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tt0049710 | Miyamoto Musashi kanketsuhen: kettô Ganryûjima | At a mountain waterfall Kojiro Sasaki reflects on his unknown status and dreams of greatness. He slices a bird in half and tells Akemi he must kill Musashi. Akemi runs away, horrified.In Nara, there is a martial arts tournament. A burly heavy set man calls out any challengers, Musashi and Jotaro watch as spectators. As Musashi prepares to leave, Jotaro cries out, the man is insulted. Musashi comes back to apologize and even kneels. The other man refuses to accept the apology and attacks with his kama-yari. Musashi grabs the long polearm and it becomes a struggle of wills. The old man who a year earlier had said Musashi lacked chivalry comes up and warns the opponent who he is facing. He stops the fight and declares Priest Agon the winner.Later, Musashi has dinner with the old man, a monk, who congratulates the samurai on his development. The monk mentions a Lord Yagyu, the Shogun's combat arms teacher, is looking for Musashi. He suggests Musashi go to Edo for an interview. Musashi and Jotaro start walking in the morning. Later in the day, Otsu arrives, and plans to follow.Edo is the most crowded city in Japan. Many samurai come to Edo looking for employment. Sasaki is having an audition match against a man Okaya, wielding a yari/spear. He confidently tells the other to remove the safety pad from the sharp end, and will use a wooden bokken himself. Lord Yagyu watches. Quickly Sasaki knocks the other man down and cripples him with a strike. Sasaki's host is embarrassed that he overdid it, hurting Okaya may have affected his chance for a job. Omitsu, the host's daughter likes Kojiro, he asks her to elope. Omitsu is surprised and backs off, Sasaki leaves the house suddenly. He goes to the see the ailing Okaya to apologize, the wounded man is gracious and accepts he lost fairly. Word gets out that Sasaki met Okuya and the Lords decide Kojiro may be worthy of hiring afte rall, although Musashi is also being considered.In a humble inn, Musashi and Jotaro have an upstairs room. Musashi is into wood carving and makes a small figurine that looks like Otsu. He hasn't decided to see Lord Yagyu about the job. Musashi is still thinking about the last time he saw Otsu by the mountain stream and is ashamed of himself. Outside there is a commotion, four samurai lie dead. Musashi examines the bodies and sees they were each killed with one stroke. A note is posted on a nearby tree declaring the four are students of the Obana School, Kojiro Sasaki takes signed responsibility for the deaths.Musashi brings the four corpses to the Obana School but old man Obana denies such poor fighters were his students. Musashi apologizes for the error and leaves with the bodies in a cart. He gives them a proper burial in a cemetary. As he finishes Sasaki arrives. The men greet each other cordially, Musashi thanks him for the help in Kyoto the previous year. They respect each other's abilities. Sasaki wishes to fight now but Musashi stops him as the timing would look look like it was Obana-related. They agree to fight the next evening by the East Gate.Later Sasaki prepares his swords. Omitsu comes to see him to say she won't be eloping, he tells her by tomorrow he will be dead or alive. His host returns home to announce Kojiro has the job, in that way Obana cannot try for revenge for the four deaths. Sasaki is hesitant to accept under those circumstances. To further convince him the host mentions Musashi is also being considered. Sasaki then reveals he is fighting Musashi the next day.Back at the inn the locals are gambling noisily. Jotaro tells them to be quiet and they do. One of the men comes upstairs to confront Musashi, believing he sent Jotaro. He is a horse trader. Musashi calmly eats ramen as the man rants. As the man gets more angry and pulls a knife, Musashi idly starts catching flies with his chopsticks. Astonished by the display of hand eye co-ordination the horse trader, Kumagoro, retreats quickly. A little later he is in the yard hacking at a tree trunk. A nobleman walking by hears him talking about Mushashi. It is the court official from Himeji Castle and he invites Musashi for the interview, Mushashi agrees but mentions the upcoming fight with Sasaki.At the East Gate Kojiro waits. Jotaro runs up with a note. Musashi writes that he will be travelling and wishes to postpone the match for one year. As they walk out of town Musashi reflects that he once wanted success but now only looks for further training. Musashi, Jotaro and Kumagaro walk across a broad plain, Jotaro and Kuma joke about their status. Suddenly arrows land close by and three horseman ride toward them. As the three travellers huddle under the drawn bows, Musashi acts quickly and manages to kill one bandit, the other two ride off.In the nearby village Mushashi hear that the bandits have been terrorizing the people for some time,stealing crops and women. Musashi decides they will live here and starts felling trees for a cabin.In a geisha club in Edo, Kojiro is with friends. He notices Akemi is one of the girls and has her brought to the room. She still loves Musashi and he playfully tells her where he is, he tosses a bag of coins to the owner to buy her freedom.A sole traveller in humble robes walks the plains, two bandits almost let it go but notice red silk under the grey robes. They go for the woman and Jotaro and Kuma hear the struggle and come quickly on horseback, scaring off the bandits. It is Otsu. Jotaro goes to tell Musashi she is here, he is filthy from hoeing a field and goes to clean himself up. A short time late the two meet. Musashi shows her around and says he now enjoys farm work, he is learning about life. He then tells Jotaro to take her to Old Gen's for a room. That night Jotaro and Kuma are perplexed why their Master would rather pound his chisel alone in his hut. Otsu walks by the stream and plays her flute. Once again Musashi recalls the scene at the mountain stream and continues to carve. Once again two bandits are scared off. In the morning a group of villagers pack and head off. The villagers come to Musashi to learn to fight, he tells them to learn to run.At an inn close to the plains Akemi prepares to travel, the owner tells her it's safer to go with others. A group of brigands come in noisily and harass the owner. The leader notices Akemi, Akemi notices Toji, her mother's boyfriend is with them. The leader had killed Oko becasuse Oko killed his brother because the brother killed Akemi's father. Toji gives Akemi a horseback ride close to the village, he directs her to report all the bandits have been arrested, then the next night to set fire to Mushashi's hut.Otsu is helping with the hoeing, Mushashi tells her she is too weak. Otsu is confused by his coldness, she goes to jump in the pond but Mushashi carries her out. Akemi arrives on scene, Otsu runs off. Kuma and Jotaro go to find a place for Akemi, she comes and throws herself at Mushashi. She asks him to elope, he pushes her back. Akemi pleads, then says she's sorry and will leave, wishing him luck with Otsu.The next day the village is hard at work. Akemi gives her false report of the arrests, they think they are safe and celebrate. As night falls they all party and dance. The brigands are close waiting for the fire signal. Akemi asks Otsu for a private chat. In a hut Akemi declares her love for Musashi, then challenges Otsu to a hatchet figh to the death. Otsu refuses to pick up the weapon and the two struggle. A candle is knocked over and starts the hut on fire as the two ladies escape. The brigands see the fire and attack! They torch the other huts as villagers flee, then fight back. Musashi takes care of the leader. Kuma is mortally wounded to Jotaro's despair. Toji finds Akemi and Otsu, Akemi stabs Toji, who with a dying lunge wounds Akemi. Akemi dies in Musashi's arms.The next day the village is in embers, Akemi is buried and Otsu prays for her. Three riders appear with a message for Musashi. Kojiro writes that he is now Lord Hosokawa's teacher, will be going to Kokura, the match is to be there in April. Sasaki travels as the centre of a large entourage.In Kokura, Lord Hosokawa's county seat, a crowd gathers to read a notice, Sasaki will be fighting Musashi in five days time. His Lordship tells Sasaki to fight fair. Kojiro then speaks with his host about a wedding to Omitsu after the fight. Otsu is pessimistic and very weak. Musashi sends a note to the Himeji court official that he will go directly to the island. Otsu collapses and is taken to an inn.Omitsu watches as Kojiro burns papers, he notices she is afraid for him but the young, elegant samurai is very confident.A boatswain has prepared Musashi's boat, he also is calm and relaxed. A man mentions someone would like to see him. It is Otsu, just awakened with no time for makeup. The two meet and have a walk on the sandy beach. Otsu is worried for him, wants him to quit and be a farmer, but Musashi warms up and tells her a wife should have confidence in her samurai.At night as the boat crosses to Ganryu Island Musashi carves an oar into a bokken. Sasaki waits on the island with a large group of witnesses. As the sun breaks the horizon Musashi arrives and the two top samurai in all of Japan face off.Musashi is backed into the water on defense with his wooden sword, but the glare of the rising sun behind him gets in Kojiro's eyes. Very tense, the men thrust and parry, Sasaki with his long nodachi "The Clothes Pole". A sudden flurry and Musashi jumps back, slightly cut on the forehead. Kojiro smiles at the sight of the blood, then...drops dead. Two nobles come to congratulate Musashi, he sets off for the mainland in the boat. As the bos'n babbles on Musashi fights back tears. The End. | romantic | train | imdb | null |
tt1087853 | Gutterballs | On January 1, 2008 at the Xcalibur Bowling Centre, a disco-themed bowling alley in Surrey, British Columbia, Egerton, the janitor, has allowed two groups of teenagers to bowl against one another after hours. The "prep", Steve, is still bitter after his best friend Jamie, the "jock", had sex with Lisa, a girl with whom Steve was smitten and even took to their senior prom. After Steve and his friends Joey, Patrick, and A.J. harass the "tranny", Sam, they are chastised by Jamie. This leads to a brawl between Steve's team and Jamie's. Lisa breaks up the fight by dropping a bowling ball on Steve's foot just as Steve is about to kick Jamie again. Egerton, brandishing a shotgun, tells the teenagers to leave and they can continue their tournament the following night.
Lisa, having forgot her purse in the arcade, returns to find Steve and his friends waiting for her. Steve proceeds to violently rape Lisa while the others watch. Egerton is oblivious to Lisa's cries for help, as he is downstairs cleaning up the mess the teenagers made. After he is finished raping Lisa, Steve leaves the room. While Steve is gone, A.J. anally rapes Lisa on the pool table; then it's Joey who abuses her. Patrick, who believed the three were only going to "scare" Lisa, refuses to participate in the rape. Steve returns with a bowling pin and prepares to insert it into Lisa before Patrick intervenes. Steve retorts by giving Patrick the pin and ordering him to do it himself. Patrick refuses to do so at first but complies when Steve threatens to do the same to him. In the end Patrick penetrates Lisa with the bowling pin as she screams in pain. The four leave Lisa on the pool table, naked and barely conscious.
