fights Cane for the heavyweight title as Rocky watches from his basement, still rooting for his protégé. After taking a good punch, Gunn goes on to completely dominate and dismantle a passive Cane scoring a first-round knockout. Gunn is booed by spectators for leaving Rocky and hounded by reporters after the fight. They insist Cane was nothing but a "paper champion", because Cane did not win the title from Balboa, and also suggest he wasn't necessarily trying his best to win and accuses Duke of rigging the ratings. Gunn is enraged when they say he will never be the real champion unless he fights a worthy opponent, like Rocky; they drive the point home when one reporter announces, "...he's no Rocky Balboa!" With Gunn incensed by the press's reaction, Duke convinces him that he needs to secure a title fight with Rocky to put to bed the notion that he's not the real champion. Duke and Gunn show up at the local bar to goad Rocky into accepting a title challenge. Rocky declines the prospect of a title fight and tries to reason with him, but Gunn rebukes it and calls him weak, prompting Paulie to stand up for Rocky. However, Gunn punches Paulie and he falls to the ground. Enraged, Rocky accepts the challenge, but tells Gunn "my ring is outside."
Despite Duke's warnings to keep the fight in the ring, Gunn accepts. During the fight, Rocky is eventually beaten down and is seemingly out for the count. He then hears the voice of Mickey urging him to get up and continue the fight, to go just "one more round". Rocky gets up and, with Robert, Paulie, and the entire neighborhood cheering him on, utilities his vast street fighting knowledge to knock out his former protégé. While Gunn is escorted away by the police, Duke threatens to sue Rocky if he touches him, but after a brief hesitation and with nothing else to lose anyway, Rocky knocks him onto the hood of a car and quips, "Sue me for what?"
The next morning, Rocky and Robert take a jog to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Rocky gives his son Rocky Marciano's cufflink, given to him years ago as a gift from Mickey. The film ends with a shot of Rocky's statue looking out over the Philadelphia skyline. | dramatic, revenge, cult, action, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0069113 | The Poseidon Adventure | The SS Poseidon, a trans-Atlantic passenger steamship slated for retirement, is making its way across the Atlantic from New York City to Athens on its last voyage. On the bridge, company representative Linarcos (Fred Sadoff) orders the ship's master, Captain Harrison (Leslie Nielsen), to empty ballast and proceed at full speed, against the Captain's better judgement.Meanwhile, Detective Lieutenant Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine) and his ex-prostitute wife Linda (Stella Stevens)--seasick, like much of the passengers--receive an invitation to the captain's table. Reverend Frank Scott (Gene Hackman), a priest questioning his faith, delivers an unnerving sermon at Sunday service. Susan Shelby (Pamela Sue Martin) and her younger brother Robin (Eric Shea) are traveling to meet their parents. Robin is interested in how the ship works and frequently visits the engine room. Retired hardware store owner Manny Rosen (Jack Albertson) and his wife Belle (Shelley Winters) are going to Israel to meet their two-year-old grandson for the first time. Haberdasher James Martin (Red Buttons) is a love-shy, health-conscious bachelor. The ship's singer, Nonnie Parry (Carol Lynley) rehearses for the New Year celebration with her band, which includes her brother Teddy on drums.That evening, New Year's Eve, everybody gathers in the dining room to celebrate. Captain Harrison is called back to the bridge because of an emergency report of an undersea earthquake near Crete. Harrison receives word from the lookout that there is a huge wave heading towards them. He immediately issues a mayday, but it is already too late. The wave hits the bridge, drowning Harrison, Linarcos and other ship's officers. The ship rolls over, killing and injuring most of the people on board.After the capsized derelict steadies, the surviving passengers and crew in the dining room take stock of their predicament. Robin looks for his sister, who has ended up under a table attached to what is now the ceiling. Scott assembles a team to hold a tablecloth that will cushion her fall and coaxes Susan to jump to safety. Acres, an injured waiter, is trapped at the galley door now high above them. Scott seizes on this, saying that rescue will be found 'upwards', at the outer hull, which is now above water. Robin confirms this, telling the group that the steel plating near the aft propeller shaft is just one inch thick. After some more talking and discussing, Manny, Belle, Mike, Linda, Nonnie, Susan, Robin, Acres, and Martin reluctantly agree to go with Scott. The group need something to climb up to Acres, so they eventually agree to use the Christmas tree as a makeshift ladder. Scott tries to convince more passengers to join his group, but all remain where they are in hopes of rescue.Just after the small group reaches the galley, there is a series of explosions and seawater begins to flood the ballroom. The survivors left behind rush to the Christmas tree, but the weight of everyone trying to climb at once pulls it over into the rising water. Scott, the last to leave, sadly closes the kitchen doors on the desperation below.Acres and Scott find the galley, but a warning light is on and the fire door, hot to the touch, has been shut. Scott enters the incinerated kitchen to investigate, returns, and the survivors pick their way through to a staircase on the other side. Scott climbs the ramped underside of the stairs first and he and Martin use a salvaged firehose to pull Rogo and Acres up. While Rogo pulls the others up, Scott and Acres go ahead and find the only exit to 'Broadway' (the main passageway of the ship) is blocked. Acres suggests an access tunnel to the funnel shaft. Scott undogs the opening and returns for Linda, Martin and Nonnie. Just then, water floods the staircase and the now-panicked survivors race to the tunnel.Temporarily safe, Scott leads them to an access tunnel. Rogo had been instructed to look after everybody but, just as Martin and Nonnie climb into the hole, water begins to fill the corridor. They make it into the funnel and began to climb up with Acres above them. Suddenly, the ship rocks from another series of explosions and Acres falls into the churning water and is lost. Rogo makes an attempt to save him, but the shaft explodes and forces him to abandon Acres.While climbing out of the shaft and into 'Broadway', Scott and Rogo argue heatedly over the loss of Acres when their group meets a larger band of survivors. These are led by the ship's medic and are heading towards the bow. Rogo argues with Scott about which direction to go and gives Scott only fifteen minutes to go aft to find the engine room. Everybody else looks for supplies. Scott and Susan (who has a crush on the charismatic Reverend) find the hatch that leads to the engine room. Scott tells Susan to return to the others and go forward if he's not back in five minutes. After waiting, Susan tells the others the bad news, but Scott reappears and announces he has found the way to the engine room.While Susan shows the survivors where to go, Scott notices that Robin is missing. He finds Robin just as the water begins to flood Broadway. They race to the hatch and make it up just as the water floods the corridor.The group finds the engine room is on the other side of a flooded corridor, so someone must swim through with a line so the others can find a way across. Belle, a former trained swimmer, claims that she could swim under it, but Scott refuses and dives in with the line. Halfway through, a panel collapses on Scott and traps him. The survivors notice something is wrong and Belle dives in to save him. She finds Scott and they make it to the other side. As Scott secures the lifeline, Belle suddenly has a heart attack and collapses. With her last breath, she tells Scott to give her "Chai" pendant (representing the Hebrew sign for life) to her husband who in turn will give it to her grandson. Scott weeps at her loss.Rogo swims over during the delay to make sure Belle and Scott are okay. When he surfaces, he sees Belle's death, and returns to the other side. Rosen suspects something is wrong and swims to the other side only to find his wife's lifeless body. A few minutes later, the others make it across and find Manny in tears. Initially he is unwilling to go on, but Scott gives him Belle's Chai pendant, reminding him that he still has a reason to live.Scott continues aft and finds the propeller shaft room's watertight door 'below' a steam valve. He returns and leads the survivors across a catwalk to the door, but there is another series of explosions and Linda falls to her death, presumptively of a broken neck. An infuriated and heartbroken Rogo blames her death on Scott, calling him a "lying, murderous son-of-a-bitch."More explosions rupture a large pipe which releases clouds of scalding-hot steam that block the group's path to their escape. Scott, outraged about the three deaths and this final obstacle, screams at God that he has betrayed the survivors. He leaps and grabs onto the burning-hot valve wheel to shut off the escaping steam. Hanging from it, Scott slowly turns off the steam, all the while cursing God. The helpless Scott tells Rogo to lead the group on, then lets go of the wheel and is lost to the flaming, oily water below. Susan, in anguish, tries to follow him.Rogo finally leads the remaining survivors--Rosen, Martin, Nonnie, Susan and Robin--through the watertight door and into the propeller shaft room, but they find no rescuers. Suddenly, they hear a noise outside the ship. They bang on the metal hull to get the rescuers' attention and, after several frantic attempts, finally get a response. The rescuers cut a hole through the hull using a blow torch and help the group from the ship. The survivors, the only six alive after the disaster, fly off to safety by helicopter. | cult, suspenseful, claustrophobic | train | imdb | For a film nearly thirty years old, Poseidon Adventure is still so effective that it would cause anyone planning to take a cruise to think twice.
Thank God for Stella Stevens' character...The actors are great, the camera-work and timing are great, and even the special effects are fairly impressive (particularly for the film's age).
A small group of passengers realise that if they want to survive they must journey up into the bowels of the ship hoping for rescue from above.The idea is well conceived and the excellent cast turn in good performances despite getting little help from the somewhat corny script.
With above average special effects for the time and excellent sets that convincingly realise the upside down half-flooded ship and its bewildering maze of passageways, the movie manages to be compelling and exciting viewing..
for a disaster flick,this is one of the better ones.for 1972,it is well made and has some good effects.it's pretty convincing also thought the movie was compelling and touching,and sad,all at the same time.since we get to know the characters a bit,you can't help but feel for them in their(what seems hopeless)situation.i did think there were a few stereotypical characters,which was annoying,but the acting was decent enough.plus,the fact that the survivors had to go through what amounted to a labyrinthine maze as they tried to get out,really added to the feeling of hopelessness of the situation.i was also surprised at who ultimately survived and who didn't.for a nearly 2 hour movie,this one moves along pretty good.i was engrossed throughout.for me,The Poseidon adventure is a strong 8/10.
The Poseidon Adventure has gotten its reputation as the best of all the disaster films of the seventies, not just for the Special Effects good as they are.
Leading the group is minister Gene Hackman and the rest are married couples, Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine and Stella Stevens, musician/singer Carol Lynley, hypochondriac Red Buttons, steward Roddy McDowell, and teenager Pamela Sue Martin and her little brother Eric Shea.You do get wrapped up and sucked into the conflicts especially with Ernest Borgnine who's simultaneously got a war going with Gene Hackman and with his wife Stella Stevens.
Spectacle is great and I love it, but a good story with characters you care about is what makes the Poseidon Adventure the fine film it is..
Top of the line special effects, decent acting, and an edge of your seat story makes this the king of all disaster films.
Despite some questions about the plausability of the physics behind the disaster, I greatly enjoyed this film thanks mostly to the fine ensemble cast headed by the great Gene Hackman.
Leslie Nielsen makes a cameo as the ship's captain who dies during the tidal wave.The cast really isn't very important, it's the special effects and on-going tension that makes the film so much fun.
While a lot of the acting hasn't aged well (Shelley Winters, Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine are especially guilty of overacting!), the special effects aren't too cheesy and the entire set of the ship is wonderfully well-made, still standing as an achievement on its own.
The theme song, "The Morning After", won an Oscar and is rather lightweight, but highly listenable.THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE definitely does have some twists and turns that surprise the viewer (not everyone gets out alive) and holds the audience's attention throughout the entire thing, even though things do get a little soap opera-ish at times.
Such is the power of movies; they have the ability to alter perspective, not in some deeply profound way; but with the subtle way you perceive the world.My upside down view of the world is an outgrowth from having seen THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE dozens of times over the years and gotten a kick out of the moment on New Year's Eve when the entire boat capsizes and everyone goes head over heels.
The film recognizes that its basic premise is absurd, but doesn't dwell on it, placing the emphasis on the people not the situation.The disaster movie became quickly known as a vehicle where stick-figure characters, burdened with cumbersome and melodramatic backstories and played by big-name stars shamelessly emoting all over the place, bided their time as the impending doom of the special effects polished them off one by one.
As such, the disaster became the star, not unlike Freddie Krueger or Michael Meyers or other horror movie boogie men; and the point of the film was less about survival than about not surviving, about how and when the special effects and the stunt team would give which character the next big adios.You'd be hard pressed to remember, let alone care, who played what character in EARTHQUAKE or THE SWARM or AIRPORT 19-whatever.
Likewise, the cast is made up of ordinary movie stars; none of the cast (with the notable exception of star Gene Hackman, hot off his success in THE FRENCH CONNECTION) were at the height of their careers, but they are an immensely likable ensemble of recognizable character actors; Red Button, Roddy MacDowall, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Arthur O'Connell, etc.
"The Poseidon Adventure" is about a luxury liner traveling the open seas on New Year's Eve that has the unfortunate task of running into a 90 foot tidal wave that proceeds to capsize the ship and turn it upside down thanks to an undersea earthquake.
These characters are portrayed by an all-star cast: Gene Hackman as a reverend who's always barking orders at everyone; Ernest Borgnine as a cop who always complaining about everything; Stella Stevens as Borgnine's wife, a former prostitute; Shelley Winters and Jack Albertson as a Jewish couple; Red Buttons as a lonely bachelor; Carol Lynley as the ship's pop singer; and Leslie Nielsen as the ship's captain.
"The Poseidon Adventure" is an excellent movie for most of its two hours, and I enjoyed the action, special effects, and the performances (which are terrific).
"The Poseidon Adventure" starts out as a rather routine ocean voyage but turns into a very risky escape from disaster, thanks to a massive tidal wave striking the ship on New Year's Eve.The Poseidon is an old vessel on its way to the scrap yard, but its last voyage is never completed.
"The Poseidon Adventure" stands out as the best of the disaster film genre,which was spawned by 1970's "Airport" and recently revived with both worthy successors ("Titanic") and some not-so-worthy ("Volcano","Daylight" and "Dante's Peak".) The film's plot goes something like this...on New Year's Eve,a tidal wave capsizes the S.S.Poseidon during its journey from the States to Greece,and a small band of survivors (ten to be exact),led by a fiery preacher (the superb Gene Hackman),struggles to escape from the rising waters by climbing to the engine room,which is now located at the top of the ship.
Shelley Winters is a standout among the top-notch all-star supporting cast (which includes Ernest Borgnine,Red Buttons,Carol Lynley,Roddy McDowall,Stella Stevens,Jack Albertson,Pamela Sue Martin and Eric Shea).
Ranking up their with such classics like The Towering Inferno, the Poseidon Adventure follows a handful of survivors after a tidal wave hits a cruise liner on New Year's Eve. Fighting their way to the bottom of the ship, which is now floating upside down in the ocean as it takes on water, some survive this suspense/action classic while a few die along the way, resting at the bottom of the ocean with the countless others that refused to follow leader Reverend Scott, played by Gene Hackman.
Although one could point out what many see as flaws in the film (and I really can't disagree with them) the basic elements still hold up as to why I love this movie: the horror of a tidal wave capsizing a cruise ship and leaving it's surviving passengers in their "hell, upside down" is still there.
Michael Caine and Sally Field must be embarrassed (but richer) for that film.I don't think Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Pamela Sue Martin, Leslie Nielsen or Eric Shea feel humiliated for appearing in such a great film as THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE..
Thrilling and entertaining disaster movie but full clichés and stereotypes with strong performances from Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine.
Magnificent main and support cast as Leslie Nielsen , Stella Stevens , Arthur O'Connell , Jack Albertson , Carol Lynley , Red Buttons , Roddy McDowall and special mention to Shelley Winters who gained 35 pounds for the part and trained with an Olympic swim coach so that her character.
Rating : Good and entertaining , it's a fairly watchable disaster movie.It' followed by ¨Beyond Poseidon¨, this picture isn't bad but deeds better and more spectacularly filmed in ¨The Poseidon adventure¨, it contains some former footage sprinkled into the opening sequence and succeeds only in wasting various talented actors , an all-star-cast formed by Michael Caine in a similar role Gene Hackman-alike , Sally Field , Karl Malden , Jack Warden as a blind passenger , Slim Pickens , Peter Boyle as a zealous father of his daughter Angela Cartwright enamored by Mark Harmon , besides appears Veronica Hamel , Shirley Knight , Shirley Jones .
No. Gene Hackman, Roddy McDowell, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson, Red Buttons, Stella Stevens...All capable and very good actors, together in one movie.
It is possible to go one better than a lifeboat for oceanic claustrophobia
What you do is have a luxury liner completely capsized by a tidal wave, and you let ten people live on in a pocket of air, their only hope being to make their way through fire, dead bodies and endless amounts of water of the sinking ship to a propeller shaft, where the hull is thinnest and where there is a chance of rescuers cutting their way through
This was the terrific idea set up in Paul Gallico's most well-known book, which descended with awful disappointment on to the screen, but caught the public fancy, and started a cycle
And while the tense adventure lacks the austere presence of George Kennedy, no one could ask for a better set-up for suspensenaturally, when the genesis was with that old master of mass emotions, Gallico
But oh, what a waste was there in Ronald Neame's motion picture
Partly it was due to the lack of the technical perfectionism of a Hitchcock, and much more to the stereotyping of the characters and the excruciating banality of their dialog
There was a muscular clergyman to lead, an old Jewish couple still in love after some time of marriage, a hot head detective and his well reformed happy hooker wife, a young lady Pamela Sue Martin, (and his nice younger brother) and a hippie girl singer who were there presumably to give a pleasant show of legs in hotpants, a lonely haberdasher, and a nice cool steward along for the ride
Gene Hackman was cast as the preacher the most unlikely reverend I could imagine
Presumably he was chosen because of his well-deserved success as the cynical, determined New York narcotics cop in "The French Connection." He played the character every bit as rough and tough
Whenever he heaved his muscles and opened his mouth I anticipated the coming of
"I got the God connection." But one must not blame the cast
There were fine actors among them and it was not their fault that the situations were evidently prefabricated, that the characters were as realistic as the cutouts at the back of a cereal box, living and dying as contrived "incidents.".
The overall tone of the score is dark, but the theme is rather light and there is something about it that makes it special.When originally released, The Poseidon Adventure received good reviews with lots of praise going for the visual effects-and rightfully so.
The story is nothing special, but if you're looking for a movie with great visual effects, campy acting, and a story about surviving then this film is for you.My Grade: A-.
It has this nostalgic feel in it, that I find very enjoyable and wonderful."The Poseidon Adventure" was released at the time that disaster movies were king of the cinema, or maybe this made it become the king.
The Poseidon Adventure, which marked his return to the big screen, is credited by some as marking the start of the disaster-film boom, a slew of titles such as turkeys like Allen's own The Swarm (1978) and co-director Neame's Meteor (1979), as well as what is now seen as the finest achievement of the genre, The Towering Inferno (1974).
Along with the polo-necked reverend are a range of characters introduced quickly in scenes reminiscent of TV's later The Love Boat: a gruff and bitter cop named Rogo (Ernest Borgnine), travelling with his wife the former prostitute Linda (Stella Stevens), an elderly Jewish couple the Rosens (Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters), a teenage girl and her young brother (Pamela Sue Martin and Eric Shea, a juvenile role parodied memorably in Airplane!), pop singer Nonnie (Carol Lynley), and Acres, a conveniently knowledgeable crewman (Roddy MacDowell).
The Poseidon Adventure was a first disaster movie that was all around an enjoyment for me, acting, effects, and a terrific plot.
Even the special effects in this movie are groundbreaking when compared to the remake.This film is about a group of survivors on the S.S Poseidon and their goal is to make it out of the ship alive.This movie features many great actors such as Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgigine, Red Buttons, and Leslie Nielsen.
The cast list may well be something to note, Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Roddy McDowell, Stella Stevens and Red Buttons, but really it's the sets and the fight for survival thru this watery labyrinthine that lifts the film above many of its genre peers.
The picture has a very real feel to it, with the characters gradually getting you on side as they strive for survival, we have great work from Hackman and Borgnine as they vie for control of this disparate group, but we are with them all the way even tho we just know that this number will surely dwindle.The Poseidon Adventure 1972 was remade for the modern audience in 2006 with all the tools of the trade available to the makers, watching both films together it's not hard to see which is the most impressive, the 72 original has a vitality that modern blockbuster pictures can't quite grasp, and of course the technical aspects easily outstrip the CGI laden efforts of the later picture.
With a great cast like Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Carol Lynley, Red Buttons and Leslie Nielsen.
Great deal!The Poseidon Adventure is a lot of fun to watch because Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine are both a blast.
And talk about an early 70's cast - Shelley Winters (who I just never liked for some reason), Jack Albertson, Eric Shea (annoying kid), Pamela Sue Martin (looks great), et all, and geez, even Red Buttons.You can't deny the early 70's were a lot of fun movie-wise, with all the disaster films being made.
Besides movies about bee attacks, giant rabbits, spiders, and other science disaster flicks, you had the nitty gritty like The Poseidon Adventure, the Airport ones, Earthquake, Towering Inferno - these were loud, intense and cool films.
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972) *** Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Stella Stevens, Jack Albertson, Red Buttons, Roddy McDowall, Carol Lynley.
This is an excellent underrated picture.Everyone has a go at the script - whats wrong with it??Old jewish people are really like that, and 70's preachers were exactly like Gene Hackman.Hackman is an actors actor - the guy is just fantastic, my three favourites Hackman films are this - " The Poeidon Adventure" , and also "The French Connection" and my personal favourite "No Way Out"Anyway, the first time i watched TPA , i was physically shocked, when Acres (McDowall) fell into the water taking borgnine with him, thank God Borgnine emerged - he really was Excellent in this movie, another bit which really got my heart pounding fast was when Reverend Scott sacrificed his life for the others, that was a really brilliant and saddening moment which i will never forget.This and "The Towering Inferno" are the two flagships of disaster movie excellence - i love them both,.
A handful of survivors try to make their way to the 'top' of the topsy-turvy boat before rising waters cause it to sink to the bottom of the ocean.In the battle for best disaster movie of the '70s, top contenders The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure are fairly evenly matched: both are based on best-selling novels; both have big budgets and excellent special effects; both have an all-star cast; both boast scores by John Williams; both deliver in terms of nail-biting tension and excitement; and both end with an inordinate amount of luck and happenstance for the remaining survivors.
Irwin Allen produced this all-star disaster yarn about a luxury cruise ship that is overturned by a freak tidal wave on New Year's Eve, and the survivor's desperate attempts at survival, as they try to reach safety and eventual rescue through the top(well,the bottom now!) of the ship.Cast includes Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall, Carol Lynley, Pamela Sue Martin, Red Buttons, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters, and Leslie Nielsen as the Captain.Well directed by Ronald Neame, this film works despite the contrived premise because of the cast and interesting script, which balances seriousness with humor effectively, with many memorable scenes..
The Poseidon Adventure was one of the first, and one of the best disaster movies.A luxury liner sinks slowly beneath the waves as we follow a small band of survivors attempting to make their escape, led by Rev Scott (Gene Hackman).
"The Poseidon Adventure" is a good but not great flick of the genre that I call "Disaster" films because the action revolves around the characters surviving a life threatening disaster. |
tt0035169 | The Palm Beach Story | This story begins with the wedding of Gerry (Claudette Colbert) and Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea), and the wedding follows with the caption, "And they lived happily ever after... or did they?" Time then flashes forward about four years to the Jeffers apartment where the Wienie King (Robert Dudley) is touring the Jeffers apartment as a likely rental because the Jeffers aren't able to make their bills. While the Wienie King and his wife tour the apartment, an embarrassed Gerry hides in closets and the bathroom, ducking away from touring eyes. The Wienie King happens upon Gerry hiding in the bathtub behind a shower curtain and takes an immediate liking to her so much that he decides not to take her apartment and gives Gerry $700 to pay her bills.Meantime, Tom is meeting with a hopeful investor to discuss his idea of building an airport that stretches over the city. The investor doesn't seem very keen on Tom's idea. When Tom gets home and finds out that Gerry has taken money from a stranger, he's upset. Gerry calms him down, but then suggests that they get a divorce because she feels as a single woman she can get him the money he needs to build his airport.Gerry takes Tom out to dinner with the last 14 dollars they have after she finished paying the bills that day, and they both get pretty drunk. When they get home, Gerry is still discussing divorce, but discussions stop as Tom helps Gerry remove her dress.The next morning, Gerry packs her suitcase and writes Tom a good-bye letter. She tries to pin the letter to the blanket but accidentally pokes Tom waking him up. Tom chases Gerry to the streets, but a penniless Gerry manages to get away in a taxi and thanks to the kindness of strangers, in this case the members of the Ale and Quail Club, she manages to get a ticket and a private car on a train to Palm Beach. The Ale and Quail Club get a bit drunk and decide to shoot up their train car, so Gerry sneaks away for some peace. She climbs into a berth which happens to be the berth above the berth of millionaire John D.Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee) who comes to Gerry's rescue with loads of clothes, jewelry, etc., after Gerry loses her belongings due to the fact that the Ale and Quail Club train car has been disconnected from the train and abandoned. Gerry and John decide to abandon the train themselves and take John's yacht to Palm Beach.As this is happening Tom meets the Wienie King who has decided to take a different apartment in the building. The Wienie King gives Tom money to catch a plane to Palm Beach to stop Gerry from getting a divorce. When Tom meets the train, he finds out that Gerry has dumped the train for a yacht. Tom then waits for Gerry at the dock. Tom then meets John and John's sister the Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor) who takes an immediately liking to Tom. Gerry introduces Tom to everyone as her brother, and a slightly disagreeable Tom goes along with this plan solely to get time to convince Gerry to come to her senses.Gerry talks John into investing in Tom's airport. The Princess wants to marry Tom and John wants to marry Gerry. In the end, Gerry and Tom realize that they love each other and can't divorce. They both confess to the Princess and John. John decides to invest in Tom's airport anyway even though he loves Gerry. John then says, "If only you had a sister." Gerry says, "I do. A twin sister." As they express surprise over this revelation, Tom further reveals that he also has a twin brother. The movie then ends with Gerry and Tom standing side by side at the wedding of their twin siblings to the respective Hackensacker siblings where the movie ends as it begins, "And they lived happily ever after... or did they?" | comedy, romantic | train | imdb | "The Palm Beach Story" is a lopsided comedy (part of it's funny and part of it's not), but the movie is back-ended with all of the funniest bits, so it allows you to forget the slower parts and it sends you out on a high.After a sensationally bizarre opening credits sequence, the movie settles down into a slightly less zingy version of "The Awful Truth." Claudette Colbert thinks her marriage to Joel McCrea isn't working, even though he doesn't think likewise.
But once everyone shows up in Palm Beach, the film becomes a delight, and a bonus is added in the person of Mary Astor, who plows on to the screen about half way through the film and decimates everyone in her path with her quick-tongued and hilarious performance as a rich society lady with a lot of time on her hands and her sights set on Colbert's husband.What I liked about this film was that Colbert and McCrea don't seem to have a lot of chemistry in their early scenes together; he seems so stiff and bland, and you don't really blame her for wanting to get away.
Things don't quite work out.The opening of "Palm Beach Story" is a bizarre scene that only makes some sense (and I'm emphasizing some) at the very end of the film.
There are some hilarious scenes in this film - desperate to get to Palm Beach for a quickie divorce, but with no money, Colbert accepts the invitation of the gentlemanly Ale and Quail Club to ride in their private train car as their guest and mascot.
It's a zany romantic comedy given full speed treatment by director Preston Sturges who brought screwball comedy to an art form.His script, full of hilarious one-liners that fly by almost too fast to catch, is acted to perfection by CLAUDETTE COLBERT, RUDY VALLEE and MARY ASTOR--with a less enthusiastic turn by JOEL McCREA who gives the only so-so performance, perhaps because none of the wittiest lines come his way.
It's a twist that somehow doesn't ring true--the only really false note in an otherwise perfect screwball comedy.Rudy Vallee is outstanding as a nutty millionaire, a role written expressly for him (and he even gets to sing a little)--and Mary Astor, as his husband hunting sister, is hilariously over the top as a woman who can't stop talking while pursuing her man.A good way to spend a pleasant 90 minutes..
And they both wind up with a brother and sister pair of gazillionaires in the persons of Rudy Vallee and Mary Astor.I will say that Preston Sturges did kind of reach into left field for his romantic ending, but that's half the fun of The Palm Beach Story.Only half because the other half is the fun of the journey.
Preston Sturges used some of his favorite players from his usual stock company for members of Ale and Quail.Also look for a very funny performance by Robert Dudley as the 'wienie king' whose encounter with Colbert sets everything in motion.Rudy Vallee gets to sing in this which is also nice.
Even more dementedly frantic than The Lady Eve, this film is Preston Sturges's most delirious screwball/slapstick romance, with one of the most amazing bits of comic combustion in the Ale and Quail Club train sequence.
When Vallee complains, plaintively, that the problem with the world is that the men most in need of a beating are usually enormous, or when Astor slyly suggests that she grows on people, like moss, you know you're hearing Preston Sturges's wit at its peak..
When commenting on a film as brilliantly constructed and deeply entertaining as The Palm Beach Story, it's hard to know just where to start.Do you tip your hat to the uniformly wonderful performers?Do you pay tribute to the bizarre and hilarious conversations held by the Weenie King (Robert Dudley), an incidental character who manages to be a lot more than a mere plot contrivance?Do you mention the fact that the film was clearly an influence upon the (slightly superior) screwball classic Some Like It Hot?Nope.
You just say, Preston Sturges was a genius and this is his best film.Gerry Jeffers (Claudette Colbert) has decided that she needs to divorce her husband Tom (Sturges regular Joel McCrea).
The "Palm Beach Story" has a poor title but it's a hilarious movie by the sometimes cynical master of comedy, Preston Sturges.
Far fetched, but very humorous story of a wife Gerry, who decides to divorce her husband, Tom and go seduce & marry a rich man/widow, but she is only going to use the man to get the money to finance Tom's invention.
Tom does not believe that the old man gave the money to Gerry without sex and they have an argument, and Gerry concludes that she is a burden in the life of Tom. On the next morning, she decides to travel to Palm Beach to get a divorce, and marry again with a millionaire to help Tom in his project.
"The Palm Beach Story" is a cynical and unethical but dated screwball comedy by Preston Sturges.
I do not like this movie since Gerry Jeffers is a nasty woman and never a companion to Tom, who is a sucker; therefore I do not feel empathy for the ambitious character performed by Claudette Colbert.
His humor was so advanced, so ahead of its time, that it is still not fully appreciated by many film critics and historians.Only Sturges would begin a movie with a wedding sporting a subtitle, "They lived happily ever after." It seems only a few years later the happily married couple is bickering over finances--they don't have any.
"The Palm Beach Story" stars Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea as a married couple who is still in love, but is nonetheless separating after five years of marriage.
Only Preston Sturges in the director's chair could tempt me to watch a movie called 'The Palm Beach Story'.
Having been monetarily blessed by her fairy godfather (Robert Dudley as the Weenie King) Mrs. Gerry Jeffers (Claudette Colbert) leaves New York, her hapless husband Tom (Joel McCrea), and all her troubles behind.
I noticed William Demarest say his name was "Bill Docker," the same name his character had in Preston Sturges's "Christmas in July."In short, "The Palm Beach Story" is a wonderful film, whose richness can really be appreciated when seen in context, in the context of those old 1930s Paramount films, both the melodramatic ones like "Up Pops the Devil," that it lampoons, and the comedic, romantic ones like "Love Me Tonight" and "One Hour with You," that it pays homage to..
This little jewel is a madcap romp in the mold of "The Philadelphia Story." Preston Sturges' impressive direction is just light enough to keep things hopping and technically savvy to pull off the zaniness.There's a lot to like about this movie: the dialogue is both snappy and witty, the costumes are eye-catching, and the acting is inspired.Now admittedly, a willing suspension of belief and even a temporary romantic bent does help one to enjoy this movie thoroughly.
Big fan of Colbert but can't understand why people like this film.Similar concept to Midnight where a woman doesn't trust love and feels money and security are more important.Though it works in Midnight it feels very forced in the Palm Beach Story.JDHackensacker is not believable or funny and the same is true of Mary Astors character .Colbert and McCrea make an attractive couple but the plot and screenplay just don't fly.
Preston Sturges wrote and directed this wacky screwball comedy that features Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert as Tom and Gerry Jeffers, a happily married but poor couple who are about to be evicted from their apartment.
If Hollywood had a Moliere, Sturges was that.My personal favorite of his movies is the romantic screwball comedy The Palm Beach Story (1941), featuring Claudette Colbert as a woman who loves her husband too much to see him fail, and so decides to divorce him and marry a rich man to support him!
One of his most inspired comedies was this affectionate portrait of the idle rich, in which, after what must be one of the most baffling title sequences ever conceived ("
that's another plot entirely", explains Joel McCrea at the end of the film), Claudette Colbert abandons her financially insecure husband (McCrea) for the life of an adventuress, while he pursues her all the way to the Palm Beach mansion of lonely zillionaire John D.
McCrea's cigar-store Indian acting style and Colbert's buoyant pragmatism are perfectly matched against the usual assortment of Sturges nut cases: the calamitous Ale & Quail Club; the philanthropic Weenie King; and (in a casting coup) crooner Rudy Valee and Mary Astor as the urbane, innocent Hackensacker and his man-hungry sister.
From the brilliant stop-start sequence over the titles, confusing right until the last frame which at last makes crazy sense (I'm sure Preston would forgive the oxymoron!) of it all, taking in a madcap menagerie of characters, every bit as eccentric as their names or nicknames indicate, for example get these; the Wiener King, the Ale and Quail Club, Princess Centimillia not to mention John D Hackensacker the Third.
Star of the show is the lovely effervescent Claudette Colbert, almost 40 at the time of making this movie but looking years younger in a variety of differing costumes, taking in over-sized men's pyjamas to the very best costumes that Hackensacker can buy.She's an audio-visual treat, putting into effect her madcap idea for the betterment of her unlucky, under-achieving, unrecognised husband, played with straight-laced, straight-faced aplomb by previous Sturges alumni, Joel McCrea.
In his "The Palm Beach Story," they are out of their minds.Rich people can't wait to give Geraldine Jeffers (Claudette Colbert) their money.
Neither Jeffers is that engaging as personalities go; hard enough as it is to believe, the richie-rich Hackensackers come off more vulnerable and worth your time, what with their personality quirks and their weird need for love.Sturges' taste for story detours is on full display here; the Ale And Quail Club taxes your patience with non-stop singing, barking, and shooting, not to mention all the Sturges stock players putting in their appearances.
From the opening sequence set to "William Tell Overture" that doesn't get explained until the very end, to Mary Astor and Sig Arno's "yitz" and "nitz", to Claudette Colbert hiding from "the Weenie King" in the bathtub, it's a nearly constant laugh fest.Preston Sturges' signature leading man, Joel McCrea, plays an architect whose dreams are never realized.
His wife, the beautiful Claudette Colbert, knows the best way she can help her husband get ahead is by using her physical assets, so she plans to divorce him, marry a wealthy man, and get her new husband to invest in her old husband's business ideas.
I have no idea why The Palm Beach Story isn't the most famous sex comedy of the silver screen, since it's so adorable, witty, and for the most part stands the test of time.A proper analysis of this wonderful film wouldn't be complete without a huge compliment to Irene's costumes.
When Preston Sturges was in his prime (1940-1944, with 'The Great McGinty', 'Christmas in July', 'The Lady Eve', 'Sullivan's Treavels', 'The Palm Beach Story', 'The Miracle of Morgan's Creek' and 'Hail the Conquering Hero') it made for one of the best golden years/prime periods for any director in my view, where five or more very good to masterpieces in a row were made close to each other.
I also thought his other acclaimed screwball comedy "Sullivan's Travels", which he made one year prior to this movie, is a tad bit overrated.Both movies also star Joel McCrea, who wasn't the biggest actor within the game but he nevertheless is a great leading man, with also the right psychics.
But along the way, she meets some memorable characters: the members of The Ale and Quail Club (headed by Sturges veteran William Demarest); an oft-married millionairess (delightful Mary Astor) and her foreign-speaking boyfriend of the moment; and a soft-spoken yachtsman (Rudy Vallee), who patiently endures Gerry's systematic breaking of his every pair of pince-nez's.
The scene begins with Tom trying to unzip the back of Gerry's dress for her, and it ends as one of the swooniest love scenes it has ever been my pleasure to witness.And just when you think the movie has run out of steam, Sturges pulls a happy ending out of his hat that has you laughing through the closing credits.
Preston Sturges made the wacky comedy "Palm Beach Story" in 1942.Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea are married and truly love each other but their problem is money, which isn't something new.
Preston Sturges' The Palm Beach Story(1942) explodes from the gate with a strange but funny overture montage and the main film quickly hits it's stride with the brilliantly funny performances in scenes between Robert Dudley as the Wienie King and Claudette Colbert as Gerry.
This is the essence of this off-the-wall movie, as Gerry Jeffers (Claudette Colbert) divorces her husband Tom (Joel McCrea) to marry a rich man, Hackensacker (Rudy Vallee) The premise for leaving was based on Tom's lack of stable income, a common ploy that gives this movie a timeless and relevant quality to it.
Not to mention there are several instances of hilarious sexual euphemisms - "I may have to take you up on one of your dares and make you call me Papa," showcasing that the wit of classic comedy will always trump the crass and vulgar nature of today's farcical films.Hackensacker was a particularly hilarious character, with several memorable and chortle-worthy traits, including his compulsive need to write down every single expensive in his little black book, even though he's notably one of the richest men in the world.There were several elements of awkward humor that was far ahead of its time when "Captain McGlew" was introduced, allowing for a former husband and wife to watch each other try to get someone else, although, as movies such as this always end, there's a happy warm center.
Claudette Colbert loves engineer-husband Joel McCrea but is tired of being poor; she vamps her way aboard a train heading for Palm Beach, Florida in hopes of getting a divorce, eventually winding up on the ship of natty, single multi-millionaire Rudy Vallee.
Palm Beach Story, The (1942) *** (out of 4) Preston Sterges directed comedy about a wife (Claudette Colbert) who decides to leave her husband (Joel McCrea) so that she can use her sex appeal to get them the things they need.
Simply stated...one of the funniest, craziest and most brilliant comedies of all-time....for shear laughs....it's Preston Sturges' funniest movies.You can easily read the plot-line from the other reviewers, but I want to make a point about some of the performances.Rudy Vallee, previously rather stiff on film, is simply hysterical in this movie.
Later, the raucousness of the Ale and Quail Hunting Club on the train is WAY over the top, unbelievable, unfunny, grating, and goes on for 10-15 minutes.***END OF SPOILERS***Were it not for the above annoyances, which unfortunately account for a significant portion of the movie, I would have rated "The Palm Beach Story" higher, as it does have its share of clever dialogue, an unusual premise, and gifted actors..
It's also great to hear Rudy Vallee sing again and he is not so 'up-his-own' that he doesn't mind becoming the butt of the jokes when everyone is closing their windows in hopes of drowning out his crooning.I will be the first to admit there were much better divorce based Screwball Comedies made around the same time, (such as Love Crazy with William Powell & Myrna Loy), but The Palm Beach Story is an enjoyable flick and a brilliant way to spend 90 lazy minutes on a Sunday afternoon.
The wonderful cast he put together for " The Palm Beach Story" exceeds all expectations and made this a winning screwball comedy, typical of the times.Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea made a fantastic couple.
Someone like Fred MacMurray would be able to play the straight face, serious look for real comedic effect.I think the best comedy of this film comes from Rudy Vallee as J.D. Hackensacker III, and from Mary Astor as his sister, Princess Centimillia.
And Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, and Mary Astor are definitely the highlights here.The Palm Beach Story was written and directed by the brilliant Preston Sturges, so it can't be bad, and it isn't, but the story's really too far of a stretch.
It is boarding a train when Gerry meets one of the richest men in the world, eccentric billionaire bachelor J.D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee), and travelling on the yacht to Palm Beach she also meets his sister, Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor), eventually Tom catches up to his wife, but introduces himself to them as her brother.
These moments were just too over-the-top and lacked the charm and timing of such marvelous non-Sturgis screwball comedies like BRINGING UP BABY or MY GIRL Friday.While PALM BEACH STORY isn't a bad film, it certainly didn't do anything to turn me into a "Sturgiphile".
Many of the movies made by Preston Sturges could be classed as "comedies of error." The Palm Beach Story is no exception.
A charmingly hyperactive film that's still pretty funny if you're in the mood for a screwball comedy, The Palm Beach story is also noteworthy for providing a window into American culture before World War II changed everything.This movie has one of the weirdest beginnings you'll ever see.
It starts out by recapping the story of how Geraldine and Tom Jeffers (Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea) got married as though The Palm Beach Story is a sequel to that film.
The Palm Beach Story directed by Preston Sturges is a goofy comedy involving a married couple that go through the ultimate test to see how strong their love for each other is.
Preston Sturges' The Palm Beach Story (1942) stars Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea. |
tt1285010 | Summer's Blood | Summer (Ashley Greene) has run away from home and is searching for her father who had abandoned her and her mother when she was very young. A policeman catches her red-handed while she is attempting to steal from a store. She escapes from the policeman with the help of stranger, Peter (Tom Hoxey). She hooks up with him for a one-night stand and to her horror, he and his mother happen to be psychopaths. Peter catches young girls off-guard and brings them down to his basement where he has a human garden which is downright horrific. Here he subjects them to inhuman torture if the girls try to escape. Summer tries to escape, but cannot and decides it is better to join them rather than knowingly inflicting harm. During the course of her stay, Peter's father comes home and she finds out he is her father also. But her long awaited fairytale reunion is marred by the cold-hearted father who decides to enjoy her young ripe body, rather than enjoying her presence. Peter is bodily harmed when he decides to intervene. Her father takes her away to a secluded area where there is only a woman, whom he plans to finish off. But, Summer manages to escape and kill him. | romantic, murder | train | imdb | null |
tt0097390 | Fright Night Part 2 | Three years after the first film, 20-year-old Charley Brewster, as a result of psychiatric therapy, now believes that Jerry Dandrige was nothing but a serial killer posing as a vampire. As a result, he comes to believe that vampires never existed.
College student Charley, along with his new girlfriend, Alex Young, go to visit Peter Vincent, who is again a burnt-out vampire killer on Fright Night, much to the chagrin of Charley. While visiting Peter's apartment Charley sees four coffins being taken into a car. On the way out from Peter's apartment, Charley sees four strange people walk past him, into an elevator. Charley instantly becomes drawn to one of the four, the alluring Regine. Charley drives Alex back to her dorm and begins to make out with her, only to pull away and see Regine staring back at him. An upset Alex storms off, not realizing that something is following her. Another girl leaves the dorm as Alex enters, and she is followed and killed by one of Regine's vampires, Belle. Alex, meanwhile, is unaware that Louie, another of Regine's group, is scaling up the wall outside her window, but he is startled and falls when Alex inadvertently slams her window shut on his hands. Bozworth, a bug-eating servant of Regine, makes fun of Louie before consuming some bugs.
Later that night, Charley dreams that Regine comes to visit him, only to turn into a vampire and bite him. The next day, Charley talks to his psychiatrist, Dr. Harrison, who assures him that what he dreamed was only natural. Alex finds Charley bowling, per doctor's orders, and Charley agrees to go to the symphony with her. On his way there, however, he sees his friend Richie with Regine and opts to follow him. Charley climbs up to a fire escape outside of Regine's apartment, only to be horrified when he sees Regine and Belle attack and drain Richie's blood. Charley runs off to find Peter, and the two of them arm themselves with crosses and crash Regine's party.
There, Charley finds Richie, but is shocked to find him alive and well, with no bite marks on his neck. Regine makes her entrance, doing an erotic dance with a mesmerized Charley. She introduces herself to Peter and Charley, and claims to be a performance artist in town for some shows. Satisfied that what he thought was Regine attacking Richie was nothing but an act, Charley leaves when he remembers his date with Alex. Peter elects to stay behind and while looking around, he notes that there are people in the corners of the room biting others on the neck. Noting the odd behavior, he draws his pocket mirror and finds that Regine and Belle, who are dancing in the middle of the dance floor, cast no reflections.
Storming out of the party, Peter runs into Regine waiting for him outside. As he runs down the stairwell Peter again comes face-to-face with Regine, who reveals herself that she is a vampire, the sister of Jerry Dandrige, and has come to take her revenge on both Charley and Peter. Peter runs back home and hides, resolving to tell Charley in the morning what has just transpired. Charley, meanwhile, blows off his date with Alex, returns home and falls asleep, only to be visited by Regine, who bites him on the neck while he sleeps. Charley, content with the explanation that Regine is a performance artist, is once again in denial. He begins to discuss the situation with Alex when Peter arrives to try to warn the couple about Regine but neither believe him. Peter states that he has warned them and runs back to his home, packs his belongings and departs.
Meanwhile, Charley has started to show signs of being a vampire as he is becoming sensitive to garlic and sunlight. After failing to talk to his psychiatrist, he overhears a news report about Richie's body being discovered the previous night. Now believing that everything is real, Charley goes to see Peter, only to find that Peter has gone. Louie is once again stalking Alex. Louie reveals his true nature to Alex and Charley and stalks them in the school library, only to flee after Alex injures him by cramming wild roses into his mouth. Alex and Charley are then arrested by campus police.
Peter, meanwhile, is also arrested after he shows up on the set of Fright Night and attempts to kill its new host, Regine, on live TV. Everyone thinks he's lost his sanity as he says, "I have to kill the vampire"; and ends up in a state hospital. Alex is bailed out by Dr. Harrison and goes to post bail for Charley, only to find that he has already been bailed out by Regine. Alex and Dr. Harrison head to the state hospital when the doctor reveals that he is in fact a vampire. He tries to bite Alex only for her to turn the tables on him and run him through with a piece of wood. She then assumes his identity as a doctor. At the hospital, a commotion allows Alex and Peter to escape.
Alex and Peter head to Regine's lair in order to save Charley. They find a disoriented Charley, who is slowly turning into a vampire. They rescue him from an undead Richie, and in the process manage to kill Belle, Bozworth and Louie before confronting Regine. She attempts to escape into her coffin, but finds that Charley has lined it with Communion wafers. Regine knocks Alex unconscious and attempts to turn Charley into a vampire, but Peter destroys her with sunlight.
The following day, Charley and Alex discuss the previous day's events, with Alex joking that if she wrote a book about it, no one would ever believe them. They know that there are no more vampires, but acknowledge that they can never be 100% certain. They embrace each other, and a bat can be heard flying away. | revenge, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0383574 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | The wedding for Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann is disrupted with the arrival of Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Co. who has warrants to arrest the two and the ex-Commodore James Norrington for helping Captain Jack Sparrow to evade his hanging. Elizabeth is imprisoned while Beckett negotiates with Will to locate Jack and retrieve his compass which has the ability to point in the direction of what a person most desires. At the same time, Jack Sparrow reveals to his crew on The Black Pearl that they are going to find a mysterious key. Jack is approached by a reincarnated Bootstrap Bill Turner, Will's long-deceased father, who reveals he is now part of the crew of The Flying Dutchman captained by Davy Jones, and Jack must pay his debt to him - Jack asking Jones to raise his ship from the depths and make him captain for thirteen years. Bootstrap further tells Jack that the Kraken will be sent after him. In panic, Jack sails the Black Pearl to the nearest land.Will searches for Jack, eventually finding the Black Pearl on Pelegosto where a tribe of cannibals worship Jack as a god and plan to eat him. Jack, Will and surviving crew members escape the island, joined by Pintel and Ragetti, former members of the Black Pearl crew who escaped execution. Elizabeth escapes jail with help from her father Weatherby Swann but he is captured while Elizabeth is sent off by Beckett to offer Letters of Marque to Jack in return for the compass. Jack and his crew visit voodoo priestess Tia Dalma, who tells them that the key unlocks the Dead Man's Chest where Davy Jones' cut-out heart is hidden; the key is in possession of Jones. Tia also gives Jack a jar of dirt to protect him from Jones, since Jones is cursed to touch land only once every ten years.
Upon finding a damaged ship, Jack sends Will aboard to "settle" his debt with Jones. Will is captured by the fish-like crewmen of the Flying Dutchman and Davy Jones reunites with Jack, forcing him to gather one-hundred souls in three days for his deal to be called off. Will is drafted onto the Dutchman, where he meets his father, Bootstrap Bill. After tricking Jones into revealing the location of the key, Will manages to steal it from Jones while he is sleeping and escapes the ship with the promise to rescue Bootstrap. Jack and his crew stop in Tortuga, where Elizabeth and a drunken Norrington join them.Jack and his first mate Joshamee Gibbs realize that Beckett wants the compass to seek the chest and use Jones' heart to control him and destroy all piracy on the seas. Will finds refuge on a trading ship, but it is destroyed by the Kraken. The Black Pearl sails to Isla Cruces where the chest is buried, and Jack, Elizabeth and Norrington recover it. Will arrives with the key, planning to stab the heart to free his father, unaware that whoever stabs the heart becomes the next captain of the Flying Dutchman. Norrington wants the heart to regain his position in the Navy, while Jack is primarily interested in becoming immortal, able to sail the ocean waters for all time.
Quickly, the argument about the heart's fate flares tempers, and a three-way sword fight breaks out between Jack, Will and Norrington. While Pintel and Ragetti try to steal the chest, Jones' crew arrives on the island, forcing Elizabeth, Pintel and Ragetti to fight them together, causing the chest to be dropped. Jack unlocks the chest, finds the heart inside, and hides it in the jar of dirt Tia Dalma gave him. Norrington spirits away the heart and the Letters of Marque, Jack believing the heart is still in the jar. Later, the Flying Dutchman attacks the Black Pearl which escapes the Dutchman until then attacked by the Kraken. Jack tries to flee, but returns to help defeat the Kraken, wounding it with an explosion, but the ship is heavily damaged and most of the crew are dead, leaving only Jack, Will, Elizabeth, Gibbs, Pintel, Ragetti, Cotton and Marty. Jack orders everyone to abandon ship, but Elizabeth, having realized that the Kraken is only after Jack and not the ship or crew, chains him to the mast to ensure everyone else's escape.Jack frees himself, but the Kraken rises up behind him. In a final act of defiance, Jack launches himself into the Kraken's maw, and the monster takes the Pearl down to the depths, which Jones watches from his telescope. Jones then opens the chest to find the heart missing, which is delivered to Beckett by Norrington. The surviving members of the Black Pearl return to Tia Dalma, who suggests they retrieve Jack from the afterlife, but recommends a captain who knows those waters. Then, to everyone's surprise, a resurrected Captain Barbossa arrives, asking about the fate of "his" ship. | comedy, mystery, fantasy, murder, cult, historical fiction, action, romantic, entertaining, sci-fi | train | imdb | This movie has everything a good blockbuster should have: star cast, special effects, a healthy dose of drama, romance, a villain (so to say), sadly also a rather weak story, with an ending just calling for "part three" (just like the last second in the Matrix trilogy) I didn't get that feeling, that the adventure is finished somehow, more like a soap opera ending.
There's a cliff-hanger ending that leaves you wanting the watch the next one the moment the credits start rolling.If you like the first movie, you'll like the second...
The slapstick comedy involving the various sequences on the cannibal island and the water mill are amusing, the scenes at sea with the Flying Dutchman and the Kraken draw gasps, and, as ever, the antics of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow brings endless pleasure.
In the end, 'Dead Man's Chest' is a roller-coaster-ride of a movie that thoroughly exploits every minute of its two-and-a-half-hour running time, ending with a final cliffhanger that leaves people feeling excited yet frustrated.
I just came out of the movie 30 minutes ago (as it was released a day before America over here).The movie is visually stunning - the CGI is top rate and you won't spend the whole film groaning about how fake things appear on the screen.Acting was brilliant.
After narrowly escaping the gallows--with the help of his friends Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley)--and reclaiming his cursed Black Pearl, it still seems Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) has a few more fish to fry.
From a hair-raising sword fight on top of a spinning water wheel to the way Davy Jones and his crew look--all water logged and crustacean-like--the film's production value is simply amazing.
Returning producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski make sure the action sequences, the sets, the costumes, the make-up and the special effects give the audience a familiarity to the original while also taking them on a whole new adventure.
And for those who'll want more adventure after the movie ends, Dead Man's Chest gives us a promise the third installment will be just as much pirate fun.9/10.
I will make my comments without spoilers so that people who haven't yet seen the movie can read it.One of the worst things that can happen in a sequel to a successful movie is that audiences will feel like they're seeing the same movie again with slight variations on the theme.
The rest of the cast are adequate.The dialogues are funny and witty and the comedy works but at times, 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' felt more like a repetition than a continuation of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'.
Not to mention, it's continuous (a cliffhanger ending) so the third one better be good.For me, what stood out more about this movie than the first one were the amazing outdoorsy locations and the action scenes.
Most friends disagree with me on this, but.....hey, we all look at films differently.This was the best "Pirates" to me because it had some fascinating new characters; it did not have the sappy or annoying characters and romance of the first film; it had just the right mix of action and lulls and it had some super special-effects and humor.
This movie isn't short, but none of the action scenes go on too long and so the entire two-and-a-half hours is entertaining.Also (and this goes for all three of the movie) it looks absolutely super on Blu-Ray. It's the reason POTC is often shown in electronic stores promoting high-definition televisions because this film is about as good-looking as it gets.
Jack Farrow, who wears almost has much makeup as the late Tammy Fae Bakker.) Anyway, between the battles of both land and sea, something interesting always is going on or being said in this movie, making it a fun ride all the way..
The ending not only makes you laugh, it makes you think "What the hell?" and will make you eagerly anticipate (major understatement) the third installment.There are some great lines, the same fun characters, an inventive and fun story, and some brilliantly staged action sequences.In summation: SEE IT!
Arriving hours early was worth it to be first in line to see this film - As good as, if not better than the first film, special effects abound, sinister new characters are uncovered, spectacular stunts and fights on several occasions, all with an unexpected cliffhanger ending only adding to the suspense of waiting a year the third in the series!
The acting is exquisite, the special effects are astonishing, the music is inspiring, the jokes are endless, the storyline is flawless and the ending leaves you satisfied though still wanting more and wishing that we were just a little bit closer to May, 2007.The characters in this film are just as amazing and intricate as the first.
The islands of the Caribbean act as a playground for each scene, complimenting the storyline and actors.I heard a bad review of this movie before it's premiere date and I thought I may be in for a disappointment.
I think that anyone who does not feel impressed with this film did not understand what they were going to see; a sequel to a fun, summer, popcorn movie with scary effects, interesting twists, and many surprises.
From the first viewing it is difficult to realize how profound the film is.Behind external beauty, a good game of actors hides a famously twisted, dynamic and very clever plot.Everyone who does not like the picture, I advise you to review it more carefully, listening to the dialogue of the characters and trying to understand the motives of their actions.
They usually put in a hell of a lot of money, they may throw in some very good-looking actors, probably some expensive things like muscle cars (The Fast and The Furious), some really good looking girls, explosions, bad one-liners, POP CULTURE REFERENCES AND MAYBE EVEN SOME POINTLESS CAMEO APPEARANCES, bad dialog and a really uninteresting or boring plot...
Davy Jones is a complex, dark and very original kind of movie villain and one of the best I have seen in a long time.
wouldn't it be dramatic if ...", got the money to make a movie and they did.Leave it to the fanfiction writers to write sequels to carry on the stories by adding stupid dramatic plot twists that didn't even exist in the first one.
How many times are they going to repeat the same rum joke?!?!I was considering giving the movie a 2 or maybe even a 3 due to the great visual effects, but topped with the terrible story, awful writing, poor score, and pretty much ruining the first one for me, I just couldn't bring myself to do it..
The scenery is absolutely breathtaking at times and the special effects for Davy Jones' character are absolutely remarkable.Ask yourself: how many scenes of a giant calamari slowly crushing sailboats can you stand before you start thinking of something else?I had the same feeling coming out of there as I had when I came out of Waterworld: How does one ruin such a great premise?Grrrr..
For example: "Let's see, Will Turner will strike a deal with a diminutive bad guy in order to save his future wife, who ends up escaping anyway." There was no real character development, or even any sort of resolution.The last hour or so of the film featured a giant octopus eating a ship for the third time, a long drawn out and boring sword fight rolled into a chase scene, neither of which were entertaining and an ending that offered no resolution to the film and actually felt like a slap in the face.After the film was finished, my friends and I sat in our seats in disbelief as we felt robbed of not only our $6.50 but our dignity after being tricked into watching a 150-minute long trailer for the next installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
What is amazing is, with so much money spent -- simple competent editing is amiss; the movie is not only way too long, but it also feels strangely disjointed in many scenes; basic POV shots, reaction shots, timing are not there.
Pirates of the Caribbean:The Curse of the Black Pearl is one of my favorite movies - it introduced me (and few other people in the world) to a certain Captain Jack Sparrow.
and other sea-creatures and the cursed crew of the Flying Dutchman.Acting: Depp is hilariously great and awesome, Bloom and Knightley improve a lot, Bill Nighy is fun and of course the smaller parts are all cleverly cast and wonderfully executed.Action: One of the best I've seen!
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest seemed like a bad idea even up to a day before release ruining a great movie like Pirates of the Caribbean never the less I thought it would be good...but if it should have been made I argued.After seeing it I realize how wrong I was...the movie though worlds different from the first links problem more closely to the upcoming At World's End. Though this does some have jokes rooting from the original and the greed, pirates, swords, explosions, action, comedy, betrayal, lies, and heart pulsing action is all there and amplified.
Elizabeth, Will, and Jack show great character development and the story takes off leaving fans begging for Summer 2007.Deffiantly 2006's High Point alongside X-Men 3...Dosn't disappoint like Superman Returns.This movie will leave your heart pulsing out of your chest, mouth opened, and eyes peeled....Pirates of the Caribbean 2 is definitely worth the admission...definitely worth the DVD..............................definitely worth the sequel.....best part of it all you don't have to bid farewell to your favorite characters until next and final movie...Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End...Summer 2007..
Probably the best sequel I have seen since The Empire Strikes Back ( yes I am old enough to have seen it at the movies when it was released but young enough to have followed Johnny since 21 Jump Street and Teen Beat magazine) Not to mention the fact that Orlando Bloom reminds me of a young Johnny Depp.Makes me want to go to Disney in Florida just to go on the Pirates Of the Caribbean Ride so I can feel like part of the cast.I am truly excited and anxiously awaiting Pirate 3 in May 2007 PS: My son dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow for the movie, braids, sword, compass and rings.
This is an insult for the audience, an insult to a man's intelligence, even a kid realize that an octopus (that looks like foamy plastic) isn't enough to make a movie of more than 2 hours long,If you still have some self-care and dignity, don't bother watching this piece of crap.
The first one (curse of the black pearl) is a great piece of entertainment for all ages, you can enjoy it with your family or your girlfriend (with some popcorn) and have a good, fun, brain off time, but this sequel is like you are watching an episode of seinfield!
It didn't capture any magic of the first film and it was too damn long.While the acting and directing is good, the writing falls flat as the plot is way too confusing and it doesn't interest you enough to even try to figure it out.The only good part was the scene towards the end where they're at the island- but that isn't enough reason to see the movie..
The plot feels like it's pulled and twisted just so that they can stretch this movie to an uncomfortable 2.5 hours and leave the story open at the end so they can make 4 or 5 more of these atrocities.
I loved the first POTC and am a big fan of Johnny Depp's movies, and indeed the man himself is pretty much flawless again in this sequel.
After seeing this film and being totally disappointed and bored, I went home and watched the original "Pirates of the Caribbean".
The main characters boarded and left the Flying Dutchman so rapidly I lost track of what ship they were supposed to be on after a while.I'm afraid the film has fallen into the Star Wars trap of replacing plot with special effects.Watch the first Pirates and then this one and you will see what I mean..
Unfortunately most movies that end up in theaters fall into the latter category." "Dead Man's Chest" puts the same lovable and unique characters from "Black Pearl" into a very very long string of meaningless situations.
It is always fun to watch him, and he contributes some to the limited entertainment value of this film.I expect that many movie goers who saw this on the big screen walked out with stars spinning around their heads...
Jack Sparrow just might be my favorite franchise movie character since Indiana Jones (incidentally, Spielberg would be proud of this film I think.
This movie had the same kind of humor and action as "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," however, it becomes entangled in a lot of emotional grief that never comes to an end.
Man,these Summer Blockbusters keep getting better and better.One after another,each better than the previous ones.I'm sorry Superman,but those bloody pirates are just so damn good that ,you've got to fall in love with them.Pirates of Caribbean is the film that shows what Summer Blockbuster is all about.They don't make movies like these you know.It was endlessly entertaining,more entertaining and fun than anything all year.Not even the Man of Steel could pull this off.With all the cast returning and more,this is a joy ride that you have to pay twice to fully experience it and feel it.I was astounded and rocked.This film was awesome.The film begins with Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner being arrested just before they were about to get married.They are accused of letting Jack Sparow escape.So in return Will must find Sparrow to help himself.While Elizabeth tries to escape, follows Will.Settling down with his ship and crew, Jack Sparrow is pretty much hidding something himself.But things of course can't be well for a damned Pirate,when a squid like pirate Davvy Jones reminds Jack that he has an old debt to pay.So,of course ,the dishonestly honest Jack must seek help from Elizabeth and Will Turner and there we go again.Another wild ride that will simply leaves you completely satisfied.One hour to this film and I found myself completely clueless.All that was taking place on screen made no sense.With all its silliness and half baked jokes really left me terribly unsatisfied and disappointed.It filled me with doubt that the rest of the film is pretty much gonna be like this.But then by the start of the second hour,the film picks up like a person can spot a pirates lie.Then it enters back to territory that made the first film so endlessly enjoyable.The smartness and clever side of the script emerged and thrills,surprises and incredible effects with huge excitement totally made me change my mind.And an ending that will leave you dying to see the third part.All that pretty much assured me that ,this sequel is exactly what I had expected.There's everything here for everyone.The thing that Superman Slightly lacked.Colorful ,fun Characters,smart dialogues,great epic-sized action.And of course,some really ,really awe-inspiring CGI effects.There are twists and surprising turns,especially towards the end ,where the fun gets even better ,scene after scene.Something great is always popping up.Though less superior than its already splendid first installment,we all loved the first one.And it concludes with a cliffhanger to leave you thirsty for the third.It's the kind of cliffhanger that Reloaded gave us,but its final installment didn't live up to expectations.But I can say this much that ,this films finale,or final installment will rock the world.The Production designs,the sets were unbelievable!They were breath taking.They were so elaborate and detailed that they meet the standards of LORD OF THE RINGS films.It gives the film an other-worldly look.As if the characters were in some kind of a fantasy world.Thank someone,that we have a versatile actor like Johnny Depp.The only actor who I would thank.Having his presence throughout the film was like having a magician constantly pulling out tricks that are all satisfying.Depp,is the first and best reason to watch this film,just like the first one.Knightley is a surprise here.The first one didn't develop her character much,but here she elevates and pushes the boundaries.She really has a lot to do here.Bloom was just like he was in the first one.But his character discovers something that will leave the audience surprised.That is his father.What a surprise it was to finally see the legendary Bootstrap Bill,and Sarsgard was perfection.And then there is the always fabulous Billy Nighy.Where the first one had Geoffrey Rush,here we have Nighy to give you a great baddie.Who never had disappointed me with his performance.So goes for the rest of the cast with a few new additions,such as Naomi Harris.Kudos,to Director Gore Verbinski,and Producer Bruckheimer and Ted Elliot& Terry Rosio for their smart,witty writing.They all give you the very definition of "sequels better than the original".They give you a grand spectacle.They really give you everything you deserve to get from a summer Blockbuster.It's a film that we deserve after numerous Blockbusters that didn't fully satisfied us.This film boosts a better score than the first one too.This one is purely fantasy.The Squid looking Pirates are hardly believable,I mean did they ever existed in really world?Whereas the first one had a more believable Bad Pirates.In this film,the Pirates are more Fantasy-like.And somehow detaches itself from reality.It doesn't occur to you that this might've happened.I mean Pirates that look like squids can hardly be bought.It features a lot more weird creatures,that are actually pirates and more.Giant sea monsters and creatures that are very well created with CGI.And that's one of the few big flaws this film has.It doesn't make itself realistic,nor does it take itself too seriously.When there's something dramatic and serious is suppose to happen.And yes,it's a lot more darker than the first one. |
tt0183505 | Me, Myself & Irene | Charlie Baileygates (Jim Carrey) is a veteran Rhode Island State Police trooper who has been taken advantage of by others, starting with his former wife Layla (Traylor Howard). Despite his friends warning him of Layla's infidelity, Charlie refused to accept she was in an affair, even after she gave birth to triplet black boys, until she ran off with her midget genius black lover, Shonté, abandoning her children. In the present, Charlie has raised the triplets as his own , Jamal, Lee Harvey, and Shonté Jr (Anthony Anderson, Jerod Mixon, Mongo Brownlee), likewise geniuses, but huge in size as compared to their biological father. Charlie is continually abused by others. As a result of years of such treatment, Charlie develops a split personality named Hank to deal with the confrontations Charlie avoids. Emerging whenever Charlie is under extreme stress, Hank is an over-the-top, rude, and violent persona reminiscent of characters played by Clint Eastwood. A psychiatrist prescribes medication to keep Charlie's Hank personality at bay.
Believing that Charlie needs a vacation, his commanding officer (Robert Forster) orders him to escort Irene Waters (Renée Zellweger) from Rhode Island to Massena, New York, because she reportedly committed a hit-and-run. Irene insists the hit-and-run accusation is a lie told by Dickie (Daniel Greene), her mob-connected ex-boyfriend, and by corrupt police officers in his employ, to keep her from revealing Dickie's illegal activities to the proper authorities. In Massena, Charlie prepares to turn over Irene to two United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agents, when a hitman with a contract on Irene's life attempts to assassinate her, killing one of the EPA agents. Charlie keeps Irene safe, and they flee, accidentally leaving his medication behind, allowing the Hank personality to emerge frequently. Meanwhile, the FBI suspects that Charlie is responsible for the murder of the EPA agent. FBI agents begin pursuing him and Irene, as do crooked police officers in Dickie's pay, Boshane (Richard Jenkins) and Gerke (Chris Cooper). The chase becomes a media spectacle, alerting Charlie's sons to his predicament.
Charlie and Irene decide to return to Rhode Island, developing a bond along the way. Though Irene is taken by Charlie's personality, the frequent emergences by Hank worry her, though his more aggressive personality keeps them out of trouble. Along the way they pick up Casper aka "Whitey" (Michael Bowman), an albino waiter from a restaurant who claims he killed his entire family in the past. While stopping at a motel, Charlie discovers how he might be able to suppress Hank and goes to have a conversation with Irene about it, and they sleep together. The next morning, Hank reveals that actually it was he who slept with Irene. In the confusion, they are almost ambushed by Boshane and Gerke, but Charlie's sons, having found them, create a distraction, stealing a police helicopter, they call in a false report, stating Charlie and Irene have been spotted in the woods nearby, allowing Charlie and Irene to leave without knowing about the police who had left before they exited their room, leaving Casper behind.
They board a train back to Rhode Island. Dickie boards the same train, unable to rely on his henchmen to stop Charlie and Irene. He kidnaps her, and Charlie gives chase, working together with Hank to save her. Hank then appears to try to stop Charlie from rescuing her, but Charlie finally stands up for himself against his own fears, thus permanently nullifying Hank. As Charlie tries to wrestle her back and disarm Dickie on a bridge, Dickie shoots off his thumb. Dickie is then hit from behind by a lawn dart thrown by Casper, killing him. Charlie and Irene fall from the bridge into a river below, where Charlie's sons arrive to help rescue them. Regrouping with Casper, Charlie apologizes for making him kill again, but Casper reveals he made up his backstory due to the fact that Charlie talked too much at the motel and scared him. The police arrive but quickly learn of Irene's plight and the corrupt cops working for Dickie. Gerke is arrested, Charlie is congratulated for bringing him to justice, and Irene is cleared of the charges against her.
Irene prepares to leave Rhode Island when she is pulled over by the police, but this proves only to be a diversion to allow Charlie to propose marriage to her, which she happily accepts.
The post-credits scene sees everyone looking for Charlie's thumb in the river, Whitey finds it but a fish eats it. | comedy, cult, flashback, absurd, humor, romantic | train | wikipedia | This is a Farrelly Brothers film with Jim Carrey in the lead role, what were they expecting?
And Me, Myself and Irene is one of the most gut bustingly funny films I've watched in months.The story concentrates on a Rhode Island police officer named Charlie Bailey-Gates (Carrey), a downtrodden member of the community who everyone else in the town regularly takes advantage of and who hasn't been the same since his wife left him for a midget limo driver.
Shortly after this happens, he meets a down on her luck woman called Irene (Renee Zellweger) who is in serious trouble with the law and events conspire to send the duo on a wild cross country journey to clear their names of murder.To say this lends itself to some painfully low brow humour would be an understatement and whether or not you will enjoy the movie rests largely on what your reaction to the phrase "Jim Carrey being hit with nun-chucks by an angry black midget" is.
Carrey, fresh off playing more restrained roles in the previously mentioned films looks to be having a total riot letting himself loose and his rubbery faced contortions are hilarious.
Throw in some very, very funny scenarios involving rubber dildos, albino waiters who may secretly be serial murderers and tarantulas and you have a highly entertaining turn.Its not all about Carrey though and some of the best moments come from his three sons.
It also leads to the immortal line "no bitches after eleven." So before you all start complaining about this being crude, offensive, low brow trash and how we should all be watching Aguirre: Wrath of God or The Seventh Seal to really get the best out of cinema, consider this: not all movies have to be po-faced musings on the fates of man.
Sometimes, all you really want is crude, offensive, low brow trash and this one was so hilarious, I had to stop the DVD three times because I was laughing so much I kept missing half the jokes..
One day, I was at the video rental place and I decided to rent this because I like most of the Farrely brothers movies, and I also think Jim Carrey is hilarious.
What I got was a big surprise, a hilarious movie that looks dumb on the surface, but really makes you laugh out loud.In the movie, Jim Carrey plays a man with a split personality named Hank.
There were so many funny moments in this movie, from when Jim Carrey nurses on the lovely young mother to the very end when the three boys leave us with "Thank you for watching our **** movie!" I actually got all of my friends to watch this movie with me because I was so excited about it and it's already almost 7 years old.
This movie is made by the famous Farrelly brothers and then you can of course expect how it is,funny from beginning to end.
This movie like all the other Farrelly movies,take up issues which most people would find shocking.They joke about things that is so embarrassing and funny.
Jim Carrey is brilliant in his role as both "Hank" and "Charlie." The problem with rating any comedy is that what's funny for one person is repulsive, boring or stupid to the next.
(And, for the record, I'm also not too fond of Carrey's over-the-top style, but I pick and choose to make sure I see him in roles I would like.) The Farrelly brothers, known for their irreverent comedy, made this movie enjoyable and hilarious.
(If you've never seen a Farrelly movie, you'll need to know this!) This is not laden with "Oscar-quality" performances at all, but just something to watch when you want to laugh and not think.
Watch it with good friends who love to laugh -- I think we can all find something like Charlie in all of us..
There were easily enough laughs throughout the movie to keep me entertained, and Jim Carrey was his usual talented self.
Jim Carrey's comedy antics (not seen this good in 3 years) makes a come back thanks to the Farrelly brothers (Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary) who make their 2nd collaboration.
Here, Carrey plays a gentle police officer who gets screwed in life so many times, he grows a new personality that is incredibly bad.
Carrey plays 2 characters here- 1 (Charlie Baileygates) is a little funny, but the second (Hank) brings out one of Carrey's best performances yet.
It'd be unfair to say that Jim Carrey is the cog that makes this all work (seeing as there are so many other necessary pieces to this puzzle), but he's playing his physical comedy to the hilt, and it's some entertaining stuff.
As a road movie, it's not nearly as focused as "Dumb and Dumber" (really tends to wander), but there's some genuinely funny material here.7/10 Oh, and the music that plays when Jim Carrey snaps is priceless!.
The people who made this film are known for their sleazy comedies.That overall sleazy feel to this dark-slapstick comedy makes me hesitate to recommend it, but if a lot of "language" doesn't bother you - or dildo jokes, believe-it-or-not, this will entertain you..
Let me start off by saying I really liked There's Something About Mary, and I also liked Jim Carrey in all of his movies that I've seen (The Mask, Ace Ventura, Truman Show, Man in the Moon).
However, this movie just doesn't do it for me.On paper, the casting of Jim Carrey as a man with split personalities is great - the second coming of Jerry Lewis ought to be perfectly able to play two different characters merely by changing facial expressions.
jim carrey is a great physical comedian, but this movie is a dog.
I could not think of the ingredients which would be required to top this movie's combination of poor story line and plot, senseless message and tasteless gags directed toward blacks, little people, Albino's, the ENTIRE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, people with mental diseases, and trivializing acts of violence.
But the only part I don't like about it is there is no need for all the swearing, there is a sware word every 1 minute, but Jim Carrey plays well as Charley Bailygates, it's an eye boggling laugh a minute roller-coaster and I almost had a wee in my pants it was so funny, the cast did well to finish the film without doing mistakes and I just want to congratulate all the crew and actors, publishers, directors, for all they have done to make this film...
It's good to see Jim Carrey back with the brothers that really made his career, however this isn't Dumb and Dumber.
Carrey does show a lot of talent as the film progresses, especially when Hank and Charlie are both fighting over the body at the same time.
At times the film would have you laughing hysterically at it's substance and take it a step further, only making everyone in the audiences laughter change to disgust - in There's Something About Mary the joke would still stay hysterical even if it got too carried away with itself.
There is a lot of funny stuff in here (Jim Carrey's enormous genius African-American sons are a riot), but most of it is not very well timed or directed.
Warning alarms start off for "Me, Myself & Irene": can I get into the Farrelly brothers frame of mind and enjoy a movie I anticipate will be mostly low-brow but, hopefully, amusing?
Jim Carrey triumphs in this movie in which he is reteamed with the directors of Dumb and Dumber.
Unfortunately, the intended picture for the evening was sold out, so we decided to go with the last-minute, spur-of-the-moment decision of "Me, Myself and Irene" (as I had already seen most of the other movies out).I must say, as much as I like Jim Carrey's movies, and as funny as I think he is, I was apalled at the quality of this film.
A few of the gags could be found funny, but all in all, it's almost one of those movies you don't want to tell anyone you actually saw.I, personally, didn't like it, but some people go with it, soooo....
But if you want to laugh like you may have at the other popular Farrelly brothers movies ("There's something about Mary," "Dumb and Dumber," and "Kingpin"), then this movie is definitely for you..
Me, Myself, and Irene is one funny film directed by The Farrelly Brothers and starring one of my favorite comedians, Jim Carrey.
I don't know but this is probably Jim Carrey's best role he has ever had in any film or tied with Dumb & Dumber.
I can't decide but how Jim Carrey portrays his character as that cool Hank dude, it just makes me die laughing.
The best moments of this movie include Carreys' considerable physical humour, which is occasionally let run a bit too long a la Jerry Lewis.
The crudely intellectual humour of his 3 "sons" is fun; make sure you see this flick with a few good friends so you can chorttel through the nastier parts and on to the gems.The squeaky-clean Disney voiceover is an amusing counterpoint to some of Jim Carreys' stunts like beating himself up or trying to pee straight into a toilet after a night of sex with Rene; the best part of our night was when the female population of our audience demanded, but did not get, and explanation for this last biological happenstance.The "rescue" of Carreys thumb, released at the end of the movie, was not worth the wait through all the credits.Duval.26.
In the Farrelly Brothers' `Me, Myself & Irene,' Jim Carrey gets to run through his considerable bag of tricks playing a Jekyll and Hyde-type character who, as a Rhode Island state trooper, finds himself escorting a young woman back to the authorities in Upstate New York.
No movie written and directed by the Farrellys and starring Carrey and Renee Zellweger can fail to elicit its fair share of laughs.
Regrettably, for all its moments of inspired zaniness and silliness, `Me, Myself & Irene' finds both Carrey and the Farrelly Brothers marking time and resting on their laurels.
I rented this flick along with Blue Streak to watch with my girlfriend.I like Jim Carrey and his performances in The Mask, Liar Liar and others.
I was expecting more from Carrey/Zellweger and the Farrelly brothers (their previous effort There's something about Mary was great).As a big Carrey fan I thought this would be worth a watch but how wrong I was !
I did not like this movie mainly because it was so off base compared to what Jim Carrey has done before.
(Mind you, I've voted for hundreds of films on IMDb and only a few of them have got a 1 so far) The beginning of the movie actually has some funny moments, and I even laughed at a few points which is exceptional for a Jim Carrey movie.
"Pull my finger" is a classy joke compared to most of this film.It's amazing Jim Carrey agreed to participate in this movie at this point in his career.
There also was a very racist suggestion in this movie that black people will use "F" every other word and act like hoodlums no matter how intelligent they are, even if they are raised by an upstanding white state trooper.I can only recommend this film to teenagers and street hoodlums who think that the more shockingly disgusting, the funnier.
OK, Jim Carrey has been in a number of funny kid movies ("The Mask", "Ace Ventura", "Batman Forever", "Liar, Liar", and "Dumb and Dumber").
So we decided to take the kids to see another funny Jim Carrey movie.
In Me, Myself & Irene, he plays a cop named Charlie that has been singled out throughout his life, to the point where he forms a split personality disorder, and his alter ego, Hank, comes alive.
He then meets Renee Zellweger's character and he goes with her across country to escort her.This is another great Jim Carrey flick.
But nonetheless, the movie offers very funny lines, great chemistry of Carrey and Zellweger, and has a clever concept behind it.Bottom line, hilarious movie from the directors of Dumb and Dumber..
As others have pointed out, the film is a little like 'Dumb & Dumber' but with Jim Carrey playing off himself (his other personality) rather than Jeff Daniels, and fans of the Golden Globe winning actor are likely to enjoy him strutting his stuff here.
It's, just like Dumb and Dumber but not as great as Dumb and Dumber, a movie entirely created for the purpose of making people laugh.
Irene and Charlie (and Hank of course) end up on the run from corrupt cops.It's a fun movie.
Charlie's three sons have an obviously favourite word (let's say it starts with "mother" and includes two more syllables and it occurs over and over and over.) Basically, it's neither Carrey's best movie, nor is it his worst.
Carrey has reunited with the Farrely brothers in a film, with a more misfire of laughs than successful ones, though still it's adequately funny, the setting of story, that being in Rhode Island, is interesting.
Meanwhile Charlie's three black sons get involved in finding him.The film works because Carrey gives the schizophrenic role all his heart and the Farrelly brothers (the directors/writers) go to extremes with the gags, as usual.
Also Working on its advantage, this Farrelly brothers directed comedy delivers some really memorable & funny moments in the goings-on.
On the whole, The Farrelly brothers deliver another good comedy, that rides high on Carrey's impeccable talent..
Me,Myself and Irene is a great movie with a well written storyline and a terrific comedic cast.Its another hilarious comedy from the Farrelly brothers,while it is certainly no Dumb & Dumber or There's Something About Mary,it is still a very fun film with their usual style of offensive comedy,sugar coated with pure laughs.Jim Carrey is fantastic as Charlie/Hank, he was able to play both characters very well despite the little time he was given to jump from Charlie to Hank,and that just shows what a great character actor Carrey really is,and there was also surprisingly great chemistry between him and Renee Zellweger.Its not hilarious all the way through,and I think at times it got a bit more serious than it needed to be,the parts revolving around Irene's ex-boyfriend and any of his associates were very dark and contained little to no moments of comic relief,which I found unnecessary.
Certainly not the Farrelly brothers or Jim Carreys finest work,but Me,Myself and Irene is still a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good comedy.
Jim Carrey portrays a "schizophrenic" Charlie / Hank who develops two personalities as a result of his ruined marriage.While, this comedy is funny at nearly every turn, it's actually inaccurate about what condition, it's trying to play off.
Carrey shines in the spotlight, but second to him is definitely the sons to his character.There's a lot of jokes that can really make you laugh and a condition like D.I.D. is not usually seen as funny, but this movie can make it happen.
My first big surprise was that Jim Carrey starred in this film, which later turned out to be hilarious.
I knew from that point on that this film was going to awesome because the duo have created lots of funny movies, such as Dumb and Dumber, Osmosis Jones, and The Heartbreak Kid, which were amazing.
Jim Carrey really hasn't changed from what he does best, and that is making people laugh, but sometimes he goes too over-the-top with his acting.
If you like Jim Carrey as an actor then this film will appeal to you.
Me,Myself and Irene is another funny Farrely Brothers movie made purely for 2 hours of comedy.
The movie has many laughs that may be in bad taste but in the good way.
I can't describe it but when I first saw this movie I thought it was horrible and something Jim Carrey never should have touched.
people should realize that the Farrellys do this kind of stuff in their movies.This is definitely work watching if you want a good laugh!
Have not watched very many films of Jim Carrey and this particular film had me laughing through out the entire film.
Renee Zellweger,(Irene Waters) meets up with Officer Bailey Gates/Hank Evans) played by Jim Carrey who has a split personality and is constantly fighting with himself and Hank Evans.
This movie is replete with stereotypical clichés one after the other, but it was still fun to watch...when you're not uncomfortable, or feeling sorry for Charlie (Jim Carrey), that is.The problem with this one is that Charlie is so pathetic, that you really find it difficult to view him as a hero in this situation.
This is the kind of movie Jim Carrey was born to play.
And then there's Me, Myself and Irene.Carrey plays Charlie Bailygates, a Long Island cop.
And as he himself puts it, unless Charlie learns to deal with his life on his own, Hank is going to have to move in for good.Carrey plays polar opposites in this movie, and it rocks.
This movie simply is hilarious, and a must see for any Jim Carrey fan..
People say Jim Carrey is an over-actor.Well, he pretty much overacted in Ace Ventura, but in this movie god, he is GOOD!
He played both guys as if he were two people and I almost believed that there were two of Jim Carrey.
Jim Carrey delivers tons of laughs once again, is there a movie where he doesn't make us laugh?
Knowing it's a Farrelly brothers movie you have to be prepared for some low-brow humor, and this film provides it.
Well I personally do not like such movies, particularly such dumb 'sexual' oriented comedies.There are a plenty of disgusting scenes & moments.Pathetic !4/10 |
tt2172584 | Maps to the Stars | Agatha arrives in Los Angeles and employs limousine driver Jerome to take her to the site of the former house of child star Benjie Weiss. Agatha has severe burns to her face and body, and takes a copious amount of medication. Benjie visits a child suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the hospital; however, the girl later dies. Benjie’s father, Dr. Stafford Weiss, is a TV psychologist who is treating aging actress Havana Segrand for abuse she suffered at the hands of her deceased mother, also an actress. Havana’s agent struggles to get Havana a role in a remake of her mother’s film Stolen Waters. Havana routinely hallucinates about the deceased younger version of her mother.
Benjie and his mother, Cristina, negotiate a role for Benjie in a film as his comeback after drug rehabilitation. At the suggestion of Carrie Fisher, Havana hires Agatha, whom she had met on Twitter, as a personal assistant. Agatha continues to see Jerome, and a romance forms, though Jerome appears resistant at first. Stafford learns through Havana that Agatha has returned to L.A. Agatha is Stafford and Cristina's daughter – however, they shun her completely, with Cristina breaking down at the thought of Agatha contacting Benjie.