The following night, the two groups arrive at the bowling alley to continue their tournament. Steve is joined by his "girlfriends", Julia and Hannah. Jamie arrives late with Lisa, who barely speaks. As the teams begin their first game of the night, Lisa suddenly gets on an elevator. She is confronted by Patrick, who says he's only at the bowling alley to apologize. Lisa doesn't believe him, and insists that he is only there to make sure that she hasn't contacted the police. During the game, the players notice a mystery player on the scoreboard, BBK, but believe it is just a glitch. Dave, one of Jamie's friends, meets Julia in the bar and pays for two beers she ordered. When he discovers that one of them belongs to Steve, he asks if he can urinate in it. Julia tells him that she doesn't care and that she dislikes Steve too but hangs out with him anyway because he's dating her friend Hannah. Julia follows Dave into the bathroom and the two begin to make out. A mysterious person wearing bowling attire exits one of the stalls while Dave and Julia are in the 69 position and forces Julia's head further onto Dave's penis while forcing Dave's head further between Julia's legs, suffocating them both. After they are dead, two strikes appear next to BBK on the scoreboard in the form of a skull and crossbones.
The game continues and Sam goes to the bathroom so she can "freshen up". The person who murdered Dave and Julia is hiding in one of the stalls when Sam enters the girls' restroom and Sam, frightened by the noise coming from the stall, approaches it and is pulled inside. She tries to bargain with the killer, but the killer murders her by forcing a bowling pin down her throat. The killer lifts Sam's skirt up and, using the switchblade Sam tried to defend herself with, castrates Sam lengthwise. Later, Ben and Cindy leave to have sex in a storage room upstairs, but Ben leaves Cindy alone to buy a condom from the vending machine in the bathroom. He dies when the killer hits him over the head with a bowling pin and gouges his eyes out with a sharpened one. The killer finds Cindy upstairs and strangles her to death with a pair of bowling sneakers. Downstairs, Hannah searches for Julia but dies when the killer crushes her head with two bowling balls. Joey goes back behind the pin setters to fix his team's after noticing they were broken. A.J. notices the strikes appearing next to BBK on the scoreboard and questions Egerton about it, who assures him that it is still a glitch. Egerton sends A.J. to an area currently being remodeled with an "out of order" sign to put on an automatic ball polisher that Joey broke earlier. A.J. turns the ball polisher on and finds it already fixed but gets killed when the killer uses it to wax his face off.
Steve, noticing that something is amiss, leaves to find Joey behind the pin setters. Joey lies dead on the ground, headless. Steve is frightened by the killer, who bludgeons him with a bowling pin before sodomizing him with another sharpened pin. As Steve tries to crawl away, the killer smashes his head in with the bowling pin. Meanwhile, Sarah and Jamie continue their game. Jamie reaches into the ball return slot to find his bowling ball, instead discovering Joey's severed head. The two try desperately to escape the bowling alley before coming face to face with the killer. They run and hide in the basement, where they find their friends' bodies. The killer appears with a shotgun and removes the bowling bag to reveal Egerton's face. Sarah discovers that Jamie knew about the murders of Steve, Joey, and A.J. but not the others. Lisa appears, dressed up as well, revealing that she murdered Steve. Jamie explains that Lisa told her father, who turns out to be Egerton, about the rape and Egerton let Jamie in on the plan. When asked why he killed their friends too, Egerton explains that they didn't intervene when Lisa reentered the bowling alley and are therefore just as guilty. Another person dressed like the killer, as Egerton goes on to explain, Another killer (possibly the real "BBK") enters the basement and removes the bowling bag to reveal Patrick's face. Patrick explains that he confessed his involvement to Egerton and wanted to contact the police, but Egerton let him in on the plan instead and he was the person who murdered Joey and A.J., supposedly to make it up to her. Lisa is furious that her father allowed him to live so Egerton betrays Patrick and slits his throat with the switchblade he got from Sam. Jamie, realizing he's out of control, wrestles Egerton to the ground and, after a scuffle, blows his head clean off with the shotgun. Lisa cradles her father's body before grabbing the switchblade and trying to attack Jamie. Sarah grabs the shotgun and kills Lisa.
With the three "BBK"'s dead, Sarah shoots the locks off of the emergency doors and the two survivors escape the bowling alley. Traumatized and, above all, upset that Jamie did nothing to prevent the murders, Sarah turns the gun on him, pumps it saying: "'cuz we're both fucked". The screen cuts to black as a gunshot is heard, indicating that Sarah murdered Jamie and is on the run. | revenge, violence, flashback | train | wikipedia | I also took little guilty pleasure in the rape-revenge aspect because three times as many innocent people were killed than the attackers, and many of the death scenes reserved for the uninvolved parties were far more sadistic and torturous than what was dished out to the actual rapists.
By allowing his cast to behave like obnoxious, shrieking cretins and giving them so much lousy, horribly-written dialogue (or allowing them to improvise too much), the director/writer single handedly killed off his intentions for a fun bowling-themed slasher flick.
***This review is of the 'balls-out' uncut edition of Gutterballs***Ryan Nicholson, the man responsible for the excellent, ultra-sick rape/revenge short Torched, returns to that same genre for Gutterballs, this time delivering a full-length feature that draws inspiration from the gory slasher flicks of the 80s.
It's not the first film in recent years to look to the rich past of exploitation movies for ideasGrindhouse, Hatchet, and Doomsday have all sought to emulate 'classics' from the less respected side of cinemabut, although it is not without its drawbacks (more about that later), it is Nicholson's offering that comes the closest to capturing that authentic vintage vibe.Set in a bowling alley after closing hours, Gutterballs sees a psycho named BBK (short for Bowling Bag Killer) hacking and slashing his way through the members of two rival bowling teams who are taking part in a midnight grudge match.
The gang-rape scene is the first evidence that this film is going for broke in the nastiness stakes: it's a truly sickening and relentless attack that is genuinely hard to stomach, but it sure makes you want to see the perpetrators get what they deserve (which, of course, they do).And if the gang-rape isn't enough to convince you that Nicholson means business, then the first few killings should make matters crystal clear: a couple are killed whilst performing a graphic '69', and a transvestite is choked on a bowling pin and given a messy make-shift sex change (all in sickeningly bloody close-up!).
Also, much of the humour is rather juvenile, with a goofy, talking, ball-waxing machine being particularly grating (at least until it removes one character's face!).Improvements could have also been made to the end of the film, where we finally find out the true identity of BBK: it's a rather over-complicated denouement that quickly becomes confusing.Still, even with these negative points, Gutterballs is a unique and entertaining piece of indie sleaze destined to become a cult favourite amongst those film fans that like their horror extremely depraved with a warped sense of fun.Since I gave Torched 8/10, and slightly preferred that film's more nihilistic approach, I will rate Gutterballs a still-very-decent 7.5/10 (which I am happy to round up to 8 for IMDb anyway, 'cos the film has a cool rock soundtrackApril Wine fans, raise your fists!)..
"Gutterballs" opens with tasteless and suitably disturbing gang-rape scene that will surely offend some viewers.It takes place in a bowling alley called the Xcalibur Bowling Centre.Its janitor lets two groups of teenagers for the big bowling match against each other.Soon the members of each group are being gorily dispatched by the frenzied killer BBK,who wears a bowling bag mask..."Gutterballs" is a sleazy blast obviously inspired by Italian giallo flicks and excessively violent slashers from early 80's.The death scenes are seriously sick and gory as hell and the graphic nudity is frequent in the unrated XXX version.The characters are obnoxious,vulgar and outlandish.None of them is likable.Several scenes of bloodshed put the smile of my face including the death of transvestite,who gets his penis sheared off.The double asphyxiation by fellatio and cunnilingus is also worth mentioning as is the stabbing with sharpened pin.To sum up,"Gutterballs" is not for the squeamish,so if you are a fan of tasteless and morbid horror grab the unrated version..
BUT if you are looking for hot chicks, lots of sex, and original and inventive death scenes, then this movie is for you.I must warn that there is a pretty graphic and overly long rape scene if you are sensitive to such things.
Completely unnecessary Sex Scenes, and doubly unnecessary gore in a Movie Plot which over-over-stretched (the whole bowling setup does not give much room for the story).I really could not understand how anyone can actually write, produce, direct,act, edit and release such a movie?
The movie lacks originality, credible acting, bad background music (that completely fails to create and hold the fear factor), third rate makeup, poor camera works (watch "them" if you want to know what a camera angle can do in a horror movie)and last but not the least completely nonsensical reason for the killing.
Well, I just finished watching Gutterballs.To set up this mini-review I'll start by saying that Ryans previous movie, Live Feed was enjoyable.
We get an extended multiple rape scene, male and female nudity (which becomes very graphic at certain points), some very inventive and nasty deaths (with some great FX) and mutilations that may leave you squirming.Gutterballs succeeds in its mission.
It brings back the memories of old school exploitation but is a lot of fun at the same time.Recommended to horror fans who like a bit of rough from time to time....and who like a laugh.8/10PS If their were an award for "Most creative costume for a Killer", I'd vote for Gutterballs....its freakin' awesome :-).
I approached Gutterballs with caution; as while the premise sounded interesting enough, I was not a fan of director Ryan Nicholson's first feature film 'Live Feed'.
Gutterballs seems to take inspiration from slasher flicks such as Intruder and Stage Fright, in that we have a group of people locked inside a small location with a maniacal killer, and mixes this with a gleeful eighties style and a bucket of blood and gore.
The result is a film that is not for everyone; but a dream come true for fans of exploitative horror, as Gutterballs is completely unflinching in the way that it portrays violence, and it's actually very refreshing to see someone still making films like this with all the watered down horror coming out of most modern day studios.
Cut to the next night and their game is intruded by an unknown bowler calling himself 'BBK', and the bowlers start being picked off one by one.Gutterballs is a film that really doesn't hold back at all; the gang rape scene within the first twenty minutes is liable to get more than a few backs up pretty quickly, but it actually turns out to be just a taster for what is to come as we are treated to a barrage of murder scenes and various body parts are mutilated.
Ryan Nicholson ensures that the film is entertaining throughout and Gutterballs never really slows down or becomes boring for a minute, which makes for a very fun viewing.
Overall, I don't expect Gutterballs to receive universal praise, but I would think that it will get respect from genre fans (who also have fun spotting various tributes) and I would certainly rate it as one of the better horror flicks of this decade.
Gutterballs is a cross between a Friday the 13th film and a Troma movie, set in a bowling alley under attack from a killer wearing a bowling ball bag as a mask.Using various bowling-themed implements of doom, the psychopath makes very short work of two competing teams - determined to make a name for themselves in the strange underground late night bowling circuit their town apparently hosts.
Director Ryan Nicholson has dropped every ounce of sleaze into this feature, but primarily keeps things fun.Where the film falters is in going too overboard on a few choice scenes.
I love nudity and gore as much as the next slasher fan, but as the 80's taught us, these films work best when you're having fun - not when you're squirming in your seat.
A nearly four minute rape scene highlights the overly-excessive moments that feel out of place in this fun film, but Gutterballs' totally unavoidable MPAA cuts may actually benefit some of these moments by streamlining their content.But aside from that one piece of constructive criticism, the film is an undeniable blast.
The main characters are vulgar, over-the-top, and prime cannon fodder for the masked "BBK" (Bowling Bag Killer); the effects are wonderfully gruesome; and the 80s hits throughout the film will leave you scratching your head as to how director Nicholson scored the rights to so many classic tunes.
Lots of profanities spoken which did seem out of place in some of the scenes.Overall, not that good a movie that one would like watching.
It's a brilliant kickback to all those 80's horror flicks such as INTRUDER, MANIAC, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, and definitely I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVEI got to be honest though this is a brutal film, and is definitely not going to be for everyone, it has a rape scene which rivals the one in IRREVERSIBLE.
But as a true horror fan I absolutely loved it, great death scenes, gore by the bucket load, nudity and sex (almost a porno in parts)All in all a great effort from Ryan Nicholson, all I can hope for is he makes more films, and that he sticks to the roots he used in this film, although I'm not sure the UK will see this film...not in this version at least, so make sure you go for the US UNRATED version, when it comes out..
Gutterballs provides us with a beaver shot so candid that you in all likeliness will tilt your head and go; Hmm. This is the kind of film that goes that extra mile, something that undoubtedly will offend any regular and possibly the more hardened viewer.A woman is raped in a bowling alley and the following evening people start dying at that very same bowling alley.
And that leads to some very entertaining kills, slasher movie style, and some very excellent gore, leading to not quite the ending I expected but which I found quite satisfying.I saw the uncut version and I loved this film.
I've seen many horror movies, good, bad, sick, twisted, over the top...but GUTTERBALLS takes the doughnut!
It could pass for a slasher film from that era, which is either a good thing or bad thing depending on your feelings regarding the slasher sub-genre.Gutterballs follows two groups of friends, both rivals with each other, who decide to settle their differences in a bowling match.
The following night, as the rivals face off against each other at the bowling alley, a person with a bowling bag over their head secretly kills the players off one by one.When it comes to gore and nudity, two staples of the slasher genre, Gutterballs definitely delivers.
Many viewers will be turned off, but Gutterballs is a hell of a lot of fun for people who enjoy violence and sex (which includes me), and definitely goes where no Hollywood film ever will.Not only does Nicholson's film deliver in gore and sex, it also has its fair amount of humor.
With some rape, some great nudity, some kickass gore and more than a handful of good laughs, Gutterballs is easily one of the best Bowling flicks of all time, and one of the best horror/comedies of the year.
"Gutterballs" looks and feels like an 80's slasher movie and that works BIG time in it's favor.
As a throwback to the 80's sleazy slashers, Gutterballs succeeds on every level.For me, this is easily Nicholson's best to date.I must admit, it started a little slowly, but after it clocked over 50 minutes or so, it just goes bang, and its almost one death scene to the next.
The nudity was plentiful, the gore the same, and a nice constant level of brutality and sleaze for those interested.So many memorable death scenes, I couldn't pick any out as a favorite, and I wont to save spoilers.The janitor's character was a classic, and probably the best performance of the cast.
But this movie just continues to evolve throughout its runtime to encompass 70s giallos (with appropriately great music scores), 80s slasher flicks (atmospheric and cliché), late 90s and early 2000s Troma films (extreme gore and silly concepts), and raw brutality of modern horror, and THEN some!The premise involves a completely unlikable group of rapists bowling against their latest rape victim's team, which sounds kind of outlandish, but they pull it off well.
It actually has a good musical score.It's a movie that is about torture and men who act and portrays teen films from the 70's and 80's where men called each other names, had sex and committed crimes for the sake of revenge.It's rude, disgusting and entertainingly fun.
The next night those men, the woman and his other friends meet up at the same bowling alley and one by one people begin to get brutally murdered.GUTTERBALLS is a film I had never heard of before joining a few Facebook groups and it seems this title was popping up all over the place.
Writer-director Ryan Nicholson wanted to make a throwback to the 80's slasher film and he certainly accomplished that and a whole lot more.
If you "get" the picture then I think you'll have a good time but viewer discretion is certainly advised before attempting to watch this thing.This is the type of film you really watch as a dare because, like I said, it's pretty brutal from start to finish.
then once that is found can then set about bringing that unconscious terror alive through the careful planning of a good story, a gritty script,believable actors,empathetic characters and of course the frights themselves.....this film however had none of the above and was overall the most boring,painful and intelligence insulting movie experience that i have suffered since i watched the first twilight movie!the acting was terrible,the script sounded like it was spewed by a foul mouthed illiterate on a bad day, the characters where both unbelievable and completely unlikeable and the gore was dull and predictable(but slightly gratifying due to the infuriating nature of the characters).
Fun, no.GUTTERBALLS is a movie that tries to emulate those bad 80's straight-to-video slasher films, and does so with some success, but ultimately fails.
Again, I'm left with the frustrating feeling that this could have been worked out with a little more writing....it's like the movie needed just one more re-write.So in the end, I cannot recommend Gutterballs to anyone, except the most die-hard horror fan....and even then with a little trepidation..
I liked the brutality and non-pc aspects, but wasn't impressed by some of the other elements: 1) The over dubbing was off--often mouths were moving but there was no sound.2) The over use of the f-word started to grate on me.3)None of the characters with the exception of the black guy were people you could cheer for--in fact everyone except him was annoying.However, some of the kills were pretty cool (the tranny penis cutting was very well executed) and nudity is always good
even if some of those girls maybe should have kept their clothes on.After a 8 1/2 minute set up, we get to meet the black gloved masked killer making weapons that will soon be used to dispatch his/her unknowing victims in due time.
Too bad three goofs happened during this scene: 1) The actress was supposed to be going commando (a term I don't believe was invented in the 80's) but she was clearly wearing underwear.2) One of the characters was instructed on which end of the bowling pin to rape her with, but still messed up--but was told he was doing it correctly.3) I kept hearing weird digital sounds that were obviously a glitch with the disk or production.After the rape, the movie really gets going and BBK wastes no time in killing off the characters one by one in interesting fashion.The average movie goer may not enjoy this movie, but fans of non-pc, low budget and older slasher flicks should get some enjoyment from Gutterballs.
Now when you think you're in for a brainless fun movie the director gives you a 10minute gang rape scene ending in the penetration with a bowling pin.
But the mixture just doesn't seem right after the movie ended.After all "Gutterball" is an entertaining slasher with some pretty over the top killings.
From my first statement you've probably realized that i've seen more than one rape scene in my day but this one was one of few that i had a hard time with gives i spit on your grave a run for it's money just outright bloody disgusting and slightly offensive !!!END OF SPOILER!!!also on the DVD version that i watched audio sucked so bad except for the commentary which was crystal clear the characters even the good guys weren't really human they seemed to have few emotions or interesting traits the saddest thing about this whole affair though was the great title sequence which really just set the film up for failure and there were a few okay kills with some rather good gore a bowling ball polishing machine gag is brought to mind i don't know Torched was way better see that insteadonly watch if hardcore otherwise complete waste of time 5/10.
Love It or Hate It. Ryan Nicholson obviously had no intentions for "Gutterballs" to be a serious horror film and it is interesting that some people cannot see that.
The next night, the teams return to have a bowling competition when a mysterious killer begins killing them in sadistic and gory ways.First, there is the rape scene, which, as mentioned in almost every review is extremely graphic and extremely long.
Also, the vast majority of the gore happens towards the end of the movie.The Sound Design: "Gutterballs" actually has a pretty good '80s soundtrack.
The bowling alley is the setting for this sadistic slasher rape revenge offering from director Ryan Nicholson.