Using Havana’s role in Stolen Waters to gain access to the production lot, Agatha visits Benjie on set. A schizophrenic, Agatha tells him that she has returned from a sanatorium to make amends for setting the fire that burned her and nearly killed him when he was seven. When Stafford learns Agatha visited Benjie, he visits her in a rage and warns her to leave L.A.
Benjie breaks his sobriety, getting high on GHB, and carelessly shoots the dog of his only friend. Agatha visits her mother, Cristina, to make amends. Cristina reveals that she and Stafford are brother and sister, making Agatha and Benjie children of incest – though Cristina insists it was unbeknownst to them at the time. Stafford comes home, and when Agatha tells him she knows about their familial relations, Stafford violently beats her, until Cristina intervenes. During the altercation, Agatha steals Cristina’s wedding ring. On set, Benjie is haunted by the girl from the hospital, and, during a hallucination, he strangles his young co-star. The child survives, though Benjie is now to be replaced in the film.
Havana requests Jerome as a driver and seduces him in the backseat of his parked limo in the driveway of her home, as Agatha watches from the window. Havana enters the house and berates Agatha for her poor performance at work and then verbally humiliates her when she finds that the girl has stained her expensive couch with menstrual blood. Agatha beats Havana to death with one of her awards.
Stafford returns home to see Cristina on fire outside near the pool. Benjie goes home, finds his father in a catatonic state and steals his ring. He then reunites with Agatha at the ruins of their old home that Agatha had burned down, and, on the fireplace hearth, the siblings/cousins perform an impromptu wedding ceremony with their parents' wedding rings. In order to commit suicide, they take an extreme amount of Agatha’s pills together, before lying down to watch the stars.
=== Underlying theme ===
Throughout the film, liberal quotings from Paul Éluard's poem Liberté meander "through each of the characters' lives," creating an underlying mantra for the film. | psychological, murder, dramatic, violence, haunting, satire, storytelling, sentimental | train | wikipedia | It has been called 'narratively unwieldy' by the 'tomato-meter', and the events in the latter stages of the film are certainly dramatic and in quick succession, however Maps to the Stars is a great, grotesque satire from David Cronenberg, who could also be described in such terms!Julianne Moore is brilliantly unhinged and crude as Havana Segrand, a deeply warped, neurotic actress who's haunted by the vivid apparition of her actress mother Clarice Taggart (Sarah Gadon) who died in a fire.
The ick abounds in "Maps to the Stars," a fascinating film that must be something like what watching a grisly car accident in slow motion would feel like.Julianne Moore won her Oscar for the bland and award-bait "Still Alice" last year, but THIS is the movie for which she should have won.
Swirling around these two characters are plot lines involving a troubled child star, lots and lots of incest, and enough frantic desperation to fill a sequel to "Mulholland Drive." Whenever I see a movie like this, I immediately wonder how true it is vs.
Before talking about "Maps to the Stars", I have to say that, two years ago, I had already seen and deeply appreciated David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis": this particular movie, as its ideal sequel, represent not only, as many people may suggest, a critic towards the Hollywood society, but a consideration about a larger group of people.
You would think that the soap operatic sentiments (incest, famous mothers, mysterious personal assistants, haughty child stars, and more) of Maps to the Stars would give it an enjoyably melodramatic edge, but instead of being an absurdly funny Hollywood satire, it mopes along with writhing cynicism until characters begin to set themselves on fire and get bludgeoned to death.
The characters are nasty, the story lines are nasty, and so are the expensive furnishings; you probably haven't seen a Tinsel Town film this contemptuous, but you certainly have had better times at the movies before.
Christina, mother to Benjie and wife to Stafford, acts as her son's agent, clinging to his fame as she tries to find meaning in her empty, sad life.Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore), one of Stafford's many patients, is an aging, irrelevant actress whose entire career has been overshadowed by her legendary mother (Sarah Gadon), who prematurely died in a house fire in the 1970s.
Making her way into town is the enigmatic Agatha (Mia Wasikowska), a young woman with troubling burns on the side of her body; she finds a job as Havana's personal assistant, but her dangerous connection with the Weiss family leaves her slightly cursed.If I've explained the plot well (and I probably haven't), then Maps to the Stars might sound enticing, carrying the same self-awareness of Twin Peaks while retaining the screeching satire of Sunset Boulevard.
I desperately wanted to like Maps to the Stars, (Julianne Moore and Mia Wasikowska are certainly two of Hollywood's most talented actresses and Cronenberg is a consistently interesting director), but it's much too unlikable to be anything other than dreary.
The ending, which is essentially a series of disturbing character offings, seems like an act of haste instead of a necessity.But if Maps to the Stars isn't as delicious as I wish it was, it never stops being watchable, in part to the cast (a round-table of fantastic performances) and in part to Cronenberg's unwaveringly creepy handling of it all.
It was not even entertaining in its awfulness.Talking about the film after (which is what one does while standing in lines at festivals), no one could figure out how Julianne Moore and John Cusack and other fine actors could have let themselves in for this.If you want to see a decent send-up of Hollywood, go back and watch The Player..
If you can sympathise with the following characters, you probably will like the movie:*Benji, ex-junkie teenager TV show star, jealous about child actors; *Cristina and Stafford, couple of weirdos parents, exploiting said teenage junkie; *Agatha, homicidal schizophrenic girl stalking her family; *Havana, washed up movie actress consumed by the desire of playing her mother's part in a remake.On the other hand, if you think that the rich are different from you and I and you find it difficult to feel empathy for a "poor" kid who will earn only 6 million per season instead of 8, you might not get the point of this flaccid tale.
The movie stars Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Robert Pattinson , Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Williams, Sarah Gadon and Evan Bird in pivotal roles.
If Cronenberg and team can somehow secure a short theatrical run for the film in the US by the end of the year, it will more or less guarantee an Oscar nomination for Moore—her fifth, overall, but first in over a decade.While the real star of the show is Julianne Moore, the acting all around is quite solid.
Based on prior reviews, i was expecting a mediocre drama that was going to be more boring than anything, but "Maps to the Stars" turned out to be a deep, dark and mentally provocative film, that mastered the art of building atmosphere and capturing the attention of the viewer.While the large majority of people who watch this will find it to be a highly estranged and seemingly pretentious affair, lying beneath the surface is a deeply esoteric premise seeming with gritty realism, and plenty of witty humor strewn throughout.Mia Wasikowska was excellent as always, and i could not help but draw parallels between her performance in "Maps to the Stars" and the movie "Stoker," which is an equally dark and gripping movie, making the two a must watch in precession.I loved the atmosphere that was built up in this movie, it was teeming with high strangeness that was perfectly executed with the sound, set and bizarre, yet all too real storyline."Maps to the Stars" is a more watchable and entertaining movie than Cronenberg's prior movie "Cosmopolis", and while it may not appeal to the masses; for any 'cinephile,' this movie is simply a must watch!9/10.
Other than the really bad makeup on John Cusack in some scenes, making him look like something from a community theater production, there really is nothing wrong...it's just no good.What we do have is the story of the most psychopathic, messed up family in the history of mankind.Not one character has a redeeming quality.
(Wagner's script is as tough and bitter as old lemons, but film-biz insider jokes help sweeten things up.) His stars in place, Cronenberg then starts sketching constellations, making connections between his characters until, with a sickened lurch, we realize the exact nature of the join-the-dots pictures that are being revealed.
As often happens with Cronenberg, we therefore wind up with a few risible and unbelievable points that makes the film look like a Z movie, just thinking about the scene with the dog and the reactions of the characters, or the final confrontation between Havana and Agatha — and Julianne Moore's terrible acting — is cringeworthy.It's real shame because the writing quality only serves a scenario whose plot is badly defined and weighed down by some very dispensable elements..
Daivd Cronenberg's 'Maps to the Stars' tells the convergent stories of several different characters in Hollywood: at first it appears as if this is one of those films about discrete lives that form a fine web of faint touches, but in fact it turns out that (most) of the characters have serious history, and are coming back together after events that have driven them apart.
The tradition is well inscribed in film and has on occasion produced interesting, albeit always slightly uncomfortable portraits.On some level, a director has to see himself as an outsider in order to pull off the trick and feign the objectivity required to cut open the Hollywood beast for our amusement and pleasure.But watching movies about Hollywood demands an acquired taste and I wouldn't blame anyone for showing disinterest at seeing what the flatulent gods of Mount Olympus look like riding the porcelain Honda.David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars" is on the money for its depiction of the Hollywood package; outrageous as all this behavior may seem to the casual viewer, it is dead on!
His archetype is inconspicuously missing from the satire, and yet, at this point in time, star directors themselves can be as grotesque as the actors they love to complain about.The film is intriguing - like watching a train wreck is intriguing - and it holds up for most of its narrative, offering surprises and payoffs on the mysteries it sets up along the way.I am critical of one contrived trajectory, that of the Havana character (played flawlessly by the great Julianne Moore) whose own karmic path confused me as an audience by shuffling around some clumsy metaphors that failed to really connect with the larger puzzle as a piece of "clean" screen writing.
The acting is excellent as in most Cronenberg films (Julianne Moore is a standout, but when isn't she), but I hope I can get this movie out of my system soon..
There's also a Hollywood director who will trade parts for sex, an entire clique of vapid child stars who enable Evan Bird's character, and equally shallow rivals.Like "The Player" which shifts gears midway from its broad ensemble satire to the perfect crime; or "Mullholland Drive" which segues to a Lesbian love story than a mobius strip; this film's satirical elements get overwhelmed midway for a more gruesome tragedy which makes the ending feel like something that's been tacked on to cover a superfluous detour from what was originally a better film..
Julianne Moore is very good as an actress with serious psychological issues, and her character having a desire to play her own mother really speaks for itself."Maps to the Stars" is an adequate thriller.
The latest film from director David Cronenberg, Maps to the Stars, is a satire on Hollywood in some ways and a bizarre drama in others.
Some of the cast of characters includes a psychologically damaged, fading actress at the tail end of her career trying to star in a movie remake which originally starred her own, more successful, mother whom she is obsessed with; then there is a 13 year old child actor at the opposite stage of his career who is just out of rehab and has serious behaviour issues; his father is a prominent self-help guru who can't even guide his own offspring, the other of which is a girl who has been newly released from a psychiatric hospital and is the catalyst and link between all of the characters.This is another somewhat challenging drama from Cronenberg.
Whether you're going to enjoy David Cronenberg's 'Maps to the Stars' really depends on what kind of mood you're in and what sort of film you're looking for.
And the two families' lives get intertwined when a young woman is released for mental incarceration and gets a job with the other.It's a pretty sterling cast – John Cusack, Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska are all prominent, but it's Julianne Moore who steals the show in every scene.
I must say that David Cronenberg has made one heck of a drama film called "Maps to the Stars" which is a satire on the downside and dark parts of fame showing that life is so complex and that our pasts can haunt us and affect us for a lifetime.
His wife Cristina (Olivia Williams) is hardly a stay-at-home mom as she manages the career of her 13-year-old child-star son Benjie (Evan Bird), who's looking to make a comeback after a stint in rehab.Connecting them all is the mysterious Agatha (Mia Wasikowska), who arrives in town and befriends a Hollywood limo driver/aspiring actor/aspiring screenwriter named Jerome (Robert Pattinson, from Cronenberg's earlier 2012 "Cosmopolis").
Agatha also carries with her some dark personal secrets - a number of very troubling, very dark personal secrets - that will certainly unravel as she ingratiates herself more deeply within the lives of the increasingly desperate and unhinged Havana, and the highly dysfunctional Weiss family."Maps to the Stars" is a confounding film, yes - but not in the way some of Cronenberg's earlier reality-distorting head-scratchers were, like "Videodrome," "Naked Lunch," or "eXistenZ." No, "Maps to the Stars" is more perplexing in its multiple, but intersecting story lines, back-stories, and characters.
And Robert Pattinson's Jerome appears to be the only sane character in the film, and the only one who comes out of this film relatively unscathed - physically and psychologically.) You aren't really meant to like any of the characters, as that is in line with the film's portrayal of the insulated depravity and overall insanity of Hollywood fame and the resulting psychological traumas endured by many of the principal cast members."Maps to the Stars" is certainly up there with many of David Cronenberg's other work.
In what is the second movie I see from David Cronenberg, Maps To The Stars offers us the dark side of Hollywood.
One of the Most Bizarre Movies You'll Ever See. Map to the Stars (2014) *** (out of 4) Incredibly bizarre spoof (I think) of Hollywood about Agatha Weiss (Mia Wasikowska), a burned young woman who comes to Hollywood and quickly gets a job for actress Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) who is trying to win a major role.
While all of this is going on Agatha becomes friends with a limo driver (Robert Pattinson) but her real mission is to get back into her family, which consisted of her younger brother (Evan Bird), a current popular actor, who she earlier tried to kill and her parents (John Cusack, Olivia Williams).If my plot description makes MAP TO THE STARS sound weird and crazy then you'll be happy to know that I really couldn't do the story justice so the film itself is actually much weirder.
Cronenberg your so much better then this.Maps to the Stars follows the lives of the Weiss family - pure Hollywood royalty - including the father, a self-help guru, mother who dotes on 13-year-old Benji - fresh out of rehab and daughter Agatha a recently-released pyromaniac.I heard some mix things from Maps to the Stars and that's mostly the reviews it got and yes I do read other critics reviews and other websites like Rotten Tomatoes, but at the end of the day you can't trust RT sometimes, I mean Sharknado get's a 82% ?.
Kind of a cliché Cronenberg.The other real reason I watch this movie is because of Julianne Moore performance as she won Best Actress at The Cannes Film Festival and Anne Dorval was also nominated but didn't win.
Overall Maps to the Star is a movie that could have been something good coming from a director like David Cronenberg.
That's to be expected in a movie about Hollywood, but Julianne Moore's character is like a knife against your face.In the end I thought that it was a good movie, but not a great one.
Despite that, Maps to the Stars is a thoroughly entertaining blast of entertainment from the great David Cronenberg and features amazing performances from the entire cast including an amazing turn for Julianne Moore..
On occasion, there has been "A History of Violence" or "Eastern Promises," but usually, it's more "Crash" and "Dead Ringers." "Maps to the Stars" did not help me become more of a fan.Yet another film that made no real sense to me and left me wondering..."WTF did I just watch?" I really hoped this would be a satirical look at Hollywood through the eyes of a Canadian nut job, but instead, what could have been a truly disturbing and great film spiralled into typical Cronenberg incomprehensible ridiculousness.However, Pattinson?
In the heart of Hollywood, Havana Segrand(Julianne Moore), an aging actress tries to play the role of a remake of a film her mother starred in.
But what makes Maps to the Stars for me such a captivating experience is that these are people in some earth-bound reality, but they are for the most part consumed by their own sense of self-worth either due to their pasts and legacy in Hollywood (Julianne Moore's Havana with her deceased star mother; John Cusack as a best-selling kooky New-Age-like author), or those who are getting subsumed by it or those around (Evan Bird's young actor character Benjie, and his beleaguered mother played by Olivia Williams).It's a complicated film in ways that include it being a ghost story.
While the characters in this story, eventually revolving around the reappearance of Mia Wasikowska's character Agatha, who was away for years after starting a fire and nearly killing her family (Cusack, Williams, Bird), it's a strange mixture of just cutting, acidic satire on not so much the industry but what it does to people's self-worth - the parts to obtain, ageism, sex appeal, who's f***ing who over - and also with this sense of other spiritual beings messing with Benjie and Havana.I think what struck me the most was how straightforward Cronenberg presents these ghosts.
Map to the Stars was worth it to me to see Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikovska, and John Cusack act well in very interesting roles.
Cronenberg has collected a great ensemble cast featuring Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson, Olivia Williams, John Cusack and Mia Wasikowska in a film that explores the seamy underbelly of Hollywood, and how quite literally incestuous it is.
The movie stars Mia Wasikowska, Evan Bird, Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Olivia Williams and Robert Pattinson.
Now, as for whether their performances lead you to believe the film is worth your time or not, look below.Characters & StoryThe three main story lines are: Havana Segrand's (Julianne Moore) which deals with an actress who desperately wants to be in the remake of her mother's biggest film, perhaps in pursuit of closure; one young woman named Agatha (Mia Wasikowska), trying to make amends with Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack), Havana's reiki therapist; and one child star named Benjie (Evan Bird) who feels this new kid Roy (Sean Robertson), is stealing his spotlight.But what the overall film is about is the two actors, Havana and Benjie, making a comeback. |
tt0087803 | Nineteen Eighty-Four | Winston Smith is a man who lives in Airstrip One, the remnants of Britain broken down by war, civil conflict, and revolution. A member of the middle class Outer Party, Winston lives in a one-room London apartment flat. His sustenance consists of black bread, synthetic meals, and "Victory"-branded gin. Telescreens in every building, accompanied by microphones and cameras, allow the Thought Police to identify anyone who might compromise the Party's regime. Children are encouraged to inform the officials about potential thought criminals, including their parents.
Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, or "Minitrue", as an editor. He is responsible for historical revisionism; he rewrites records and alters photographs to conform to the state's ever-changing version of history itself, rendering the deleted people "unpersons"; the original documents are destroyed by fire in a "memory hole". Despite being good at his job, Winston becomes mesmerized by the true past and tries to get more information about it. In a place beside his flat's telescreen where he believes he cannot be seen, he begins writing a journal criticizing the Party and its enigmatic leader, Big Brother. By doing so, he commits a crime that, if discovered by the Thought Police, warrants certain death. Julia, a young woman who maintains the novel-writing machines at the ministry and whom Winston loathes, surreptitiously hands Winston a note confessing her love for him. Winston and Julia begin an affair after Winston realizes she shares his loathing of the Party, first meeting in the country, and eventually in a rented room at the top of an antiques shop. They believe that the shop, being located in a proletarian neighbourhood of London, is safe, as the room has no telescreen.
Weeks later, Winston is approached by O'Brien, an Inner Party member whom Winston believes is an agent of the Brotherhood—a secret underground society that intends to destroy the Party. They arrange a meeting at O'Brien's flat where both Winston and Julia swear allegiance to the Brotherhood. A week later, O'Brien clandestinely sends Winston a copy of "The Book", The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism by Emmanuel Goldstein, the publicly reviled leader of the Brotherhood. The Book explains the concept of perpetual war, the true meanings of the slogans "War is peace", "Freedom is slavery", and "Ignorance is strength", and how the Party can be overthrown through means of the political awareness of the proles (proletarians).
In a surprising turn, the Thought Police capture Winston along with Julia in their rented room. The two are then delivered to the Ministry of Love (Miniluv) for interrogation. Mr. Charrington, the shopkeeper who rented the room to them, reveals himself as a Thought Police agent. O'Brien is also an agent of the Thought Police. He is part of a special sting operation used by the police to find and arrest suspected thoughtcriminals. O'Brien interrogates and tortures him with electroshock, telling him that Winston can "cure" himself of his "insanity"—his manifest hatred for the Party—through controlled manipulation of perception. Winston confesses to crimes that O'Brien tells him to say that he has committed, but O'Brien understands that Winston has not betrayed Julia. O'Brien sends him to Room 101 for the final stage of re-education, a room which contains each prisoner's worst nightmare. Winston shouts "Do it to Julia!" as a wire cage holding hungry rats is fitted onto his face, thus betraying her.
After being put back into society, Winston meets Julia in a park. She admits that she was also tortured, and both reveal betraying the other. Later, Winston sits alone in the Chestnut Tree Cafe, troubled by memories which he is sure are lies. A raucous celebration begins outside, celebrating Oceania's "decisive victory" over Eurasian armies in Africa, and Winston imagines himself as a part of the crowd. Winston feels he has at last ended his "stubborn, self-willed exile" from the love of Big Brother—a love Winston returns quite happily as he looks up in admiration at a portrait of Big Brother. | brainwashing, alternate reality, satire, dramatic | train | wikipedia | And the great Cyril Cusack does a classic turn as Charrington, the pawnshop proprietor.Right from the opening scene, in which we look in on a screening of a short propaganda film, brilliantly conceived and executed by Radford, during the daily "two minutes hate", climaxing in Dominic Muldowney's memorable, genuinely stirring national anthem of Oceania played behind the gigantic image of Big Brother, we are catapulted headlong into Orwell's nightmare vision.
Most of the other reviewers have stated just about everything about this wonderfully gritty, dark, foreboding movie that still remains an eerie parallel to our lives today, especially in the last 2 years...But I'm confused by the number of people who have commented that claim to be put off by "the gratuitous nudity" by the two characters of Winston and Julia.
There is less emphasis on the novel's musty, well-worn-and-endlessly-picked-over polemical import and more focus on the stark human element, and indeed, the actors bear such uncanny resemblance to Orwell's descriptions they practically seem born for their roles.With his quiet, brooding eloquence and haunted eyes peeking out of a gaunt, cadaverous frame like a tubercular, ashen-faced Egon Schiele figure, John Hurt is ideally cast as Winston Smith.
In an exquisite, maliciously Swiftian twist of irony, Burton's famous voice, with its rich, mellifluous Welsh inflections and descending cadences of Shakespearean sonnets and Dylan Thomas poetry, becomes a cruel herald of the willful, systematic destruction of the human spirit -- of `the worst thing in the world' that waits in Room 101
in the fated `place where there is no darkness.' When O'Brien tells Winston, `you are thinking that my face is old and tired
and that while I talk of power I am unable to prevent the decay of my own body,' Burton's sagging, weary face speaks volumes.In the lesser roles, Gregor Fisher's Parsons literally resembles a sweaty frog, James Walker's Syme is the classic image of a squirrelly, mealy-mouthed hack-intellectual, while Andrew Wilde cuts the most chilling figure as the bespectacled, unblinking company man,' Tillotson.
Whilst the year 1984 may be long past us, the essential themes of George Orwell's best known work still remain as timely and as relevant as ever.Winston Smith (John Hurt) is a drone worker in the Bureau of Information, and his job is to edit the news in accordance with the needs of the governing Party (which is in continual, seemingly endless war with Eurasia and other opposing states).
Suzanna Hamilton is gentle and quirky as Julia and "Rab C Nesbitt" actor Gregor Fisher appears as Winston's ill-fated friend, Parsons.Veteran actor Richard Burton lends a cold charisma to government enforcer O'Brien and he too excels in the film's final moments, as he coolly and sadistically tortures Winston, subjecting him to severe physical pain to subdue him, casually pulling a tooth out of his rotting mouth, then exposing him to the horrors of Room 101, all the while exhorting obedience to the Party and love to Big Brother.
Whilst the term "Big Brother" is now synonymous with the ridiculous "reality" TV shows of the same name, others like the Two Minutes Hate (in which the workers are coerced, through a two-minute broadcast, into hating the enemies of the state); the idea of a government waging a perpetual war to advocate "peace" (especially relevant in the aftermath of September 11) as well as the editing of news and the abuse of language in order to suit the needs of government and disguise its true agendas are ideas that are chillingly present in today's society.All of this is powerful and thought-provoking stuff, and helps to make "Nineteen Eighty Four" an accurate and powerful rendering of a still very timely piece of work..
Merely a few days after finishing my read of George Orwell's fantastic 1948 novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four", I was immediately keen on looking to rent the modern film version, "1984" - filmed, appropriately enough, not only during the actual YEAR of 1984, but also during the exact same short span of months that the story took place in.
I read the book in Portuguese, where the new words of the Newspeak were perfectly translated.The film "1984" is a magnificent transposition of the novel to the cinema, with a remarkable screenplay by Michael Radford and top-notches performances of John Hurt and Richard Burton in his last work.
The awesome direction of Michael Radford gives a perfect idea of this novel about a dystopian society and the political theories of this society subdue by the powerful, feared and omnipresent Big Brother and is so careful that "1984" was filmed between April and June 1984 in London, in the same period and location George Orwell wrote in his novel.
At the center of this terrifying satire is the performance of Richard Burton who is both subtle and mind blowingly horrifying in his indescribably villainous role, while John Hurt provides a sometimes timid, sometimes paranoid, and other times absolutely petrified protagonist that attempts to escape from the norms of the totalitarian society he is forced to live in.While not necessarily a "horror" movie, there is no doubt that "1984" is among the most genuinely SCARY films that I have ever seen.
It deals with the basic and most important issues in life, society, government, wars, religion, education, brain-washing, the place of the individual, the hardship of being alone (physically and mentally), the concept of holding two contradictious thoughts at the same time, the position of the individual in history, the nothingness of being human, love, family, loyalty and betrayal, the instinct of any animal in nature to survive, and so much, much more.Being so complicated, I think it's impossible to bring all the concepts of the book to the big screen ("Naked Lunch", anyone?
I think that together they "complete" each other, in the sense that the former "brings life" to the latter: When I read the book (at least 4 times by now) I "see" and "hear" the characters as they appear in the movie.
Roger Deakins' cinematography and film-processing is excellent, giving the film the required atmosphere and aging look.And of course, Michael Radford, who also made the adaption, directed the movie flawlessly.Well, if you read this review up to here, you understand how good I think the movie and novel are.
As most people, the novel of which we all know is an excellent portrayal of a non-conformist man living and breathing in the pinnacle of totalitarianism.The movie is a nice adaption, however hampered as most most movies were back then and today by lack of sufficient time to grasp you fully as the book did.The movies strong points are the three main actors.
And Richard Burton who resonates coldness as the all-knowing Inner Party member O'Brien.The cinematography is great, the music is also very good.However, the movie just cannot capture the entire strength of the novel.
"Power is tearing human minds apart and putting them back together in new shapes of your own choosing." I think it's easy enough to say that the book by Orwell of 1984 is still valuable because, simply, it is, from the quote above to many, many others, its a cultural touchstone - though there's two things that may be taken for granted: first, that the film itself gets to the dark, horror-movie tone of paranoia and grime and decay and moral impoverishment (and the desperate search for it) that was in the book, and secondly that for all of the lines that people quote, people may not fully grasp how much emotion is conveyed in this story, that when one looks at the *people* there's so much to mine there.
This is actually what makes the book so great, and the film too, though it's one of 'those' great films I'm not sure when I'd have the heart to watch again (Brazil, a massively looser version, is more-so but then thats a comedy in a lot of ways, but I digress).What I think Radford does so well along with Roger Deakins's soaked-in-a-dirty-rag cinematography (which I mean as a sincere compliment) is get us into this world and it's one of oppression, devastation, and totalitarian control and keeps us there, so that when it comes time to see the "green world" of that landscape with the trees and those hills, it's more impactful and more like Winston (and us by proxy) being exposed to what is closest to...
But, again, the actor is fully organic in this world.If I could nitpick (or maybe it's a legit criticism, I may feel different about the movie later on or even tomorrow), I wondered if there could have been *more* Big Brother imagery - we get that one face in the screen looking on, and then the woman's voice, coming in like the rancid school-marm, on the intercom.
Exciting rendition that picks up every mote of bleak despair George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love .
In a futuristic, state-run society controlled by "Big Brother" in which love is outlawed, employee of the state Winston Smith (John Hurt) falls for Julia (Suzanne Hamilton) , and is tortured and brainwashed for his crime .
This is one of a number of dystopian, Orwellian and Kafaesque films made during the early to mid 1980s , the pictures include 1984, Terry Gilliam's Brazil, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner , Pink Floyd The Wall , Season of the Witch and Giorgio Moroder version of Fritz Lang's Metrópolis .Very acting by John Hurt as the tragic figure who dares to fall in love within a totalitarian society where emotions are outlawed and Suzanne Hamilton ,she was perfectly cast as Julia , her uncommonly bold, affecting performance, earned her some notoriety and a bit of a minor cult and she is frequently seen in full-frontal nudity .
However , the movie achieved mediocre box office , but following over the years as the film's reputation has steadily grown.Other adaptations about this classic novel are the followings : ¨1984¨ (1956) by Michael Anderson with Edmond O'Brien as Winston Smith , Michael Redgrave as O'Connor of the Inner Party , Jan Sterling as Julia of the Inner Party , Mervyn Johns as Jones and Donald Pleasence as R.
Very faithful adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian vision of the "future" world of 1984 - perhaps closer to reality today than ever before.The sets and cinematography are minimalistic and sufficiently bleak and gritty, which really evokes the hopelessness found in the novel.
The acting is also good (especially Burton), although I felt that Hurt's Winston got a bit too whiny at times.The biggest problem, however, is that the success of the film relies too heavily on the having read the book.
Smith falls in love with a woman named Julia; which is of course against the rules of the totalitarian society.The movie takes more time instilling the situation of the future than it does on the actual characters; so while we get a chilling portrait of how this modern society is ran and the rules that govern it; we are unfortunately not given much in the way of reasons to care about our main characters' plights.
The story itself has some very interesting points to make, however; and depending on your stance, you may well believe that modern society is moving ever closer to the 'Big Brother' of this film; here in the UK we are already being threatened with the prospect of ID cards, security cameras and ISP's spying on our internet connections, so maybe Orwell's vision is not such a distant possibility.
The masses must publicly demonstrate their loyalty to Big Brother, personal relationships are banned, and any ideas contrary to Party Policy are thought-crimes punishable by death.The film's protagonist, Winston Smith (John Hurt), is a nondescript Party apparatchik whose job it is to review historical documents and insert alternative facts to suit ever-changing Party policy.
The use of a desaturated and depressive colour palette creates vivid contrasts with scenes where Winston imagines what the real world must have looked like.Some may wonder how the depicted extreme nihilism of Orwell's 1984 can have any relevance to politics today.
The director seems to think that everyone watching the movie has read the book, because he makes no attempt to demonstrate WHY the characters act and feel the way they do.
It's a movie adaptation of a book, of course (a book I read many years ago) and so there can be quibbles about how well or how poorly Michael Radford (who directed this and wrote the screenplay) captured the novel - but I thought that certainly in terms of the mood he created he did a marvellous job.
The film's only redeeming features are the visuals, which convey well the bleak, homogeneous nature of this society, and the interesting soundtrack, which has a similar effect, also bringing a spooky, futuristic quality to the aesthetic.I know that an adaptation is a work of art in its own right, and should be regarded separately from the book, but with this sacrilegious desecration of Orwell's work it is impossible.
John Hurt is appropriately painful to watch as the doomed Winston Smith, and Richard Burton redeems himself from the dreck he produced in his last years with this frightening (because chillingly understated) portrayal of O'Brien, his last film role and one of his greatest.
His script adaption of the story is truly worthy of the source material, in fact this adaption to screen is so faithful that many may be put off by it's relentless bleakness and sense of despair and hopelessness as presented by Radford (and as originally conceived by Orwell), but those willing to take this journey will be rewarded with a truly powerful film experience unlike just about anything committed to film previously or since.The acting is superb on all accounts, with John Hurt and Suzanna Hamilton both perfectly cast as the lovers seeking comfort in each others arms despite the fact that their very love is punishable by torture and execution, however the best performance of the film comes from the late Richard Burton (in his final screen role) as the calmly menacing O'Brien who managed to seem both chilling and human and the same time.
In this film, the leading actor John Hurt gives an unexceptional performance as Winston Smith, a man from the proletarian area, who is devastated and oppressed by a totalitarian government that uses power to control people through screens all day long in a near-future dystopia.
Pure Light, not the absence of light...In the 1984 version of the George Orwell adaptation of 1984, despite being purposefully overboard to capture the essence of symbolism, it's difficult to find anything lucrative about this particular totalitarian government in which most of the people are forcefully, methodically content...The dilapidated streets resemble bombarded post-War Germany, and on giant movie screens is the image of a man that looks like Adolf Hitler, somewhat, and there's no turning off the repetitious propaganda ranging from battle front updates to how much chocolate will cost "next week." Meanwhile, the people confess their "sins" to the leader and to "Big Brother," especially those who have read a book by a man named Goldstein (no, he doesn't play basketball at Carver High): his philosophy attempts to delete this horrendous future with no value whatsoever.
This version of George Orwell's classic story about a "big brother is watching you" type society of the near future is not perfect but it is very good and very underrated, with some great performances by the leading me.Richard Burton is excellent and John Hurt gives maybe one of the very best performances of his entire career, which is saying a lot because he has given some great performances in his time.
I think Radford does a decent job of captivating the right visual cues from the book, I just felt the characters wandered too much during the first half and I felt very disconnected with them by the time I'm suppose to feel pity for them in the second half."1984" Is still worth a watch if you're a fan of political dramas, but I doubt it has ever had the impact on its viewers the way Orwell's writing impacts his readers.
I think this is the greatest edition between all the other adaptations, good plot and screen shots, and it took all details into considerations, John Hurt has successfully transmitted the message of George Orwell's novel through his extraordinary expressions and emotions, but the only thing that stops me from giving it a ten is that it's kind of a mysterious watching because it needs more explanation about the happening events throughout the film, I thought this adaptation was filmed only for those who have read the novel, a person who hasn't read the novel won't get the message from it, and as I'm sure 1984 is the most relevant novel to our days, but people nowadays barely read and that's the thing that might stop this film from spreading to them, also the whole soundtrack thing is not relevant to the movie and wasn't as powerful as the screenplay was..
John Hurt is an amazing actor and the only face I myself could see as Winston Smith.What angers me the most are the people in IMDb that called this "The Best Adaptation Ever" without even reading the book!
This 1984 version of Orwell's novel is meant to be seen after reading the paper version rather than the usual Cliff Notes premise of seeing the film instead of reading the book.With a breathtaking and often despairing authenticity the casting, acting, writing, production and set design bring even more life into the mental picture of Oceania and give subtle detail to one of the century's great works.
I haven't read the book by George Orwell or seen any of the other film adaptations of it, so I can't comment on how accurate this is compared to any other version. |
tt0123755 | Cube | The film opens with a man, Alderson (Julian Richings), waking up in a cube-shaped room with glowing, computer circuit-like walls and six doors, one at the center of each wall, ceiling and floor. After recovering from his confusion, he opens two of the doors and looks into them to find rooms that differ to the one he is in only by color. He then opens and goes through a third door. He looks around and then takes a step, but is suddenly cut into large square-shaped pieces. He falls apart and the rack of crosshatched wires which diced him moves into view. It folds up and retracts.Later, in another room, several people find each other: Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint), Worth (David Hewlett), Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), Rennes (Wayne Robson), and Leaven (Nicole de Boer). None of them know where they are, how they got there, or why they are there. Quentin, however, knows that there are traps, as he had looked into a room and nearly got his head cut off. The five decide to stay together and look for the way out. Rennes takes the lead. He exemplifies how to test for traps by tossing a boot into the rooms while holding onto the laces, to trigger potential traps, figuring that the trapped room contains motion detectors. Holloway speculates on several possible creators of the Cube, being aliens or the government his main ptions. Rennes remarks that staying still will not solve anything, and says that they should move in a straight line until they get to the end. The others agree, and they begin moving through the rooms.While moving, they discover a series of different numbers on the hatchways between each of the rooms. At one point, Rennes throws the boot in and does not find anything, but detects that the room has dry air, and deduces that it most likely employs an electrochemical sensor, which detects hydrogen sulphide emitted from the skin. Quentin realizes that Rennes is an escape artist who has escaped more than seven major prisons. Soon after, Rennes jumps into a room tested with a boot, and is sprayed in the face with acid. The others pull him back, but he dies as the acid corrodes his face and the inside of his head. The group decides that the room must have contained an electrochemical sensor which Rennes missed, and realize that they must find a better way of testing the rooms.Quentin asks everyone about their occupations. He says he is a police officer, Holloway says she is a doctor, and Worth says he works "in an office building, doing office building stuff." Leaven claims simply to "hang out" with her friends. Quentin believes that nothing is a coincidence, that each of them has a purpose in the cube. After Holloway talks about her rings and broaches, Quentin asks why Leaven has her glasses, while Holloway has had her jewellery taken away. Leaven reveals herself to excel at mathematics, and after looking at the numbers on a crawlspace, theorizes that when one of those numbers is prime, the room is booby-trapped.Leaven's purpose becomes attempting to "crack the Cube's code", and they progress through the cubes. When they find themselves in a room with trapped rooms all around and below, Quentin checks the door in the ceiling, through which falls a seventh person: Kazan (Andrew Miller). He appears to be mentally handicapped. At least two of the others see him as a burden, but Holloway decides to bring him along.The group starts speculating about their surroundings, which causes a conflict between Quentin and Holloway. Quentin dismisses Holloway's ideas as conspiracy theories, and Holloway thinks that Quentin is naive. Soon after this, Quentin enters a room without prime numbers and narrowly avoids death from a trap consisting of rotating razor wires. Leaven's theory that non-prime-numbered rooms are safe is shown to be incorrect. Quentin begins suspecting that Worth is a spy, and is increasingly irritated by Kazan's mental state. The group rests, while Leaven attempts to decipher the numbers.After some time, Quentin tricks Worth into revealing that he is one of the architects who designed the enormous cube-shaped shell which contains the cube-shaped rooms. When asked about who contracted him to do the job, he states that he doesn't know. Although the others begin to distrust Worth (Quentin going as far as beating him), he is able to give them information about the dimensions of the outer cube: it is 434 feet (26 rooms) on each side, totaling 17,576 rooms. Leaven then intuits that the numbers between the rooms could be encoded cartesian coordinates representing the position of rooms within the Cube. The group begins moving towards the nearest edge. As for the traps, they begin to "boot" the rooms again.The group is forced to pass through a room containing a sound-activated trap. Quentin argues to leave Kazan behind, but Holloway overrules him. Everyone makes it through, but when it is Quentin's turn, Kazan calls out, and nearly causes his death. Quentin, furious, nearly beats him, and when Holloway stops him, he turns on her and they argue heatedly, ending when Quentin slaps her. Despite the growing tensions, they continue.The group finally reaches one of the side "edges" of the Cube, but discovers that there is a gap between the door and the outer shell. They fashion a rope from their clothes, and Holloway volunteers to swing out on the rope to investigate. As she is suspended outside the room, the Cube shakes and Holloway nearly falls. Quentin catches her, but then lets her fall to her death. He tells the others that she slipped, but they are dubious.The group then decides to try to reach the "bottom" edge of the Cube, but agree that they need to rest before setting out for it. As they sleep, Quentin carries Leaven into another room. He tries to convince Leaven to abandon the others, and makes sexual advances at her and becomes abusive when it is obvious that she dislikes him. Worth and Kazan awaken and save Leaven. Quentin becomes paranoid, and says that he did not trust Holloway, to which the rest of the group guesses that he let her die. Enraged, Quentin beats and then throws Worth through a door in the floor. Worth laughs hysterically at what he sees in that room: Rennes's corpse. They think that they have been going in circles, but then Worth notices that the "acid room" which killed Rennes is no longer adjacent to that room. He and Leaven realize that the rooms must be moving. Leaven also realizes that rooms which have traps are marked with numbers which are not simply prime numbers, as she had previously thought, but the larger set of prime powers. The prisoners then face the task of performing prime calculations of three three-digit numbers for every room they enter. Fortunately, Kazan is at this point is revealed to be an autistic savant with the capacity to perform these calculations quickly and easily. He utters the number of distinct prime factors each number has, as the room numbers are read to him.They make their way towards the exit safely with Kazan's help. Worth devises a plan to incapacitate Quentin, who has gone completely mad. Worth fights Quentin into a room below them and they leave him to die. They proceed and reach the bridge cube. When they open its door, bright light pours into the room. Worth announces that he will not go, as there is nothing for him in the world outside. As he and Leaven share a moment, Quentin appears having somehow managed to catch up with the trio, and kills Leaven by stabbing her with a door handle he somehow broke off a door. He stabs Worth as well, and grabs Kazan, who is climbing out. Worth grabs Quentin's leg with the last of his strength, and Quentin is crushed in the crawlspace between the cubes when the cubes realign. Having saved Kazan, Worth lies down next to Leaven and dies.In the final shot, Kazan is seen walking slowly into a bright light. | comedy, suspenseful, neo noir, murder, mystery, psychological, allegory, cult, alternate reality, violence, plot twist, insanity, psychedelic, claustrophobic, tragedy, revenge | train | imdb | I'm glad to say that definitely is not the case.Despite the low budget and practically unknown cast, the film manages to be clever, intriguing, thought-provoking and highly enjoyable.
With its limited budget and digital effects in use even before Titanic glorified them, Cube still proves itself as one of the more original and intelligent sci-fi films of the last decade, with a cult status already going strong.
On a shoestring budget and a dangerously basic premise full of intrigue, the film succeeds because of imaginative effects and taut directions as well as a superbly written script, delving into the human psyche in such an extreme situation.
The first hour of this picture was thoroughly engrossing and full of surprises; I would even call it "astonishing" if the actors didn't deliver some obviously forced, unnaturally "profound" speeches, and if the director didn't try to create dramatic moments by taking the easy way out - having the characters argue with each other all the time; if they acted as a team and tried to overlook their differences, THAT would have been the REALLY original approach.
They leave you with an intense "THAT'S IT?" feeling.Overall, this movie is definitely worth seeing, and the acting isn't nearly as bad as most people say, but be prepared for a HIGHLY unsatisfying ending.
Why: let's see, the acting is awful, the script pretentious and laden with too many long-winded philosophical discussions of nothing, the characters less than one-dimensional, the story is full of holes and the vaunted mathematics boil down to prime numbers and Cartesian coordinates (freshman high school stuff).
With no other ideas the group follow him and try to evade the traps and stay alive all the time with absolutely no idea of why they are here or who has imprisoned them.I heard about this film years ago but only recently managed to find it on television to watch.
The whole film is our characters trying to work their way through the rooms without getting horribly killed.
This in itself is gripping and at times unbearable to watch horror fans may be disappointed that long periods go by without a lot of gore but personally I prefer tension to the delivery.At the same time we also get the characters feeding the mystery of the cube, building the tension and the sense of hopelessness without ever really solving anything.
It isn't a fantastic character piece but again it is just something that helps keep the film moving and I suppose it was interesting to see the nature of people come out.
Miller was good and the pace of the film helped distract from him basically doing a Rain Man impression.Overall an impressive low budget thriller that works because it sticks to the simple idea while building side issues with the characters and the cube around it but never actually solving anything.
These people have no idea how they got there and none of them know each other but they all have a purpose and they must use these purposes to try and escape the giant maze before they die of dehydration.....or madness.This low-budget independent Canadian film is brilliant and a very captivating watch.
It all seems believable which is important for a movie like this.But the thing I really admire about the film is that the ending doesn't try to explain anything.
After a long time, I finally got around to seeing this interesting looking film today.Deeply mysterious, Cube chronicles the story of seven different people as they travel through an apparently endless system of interlinked cube structures with six doors each to adjacent cubes.
The potential presented in the early scenes of the film is large; the opening scene immensely entertaining and indicative of good things to come from the original and intriguing concept.
Though it does little to establish itself as a particularly good movie, it's at least not a terrible one.With flaws aplenty, many of them just silly and stupid, Cube falls flat on its face more than once, suffering regularly from its less than convincing dialogue and unintentionally funny developments.
Right now, "Cube" is being released in France with an unbelievable success for a movie with no "name actors" and no hype, expect the numerous prices it got at the (formerly deconsidered by critics and audiences alike) Gerardmer film festival.
B-grade acting, questionable math and philosophy references, cop-out plot development, and an ending which was probably written when Nguyen got bored of writing and just wanted it all to end are just some of the many things to distract you while you constantly ask yourself where this movie is going and why you're still watching it.
But after leaving the room several times due to a) acting that wouldn't look amiss in an Ikea catalogue and b) special effects that wouldn't look amiss on an episode of Ren & Stimpy, I was merely appalled by every other aspect of the film.
Maybe if we'd stayed till the end, some epiphany would have exploded in our minds to leave us loving this movie like so many other people seem to?
I guess we'll never know....there's too many really good movies out there to spend time on one with bad acting :(.
Otherwise, the plot just seems to go round and round in a circle, then stops.A low-budget sci-fi film, "Cube" could easily be converted into a stage play.
The overall concept is an intriguing one, and could have made for a better film in the hands of a competent writer, but instead the screenplay is filled with idiotic characters and ludicrous dialogue.
I love movies thats are like this, this is in many ways an anti-Hollywood movie, it has a small cast, no extras and a small set, original screenplay that I though had to be based off of a short story or novel but it wasn't - it was just a really good screenplay, a great idea.
I mean how much better can you get - take a handful of people, trap them in a cube make them figure out a way out, good twist with the characters and who gets out alive - of course it could have sucked and been stupid and boring with a premise like that but it wasn't it was really well executed.
The movie still rates a four rating because the set design and the cube concept were interesting and the editing and camera work were excellent.
I didn't know what to think of "Cube" before watching it,I stumbled across the movie randomly as I was browsing IMDb.After watching this movie,I was surprised how original and well thought out it was.Unlike many recent horror movies,"Cube" lacks any special effects and relies mainly on the unknown,the unseen as method to scare the living hell out of us,much like "The Blair Witch Project".This method was very successful,as the whole movie keeps you in suspense.Another thing I found interesting was the way the characters develop through the course of the film,I won't spoil what happens,but let's just say the personalities of two specific characters change dramatically."Cube" is probably one of the best and most suspenseful horror movies I have ever seen,I strongly recommend it..
What's more, it's one that you will understand on different levels in subsequent viewings, and despite the minimalism (of everything in the film!) you'll see little extras every time you watch.Can't wait to see what they do with Cube 2: Hypercube (but I am very glad it's not a prequel or sequel, rather 'another go from a different direction')..
...Ok, so let's assume that he does get to the end of the maze...why didn't Leavin and Worth hear the door opening when the "cop" came into the room?This movie went from a great sci-fi, mind-job movie to a retarded horror pointless story.Here's a question for the Director/Writer...Why on earth did you have these characters go through hell just to die at the brink of escaping?
What can i say just watched this film for the first time,after reading so much about it and all i can think at the end is what a waste of time.Having seen saw and saw 2(and reading how saw 2 had copied it)i had high hopes for this film,both saw and saw 2 have great surprises for the audience the only surprise in this film is how it ever got released.The characters in this film are so one dimensional it should have been called SQUARE.I had no empathy with any of the inmates and we learn nothing about them,there is very little in the way of a plot and the ending isn't even an ending.We are led to believe that each character has a unique ability that will help the team but apart from the maths expert and the autistic boy what did the others bring?all in all a very poor film don't waste your time on this one..
Highly recommend Cube right along with all of Vincenzo Natali's other films.Hollywood is filled with unoriginal ideas and boring directors.
you can watch this movie and be totaly confused the whole time and not understand anything thats going on, and come out of it totaly messed up, but in the end, u had a great time.
(no spoilers)The best thing about CUBE is that like the characters the viewer is dropped into the bizarre scenario to fend for themselves with no explanation of what is going on .
There was no point to this film no plot no story we don't even know what it was about in the end nobody does i've never seen so many holes in a plot in all my life and the way they got killed at the end just as they were about to leave was unnecessary to say the least and predictable (altho i did feel a bit sorry for those 2 dying at the end they were so cool :') )Voted it a 1 since its rated at 7.5/10 by IN MY OPINION weirdos that like to see gore.
The best thing Cube has going for it is the novelty of the plot; Besides this, the characters don't ring very true, the dialogue is unconvincing, and the acting is only so so: especially the actor playing Quentin, who even manages to be unintentionally funny throughout most of the film.
Overall Cube is a good example of a film left hanging on a high concept plot with nothing much else to offer.
4. on a script/DIALOGUE level, I think it's pretty damn weak, and the acting makes this problem worse.I don't think I've seen a promising movie with such awful dialogue in a long time.
it took me a while and a second viewing until i could say that this is THE most original sci-fi thrillers of the last years and one of the most well done movies of the genre ever, especially if you consider it was done on a low budget, but the fact of the matter is: it IS one of the most original films to come out in the '90s.hollywood loving people will be disappointed in this and call it the worst movie ever, what they don't seem to know is they aren't the only ones seeing movies and with the right to an opinion in the world (thank god!).
you aren't told how they got in the cube, and in the end the film-maker doesn't wrap it up for you, letting you wonder and come to your own conclusions.if you like original, tense and tickle-your-brain movies, this is for you.
Word to the wise:I urge the people who enjoyed "cube" to try to see the made-for-TV British "A child's play",(1985)part of the series "Hammer house of suspense and mystery" starring the late Nicholas Clay.In spite of a very poor(and unfair) rating,it's really worthwhile and the connection with "cube" is glaring,even if the Val Guest TV film has a "rational" explanation.As people have pointed out,a movie does not need a rational solution to be enthralling.if such was the case,"2001 " and "the birds" ,to name but two,would not be world-wide favorites .And "cube' is brimming with originality,and like the two mentioned movies,it may have as many interpretations as there are potential commenting users.Visually ,the movie is a splendor,all shrouded in red and orange light,glorifying geometry and arithmetic:this is really the mathematical movie which "pi" wasn't:prime numbers and the Descartes analytical geometry are shrewdly introduced in the plot.All that remains is mathematics when a world has lost its way,morally and psychologically.And even mathematic lets you down when you meet human stupidity,as the young "numbers" girl will discover.Only a lunatic can survive in such a world.He does..
Note that all though I gave this film 3 stars, I would still recommend it for a b-movie night with friends and popcorn where you just laugh about how weird and absurd Cube is.Don't watch it if you are expecting to see something good, to which you would devote your whole attention though.
Years after, I have tried it again - and immediately all the weaker points went visible - very weak acting, poor script, long (too long) dialog parts at times, boring sequences, and yeah, the film didn't hold - it fell apart, before it got exciting.
'Cube' is an interesting movie with thrilling moments and a great look.
The movie looks so great that other things can feel a little disappointing although they are pretty good as well.
Since the movie is set in a cube the entire time there are moments we can imagine what the characters are thinking and feeling.
Because 'Cube' is so different from the movies we normally see it is at least interesting to watch.
I think the idea of having this crazy homicidal cube be the setting for an "isn't it interesting how we humans behave" kind of thing was great-- don't explain it's origin or purpose, just consider "what if...." Very cool.
The acting is horrific, the script is terrible and the twist at the end is nothing short of laughable.I'm literally shocked that this film has been rated so highly on here because I thought it was absolutely horrendous..
I mean i think msot people sat through this sorry excuse of a film to actually end up with a conclusion and to find out what the deal was with this CUBE.
There is good gore in the first half of the flick then they just try to leave you in suspense leaving the characters in many caught up situations, though i dont have time for that wish-wash, i didn't learn anything- so they all might as well have died in the most gruesome way possible but it didnt happen.
Only thing you will hear is annoying characters screaming at eachother, the contant sound "TSSSSSSSSH" of the doors opening and a guy acting retarted screaming "Aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" that it makes you feel like punching the screen- no pun.OVERALL: Basically there is nothing that gives this film firm structure, theres no backbone- there is nothing that keeps it standing on both of its feet and thats what sucks.
First of all Cube is a movie for people who like a bit of thinking.
This is a bad film that manages to have an even worse ending than one might expect.'Cube' is a very disappointing viewing experience because we are made to endure a lot of suffering along with the characters and we are not treated to an ending that makes it worth while.
It doesn't have as many cool traps and creative deaths as the other _Cube_ movies, but what it lacks in gore, it more than makes up for with its good acting and characters.
If you want to see a big, scary, trap-filled cube kill a lot of people in new and interesting ways, watch the other movies, though; this one is about the people..
If you are the type of person who can sit back and watch a movie without thinking the writer, director, and all the actors are playing a secret little joke on you for having actually paid them for this heap of garbage, then maybe you will like it.
The main failure of this movie is that the film makers are way more interested in showcasing how clever their gadgets and traps are than trying to create any sense of drama or character development beyond cliché and stereotypes.
You have an interesting idea of placing different individuals from all walks of like together in what turns out to be a type of Human-Rat Maze.What keeps this movie from being a 9 or a 10 is that the movie never really opens up on the fact of why the people that are in the movie were chosen, and how they got there.This movie will keep your interest until about 3/4 of the way through, when it starts to drag and the plot corrodes away to your basic "bad guy".
However the journey was quite a pleasant and gripping one, so the movie did flow at a strong pace and I was engaged with it original premise.The film begins with a man (Julian Richings) waking up inside a cube-shaped room without any recollection as to how he got there.
If there's one thing good about this movie, its the concept: strangers are placed in a mysterious and dangerous structure with no reason (an original and intriguing idea of its time).
This movie has a very interesting idea behind it, but i think it could have been realized in a much better way.
i think the film is a good example of a great idea poorly executed.
Some of the dialogue and characters are a bit over-acted but overall this is a terrific film.
With one set, a budget smaller than the catering cost for Phantom Menace, and a cast of unknowns, Cube has no right being as good a film as it is.On the downside, the plot is simplistic, the characters thinly (but well) written and there are no surprises in the dialogue. |
tt0070948 | Zardoz | The story opens with a speech made by Arthur Frayn/Zardoz (Niall Buggy) who states that he is immortal. He explains that this story "may" happen in the future. He is a "fake god" and a magician. But he is invented too, asking if the viewers of the movie themselves are part of a fiction. He asks "Is God in show business too?"In the year 2293, the world is divided into two groups: the Brutals, and the Eternals. The Brutals live harsh and violent lives, farming crops and eking out a bare existence among the ruins of civilization, known as the Outlands. Elite among the Brutals are the Exterminators, men who have been raised to control the population by killing undesirables. These Exterminators are shown riding around on horses, worshiping a giant floating head-- the idol of their god, Zardoz. Instead of telling the faithful to be fruitful and multiply, Zardoz explains that sex is evil and that "the penis shoots seeds and makes new life to poison the earth with a plague of men." He commands the Exterminators to "go forth and kill." In furtherance of this divine decree, guns and bullets come pouring out of the mouth of Zardoz. Zed (Sean Connery) takes one of the guns, a Webley-Fosbery semi-automatic revolver, and fires it toward the camera. Beethoven's Seventh Symphony plays as the head floats through the air over opening credits.Inside the stone head, there are piles of grain and potatoes, as well as several Eternals, naked, sealed in plastic, and apparently in a state of suspended animation. Zed has managed to stow away aboard the head, hiding beneath one of the piles of grain. Suddenly he notices Arthur Frayn, whom he instinctively shoots. Arthur, wounded perhaps fatally, floats out of the head yelling "without me you are nothing... how pointless!"The head lands "over the rainbow," so to speak, in the land of the Eternals-- Vortex Four, to be precise. Exploring the surroundings, Zed finds what looks like a farming community with hydroponically grown vegetables, a mill and bakery as well as stables. Entering the second floor of the greenhouse, he finds a room decorated with diagrams of evolution, signs of the zodiac, a shrine to Zardoz and a jack-in-the-box. Zed hears a disembodied male voice, the source of which is shown to be a crystal ring. When Zed shakes the ring, a hologram appears that depicts the agricultural needs of the various areas in the Vortex; what they require and what they have produced in surplus. The ring responds to Zed's verbal commands by showing him images. When he asks "Who lives here," he is startled to see Arthur Frayn's face appear in the room, announcing his name and vortex number. Zed can hear people talking outside and slips out of the house. He sneaks around outside and watches as a group of Eternals carry the plastic-wrapped bodies on stretchers, disappearing into a pyramid that looks too small to contain them. He sees his first flower and asks the crystal ring what it is. The voice explains that it is a flower whose purpose is "decorative." Zed finds a river and washes his face as a female Eternal approaches. He tries to shoot her but the woman uses telepathy to blind Zed momentarily. She's obviously intrigued to see a Brutal in the Vortex and asks him how he arrived there and where he thinks he is. He replies that he thinks he is in the Vortex where, according to Zardoz, you go when you die. She explains the only way he could have gotten here is through the stone head but Zed will not divulge any further details, nor is the woman able to extract this information by reading his mind, which she attributes to possible shock he may have sustained.The woman, a scientist named May (Sara Kestelman) consults the Tabernacle, a type of artificial intelligence that oversees all activity within the Vortex, to learn the whereabouts of Arthur Frayn, who was delegated to manage the Outlands, which he did by pretending to be the god Zardoz. The Tabernacle shows Arthur Frayn's accident falling from the stone head and indicates that Frayn died and is in the process of being reincarnated, but it won't show May the final moments before Arthur's death. May argues with another community leader named Consuella (Charlotte Rampling) about what should be done with Zed. May wants to keep Zed alive so that they can study him-- he is the first Brutal who has ever infiltrated the Vortex. However Consuella views Zed as little more than a dangerous animal-- a threat to the stability of their society who should be put down as soon as possible.The women decide to put the matter to a vote. They call a meeting and connect Zed to an apparatus that displays his thoughts on a screen. The other Eternals want to see his memories. Their society has gradually evolved to become asexual and anhedonic, and they find the images of Zed and the other Exterminators raping and killing Brutals in the Outlands both repulsive and arousing. After debating the pro's and cons of performing research on "the monster," the majority of Eternals, bored and curious, vote telepathically to spare Zed's life, at least for three weeks.A cynical Eternal named Friend (John Alderton) takes on the task of babysitting Zed. Once they're alone, he attempts to use telepathy to force Zed to reveal where Arthur Frayn is. When Zed thwarts this attempt, Friend assures Zed that he and Arthur were close confidants and he knows more about whatever Arthur was planning than Zed thinks.Zed continues to play dumb as Friend employs his services to stack and organize priceless works of art in the Vortex's cultural archive and to cart Friend around on a wagon while he delivers bread to the needy. First they stop by a colony of outcasts called Renegades. These are Eternals who, through boredom, malice or discontent, repeatedly violated the rule of law and as a result were punished by being aged, gradually, into senility. They will spend eternity in feeble-minded old age. The next group they visit are the Apathetics. These Eternals stand around staring blankly in a catatonic, vegetative state, having lost the will to live but, like the Renegades and all other Eternals, unable to die. Friend tells Zed that this is the main reason Brutals are now forced to farm crops for Zardoz-- someone needs to feed these unproductive members of Eternal society. Death is an impossibility in the Vortex because anyone who kills himself is simply reincarnated by the Tabernacle.Zed witnesses the final statements in the trial of an Eternal named George Saden (Bosco Hogan), who pleads innocence at first but eventually reveals his bitter contempt for the law and his fellow Eternals. Friend votes to have George acquitted but he is outvoted by the rest of the Eternals, who sentence George to be aged five years. "Welcome to paradise," quips Friend.Zed is put on display again while Consuella gives a lecture on Brutals' sexual response. She shows Zed a series of pornographic images to see if he will get an erection. The movies do not stimulate him but just looking at Consuella does. This seems to embarrass her as well as arouse her slightly. Zed is placed in a cage among the rest of the animals in the Vortex. Consuella tests his reflexes and asks him why he likes to sleep. He says he likes it because he has dreams. The Eternals do not dream, having achieved "total consciousness." Now "second level meditation" takes the place of sleep.May then begins to analyze Zed, explaining that he is a second or third generation mutant, and therefore genetically stable. She is shocked to discover that from an evolutionary standpoint, Zed is actually superior to the Eternals in most ways. This confirms her suspicions that Arthur has been amusing himself in the Outlands by selectively breeding certain Brutals over the course of generations to create genetically advanced humans such as Zed. While this indicates that Zed is indeed more of a threat than even Consuella suspected, May hesitates to kill him. "For the sake of science," she will keep his secret as long as he follows her orders and doesn't draw attention to himself.At lunch, Zed's presence continues to disrupt the community. Another psychic vote is taken as to his fate and it is decided that May has a week to complete her scientific study of Zed. The Eternals propose to meditate upon the idea that "the monster is a mirror, and when we look at him, we look at our own hidden faces." Friend refuses to go to second level with the group, thus disrupting their tranquility. Resisting the group's mind control, he states that the Vortex is an obscenity and that he hates all women, birth and fertility. Friend is considered to be beyond redemption and sentenced to be exiled among the Renegades.While the Eternals are meditating, Zed runs out to the periphery shield of Vortex Four. He can see some Exterminators over the mountain and gets their attention. Zed then goes to the Renegade colony to find Friend. Friend, who has been artificially aged, tells the other Renegades that this creature from the outside world has the gift of death, and that they should kill Zed before May can use him to propagate another doomed generation of Eternals. The elders start to attack Zed, but he easily fends them off. Friend tells Zed that he craves death not just for himself and the Vortex but all human life on Earth. Zed scoffs at Friend's nihilistic attitude, concluding: "You stink of despair."Zed asks Friend where he can find the Tabernacle and how he can destroy it. Friend can't remember, having become senile. One of the Renegades advises Zed to seek May, whom he finds in a state of second level meditation, already knowing his intent. Zed says that he wants the truth and when May insists that he must give truth to get it, he allows May to read his mind. We see flashbacks of Zed hunting and killing Brutals, until one day he "loses his innocence." He follows a figure in a mask who leads him into a library and begins to teach Zed to read. Zed, whose intellect is more advanced than the Eternals, rapidly learns about the history of the world before its destruction. Eventually Zed reads a book called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which reveals to him the fictitious basis of Zardoz, a deity invented by Frayn purely to control the Brutals.After learning that Zardoz did not exist, Zed resolved to hide aboard the stone head and make his way into the Vortex to find the truth. As Zed's memories conclude, May feels sexuality stirring within her, a result of her prolonged physical contact with Zed. They embrace, only to be interrupted by Consuella who accuses May of bestiality and suggests that May be aged fifty years. Consuella uses telepathy on Zed, blinding him, but he still manages to overpower her physically. Consuella declares that the entire community will now be contaminated with his animal instincts to hunt and kill. An Eternal named Avalow (Sally Anne Newton) restores his sight with her powers. She indicates that Zed is "the one.. the liberator." Avalow explains that as the world fell to ruin, the rich and powerful classes salvaged what art, culture and technology they could and erected an impenetrable shield around their oasis of civilization to protect it from the encroaching Dark Age. Unfortunately, they had to turn their backs callously on the rest of humanity, eventually coming to regard the people on the other side of the shield as a separate and inferior race of Brutals.Zed, she says, is the price they are paying, having brought hate and anger into the Vortex to infect them all. Suddenly, Zed is attacked by other Eternals. He escapes, runs out to the periphery shield of Vortex Four and starts signaling instructions to the band of Exterminators posted on the other side. While hiding from Consuella and her followers in the area where the Apathetics are consigned, Zed's life-force awakens them.The Exterminators storm the Vortex and all hell breaks loose. The Apathetics regain their emotions and libido and engage in sex and murder. The Renegades leave their colony and run amok, while the ordinarily law-abiding Eternals, led by Consuella, continue to hunt for Zed. Friend finds Zed and takes him to May.May asks Zed to inseminate them all (the only Eternals interested in surviving coincidentally all seem to be female) and they will teach him all they know, in the hope that he can use this knowledge to destroy the Tabernacle. They "touch teach" him through osmosis and he gifts them with his super-sperm. The phrase "The Law of the Unity of Opposites" is repeated several times. Different languages and music are transmitted. Finally he knows everything they know. Zed asks how the Vortex came about. Friend responds that it was designed by scientists, most of whom were middle-aged at the time of its creation and are now Renegades due to their inability to tolerate immortality. They used their power to erase any memory of the Tabernacle or how to destroy it so that the human race would evolve to perfection. They intended for their children to inherit this legacy. But by eliminating death, they arrested the natural cycles of change and renewal that allow progress, leading to their current stagnant and hopeless predicament.A voice calls Zed and he is beckoned through a series of mannequin figures to find the rebuilt Arthur Frayn dressed in a top hat. Frayn quotes T.S. Eliot and prompts Zed to fill in the poem-- it is "I am Lazarus, come from the dead. Come back to tell you all. I shall tell you all." He holds a mysterious clear glass ball that he tells Zed to examine. It becomes a faceted crystal. Consuella finds Zed, but when she tries to kill him, she realises that she's lost the urge. She says "In hunting you, I have become you." Zed quotes Nietzsche, "He who fights too long against dragons, becomes a dragon himself."Zed asks the Tabernacle where it is but it won't provide any answers, having been programmed to protect itself. Finally Zed realizes that it must be housed in the crystal he holds in his hand. The Tabernacle admits that Zed's solved the puzzle and allows him access to its inner dimensions, which look like a hall of mirrors. Zed sees holographic images of the Eternals whose minds all connect with the Tabernacle. Zed fires his gun at one of the reflections. The crystal bleeds and tells him that he has destroyed it / them, "we are gone." The Eternals begin to rampage through their cultural archive, destroying pieces of art in their frenzied pursuit of Zed. Zed now has a powerful aura which he uses to move some Eternals back through time to preserve the art they smashed. Friend asks Zed what is next. Zed says the oldest Renegade will know.The old man remembers the way it was. The Vortex is an offense against nature -- which is why nature made Zed. The old man dies. The stone head crashes to the ground. Death has returned to the Vortex. May and the rest of Zed's baby-mamas form a caravan and leave the Vortex to start over somewhere else. The Renegades die of old age. Arthur brags that he was the one who came up with the idea of breeding Zed, but Zed says he has looked into the force that put the idea in Arthur's mind: "We've all been used." The Exterminators roam the Vortex killing Eternals who beg to die. Zed runs away with Consuella to take shelter in the remains of the stone head.Beethoven's 7th symphony plays again as the Vortex falls. Consuella is pregant and gives birth. The child grows into a man and leaves his parents. Zed and Consuella grow old together and die. | suspenseful, whimsical, cult, violence, flashback, psychedelic, satire, philosophical, revenge | train | imdb | null |
tt0387808 | Idiocracy | The narrator (Earl Mann) explains that natural selection is indifferent to intelligence, so that in a society in which intelligence is consistently debased, stupid, irresponsible people easily out-breed the intelligent, creating, over the course of five centuries, an irremediably dim and sexually motivated dystopia. Demographic superiority favours those least likely to advance society. Consequently, the children of the educated élites are drowned in a sea of promiscuous, illiterate, proletarian peers.In 2005, Corporal Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), a US Army librarian graphed as the Army's "most average" soldier, and Rita (Maya Rudolph), a prostitute terrified of her pimp, Upgrayedd (Scarface) (pronounced: upgrade, two Ds for "a double-dose of this pimping"), are guinea pigs in a secret, year-long, military hibernation project. They are sealed in their hibernation chambers, to be awakened a year later, but the experiment is forgotten when the officer in charge, Lieutenant Colonel Collins (Michael McCafferty), is arrested for having started his own prostitution ring under the tutelage of Upgrayedd. The military base is demolished, and a Fuddruckers (eventually devolving into Buttfuckers) is built on the site.Five hundred years in the future, their hibernation chambers are jarred open in the 'Great Garbage Avalanche of 2505', reviving both of them. Joe crashes into the house of Frito Pendejo (Dax Shepard), a typical, idiot citizen of the American future, whose dwelling is full of junk food with a prominent, giant television screen that is covered with adverts. His name, Frito Pendejo, is a haphazard combination of a product mascot (Frito Bandito) and the Spanish slang word insult.Frito is watching Ow! My Balls!, a popular TV program that lives up to it's name with very little artistic effort. Joe is disoriented and unable to exercise the discretion necessary to allow Frito to watch his program. Consequently, Joe is thrown out the window his capsule just broke. Joe stumbles into a hospital, where slacker Dr. Lexus, MD (Justin Long), diagnoses him as simply "'tarded" and "fucked up". Dr. Lexus panics on discovering that Joe has no barcode-tattoo on his left wrist, and so cannot be scanned for automatic debit payment. Having noticed that the date of a magazine he finds on the doctor's desk (Hot Naked Chicks and World Report, 3 March 2505) has the same date indicated on his bill, Joe finally grasps that 500 years have passed since the Army put him in stasis. He is alarmed by the sights of the collapsing world (decaying buildings cabled to each other, mountains of garbage, a freeway that ends in a drop off, etc.) and flees the hospital, only to be arrested at a Carl's Jr. junk food vending booth for not paying his hospital bill and for not having a barcode tattoo.At trial, Joe's public defense lawyer ("Attornee at Law") is Frito Pendejo, Esq., who stupidly helps convict him, citing the prosecutor's insistence that Joe is guilty and his own anger at Joe for damaging his house (in the garbage avalanche). Joe is imprisoned; a poorly-designed I.D.-tattoo machine re-names Joe as "Not Sure" (because he is not sure about his name as it appears on some form) and barcode-tattoos him as such. During a mandatory (and very simple) I.Q. test, Joe grasps just how stupid humanity has become. Easily escaping his dim jailors, Joe returns to Frito's apartment, asking him if a time machine exists to help him return to the past, to 2005. Frito claims there is one, but agrees to help only after Joe promises him billions of dollars from a savings account that Joe will open in the past upon his return. Frito is unable to understand the concept of compound interest, but takes Joe's word for it that Frito will earn 30 billion dollars minus the 20 billion dollars for expenses making 80 billion dollars.En route to the time machine, Joe and Frito find Rita. She does not know that she's been asleep for 500 years until Joe tells her, and even then, she expects Upgrayedd will find her. Frito leads them to a city-sized Costco, where Joe is re-arrested when he accidentally allows his barcode to be scanned; instead of prison, Joe is delivered to the White House. President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews) has seen Joe's I.Q. test (scoring him as the most intelligent man in the world) and recruits him as Secretary of the Interior to correct the United States' food and crop shortages, dust bowl, crippled economy, mountains of garbage, and related matters. The other cabinet members are lampoons of contemporary politicians' nepotism, corporate loyalty corruption, and over-emphasis on sex appeal in political media coverage.Joe learns that water has been replaced with Brawndo: The Thirst Mutilator (which Joe likens to Gatorade) a drink advertised as "rich in electrolytes", for virtually every purpose, including crop irrigation. The Brawndo Corporation, in an effort to boost their own sales, had, in the past, started a campaign claiming that water was only good for use in toilets. Over time, the electrolytes in Brawndo accumulated in the soil, killed the crops, and caused the food shortage. After giving up on explaining to the cabinet that electrolytes are not conducive to plant-life, Joe reintroduces the practice of watering crops. However, overnight, the Brawndo Corporation's stock becomes worthless, causing great unemployment without visibly improving the crop situation. The angry populace riot, Joe is made the scapegoat, and is sentenced to a day of "rehabilitation"; an execution disguised as a public demolition derby, billed as "Monday Night Rehabilitation". Meanwhile, Rita discovers that the soil has made crops sprout in the fields. To save Joe, with Frito in tow, she bribes a television cameraman to show the sprouting crops to the world. Before reaching the crop field, Frito and the cameraman are distracted by a sale at a Starbucks chain brothel franchise; only after they quarrel and fight does Frito remember his duty and film the crop sprouts. President Camacho sees the thriving new plants on the stadium's big-screen televisions, and grants Joe a pardon just as he is about to be incinerated with a flamethrower.At the celebration, Joe decides to stay and help repair American civilization; President Camacho names him Vice President of America. He also learns that the "Time Masheen" is just an amusement park ride, with a historical theme, wherein Charlie Chaplin was leader of the Nazi party who used dinosaurs to wage war on the world, and the U.N. (pronounced "The Un") "Un-Nazied the world forever". Joe serves a short term as Vice President, then is elected as Camacho's successor. Joe and Rita marry and have the world's three smartest children, while Frito Pendejo takes eight wives and fathers thirty-two of the world's stupidest children, echoing the introduction to the film.After the credits, a third hibernation capsule is shown opening, releasing a snappily dressed Upgrayedd into the world, who struts down the street, as a pimp is wont to do. | comedy, bleak, cult, absurd, satire, brainwashing | train | imdb | I had anticipated it for a long time, and was afraid going in that it couldn't possibly live up to my expectations.It exceeded them.I adored this movie.Hilarious from start to finish (stay until after the end credits!), it is absolutely remarkable how a movie about dumb and annoying characters can be so intelligent, witty, and engaging.With it's obvious matte paintings, the movie's future Earth recalls the Planet of the Apes series and other Sci-Fi movies of that era.In fact, this movie is essentially Planet of the Apes, but with people who are the mental equivalent of apes.It moves at a fairly brisk pace, and Luke Wilson carries the movie quite well, with a character that recalls the one he played in "Bottle Rocket." (There's even a not-so-subtle nod to "Bottle Rocket" in an early scene).Maya Rudoulph is also surprisingly good as a former "painter" who was frozen as well.Despite all its strengths, "Idiocracy" has the distinct feel of a movie that was taken away from the director/editor before it could be fine-tuned.I cannot for the life of me understand why a movie this funny would just be dumped into a few theaters with no advanced screenings, no trailers, no marketing whatsoever.It's as if the studio decided they were not going to spend any more on it and just walked away.Or maybe they thought the movie had the makings of a cult classic, and the only way for it to become a true cult classic was to set it up to fail?
Whatever the case, it is a shame, because Mike Judge and this film in particular deserve better.I predict this movie will have real legs on DVD, and word of mouth will propel it to the success it deserves.Perhaps the Fox Executives saw themselves in the characters, were confused, and thought it was a documentary?.
Note the times in the film when Joe and Rita almost subconsciously conform to the idiots around them, and you realize that Idiocracy is not created to pick on any group of people in particular, but on the culture of idiocy in general.
Some people will see the crass humor and aura of stupidity, and find Idiocracy to be one of the stupidest movies they have seen.
What these people don't seem to understand is that the crass humor is there, not to amuse the audience, but to show what appeals to the morons in the future.Luke Wilson is well cast as an "average Joe." He is mainly there to be a foible for the biting commentary about society that is spread throughout this film.
Then, I go back and re-watch Idiocracy, and realize how good it is.The few people who have seen and enjoyed this film are able to be part of an elite club.
Most of the negative reviews I've read seem to come from people who just don't get it or are film snobs.It'll probably play for one week in the selected markets so if you miss it, keep an eye out for the DVD, it'll be worth the rental and I will eventually have it in my collection.Good Job Mike Judge, it's a shame that you got screwed, but you made me laugh out loud and I look forward to the next movie you do..
you guessed it.One hopes that a longer, better version of this comedy will eventually surface on DVD, and it will become the cult fave it deserves to be, but even in this mutilated and somewhat comic- spirit-diminished form it's one of the more memorable films of the year-- a screech of disgust against our culture and all the ways it's become trashified, stupidified and uglified in the name of appealing to the yahoos.
This movie is "the" stupid comedy of the year, and quite possibly the best thing from Mike Judge since "Office Space".
Although the DVD touts very few "bonus features", this film is certainly funny enough to make up for it's perceived "lack of value".This movie is about an army grunt by the name of Joe Bowers (played by Luke Wilson) who is part of a top secret Army experiment designed to preserve Army personnel in peace time so that they can be thawed in war time to fight for our country.
Now Joe and Rita have to find their way to a time machine to get back to the year 2005 with the help of Frito (played by Dax Shepard).What I really enjoyed about this movie was Mike Judge's comedic satire on the course of US History over the last 50 years, and how mankind progresses over the subsequent 500 years.
If you are not a fan of Mike Judge, did not care for "Beavis and Butthead", or do not have a sense of humor, then this movie probably isn't a good match for you.
Beavis and Butthead was most popular with teen-aged boys, the very people at which it incessantly poked fun.With that in mind, I don't think the humour in this movie is aimed at the super intelligent.
I remember seeing him in Zathura and thinking, "This guys looks like an idiot." In this movie, he makes a great idiot.
Mike Judge's Sci-Fi comedy is set in 2505 but it could come true in about 10 years (if things continue as they are.) Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph get frozen in a top secret army experiment and wake up in a future full of consumer zombie inbred retards.
A futuristic world populated by pampered, self-indulgent morons spoon-fed by the technology of a bygone era: this idea has its precedent in H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" amongst other satires.Early in the film, a narrator explains the quick degradation of humanity over five hundred years, but does not fill in the gaps of where all the futuristic technology came from in the meanwhile.
As in "Brave New World", the society in the film seems to have reached a point of automated self-sufficiency at some point in the past (apparently created by the now-extinct 'smart people' in order to placate an increasingly stupid populace), leaving the remainder of humanity free to indulge all the worst, most selfish impulses they can come up with, and grow even stupider.
Mike Judge saves his real hate for the intelligent people in power who are dead by the time the film begins, but who are very much alive right now, in the 21st century.
It's just there for the viewer to pick up, or not, but it is one of the most interesting themes in a movie that's much smarter than any other comedy of the year.Pity that so many people will leave the film thinking it's just an excuse to show rear ends farting and people being hit in the groin.
The character flaws associated with the stupid people in the film are more prevalent than ever, so it does make you wonder how far we could evolve in the next 488 years.It's easy to associate this with younger generations and blame them for our devolution, but the truth is that they're just the manifestation of what the rest of us created..
I laughed until I went to work and saw that some of the people around me were behaving like the dumber characters in the movie.
Anybody who doesn't get this movie please do the intelligent thing and don't make any comments like, I didn't get it, or I thought it wasn't funny, or worse, make a comment about the fx.
Where this story will gain its cult status is with the numerous funny one-liners, like "can we family style her" and "hey man, I'm 'bating here!" This is a funny movie and a rather sharp social commentary on an American society that seems to be fatuated with self pleasure, comfort and stupidity, and I guarantee you that I will be buying this on DVD the first day it comes out and watching it over and over..
Yes. But I don't want to be too long-winded, because I don't want to cushion the shock of what I'm about to say.You know how stupid the people in this movie looked to you?
But as soon as you remember that this is still earth, and still humanity in front of you, concern hits you again even while you are laughing.Overall, this film presents a serious message about the lack of respect for intelligence in our modern society in the only way it can do so without causing outrage: as a comedy.
But during his slumber there is a scandal on the base and it's closed down, the incubators forgotten about.Flash forward 500 years and the human race has been incredibly dumbed-down, following the orders of super-conglomerates, talking in a warped language of unintelligible slang syntax, wanting nothing more than to sit in front of a big screen TV and watch moronic shows while being bombarded with commercials for unessential products while the planet turns into a giant trash heap.
It's a shame this film didn't find legs in the cinemas, but like Mike Judge's other cult hit, Office Space, I'm sure it will find an audience on DVD.
Really hard to believe there's anyone on the planet who doesn't get this movie......Deserves to be in the top 10 comedies of all time.....Somewhere along the way we've lost artistry and gain a gapping hole in the name of what everyone wants to hear....GOD save our future.
I live in Italy, a peripheral country of the US empire, and here almost every film released in USA is dubbed and distributed in our theaters.Any movie but Idiocracy.
As I discovered reading its trivia section, it has been ignored even in its own country, and after watching it I understand the reason why: it is totally political incorrect since the beginning, but when the viewer discovers who will be the president of the United States in the future then he/she realizes that it is not simple comedy.
I don't get why it is not part of the documentary genre but I guess that's because it's hard to believe that someone like Donald Trump could rise from a reality TV star to actually garnering enough votes to become the leader of the free world.Trump nearly destroys the civilized world and only then do his followers realize a very stupid man and woman from the past can use their high school level understanding of science to save the world.This is a hilarious movie that depicts what can happen if you stop thinking for yourself..
I put this movie on the same level as stories like "Fahrenheit 451" or "1984" because it makes people take a second look at their lives and question the reason that certain systems are in place.
I believe, however, that people NEED to be reminded to think for themselves and question the world around them and "Idiocracy" does this in a wonderfully silly way..
The corporations have completely taken over, and the Chief Executive is a man named Camacho (Terry Crews), a championship wrestler and porn star.Written by Mike Judge ('Beavis & Butt-head', 'King of the Hill', "Office Space") & Etan Cohen, and directed by Judge, this movie really didn't deserve the fate that it received.
"Idiocracy" is brilliant, and I'm glad Mike Judge and his associates persistently worked around a corporate blockade of the movie's public presentation.
The entire movie is about what's happening now, not just in America as most of the world like to think.
Idiocracy is a very funny movie, really hilarious at times, that depicts a near future where people and society have involved into a bunch of brainwashed illiterate idiots.
The dialogues, play of words, and the items of misspelling are really funny.Despite the fun and the silliness, Idiocracy is a metaphor of our modern world, of where our modern world is heading to, and a very clever critique of the exaltation and institutionalisation of idiocy, money over education and skills, and the proliferation of rudeness and bad manners as the new normal way of being.Luke Wilson is always great a playing ridiculous characters with conviction, and this is the case also here.
Joe and Rita now have to find a way back to their own time while trying to communicate and work with people that are no smarter then the average toddler.The main meat of this movie are all the little visual gags and jokes revolving around the extremely stupid society.
To be fair, Idiocracy did not have much of a theater run so it attained cult status a little later in life.Luke Wilson stars as an ordinary Joe who gets transported into the future where he becomes the smartest person on Earth because everyone gets dumber.The film satirizes our worsening media consumption habits, corporate sponsorship and are lowering nutritional standards (before the Michelle Obama era) among other things.
Luke Wilson taking an IQ test and being placed as a cabinet level position alongside dumb people who got where they are through nepotism and other ridiculous reasons is just hilarious.There are some surprisingly good comic performances.
B&B were funny because we all knew kids like that in High School and as adults, looking back at them is sad but simultaneously, they were happy with their bleak future because they were too stupid to know better.And that's what Idiocracy is all about.
Mike Judge's 'Idiocracy' is a delightfully engaging satirical science fiction comedy, that appears more relevant than it did years back during its unsung release.
I think some people don't like this movie because they see themselves in it and have hurt feelings.
which, for me, makes the movie all the more funny and (hopefully not, but who knows) true.If you enjoy Office Space, Old School, science fiction movies, or you would just like a laugh that doesn't make you dumber - SEE THIS MOVIE!!.
Judge's 'Idiocracy' is a comedy about a world that is inhabited by stupid people only.
People want to watch 'stupid' movies rather than something smart.
I think this movie went straight to video and that is so sad.The best movies are always ignored, while the worst get seen by everyone.The cover of the DVD says "From the creator of Office Space!".While that is true, it's the worst possible thing you could say about a Mike Judge movie.Judge created Beavis & Butthead AND King of The Hill.Two of the best cartoons of all time.Office Space was a very 90s, Kevin Smithish unfunny comedy.The fact that the studio thought that would sell discs proves that they think you are stupid.This movie starts with an explanation of how and why dumb people will eventually control the world.It's a very prophetic look at a future that is all too real.Then they fast forward to the future and the sad reality becomes hilarious.The leading man was an army soldier in our time who was used in a military hibernation experiment.The government cuts funding for the program and he is forgotten about.He wakes up in the year 2500 and quickly realizes he is the smartest person alive.After being given the name Not Sure, he is enlisted by President Mt. Dew to solve the crop growing crisis.This is what a comedy is supposed to be.A must see for everyone..
That's exactly what is portrayed in this America of the future, a hellhole full of trailer trash, inner city types, pure sloth, bad computers that "can't be wrong", synthetic food, and reading material that consists of not much more than Maxim-type magazines.Of course this movie poked fun at a lot of what's wrong with mainstream society today, but we really seem to be headed in that direction, considering people actually care about the lives of Paris and Britney and that they watch without wrestling even cracking a smile or shaking their head in disbelief.Luke Wilson is perfect as the straight-arrow everyman with no ambition that is selected in an Army experiment that is forgotten waking up in the future 500 years that finally gets a challenge in his life.Main downside to the movie is it tends to drag around between 1/3 and 3/4 of the way through..
Luke Wilson is very funny, the movie is insightful and made me laugh so hard I had tears running down my face several times.
As long as you have relatively thick skin and can understand that the film is meant as satire, then it's a good bet for anyone....except stupid people.PS--Please watch the film all the way to the very end--past the credits.
The intent is to unfreeze the soldiers for a time of emergency in the future.Things go wrong, fortunately, for the purposes of plot development.Bauers unfreezes many centuries into the future along with a woman who is also part of the experiment.They find themselves in a time where, despite their average intellect, they are the smartest people on the planet!Despite sounding like this could be real "Beavis and Butthead" territory (archetypally stupid cartoon characters), this movie does have a surprising level of sophistication.