Nicholson's Gutterballs is an obvious homage to 70's rape revenge thrillers and 80's slashers, except his film is far more explicit and detailed in sexuality and graphic violence. |
tt0375210 | White Noise | The title 'White Noise' refers to the phenomenon known as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). People believe that you can hear voices of the dead in the white noise of a detuned radio and even see faces from the white noise on the television set. Michael Keaton stars in this thriller as Jonathan Rivers, a man who had just lost his wife in a freak accident. Raymond Price (Ian McNeice) meets with Jonathan and tells him that his wife Anna has contacted him from the other side. Jonathan doesn't believe him until he hears Anna's voice on his radio. Jonathan wants to talk to his wife, and he gets all the equipment. There is only one thing that Jonathan doesn't know, there are also bad people on the other side. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)KrystelClaire's outlineJonathan Rivers (Michael Keaton), a highly-stressed professional notices that a strange man is watching him from outside his home and his office. That man tells him that his wife, renown writer Anna Rivers (Chandra West) is dead and at peace, because she has talked to him from the other side. Jonathan Rivers dismisses him violently, but that night two police officers arrive: Anna has been found dead, the cause was not a robbery gone awry because she had her mobile phone and personal items on her.Some time later, Jonathan has not adjusted himself to be a widower, although he takes shelter in his job. One day, Jonathan is with one of the investors (L. Harvey Gold) who has contracted him. They are both going down in a lift when they get stuck and the lights are out. At that moment, Jonathan's mobile phone rings, and it says "Anna's phone". Jonathan gets so surprised that he doesn't pick it up. The lift soon starts working again and he goes on business as usual. However, back home, he checks Anna's mobile phone, still in the plastic bag the police had given it to him in. It has run out of battery. At that very same moment, Jonathan's phone rings again, and again it's from Anna's mobile phone. He picks it up: white noise is heard. Suddenly, somebody hangs up at the other side of the line. That night, female whispers are heard. Also, a message gets recorded in Jonathan's line phone, but he was able to hear it once, as the answering machine will say that there are no messages left after he has heard it once.Jonathan decides to visit Raymond Price (Ian McNeice) at his home. Sarah Tate (Deborah Kara Unger) is there, still with tears on her cheeks. Sarah leaves them alone. Ray tells Jonathan that he is not a medium or a magician. He just records images amidst the white noise and shows him the message of a female voice calling out "Jonathan, Jonathan" over and over again amidst white noise. Sarah offers a cup of coffee to Jonathan and she tells him that she has become addicted to the recordings. Sarah is satisfied, because they have just interpreted that her ex-fiancé is happy in the other realm.Jonathan starts tuning in the car radio, at home, always looking for the white noise. One day, while driving, he hears a female voice saying whispering something. Because of that distraction, he almost has an accident while driving. Back at Raymond's home, Jon is left alone hearing Anna and some more voices. Suddenly, angry sounds and images seem to invade the room, but Raymond deletes those in front of Jonathan. Raymond says that not all the voices are nice, that Jonathan shouldn't get nervous and that they are closer to getting an image of Anna. Jonathan goes back home, but Raymonds tells him to see him again fast. When Jonathan arrives, Raymond's home door is open, so he enters. Everything is dark, some figures appear on the tv's white noise, and Raymond is dead - maybe because of fright?. Jonathan calls the police.After the funeral, Sarah helps Jonathan to find Anna's original recordings. Alongside some fun messages, they found insults like "pig... rot". Mike (Nicholas Elia) is Jonathan's only son. He wonders why his father has bought so many tv's all of a sudden, and Jonathan tells him that it's better so that each one can see each fovourite tv programme. Jonathan doesn't pay much attention to Mike, as he's always too busy with the recordings. Jonathan visits a blind psychic, who says that Jonathan's doing a very dangerous thing because some of them don't like how he interferes with everything, and that she keeps on hearing "Willow Avenue". Even though the psychic tells tells him that Anna was pregnant, he doesn't believe her. The psychic tells Jonathan that he's misinterpreting everything. Next time in front of the tv, he watches many different faces, some of them menacing.Jonathan visits Susie Tomlinson (Amber Rothwell), whose mother died when she was born. Apparently, her grandmother has tried to contact her mother, and the former promised to tell her whether she has been able to talk to Susie's mother after her death. Susie says that her grandmother died two days ago, but Jonathan has been receiving messages from her for a week. Mike wonders what his father is doing, but he never gives a clear answer or pays much attention to him. Mike tells his father to be careful.Next time, Jonathan watches Anna tell him to come look for her. When he gets near to the screen, Anna is terrified and screaming. The shadows of three men (Bill Tarling, Chuck Walkinshaw and Colin Chapin) seem to have terrified Anna. A male voice also whispers "Willow Avenue". Jonathan goes there in a wet dark night. Once there, there is a short circuit in a high-voltage cables and pole. When approaching the site of a car accident, Jonathan notices three black shadoes flyting away. Closer, he notices a bloodied woman (Miranda Frigon) trapped within the car, shouting for him to save her baby. The mother dies but the baby is rescued by Jonathan. Carol Black's husband Frank (Aaron Douglas) refuses to listen to Jonathan, who realises that Anna is showing him the future of people who are going to die. Jonathan is sure that he's shown only the cases which he can help in.The shadows appear again amidst white noise. They realise that they have Mary Freeman (Suzanne Ristic), a kidnapped woman on Raymond's tapes. Anna tries to tell them where Mary is, but they can't understand her well. Sarah also appears on the images. That night, Jonathan can't sleep well, and he leaves the door open as he hears Sarah mutter in her sleep. When Jonathan goes to watch, he watches Sarah jumping backwards from the balcony of her home with dazed open eyes. Sarah is still alive, at hospital, although she's in a critical state. Detective Smits (Mike Dopud) wants to question Jonathan later on. Sarah wakes up to say that "it hurts, it hurts".When Jonathan returns home, everything is a mess, but his equipment is still working. He is shown a place before the three strange presences appear. Smits appears after Jonathan has left and gets puzzled over the mess. He distinguishes the terrified face of Mary in Jonathan's monitor. Meanwhile, Jonathan drives like a maniac to reach pier 16, following the images seen. He phones Smits to tell him of the place, but he doesn't seem to understand. At the derelict place, Jon arrives to see many screens and monitors on. A man is lurking in the shadows behind him. Anna's image advises him to leave now. Immediately, the shadows of the three men appear on the turned-on screens.Jonathan sees what looks like the torture tools of a psychopath, who's waiting for him while Mary is tied down. The three presences are present. The psycho is the worker who got Jonathan and the contractor from the lift. He says that the three presences had asked him to bring Anna to them as well. Sarah is turning and tossing at hospital feeling Jonathan's angst. When Smits and other police officers arrive, Jonathan has fallen down three or four storeys and is dead. Mike and Sarah go to the funeral.The radio of the car starts going to the white noise, and we can hear Jonathan's voice saying "I'm sorry", but Jane (Sarah Strange) - who is going to take care of Mike from then on- turns it off. Mike smiles.Sarah, in a wheelchair, if left alone at the cemetery. The breeze blows, it's a sunny day... but then the shadows seem to threaten her.Jonathan appears with Anne amidst white noise. They are both smiling. | paranormal, suspenseful | train | imdb | null |
tt0114898 | Waterworld | The movie Waterworld is a post-apocalyptic story about a mutant named Mariner (Kevin Costner). As the polar ice-caps in the world have all melted, very little land remains, causing some humans to mutate into growing webbed feet and gills, to adapt to their new environment.'Normal humans' however, hate, shun and attempt to kill what they consider to be unnatural creatures. Mariner (Costner) is captured by a floating village, in which dirt is more precious then gold, and orange trees are worth an arm and a leg.
During his execution, locked in a cage, the settlement is attacked by 'smokers', the villains, saving Mariner (Costner). He makes a lucky escape, reluctantly saving Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn). Mariner then proceeds to find a legendary piece of land (Mt. Everest), which is still dry and habitable by land-living humans.
Defeating the 'Smokers' on the way, Mariner, Helen, and Helen's adopted daughter manage to finally reach this paradise.A creature of the sea, Mariner finds himself unable to tolerate living on dry land, and sails off into the distance.=======================================================An undetermined amount of time in the future the polar ice caps have completely melted and the surface of the Earth is an endless ocean. A narrator tells us that the survivors of the ancient deluge "have adapted to a new world."One such survivor, known only as The Mariner, lives on a large sailed boat, a "tri-maran", and lives by recycling his own urine through a special filter. He drags the ocean floor for artifacts to sell at atolls, man-made island habitats where most of the last humans live. While scavenging under the ocean surface, someone boards the Mariner's boat and steals the fruit from his tiny lime tree. The Mariner surfaces and sees the other pilot's boat. He holds him at bay for a few minutes with a harpoon gun, telling the pilot he's seen the boat before but doesn't recognize the man. The man says he took it fair from the owner when he found him dead. The pilot tells the Mariner about an atoll where he can find supplies.Just then, the two pilots spot two jet skis. Aboard both are Smokers, pirates who thrive on terrorizing the seagoing inhabitants of the Earth, smoke cigarettes and use refined oil for fuel. When they spot the pouch of recovered items the Mariner found on the ocean floor, they race for it. As they do, the other pilot shows the Mariner that he stole his limes. The Mariner throws several switches on his boat, raising a giant sail, giving his boat great speed. He recovers his bag of goods, then steers his vessel toward the pilot who ripped him off. He breaks the man's mast, leaving him helpless against the Smokers, who cease their chase of the Mariner when they catch up with the other pilot. The Mariner sails off.After several days the Mariner arrives at the huge atoll the other pilot spoke of. At first he's refused admittance, but the atoll's guards allow him in when he shows them he has a jar full of dirt, the world's most precious substance. Inside the gates, he finds that the people live in poverty and are near starvation. One small group is conducting a funeral where the deceased is "recycled" & dropped into a pool of viscous waste. The Mariner docks his boat & is met by the atoll's security officer who tells him not to make any trouble & that he has no more than two hours to conduct his business. He first talks to an accountant of the colony who offers him a large amount of currency ("chits") for the dirt he was carrying. The Mariner demands twice the amount and gets it. At the atoll's store/bar, a shady man named Nord is asking another man, desperate for a drink of fresh water ("hydro"), about a girl with a tattoo. Supposedly, the tattoo has markings that give the location of "Dryland", a piece of land not submerged in the deluge that covered the Earth. Nord spots the girl, Enola, who is in the care of the bar's owner, Helen. Helen quickly hides Enola, but not before Nord catches a glance of the tattoo on the child's back.The Mariner finds the shop and spends his money on hydro, a tomato plant, & buys Helen's shelves. Nord approaches the Mariner, asking him about his new found wealth, but the Mariner remains unfriendly. He marches back to his boat and begins to load his purchases on it. A small group of people approach him, asking if he'll have sex with a young girl to impregnate her. When he refuses, the atoll's council of elders become suspicious and decide to detain him. When he's grabbed by two men, they discover he's a mutant, with webbed feet and gills behind his ears. Declaring him abominable, they begin to beat him. The Mariner fights with a few guards, plunging into the lagoon with one of them, killing him when the man draws a knife. He's hauled out of the water and beaten further until the Enforcer stops them, saying its not their way to dispense this type of judgement.Later that night, while in a cage, the Mariner spots Nord leaving the atoll unannounced. He's visited by Helen & Enola's friend, Gregor, the atoll's scientist, who wants to study him - the Mariner remains unfriendly. Helen visits him as well, asking if he'll take her & Enola if he leaves. He asks her to give him a dock cleat to pick the lock on his cage. Helen refuses.The next day the council has decided that the Mariner is a danger to them and he's to be dropped in the recycling muck and drowned. Just then, an armada of Smokers, led by the Deacon, launches a huge attack on the atoll. The compound dwellers are outnumbered and out-armed. During the battle, the Mariner's cage is dropped into the muck when a Smoker launched over the wall collides with it. As he sinks, drowning, Helen tells him she'll free him if he takes herself & Enola with him. She opens his cage and they both work together to get Enola onto the boat and allow it to escape the compound. They barely manage to get the gates open and flee. The Deacon spots them and orders his fleet to attack his boat. The Mariner fires a harpoon at the armada's primary gunship, using a cable to turn its guns on the Deacon's boat which is loaded with gasoline. The boat explodes throwing the Deacon off. The Mariner, Enola & Helen escape.Back at the wrecked atoll, the Deacon, now wearing a bandanna to cover a lost eye, interrogates one of the dwellers and finds out that Enola escaped aboard the Mariner's boat. The Deacon assigns his fleet a new mission to find Enola.Aboard the Mariner's boat, the Mariner tells Helen that she can stay but Enola should be thrown overboard. Helen offers her body to the Mariner but he declines. When she picks up a harpoon gun and tries to hold him hostage, he drops his sail on her & hits her underneath it with an oar, knocking her out.Aboard the Deacon's vessel, the Deacon finds out that they are rapidly running out of oil for refining. The Deacon resolves to find Enola and their way to Dryland, which is a matter of survival. He orders two of his crew to take the small plane they have aboard their vessel & scout the area for the Mariner's boat. While searching, the pilot & his comrade find the Mariner's boat. While the Mariner prepares a counterattack so the pilot can't give their location away, Helen shoots the plane with a mounted harpoon gun. The plane begins to circle the Mariner's boat, entwining the harpoon's cable in the sail rigging, threatening to wreck the vessel. The Mariner climbs his mast and tries to shoot the plane down, but is thrown into the ocean when the pilot is able to shoot & sever the cable. The Mariner, furious at Helen's incompetence, viciously cuts her hair short. When Enola protests, he does the same to her.Some time later, the Mariner spots another sailor. Helen loudly says that they may be able to trade with the man for food and they stop to talk to him. The man turns out to be somewhat paranoid and neurotic and, at first, wants to trade some sheets of paper for sex with Enola. Helen & the Mariner refuse & Helen agrees to have sex with the man belowdecks. The Mariner reads the sheets of paper, which are pages from National Geographic magazine & are strikingly similar to pictures that Enola had been drawing, indicating that she's been on Dryland. The Mariner negates the deal with the drifter for sex, rescuing Helen. When the man tries to fight his host, the Mariner kills him and salvages items from his boat.Helen still insists that she & Enola need food. The Mariner preps a harpoon gun and jumps off the back of the boat, using himself as bait. A large sea creature swallows him live and he kills it with a couple of blasts from his gun. He feeds Helen and Enola the flesh from the giant creature. While he cooks extra meat for storage, Enola notices his webbed feet, saying she'd like to have feet like his. When Enola suggests that the Mariner isn't talkative & a bitter loner, he tells her she doesn't listen enough to the world around her.After a few days Enola and the Mariner come to an understanding that leads to a friendship. He teaches Enola to swim, something she'd never been trained to do.A few more days after, the three come to an outpost. The Mariner tries to communicate with them but the inhabitants don't respond verbally and simply keep waving. The Mariner uses an underwater periscope and sees Smokers hiding below the outpost, which had recently been pillaged by the Deacon and his crew. The Mariner raises his sails and sets off, barely escaping the Smokers and their high speed vehicles. The Deacon takes aim with a rifle and hits the Mariner in his side, wounding him.The Deacon decides to let them escape, believing it won't be very long before they catch up to them.Helen grows impatient, wanting to know when they'll find Dryland. The objects on the Mariner's boat and the dirt he'd sold at the atoll convince her that he can take them directly there. The Mariner says he's sailed to just about every point on the globe and has never found it, however, he will show her where he got the objects and the dirt. He fashions a crude diving bell and takes Helen into the depths of the ocean, showing her a long-sunken city (Denver, Colorado) where there is plenty of dirt and items like the ones he's found. When they surface Helen mentions that she never wanted to believe the legends she'd always heard that the world was covered with water in a cataclysm rather than being created that way.Suddenly the Deacon and his crew appear. Enola is already hiding and Helen and the Mariner are used as bait to flush her out. Enola is taken and the Mariner and Helen jump overboard. The Mariner kisses Helen, using his gills to breath for them both until their attackers have left. Helen and the Mariner stay on the flotsam of his boat until they're found by Gregor, the scientist from the atoll, who'd escaped in a crude hot air ballooned-vehicle. He takes them to a group that had also escaped the atoll attack and have joined their boats together in a makeshift atoll. Helen and the Mariner try to convince everyone that the world was not created in a flood but covered by it, a blasphemous concept. They all agree that they must find Enola and use the markings on her back to find Dryland. The Mariner agrees to find the Deacon's vessel and rescue the girl.The Mariner arrives at the Deacon's boat, an ancient tanker. The Deacon has stirred his crew into a frenzy with a rousing speech about finding the path to Dryland. The crew begins to row frantically with giant oars, not knowing that the Deacon hasn't yet deciphered the markings on Enola's back. He holds her prisoner in the bowels of the ship, threatening to kill her. Enola counters, saying the Mariner will come to save her.The Mariner is able to infiltrate the ship and find the topside deck. He approaches the Deacon's perch on the bridge and demands to have Enola back. The Deacon believes he's bluffing, until the Mariner produces a flare, holding over one of the vents leading to the tanker's oil supply. When the Deacon mocks him, the Mariner drops the torch, igniting the remainder of the oil, causing the ship to burn. The Deacon grabs Enola and tries to escape in his plane, but the Mariner stops him with a old anchor and cable, downing the plane. The Deacon jumps off his boat as it sinks, finding an old Jet Ski. Just as the boat is about to sink, Enola & the Mariner are rescued by Gregor and Helen in Gregor's flying ship. As they watch the ship sink from the air, they see the name "Exxon Valdez" on the stern.The Deacon uses a pistol to hit the small craft, throwing Enola off and into the water. He sees that three of his crew are nearby on Jet Skis and they race toward Enola. The Mariner ties a long bungee cord to his ankle and jumps down, grabbing Enola just before the Deacon and his crew collide and their Jet Skis explode.The Mariner and Enola are pulled up. Gregor looks over the tattoo on Enola's back and determines the direction they need to follow to Dryland. Everyone falls asleep and the craft drifts through the air for a few days. When it seems hopeless that Dryland will be found, the Mariner sees a seagull on the the craft. They drift through some clouds and see a mountainous island. On the shore, they find a tropical landscape with fresh water and food. The Enforcer finds a small hut in the woods with a couple of skeletons. Enola recognizes the home as her own. The Enforcer suggests that they bury the dead inhabitants, Enola's parents, because it was their tradition.The Mariner decides to leave, being more comfortable on the ocean. He builds a smaller boat than his trimaran and says a tearful farewell to Enola. He promises to find more atoll dwellers and drifters and bring them back. In the extended version of the film, Enola and Helen watch him sail off from the island's mountaintop where there is a plaque saying that they're on the summit of Mt. Everest. | cult, stupid, sci-fi | train | imdb | null |
tt0019254 | La passion de Jeanne d'Arc | After having led numerous military battles against the English during the Hundred Years' War, Joan of Arc is captured near Compiegne and eventually brought to Rouen, Normandy to stand trial for heresy by French clergymen loyal to the English.
On 30 May 1431 Joan is interrogated by the French clerical court. Her judges try to make her say something that will discredit her claim or shake her belief that she has been given a mission by God to drive the English from France, but she remains steadfast. One or two of them, believing that she is indeed a saint, support her. The authorities then resort to deception. A priest reads a false letter to the illiterate prisoner supposedly from King Charles VII of France, telling her to trust in the bearer. When that too fails, Joan is taken to view the torture chamber, but the sight, though it causes her to faint, does not intimidate her.
When she is threatened with burning at the stake, she finally breaks and allows a priest to guide her hand in signing a confession. However, the judge then condemns her to life imprisonment.
As the jailer shaves her head, she realises she has been unfaithful to God. She demands that the judges return and she recants her confession.
As more and more around her begin to recognise her true faith and calling she is permitted a final communion mass. She is then dressed in sack-cloth and taken to the place of execution. She helps the executioner tie her bonds. The crowds gather and the fire is lit. As the flames rise the women weep and a man cries out "you have burned a saint". The troops prepare for a riot. As the flames consume Joan the troops and crowd clash and people are killed. Joan is consumed by the flames but they protect her soul as it rises to heaven. | insanity, historical, sentimental | train | wikipedia | Carl Th. Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc was made, perhaps, years ahead of its time- my guess would be that if it wasn't burned after its initial release, it would've had as stunning an impact on the film world years down the line as Citizen Kane did.
Though the use of close-ups and distorted angles were not completely new in this film, it felt like Dreyer was creating a new kind of cinema, one where reality, however cold and pitiful, was displayed with complete sincerity.
There is also the editing (by Dreyer and Marguerite Beague), which has the timing that many directors/editors of the modern day could only hope to achieve (it has the influence of Eisenstein, only in a totally different historical context), and those moves with the camera by Rudolph Mate (who would go on to photograph Foreign Correspondent and Lady from Shanghai) that are precious- to call his work on the film extraordinary is an understatement.And it was crucial for Dreyer to use the close-ups and tilted angles and shots where you only see the eyes in the bottom of the frame, and so forth- he's developing the perfect atmosphere in regards to a trial set in 15th century France.
Pretty soon a viewer feels these presences from all these people, so strong and uncompromising, and Dreyer does a miraculous thing- he makes it so that we forget about the time and place, and all of our attention is thrown onto those eyes of Joan, loaded to brim with a sorrow for where she is, but an un-questionable faith in what she feels about God. I wondered at one point whether Dreyer was making as much a point on people's faiths and prejudices in the almighty, or just one on basic humanity.There have been many before me who have praised Falconetti's performance to the heavens (Kael called it the finest performance in film), but in a way it almost can't be praised enough.