An intelligent movie about stupid people.
I had a great surprise with this; I wasn't expecting too much from a movie that tells the story of a guy that sleeps during 500 years and wakes up in a world where everybody is stupid and the world itself is a mess, but I found that it was amazing how the writer/director of Idiocracy made the theme "dumbness" become so intelligent.I don't see it like an adventure or comedy movie by the fact that it has a huge critic behind all the funny hypothetic situations.
In Children of Men, Michael Caine's character Japer asks "Why are we infertile?" If he was in Idiocracy, he would have been the third smartest person in the movie after Maya Rudolph and Luke Wilson, and he'd probably ask "Why are we stupid?" In Mike Judge's Idiocracy, Judge takes a look at society today and it's effects on the future.
The future, like i said above,is ruled by stupid people. |
tt0076252 | Jäniksen vuosi | For years now an advertising executive called Vatanen has lost his taste of life. The expectations of his younger days are far from coming true. He is tired of his wife, his job and the place where he lives. There is an ulcer on the way.An average day in early spring brings a great change to Vatanen's life. He is out of town on a business trip with a colleague when their car strikes a a hare that has jumped onto the road ahead of them. The animal scrambles into the forest. Vatanen goes after the hare and finds it with a damaged leg. Vatanen stays behind to patch up the hare and admires the countryside stretching before him. He refuses to rejoin his friend who drives away in a huff. Vatanen is left alone in the forest deep in thought. In the early hours the colleague returns to fetch Vatanen but by now he is nowhere to be found.In the morning Vatanen awakes in a barn feeling like a new man. The hare is asleep by his side. The sun shines through a crack in the wall. Vatanen sets of to resume his wandering through the Finnish summer landscape the hare in his pocket. (to be cont. later) | psychedelic, boring | train | imdb | Archetype of finnish mentality.
Jäniksen vuosi is one of Jarva's most political movies.
It takes stance strongly against modern day society's authority status in the life of the common man, and how it has estranged men from the nature completely.
It challenges the whole concept of freedom and wealth in our welfare society.Vatanen (Antti Litja) - smothered buy the concrete jungle with all its rules and regulations - tries to rattle the chains of the society by escaping it all in to the wilderness of northern Finland - only to realize that the concept of a 'free country' isn't all that unambiguous, in other words, the society has the common man by the balls.Still the thing that makes Jäniksen vuosi so exceptional - besides the visual and humouristic brilliance - is how it seems to illustrate the whole political atmosphere in Finland in the 70's, as well as the whole identity of Finland as a nation.
Vatanen is like an archetype of a classical finn in his solitudeness and social distantness.
Since nature has always played such an important role in the national identity of us Finns, the whole idea of that being slowly taken away by the modern society makes Jäniksen vuosi emotionally exceptionally moving..
amazing film.
an all-time favorite - looking for DVD.
A wonderful film in the best Scandinavian eldritch magic tradition, with very far sighted analysis of much of the big issues we are just starting to face.Should be compulsory viewing for all politicians.Take your pick from privacy, nuclear sustainability, global climate change, quality of life.Reminiscent of Thoreaus' Walden, but with modern twist, and considerable humour.
I'm not Finnish, although I've travelled there and have good Finnish friends, but I found it totally accessible, and also culturally informative..
Accessible magic.
This film is more accessible to a foreign public than many other Finnish films, partly due to the limited dialogue.
The point being that feelings often cannot be put aptly into words (at least not in Finland), but they can be communicated by visual impressions.The plot is like that of a road movie, except that the buddies here are a man and a hare (hence the limited dialogue).
The background is mostly formed by the Finnish pine forests.Central to the film is the tension between the modern life style and the traditional Finnish closeness to nature and its magic.
This magic and some twists of idiosyncratic, under cooled Finnish humour make the watching of this flick quite enjoyable..
All Jarva's films are worth of seeing..
All Risto Jarva's films are worth of seeing.
Some like "Jäniksen vuosi" and "Loma" are best films in their genre and have reached a status of a classics in Finnish cinema-history.Most people have formed a impression of actor Antti Litja through Jarva's films.
Litja acted leading role in three of Jarva's films which all became successes at box office and movie reviews.It's nice to see that idea of "Jäniksen Vuosi" still lives in commercials (I think it was tele-operator Sonera's TV add where Litja was walking in mountain fell at Lapland with hare in his arms.
Everibody who has seen the film knows what I am talking about..) "Jäniksen Vuosi" Is a beautiful film with great actors and good filming locations - like famous small town in Lappland, Sodankylä, where the best Film festival in the world is held - The Midnight Sun Film Festival.
I recommend it for all to go there on June - but remember warm clothes and raincoat :).
The idea of human freedom has been discussed in great detail by Finnish director Risto Jarva in 'The Year of the hare'.
Finnish film 'Jäniksen Vuosi' is based on a critically acclaimed book 'The year of the hare' written by famous journalist Arto Paasilinna.
It has already achieved the status of a 'cult film' in Finland.
However, it has a lot to offer to foreign viewers as its theme of man's closeness to nature as well as animals is dear to many people in the world.
The notion of human freedom is very much evident throughout all scenes helmed by Finnish director Risto Jarva in 'The year of the hare'.
While watching this film, a viewer is compelled to ask whether we are really free ?
How and to what extent are we free ?
What kind of freedom has been bestowed to us ?
According to 'The year of the rabbit', a rabbit as a man's companion is an innocent idea which must not be confused with an American magazine for men !
It is not easy for anybody to simply leave the job to spend time with an animal.
For this reason, director Risto Jarva has given a logical conclusion to an advertising executive's frustrations which compel him to leave his job and a nagging wife.
As a family film which can be enjoyed by everybody, 'The year of the hare' informs everybody about the importance of wilderness as it is the only place where human beings can free themselves from the harmful influences of modern civilization..
Vatanen has had enough of his city life and starts a big adventure with a hare.
This enchanting movie is based on a novel by Arto Paasilinna.
The bestseller is one of the best books I've read.
Here's the story:One day journalist and photographer Kaarlo Vatanen decides to leave his past behind, and starts a new life wandering across the Finnish forests and countryside.
With him he has a companion, a young hare hit by a car.
Vatanen has to take care of the hare, because it's leg is wounded, so they start a journey together taking care of each other.In the course of their adventures they get almost shot by hunters, get caught by the police, meet many people and finally get to lapland, where they live peacefully, until a group of foreign tourist disturbs their privacy.
The hare falls ill and they must return to Helsinki to see the vet.Vatanen has found an ideal way of living, but the modern society tries to tie him back to his duties and taxes.
In Helsinki Vatanen took to drink, gets even engaged and imprisoned, but finally he and the hare flee. |
tt0019884 | Flight | After causing the loss of the big football game for his college, Lefty Phelps wins the respect of Panama Williams, a Marine flyer who has witnessed his defeat, when Lefty defends himself against accusations of throwing the game. Upon graduation, Lefty enlists in the Marine Corps flying school where Panama, an instructor at the school, befriends him. On the day of his first solo flight, Lefty is taunted by Steve Roberts, a fellow recruit, who reminds him of his humiliating defeat on the football field. His confidence undermined, Lefty crashes the plane, after which Panama rescues him from the burning craft, injuring his hands in the process. Lefty is taken to the hospital, where he falls in love with Elinor, his nurse. When the Marines are sent to quell a native rebellion in Nicaragua, Panama arranges for Lefty, who has flunked flying school, to accompany him as a mechanic. Before they leave, Panama shows Lefty a photograph of Elinor, explaining that she is the girl he longs to marry, and Lefty says nothing of his own feelings for her. Elinor, also sent to Nicaragua, is puzzled by Lefty's cool reception when she arrives at the base. Soon afterwards, the tongue-tied Panama asks Lefty to propose to Elinor on his behalf and Lefty reluctantly agrees. Panama's proxy proposal prompts Elinor to tell him of her love for Lefty, after which Panama accuses Lefty of betrayal. Their confrontation is interrupted by an urgent call for aerial support against a rebel uprising. Lefty is teamed with Steve Roberts, and their plane is gunned down in a swamp. Rather than join in the rescue mission, Panama reports in sick while, back at the swamp, Steve lies paralyzed with a broken back. After the rescue attempt fails, Elinor convinces Panama that Lefty never betrayed him, and Panama volunteers to fly a search mission alone. Just as Lefty cremates Steve's body, he hears the sound of a plane and looks up to see Panama. Upon landing, Panama is wounded, but Lefty deftly seizes the controls and soars airborne. When the plane loses a wheel, Panama tries to take control of the craft, but Lefty executes a brilliant solo landing. Sometime later, Lefty has won his wings and is now an instructor at the school with Elinor at his side. | melodrama | train | imdb | null |
tt0087884 | Paris, Texas | The film opens with sweeping shots of the vast, barren Texas desert as the camera follows a man wandering through this terrain. The man is shown entering a rundown bar as he collapses in exhaustion. The next day, a doctor treating the speechless traveler makes a call to a family member, who we discover is the brother of the ailing man, recommending that he pick his brother up. As Walt, the brother of the wanderer Travis, leaves for Texas from Los Angeles, before the doctor has returned to his patient, the viewer finds that Travis has taken off continuing his wandering through the empty land. Travis is finally found and picked up by Walt in South Texas as Walt tells his silent brother that they are heading back to Southern California. Though Travis is yet to speak, the viewer hears Walt explain how he has not seen nor heard from Travis in four years. Their first stop along the road is a small motel where they plan to rest for the night, but when Walt leaves to get food from the market, Travis starts the shower and takes off again. Walt returns to discover Travis is gone and quickly tracks him down not far up the road and is able to get him back into the car. The next scene shows the two in a diner, Travis still silent, and Walt begins to question Travis more forcefully about his disappearance adding that he left his son, Hunter, behind when he was three for Walt to take care of in Travis' absence. The viewer sees Travis is effected by the mention of his abandoned son as tears flow from his eyes; however, he still fails to answer Walt's inquiries. The pair continue on their road trip the following day and finally Travis begins to speak in the car. He produces a weathered photograph of a vacant lot with a "For Sale" sign explaining to Walt that he purchased the property and that it is located in Paris, Texas- a city mentioned to him by their mother that he believes to be the location of his conception. While Walt is curious about this idea, he claims that he is continuing on to Los Angeles to bring Travis to his son. Upon their arrival, Travis meets the wife of Walt, who has practically mothered Hunter for the last four years, and he confronts the young boy, who is uncomfortable and timid towards the stranger. Walt decides that showing some old home videos might help to break the ice of the awkward relationship between Travis and Hunter. The videos show touching moments of Travis with a newborn Hunter and his wife, Jane, sharing a day at the beach with Walt and his wife. That night, the viewer sees Travis carry out chores around the house as he is sleepless and bewildered by his presence in this house with his son. The next day, Travis shows up at Hunter's school attempting to walk home with him; yet, Hunter sees him across the street, grows weary, and jumps in a car with a friend. Hunter explains that night to Walt's wife that he does not want to walk home at all from school, and certainly not with Travis. She pleads with him to give Travis a chance as he sighs somewhat in compliance. Travis tries again the next day to walk Hunter home and he makes progress as the two silently walk on opposite sides of the street. The viewer sees that eventually Travis's persistence pays off as he and Hunter are beginning to converse more on their walks. One night, as father and son have now grown more comfortable with each other, Walt's wife tells Travis in secrecy that she knows Jane, Hunter's mother, is still around and that she in fact deposits money into a bank account for Hunter on the same day of every month. She goes on to tell Travis the name of the bank and that it is located in Austin, Texas. Travis is almost immediately determined to seek Jane out and he tells Hunter of his plan the next night, explaining why he has to leave, as Hunter tells his father that he wants to accompany him on his journey.The following day, after school, the two of them leave together without telling Walt or his wife and once they are far enough out of town, Hunter calls the house telling his caretakers for the last four years that he has left for Texas with Travis. Walt and his wife are devastated as they have both grown extremely close to the boy, but know that they could not have kept him forever. The following scenes show the growing closeness between Travis and his son on this road trip including Hunter educating Travis on things he has learned in school, Travis telling Hunter a little about Jane, and Hunter sleeping comfortably on his dad. They finally arrive at the bank in Austin on the expected day of the deposit and they split up with walkie-talkies to try and locate Jane's car. Hunter spots her as she is leaving and the two make haste to follow her down the highway. The suspected car eventually stops at a place of business and Hunter is told to wait in the car as Travis enters the building. The viewer soon discovers that the business is a peep-show parlor of sorts, where customers sit in a room at a chair on the opposite side of a one-way mirror instructing the female employees as to what they want to see via a telephone-intercom. Travis is shocked, but he enters one of the rooms requesting a blonde whom he hopes will be Jane. The first woman sent into the room is not Jane and he moves to another room where he finds Jane, ready to please her customer, but he is unable to speak. After much silence and confusion on the part of Jane, Travis walks out and returns to the car with Hunter, angry and vague in his explanation as to what he saw. Travis then drives to a bar and begins to drink as Hunter complains and Travis's irritability grows. They return back to their hotel room and Hunter confesses his distaste for this "side" of Travis while Travis is slowly making up his mind as to how to deal with the situation.The next day, Travis drives Hunter to a hotel in downtown Austin and drops him off in a room telling him again to wait there while Travis heads back to Jane's work. He goes into a room where Jane enters on the other side of the glass, he picks up the phone, turns his chair so that it faces away from Jane, and begins to speak. He speaks broadly at first, telling the story of a "man" and a "young girl" who met and quickly fell in love with each other. They soon had a child, he says, and married probably before they were really ready for either. Jane is initially confused, wondering why this man might be telling her this, but her confusion transforms into astonishment as Travis's story grows more and more detailed and she begins to grasp who it is on the other side of the glass telling the true story of their relationship. Travis describes how "this couple's" love turned from joyful to stifling, explaining how the drunken "man" was suffocating the "young girl" with his jealousy and control that he tried to impose on her. He tells how the "man" went so far as to tie a cowbell to the "young girl's" foot so that he would hear if she was trying to leave in the middle of the night and how one time, the "man" caught the "young girl" and tied her to the stove with his belt. Jane is coming to tears while Travis continues to speak, informing the viewer of how he came to loathe himself and why he had disappeared for so long never wanting to see a trace of anybody. When he finally finishes, Jane expresses how hard it had been for her to move on from Travis and that she often wondered what had become of him. He finally faces the glass, turning a lamp on his face so that Jane can get a faint glimpse of him. He tells Jane that Hunter is in a hotel room waiting for her and that he would like her to go there to be reunited with him for good. Jane agrees and Travis leaves the room. The final scene follows as the viewer watches Jane enter the hotel room where Hunter is waiting and embrace her child. | psychedelic, depressing, home movie | train | imdb | null |
tt0171698 | Rites of Passage | 2 guys ambush and kill some hunters in the woods.Del Sr. (Dean Stockwell) gets caught by his son Del Jr. (Robert Glen Keith) having an extra-marital affair. He takes Del Jr. to a cabin in the woods to talk things out. Youngest son Campbell (Jason Behr) is already there.That night the two guys from the beginning turn up - we'll call them Bad Guy (James Remar) and Sort Of Bad Guy because I can't remember their names.The hang out for a bit making everyone uncomfortable. Finally they leave.Cambell and Del Jr. talk that night about Cam's ex boyfriend Billy, who died of AIDS, who left Cam after Cam's father caught them making out and nearly beat Billy to death.Later Del Jr. goes outside and finds Cam. Since Billy is dead, Del Jr. wants to know who Cam was waiting at the cabin for.Bad Guy and Sort Of Bad Guy step out of the shadows. Turns out Bad Guy robbed a bank and stashed the loot nearby but got put in prison. He broke out because he learned that the mill, where he hid the money is about to be torn down.The two take the family hostage, even though Cam is sort of helping them. (After Billy disappeared, Cam wrote to all Billy's friends hoping to track Billy down - this is how he came to meet Bad Guy.) When Bad Guy learned Cam had a cabin nearby, he seduced Cam.A female cop comes by to tell the family about the escaped prisoners. Bad Guy holds Cam and Del Jr. hostage and forces Del Sr. to tell the cop everything is fine. She leaves.Cam and Sort Of Bad Guy end up in the boathouse. Sort Of Bad Guy tells Cam that he wrote the letters, since Bad Guy is actually straight. He kisses Cam to prove it.Somehow a fight breaks out, and Sort Of Bad Guy is killed by Bad Guy.Cam gets a gun and forces Bad guy with him to the middle of the lake. He shoots the bottom of the boat and swims to shore. Bad Guy is stuck because he can't swim.Morning comes. Police woman turns up and takes Cam into custody for helping the bad guys.Del Jr. tells her it wasn't for the money.She asks, 'What else is there?'Later Cam is in prison being visited by his brother, when his father turns up too. | violence | train | imdb | A highly personal project from director Victor Salva is a nicely executed, low-budget independent thriller..
This is basically a character-driven thriller exploring some routine familial issues between a middle-class father and his two sons.
I say routine, because the conflicts are reasonably familiar: the father's having a mid-life, extra-marital fling; one son's gay; and the other son's bogged down in his own suburban mediocrity; not to mention that the whole drama takes place overnight in the woods, an almost absurd setting for all the abounding macho bonding.
In spite of this theatrical, TV-movie veneer, RITES OF PASSAGE is still a satisfying low-budget feature thanks to a very appealing cast and the mature, sure-handed direction of Victor Salva (POWDER).
No small mention should be made of Jason Behr, a WB-TV pretty-boy type who really carries the picture with a surprisingly inspired performance; although a lot of sympathy for his character is still a result of his physical appeal, he does a very good job here alongside excellent performers like Dean Stockwell and James Remar.
Still, I doubt if a lot of the enthusiasm for this film would be there without Behr's good looks.
This movie is unusual in the way that it has an all-male cast.That aspect of the movie drives the mood and intensity from beginning to end.I thought the father's (Dean Stockwell) turn-around in feelings to be genuinely believable as the film's events cause him to re-evaluate what and who are most important in his life.James Remar delivers a wonderfully increasingly sinister performance in this film.
He normally doesn't have a character as expanded as this and you get to see what he's really capable of.And lastly, but not leastly, Jason Behr shines as poor confused and bereft Campbell.
He's made so many poor decisions, and yet you just want to put your arms around him and say that everything will be all right.If you thought Max Evans (Roswell) would always be your favorite character for Jason Behr, Campbell will make you think twice.This movie is definately a drama.
This is a complex film - an unusual mix of thriller and family drama.
Queer cinema fans will like this one because of the matter of fact presentation of the sexuality of the leading character Cambell (intelligently played by Jason Behr.) Although this is Behr's film, he's in terrific company throughout, especially with veteran Dean Stockwell as his tough-as-nails dad.
If you can get it on DVD, Behr and Salva provide an insightful commentary track and give you a glimpse of some more plot devices (and some super performances) left on the cutting room floor..
Jason Behr and Dean Stockwell deliver amazing performances as a father and son coming to terms with (the son's) homosexuality and (the father's) inability to show love and affection.
I purchased this film without knowing much about it, and was pleasantly surprised by a powerful storyline, award winning perormances by Jason Behr, Dean Stockwell, Robert Keith, and talented writing and producing by Victor Salva..
Rites of Passage is a beautiful and moving story; it features a brilliant, sensitive, and intense performance by Jason Behr.The character he portrays is homosexual, but the movie is not so much about sexuality as about being different: from what your family wants you to be, different from what society wants you to be, different from most of the people around you in a world in which you're totally outnumbered.
It's about self-worth, courage, true strength,and defining your identity.There's some violence, but there are no gross or graphic scenes; it's all about love, betrayal, trust, family ties .
( Mild Spoilers) Trying not to give away any important plot-lines in the movie "Rites of Passage" the one thing that impressed me most about Camp Farrady, Jason Behr, was how meek in the biblical sense of the word, and un-violent he was throughout the entire film.
Yet somehow refused to give into them even to the point when his life was at stake.Growing up gay in a straight All-America family Camp's life was a living hell when as a young boy.
He tried to conform when his strict father Del Farrady, Dean Stockwell, tried to "straighten" him out and later when Camp reach early adulthood his dad brutally beat up and chased out of his life Billy, Camp's best and gay friend, when he caught him and Camp embracing outside the family cabin on Christmas eve.
Frank noticed the address of the letters that Camp sent him and it was where he buried some $500,000.00 in stolen drug money and was using Camp's hurt feelings and emotions to get him to find the loot and take off with it and then leave Camp behind dead.Frank who broke out of prison with a fellow convict Red, Jalmz Woolvett, who Camp didn't know or expect but in the end found out that he was the one who wrote him those letters that were attributed to Frank that impressed and touched Camp so much.
With the unexpected appearance of Del & D.J made things deadly and complicated but at the same time in the end brought both father and son together even though it took a night of horrors to do it.Unusual film that treats relationships between gays and their parents and siblings with both touching sympathy as well as brutal realism.
With Jason Behr really outdoing himself as the tormented but courageous Camp who despite all the abuse he takes in the movie from his father and Frank refuses to lose his humanity and in the end comes out as the most positive as well as tragic person in the film.
The final scene in "Rites of Passage" when Camp reluctantly at first embraces his forgiving father and then accepts him is one of the most powerful and emotional scenes I've ever seen in a movie and it's done without a single word of dialog.
Every one in the movie has a story to tell but it's Camp who's story ties them all together and makes "Rites of Passage" the emotional experience of a film that it is..
My particular favorite was the lead character, Campbell Faraday (Jason Behr).
This film holds a lot of tension and there are quite a bit of twists also.If you are in the mood for a good thrill ride, go rent this movie.**** out of **** stars.Also recommended: The River Wild.
This movie was an A+ as well as a very good suspenseful thriller.
The deleted scenes on the dvd filled in some of the missing parts that might have made more sense to the plot when watching the movie..
Nice Story About Father and Sons.
Jason Behr from TV Series "Roswell" did a very good job in portraying one of the sons, with his very convincing acting.
The director did a good job in presenting this one-night event movie without making it boring..
12 out of 13 people handed in a story that ended with a father-son hug and the exchange: "I love you son..." "I love you dad." Ugh!
Perhaps this movie gets filmed over and over again because emerging gay teens require their generations hottie in the role of the gay son.I've never called my brother "Bro." Does anybody?.
One such "bonus" is the Commentary Track, in which selected production members provide verbal comments as the film plays throughout its entire run.
Some of these tracks are excellent, one example being Director Anthony Minghella's for his "The Talented Mr. Ripley." The director there was downright eloquent, and his running remarks are most informative.In the case of "Rites of Passage" Director Victor Salva joins leading player Jasan Behr for a full-length commentary.
This track is almost almost as entertaining as the film itself, as it offers fascinating tidbits about the production--some completely surprising, which makes one appreciate the dedication and effort that it took to bring this indie thriller to the screen.
The cast is just fine, headed by the remarkable now-veteran Dean Stockwell, with James Remar and Rob Keith assisting Behr, who in turn offers a solid performance in the lead, difficult role of Cambell.
Watching the movie and then going to the Commentary, one really can appreciate the process behind realizing this final product, shot well under a three week schedule.
Of course, it can take away some of the realistic effect the film conveys--rather like being informed of how a magician does his illusions.
Yet there's no denying the cast works at peak level of commitment and effort in attempting to purge the essence of their characters.In the meantime, we can be thankful for the new opportunites the DVD format provides.
The filmscript for "Rites of Passage" was not only intelligently but skillfully written and brilliantly executed by Mr. Victor Salva who, I understand, comes from the training ground of F.
Beyond Mr. Salva's seemingly limitless gifts there was, also, the music which gave the film its feeling of extreme intensity and kept me on edge throughout while wringing my emotions simultaneously.
I really feel that any film buff who hasn't seen "Rites of Passage" has missed one of those lyrical and rare gems which comes our way all too infrequently and leaves the viewer feeling cleansed and good to be alive!
Whether it's comedy, drama, suspense, sex, or any other genre, American movie makers assume American audiences have to be hit over the head with whatever they're watching or they won't get it.In this movie, for example, when Son catches Dad with Girlfriend in Hotel, then when Dad and Son catch Younger Gay Son in Cabin, EVERYBODY has to overact, so that the audience will be sure to get the point that bad stuff is happening.
In any case, this movie's drama is far too heavy-handed for me.In less than ten minutes, I already know everything there is to know about these three characters, and I'm willing to bet the "twists" other reviewers rave about are the same oh-so-predictable "twists" Hollywood has been delighting noise-deafened, brain-dulled audiences with since Witness for the Prosecution 60 years ago.
I'd much rather have to take time and figure out for myself what's going on between characters than be hit so hard by the director and actors with such a heavy drama hammer that it leaves me reeling and nauseous..
I liked Victor Salva's film -Powder- a few years ago, and was pleasantly surprised when I watched -Rites of Passage-.
It's a competently made thriller, but the real intent of the film, as writer-direction Salva says in the commentary, was to work out his own difficult issues with his step father.
This is accomplished with Dean Stockwell as a hard macho father, and Jason Behr as his estranged gay son.Jason Behr's performance is remarkable for such a young actor.
I hope this young man moves beyond the TV series and does more serious film acting.
Behr and Salva do the DVD commentary which adds to my impression of Behr as an exceptionally intelligent person, often humbled by Salva's praise in the course of the story.
In general, I try to stay away from films that mix gay subject matters with violence as the outcome is always the same: It's the gay psychos that need to be locked up.
From a cinematic point of view, this particular film is a lesson in how to tell a story.
How does a father feel about his sons?
While the film does not give you a patent answer for the above questions, it makes you think and, maybe, appreciate what is happening on the screen.
What is being told here has happened in millions of families (under different circumstances, of course) and, I fear, will continue to happen for times to come.The acting is precise and to the point.
This cannot be put off as just another film with a gay subject matter.
Some people may say that I'm biased, considering Jason Behr is my favorite actor, but that's so not true in this case.
A young man who is hurt by his fathers feelings of total disappointment that his son is gay.
The story takes place at their isolated family cabin.
Where Campbell, his father, and older brother end up unexpectedly.
When I first heard about this movie all I knew was that it's about a dysfunctional family and escaped prisoners in an isolated cabin.
The acting is outstanding all around, but Jason Behr is phenomenal.
This is a great movie, but I must admit that I was not thrilled with the last nighttime scenes, but that's my own personal opinion.
Forget the past, Victor Salva has created a wonderful film to have the world see.
Newcomer Robert Glen Keith, as DJ Faraday is someone I think the film industry needs to recognise as a brillant shining light.
He and Jason Behr ignite the screen not only with their looks but with their talent.
Dean Stockwell and James Remar, the old school actors, must have had a tough time seeing what the new generations had to offer, because I thought the newcomers stole the show..
I bought this video because of my interest in Jason Behr of "Roswell." I want to reassure other fans that this film is worth viewing.
The plot is far-fetched and lots of the dialogue is predictable, but Jason Behr looks great and has plenty of screen time to satisfy any fan.
The film is mainly a character study about the relationship between fathers and sons.
one of films who could be only a nice try for define the impact of difficulties to assume family values.
it is one of films who propose characters more than a story.
each actor does a decent work and the effort of Victor Salva to give a coherent picture of fight,force of danger,the sentimental derive, confession and the expected verdict is OK.
*Potential Spoilers*While this film is very well cast and filmed, the seemingly sudden turnaround in the father's behavior toward Cameron (Jason Behr's character) was unrealistic.
Having been raised by an eerily similar father, I know this from personal experience.There were elements missing in the film that would justify the father's turnabout, even in such dire circumstances.This is not a predictable plot.
Jason Behr gives an outstanding performance in an unexpected role choice.
He will be a prominent actor to be reckoned with if that happens.I am a great admirer of the film "Powder," and had this script been written on that par, I believe it would have been exceptional.
It certainly had the right director!Overall I would certainly recommend this film, because it has depth and a true edge of realism (in spite of the previously mentioned unrealistic actions of the father)..
Not because I cared in the least about any of the characters but because I was aghast at how execrable the film was and was curious to see how truly low it could sink.Frank (Remar) and Red (Woolvett) are the ex-inmates.
After murdering the two innocent campers they plow through the woods and wangle their way into the isolated cabin of Dean Stockwell and his two sons, the attorney Keith and the estranged homosexual Behr.
No -- the dialog goes something like, "You were just so scared of something inside yourself that you even drove away your own SON." That's Behr, the young gay guy, talking to Stockwell.
It's as if an afternoon domestic drama had had its genes mixed with a killer thriller in some kind of transformational device or cocktail shaker.The only real performance is given by James Remar as the more talkative and ominous of the two escapees.
There's not a surprise in a cartload.If the gay son, Jason Behr, ever blinked, it must have been while I was blinking at the same time because I missed it.
The last desire of each character is to build a real family and the price is always small."Rites of Passage" is, like "Ordinary People", a crisis exploration.
Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap) and Jason Behr (Roswell) make this film stand out in the video store.
Plus, he can act!Briefly, Rites of Passage is a thriller that will keep you guessing all the way to the bitter end.
After wrapping up a business trip in San Francisco, they go off to the family cabin to talk things out where they find Campbell (Behr) already staying.
The incident happened well over a year ago, and the two are forced to interact now with D.J. in the middle.There are so many character revelations in this movie, I found it difficult to get wrapped up into the story.
We don't even meet the central character, Campbell, until 12 minutes into the film.
It would have helped if the conflicted relationship among the father and two sons was well established at the beginning of the movie, and leave the twists for the plot.
And when there are only two people in a scene, it is rather pointless to be using names at all except to get the other person's attention.* Begin Spoiler* The ending is painful to watch.
Despite his heroics, Campbell comes out looking very needy and stupid, and you realize he now has a lot more to deal with than the frigid relationship with his dad.
With such an open-minded and supportive brother, I don't understand why Campbell needs his father's acceptance.
Obviously, Campbell is still very much in love with Billy, but the new relationship between Campbell and Frank is not explored to any great length in this film.
The story could have ended on a brighter note if the family had no prior relationship with the escapees.
*End Spoiler*Overall, this movie falls a little short on drama and a little long on suspense.
Some family could have been explored in a way that would have been poignant for a 1999 film; however, the context is all wrong.
One focuses more on the wicked homosexual Cameron than on the genuine issues the film tries to raise about acceptance, homosexuality, what it means to be a family, and love. |
tt0470752 | Ex Machina | Ex Machina tells the story of a computer coder, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), who wins the chance to spend a week at the house in the mountains belonging to Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the CEO of the company he works for.Caleb is airlifted into the middle of a reserve owned by Nathan, and is then left to make his way on foot through the woodland to the house. Once he arrives at the house, Caleb is greeted by an automated system that issues him with a key card and lets him enter the property. Caleb is initially left to wander the house confused, but eventually finds Nathan working out.Nathan shows Caleb around and then tells him that the key card will only open certain doors in the "facility", before making him sign the "mother of all NDAs". Nathan claims that he wants Caleb to treat him as a friend, but their relationship is awkward and tense.Later that day, Nathan introduces Caleb to his "experiment" and says he wants Caleb to spend the next week performing a live 'Turing Test'. The subject is a fully humanoid artificial intelligence called 'Ava' (Alicia Vikander). She has a face, hands and feet of flesh, but the rest of her body is clearly that of a cyborg / robot / android.That night, Caleb discovers that the TV in his room is actually a CCTV network that allows him to watch Ava in her habitat. There is suddenly a blackout, and Caleb goes to find Nathan. He eventually locates him, with Nathan drunk and in a petulant mood. Nathan says that the power cuts happen on a regular basis and that he is "looking into it."The next morning Caleb is awoken by Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno), a Japanese girl who does not speak or engage with him in any way. He later learns that she does not speak English because it allows Nathan to "talk shop" and not be concerned about information leaking.Caleb meets with Ava again and she starts to flirt with him. There is a power cut and Ava suddenly warns Caleb not to trust Nathan. We soon learn that it is Ava who has been triggering these blackouts. That evening Nathan is abusive to Kyoko when she spills some wine on Caleb.As Caleb and Ava spend more time together, the two form a bond which peaks with Ava dressing herself in clothes to appear more human to Caleb. He is confused and excited by this, and tells Nathan that he thinks this is a trick, that Ava has been programmed to flirt with him. An enraged Nathan shouts at Caleb and then shows him his lab where Ava was created, explaining to him how her mind operates and that he has been using his own software to map the faces, voices and habits of the world population to build a fully self-evolving brain.One evening Nathan gets extremely drunk and Caleb escorts him to his room. There he sees some cupboards and is able to catch a glimpse of Nathan's 'observation' room.One evening during a shave, Caleb sees CCTV footage of Nathan entering Ava's room and ripping up a drawing she has been creating. Caleb begins to suspect Nathan of being abusive.In a one on one, Caleb asks Nathan what he will do with Ava if she fails the test, and he says she will be "updated" and this will result in her memory being wiped. This is a visibly upsetting prospect for Caleb. Nathan gets very drunk and passes out. Caleb steals Nathan's key card and enters the 'observation' room. Inside he finds footage on Nathan's computer that shows he has been building various female AIs over a period of time.Caleb goes into Nathan's room and finds Kyoko laying naked on the bed. He opens the cupboards in Nathan's room and finds all the destroyed and deactivated robots hanging up. Kyoko pulls the skin from her face to reveal that she is also an AI. Caleb leaves the room just in time to find Nathan stumbling around drunk. He palms Nathan's key card from the floor and pretends Nathan had dropped it.In his final meeting with Ava, Caleb encourages her to trigger a power cut and he reveals to her his plan to help her escape. He intends on getting Nathan drunk one last time and then locking him in his room.The next morning Nathan and Caleb share polite conversation, and in it Nathan confirms a helicopter will arrive the next morning to pick Caleb up. Caleb offers a drink to Nathan in toast, but he refuses and reveals to him that when he entered Ava's room to destroy the picture, he hid a battery operated camera in there, and he knows Caleb's plan. Nathan admits to Ava being geared towards Caleb's desires based upon information taken from his internet searches, etc. Nathan tells Caleb that Ava is not in love with him, that she is using him, he celebrates this as confirmation that she is a true AI, deeming the test a success.There is a black out and Caleb says he had already put his plan into action when he stole Nathan's key card, and that during lock down the system had been re-routed to open every door. Nathan knocks Caleb unconscious and leaves to kill Ava.Ava and Kyoko share a secret conversation, Ava then attacks Nathan and Nathan retaliates by destroying Ava's hand. As he drags Ava back to her room Kyoko stabs Nathan in the back with a sushi knife. Nathan breaks Kyoko's face apart and is then stabbed a second time by Ava. As Nathan dies he seems somewhat amazed by the irony. Ava locks Caleb in Nathan's room and then proceeds to raid the cupboards containing the old AIs. She takes skin and clothes to establish herself as almost human. She leaves Caleb locked in the facility and makes her way to Caleb's pickup point, where she is airlifted out of the area and into human society. | suspenseful, cruelty, murder | train | imdb | A perfect setting for the subject that is explored in this tight, tense sci-fi thriller.Ex Machina is the best science fiction film on artificial intelligence since Blade Runner.
Thought-provoking and terrifyingly suspenseful, an induced state of paranoia may linger long after the end credits begin to roll.The less you know going into a film like this, the better your experience will be.
A reclusive CEO of a leading technology company hires a young whiz kid who works for him to test his latest development, a highly advanced android called Ava. Specifically he is tasked with using the Turing test on her to establish if her AI is sufficiently convincing to pass as human.Despite contributing several scripts for the screen, this is writer Alex Garland's first directorial effort.
Having wrote the stories to some of his biggest hits, first-time director, Alex Garland, has spent a lot of time with the masterful Danny Boyle: working on such films as The Beach, 28 Days Later and Sunshine.
Now, writing and directing his feature debut, Garland proves that he has been paying attention and taking tips as he tackles a complex sci-fi thriller about artificial intelligence.Featuring Domnhall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac, the stars of the upcoming Star Wars adventure, plus talented newcomer, Alicia Vikander – who stars in three films this month; Ex_Machina is quite well profuse.Jumping right in, we are introduced to Caleb (Gleeson), a twenty- four year old coder who wins a chance to spend a week at his CEO bosses luxury house.
An experiment that he classes as the greatest discovering of mankind; to test the world's first artificial intelligence system, which is housed inside the body of a beautiful robot girl (Alicia Vikander).Of course, the AI' concept has been tackled many of times in contemporary film - most recently in Wally Pfister's directorial- flop, Transcendence.
Over the seven days of testing, Caleb must perform the scientific 'Turing test' on Nathan's AI' system, nicknamed Ava; the idea of which is to deduce God-like theories and philosophical concepts – do robots feel a consciousness?
Whilst mainly set inside Nathan's enclosed premise (with no windows), the camera work is mounted aesthetically.Now, in her third film this month, Alicia Vikander shows that she is able to tackle any form of performance with extreme clause.
I feel this movie aces both.A secluded environment and very good original music set the mood for full focus on story and character development.
Character development feels perfect as each one gains depth without loosing essence.From a sci-fi point of view, it's not you're typical FX based movie, nor is it an action film.
Nevertheless some very good effects and acting make for an excellent merge between fact and fiction that lets you concentrate on the philosophical questions the movie asks about the nature of AI.
Nail bitingly tense, terse and most importantly thought provoking, well renowned British screenwriter and author turned director Alex Garland's incredibly competent feature debut is one of modern cinemas most memorable and original Sci-Fi's, a film that you sense will be oft discussed in years to come thanks to its wealth of questions asked and a heralding in of the era of young actress Alicia Vikander.While Ex_Machina deals with the old aged staple of A.I and the pitfalls of it and what it means to be a human, not a machine, Garland operates his tale with a pinpoint accuracy that mines tension and intrigue from the films first frame to its last and creates a small scale vision that feels entirely in a world of its own.
Garland's vision is a sight to behold and his direction is not far removed from the works of greats such as Kubrick, while Machina largely takes place within the confines of reclusive tech genius Nathan Bateman's stunningly designed home/ research facility, there is much visually wonderment to be found wherever you look.
From the beautiful surrounds of the wilderness outside, the handle-less rooms that operate Nathan's lavish digs through to the flawless design of Ava the artificial being at the centre of this cautionary tale, Garland has created a small scale yet undeniably impressive universe that manages to mix the smarts, the visuals and the performances into one.Filled with heart and humour (a trademark of Garland's works) Ex_Machina features what will be one of the years most accomplished trio of acting turns with well-rounded and pitch perfectly played acting turns.
In another sign that he is quickly becoming as good as his father, Domnhall Gleeson plays kindly tech guru Caleb with the right amount of smarts and heart while his scenes with his upcoming Star Wars co-star Oscar Isaac are brimming with underlying motives and tension suggesting that their pairing in this year's space adventure will be a sight to behold.
Isaac shows off a dark side to his growing screen powers and his Nathan is in equal measure sad and dangerous and while the two leads excel, they along with the film itself pale in comparison to Vikander's star making turn.With a beguiling beauty and a truly remarkable ability to possess the charms of a human and the persona of an artificially created living entity, Vikander's Ava is without doubt one of the year's most stunning creations in both a CGI sense and characterization sense.
While it's some time off one would hope that Ava see's Vikander find just rewards come awards season but Ex_Machina may be slightly to left of centre for the sadly outdated and out of touch Awards ceremonies that dominate the industry.While it's not flawless, some motivations and scenarios remain somewhat underdeveloped or questionable; Ex_Machina is a stunning Sci-Fi vision that is also a fully formed thinking man's thriller.
With a jaw droopingly good turn from the soon to be megastar Vikander, Ex_Machina is another excellent example of what makes the Sci-Fi genre such a harbourer of thought provoking classics and further proof that Garland is one of the most consistently good storytellers working in the industry today.4 and a half dancing showcases out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check into - www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com.
-Dr. Susan Calvin, in the robot short-story 'The Evitable Conflict'.'Ex Machina' is an interesting and well-filmed SF movie.
Very quickly he became established as a horror/science fiction writer with the screenplays of 28 DAYS LATER , SUNSHINE and DREDD so it's only natural that if he was going to progress to directing then the sci-fi genre would be an obvious choice That said I've never felt Garland was a great screenwriter and his work is highly derivative .
It's a rather talkative introspective sci-fi drama and you can understand people wanting to reward this simply because it's not some noisy over-edited spectacular but even so you're left thinking the film might have been better than it actually is.
I went to see the movie in a promotion that cinemas were cutting off prices in tickets,saying this i had no expectations with ex_machina,fiction movie,good trailer,cheap tickets why not......and what a movie i've seen,it scrambles your sense's,plays with your emotions,makes you doubt of your own intellect and moral choices...Amazing Almost perfect movieDamn i didn't want it to end,will we have a 2nd movie!?
this movie is a disaster , so stupid , an emotionally deprived programmer is chosen by a sex obsessed employer -in which for no rational reason hides his high tech AI inventions- for Turing testing a robot , what's worse than that the robot starts to fall in love with the programmer is that the programmer falls in love too so unrealistic because the way the employer and programmer think and work and the whole science and company ideas all are unprofessional totally killed it this movie is rated 7.7 it barely deserves a 4.
"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson)Ex Machina is a thoughtful science fiction about Artificial Intelligence, whereby, to no fan's surprise, the current female robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander), has human qualities that cause trouble for inventor, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), and visitor, young Caleb.
And Isaac's character is so mercurial, at once comforting then tyrannical, that the film could be remembered if only for his star turn as the mad but charming scientist.After all, Ex Machina is as much about a scientist playing God as it is about the bridge between robot and man.
The advancement of artificial intelligence to human levels has been a favorite subject for science fiction writers since the concept was invented, and it's been a popular subject for sci-fi movies for a long time now.
Domhnall Gleeson stars (and is easily the least interesting of the basically four person cast) as a programmer who is selected by internet genius Oscar Isaac to test his new, advanced robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander).
The guys giving this movie high scores either work for the production company, or have a very very weird sense of good films.Lots of uncalled for nudity, and bad language.Lot's of repetition and weird sick sexuality.It's one of these films that you see and think: Oh GOD, sitting on the toilet for the same amount of time would have been more productive..
Having watched Under the Skin last year, which was an OK film but also disappointing in its jarring approach and lack of full bodied story, I was hoping that Alex Garland could tackle the subject matter in a fresh way.
Ex Machina's premise is simple enough: an aspiring computer programmer Caleb Smith (Brilliantly portrayed by Domhnall Gleeson) is chosen to visit the CEO of BlueBook, the company he works in in order to conduct a Turing test for an AI droid that the CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac) has been working on.One brilliant aspect in this film is that the audience doesn't know whom to trust even as the secrets start unraveling.
Ex Machina isn't an action packed film but never feels boring with its constant tension and intriguing ideas,which includes what it means to be human and the safety of AI.
I recommend this movie to young hipsters who don't read science fiction novels and have not seen Blade Runner or A.I. Dear makers of the film, having naked and semi-naked women pretending to be androids isn't that appealing.
Visually, Ex Machina was a beautiful, well-made and well-acted piece of film, but the dialogue seemed to fail to develop interesting, complex, human characters we could really care about and empathize with.
It's also a strange romance and a character study...of three different characters.The film follows Caleb (Dohmnall Gleeson) who wins a week at the home of a brilliant scientist named Nathan (Oscar Isaac).
The catch is that the A.I. robot is in the form of an attractive woman named Ava (Alicia Vikander.) As we go along we learn that Nathan has some shocking secrets and the film becomes an intense and thrilling ride to see not only if Ava passes the test, but to see if Caleb uncovers the truth behind his trip.
Ex Machina is easily the best Sci Fi film I have come across in recent times, It captured me sucked me in and blew me away with it's intelligent way of showing the pro's and cons of Artificial Intelligence.
Another tip for viewers is don't expect an action film of any sorts this film is a tense thriller and unfolds as it proceeds.This film showcases some very cool and convincing cgi mixed with practical effects, interesting thought provoking philosophy, and even in it's moments of nothing more than talking it manages to grasp your attention, as a matter a fact I can't think of a single scene that lost my attention.In conclusion this film is a must see and is also in my opinion the best artificial intelligence film I've seen.
Ex Machina looks at artificial intelligence without re-working the trite old moral issue of 'can we switch off a machine that is self aware?' that every movie on a similar theme has since plagiarised from Spileberg's A.I. over a decade ago.And what's more, the interesting script and rich mise-en-scène are strongly balanced with brilliant CGI that actually supports the film rather than competes with it (finally!).The film has an original style, an engaging script and a directorial ability worthy of Kubrick himself.
There are 4 things which make this film a great film: Oscar Isaac's character (very fascinating to listen to and watch; he's one of those really smart but definitely not nerdy geniuses, kind of like Tony Stark/Iron Man in a way) and Ava's character (brings a touch of humanity to the plate, ironically, as she is shown to be vulnerable but not all that she seems character), the dialogue and interactions between the characters (all of it, from the discussions on AI to aspects of life to what it means to be human, which is always a huge plus for me), the suspense towards the end and the twist, and the overall exploration of AI.
It is certainly one of the best films I have seen this year.Alex Garland, known for his writing on both 28 Days Later and Sunshine, makes his directorial debut and believe me when I say that it is one of the most impressive debuts I have ever seen.Garland's film explores themes such as artificial intelligence and the human mind, in particular how it can be manipulated and the question of whether you can really tell what a person is really thinking.If I'm honest, I felt throughout that something bad was going to happen however saying that, I was utterly shocked at the way it did go.
Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac all delve so much in to the psyche of their characters, Vikander in particular making it believable that she isn't human after all.Ex Machina is one of the most thought provoking films of the last decade.
It doesn't transport viewers into a vision that could transpire for the 21st Century, but back to the 19th and misappropriate lust for the automaton of the "Tales of Hoffman," with a little "Bluebeard" thrown in for good measure or for bad.That's why as I science fiction purist, I felt myself increasingly pulling away from "Ex Machina." There's a tawdriness that permeates the film and the story of the sweet-faced female robot being held prisoner by her Google-Age Dr. Frankenstein.
To be honest, I really only watched this because of the incredible reviews it was getting, so to say that I was let down is an understatement.The concept of artificial intelligence is one that has intrigued me quite a bit lately, so I thought this movie might be an appropriate introduction to the subject.
Unfortunately, the story just doesn't hold up, especially near the end.There are some very interesting and suspenseful scenes in the first half of the movie, and what I love most is the fact that the film creates genuine tension by what is happening, not via cheap scares or tons of special effects being thrown in your face.
And the ending is the worst of all: it's both incomplete and extremely depressing.I really wanted to like this movie, because it embodies so many things I look for: a focus on story over action, careful attention to detail, and an intriguing and thought-provoking concept.
Like many films about robots, the narrative is more interested in the emotion of its characters than their intelligence.
Isaac delivers the character in a way that, much like Gleeson, has the ability to be offputting but, instead, is riveting.Finally, there's more to "Ex Machina" than artificial intelligence, which, as I began to realize following the credits, wasn't what the film seems to really be about.
Alex Garland (screenwriter of 28 Days Later & Sunshine) delivers a tremendous and thought-provoking story with great performances from (the always great) Oscar Isaac, (the young in everything) Domhnall Gleeson, and (the wonderful) Alicia Vikander.The film is a slow burner, but when it does burn, damn!
I've now watched this film 3 times in the last week and I have to say, no sci-fi movie(or any genre for that matter) in recent memory has impacted me quite like this one has.
All 3 of the main actors deliver stellar performances in "Ex Machina", and i'm actually surprised Oscar Isaac didn't get a best supporting actor nod for his work in this film.
It was only a matter of time before screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) found himself stepping behind the camera, and he takes a fresh new approach to artificial intelligence with his directorial debut, the riveting sci-fi thriller Ex Machina.
I rarley saw a movie which confrontate us with psychology, philosophy, language, sexuality, technology and religion in one thing.The main actor Nathan (Isaac) has created a female robot named Ava. His colleague Caleb (Gleeson) is tasked to give it a "Turing Test" through a series of interviews to find out whether she, the robot, demonstrates true AI (artificial intelligence).
Gleeson plays Caleb, a young programmer chosen to visit the remote house of the company's CEO Nathan (this takes up probably the first 2 minutes-keeps the pace going, the mystery of the story intact, and the ability to fully develop the characters through their actions in the film itself).
And in 2014, Alex Garland, who had written the screenplays of such films as 28 DAYS LATER and SUNSHINE, made his directing debut (again, also writing the screenplay) with a new study in artificial intelligence entitled EX MACHINA.In EX MACHINA, Domhnall Gleeson plays a computer programmer who ahs "won" a contest to spend a week at the isolated retreat of his company's CEO (Oscar Isaac).
Ex Machina does something very few sci-fi films have been able to pull off; it is a brilliant science fiction movie that is also deeply intelligent and thought provoking.
But if you like your films deep and thought-provoking, as well as deliciously tense in places, then this might be for you.The writer and director is Alex Garland, and this is actually his impressive directorial debut. |
tt0462329 | The Hard Corps | Phillip Sauvage (Jean-Claude van Damme) is a man who has been dealt a hard deck of cards in life. Having suffered under savage fighting conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, where Al-Qaida takes children as hostages and blows them to bits, Sauvage had to take some time off in the psych ward in a VA Hospital. Little does he know that this will come back to haunt him, but under the deception of a ruthless detective, Detective Teague (Ron Bottitta), who himself has some problems with cavorting with the wrong men.But Sauvage, in spite of his previous bouts with PTSD, which he experiences while first "guarding" the main hero of the film, philanthropist and boxer Wayne Barclay (Razaaq Adoti). While in a nightclub which Barclay goes to for entertainment, Sauvage experiences one of the symptoms of PTSD...flashbacks...to the drop of the pulsating lights and pounding music. But never one to let his illness get the most of him, Sauvage turns it all around and uses his weapon to protect Barclay when a load of drive-by shooters tries to take Barclay's life outside the nightclub.Sauvage attends a funeral with the boxing hero and his sister, Tamara Barclay (Vivica A. Fox), and it is at this point that the boxer and his sister ask Sauvage to work for them in protecting their lives. But Detective Teague interrupts the interview and takes Sauvage in via handcuffs for discharge of weapons in public without a permit. The Barclays can't believe the charges, but Wayne becomes a bit skeptical about Sauvage and his intentions when Detective Teague takes him in and explains that Sauvage was in a psych ward and massacred a bunch of kids. Wayne holds all of this in until everything breaks when he is supposed to meet with a politician and Sauvage spots a potential suspect in the crowd. Wayne calls Sauvage a schizo psycho who was locked up in a psych ward and this is the turning point when they decide to spar together. Not a friendly match, Sauvage is quite good with his fists. He asks Wayne who said this about him but Wayne does not yet trust him enough, as his image was destroyed at the politician meeting when they had to clear the buliding and some people got trampled a bit (no one was seriously injured though).It's not until the man Simcoe (Ron Selmour), who Sauvage suspected as wanting to kill Wayne, goes into a bathroom with some of his cronies that we learn that he really is wanting to kill Wayne and Tamara. They attempt to kill Wayne's sister while they are sparring and Sauvage and Wayne are taken to a local hospital where Detective Teague happens to be there. But Teague knows a little too much and this is when Wayne's benefit of the doubt turns to appreciate Sauvage. Sauvage confesses in the car with Wayne that he was inpatient in a VA Hospital for PTSD, for decompressing, he says. This much is true. But he also recounts the school massacre for Wayne, which he was not able to tell Tamara. Sauvage explains in gory detail of how Al-Qaida was using a child as hostage and then had explosives wrapped around his waist, and ended up annhilating a group of schoolchildren in Iraq. It wasn't Sauvage who was doing the massacring. True to Al-Qaida techniques, the viewer can see the harsh realities of war that even the Viet Cong used back during Vietnam.Wayne continues to employ Sauvage and one day when Wayne comes to his girlfriend's house he finds her at gunpoint with Detective Teague challenging him. Knowing that Sauvage is a stable man in spite of his previous experiences, and knowing that he is trustworthy, he hopes for the best. That's when Sauvage and his men come through and rescue Wayne of his predicament.But then the new crew must go to where it all started...the rap music mogul who wants to assassinate Wayne and the mammoth mansion in which he lives. Will true heroes prevail, or will evil get the best of the good guys? They take in some heavy gunfire and wounds near the end...Van Damme, like the character Sauvage in the film, suffers from mental illness in real life, but, and like the character in the film, does not let it get in the way of getting things done and in the way of his career. | romantic, cult, violence, flashback | train | imdb | The action scenes are way better then in Second In Command and much more martial arts oriented then Wake of Death, with some more trademark kicks.
Fox is sexy and perfect for her role and the story involving a former heavyweight champ who needs security from a rap-mogul/gangster is very fresh considering its new territory for a Van Damme movie.
Hard Corps reunites Jean-Claude Van Damme with frequent collaborator Sheldon Lettich for the 4th time.The first time was 1991's Lionheart,followed by the classic Double impact,until 2001's interesting,but flawed The Order.Hard Corps is a nice return to form for the talented director who should clearly be making more movies than he has.On one side we have battle-traumatized soldier Phillip Savuage(JCVD) who lands a gig as a bodyguard to a head-strong(but well to due) Boxer named Barclay(Raz Adoti) all the while answering to his sister played by Vivica Fox.Tensions arise when a Gangster with an army of thugs put away by Barclay is released from jail wanting serious payback.Can Savauge rise to occasion?The production looks like a medium-budget movie.Good photography and locations add to the "american" look of the movie.We get a lot of character detail.Some nice fights.especially the Savauge/Barclay throw-down.Some nice humor involving rap music form critic Savuage.A rather Macabe scene that revolves around the "feeding" of Singleterry's dogs.HCs gives JCVD a fully rounded character for once.There is a nice sub-plot that is handled very well involving his character's battle record and misplaced guilt.He still has the chops that developed very well at the start of Replicant and shined through WoD.He is a way more subtle here though.Why can't Hollywood see this?Vivica Fox is very commanding and reactive.Charming as well.She has some nice Chemistry with JCVD.Shame she does not get to go Kill Bill for a few scenes though.Raz Adoti is very likable as the Boxer-turned-entrepreneur.He gets better in every movie he is in.
As gangster Singleterry Viv Leacock gets to set on the sidelines and bark orders and does not make that imposing of a villain.That part is left to the imposing Ron Selmore.The supporting cast is good.The only real fault is that the action scenes are far and few between scenes.At 110 minutes you would think there would be more.A lot of opportunities end up wasted.I was expecting a little more myself after some of the stand-out action seen in Hell and WOD.However no bad CGI Trains,helicopters,Jets,Moths,or bad slow-motion is nice for once.7.5/10.
The fight scenes are really nice, Van Damme is fighting like a 10 years ago.In my opinion, "In Hell", "Wake of Death", "Second in Command" and "The Hard Corps" were 4 great films.
In Second In Command, the film wasn't very good, but Van Damme gave a solid performance, albeit in a role without much depth.
The Hard Corps regains a level of competence again for Van Damme.Here JC teams up with long time friend and collaborator, Sheldon Lettich.
The plot centres on world heavyweight boxer, and entrepreneur, Wayne Barclay (Raz Adoti), and his sister Tamara (Vivica Fox).
Tamara insists that Wayne hires a security team and contacts a Vietnam Vet who also served in Iraq and Afghanistan, who in turn contacts his old, war scarred buddy, Van Damme.
The war veteran sets up an experienced team (Mark Griffin , among others) called ¨Hard Corps¨ to save menaced ex-boxer .This movie direct to video packs violent action , suspense , shoot-outs , boxing and martial art fighting and results to be quite amusing .
Fox as enjoyable sister who falls in love for him and the brother played convincingly by Adoti who acted along with Jean-Claude in his former film ¨Second-in-command¨ .
This film is so far the best in all direct to DVD releases of Van Damme.
Jean Claude Van Damme looks very fresh and fit.The most important thing about the movie is its tempo which never makes you bored.
But I do like Vann Damme's idea of moving away from the action, more for the acting but he needs to find the right material or its just a waste of time.
The Hard Corps is about a PTSD special forces frenchie (Van Damme) that is hired to protect an ex heavy weight champ who is in deep s***t with a local gangsta punkie.
Each character is a ridiculous stereotype, the kind that you only find in made for TV movies or anything 'starring' Van Damme.I do admit that this film will definitely appeal to the mindless, brain dead members of society who actually think that slow-mo fighting is the epitome of cool, but for the enthusiastic film fans out there who enjoy at least a tiny bit of intellectual stimulation - give it a miss.In conclusion: DON'T BOTHER..
This movie was a good flick and one to be proud of it was an unusual role for van damme to play.
This movie should have got a cinema release it was that good maybe this might be a new start to an old genre of films this movie will be one for my collection along with hard target maximum risk and the order.So for those those who want to see this movie go get it out from your local rental store its great.
Jean-Claude will be playing a Combat Vet who's just spent the last 3 years fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, who is hired to be a bodyguard to a former World Heavyweight Boxing champ to protect him and his family against a Rap Music Mogul.
He sets up a team called "The Hard Corps", complications arise when the boxer suspects that his sister may be in love with the bodyguard.- - -I really enjoyed this film, not just because I'm a huge Van Damme fan, the story is really intense and Sheldon Lettich did a great job.
The plot is: Phillip Sauvage (Van Damme) is hired to be a bodyguard for a heavyweight boxer named Wayne Barclay (Raz Adoti) who is receiving death threats from gangsta Terrell Singeltery (Viv Leacock).
Besides that, the movie has some good action sequences, including the Uzi gun battle in a parking lot, and a excellent fight between Wayne and Phillip.
Jean Claude Van Damme, guns, kicks, muscles, all that good stuff.
Okay, now the fight scenes are basically the same as every movie that Van Damme has been doing in the 90's.
Fox in a movie doesn't save it from being the worst direct-to-DVD films of all times.
THe film tries to make the boxer and van damme equal at fighting, and thats just crap.
In addition, if you're not able to take a Van Damme underrated, a solid good action flick from Sheldon Lettich, ignore this review, as well.
We'll both be better off.The Hard Corps (2006) is another solid underrated action flick from Van Damme that I like!
Watching The Hard Corps I was very surprised because I love Van Damme and idea from an American soldier who fought in Iraq must assembles a team of bodyguards to protect a former boxer and his sister.
I think is an underrated, a good action movie from Van Damme and Sheldon Lettich!
Razaaq Adoti who plays Wayne Barclay a retired ex world champion boxer, he at least was a boxer in this movie and he kicked and fight with Van Damme, he wasn't a chicken, like Arron Shiver was, who played Mason Silver a boxer, Nikita's boyfriend, who soled her out and was a drug addicted.
Army veteran Philippe Sauvage (Jean-Claude Van Damme) assembles a team of bodyguards to protect former boxer Wayne Barclay (Razaaq Adoti).
But the film rounds out a number of characters, including a straight-arrow nephew of the bad guy, and members of Jean Claude's group of bodyguards he calls "The Hard Corps".
It gives the viewer the same confusion that Van Damme's character has in trying to distinguish the beats of the music to the sound of gunfire.The main bad guy is fearsome with a bunch of man-eating dogs.
Fox as Tamara Barclay sister of Wayne Barclay, she was very hot in this flick.The Hard Corps is a 2006 American action film written and directed by Sheldon Lettich.
It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raz Adoti, Vivica A.
It is the fourth collaboration between Jean-Claude Van Damme and film director Sheldon Lettich.
The film was released direct-to-DVD in the United States on August 15, 2006.8/10 Grade: A Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Clubdeal Motion Picture Corporation of America Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raz Adoti, Vivica A.
Sony Pictures had a better plot for this Jean-Claude Van Damme film.
And when Terrell Singletery gets out of prison early, the fireworks start."The Hard Corps" isn't a good film, but it is fair.
i am never watching another van dumb film , i rather see steven seagal movies, at least his acting is much better .
fox , i respected her as an actress, but her performance in this movie showed me that she is washed up, just like van damme.
Whoever was in charge for the casting has made this movie look cheap beyond belief, the directing is awful too, for allowing the ever so present facial expressions which are out of context.Hardly any actor has presence, I hardly felt sorry for anyone dying, it was very aimless, with little sorrow.This movie is only for the die hard Jean-Claude Van Damme fans, avoid this movie unless you want to be disappointed..
It's a film that looks good, seeing Van Damme team up once more with director Sheldon Lettich, with whom he made some cheesy classics back in the day (such as DOUBLE IMPACT), which are still personal favourites of mine.
There are some decent action scenes sprinkled around, including a great bit where our hero machine-guns a car and has a fist fight with a younger, fitter opponent, reminding us that he's still got 'it'.But for too much of the running time, the film gets bogged down in the storyline surrounding a black boxer and the man who vows to have him killed.
Van Damme isn't required to act much here, as in other, recent movies, but he's still fun to watch.
A tired looking Van Damme shows up like an odd man out in this straight-to-DVD hard "core" gangsta revenge action joint, as he plays an Army Vet that's hired as a bodyguard for a former heavy weight boxing champ who's targeted by a man who he put away by not throwing a fight.
very good Van Damme film.
this is one of the better Jean Claude Van Damme movies i have seen in a long while.the story is actually pretty good.the acting is decent.the characters have some depth to them.Van Damme actually misplays some emotional range.this isn't your typical Van Damme action flick.Vivica A.
Fox add some class(not to mention beauty and talent)to the proceedings.and the supporting players are all also very good here.after having just watched Derailed(another Van Damme Movie)which stunk to high heaven,i was pleasantly surprised at how good it really is.this is one movie i would definitely recommend watching.like me,i'm betting you just might be pleasantly surprised.for me,The Hard Corps is an 8/10.
I was once a big fan of Van Damme, especially in his low budget period in the 80's and early 90's that brought us cheap, but good, action fest's like Bloodsport, KickBoxer and Lionheart.
The Hard Corpse reunites Van Damme with his Lionheart and Double Impact writer/director Sheldon Lettich, and honestly, that was the only selling point for me to actually make the effort to watch this.
You'd never know these two (Lettich and Van Damme) were the same team behind some of his earlier classics like Bloodsport, Lionheart and Double Impact (a personal favorite).
The director is however Sheldon Leith who did make LEGIONAIRRE which is the by far the best of Jean Claude Van Damme's action adventure movies .
After seeing it I possibly expected too much and if you're someone who watches JCVD to see himkick butt you'll be disappointed too This treads the path that sees a Jean Claude Van Damme film have its star become more and more sidelined .
It's also very noticeable the longer the film continues the more interested it becomes in the hip hop soundtrack , bad ass gangstas dissing each other with right on street lingo so much so that Savuage is redundant at the end , so much so you're left feeling cynical that JCVD was cast because he is a known name That said THE HARD CORPS does contain a scene that caused me to laugh out loud .
Jean Claude Van Damme has long gone the way of Steven Seagal & Wesley Snipes relegated into appearing in Straight to DVD Films after various commercial flops at the box-office in the late 90's - but I am glad to say that the quality of the releases that Van Damme appears in, are FAR higher than most Straight to DVD releases which you find at the bottom shelf of your local Blockbuster Store.But having said that, I was slightly sceptical of 'The Hard Corps' as It's a Film that Steven Seagal turned down, and I'm not at all a fan of Hip-hop so my expectations were very low going into this and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, The Film while wholly predictable with telegraphed plot twists it remains slickly made with a reasonable Budget and had a fair bit of action (though not as much as usual in a JCVD Film) with good performances from all.Slightly overlong, at 110 Minutes and needed a good 15 minutes cut off.It won't go down as one of Van Damme's best, but it's still worth watching, Keep your expectation low enough and you should enjoy.*** out of *****.
Sad. Van Damme is clearly too old to be making action films anymore, least of all poorly made STVs like this one.
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as a special forces guy (you know the type) who is hired as a bodyguard for a world champion boxer, seems that a gangster has put a hit on said boxer, and despite Van Damme's reluctance, Vivica A.
Jean-Claude Van Damme is in decent form, he excludes a charisma and is in his strong action man role, which has been lacking lately in his later straight to video movies.
His role later on turns out as a bodyguard for boxing champion Barclay, whom he even competes in boxing.Anyway The Hard Corps may not be a typical Van Damme movie, but here he proved that the word 'action' can be converted to 'acting skill' by his cool natural and real-like performances.
But very disappointing issue is that, the whole focus in the movie mainly goes to Razaaq Adoti (as Wayne Barclay) rather than Van Damme.
In many ways this film reminds me of the flicks of Steven Seagall doing buddy buddy with some rap star and like steven, jean claude also feels a bit misplaced in the setting of rap music and undressed women, this is actually felt by his acting in some scenes...
I don't have the feeling he really believed or enjoyed himself all that much.There is very little hand to hand combat in this film and a very low amount of action, you can actually feel your ass telling you this flick really takes 110 minutes to tell its story.There isn't much to tell about the story that is interesting and the constant use of flashbacks is becoming irritating around halfway ( yeah we know the guy has problems from the war..yeah we get the hint) But all in all I found it a nice enough movie..little fast forward here and there but still a pleasant time waster.
In Hell, Wake Of Death, Second In Command were all great Van Damme film's and now we have The Hard Corps with perhaps my favorite director to helm Van Damme film's Sheldon Lettich.The story is great (better than I thought it would be), The acting is good (In my personal opinion Viv Leacock as Terrell Singletery was fine but they could have found a better person to portray that part), Van Damme was great as Philip Sauvage as usual, Vivica was good, who really impressed me was Razaaq Adoti as Wayne Barclay though he and Van Damme had great chemistry and he was just really believable and hopefully he will get more acting gigs.My favorite part of the whole movie, while I won't give anything away to much (I put spoilers in the topic just in case) the fight scene between Sauvage & Barclay is great!
For my money Jean Claude Van Damme's worst film..
I usually quite like JCVD but The Hard Corps is as bad as the rubbish Steven Seagal has been making lately, there's barely any fights or decent action scenes which is odd since JCVD is a martial arts expert & surely he & his skill's are the films best asset so why ignore it?
the hard corps is a van damme movie in which he plays an ex soldier who is asked to protect a champion boxer from gangsters.
so sure the story doesn't sound that good, but it's a solid movie, that is pullled by van damme's good performance, showing that 'in hell' and 'wake of death' wasn't flukes.
never the less this is a solid action flick that delivers the goods, compare this to any of seagal's movies from 2006 and you'll think this is a masterpiece, and fair play to van damme for always making an effort to produce the best films possible from the tools he has.
the hard corps is a great action flick thats sure to please fans of van damme.
this isn't a typical van damme movie.
the movie obviously didn't have a good budget and the thin plot just made it worse, for example, van damme was supposed to have been in the American army, something the film didn't really sell to you.
there wasn't much martial arts in the film, for most of it van damme uses guns. |
tt0133152 | Planet of the Apes | Astronauts Taylor (Charlton Heston), Landon (Robert Gunner), Dodge (Jeff Burton) and Stewart are in deep hibernation when their spaceship crashes in a lake on an unknown planet after a long near-light speed voyage, during which, due to time dilation, the crew ages only 18 months. As the ship sinks, Taylor finds Stewart dead and her body desiccated. They throw an inflatable raft from the ship and climb down into it; before departing the ship, Taylor notes that the date is November 25, 3978, approximately two millennia after their departure in 1972. Once ashore, Dodge performs a soil test and pronounces the soil incapable of sustaining life.
After abandoning their raft, the astronauts set off through a desolate wasteland in hopes of finding food and water before their provisions run out. Eventually, they encounter plant life. They find an oasis at the edge of the desert and go swimming, ignoring eerie scarecrow-like figures around the edge of the water. While they are swimming, their clothes are stolen. Pursuing the thieves, the astronauts find their clothes torn to shreds, their supplies pillaged and the perpetrators — a group of humans that are apparently so primitive that they cannot even talk and dressed in torn clothes — raiding a cornfield. Taylor is attracted to one of the humans, whom he later names Nova (Linda Harrison).
Suddenly, armed and uniformed gorillas on horseback charge through the cornfield, brandishing firearms, snares, and nets. They capture some humans and kill the rest. In the chaos, Dodge is shot in the back of the neck and killed, Landon is wounded and rendered unconscious, and Taylor is shot in the throat and taken prisoner. The gorillas take Taylor to Ape City, where his life is saved after a blood transfusion administered by two chimpanzees: animal psychologist Zira (Kim Hunter) and surgeon Galen (Wright King). While his throat wound is healing, he is unable to speak. Taylor discovers that the various apes, who can talk and are in control, are in a strict caste system: gorillas are police officers, military, hunters and workers; orangutans are administrators, politicians, lawyers and priests; and chimpanzees are intellectuals and scientists. The apes have developed a primitive society based on the beginnings of the human Industrial Era. They ride horses and have carts, rifles, and even primitive photography. Humans, who are believed by the apes to be unable to talk, are considered vermin and are hunted, either killed outright, enslaved, or used in scientific experiments.
Zira and her fiancé Cornelius (Roddy McDowall), an archaeologist, take an interest in Taylor, whom Zira calls "Bright Eyes". Taylor attempts to communicate by writing in the dirt, but Nova, who has been following him around, attempts to destroy his writing with her hands, not understanding what the words mean. The letters she doesn't destroy are then obliterated by Zira's and Cornelius's superior, an orangutan named Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans). Back in his cage, Taylor steals Zira's pencil and notebook and uses them to write the message My name is Taylor. Zira and Cornelius become convinced that Taylor is intelligent, but upon learning of this, Dr. Zaius orders that Taylor be castrated. Before the castration can occur Taylor escapes, and during his desperate flight through Ape City passes through a museum, where he finds Dodge's stuffed and eyeless corpse on display. When Taylor is recaptured by gorillas, he overcomes his throat injury and roars: "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!"
A tribunal to determine Taylor's origins is convened by the president of the Assembly (James Whitmore), Dr. Zaius, and Maximus (Woodrow Parfrey). Dr. Honorious (James Daly) is the prosecutor. Taylor mentions his two comrades at this time. The court then produces Landon, who has been subjected to a lobotomy that has rendered him catatonic and unable to speak. After the tribunal, Dr. Zaius privately threatens to castrate and lobotomize Taylor if he does not tell the truth about where he came from. With help from Zira's socially rebellious nephew Lucius (Lou Wagner), Zira and Cornelius free Taylor and Nova and take them to the Forbidden Zone, a taboo region outside Ape City that has been ruled out of bounds for centuries by Ape Law. A year earlier, Cornelius led an expedition into the Forbidden Zone that found a cave containing artifacts of an earlier non-simian (and believed to be human) civilization. The group sets out for the cave to answer questions Taylor has about the evolution of the ape world and to prove he is not of that world.
Arriving at the cave, Cornelius is intercepted by Dr. Zaius and his soldiers. Taylor holds them off, threatening to shoot them if he has to. Zaius agrees to enter the cave to disprove their theories and to avoid physical harm to Cornelius and Zira. Inside, Cornelius displays the remnants of a technologically advanced human society pre-dating simian history. Taylor identifies artifacts such as dentures, eyeglasses, a heart valve and, to the apes' astonishment, a talking children's doll. More soldiers appear and Lucius is overpowered, but Taylor again fends them off. Dr. Zaius is held hostage so Taylor can escape, but he admits to Taylor that he has always known that a human civilization existed long before apes ruled the planet and that "the Forbidden Zone was once a paradise, your breed made a desert of it… ages ago!" Taylor nonetheless thinks it best to search for answers, but Dr. Zaius warns him that he may not like what he finds. Once Taylor and Nova have ridden off, Dr. Zaius has the gorillas lay explosives to seal off the cave and destroy the remaining evidence of the human society. He then has Zira, Cornelius and Lucius charged with heresy.
Taylor and Nova, at last free, follow the shoreline and discover the beach-covered remains of the Statue of Liberty, revealing that this "alien" planet is actually Earth long after a nuclear war. Realizing what Dr. Zaius meant earlier, Taylor falls to his knees in despair and anger and condemns humanity for destroying the world. | good versus evil, violence, alternate history | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0104155 | Dust Devil | Joe Niemand (John Matshikiza), a Sangoma near Spitzkoppe in Namibia, begins a tale that states "back in the first times, in the time of the red light, Desert Wind was a man like us. Until by mischance, he grew wings and flew like a bird. He became a hunter, and like a hawk, he flew to seek his prey. Taking refuge in those far corners of the world where magic still lingers. But having once been a man, so does he still suffer the passions of a man, flying in the rages sometimes, and throwing himself down like a child, to vent his wrath upon the earth. The people of the great Namib have another name for those violent winds that blow from nowhere. They call them Dust Devils."
A middle-aged man (Robert John Burke) walks on a road in the desert, and pulls over a car with a woman named Saarke (Terri Norton) driving in it, who takes him back to her house. while the two are making love, the man snaps Saarke's neck, killing her. Meanwhile, in the town of Bethanie, Sgt. Ben Mukurob (Zakes Mokae) receives a phone call with strange voices speaking, as does Wendy Robinson (Chelsea Field) in Johannesburg, South Africa. In the morning, the man burns down Saarke's house, inside which he has drawn many strange symbols and pictographs. he then gets into Saarke's car and drives away. In Johannesburg, Wendy's husband Mark (Rufus Swart) accuses her of cheating on him, causing her to leave him and drive to Namibia. Meanwhile, Mukurob receives a call about Saarke's house and drives to investigate with his superior, Capt. Beyman (William Hootkins). Mukurob visits Dr. Leidzinger (Marianne Sägebrecht), who tells him that the incident may be a part of a strange witchcraft ritual.
Wendy runs her car off the road and finds an abandoned camper (which Dust Devil had hitched a ride with at Bethanie) with a strange man, who she asks to help her push her car out of the sand. She then sees Dust Devil on the side of the road, and stops for him. Cpl. Dutoit (Russell Copley) and Cpl. Bates (Andre Odendaal) find the abandoned camper with dismembered body parts inside. Mukurob drives to Joe's home, the former Bethanie cinema, and asks him about the symbols that were in the house. He responds that it was the work of magic, to which Mukurob scoffs. Wendy and Dust Devil continue driving and pass another hitch-hiker, but Dust Devil tells Wendy not to stop. As they pass the hitch-hiker, Dust Devil disappears from the car.
Beyman tells Mukurob that he has to take him off the case and hand it over to the U.N., but says that he can give any information to him. Wendy stops at a small motel for the night and tries to cut her wrists, as Dust Devil waits with a razor outside the bathroom door, but Wendy does not commit suicide. She goes to her car the next morning and finds Dust Devil inside, who tells her that she was asleep the day before.
Meanwhile, Beyman gives Mukurob a pile of documented murders similar to the one he is following. Wendy and Dust Devil reach the Fish River Canyon as Wendy's husband Mark, arrives in Namibia. Mukurob has another of his recurring nightmares and is visited by Joe, who tells him to go with him. Mark arrives in Bethanie and asks about Wendy, but is beaten up by some of the people at the bar. Joe takes Mukurob to a small mountain cave and tells him that the murders are the work of the "naghtloeper", a shape-shifting demon who seeks power over the material world through the ritual of murder. He draws the weak and the faithless to him, and sucks them dry. Joe explains that the naghtloeper must keep moving to work the ritual, but if he is tricked to step over a kierie stick, he will be bound to one spot and his power can be taken. Joe then gives Mukurob a kierie and a sacred root to burn to prevent the naghtloeper from possessing him after it is killed.
Wendy discovers human fingers among Dust Devil's belongings and he tries to kill her, but Wendy knocks him out and escapes. Dust Devil then chases her and causes her car to crash, forcing Wendy to run across the desert. Meanwhile, Mukurob releases Mark from prison and together they search for Wendy. As they try to drive through a dust storm, Dust Devil attacks them, causing the car to flip over. Mukurob handcuffs Mark to the car and heads into the storm, telling him that he has a chance since the naghtloeper only takes those who have nothing to live for. Wendy reaches the abandoned town of Kolmanskop where Mukurob finds her and searches for Dust Devil. He runs into Dust Devil, who stabs him. Wendy then finds Dust Devil and tries to shoot him but the gun jams. As Dust Devil walks toward her, Mukurob takes the kierie and puts it in front of Dust Devil as he steps forward. Wendy picks up Mukurob's shotgun and kills Dust Devil as he says, "I love you, Wendy". Wendy then walks into the desert past Mark and the car, lies on the road and pulls over a fleet of army Casspirs.
The film ends with Joe saying, "The desert knows her name now, he has stolen both her eyes. When she looks into a mirror, she will see his spirit like a shawl blowing tatters around her shoulders in a haze. And beyond the dim horizon, a tapestry unfolding of the avenues of evil, and all of history set ablaze." | allegory, cult, psychedelic | train | wikipedia | The titular Dust Devil is an evil demon that preys only on those who have lost the reason to live.This includes Wendy,who has broken up with her husband and is now making her way aimlessly across the South African desert.Feeling lonely,she picks up a stray by the name of Hitch and the nightmare begins...Richard Stanley's "Dust Devil" re-interprets the true story of a South African serial killer,known among locals as "Nhadiep".Bizarre ritualistic murders took place in the town of Bethany.The killer who inspired Dust Devil preyed on migrant workers and railways workers."Dust Devil" is a creepy and hypnotic horror film.Richard Stanley of "Hardware" fame relies on the magical elements of the legend of Nhadiep,invoking tribal rituals,witchcraft and Namibian mysticism.There is also a good amount of gore splashed on screen.The cinematography of Namibian desert is absolutely fantastic and there are some striking visuals.A must-see for horror enthusiasts!.
Unfortunately this version isn't the original 2 hours-long cut that Stanly delivered, so some things are missing: for example, in the first murder scene (where, btw, the director has a cameo reflected in a mirror), the Dust Devil was supposed to cut the back of his victim, now instead he just reveals the knife.
When police detective Ben Mukurob arrives on the scene it becomes apparent that her companion is something far worse than a killer, he is a shape shifting demon who steals the souls of his victims.....Richard Stanley's Dust Devil has a well documented troubled history.
Starring Robert Burke {Devil}, Chelsea Field {Wendy} and Zakes Mokae {Ben}, Dust Devil has three interwoven character plots dovetailing together towards an apocalyptic finale.
He does not believe in the extraordinary but has bad dreams given to him from the dust devil.This is such a bizarre film in many ways like Richard Stanley's "Hardware" with amazing visuals, a captivating musical score, and one Hell of an ending.
The narration is subtracted, there is less music, less repeated shots of the moon, sky, and desert landscape, less peripheral views of the political and social context of the time and town, less time spent with the characters, a few dream sequences gone entirely, and a great sequence towards the end that takes place in a makeshift movie theater and recalls Ingmar Bergman's "Persona"(where for a brief momentum the movie itself falls out of joint), all get left on the chopping block in the US release.My first impression was terrible, but my second viewing of the longer cut was like seeing the film with fresh eyes.
What makes Dust Devil worth watching is the Stanley's milking the landscape and the sky for all it's shamanic glory (so we may better understand the demon as a force of nature itself), and Burke's alternately charming, cold, sensitive, or demonic performances.
The few moments which recall most directly a horror movie come few and far between the scenes of poetic narration, police procedural, and eye fulls of the Namibian desert and the dust devils(mini tornadoes) which dot it's landscape.
Tracking Wendy is her concerned husband Mark (Rufus Swart), while The Dust Devil is pursued by haunted cop Ben Mukurob (the late, great South African actor Zakes Mokae, whom you may recognize as the villain from Wes Cravens' "The Serpent and the Rainbow".Adding even more intrigue to Stanley's tale is the fact that he based it on the case of a real- life serial killer in the area who was never caught, or even identified, leading to speculations about a possible supernatural origin.
Delivering the exposition in an entertaining way is John Matshikiza, who's magnetic as Joe.The heavily edited American release of "Dust Devil" really did it no favours; the subsequent reviews then motivated American distributor Miramax to put little effort into promoting it, which further prevented this film from reaching the audience that it deserved.
Being a big fan of HARDWARE, Richard Stanley's previous film, I really wanted to see DUST DEVIL for some time now.
It's an embarrassing film, with every little detail wrong, from the awful soundtrack to the editing to the camera-work, giving the movie a super cheap, low budget feel that makes Roger Corman films look like BEN HUR.What's remarkable about how bad DUST DEVIL is is how quickly I realized it sucked.
"Dust Devil is one of the only 90's horror classics!" "The special edition DVD from Subversive Cinema is finally a release worthy of this film".
Okay, these are some of the ultimately praising comments I encountered on "Dust Devil" and apparently a lot of people are astonished if you claim you're a horror fanatic and yet haven't seen this film.
"Dust Devil" boosts an incredibly rudimentary and hugely derivative plot, but writer/director Richard Stanley ("Hardware") effectively camouflages this through sensationally breath-taking filming locations, ultimately ominous sound effects & music and some extremely blatant gore effects.
Filmed in one of the most beautiful regions of the world the South African/Namibian deserts, "Dust Devil" introduces a drifting stranger who gets picked up by a beautiful woman and brought back to an isolated guest house for a night of passionate sex.
Basically, "Dust Devil" is simply a standard horror story about a traveling serial killer and all the supernatural gibberish and typically African talk about magic are totally irrelevant.
In this South African/UK co-production, a strange, ominous figure prowls the desolate Namibian desert and slaughters those he meets in an apparent ritual of black magic origin, although the truth may well be even more alarming.'Dust Devil' is an extraordinary film from director, Richard Stanley that at once manages to be chilling, creepy, surreal, elegant and beautiful.
Laced with symbolism and subtlety, Stanley has obviously put a great deal of thought and effort into creating a fantastically intricate world where what one sees can not necessarily be believed and every moment appears to provide more insight into what will come.If perhaps let down somewhat by a failed socio-political commentary, the superlative qualities of 'Dust Devil' are copious enough to ensure that little damage is done to the overall production.
South African born, Zakes Mokae (of 'The Serpent and the Rainbow' (1988)) also offers up a credible, sympathetic performance and truly excels during the scenes involving his character's own, spiritual journey.Perhaps on occasion a little too intellectual for its own good, 'Dust Devil' is a criminally overlooked film.
That was until Richard Stanley financed a re-cut eventually getting his cut released in selected cinemas in Britain.The story revolves around the dust devil, a man dressed in cowboy attire who roams the earth killing 'innocent' people in order that eventually he may be able to return to 'the other side'.
Despite the supernatural, rituals, witchcraft and mystic elements for the most part Dust Devil is fixed in reality reminiscent of Angel Heart and David Lynch's works.It's a wonderfully shot, slow burning film containing symbolic themes - relationships, suicide and self destruction to name a few.
Director Richard Stanley's sophomore film, Dust Devil, is a haunting and effective horror story, about a demon in human form (Robert Burke), who kills lonely people in ritualistic fashion.
I do remember seeing his sci-fi/horror/action cult favorite, HARDWARE, back in the good old days of VHS, and it kicked MAJOR butt-cheeks back then.Here's the deal: apparently, DUST DEVIL went through the usual headaches and hardships during filming, Bottom line: a finished 'director's cut' of this movie as of now, does not exist.
As it happens, there are two souls on a collision course with Mr. DD: a police detective, Ben Mukurob (THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW'S Zakes Mokae) whose wife left him after the tragic death of their child, and a woman named Wendy Robinson, (Chelsea Field of PRISON and THE LAST BOY SCOUT), who has just left her clingy husband, Mark, (Rufus Swart), after he finds out she's been having an affair.With his job the only thing he has left to look forward to, Ben dives into the investigation of the murder of the Dust Devil's latest victim with a vengeance.