One of the last great silent films made during the advent of sound, Carl-Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc is a haunting, riveting portrait of the historical martyr based on documentation from the original trial.
The way it is filmed with mostly head shots and faces you would think it would be boring.But it is the most alive movie I have ever seen and probably ever made.You cannot take your eyes off of Joan.
The mesmerizing performance of Maria (Renée) Falconetti, filmed primarily as a series of brutalizing close-ups, is still the main reason to revisit Carl Theodor Dreyer's austere and claustrophobic 1928 silent film classic about the trial and execution of Joan of Arc. There is little provided in the way of background or context, as Dreyer made an intentional decision to use the original trial records as the basis of his dialogue.
Dreyer's meticulously crafted aesthetics (the film is almost entirely composed of close-ups of the actors' faces) are perfectly married to the gut wrenching performance of Maria Falconetti (a theater star who never acted in another film) in the lead role.
I think Dreyer was most accurate in describing her performance as nothing short of "the martyr's reincarnation." One need not be religious to understand what is meant or to feel for Joan as portrayed so humanely and exquisitely by Falconetti.
And in relating to her, one thing is for sure: the mysticism of film was realized by the Dane Carl Dreyer and Maria Falconetti in the year 1928 with "The Passion of Joan of Arc.".
It's Falconetti's face,somehow Dreyer managed to capture on film what seems impossible,such raw human emotion,a soul if you will,and the viewer is left drained at what they had just seen.
I recommend the 24 frames a second with the 'Voices of Light' score,and watch it on the biggest screen you can find,because this is a life changing experience,transcendent even.Falconetti gives the greatest performance I've ever seen on film,and the director uses closeups for much of the movie,it's confrontational and brilliant,there is nowhere to look but at Joan,what she is going through,it's powerful stuff,your life will be elevated by just watching it..
It is often said that Maria Falconetti gave the greatest performance in the history of film acting in this movie.
Although Dreyer succeeds in creating an extremely credible depiction of the trial and tribulation of Joan of Arc, he knew the filmic medium was not, and never could be, knowledge, fact or reality, and so he presents experience, truth and authenticity.The film can be argued to be entirely shot from the mind's-eye view of Joan in relation to her locality to give the impression that we, as Roger Ebert said, are not watching a film but in fact watching "fragments from Joan's own experience".
Furthermore, the weird and bizarre set designs from Hermann Warm, famous for his expressionist sets for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, only add to the disillusioning and disturbing overall effect for the viewer.The themes of this film are also present in many of Dreyer's other works, namely his fascination with the incompatibility of institutionalised religion and individual faith, the physical dominance of the male over the female (somewhat dated now), and the power of the human soul over earthly ambitions and corruption.
There is humanity and a desire to create sympathy, and not indifference, towards all his characters in his films.The Passion of Joan of Arc is an aesthetically austere yet serenely beautiful, psychologically uncompromising yet spiritually moving piece of work.
Watching Carl Theodor Dreyer's silent film masterpiece, "The Passion of Joan of Arc", is one of the most powerful cinematic experiences you will ever have.
But even if you had no idea who Joan was, watching this account of her would still move you, and you would still come away amazed at her great inner strength - the film is that effective.If you appreciate dramatic cinema, whether you usually like silents or not, make sure to see this masterpiece when you can..
"The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928) by Carl Theodor Dreyer is simply one of the greatest films ever - silent or no silent and what considered by many critics, the greatest performance by any actress on the screen.
Filmed mostly in close-up, the agonized face of Falconetti's Jean, free of all cosmetic artifice, appears more moving and human, and expresses so many emotions that it literally stays in a viewer's soul.A German designer Herman Warm ("The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "The Tree Lights") constructed the austere sets for the film; the photography of Rudolph Mater also contributed to the films universal power.
The extreme close-ups of the faces in the courtroom, the cutting during the torture scene are just two of my personal favorite things about this movie Falconetti's portrait of the french heroine was some of the most wonderful acting in a silent film I've ever seen.
While this could actually be true (after all, she was seeing things and having conversations with dead folks), I doubt if Dreyer wanted his audience to think Joan of Arc was nuts--as she so often appeared in the film.
In "The Passion of Joan of Arc," Carl Theodor Dreyer elects to tell the story of Joan's trial not through action or dialogue (or title cards, as this a silent film), but through faces.
It also gives off the vibe of mystique and wisdom well beyond her years, a girl ground in her conviction, always cornered by dark forces in the room, yet remains a light.It is rather confusing with no back-story,as not everyone grantedly knows the story of Joan of Arc. But like any passion play, the purpose is not so much the circumstances to the setting, but the actions and reactions of the people in the moment.I found the film very ahead of its time in many aspects.
Watching The Passion of Joan of Arc without any musical score to accompany its drama really makes you see the true potential of images like never before, and the emotional impact it can have on the audience when done right.
Widely considered as a cinematic landmark, this French silent classic still retains a mystical power.Set in 15th century France during the Hundred Years' War, the story of The Passion of Joan of Arc chronicles the trial of Jeanne d'Arc following her arrest.
Charged with heresy, she is interrogated by French clergymen loyal to the English who attempt to force her to recant her claims of holy visions, and ultimately execute her when she refuses.Written & directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, the film employs a number of filmmaking techniques that were unconventional for its time and the script itself is adapted from the original transcripts of Joan's infamous trial.
Editing provides a steady pace to its set of events though there are times when the scenes feel somewhat repetitive.Coming to the performances, The Passion of Joan of Arc is Maria Falconetti's show all the way.
Dreyer said the whole picture was made under old manuscript that was found in France, so Dreyer makes a detailed planning over it, even the sets were builded over some pictures as states in this files, Dryer also used a white color to suggest a Joan's pureness, l had many movies from Joan of Arc, this apart to be a silent movie was stunningly made by the old master, a remarkable performance of Maria Falconetti was another highlight, a timeless movie suitable for both kind of people as study process for believers and materialist, a true gem to mankind!!!Resume:First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9.25.
But it takes long before she finally gives up and I believe director Dryer has stretched the story a little too much.It was a wonderful experience to watch a silent film in a church, accompanied by organ music and a choir.
The sublime orchestration of music and images overwhelmed me with its poignancy; it was like music for all of the senses, always keeping everything at a high plane of emotion, accentuating the transcendent feeling I had throughout.Falconetti as Joan, as I've heard many times before, is the best performance ever captured on film, hands down.
Carl Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc is a seminal landmark for artistic stylization in French film.
This is achieved with the uncompromising use of close-ups, low angle shots, quick cuts and the strong influence of the art movements of the early 20th century.The trial and execution of Joan of Arc is condensed into a single afternoon.
It shows the prejudice of the religious community both in times long gone and now, and for the twenties, it's quite well filmed.The cinematography is impressive in some areas, but the initial scenes are weak beyond description, the extreme and over-used close-ups becoming tiring and Dreyer's distaste for make-up results in some very unwanted glare from certain actors' faces.But the thing that harmed this potentially perfect film the most is the fact that it lacks sound, had Dreyer waited a few years or attempted to get more or done anything to acquire sound mixing equipment, this film would have been better, the intertitles give the most obvious of the film's dialog and the minor chatter and several important scenes leave to read lips, this kept Passion de Jeanne d'Arc from being the religious epic to end all religious epics..
After some cleaning up and polish was added, the film was restored into an eighty-one minute cut, which is said to be very close to the original film's length and structure.Dreyer's focus in The Passion of Joan of Arc was precisely what the title suggests; an intimate and often harrowing portrayal of the agony the French heroine (played ever-so tenderly by Renée Jeanne Falconetti) endured following her unfair trial after the Hundred Years' War. Dreyer sees no point or purpose in showcasing sweeping battle sequences nor does he see it fit to detail Joan of Arc's story in a series of "greatest hits" moments that ultimately ends in a corrupt sentencing.
As she takes a stand for her faith and her beliefs of her own personal sainthood and relationship with God, she is bludgeoned and abused by an all-male jury and various authorities before being sentenced to death by being consumed by fire.The Passion of Joan of Arc can be viewed in two basic forms; in its original form, with no dialog, or a modified, Criterion Collection version that adds accompanying orchestration from Richard Einhorn called "Voices of Light" (which was my audio-track companion) throughout the film.
At the time of its release, The Passion of Joan of Arc erected one of the most expensive and immaculately detailed film sets in the history of cinema, with its construction of the famous Rouen Castle taking most of Dreyer's seven million franc budget on the film.
The same is true of much of George Bernard Shaw's play, "Saint Joan." There is no question that the film would be powerful even to anyone who had never heard of Joan of Arc. It is impressive in every way-- the structure, the camera-work, the acting, even the fact that make-up wasn't used, which heightens the brutal reality of her story.
Some silent films can be hard to watch, however like Murnau's masterpiece Sunrise (1927), these detailed human displays of feeling and suffering transcend any message that could possibly be spoken or written, and reveal endless levels of character interpretation.Although this film goes into a lot of detail on Joan's devotion to Christianity, I don't think that it would take away from the experience for someone without strong beliefs.
It however of course works well for a more deep, serious and realistic approach and or course also in an original way of retelling the story of Jeanne d'Arc. So don't expect to see a strong heroic female lead but a betrayed, broken, emotional one instead.On top of that, it's a very artistic shot movie, which helps to at all times keep the movie interesting and great to watch.I'd say that about 70% of the entire movie consist out of close-ups.
She objects strenuously to everything they say because faith leads people to do things they never would have imagined themselves capable of, but her passionate words flow away like feeble whispers in a windy day, while her enchanting eyes scan an invisible sky, looking for something beyond her human strength, beyond every possibilities of the common mortals, maybe a divine sign from above, even if there's no question about her unshakable devotion to God, because "God knows where He bring us", she thinks, "but we are able to know the road to Him only when we reach the end of it." Every sequences are included in the above described oppressive scenario whose hypnotic suggestion expressionist style reminds us of the universal sense of pain ready to penetrate deeply into the substrate of our Christian and human consciences, in the inmost recesses of the soul, sharing our hidden emotions awakened by the vision of a defenseless face appealing for mercy in vain, without never losing her dignity.Joan, of Arc, splendidly played by Renée Falconetti in this "PASSION", might be considered the symbol of the eternal suffering of human beings, adorned with an aureole of beauty and holiness, set on a supreme pedestal, higher and higher than every other female characters of the history of cinema, namely the ideal heroin per antonomasia especially thanks to the heart-rending final purification, moving and endless journey around the deep black of human soul, around the meanders of a faith itinerary stranded for ages on the sand-banks of a devastating fanatic pragmatism.
The Passion of Joan of Arc is a French silent film based on the true story of the real woman by the same name who claims experiences of visions from God which angers the church.
Her face and eyes are so expressive and emotional that they speak louder than any dialogue ever could, and with the film's cinematography focusing on extreme close-ups of the characters' faces, it emphasises the power that Falconetti could harness through such acting.
It all contributes wonderfully to Dreyer's vision of the trial of Joan of Arc, but the highlight for me, along with many other viewers, is certainly Falconetti's performance.
It's honestly heartbreaking when the inevitably tragic ending is portrayed as for the brief time we, as viewers, have been watching the film, it certainly feels like we have got to know who both Jeanne d'Arc and Falconetti are and that she has opened herself up to the world - her performance is one of the most genuine performances I've ever had the pleasure of viewing.I definitely recommend this film, whether you're curious about acting, cinematography or silent cinema, this should definitely be essential viewing..
That gives Joan of Arc a tremendous power in her very unimpressionable lack of movement, frozen reactions, emotional restraint and yet constant suffering shown by the many tears she sheds.The camera of the time is better for close-up shots on one character, one face, one action or movement and Dreyer uses that camera to the utmost.
Roger Ebert once said that "to see Falconetti in Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc" is to look into eyes that will never leave you." I cannot find a better statement for this miracle of a silent masterpiece.
We cannot look away from the faces, especially that of Joan's astonishingly beautiful eyes.What stands out in this film is the central performance of Maria Falconetti as Joan of Arc. When she enters the picture, she does not look like a common heroine.
One of the single greatest performances in film history came from Carl Dreyer's amazingly powerful THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC.
It is amazing that the director dared to film much of the the entire first-half in close-ups of Falconetti's face as she stands trial.
Falconetti plays Joan of Arc, and she gives an emotionally earth shattering performance, leaving anyone who watches this film absolutely memorized. |
tt0085636 | Halloween III: Season of the Witch | In northern California, on the night of Saturday, October 23, we see a man running down a semi-rural road as the movie opens. Obviously being pursued, the man Harry Grimbridge (Al Berry) runs into a junkyard to try to hide or find help. Then we see his pursuers coming down the road in a car and enter the junkyard. The man tries to hide, to no avail; a well-dressed man who is stronger than he looks confronts him and begins choking him. The resourceful man saves himself by pulling a chock out from under a junked car, which rolls forward and pins his attacker against another car, allowing him to break free. Another well-dressed man (Dick Warlock) gets out of the car, but the pursued man flees across the junkyard on foot to dubious safety.A short distance away, as a storm begins to pass through, a gas station attendant named Walter Jones (Essex Smith) is passing time watching a news report about Stonehenge. The reporter is talking about an unsolved theft from some nine months earlier; someone had stolen a stone weighing several tons from Stonehenge in England and the local police are baffled. The TV cuts to a commercial for Silver Shamrock masks before the storm knocks out the power. Just then, the man from the junkyard bursts into the gas station, clutching a Silver Shamrock Halloween mask, begging for help. The attendant, clearly disturbed, takes the man to the hospital.Meanwhile, not too far away, the recently divorced Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) stops off at home to see his ex-wife Linda (Nancy Kyes) and their two children. He's late arriving, a not uncommon occurrence with him. He has brought the kids some masks for the upcoming Halloween, but they are disappointed, saying "Mom already got us masks". They were Silver Shamrock masks. While Dan and his ex are talking, the kids turn on the TV and see another Silver Shamrock commercial, which they seem to enjoy immensely. Dan's beeper goes off - he is needed at the hospital. After promising to pick up the kids next weekend, he leaves.At the hospital, Dan meets the guy from the junkyard, and talks briefly to the gas station attendant who drove him in. The guy wakes up when he hears yet another Silver Shamrock commercial on a hospital TV, gasping out "They're going to kill us!" while still clutching his mask. Feeling the man is deranged, Dan has him sedated and put in a hospital bed to recover. There being no further patients at the moment, Dan, making the most of having been recently divorced, goes off to flirt with the nurses, drink some beer, and take a nap in the doctors' lounge.Not long after, a car arrives at the hospital, and another silent, well-dressed man steps out and enters the building. He walks to the junkyard guy's room, where he is sleeping. The man clamps one of his hands over the guy's mouth (waking him up), and uses his other hand to poke his fingers in the guy's eye sockets and pull his skull apart. He is much stronger than he appears. A nurse walks in just then and confronts him; the man just walks away. Seconds later, the nurse sees what just happens and screams. Dan Challis, woken from his nap, comes running, just in time to see the man walk back to the parking lot. Dan runs out to confront him, but the man is already getting back into his car. Rather than drive away, he drenches himself with gasoline and lights himself on fire, causing an explosion which destroys both himself and the car.In the morning, the police are investigating, while Dan is arguing with his ex-wife over the phone. A dark-haired girl (Stacey Nelkin) walks into the room, the daughter of the man who was killed. Her name is Ellie Grimbridge, and we then learn the dead guy's name was Harry Grimbridge. Dan and the police try to comfort Ellie as best they can after she identifies the body. Both Dan and the police are bewildered by the event. After hearing the description, the police thought the well-dressed murderer was on drugs, but Dan, the doctor, said it appeared the man was in complete control of himself.In the middle of the week, Dan goes to see the assistant coroner, a woman named Teddy, and asks her what she has discovered. The answer is not much, the guy was just ashes. She will be looking at the remains of the burned car for clues for awhile yet. Dan asks her to keep him posted. He has still clearly rattled by the event and wants some answers.On Friday, two days before Halloween, Ellie finds Dan alone in a bar, where he had been drinking and watching TV. One of the nurses had told her she would probably find him there. She thanked him for attending her father's funeral and asked him if he had seen anything that might help her figure out what had happened. Dan, still wanting to know what had happened, told her about the mask and her father's last words - "They're going to kill us!" Dan and Ellie go to the late Harry's store downtown. It had been a distressed toy store before Harry's death; now it was "closed until further notice". The new shopping malls had siphoned off a lot of his business, but the town's children had been keeping the store afloat. There, Ellie showed Dan her own investigations. Harry had kept meticulous records at his business, and everything checked out until October 20, when he had gone to pick up more masks - Silver Shamrock masks, which were selling well. Dan remarked that Harry had been holding a Silver Shamrock mask when he was killed. Harry had never made it to his appointments on the 21st.Ellie wanted to go to the Silver Shamrock factory to investigate further, and Dan, intrigued by the mystery (and attracted to Ellie), went along with her. Just before driving out of town in Ellie's car with only a cooler for luggage, Dan calls his ex-wife to back out of his promise to pick up the kids the next afternoon, promising to pick them up on Halloween instead. As Dan and Ellie drive away, we see some TV's in a store window showing yet another Silver Shamrock commercial.In the weeks leading up to Halloween, Silver Shamrock had undertaken a major advertising blitz, saturating the airwaves with a catchy but obnoxious commercial for its Halloween masks, that counted down the days until Halloween to the tune of "London Bridge". The announcer in the commercial said that Silver Shamrock would be sponsoring the airing of the movie "Halloween" on Halloween night, to be followed immediately (at 9 p.m.) by a "big giveaway" - for which all the children were supposed to wear their masks and watch the TV closely.On Friday afternoon, Dan and Ellie arrive in Santa Mira, home of Silver Shamrock, a small town that seems to give off some weird vibes. It was founded in 1887 by Irish immigrants, and the principal (almost the only) industry was the Silver Shamrock factory, started after World War II by a man named Conal Cochran. They drive past the factory, which looks like the only major industry there. The townspeople stare at them, making them both uncomfortable. They see loudspeakers and moving video cameras on top of the utility poles. Not knowing exactly what to do next, they go to a cheap motel and rent a room, where they can talk strategy in privacy.While the motel keeper is showing Ellie the room, Dan goes off to the office, ostensibly to pay the bill, but he checks the register while he was there. Harry Grimbridge's name was on the register. Ellie sees Cochran's car drive past, although she can't see inside the darkened windows. On his way back from the office, Dan meets another hotel guest, Buddy Kupfer, a Silver Shamrock salesman; and his wife Betty and bratty son "Little Buddy". He also meets Marge (Garn Stephens), who sold, among other things, Silver Shamrock masks at her store in San Francisco. Buddy seems to be enjoying the trip, but Marge is put out at having to come all the way to "this dump" because the factory messed up an order.Ellie wants to go to the factory right away and investigate further, but Dan convinces her to hold off for awhile. After a moment of awkwardness, in which time Dan isn't sure how well an advance would be received, Ellie gives him a clear opening, and he pounces on it. Outside, late afternoon is moving towards sunset, and at 6 P.M., the loudspeakers announce that the town is under curfew for the night.After dark, Dan goes out to the liquor store (which is open in spite of the curfew); on the way back, he meets Starker, who begs a drink from the bottle off of him. Dan, seizing an opportunity to collect information, asks Starker about Cochran and Silver Shamrock, and he has nothing good to say about him. He had applied for a job there years before, but had been turned away; in fact, all of Cochran's workers had been brought in from outside Santa Mira. In contrast to the motel keeper who had praised Cochran, Starker pointed out the video cameras and cursed Cochran. He then said that he hoped to burn down Cochran's factory some day. Dan gave him a tip for his information and went back to the motel. Cochran apparently really was paying attention, because a few minutes later, Starker is confronted by two more well-dressed but strong, silent men. He tries to back away from his drunken statements, but the men are unmoved, and they pull his head off of his shoulders with their bare hands.Back at the motel, Ellie meets Marge, and they talk briefly about the factory and the masks. Marge notices that the quality has suffered a little bit - the trade mark tag fell off one of the masks. Marge returns to her room, where she accidentally knocks the tag onto the floor, where it falls upside down revealing a small microchip - but she doesn't notice right away, sitting in bed reading. Meanwhile, Dan arrives back at the motel, and stops at the office to call