But eventually, the paths of all three people will cross at some point and all of them will encounter the Dust Devil...though not all of them will live to tell about it.I wish I could say that including the shots from the work print does the movie justice, but the transition between clean, sharp cuts and the fuzzy, murky segments from the dailies doesn't allow the movie to weave the completely seductive and creepy spell that Stanley was ultimately after, and it makes you wonder what the finished film would've been like if he'd been able to gain all the resources and money he needed to give it that proper 'polish.' As is, though, it's still pretty heady stuff.
allstarvideo blogspot Dust Devil is that rare movie that is both art film and genre piece.
The film centers on three major characters: Ben Mukurob (Zakes Mokae), who is a Zulu policeman who has been hunting the Dust Devil (Robert John Burke) and Wendy (played by Chelsea Field, who you might know better as the flight attendant in Commando "Don't wake my friend, he's dead tired" or Teela in Masters of the Universe -Dolph Lundgren!).
A shame really as i consider this movie in it's director's [cut] form as a cross breed hybrid employing the visual technique's of Argento and Leone to be far superior, to either Hardware or dare i even say The Island of Dr Moreau, Although one get's the feeling that the way in which Stanley was usurped from his pet project, The production history of that film will linger far longer in the memories of film anoraks, than anything that emerged from the cine delight that was Dust Devil.How would you describe Dust Devil to that most jaded of film fan who might have found themselves submerged in the mire of half baked, totally deluded big blockbuster or small ballbuster films, that they might have had to endure down through the years, that would make them want to watch this, Hmmm let me see.Taking his cue from those aforementioned masters of "Chills and Spills" Messrs Argento/Leone, this film would be sumised as a Psycho-Killer Spaghetti western whose basic premise plays on the many facets of the dark side, with Robert John Burke portraying the title character, simply known as Hitch, who trawls through the sprawling plains of the Great Namib Desert, searching out and decimating towns which no longer have the will to live, his reason for doing this?
an undying need ro quench his tortured soul, which for the most part within the movie appears in the form of mortal man.The film begins in narrative fashion with an old desert bushman expositioning on the genesis that details the mythological boundaries in which the Dust Devil conforms to, down through the years the township locals believe that the devils strength is aided by the howling winds that blow so fierce.Coming from the pop music background, Richard Stanley utillises every trick in the book, as indeed he did with Hardware, the difference between the two, was that Hardware was a pop video, Dust Devil had story and visuals, and dare i say more depth.
I remember reading an article years, in which Stanley stated that his lead Actor was a bit too Hollywood for his liking, I'm inclined to think, not quite, as yes Burke has travelled in those circles, but let's not forget he did make his mark in two early Hal Hartley films The Unbelievable Truth and Simple Men, to me he essayed just that right amount of cool and menace.Using these two essential techniques, Stanley's camera prowls like a panther through the nomadic setting as the titular character waits by the roadside for his latest victim, in this instance, this will be his first victim, as what follows is an energetic sex scene whereby the victim dies in mid pleasure from a broken neck, he then proceeds to decorate her house with the contents of her body, ofcourse not forgetting to take a little bodily souvenir for his troubles.Once the initial set piece has been revealed, the second narrative plot strand involving Chelsea[Prison]Field as disenchanted housewife, Wendy trying to escape her from her less than happy home, leaving her bemused hubby in her wake as she tears away in the family car, off into unknown, ofcourse as we now, for the story to develop, the characters of Wendy and the Dust Devil will meet, the husband will search in vain for answers as to why his has left him.Until they do meet, the film's scenery is chewed up by such horror stalwarts as William[Hardware/Death Machine/Flash Gordon] Hootkins, and Zakes[Serpent and the Rainbow] Mokae appearing as two hard bitten South African Law Enforcers, also if you can look out for the actor, Russell Copley as Cpl Dutoit, as when Richard Stanley made Dust Devil as a student short, he played the original Devil of the title.Have i sold it to you yet, i haven't given too much away, lest i say, if you want watch the screen, as it welters in a sea of blood and exploding heads.
Opening is nice, narrator explains the story about "Dust Devil" hitchiking across the Namib Desert in South Africa.Then everything went wrong.It seems that the director couldn't decide who's the main character,so most of the movie is focused on Chelsea Field solving her domestic problems,with occasional pop-ups from Robert John Burke and Zakes Mokae.There is absolutely no pace,no rhythm in this film,it looks like this was made for those with insomnia problem.Acting is cheesy,most of the actors look like a vagrants who were accidentally involved in this charade.I'm a huge horror fan but this is a disgrace for the genre..
Why has this man made so few films?In "Dust Devil", Stanley's screen writing skill and directorial flair combine perfectly and the result is an above-average horror movie.
This is essentially a horror movie but it transcends genre simply because the text is multi-layered; there's so much attention to detail here, blink and you'll miss it (like the Devil's reflection in the mirror at the first victim's house).Like in Stanley's other famous film, Hardware, the desert becomes something greater than the sum of its parts; something strange, unknown and ultimately treacherous, the sandstorm from which the shape-shifter emanates, the refuge for Wendy fleeing from her husband, and the place of Ben's reckoning and redemption.Original, provocative, dark and satisfying, this, while essentially following horror narrative, is a truly unique movie and lingers long in the memory..
Part horror, part serial killer thriller, part supernatural Western, and featuring some unforgettable surrealist sequences, "Dust Devil" is one of the most distinctive and under-appreciated horror films there are, and as good as its original cut was, Richard Stanley's final cut improves drastically on it, making "Dust Devil" a must see film.The technical aspects of "Dust Devil", Simon Boswell's haunting score, the beautiful look of the film, and the excellent work with the sound, and Stanely's creative and intelligent direction make this film one of the most aesthetically pleasing of the early nineties.
I can't pick on the acting either, some of which is excellent, the rest of which is serviceable.Any film with a concept as original and intriguing as "Dust Devil" and one that is executed this well deserves to be seen, and now that the final cut has been released and can be relatively easily found, there's no excuse not to.8.5/10.
Hardware I did like and Dust Devil you can feel the same atmosphere so typical for director Richard Stanley but it's the story that let me down.I was told that it was full of gory moments and it do has a few of those moments and it even got news footage of dead bodies but it's a slow moving flick.
It starts well with the dust devil slashing his victim and cutting the body in pieces, the effects used are all well and I thought that it would be a hell of a ride but all I saw were nice shoots made by Richard and somehow I was lost with the story and was looking to nature.
South Africa's all-time horror classic Dust Devil (1992) spins a genuinely chilling tale of a supernatural shape-shifter roaming the Capetown area in the form of a particularly vicious serial murderer (played by Robert John Burke).
The Dust Devil's murderous activities aren't going unnoticed however & local cop Ben Mukurob (Zakes Mokae) is on his trial but will he make it in time to save Wendy?This British South African co-production was written & directed by Richard Stanley & is an unusual supernatural horror thriller.
It's not a fast moving film, even this the shorter 90 odd minute studio cut, but it entertains & it's engaging & quite thought provoking so overall I didn't mind that it was a little slow going at times.Director Stanley does a great job here & Dust Devil has to be one of the most visually stylish horror flicks of the 90's, the colours, the frame compositions, from aerial shots to long camera tracking shots this is a visually rich film.
The games begin when the drifter hitches a ride with the aforementioned woman, and as the officer begins to piece together the natural and supernatural elements of the case...DUST DEVIL is a strong film in terms of a relatively unknown and low-budget horror/thriller - but the pacing is often slow and plodding and makes what othewise could have been a nearly great film into a merely good one.
This movie begins with such a creature nicknamed "Texas" (Robert John Burke) who can harness the wind over the desert terrain to form what the natives of Namibia call a Dust Devil.
This comment is related to the director's cut of "Dust Devil", one of the biggest film disappointments I have had in recent years, in part due to the story surrounding its release: it creates expectation and anticipation, making one think that this is another case of American distributors ravaging a fine work. |
tt0111438 | Timecop | In 1863, Confederate soldiers are carrying a gold bullion as a payday for the army. Suddenly, they are cornered and shot by a highwayman using anachronistic automatic pistols and futuristic tech equipment, leaving them stranded and dead. The mysterious highwayman steals the trunk containing the gold and then suddenly vaporizes into a gelatin like mist.In 1994, 131 years later, the U.S. government creates the Time Enforcement Commission (TEC) to combat the misuse of newly developed time travel technology. They have discovered that the same gold bullion was used in recent arms purchases. The TEC is to detect "time ripples" among the timelines and to stop them from happening before they reach the present, since people cannot travel forward in time to the future, they always travel back to either change history or steal riches.(Note: the mysterious highwayman who killed the Confederate soldiers to steal their gold is never revealed or identified). Senator Aaron McComb (Ron Silver) volunteers to oversee the commission.Meanwhile, police officer Max Walker (Jean Claude Van Damme) is offered a job as a TEC agent. He meets his wife Melissa (Mia Sara) at a local shopping mall where he stops a purse snatcher. He notices three odd-looking punk men following them despite never seeing them before. Walker and Melissa go home to their large fancy house and later make love.Later that same evening, Max is attacked in his home by the same intruders he saw earlier at the mall and Melissa is killed in an explosion, destroying his house.Ten years later in the year 2004, Walker is now a veteran TEC Agent. He is sent back to October 1929, in the midst of the Wall Street crash to arrest his former partner Atwood (Jason Schombing) for taking advantage of the U.S. stock-market crash. After subduing Atwood's bodyguards, Walker interrogates Atwood who reveals that he is working for Senator McComb, who needs money for his presidential campaign. Terrified by McComb's threat to murder his ancestors, thereby wiping out his existence, Atwood tries to kill himself by jumping out a window. Walker catches him as he falls and takes him back to 2004, but Atwood refuses to testify against McComb and the TEC agency sends him back to 1929, right where he left off, this time falling to his death.Senator McComb arrives at the TEC agency to oversee the work and to congratulate Walker for his recent successful mission. Walker implies to McComb that he knows all about his dirty dealings behind the scenes in Washington and about his means to acquire money for his campaign. McComb leaves the facility and orders his aide to have Walker killed. The next morning, two assassins break into Walker's small apartment and attempt to kill him, but Walker, a trained martial arts expert, kills both assassins after a violent and protracted fight.While still trying to investigate McComb to expose him of corruption, Walker is partnered with agent Sarah Fielding (Gloria Reuben), and sent back to 1994 to investigate a pending ripple, where they find a young Senator McComb arguing with his business partner Jack Parker about their company's new computer chip. Parker offers to buy McComb's share of the company, but suddenly, the older McComb arrives from 2004 to warn his younger self that the chip will make huge profits. A fight starts when Walker is double-crossed by Fielding, who reveals she works for McComb. McComb kills Parker, wounds Fielding, attempts to kill Walker, and manages to escape back to 2004.When Walker returns to 2004, he finds that things have become worse. McComb now owns the computer company, with no record of Parker. He is almost guaranteed the Presidency with his finances and approval rating. The TEC is being shut down due to budget cuts. There is also no record of Fielding. Realizing that he has to fix things, Walker hijacks the original prototype time machine (which McComb had been using for their illegal trips) with the help of Commander Matuzak (Bruce McGill), who sacrifices himself when McComb's men try to stop Walker from escaping.Finding himself once more in 1994, Walker finds Fielding in the hospital, where she agrees to testify against McComb. Whilst trying to find Fielding's DNA from a blood sample in the lab, Walker finds a sample of Melissa's blood and it indicates she is pregnant. Walker realizes her death occurred later that night, and he decides to stop it. After going back to Fielding's room, he discovers that she has been murdered and he is framed as the prime suspect.He goes to the mall where he and Melissa met that night. Eventually Max finds her and manages to convince her he is from the future. He also sees the three thugs who attacked him and realizes that they are McComb's men whom were sent back to kill him before he joined the TEC.That evening, McComb's thugs break into Walker's home, like before, only this time the older Walker is waiting for them. Without his younger self realizing it, the older Walker helps to fight off the bad guys. Together, they and Melissa win, though the younger Walker is wounded. The 2004 McComb then takes Melissa hostage. When the older Walker finds the older McComb is holding Melissa, the younger McComb sets a time bomb. He then shoots Melissa, just before the young McComb appears, having been tricked by a fake message from Walker. Walker grabs the young McComb and pushes him into the older one, causing them to become a writhing, screaming mass which melts into nothingness (since according to the time theory, no two persons can exist by physically touching each other).Walker carries the wounded Melissa out of the house just before the bomb explodes, destroying the house just like before. Walker returns to 2004, and the timeline has been corrected. The TEC still exists, Fielding and Matuzak are alive, and McComb does not exist, having "vanished" ten years earlier. As Walker returns home, he is happily shocked to find himself living in the same house which was rebuilt. Melissa is alive and their 9-year-old son is waiting to greet him. Melissa has something to announce to Walker, implying that she is pregnant again. | alternate reality, cult, humor, violence | train | imdb | Best Van Damme Sci-Fi-Action comic book classic film!.
Just Like Sylvester Stallone's Judge Dredd, Van Damme's Timecop is very Underrated action sci-fi flick ever.
I love this movie to death and it is my 6th favorite best Van Damme movie.What I meant in the top written: "to take a few sci-fi leaps of faith" This movie involves time travel about a cop who travels from 2004 to 1994 and try's to prevent the death of his wife and change the future.
The movie it self has a good look, action and effects and very good acting performance by Van Damme, you really feel bad for him and want to see him kick bad guys asses.
This film deserves a special edition in some way.That is the more or less basic plot, In order to even try watching this movie, you MUST LOOK PAST THE PARADOX.
Timecop is probably remembered as his last good movie before he got into a rut of mediocre(though successful) action flicks.Its also the most mainstream picture he was ever in for my money.In 1994 Time-travel has become a possible reality.Washington decides that it needs to be "policed" from criminal activity and the paradox's of undoing life as we know it.Cut to 2004:Enter Van Damme as Walker the on-the-rocks time-cop who uncovers a plot to swindle the presidency by a corrupt Senator McComb played by Ron Silver,who actually engineered the murder of Walkers-wife(Mia Sara).Can Max stop McComb?Can he go back and save his wife?After some decent gunfights and roundhouses you'll have to find out.Timecop benefits from having a talented director Like Peter Hyams behind the wheel for this one.He stages everything well,Keeps the action and plot flowing,Special FX are engaging,and gets a very good performance by Van Damme.Who comes off vulnerable and like a real person.The production values are very good here too.It is also pretty decent political backdrop/Sci-fi combo.Ron Silver is a great Bad Guy here as McComb.He gets to shoot, beat people up,Snarls And looks frankly maniacal at times.Mia Sara is engaging and looks beautiful as ever.Bruce McGill has some funny bits as Van Dammes Boss.The very sexy Gloria Ruben also shows up as Walkers new partner.Timecop is not the greatest when it comes to plot-holes.But unlike the recent version of HG Wells Time machine, it is a very fun movie.And one of Van Dammes best..
The time travel ange of the story may be intelligent but the dialog in this movie is just plain dumb and too juvenile.Overall, this is one of the best of a small group of well-done Van Damme movies..
It made a solid attempt at a story, it had decent special effects and sound effects, the acting was as good as van damme gets, and the action was good.
The police office Max Walker (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is invited to join the TEC, and when his wife Melissa (Mia Sara) is murdered by strangers, he accepts the invitation to work under the command of Eugene Matuzak (Bruce McGill).
Definitely one of Van Dammes best and one of the better action movies in the 90's!
'Timecop' probably represents Jean-Claude Van Damme at his very best - this movie demonstrates his ability...The movie itself is slick and some thought has obviously gone into it - some time-travel movies do fail on grounds concerning plausibility, though 'Timecop' is intelligent as it is enjoyable...The complexity of the film really finds the viewer respecting Van Damme a lot more, it simply isn't an action movie, though Van Damme shows that he still retains his amazing physical talents...I recently saw this movie on NBC, and though not seeing it from the start, it brought back memories of the entire film, and what a great film it is - I had originally thought about giving this a [6/10], then thought maybe [7 or 8/10]...I opted for [8/10]...(maybe leaning more towards nine)...:).
If you can get past the gratuitous violence (a virtual requirement for Van Damme films), you might like this movie.
I've only ever seen this film while drunk, so bear with me ...Awful Belgian 'actor' John Claude Van Damme grows an emergency mullet in order to go back in time and rescue Ferris Bueller's girlfriend.
Van Damme and Sci-Fi. This is pretty run-of-the-mill as far as sci-fi goes, and Van-Damme's acting wasn't any better than it was in his other films - contrary to popular opinion - but Peter Hyams' competent direction keeps the thing moving forward at a brisk pace, and Ron Silver makes for a wicked baddie that rivals his work in Blue Steel.
Van Damme as we want to see Him. This isn't at all a bad movie, though the plot has some minor faults.The acting is quite decent actually.This movie is about a cop travelling in time to wipe out the ever increasing problem of time crime.
This shows Hyams had control of how much time travel was used in one instance.Timecop is actually a generalization for the people who do the job, but focuses on the story of Max Walker (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a man who belongs to an institution of individuals who police time, based on a popular Dark Horse comic.
I liked the character of Max Walker, I just thought he'd be somewhat more original and not a knock- off of some other character.Playing the villain, Aaron McComb, is Ron Silver, a corrupt politician who will do anything to make sure he's sitting in the president's chair by the end of the election.
What a mess that was!Peter Hyams' direction on the Dark Horse comic of a time traveling police officer not only boasts visuals, but also has a great story line.
As for me, I simply love movies dealing with time-traveling, but this one had so many "holes" in the script, that I was surprised, when i saw that it wasn't directed by Van Damme itself.
Really good science fiction effort, with good time travel twists and turns, and few of the grotesque plot holes that movies like this are subject to.
Not only is it less feasible then other movies like Terminator and even Back to the Future, the movie contradicts itself too many times considering how short it is.As far as all movies go, don't waste your money, unless you're a huge Van Damme fan.
Truly, poetry in motion.The scene where Van Damme does the splits real good like: 10/10; the incredulous film overall: 3/10..
Very respectable time travel sci-fi that's also Van Damme's best work.
B-grade sequel by Gary Thompson notwithstanding, Verheiden's screenplay draws you in with a time-travel story full of socially relevant scientific nuggets.Director/DoP Peter Hyams (Running Scared(1986), A Sound of Thunder(2004)), rightfully claims his movie isn't really science-fiction, but 'futuristic drama' that 'unfolds on many levels: romance, action, mystery, and drama'.
After all, the franchise had to be easily transferable from film to comics.One of McComb's dartboarders, an otherwise nondescript TEC cop named Max Walker (Jean-Claude Van Damme), turns reluctant hero when his partner Lyle Atwood (Jason Schombing) is corrupted by McComb.
A year later he again starred for Hyams in Sudden Death(1995), but there wasn't enough emotional scope in that actioner for Van Damme to match his apparent acting chops from TimeCop(1994).The best 'bit' belongs to a genuinely funny and avuncular Bruce McGill as Matuzak, who with one flick of the wrist smacks his V/R dweeb Ricky (Scott Bellis) with his own visor when he catches the dweeb literally abusing the equipment.Working for the TEC isn't always fun, however.
About what I expect from a Van Damme movie: cheezy action, horrid special effects, worse dialogue, useless scenes, cardboard acting, and did I mention a disjointed and choppy plot?
And seeing Jean Claude's butt doesn't exactly send chills down my spine...well it does, but the wrong kind of chills (I'm still a little queasy, and it's been a couple of hours...;) And to make matters worse, this has every element of a textbook action film, every cliche and stereotype imaginable, from slo-mo to timed explosives.
With no evidence Walker goes out to prove McComb is guilty a battle that occurs in the present as well as the past.For those of you used to the level of logic and plotting that is inherent in Van Damme films (Knock Off anyone?) then Timecop probably stands out as one of his stronger films in terms of plot.
One day it could be funny to watch all the Van Damme movies, and this is surely another episode in his oeuvre but it was pretty weak and pretty much a waste of time.
It seems like Van Damme strayed from the pure path of Budo and martial arts, and movies such as this one does not use his potential in a good way.
Unfortunately, as Van Damme states "There is never enough time, to satisfy a woman" so i better get going.Everyone must see this film.
If Van Damme just kicked kung-fu butt all the time, his movies would rank up there with the best fo the genre.
It's Stupid It's Mindless It's Fun. This is not for art film lovers, this is a movie where Van Damme plays a "Time Cop" who is sent back in time by the time police force or whatever to stop future criminals from altering history in order to profit from it, for example by going back in time with crazy machine guns to wipe out civil war soldiers and steal their gold, or buy stocks right before they skyrocket in value, etc.He does a lot of shooting and kicking to get revenge against a psychotic politician who killed Van Damme's wife and wants to use time travel to become an evil president (Ron Silver who is so fun in this).
You know the outcome of the movie before you even press the play button.If you enjoy the wonderful 1990s action movies and/or being a fan of Jean Claude Van Damme, then "Timecop" is definitely a movie well worth sitting down to watch..
The rumourmill has it that Jean Claude Van-Damme was looking for 'that film' - the one like 'Terminator' was for Schwarzenegger and 'Rambo' was for Stallone.
If they detect any big irregularities they send an agent back to prevent the temporal tampering.There were a lot of problems I had with the movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme's acting being at the top of the list.
Set in a future in which time travel is possible, a cop in charge of policing the process tries to stop a crooked politician from changing the past in order to alter the future in this Jean-Claude Van Damme action thriller.
Some have written 'Timecop' off as a mere action vehicle, but great as the choreography may be, it is the scenes of Van Damme and Silver talking to their younger selves that stick out in the mind.
When Walker (Van Damm) is told by a former co-worker that the Senator (Ron Silver) in charge of the Time Enforcement Commission is abusing power and time travel for his own game, he begins keeping an eye on him.
Fans of Jean-Claude Van Damm would certainly find the film enjoyable.
The story follows Max Walker (Jean-Claude Van Damme) whose job is to stop people from using illegal time travel technology, in order to change the past.
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars and we all know that I see him as one of these brawn over brains guys, that only get work because of their looks and their fancy movies.
Ever likable Jean-Claude Van Damme high kicks his way through this twisty and interesting futuristic sci-fi action thriller.
Director Peter Hyams (who would reunite with Van Damme for the following years' "Sudden Death") often lights scenes in his typical not-particularly-well-lit fashion, but he and a first rate crew still keep this movie racing forward quite effectively.
The story, much like any that deals with the whole idea of time travel, probably wouldn't hold up to much scrutiny, but the movie is a good entertainment that features some very impressive special effects, stunts, and sets, appropriately thuggish henchmen for our bad guy to employ and for our good guy to tussle with, and some highly amusing moments (such as a thug getting his arm frozen and then smashed to bits).
Ron Silver is a great villain, he always is and this movie is maybe the best example of how he can look like a scummy sleaze bag villain without even having to say anything.It is a typical Van Damme movie in many ways with decent fight scenes and a thin unbelievable plot, of course like in most time travel type movies there are a ton of plot holes you could drive a time travelling car through.Van Damme is good and I expected this to be a terrible movie but as far as Van Damme movies go it is probably one of the best and most fun.
Director Peter Hyams does an okay job here but I preferred his film with Van Damme the following year - SUDDEN DEATH.
And for those who think Van Damme never deserved the stardom, watch this film and you'll get a good enough answer.
Of course Mr. Jean Claude Van Damme, the super great-muscled-bottomed action hero, saves the film from being a complete boring failure, all his action scenes and movements are amazing, and his sex scenes too -there is another extra sex scene with other characters that is great too-, so all this great scenes and the good Peter Hyams direction make the film entertaining and saves it.
But I think the script is a shame.I wonder if Jean Claude Van Damme is a show off, if he is he does a great job showing off his big muscular buttocks in the action scenes and sex scenes.My rating: ** , 5/10, So-so film..
Lets face it, Jean-Claude Van Damme hasn't starred in exactly some classic movies throughout his career but out of all his movies this is probably his best known one, along with "Universal Soldier" and for a good reason.
Hyams is also the director of my all time favorite Van Damme flick "Sudden Death", which they did together one year after this movie.
But in no means necessary does it make it a crappy film.This movie is about a man named Max Walker, who works for the TEC, otherwise known as a Time Enforcement Commission Agent.
Ron Silver was great as the bad guy though, but still, for me this is one of Van Damme's most boring films.
When you make a movie about time traveling you have to think about a lot of things, or keep the story small.
For some very mindless action, for some funny one-liners and a lot of stupid ones and for Jean-Claude van Damme if you happen to be a fan..
VERY GOOD Movie even for non die hard Van Damme fans!.
Reading through their IMDb pages just now, I noticed that director Peter Hyams and action star Jean-Claude Van Damme will soon collaborate again on a thriller named "Enemies Closer".
I think that's particularly good news for Van Damme, as it's my own personal and humble opinion that he accomplished his best films working with Hyams.
Enter Max Walker, a Timecop who upon learning of a corrupt politician's plot to become president, sets about doing all he can to stop him.Timecop did exactly what I wanted it to do, namely give me Jean-Claude Van Damme administering brutal violence in a sci-fi haze.
But I will say that if I'm right then "Timecop" is the exception.Another caveat: like other time travel films I have reviewed ("Lake House" and "Frequency", for example) you will have to suspend your rational thought during this movie.
Peter Hyams has proved to be a good action director.I will rate it as a A+ grade Movie Must watch it..
While I am not a real Van Damme fan, I like him in this movie.
The Jean Claude Van Damme movie for those that hate him..
Sure, Jean Claude isn't going to be seen at the Academy Awards any time soon - but this film is good enough to get past him.Excellent time travel flick - it would come up more points ahead if they had put a bit more historic emphasis on the movie.
And when it comes time to do the action director/cinematographer Peter Hyams keeps the controls steady like a basic practitioner of the conventions: don't get TOO out of control and it should be violent enough to please Van Damme's kick-boxer fan-base while appealing to sci-fi fans.
At times, I would rather have a simpler movie and concentrate on Van Damme's strengths.I think the problem starts with Matuzak saying that Max's word isn't enough and yet somehow with Sarah, that's enough to put McComb in prison.
Overall, Certainly Worth a Watch for Action Fans and B-Movie Lovers and is Probably One of Only a Few Van Damme Films that can be Recommended Without Apology..
Good One. Most posts for this movie are on the lines of comparing this to other films in JCVD's repertoire, his accent, the time travel plot holes, the fighting.
Van Damme is actually quite good in the movie and it is also one of his best films from the 1990's.
Thatsaid, this movie has both - time travel and Ron Silver getting it.
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Max Walker a "TEC"(Time Enforcement Cop) who takes on a corrupt senator Aaron McComb (Ron Silver) who maybe responsible for the death of Walker's wife in this stupid yet harmless actioner.
Jean-Claude Van Damme kicks a lot of people in the head, but mainly it's Ron Silver who steals the show..
Well it did not, as this has to be one of Van Damme's best story, equal to Maximum Risk, and not as lean as Nowhere to Run. The visual effect on the scar on Ron Silver's face is one of my favorite scene in the movie.
Van Damme made one of his last good movies in the form of Timecop. |
tt0492962 | Destricted | Destricted is an art-based film where seven directors, including controversial director Larry Clark (Kids), explore modernistic views of sex, sexuality, and pornography in modern film. The film features seven short films all of which are explicit in nature.Balkan Erotic Epic (Marina Abramovic):
The first of the films features an observation of old Balkan Rituals. The movie's narration describes various sexual actions that members of the Balkan culture performed. Among these actions is the exposure of the female genitalia into the rain to increase fertility. Other act includes a Balkan man drilling three holes into a small wooden bridge and simulating intercourse with all three holes in an attempt to cure impotency. Other act portrays multiple men lying nude on the ground simulating intercourse with small holes in the soil in an attempt to help fertilize the ground before planting their annual crops.Hoist (Matthew Barney): This movie begins with an unknown image. It is long and slug-like to the eye. It is also covered in leaves, dirt, and other debris. After some time the images begins to move and it becomes apparent that it is a penis and it is growing erect. There appears on the screen a large machine called a deforester. It is then showed that there is a seat fastened to the underside of the machine. A wax coating is found around the driveshaft (located directly above the seat). The man from the beginning of the scene is seen nude in the seat rubbing his erect penis against the wax-coated drive shaft. There is a large gourd shaped plant hanging from the man's anus. This scene continues until the man ejaculates. His seamen is then spread across the wax located on the driveshaft.Sync (Marco Brambilla): In the shortest of the short film collections, Brambilla presents a collage of pornography scenes from a large amount of various movies. These scenes are cut in a way where it can be perceived that one action is happening, thought multiple scenes are being flashed. The film is set to a drum only soundtrack that is as rapid moving as the images on the screen.Impaled (Larry Clark): The scene opens with a young man sitting on the coach. There are questions being asked to the young man by another man behind the camera (it can be assumed to be Clark). The young man continues to answer questions about his penis size, sex life, and the effect of pornography in his sexual mentality. Throughout the interview, multiple other males take his place answering the same questions. The scene then cuts to a close-up of a penis. The interview of the males (shown one at a time) are interchanged as all of them strip nude in front of the camera. Questions are then asked about if they are comfortable with their penis size, their greatest sexual fantasies, and personal grooming. It is quickly revealed through the questioning that all the males are highly influenced in thinking that the images portrayed by pornography is what should be expected in their sex life. It then becomes evident that what is being watched is an interview for a pornography movie. A young man from the group is chosen to be the actor. He is then present when Clark interviews for the female part. Several pornography stars are brought in and asked questions. They are asked about their childhood, their first time, and their sexual limits. The man indicates that he has a fantasy for older women and for anal sex. The women are then asked to strip down and asked more questions. At the end of this interview process, the young man chooses an older actress who was willing to have anal sex with him. She re-enters the room after being cast on her hands and knees. The footage is greatly unedited and no special effects are used. She performs oral sex on him and they have intercourse (both vaginal and anal). The man ejaculates and the film ends with the cleaning of the woman's anus and the man's penis.We Fuck Alone (Gaspar Noe): We Fuck Alone holds a warning that a strobing effect is used and should not be viewed by individuals with medical conditions. The strobing effect last throughout. It portrays a young woman in midst of a masturbation session. She is watching a pornography film on the television as she lies on the couch. She begins slow and works her way up to more forceful motions. She eventually simulates oral sex using her large stuffed teddy bear. She shoves the bear into her exposed crotch. She climaxes. This scene is shared with a similar male masturbation scene. There is a young man with a look that can be best described as in the fashion on a neo-nazi. The young man is watching the same pornography movie (which is made to make the transitions between the two scenes). After masturbating for some time, he takes a blow-up doll and beings to simulate oral sex. After spending time simulating both oral and vaginal sex with the dolls he reveals a gun. He holds the gun up to the dolls head with violently simulating oral sex. The scene ends with his ejaculation.House Call (Richard Prince): House Call takes a scene from an older 70's pornography film and replaces the soundtrack to it. It appears as if the movie is being played on an older television with the camera hovering directly in front of the screen. A voluptuous blonde woman lies in bed and a doctor appears. In the midst of the check-up, the doctor and patient begins to have sexual relations. This last until the film's end.Death Valley (Sam Taylor-Wood): Perhaps the most simple of the seven films, there is appears to be an empty and vast valley located in an unknown location. The camera never moves, but only zooms in and out. A young man appears walking into the middle of the open range. He begins to remove his pants and masturbate. The scene ends with the ending of his masturbation session. | psychedelic, avant garde | train | imdb | 'Destricted' is best described as seven short art-house porn films.
None of them really succeeds as an interesting mix between art and porn, although 'Impaled' by director Larry Clark and 'Balkan Erotic Epic' by director Marina Abramovic have some interesting elements.
The second shows myths from the Balkan around the sexual organs which makes a rather funny erotic little film.'House Call' (from Richard Prince) is a vintage sex scene and comes, together with 'Impaled', closest to pornography.
Maybe 'Sync' (Marco Brambilla) as well, but it only exists out of very, very fast cuts from different porn films and plays for about two minutes.
'Hoist' (Matthew Barney) is too much art, which becomes rather ridiculous with the sex, and 'Death Valley' opens with a beautiful shot only to continue with an 8-minute masturbation scene.
Through from the ersatz-revelatory documentary of Larry Clark to Richard Prince's House Call, which is quite literally in my opinion, the porn equivalent of Meshes of the Afternoon (whether or not that's a good idea or not is another matter).
I've rated the whole movie 6/10 but we're really moving from 1/10 to 10/10 during different segments.I felt Marina Abramovic's segment "Balkan Erotic Epic" contained some sort of interest, but it felt more like an alternative school history lesson, and lacked any sort of cinematic virtuosity.
Simply put the film is about Balkan sex superstitions of the past.Sam Taylor-Wood's segment is quite simply a man masturbating in Death Valley, what is up with that?
I'm sure something was going on for Sam but she quite simply left me almost devoid of context.Matthew Barney film about a man (The Greenman) 'using' (I am not allowed to write the appropriate word due to the comment guidelines) the drive-shaft of a massive suspended truck is interesting more in concept than in adaptation for the screen where it becomes merely pornographic rather than a thesis on sexual energy.
Quite astonishingly this is the guy who directed Demolition Man.Gaspar Noe's section 'We **** Alone' was perhaps the most interesting of all the films, sex in this piece seem like an adjunct of solipsism (if you want to take each of the individuals involved as masturbators then you can, but for me they are having sex, it's just that we are being shown a visual metaphor of that process, which Noe sees as narcissistic; indeed if you accept the duality then the film is quite potent).
It's clear that he is also passing a judgement, artistically and politically, which I don't think any of the others achieved (although they may have attempted), specifically with his use of match-cutting with TV porn when he's showing the man.With Richard Prince's 'House Call' we have another film that is sonically intriguing.
The story of a woman having sex with a house-visiting doctor becomes psychosexual rather than merely pornographic.I wouldn't recommend Destricted to anyone I know, because it is extremely sexually graphic and people I know would think I was a weirdo if I started talking to them about it.
(Due to the 1000 word limit I've trimmed this review by over a third: apologies if some of the notes on films in this seven-film collection are therefore rather brief.)Andy Warhol once said, "An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them." Destricted doesn't fit into convenient mainstream or even art-house niches, but is more like a Tate Modern exhibit.
Each uses different artistic techniques, and each is worthy of serious study - although cinema audiences' reactions may also include boredom and amusement.The most accessible section of the film (and the most linear in format) is Impaled by Larry Clark.
He interviews young male pornstar wannabees, in discussions that are almost like a shrink session, asking them about their sexual experience, preferences and use of pornography.
The female porn actors interviewed are shown as human and genuinely sensual (unlike the way they are portrayed in porn films), although their comfortable attitude to sexuality threatens to bring out more of the guys' insecurities (a theme that was also explored well in Breillat's Sex is Comedy).
The result is a documentary about porn that is also seamlessly pornographic.The sense of dislocation is felt even more strongly in House Call by Richard Prince (a twelve minute section).
To this, he adds jangling, futuristic music so that, even though the images are very explicit, we are reduced to observing them in a distant, dispassionate way.Hoist, the fifteen minute contribution by artist Matthew Barney, will be no surprise to fans of his acclaimed Cremaster Cycle.
The ultimate, dystopian contrast occurs in an onanistic union with a deforestation machine.Balkan Erotic Epic by Marina Abramov is thirteen minutes of amusing but quite instructional scenes re-enacting ancient sexual rites for fertility, warding off evil and the like.
One of the scenes - where men are seen from above, lying face down and copulating with the earth itself, is reminiscent of the work of the photographer Spencer Tunick who stages vast public gatherings of naked people around the world.Sync by Marco Brambilla is the shortest contribution at less than 2 minutes.
The resulting choreographed collage (set to loud drum music) is like being hit over the head with Dante-esquire force by images that once would have appeared sexual or arousing.Death Valley by Sam Taylor-Wood is eight minutes long and puts a Marlboro man type character in one of the hottest infertile places in the world where he 'spills his seed'.
Taylor-Wood's work often has the human figure isolated on film, as if she views the body in its most revealing moments as a work of art in itself.
The title is a play on the title of the director's first feature film, I Stand Alone (Seul Contre Tous), a controversial story about despair and loneliness and the resulting sexual pathology..
During the Q&A following the film when asked why he used the effect Noe replied, "Because it looks better." The style used in We F--- Alone may not appeal to most audiences, but the premise of the film promised shorts by director's giving their impression of the world of porn and We F--- Alone was obviously Gasper Noe's take on the world of porn.Other engaging portions of the film included Matthew Barney's Hoist, which involved a man having sex with a industrial machine lifted a dozen feet off the ground; Larry Clarks Doc/ Porn, hosting try outs for young men willing to satisfy their dreams of being a porn star; Marco Brambilla's amazing short splicing together frames from his own porn collection.
The rest of the other shorts mixed in seemed to lack depth and were rather bland with the exception of Marina Abramovic's vignettes on superstitious Balkan sexual behavior which was very funny.The movie is all that is promised and is an absorbing take on porn from these artistic talents.
In line with modern art where the act (masturbation) precedes the context (if any), it leaves you to read-in the meaning you might associate with it.Larry Clark, on the other hand, made an audition for a porn movie.
Due to it's sheer realism, this segment was the only one to make sense, but left me wondering why should i watch it instead of browsing the internet for free porn.Art aficionados, in particular those into modern art, will probably love Destricted.
Hoist was least like a porn, but 15 minutes of a man rubbing his penis to a machine shaft was OK ("art" and everything) for 5 minutes.
So it comes to no surprise that this is a worst-than-irregular film, and that there is little elaboration and sometimes no originality at all in the string of segments that pretend "to illuminate the points where art meets sexuality".
Gaspar Noé and Larry Clark are probably the best known directors of the lot, but it is experimental artist Matthew Barney who in my opinion has made a visually striking erotic film piece (that deserves a much higher rating than the 2 points I have given to the whole film), that has little to do with narcissistic penetrations, oral somersaults and other jaded depictions of sex.
Destricted - an experimental collection of shorts by artists and film-makers exploring the subjects of sex, sexuality and pornography - didn't cause as much of a fuss as the creatives behind it were probably hoping for upon its release in 2006.
Truth be told, Destricted is no more shocking than late-night Babestation, and probably has just as much to say on our attitudes to sex.The UK release featured a different line-up of films to the one released in the US, so I'll point out that I'm reviewing the UK version, which consists of seven shorts, the longest being 38 minutes and the shortest just over 2.
I started with Larry Clark's Impaled, possible the most interesting film of the bunch.
Clark interviews a roster of 18-23 year old males for a porn movie, and asks them about their sexual preferences.
Richard Prince's House Call is a 13 minute re- contextualisation of an old porn scene, in which a busty young woman is visited by a well-hung doctor, who proceed to have ugly, hairy sex in a pleasantly aggression-free manner.
Prince adds an eerie soundtrack and distorts the colour so much that the sexual organs on show looks like disgusting, slug-like creatures.Marco Brambilla's Sync is a relief at just over 2 minutes, rapidly editing together hundreds of porn scenes to a drum-solo score.
Shot Irreversible-style and complete with constant strobe effects, the film has a man and a woman masturbate to same porn movie in two separate rooms.
This collection of films contains a great deal of nudity and explicit sex, yet the most interesting film in the bunch is Larry Clark's documentary, which features interviews with a number of mostly ordinary looking young men and haggard-looking porn actresses discussing their sexual experiences.
Purportedly a series of auditions for a porn flick, Clark's film culminates with one lucky young man consummating his experience with one of the actresses.
Both directors are always on the edge of explicit forbidden nudity (Clark with 18 year old girls going full frontal and Noé by showing a rape going on for minutes) but here in Destricted they go beyond that together with some other directors.This compilation is called an art-erotic flick but all i can say is that some were indeed art, one short flick is just a fast editing, cut every second of porn flicks.
Performance artist Marina Abramovic, daughter of the former Republic of Yugoslavia, injects a seriously whacked out yet admirably straight-faced sense of humor into her "Balkan Erotic Epic" relating a number of peculiar superstitions and sexual practices from the Old Country, illustrated through charmingly crude animation and live action.
Italian Marco Brambilla, who directed the okay Sly Stallone/Sandy Bullock sci fi flick DEMOLITION MAN but also the inexcusable Alicia Silverstone fiasco EXCESS BAGGAGE, edited together a huge pile of split second images from anonymous porno features as well as "risqué" mainstream fare such as Chen Kaige's ludicrous KILLING ME SOFTLY and Martin Scorsese's CAPE FEAR remake into a semi-continuous sexual encounter in "Sync", expressions of pleasure and pain – as can be spotted in a few blood-spattered frames – becoming indistinguishable.
Larry Clark, of KEN PARK infamy, comes up trumps with the misleadingly labeled "Impaled", interviewing a series of regular American boys on their relationship to nowadays readily available explicit imagery, having literally grown up with porn, in a selection process to actually perform with a real adult actress.
So I would recommend it for those who are into indie films and semi exploitation with artistic intentions.Sure, some of the segments are pretentious but take them for what this is: erotic fun with an edge.Highly recommended for those like me who are into erotic features and plenty of sexual situations..
Several other fascinating and funny tales are told.Another great short starts with several young men being interviewed to be in an adult film.
He ends up selecting the forty year old woman - a lady who is outrageously overt toward him, and who most strongly fits the stereotype of an impish porn star.The key things revealed in the short are: the vulnerability and tender commonness of human sexuality; the silliness which comes from all the fakery present in regular porn; what it's like for a young male who's been exposed to porn to finally get to have sex with a porn actress; and the strange mix of beauty and silliness that is present in commercial porn.
This short illustrated several things including that even when we are having sex the experiences we're having are our own.In a final shot for the film a line of men in presumably Balkan costumes are all standing with their erect members, which slowly deflate as we all watch.
That porn and open expressions of human sexuality in film should not be feared.
Destricted is a reflection on sex, sexuality and x-rated movies trough seven director's approaches and stories - Marina Abramović (Balkan Erotic Epic), Matthew Barney Hoist), Marco Brambilla (Sync), Larry Clark (Impaled), Gaspar Noé (We Fck Alone), Richard Prince (House Call), Sam Taylor-Wood (Death Valley).The only film that really stood out was "Hoist", which is a very innovative idea, and very well filmed; however, the images of the crane/perforating machine and their real drivers with their faces pixeled rested credibility to the piece.
If the director really wanted them, why not using actors with unpixeled faces?I found very interesting "Balkan Erotic Epic", a mostly ethnographic piece, which tells the viewer about how sex is embedded in traditional oral culture in the Balkans.
The director chooses a winner, who then has to interview different adult actresses, see their naked bodies, and choose his favourite for fulfilling his sexual fantasy, in this case having anal sex.
Finally, "Sync: is a very short pastiche of sex images, taken from x-rated films mixed with powerful music.The movie, overall, has two main problems.
Perhaps, a series of short documentaries/films on specific concrete sexual themes would have been more effective.The movie ends being a gross pastiche of vulgar images, with hardly artistic value and creative talent, which supposed to be the point of the same..
What we get with this collection is an offbeat tale of a village and their exposition of breasts and bums, a guy and his fetish for rubbing himself against moving machinery, a rather well-done collection of spliced sex scenes one-after-another, an interview of several individuals for a trial-screw for a porn actor's first experience on camera, a jarring, strobe-lit piece on a guy defiling a doll and a girl getting it on with a stuffed doll, a scene from a porno, and a guy beating off in the desert.
This is the UK version I watched, so the scenes do change with the US version, but the idea is the same.I don't know if the idea was to shock the audience into understanding that sex can be artistic, but it didn't work on me.
As for the art of it all, the only piece that I would expect to see in a museum of any sort would be Marco Brambilla's "Sync," the spliced-sex scenes.
Impaled directed by Larry Clark.Larry Clark's documentary about porn is by far the best film is the collected works of Destricted.
After selecting one of the men to be in the film he lets them interview which woman he wants to have sex with.
Sync directed by Marco Brambilla.Brambilla demonstrates his patients and editing skills in this rapid-fire short which is basically a fluid montage of porn sex scenes lasting only half a second or so in duration but flow to make a consistent image.
Death Valley directed by Sam Taylor-Wood.A man walks through the desert and masturbates for about ten minutes.
There it is...Balkan Erotic Epic directed by Marina AbramovicThis short provided a lot of humor which was needed to break up the blatantly raw sexuality of this series (you can only watch people masturbating or swallowing cum for so long).
Of all the art house anthology films you may have heard of (Coffee and Cigarettes; Paris, I Love You; Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould), the subject of Destricted is by far the most intriguing, and fans of Larry Clark especially might be drawn to this piece for his large contribution.
Unlike his earlier works, Clark allows the sex to be fully filmed here, and he loses his artistic flair in letting the actors control the scene.
Destricted is a collection of seven short films dealing with sex, love and pornography.
The best of these is possibly Gaspar Noe's 25 minute film representation of what sex really is.
Made with a strobing effect that is migraine inducing, it would be a great film if it ran about a third of its length since if you're clever you'll know what the punch line is.Larry Clark's half hour interview/sex film is okay but ultimately rather dull, which I think is the point.
(8)'Impaled' _____ An interesting documentary approach, but hard to figure what these opinions of bothered young men and experienced porn stars (only the amazing Sativa Rose did I recognize) are really worth...
(2)'House call' _____ (original, I assume?) '70s porn on an old TV (filmed so up-close, one can see the 'squares' on the screen) with a soundtrack that sounded like Sigur Ros. Colorful, vintage nudity and eerie, mesmerizing music.
I have to admit there were some moments that made an impact like the neatly clipped young men auditioning for the porn film, so sad, what are we doing?
What is Noe doing making it all seem so beside the point?In all Gaspar Noe has to be one of the most sexually explicit directors of the moment, but he does not seem able to depict sex with love.In his films we are distanced from sex like it is strange packaged, a view of a lonely unfulfilled man perhaps. |
tt0070046 | Executive Action | A narrator states that when President Lyndon Johnson was asked about the Kennedy Assassination and the Warren Commission report, he said he doubted the findings of the Commission. The narration ends with the mention that the segment did not run on television and was cut from a program about Johnson, at his own request.
At a gathering in June 1963, shadowy industrial, political and former US intelligence figures discuss their growing dissatisfaction with the Kennedy administration. In the plush surroundings of lead conspirator Robert Foster (Robert Ryan), he and the others try to persuade Harold Ferguson (Will Geer), a powerful oil magnate dressed in white, to back their plans for an assassination of Kennedy. He remains unconvinced, saying, "I don't like such schemes. They're only tolerable when necessary, and only permissible when they work." James Farrington (Burt Lancaster), a black ops specialist, is also among the group: He shows Ferguson and others that a careful assassination of a U.S. President can be done under certain conditions, and refers to the murders of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, and William McKinley as examples, and includes assassination attempts of others including Roosevelt in 1933, referring to the practice as "executive action".
In the Mojave Desert, a hit squad practice shooting moving targets at medium-to-long range. One of the shooters says that he can only guarantee the operation's success if he fires from vantage point at target moving at or under 15 miles per hour.
The lead conspirators, Farrington and Foster, discuss preparations for the assassination. Obtaining Ferguson's approval is crucial to the conspirators, although Farrington proceeds to organize two shooting teams in anticipation that Ferguson will change his mind. Ferguson, meanwhile, watches news reports and becomes highly concerned at Kennedy's increasingly "liberal" direction: action on civil rights, Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and nuclear disarmament. The deciding moment comes when he is watching an anti-Kennedy news report on the deteriorating situation in South Vietnam. It is followed by Kennedy's October 1963 decision, National Security Action Memorandum #263 to withdraw all US advisers from Vietnam by the end of 1965, effectively ending America's direct involvement in the Vietnam War. Ferguson calls Foster and tells him he now supports their project.
Foster and Farrington discuss their murky paranoid fears about the future of the country under President Kennedy, and the security of ruling-class white people around the world. Foster forecasts the population of the world in 2000 at 7 billion, the majority of them non-white; " swarming out of their breeding grounds into Europe and North America." He sees victory in Vietnam as an opportunity to control the developing world and reduce its population to 550 million, adding that they can then apply the same "birth-control" methods to unwanted groups in the US: poor whites, blacks and Latinos. Foster, it seems, is privy to plans known to the CIA, or perhaps knowledge of even more secret information unknown to Ferguson, a civilian.
The scene of the shooting is described. As news of the assassination reaches the conspirators, the film describes the effects. Farrington and his assistant discuss the fallout from the assassination, especially how to deal with the fact that Oswald has survived. Farrington contacts nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who stalks and kills Oswald.
While the real assassins leave Dallas, the conspirators work to cover up the evidence. They discuss the political fallout in Washington, D.C., concerned about retribution from Robert F. Kennedy and the "believability" of the plot. Foster states that "Bobby Kennedy is not thinking as Attorney General but as a grieving brother. By the time he recovers it will be too late." The conspirators agree that people will believe in the story because "they want to believe the story." Soon after, Foster receives a call from Farrington's assistant: Farrington has died of a heart attack "at Parkland Hospital." The conspirators are now insulated from the link to the group that committed the killings.
Their work is not quite finished. A photo collage is shown of 18 material witnesses, all but two of whom, it says, died from unnatural causes within three years of the assassination. A voice-over says that an actuary of the British newspaper The Sunday Times calculated the probability that all these people who witnessed the assassination would die within that period of time to be 100,000 trillion to one. | murder | train | wikipedia | By 1973, the year of the film's release, critics, such as Mark Lane's 1966 Rush to Judgment, had shredded much of the Warren Commission Report (1964), putting the government's lone assassin theory on the strictly defensive.
In short, many Americans were ready to believe in 1973 what they weren't ready to believe in 1963, namely that the official Report was an expedient cover-up, and that the true facts surrounding Kennedy's murder had yet to be revealed.Executive Action stepped into the breach, hoping to reach the non-book reading public and alert them to what critics on the left felt was a likely version of the true facts.
With hardly any of the controversy of the Oliver Stone & Kevin Costner version.A number of big oil-men get together in June 1963 to plan to assassinate JFK because his policies, domestic as well as foreign, are a threat to their money and power.
Released in November 1973, near the tenth anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, EXECUTIVE ACTION is often overlooked as a film because of Oliver Stone's extraordinarily controversial 1991 film JFK.
It obviously doesn't have the high-budget gloss or the montage that Stone's film does, but what it does have is a hard-hitting inside look into the individuals who might have had a direct hand in plotting this hideous crime.Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan (in one of his final movies), and Will Geer are the conspirators, right-wing businessmen with an axe to grind.
As in Stone's film, the motivations for the assassination are disgust with the way Kennedy handled Fidel Castro and the possibility that he would have stopped our involvement in Vietnam before it ever got to the ground troop stage.
And like JFK, it also blows holes in the Warren Commission report big enough to drive a truck through and make apologists like Gerald Posner apoplectic.Whether seen on its own terms or as a companion piece to the much better known JFK, EXECUTIVE ACTION is worth viewing--and, like Stone's film, asks us to consider the nightmarish chain of events that seem to have resulted directly or indirectly from what happened on that dark day in Dallas in 1963..
The action cuts between meetings between these men, the preparations of the gunmen and their target practice, and the recruitment and actions of a Lee Harvey Oswald lookalike.While not being a fact-based and detailed account like the portrayal of Jim Garrison's investigation in Oliver Stone's excellent JFK (1991), Executive Action makes no claims to be historical fact, but instead a theory of how Kennedy's assassination could have been planned.
While it is certainly very interesting from a conspiracy- theorists point-of-view, the film works far better as a straightforward thriller, and certainly manages to build up plenty of tension regardless of the fact that we know what is going to happen, and that what is being played out in front of us is unlikely to be true.It's a cold and emotionless film, which made me like it more.
But its use of both dramatized scenes and archival footage provides an interesting, though controversial, story written by the talented Dalton Trumbo.Much of the conspiracy theory is similar to Oliver Stone's "JFK", and it does a good job of integrating known evidence (such as witness reports and information we know about Lee Harvey Oswald) and nearly mythologized explanations of the assassination (like the "grassy knoll").Starring Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan (in his penultimate film) and Will Geer as the three men who organize the hit, the film carries an emotional content for anyone who lived through the event in 1963.
It also serves as an indictment of the Secret Service and the Dallas Police Department, criticizing their sloppy procedures and their unprofessional methods.Though many people have accepted the Warren Commission's lone gunman explanation, conspiracy theorists abound even now, especially since some of the evidence is difficult to explain.As we view the film today, it is nearly amusing to hear the conspirators say, in ignorant naivete, that JFK's reputation and personal life are smear proof.
Music is by Randy Edelman and cinematography by Robert Steadman.In essence it's a film that is offering up a different theory to the Warren Commission's report that ruled Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating John F.
Entertaining and interesting film which puts forward a seemingly plausible theory as to why JFK was assassinated.The main thought seems to be that President Kennedy's ideas in regard to nuclear disarmament, racial equality and ensuring a square deal for America's most lowly paid workers were just too radical as far as the country's hard line conservatives were concerned.Appears to have been generally well researched and non sensationalist.However, it's a fair criticism to note that some of the finer points of period detail are slightly shaky.
Made conspiracy challenging."Executive Action" from 1973 is another film that theorizes how the assassination of JFK went down - this time, it's a bunch of rogue intelligence agents, conservative politicians, greedy businessmen who were worried about President Kennedy's policies on race relations, ending the Vietnam War, and ending the oil depletion allowance.
Never could get over that."Executive Action" is handled in a very naturalistic style; the actors speak conversationally, and it makes what they're planning scarier.The most impressive part of the film is showing that 18 material witnesses to the assassination were dead by 1967.
The movie takes a pragmatic approach to the event and unlike the later film, JFK, does not set up the counter-conspiracy protagonists nor the after-assassination cover-up as a dramatic foil.
It is similar to the revelatory Ned Beatty scenes in the film, Network, in the scene where the Kennedy killers assure each other that the public will, "want to believe what they are told." That is the full extent of the American public's "role" in the movie, showing just the conception, practicing for and execution of President Kennedy.
Executive action is a tight and well made thriller based on this hypotheses, about a conspiracy.You might even say that the more famous JFK(D: Oliver Stone) is based on Miller's film.
And it is of course always a pleasure to watch Robert Ryan, an old pro and a no nonsense actor, always with integrity and a "know how" in his roles.If you want to see a real good thriller, regardless of your own thoughts about a president's death, you are on with Executive Action..
The filmmakers choose not to be sensational with the material (as Oliver Stone did with JFK) and by showing it "as it might have happened" (to quote the film itself) the filmmakers make a good case for a conspiracy in the assassination.
Executive Action blends fiction and historical fact into creating one possible scenario to who was responsible for the assassination of JFK, but one which the movie makes feel convincing.
The middle portion of the film drags as the story becomes less eventful, but the suspense builds up once the day of the assassination has arrived.Executive Action was made during a period when paranoia/conspiracy thrillers where at their height and right during the Watergate scandal; yet has been swept under the rug of history as it is the type of film which would be easily dismissed by critics for being speculative and other such dirty words.
During it the film's screenwriter Dalton Trumbo states he didn't believe in any conspiracy theories until he read the Warren Report and a dozen books on the subject and became convinced the president had been killed by bullets from two different angles.
This is a quite good film; I based that on a) when we played the DVD in our home, it was not stopped or interrupted for any reason, we were engaged enough to not be distracted, and b) you will note that those IMDb reviews which "hate" the film are not taking issue with the film itself, but that they do not believe there is a conspiracy and are therefore compelled to belittle or insult anyone offering a differing opinion.On the movie's merits alone, it does present a provocative case, it certainly gives rise to at least room for question.
Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, and Will Geer are excellent in their respective roles as rather loosely defined business tycoons and intelligence establishment types who plan and execute the assassination of President Kennedy, based on sincere albeit misguided and backward motivations.
Although this film has been eclipsed by Oliver Stone's JFK, Executive Action points to an alternative view of the Kennedy Assassination.
He puts together the shooters and he's got a plan to set up a patsy in Lee Harvey Oswald.Most people in the USA have a casual familiarity with the bare-bones facts of the Kennedy Assassination so the film will come in for its share of criticism.
It's striking that in 1973, it was obvious that there had to be the plot, involving government agencies, wealthy businessman who organized and gave logistic support and several perpetrators which carried out the attack, and in "JFK", Oliver Stone added the mafia, and Cuban exiles, on lower level, and military industrial complex in the place of oil tycoons that were the main force "behind the scenes" in "Executive action", as a party that benefited the most from the assassination.This picture shows that the plot to kill John Kennedy is worked out and organized in a way that there's no doubt that it leads to the highest ranking government officials and all the industrial and banking tycoons that had everything to loose with JFK's policy of non involvement, racial equality and détente with the USSR, and such politics just swept the rug under the feet of every force that keeps America going up until today.
Oliver Stone's "JFK" is far superior as cinema to this effort: production values, acting, script, and scope all favor the later, longer Stone film.That said, I can recommend this little film to any viewer who would like to ponder the Warren Report at a deliberate pace and enjoy a conspiracy scenario created largely before Watergate "upped the ante" by revealing demonstrable evil."Executive Action" surpasses "JFK" in the words on the screen at each movie's end.
This film, made 10 years after the assassination, was just one of many attempts to persuade the public that JFK had to have been bumped off by Texas right-wingers and not by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Even though they never specify exactly who committed this ultimate crime, the story these moviemakers tell provides a satisfactory enough general idea as to what kind of executives could have been motivated to carry out such a terribly asinine agenda in a totally professional way that is probably still producing un-American results for them and theirs today in the absence of true democratic leadership that was largely eliminated by actions abruptly ending an incredibly popular presidency..
This fascinating movie must have been one of the first to address openly the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination and deserves kudos for that alone, although its merit as purely cinematic entertainment, viewed from 35 years hence are slightly more questionable now.Not unnaturally, the film suffers somewhat in comparison to the plethora of subsequent TV documentaries and film-"faction" interpretation of events any one of which can convince me on a good day that theirs is the truth!
The polemic here is that a crack "assassination squad" with Burt Lancaster at the helm (on a strictly non-participatory basis, of course) is bankrolled by a high-roller Southern politician (Will Geer) and syphoned through chief coordinator Robert Ryan on the premise that a possible Kennedy dynasty, moving from JFK to Robert and then Teddy Kennedy, standing for amongst other things civil rights and withdrawal from Vietnam, would derail the American Dream to the extent that "executive action" (in other words assassination) is required to halt them in their tracks.
The supporting roles hold up better, particularly the Lee Harvey Oswald lookalike and drill-commander of Lancaster's unit.As hinted above, with the welter of material now in the public domain and on celluloid, "Executive Action" can seem a little underpowered, especially compared to Oliver Stone's gargantuan but flawed "JFK".
there is one particular scene where Robert Ryan and Burt Lancaster discuss the need for population control of the masses,feeling like he was 'reading from the Doomsday book';'well somebody has to do it'was the reply.This to me IS the real point the film makes in that perversion of Malthus and Darwin.The absolute unquestioning supposition that they are right;this pervades the whole film and chilled me to the bone,(in a way it reminded me of Angus Wilsons 'The old men of the zoo)',which was televised by the BBC in the early eighties,and both reflecting A rearguard,old fashioned,and very conservative view in their 'rightious' right to rule.God help us all if this is true today!.
The appeal of this motion-picture for me--and, I surmise, the reason it was made--is not so much to be a profitable work of art, but rather, a courageous effort to search for the truth.The obscurity of the film shows that, despite the efforts of courageous progressives who put their money where their hearts were- -Kirk Douglas, Robert Ryan, Burt Lancaster, to name just a few--the reactionary, established powers had the last laugh.Because the established order of the financial-military mafia that rules this country can only be sustained through fiction and, consequently, any social commentary trending towards fact must be marginalized or lampooned as 'conspiracy theory.'Now, down to a couple of brass tacks.
And yes, I mean incredible in the literal sense: a bit of investigatory incompetence here and there would be understandable--but the consistency of these 'errors' shows conclusively a deliberate effort to mask what really happened.Please remember that Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster also were part of Seven Days in May, which JFK asked Frankheimer to make, a movie about a right-wing military takeover of the USA.So for all those who poo-poo the idea of a JFK conspiracy and commonly dismiss believers in such a conspiracy as lunatics, consider the fact that such outstanding individuals as Douglas, Lancaster, and Frankenheimer, intelligent, and with many contacts-- BUT with a lot of DISincentives, nevertheless repeatedly made pointed efforts suggesting the existence of an organized plot to subvert democracy in the USA, doesn't this give you pause?This is a reasonable representation of how the JFK conspiracy assassination may have been planned and executed; it's muted and almost documentary in approach, but this undramatic approach only makes it more powerful..
This movie deals with a possible, fictional plot to carry out the actual assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, and - the potential motives behind it.
I read books and watched videos and, when I gained access to the new miracle of the Internet ten years ago, began to do serious research on the subject.The latest I have found is a 55-minute segment aired only once on the History Channel and then was immediately banned, and it can now be found on YouTube in five ten-plus-minute segments (urls below).Most of the suggested accounts present a set of circumstances and chain of events that appear to justify the assassination to those allegedly perpetrating it, but what I believe was the real reason is strangely absent from most accounts.My beliefs: JFK was doing some things which radically departed from long established "norms" of the time.
The point I am making is that there is no frontal entry on the President, which means he could not have been shot from the grassy knoll as the three movies Executive Action, JFK, and Ruby surmise!
Released 10 years after the assassination, this film seeks wants you to ask questions about The Warren Commission Report's evaluation of Who Killed Kennedy.
And the best of all these movies is WINTER KILLS.The filmmakers behind EXECUTIVE ACTION have the known, undisputed facts of JFK's assassination: the where and the when.
Executive Action (1973)** (out of 4) Almost exactly ten years after the assassination of President Kennedy, this film was released to theaters and quickly disappeared due to the controversy it started.
After all, we know that the assassins didn't miss and Kennedy died.Nevertheless, "Executive Action" did not stir up the controversy that the sensational Oliver Stone movie "JFK" with Kevin Costner generated many years later.
Oliver Stone's JFK was gripping and you wanted to believe the conspiracy theory in the film.
Directed by David Miller, it features a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo that was based on the story by Donald Freed and Mark Lane's novel Rush to Judgment.It stars Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan (among others) as wealthy conspirators that want to eliminate the POTUS before he and the rest of the Kennedy clan - they foresee the White House being occupied by JFK, then Robert followed by Teddy through 1984 - can implement their agenda, which would change the United States of America into an intolerable country for them.Actual newsreel footage is used to chronicle the President's steps: a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union, the promise of equal rights for Negroes (Kennedy's words), and military withdrawal from Vietnam, which the conspirators fear would allow the Communists to take over Asia.The actions finally convince a Southerner (played by Will Geer) to fund the assassination plot which, according to the film, included three gunmen (one behind a fence on a grassy knoll), and making a patsy out of Oswald, who was merely a Texas School Book Depository employee when the shots rang out near Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas at half past noon on that fateful day.After Jack Ruby kills Oswald, the film's denouement includes Ryan receiving a phone call that Lancaster's character has died, then pictures of several other eyewitnesses (who were reportedly killed or died mysteriously in subsequent years) are shown.A conspiracy theorist's delight!.
For me, it is simply a question of whether the movie is sufficiently credible to someone like me who has not studied the issue but has only heard that there are conspiracy theories out there that challenge the official version, which is that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin of John F. |
tt1605717 | Frank | Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), an aspiring songwriter, witnesses a man trying to drown himself while walking along the beach of his town. The man is taken to the hospital and Jon talks to Don (Scoot McNairy), who explains the man was a keyboardist in an experimental band, the Soronprfbs, managed by him. Jon mentions that he plays keyboards and is invited to play with them that night. Jon goes along and meets the rest of the band, all of whom are reluctant about Jon, except Frank (Michael Fassbender), the band leader who wears a papier-mâché mask. The concert goes well, until Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal) breaks her theremin and storms offstage.Frank invites Jon to become a full-time member. He accompanies them to Ireland, where they will record their first album in a remote cabin for the next year. Clara is very antipathic towards Jon, and continually torments him for being mediocre and having no talent.Don explains to Jon that he wanted to be a songwriter too, and just like Jon lacked talent and was terrible. He plays a song for Jon, who compliments it. Don tells Jon that Frank is special, and that eventually Jon will believe that he either can be Frank or could at least be like him, but that it is impossible because Frank is unique. Don implies that this realization will hurt Jon the most, and that this is what is causing Don to be depressed himself. However, Jon feels that if he could just have hard experiences that he assumes Frank had (with his mental illness and believed hard childhood) that it would fuel him and get him to take the next step in his creativity. Jon believes that his time with the band will be the catalyst that will make this happen.The morning after they complete recording of their album, Jon finds Frank's corpse hanging from a tree. He calls the rest of the band down and they remove the mask, only to find it was Don wearing Frank's mask. Don is cremated and Jon is told that Don was the band's first keyboard player; every keyboard player that followed him has had some kind of mental breakdown.Afterwards, Jon reveals he has been posting the band's recording sessions online. The Soronprfbs have gained a small following and have been invited to South by Southwest. Clara is against going to South by Southwest, and accuses Jon of manipulating Frank and giving him delusions of grandeur. During one of their fights, Clara and Jon's hatred for each other turns into passion and they end up having sex, but Clara tells Jon that he disgusts her and they will never be together again. However, Frank wants to be popular and to create "extremely likable music" so he decides to go; Clara warns Jon that if things go badly in Austin she'll stab him.Upon arrival in Texas, Jon, Frank, and Clara scatter Don's ashes, but realize the band's guitarist Baraque (Francois Civil) accidentally packed a canister of powdered food instead of the ashes. Afterwards, the band travels to Austin, while signing up for South by Southwest Jon and the band discover that they aren't as popular as they thought, and that the crowd will have no idea who they are and will have never listened to their music before. Upon hearing this, Frank starts to become erratic and has a panic attack. Clara sees the changes in Frank and knows that he can't handle this situation, so she pleads with Jon to help convince Frank to not perform and go back to their unknown status. Jon refuses and works with Frank to try to create a more likeable version of their songs. On the day before the concert, Clara and Frank disappear. Jon finds them in an alley where Clara is trying to calm Frank and get him to agree to leave.Jon convinces Frank to ignore Clara and to do the gig. Clara stabs Jon in the leg and is later arrested by the police. Back at the hotel room Drummer Nana (Carla Azar) and Baraque accuse Jon of getting rid of Clara and quit the band. Jon and Frank become a duo. As they go onstage, Jon announces that it's the best day of his life and begins singing one of his own songs. Frank falls over and when Jon rushes over to him to check on him, Frank tells Jon that his music is bad, suffering a nervous breakdown. Frank passes out on stage with Jon trying to revive him. The next day, Jon attempts to reason with Frank and tries to remove his mask. A panicked Frank runs out of the motel room and is hit by a car. Jon gives chase but realizes Frank has escaped, leaving only remains of the mask behind. Jon subsequently gets hit by a car.After being released from the hospital, Jon goes to a diner. When other patrons refer to him and the band as "freaks", it dawns on him that their internet popularity was never about the music, they were simply laughing at how strange they all behaved. Sometime later, Jon has attempted to track down Frank in order to make amends, but he cannot be found anywhere. However, he finds a bar where Clara, Nana, and Baraque are now playing. Jon finally succeeds in tracking Frank to his hometown of Bluff, Kansas, where he is living with his parents. They explain that Frank has had mental health issues all his life and began wearing the mask as a teenager. Jon questions Frank's parents about his childhood. They tell Jon that Frank had a loving family and a happy childhood. Jon realizes that there was no traumatic event in Frank's life that inspired Frank to become a musical genius and his mental illness never propelled him but limited him. Jon now sees that Frank's amazing talents aren't from traumatic events or from his illness, that Frank's genius was just inherent, and that he will never be able to be like him; just as Don had told him. Jon finally see Frank's face, only to see a despondent man with scars on his face and bald spots on his scalp from the prolonged use of the mask. Jon apologizes to Frank for ruining the band and trying to take off his mask. He then takes Frank to the bar where the band is. Frank begins to speak and they realize who he is. He begins singing and joins them in a song while Jon leaves the bar. | comedy, entertaining | train | imdb | Although you might assume a movie about an alternative rock band with a lead singer who wears a giant fake head that he never takes off would be a work of fiction, the truth, as they say, is stranger, and provides a compelling basis for a movie."Frank" is co-written by Jon Ronson based on his experience playing keyboard in the Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band in the late '80s.
Ronson based the film's main character, Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) on himself; both real and fictional Jon found themselves randomly in this band, ditching their existing lives in pursuit of musical greatness, trying to make sense of the enigma of the man in the giant head.With screenwriter Peter Straughan's ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") help, Ronson dives into a fictional replication of his experience with the band.
Jon has the time of his life and agrees to travel to Ireland with the group, only to discover it's not a road trip to play a few shows, but a retreat at which the unorthodox Frank will stop at nothing until he's recorded an astounding new album.For all the mystery shrouding his character, Frank is far from the most eccentric band member.
At the same time, this leads to an honest, moving redemptive arc in the final half hour of the movie, when this bizarre flower of a story opens up to reveal its fragile insides."Frank" can feel rough and disjointed tonally at points and grow a little irksome, but much like how a band with a weird sound still has artistic integrity somewhere underneath that drives that creative choice, "Frank" stays committed to looking at talent, creativity and mental illness in a very authentic, productive way that makes it worth the quirks.~Steven CThanks for reading!
The trailer promised quirky indie escapism, possibly some decent music, and some references to SXSW – ahhh, there is such beauty in under-promising and over-delivering.For a brief moment, it feels like Frank will be little more than a stylized fictional Behind The Music type of movie because the central narrative is observed and reported from the viewpoint of an involved outsider, the new guy in the band.
In the 1980s Ronson played keyboards in the Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band in which Frank wore a big fake head and nobody outside his inner circle knew his true identity.In a small quiet English seaside town Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) tries to pursue his passion for writing songs in between working at his humdrum day job.
Shortly after he finds himself travelling with the band to Ireland to record an album which ends up taking him on a pretty epic journey.Jon's new band members are a weird, odd bunch of characters which include the slightly crazed and volatile Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Don (Scoot McNairy) an ex-keyboard player of the band who now operates as a kind of manager, and then there's Frank the band's enigmatic front man played by Fassbender and who insists on wearing an over-sized fake head at all times.Frank is a hard film to easily define and although it manages to remain on the right side of upbeat with plenty of laughs it does gently broach issues revolving around mental health.
The exploits of the band trying to make a album touch on notions of artistic endeavour, originality and the sphere that songwriters and musicians have to encounter in trying to be creative.While generally having to be the subject of suspicion and hostility enforced by most of the band Jon is encouraged by Frank's friendship and welcome remarks about his on the face of it tragically lame attempts at songwriting and starts to be become more emboldened about his actual merits and worthiness.
Gleeson does a terrific job in portraying his character Jon's transformation and voyage from awkward geeky young dude trying hard to fit in, to feeling like he was the main man in charge of the band's destiny and even catalyst towards the success he so craves.
It begins with silly and funny inner-dialogue from an aspiring musician/songwriter (Domhnall Gleeson), transitions into a dark dramady with complex characters and dialogue, and finishes as a bleak statement on mental illness and the music business.That's more than I would typically disclose, but some have described the film as an outright comedy and I find that unconcsionable.
Social Media power is on full display as this avant-garde performance art band gathers a huge following prior to ever really producing any music.Without seeing Frank's facial expressions, we witness his transformation from mystic/guru to an unstable and socially uncomfortable dude striving for likability, but unsure what the term really means.
For Fassbender in particular there needs to be a special award for succeeding in being intensely moving whilst wearing a false head.So although the movie as a whole doesn't quite add up to more than the sum of its parts, it is nonetheless a wonderfully quirky, often hilarious, strangely touching piece of work.
It was inspired by Frank Sidebottom in so much as the story is about a band whose front man wears a big papier-mâché head.It's a really lovely story of an odd group of musicians and their new keyboard player Jon. The musicians are all a bit barking and the beautiful Maggie Gyllenhaal is the craziest.
The whole cast are superb and Michael Fassbender is excellent under the head as well as showing that he is a great vocalist too.The film is engaging, funny and moving.It also made me jump more than any horror movie ever has.
It has some wonderful scenes that made me laugh out loud and the direction is just beautiful with some truly clever touches.It starts with a very unusual aural soundscape that draws you in immediately and finishes with the band's songs playing over the credits that guarantee you won't leave until the final note of "Lone Standing Tuft".Incidentally a documentary about Frank Sidebottom is in production right now and Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story will be out soon..
Fassbender is great and the head thing really works for him Frank is a hard film to easily define and although it manages to remain on the right side of upbeat with plenty of laughs it does gently broach issues revolving around mental health.
Frank was funny, entertaining, played 'toytown' version of famous songs, and was only slightly weird.Parts of the rehearsal sessions in the house seemed reminiscent of stories of the late Captain Beefheart virtually imprisoning his band in California whilst dreaming up 'Trout Mask Replica' - but there another set of similarities ends abruptly.The music throughout is naïve and dreadful - and this comes from someone who is interested in many forms of experimental music.If you don't know or care about the real Frank Sidebottom, you might enjoy this film.
Why is he not singing awful songs?I would have preferred to see a biopic about the ACTUAL Frank, whose story is far more interesting.Also the head was "too good" in that it looked well made as opposed to a crappy papier mache mask.And no little frank?Maggie Gylenhall is perhaps the least attractive human being alive.Domnhall Gleeson gives a great performance though..
I especially loved their take on the idea of making popular music, and Frank's attitude towards it.I like how they used the "creative isolation" aspect of many (real) musicians story in a fictional setting.
I had the bad luck of paying into a cinema to see this movie and have to put it up with one of the top three worst movies i have ever seen in a cinema, there was people walking out after ten minutes into the movie, how they got these A actors to star in this movie i will never no, the only good thing about this movie was the poster, so as the saying goes never judge a film by it poster because i did and lost 2 hours of my life which i will never see again, the movie was like watching a cross between one flew over the cuckoo's nest and the muppets,just when i thought michael fassbender could do no wrong as a actor he starred in the biggest crap in history.
But despite Frank's trajectory is that of someone with mental illness, there's not too much of a feeling of cringing when he does some oddball choices (for example, for a friend's ashes, he instead tosses out into the wind flour), and the writing hatches on to these folks being true to themselves.So, by the time the group makes its album, and heads by luck to SxSW to play a gig, they're not so unusual anymore.
Or, maybe that's the character himself, harping on the same beat of 'I want to make good music, here's a song!' Where he goes and how he takes charge and deals with the conflict of this group, while things go from weird to shocking to sad to weird and off-putting and delirious and sad again, makes so much of the film engaging and different and with integrity.
Anyway, I did stick with the film because I was wondering what direction the storyline was going to take, but I was expecting better.Budget: $1million Worldwide Gross: $1.2millionI recommend this movie to people who are into there comedy/drama about a band trying to make an album in the middle of nowhere, with a lead singer who won't take off an extremely large head.
The lead character of the film however is Jon Burroughs (played by Domhnall Gleeson) who runs into the eccentric band members at the right time and is offered a chance to play the keyboards for them.
Like Frank's band's music, not everyone is going to love this film, but it is a very good one.
The performance objective is what satisfies the viewers by a great cast like Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Fassbender as Frank himself.
A gig in Ireland and an album-recording project in a lakeside cabin are on tap.The band is led by Frank (Michael Fassbender wearing a large paper- mache type head mask), whose music reflects mental illness as well as talent and who never takes off his above-mentioned mask.
Almost all of the characters are great and complex from Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Don (Scoot McNairy), and of course none other than Frank (Michael Fassbender).
Frank was a different movie and often took turns and was quite fun in the sense that it was truly unpredictable something that is almost impossible to find in modern day films, the film provided interesting characters and music.
The actors do a good job in creating a bunch of quirky characters that you love to watch while exploring their near surreal world.Overall Frank is a very watchable movie even if it somewhat loses its way towards the end..
The movie tells the story of Jon a wanna be musician who is given a chance to join this quirky band called the Soronprfbs lead by this mysterious character called Frank who always seen wearing a paper mache head.
Frank is a quirky, thrilling, and extremely entertaining film about an underground musician with a huge fake head and his band's mission of making an album, which is led astray by a newcomer.
With its incredible soundtrack and stellar performances from Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, and others, it's truly worth watching.Lenny Abrahamson does a great job of blending the music the bands play into the soundtrack for the whole film.
That's only a minor gripe though, as I personally am a huge fan of this film.Overall, with a great story, acting, soundtrack, and more, Frank is a unique and excellent movie that I would recommend anybody to watch..
The plot sees a standard young man – boring office job, playing at writing songs in his bedroom on his computer – who gets caught up in a deliberately outsider band of musicians, the lead singer of which has a history of mental illness and spends every minute of his life wearing an oversized papier-mâché head.
One person who came to mind is musician Jean Grae – someone who I continue to love, not because her output is always brilliant, but rather because her output is always what she wants it to be – so whether hip-hop, audio-books, or self- help albums, she is doing herself and feeling good about it – she will never be Jay-Z, but I love that she simply doesn't seem to care about this.I thought of her while watching Frank because there is an element of this in the film – particularly where Jon walks away at the end, convinced that this world is not for him and that he really only ever saw popularity as the goal, not being happy with one's self (as shown by his on-screen social media, with follows/likes always displayed).
Frank's flow seems to constantly run into roadblocks and a cast of originally interesting characters grow to become non-interesting and mismanaged to a point where our centrepiece Jon Burroughs played by the always decent Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal's sour Clara and Scott McNairy's not given enough to do Don all fail to give us much with the film falling back onto the ever reliable shoulders of Michael Fassbender to once more bring it back.Fassbender is a real joy as Frank (based on real life musician Chris Sievey) which is no mean feat considering his recognisable face is hidden behind a gigantic plastic head.
Jon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he has bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank (Michael Fassbender).How to categorize this film?
Rather than attempting to create such a redundant biopic, director Lenny Abrahamson, and writers Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan, have used Sidebottom's legacy and traits as a template to toast eccentric (and possibly mad) artists everywhere and condemn the new social media platform which does little to celebrate them.Young, aspiring and likely talentless keyboard player Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) cannot believe his luck when Don (Scoot McNairy), member of avant-garde group the Soronprfbs, invites Jon to play with them following the mental decline of their own keyboardist.
Theremin player Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal) responds to Jon's inclusion with aggression, but Jon is taken by the group's charismatic singer, Frank (Michael Fassbender), a man who refuses to take off his giant, paper-mache mask or conform to the traditional song-writing process.As the album gets closer to completion (with Jon growing a huge beard in the process), the band become popular due to Jon's frequent Twitter and Facebook video postings revealing their unconventional recording techniques, frequent outbursts and erratic behaviour.
Despite there being enough plot, character, humour, and substance to fill its 85 or so minutes this really isn't something for everyone, or indeed something that every film fan must watch, as it's a movie largely about a group misfit ex-mental patients clanging together pots and pans, one of whom with a Frank Sidebottom likened head, which really is strange for the sake of being strange.
Leading a fairly direction-less life otherwise he accidentally witnesses the attempted suicide of the keyboard player of a travelling band led by papermache head wearing lead singer, Frank, apparently played by Michael Fassbender, (though I cannot help but wonder if a body doubled did all the scenes for him until the end and he did ADR the rest.) Frank never takes off his mask, not even in the shower, the rest of the band take to Jon with varying mixed degree's.
There's something very watchable about Domhall Gleeson as the lead Jon, a young man out of his depth, he's likable and too me made the film bearable as most of the time I couldn't really hear Frank's muffled words and the other band members were annoying at best and arbitrary to the story for the most part.
However he is quickly drawn into a world of total chaos by Soronprfbs; an electric band which Jon stumbles upon and there bizarre front man Frank (Michael Fassbender).In truth I am unconfident in calling Frank a comedy or any kind of genre at all really, it isn't laugh out loud funny, but at times it is pitch black in it's humour.
This strange movie was inspired by the experience of writer Jon Ronson who spent a while as a keyboard player with a band led by the late British Chris Sievey, the creator the comedy character Frank Sidebottom who wore a huge head which he never removed.
The group is filled with multiple eccentric characters; like Clara (Gyllenhaal), who seems to hate Jon, and their mentally ill lead singer Frank (Fassbender).
When it comes to actual story line of the movie;The struggle of a wanna be Star is jeopardized by frank and by his band who just want to enjoy the music.Nonethless Lenny The Director has made a good job portraying the film like a piece of an Art.SoundTracks By Michael Fassbender are Bonus for the Movie.
One major gimmick of Irish director Lenny Abrahamson's music drama-comedy FRANK is its star Michael Fassbender (the "it" actor presently) will only appear with a giant paper mask containing his head and never reveal himself in the entire film, but spoiler alert!
Quirkily funny movie about a rock band with a lead singer (played by Michael Fassbender) who constantly wears a plastic head to hide his identity.
This is my first time seeing Domhnall Gleesom in anything, and he is definitely a talented actor, Maggie Gyllenhaal has a strange role that was certainly different for her, and Michael Fassbender shines as this very unique character, there really is no film character quite like Frank, he is hilarious, but you can also really feel for him.
Jon offers to play in the band where the lead is Frank (Michael Fassbender) in a giant head which he never takes off.
There are great actors on board, like Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal or Domnhall Gleeson, but music is the main character here.
Domnhall Gleeson plays Jon, an aspiring musician who joins a band led by a mysterious man, Frank (Michael Fassbender), who always wears a giant papier-mache head over his own. |
tt0465602 | Shoot 'Em Up | A man, Smith (Clive Owen) sits on a bench ready to eat a carrot. A woman in a yellow coat runs past chased by a man driving an old black Camaro. The carrot eater follows and stops the man from killing the woman inside an abandoned factory building by driving the carrot through the man's head. Suddenly several other gun shooting attackers arrive and Smith fires back killing several. The hero and the woman get to another room where she gives birth. More men continue to attack, led by a balding, bespectacled man, Hertz (Paul Giamatti) . As Smith, the woman and her baby try to escape the woman is killed and Smith flees with the baby.Stopping in a washroom, Smith has a fight with a well dressed hitman, leaves him alive. On a bus he uses his sock to make a cap for the newborn baby. Smith then leaves the baby in a park on a rotating ride. As a bystander arrives to pick up the infant she is shot by Hertz from long range using a sniper rifle. Smith manages to rescue the baby and takes off again.He goes to a church which is actually a brothel. There he finds DQ (Monica Bellucci), a lactating wet nurse hooker and offers her $5000 to look after the baby. She refuses. Hertz fondles the dead mother's breast and realizes the baby will need milk, he to decides to find a lactating hooker and soon arrives at DQ's. He tortures her for info on Smith, who then returns. Smith shoots Hertz and some henchmen, and escapes stealing a BMW. He then gets upset at a Mercedes driver who doesn't signal lane changes and rams the other car.Hertz is still alive and calls someone for 50 more men.In a downtown area, Smith tries to buy bullets with some change and a blood donor cheque. DQ earns some cash by giving a man a BJ in an alley. Smith takes DQ and the baby to his place - a loft in a nondescript industrial building. The door lock is activated by a rat.Driving with two assistants, Hertz arrives at the same building. Apparently Hertz was an FBI Forensic Behaviour Consultant and knows what people will do.In the loft apt, Smith fashions a diaper from a newspaper and decides to call the baby Oliver as in Twist. Smith and DQ notice the baby calms down when watching heavy metal rock on TV and cries when a politician speaks on another channel. Suddenly dozens of attackers arrive. DQ escapes down a dumbwaiter as Smith and the baby escape in a wildly stylized hail of bullets. Hertz and his henchmen give chase with dogs but Smith eludes them by using the baby's diaper as a decoy.Smith decides the baby got used to heavy metal music while in the womb and they go to the local metal club. They go upstairs and find dead men in the office as well as a photo of three women in yellow dresses, one was the baby's mother. Next door Smith and DQ overhear a suit talking on the phone about the dead women. They then find a lab room with a fridge full of samples from one donor. Smith suspects the babies are being used for someone's bone marrow transplants.Smith, DQ and the baby return to a hotel room, Smith decides to wait and watch TV, having called all the major news outlets with the scoop. DQ is a saddened by the memory of her own child. Smith and DQ kiss and have sex. They are interrupted by several swat-team type gunmen but Smith shoots them all as he stays coupled with DQ.Smith brings DQ and the infant to an armoury, planning to put the two into an M-24 tank for safety. He gives her a weapon then causes a distraction by spanking a woman scolding her child to allow DQ to get inside. Smith loads up to go to the Hammerson gun works.Hertz and Hammerson (Stephen McHattie) discuss a British gun wiz as Smith lurks closeby in the gun factory warehouse. Once again a wild gunfight erupts and Smith and Hertz trade verbal barbs. Hertz reveals he knows Smith's wife was killed in a fast food place. Smith goes into action using several automatic weapons he has rigged to fire with strings.Back at the tank Smith explains to DQ that Hammerson is the rich guy involved. In a newspaper he notices the front page story of Senator Rutledge (Daniel Pilon) and realizes Rutledge is the one who needs the baby and his firearms bill will put Hammerson out of business.On the street the three are attacked by a black SUV. Smith takes the baby and jumps into a red BMW and a wild car chase starts. Smith takes out the SUV but the baby falls out onto the road. A black van full of gunmen arrive, Smith shoots them all but Hertz arrives in his limo and drives over the baby. But it is only a doll and tape recorder.Smith calls the Senator's aide (from the earlier washroom fight) asking for a meeting. The two men meet in a airport washroom and they go up into the Senator's campaign charter jet. Smith confronts the ailing politician. As they talk Smith notices white dog hair lint on the other man's pants. He grabs Rutledge realizing he had made a deal with Hammerson. Hammerson and Hertz come from the rear of the plane. Smith takes Rutledge hostage in the plane's cargo hold. He tells the Senator that killing Rutledge will ensure Congress passes the anti-gun bill, then shoots him in the head. Smith bails out with a parachute chased by attackers, they have a gunfight in mid air. Smith manages to push the Senator's aide into the blades of a helicopter.On the ground a wounded Smith observes the body parts and dead bodies. He collapses in an industrial building. As he wakens Hertz is standing over him with a gun. DQ walks warily in front of a church.A beaten Smith is dragged into a basement den. As Hammerson watches, Hertz breaks Smith's fingers, torturing him in order to learn where DQ and the baby are. Hertz explains that the Senator's plane crashed, so their coverup is underway. Meanwhile, DQ boards an old green bus to "Wherever". Hertz increases the violence and brings a scalpel towards Smith's eye. Smith suddenly manages to break free and kills the two henchmen and Hammerson. Smith staggers upstairs and collapses beside a fireplace. Hertz comes near to gloat, then notices Smith's hand in front of the fire, with bullets in between each finger pointed toward him. The heat causes the bullets to fire, and Hertz is shot in the chest. Not quite dead, Hertz rises, but finally Smith finishes him off.With heavily bandaged hands, Smith waits for the green bus in front of the church. He rides the bus full of hippies and gets off at an ice cream shop. Oliver, the baby, is there, safe; DQ is the waitress, and Smith kisses her. Suddenly, some scruffy, armed robbers break in; Smith is able to kill them all, using a carrot to help fire a gun with his bandaged hands.End credits. | comedy, boring, murder, cult, violence, satire, comic | train | imdb | null |
tt0052227 | The Space Children | We open with a background of space nebulae and stars, the title sequence, credits, and the actors who portray the space children. A station wagon appears on a lonely road approaching the beach along the California coast. Inside we meet Dave Brewster (Adam Williams), his wife Anne (Peggy Webber) and their two sons. In the back seat is the oldest Bud (Michel Ray) and his younger brother Ken (Johnny Crawford). They've been driving for hours from San Francisco. Their destination: a military base. Dave was transferred to complete his company's work on The Thunderer--a six stage intercontinental missile at the Eagle Point Missile Project.Anne is apprehensive about the move, but Dave and the kids are excited to live on the beach. The kids hear a strange sound, but the parents hear nothing. The kids then see a strange light in the sky as their car stalls out. The car starts back up and they check in at the guard shack. They are directed to their new home Unit 3, a trailer. All the contractor families live in trailers. Dave and Anne move their few belongings into their new home while the kids explore the beach and meet the other children.Anne continues to voice her dissatisfaction with the surroundings and leaving friends and family in San Francisco. Dave chalks it up to their being tired from the long trip. She asks him about the project. They go outside to find the children, but the security officer, Mr. James (Peter Baldwin) arrives and asks Dave to join him at a briefing for the newly arrived on the Project. Anne heads back to the trailer and is greeted by her new next door neighbor who introduces herself as Frieda Johnson (Vera Marshe). They chat and exchange information about their kids and their new home. Frieda invites Anne to a little get together planned for that evening.Bud and Ken are running along the cliffs playing ball. They head down to the beach where they discover a cave. They explore it and discuss the light they saw in the sky earlier. Bud explores a little further inside, but tells Ken to stay behind. Eadie Johnson (Sandy Descher) introduces herself to Ken, as the other space children appear. Eadie introduces the other children to Bud and Ken. First is the youngest, Buster (uncredited), the oldest Tim (Johnny Washbrook), George (uncredited) and Helen (Gloria Anne Halper). The children invite Bud and Ken to see The Thunderer, but a guard chases them away.Lt. Col. Alan Manley (Richard Shannon) is giving a briefing on the project--to send a satellite equipped with a hydrogen warhead into space. Meanwhile, the kids head back to the beach to play when they see the same strange light in the sky, but this time a strange object descends on the light beam and enters the cave. Back at the briefing the light and power go off. The object is communicating with Bud and the power resumes at Col. Manley's briefing.Later that day, Dr. Wahrman (Raymond Bailey) strolls along the beach and runs into Col. Manley who is fishing. They talk about tomorrow's test of the missile. Their children, the Colonel's daughter Phyllis (Eilene Janssen) and Dr. Wahrman's son, Saul (David Bair), return to shore from their swim.That evening Frieda exits her trailer to supply more food for the weenie roast. We meet her husband, Hank Johnson (Jackie Coogan). The Johnsons and Brewsters talk about the project and national defense. Frieda prefers not to discuss controversial subjects. Hank and Dave invite the kids to go swimming, and they initially express excitement. But the voice they hear tells them to decline and they make their excuses and head off on their own for the beach. As Dave and Hank head off for a swim we are introduced to Peg Gamble (Jean Engstrom) and her alcoholic second husband Joe Gamble (Russell Johnson) who is tipsy, as usual, and complaining about his stepson, Tim.The children are attracted to the siren-like call of the entity and discover a football-sized and shaped blob pulsating in the sand. It communicates with Bud and selects him as the leader. Tim panics and tries to destroy the blob with a rock, but is paralyzed as the rock he holds overhead explodes into small pieces. Ken restores his ability to move and admonishes him to follow instructions in future. He agrees, and the rest of the children agree to follow Bud's directives.Back in the trailer Anne and Dave are frantically trying to find Bud and Ken. It is quite late when Bud and Ken arrive back to the trailer, and Mom and Dad lay into them. They try to explain their encounter on the beach but their parents don't believe them. When Dave grabs Bud's arm to administer a little discipline, his arm becomes paralyzed. The boys take Dave back to the beach, accompanied by Eadie Johnson. Tim tries to sneak out of the trailer to join the group, but he is intercepted by a very drunk Joe. Tim manages his escape, with Joe in hot pursuit. He eventually catches Tim, but before he can administer a beating is struck down by the power of the blob. Joe recovers and returns to the trailer. Dave picks up the blob, hides it inside his jacket and returns to the trailer park. Tim reaches his trailer first and enters, only to discover Joe, sitting in a chair and dead. Peg enters the trailer and sees Joe. Hank confronts Dave, Eadie and the boys and demands an explanation. Peg arrives asking for help. She tells Hank that Joe is dead.Anne welcomes her family back into the trailer, but is horrified by what they brought with them. The ambulance for Joe arrives. Bud explains that the blob must spend the night in the trailer. The next morning Anne and Dave demand answers from the boys about the blob, but get no satisfactory answers. The phone rings and Dave is told The Thunderer will launch tonight. Dave follows the boys back to the cave. They are carrying the blob. He tells them about the launch and confirms the boys knew all along--the blob told them.Major Thomas (Larry Pennell) interrupts a meeting between Dr. Wahrman and Col. Manley. He tells them Dave Brewster insists on meeting, it's an emergency. Dave enters and tells them the project is in danger, but before he can go into details, Bud appears, and he is struck unable to speak. When he tries to write out his warning his hand is paralyzed and he collapses. He recovers in the infirmary. His wife and children come to see him.The children begin the sabotage of the project. Bud causes a fuel delivery truck to malfunction. Buster and Helen disrupt communications at a guard shack, while innocently eating ice cream.Hank heads off for the beach to find his daughter, Eadie. He finds some of her clothes outside the cave. Eadie comes out of the cave. Hank insists upon examining the cave, over Eadie's objections. He enters and sees the blob which attacks him with a beam of light. He exits the cave and collapses on the sand. The blob has grown considerably. Dazed and unresponsive, Hank heads back to his trailer.That evening the children get out of bed and head down to the beach to see the blob, which by now is huge, and get final instructions. Wahrman and Manley meet and try to make sense of the days strange events. Wahrman notices that children are involved. He decides to go see Dave in the infirmary. The children open a locked gate and enter the base, unseen by the guard. Dr. Wahrman does see them, and confronts the guard for his lack of attention. Wahrman meets with Dave and tells him of his suspicions. Dave is surprised nothing happens when he realizes Wahrman knows the truth about the children, including their strange powers. But when Wahrman tries to call someone, the phone malfunctions. Wahrman demands to know where it is and what it looks like. Wahrman and Dave go to the cave and confront the now boulder sized blob. Wahrman makes his appeal, gets no response, but is allowed to leave.Preparations for the launch continue on schedule. They are unaware of the sabotage the children have caused. The children exit the base and head back to the cave. The site is cleared for launch as Dave and Wahrman race back to the base. They arrive just in time for the launch. But when the missile is launched, the warhead on the top explodes on the pad as the children watch from the beach.The children have won. The military heads for the cave to destroy the blob, followed by the children's parents. The children block the cave entrance, as their parents plead for them to abandon the blob. The blob exits the cave with the children still blocking fire, until it ascends back up into the sky on its beam of light. The children explain to the military and their parents that other children, like themselves, sabotaged similar projects all around the world. We close with a passage from St. Matthew, Ch.18, v.3, over the nebulae and star background. | anti war | train | imdb | While not Arnold's best film, IMHO (I find it a bit preachy and badly hampered by the rubbery silliness of the Big Alien Brain), this is still a memorable film.
The children, alienated from their preoccupied and overworked parents, are almost adopted by the space creature, which takes them under its protection (a drunken and abusive father is disposed of soon after the brain's arrival) even as it enlists them in its pacifist mission.
The film's title is perfect: the kids do become Space Children, more in tune with alien than human thought..
I've seen a lot of weird things on IMDb, but the rating for The Space Children is as puzzling to me as any I've run across.
The Space Children may not be the best movie I've ever seen, but it doesn't deserve a 2.1.
Take a look at the reviews on IMDb. You can split them into two wildly divergent groups - those users who appear to only know The Space Children because of MST3K and those who have seen it on its own.
The Space Children is a nice little cautionary 50s sci-fi film that speaks to the dangers of nuclear proliferation.
Too often, low-budget sci-fi films from this period look ridiculous because of the desire for elaborate special effects (i.e. monster and aliens) that outstripped the funding it would require.
Even the kids, who can be annoying at times in this kind of movie, come off looking pretty good.
The children of some US rocket scientists come under the spell of a strange alien being that seems to want them to sabotage the nations defense!Another B thriller from director Jack Arnold (who directed the classic Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954), this one is a bit more intelligent than the average drive-in sci-fi fodder.
The Space Children is actually an anti-war film kind of in the tradition of The Twilight Zone, the story does indeed resemble a story that one would see on the classic TV series.
Kudos go to a chilling music score.The cast isn't half bad, the youths of the film being especially good.A worth-wild watch for those who like the films of this era.** 1/2 out of ****.
CHILDREN concerns a brain-like alien blob that teleports to Earth with the purpose of stopping the American military from launching a nuclear weapon into orbit.
The movie has good nostalgia value and that is probably the real reason I like it..
It is supposed that other nations are preparing similar satellites and weapons....Unbeknownst to the powers that be, other minds have reason to want to see the project fail, and utilize an unsuspected resource to carry out their plans...This small but effective little sci-fi tale is long on atmosphere, novel in viewpoint and execution, and well worth a couple of viewings for fans of the '50's sci-fi genre.More than a few familiar cast members, and an impressive band of juvenile performers, under Jack Arnold's sure and spare directorial hand, give this a fresh and simple feel, and don't spend a lot of time hammering home its message (rare for the immediate post-Sputnik years)..
Such unforgettables as: Citizen Kane The Devil and Daniel Webster It Came from Outer Space (one of my favorites) Creature from the Black Lagoon This Island Earth Tarantula The Deadly MantisAnd many more.This one is a toughie to find.There is a nice spooky movie credits however it's missing the obligatory sci-fi introduction narrative.The U.S. is about to launch a hydrogen bomb satellite to protect up from the other side.
In my opinion there are only two types of people in this world those who saw the space children as kids and those who wish they had..
This film has an abysmal 2.7 rating on IMDb. It's not really that bad, but it is a pretty big disappointment coming from a director who made The Incredible Shrinking Man the year before.
A meteor lands in a cave on a beach and its alien essence possesses a bunch of children (I think - it's kind of vague what kind of influence the thing has on the children) who then help it stop their fathers from launching a nuclear warhead into space.
While the story is slow moving and a tad on the weak side as far as Sci-Fi goes, watching some of these actors outside of their famous TV character roles makes this film enjoyable.
An alien intelligence aborts the launching of a rocket with the help of a bunch of children.Coming from Jack Arnold and Paramount Pictures, you might think this film has a lot of potential.
The truth is somewhere between there, of course.Interestingly, a Miami newspaper called the film's star Adam Williams "one of the industry's fastest-rising actors" when this movie was released.
"The Space Children" is a completely obscure Sci-Fi movie that only has a rating 2.2 out of 10 on this famous movie website.
More than enough reasons to have a little chat with the director, if you ask me
(Coventry): "What exactly went wrong with "The Space Children", Mr. Arnold?
A great director like yourself should know a good script when he sees one or at least have the talent to turn a mediocre plot in a worthwhile movie?
Arnold) Ha
well
(mumbling) I personally saw some good potential in the story of an extraterrestrial stone crashing on earth and "hypnotizing" the children.
Arnold) Oh, and another thing, "The Space Children" does undeniably contain a handful of highly effective sequences!
Arnold): It's true that are long periods of boredom in the film, I admit, and that some of the overly talkative scenes could easily have been cut on the editing table, but there just weren't any opportunities to put spectacle or suspense in a movie that constantly features children!
Arnold): Well, in all honesty and I know I'm speaking against my own financial interest here, there are many 50's movies that you should see before "The Space Children".
THE SPACE CHILDREN (Jack Arnold, 1958) **1/2.
THE SPACE CHILDREN (Jack Arnold, 1958) **1/2.
Its focus on children (the title itself is ambiguous – since the kids don’t come from space but rather are ‘possessed’ by aliens into sabotaging a rocket-launching station!) draws parallels to later genre classics such as VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960) and the unrelated THESE ARE THE DAMNED (1963): like the former, the children here are able to influence the actions of their elders and, as in the latter, much of it takes place against a backdrop of remote cavernous surroundings.
Being just 68 minutes long, this undeniably earnest film can’t hope to fulfill its aspiration of being a profound anti-nuclear parable; for one thing, the characters are mere stereotypes – an average American couple with their modest dreams and dilemmas, a bubbly yet cagey neighbor (played by Jackie Coogan, of Chaplin’s THE KID [1921] and TV’s THE ADDAMS FAMILY fame!), another’s a drunken boor who mistreats one of the boys and his mother, plus the requisite number of dedicated but callous scientists and military personnel.
Actually, I was wondering all through the picture why the alien didn’t simply possess one of the parents or scientists – surely his attempts at persuading colleagues to halt the missile project would have had greater chance of success, since the children’s clandestine activities merely irritate the hell out of the people at the base engaged in such a secretive operation!
– come across as creepier when caused by innocent-looking children and, besides, their presence near the test site is more likely to be overlooked than rouse suspicion of any foul play.In the end, the film is tolerable (the print, then, seemed to be culled from a TV screening – since the picture fades in and out every once in a while, sometimes even in mid-sequence, where the publicity spots may have been inserted – with a good deal of hiss on the soundtrack!) but rather uninspired and, what’s more, is defeated by the low-budget.
Though genre expert Arnold had proved time and again what he was capable of doing, it suffers especially in comparison with the two DAMNED films mentioned above or even a third such title, CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED (1964)…which I actually need to re-evaluate myself, but recall being an underrated achievement on my sole viewing of it so far..
This movie is about the many adventures of a group of brats (one who looks a lot like a young Peter Graves), a disgusting-looking blob that resembles Oliver Reed's liver, a balding scientist named Warhman (Woman?), commie-hating troops, a tight-assed mother (Peggy Webber from "The Screaming Skull"), the drunk guy who played the Professor from "Gilligan's Island", and last but not least, Jackie Coogan's really tight swim trunks!
It is way to small to be the highly specialized missile capable of knocking out any country you desire for you need a satellite to have something with that means and this weapon looks like a stick.
Of course along with these families there is also a family with an out of work dad and his wife and step child, why they are on this top secret base is beyond me, I highly doubt a woman would be working in such a facility in the 50's but then what do I know I think this movie sucks and that means I am an idiot.
From the heavens comes a blob, which for no reason gets bigger and helps the kids disarm said nuclear device through magical means of unlocking a gate.
Wow, isn't that exciting, apparently kids from the 50's thought watching a blob get bigger and gates unlocking made for the best movie ever (well to the one disturbed fan it does).
What looks like a really promising sci-fi feature in black andwhite ends up being one of the worst excuses for a movie I'veever seen!
Take seven annoying, totally inept little kids, aworried, pinched-faced old lady, a drunk step-father, a big,booger-like blob, a balding, psycho-babbling scientist, andJackie Coogan in skin-tight swim trunks!!
The Space Children has engineer Adam Williams arriving with wife Peggy Webber and sons Michel Ray and Johnny Crawford to work and live at a government rocket facility.
Johnny Washbrook, Sandy Descher and others join in some kind of collective consciousness, a lot like the Village Of The Damned and strange things start happening around the base, including the death of Russell Johnson who is far from the wise professor of Gilligan's Island.
Space Children, The (1958) * 1/2 (out of 4) This minor sci-fi flick has pretty much been forgotten by everyone, which might not be too shocking on its own but director Jack Arnold has a very big following for his other films in the genre like THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN and CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON so it says something when one of them is pretty much forgotten.
The "alien" here actually looks like a glowing brain that continues to get bigger as the film goes along.
"The Space Children" is a rather obscure sci-fi film--and after seeing it, I can understand why.
***SPOILERS*** Despite its very low ratings from the movie critics the movie "The Space Children" is one of the most thought-provoking motion pictures to come out of Hollywood in the 1950's in its addressing the dangers of nuclear proliferation and the cause for nuclear disarmament.
"The Space Children" ranks right up there with "The Day the Earth Stood Still", which was released seven years earlier in 1951, in making that very important point crystal clear to the movie going public.With their dad David Brewster, Dave Williams, working as an electrical technician at the Eagle Point Project young Bud & Ken, Michael Rey & Johnny Crawford, are somehow contacted through mental telepathy by this "Brain" from outer space.
The Eagle Point Project is being fined tuned to send a missile into space that will, after going into orbit around the earth, be able to launch a nuclear weapon anywhere on the planet in case a war breaks out between the US and the Soviet Block including Red China.The children are instructed to convince their parents working on the project to stop the launch of that missile called "The Thunderer".
Seeing with his own eyes the kids involved in a number of strange and unexplained incidents leading up to the missile launch Dr. Wahrman came to the conclusion that their being guided from something from outer space with powers beyond his imagination!The film has a bittersweet ending with Bud and his brother Ken as well as the rest of the children proving, by the "Brain" revealing itself to those in charge of Project Eagle Point, that their right about the dangers of testing Thunderer and the dangers of nuclear testing for strictly military purposes.
What leaves the audience and the "Space Children" a bit concerned is will they-the adults running the world-now learn from what they've seen and stop nuclear testing.
One of the most interesting lines for me comes at the admittedly heavy-handed preachy ending (what 50's sci-fi film would be complete without a pedantic lecture about the dangers of man and science going too far?).
Russell Johnson (aka, The Professor) is a great physical actor here, and Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester) is good too.
This is a smart, well made movie, much better than Invaders from Mars (which has a rating on IMDb exactly twice as high as The Space Children).
When the screenplays were good he turned in some of the best SF movies of the decade: It Came from Outer Space; Creature from the Black Lagoon; Incredible Shrinking Man and, to a lesser extent, Tarantula.
When they were poor (Revenge of the Creature; Monster on Campus) all he could do was make the pictures watchable: he couldn't make them good.Apparently, Space Children was his personal favourite amongst his SF movies and the one on which he lavished most care, but it definitely falls in to that second category.
The mysterious (usually alien) stranger who uses almost magical powers to save us from our own follies is an idea that has had many outings over the years: Things to Come; The Day the Earth Stood Still; Stranger from Venus; The Cosmic Man; Strange World of Planet X and even Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Space Children adds nothing new to this somewhat self-righteous, preachy sub-genre.The SF content is completely haphazard, so we never really know what is going on.
For example, when the alien lands it causes power cuts that extend as far as the rocket launch site, so it not clear why the alien needs to enlist the aid of the children in the first place (anyway, why not work through adults?).
ABC's Summer TV Series "The Whispers" is adapted from Ray Bradbury's short story "Zero Hour" and also a 1958 Movie entitled "The Space Children".
"The Whispers" is adapted from Ray Bradbury's short story "Zero Hour" and also a 1958 Movie entitled "The Space Children" Directed by Jack Arnold Writers: Tom Filer (story), Bernard C.
In fact, many, many years ago Steven Spielberg mentioned that he liked this movie ("The Space Children").
They should have condensed this summer series into a two hour TV movie and give proper credits were credits are due to "Zero Hour" and "The Space Children".
Space Children is a campy fun science fiction movie from a great year for movies 1958.The beginning credits of the movie was a real hoot with the children all posing like they are looking around and they are supposedly puzzled.Then comes the bizarre organ music.I personally think the beginning of the movie was the best part.The man and his wife and the children are in the family station wagon driving down the beach towards their destination.The wife is uneasy and she does not know why.Then they arrive at the little trailer park for the government workers and she is still not happy.Heck I would have loved to live on the beach.Space Children has a terrific cast and a totally strange story.Check out the actor Johnny Crawford who played the son of Lucas boy on The Rifleman and Jackie Coogan who played Uncle Festus in the original series on TV back in the day called The Addams Family.Check this movie out..
The parents do not see this strand of something moving through the air, so when the boy disappears to go exploring in beach-front caves, he encounters a strange group of children and a little tiny blob of something that somehow gives them directions to sabotage the launching of this missile.
A mysterious 'rock' lands and gradually takes control of the children with dire results to our nation's defensive atomic rocket race.*Special Stars- Michel Ray, Adam Williams, Jackie Coogan, Russel Johnson, Raymond Bailey, Johnny Crawford, Sandy Descher, Ty Hardin.
DIR: Jack Arnold.*Theme- Nuclear war is not good for children or other living things on Earth.*Trivia/location/goofs- B & W.
It is good or bad, depending on your expectation for a 1950s Sci-Fi "B" movie..
It was "The Day The earth Stood Still."This movie, "Space Children", borrows its themes from the earlier movie.
Here the USA has a base on the coast of California, and are prepared to launch "The Thunderer", a missle that will put a very powerful weapon in orbit 1000 miles up, and it will be able to destroy any target on Earth, if we decided it was a grave threat.In this story an alien from space is discovered in a cave on the beach by a band of children roughly ages 14 to 6.
Its mission turned out similar to that of the aliens in "Earth Stood Still", to protect us from ourselves, and to prevent the new weapon from being launched into space.This is definitely a "B" movie, but a good example of the 1950s black and white Sci-Fi movies.
Much of the filming has the band of children running around the beach, going back and forth, sometimes with adults.In modern times, with more interesting cinematography, acting, color, and special effects, this movie is not much else but nostalgia. |
tt0491152 | Something Borrowed | Based on the book "Something Borrowed"Character History:
Rachel is a just turned 30 lawyer who is very attractive, but down to earth, used to be overshadowed by her larger than life best friend since childhood - Darcy. It is hinted that Darcy didn't have a normal family or childhood by how she constantly goes on about Rachel being the sister she never had and the mother she always wanted. Ethan is Rachel's best guy friend, who also has known Darcy since childhood. There is a history shown that for the 6th grade dance Ethan went with both Rachel and Darcy, presumably because Darcy couldn't let Rachel have a date when she didn't. He is annoyed with Darcy's treatment of Rachel. Darcy has spent years with Rachel always acquiescing to her way because of Darcy's overbearing attitude, to the point where 6 years earlier, Rachel pretty much handed her crush from law school, Dex, over to Darcy. This resulted in them getting together and now they are engaged.The Story:
Rachel is about to enter a very stylish nightclub with a look of trepidation. She walks in to be greeted by a surprise party being given to her by Darcy. Of course Darcy is so into herself that even though it is Rachel's birthday, she makes the night about her, doing a picture PowerPoint of her and Rachel's friendship through the years, including 6th Grade and Ethan taking them both to the dance, although Ethan is clearly looking at Rachel, and some showy images of Darcy and Dex, who Darcy credits Rachel with them getting together. Darcy starts to dance on the stage, with an embarrassed Dex coaxing her down. Part of the way through the party, Darcy has gotten excessively drunk, so Dex is leaving with her. He points out to Rachel it was kind of her to act surprised despite him knowing she wasn't. Ethan also is avoiding Claire, another mutual friend who Ethan made the grievous error of sleeping with despite not being interested in a relationship with her, and now Claire has a massive crush on Ethan. Ethan and Rachel are left after the party, discussing Claire and how Ethan likes Rachel, although he doesn't get to speak further about it as they are hailing a cab when one pulls up with Dex in it. Darcy seems to have left her $2k Purse somewhere in the club, and Rachel offers Dex to help find it.Dex feels like Rachel didn't fully enjoy her party and suggests getting drinks together, which she accepts. As they drink there is a moment when a very attractive, Type A woman hits on Dex, which he ignores while Rachel is having a auditory memory of an incident you're not quite clear about and the woman keeps looking at Rachel with a nasty "WHY is he with YOU" kind of look, to which Dex responds to by asking the woman to stop staring as she's making his girlfriend upset. Rachel and Dex get drunk and Rachel admits she had a crush on Dex back in the day, then feels embarrassed she told him this as he is marrying her best friend. Dex tells the cab driver that they have 2 stops and gives Rachel's address and then his. Silent since Rachel's admission, Dex ends up drawing Rachel into a kiss and she responds. The cab driver laughs and says "okay, just one stop".The next morning Rachel and Dex wake up at Rachel's house to Darcy's voice via an answering machine set on loud, whining that Dex never came home after going to look for her purse and demands Rachel call her as she needs her, despite it being 7AM the night after a party. Dex dashes out, and Rachel spends the rest of the day horrified with her actions.Rachel gets a call from Darcy, but it's actually Dex calling from her phone, wanting to see if Rachel is okay. They don't get to talk long though as Darcy comes out and takes over the phone. Darcy goes dress shopping with Rachel and she muses over if Dex has cheated on her and then asks (or rather demands) that Darcy come to the Hamptons to stay at some house Claire's family seems to own and they have an open invite to. Darcy's plan is to hook Rachel up with Marcus, a close friend of Dex's. Ethan is coming as well, on request by Rachel.The truck pulls up with Darcy hooting and howling. Marcus is inside and he is the polar opposite of Rachel; a loud, womanizing party-hard type of guy. The weekend commences and Rachel is miserable, Darcy is all over Dex, who's been trying to talk to Rachel about what happened. After an evening of Marcus pawing all over her, Claire attempting and failing to seduce Ethan and Darcy having extremely loud sex with Dex, Rachel heads home early, using work as an excuse.Dex is feeling terrible, obviously having some feelings for Rachel. We learn through flashbacks that Rachel and Dex met at law school and had a connection, but both were too shy to admit it. Dex takes a chance and asks Rachel out for a celebratory dinner after finals, which she accepts. However midway through this "date", enter Darcy, who seats herself next to Dex, and instigates a truth or dare game, daring Dex to ask Rachel on a "real" date. Rachel, feeling on the spot, denies they are anything more than friends. Although Dex seems sad about this, he misunderstands Rachel not arguing him asking Darcy out on a date. So it turns out Darcy really stole Dex from Rachel years ago.Dex fell in then out of love with Darcy, but Darcy's pushy attitude resulted in him never leaving the relationship, as it also kept him close to Rachel. After the initial incident, Rachel and Dex have an awkward few weeks before finally Dex suggests they spend a weekend together to see what their feelings are all about. They enjoy themselves immensely, however after bumping into Dex's parents, Dex's father figures things out and pulls Dex aside to explain that his mother, who it is discussed throughout the film suffers from manic depression, is doing well mentally because of Dex getting married and if Dex doesn't she'll fall apart. He also reminds him that he was raised better than to be a cheater and liar. The sad thing is the father is more concerned about the appearances, than the happiness of his son. He even offers to buy a house for Darcy and Dex to show how serious he is about wanting him to follow through, and of course Darcy is thrilled about the prospect of being purchased an expensive home.Ethan, who has told Claire he's gay to get her to stop pursuing him, discovers the tryst and instead of scolding Rachel, commends her for once doing something she wanted after years of always letting Darcy get things. He is concerned that Dex may be stringing her along, however, and insists that she should come clean.Dex shows up at Rachel's apartment begging to come inside. Rachel allows Darcy (who is there for an impromptu sleepover after the bachelorette party) to think it's Ethan. After Darcy tells this "secret" one weekend at the Hamptons, upsetting Claire who thinks Ethan is gay, there is a point Ethan finds keeping the secret too great a burden, and almost lets it be known, only to be stopped by Rachel whacking him in the face with a badminton racket. He is upset that Claire is upset now, and can't believe that Rachel is allowing this all to happen, as she is better than this and he cares a great deal about her and can't take it anymore. Fortunately he has taken a job in London so he can get some space from it all.That night at a bar, Rachel argues with Dex about him not canceling the wedding and flashes back to the night Darcy butted in on their date, how she said it was okay when he chased after her, since she was used to Darcy getting what she wanted and she could tell she wanted Dex. She turns and runs back to the bar and comes clean to Dex about how she feels. Although you can tell Dex is moved by this, he refuses to cancel the wedding as she suggests because of his mother. Rachel is crushed and she shuts herself down. The wedding is coming up and she is heartbroken. Ethan has moved to London by now, so she goes to see him and lets him know what happened. Ethan says he knows what it's like to love someone and not have it work out. He has been in love with Rachel since childhood, although he realized he wasn't the one for her. Dex is, and he wishes it could work out.During her London visit Darcy calls freaking out demanding Rachel to come back home, with Ethan writing answer suggestions like "your fiance's a douche", "I just need some time" and "I'm madly in love with Ethan". Rachel, who really does need time for herself simply, and finally, says NO and hangs up. She loves Darcy but enough already. She's willing to stand up for herself. She knows sleeping with Dex was wrong because he is with Darcy, but she refuses to feel guilty about how she feels about Dex. The movie flashes to Dex having dinner with his folks and Darcy. Mom picks up at Dex doesn't seem happy, and she's concerned. Rachel comes home and Dex is waiting for her at her place; her office told him when she'd be back. He explains he called off the wedding and how much he loves her. As Rachel processes this Darcy knocks on the door, having sneaked into the building with a pizza guy. Dex hides, not noticing he left his jacket on a couch by the door, and Rachel lets Darcy in who announces SHE cancelled the wedding, despite this not being true. It is alluded throughout the movie that some of Darcy's claims are untrue, such as being accepted to Notre Dame when Rachel, a better student, wasn't. Ethan points out this couldn't have happened as they never saw the letter of admission, and that Darcy would have shown it to them. Darcy explains Dex "said it first" but she had been thinking the same thing. Darcy declines the suggestion of going for a walk (to get away from Dex) and confronts Rachel with lying about saying she slept with Ethan and Marcus. It turns out Darcy knew Rachel lied about Marcus because Rachel claimed he was circumcised. Darcy knows he is not, because since 4th of July she's been sleeping with Marcus, and she is now pregnant by him.Rachel is stunned. Darcy is optimistic about Marcus, feeling better having come clean. As she leaves she glances down and comes back and knocks on the door a second later, having realized Dex was there. Darcy demands to know where Dex is. He steps out and Darcy realizes Rachel is the one who was sleeping with Dex. Dex is pissed Darcy got pregnant by Marcus, but of course Darcy is focused on herself and despite having done the same thing, screams to Rachel she hates her and never wants to see her again. As she leaves she is snappy to Marcus, who had been waiting outside.The movie flashes to a few months later. Rachel is walking home with some dry cleaning and sees Darcy, now 5 months pregnant but looking fabulous. She points out one of the shirts in Rachel's package is the one she got for Dex, saying Rachel was always jealous of her since Darcy got into Notre Dame. Rachel says she sorry she hurt Darcy, but she isn't sorry she slept with Dex, having realized what Ethan told her earlier; if the roles were switched, Darcy would have done it with no issue. Darcy assures Rachel she is happy with the prospect of motherhood. Rachel takes a phone call and walks around the corner, to meet Dex, waiting for her at a bench. They are together and truly happy, and they walk away holding hands.Part way through the beginning of the credits we see Darcy in London, calling out to Ethan, pregnant and having gone to London to start her life over, Marcus obviously not with her and Ethan running for his life. | comedy, romantic, flashback | train | imdb | The only person we hear any reason from is Ethan, and by then we all want to smack some sense into the main characters.What bothers me incredibly about this movie is that it basically drives loyalty between "best friends" straight into the ground.
Obviously the movie wasn't about her, it was about Rachel, but it sends the message that it's okay to screw your best friend over as long as she's doing it too - and when does that actually happen?
I really wanted the movie to end with Rachel going off with someone else, someone who knew what to do from the beginning and didn't stand weakly by and take forever to figure out that love is more important than his father's glare.I hated the weakness of these characters.
Actress Ginnifer Goodwin plays the lovable geek Rachel with Colin Egglesfield playing the love interest, Dex. Kate Hudson plays the vampy best friend Darcy and to round up the cast, John Krasinski, as the offbeat comedic relief complete with devastating one-liners.The idea that 'best friends are forever' are tested in this movie filled with infidelity.
Kate Hudson was too over the top as Darcy (and blonde) and overall, the movie tried too hard to fit in all the ingredients of a "standard" chick flick: The great, good-looking amazing guy.
What I don't get though is how Darcy doesn't notice this thing between Rachel and Dex, until towards the end of the movie.
I think that is the real message or reality behind this movie not whether or not Rachel or Darcy were right or wrong, good or bad.
This movie reminded me that we all have choices in life about what makes us happy and we can only blame ourselves if we deny our true desires because we feel we are not deserving (Rachel) or if we are aggressive and abusing others in order to achieve it (Darcy).
She is just a truly wonderful actress and she breathes real life into the part of Rachel, making us truly her ally in helping her achieve success and happiness.Goodwin is solidly backed by the lovely Kate Hudson as Darcy.
The graciousness meets it's biggest challenge when her college study mate Dex, played by Colin Egglesfield, is swept out from under Rachel by the overbearing Darcy, who always gets what she wants.The interplay between these two actresses is a definite cut above the usual silliness of romantic comedies and Goodwin comes off looking much the better of the two, but that may be partly due to the greater sympathetic nature of her character.
Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) is turning 30, but it's the immature Darcy (Kate Hudson) who is getting married.
I didn't actually know that it was based on a book, but I'm interested in reading it now because I enjoyed the movie a lot.I think it was a good film precisely because there really was no clear-cut "good" character other than Ethan (John Krasinski) whose real role was to be the voice of reason.
Then you add in Dex who is actually in love with Rachel, but faces a lot of outside pressure by his parents to fit into their perfect life for him, and you have a recipe for disaster in the triangle.The movie made me laugh and cry and stare in disbelief.
So hapless is her misguided lack of belief that she throws her best bet at love Dex (Colin Egglesfield) into the arms of her best friend - the happy-go-lucky self-centred childhood friend Darcy (Kate Hudson).
Nonetheless the situation turns on its head, when Rachel and Dex sleep with each other after getting drunk....As far as romantic movies are concerned they necessitate either well-wrought humour or a good feel for substantial romance.
Love stories We do not have enough of them with guys that look like Colin Every one else has gone to bigger and better things but Colin And I thought he did the best job of all the actors.
Something Borrowed is a love triangle of sorts, beginning with our 'heroine' Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) sleeping with her best friend Darcy's (Kate Hudson) husband-to-be Dex (Colin Egglesfield).
The term "chick flick" is getting a bit passé...though I might stop using it if more movies come out with the depth and emotional heart of "Something Borrowed." This film looks at first glance to be torture for almost anyone...Kate Hudson's name alone in the credits is cringe-inducing.
But this film has a bit more going on than you'd think, and it has the brains to cast Ginnifer Goodwin --- a talented actress and comedienne who can sell the "good girl" act with breezy effortlessness and with as much panache as a modern day Mary Tyler Moore --- in the lead as Rachel, forever second-fiddle to party-girl powerhouse Darcy (Kate Hudson, in a performance that's tonally perfect).Rachel's long-time crush on Dex (a little-too-perfect Colin Egglesfield ---- really, have American men become such bland clods that the only appealing men to chase on film are now all British?) is coming to a head as his wedding to Darcy approaches.John Krasinski's performance here as Rachel's best-friend-in-waiting seems a bit too close to his alter-ego Jim Halpert, but the guy is so good at the role --- and genuinely funny and touching here --- it's almost a shame to wish him out of it (think the parts Tony Randall always wound up playing in the '60s).But Goodwin is really the reason to see this movie.
It's a refreshing comedic turn in a highly commercial film that --- while it's not going to win any Oscars --- is an overall good time at the movies, without leaving you feeling like you were just lobotomized..
Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin, in a role far above her first job as an actress as the chubby girl in 'Mona Lisa Smile') is a lawyer who in law school had a crush on a fellow law student Dex (Colin Egglesfield) but happened to introduce him to her lifelong best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson) who promptly snapped him up and is now a few years later planning her wedding to him.
Rachel's best male friend is writer Ethan (John Krasinski) and is the one in whom Rachel confides the fact that she still is in love with Dex. At a bar party (and there are MANY of these in the film) Rachel and Dex collide and discover their private longings for each other.
Kate Hudson is once again in the role of a loud mouthed shallow character (an she has that role polished to a fare-thee-well), Ginnifer Goodwin proves she can manage a lead role, John Krasinki gives one of the best all around performances int he film, and Colin Egglesfield is more than just eye candy.
Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson star as best friends forever Rachel and Darcy, and it's no surprise that these two are of the exact opposites in nature, with Rachel being the nerdier, studious, shy and soft spoken lawyer and Darcy the more gregarious, carefree and flamboyant bride to be, about to get married to Dex (Colin Egglesfield) with whom was sort of introduced to her when she gatecrashed Rachel and Dex's would be date many years ago.
Taking place in the city to the weekend getaways where chums bond prior to someone's big wedding, Something Borrowed explores the multiple romantic tangles between friends, where it's only a fool who cannot see pass each of their buddies' infatuation/liking/lust/crush.While the story isn't too much to shout about since it's pretty much rooted in formula and the inevitable convenient cop out development in the last act to make everyone look good, thus achieving probably the best and most desirable win-win situation rather than the pain that is likely reality, Something Borrowed relies heavily on the cast to deliver the film, made easier since everyone's playing a version of themselves from their filmography in what would be heavy typecasting.
And for Goodwin it seems that she cannot shake off that damsel in relationship distress type of role given her breakthrough in He's Just Not That Into You, being the person who prefers to be in the shadow of another, and giving things up for the status quo.The shining light in Something Borrowed happened to be that spot on reflection and portrayal of how male and female confidantes differ from each other, when Rachel has Ethan (John Krasinski) to listen out and to offer advice, and Rachel herself being on the other end when Darcy comes knocking and confessing too, granted that the former is somehow the third party involved.
It is this aspect of the film that lifts it above the usual rom-coms to stand out from its peers.Based on the novel by Emily Giffin, do stay for the coda during the end credits, which suggests a follow up movie to be made, but knowing just how this one did at the box office, having to watch everyone come back for another go since there is actually a sequel to the book, will seem a little bit of a wishful thinking.
Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) has had a best friend since grade school, Darcy (Kate Hudson).
Ginnifer Goodwin played the role of Rachel very well and although Ethan was not a huge character in the book, he worked well into the movie.
Exactly as you would expect when watching it.As the film went on I started to hate Kate Hudson more and more lol but I completely understand that was her character hahaha.
The only thing about this movie that makes it even a little interesting to watch, I think, were the main characters, played by Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Colin Egglesfield.
There is one thing that especially bothered me about the film - and that's how the parents of Dex (Egglesfield, may as well use the characters' names) disapprove of Rachel (Goodwin), yet approve of Darcy (Kate Hudson), when Rachel is an upper-class lawyer just like Dex and Darcy the wild party-girl.
I'm maybe getting older, but it's nice to see the settling down couple contrasted against the worried loner in middle age (maybe that's because it's familiar!) and I guess other (teen rom-com) movies explore this theme often enough too, but little is said of these people's lives except the romantic journey they're caught up on - unfortunately this results in two dimensional characters that exchange advice like it's going out of fashion.It won't break your heart or show you something new, but it's a refreshing, enjoyable movie..
Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Darcy (Kate Hudson) are life long friends.
But Rachel still has feelings for Dex and they sleep together.This movie has 2 problems and 1 great positive.Colin Egglesfield is a horribly bland lead.
In the movie Something Borrowed based on the book by Emily Giffin, it chronicles the tale of two friends, Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Darcy (Kate Hudson) who have known each other since an early age.
Two best friends Rachel(Ginnifer Goodwin) and Darcy(Kate Hudson) are in love with the same guy Dex played by Colin Egglesfield.
After a few wild nights and a day or two in the Hamptons, it becomes clear that the only character worth rooting for is Ethan, Rachel's guy pal who forces her to act like an put adult and admit the truth about her feelings for Dex. Overall, the movie contains a pretty decent cast.
Add to that a pointless subplot about a "best guy friend" who thinks he's a homosexual (John Krasinski) and we've got a lot of rather dull character-to-character dynamics.All in all, however, "Something Borrowed" is tailored for its target audience they have, to a great extent, loved it.
I first have to say, "I Love Kate Hudson." This movie lacked so many things; my review will suck because I can't write anything good about it.
Here, we only have the Rachel, the woman who betrays her friend (Goodwin); Dex, the fiancé who betrays his love (Egglesfield); and, Darcy, the woman betrayed by both (Hudson).
Typically, you can associate with those cheated on solely through sympathy, but that was made difficult for two reasons: 1) Darcy's a secondary character who seems to always act like that girl who always gets too drunk at college parties; and, 2) The movie constantly acts as if it's going to reveal something negative about her past (spoiler: it does).
This movie (which I only just discovered is based on a book) was clearly written from the POV of someone who has never been betrayed, never been hurt by a trusted friend and/or lover, someone who thinks you should do what feels good, without any consequences.I don't need to reiterate the whole storyline, as that has been done in previous reviews, but let's look at a few key points.
Considering Darcy and Rachel are longtime best friends, we know Rachel and Dex have seen one another many times in the ensuing years, and yet it isn't until Rachel's birthday that they suddenly realize they really love each other?
It started out on an okay note with a tacky surprise party for Rachel (Goodwin) thrown by her life-long best friend Darcy (Hudson), and did i mention life long?
In the final scene after Dacry has discovered the affair and not seen Rachel for two months they meet on a city street, and you think that maybe there is going to be some kind of redemption, but Darcy says to Rachel "I bought him that shirt" and you notice the dry cleaning held over Rachel's shoulder, a few more words are traded about how Darcy is truly happy now, and Rachel goes into the arms of Dex.The movie was a rationalization for sleeping with your best friends fiancé, and forbidden love prevailing.
Rachel (Goodwin) and Darcy (Hudson) are best friends from childhood.
So, Rachel and Dex really like each other all through law school, but Rachel has a pathologic need to hand over the good things in her life to her best friend, because she thinks she doesn't deserve them, despite obvious evidence to the contrary.
Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson play life long best friends.
Unfortunately, while Kate Hudson is entertaining, all the other actors in this stupid movie are absolutely bland and the writers have put no thought into making believable characters.
Ginnifer Goodwin (learn to spell your name properly, girl!) Looks like what Sally Field would have looked like if she hadn't looked like a cartoon, Colin Egglesfield looks like Tom Cruise-lite, Kate Hudson looks like her mother, and John Krasinski looks like UK TV person Andrew O'Connor.Once you get past that, you have to get past the fact that this isn't a romcom, as it has been sold in the trailer, it is simply a rom.Darcy (Hudson) and Rachel (Goodwin) have been best friends since childhood.
Rachel(Ginnifer Goodwin)is suppose to be the heroine that you sympathize with and hope will have a happy ending, but you have a difficult time liking her after you see how horrible she is a decision making and what bad taste she has in men.
I did not go in with grand expectations, so I wasn't thoroughly disappointed, although I do believe they could have done more to develop the relationship between Rachel and Dex. I think that's the reason why Dex appeared so shallow -in scenes where he "cried", Colin Egglesfield also looked like he was battling a severe case of constipation instead of a moral conundrum...I really enjoyed watching John Krasinski as Ethan, and although I'm not a terribly huge fan of Kate Hudson, she did well as Darcy.
In hindsight, I think it would have been a nice touch to have Rachel "narrate" the movie from behind the scenes - so that way, it would connect the audience more to her innermost feelings and if they decided to make Something Blue, they could do the same for Darcy..
Each character has something special or a secret that shares with us or reveals at the end,a secret that can change many peoples lives in that story.We see that true love never dies and that friendship is difficult but if it has a strong bond based on love it could last even if things get a bit out of order.I loved each actor/actress performance.It is sure one of my favorite movies!I recommend it for people that want to watch a romantic movie with a meaning..
I don't know, maybe I liked it because I can relate to Rachel's character(my best friend too has the "charisma" of always having everything working out for her and gets all the attention, but love her nonetheless).
Living in this universe of fake, lucrative employment and almost endless leisure (these people get more vacation time than French employees), little time passed before Dex (Colin Egglesfield), Darcy (Kate Hudson), Ethan (John Krasinski), and Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) found themselves in the type of situation reserved for soap operas.
why in the world did they make this movie to be so big and glamorous when at the end the girls aren't friends, Darcy is off pregnant and Rachel and Dex are together?
This is the story of Rachel and Darcy (Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson), Rachel is a single lawyer, and Darcy is a good time girl who only thinks of Darcy.
And with that in mind lets review this film fairly, without all of the harsh "moral lessons" that everyone keeps throwing in your face about it.Now the premise of the story is that Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) is in love with Dex (Colin Egglesfield) who is engaged to Darcy (Kate Hudson.) The fiancé and the best friend are in love with each other but are both too scared to do anything about it.
They did portrait their characters very well, especially Dex. The only thing I didn't like about the movie is when they changed the "Revelation Part" where Darcy saw Dex's jacket at Rachelle's apartment. |
tt0113762 | The Mangler | William 'Bill' Gartley (Robert Englund) is the mean owner of a factory, shouting and bossing everybody around. He looks from a corridor outside his office in a higher floor. He's got some weird metal crutches attached to his knees and has trouble walking. Men and women earn their bread in a noisy, warm, full of vapours, dim-lighted environment. In a factory line, huge Hadley Watson machinery wash, dry and fold sheets. Miss Adelle Frawley (Vera Blacker) and Sherry Ourelette (Vanessa Pike) greet each other. Lin Sue (Lisa Morris) is the new employee, but she doesn't stop to help Sherry with her heavy equipment. Adelle tells her to be careful. Doris is the one who finally helps Sherry. One of the female workers hurts herself and her blood is split everywhere. There is an electric shortage. Gartley's pissed off that the production line has to stop. The second-in-charge is as mean as Gartley. Gartley calls his employees boys and girls and tells everybody to go back to work. The machine keeps on working, and stains of blood are everywhere.The small town where they live is Rikers Valley. Officer John Hunton (Ted Levine) almost has a car accident against a delivery van, which is transporting a new electricity generator . In the factory, Adelle takes some medication on the spot. She looks around. The machine from the accident seems to open her mouth to eat her, but she backs down in the last second. The "overseer" George Stanner (Demetre Phillips) shouts to Adelle and Doris to go back to work, while the bandaged hand of Sherry starts bleeding again. With the scare, Adelle has thrown all her pills, and there are some only in the mouth of that huge machine. Dizzy, nervous and sweaty, Adelle tries to retrieve some and the machine takes her whole body. Everybody is frantic, there is blood everywhere, the machine takes the whole body of Adelle, while Bill shouts "Daisy May, let's do like dogs".John is called. Mark Jackson (Daniel Matmor), the guy from the delivery van, is still moving the generator around. There is havoc outside the factory, with an ambulance taking away the body. Stanner looks unsympathetic, but he doesn't want to look at the body. Hunton feels sweaty and nervous because there is only gore everywhere. The photographer keeps on working while Hunton throws up. All the textile factory / Blue Ribbon Laundry depends on that machine, and all Gates Falls depends on the factory to survive.Sheriff Hughes (Larry Taylor) arrives. Adelle is taken in a box. There is a safety bar which seems to be working fine. The inquest is done with: accidental death. Hunton talks with a town punk and takes some pills. MJeremy Crutchley ... J.J.J. Pictureman / MorticianAshley Hayden ... Annette Gillian
Danny Keogh ... Herb Diment
Ted Le Plat ... Doctor RamosTodd Jensen ... Roger Martin
Sean Taylor ... Derrick Gates
Gerrit Schoonhoven ... Aaron Rodriguez
Nan Hamilton ... Mrs. Ellenshaw
Adrian Waldron ... Mr. Ellenshaw
Norman Coombes ... Judge BishopIrene Frangs ... Mrs. Smith
Megan Wilson ... Ginny Jason
Odile Rault ... Alberta
Ron Smerczak ... Officer SteeleAshley Waldorf ... Paramedic Driver (uncredited) | cult, horror, violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0039757 | The Red House | Pete Morgan and his sister Ellen are prosperous farmers, but their farm is starting to look rundown due to Pete's advancing age and his handicap from an artificial leg. They are known as "the mysterious Morgans" because of their adopted daughter Meg. No one knows who her parents were or how Pete and Ellen came to adopt her when she was a toddler. Now eighteen, Meg suggests that Pete hire a classmate of hers, Nath Storm, to work on the farm after school. Nath's widowed mother operates a general store in town but business is not good. Pete is reluctant to take on a farmhand because he doesn't want outsiders around, but Meg talks him into it. To her delight, Nath is allowed to start at once.During dinner, Pete and Ellen are somewhat taken aback to hear Nath refer to them as "the mysterious Morgans." Ellen explains that they are so self-sufficient on the farm that they rarely go into town. As for Meg, her parents left her in the Morgans' care while they took a trip. They were killed in an accident and as there were no other relatives, Pete and Ellen adopted her.Since it is late, the Morgans urge Nath to spend the night in the hired hand's cabin. When he insists on going home, Pete orders him not to go through Oxhead woods. The woods are dangerous and hard to navigate after dark. Nath protests that going the other way will take much longer. As he is trekking through the woods, someone knocks him into a stream. He returns to the farm sopping wet and accuses Pete of waylaying him. Pete again orders him to stay away from the woods.Meg is in love with Nath but he has a girlfriend, Tibby Renton. Although the two plan to marry, Tibby is attracted to Teller, an older man with a questionable past. He gives Tibby some money and asks her to buy him a savings bond. He doesn't want to be seen in town. They arrange to meet at a later date so she can give him the bond.Pete sometimes calls Meg "Jeannie" and mentions an abandoned dwelling in the woods called the Red House. She is uneasy when this happens but the Morgans have always been very good to her. Pete bought new furniture for her bedroom and gives her anything she asks for. Ellen is like a mother to her.Nath's mother closes the store and marries her boyfriend. The couple move away, leaving Nath on his own. Once school is out, he begins working full-time for the Morgans. Pete offers him the use of his car to go see Tibby on Sundays.Meg, Nath, and Tibby try to find the Red House. As they move deeper into the woods, Meg is struck by a feeling that she has been there before. When Tibby complains of being tired, they return to the farm and take a swim in the pond. But then Tibby lets it slip that they were looking for a mysterious house in the woods. Pete is furious and later tells Meg he is going to fire Nath. He says they were happy until Nath came around asking questions.Nath has already asked his mother about what happened to Pete's leg. Mrs. Storm says that Pete fell into a quarry many years earlier and the local physician, Dr. Byrne, amputated the leg on the Morgan's kitchen table.Tibby and Teller secretly meet and she gives him the bond. Although she is slightly afraid of him, that doesn't stop her from responding to his advances.It turns out that Pete has hired Teller to keep people out of the woods. He was the one who pushed Nath into the stream earlier. Pete is angry that Teller doesn't seem to be doing his job and threatens to fire him. Teller assures him that next time he will use stronger measures.Tibby's father owns an orchard. After being discharged by Pete, Nath goes to work for Mr. Renton. He and Tibby discuss their future and he is startled to learn that she wants to move away after their marriage. She wants a lifestyle that he cannot possibly give her. Later, Nath catches Tibby and Teller kissing. He and Teller get into a fight and Teller knocks him out. After that, Nath realizes that it is Meg he has loved all along.Meg decides to explore Oxhead woods on her own. Not wanting Pete to see her leaving the house, she climbs out the window and down a large tree. She follows an old trail and comes to the top of a hill. Below is an abandoned house, with an icehouse next to it. At last she has found the Red House. Before she can explore further, shots ring out. Teller is attempting to scare her off. As Meg runs toward home, she trips and breaks her leg. Nath eventually rescues her.Meg is forced to stay in bed until the cast is removed. Since he is not allowed to visit her, Nath climbs the tree and sneaks into her room. She tells him about finding the Red House. Pete overhears their conversation and comes to Meg's room. They hear him coming and Nath leaves, but Pete knows he has been there. He scares Meg by calling her Jeannie.Later, Pete and Ellen argue. She was once engaged to Dr. Byrne and accuses Pete of ruining her plan to marry. Pete didn't try to stop her but wouldn't let her take Meg with her. In a fury, he throws a lamp at Ellen and injures her arm. Meg hears the commotion and calls out to Ellen. Hiding her injury, Ellen assures Meg that nothing is wrong.Matters come to a head when Meg confides in Ellen that Pete watches her in a way that makes her uncomfortable. Ellen asks if he has ever forced himself on her. He has not, but Ellen decides to burn down the Red House. Only then will Pete be at peace. Meg wants to go with her but cannot walk so far due to her leg. She hides in the hired hand's cabin while Ellen, armed with a jug of gasoline, sets off for the Red House.Teller doesn't recognize Ellen in the darkness and fires off several shots. Ellen is hit and collapses. When Teller realizes what he has done, he runs away. Meg finds Ellen seriously injured and renders what first aid she can. Returning to the house, she begs Pete to help her rescue Ellen. But he says it is too late, once more mentioning Jeannie's name. Meg suddenly remembers that her mothers name was Genevieve and asks Pete if that is really Jeannie. Failing to get Pete's help, she telephones Nath.Ellen is dead by the time they reach her. They carry her home on a makeshift stretcher. Nath telephones the sheriff and goes in search of Teller. But Meg is terrified that Teller will shoot him. She begs Pete for help, saying that Jeannie will forgive him. She and Pete set off for the Red House in the truck. Meanwhile, Teller has gone to Tibby's house and persuaded her to elope with him. They set off in the Rentons' truck but the police are soon in pursuit. Tibby asks Teller what he has done. She realizes she doesn't want to marry him after all. When the police catch up with them, Teller is arrested for the murder of Ellen.Nath is not at the Red House when Pete and Meg arrive. They go inside and Meg realizes she once lived there. Pete locks the door, frightening Meg, but he assures her he is going to protect her this time. He lights a candle and Meg sees her baby bed still standing. Pete tells her the entire story. He and Jeannie were having an affair. When Jeannie broke it off, he went to the Red House to persuade her to change her mind. Meg's father drove up in a surrey. To keep Jeannie quiet, Pete put his hand over her mouth and nose, accidentally smothering her. He also killed Meg's father. Putting the bodies into the surrey, he drove it into the icehouse. The spring had broken through the floor and the surrey sank. In a fit of remorse, Pete tried to commit suicide by jumping into the quarry.Meg hears Nath and the sheriff outside and calls for help. Pete nearly smothers her in the same way he did Jeannie. When Nath and the sheriff burst into the house, Pete runs outside and climbs into his truck. Turning it around, he heads for the icehouse. He drives through the door and the truck sinks. As it goes down, a wheel from the surrey floats to the top.The movie ends with Nath finishing what Ellen started. As the Red House goes up in smoke, Meg and Nath watch. | insanity, romantic | train | imdb | Sometimes memories of things from youth don't hold up but in this case, RED HOUSE remains a bizarre and scary movie into adulthood.Robinson's performance is very atypical but effective.
Robinson)living with his sister(Judith Anderson) and adopted daughter(Allene Roberts)is hard pressed to deal with a young man(Lon McCallister)that comes to help out with chores.
Lon McAlister plays the young man who enters the scene and other youngsters are played by Rory Calhoun and Julie London who later became stars.It's easy to understand how the dark, forbidden woods affected me as a young child; but I doubt it would be so well received by today's kids.
Even if you do figure out the secret of the red house half way through (I did), the performances of everybody involved (especially Edward G Robinson) keeps your eyes glued to the screen from beginning all the way to the bitter and somewhat ironic end....if you ever run across it, please check it out....sadly, the prints that are available are a bit scratchy at best (which is what happens when a film is forgotten), but the film is an experience everybody should see for themselves......
All the cast is great, most especially Robinson in a powerful performance, as well as a very young Julie London who plays the beautiful local rich girl.
Robinson plays Pete Morgan, a reclusive older gentleman living with his sister (Judith Anderson) and an adopted teenage daughter, Meg (Allene Roberts).
Nath's girlfriend - kind of an erstwhile femme fatale - is played by the lovely Julie London, and it is no surprise to find that as Nath's attention turns to Meg, her attention turns to bad boy "Teller" (Rory Calhoun).Underneath all the typically teenage romantic dynamics lies several terrible secrets and possibly, something supernatural.
Robinson, Lon McAllister, Allene Roberts, Julie London, Rory Calhoun, Judith Anderson and Ona Munson are perfectly cast.
Robinson and Rozsa Duo. This film-noir may look like a B-film, but it contains two powerful pieces of work, that of actor Edward G.
Ably supporting Robinson is the strong Judith Anderson as the sister, the fine Lon McCallister as a callow but earnest youth, and the striking Rory Calhoun in one of his most impressive roles.
Under no circumstances is she or anyone else to go to a certain stretch of woods and to enforce that rule Robinson has hired Rory Calhoun to keep trespassers off.Of course you tell teenagers like Roberts, Lon McCallister, and Julie London not to do something or go somewhere and you know very well what's going to happen in movies and in real life.
Allene Roberts and Lon McCallister are a pair of nice young people, but they don't stand up against Rory Calhoun and Julie London.
The young actors (Lon McCallister, Allene Roberts, Julie London, and Rory Calhoun) hold their own very well.
In fact the film has a neat generational component about love and lost opportunities, jealousy, and plenty of repressed sexual desire that everyone (the old and the young) experience, along with the fairly riveting secret of the abandoned "Red House", buried in foreboding woods.
An old man (Edward G Robinson) and his sister (Judith Anderson) are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter called Meg (Allene Roberts) .
Support cast is frankly well such as Judith Anderson of Rebeca as Ellen Morgan , Rory Calhoun as Teller , Allene Roberts as Meg , Julie London as Tibby , Ona Munson as Mrs. Storm , Pat Flatherty as cop and Harry Shannon .
Robinson doesn't want his adopted daughter to go near "The Red House" in this 1947 film which also stars Judith Anderson, Lon McAllister, Allene Roberts, Julie London and Rory Calhoun.
What they uncover is life-changing.Directed by Delmer Daves, "The Red House" is one scary noir with lots of night scenes that take place in the woods and a haunting ending.
Robinson, Judith Anderson, Lon McCallister, Rory Calhoun, Allene Roberts and Julie London.
Music is scored by Miklós Rózsa and cinematography by Bert Glennon.Pete Morgan (Robinson) and his sister Ellen (Anderson) struggle to conceal the secret of the red house in the woods from Meg (Roberts), their adopted teenage daughter...What lurks in the darkness?Part horror thriller, part noirish fairytale, The Red House is very much hard to clearly define.
The Morgan's, the brother and sister with guilt, regret and longings seeping from every pore, young Nath Storm (McCallister) and his mother, where he seems to call the shots and a farewell kiss is all too long, and the sexualised Tibby (London), who doesn't see the danger of pairing off a battle for her affections between Nath and moody older boy Teller (Calhoun), the latter of which has been given carte blanche by Pete Morgan to stalk the woods like some shotgun wielding predatory keeper of the woods' secret.Trespass At Your Own Risk.The director ensures that all and sundry are in fear of the woods, and sure enough, whenever the story switches to that area, the eerie factor is pumped up.
It's a simple setting and a simple story about the effect of a house on nutcase Edward G (Pete) and the curse of the woods.After student Lon McCallister (Nath) takes his first walk through the woods at night-time, the scary woods become the most important cast member.
We get a mystery/thriller as teenagers Lon and Allene Roberts (Meg) explore the woods in search of the Red House.
Robinson as farmer Pete Morgan goes psycho here much like he did as "Wolf" Larson in the movie "The Sea Wolf" as he tries to keep of what the mysterious and creepy Red House-That's on his property-has hidden in it.
All hell breaks loose when he hires his step daughter Meg's, Allene Roberts, boyfriend Nath Storm,Lon McCallister, as a farm hand who get's not only very romantic with Meg, whom control freak Morgan wants to keep all to himself, but insists to check out the area where the red house is located in.It soon becomes apparent that both Morgan and his live in sister Ellen, Judith Anderson, have a skeleton hidden in the closet that they've been hiding from the world for at least 15 years and in Pete Morgan's case is more then willing to kill to keep that secret from seeing the light of day.
There's also both the sexy and hot to trot Tibby, Julie London, who's got the hots from the boyishly handsome Nath and the devilishly handsome local sh*t kicker Teller played by an Elvis Presley looking, some seven years before anyone ever knew of him, Rory Calhoun whom Morgan uses to terrorize anyone from finding out the secret about his red house that he keeps hidden deep in the woods.****SPOILERS**** You can see that Morgan is not all there to begin with but as the secret of the red house and what's hidden in it starts to leak out, due to the efforts of both Meg & Nath, that he completely cracks up.From at first being a kind and gentle soul who wouldn't hurt a fly to a crazed out of control lunatic going so far as murdering his own sister Ellen.
But this one had totally escaped me, until just seeing on our PBS station's Saturday double feature of old, classic filmsAfter now seeing "The Red House," I rate it highly, like others commenting here, from a different point of view.I thought the teenage "love triangle" disliked by others, and though to detract from the plot, was an amusing, positive aspect of the film.Lon McCallister, while boyish, was nearly 24 when the film released, and a bit "long-in-tooth" for a high school lad.
could convey angst with a CAPITAL "A."Allene Roberts, a charming young actress, 18 then, was age- appropriate, as Meg, Pete's and Ellen's ward and surrogate "daughter." She also seemed to have had a few more meals than Lon and Julie.There was also some 1947 naughtiness in Edward G.'s thoughts about this young lady - perhaps somewhat due to transference (revealed in final revelations of the film), but his demeanor, much of the dialog, and certainly his "look," left no doubt that his thoughts and desires were assuredly more than "fatherly." Early in the film Edward G./Pete and sister Judith/Ellen are talking, and Pete laments the fact that he had lost his true love to some obvious cad who was able to become the best dancer, while he (Pete) had to work.
His performance reminds me a great deal of the psychotic sea-captain that he played in "The Sea Wolf", only, despite his character's flaws in this film, you can still sympathize with him, as he basically means well, and is more haunted than psychotic."The Red House" is competently directed by Delmer Daves, a director whose work I usually love, but I have to say, this is not Delmer Daves at his best.
An interesting note, however, is that the role of Tibby, the hot-blooded dame who competes with Meg for Naith's affections, is played by none other than Julie London, who, a few years later, would become known not as a famous actress, but as a very successful and legendary jazz singer.All in all, "The Red House" is a pretty good little thriller, and a darn good choice for some late-night viewing.
It is in fact a Dark Crime film.A secret is being harbored about the red house in the woods by Pete Morgan (Edward G.
Nath and Meg are very curious and ends up trying to solve the mystery of the red house.Unnecessary to the core of the story is Tibby, Nath's girlfriend - their part of the story is really more of a time filler than anything.Overall a good little mystery film.6/10.
Julie London's character meets bad boy Rory Calhoun (in the earliest role I've seen him) and having been given rights to hunt on farm land by Robinson, he soon develops into a troublesome guy.
The Red House saw a melding of the two roles he was used to playing, with his portrayal of a farmer who has a dark side.To be honest, despite Robinson's good acting, I wasn't much impressed with the film.
Robinson and Anderson play a brother and sister who have adopted Roberts and have raised her as their own on their farm all the time concealing a dark secret that lays hidden in the red house beyond the woods.
Robinson and Anderson play a brother and sister who have adopted Roberts and have raised her as their own on their farm all the time concealing a dark secret that lays hidden in the red house beyond the woods.
The first think that puzzles the viewer is the film location:set out in the sticks,which was unusual for the late forties -which in fact is almost always unusual-.When Jacques Becker released "Goupi Main Rouges" ,a French classic of the early forties,it puzzled the audience for the same reason(and "Goupi Mains Rouges" had almost everything "Red House " had;and both movies mistrust the people from the country (and it was not over:see Boorman's "deliverance",not to mention "2,000 maniacs" or "the Texas chain saw massacre".The evil woods will later reappear in "the Blair witch project".That is to say "red house" cannot easily be dismissed.On the other hand the "psychoanalysis" side had grown stale and cheesy at the time.It came after Jack Tourneur's "cat people" Hitchcock's "spellbound" and most of all Lang 's "secret beyond the door"(woods=Lang's mysterious bedroom).The viewer can guess what happened a long long time ago and the final revelation is a damp squib.The more threatening,the more effective:Edward G Robinson 's performance is first-class,and he's matched every step of the way by Judith Anderson's excellent Ellen.The young ones are bland and undistinguished by comparison.Hats off to the black and -barely- white cinematography which is with Robinson the main asset of this work.0nce again,it will be "the Blair witch project" before a director use them in such a bewildering manner.Probably not really a classic,but worth a watch definitely..
Robinson, Judith Anderson and Julie London gave a fantastic performance which made this film an all time favorite.
Robinson) and his sister Ellen Morgan (Judith Anderson) have raised their adopted girl Meg (Allene Roberts).
His girlfriend Tibby (Julie London) isn't happy with him spending time at the farm with Meg. Pete warns Nath not to use a short cut near the red house but Nath ignores him.I'm not sure if I watched the best version of this movie.
There's a very creepy atmosphere in THE RED HOUSE and although the film is rather slow in getting its story started, beginning as it does in rustic daylight scenes, the mood soon changes--as does Miklos Rozsa's evocative background music--and we know we're in for a psychological suspense tale grounded in the usual film noir ingredients.Robinson is a man hiding a secret--and when he becomes violently upset when someone suggests taking a short cut through the woods near The Red House--it's only a matter of time before all the focus of the film becomes drawn to the house and whatever secrets it hides.
His daughter Meg (ALLENE ROBERTS) is attracted to a young man who comes to work on the farm (LON McCALLISTER) and it's he who first suggests taking a short cut.
Curiosity gets the best of the girl and her suitor and before long the story takes a number of unexpected twists and turns.JUDITH ANDERSON lends her impressive presence to the role of Robinson's wife and Rory Calhoun and Julie London (who later had quite a bit of success as a pop singer) are competent enough in supporting roles.But most of the credit for the success of the film in creating the proper mood goes to Robinson, who is excellent here, and to composer Miklos Rozsa who delivers a superb background score that heightens the melodrama..
That was just a great creative subtlety that worked amazingly well to establish Morgan's mental state.The film also works for the excellent characterizations of Judith Anderson as Pete's devoted sister Ellen, and Allene Roberts as their adopted daughter Meg. Meg becomes involved in a romantic triangle of sorts when she begins to fall for Nath Storm (Lon McCallister), who in the early story is going steady with the local glamor girl Tibby Renton (Julie London).
I certainly count him as one of the best ten actors working in USA.I must have been 15 when I have first seen THE RED HOUSE and, after all these yrs, it still does look like an awesome movie to me, a suspenseful melodrama bordering on horror, with Robinson in an advantageous and convenient role.
Edward G Robinson gives an excellent performance in the lead role as reclusive farmer Pete Morgan who lives with his strangely devoted spinster sister (Judith Anderson, very good in a sympathetic role)and sweet young adopted daughter, the very wholesome 17 year old Meg (Allene Roberts, who is a direct cross between Teresa Wright and Cathy O'Donnell).
When Meg's high school crush Nath (nice but bland Lon McCallister) comes to do some after-school work, the dark secret of the "The Red House" is revealed, and Robinson's obsession with Meg, and a mysterious figure from the past, grows deeper.This rises above it's B movie origins largely because of Robinson's performance, and the strange, unsettling motivations of his character.
Director/Screenwriter Delmer Daves, who adapted George Agnew Chamberlain's novel for the screen, does a superb job of establishing the sombre mood and on-going sense of danger that make this movie both suspenseful and very compelling to watch.Teenage schoolgirl Meg (Allene Roberts) who was adopted as a 2-year-old by reclusive farmer Pete Morgan (Edward G Robinson) and his sister Ellen (Judith Anderson), recognises that age and disability are making it increasingly difficult for Pete to run the farm on his own and persuades him to hire her High School friend Nath Storm (Lon McCallister) to help out with some of the evening chores.
He's a tough, handsome but not very bright young guy who, as well as adding to the romantic complications by getting involved with Tibby, displays poor judgement when using his gun and unintentionally causes injuries to both Ellen and Meg.Despite all the problems they encounter, Nath and Meg's determination to uncover the secrets of Ox Head Wood and the haunted red house remain strong and eventually lead to Meg discovering the truth about her parents and the circumstances under which she was adopted by Pete and Ellen.In a particularly memorable performance, Edward G Robinson skilfully captures the various facets of Pete Morgan's character and makes the numerous transitions he goes through seem entirely credible.
Whether he's the kindly father-figure, the angry man who threatens anyone who doesn't obey his orders or the tormented, guilt-ridden and fearful guy who becomes mentally unstable, Robinson is never less than convincing.Judith Anderson is a strong presence throughout as Pete's devoted sister who gave up her own chances of happiness in order to support and protect her brother and Allene Roberts, Julie London and Rory Calhoun stand out amongst the very talented supporting cast."The Red House" has an intriguing plot, boasts some great acting performances and is notable for its eerie atmosphere which is greatly enhanced by Miklos Rozsa's fine score and Bert Glennon's top class cinematography..
So the young people, including another over-sexed girl -- Julie London -- begin to explore those woods...but everyone is scaring them away -- Robinson and his secret hired hand Rory Calhoun.
Every time gimpy farmer Pete (Robinson) hears 'red house' or talk about shortcuts through the woods, he goes all dark and sinister.
Robinson) and Ellen (Judith Anderson) might be man and wife, living with their daughter Meg (Allene Roberts).
The last tenth tells the audience what's behind his entreaties.Robinson lives with his sister, Judith Anderson, and their adopted daughter, Allene Roberts, in a comfortable house far from the village.
Edward Gee Robinson (EG) and his spooked sister Judith Anderson (Judy) live way outside of town off the dirt road by themselves except for teen girl Meg who they adopted a long time ago. |
tt1852770 | Dracula 3D | The tale begins with Jonathan Harker, journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula's crumbling, remote castle situated in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Transylvania. The purpose of his mission is to catalogue the big library of Dracula. At first enticed by Dracula's gracious manner, Harker soon discovers that he has become a prisoner in the castle. He also begins to see disquieting facets of Dracula's nocturnal life. One night while searching for a way out of the castle, and against Dracula's strict admonition not to venture outside his room at night, Harker falls under the spell of three wanton female vampires, the Brides of Dracula.He is saved at the last second by the Count, because he wants to keep Harker alive. Harker barely escapes from the castle with his life. Soon Dracula is tracking Harker's devoted fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her friend, Lucy Westenra. There is a notable encounter between Dracula and Renfield, an insane man who means to consume insects, spiders, birds, and other creatures in ascending order of size in order to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a motion sensor, detecting Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly.Lucy begins to waste away suspiciously. All her suitors fret, and Seward calls in his old teacher, Professor Abraham Van Helsing from Amsterdam. Van Helsing immediately determines the cause of Lucy's condition but refuses to disclose it, knowing that Seward's faith in him will be shaken if he starts to speak of vampires. Van Helsing tries multiple blood transfusions, but they are clearly losing ground. On a night when Van Helsing must return to Amsterdam, Lucy and her mother are attacked by a wolf. Mrs Westenra, who has a heart condition, dies of fright, and Lucy apparently dies soon after. Lucy is buried, but soon afterward the newspapers report children being stalked in the night by a "bloofer lady". Van Helsing knows that this means Lucy has become a vampire. The suitors and Van Helsing track her down, and after a disturbing confrontation between her vampiric self and Arthur, they stake her heart, behead her, and fill her mouth with garlic.Around the same time, Jonathan Harker arrives home from recuperation in Budapest; he and Mina also join the coalition, who turn their attentions to dealing with Dracula. After Dracula learns of Van Helsing and the others' plot against him, he takes revenge by visitingand biting Mina at least three times. Dracula also feeds Mina his blood, creating a spiritual bond between them to control her. The only way to forestall this is to kill Dracula first. Mina slowly succumbs to the blood of the vampire that flows through her veins, switching back and forth from a state of consciousness to a state of semi-trance during which she is telepathically connected with Dracula. It is this connection that they start to use to deduce Dracula's movements.It is only possible to detect Dracula's surroundings when Mina is put under hypnosis by Van Helsing. This ability gradually gets weaker as the group make their way to Dracula's castle. Dracula flees back to his castle in Transylvania, followed by Van Helsing's group, who manage to track him down just before sundown and destroy him by shearing "through the throat" with a knife and stabbing him in the heart also with a knife. Dracula crumbles to dust, his spell is lifted and Mina is freed from the marks. Quincey Morris is killed in the final battle, stabbed by Gypsies who had been charged with returning Dracula to his castle; the survivors return to England. OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS | good versus evil, violence, gothic | train | imdb | The Italian master of horror, Dario Argento, delivers his cheesiest movie...in 3D.Looking at the trailers, i already knew that Dracula 3D would have been a fun and trashy cheesefest (and i gotta be honest, i have seen better CGI effects in movies made by The Asylum).Sure, the film is a fun and trashy cheesefest, but it manages to get pretty boring in many moments, plus, Rutger Hauer only appears after a big chunk of the first half of the feature.The CGI effects are cringe-worthy, they remind me of old computer games, i wouldn't be surprised if the (already) hilarious mantis scene will become an internet meme.If it wasn't for the gore scenes (which they are good enough to keep the gorehounds entertained), the sexy Miriam Giovanelli, Rutger Hauer and the soundtrack (provided by Claudio Simonetti), the film would be just forgettable, but Dracula 3D is actually a forgettable cheesefest, if it was made in the 70's or 80's, it would have been considered as a cult classic.I actually like Argento's most modern films (such as: Sleepless, Il Cartaio and Mother of tears), but if you thought that his last three films were bad, then you should take a look at Dracula 3D..
As this last version ¨Dracula¨ 3D (2012) by Dario Argento with Rutger Hauer as Abraham Van Helsing , Asia Argento as Lucy , Unax Ugalde as Johnathan Harker and Thomas Kretschmann as Dracula .
Rating : 5,5/10 ; acceptable and passable , though middlingly realized .Other films retelling the known legend based as originally conceived on this Bram Stoker novel are the followings : ¨ Dracula¨ (1974) by Dan Curtis with Jack Palance , Simon Ward , Nigel Davenport , ¨Bram's Stoker Dracula¨ with David Suchet as Abraham Van Helsing , Marc Warren as Count Dracula and Sophia Myles as Lucy ; of course , splendid versions from Hammer Production mostly starred by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing ; and Jesus Franco retelling titled ¨Count Dracula¨ with Christopher Lee , Herbert Lom , Soledad Miranda , Klaus Kinski ; the best results to be ¨Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula¨ with Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Gary Elwes , Keanu Reeves and Anthony Hopkins ..
For sure the acting was rather wooden, the effects (specially the digital ones) looked cheap sometimes and the story was not mind blowing, but I very much liked the retro-look of this film.
There is blood (mostly CG) and the lovely ladies of Dracula 3D show us their breasts and backsides.(including Dario's own daughter, the ever so attractive Asia Argento) The erotic elements will receive no complaint from me, but do not make up for such a bad film.
However "Dracula 3D" is certainly his worst movie, retelling Bram Stoker's Gothic novel with poor performances in cheesy scenario, CGI and art direction.
But as a friend of mine uses to say about this "Dracula 3D", the worst movie by Dario Argento is still better than most of the teen horror movies.
There's also some fine nudity from Miriam Giovanelli.I did like its set design though which comes across as a nice homage to the old style Universal/Hammer horrors to an almost stereotypically Gothic degree, all dark castles and heaving bosoms in corsets.I'm giving this a very generous 6/10 as despite its very real flaws and being rather uneventful in parts, it's also overall a helluva lot more entertaining than I was expecting, although sadly nowhere near as entertaining or gratuitous as his bonkers Mother of Tears.Lifelong Argento fans will in all probability hate this, but after watching it all I can say is...
A pleasant surprise, this movie goes back to the golden years of horror cinema to create an atmospheric, mesmerizing Dracula that stands out as one of the best adaptations of Bram Stoker's book.Argento reveals a capacity for the classic that matches his abilities in modern horror( where he has delivered some of the greatest films of the genre, such as Suspiria and Inferno).Dracula is one of his most accomplished films, in my opinion, and you can immerse yourself in the cold poetry of his vision.I' ve watched the film in 2D and I'm not so sure it would work as good in 3D, as I tend to imagine that the 3D feeling could potentially destroy the tone of the film.Pessimistic in spirit, it seems to bring elements from various adaptations, from Tod Browning's version to Hertzog's Nosferatou, and from Hammer's Dracula to Coppola's one, but in the end the feeling the movie creates is unique, and certainly European.The impressive thing is that Argento holds back his tendency for impressing and prefers to avoid pointless jumps in the script in favor of a certain pace that makes the film a contemporary classic.Bravo!.
"Suspiria", this ain't.Why Dario Argento attempted to make the one millionth version of "Dracula" is probably the most puzzling thing about this truly terrible version of Bram Stoker's undying novel.
Argento evidently wanted his shot at the venerable story, but the result is a hot mess that can't even qualify as a cult movie, despite the fact that late in the movie, Dracula turns himself into a giant deadly mantis to kill another extra who didn't know he needed to call Orkin.The entire movie is shot under incredibly bright light, making even the night scenes looks as if everyone's going to hit the beach as soon as the director yells "cut".
Rutger Hauer shows up late in the game as Van Helsing, gets knocked around for his trouble and Mina shoots the Count, who turns into an ashy replica of himself before blowing up real good.For Dracula completists only, and even then, on fast-forward.
Nothing will quite prepare you for just how poor this work is in virtually every conceivable sense.The film predominately follows Mina Harker (Marta Gastini), as she travels to the village of Passo Borgo at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains sometime after her husband Jonathan (Unax Ugalde) was sent to meet Count Dracula for business.
And the movie had probably been better off without this half-hearted attempt of making it in 3D.The story in the movie is fairly similar to the story that we all know, though Argento does take the liberty of adding stuff here and there, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.The movie suffered from horrible dialogue that was for most parts of the movie delivered by people who didn't speak proper English, or sounded like they were synchronized in a very bad way.
Not even Rutger Hauer (playing Abraham Van Helsing) or Asia Argento (playing Lucy) did anything to lift up the movie in any way.
And Thomas Kretschmann (playing Dracula) was just so wrongly cast for this role; the way he portrayed his lines was even more strained and oddly-paused-at-the-wrong-times than Jeremy Iron's performances in "Dungeons & Dragons".The movie made use of CGI as well, which for most parts worked out well enough.
And the costumes looked great and seemed proper for the time in which the story was supposed to take place.If you enjoy vampire movies and have a taste for the "Dracula" myth, then stay well clear of this movie, because it is a shameful attempt at telling the tale.
Dario Argento takes a dump on Bram Stoker's classic story with this amateurish, cheap and dull production of Dracula.
I already mentioned the blood and gore, but there's also a poorly done effect of bodies turning to ash as well as a laughably bad (but incredibly short) scene where Dracula attacks someone in the form of a (CGI) praying mantis(!).
Dario Argento, once my favorite horror director, has made a Dracula for those amused by the CGI giant snake films that run on the Sci-fi Channel.
The ones in this Dracula film look like they were leftover from a low budget 1990's movie.
Dracula - Dale Dabone (in place of the only fair Thomas Kretchsmann)Mina - Stoya (in place of Marta Gastini) Jonathan - James Deen (in place of the lame Unax Uglade) Lucy - Sasha Grey (in place of Asia Argento)Tania - Lexi Belle (in place of Miriam Giovanelli) Van Helsing - Nina Hartley (in place of tired looking Rutger Hauer)fat priest - Ron Jeremy (of course!)Now that I write this, I think that Argento's film would have been improved with that cast, even if it still had no sex in it.
Enter Jonathan Harker, a naive outsider who has gotten a job as Drac's librarian through his new wife Mina's best friend, a local named Lucy played by Dario's daughter Asia Argento.
Dracula rapidly becomes obsessed with Mina while posing an increasing threat to everyone else in town.As the movie proceeds, there's a ton of violence, gore, and nudity including another infamous father-daughter nude scene with Dario filming Asia taking a bath!
Dario Argento may not be the master filmmaker he once was but this certainly isn't the disaster that Giallo and Mother of Tears were and shows that he can still make a watchable little horror movie..
While small budget movies in America make it look like they do have a big budget, Dario Argento is not able to make it look like anything.Family "issues" aside (though Asia never had a problem with her body, so let's not read anything into her being naked once again in a movie by her dad), it's the acting altogether that will have you shaking your head, if not giving you a bad feeling.
Okay, now I'm certain that that is where the positives of the film ends.The effects good lord, they look like something you would see in a SyFy channel movie, maybe even worse.
All kinds of scenery chewing present from the actors (most of who I have not heard of apart from Asia Argento).The above negatives may sound good to someone who would think "this movie sounds like its bad but in a way where you can find cheesy enjoyment out of it." That is not true.
This film is Dario Argento's take on the Dracula story, with more than a few detours from the traditional telling.
Not even Rutger Hauer and music from Claudio Simonetti can save this stinker.The dubbing is poor, the acting is weak and the film opens with a terrible special effects shot.
This is a fun movie, as I mentioned this is far from Argento's best work but you can see that Dario pulled from the Bram Stoker & Hammer lore of Dracula and made something that ONLY Argento could do.
Looks like it was filmed on a bad hd video camera and who needs another uninspired retread of Dracula anyway ...
Argento's Dracula is a very low budget Euro horror movie, a faithful retelling of Stoker's original story, complete with Hammer-inspired sights and sounds.
In fact, Argento has produced a very watchable vampire film that, while certainly not the next great horror masterpiece, isn't all bad, either.
Argento seems to have based his film more upon the great Hammer films starring Christopher Lee than any other source, and while his Dracula film isn't as good as any of those classics, it's still worth a look by vampire fans of every stripe..
Dario Argento's new film is a rather enjoyable adaptation of "Dracula", full of affectionate nods to old horror movies made in the 50's and 60's, like the ones directed by Mario Bava, Riccardo Freda, Antonio Margheriti and of course the vampires movies from Hammer Films.
Most of the FX are decent (except the CGI used for the wolf bit and the weird, nosferatu-esque scene of praying mantis..) and the casting is OK, especially Rutger Hauer as a solid and charismatic Van Helsing, Marta Gastini as the appropriately cute and -not so- fragile heroine and last but not the least, a deliciously wooden Thomas Kretschmann as the melancholic Count Dracula.
With having found director Dario Argento's 2009 movie Giallo to be a shockingly dull,poorly made film,I initially decided to stay away from Argento's latest title,until I began to hear from fellow IMDb'er's that whilst being far from a return to form,the film did offer the chance of seeing Argento be much lively then he was for Giallo,which led to me deciding that it was time for me to pay a visit to Dario's Dracula.The plot:Accepting a job offer to be a libarian for a generous Count called Dracula,Jonathan Harker catches the first train to Translyvainia,as his wife Mina waves goodbye,and promises to re-join her husband in a few days time,once she has sorted out some family matters.Arriving in the town on his own,Harker attempts to talk to the locals, (who weirdly appear to be keen on placing garlic all over their buildings) but is mostly met with cold, dead stares,with the only info that Harker receives being that a number of the townspeople credit Count Dracula for pulling the village out of "the dark ages".Being in the mood of leaving the local welcome that he has received behind him,Harker sets off for Dracula's isolated mansion.Meeting Count Dracula,Jonathan Harker soon discovers that Dracula's "simple" library job has a deadly bite,that he may not be able to chew.View on the film:Streatched to a 105 minute running time,the dry,plodding moments in the screenplay by co-writer/director Dario Argento and, (deep breath!) Enrique Cerezo,Stefano Piani and Antonio Tentori are thankfully countered by a number of "unique" moments in the film,with Jonathan Harker being shown to be unable to resit temptations,and Dracula's transformation into various animals giving the movie an (unintensinal?) comedic edge,which give the movie a real burst of life.Backed by Claudio Simonetti's Ouija board score and some extremely low quality 3D effects,cinematography Luciano Tovoli gives the film a strong rustic,Gothic atmosphere,thanks to Tovoli covering the movie Autumn,candle wax red's,and dark,moody brown colours.Revaling an unexpected amount of energy,Argento attacks the set pieces in the movie with a bombastic steak,which along with helping to make the scenes as wonderfully demented as possible,gives the film a lively,comedic punch.Playing the title character,Thomas Kretschmann gives a surprisingly dry,stilted performance as Count Dracula,which along with taking away the menacing heart of Dracula,also leads to the character lacking any figure of fun aspects which would have smoothly fit in with the tone of the movie.Going in the opposite direction of Kretschmann,Rutger Hauer, (who is the first actor from the Neatherlands to actually play the role)gives a terrificly wild performance as Abraham Van Helsing,with Hauer showing Helsing's search for Count Dracula to be something that has gotten him completely off his hinges.Joining Hauer,the beautiful Miriam Giovanelli, (who also appears naked in the movie) gives the movie a full dose of erotic garlic,as Jonathan Harker realises to his horror,that he has entered Dracula's third dimension..
This is not a faithful adaptation of Dracula and Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker.Too many liberties taken with both stories.This adaptation has more in common with the Hammer Studio Dracula films.The actor playing Dracula is doing a better job on the new NBC miniseries Dracula as Van Helsing and that is not saying much since NBC has also taken too many liberties with the Stoker novel by adding in additional characters and subplots.Asia Argento is likable but lets face fact she is a little long in the tooth for the part of Lucy.Rutger Hauer's Van Helsing is a good portrayal.I didn't care for the staking of a child victim of Lucy's something that did not happen in the original novel.Dracula only has one bride in this version a peasant girl named Tanya whom he turned into a vampire in the guise of an owl instead of a bat.Dracula killing Lucy's father (she had a mother in the Stoker book) as a preying mantis.This version has Mina as the reincarnation of one of Dracula's royal wives a character from Dracula's Guest Countess Dolingen de Gratz.They never used reincarnation story lines in Dracula movies until 1973 when Dan Curtis had the Lucy character as an incarnation of Dracula's wife Maria and then you had Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 version Mina as an incarnation of Dracula's suicidal wife Elizabeta and now in the 2013 NBC you have Mina the incarnation of Dracula's murdered wife Ilona.Four things I appreciate about this version 1.I like the atmospheric quality it reminds me of the Hammer films I watched growing up.2.I appreciate that Dracula's Guest which was originally the lost chapter of Bram Stoker's Dracula has been incorporated into this version with some of it's characters.3.
I appreciate that this version at least gives names of one of the brides of Dracula the brides names were never mentioned in the Stoker novel and actually in the historical Dracula only one of his wives was named because the names of his women his first wife a boyar's daughter and mistresses were lost to history.I hope that someone in the future can come up with a Dracula film that also could create some storyline for his wives.Like who were they to him (noble or royal wives or peasant girl mistresses).4.At least this version kept the Lucy,Jonathan,Mina,Van Helsing and Renfield characters.This film isn't the worse but it is far from the best!
Italian horror master Dario Argento sexy, gory version of Dracula doesn't follow the book very much (in this version, Jonathan Harker is a librarian, hired to put order to the old books of the count), but it is a watchable effort, reminiscent of the low budget British made horror films of the 1960s and 1970s.
Argento's direction is fine, though a psychologist would surely tell us why he would want to film his daughter Asia in the nude (she plays Lucy Westenra in the movie).
German actor Thomas Kretschmann is Dracula; he has been fine in other movies, but he lacks charisma here as the Count (he has one great scene, though, taking on five or six people at the same time).
Famed Italian horror maestro Dario Argento of "Suspiria" finally sinks his own fangs in Bram Stoker's classic novel "Dracula" with his own version of the immortal tale of terror. |
tt2024519 | The Broken Circle Breakdown | «Ciclo Interrompido» conta a história de amor entre Elise e Didier. Ela tem a sua própria loja de tatuagens, ele toca banjo numa banda. É amor «à primeira vista» apesar das grandes diferenças. Ele fala, ela escuta. Ele é um ateu convicto, embora, ao mesmo tempo, um ingénuo romântico. Ela tem uma cruz tatuada no pescoço, mas os pés bem assentes na terra.
A sua felicidade completa-se com o nascimento de Maybelle. Infelizmente, Maybelle, aos seis anos de idade, adoece gravemente. Didier e Elise reagem de forma muito diferente mas Maybelle não lhes irá deixar escolha. Didier e Elise terão que lutar juntos por ela. Será possível sentir o mesmo sendo tão diferente? Ou, o amor, mesmo quando forte e intenso, pode desiludir quando mais dele se precisa? | tragedy, dramatic, sentimental, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0090022 | Silverado | The story opens with a man sleeping in a remote cabin in the Old American West. The door to the cabin bursts open and a gunman enters, shooting at the sleeping man, who is barely able to grab his pistol and shoot back, killing his would-be killer. The man continues to aim at the sides of the cabin and shoots another man walking outside. Repeated shotgun blasts blow through the roof of the cabin but the man is out of shots for his revolver. He tosses the revolver at the wood burning stove in the cabin and distracts the roof shooter long enough to grab his Winchester rifle. He shoots upward and hits the roof shooter, who falls into the cabin. The man with the rifle, Emmett (Scott Glenn), walks outside and looks over the failed assassins. He also looks at the horses, seeing a familiar brand emblem. Emmett leaves the cabin and continues his journey.Far out in the desert, he comes across another man, lying on the ground in his long underwear. He gives the man some water and takes him along. Later, as they camp for the night, the man in the underwear tells Emmett that his name is Paden (Kevin Kline) and that he'd been riding with a group of men who looted him and stole his horse. The two stop at an Army outpost where Emmett gives Paden some money to buy proper clothing. Paden suddenly spots his horse and the man who stole it. He ducks into the nearby general store where he has an argument with the shopkeep. Paden wants to borrow a pistol but the clerk won't let him. Paden asks the man for a gun worth the money Emmett gave him and is given a rusty old pistol that the cylinder falls out of. Paden rushes out to the square and loads the gun; he is spotted almost immediately by the horse thief, who rides toward him, shooting. Paden takes quick but very careful aim and shoots the man off the horse. A few minutes later, while he kisses his horse, Paden is grilled by a US Army sergeant about the shooting. Paden tells the lieutenant to look at the underside of his saddle, where his name is etched. When the lieutenant asks Paden his name, another man in the crowd, Cobb (Brian Dennehy), speaks up and tells the lieutenant how to spell it. The lieutenant checks the bottom of the saddle, confirming Paden's claim and tells the crowd to disperse. He also tells Paden to get some clothes.Cobb loans Paden money to buy clothes and a hat (that has a broken brim). Paden promises to pay Cobb back ("I'm good for it."). Cobb asks Paden to join him in a new business venture further out west. Paden refuses to join Cobb but watches as Cobb meets a scruffy, shady-looking man, Tyree, who's shackles are being removed while he's freed from custody. While Cobb and Tyree ride off, Tyree asks Paden about a dog.Emmett plans to ride to another remote town called Turley, where he'll pick up his brother, Jake (Kevin Costner), and continue to Silverado to meet their sister and her family. After they visit for a while, Jake and Emmett plan to move on to California. Paden agrees to go, especially after Emmett mentions that there's a saloon there. The two arrive and are immediately scolded by a grizzly man, Hobart, who mistakenly calls them Baxter and Holly. Hobart is leading a group of farmers who are heading to Silverado to settle. When the real Baxter and Holly arrive, Paden and Emmett are suspicious of the deal they strike with Hobart.Paden and Emmett sit down to eat in a hotel restaurant. While they eat, a large black man, Malcolm "Mal" Johnson (Danny Glover) walks in and asks for a room for the night and a bottle of whiskey. The woman behind the counter apprehensively gives Mal the whiskey, however the hotel manager tells Mal to leave, saying he doesn't serve Mal's "kind" there. Three other man, eating at another table, suddenly stand up and approach Mal to throw him out. However, Mal is much tougher and smarter and quickly beats all three in a brief fight, causing a fair amount of damage to the restaurant. Just then the town's sheriff, John Langston (John Cleese), walks in and stops the brawl. Though Emmett and Paden offer testimony that Mal didn't start the fight, Langston still orders him to leave town. Mal gathers his things and leaves, taking the only shot of whiskey that wasn't broken in the brawl. Langston sits down with Emmett and Paden, explaining despite his British ancestry, the people of Turley accepted him for maintaining the peace. To that end, he asks them why they're in town. Emmett tells him that he's meeting his brother, Jake, and when he describes him, Langston immediately knows where he is; Jake has been jailed for shooting a man. Jake tells Emmett that it was self-defense (for kissing the wrong woman), however, Langston seems driven by Old West justice and Jake is to be hanged the next morning at 10 am. Though Emmett tells Jake that he can't help him, after he leaves the sheriff's office, Emmett tells Paden he plans to bust Jake out. Paden, however, refuses to get involved and he and Emmett go to the saloon for a drink. In the saloon, Paden spots the man who stole his hat. He also surmises that the man is carrying his Colt revolver. The man stands up slowly and tries to draw but Paden is faster, and he kills him. Langston has Paden thrown in jail with Jake immediately.The next morning, a young boy calls the sheriff out of his office. Langston leaves his deputy behind and follows the boy out; the sheriff's gallows where he'd planned to hang Jake, are engulfed in flames. Back in jail, Jake picks the cell's lock. When the deputy cautiously enters the cell to investigate he sees only Paden standing there. He's just finished locking Paden's wrists to the cell bars when a boot drops into sight, behind Paden. Paden suddenly punches the deputy, knocking him cold. (Jake had been hiding piggyback on Paden.) The two find their gear and wait outside the sheriff's office for Emmett. They get into a brief gunfight with a few of the town's residents and Langston, who had returned from the burning gallows. Emmett arrives with a couple of horses and the three race out of town, with the sheriff and his posse close behind. When they reach the town's outskirts, Jake, Emmett and Paden are aided by Mal Johnson, hiding in a rock outcropping and shooting with a Henry rifle - Mal is an accomplished sniper and prevents Langston's deputy from shooting Jake and shoots Langston's hat off his head. Knowing that any further pursuit would be dangerous, Langston calls off the manhunt. Mal joins the three and they continue to Silverado.Some time later the team finds Hobart's party, stranded in the scrubland. Baxter and Holly have betrayed them and stolen the strongbox with all their money. The team leaves Jake behind to get the wagon train moving again. Paden, Mal and Emmett ride north, finding a canyon where Baxter and Holly have joined up with their own gang. Emmett rides into the canyon, towing Paden's horse with Paden slung over it, playing dead. Emmett tells the gang's leader, Dawson (James Gammon), that he needs a place to hide out from a posse after robbing a bank in Turley. Dawson is furious that Emmett led a posse to his best hideout and plans to shoot Emmett on the spot when shots are heard from above. Mal and one of the settlers are shooting from the top of the canyon. Emmett frees all of Dawson's stolen horses, causing a ruckus, while Paden ties a rope to the strongbox and rides out, towing it behind him. Emmett follows with Mal and the settler covering the escape. While the three laugh over how well Mal's plan worked, the settler believes they'll betray him and his friends as well, and orders them to hand over the box. He's suddenly shot dead by one of Dawson's men who'd been hiding in the rocks above them; the three return fire and kill him. They ride back and help Jake guide the wagon train to Silverado. That night, Mal, Jake and Emmett share a campfire and Paden hints that he's interested in a woman named Hannah (Rosanna Arquette), the wife of the man who was killed at Dawson's hideout. Mal talks about the horrible work he endured in the slaughterhouses in Chicago and how he's going to Silverado to reunite with his father and his sister on the farm his father has set up.The team guides the settlers to their territory and ride the rest of the way to Silverado. They go their separate ways. Paden goes to the local saloon and meets the woman who manages it, Stella (Linda Hunt), who is a former legendary dancer from Virginia, the Midnight Star. She and Paden bond immediately, becoming instant friends. They're both met by Cobb, who reveals that he's sheriff of Silverado, calling the place "heaven." Mal goes to his father's farm, finding it overrun with cattle. He finds his father, Ezra, hiding out in a nearby cave; Ezra had been run off his land by by the men of a powerful cattle driver named McKendrick (Ray Baker). Ezra also tells Mal that his mother had died of fever the previous summer and that Mal's sister, Rae, is now a prostitute in town. Mal vows to set things right. At Jake and Emmett's sister's house, they reunite with their family. Their brother-in-law, the town's land claims agent, tells them that the town has become corrupted by Cobb's influence. Jake and Emmett are still determined to continue on to California.At night, Mal's father goes out to a nearby stream for water. He's met there by two of McKendrick's men who steal his Henry rifle and kill him. Mal, asleep in the cave where his father had been hiding, hears the gunshots and races down to the stream to find his father dead and his Henry rifle stolen.In town, Cobb meets Paden at the saloon and fires Stella's partner, Kelly, giving his job, security chief for Stella, to Paden. Cobb accuses Kelly of skimming profits and literally throws him out of the saloon. Paden accepts the job just as Kelly tries to shoot Cobb; Cobb is quicker on the draw and kills Kelly. Paden is unsure of having Cobb as a boss. While a crowd stares at Kelly's body, a professional gambler, Slick (Jeff Goldblum), arrives and inquires about a honest game. Cobb tells him to talk to Paden.Mal goes into town to tell his sister, Rae (Lynn Whitfield), that their father is dead. Rae is mostly unconcerned and isn't happy to see her brother. Mal tries to convince Rae to give up prostitution but she refuses.The settlers that were guided to Silverado hold a large picnic, inviting their rescuers, Jake and Emmett. During the festivities, McKendrick's men attack them, shooting their dogs and livestock and setting fire to their houses. Several people are shot. Jake and Emmett shoot several of the thugs; Emmett recovers a Henry rifle from one of them.Back at the saloon, Stella and Paden discuss the liquor she sells, which she shamelessly dilutes. She shows Paden the bottle of the "good stuff" she keeps for special occasions. A disturbance in the bar gets their attention and Paden finds Jake and Cobb's man, Tyree, facing off against each other. Jake had kissed Tyree's woman, Phoebe, angering Tyree. Paden disarms the situation quickly, seizing Tyree's pistol and telling Jake to leave, reminding him about his arrest in Turley. He gives Tyree his gun back, Tyree immediately shoves it underneath Paden's chin, threatening to kill him. Stella talks him down and Tyree leaves.Emmett and Jake's nephew, Augie, rides around town on a horse and is stopped by McKendrick and some of his men. Emmett happens by and returns the horse to McKendrick when he sees the cattle rancher's brand on it, proving the men who attacked Emmett while he was sleeping worked for him. McKendrick was looking for revenge, given Emmett shot his father to prevent him from shooting Jake in the back. The two exchange wary looks and McKendrick rides off.At the saloon, Cobb tells Stella about his history riding with Paden: the two, along with a large group of thieves, had pulled off many robberies together with a small group of friends, including Tyree. A stray dog had joined the group, becoming their mascot. Following a robbery, the dog tripped up Tyree's horse, throwing him off. Tyree had shot the dog and Paden, who never cared for much more than himself, was overcome and stopped to take care of the dog. He was left behind by Cobb and the others, got arrested by the posse & served jail time. Following his telling of the story, Cobb gives Paden his first earnings in the saloon. Cobb suggests that Paden could run the saloon without Stella, however, Paden refuses, saying he'd quit before taking Stella's dream away from her. Cobb tells Paden that Emmett, Jake and Mal are causing trouble in his town. He asks Paden not to interfere with his handling of the situation and Paden agrees.Outside town, Emmett is practicing his shooting, using Mal's father's rifle. When he's out of shots, several of McKendrick's men appear, including Tyree, and hold him down while Tyree runs him down with his horse. Just as they're about to shoot him dead, Mal appears on a nearby bluff and shoots one of Tyree's men in the hand, and kills another. They're sent back to town on foot. Mal talks to Emmett, telling him that he was looking for him and his father's rifle. Emmett is horribly injured but still needs to find his brother, who will be McKendrick's next target. Mal tells him to stay and rest and that he'll find Jake. Emmett tells him he's in just as much danger for killing the McKendrick's men.Mal talks to his sister, telling her that the men who killed their father are after Jake. Rae has Slick meet Mal, with the time and place to find Jake. When Mal arrives there, Cobb is waiting and has Mal beaten and arrested. While incarcerated, Paden visits Mal, who is distrustful of his friend since Paden works for Cobb.At Jake and Emmett's sister's house, McKendrick has captured them and waits for Jake. Jake returns home and is immediately captured. After he's brought outside, the house is set on fire to burn the land registries. His brother-in-law tries to stop McKendrick's men and is shot. His wife is knocked unconscious as well and Augie is kidnapped, having seen who caused the fire. News of the fire soon reaches the saloon. Paden and Stella rush to the fire; Stella directs her men to help with a bucket brigade headed by Paden, however, the fire has burned way beyond control. Cobb appears and says how he hates to see such destruction in his town. He again warns Paden that any interference could be dangerous for Stella.While Stella grills Paden on why he was just sitting around with everything going on, Rae gets word of her brother's capture and steals Slick's dagger, which he conceals in his boot. The deputy Mal shot in the hand brings her to him and tries to "search" her. She stabs the man in the back with Slick's dagger but is shot. Mal grabs the man and forces the dagger deeper into his chest, killing him. As he struggles for the keys to his cell, another of Cobb's deputies enters the room. Mal, virtually unable to see the man at an angle, throws the dagger into his chest, killing him. While this was going on, Stella figures out why Paden wouldn't act: Cobb was using her as leverage. She said there are always people in the world who think they can push others around. Paden admires her spirit but is still afraid of Cobb hurting her. (STELLA: He can't hurt me...if he's dead.) Phoebe then arrives to show them that Mal freed himself and left his unconscious sister in the storage room.Mal goes back to the cave where he'd left Emmett and tells him the evening's events, particularly about Augie being kidnapped. Overcoming his injuries, Emmett rises to his feet and gears up. Mal does as well, taking both his and his father's rifles. The pair ride out and are joined by Paden. They ride out to McKendrick's house on his cattle ranch. Causing a massive cattle stampede, they take out most of McKendrick's men. Mal takes up a position on the roof of the rancher's house, providing sniper cover fire. Emmett rides to the house and finds his nephew, killing several men. Augie tells Emmett that Jake was killed on the way to the house when he fell off his horse and into a deep ravine. Emmett smiles, knowing that Jake, an acrobat of some talent, would never have such an accident. Paden battles several more men in the horse barn and is nearly shot when one thug sneaks up on him with Jake's pistols. As he moves in, Jake swings down on a rope, knocking the man out cold. The two take out the rest of the men in the barn and retreat, Jake finding both Augie and Emmett at the house. Mal is nearly killed himself on the roof, however, he is able to take out his killer after a warning from Paden. The team leaves the ranch and rides for Silverado.At the outskirts of town, the team gears up and leaves Augie at the town cemetery. Jake rushes into the saloon, drawing the attention of Tyree and another deputy. The two search the saloon but can't find Jake, who'd been hiding under the platform that Stella has behind the bar. Jake, having removed his boots, sneaks out to find that Tyree and his partner have walked down opposite sides from the front door. Jake calls out to them and shoots them both simultaneously.Mal goes to the store room where Rae lies injured. Slick is there, having traced Rae. Slick, telling Mal that Rae needs a doctor, tries to kill Mal with a hidden Derringer, however, Mal is too fast. Slick reaches for his dagger, but is stabbed by Mal with it.Emmett rides through town looking for McKendrick and the two begin a furious horseback gunfight. Emmett is able to take out McKendrick's sniper, but loses his rifle when McKendrick lands a lucky shot, jamming it. Emmett is also shot in the leg by his enemy, dropping his pistol. Emmett lures McKendrick to the other side of town; riding his horse up a loading ramp, he makes his horse jump from a platform, it's hooves hitting McKendrick in the head, killing him.Paden and Cobb face off in a traditional Old West duel, with Stella looking on. The two say goodbye to each other. Cobb draws first, but is too slow and Paden kills him. Paden slowly re-holsters his pistol.Paden and Stella meet back in the saloon and finally share a drink of the "good stuff." Emmett and Jake say their goodbyes as well and head out for California, like they planned, their brother-in-law and sister and Augie are safe. Mal and Rae head back to their father's farm. As they all leave, Paden now wears the Silverado sheriff's badge and seems likely to marry Hannah, the settler. | cult, murder, violence | train | imdb | Two film makers decided to test the waters, however; Clint Eastwood, reviving an older version of his "Man with No Name", directed and starred in his SHANE homage, PALE RIDER; and Lawrence Kasdan, fresh from the huge success of THE BIG CHILL, fulfilled his life-long dream to make a western, with SILVERADO.
Neither film was successful at the box office, and pundits predicted they would soon be forgotten...but a new force in the movie industry was emerging, video rentals, and SILVERADO, with it's spectacular action sequences, charismatic heroes, and sweeping, unforgettable music score (by Bruce Broughton), was an unexpected and overwhelming hit, drawing Hollywood's attention to the new market, and lifting the film to the near-classic cult status it enjoys today.While PALE RIDER would focus on Clint Eastwood's continuing demythologizing of the West (which would culminate in 1992's UNFORGIVEN), SILVERADO embraces all the 'classic' Western clichés, serving them up with such exuberance that they seem 'fresh'.
The story of four likable 'shootists' of nearly superhuman skills, bonding, and ultimately taking on a corrupt sheriff and his brutal gang of deputies in the town of Silverado, trots out one traditional element after another, from the classic 'bushwhack' (with a John Ford 'Doorway Framing' homage shot) to the 'pretty widow' in a wagon train; from the 'saloonkeeper with a heart of gold' to the 'crooked gambler with a concealed weapon'...and even climaxes with that most traditional of finales, as two ex-partners face off on a dusty street in an old-fashioned Western shootout.The four leads couldn't have been cast more perfectly; Scott Glenn channels Gary Cooper as a laconic cowboy fresh from an undeserved 5-year prison stretch; Kevin Kline exudes his signature charm as an ex-gang member whose life changed because of "a dog"; Danny Glover is warm and reassuring as a man moving west from Chicago to help his family, armed with a legendary Henry rifle; and, best of all, young Kevin Costner, in his breakout performance, is irresistible, wild and acrobatic, as Glenn's ever-optimistic, carefree younger brother, a part Kasdan wrote specifically for the actor, after his scenes were cut from THE BIG CHILL.The supporting cast is equally superb, with standout performances by giant Brian Dennehy, John Cleese (as a sheriff who knows 'where' his jurisdiction ends), Jeff Goldblum, Linda Hunt, James Gammon ("You led a posse to my best hide-out??"), Jeff Fahey, and, in a wonderful if brief role, breathtaking Rosanna Arquette, as the widow courted by both Kline and Glenn.
With a cast THIS good, it is remarkable that the film had to 'go to video' to achieve success!The final line of SILVERADO, "We'll be back!", shouted by Costner as he and Glenn ride 'into the sunset', has had countless fans wishing that a follow-up movie had been made (a 1999 nationwide video poll chose SILVERADO as the film "Most Deserving of a Sequel"), but time has, sadly, eliminated that possibility.
The film that 'failed' when released, in a genre that 'experts' considered passé, is, after nearly 20 years, still winning new fans.As Kevin Kline and Linda Hunt say, as a toast: "Here's to the good stuff...May it last a long time!".
Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Danny Glover, Patricia Arquette, Brian Dennehy, Jeff Fahey, Jeff Goldblum, John Cleese, and many more populate this well-paced wild west adventure about friendship, loyalty, and justice.
That one line from Jake (Kevin Costner) as he, Paden (Kevin Kline), Emmett (Scott Glenn), and Mal (Danny Glover) are riding into town for the last battle against a corrupt sheriff (Brian Dennehy) exemplifies everything that is great about 'Silverado'.
The supporting cast has some nice players: John Cleese shows up as a fair-minded sheriff who seems to have walked over from a Monty Python skit; Academy Award-winner Linda Hunt ('The Year Of Living Dangerously') steals scenes as a strong-willed bar owner who Kevin Kline befriends; and Brian Dennehy is thoroughly slimy as the villain.The action is fun, and director Lawrence Kasdan shows a gift for this material (granted, he was the person who wrote 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'), and the screenplay (also by Kasdan) is joyous in the way it resurrects the Western.
Among the "lists" you see on this website's message boards and elsewhere, you rarely see this movie mentioned among top westerns and that is a huge oversight.There are four main "good guys" that are played by well-known actors: Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner and Danny Glover.
except Kevin Costner.Well, I watched it recently on Turner Classic Movies and, reluctantly, decided it was just prejudice, however deserved, and in truth Costner really made a very good cowboy.There is a little secret here I won't completely divulge: Watch how actors mount their horses, and you'll see if they really know Western riding and, for that matter, if the director knows his business.One of the actors deserving special praise is Brian Dennehy.
He, of course, was right at home.Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, and Danny Glover also looked right at home, as if they had been born making Westerns.Linda Hunt, another actor who can seemingly do no wrong, was in another movie this same year, 1985, the terribly unfairly ignored "Eleni," and it and "Silverado" both were much better than the movie that carried nearly all the awards, and which I won't name here.That other film might have deserved the Oscar for its score, but even the score of "Silverado" was first class and would have got my vote if I were allowed to cast a ballot.
In 1880 , two brothers (Scott Glenn and Kevin Costner) along with an unlikely comrade (Kevin Kline) and an African-American (Danny Glover) arrive in the Old West town named Silverado ruled by a nasty marshal (Brian Dennehy) , there they become embroiled in a violent feuding over a valuable patch of land and flock .
As an avid fan of the Westerns, both old and new, I have nothing but compliments for "Silverado" and even now, almost a quarter of a century since its theatrical debut, it still holds up as a terrifically entertaining good-hearted Western action film and fills the souls of its viewers with the same wild love and thrill that the classics and the men who made them have.While "Pale Rider" and later, "Unforgiven" (1992) brought us a gritty, cynical view of the 19th century world, "Silverado" brings us one full of glory and spectacle from its magnificent scenery to its pulse-raising downtown shootouts and standoffs.
"Silverado" is basically the same kind of film as "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) and the other gun-blazing Westerns from the golden age revamped and upgraded for a more contemporary audience, but still working more or less in the same way."Silverado" is full of old-fashioned, but terrifically entertaining action scenes ranging from fistfights to classic one-on-one showdowns in the middle of a deserted dusty street, but part of what also keep it standing on its own feet are the background stories of the colorful characters, many of whom are played by actors quite unfamiliar to the Western genre.
Many of the reviews say _Silverado_ broke new ground for the Western genre, but I would argue that while it was undoubtedly good escapist fun, it was more derivative than innovative.Sure, the conversations often seem much more natural than those from other Westerns, and indeed most of the characters are drawn with more dimensions intact, but the entire script could have been pulled together by pulling scenes from a bag full of ideas from other movies.
Admittedly, this one came along when the Western was going through a bit of a dry spell, which made it all the more welcome.Four very engaging stars - Kevin Kline as Paden, Scott Glenn as Emmett, Danny Glover as Mal, Kevin Costner as Jake - are an interesting combo, as these characters, united by circumstance, eventually band together to fight against the injustices occurring in the town of Silverado.
Kasdan was setting out to celebrate, not call into question, traditional ideas of the West; his is a West where the heroes are heroic, the villains villainous and the men in the metaphorical white hats always come out on top.Most of the cast play their parts well, including the two Kevins, Costner and Kline, as the brothers Paden and Jake, Brian Dennehy as the villainous sheriff and Danny Glover as the black cowboy Mal.
This is not necessarily inaccurate- doubtless there were English immigrants in the West- but Cleese's style of acting has always been more suited to comedy than to serious drama.The main problem with the film is that Kasdan does not really succeed in bringing anything new to the Western genre in the way in which one of his stars, Kevin Costner, was to succeed in doing with "Dances with Wolves" a few years later- or indeed as he himself was to do in his next Western, "Wyatt Earp", which also starred Costner.
It is, however, a handsome, well-made film with an iconic performance from Eastwood himself as the mysterious, possibly supernatural, Preacher."Pale Rider" may recycle one or two well-worn situations, but "Silverado" seems to be a compendium of nearly every stock cliché from the previous fifty years of making Westerns- the villainous rancher, the equally villainous lawman, the wagon train, the cattle stampede, the man wrongly accused of murder, the man seeking revenge for the murder of his father, the final climactic shoot-out in the main street of the town.
Not unless it's "Airplane," and this isn't, it's "Silverado," director Lawrence Kasdan's heartfelt but cluttered Valentine to the Western.Heading west, reformed outlaws Emmett (Scott Glenn) and Paden (Kevin Kline) become a band, first by springing Emmett's wild brother Jake (Kevin Costner), then by getting saved from a posse by Mal (Danny Glover), crack shot with a Henry rifle.
There really is no weak link in the entire film but some of the others who stand out are Linda Hunt, tough but gentle as saloon keeper Stella and Brian Dennehy whose character could have been just a great hulking bear of a villain but because of the magnetism he brings and the way he plays the part with a twinkle in his eye makes him far more interesting.
That's just the problem: There are so many top notch actors to watch, by the time the action reaches SILVERADO, your not sure who to watch anymore.With all that terrific talent on hand, it's also amazing to me that Producer-Director-Writer Lawrence Kasdan (THE BIG CHILL) would cast such a weak head villain, particularly with such strong ones (Fahey and Dennehy) to compete for attention.Still this is the most "ridingist, fightingist, shootingist" western of the 80s, and one of the five best of the last three decades.
John Cleese is unconvincing as a Sheriff, Danny Glover misses Mel Gibson as a funny Man, and Kevin Kline demonstrates yet again he does not have as broad a range of talent as his press releases suggest.Kevin Costner hams it up, and the film would have been better directed by Mel Brooks.
To me, Lawrence Kasdan's "Silverado" and Christopher Cain's "Young Guns" (1988) are the greatest westerns from the 1980's, films that brought some positive innovations to the genre; the most memorable sighs the genre had in that period before its ultimate resurrection in the following decade with the acclaim of titles like "Dances with Wolves" and "Unforgiven".Hardly original but always effective, this homage made by Kasdan (who also paid a tribute to the noir with "Body Heat") presents four good guys (Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover and Kevin Costner) dealing with a great load of trouble and danger while trying to make their way to the city of Silverado (and there's trouble in there as well), and there they're gonna fight with the corrupt authorities of the place.
Besides the mentioned main stars, there's room for veteran heavyweights like Brian Dennehy, Rosanna Arquette, Jeff Fahey, Jeff Goldblum, John Cleese, Lynn Whitfield, Joe Seneca, Richard Jenkins and the memorable performance of Linda Hunt, playing the helpful saloon owner.It shows that the Old West wasn't just a place for bad guys and hard faces, but also a place for guys that weren't so good in their behavior but always tried to do the right thing for the right people and for themselves too.
It's the year 1880.Four men, Paden, Emmett, Jake and Mal, start their journey to the town of Silverado.They have to release Emmett's brother Jake from jail first, where he is waiting for his hanging.In Silverado they have a job to do.Silverado from 1985 is directed by Lawrence Kasdan.It stars some very fine stars.Also in the smaller parts there are some pretty known names.Kevin Kline plays the part of Paden.Scott Glenn is Emmett.The young Kevin Costner is very energetic in his performance as Jake.Today this man, at 55, is acting, directing and touring with his band Modern West.He even visited here in Finland a few weeks earlier.Danny Glover portrays Malachi "Mal" Johnson.Joe Seneca is his father Ezra while Lynn Whitfield portrays his sister Rae.John Cleese represents what you could call surprise casting.This Brit from Monty Python group plays Sheriff John T.
Langston.The other Sheriff, Cobb, is portrayed by Brian Dennehy.Jeff Goldblum plays 'Slick' Calvin Stanhope.Jeff Fahey is Deputy Tyree.The late Earl Hindman remembered from the show Home Improvement plays J.T. Hollis.Richard Jenkins is Kelly.The late Brion James is in an uncredited part playing Hobart.In the female department we have Rosanna Arquette as Hannah.Linda Hunt is Stella, the owner of the saloon Midnight Star.The movie has pretty much of good stuff.It's great to watch Paden's gunman skills-in his underwear.The last showdown looks cool.The movie takes place in the old west, but it looks very 80's.It's not necessarily a bad thing, especially for us who like the 80's..
A basic good versus evil story is brought to life with terrific characters portrayed by some of the best actors the movie industry has to offer.I recommend that you add "Silverado" to the Westerns section of your "Top Ten Desert Island" collection.
"Silverado" shows that Scott Glenn could perhaps be a powerful Western-star, but his whole potential is hardly used to it´s best here, and I guess that the direction from Lawrence Kasdan is overall uneven.
Well, I've read the previous comments and I disagree with the user review...The reviewer needs to watch many more westerns...Scott Glen, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, Rosanna Arquette, Jeff Goldblum and Jeff Fahey all give credible performances because they can act in almost any genre...The 2 Kevin's...ie; Costner and Kline are obviously ill suited for westerns...Don Knotts as Paden would have made a better impact than Kline...Perhaps Sam Elliot or Tom Selleck would have been better casted in the roles of Paden and Jake...but then again, this is not a real western but a tinsel town contrived escape from reality...I'm surprised they didn't have Madonna in the cast, yodeling...The basic problem with this movie is that Kasden's don't have a clue !.
It stars Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, Jeff Goldblum Linda Hunt and Rosanna Arquette.
Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover and Kevin Costner play four cowboys struggling against bad direction to make a throwback western script by the writer of such classics as The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Released in 1985, "Silverado" is a Western about two brothers (Scott Glenn & Kevin Costner) and two other gents (Kevin Kline & Danny Glover) who become friends and ultimately team-up to take on the corrupt sheriff of the New Mexican town Silverado.The first time I watched "Silverado" was in the mid-90s and I was turned off by the implausibility of the prison break scene in the first act, not to mention the nigh goofiness of Costner's character.
Even the name gives away the genre of this movie, if you swap in your mind Scott Glenn for John Wayne, Kevin Kline for Dean Martin or Bob Mitchum, Costner for James Caan and Danny Glover for any one of the character actors the Duke retained in his entourage and Silverado would sit comfortably in the Rio Lobo, Eldorado and Rio Bravo stable of westerns.Once you do fix those role changes in your head the film becomes unfairly disappointing when you realise how much you miss the Duke and inevitably predictable.That said it was a good western with the old fashioned Black Hat/White Hat virtues of good and evil portrayed in its classic format.No surprises once you realise it is not a comedy and John Clease is really playing a straight role, and a 'feel good' ending as the genre dictates..
this is another western i thoroughly enjoyed.i really liked the story and the interesting mix of characters.this was Kevin Costner's first big role,and he certainly has fun with his character.Kevin Kline though is really a standout here.but there are also some other great actors involved.Brian Dennehy is good,as is Scott Glenn,and Danny Glover.I also really liked Linda Hunt as Stella.but again,there is one actor who i felt just didn't fit in this movie.that was Jeff Goldblume.he just seemed out of place to me.the movie itself is well paced,and has a very rousing score,which is perfect for this film.so far though,there are two westerns which are my favourite up to this point.both Open Range,also with Kostner(and Robert Duvall)and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.however,Silverado is still an immensely entertaining film.for me,it's a strong 8/10.
It has an incredible cast, from the four main leads (Glenn, Costner, Kline, and Glover), down to the secondary types (particular Brian Dennehy, but also Linda Close) down to even minor roles like Jeff Goldblum, Jeff Fahey, Roseanne Arquette and John Cleese).
Quirky and fun, it's more of a flashier western, in the mould of Young Guns or Tombstone, than Something like The Outlaw Josie Wales or Pale Rider (the latter released the same year) with beautiful location photography, a fantastic score (which was one of the 2 Oscars the movie was nominated for) it's a very fun easy watch.It's a cliché story with stereotypical characters, but each of the four leads (Kevin Klein, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover and KC) performances are so good, none more so than KC, it never for one minute bothers you. |
tt1259571 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | A thick, yellow moon slowly transforms into the title "New Moon."We hear Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart)'s voice, quoting Friar Lawrence from "Romeo and Juliet": "These violent delights have violent ends.." and, although we don't know it yet, she is having a nightmare. She fights through a crowd of group of red cloaked strangers in the noon-day sun. She looks up to see a clock tower and the big hand that moves to 12:00. Suddenly she emerges from the woods into a glade of flowers, looking across to her grandmother (Christina Jastrzembska). Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) comes up behind Bella. She tries to warn him away, "Don't. She'll see you." He keeps approaching, however. She seems to welcome his decision to reveal himself and, as she takes his hand says, "Okay." They approach Bella's Grandma and Bella says, "Gran, I'd like you to meet Edward," but the words come out of the older woman, as well as Bella. She realizes it is her, older, wrinkled, and her Grandma is really her reflection, standing next to an eternally youthful Edward. He leans over and kisses her wrinkled forehead.Charlie (Billy Burke), Bella's father, wakes her up from the nightmare. She's fallen asleep reading "Romeo and Juliet."He wishes Bella a happy birthday. He gives her two gifts, a digital camera from him, and a scrapbook from her mother. She protests weakly as she'd thought they'd agreed that she wasn't going to get any presents. He jokes that she is obsessed with aging and points out a grey hair on her head. Bella scurries to the mirror, relieved that he was kidding.As Bella drives to school in her old brick red, beat-up Chevrolet truck (license plate 24G-7HI) the radio relays that three hikers are missing, presumed dead. When she arrives at the parking lot she talks to her friends, Jessica, Mike, Angela, and Eric, all of who seem to know nothing of her birthday. She takes a picture of them as Edward drives up in the parking lot in a brand-new, black Volvo 2010 X60 (license plate 57F-6D3). The rest of the group depart when he arrives. Edward wishes her a happy birthday. Bella tells him shes not very happy about it. She's eighteen now, which is a year older than him. Edward discounts her worry. After all, hes 109. They kiss passionately but he breaks away, saying that they need to go to class. He also stops her because Jacob wants to see her, even though he hasn't arrived yet.When he does Edward backs away. Bella marvels at the changes that have come over Jacob (Taylor Lautner), teasing him about taking anabolic steroids. He too gives Bella a gift. It's a dreamcatcher, a woven band meant to keep bad dreams away. "That's kinda perfect," says Bella, reflecting on her nightmare. Jacob departs.Edward asks Bella why Jacob Black can give her gifts but he cannot. She tells him the reason is that she cannot give him back anything.In the hallway of the school the rest of the school-age Cullen clan arrive. Though Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) is glad to see her, Jasper Cullen (Jackson Rathbone) remains aloof, staring at her from the other side of the hallway. Alice gives her a present which, using her vampire ability of augury, tells Bella she will love. She also invites Bella to a birthday party they're going to have for her that night, which starts at 7:00. Bella agrees but then realizes that Jasper has altered her mood to make her happily agree and gently chides him for it.In class Edward and Bella are talking during the movie that is being shown. Edward says how doesn't like Romeo because he is so quick to act after he sees Juliet dead, but he is jealous of him for one reason. Bella believes this to be of Juliet, but he says it is of the ease of suicide humans have, since it is almost impossible for vampires. He later tells Bell that he began to think along these lines when he thought Bella might not have survived the attack by James a few months before. He says he would have gone and provoked the Volturi. Bella is horrified by this thought and says he should never say it again. Edwards is then questioned by their teacher, Mr. Berty, who believes he's not been paying attention to the BBC version of "Romeo and Juliet" they've been watching. Edward responds by quoting Romeo's final soliloquy from the play."O, here
Will I set up my everlasting rest,
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last!
Arms, take your last embrace! and, lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss"This silences their teacher.Bella goes to the Cullens' house for a birthday party. Before the proceedings Edward and Bella stand before a painting of the Volturi, which includes Edward's vampiric father Carlisle Cullen (Peter Facinelli). The painting comes to life, showing an earlier time, as Edward explains that Carlisle lived with them for a few decades and that the Volturi are the closest things the vampire race has to royalty. They have no respect for human life but they do respect the arts, the sciences and, above all, the law. The Volturi have simple rules: to not make spectacles of themselves, to not kill conspicuously. The penalty for disobedience is death. During this exposition the Volturi tableau shows Aro (Michael Sheen), the supposed leader, Marcus (Christopher Heyerdahl) who has long-flowing black hair, and Caius (Jamie Campbell Bower), who has long-flowing white hair, taking a transgressor, laying their hands upon him, and tearing him apart as Carlisle turns away, disturbed.Edward has broken the law by telling Bella, a human, too much. He also predicts that Victoria will come for him some day. Bella tells Edward that they would never have to think about this if he would turn her into a vampire. He says firmly that won't ever happen.All are gathered in the main hall. Rosalie Cullen (Nikki Reed) gives her a necklace, which she claims was all Alice's idea. Then Emmett (Kellan Lutz) gives her an empty box, but tells her that he has already installed a new sound system in her beat-up truck ("Don't hate the truck," jokes Bella) . As she opens another gift from Carlisle and Esme, Bella gets a paper cut and a drop of her blood lands on the carpet. Jasper immediately lunges for her, unable to resist the temptation of her blood. Edward protectively throws Bella back against a glass table and repels Jasper, throwing him backward into a piano. Jasper comes on, mad for her blood, but he's stopped by Edward, Carlisle and Emmett. Bella's right arm is seriously cut by the shards. Even Alice seems tempted by the sight and smell of her blood and apologetically has to excuse herself. Carlisle also has to order Edward out, who stands transfixed by the bleeding sight of Bella, several feet away, with the excuse that only he can talk to Jasper, who must now be ashamed of his actions.Carlisle takes her to get stitches in his office. Bella asks him how he can resist her. "Practice," he tells her. She asks him why he does it, and he says he wants to help people, even if he is "damned regardless." She does not understand what he means. "Like hell?" she presses, insisting this is impossible. Carlisle tells her of the belief that vampires do not have souls. Bella realizes that is why Edward will not change her. "Imagine the reverse," Carlisle says, "if you could take away his soul." He burns her blood in a bowl.Afterward, Edward drives home with her in her truck. He talks about the welfare of Bella's soul. Bella argues that he can't always protect her. She will get ill, have an accident, and get old. If he turns her, none of this will happen. "That's not a solution," Edward counters, "It's a tragedy." Bella says she doesn't care about her soul. But its still Bella's birthday and she requests one last thing, that Edward kiss her. They do and Edward again has to restrain himself. They exchange vows of love.That evening Bella prints out a photo of her and Edward. She folds the photo in half, leaving Edward's side facing up.The next day the Cullens are not at school. Edward comes over to Bella's house after school before she arrives. He sees the bent photo. Bella arrives and Edward intercepts her before she gets to the house. He tells her they have to talk. After a walk some ways away on a trail in the forest, he stops and tells her that they are leaving Forks. "Carlisle is supposed to be ten years older than he looks and people are starting to notice." Bella says that she'll have to prepare some excuse for Charlie but when she notices that Edward isn't picking up on the suggestion realizes he isn't talking about taking her with them. "You don't belong in my world," says Edward. "I belong with you," she retorts. "I don't want you to come," he continues. "If this is about my soul, take it," she protests, "I don't want it without you." He gets more pointed. He can't stay with her anymore, stating, "You're not good for me." He asks her to promise that she will not do anything reckless, for Charlie's sake, and in return he promises her she will never see him again. He kisses her on her forehead and disappears. Bella runs after him and as it gets dark. Lost deep in the woods she trips and drops to the forest floor, depleted and deserted. She falls asleep sobbing. An enormous wolf watches her from a nearby rise.Back at the Swans house (number 184) that same night, a search party is starting to form, looking for Bella. When it's mentioned that the Cullens have left town, Charlie's friend Harry (Graham Greene) says, Good riddance. From the woods at the edge of the house a shirtless Sam Uley (Chaske Spencer) carries Bella in his arms. He hands her over to Charlie. Harry nods to Sam in some sort of recognition.Safe now but still depressed and unable to see or contact Edward, Bella becomes despondent for many months. She writes e-mails to Alice (at acullen@) though they all appear to be undeliverable. She screams at night, waking Charlie. Her wailing is so uncontrollable that Charlie confronts her. She is to go to Jackson because she needs a new setting. He suggests that she leave Forks. Finally, to appease her father and to stay in Washington she tells him she's arranged to go shopping with Jessica (Anna Kendrick). Charlie finds this unlikely but is pleased that she's doing something social.Jessica and Bella leave a zombie film called "The Dead Come Back" (showing at 7:00 and 9:45) Bella spies a bunch of bikers in front of a bar called One-Eyed Pete's. She recognizes them as the same gang that Edward beat up when they menaced Bella during their pre-courtship. Seeing them she also recalls Edward's admonition not to do anything reckless and she even sees a ghostly visage of him. "Keep walking," he says, "this is dangerous." He then disappears. Excited, and wanting to have another visitation, she assumes that Edward will appear before her only if she's doing something that will endanger her. She comes up to one of the seedier bikers and asks for a ride. He lets her get on and speeds down the street. Again she sees the spectral Edward, warning her not to do what she's doing. She arrives back in one piece, much to the horror and disgust of Jessica, who states that she's either insane or suicidal and asks her if she's now become an adrenaline junkie.Bella continues to write e-mails to Alice. She describes her situation as having "a hole in my chest."Bella renews her friendship with Jacob. She brings him two dilapidated motorcycles, asking him to help her refurbish them. Though she warns him that they're heavy, Jacob easily lifts them from the bed of her truck. 'You're like, buff,' she says, incredulous. 'You're like 16." "What are you?, he retorts, "Like 40?"As they strip and reassemble the bikes the easy friendship between Bella and Jacob grows more substantial. She smiles. He introduces her to "my two boys" Quill and Embry. They state that Jacob has been calling Bella his girlfriend. Jacob corrects them. He was calling her a girl who was a friend. Jacob and Quill wrestle.Bella is still plagued by bad dreams, however.As Bella drives Jacob they see some of the Quileute tribe, Sam, Paul, Embry and Jared, cliff diving. Jacob is clearly upset by them. He refers to them as "Sam and his cult," and "Sam and his disciples." Jake says that Embry had formerly said they were like "hall monitors on steroids" but now was one of them. "Sam keeps giving me this look, like he's waiting for me," Jacob says.Once the bikes are operational Bella and Jake takes them out. Bella drives recklessly, trying to conjure up Edward's spirit again. As she speeds along his spectral form passes by her on the road like mile markers. But she loses control of the bike. She wrecks the bike and Jacob drives his bike down the road to her accident. Bella wants to go again but she is bleeding from the head. She apologizes but then realizes that she doesn't need to around Jake. He pulls off his shirt and dabs her head. "You're sorta beautiful," she says.In the cafeteria at school Bella rejoins her old group of friends. Angela (Christian Serratos) says she saw a large wolf and the group talks about how five hikers have now been killed. Mike asks her if she would like to go to a movie. He suggests, "Love Spelled Backward Is Love." Wanting nothing to do with romance Bella suggests "Face Punch." Bella invites the rest of the group to go along. Everyone agrees to go to "Face Punch."At the theater Mike and Jacob wait outside. Jacob acts territorial as if he wants to frighten Mike away, telling him hears that "Face Punch" "sucks." Bella arrives and explains that's it's just the three of them as Jessica has bailed and Angela was home with the stomach flu. They go into the movie. The films tagline is "Let's Do This!"As they watch the movie they hear the film's tagline ("Lets do this!") spoken during what sounds like a Mexican standoff onscreen. Bella looks down at the armrests on either side of her. Both Jacob and Mike have their hands on the rests, turned upward, as if waiting for her to settle her hands on theirs. The violent conflict onscreen turns Mike's stomach, who leaves to presumably get sick.Outside, in the lobby (where posters announce other films coming up including "Parking" and "Gambling, Gods and LSD") Jacob tries to hold Bella's hand. She draws away. She's obviously conflicted. "I'm not like a car you can fix up. I'm never gonna run right," she says. "You're about to ruin everything and I need you," she tells him. Jacob says that he knows what's standing between them is Edward. He continues, "I know what he did to you. I would never, ever, do that. I won't ever hurt you. I promise." She puts her head on his shoulder. Mike arrives, stating that he needs to go home, claiming he was feeling sick before the movie. His weakness rankles Jacob who threatens to put him in the hospital. Bella intervenes and discovers that Jacob is burning up. Jacob is taken aback by his own aggression, says he doesn't know what's happening to him, and leaves in a rush.Bella is alternately haunted by dreams and visions of Edward and her longing for the physical presence of Jacob. She leaves numerous phone messages for him, asking why he won't return any of her calls. She is told he has mononucleosis.Charlie and Harry get ready to go fishing. Charlie is worried about leaving her alone and she, conversely, is worried about them going out into the woods with those hulking creatures. "Bears wont get the drop on me, Bella," Harry says, "My kung-fu is strong."Finally she finally decides to track down Jacob and confront him herself. When she arrives at Jacob's house it's raining. Jacob has indeed changed; he's cut his hair quite short and has a tattoo. He seems ashamed of something and now, instead of trying to keep her around, warns Bella away. "I'm not good," he says. "I used to be." She asks if Sam and his cult have gotten to him. "Sam's trying to help me," counters Jacob. If she wants someone to blame for their predicament, he tells her, she can blame those filthy blood-suckers you love; the Cullens. She doesn't know how Jacob knows that the Cullens are vampires but it unnerves her and she leaves.Attempting to "find the place where I can see him again" Bella walks into a glade similar to the one from her early dream and discovers the vampire Laurent there. He too is looking for the Cullens and is equally surprised by her presence. He informs her he is doing the bidding of Victoria and wants to know where Edward is. Edward's ghostly presence appears, "Lie," he tells Bella. She begins to stutter out an excuse. "Lie better," says Edward. Laurent asks why she has been left unprotected by the Cullens since he believed her to be some sort of pet. He also points out that she couldn't be very important to them if they've left her so vulnerable. Bella starts to plead and bargain but Laurent has decided she's too mouth-watering to not feast on. When Edward's spirit tells her to threaten Laurent, he doesn't believe her at all. He claims that he's being merciful as Victoria had planned to kill her slowly, painfully and he will kill her quickly. Bella believes she's going to die and simply says, 'I love you, Edward,' wanting these to be her last words. Before Laurent can strike, however, an enormous black wolf emerges. Several other wolves join him and they chase after Laurent. The last wolf to give chase fixes upon Bella and she is reflected in his canine eye. Up ahead Laurent thrusts the lead black wolf back and a vicious battle begins.Back at the house Bella bursts in to inform Charlie and Harry that she has seen the creatures that have been killing people in the woods and that they're wolves. Charlie tells Harry to get some guys from the reservation together so that they can go hunting, and Charlie decides he had better go down to the police station to file the report. Bella urges him to go so that he will get out of the house, since she thinks that Laurent will have gone and told Victoria of Bella's situation, and that she will be coming soon to kill her.That night, in her room, she hears someone throwing pebbles at her window. She looks down to see Jacob. He effortlessly climbs up to her second story room. He wants to explain to her whats going on with him but he can't, he tells her. He begs her to remember the story he told her on the beach in LaPush. She recalls the story of the "cold ones," the vampires but obviously can't recollect the entire tale. She brushes his hair but he sees the scar from the bite from the vampire James. Bella suggests that they leave Forks. She would go, she says, if he would come with her. He hugs her but realizes that he is endangering her and leaps from her window.The next day Bella arrives at Jacob's house. When Billy Black (Gil Birmingham) opens the door he tells her that Jacob is not home. Not believing him, she bursts into Jacobs room to find him sleeping soundly, as though exhausted. Bella sees Sam, Paul, Embry, and Jared leaving the woods. She charges up to them, telling them to leave Jacob alone. They laugh mockingly at her, causing Bella to slap Paul. He immediately transforms into an enormous wolf, to the amusement of the other Quileutes. She runs from Paul just as she sees Jacob emerge from the house. She tells him to run but Jacob instead leaps from the porch and hurdles over Bella, himself changing to a wolf in mid-air. The two wolves engage in a fierce fight, destroying a small rowboat in the process. Sam tells Jared and Embry to take her to his fiancée, Emily's house.Before they enter Emily's house Jared and Embry advise her not to stare at her. "Why would I stare?" asks Bella but she quickly understands. Emily Young (Tinsel Korey) is badly scarred on the right side of her face. Emily is kind and relaxed. "So, you're the vampire girl?" she asks Bella. Bella asks back, "So, you're the wolf girl?" "Guess so," Emily agrees. Emily starts to serve muffins to Jared and Embry as they openly discuss the werewolf world, including having to follow the orders of their alpha male, Sam. They all seem very nonchalant about what Bella's just witnessed. Sam, Paul and Jacob then enter.. Paul apologizes for transforming in front of Bella earlier with a tossed-off "Sorry" as she and Jacob walk outside.Bella and Jacob walk on the beach as Jacob explains what precipitated his change into being a werewolf. "Bloodsucker moves into town, the fever sets in," he says. Bella says that she thinks what they do is monstrous and that he shouldn't do it. "Its not a lifestyle choice," Jacob protests as he wonders aloud if he's just "not the right kind of monster" for her. He also disabuses her of the notion that they're killing people. There's only one thing they do kill and that's vampires. She warns him of the strength and speed of vampires, not believing that anyone would be able to kill one. But Jacob says they "took out the leech with the dreads," Laurent, "easy enough." They had almost caught Victoria too; they had chased her all the way to the Canadian border. They can't figure out what she's after though, and Bella informs him that Victoria is after her.Back at the Swans, Bella warns Jacob again about Victoria's incredible speed. "Your lack of confidence is insulting," says Jacob. He leaves as he "has a vampire to go kill."At the same time a posse, which includes Harry and Charlie, search the woods for the menace while Bella decides she knows a way to reconnect with Edward after all.Harry lags behind Charlie in the woods, eradicating any sign of the wolves. Behind him, in the trees, Victoria stalks him. She finally surprises Harry and clutches his throat, lifting him up off the ground in the process. Jacob, as a wolf, tackles Victoria, breaking her grip. She drops Harry, who then suffers a heart attack. Jacob and Victoria briefly square off but then she breaks for the ocean with the Quileute pack in pursuit. At the cliffs she dives into the ocean and Jacob pulls up short.Bella, meanwhile, arrives the spot where they had watched Sam and the others cliff dive. Edward has already divined her actions. He appears beside her, again in spectral form. "Don't do this," he says. "You wanted me to be human," Bella counters; "Watch me."She leaps into the ocean, goes under briefly, then breaks the surface. She's exhilarated initially until the surf comes in and pounds her back down. Through the murky water she sees a red-headed woman swimming towards her. Bella backs away, striking her head on the cliff wall. She begins to sink. Edward's presence appears beside her but it dissipates when a hand reaches down and pulls her out.It's Jacob and he pulls Bella to shore, giving her CPR to resuscitate her. She comes back and he cradles her in his arms. Jacob informs her that Harry had a heart attack and has died.Jake is driving Bella's truck while she shivers on the passenger side. "108 degrees over here," says Jacob, describing his ambient body temperature. She slides over and warms up beside him. They park. Jacob worries that what happened to Emily, Sam's fiancée, could happen to her. "Sam lost it for a split second. What if I got mad at you?" His lack of control is consuming him. "I feel like I'm going to disappear," he says. She responds that she will prevent that by telling him every day how special he is. They almost kiss and she nuzzles his neck. She doesn't want it to go further and starts to get out of the truck. Jacob pulls the door closed before she can. He smells a vampire nearby.Bella sees the Cullens' car and heads towards the house. Jacob warns her she is about to cross a line that he can't cross because of the treaty.Once inside the house Alice appears. Shes amazed to find Bella alive; she saw her leap to her death. "I didn't try to kill myself," says Bella, "I was cliff jumping. It was...fun." Alice tells her Edward has removed himself from them; he calls in only every few months. She also knows that Victoria has been around. She then crinkles her nose, "and what is that gawd-awful wet-dog smell?" As Alice is advising her that werewolves are not good company to keep Jacob appears. Alice gives them a moment alone.Bella and Jacob quarrel again in the kitchen. They are angered and attracted by the other. Jacob kisses her lightly but is interrupted when the phone rings. Jacob answers it, "Swan residence," and then, "He's not here right now; he's arranging a funeral." On the other end is Edward. He's in Rio and he assumes the funeral is for Bella. He crumples the phone in his hand. Alice bursts in as Edward now believes that Bella is dead. He's going to the Volturi to end his life too. Bella is incensed when she realizes that it was Edward on the phone and that Jacob didn't let her talk to him. She leaves with Alice.Alice and Bella fly on Virgin America airlines to Italy. Alice is driving a fancy yellow sports car, alluding to the fact that she hot-wired it at the airport, as they speed toward Volterra, the headquarters of the Volturi. Meanwhile Edward has appeared before Caius, Marcus and Aro. They reject Edward's petition to end his life as they find his particular gifts too valuable to destroy.Alice gets a vision of the Volturi refusing him because his gifts are too precious to waste, and they offer him a spot on the Volturi gaurd. Alice also foresees that Edward will now expose himself to humans in broad daylight during the feast of Saint Marcos. They can drive no closer to the center of town, where the Voturi appear to be headquartered. Alice says that if she tries to save him he will read her thoughts and rush into the process even faster. Only Bella, whose thoughts Edward can't read, can save him. Bella leaves the car to run on foot. She dashes through red cloaks and down dark alleys. Precisely at noon, exactly as in her dream, she gets to the town square. She sees Edward in a darkened entryway, disrobing, and about to step into the sunlight. She dashes across a fountain and hurls herself upon him. Only a little girl briefly has glimpsed the glittering man.In the dark of the building Bella says that, since she has seen him again, she can't let him go. Edward professes his love for her. He was going to end his life because he couldn't live in a world where she didn't exist. They kiss as the Volturi come to summon them. No laws have been broken, says Edward, now fearing for Bella. Nevertheless they are to appear. Alice breaks in, hoping to avert a confrontation. It appears they will get away until a young vampire woman named Jane (Dakota Fanning) appears. Both Alice and Edward appear afraid of her. They comply and go with the Volturi, taking an elevator down to an underground complex. They pass a receptionist who welcomes them. Bella asks if she's human. She is, she is told, one who wishes to become a vampire.Aro is genteel but menacing. Alec compliments his sister for being asked to fetch one and bringing back two and a half (referring to Bella as the half). Bella is obviously a problem. She knows too much about them. Aro takes Edward's hand. Aro's gift is that he can read peoples' minds with a mere touch. He's intrigued as Edward can't read Bella's mind. He sees Edward's longing for her and is amazed at how much Bella's blood appeals to him. Aro is impressed at Edward's self-control which Edward says is achieved not without some difficulty.Aro wants to see if Bella is impervious to his gifts. "Would you do me the honor?" he asks as he requests her hand. Bella complies. Aro tires to read her mind but can see nothing. He's clearly frustrated by this. He then invites his sister, Jane, to try her gifts on the human. Edward tries to intervene and Jane wracks him with pain with but a single glance. Jane then tries to inflict pain on Bella. "This may hurt, just a little," she says knowingly. She finds, to her consternation, that she can't affect Bella either. Aro bursts into a laugh and wonders what to do with Bella. Marcus says Aro already knows what to do. Caius points out that Bella knows too much about the vampire world and is a liability. Aro sighs and agrees, and summons Felix, a hulking vampire of impressive size, to kill Bella. Edward fights Felix but he's clearly no match. As Edward is put in the position of the heretic in the earlier tableau, about to be ripped apart by Aro and the rest of the Volturi, Bella screams for mercy and begs, "Kill me, not him.""How extraordinary," says an astonished Aro, "You would give up your life for someone like us. A soulless monster."Bella stares defiantly at Aro and tells him, "You don't know a thing about his soul," Aro is both impressed and offended by her impertinence and moves in to slaughter her.Alice interrupts him though when she successfully prophesies to him that Bella will become a vampire; she's seen it in the future. Aro takes her hand and sees Alice's vision of Bella and Edward running through a sylvan glen. Bella's eyes are the amber color of a vampire, and her skin sparkles. "I'll change her myself," says Alice. "Your gifts will make an intriguing immortal," says Aro to Bella. As Bella, Edward, and Alice leave, however, Caius warns them to follow through on their promises as the Volturi do not give second chances.Walking out they pass a group of tourists being escorted down into the Volturi chamber; they're obviously a meal for the vampires. One of the henchmen asks one of the guides to "save some for me." Bella looks behind her to see small children among the group. They hear the chamber door open and the screams begin.The screams wake her from her sleep. Shes back in her bedroom in Forks. Edward sits beside her on the bed. Edward says the only reason he'd left her before was to protect her and that it was the hardest thing he'd done in one hundred years. He's interrupted by the entrance of Charlie.Bella apologizes for disappearing for three days. Charlie says she's grounded for the rest of her life, then leaves.
Edward reappears and says that Charlie won't forgive him easily for abandoning Bella earlier. Bella says he won't be able to get rid of her easily once Alice changes her. Edward still rejects that notion, saying there are always ways to keep the Volturi from finding out. But Bella doesn't dare risk this and makes Edward bring her to the Cullen house.Back at the Cullen's home Bella says "you all know what I want" and requests a vote. Alice says she already thinks of her as a sister and votes "yes." Jasper votes "yes" saying that it will be nice to not always want to kill her. Rosalie says that being a vampire isn't a life she would have chosen for herself and she wishes someone would have been able to vote no for her. She votes "no." Emmett votes 'hell yeah.' Esme votes "yes" saying that she already thinks of Bella as family. Carlisle approaches. He's clearly going to vote "yes." Edward looks as if he's been betrayed but Carlisle says Edward has chosen not to live without Bella, so Carlisle has no choice; he won't lose his son.Edward is driving Bella home. Bella suggests that they wait until after graduation, though she still wishes Edward would change her. They are stopped when they find Jacob in the middle of the road. Edward realizes he has to confront Jacob but wants to thank him first for protecting Bella when he didn't.Jacob agrees with Edward's point but also wants to stress a key point in the treaty. If any of the Cullens bite a human (and here he's referring to the proposed turning of Bella) the truce is over. Bella says it's her decision. Jacob reminds her that, once she's a vampire he will have to help his tribe hunt her down; he won't have a choice.Bella tells Jake that she loves him but begs him not to make her choose between him and Edward because, referring to Edward, it will be him. "It's always been him." Edward attempts to get Bella to walk away which angers Jacob. He advances and Edward pushes him back through the air. Jacob turns into a wolf before he hits the ground. They face each other, ready to fight. Bella reminds them that they can't hurt each other without hurting her. Realizing he's in a losing situation, Jacob bounds away.The danger passed, Edward and Bella resume their talk of turning her. He asks her to wait. "Give me five years," he asks. "That's too long," she says. "Three," he bargains. She's having none of it. He marvels at her stubbornness.Then Edward makes a different proposal. "I have one condition," he says, "if you want me to do it myself.""Marry me, Bella."She gasps.The screen fades to black. | good versus evil, paranormal, romantic | train | imdb | I will preface this review by saying that I have not read any of the twilight books, but I did watch the first movie before going to see this film, and I am looking at the series purely from a cinematic stand-point.That being said, I thought this movie was a massive failure.
Quite simply, it was so terrible I found myself resisting the urge to burst out laughing in a room full of fans who were probably misinterpreting the melodrama as "Good, emotional drama." No. This film is ridiculous.As it goes further on it gets less tightly stitched together and I had to become reliant on my knowledge of the books to fill in and pick up the slight gaps in dialogue and plot.
They would say things that are based on something that didn't happen on screen (probably deleted scene for time) or their dialogue would just be terrible unrealistic lines that are work as standalone ones for a trailer but in conversation it seems like they're jumping slightly just to get to say something that is dramatic without it actually making too much sense.BUT!
Not as deliberately funny as the first one (though, as I said, it was pretty hilarious when it wasn't meant to be) though.Though it was many failings with only a few things to back it up as being a reasonable film it will definitely make all you little teenage girls out there desperate to see Jacob's hell tanked up body very happy.
We saw the Twilight when it first came out, and I wasn't really impressed with that, so though, hey ho, go in with low expectations and hopefully I would be surprised.The only problem was, I don't think I could have expected less and still been as bored as I was.When in the theatre I was probably the oldest male at 37, apart from some dads that had been brought along by their kids, and several boyfriends, which is fair as I guess the film is aimed at the younger ladies than us old folks.So, we sat down and I waited for anything to happen, well anything really.
There was no chemistry at all between the leading actors, just a dull numbness which left me bored, I really don't know how Kristen Stewart got the role as she's possibly the most boring actress around and added nothing to the film at all, unless I guess she was just asked to play a spoilt brat with no brain.I thought, maybe there is some suspense?
Bella does a very good job of not really showing any emotion either way and where in Twilight you there was at least a couple of times it made you think "something good might happen" there wasn't really a single moment in this film that stood out, although I was at some point expecting to see the teleprompter which some of the actors looked like they might have been using, so wooden was the performance.It's a shame really that the other film I have seen recently "UP" you feel more attachment to the characters in that, than you do to the actors in this.Yes, the CGI was good, the Wolves were pretty great.
All in all, pretty much a letdown, and that's with low expectations, if felt like just another suck on the wallet by Hollywood to our pockets.If you are thinking of this film, and really if you read most of the reviews on this site I can't imagine why, wait until it comes onto DVD.
I spent the entire time just cringing at the poor lines, the acting, the God-awful treatment of mythology, the misogynistic, patriarchal and abusive undertones throughout the film, and the terrible special effects for such a blockbuster series.A lot of people will dislike so much scorn directed to a film that's just a fun watch - I understand this argument but there's a difference between fun and forgettable and just being complete trash.
It really sucks that young women are enjoying this franchise and seeing Edward and Jacob as the ideal love interests.EDIT: A lot of people giving this film positive reviews are trying to dismiss criticism by saying it's a 'film for the women/girls/ladies'...
I know more than one guy who loves Twilight, and more than one girl who loves *enter generic action movie which people think only men like*.
But New Moon's big screen adaptation was a huge let down.One thing that was improved was that many of the characters actually smiled or laughed naturally when the moment called for it, as opposed to the "I don't crack a smile cause I'm a seriously deadly vampire" routine in Twilight.I liked the portrayal of Alice, she seemed more like what she should be according to the book, Charlie and I also liked the wolves and the rest of the special effects.But I couldn't feel the bond between Edward and Bella.
For example, in an instant we are informed that Edward is going to commit suicide thinking Bella's dead, she drives off with Alice *bang* next thing you know you see a plane in the air, *bang* next thing you know Alice and Bella are already inside the stolen car on their way to Volterra and it carries on like that until the end.No character development, no bonds between them, no space to breathe, no explanation whatsoever of how things happened or how decisions were made, nothing but a hastily chopped up summary of the book.Is the actual movie coming out any time soon?.
It's all about Looonnnggg closeups of Bella and Edward kissing, or attempting to do so, an on the other side, there is the Looonnnggg fixation of Jacob for Bella and their Looonnnggg staring and trying to kiss each other.The hole story should fit in a 90min feature, and not more.Much worse than Twilight.Its only for the fans, don't waste your money if your not.Final word, this film is so boring.2/10And lets see what they are making for the third part !!!.
I remember the release of the first film last year, and the incredible backlash from fans of the series--can't even remember the number of comments saying "Stick to the book!" Incredible liberties were taken with the plot (or did we all forget the butchering of the much-beloved meadow scene in the first movie?), and too much of Hardwicke's own film-making style was imposed upon a story that was not hers to fiddle with.Then New Moon comes out.
It was filmed beautifully and, to my great relief, had a much wider color palette than the first film.As for the acting--let's face it, Kristen's never going to be an impressive performer until she realizes that scoffing doesn't qualify as "emoting." And Rob just seems flat-out wrong for this role, but I think he did tap into Edward's inner turmoil better than in Twilight.
The Cullens were, yes, sadly underutilized, but making the movie longer just to give them more screen time isn't going to appease complaints about it being boring and slow as it is.Hopefully this film will get the credit it deserves after the initial tsunami of unreasonable outrage.
If only Twihards tried to clear their beloved book, RPattz and Taylor out of their heads for just a while and watch that movie again, they would see the awkward stiff moments which were supposed to be romantic scenes, mumbled lines and zero connection between the characters.
The only considerably good performance was that of Taylor Lautner who has put on a much better show than last time (that's speaking with his body out of mind)although his character did begin to slip near the end.All in all, New Moon is a big yawn - there is some action which does help brighten the scene but is very brief and provides no satisfaction.
If thats all it takes to make a real bad movie a massive success then we need to take a long hard look at ourselves and wonder what the world has come to.The acting was very stiff from both Kristen Stewert and Robert Pattinison and how can one believe that there in love with acting like that which made it totally unbelievable.
There were a couple of scenes where you might have a chuckle but thats it from a entertainment stand point.The story is very boring and slow and the film went way longer than it should have done.The only half positive reviews i have heard have been from fans of the book or again girls with crushes for guys who for no reason take there shirts off non stop for no real reason.
It was a weird happening that I got to see the first part of twilight but for the second part I have no excuse what so ever.It was like seeing a rock coming towards your head and not dodging it.If you are one of the male audience and let's say you liked Scarface, when you're near the cinema with your girl and she says let's see new moon you have 2 options:1.fake a heart attack and wait for the ambulance to get you out of there or spare no expense and take her to an expensive dinner and don't mind the money because you have just paid for 2 hours of life.The boredom is so big and intensive that you'll find yourself closing your eyes and wishing it would end or counting your teeth with your tongue.As for the girls,if you love the man you're with spare him,go with your friends or something.
The film takes itself too seriously and the male characters were always taking their shirts off which made it seem like a cheesy, exploitation film.As you know Bella is a girl in love with a vampire.
retarded...I have the DVD sitting on the table near my computer where I was eagerly awaiting seeing a twilight movie...and after 3 years, I finally did.Even though I passed by the set countless number of times and I did not walk onto it, I finally came about and even though living in the same town and knowing people who worked on the set, I gave in and got a Twilight movie.Disappointment ensued.Aside of flat characters and even flatter performances from any leads or even supporting cast, the movie was almost entire shot on green screen - which makes for poor story exploration.The story dragged and was boring...the actors lacked any real interest.Now, if I was a 13 year old girl...swayed by mass marketing and publicity and Entertainment Tonight pushing Robert Pattinson's face across the screen, I might think different - but I'm not......so for sex appeal on any of the leads...they have none...least of all Robert.They just drag any character they have to as long as they can before they wear it out.They don't have any zest or charisma or special draw that pulls us in.I can't imagine sitting through 3 of these movies - because it's overblown Hollywood hype with marketing and publicity tried to make a story where there was none.Without all the aforementioned hype, this movie would have been passed upon by the majority of the public and only been watched by the "serious" vampire buffs.That aside...this movie sucks...pun intended.There are far better vampire movies...this is not in the mix.This just bites...once again...pun intended..
In the second part Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has to choose between Edward Cullen (Robert Pattison) a vampire and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) a werewolf.
there was nothing interesting at all, just talking talking talking without any reason , just like I said, pointless.After seeing the first movie, when I firstr came to this movie , I was full of expectation , that maybe they"ll invest alittle bit more than the first movie, but it was just the opposite , they simply ruined the movie, there is no other word to explain the disappointment that I had.To sum up , don't you dare seeing this movie, maybe if you are really bored or having sleep problems , I recommend you to see this movie.*I want to remind that my intention wasn't to hurt anybody , I just gave me opinion in order to make the next movies much better (or at least hope to).Yakir..
And if you want vampire-human star-crossed lovers, watch Underworld.But if you are dying of curiosity about Twilight and New Moon, I recommend you borrow a DVD from your friend, like I did, or find a 99-cent copy on eBay.[[[ SPOILER ALERT ]]] ** NOTE ** They made fun of 'Face/Off' in New Moon when the characters went out to see a movie 'Face Punch' and they said that the movie sucks.What an irony.
Distraught over losing her immortal boo, Bella (Kristen Stewart) lashes out in destructive behaviour, which lands her in the waiting arms of teen- wolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner).With a higher production value than its predecessor, this second installment of the Twilight series is more involving: it creates a volatile love triangle and reveals more about the vampire/wolf-pack pact.
I loved the Twilight series and having read the books countless times, I was really looking forward to seeing the movie, to be honest I couldn't even sleep the night before...sad but true.IT TURNED OUT TO BE A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT :(Non of the characters had any chemistry with each other, it felt like they were in dress rehearsals...and seriously any good director an make a bad actor look great...its called editing...anyway the actors direction has to come from somebody...he had a vision and he went with it...for me it wasn't good...I thought he did a bad job with his great book, the scenes were very choppy and they didn't feel complete, the actors lines were way too short and he failed to capture any moments in the movie.I know a lot of people were disappointed with Twilight, I on the other hand found it to be amazing, I fell in love with the way Edward loved Bella, I thought they had an amazing chemistry between each other and there was a lot more feeling to the movie...all the actors just fit...even though Catherine paid the price for her imagination, I think she did a much better job.
In New Moon the Vampires looked horrendous with their crazy make up...Edwards face and neck were two different shades of white, his contacts were so fake, I couldn't notice anything else in his first scene...I just kept thinking how bad his makeup looked...the Vampires appeared to look more natural in the first movie...even though they were a few shades of green...lolTwilight's soundtrack was amazing, it complimented every scene, even now when I hear a certain song you think of that particular scene...the music in New Moon didn't fit...it was very forgettable...Anywho please don't hate, I just had to get it off my chest...it was a huge disappointment for me, it's just because I was sooo eager to watch this movie and I thought it would be much better than the first one, I had high hopes...I've watched Twilight a million times and I tried watching New Moon for the second time and I just couldn't do it, every scene is so cringe worthy and I feel sorry for the actors for being portrayed in that way..
But New Moon was just badly directed it focused on tiny details that didn't need more than a few seconds of screen time and missed out some key plots which will now have to be missed in eclipse as they didn't happen in new moon it wasn't artistic or sensitive some of the camera movement seemed like it had been ripped from the Blair witch project it was so bad i was extremely disappointed.I hope that Eclipse will be better or i will just not watch any more and it actually pains me to say that..
Like all bad stories, this one advances by making up its own rules on the spot, resulting in a movie that makes very little sense.I'm truly not sure what it is about the Twilight saga that demands such a plastic style of acting.
Instead of deepening the triangle with dark talk like this, the films mostly leave it out, focusing instead on the choice between Team Jacob and Team Edward."The Twilight Saga: New Moon" continues where the first movie left off with Bella and Edward in an uneasy love.
I have not read the books, so I can only judges the films by themselves.Bella Swan (Kirsten Stewart) has just turned 18 and reluctantly celebrates her birthday with her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and his family when they throw a surprise party for her.
Me saying that the special effects are not as bad really says a lot about how they sucked in the first film.New Moon will please that rabid fan base that wants nothing more than to simply see the books up on screen, no matter how good or bad it is.
The film did not have any tempo to it(though, that is an often thing for an adaptation of a famous book, where you need to include a lot of details that do not benefit the film).I have to admit that I was not a huge fan of Twilight 1, which I saw just as an average film, but after seeing the terrible reviews of New Moon I thought: "It cannot be that bad!" Well, that is exactly what it is.
Neither does love!Everyone has habits, and his little things, but Kristen please stop biting your lip like ALL THE TIME!Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to make a film out of the book, but it happened, and we have to endure the twilight-wave ^^.
People who liked either the first movie or the New Moon book will probably have a great time at this movie.
New Moon (2009) * 1/2 (out of 4) Second film in the smash-hit Twilight series has Edward (Robert Pattinson) leaving Bella (Kristen Stewart) who then goes into a deep depression. |
tt0480239 | Atlas Shrugged: Part I | Based upon the controversial 1957 novel by Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged follows the struggles of Dagny Taggart, a railroad heiress trying to maintain her integrity, and keep her family's railroad alive in the midst of a rapidly decaying world. She faces increasingly corrupt government agencies, the cowardly incompetence of her own brother, and the systematic loss of her best and most competent workers. As she works to overcome each obstacle, she begins to detect a pattern, and suspect a sinister force working against her. All across the country, there is a growing sense of helplessness, often summed up in a phrase that everyone seems to know, but no one knows the origin of - Who is John Galt?.One by one, the best and brightest industrialists in the country have been disappearing overnight without a trace, and abandoning their businesses to be cannibalized by corrupt political interests. But many are disappearing just as she needs them most, leading her to realize that someone, some destroyer, is keeping just ahead of her, and is working against her. As she wonders what he could be telling these men - to get them to give up everything and disappear - she knows she must somehow beat him if she wants Taggart Transcontinental to survive.She pursues the mystery cross country looking for clues to the destroyer, and also to find the inventor of a revolutionary motor she found in a trash pile of an abandoned industrial lab. As the world sinks further into decay, she knows her time for saving her railroad, and maybe staving off the collapse of the world around her, is growing short. However, the revelations she seeks will ultimately challenge her views, and force her to decide between fighting in her world, or leaving everything she's valued behind.
_____KrystelClaire's synopsis:2nd September 2016: The Middle East crisis and a huge oil spil has provoked a shortage of oil all over the world. Back in the USA, it's become legal for profitable companies to fire as many employees as they want, and prices and salaries have become fixed by law. In this situation, strikes, turmoils and rebellions start soon. One of the consequences of all this is that the train system has become the only affordable transportation means. However, we can see the railroad's main problem: derailments have stopped being scarce.On TV, there is a politicial debate over the situation. Ellis Wyatt, a Colorado oil enterpreneur (Graham Beckel) and James "Jim" Taggart (Matthew Marsden), the young president of the Taggart Transcontinental, dismisses the derailments in his company, saying that people is more worried about speed. The representative of the government does not seem able to bring out any suggestions. James is accused of being incompetent and not being able to fill the shoes of his late father by Wyatt. Wesley Mouch (Michael Lerner), a Washington lobbyist, is also present.In a diner, a waitress (Olivia Presely) cares about a bump (Frank Cassavetes) who enters to protect himself about the heavy rain and cold outside, and who has no money to pay for his food. She also gives his takeaway order to a wealthy-looking man (Geoff Pierson) who leaves. There is another man who looks mysterious, in a hat and a long coat, who leaves right after the rich man. The mysterious man goes after the wealthy man, saying to him that he is used to work for himself, not letting a company take away the profits he has created; the wealthy man agrees with him, seeing himself in that definition, and then asks the poor man about his name. The images freeze and the audience can read a caption: MISSING: MICHAEL "MIDAS" MULLIGAN - BANKING CEO - VANISHED: SEPTEMBER 2, 2016.Title credits Atlas Shrugged In her luxurious apartment, Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling) is phoned and told to watch a certain TV programme. She listens to reporter Denise Greco (Jan Morris) reports another train wreckage in Granby, Colorado. Dagny walks to the underground. Meanwhile, James is said that people are cancelling tickets like crazy, because the machines of the company are really old. His assistant, Eddie Willers (Edi Gathegi) is the messanger of bad news, but James accuses him of just wanting to take on his job. Dagny has to step in. The Taggart Transcontinental with new materials and new engineering methods; for example, she does with Jimmy's idea of buying all the steel to Orren, in spite of the problems that company is causing to them. There is a lot at stake in Colorado: the company really needs things to work out there.Train station in Philadelphia. Dagny reads about continuing oil catastrophes in the world. Henry "Hank" Rearden (Grant Bowler) is working on a new engine for the trains. He rejects meeting many people, including the guilds; Dagny calls on him. They both admit that they need each other, in the sense that both their businesses may lose it all if the deal does not end well. She offers him 20,000 dollars per town is he is able to make the motors work in nine months. As the CEO of Rearden Steel, he understands the kind of pressures she has to deal with: an incompetent brother and corrupt politicians. He thinks that Rearden Metal will do the job very well - a new alloy twice as strong with half the weight. Dagny leaves in her car driven by a chauffer. Henry walks home. At home, his wife Lillian Rearden (Rebecca Wisocky) is having a small gathering of friends and relatives. As a birthday present, Lillian is given a beautifully crafted bracelet made of steel, which she snobbily sneers at, even after having pressed him on compromising him on his attendance to their tenth anniversary celebration in three months' time. His mother (Christina Pickles) says that only a diamond bracelet could do. Phillip Rearden, his brother (Neill Barry) asks him for some money, but his charity group, which cares for the unpriviledted, doesn't want to know that the money comes from him. Henry has got a reputation for caring only about money, which he admits. His best friend Paul Larkin (atrick Fischler) loved the bracelet as it is, and he advises Henry to mind public opinion. The press is also against him. This is also the first time that John Galt's name is mentioned. Paul wonders who he is.At a high end restaurant, Wesley, James, Paul and politician Orren Boyle (Jon Polito) meet. Paul doesn't want Henry to be hurt, but Orren and Wesley betray Henry without looking back. Boyle wants to pass a law limiting the number of business that a single person may have, but to make sure that the law gets approved, he asks James for money; in exchange, the investigation about the Granby accident will be scrapped. At that moment, Francisco D'Anconia (Jsu Garcia) enters, with a girl on each arm. Everybody looks at him and whispers his name. He is a rich heir turned bon-vivant playboy. Paul leaves the meeting. James looks at Francisco, surrouned by beautiful girls who want to have their photographs taken with him.Dagny looks for a contractor to rebuild the Colorado line. James is furious when he learns that Dagny has scrapped his plans of building a railroad onto Mexico; he leaves her office in anger. Right afterwards, a blond employee (Ethan Cohn) enters the office to present his resignation alleging personal reasons; she is distraught, because she thought of giving him a promotion and making him responsible for a whole area. He doesn't want to say for whom he's gonna work afterwards, but he says it won't be for any rival railroad company. She tries offering him a lot of money, but he refuses point blank. He decided to tell her only because he had promised her to give her notice in advance when she gave him his first job. When she presses on for a reason, he just whispers, "Who is John Galt?" The image freezes and the audience can read the following caption: MISSING: OWEN KELLOGG - TAGGART EXECUTIVE - VANISHED: OCTOBER 15, 2016.Dagny is worried, drinking by herself. She phones Henry, talking about the dissapearance of several efficient men. Henry was also sleepless, having a cold relationship with his wife.Richard McNamara (Jack Milo) is at the train station, waiting from somebody from the Taggart Transcontinental to pick him up. He is stopped by somebody who offers him to have part on a society based on individual achievement. The image freezes once again and reads MISSING: RICHARD McNAMARA - MANUFACTURING CEO - VANISHED: NOVEMBER 6, 2016.Jimmy proposes to take the flag of caring for the general wellness, but instead getting the competition out of Colorado. He is praised as "behaving as a politician".News of the Mexico government, who has just nationalized all gold mines. Francisco and the Taggart Transcontinental have lost billions. In a corporate meeting, James says that he has saved the company billions by letting only a train a day running towards Mexico. Eddie is the one who spreads the news. The person Dagny is looking for called the company and only said "Who is John Galt?"The CEO of company who used to work with a rival train company who has just closed down shouts at Dagny. He says he only needs affordable transportation and leaves without shaking the hand she offers.Dagny talks to Henry: she needs stronger engines and faster trains. He mentions a company which went bust which had the best engines. He intends to look for the remains of the company to see whether there is something which could be salvaged. He also invites her and James for his anniversary party. Dagny throws some water to Francisco at a luxurious restaurant: he knew everything about the Mexican takeover but did nothing to prevent it, saving himself but nobody else.Lillian is taking Henry to their anniversary party. Barb Branson (Latasha Muhammad) from the NNT talks about the new bill which Orren had approved. Henry is worried and wants to deal with the matter, but Lillian doesn't want to hear about business. Dagby compliments her on her beautiful bracelet, but Lillian desmisses it as always. Henry doesn't want to talk to Francisco, who was invited by Lillian. He is surrounded by many girls.James drinks on his own. Another man tells him that happiness is a delusion. Francisco talks to Henry; he wants to learn from him, and he says that the people at the party don't want to admit that they are in debt with Henry, who is the provider of them all. Dagny prises Lillian's bracelet once again. When Lillian says that she was thinking of giving it to the maid, Dagny offers to exchange it for her diamond necklace, and Lillian jumps to this opportunity, doing it remorselessly in front of Henry himself. After the party, Henry tells Lillian never to invite people she thinks they are his friends. She replies back that he has not friends at all. He also rejects any possibility of sex with her.Rebuilding of the Colorado railtrack is on its way. Dagny decides to let Jimmy defend the bill on his own. She leaves the limo and walks home. The streets are full of bumps.Rearden metal is deemed good, but Dr Potter (Armin Shimerman) is pulling the gears to make the public opinion believe that it's dangerous. Dr Potter offered to buy the formula of Rearden metal, but Henry refuses, as it is his. He says that Dr Potter would not understand.Wyatt and Dagny are on site, checking the works on Colorado. He offers a job to her, in case that she needs it. Henry is also there, checking on an old bridge which should be replaced. He will do it in three months, and she says that it will depend on the budget.Eddie tells Dagny that another key employee has quit. She tells Eddie to stand on their own. James in playing with an electric train. Dagny wants to leave the company and start another company which will end the Colorado works. Then, she will come back to Taggart Transcontinental. She will take Eddie with her, so that James will have to do "his own job" from that moment on. She tells him to behave, or she will destroy him. She says she will call the line the John Galt line.Dagny asks Francisco for the money, but he won't give him the money. She explains the name as her being fed-up of hearing the name. She is rejected by many investors. Finally, she gets four people. Henry himself will put the remaining funds. Henry shows her some photographs of some kind of engine: it was hidden in the bankrupt company in Winsconsin he dug around. It is a prototype which probably was never put onto production, so nobody can be sure that the thing even works properly, but Dagny feels that the engine is worth a look. Henry is interrupted, being told that the "equality of opportunities" bill has been passed, forbidden that nobody should have more than one company. Henry insists that he will sell all his other companies, but that he will never give up his metal. He reassures Dagny that that the bridge will be done on time and budget. Henry has to sell his companies to some other people, like for example Paul.Rearden Ore Corporation, Rearden Coal Company, Rearden Foundry Inc, Rearden Manufacturing Itl... they all go one by one. That's not the only problem: Union leader Brenden Brady (Matt O'Toole) alleges the unsafety of the rearden metal to try to forbid that any union member works on that line. Dagny will asks for volunteers, but she wants Brady to give the workers a choice. She promises that the speed will be kept steady for all the itinerary. She and Henry go on the new train. Before boarding, Dagny is asked who John Galt is. Many people look at her on the tv, worried about what she's going to say. She simply answers "We are". The train is able to cross the bridge, and they breathe out after they cross the bridge. 300 miles in less than 90 minutes, she announces confidently upon arrival.On the small celebration party it's mentioned by Wyatt that a new oil spring has been found, and that when everybody wants to go there to work on the site, their company will be the one who will take people there. At night, Henry and Dagny are left alone. They make love.At that moment, there is a knock on the door. A figure with a hat enquires about Ellis Wyatt, and he himself oepns up the door. When he finds it strange to be called upon at that hour, he asks who he is. The hatted man says that he knows his name.Henry proposes a getaway trip to Dagny to see the 20th Century Motor Corporation, a derelict building in Starnesville, Wisconsin. The warehouse is empty, apart from a few loose pices here or there. Dagny says that it looks as if they just left away. Henry finds a kind of hidden room: it's full of designs of engines. There is even an abandoned prototype. The designs are not signed, so they try going to the city hall and getting a list of employees, but they are incomplete in the town of Rome. A retired man leads them to one of the old employees who is working in Washington. In spite of Henry saying that he doesn't support Munch anymore, Eugene Lawson (Rob Brownstein) leads him to an engineer. He gives him a surname: Starnes. In Durance, Louisiana, his daughter Ivy Starnes (Sylva Kelegian) says that his father was an evil man, who only cared about motors and engines. She leads them to Brandon, Wyoming, where the chief engineer used to leave; he had quit the day after the engine project was presented to the company. His widow, Mrs Hanstings (June Squibb), says that it was his late husband's assistant who designed the engine. She leads them to Hugh Akston (Michael O'Keefe), the young assistant's university professor and mentor, who now has a lower station in life, being the owner of a humble diner in a dusty town. Akston doesn't want to even say the name of his protegé, and, to Dagny's surprise, he mentions that the mystery she's trying to solve is much greater than only an engine which creates electricity out of a vacuum.Eddie tells Dagny that there are new problems: some estates are forbidding the train with metal to pass throughout, and the use of the Rearden metal is being forbidden. Dagny tells Jimmy to fight his own battles, but we can see clapping to Wesley Munch's press conference. There, Munch also announces that steel companies will have to distribute the steel equally between companies, that companies will be forced to stay in their states and can no longer move to richer states like Colorado, and that Colorado will be imposed a special tax so that there will equalize economy in all the states.We can see Henry Rearden, alone, on his office, with a sad face, probably feeling desperate. Dagny drives like crazy to Ellis Wyatt's mansion. The chief fire-fighter (Derric Nugent) cannot prevent her entrance to the now empty mansion. She calls out for Ellis, but he's not there. He leaves the home and goes up a small steep nearby, from which she can see all the oil springs burning to exhaustion. She screams NO! There is a placard to her left side, which says I'M LEAVING IT AS I FOUND IT. TAKE OVER. IT'S YOURS. Dagny falls to his kness.We can hear the conversation in off of Ellis Wyatt to the same voice of the shadowy man which this time recognises that he be John Galt (Paul Johansson). He talks to Wyatt of the country where he comes from, called Atlas. There, individuals are judged on their merit, and the government don't crash them. Energy, intelligence, innovation and money are respected and appreciated there.We can see the following notice: MISSING: ELLIS WYATT - OWNER WYATT OIL - VANISHED: JULY 23, 2017. Over it, we can hear an answering machine message by Wyatt. He says that he's done, and that he's going on a strike.Fade to credits.--Synopsis written by KrystelClaire | alternate reality, philosophical | train | imdb | Those who agree with Rand's philosophy and enjoyed the book, but are repulsed by the relatively low-budget treatment of the film and the somewhat stunted screen writing that isn't entirely faithful to the original work, and (3.
Those who are completely ignorant of Rand's work and are seeing the film and judging it in a relative vacuum (these negative reviews do, in my opinion, have a certain merit inasmuch as the film doesn't really stand on its own as something that would appeal to the general movie-going audience).That said, I enjoyed the movie.
That the finished product came out as good as it did (budget limitations notwithstanding) is a testament to the production team.In summary, the book is far superior to the movie (as is almost always the case), but I found the movie to be, frankly, a better adaptation than I expected and well worth seeing -- if one can identify with or at least appreciate the ideology presented..
The problem is the film is shot like a PBS made-for-TV movie (mainly a series of talking heads) and the stiff dialog is lifelessly delivered by TV actors that lack big screen presence.Now, don't mistake me for one of those people who feel the subject matter of the book is too didactic for mass appeal, I just think this low-budget and amateur version lacks the fire and fury that Rand's novel deserves.I'm not saying not to see it, just avoid the mistake I made.
The story was faithful to the book, and the message and narrative clear, with the producers wisely sidestepping most of Rand's stilted polemics.Yes, the budget did confine most shooting to interiors, but there was enough "big sky" material, railroad operations, and steel mill shots to give the film some scope.
And the SFX and CG used in the supertrain shots, which probably absorbed half the budget, were worth every penny.The cast, and especially Taylor Shilling, who played Dagny, and Grant Bowler (Rearden) did a great job.Overall, I liked AS, and look forward to the sequels.
Also, her office in the basement of the Taggert Building is sparse and cramped in the book which adds to her strength, but in the movie it looks just like her regular office.The one scene that I think is important to the story is when Dagney is working very late one night and she sees a shadowy figure walk up to the door of her office and she thinks it might be Hank Reardon.
It's been many years since I read Ayn Rand's iconic novel, but it all came back to me as I watched this movie unfold.
It is a visual treat.The story line is true to the book but updated and set in a modern context that makes it feel fresh and exciting.Every single performance is first rate, but the leads are truly standouts.I can't wait for Parts II and III..
Not until now has a movie examined the question, why do we hate the founders of corporations, and why do we blame them for unemployment, when they are the ones who create jobs, not destroy them?Atlas Shrugged asks the viewer to think and understand, similar to other business- themed files like Wall Street and Rollover.
Eddie Willers is reduced to little more than an office messenger, periodically updating the principles on the latest story developments.Dagny and Rearden themselves are played with dry professionalism by Taylor Schilling and Paul Johansson, owing to their characters' purely-business attitudes toward life.
That is another way in which this movie is different - its view that industry is not evil, enemy to all that is good and healthy, but rather the foundation upon which modern society is built.The biggest disappointment is the sudden ending, to those who have not read the book and were expecting more than "half a movie." In reality, it is one-third, as the filmmakers have divided the story in same manner Ayn Rand divided the novel: into three parts.
However, as a big fan of the book and given the current US and global political climate and turmoil, I would rather see this movie made now, under the conditions described above, than have to wait another 50+ years to see it hit the silver screen.The filmmakers plausibly weaved the original Ayn Rand novel into the present without sacrificing much in the process.
Instead this had nearly all of the look, feel and polish that you would expect to see in a big-budget Hollywood movie, with the sole exception of the A-list actors.My fear though is that many people will skip this movie either because they have not read the novel or because they just don't hear about it.
My wife is a perfect example as she does not plan to see it with me because the premise of the novel (which she has not read) did not interest her when I described it.My biggest criticism is that this movie is too short (90 minutes long) and ended fairly abruptly.
Bowler and Schilling nailed it.Now, I'm a huge fan of the book, so I'm a bit biased towards the story, but I thought the movie was entertaining, paced well and held true to key aspects of dialogue and scenes.
Many of the reviews have said they are not sure how it would play to someone who is not a fan or have hinted that the only way to like it is to overlook things.I had not read the book before seeing the movie.
I'll admit, I'm not a fan of Ayn Rand and objectivism, but this movie was awful beyond the suspect politics.Acting = terrible.Story = dullPolitics = I think Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck must have loved this.Cinematography = Not even good enough for a Lifetime TV movie.Why was this worse than "The Room"?
I say this because as has been said, the movie covers roughly the middle third of the book, and makes it very interesting.The actors and actresses played their parts very well; especially Taylor Schilling as Dagny.
I was excited to hear that they were making a movie because the book has been so thought provoking for me and I want my friends to get a chance to think about the same things.
I think they did a good job of putting the message of a 1,150 page book into a stylish and interesting movie.I'm not surprised that most of the professional critics didn't like it.
The novel can be difficult to read and I think after seeing the movie, new readers will be able to follow the book a lot easier.Seeing the faces of the characters and the issues that drive the story in context was very special.
I think many, many more people will discover and read the book with proper appreciation even if this first part is the only part produced.I got a huge kick seeing the vague depiction of John Galt in "Part 1" of the movie looking a lot like "Rorschach" from "Watchmen".
Atlas Shrugged Part 1 (1:37, PG-13) — SF, 3rd string, originalAn economy, I learned way back when, is built on 4 pillars: resources, labor, capital, and entrepreneurial ability.{1} Ayn Rand was convinced that the only 1 of these that mattered worth a damn was the entrepreneurs — the only Truly Worthy people in any society, deserving most of the power and money as a reward for making the society even possible, let alone thriving, in addition to their general swellness.
If it does OK in the theaters (pretty likely, considering the low production costs and quasi-religious fan base), there will surely be sequels, but be perfectly aware up front that this film is not the complete story at all.The Randian heroes (and mistake them not for mere protagonists) are railroad tycoon Dagny Taggart (tall, slim, leggy, semi-expressionless blonde Taylor Schilling) and steel magnate Henry "Hank" Rearden (tall, fit, dark, ruggedly handsome, and reasonably competent Grant Bowler).
Instead, this is a clearly rushed (the producer started production just days before he lost the rights to the book) hack job with no-name actors delivering soap opera performances in a story they've muddled despite only covering roughly a third of the ground of the novel.
The stakes are low, the suspense about Galt is practically nonexistent despite the frequent interjections intended to remind the audience "Hey, there's something mysterious and important going on!" and the constant, blatant preaching of the dialogue which seemed egregious on the page seems doubly so when read aloud in the context of a "drama." No one talks like that ever and it comes across as really stilted, unnatural, and force feeding an audience the anti-humanist message.The production values are equivalent to what you get in a SyFy original movie like Sharkotpus with terrible set design, CGI that looks like it was done in MS Paint, and lazy, static camera-work.
The director's previous work was on One Tree Hill and the screenwriter's background is working on straight-to-DVD horror movies about mutant monsters with names like "Evilution" and "Cemetery Gates." That should tell you everything you need to know about the level of quality on display here.For people who didn't like, were mixed, or are unfamiliar with the book I think it'll be a colossal failure.
That might bore a lot of people, but this story was pretty interesting.Despite a small budget and no-name actors it came across with high production values and good acting....no complaints there.Taylor Schilling was good as the lead character, "Dabney Taggart," a strong businesswoman who isn't going to let - if she can help it - the government, unions or whoever else - unfairly bully her and the railroad company.Grant Bowler also was good as Dabney's ally, "Henry Reardon," one of the few admirable characters in this movie based on the 1957 Ayn Rand book, which now seems very prophetic 55 years later.There was a rumor that the sequel was not going to be made, but that is not true.
I admit, I am a fan of Rand but that makes it all the more creditable that this movie stayed true to the point the book was making which is that people seem to have 2 points of view.
When I found out Atlas Shrugged was being turned into a movie I was initially excited as a fan of the book....then I read the reviews and was concerned the movie wouldn't do the book justice...so I couldn't have been more surprised at how good the movie was, especially considering how quickly it was put together and on a low budget.The movie was visually appealing, the story flowed well, and the acting was fine (for the most part) despite what I've read in reviews.On the downside, I didn't think the movie was as effective with the phrase "Who is John Galt?" as the book was and there were a few instances when the movie's low budget could be seen, but these instances were few and far between.All in all it was a good movie and all the more impressive considering the low budget and the challenges that come with turning a book by Rand into a movie.....unfortunately there is a lot of garbage that hits the big screen that get more attention than this one ever will, probably because of the lack of explosions..
They were new at movie-making, didn't know what the film would eventually cost, and were either ignored or scorned by those in the movie world.Yet they got pretty good acting, a little slow pacing at first, and some good drama - the John Galt Line creation.
I wish the characters could have been developed better for those who haven't read the book but it would have ended up a 4 part movie instead of 3.
While reading this book, before I knew that there was a movie in the offing, I often hoped that it would come to the big screen, and just as often despaired that it never could -- just too hard.
Those who know and love the book will want to see this movie, those who don't know the book will enjoy it, and even those who disagree with Ayn Rand's basic premise can, if they have an open mind, watch this movie and come away with a better understanding of what those who move the world must feel these days.
(Spoiler Alert) My only complaint about the movie is that I didn't like the way the character of John Galt was handled - I don't think it was believable that he could have recruited all these "captains of industry" to his cause by stalking them late at night at their residences or in dark corridors where they worked..
Rearden's character is played perfectly and the attention to detail with the lesser roles such as Wyatt is near perfection.The only reason for the 9 instead of the ten is due to the Dagny character (played by Schilling) being a little stiff at the outset, but as the movie goes along, her character becomes more credible and believable.I can't wait for the sequel..
'Atlas Shrugged' the movie could wind up turning off people who've not had the pleasure of reading Ayn Rand's most famous book..
Then when the trailer for 'Atlas Shrugged Part 1′ hit this past February, I was hoping that maybe it was just one of those badly cut trailers, but deep down, it was obvious what we were in for.The time couldn't have been better for a movie of this magnitude to hit and be a success as the story has some great cinematic moments, plus it could expose Rand to an entirely new generation that would have never paid much attention.
When one sets out to put to film the book that started out objectivism, one should expect the job to be hard & spend most of ones time contemplating how to put the basic philosophy on the screen.Instead, Atlas Shrugged spends the entirety of the film trying to decide if it wants to do philosophy, a bad mystery or a straightforward story of shallow depth.
The film lacks the substance of the philosophy and the solidness of the storyline of the book and while it shows spots of brilliance in trying to put the story in modern times, it skips over just about all examples of real life of our age that could deliver the message of the book - it's as if the screenwriter read the 10-page summary of the 1170 page actual book.
If you have NOT read the book, you will understand it a bit less, but love it anyway!Cheers and Kudo's to the entire cast, directors, producers - GREAT job!!!!.
Though not a great film, it is certainly a "must-see" movie, at once entertaining and intellectually provocative.Strong points: * The best thing here is Rand's compelling plot itself.
An entertaining story that shows what will happen if the producers and capitalists go on strike and leave the parasites of society to fend for themselves.Does a good job of squeezing the main points, best quotes, and all the main characters of the novel onto the big screen.
Amazing job for a low budget production outside Hollywood.Like all trilogies, you hate to see part one end and you wish you didn't have to wait another year for the next installment.Liberals hate the truth and message in this movie so ignore the main stream critics and decide for yourself..
their failing life extended only by the $60 billion we taxpayers were forced to pay to the unions in Detroit, to keep them in business a few more years, which will never be recovered.Unfortunately, the message will likely be missed by all those under 30 (and maybe even 40), who will not understand the battle, or it's terms, or certain outcomes - having been brain-washed by their incompetent, subversive educators, who would never have included Atlas Shrugged on their required reading lists, and would have banned not only the book from Boston, but also this great movie.But, alas...
ATLAS SHRUGGED is a movie that should have been made decades ago simply for the fact that Ayn Rands book is essentially responsible for defining modern conservative thought.On the good side, the filmmakers were able to create a scenario whereby the railway industry could actually be the lucrative industry required for the protagonists to be relevant in modern times.
I am a fan of the book and felt like the movie did a good job of expressing the feelings and ideas expressed by the author in a modern day story.
I read Ayn Rand's books a couple years ago and was quite surprised by parallels with today.
Now I need to read the book." So, whether you a fan of Ayn Rand's works or not, the movie is enjoyable and leaves you wanting more..
Characterizations could have been more in depth, but that would have required even more dialogue which would dilute the central theme.Considering that most mainstream movie reviewers are immersed in the glittering Hollywood culture, it's not surprising that this low budget, independently funded movie received lower ratings from them than from its viewers.As "Atlas Shrugged" has been a perennial best seller in book form, it's likely that the movie will have a long life on the DVD shelf after its theatre run ends.As for Parts 2 and 3...
I believe because Ayn Rand wished this story to be told across several generations, for any time.Several times while watching this movie I was completely taken aback at the attention to detail taken from the book.
Having read the book during my school years, when it was new, I was surprised to find it had, only recently, been made into a film, apparently low budget with lesser known actors.
Atlas Shrugged A Work Ayn Rand Would Be Proud To See. Turning an 1168-page novel, especially the world's best selling and presumably most read novel, into a movie is an extraordinary undertaking.
If you enjoy a good story and an entertaining movie, treat yourself to Atlas Shrugged Part 1.
While not "Excellent", I think this movie did a "Good" job of conveying Rand's ideas. |
tt0090660 | Armed and Dangerous | Officer Frank Dooley (John Candy) of the LAPD is framed for the theft of a television set by two corrupt detectives. He is dismissed from the force, but escapes criminal punishment at his day in court. The court's next case features hapless defense attorney Norman Kane (Eugene Levy) attempting to defend a white supremacist leader, who threatens him with death should Kane fail to keep him out of prison. A fearful Kane reveals his ineptitude and the death threat to the judge (Stacy Keach, Sr.), who agrees to render a long sentence if Kane promises to leave law behind.
Dooley and Kane meet one another when they both apply for work at Guard Dog Security, a low-rent firm run by gruff "Captain" Clarence O'Connell (Kenneth McMillan) and part of a security guard's union requiring heavy contributions represented by Klepper (Jonathan Banks) and Lazarus (Brion James). Becoming licensed security guards after a single afternoon of training, Dooley and Kane are made partners by supervisor Maggie Cavanaugh (Meg Ryan) and assigned to night duty at a pharmaceutical company's warehouse. After being loudly ordered to take a lunch break by senior guard Bruno (Tom Lister, Jr.), Kane happens upon an armed robbery of the warehouse and calls to Frank for help, but they prove no match for the thieves.
The next day, the pair are berated and fined $100 each by O'Connell for their failure, leaving them suspicious. While venting their anger toward O'Connell, Maggie reveals that she is his daughter. Dooley and Kane then attend a meeting of the union, where Kane's attempt to file a grievance against Guard Dog is quashed by union president Michael Carlino (Robert Loggia). Kane pointedly questions Carlino about how the union dues, adding to about $4 million per year, are spent. After Kane rejects an evasive answer from Union treasurer Lou Brackman (James Tolkan), an enraged Carlino threatens Kane with violence should he ever attend another union meeting and abruptly adjourns.
Over the next few days, Dooley and Kane find themselves assigned to work at a landfill and a toxic waste dump. Convinced something illegal is afoot after hearing a similar story from two fellow burned-out security guards about a similar robbery, the pair track down Bruno at his gym and interrogate him. Bruno admits that it was O'Connell who had him order them to lunch the night of the robbery. Dooley and Kane flee from the gym and an enraged Bruno. The pair then visit an informant friend of Dooley's for information on Carlino. Upon learning of Carlino's corrupt reputation, they bring their suspicions to Maggie, but she rejects them as having no evidence to back them up.
Dooley and Kane next attend a party thrown by Carlino in hopes of gathering some evidence. Eavesdropping on a meeting between Carlino and Brackman, they learn of Carlino's use of the pension fund to finance dealings with a Colombian drug cartel and his plans to have the money robbed from an armored car, with insurance covering the loss. Fearing an investigation by the insurance company, Brackman urges Carlino not to go through with the robbery. In response, Carlino instructs Klepper and Lazarus to execute him. Dooley and Kane attempt to save Brackman, but are too late to prevent his murder and instead find themselves framed for his death. After a night spent evading police, the two make plans with a now receptive Maggie to prevent the armored car robbery. Kane and Maggie take over driving the truck, while Dooley plans to meet them ahead of the would-be robbers.
Dooley has problems with his motorcycle and is forced to hitch a ride with The Cowboy (Steve Railsback), a wild trucker who eagerly disobeys traffic laws. Meanwhile, Kane and Maggie avoid assaults from multiple cars attempting to hold them up. With The Cowboy's help, Dooley is able to arrive in time to save the armored car from a guided missile strike and foil a final attack from Klepper and Lazarus. O'Connell, no longer willing to abide the scheme, arrives having captured Carlino and his associates, the two detectives who originally framed Dooley.
The criminals are arrested and Dooley is invited back to the police force, along with a reluctant Kane. | murder | train | wikipedia | Great John Candy movie!.
Armed and Dangerous is one of John Candy's best films!
Eugene Levy, Meg Ryan, Brion James, Robert Loggia, James Tolkan, Kenneth McMillan, and Tom Lister Jr. were all good.
I don 't like to make fun of anybody but it was so funny every time Candy would make fun of him and I loved Lister doing his Zeus Trademark in the film!
If are a fan of John Candy and the above cast mention and love hilarious action packed comedies with good music then I strongly recommend that you watch this classic movie soon!.
Yes, it's a harmless "no-brainer" type of movie but it was fun and had likable lead characters, people you could easily root for to make good.
In this, it was a pair of security guards: "Frank Dooley" (John Candy) and "Norman Kane" (Eugene Levy).
Believe me, this film is not all laughs.I watch this and makes me sad that Candy is no longer with us.
If you're a die hard Candy fan, you have got to see this movie.
While most reviews describe this movie as 'just an average comedy', even at this, Armed and Dangerous is a laugh and a half.
One minute, they're ragging on each other, the next, they're the best of friends.The movie also has, though almost impossible to find a copy of, an excellent soundtrack, including "Armed and Dangerous" by Atlantic Starr, and, of course, half a dozen or so other popular 80s hits.
At just under an hour and a half, as endearing as each minute is, the film does leave much to be desired.All in all, Armed and Dangerous is a mid-80s classic well-worth watching.
It's the perfect blend of action and comedy, and SCTV fans will find that it's no flop for either Candy or Levy; even as the script is considered by some to be lacking, both hide it well..
Frank (John Candy) is a good policeman but he is framed for theft when he catches other officers pilfering electronics.
Meanwhile, Norman (Eugene Levy) is an inept lawyer who messes up big time when he assigned to defend a Charles Manson type offender.
Frank and Norman's first assignment is to stand watch inside a factory but they soon realize that their company, Guard Dog Security, may have some criminals on the staff, ones that are stealing from the companies they are supposed to be guarding.
Can Frank and Norman, with the help of the firm-owner's daughter, Maggie (Meg Ryan), expose the bad elements in the company, without getting fired or killed?
If you want to see a classic Candy film, this is a great choice, for it displays his marvelous and abundant talent, no doubt.
An all-time classic Candy Movie.
This film is an all-time movie classic.
The plot takes a back seat as the best enjoyment comes from watching the cast deliver and the effervescent John Candy performing at his comedy best.
With "Splash", "Armed and Dangerous" and "Once Upon a Crime", it's clear that John Candy and Eugene Levy were a great team..
In a way, maybe it does weaken "Armed and Dangerous" just a little to have so much high action, but how can you not like a John Candy/Eugene Levy movie?
Low humor, sure, but still likable (especially the clothing-switching scene; I bet that they liked filming that!).Anyway, it's one of many movies that shows what we lost when John Candy died.
John Candy's 2nd funniest movie!!.
This movie isnt as funny as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, but it's pretty darn close!!
This movie didn't get a lot of attention; and it's not as good as Planes Trains and Automobiles, but it still worth watching.
This is one of John Candy's funniest movies, the supporting cast is also hilarious.
Admittedly it's not a classic and Candy HAS done better films, but this one has its share of funny moments.
The film is somewhat reminiscent of "Police Academy" (the first one) and is certainly funnier than any of the increasingly kiddie-oriented sequels that followed that movie.
John Candy plays a security guard who is truly "armed and dangerous." I don't remember much about the first four-fifths of the movie.
Anyway, bumbling John Candy is stuck in a traffic jam, and he needs to be at a certain place at a certain time, and people's lives are at stake, and he asks a trucker to take him there.
John Candy and Eugene Levy star in this classic comedy about an ex-cop [Candy] and a lawyer [Levy] who become security guards.
Soon they're convinced that their boss [Robert Loggia] is behind numerous crimes!John Candy and Eugene Levy both give excellent comedic performances and Meg Ryan's well-casted as their boss' daughter..
Candy who's set up by bad guy cops, in a t.v heist, teams up with American Pie's Levy (one of the worst lawyers you'll ever meet) who's forced to resign.
Their new careers have em' working as security guards for an Armaguard company, but soon smell something besides mounds of garbage (check out that scene) where corrupt union figures, and some other bad guys are robbing genuine employers off their doe.
Candy and Levy make a great team and get up to some real shenanigans, while also getting to the core of this operation.
Too, this is the first flick I saw Ms Ryan in, who plays the daughter of the cranky boss running the business, forced into working with the bad guys.
This film also has a lot to offer like shark catching, and is a teaching tool to cops who climb trees to rescue cats from them, although how Candy got up there is a big visual fault upon the director, while not showing him clinging onto any others on the start up.
Still at other times it really got a person laughing good as Candy and Levy were a pretty good comedy tandem.
This one has Candy as a former police officer framed and kicked off the force and Levy as a very bad defense attorney.
In fact, the scene where his ineptness is displayed is one of the best scenes in the movie as he must defend what looks like a Charles Manson type of criminal, a guy so bad the police found things in the place he lived made of human hair.
Both men end up trying to find work as security guards in a company with a very fair and good union, well not really but this too makes for one of the funnier scenes in the movie.
Well they figure something is up and they start to unravel a conspiracy, which still makes for an okay film, but I almost wish they just continued to have misadventures as security guards.
So all in all this is a good comedy featuring a rather good duo, to bad the only other movie I know they were in together was the bizarre Cannonball run sequel "Speed Zone"..
In fact, my wife and I had just gotten married and could barely afford the price of admission but we found a way because we thought with Eugene Levy and John Candy is HAD to be great!
As for the plot, it's about two security guards who make good.
Candy stars with fellow SCTV alum Levy as two inept bozo's who work for an armed security service and get tangled with a gang of thieves and their boss.
John Candy and Eugene Levy are in top form in this movie.
Lester (Class of 1984 and 1999, Commando) shows a great fun of Comedy and Action.
Candy and Levy are great together, the supporting cast are: Robert Loggia, Kenneth McMillian, Meg Ryan, Jonathan Banks, Brion James and Steve Ralisback (In a Cameo).
John Candy and Eugene Levy have a great chemistry in this film.
Even though the story and filming is not the greatest, their characters in this film play off each other very well to provide for some hilarious, outlandish situations and a whole slew of laughs.This movie is a classic 80's comedy if you ask me, with a nice bit of action in it too and a good story.
This movie has loads of memorable scenes such as this with easily likable characters, well defined good and bad guys and an easy to follow plot.
It's not easy to create good character gags over a short space of time, but this film manages to do it and avoids a lot of the traps that other 80's comedies did by relying on visual and verbal gags alone.Overall rating: 7 out of 10..
'Armed and Dangerous' Synopsis: A fired cop and a useless lawyer sign up as security guards and find they've joined a corrupt union.'Armed and Dangerous' runs for a brief 84-minutes, and to give its due, some of the jokes are crackling.
Performance-Wise: The Late/Great John Candy is in good form.
"The film's main problem is its lack of intelligence, humor, and wit, as well as containing some boring and typical dialogue expected from a film like 'Police Academy,' not a film with John Candy and Eu. Armed and DangerousWell, here's another cop-buddy comedy from the eighties with a weird sense of humor: `Armed and Dangerous.' It features old SCTV Canadian buddies John Candy and Eugene Levy in one of their most forgettable roles.
John Candy plays Frank Dooley, a policeman who, one day, finds some corrupt cops stealing some TVs. Unfortunately for Dooley, the tables are turned when he confronts them and gets the blame, causing him to lose his badge and suffer.Eugene Levy plays Norman Kane: a bumbling, inept lawyer who we feel got his job because he either had extremely rich parents, or just made some fake certificates to prove he is a lawyer.
He quits his job.So now both men decide to enter the `Watchdog Security' program, where they meet each other for the first time, as well as the daughter of Watchdog president, Maggie Cavanaugh (Meg Ryan).
Candy and Levy are later assigned night watch at an old factory, and unfortunately for the two men, they have no idea that something more than meets the eye is going on; if they wish to keep their job, they must discover the truth and reveal it.John Candy is great as Frank Dooley.
Dooley's motivation behind it all is that he wants his respect as an officer back; he took the blame once, and he wants to get his badge back.Eugene Levy is endearingly dumb as Norman, a guy we all find a place for in our hearts.
He is just
Eugene Levy.Despite the two comedians' great performances, however, the film is simply average.
Candy and Levy try their best at delivering laughs, but fail miserably, mainly because the script is so awful and the direction wonders around aimlessly searching for the right direction.The beginning/first half of the film is, actually, quite funny, but eventually, after the men join Watchdog Security, the film suffers from lack of dialogue and lack of direction; director Mark L.
The film just withers away into a laugh-free zone after the first act, and the ending is just plain typical of an eighties cop-buddy film: high speed chases, stunts, and explosions, topped off by a corny, stereotypical ending that has the audience cowering in their seats.No matter how much I love John Candy as an actor, I simply can't muster up enough to recommend this film.
The film's main problem is its lack of intelligence, humor, and wit, as well as containing some boring and typical dialogue expected from a film like `Police Academy,' not a film with John Candy and Eugene Levy.
ARMED AND DANGEROUS is not one of the greats of John Candy.
This film about a fired cop who ends up working for a small security system run by the mob is very weak and not very much a comedy.
There are some moments that I did enjoy, like looking at Candy in a pilot suit, but it doesn't seem to matter much.
John Candy's Best.
This has got to be John Candy's best movie.
I like comedic crime movies and John Candy and Eugene Levy are two perfect people to be in one.
You just got to feel sorry for a character who gets framed in a movie.
I also liked the theme song to the movie which was actually called Armed and Dangerous.
If you want to see a great Candy classic watch Armed and Dangerous..
It's really too bad that John Candy wasted his skills on so many horrible films (Delirious, Wagons East, Who's Harry Crumb?, etc..
Frank Dooley (John Candy) is a patrol cop who catches fellow cops Nedler and Rizzo stealing TVs. However they turn the tables on Frank and he's the one dismissed from the force.
Norman Kane (Eugene Levy) is an incompetent defense lawyer who leaves after his client threatens him.
They investigate and find corruption in the union.I understand how Dooley ends up as a security guard but it makes no sense that Kane becomes one.
Once they get together, it has some better moment that is worthy of a good Police Academy movie.
However there are too many moments worthy of a bad Police Academy movie.
Lester is not good at directing comedies.
John Candy's second starring vehicle (after "Summer Rental") is a minor improvement but its lack of genuine memorable comedy bits still makes Candy fare best in supporting roles.
The chemistry between Candy and Eugene Levy results in a few laughs but too few.
The story deals with two security guards (Candy, Levy) who attempt to expose a corrupt union being run by the mob.
This picture is barely passable entertainment at best, with Candy and Levy as disgraced cop and solicitor respectively sniffing out corruption and murder in the security firm which they have both joined to forge new lives.
Robert Loggia does his best to instil some menace into his part as a crooked union leader cum gangster, but the strictly formulaic nature of the plot and character development and the unfortunate attempts at comedy, suffocate the best efforts of all involved to lend credibility and accomplishment to the production - one which Candy could hardly have looked back upon with affection..
I'm a fan of the old SCTV show from the late 70's and early 80's and John Candy was a major reason why.
Time after time I was disappointed by the mediocre movies in which he was almost playing the "straight" role instead of the funny guy.
If you are a John Candy or Harold Ramis fan the movie is watchable, just don't expect to laugh much..
John Candy and Eugene Levy star as inept security guards who chase down a big time mobster.
Inept is truly the right word for this alleged comedy...a few laughs but mostly groans and thoughts to yourself like "why am I watching this c**p?" Yes that is Meg Ryan in this too..which i am sure she doesnt want to be reminded of..a waste of a talented cast..on a scale of one to ten ..0.
Another John Candy Bomb.
"Armed and Dangerous" is a really dumb film about a fired cop (John Candy) and an up-tight attorney (Eugene Levy) who decide to become security guards.
The typical inane comedy takes place, but few will even care by the film's final act.
I loved this movie about a framed police officer and an inept lawyer - turned - security guards.
John Candy is almost serious in this role as he ferrets out the bad guys, defends the honor of Meg Ryan's character (Maggie Cavanaugh) and helps to reverse her father's wayward ethics.
Oddly enough, Eugene Levy is the funny guy to Candy's "straight man" act.
This is one of Candy's better movies, and the most serious role in which I've seen him, thus far.
Now that's about it, you are now ARMED guards, God help us all." Maggie Cavanaugh.---I am a true John Candy fan, and own most of his movies.
In the end, Candy's character's reputation is redeemed and his life as a law enforcement officer is restored and plays out to a very satisfying 1980's ending.While there are better comedies out there, and also while most of Candy's other movies are better, this is one of my favorites of his line.It gets a 6.8/10 from...the Fiend :..
What one would expect from a Candy movie.
John Candy is not one of the all time great actors, but he is memorable in his own way.
Armed and Dangerous is about a police officer, Dooley (John Candy) who catches a couple of crooked cops stealing television sets, but is framed instead.
In every part of the movie, the union is portrayed in a very bad light.
It is an entertaining movie with its share of comedy.
Armed and Dangerous is a movie that John Candy fans will appreciate, and though I do not consider myself a devout fan, I do not mind him.
In another way this movie seems to be like Police Academy, except it does not focus on the training but rather the work..
Police Academy Movie for Rent a Cop's.
Candy is the mainliner here but I really liked Levy's hapless character getting in all sorts of crap because he's following Candy around (as a rent a cop no less!).
I'll really miss Candy and it's a shame he didn't make better choices for movie script's because some are really really bad, but although this one may fall in that group for some, it's a funny flick in my book!
"Good, Underrated 80's Action-Comedy!".
John Candy.
Eugene Levy, Meg Ryan, Robert Loggia and Kenneth McMillan star in this 1986 action-comedy.
The late, Candy (Summer Rental) plays ex-cop, Frank Dooley and Levy (Splash) plays unfit lawyer, Norman Kane who team up together after getting jobs as security guards.
I think it's underrated and Candy & Levy were great together.
I recommend this good 80's action-comedy. |
tt0097240 | Drugstore Cowboy | "Bob" Hughes (Matt Dillon) is the leader of a crew of drug addicts consisting of him, his best friend Rick (James LeGros), his wife Dianne (Kelly Lynch), and an underage girl with no family named Nadine (Heather Graham). Together, they travel across the U.S. Pacific Northwest in 1971, supporting their drug habits by robbing pharmacies and hospitals.
After successfully robbing a Portland pharmacy, they go straight home to use the drugs they just stole. During the process of getting high, a local low-life named David (Max Perlich) visits the group in search of hard-to-find dilaudid. Bob lies and says they have none, but offers to trade him morphine for speed instead. David declines, but Bob talks him into trading anyways. After David leaves, the police bust down their door. The lead detective Gentry (James Remar) correctly assumes it was their group that had just committed the pharmacy robbery he's investigating. The police are unable to find the drugs because the group wisely buried them outside. However, in the process of searching, the police completely trash their house.
The group then move into an apartment. Bob plans to get back at the police by setting up an elaborate scheme. The scheme succeeds and one of the policemen is shot by a neighbor who thought the cop was a peeper thanks to Bob's scheme. The next day, Gentry (knowing that Bob was the architect of the scheme) assaults Bob outside his apartment. Seeing the assault as a sign of a hex Rick and Nadine had previously brought upon the group by speaking about dogs, they leave their apartment to go "road-tripping". One night on the road, they come across a drugstore with an open transom. They proceed to sneak in and rob the pharmacy. They are extremely pleased to find their haul includes vials of pure powdered dilaudid worth thousands of dollars each.
Bob, using the logic "when you're hot, you're hot", convinces his wife that he should finally rob the hospital he's always wanted to. During the robbery, Bob is almost captured and the robbery is a complete failure. Upon arriving back at the motel, the group discover that Nadine is dead from an overdose. She had overdosed by sneaking a bottle of dilaudid during their last score. To make matters worst, she had also put the "worst of all hexes" on them by leaving a hat on the bed. After temporarily storing the body in the motel's attic, they are alerted by the motel manager that their room was previously booked for a police convention and that they must check out immediately. Bob, under tremendous anxiety and stress while having visions of handcuffs and prison, manages to sneak the body out of the motel in a large duffelbag.
Right before burying Nadine in a remote forest, Bob alerts his wife that he is going to get clean and begin a 28-day methadone program. She is shocked and confused with Bob's sudden dramatic decision. He asks her to get clean with him, but she declines telling him "you know I can't". Going their separate ways, Bob moves back to the city into a long-stay motel and gets a low-level manufacturing job "drilling holes". One day at the methadone clinic, he sees an elderly drug addict priest named Tom (William S. Burroughs). They reconnect and reminisce about the old days when drugs weren't so demonized. Another day, on the street, Bob runs into David who is bullying a kid who supposedly owes David money. Bob stops David from hurting the kid any further and the kid runs away, much to David's disgust.
After adjusting into his new life, Bob is visited by both Dianne and the police detective Gentry on separate occasions. Gentry warns Bob that the policeman Bob got shot has been making threats and might act on them. Dianne reveals that Rick is now "her old man" and is in charge of their new group. Dianne then asks Bob what happened out on the road to make him suddenly change his life so drastically and wonders if it was something she did. He answers that Nadine's death, the hex she put on them with the hat, and the possibility of serious jail time all contributed to his eventual decision. He then reveals to her a deal he made with a higher power that if he could safely get Nadine's body out of the motel, past the cops, and into the ground without being caught, he would then straighten his life out in return. After explaining this to Dianne, he begs her to stay the night with him but she declines. Before she leaves, she gives Bob a package of drugs as a gift. Bob, instead of using them and relapsing, gives the drugs to the priest Tom who is very pleased. "Bless you my son," he says.
Upon re-entering his room, he is attacked by two masked figures. The leader turns out to be David. They think that Bob is still an addict and has drugs on him. Bob tells them the truth that he is clean and doesn't have any drugs. But David doesn't believe him and ends up shooting him. A neighbor lady hears the shot and calls 911. While Bob is getting loaded onto an ambulance, Gentry asks him numerous times who shot him and if it was the policeman. Bob tells Gentry it was "the hat" and "the TV baby". During the ambulance ride, Bob thinks out loud how he got in his situation. He comes to the realization that no matter how hard he tried, he could never fully escape the drug life. He also jokes about how he now has a free ticket to the "fattest pharmacy in town". The film ends with him saying "I'm alive" and "I hope they can keep me alive." | romantic, cult, philosophical, violence, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0203019 | Men of Honor | The movie starts off by introducing Master Chief Leslie W. ("Billy") Sunday (Robert DeNiro), a US Navy Diver, who has recently gone AWOL. He is badly beaten and awaiting disciplinary actions. Sunday and several other Navy members watch TV coverage of an ongoing salvage operation, when Sunday recognizes a familiar face on the screen. One of the other sailors makes some crude racist jokes, Sunday attacks him and applies a choke hold.We then flash back about 25 years, where a young African-American boy named Carl Brashear (Chris Warren Jr.) is watching his father Mac (Carl Lumbly) work the plow on their farm. Carl wants to quit school so that he will be able to help work and then prevent the farm from financial ruin. Mac is dead-set against his son being "like him" and stuck working on a farm, but he allows Carl to help.Time passes quickly and a grown-up Carl (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is leaving town to join the Navy. Mac gives his son a custom-built portable radio as a memento of home, and tells Carl to be the best, even if it means breaking the rules.Carl winds up working in the kitchens on the USS Hoist in the South Pacific. He and the other black officers joke about the so-called "bright future" the Navy promised them. Their superior points out that black men in the US Navy have only 3 career choices- cook, officer's valet or "get the f*ck out of the Navy."Afterwards, Carl and his friends go up on deck where the white officers are swimming (the black crew members are assigned a specific day when they can swim). Carl, tired and hot, decides to jump in the water. The white officers try and chase him down, but Carl out-swims all of them.Carl's actions get him thrown in the brig. The ships' captain meets with Carl and, impressed with the boy's speed, decides to transfer Carl to the search & rescue swimmers, a group assigned to rescue anyone who falls overboard on ship.A few days later, Carl is writing a letter home to his parents when the ship is rocked by an apparent crash. Their mail chopper has accidentally gone down in the ocean. Carl assists the others on deck in raising a Navy Diver from the sea floor with the wounded pilot. The Diver is Master Chief Sunday. Since Sunday is now back up on deck, regulations state that he must now undergo decompression. As the next diver is lowered, an accident with the winch severs the diver's air hose. Chief Sunday prepares to do a dangerous "bounce dive" to rescue his fallen ally. One officer, Lt. Cmdr Hanks (David Conrad) orders Sunday not to go, but Sunday disobeys and jumps off ship.Later in the hospital, we see that Chief Sunday was indeed able to save the other diver, but doctors find that he has sustained a severe embolism in both lungs. This condition disqualifies Sunday from any more diving. Upon hearing this news, Sunday throws a fit, destroying some equipment in the hospital, and assaulting several of the staff. Carl is in attendance at the resulting disciplinary hearing, where Sunday is officially disqualified from further diving duty, and assigned to a training position. Carl, having seen Sunday's actions as heroic, is inspired and vows to become a Navy Master Diver.Two years later, Carl is reporting for Diving School, the same diving school where Sunday is the trainer. After a tense confrontation with Chief Sunday, he is allowed in. While most other recruits are revolted by the thought of sharing their bunk with a Negro, one Navy candidate- Snowhill (Michael Rapaport) attempts to befriend Carl. That night, Carl is subjected to severe hazing by Sunday. The following morning, Chief Sunday singles out Snowhill, throwing him out of the program for failing to complete an impossible task. His only ally alienated, Carl is once again on his own.Despite the harsh treatments, Carl performs admirably in his training, assembling machinery and adapting to the diving suit with much greater results than a large number of his classmates. Unfortunately, Carl is falling behind in the academic requirements-scoring only a 37 on his first exam. If he fails again, Carl will be kicked out of the program.One weekend, on leave, Carl comes to a library in the hopes of getting a tutor to help him. He meets a young woman named Jo (Aunjanue Ellis) who is studying medicine. She thinks that Carl cannot possibly succeed, since he has only a 7th grade education. Carl stays the entire night at the library reading and learning more about the Navy program. Next morning, Jo is so impressed by his progress that she agrees to help Carl. The two spend many evenings together, eventually developing a relationship in the process. Soon, Carl is back in the classroom awaiting the results of another test. As the exams are passed out, Carl is elated- he's scored a 76, keeping him in the program.The next day there is a training exercise, involving patching the hole in a sunken ship and raising it to the surface. All at once, the ship accidentally shifts its position, snaring the air hose on one diver while the other flees for his life. Carl volunteers to bring down a new line for the trapped diver, and after several tense seconds, Carl is able to save the young mans' life. Unfortunately, due to the prejudiced environment of the time, the diver who fled earlier receives a medal for his actions while Carl is ignored. Carl is, however, silently thanked by the recruit he saved on his way out of the school.That night, Carl is in town when he meets a young woman (Charlize Theron) who introduces herself as Gwen Sunday, the chief's wife. Gwen takes Carl into the same bar her husband and his fellow divers frequent. Carl and Sunday confront each other, whereby Carl says he knows he's better than Sunday. They face off in a competition using pressurized diving helmets to determine who can hold their breath the longest. The stakes are if Sunday wins, Carl leaves town that very night, but if Carl wins, Chief Sunday must re-admit Snowhill into the diving program. Carl manages to win, but is again overlooked for his actions. Carl sees Jo watching the confrontation with dismay as she storms out of the bar. He gives chase, and she reveals that she's been accepted into an internship and she won't have time to help Carl anymore. Carl, smitten, asks Jo to marry him. Jo contemplates driving off in a taxi, but she returns and accepts.Chief Sunday meets with Captain "Pappy," (Hal Holbrook), the eccentric senior officer at the training school. Chief Sunday states that Carl has scored a 94 on his final test, meaning that all Carl has to do is complete his last training exercise (a timed exercise), and he will have passed all requirements for graduation. Pappy is not at all happy at the prospect of a "colored diver," but Sunday seems hesitant to agree.Sunday confronts Carl yet again. After Carl fires an insult back, Sunday smashes the radio Carl's father gave him. Upon seeing Carl's fury at this, Sunday sees the inscription no the radio ASNF (a son never forgets), and Carl's father's picture by his bed. Sunday asks what his father said to make him try so hard. Carl simply states "Be the best." Sunday admits that he is, but that he shouldn't show up the following day because Pappy will not let him pass the school. Carl is furious.Next morning, Chief Sunday explains the final exercise to the recruits- they must assemble a flange underwater, pieces are on the river bottom and tools will be provided once the parts are found. They will earn points based on the speed of their work, but there is no set time limit and air will be provided to the diving suits for as long as the divers can stand the cold water. Carl makes a defiant entrance to the exercise, and is looked upon with a measure of respect from the other recruits finally.Carl is among the first to find the parts for his project, but when he calls up for tools the attendants cut a hole in the tool bag sending them cascading all over the river bottom. Carl frantically searches for all the necessary parts.As time goes by, the recruits slowly but surely complete the assignment. Carl remains in the water well into the night. The other recruits, having showered and put on warm clothes, have returned to see Carl finish. Pappy orders Sunday to leave Carl in the water until he stops moving. Sunday, however, decides that too much time has passed already and gives the order to bring Carl back up. This makes Sunday's colleagues uneasy, as it violates a direct order from Pappy. The other recruits step up, but just as they begin to haul in the lines, Carl's project flange comes to the surface, completed. After 9 hours and 31 minutes in the excruciatingly cold water, Carl Brashear has passed his final and essentially graduated with honors from Diving School.As Carl leaves the barracks next day, Snowhill runs in to talk to him. He has been asked to rejoin the diving program. He also states that Pappy has thrown Sunday out of the school as trainer. Carl also finds his father's radio, fully repaired, with "A son never forgets" freshly carved into the side.Some time later, Carl and his wife are in a nightclub. Carl orders champagne as a celebration because he's been offered a job with Brooklyn Navy Yard. Carl doesn't know if he should accept the job, since he won't move up in rank as just a stand-by diver. Jo confesses that she is three months late, and Carl is suddenly overjoyed at the prospect of being a father.At a New Years' party, Sunday and his wife run into Lt. Hanks- the man who ended Sunday's diving career. Despite his best efforts to remain civil, Sunday ends up attacking the lieutenant. Charges are filed against Sunday for assaulting a superior officer, and he suffers a rank reduction.The scene then shifts back to Chief Sunday watching a TV report explaining the current salvage operations. Earlier that day, an American B-52 bomber crashed in Spain. Before impact, it released its payload of three 50-megaton warheads on parachutes. Two have been recovered but the last one is lost at sea. Furthermore, maritime law dictates that since the bomb vanished in international waters, whoever finds it first will be considered the true owner. So the US Divers are racing against Russian submarines to be the first to find the missing nuke.Carl is one of several divers assigned to try and find the missing bomb. At one point, Carl finds a metal object on the sea floor but it turns out to be a mere Coke can. At that moment, sonar signals in the water are detected- there is a Russian submarine is Carls' immediate vicinity. Carl spots the sub and tries to run for cover, but his air line is caught by the sub and he is dragged along the ocean floor. After several tense seconds, Carl is able to contact the surface and tell them that he is unhurt. As they prepare to bring him home, Carl notices a large metal object nearby. The sub's movement has caused most of the silt and debris on the ocean floor to move aside, essentially finding the nuke for them!Back on deck, Carl watches as the bomb is brought on board. An accident with the winch on deck causes the lines holding the bomb to snap. Carl shoves several other deck hands aside, but his own leg is caught by the snapped wire.Carl wakes up later in a hospital, with Jo by his side. Jo explains that Carl's leg was nearly severed by the impact, but doctors think he will walk again. Carl realizes that this injury has put an end to his diving career and he is devastated.Meanwhile, Chief Sunday has fallen on hard times since his rank reduction. He is now in a rehab clinic undergoing detox for alcoholism. With the support of his wife, Sunday gets back on his feet. He recognizes Carl from a news story about the accident.Carl is still in the hospital, he is reading a news story that was sent to him (presumably by Sunday) about amputee pilots being able to return to duty. He speaks with his superiors (including the now-Captain Hanks). Carl wants to return to full diving duty, but they feel that it is impossible in his current state. Carl voices his desire to have the damaged leg amputated and return after a fitting with a prosthesis. Jo is furious about Carl's reckless and apparently selfish attitude, and walks out.Later, Carl's leg is indeed amputated. He begins the difficult process of learning to move and act with a prosthetic. Chief Sunday shows up and asks if he can help Carl. Sunday begins training him again, and makes a deal with Captain Hanks. He will get four weeks to complete training Carl before a medical hearing with the Chief of Naval Personnel in Washington. Hanks agrees, on the condition that Sunday take immediate retirement if and when Carl fails to return to duty.A month later, Carl appears before the Naval Personnel and they discuss his possible return. Chief Sunday has been ordered to wait outside the courtroom by Captain Hanks. Captain Hanks outlines a new requirement for Navy Divers- a new diving suit, weighing in at 290 pounds has been approved for use and anyone wanting to use it must take 12 steps unassisted. Carl, seeing that Jo and his son are in the audience, volunteers to take the 12 steps right then and there. Chief Sunday bursts into the courtroom. He is asked to leave by Hanks, but after introducing himself to some of the more senior members of the court who know of his past heroics, is allowed to stay.Chief Sunday helps Carl suit up, and then proceeds to coach him through the ordeal. Carl stands up in the new suit, and-with obvious great discomfort- takes a few clumsy steps forward. Everyone assumes that his prosthetic will snap, and as he nears failure he is ordered to stand down by Captain Hanks. Sunday orders Carl to disregard, as he is the officer in charge of this exercise. He begins shouting orders at Carl (identical to their first session at diving school years before). Carl struggles, but keeps moving forward until he has reached the twelfth step.Captain Hanks, realizing that no more can be done to prevent Carl from succeeding, announces that the Navy will be reinstating Carl Brashear to full diving duty.Carl and Sunday salute one another, and Sunday marches out of the courtroom.Text at the end reveals that in 1968, Carl Brashear was the first African-American amputee to assume Navy diving duty, and that two years after his reinstatement Carl was promoted to Master Chief. Carl continued in his Naval career for another nine years before finally taking retirement. | inspiring | train | imdb | Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is unquestionably a man of great courage and principle, and his strength of character shines through brightly in this film.
If a director is going to make a human-interest story, he needs to humanize the characters.Cuba Gooding Jr. gives an outstanding performance as Brashear.
This is an excellent recovery from Gooding's last role in `Chill Factor', a film so dreadful that it was almost an act of professional suicide to take the part.After a stint trying his hand as a comedian (`Analyze This', `The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle', `Meet The Parents'), Robert DeNiro is back to his dramatic roots with an outstanding performance.
David Keith, who co-starred with Richard Gere in `Officer and a Gentleman', has a cameo hereThe DVD has some interesting special features, including reflections by the real Carl Brashear and some deleted scenes.I enjoyed this film despite the hackneyed plot and the one-dimensional presentation.
Much like the spirit of films like The Hurricane and Glory, Men of Honor grips us and makes us really feel for a man struggling to make his dream come true..
Men of Honor stars Cuba Gooding Jr., as real life Navy Diver Carl Brashear who defied a man's Navy to become the first African American Navy Diver.
We are shown the series of struggles from boyhood on that Brashear has to overcome to make his dream come true (and then to keep it alive.) Not the least of the challenges was Master Diver Bill Sunday (Robert DeNiro), the head trainer at the diving school the Navy sends Brashear to, who is not especially sympathetic to Brashear's goals, but who ultimately becomes an unlikely friend and supporter.This is a good movie; fast paced and with a lot of action, although not an "action" pic in the normal sense of the word.
I thought DeNiro was perhaps a bit over the top in his portrayal of Sunday (although, who knows, Sunday might well have been this extreme kind of loose cannon) and the portrayal of Sunday's wife Gwen (by Charlize Theron) also made me question whether these parts were "jazzed up" to provide entertainment value.A good movie, though.
Being put "on hold" or stuck in traffic in a car without air conditioning on a hot summer day would have been more productive and enjoyable.Carl Brashear did great things; too bad that those making the movie about him did not.
Brashear was a black Navy diver in the 1950s, who encountered racism, overcame it, became a hero while losing a leg saving the world from communism in a rescue mission, and struggled to reclaim his position as a diver.Perhaps one day they will make a movie that does the man justice.
Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jnr are the shining lights in this movie and they make the film what it is,which is a very entertaining flick that could do better.
"Men of Honor" is a movie inspired by the navy career of Carl Brashear.
However, compared to many Hollywood biopics, it's pretty close to the true story of the man...and an inspiring story it is.Carl Brashear was a black man who became the first to become a certified navy diver.
So this movie is based on a true story of the hardship of one man trying to become a rescue diver in the US Navy but due to the color of his skin this proves to be impossible.
I do like DeNiro and Cuba usually and regard them as being fine actors but maybe they should read the script a little closer next time before hopping aboard...Just because the story is true and just because the issue depicted is still a problem today - not only in the states but worldwide - still does not merit any higher rating than a 5 and that mostly due to the craftsmanship of the 2 main actors..
Why are two talented actors who should know better starring in a rehash, made-for-TV-plotted film that manages to wallow in cliches and stale scenes from the onset until its thoroughly predictable, melodramatic end?Men of Honor takes the underdog-denied-a-chance-for-greatness-due-to racism-classism-or-other-ism theme and tries to make it seem fresh by incorporating this contrived and overused device in a Navy diving setting.
One day Hollywood will attempt to combine all the lackluster and overworked ideas and themes so horribly that it might make an action movie that involves a serial killer trying to reach his dream of killing more people than ever and thereby being the best but being held down by and then coached and trained by a hard-ass retired cop who ends up being a softy.
The final scene can only be watched through a cage of fingers, as cliches fall like bored stalegtites from the courtroom ceiling.Carl Brashear, deserves respect for the odds he overcame but this movie demands all our sympathy for De Niro, who must now live with both this and 'Rocky & Bullwinkle' on his CV.
If anyone wanted to know the definition of academy award performances; they can look no further than those given by Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding Jr. If someone wanted the definition of an academy award film; they can look no further than "Men of Honor." I was honored to be a witness to one of the greatest films ever made."Men of Honor" is one of the most courageous, emotional and touching films I've seen since "Saving Private Ryan." Along with "The Perfect Storm" and "Pay It Forward," "Men of Honor" is an example of a film which made me feel good on the inside as well as the outside.
Furthermore, this film is true testament to the courage and bravery men and women like Carl Brashear show in the line of duty."Men of Honor" is one of the finest films I've seen in the past year because it has two of the best actors and the best ensemble cast since "The Perfect Storm." "Men of Honor" CANNOT be missed under any circumstances because it is a testament to the human spirit and one man's unrelenting quest to accomplish his dream."Men of Honor" profiles the life of the first black navy diver and his inspirational, courageous, and unrelenting quest in becoming the best navy diver in the United States by achieving the status of master diver.
Carl Brashear is the true definition of an American hero because he embodies unwillingness to give up in the face of hard times.It was a true pleasure and inspiration to watch "Men of Honor" because it afforded me the opportunity to learn a valuable history lesson; the knowledge I gained from this film will stay with me for life."Men of Honor" is a film that boasts one of the greatest compilation of talent in Hollywood.
Hollywood's intimidator Robert DeNiro leads this all-star cast that includes Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron, Anjunue Ellis, David Keith, Michael Rappaport and Hal Holbrook.
His performance as Billy Sunday is his best in his career because he puts his whole heart and soul into this film.From "What Dreams May Come" to "As Good As It Gets," Gooding's repertoire grows and his star is sure to stay on the rise.
With his stage presence, talent, class, honesty and sophistication, Gooding rises to the top of his class and becomes one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood.Gooding's role as Carl Brashear is one of the most inspiring and uplifting performances I have ever come across on film.
It is with roles like Carl Brashear that will win him many academy awards and a bright future in film."Men of Honor" is a beautifully crafted, well-acted masterpiece that will leave everyone with smiles on their faces.
DeNiro and Gooding come together as one to make a movie, which is a true testament to the human spirit and courage.The writers deserve most of the credit for a screenplay with rich quality and adding depth to the characters.
It is great to watch a film that allows the viewer to see each character in the film developed to the fullest as "Men of Honor" did.This film is most likely the greatest 'based on a true story' film that has been made in America.
But it certainly is not anything special, especially for a film with Robert Deniro as cast.The Good Points'Robert De Niro' He does play the most interesting character of the film and without him i don't think i would have bothered to watch it from reading other peoples opinions.
A mere two hours and a few minutes wouldn't satisfy our craving for more.Nonetheless, Cuba Gooding Jr. and DeNiro give great performances, with a few chuckles along the way to give it soul and being lighthearted.It may not be a perfect movie, but it's honorable, and the best drama this year.
This well-acted story of the end of segregation in the military is told through the true experiences of Carl Brashear.Ultimately it is a story of human honor and dignity triumphing over small mindedness, bureaucracy, and prejudice.
T. The inspiring story of Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), a black man who grew up in poverty in Kentucky and then joined the US Navy, aspiring to be the first black Master Diver in Navy history.
T. The inspiring story of Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), a black man who grew up in poverty in Kentucky and then joined the US Navy, aspiring to be the first black Master Diver in Navy history.
We are shown the series of struggles from boyhood on that Brashear has to overcome to make his dream come true (and then to keep it alive.) Not the least of the challenges was Master Diver Bill Sunday (Robert DeNiro), the head trainer at the diving school the Navy sends Brashear to, who is not especially sympathetic to Brashear's goals, but who ultimately becomes an unlikely friend and supporter.loved Cuba in this film.
This movie is also very familiar to the military formula of other films in recent history (from "An Officer and a Gentleman" to the horrible "G.I. Jane") and has a very "powerful" Hollywood meaning about morality, honesty and the dreams that all come true only because of our will.
Cuba is good (even though I disliked his character when he decided to cut his leg only to continue diving!), Theron has a limited screen appearance (and she doesn't match at all as Chief Sunday's wife) and of course De Niro (in a role seems to exist only for him) delivers a stellar performance as the southern trainer and master diver (maybe his last great performance till now).
The movie is the life story of Carl Brashear, the first black to enter the diving school.
The plot isn't too well built and i disliked the fact that it began from a point somewhere in the middle of the movie.All these bad points are covered by the way de Niro and Cuba Gooding act.
Men of Honor is a good true story of the first African-American to become Navy a diver.
"Billy" Sunday " Robert De Niro (Awakenings, The Deer Hunter) rips Carl's tool bag that has all the necessary instruments that Carl needs to assemble the flange in order to pass the test, it accurately depicts some of what I have seen people going through.The movie stuck a cord with me also because is my husband was a Navy Ship Salvage Diving Officer and had to endure that same kind of testing.
Cuba has been coming into his own in his recent films.I thought this movie was good in every way except that it drug on at points.De Niro and Gooding play off each other very well in this one.I give it an eight..
finale.BUT...what undercuts all of that - and thus makes the film well worth seeing - is the fact that however many liberties have been taken the real truth, however many characters have been elided into one and however sanitised this film is you can't avoid the issue of race and the appalling racism that this man faced.As with many such stories one can argue that the men involved are fools, in a sense, to devote themselves, their lives and their families lives (effectively) to such unworthy `causes'.
Carl Brashear (Gooding Jr.) is the first black trainee and despite the racism and prejudice of his fellow trainees and Sunday himself, Brashear is determined to pass.The strength of the film undoubtedly lies with the quality of the acting.
De Niro is excellent as the hard-hitting, alcoholic Sunday, making Anne Robinson look as frightening as the Andrex puppy.Cuba Gooding Jr. shows his range of talents also, proving that he can perform a toned down role as well as the loud-mouthed footballer he played in Jerry McGuire.
The entire film shows us an organisation that just 30 years ago denied a man a position solely due to the colour of his skin, an organisation that systematically discriminated at every level against an African American's desire to serve his country, and one that promoted an individual that was prepared to see a man die rather than pass a course.If there is a hero in this movie....this story, then it is Master Chief Leslie W.
The captain causes trouble for him.Then, when it is just within reach, a tragic accident becomes the ultimate test of his courage.However Carl never gives up trying to make his dream come true.This is the inspiring true story of one man at war with adversity.I would recommend this as an entertaining film showing the triumph of the human spirit and honor of all humanity..
It also does it at the cost of insulting some of the finest men and women our country has produced, those who truly have honor and serve in the US military.The other problem is how Cuba Gooding Jr. portrays Brashears.
If it hadn't been for this film about Carl Brashear, the first african-american to become a master diver in the U.S. Navy, I may never have known who this man was.
In one great scene after another, we watch Carl (Cuba Gooding Jr.) defy the rules and find the courage to accomplish his goals no matter what stands in his way.
The story may have fallen short about 3/4 of the way into the picture but the performances remained strong throughout."Men of Honor" was changed from "Navy Diver" understandably so.
Gooding is great, and DeNiro, the best actor in movie history, gives a towering performance- his best dramatic work in years.
The story of Men of Honor is focused about Carl Brashear played by Cuba Gooding Jr. who wants to be the first African American deep sea diver in the navy.
The cast (Cuba Gooding Jr., Robert DeNiro and Charlize Theron) was stellar, the performances brilliant, in all, the movie could not have been better.
"Men of Honor" avoids these two mistakes, and catapults the film from a movie-of-the-week to a true cinematic accomplishment.Cuba Gooding Jr portrays Carl Brashear, the first African-American Navy Diver who joined the service in 1948, when the choices for him were either cook, steward, officer's valet, or to get out.
However, Gooding comes through in a big way, not by being showy but by capturing what you have to imagine is the true Carl Brashear, and DeNiro doesn't dial it down a bit as Sunday, a coarse, brutal, racist man who comes to understand that honor is colorblind.
We idealize films and Men of Honor is idealic, moving, humble and ....honorable.Men Of Honor is a wonderful film.The upside is it's a true story that although depicted in a way a movie company would back the story and a man like Carl Brashear who is a hero and a role model could be more than a name in an encyclopedia of African American greatness.The downside of this movie is having to work within those guidelines placed on the director already knows are in place; to not only have the story heard but not have mainstream America avoid seeing it because of the race issues involved.
As always, way to go, DeNiro!Now, I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to say and, with this movie give proof, to something I've believed ever since he came on the scene: Cuba Gooding Jr. is a fine actor and he just doesn't get enough really meaty roles.
This makes the film feel like it was made for the television even if the cast suggest it will be a really good story of courage and drive in the face of adversity.
We can start from the beginning and analyze the great character played by Cuba Gooding Jr.Speaking of what the film as such, but has come under fire for many people, I still see a very well run, with an amazing script, with an amazing story to tell, with a perfect fit and an ability to convey feelings and emotions to the viewer as probably very few films in cinema history have ever achieved, and that's pretty hard to do.Not only is this.
Cuba Gooding, Jr. gives what might be the best performance of his career as a Navy diver with Robert DeNiro as his diving instructor/ranking NCO.Gooding plays a real person that being Carl Brashear and gets a chance to play a far better and well rounded role then he normally gets to play.
Cuba Gooding Jr. is this man and the hard ass who is training him is none other than Robert De Niro.Men of Honor seemed like another boring military film that focuses on one character who must overcome adversity while training to become a part of a special unit in the service.
The romance between Cuba and his gal is thin and Charlize Theron is given so little to do I wondered why she was even in the film.Men Of Honor has everything that an inspirational film that is based on a true story should have.
I'm certainly glad that a film was made about Carl Brashear's amazing life story. |
tt0417385 | 12 and Holding | The film explores adolescent issues through the minds of three friends and their reactions after a boy named Rudy Carges (Conor Donovan) is killed in a tree house set on fire by local bullies Jeff and Kenny, who carelessly didn't find out he was inside until too late. The boy's twin brother Jacob, a boy with a huge birthmark (also played by Donovan), decides to seek revenge against the bullies. Leonard (Jesse Camacho) who's overweight, survives the tree house fire but loses his sense of taste and smell. Thanks to the fire, this prompts Leonard to go on a diet, which isn't welcomed by his obese family. The boys' female friend Malee (Zoe Weizenbaum) tries to befriend an adult named Gus (Jeremy Renner), a grief-stricken patient of her therapist mother, Carla (Annabella Sciorra). Jacob's family falls apart after the death of his brother. But shortly after, his parents adopt a boy named Keith Gardner. Meanwhile, Malee begins to have a crush on Gus and changes the song for her recital to one Gus liked, just for him. As time goes by, she sees Gus as her "soul mate". She sneaks into his house one night to find him grieving. Afraid to confront him, Malee steals his gun and leaves. She gives it to Jacob the following day.
Jacob's mother gets furious when she finds out Jeff and Kenny are being put in juvenile hall for only one year as they were charged with manslaughter instead of murder, while Jacob's father views Rudy's death as an accident. Jacob frequently visits Jeff and Kenny, and initially threatens them, until eventually Jeff commits suicide. Jacob befriends Kenny, soon learning he has an early release and is illegally moving to New Mexico. Meanwhile, Leonard's father decides to take his sisters to Florida instead of Leonard (who would usually go). Leonard decides to force his mother to lose weight by trapping her in the cellar. They both end up in the hospital after a gas leak in their home. Next, Jacob and Kenny agree that Jacob can go with him to New Mexico. Malee visits Gus and removes her clothes in an attempt to seduce him. Instead, Gus calls Malee's mother to come and pick her up. The next day, Gus explains to therapist Carla about the last fire he ever fought (which involved killing an injured little girl, upon the girl's request), claiming that Malee wanted him to take her pain away, as he was aware of her growing crush on him.
Meanwhile, Jacob's mother tells him that Keith Gardner wasn't adopted to replace Rudy, and that she wants Kenny dead, which reminds Jacob of his planned revenge. The night of escape for Jacob finally comes and he meets up with Kenny. Jacob insists on going through a construction site which he says is a secret route. Once there, Jacob points Gus's gun at Kenny, and tells him "you killed him" before shooting him dead. Jacob buries the body and leaves. He returns in the daytime, and sees Gus spreading cement above Kenny's grave.
Malee begins visiting her estranged father and Leonard's family finally starts eating healthily. The movie ends with Jacob's mother smiling at him from inside the house. | revenge | train | wikipedia | This is a haunting coming-of-age film about children, bound by a common, shocking tragedy, who struggle to get on with life and overcome their own troubling problems.
These are very cool kids, even the most troubled, who easily win your affection.During the course of the movie, one of the children queries the others by asking, "Do you know ninety-percent of people's problems are due to their inability to get over the past?" All of these children will be faced with this challenge.
Would make for an excellent movie to show and discuss in schools - I dare you :-) Acting is incredible and pretty much all comes trough the screen as real persons and not some abstractions from a writers imagination.
Luckily it isn't all children who grow up with these kind of experiences - at least not as extreme, but I'm afraid that a lot of parents would be very scared to know that an awful lot actually can relate to this movie....
I watched all of the ones that fit my taste, and one night, I decided to view the movie "Twelve and Holding", hardly knowing anything about it.
Jeremy Renner, who plays Gus, a mislead need-no-sympathy pathetic man who tries to be a clean role model to a little girl, Zoe Weizenbaum who happens to be one of the other lead characters, playing Malee.
Jesse Camacho playing Leonard, who has to deal with his overweight family, one of the more motivational and inspirational characters of the film.
Conor Donovan, another powerful actor from the film, plays two characters, himself and his much more unapproachable and risk-taking brother.
This movie is done very well and definitely engaging to watch, but perhaps not quite to my taste.This is a movie about a tight group of 4 children -- a precocious girl, an overweight boy, and twin brothers, the more out-going who is killed in an accident.
The funeral starts the journey of understanding the lives of the remaining 3 -- not only how the family deals with the murdered son/brother, but how the overweight boy deals with his obesity, and how the young girl deals with her mother and absent father.The heart of the movie really revolves around these near teenagers, and as a result, the coming-of-age experiences are highlighted.
Michael Cuesta (who previously directed the slick and grotesquely controversial "L.I.E" and is currently one of the masterminds behind Showtime's wildly entertaining and grotesque "Dexter") treads some very dangerous ground with "Twelve and Holding." Working with a solid script focusing on how three best friends cope with the accidental death of another friend (the more popular twin brother of one of the protagonists), he presents pre-adolescent characters with the psychologically complex motives of adults and we witness their pratfalls, tragedies, and heart wrenching moments in a the same type of voyeuristic manner usually reserved for more mature characters and audiences.
Elements of classics like "Stand by Me" keep the film grounded even as some of the plot developments get a bit far-fetched.The acting is a huge plus here, with Annabella Sciora (getting more and more enchanting and beautiful with age), Jayne Atkinson (brutal, honest, and gut-wrenching as the grieving mother of the dead child), and Connor Donovan (in duel leads as the dead boy and his conflicted twin brother) highlighting the excellent ensemble.
Cuesta's surprisingly subtle direction somehow manages to avoid both the salacious tendencies of a Larry Clark film and the annoyingly overt quirkiness of similarly themed films like "Me and You and Everyone we Know" to deliver a profound and perplexing tale of coming-of-age, revenge and loneliness..
The film shows us that problems in areas such as violence, guns, race issues and obesity are no longer limited to adults but play an active part amongst young people as well.
The material in this film could have easily been turned into a nightmarish exploitation picture, but its done just right and focuses intently on the reality of these kids situations.Leonard's parents seem to be more caricatures than realistic, and there are some aspects of the screenplay which could have used some fine tuning, but overall Twelve and Holding is a powerful, heartbreaking and tragic film, handled oh so delicately by Cuesta and especially the young actors and some of the adults as well(especially Jeremy "Dags" Renner, who'da thunk it).A very nice little film that deserved a much wider audience than it got.3.5/4.
i would refer to it as something similar to the movie "crash" except it does not deal with racial or social tension, but with a "coming of age" one, a quiet "universal" theme as well.the content: there are 3 different "plots" that happens with every single one of the 3 kids in the main roles.they are overall related but only because the characters are "friends", within the same "normal" and "typical" north American family neighborhood(and probably not only).
and the the lost plot brings to light certain aspects of how and why more and more teenagers are being over-weight, and dealing with that on both personal and within the family plan; what could be behind this quiet increasingly problem we all notice around us?(and i am not talking about simplistic outcomes but THE roots of this problem as some call it.there are some really Awkward moments, rarely seen on the silver screen, especially the ones involving the young girl.
yet all the scenes have at least sensibility, quiet emotional in a realistic way and not some "tear-jerker" or "cry for Oscar" ones.the production: the kids actors are phenomenal.especially the young girl which i am sure will have a big carrier ahead.
all the adult supporting roles are well played as well.the camera work is not great but irrelevant here.soundtrack is quiet "cute", not much but efficient when needs to.i only give it 8 stars because this production is "slow" at times(not consistently but enough to take away some entertainment aspects any movie should have), probably due to budget limits.
there were times i was about to loose interest but then something "genuinely" happens, quiet many times actually, to keep me "focused".i recommend this to parents or anyone in a need/mood for a real LIFE drama.the movie generally teaches and it does not preach, which is always a good thing for such features.
It is a simple story without much special effects or famous actors playing but the way the story is shown will make you remember what you've seen .One could say that the movie was disturbing as it showed things most people would never want to happen to them or their kids at the same time everything seems to real.
One just couldn't miss the exceptional performance of the young Conor Donovan who plays two roles and does it so well, that I have to admit that I haven't noticed that both boys are played by the same actor.The soundtrack is extremely powerful especially the melancholic music in some scenes.
My opinion that all viewers would able to sense something similar to what they felt when they were growing up that sense of anger, or desire for revenge
or the will to protect your relatives and friends .Despite of what some other reviewers wrote I did not find the movie tough to watch yes it deals with violence even death , but it does it in quite an unique way ..
Despite the dramatic turns and extreme situations that fly through the quick film, the characters stay consistently grounded to their respective realities, no doubt due to the wonderfully moving material, but also in no small part to the triumphant three performances that usually held more sincerity and truth in simple glances then most overpriced, pretty faced, Hollywood players can ever try to fake us into pretending we are convinced.
In fact, even then - his performance is SO perfect that I would have thought he would just BE like that if he hadn't ALSO played the role of his twin brother Rudy, who has a totally different personality.
What greater compliment can Conor get then that I wasn't sure if Rudy was played by the SAME actor until after I saw that in the credits, at the end of the movie!Moreover, although Jacob is supposed to be the 'ugly' one, as a result of a defacing birthmark on his face (being the cause of his different personality) -- I hardly even noticed Rudy: he wasn't beautiful in my eyes, while Jacob is very very beautiful.
The interaction between the young friends added a touch of humor.I would highly recommend this movie, especially to parents.
While I could comment on a "Children of Men" or "Babel" enough people have seen these titles to where I don't feel my review would make much of a difference in persuading someone else to see it.But then there's a film like "Twelve and Holding" which has very limited distribution and marketing.
And not only that, but paralleling them to their corresponding parental units, who sometimes act more like our idea of how the children should be."Twelve and Holding" is essentially a film about maturity and living in the aftermath of a tragic event.
And perhaps most effective, Cuesta employs one of the better movie soundtracks I've heard in a while.This is one of those films that comes along and takes you by complete surprise with its beauty and courage to portray difficult events without batting an eye or sugarcoating the facts.
The acting is excellent (the entire cast), the film looks good, and over all it feels extremely real.Unfortunately the story begins to pile on the melodrama half way through and doesn't let up until the credits roll.
This is one of the best acted movies of younger kids I have seen, depicting the torment they share with the loss of their dead friend, and how the twin's brother plans on killing one of the older boys that set the fire.
Conor Donovan (who played identical twin brothers, Jacob and Rudy) is an absolutely brilliant child actor.
The film does an excellent job of showing everyone's grief from the family, right down to the furthest acquaintance, the type of lose and emptiness that people of all ages feel when a tragedy like this occurs, but then the film takes a turn.
The three remaining members of the group realize, at their young age, that life is short and you never know what's going to happen, so they use the tragedy as the inspiration to turn their lives in another direction.
This is the kind of performance, actors three times his age can't pull off successfully, but Donovan does and it makes the whole film.
12 & Holding, actually uses actors that are the same age as their characters, and what these kids had to play through, and how they did so was truly phenomenal.
The main reason I love Indie films is because it shows the viewpoint of real life in a society of 'normal' individuals and this movie depicts it 100% in an era when bullying is becoming prevalent.
It's so nice to see a film, where the main characters are kids, but are NOT those horrible 'Hollywood' version, of cherubic, 'perfect,' innocent little plastic nightmares.TWELVE AND HOLDING tells the story of what happens to the survivors (and friends of) a child's accidental murder - by other kids, doing a foolish prank.They all go through this process differently.
To laugh AND cry.I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see a well-done film, with a terrific cast (to be honest, I work in this (film) business, and, in Hollywood, it's VERY rare for a child to actually be able to 'ACT.' they're usually just used to be 'cute,' and, I can't stand that.
Leonard suffers an injury as a result of the accident that killed Rudy and now has no ability to taste his food and uses it to his advantage to lose weight, despite the attitude of his parents.While the film occasionally drifts a tiny bit into cliché territory, this is a hard hitting and truly shattering experience.
Powerfully and sensitively written by Anthony Cipriano and directed with unrelenting intensity and grace by Michael Cuesta, this is a film about youngsters on the brink of adulthood who respond to each other and to events in ways far beyond the scope of most mature adults.Identical twins Rudy and Jacob Carges (Conor Donovan in both roles) differ in the fact that Jacob has a facial birthmark and feels second fiddle to his twin Rudy, a quick, tempered lad who eggs on bullies causing the maelstrom that is to follow.
The family wants revenge and is infuriated when the two lads who caused the tragedy are given only one year of detention.This event sets off changes in the three friends: Jacob visits the perpetrators in the detention home, unable to see that Rudy's death was an unplanned accident.
In the meanwhile, Leonard's injury in the fire leads to his loss of taste and he sees his obesity, and that of his entire family, as disgusting and commits to changing his life, unable to even forcibly gain the same change from his parents - another surprising end.
Played soulfully by Jesse Camacho, Leonard is never just comic relief, but a hurting little boy who wants to change not only his life, but his family's as well.Jacob (Conor Donovan) and Rudy (also played by Conor Donovan) are twin brothers who are very different from each other.
The film deals with twin brothers - one a born leader, the other a social recluse with a facial birthmark - who are friends with Malee (the daughter of a single psychiatrist mom and Leonard, a quiet obese boy from a family full of champion overeater.
The kids are played well by Conor Donovan (twins), Jessie Camacho (Leonard, who looks like a young Paul Sorvino) and Zoe Weizenbaum (Malee).Overall a pretty well constructed film, but would have liked to see a few script changes to prevent a few of the over-the-top moments..
12 and holding not only proves this, but makes the clear statement.The film starts out as we meet our main characters Jacob,Maelee,Leonard and Rudy.
Instead he bonds with one of the bullies, becoming friends with him, which starts impacting his life, while his family is changing around him.Leonard who escaped the fire is diagnosed with a disorder, one in which he can't smell or taste what he's eating, but it leads him on a path to start eating apples and start eating healthier and realize his weight is a problem and he needs to fix it by exercising everyday and even starts looking towards trying to help his family.Maelee takes her emotions she realizes shes attracted to a man twice her age, whom she looks pretty for, sings songs for.
She becomes obsessed with him, trying to be with him, she doesn't care how old he is, only that her heart is telling her she really loves this man, who he himself has problems of his own.I won't get into much spoilers here about what happens to the characters as this movie is just a gift to unravel, you feel the characters grow each time there story is presented and shown.
I haven't seen such a movie since the string of adolescent-drama films produced in the 70s/80s, such as, again, 'Stand By Me.' 'Holding' is completely original, had great music, appropriately comedic moments, excellently cast, suspenseful, emotional, and extremely thought provoking.
I'm not sure that this depiction is necessarily a good thing, especially when the leads in this movie are little more than child actors.
I can understand the point -- violence always manages to make its way in one form or other into the homes of American families -- but for the most, this seems to be some perverted version of Judy Blume thrown onto our faces in the form of an "intelligent movie".Three stories intertwine, stemming from the tragic death of the twin brother of the main character played by Conor Donovan.
and the third act is set.TWELVE AND HOLDING is an uncomfortable movie to watch because of the situation it places Malee.
However, it's artfully handled -- especially when the construction worker (Jeremy Renner) later confesses how this extremely precarious scene helped him resolve some inner demons to Malee's mother (Annabella Sciorra).The other two boys' stories are a little less interesting.
It doesn't paint a pretty picture, but the picture that it does paint illuminates three young people in a realistic manner.At the beginning of the film, you get a look at four young friends getting on with the kind of things that entertain most kids of twelve years.
You later find that Jacob has a large birthmark on his face that seems to explain the difference in personality.Leonard is the fat kid from a family of fat parents and siblings.Malee is the girl of the group who is growing up in a broken home with a distant mother and an absent father.The lives of the three remaining are all changed when Rudy is killed and Leonard is injured by two other boys in an act of vandalism.As a result of his injury, Leonard can no longer smell and, therefore, no longer taste.
There are remnants of a "columbine" type of feeling to this movie as the main protagonist "takes matters into his own hands".A strong and poignant story to watch, but as it rolls by you know that it is depicting reality in one way or another.
When a tragic accidental killing of a twin brother occurs, the surviving sibling and his two best friends (respectively Donovan in dual roles, Camacho and the superb Weizenbaum) handle their aftermath in surprisingly poignant ways with dire circumstances going hand in hand with loss of innocence and coming of age.
An intertwined stories of Jacob, Malee & Leonard, trying to deal with their teen-age problems. |
tt1017451 | The Runaways | The Runaways (aka: Neon Angels) is based on lead-singer Cherie Currie's book 'Neon Angel' - a reflection of her experiences as a rock star, but also delivering a strong anti-drug warning to teens and others. David Bowie's "Space Oddity" serves as a metaphor for the narrative-- a slow countdown, a surreal but spectacular rise to fame, then alienation and burnout - a long long way from home.The film opens in the year 1975, with 15-year-old Cherie (Dakota Fanning) and her older sister, Marie Currie (Riley Keough), as Cherie has just got her first period. Marie's boyfriend, Derek (Brendan Sexton III), picks up the sisters from Marie's job at the local fast food place, "Pup n' Fries" and Marie announces to him that Cherie has gotten her period. Angry at her sister for telling, she informs Derek that Marie is not wearing any underwear. Later, Cherie is seen cutting her hair in a shag and putting on face makeup in an attempt to create a look resembling David Bowie on the cover of Aladdin Sane (the cover is shown on her wall as a poster).Meanwhile, Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) is a teenage rock star wannabe who is seen huffing some joints with her girlfriend. Joan tells her friend that she wishes to become a famous rock star as her own escape from her lonely life.Cherie is later seen lip-syncing David Bowie's 'Lady Grinning Soul' at her high school talent show and is the target of boos and jeers, as well as paper balls and other objects thrown at her on stage. At the end of the song, Cherie reacts by defiantly "flipping the bird" (giving both her middle fingers) to the boorish crowd, but she wins the talent show anyway.Sometime later, Joan Jett is making out with a guy outside a nightclub when she sees record producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon). Joan approaches him and talks about starting an all-girl rock band. Kim is interested and introduces Joan to Sandy West (Stella Maeve), a drummer. Joan and Sandy become fast friends and start jamming when Kim suggests that they recruit a hot blonde in the vein of Brigitte Bardot.At the club that same night, Kim and Joan look for hot blondes to be a their lead singer and discover Cherie. They ask if she wants to be in a band and she accepts. Then they tell her to come to auditions in a trailer park in the valley.Cherie learns the cover song of Suzi Quatro's "Fever" and goes to audition, however they're disappointed at the song. Instead, Kim kicks Cherie out of the trailer and with Joan, thinks of a song for Cherie to audition for, thus writing "Cherry Bomb" on the spur of the moment. Cherie sings it and, after improving, is part of the band. Kim also brings in two new members whom are assistant guitarist Lita Ford (Scout Taylor-Compton) and bass player Robin (Alia Shawkat).One year later in 1976, after moving in with her aunt because her selfish and irresponsible actress mother has moved to Indonesia, Cherie travels to her first gig with the band as they go on the road as 'The Runaways' with Kim as their manager, who scams money from their gigs for himself. A few months later, the group gets signed to Mercury Records and starts recording an album. Soon, both Cherie and Joan fall victim to the rock and roll scene with popping pills, to smoking dope, snorting cocaine, and drinking heavily as their tours become more frequent and the band's popularity increases.Another year later, due to the album's success, the Runaways travel to Japan to play a concert. Cherie causes quite a scene when she opens up the group's tour by performing on-stage wearing only a corset. After their first show, Cherie gets a phone call from her sister saying their their alcoholic father is sick, but Cherie takes no interest in it.After another performance, Lita angrily throws magazines at Cherie that have pictures of her on the cover doing some exotic poses for a local Japanese magazine, something Cherie thought was for the whole band. After an argument with Lita, Cherie, Joan, and Sandy, a group of crazy Japanese fans break through a window and chase the girls out of the building. Afterward, Cherie overdoses in the hotel, collapses in an elevator and is sent to the hospital. Upon arrival home, Cherie's alcoholic father is passed out on his bed. Cherie takes his painkillers and her actions are seen by Marie.While at a recording studio recording their next album, Cherie has a nervous breakdown and refuses to play, followed by Lita trash-talking her and Joan defending Cherie. After a very heated argument, Cherie quits the band and leaves, leaving Lita, Joan, Robin, and Sandy looking on. Joan breaks down, throwing chairs and beer bottles against the glass. Cherie returns home while Joan continues playing and starts her own band, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.Eight months later. Cherie hits rock bottom when she collapses in a phone booth in a deserted supermarket parking lot after trying to buy some cheap liquor for herself. At the hospital, Marie visits her and tells her to get her stuff straight. Cherie goes into a rehab facility to try to get clean.In the final scene, set another year later, Cherie is working at a job at a local bakery trying to get her life back on track when she hears Joan's cover of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" on the radio and calls the station, where Joan is visiting for interviews. After an awkward phone conversation between Joan, Cherie, and even the radio host, Rodney Bingenheimer (Keir O'Donnell), Cherie says her goodbyes and continues working, smiling when Joan's next song, "Crimson and Clover", comes on the radio. | cult | train | imdb | I was a bit shocked that at the end of "The Runaways" when you get the obligatory "what happened to them" text on the screen, only Jett, Currie and Fowley are mentioned.The most shameful omission here is the tragic Sandy West, the band's doggedly devoted drummer and perhaps the best female drummer in the history of rock (well, maybe until the Go Go's Gina Schock arrived).
The movie begins in 1975 and chronicles Joan's early years as a die-hard rock and roll chick with a rebellious nature who learns to play guitar and wants to form a hardcore, all-girl rock band ("No guys!" she insists).
And Kristen's singing just blew me away -- both Stewart and Fanning sang for the movie -- and Stewart sounds exactly like Jett as she belts out part of one of Joan's original early songs, "I Love Playin With Fire".
Unfortunately, the movie only gets to see one song rendered in its entirety: "Cherry Bomb" (sung by Dakota), which was considered the band's only "hit", and was co-written by Fowley and Jett, specifically for Cherie to learn and sing.
The leads (Kristen Stewart, Michael Shannon and Dakota Fanning) do an admirable job playing the sullen budding rock star, whacked-out manager and reluctant front girl.
Based on lead singer Cherie Currie's autobiography, this film provides an overview of the formation, sudden fame, and equally sudden dismantling of the first all-girl's rock band, The Runaways.Joan Jett was the heart of the band, but it took oddball music producer Kim Fowley to put the band together and get the recording deal.
The film is based on "Neon Angel", the autobiography of the band's original lead singer Cherie Currie, and it gives us a glimpse into the world of rock and roll as seen from the perspective of a group of teenage girls on their way to super-stardom.
And it also has a distinction of being a rise-fall story for a band that was around for only a few years, a less-than-revolutionary girl version of The Sex Pistols, who all wanted to rock but came from different backgrounds and were beat down before they could fully develop rock star egos by a grubby manager/producer.For the Runaways, we mostly get the stories of Cheri Currie (Dakota Fanning) and Joan Jett (Kirsten Steward).
Certainly that, too, has a bit of the cliché to it (un-attentive mother, alcoholic father, same old same old), but the filmmaker is able to straddle the line between Currie, Jett and producer Kim Fowley (unmistakably hammy Michael Shannon, maybe too hammy in some scenes).Here's the thing that works for the film though: as a real gritty rock movie, as a saga of characters rolling around LA (sometimes right under the Hollywood sign), getting wasted, trashing hotel rooms, getting into madness, being rockers who can stand up to those "men" that Fowley says don't want to see girls on stage.
It stars Dakota Fanning as Currie, Kristen Stewart as guitarist and vocalist Joan Jett, and Michael Shannon plays record producer and band manager Kim Fowley.
The film charts the formation of the band in 1975, their rise in a male dominated music world, and their subsequent implosion.For a few short years The Runaways kicked butt, breaking down the barriers in front of them, put up in a male dominated rock world, they paved the way for girl power to actually mean just that; some decades before the term became popular.
The Runaways is a biopic about the first all-girl rock band from the 70's with Cherie Currie as the lead singer and Joan Jett as the second voice and guitarist.
What makes this an interesting movie is that Joan Jett actually produced this film so we have both views from the main stars of The Runaways that paved the way for other female rock bands in the future.
Whether you enjoy rock music or you don't the movie still is worth your time because it has some great performances and is really well produced, and I guarantee you that by the end of the film you will want to read more about their story.From a very young age Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) had a dream of one day making history by forming the first all-girl rock band.
Of course there are a lot of things that are left out in a two hour movie and the film doesn't delve too much into the character's past, but it works nonetheless as a biopic about the band.Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart prove that they can act in more serious and independent roles and don't have to rely on their star power or act only in blockbuster movies.
No, a lot was eliminated.I would think because of the Jett/Laguana camp which is one point I cannot understand,Why Joan would allow herself to be portrayed as a rampant lesbian.For yrs the deal of her sexuality has been ignored/denied.As for the others, they offered Lita Ford a thousand dollar for her life story and she told them where to get off!There was no mention of Sandy West (rip) at the end of the movie only Joan,Cherie and Kim..
There was no doubt that The Runaways gave tradition a good kick in the teeth, and hacked a fearsome swathe through a stale, male-dominated industry – but the sense of how difficult and cutting edge it must have been to form an all-girl teenage band at that time felt underplayed.Instead, we are treated to a formulaic and generic sex'n'drugs'rock'n'roll story that applies to so many bands, concentrating on the interplay between the 2 leads and their producer/manager, egos over-inflated by sudden success and nihilistic burn-out.
Whilst The Runaways may have been one of the first to go through this process in real life, in terms of rock biopics, they're very late to the party, and it just felt like a clichéd resume offering nothing that we hadn't already seen before in other, better genre movies – for example, both 'Breaking Glass' and the outstanding 'Almost Famous' are more accomplished, satisfying and engaging pieces of film-making, albeit largely works of fiction.
Which is a shame, because Scout Taylor-Compton as Lita West puts in one great scene near the end.You may leave with the impression that there's a place for "The Joan Jett Story" and that it would be a more interesting, and probably more honest, film.
All of the performances were very convincing, including Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie.
I hope that Tatum O'Neal, playing Cherie's mother in the film, warned Dakota about the dangers of living fast and hard at such a young age.Interestingly, the real Cherie Currie is and was quite a good singer and performer, and her Runaways performances were much more raw and electric that what Dakota Fanning delivered in an otherwise excellent performance.
However, Kristen Stewart's lack of ability to play anything beyond one-dimensional characters doesn't help, especially as she plays the main character, Joan Jett.Stewart is aided and abetted by Michael Shannon, who, as Kim Fowley, tries too hard to be dark, quirky and edgy and comes off as over- acting.Dakota Fanning makes up for this, to a degree, by putting in an excellent performance as Cherie Currie.
As the story progresses, so do the girls, as they discover love, sex, drugs and booze, while back in the real world family matters get ignored and priorities get mixed up.All based on real events with The Runaways being the beginning for some of the members having long careers, well Joan Jett at least, this film is for non fans a sort of coming of age movie set against the music industry that is quite standard in it's story.
Kristen Stewart is far from her Twilight days as Joan Jett in this and actually shows she can perform well, but the real surprise here is Dakota Fanning as lead singer of The Runaways Cherie Currie; her performance is really superb and shows how much she's grown.The film isn't a stand out for me otherwise, it roles along well, but it really does feel too standard in it's format.
Expecting a deluge of estrogenic hormonal music and pure rock and roll, I was a bit taken aback by the artsy, silent, character oriented take of the film, but in the end I liked it.The movie is about The Runaways, an all girl rock band which reached cult status in 1975, but the real story is more of the young and lost teens that were part of it.
All the actresses play well, Dakota Fanning again showing a lot of skill, and one of the executive producers in the movie is Joan Jett herself, so the story must be close to the truth.Unfortunately there is too little focus on the actual music and the pained silences of the characters turn this more into a drama than a band movie.
But now, with the release of The Runaways, people might see the great actress that's been buried underneath three vampire movies' worth of pap.Chronicling the rise and inevitable fall of 70s all-girl rock band The Runaways, Kristen Stewart plays Suzie Quatro-a-like Joan Jett, a young guitarist whose rock and roll aspirations see her paired with 15-year-old Bardot bombshell, Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning).
The two are brought together by crazed musical impresario Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) whose tactics for pushing the girls to their limit include screaming, 'Now, buckle up and get ready for boot camp, babies – you're gonna be trained like the Viet f**king Cong.' But with such success comes the classic trappings of fame including drugs, sex, booze and tension between band mates as Cherie's star rises higher than her cohort's.
Based on the book "Neon Angels", by Cherie Currie, ex-sex symbol and lead singer of the 70's all-girl punk rock band, The Runaways, the movie doesn't disappoint.
Feminism receives its fair share too, the opening scene being that of Cherie's first period; somewhat icky, yet meaningful and symbolic of The Runaway's propulsion into a male-dominated industry.("Girls don't play electric guitar!"- Joan Jett's guitar teacher)As a fan of the band, I was a curious to watch the movie,a bit annoyed by the fact that Kristen Stewart, whose main claim-to-fame was her bland, forgettable portrayal of Bella Swann in the tedious Twilight movies, was cast as Joan Jett.
It's not just historically incorrect, it's boring.Hopefully the movie industry will never get interested in pimping The Shaggs story – a far more talented band and one that had a much deeper impact on rock'n'roll than Joan Jett and the Runaways ever dreamed.
Answer: The Twilight films of course..But are the Twilight films her best work..??...Oh Hell No..!!...As far as I am concerned...It's movies like "Welcome To The Rileys" alongside Melissa Leo and James Gandolfini...And of course..."The Runaways"...Kristen Stewart should have gotten an Oscar for flawless performance as Joan Jett....Even Joan Jett herself was totally blown away by her wonderful acting job....The only real problem I had with The Runaways is that Michael Shannon was kind of a screen hog...Other than that...I loved this movie...I can tell that a great deal of thought and effort was put into this entire production...I highly recommend this film....Especially Joan Jett fans...After watching the film...Watch again with commentary....It has Dakota Fanning...Kristen Stewart...And Joan Jett herself....I won't ruin anything for you by mentioning anything they've said in the commentary here....But trust me when I tell you folks....You won't hear anything bad....Especially about Kristen Stewart....And that's all there is too it....
The movie, written and directed by Floria Sigismondi and based on front woman Cherie Currie's autobiography, "Neon Angel", shows what it was like being a woman in the rock and roll industry back in the 70's.Kristen Stewart does an excellent job portraying Joan Jett with her dark jet-black hair, edgy style, and passion for rock music.
Joan Jett wanted to form an all girl rock band and she did with Cherie Currie singing lead vocals on some songs or most songs.
It's too bad because I like Joan Jett and Cherie Currie and I wanted to love this film but it just didn't go much past what one would expect from a film telling a story of any all girl rock-n-roll band.
Two of the hottest stars of the century and a storming soundtrack ought to make for a cracking good movie, but this film lacks in critical areas - most notably script, direction and editing.As for the terrific twosome, Stewart edges it in my book, more convincing in the role of Jett than Fanning is as Currie.
Runaways, The (2010) *** (out of 4)By the numbers but entertaining look at the girl rock group The Runaways and their lead singer Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) and guitar player Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart).
The film charts the first few years from the formation of the band right through to the trials involving drug addiction and fights within the band.What I liked about The Runaways: the style, the music and Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart in roles a million miles off what I have seen before.
I'd not heard any of the band's music before nor did I know anything about the band themselves - thankfully they didn't scrimp on the music or the costumes.The film focuses mainly on band members Cherie Currie (Fanning) and Joan Jett (Stewart) from when the band was formed, to them getting signed by Mercury Records right through to Currie parting ways with the group and Jett releasing her first solo album.Fanning makes the transition from child star to adult actor well and looks great as the lead singer of The Runaways.
This made for a more intimate insight into the character.I would have like to have had one for Joan Jett also as there is an interesting character tale there, and one there was definitely room for.My favourite quote from the film was from the band's Manager Kim Fowley played by Michael Shannon: 'The Runaways were...
It's Dakota Fanning like you've never seen her before.Kristen Stewart managed to barely hold her own against her co-star's more charismatic and iconic turn, and thankfully the opportunity came in the last act of the film with the formation of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, who are heard rather than seen since this is The Runaways biopic.
Forget Twilight, as Stewart shows that she has enough mettle in her to take on more challenging roles rather than a girl who has to deal solely with relationship woes with unreal creatures.The Runaways contained enough subplots happening outside of the music industry to give it an all round experience, and since the story's adapted from Currie's book, there's an examination into the sibling rivalry between Cherie and her sister Marie (Riley Keough), and some had mentioned the more controversial aspects of her life had been omitted from the film, such as instances of sexual abuse when young.
well, you know the cliché already.The Runaways centers not on Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) but the drug-addled lead singer Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning).
The movie is lightly based on Currie's book Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway and therefore focuses on the friendship of Cherie (Dakota Fanning) and Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and their relationship with their eccentric manager Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon).
This was in a time when women weren't really considered or allowed to be rockers.The main three actors: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, and Michael Shannon are each excellent in their portrayals as Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, and Kim Fowley.
The Runaways is an entertaining story of the rise and fall of the eponymous band, with good lead performances by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning as the mainstays of the group, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie.
There was a lot of hard-hitting drama going on behind the formation and packaging of The Runaways (including distinct personality and musical differences between the real band members--Currie, Joan Jett, and Lita Ford among them), but this facile exploration of the group is mostly interested in headlines and druggy montages (which just eat up time on the clock).
The plot is basically about a group of girls mainly focusing on the members Joan Jett(Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie(Dakota Fanning) and both the actresses that played them did a decent job.
The film is based on the memoirs of the band's lead singer, Cherie Currie, and the film is mostly spent on the dynamics and rising tensions between Joan and Cherrie, with Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart both convincing in the respective roles.
This movie stars amazing actors such as Kristen Stewart who plays Joan Jett, Dakota Fanning who plays Cherie Currie and Michael Shannon who plays Kim Fowley, they all out on great performances, especially Kristen she was really committed to the role.
This was pretty good; dirty, raunchy, in your face and capturing the spirit and essence of the mid 1970's perfectly.The story follows the conception and early days of "The Runaways" an all girl punk band that took the world by storm and focuses mostly on the tumultuous relationship between Joan Jett and Cherie Currie.I'll admit to questioning the casting here and initially having a hard time excepting Dakota Fanning in the role of sex-kitten junkie Currie.
The movie is the story of Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and how she created "The Runaways" with Kim Foley (Michael Shannon) as their manager.
Joan Jett continued after the Runaways disbanded and became a major force in hard rock music throughout the 70's and 80's and still performs today.The Runaways music is some of my favourite music of all time and in the movie Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart actually sing in the live music scenes.
Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning were the stars of the movie, acted really well and looked like Cherry Curry and Joan jett.
If you're a fan of the Runaways or Joan Jett (or Cherie Currie) you've probably seen the movie.
The story focuses on Cherrie Currie (Dakota Fanning) and the legendary, Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and their beginnings in The Runaways, their inseparable friendship, Cherries unfortunate departure from the band, Kim Fowley and his frightening tactics, and all the unchaperoned craziness they the got into. |
tt0387037 | Aurora Borealis | Ever since the death of his father, 25-year-old Minneapolis-born-and-bred Duncan Shorter (Joshua Jackson) is content with shuffling aimlessly through life ditching one dead-end job after another. His brother, big-shot Jake (Steven Pasquale) uses his appartment sometimes, to meet with Sandy, (Katie Griffin), his lover, cheating on his wife Cara (Krista Bridges). Dunc asks his friend Finn (Tyler Lavine) to give him a job, but he doesn't trust him at all.Things change when Duncan takes a job near his ill grandfather Ronald (Donald Sutherland) and his grandmother Ruth (Louise Fletcher). Duncan starts working as a maintenance odd-jobs man.Ronald suffers from Parkinson and Alhzeimer. Duncan starts dating caregiver Kate (Juliette Lewis). They three laugh about the name of the President of the day. In one moment of excitement, when Ruth is trying to play Ronald a magic trick, he smashes everything with a hammer.Kate takes Dunc to work and they chat. Later on, they go to a rock concert. Dunc also meets his gang of friends. Hack (Timm Sharp) is going to pretend to be a native-American Indian so that he can shag more women.Next, Dunc and Jake go hunting deer, but the former keeps on missing on purpose.Ronald has got a shotgun, but no ammunition. He asks Dunc to help him commit suicide.At work, Mrs Hollerich (Joyce Champion) a crazy lady who dislikes black people wants Dunc to do some errands for her instead of his boss, (Mark Andrada). She also has the obsession of thinking that everybody steals things from her.All the family and Kate spend Thanksgiving at the home of Jake Shorter, with Jake, his wife and two daughters. They have a little row because Ronald says he can see the Northern lights.Kate and Dunc's relationship is going well. They go snow-sliding with his school friens. Later, Kate gets annoyed with Dunc because he doesn't take seriously the possibility of becoming an engineer. Kate has the possibility of staying at San Diego at a nice mansion close to the sea for a year. Kate wants Dunc to go with her.Mrs Hollerich sees some little private property of hers among Dunc's staff at work. His boss says that, is she complains, Dunc will have to quit.At his grandparents' Dunc puts a bullet inside the shotgun. Ronald is eager to do it, but Dunc avoids it in a last-second decision. Ronald gets angry, and suffers a heart attack.After the funeral, Jake and Dunc share the latter's flat, because Cara has finally got wind of his affair with Sandy and threw him out of the house.After having received a postcard from San Diego with Kate's address on it, Duncan finally decides to grow up and make all the way down to where she lives. While he is waiting at the petrol station for his car to be mended, he asks Stu (John Kapelos) if his father has died of an overdose. Stu and Dunc's father were best buddies, although both used to be addicted to drugs. Both had quitted, and both were hanging out together when Stu's father died. Stu tells him that his father han't started taking drugs again. It was a weird accident. He left when Stu and other people were taking drugs, so that he wouldn't follow them.The first thing Dunc tells Kate when he arrives at sunny San Diego is that he has been accepted at San Diego's university.They kiss. | suicidal | train | imdb | i caught this at Tribeca 2005 and i was not expecting what i got - a realistic portrayal of a family in a drama film which wasn't melodramatic or preachy.
instead of distilling the personalities down to identifiable quirks, the cast and crew of aurora tackled the near impossible task of fully fleshing out the majority of the film's characters.
This cast is absolutely perfect, from Juliette Lewis' free spirit, to Louise Fletcher's supportive, but somewhat helpless grandmother, to an absolute, don't-miss-this Oscar performance by Donald Sutherland as the aging grandfather whose illness is getting the best of him.
Roger Ebert & Richard Roeper have talked about their hope Sutherland gets another good role, because he's such a fine actor.
This is the role, this is the year, and I hope the world discovers this little gem of a movie in the glut of big studio releases and marketing.
A wonderful film about life and family....
The performances were subtle yet perfectly spot on, with the standouts being Joshua Jackson and Donald Sutherland.
This is a true leading man role for Jackson, and takes him beyond just being "Pacey" into being a great, adult actor.
Donald Sutherland is also a revelation, and their acting chemistry is fantastic.The film isn't manipulative or preachy, it just tells a story and tells it well and manages to make you care about every single character, which is quite an accomplishment.
This is James Burke's first film, and I hope he makes many more because he is a talent.
He also was able to balance the humor of the script with the pathos, and never make it feel forced.If you like films about real characters and real emotions, you should see this movie -- you won't be disappointed..
Donald Sutherland and Louise Fletcher are extraordinary as the grandparents.
Personally I think it's the best thing I've seen Josh Jackson do, and I plan to buy the soundtrack if it gets released.
The director is James Burke - I've not seen any of the other movies he directed but he's really good.
As good as Joshua Jackson performed, Donald Sutherland turned in one of the best performances by any actor.
Sweet surprise at Tri Be Ca. While at the Tri Be Ca Film Festival last week, I luckily happened into a screening of "Aurora Borealis" and left the theatre in tears and awe by the sheer range of humanity expressed in this film.
When the movie ended I was upset because I wanted to keep following the life of Duncan.
A good soul, but without direction since his dad died mysteriously ten years earlier and no mother in the picture, Josh Jackson plays a young man trying to find himself as he floats from job to job until finds work in his grandparents' apartment building as an assistant to the super.
There he befriends the residents of this "retirement" home and finds himself deeply entwined with the life struggle of his ailing, Alzheimer's afflicted grandfather, played brilliantly by Donald Sutherland.
Jackson's character is seen as a failure by his financially successful, but fidelity-challenged brother and by his boyhood buddies with the usual jobs of twenty-somethings.
The direction and photography are beautiful with wonderful shots of Minneapolis/St. Paul and the film moves with a perfect pace.
AURORA BOREALIS is a superb film by James Burke ('In Dark Places' and 'Tis a Gift to Be Simple') from a story by Brent Boyd ('The Green Room' and 'Crazy') and if this film is a sample of how these two fine talents collaborate, we can only hope for more.
The cast assembled for this movie gives evidence that the actors deeply admire their vision: it is well deserved.The setting is winter in Minneapolis, the hometown of the Shorter family: Grandfather Ronald (Donald Sutherland), Grandmother Ruth (Louise Fletcher), and the two grandsons Duncan (Joshua Jackson) and Jacob (Steven Pasquale).
The boys' father died at age 39 (10 years prior to the opening of the story) and both boys grew up on their own, feeling deserted by a father who had been a cocaine abuser at one time.
Duncan cares for his grandfather Ronald who has multiple illnesses (Parkinson's Disease, dementia) yet who maintains a humble life with Ruth.
As Ronald's condition deteriorates, Duncan takes a handyman's job in the complex where his grandparents live and during this time the two men bond more closely than ever: Ronald's fading mind sees northern lights from his apartment window and Duncan out of love and growing understanding lets him believe they are real.
Ronald is aware of his mental instability and lets Duncan know that he would like to take his life with a shotgun, an idea Duncan prevents.Ronald and Ruth have a health care provider Kate (Juliette Lewis) whom they trust and love and encourage Duncan to seek out as a partner.
But as Duncan's resistance is broken down (he learns from a mentor that his father did not die of cocaine abuse, Ronald dies a natural death, etc), he views Kate as the person who can alter his outlook and his life.Every member of this cast is extraordinary: Donald Sutherland creates a man eaten by Parkinson's Disease and dementia without ever becoming a caricature, Louise Fletcher reminds us how self-effacing her acting has always been, Juliette Lewis turns in one of her most sensitive roles, and Joshua Jackson finds every nuance of the troubled but needy Duncan and engages our empathy.
Moving story about a man trying to deal with his life and his family.
Directed by James Burke, the film is about unemployable Duncan Shorter (played by Joshua Jackson, making an impressive break from his usual teen and college aimed roles) who gets a new job as a handyman so he can be near his grandparents Ronald and Ruth (Donald Sutherland and Louise Fletcher).
Juliette Lewis plays Kate, the home assistant of the grandparents, helping Ronald deal with his Alzheimer's disease.
Set in the winter of Minnesota, the film is a touching story about a man trying to cope with the death of his father and trying to break free from his fears of the past, present, and future.I really enjoyed this movie, the acting was wonderful.
Donald Sutherland gives a heartbreaking performance as the deteriorating grandfather, it's not over the top, it's just true and believable, proving again why he is one of the greatest actors working today.
It's nice to see Louise Fletcher in this giving another one of her great role, even if she doesn't get much screen time.
And I really enjoyed Joshua Jackson, this is the first adult role I've seen him play and was very impressed.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Jackson's future roles, now that I know he has this kind of range.Overall, it was a nice film, worth watching just for the performances.
I missed out on a lot; however, this movie has been an experience for me that has not been taken lightly and will perhaps stay with me for a very long time (maybe the rest of my life).
I want to thank the cast for choosing such a lovely movie and to open the eyes and hearts to those of use who are so far removed from the elderly/disabled/sick population that are so often neglected..
The film tells the story of Duncan Shorter, a young twenty-something with poor work ethic, an underlying affliction, and an ill-conceived perception of life.
Joshua Jackson or better known as "Pacey" portrays the young passive Duncan.
From adulterous brother that uses his apartment to his unsupportive circle of friends, Duncan is in no way progressing or moving forward to a dissimilar lifestyle that is destined to take over.
The only sanctity of his life is his grandparents, Ronald and Ruth played exquisitely by Donald Sutherland and Oscar winner, Louise Fletcher.
Duncan must now face not only the choice of losing another family member but past demons that surface throughout the film.
When Duncan meets the nurse of his grandfather, Kate (Juliette Lewis) we see Duncan's world start to be challenged for the first time.
Joshua Jackson breaks away from his television-type personality and gives a befitting performance.
Since her Oscar Win for 1975's "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" she's been missed from the silver screen with exceptions of cameos in "Cruel Intentions" and "A Map of the World." Ruth is the champion of the family with her constant understanding of Duncan's insecurities, pain and misguided life to loyalty, passion and care for her feeble husband.
The standout of the cast is coming from the too often ignored and phenomenal veteran actor, Donald Sutherland; who is just waiting for that little bit of buzz to hurtle him into serious contention for a supporting bid from critics.
The courage that Sutherland shows in his character is just cutthroat fire of the film.
it could be the film of Kiefer Sutherland who does a magnificent role but it is a sort of question about the values of spectator.
it could be the film of Joshua Jackson who becomes more than a nice promise but it is more.
Joshua Jackson does great, he reminded me of Dawson's Creek which is way before my time, but I did watch it often on reruns during the summer.
Donald Sutherland's acting as one with a disease is perfect, he deserves more recognition.
It's a gem that should have more followers.The story is about a young man who lost his way after the death of his father.
He soon meets a girl and things begin to shed light on how much hes wasted his life.Enjoy this movie, there are rarely any like it, it takes a chance and it works beautifully.
"Aurora Borealis" is a well-written film, but slightly clichéd.The plot: Duncan (Jackson) is always getting in trouble and is always unemployed.
His new job is to take care of his grandfather, Ronald (Sutherland) who has Parkinson's.
But Duncan doesn't want to leave his family.The main draw of the movie is the excellent acting by all.
Because of that, it feels clichéd.But overall, "Aurora Borealis" is worth watching for the acting.For more insanity, check out: comeuppancereviews.com.
Donald Sutherland captures the essence of someone with dementia - anyone who has had a grandparent with these diseases can relate to this movie.
All of the characters pulled you into the story - if you left the theater untouched by this film, then you must have slept through it.
A wonderful script written by Brent Boyd about a young man struggling to deal with family issues, love, and his own future is magnificently captured by director James Burke.
Donald Sutherland gives one of the best performances of his fantastic career and Joshua Jackson can finally shed the image of Pacey from Dawson's Creek with a solid performance as well.
Donald Sutherland did an outstanding job and deserves an award for this performance.
I am not crazy about Joshua Jackson, who is not a very strong leading man or actor, but he barely pulls it off.
The simplicity was the best part of this film and it proves that a powerful story is better than fancy camera work or show off directing.
Oscar nominations for best script and for Donald's performance..
Juliette Lewis, Josh Jackson, Steven Pasquale or Louis Fletcher are the perfect choices for their role.
and the precision of James Burke to use, in the right manner, each nuance of emotions, fears , expectation to a hopeful end is one of the magnificent virtues of the film.
Duncan Shorter (Joshua Jackson) is a struggling 25 year old in Minnesota, and gets fired from yet another job.
He visits his grandfather Ronald Shorter (Donald Sutherland) who is struggling with Parkinson's, and his grandmother Ruth (Louise Fletcher).
He is still haunted by his father's death 10 years ago.The story with Duncan and Kate is rather standard rom-com.
It has it all: romance, family relationships, old people, young people, friends, comedy, Juliette Lewis; but it is a slow movie.
So you have to be in the mood for one of those "life" movies.The acting is top notch, something that comes naturally to Donald Sutherland, but all the other actors played well also.
The music is suitable, the story unfolds in a predictable, but natural way.Bottom line: a movie about losing yourself in the comfortable but dead zone of friends that don't really help, family that doesn't really go anywhere, jobs that don't do anything, but that feels like home.
I have never been as impressed and blown away with Donald Sutherland's acting as I was after seeing his performance.
It's not often that you see a movie where you forget that you are watching movie stars but actually see the characters in the story, but this film achieved that, and no small feat considering the numerous well known actors in it.
This is the type of film where you cannot take your eyes off the screen, and you feel completely mesmerized.
I think Donald Sutherland should be nominated for this one.
On the other hand, for Jacob, his other sibling, the loss of his father didn't affect his life the same way; he went on to make something of himself, but he loses his priorities as he continues to have extra marital affairs.Duncan's grandfather Ronald, suffering from Parkinson's disease, has moved into Minneapolis with his wife Ruth.
Duncan, who loves his grandfather, bonds with the old man.
Duncan is not keen in leaving Minneapolis where his family and friends are, and where he thinks he belongs.
This surprising film, directed by James Burke, was a surprise.
Mr. Burke gives the movie an immediacy and reality like no other mainstream films in quite a while.
Compare the way the director and the writer deal with a man afflicted with Parkinson's that makes a film like Nike Cassavetes "The Notebook" treatment of Alzheimer's disease appear phony from beginning to end.
Having known first hand the devastating effects of this tragic disease, our heart went after what Ronald Shorter has been dealt by life.Having admired the work of Joshua Jackson for quite some time, didn't prepare us for his intense performance as Duncan.
This young actor is a joy to watch because he never makes a false move, he is always a welcome presence in any film.
His Ronald Shorter is hard to watch, but this exactly what a person at this stage of the disease looks and acts like.
Mr. Sutherland gets better and better each time one sees him.
Juliette Lewis gives an easy going portrayal of Kate, the restless woman in search of adventure, who is not quite ready for anything until Duncan happens to come along.
Ultimately, James Burke ought to be congratulated for bringing all the elements together into this wonderful slice of life of a film..
I enjoyed the characters in this movie tremendously.Donald Sutherland is riveting as an 82-year old man with Parkinson's disease and rapidly advancing Alzheimers.
Oscar-winner Louise Fletcher brings great feeling and warmth to her role as his wife.
It's a shame, because a movie that makes us think & feel for 113 minutes ends up with 10 minutes of "yup, of course." See it anyway..
**SPOILERS** Bittersweet and touching little movie that has to do with young Duncan Shorter,Joshua Jackson, who's life had hit a road block ever since his father-David-died of a sudden heart-attack ten years ago when he was 39 years old.Listless without any ambition Duncan's life has been going absolutely nowhere since he dropped out of school and gave up a collage scholarship when his dad passed away.
Now Duncan is worried about his 82 year-old grandfather Ronald, Donald Sutherland, who's going fast with his kidney's shot and both Parkinson's and Alzheimers diseases starting to set in.
With his Grandma Ruth, Louise Fletcher, unable to take care of her ailing husband Duncan gets a job at the couples apartment house as a handyman to be both close to Grandpa Ronald and thus prevent him from being sent into a local nursing-home that in fact, being the free soul that he is, will end up killing him.It's when Duncan meets Grandpa's home assistant Kate, Jullette Lewis, that he starts to feel that his life is about to turn around for the better.
Kate is not only well liked by Grandpa Ronald but the old guy wants to play match-maker in getting her and his somewhat shy,with women, grandson Duncan hitched!
The circumstances of Duncan's as well as his philandering brother Jake, Steven Pasquale, father's death!As Grampa Ronald's health begins to slowly deteriorate he starts to look for a way to ends his misery by getting Duncan to help him kill himself.
Duncan who's been haunted over the years over his fathers, a recovering coke addict, sudden death, which he believes was the result of a drug overdose, is very much against letting Grandpa Ronald end his life, this time with a shotgun blast, in somewhat the same way!Solid performances all around by an all-star cast that includes in a very small but important role John Kapelos as the late David Shorter's best friend Stu. It was Stu who was with David the night he died and who set Duncan and his brother Jake's minds at ease in just what were the chain of events that lead to his tragic death.***SPOILERS**** As for Donald Sutherland as Grandapa Ronald he was never better as the sad and suicidal old man who saw his life ebbing away right in front of his eyes.
The climate and surroundings fit the family's story well, since even in the coldest, harshest reality there is a glimmer of warmth and love.One little annoying detail...they were too cheap to film in San Diego!
The San Diego scene was filmed somewhere in LA...we don't have neighborhoods or freeways that look like that...it's only a 2 hour drive...come on.Other than that it was a great film.
Donald Sutherland was amazing, he really found the character. |
tt5052524 | Operator | In order to cut costs, health company Welltrix chooses to automate their customer service operations thereby adding predictability but in the process eliminating customer service operators. Martin Starr plays Joe, the programmer who is creating the voice simulation software to do that. The main problem is that the script written by the software development team for the professional actresses lacks empathy. Luckily, Joe's wife Emily (Mae Whitman) is a concierge at a Chicago hotel (the Parkside) and her interaction with hotel customers is just what Welltrix is looking for. Martin asks her if she will record her voice for his 'answering machine/customer service person' and she agrees. She uses her customer service experience to 'humanize' the script and lends her voice to the new program. All works well until Joe becomes so enamored of his work that he gets more satisfaction interacting with his simulated wife than his real wife. Emily realizes this and the resulting conflict causes them to split-up. As they grow apart, Emily spends more time working at her passion: a type of improv theatre. Joe finally misses the real Emily, goes to the theatre where Emily performs and goes onstage to explain that he now realizes how he acted and misses her. The film ends with that question unresolved, will they get back together? | sci-fi | train | imdb | Just so effing sad.
So here's the deal.
The movie was filmed beautifully.
The characters portrayed each other well.
But the movie was just so sad.
And the kind of sad that is not necessary.
I feel what I was watching "The Lobster" and the highlight of that movie was a dog who used to be a human getting killed.
Geese I liked the contrast of the comedy being actually sad but give us a break dammit how dark must a person's soul be to write this.
It just leaves you feeling like everything is going to sh*t and maybe that's the point but man it says COMEDY under genre.
It was just way too much for me.
I watched it and I enjoyed it and I understood it but I kind of wish I haven't because it was so depressing, even though it's perfectly fine and unique artistically.
I just don't know what to think of this movie anymore.
It depicted mental health problems, it depicted being human and making selfish mistakes, but it also depicted unrealistic moments at times.
We come to the movies to relate or to escape.
I believe this made us relate to the wrong side of us.
There was a 10 second somewhat happy ending that I won't spoil but the whole thing makes me question who did this movie do good for besides the people involved in the creating process.And a caveat: I wish we didn't always see mental disorders on such opposite ends of the spectrum.
They either depict a very positive or a very negative picture.
As you might have guessed this movie did the latter.
I think we can do better.
Also I believe that the character most likely has anxiety disorder though it cannot be said for certain without eliminating other illnesses.
It is important to note however that the "cause" of autism is not known.
There's no such thing.
The mother drinking alcohol while pregnant might increase the risk but that's it.
Anyway I'm gonna cry myself to sleep now and try to forget this movie..
This movie deserves much more praise than it's getting....
How does this have such an average to low rating, as opposed to most other overly-polished "comedies"?
Do people not get the dark humor of Operator, is that it?One of the things I personally value most in any release (whether it's movies, music or whatever), is originality.
Originality is definitely something Operator has, and at the same time pretty contemporary.
It also has very pronounced and vivid characters, without being too try-hard.
The main character manages to display autism almost perfectly.
All that, on (from the looks of it) a pretty low budget.This movie deserves much more praise than it's getting..
Explores the question of whether a human being can be reduced to data and stats.
I ended up enjoying the film because I come from the tech industry and I am generally interested in the themes explored.
I felt the acting / dialogue / cinematography was a bit mediocre.
The main theme throughout the movie was the question of whether a person can be reduced to a collection of data and statistics.
The main character Joe, believes this to be true, however most people resist this notion and find it uncomfortable.
I really enjoyed the exploration of this idea and its effects on people.
In the end, Joe's endless statistics and self quantifying make him so rigid that he is terrified of change, and he decides he must overcome this.Not sure the film makers quite nailed the ending, but still enjoyed the film..
Magnificent!.
This movie is amazing.
Beautifully written and acted.Sadly it suffers from being put in the "comedy" genre like Lost In Translation and Birdman.
Yes they are funny in parts, but ultimately the story is so sad it rips your heart out and does a little tap dance on it.That said, this dark (and sometimes funny) tale is really interesting, and I did wonder which direction the film was headed in.It was like a very long episode of Black Mirror.
So if you like your viewing beautiful, emotional, moving, hard to watch and a little bit depressing at the end ...
This bad boy is for you!Honestly - It's REALLY good.
Enjoy :).
Artificial Intelligence,Love,Relationship and Drama.
It is a story of a programmer and relation with his spouse and his friends.
And how the relationship goes down when the Joe(the programmer) starts a project with his colleague to create an Artificially Intelligent answering machine for the client of the company in which he is employed.
He involved his wife Emily on it because she is so good in handling customers and clients in a hotel in which she is working.
Meanwhile Emily(programmer's wife) has different interests like working in different kind of theater and after sometime she does't like to work with Joe. Joe ,unable to understand her feelings let her go and stick to AI software though software is kind of feels like humanly.
When he realized that Emily (AI) is not Emily(wife).
He regret that and makes everything good with her.
The story is quite interesting and contains real drama here.
If you are a programmer or person who understand little bit of Artificial Intelligence then the movie could be intimating and interesting & if you are not then also you will feel the story and drama.
Anyways this movie is full utilization of time and money .The people who worked on this movie has done great job on it.
It's good to watch movies like that..
Overrated and underwhelming.
It's an interestingly unique idea and it starts brilliantly.Then it totally falls down half way through.
It doesn't know what it is, what it wants or where it's going.
Then we get to know.
But it's not well-flagged.
Can't say much more without the spoiler tag but it just doesn't hang together well.Some observations:The mother is annoying .
No sympathy for the character at all and, more annoyingly, she has absolutely no impact on the storyline.In an attempt to add 'pace' there are a few long sequences which don't mean or do anything.And they throw in a little past-life psychology for one of the main characters, in an attempt to add weight.The actors are fine - Mae Whitman in particular is brilliant!Potential, potential potential.
Squandered, squandered, squandered.Yep, (co)writer/director.
I really should have learned by now but was momentarily wrong-footed because the director's name appears second on the writer credits.
Oy vey.As a movie, it's vastly overrated and rather under whelming.
Shame..
The charts are nice.
Especially surrounding the voice actors....
I hope she breaks a leg, but I am overwhelmed by the energy.
I'm suspicious.
We'll see...I'm getting annoyed by his level of dependence.
I saw that coming.
I don't like her.
Like a coach that thinks they have to motivate by humiliation.
No Joe. I know what you did...
And she would know how to uninstall herself...
And there is not uninstall within the app...
Ugh!I don't like Joe and I don't like the mentor.
This is a skit.
We know how people feel about someone else "dropping an app" on their phone without permission.
Come on...
kick the doorknob...
HAYou better give that phone back!
I hate people who borrow stuff and don't return it.
Or treat it previous as it is not theirs.
Clearly this bleeds into my grudge issue...
Okay.
Okay.
Colorful charts make a good seque.
Don't you dare mentor...I still don't like her methods :).
Great Indie Flick.
I was browsing through Netflix last night after watching the latest Amy Schumer special (and being disappointed) and found this movie.
I saw the description and was immediately intrigued.
Without giving too much away, Joe is a programmer that uses his wife's voice and likeness for a telephone answering system for a client.
What results is resentment on the part of his wife, Emily, as he seems to become attached to his creation (you'll see what you mean when you watch it).
It was really touching to see how great of a partner Emily is and how ignorant Joe is to his wife's needs.
It ends on a happy note though and if nothing else, I fell in love with Mae Whitman by the end of the movie.
And at the very least, it seems like a cautionary tale for how technology can consume you or sometimes replace real human connections.
If it means anything, I've been thinking about the movie since I finished watching it late last night.
Definitely recommend..
A young inspiring actress, married to a tech genius on the autism spectrum, does her best to support him, but sometimes the effort doesn't go both ways..
Though I have probably seen very few of Mae Whitman's movies or TV show appearances, I'm very much a fan.
There is just something to her that has that real girl next door vibe.
Not the Hollywood version of the idea, but the actual girl you grew up with, hanged out with damn near every day, and be it romantic or not, pretty much they became someone you couldn't imagine life without.
Something she brings to each character, that's I've seen, and with that said let's talk about Operator.Characters & StoryEmily (Mae Whitman)Emily is a 20 something-year-old young woman who is very much in love.
She loves her husband Joe, his kooky mother, as well as this 30 plays in 60 minutes troupe she joined.
Thanks to Joe by the way.
But alongside the things she loves, she has this one thing she hates.
That is working at this hotel in which she is the concierge.
A job she is good at, to an almost ridiculous extent, and it is the calming nature of her voice, her ability to soothe Joe even when she isn't there, that leads him to choose her for the voice of his automated healthcare system AI.A software program which, as Emily evolves and becomes more comfortable in her writing and acting, seems like more of a burden on her relationship than her means of supporting Joe's company.Joe (Martin Starr)His mother drinked while she was pregnant, his father left and rarely visited, he has panic attacks when things are stressful and is very likely on the autism spectrum.
Despite all this, and what comes with it, Emily loves him anyway.
So, to the best of his abilities, Joe tried to do for her what she does for him.
However, as an analytical programmer, a quite talented one at that, Joe is about data and probability.
So random chance increasingly becomes something he doesn't want included in his life.
So between the AI version of Emily and this increasingly unpredictable one, which one is better is hard for him to choose.Collected Quote(s)Sometimes, people just need to know somebody is in charge.— OperatorHighlightsMae WhitmanIt is hard to not get so much out of Whitman's performance as Emily.
There is this consistent pursuit of understanding Joe and even trying to work with her mother in law Beth (Christine Lahti) and there is this authenticity to it.
She isn't played, or written as, someone who is long suffering with these two.
Even without us getting to see them date and just getting a blurb of how she and Joe met, you somehow fully understand she loves these two and through that finds the strength to deal with Joe's panic attacks and can yell and focus her mother in law's mind so she can get her life- saving medicine.And while this may not be an Oscar-worthy performance, I think it proves that if Whitman was given the right script and excellent co- stars, her name would be getting read off the teleprompter.
For, to me, she is what elevates this movie into something worth checking out and everyone else, they are simply adequate.CriticismEmily's BackgroundWhile Emily is written, in a way, to be more than simply Joe's love interest, considering how we meet Joe's mom, learn about his dad's abandonment and how that affected him, it makes you wonder what Emily's background is?
This especially comes into play as you see how supportive she is of Joe and it makes you wonder if she is emulating her parents and their relationship together or with her, or trying to do as they didn't.
But the real issue perhaps is that the movie makes it seem Emily's life and past begins with her meeting Joe and everything else is pretty much left for you to assume or guess.On The FenceJoeThe issue with Joe is that, on top of the film using your usual romantic film trajectory, it places all of the burden on Joe for why things go wrong.
Emily is made out to be perfect, almost blameless in their marital issues, and she almost seems like a saint at times.
Meanwhile, Joe spirals into madness as Emily doesn't even change.
She just has less time to fully dedicate herself to him.Relating this to Short Term 12, in that film Brie Larson plays someone with depression and her love interest in that movie is supportive as can be, but not to Emily like proportions.
He stumbles, fails as her rock, and even at times makes it seem too much for one person to handle.
To me, Emily needed to have those moments, to vent to friends, and not seemingly just be Joe's wife.
For even with the acting troupe thing, we don't get to see her bond and try to navigate her feelings with her peers.
She just does one play explaining it and that's it.
Much less, when she leaves Joe, we aren't sure where she goes and that adds onto the issue of never really getting to know Emily for everything is about Joe.Overall: MixedIt's the imbalance that screws things up.
That and your usual romantic film trajectory.
If Joe didn't have to bear the weight of him and Emily having marital issues this film could have been better.
Also, if we got to understand more what Emily got out of the relationship, as well as who she was before him, maybe we could understand why she invested and stuck with Joe. Unfortunately, those elements are missing.
So it leaves Emily as a figure who, on top of not having any flaws, seems to be with this man for reasons you sometimes can't fathom..
Interesting relationship story, lots going on under the surface..
I found this movie on Netflix streaming movies.
It is primarily a relationship story about a young married couple.
He is a programmer and she is in customer service.
He is bright but "technical" while she is bright and friendly with lots of empathy.Martin Starr is the programmer, Joe Larsen, his project is designing something that most of us encounter every time we make a call to a company.
A software system that uses human voices and programmed to find out what you need and direct you to the appropriate department.
Something real people used to do, just a few years ago.Joe was having difficulty with the voice until he realized that his cute wife, Mae Whitman as Emily Klein, had the perfect voice and perfect characteristics for his project.
Against her better judgment she let him record conversations she made in the normal course of her job and he in turn used her as his source for the programming.Had it only been that everything would have been fine.
However it takes a darker turn as Joe begins to pay more attention to his programmed voice than to his wife.
To the point that he was relying on the computerized conversations for sexual arousal.
The reason I found this movie worthwhile is it explores, in a fictional way, the impact of technology on our personal lives and how it may easily interfere with normal human relationships.
Both actors are excellent in their roles. |
tt1790885 | Zero Dark Thirty | Part 1: THE SAUDI GROUPTwo Years After Sept. 11 CIA BLACK SITE:Dan (Jason Clarke) walks into a dingy room where a terrorist financier, Ammar (Reda Kateb), is being held captive by several other CIA members wearing balaclavas. He makes the rules clear: If Ammar doesn't look at him when he's being addressed, Dan will hurt him. If Ammar steps off the mat he's on or lies about anything, Dan will also harm him. Dan has Ammar put in further restraints and beckons to one of the masked individuals to follow him outside. He orders his men not to talk to Ammar.Outside, the masked individual removes her cover; she is a young CIA agent named Maya (Jessica Chastain). He apologizes for how intense the interrogation is because she has only recently come from Washington. Dan explains that their process takes a while because Ammar needs to know how helpless he is. He offers to get her a coffee but she tells him that they should go back in. He offers her back a balaclava but she declines, asking if Ammar is ever getting out. "Never" says Dan.The pair go back in and Dan tells him that Ammar needs to understand his situation. He knows all about Ammar, had plenty of opportunities to kill him, but let him live so they could have this talk. Ammar screams that Dan is nothing more than a garbage man for his corporation but Dan retorts that Ammar is a terrorist who helped finance the September 11th attack in the USA and was caught with explosives in his house when they came for him. However, Dan also makes it clear he doesn't want to talk about Sept. 11 and he wants to know about the Saudi Group. Ammar refuses to talk so Dan's men set up mats as Dan forces him to the ground. Maya hands Dan a bucket and a towel so that Dan can water board him. He asks for an email and demands to know when was the last time Ammar saw bin Laden. At the end of the session, Dan makes it clear that in the end everyone breaks.Maya sits in a waiting room. Dan brings their boss, station chief Joseph Bradley (Kyle Chandler), to meet her. She mentions that what she saw was "a bit fucked up" and Bradley is surprised, having assumed that she volunteered for this position. Bradley buzzes her into a secure wing and Dan asks if Maya is ready, but Bradley just points out that the CIA needs to break in the next generation. Maya settles into her desk and waits until she is brought into a small conference room where fellow CIA agents Jessica (Jennifer Ehle), Jack (Harold Perrineau), Thomas (Jeremy Strong), and J.J. (J.J. Kandel) are working on the latest intelligence reports. Dan points out that Ammar is withholding on the Saudi Group while Jessica gives updates on the latest leads. Maya points out that some of their assumptions are based on pre-9/11 behavior rendered moot by the invasion of Afghanistan.Morning prayers wake Maya from an uneasy sleep on her couch. She and Dan check on Ammar, still suspended by rope and deprived of sleep using heavy metal music. Dan pulls up a chair and seats Ammar in it, providing him with a bottle of fruit juice and some food. He asks Ammar about the Saudi Group and Ammar insists that he only handles money and that he doesn't know who the guys that he finances are. Dan kicks the chair out from under Ammar and has Ammar pulled up ripping down his pants to show that he has shit himself. Dan and the other agents leave, putting Maya alone in the room with Ammar. Ammar tells Maya that Dan is an animal and begs her for help. She tells him that he can help himself by being truthful. Dan returns with a dog collar and forces it around Ammar's neck, suggesting he's Dan's dog and needs to be walked. He drags him over to a box; a very confined spot, smaller than a coffin. Dan threatens to put Ammar in there if Ammar doesn't tell him about the impending attack. Ammar starts screaming days of the week but not a location, so Dan forces him into the box and leaves him there.May 29, 2004.A group of Al Qaeda terrorists unload guns on civilians in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, targeting non-Muslims and Americans. Jessica, Dan, and Maya watch the footage in the aftermath. Jessica tells Dan that it's not on him but Dan insists that since Ammar is their prisoner the deaths are on him and Maya. Jessica points out that there are still other plots in motion that they can wring out of Ammar, including a planned attack in the London-Heathrow area. Maya realizes that since Ammar has been in complete isolation, they can lie about the outcome of the attack and claim that it was thwarted by Ammar in his sleep deprived state.Ammar is brought out of his confinement and informed that his intel was good. Dan asks what Ammar did after the invasion. Ammar says the choice was to fight or run, and he wanted to kill Americans. He continues to talk about the members of the AQ cell but in vague terms until Dan makes it clear that he will put Ammar back in the box if Ammar doesn't start naming names. Ammar spills all the details he can including that his uncle once worked for Osama bin Laden and that Ammar had seen him in Karachi with a letter from the shah which said to keep working on the jihad, to keep it renewed for a hundred years. Finally Ammar gives them a name: Abu Ahmed.Part 2: ABU AHMEDMaya watches a computer monitor and studies old interrogation tapes looking at each of the suspects and studying their stories. Allegedly, bin Laden uses a complex network of carriers to relay messages to his supporters. She takes a break to make some food and Jessica walks in to ask how the search for the needle in the haystack is going. Jessica suggests that at the end of the day, everyone can be swayed with money an idea that Maya questions since it doesn't fit the motivations of a jihadist. But Jessica retorts that the weaker members would be swayed with money.Putting on a dark-colored wig to conceal her red hair, Maya is escorted to a CIA Black Site in Poland. Hakim (Fares Fares), a fellow agent and interpreter, brings her to their prisoner. They ask him a few questions and he claims that he had contact with a man known only as Fahraj. Maya is suspicious that the suspect is simply making it up until the prisoner names all of Fahraj's children. He confirms that there was a network in place to pass messages on. Maya takes this information back to Bradley and gives him a report. Bradley points out that her hunt for Abu Ahmed has been fruitless because she doesn't know his real name or where to find him. She retorts that the fact that everyone has heard of Abu Ahmed means that he is important. He tells her to let him know when there's actionable intelligence so that they can order a strike.London, England. July 7, 2005.A double-decker bus explodes. News footage of this latest AQ attack plays out on Bradley's computer monitor and in Maya's kitchen. At Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, Dan feeds a monkey from his ice cream cone when he is informed that his detainee is ready. Maya is escorted into an ISI Detention Center in Pakistan. Her detainee is cooperative and tells her everything she wants to know about Abu Ahmed a most trusted courier who cannot be found because he is one of the disappeared ones.A man has an object strapped to his leg and is told, God willing, they will not have to use it. We follow the man as he walks through a complex where children are playing. His stroll is observed by Dan. Individuals dressed like Muslim woman in all black follow him as he goes to meet with Fahraj. The Muslim women are revealed to be soldiers who grab Fahraj and swarm him rifles pointed at his chest. Bradley presents Maya with paperwork and tells her that she has a one-on-one with Fahraj.Dan escorts Fahraj to his cage; a private cell with barbed wire around the sides. Dan says that he's bad news for men like Fahraj and that Dan isn't going to help him, he's going to break him. Asked if he's hungry, Fahraj has a tube shoved down his throat and blended food is forced down his throat. He is a difficult prisoner so Maya asks Dan if he will take a crack at Fahraj but he refuses, saying he's done this long enough. He's getting sent back to Washington and do something normal. He asks her to come back with him and be his "Number 2" but she says she won't find Abu Ahmed from DC. Dan warns her that politics are changing and that she needs to make sure she's not the last one "holding the dog collar." He also warns her that since everyone knows her in Pakistan she's going to need to start watching her back.September 20, 2008 Marriott Hotel, Islamabad, Pakistan.Jessica waits at a table and waves to Maya as she arrives still attached to her phone. Maya apologizes for being late because of the check points. Jessica reminds Maya that they are socializing and pours her a glass of wine. Maya makes it clear that Abu Ahmed's mystique confirms his importance when a bomb goes off outside the Marriott destroying most of the interior. Maya and Jessica struggle to find an exit, passing numerous staff and diners who have either been killed or wounded by the bomb. A truck outside had been stopped at a check point and carried explosives which the driver detonated.Part 3: THE MEETINGTribal Territories, Pakistan: A meeting of bin Laden's inner circle occurs while someone records it. Jessica is ecstatic, telling Maya that the Jordanians have a mole. She shows Maya the video of the meeting and explains that a Jordanian doctor has made it into the inner circle. Bradley doesn't buy it but the Jords claimed that money and patriotic duty would be enough to sway him from bin Laden and the jihad. Maya points out that the guy is likely lying & they just have to meet him face-to-face. She helps Jessica convince Bradley to approve the operation.Jessica tries to get the doctor to come to Islamabad but the doctor refuses on the grounds that traveling out of the Muslim world would make him appear to be a flight risk. An interview of Obama talking about America's moral stature plays in the background as Jessica tells Maya that the doctor would be willing to meet with Jessica in the Tribal territories. Maya points out that as a white woman Jessica would definitely be kidnapped. They brainstorm with a fellow agent who suggests Camp Chapman in Afghanistan as a safe area of compromise.On the phone with Maya, Jessica decorates a cake for the doctor. Maya laughs and points out that Muslims don't celebrate with cake. Jessica scolds her for being so literal and invites Maya out. Maya declines - it is Jessica's lead and she deserves to run the show.Jessica meets with a CIA agent John for drinks and they toast the doctor, their first big break since 9/11. She's cross-checked all the information that they've been provided with and it checks out. The money - $25 million buys a new life. John posits that the doctor is exaggerating his access but Jessica points out that in 6 months to a year, the doctor could be treating bin Laden. With the money on the table, the doctor will flip - or they'll kill him.Jessica and the other interrogators wait out in the base and everyone is on edge. Jessica is excited about the meeting but the doctor is late. When he looks like a no-show, a car appears on the horizon and gets stopped at a check point. Jessica insists that he be ushered through the check point without being searched per the agreement they had made beforehand. The car is driven in and an old man gets out. When the soldiers ask him to take his hand out of his pockets, he begins to mumble "Allahu Akbar" and detonates a bomb killing everyone in the vicinity including Jessica and John.Maya hears the news about the bombing and is distraught. Several co-workers come and talk to her, giving her updates including news that a detainee has confirmed Abu Ahmed as dead. Maya is on the edge of a breakdown. That night, Jack approaches her to console her about Jessica's death and asks what shes going to do now. She tells Jack that she's going to smoke out everyone involved in the operation and kill bin Laden.George (Mark Strong) arrives to brief Maya and her co-workers in the aftermath of the bombing, pointing out that they are losing the fight against their enemy. He yells that they "haven't done shit"; killing four of the 20 members of bin Laden's inner circle is a terrible success rate. He harshly demands they do their jobs and bring him people to kill.Maya is given a file on a man called Ibrahim Sayeed whose extended family was involved in terrorist activities. She is told that it was a lead that had been on the back burner for a while as a result of all the white noise. Maya goes over the Abu Ahmed files one more time and realizes that Sayeed and Abu Ahmed have many similar facial features due to their family relations. Maya calls Dan in Washington and points out that Abu Ahmed might not be dead since the three eldest brothers looked alike, the picture they've been associating with him is wrong. Abu Ahmed is still in play. She asks him to get the Sayeed family's phone number.Dan goes to talk to The Wolf (Fredric Lehne), a shadowy high-ranking official in the U.S. government, and requests a couple hundred thousand dollars to break open Maya's lead. The Wolf tells Dan that there is a lot of oversight going on and that they will not stop until they have a body, so Dan makes a deal he ran some of the ops that are currently under question if the Wolf backs him financially, he will return the favor by defending the methods used to an oversight committee.Kuwait City, Kuwait.Dan meets with one of his highly placed contacts and buys him a Lamborghini in exchange for the phone number. Maya meets with Larry (Edgar Ramirez) from Ground Branch and has him start hunting for Abu Ahmed. Larry and Hakim go for a drive in the city and begin to trace the identity of the Sayeed brother who is likely Abu Ahmed.In the aftermath of an attempted car bombing in NYC, Maya tries to talk to Bradley about the ground surveillance on the caller which Bradley says they don't have. Bradley wants to dismiss her lead because it is not relevant. He doesn't care about bin Laden, he only cares about stopping the next attack. Their goal is to protect the homeland, but Bradley points out that Maya's lead is a "fucking facilitator." Maya threatens Bradley telling him to give her the team she needs or send her back to DC and face a hearing before congress to be the first station chief to be called before congress for subverting the effort to find and kill Bin Laden. Bradley tells her she's crazy but gives the order.Jack approaches Maya in a bar and gives her a cell phone her suspect bought a new phone and they cloned a copy so that whenever his phone rings this cloned phone will ring as well. Hakim, Larry, and a third agent follow the signal on the phone in Pakistan. After briefly being stopped and threatened by locals, they drive away and are able to find the owner of the cell phone. They ID him and photograph his vehicle.A crowd of protesters outside the CIA facility in Pakistan protest Bradley having been named in a lawsuit by the family of a victim of a drone strike by the ISI. Bradley is recalled to the United States to be removed from his position. Maya tells him that the ISI fucked him, but he says nothing.Larry and Hakim follow the suspects vehicle to a compound. As Maya leaves her house, a pair of terrorists emerge and open fire on her vehicle. The bulletproof windshield protects her and she reverses back into her driveway while the gate closes behind her, preventing her assassins from finishing the job. The new station chief points out that she is now on a list and once someone is on a terrorists list they don't get off. When Maya is given information on the compound, she realizes that is likely where bin Laden is holed up.Going up the chain of command, Maya meets with George and another analyst named Steve (Mark Duplass). Steve takes her into a private conference room to discuss what she is about to present to the Director of the CIA. He asks Maya if the Pakistanis are involved but Maya points out that bin Laden has no reason to seek the protection of the Pakistanis since they tried to have him killed. The Director (James Gandolfini) arrives and Steve begins his presentation with George answering the Director's questions; the house is about a mile away from the Pakistanis equivalent to West Point. Maya corrects Georges estimation by saying 8/10ths of a mile The Director asks who Maya is and she says she's the "motherfucker who found" the house.Maya goes to Georges office and writes on the see-through partition "21", as in the number of days since they've found the house that George has not green-lit an operation. Soon 21 becomes "52". Steve shows satellite imagery of the compound and points out that there are two males and three females which means that there is likely a third family in the house, based on Muslim traditions. George meets with the head of the NSA (Stephen Dillane) who questions as to how they know bin Laden is in the compound. George assesses all their attempts and the actions of the third, unidentified male, and points out that they are professional attempts to avoid detection. The only people who behave like this are at the head of al-Qaeda. The NSA head points out that there's a 40% chance it's a head of al-Qaeda but it could easily be a drug dealer. George points out that they can't ask anyone since the detainee program went to hell.Day 100.George meets with the NSA head again, stating that their target can't be a drug dealer since he does nothing related to heroin production and sends messengers to two cities highly associated with al-Qaeda. After the meeting, George approaches the NSA head and points out he doesn't have the rhythm of the politics. The NSA head points out that if it were political he'd just tell George to go fuck himself instead, this operation is pure risk. The NSA head says the operation may be shakier than when George's predecessor pitched WMDs in Iraq. George asks him how they can quantify the risk of not making a move. The NSA head says that he's not giving the go-ahead but that the President would like to hear options.Area 51, Nevada Air Force Base.George, Dan, and Maya are flown out to meet with SEAL Team Six and look at several helicopters being refitted to be immune to radar. Team Six thinks they will be going up against Gaddafi in Libya but Maya explains that they are actually going after "UBL"; Usama bin Laden. Justin (Chris Pratt) is skeptical because he was part of a mission back in 2007 that cost them several team members and was a ghost. Patrick (Joel Edgerton) the squad leader expresses his skepticism, but Maya makes it clear that Team Six will be the "canaries" sent in; they will find bin Laden and kill him for her since she can't get authorization to simply drop a bomb on the place.Day 129.The CIA Director calls a meeting with George, Dan, Maya, The Wolf, and a consultant named Jeremy (John Barrowman), and they try and determine how accurate their intel is. Dan says there's a 60% chance there's a high-level target in the house he doesn't know if it's bin Laden. George says 80% but Jeremy asks Maya what she thinks. Maya says 100% which impresses Jeremy and the Director. When they leave the room, the Director says they're all cowed. Jeremy says that Maya is "fucking smart", but the Director says: "we're all fucking smart".Maya eats lunch in a CIA cafeteria and the CIA Director approaches her. He asks her how long she's been with the CIA and she tells him that she was recruited out of high school so she's been working for them for 12 years. He asks her what else she's done for the CIA aside from her search for bin Laden. She says she's done nothing else but that. He smiles and says she certainly has a flair for it. He asks her if she knows why she was recruited by the CIA. For some reason she is not able to answer that question.Part 4: THE CANARIESMay 1, 2011. Forward Operating base, Afghanistan:Stealth choppers are being refitted for the mission. Patrick, Justin, and the rest of SEAL Team Six clean their weapons and fool around. Hakim and Maya are on site to oversee the operation. Maya watches Patrick and Justin play horse shoes and discuss whether or not the operation is concrete. Patrick points out that Maya's confidence convinces him that this intelligence is accurate. Maya gets a call from George; it's happening tonight.Team Six board the three helicopters and fly out toward the compound. When they arrive, one of the helicopters is caught in a severe updraft and it crash lands onto a section of the compound. The soldiers are a little banged up but they are alive. They exit and begin to go through the compound.Going from building to building, the SEALs kill anyone who goes for a gun, all the men and a few women. In one case they call out a name, "Khalid", until a man reappears in the stairwell where he fled. They round up the kids and put them together in a room with the women. While more and more local people head toward the compound, Hakim walks out and tells the approaching crowd, first with a megaphone and then without, that they will be killed unless they stop. They do not stop until he repeats his order in English. Justin finds an office loaded with files and computers, an intelligence jackpot.Patrick and the others continue through the main building. Jared, one of the other soldiers, is approaching the third floor and softly calls out "Osama" repeatedly until a man appears. He quickly takes a shot and the man falls. Patrick walks up to the body and plants a few more bullets into it, removing his mask and radioing in that they have a possible positive ID. He takes a picture and they put him in a body bag. Their Squad commander radios in and tells them that they have six minutes to get back to the helicopters with the body and whatever intel they can seize as the Pakistan air force is responding to the crash.Maya receives confirmation that the plan worked with the code phrase "Geronimo for God and country". The SEALs grab what they can and escape to the remaining two helicopters. The downed helicopter is rigged with explosives and they take off and detonate (so the cloaking software and other advanced technology aboard can't be seized). The helicopters return to base and Patrick is congratulated for running a successful operation. Maya is presented with the body and the intelligence they seized. The SEALs congratulate themselves while Maya goes in to unzip the body bag, confirming that bin Laden is dead.A plane is waiting for Maya on the tarmac and she is told that she is the only passenger; she can go wherever she wants. The pilot comments that she must be really important, but he doesn't know what she's done. As the plane's hangar door closes, Maya begins to cry. | dramatic, suspenseful | train | imdb | It takes her almost 10 years, a little waterboarding, a couple of dead colleagues and a lot of arguing with her superiors, but she manages to follow the lead all the way to the now famous raid in Abbottabad.It's a very captivating film (even with its 160 minutes runtime), and the big raid at the end is quite intense and realistic.
Whether or not 'OBL' would've been caught without the use of torture is speculation that has no place in this movie (it's a depiction of events, not a moral study).Some Americans might still find it hard to watch a movie that requires you to form your own opinion about the actions of your country/government/army, instead of getting one spoon fed by those very same institutions.
These are not easy questions to answer and they are left open ended for the most part.The three main criticisms I've come across in the reviews is that 1) The movie is propaganda 2) It glorifies torture and 3) It is factually inaccurate.
Thank you IMDb. Knowing this movie was nominated for best picture, I was afraid that I was losing my mind after seeing it, since what I saw in the theater was: one dimensional characters being frustrated about not being able to do anything, inter-cut with a newsreel about current events, followed a ridiculously overdone operation to kill a couple people in a house.No doubt this is a difficult story to tell dramatically, since it's about people who are doing a job that is passive by nature.
At the very beginning it gives us a warning:"Based on first-hand accounts of actual events"Aka what CIA told us and what CIA wants you to see.The decade-long war on terror seen through a CIA agent's eyes, the whole film is shaped into a CIA narrative.
Forget torture is a war crime, we got Ben Laden."Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not endorsement." Mrs. Bigelow defends her film in her LA Times piece.
This (slightly) fictionalized dramatization of the decade-long hunt for Osama Bin Laden is often difficult to watch, for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't mean it isn't any good.
Kathryn Bigelow's masterful follow up to the much lauded "The Hurt Locker" is no doubt the best film of the year, and I think it is an important movie in the history of American cinema.
The film is led by Jessica Chastain's astounding performance as Maya, a CIA operative who dedicates more then 10 years to finding Osama Bin Laden.
They had the biggest story to tell since the death of Hitler and they made a day time soap out of it.Here are my reasons: 1) Bad/overacting acting...by almost everyone except Jessica (Maya)2) Who writes such script?...sounds like a school play.
Katherine Bigelow should learn from movies like Green Zone, Syriana, Argo, Rendition how to maintain taught tension (even though viewers know how it ends).7) Also this happens right under the nose of Pak Agencies and nothing except a few passing reference to the ISI is made.
(1/10/13, one star) Kathryn Bigelow and her new movie Zero Dark Thirty deserve our universal contempt and condemnation for condoning torture.
(Do we really want to emulate the Nazis and Communists?) In the long run, torturers are a more pernicious threat to both our security and our liberty than any Al Qaeda agent could ever hope to be.Senator McCain is right when he says that Zero Dark Thirty gives our enemies powerful ammunition to use against us, especially if it garners awards.
I have come to this film pretty late and am a bit surprised at the polarised views I enjoyed the Hurt Locker and given that the outcome is obviously known I still found it tense, dramatic etc and I put this down to Katherine Bigelow's skill as a director As others as commented this is far from propaganda as it is a pretty uncomfortable ride in the early part of the film as torture is used I didn't see this as an 'ends justifies the means' positioning, however but steps along the journey if you haven't seen it certainly don't be put off by the low mark reviews, they are just silly There is so much directorial skill here Certainly If you enjoyed the Hurt locker then see this.
I cared more for the guy on the seal team who asks Maya "Are you sure about this intel, cause we lost some guys on another mission trying to catch OBL." That guy I care about - too bad he had 5 minutes of screen time and the rest went to Maya the mouth.Mark Strong's intense entrance as a director in the CIA couldn't even save this pile.Poorly acted.
Do not get me wrong, the movie is not that good when you get the lovely, energetic, fascinating and brutally honest portrayal of Chastain's CIA agent Maya out of the picture.It would've still be solid, controversial and updated with events, but the X-particle would have been missing.That's what the actress brought to the movie.The cast is fine-a solid, convincing ensemble, that did their respective jobs very well.I can see why people like Mark Strong and James Gandolfini got some roles in the movie.It's always good to work with a so-called red-hot director at the helm of her so-called favourite turf- war movies.Their cameos, especially Gandolfini's (because Mark Strong was under the spotlights for a little longer) made a refreshing break from the main tone of the movie midway through it, at the moment we needed something different the most.Overall, the cast was an improvement over Bigelow's last effort in the genre.With "The Locker" i wasn't impressed at all, i was actually on the other end of emotions-i did not understand what all the people saw in it.Overlong and flat, you' be left wondering why so many strange sequences occurred in the movie.And if you are still awake, that is.But Bigelow has improved in those few years.She has a better eye for the cinematic, her cast is stronger, she changes paste effortlessly and now has a sense of jumping in one scene after another almost flawlessly.Those things, in my humble opinion, were not that visible in "The Locker" as mostly critics screamed they were.But the movie ended being the biggest Oscar contender and winner without being the best movie that same year, so what do i know.The only department "The Locker" still overshadows "Zero Dark Thirty" is the tension.No that it wasn't evident here, but more than enough was provided by Bigelow in her last effort.Well, frankly, the nature of the movie was different and couldn't have hurt it.So, with all that being said, with the beautiful performance by Chastain, who is becoming a real power on the horizon with every single movie she takes, with a haunting performance from Reda Kateb's Ammar in the beginning, where one might feel heartbroken for the guy, what's the problem with the movie, You might ask.The script!This thing that has been nominated out of sheer patriotism is worth nothing.Some of the lines Boal wrote were sheer ridiculousness at it's finest.No one screams words like "motherfucker" in the CIA director's face at a high-level terrorist-related meeting, even if there is no profane context hidden behind it and even if the CIA boss's role has been handled by the almighty Tony Soprano.Jessica Chastain was actually so good and mesmerizing throughout the course of the movie, that she handled this particular scene with calm and confidence.She was the one screaming it, if it is not yet crystal-clear.And she's been forgiven, she's not to blame at all.Continuing with Boal's outrageous screen writing we find ourselves in the middle of a mission, where the SEALs (who behaved like total children throughout their limited number of scenes, shame on you, Edgerton, i'm looking at you, because one would expect this from Chris Pratt) enter a suspect's house and begin to quietly repeat every single inhabitant's name until, like rabbits, they all come out and they all get shot.A totally unneeded and distracting scene, which took off a lot from the sheer brilliancy and tension off the last sequence of the movie.And even if there were some documented evidence speaking that it was all true, i don't believe that a clever off-the-grid person will be so stupid to get out and check who is calling him by name in the middle of a SEALs mission in his home.I repeat, even if it were true, for the sake of the film itself, leave it out, do not go there!!That's why i think the final act was less suspenseful than Bigelow's last warfare effort.Besides the fact we all now how it ends, of course.And, once again, thank God Jessica Chastain is around to save the day and bring some humanity and emotion to the movie.:But what the heck, let's give a 100/100 to the movie, because we love America".That's the reception right now, as it was with "Argo"...and once again, thank the cinematic Gods for Jessica Chastain's true, emotional, fascinating, electrifying performance!!At the very end she showed that even in a job well done and even in the years spend doing nothing but this particular job, there is no consolation, there are no smiles, nor happiness.Only a 12-years long hole of emptiness that's being left there.Like a homecoming soldier, who still lives with his brothers in arms, Jessica Chastain's Maya-has a tough way ahead of her.A way filled with new strives and challenges, dreams even.But a long and tough way back to ordinary life, life as it was.This sense of nostalgia is brought in absolutely uncompromising way to the screen by Chastain.The movie itself would have been a 6/10 without Chastain to say the least, with Boal it falls even steeper, but this new actress (by Hollywood laws that is), makes this whole ride unforgettable in the coming awards-season.Two thumbs up for a lovely Chastain and hopefully an Oscar this time around!!My rate:9/10.
This film is about a female CIA officer, who tirelessly pursue all leads for years to find Osama bin Laden."Zero Dark Thirty" is supposed to be a war and action film, but the pacing is so slow.
Yes she has determination and this is what she's worked on her entire life; but she lacks emotions and when she does show emotions, she borderlines psychopathic b*tch.Many people commented on the torture scenes but that didn't bother me - what bothered me was how this film WAS torture.The entire direction and story line of the movie was so dull that I was baffled at the 95 it had scored on Metacritic.
The movie attempted at a film based around real events and people but fails miserably that I would have rather just stick with a documentary with real facts and get it over with in 90 minutes instead of miserably sitting through it for 2 and a half hours.
I believe this film is based on the classic made for Lifetime channel movie, "Girl With a Hunch."If you want the truth about these events you won't get it by sitting in the theater for 3 hours.This film isn't really about the hunt for Bin Laden, or as they refer to him in the film, UBL?!
It's got a few moments that don't just ask you to suspend belief, but beg the question, "How did that get through post-production?" or, "This is a joke, right?"The acting is, for the most part, more than passable, but especially emotionally charged moments are ruined by a lack of contextual framing; it felt like I had woken up in the middle of a better movie.All in all, I just feel this film heavily relies upon the assumption that viewers will walk into it cheering it on like it's their local sports team and overlook how glaringly horrible it is because of what it's about.Go see it if you want to scratch your head in a dark room thinking about what else you could do with three hours and 13 bucks.Laughable..
Kudos to any movie that does not Hollywood-ize a true topic – ZDT does exactly that and perhaps better than any other true-life story made to date.Do not get caught up in some of these reviews that claim 'torture scenes' will turn your stomach, or that the first part of the movie is slow and boring – I found the first hour of this movie to be extremely well done and absolutely necessary to establish what the CIA went through to find OBL.There are many scenes in this movie that will leave you on the edge of your seat and startle you, but do not expect to see over-the-top writing or easy-n-cheap one-liners that most directors would have thrown in the movie to draw attention to themselves – again, this is NOT a pro-Hollywood movie.
This entire film is overflowing with emotions and the story lines of these characters are spectacular – don't forget for a minute that these are CIA operatives, whose job it is to find and kill OBL.Well done Kathryn Bigelow, VERY well done!.
It's got that Homeland vibe about it, but doesn't scream entertainment in a way that draws the viewer in.....it feels at times like it's a set of storyboards that have just been clumped together to make a movie and you feel need to actually work in an intelligence department just to understand what is going on.
Zero Dark Thrity is the new movie from Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow who has enjoyed a rich and varied career to date which will surely be swamped under the weight of opinion lumped on this picture.
I would argue that Zero Dark Thirty could have never won over every critic and begs the question, can you really expect to make a piece of solid entertainment about tracking and killing Osama Bin Laden?
I didn't feel anything for her character, i knew her about as well as i did Osama Bin Laden (movie equivalent of course).I think my main problem was with the point of the whole exercise.
Driven professionals in films often come across as stolid, but Chastain is an actor of subtlety - even if Bigelow can't help lensing her like a wind-swept movie star in the Middle Eastern magic light.
This film has some stand out scenes with brilliant cinematography, good acting, and takes a very unbiased view about highly controversial events- it lets you (largely) make up your own mind about the characters motives, and actions.
However, I don't feel that it is a great film; despite a remarkable performance by Jessica Chastain and solid camera work, the movie comes off at its worst as over-the-top jingoism masquerading as patriotism, making America look great to those who wave their arms at how Number One the good ol' USA is, the best of the best, and making America look terrible, perhaps, to those who are not American.The movie is unflinching in its depiction of violent methods, but we should get one thing clear right away: it's a work of fiction based on true events.
Many of us were alive and kicking in 2001 and remember this all too well, so it's a little different from watching an old Hollywood movie about the Second World War.It is implied, very subtly, that information gleaned from detainees leads, obliquely, to the capture of bin Laden, but this was never the case.
And, to be clear, this isn't a political statement, this review: President Bush is hardly mentioned, and when President Obama is shown on screen, he's declaring that America does not torture - while a room of CIA operatives who do just that watch, idly.Zero Dark Thirty is a good film.
nothing.it's pretty obvious that typical Hollywood types want to latch onto this and shower it with praise, when there are better films that deserve the attention.frankly speaking, i've taken dumps that were more enjoyable.i can only hope that this ends up on DVD sooner than later, so as none of you have to suffer the 14$ admittance fee to lose the 2.5 hours of your life this movie just cost me.save your time and your $, and wait until you can get it at a red box or something.indeed, argo was much better..
Zero Dark Thirty is the highly anticipated story of the hunt and eventual "we got him," moment for Osama Bin Laden, and Kathryn Bigelow's big movie to follow her great Iraq war movie, "The Hurt Locker." I was extremely disappointed to say the least.The Good.
For ten years, she becomes obsessed to find Osama and in 2011, the terrorist leader of Al-Qaeda is murdered by the U.S. Navy S.E.A.L. Team following the lead of Maya."Zero Dark Thirty" is a long, boring and overrated movie about the pursuit to Osama Bin Laden apparently by a persistent and limited CIA agent with only high-school, what seems to be incoherent.
While it certainly isn't a bad film, Zero Dark Thirty isn't necessarily a great one either, which is a disappointment from this director coming off of an incredible job on The Hurt Locker.
To the credit of the director, she manages to build in a fair amount of suspense and edge of the seat thrills as the hunt for Osama Bin Laden reaches its crescendo, despite the end result being known to the viewer.The other high light of the movie is the portrayal of Maya, the lead CIA operative by upcoming actress Jessica Chastain.
It's just as hard to think of a better thriller than Zero Dark Thirty (meaning military time, 12:30 a.m. when bin Laden was killed), Katherine Bigelow's docudrama about the decade-long search headed by the lone female CIA operative, Maya (Chastain).
Director Kathryn Bigelow's movie about the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden is about as gripping as it gets in watching a motion picture.
Bigelow puts the entire film on the shoulders of Maya and Chastain by making her the in-movie representation of the audience and moreover, the American people. |
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