Teddy. Teddy's investigation has gone nowhere - she found no human remains and had to assume that someone had mixed up the envelopes, and she had wasted two days examining burnt car parts. Dan returns to the room, where he and Ellie have a drink.While they are enjoying themselves, Marge decides she's had enough reading for the night and gets ready to sleep, but sees the trademark and the microchip on the floor and, being curious, starts to examine it and poke at it with a hairpin. That was a fatal mistake - a lightning bolt shoots out of the trademark at Marge's head, burning it almost beyond recognition. A single bug crawls from her mouth as she dies.Dan and Ellie are woken by yet another disturbance outside. It's a van, not an ambulance come to pick up Marge. The men from the van ignore Dan's offer of help, despite the fact that he is a doctor. As the van leaves, Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy) pulls up and we meet him for the first time. Dan overhears the motel keeper tell Cochran that Marge had been hit by a "misfire". What could that mean?The next morning is Saturday the 30th. Dan calls Teddy at work again. Teddy has examined all the ashes, but not found a single trace of human remains, and she is wondering if someone has been tampering with the evidence. Dan asks her to investigate Cochran - a dangerous move, because as Dan leaves, we see that the telephone was bugged.Dan and Ellie go to the factory in the morning, but learn nothing except Harry had picked up his masks and left. They are ready to go, but they meet Buddy Kupfer on their way in for a tour of the factory. Cochran comes out to meet them, and Buddy convinces Cochran to have them along on the tour. They see the workers making the masks. After seeing the masks, Cochran takes them to another room where there are some other Silver Shamrock products besides masks - mostly toys and novelties. Cochran gives Buddy Jr. a mask that has been through "final processing" - but he remains evasive about what final processing entails. He invites the Kupfers to breakfast the next morning, asking for Buddy's opinion about some more sales materials.While Cochran and Buddy are talking, Dan's attention wanders, and he spots several of the well-dressed guards. While he is telling Ellie in a low voice about it, Ellie spots Harry's car in one of the buildings. She runs forward to check it out, but several more of the well-dressed men step out from their posts and block her path. Dan and Ellie return to the motel room and go over what they know as it gets dark outside. They decide to leave the town and call the police.Dan goes to the office, but he cannot reach anyone on the telephone. No matter what number he dials, he gets a recorded message that the call cannot be completed. Returning to the motel room, he discovers Ellie is gone. She has been kidnapped by the well-dressed guards. The guards come for him next. Dan escapes out the bathroom window and ditches the guards, who are also driving up and down the streets looking for him. Dan tries to use a pay phone, but he gets the same recorded message there, too. Hoping to rescue Ellie, he goes to the factory, sneaks onto the grounds and breaks into the building.At first he sees no one, but after a brief search, he finds an old woman knitting. When he confronts her, he finds that the old woman is actually an elaborate machine! Then another one of the well-dressed guards finds him. Dan fights him, but he seems to be unaffected by his punches. After Dan punches him again, the guard goes limp, Dan pulls wires out of the guard's stomach and oil flows from his mouth. The guard was a far more elaborate machine! Two more guards come up behind Dan. He had trouble beating one, and he has no chance against two. Cochran comes to see them before the guards take Dan to wherever he is to spend the night.On Sunday, Halloween morning, Cochran and several of the well-dressed mechanical guards accompany Dan to the "final processing" room. On the way there, Cochran brags about how realistic his guards and other workers were. Once in the final processing room, Dan sees several workers on a scaffold chipping tiny pieces out of a large rock... the stolen stone from Stonehenge! There are some work stations and TV's arranged in a circle in front of the rock. The workers take a tiny particle of the rock and put it in the microchips on the back of each trademark on the masks.Cochran shows Dan on the video monitors Ellie tied up in another room, Marge's corpse, and then, the room into which the guards are escorting the Kupfer family. The room is ominously labeled "Test Room A". The room is made up to look like an ordinary living room. At Cochran's order, one of the guards pushes the buttons to make a video play on the TV in the test room, where Little Buddy is trying to watch TV. It is the video that will be played later that night - the "big giveaway" video. It opens like any other Silver Shamrock commercial, but as the announcer exhorts his audience to watch, the video gives way to a jack-o-lantern flashing on the screen. After a few seconds, the rapt Little Buddy grasps his head and collapses. Multitudes of bugs and snakes crawl out of the mask. Betty faints; Buddy Sr. freaks out and tries to escape from the locked room, but he is attacked and killed by the snakes. The flashing jack-o-lantern and sounds from the commercial trigger the particle of rock in the microchip - now we see how the death of Marge was an accident, it had gone off when it wasn't supposed to. After a couple minutes, the entire Kupfer family is dead, and Cochran cuts the video and has the guards lead Dan away.Next, we see children in cities all over the country hearing the commercial reminding them to watch the big giveaway at 9:00pm, buying Silver Shamrock masks, trick-or-treating. Challis's own kids are anxious to watch the big giveaway while wearing their masks.In the evening, Teddy is still trying to make sense of the autopsy, and tries to reach Dan in Santa Mira, but she gets the same recorded message that Dan heard. She tries the chief coroner instead, realizing that a lot of the things she has found in the ashes didn't look like car parts. Suddenly realizing something, she reaches for the phone once more to call the police, but one of the well-dressed guards from Silver Shamrock has snuck up behind her and kills her with a power drill.At 7:30 p.m., Cochran leaves Dan tied up in a room in front of a TV playing John Carpenter's "Halloween" - to be followed by the big giveaway. Dan asks him why. Cochran explains that the "good" reason is that it's all a great joke, but the "real" reason is he is carrying on an ancient Celtic tradition of ritual sacrifice. Cochran puts one of his masks over Dan's head and wishes him a happy Halloween just before he leaves.Once he has left, Dan looks at the clock and sets to work about trying to escape. He manages to scoot his chair over toward the TV, then kicks the screen in. At least the flashing jack-o-lantern can't come on now. Using a piece of broken glass from the TV, he cuts the straps that bind him, removes the mask, and throws it over the video camera watching the room. The room is locked, but Dan escapes through the ventilation ducts. It's after 8 p.m. now and time is running out.One of Cochran's worker-androids notices that Dan is no longer in the room, and they set about looking for him. He has, by this time, escaped to the roof of the building, and finds another way back in. He has to play hide-and-seek with the guards again. Then he finds a phone, tries it, and it works - Cochran had cut off the town's access to outside lines, but not from within the factory itself. He calls his ex-wife and desperately tries to convince her to get rid of the Silver Shamrock masks, but she refuses. She is angry that Dan has once again broken his promise (this time to pick the kids up on Halloween and take them trick-or-treating), accuses him of being drunk and/or jealous that the kids liked the masks better than the ones Dan picked out. She tells him to go to hell and hangs up. He can't try calling her again because the guards are coming back.Dan searches the building some more, and finds the room where Ellie is being held. He releases her, but the guards can now see him on the video cameras and know where he is. He manages to escape them for the time being, coming to the back of the final processing/control room. There he finds a box of the microchips - ready to be installed on the masks. An idea comes to mind.He takes a box of the microchipped trademarks, sneaks over to the computers and pushes the buttons he saw the guard push that morning - the ones that start playing the big giveaway video. This time, it starts playing on all the TV's in the control room. He runs back to the edge of the room and climbs onto a catwalk overhead and dumps the box onto the floor below. The microchips activate as they get near the TV's playing the flashing jack-o-lantern, "killing" the worker-androids - but not Cochran, who looks up at them, unaffected, and applauds. The flashing TV's, forming a circle, and the rock from Stonehenge, start to glow; something supernatural is taking place. Lightning bolts shoot out of both towards Cochran, who is transformed to stone and disappears. Then sparks fly from the stone and everything in the room starts to catch fire. Soon, the entire factory is burning - Starker got his wish posthumously. Dan and Ellie get into Ellie's car, still at the motel, Dan driving this time, and escape.Dan and Ellie escape from Santa Mira, but the commercial is still set to go on the air at 9 p.m., which is only about 15 minutes away now. Dan asks Ellie if she can think of anything, then notices how strangely passive she has been and... how she hasn't spoken a single word since her rescue. When Ellie turns her head and attacks him, he realizes that the Ellie he rescued was another android, with a new skin to look exactly like the real Ellie (the real one presumably having been killed by the well-dressed guards or perished in the fire). Dan wrecks the car trying to fight off the 'Elliebot'. The crash rips one of robo-Ellie's arms off, and Dan has little trouble dispatching the rest of her with a tire iron by decapitating her, but now he is without transportation, and takes off running on foot. It's about 8:50 p.m. The 'Elliebot' continues to function.Panting and desperate to find a phone, he arrives at a gas station.... the same one where Harry took refuge eight days earlier. The attendant recognizes Dan from the hospital: "Hey, don't I know you?" It's straight-up 9:00 when Dan pleads with the technician at the TV station over the phone to take the commercial off the air, saying that everyone watching will die if it is allowed to air. The gas station attendant looks at him kind of funny as he shouts into the phone. Two children run inside to watch the commercial on TV at the gas station. Finally, the technician accedes to Dan's desperate request, and a "technical difficulties" sign appears on that TV station. The children switch to another station playing the commercial - it too goes off the air. They switch to a third station, and this time the commercial continues to play. The flashing jack-o-lantern appears and Dan continues to beg the technician to take the commercial off the air. Dan becomes ever more hysterical and screams to stop the commercial, as the commercial on the third station continues to run... and the movie suddenly ends on this cliff-hanger. | paranormal, cult, horror, gothic, murder | train | imdb | It looks and feels cheap, and tacky, the first one is so slick, well made, and well filmed, this one looks like a cheap 80's b horror movie, the acting is wooden.
You can forgive those elements in a horror film if it has a unique factor, something striking, but no, they've even taken Michael Myers out, result, this isn't Halloween.
I'm sure some tasteless loser fanboy would've paid $100+ for that rare boxset version of this "film", but I genuinely preferred to lose out on the money and send it to the dump where it belongs.Even Rob Zombie's horrendous Halloween 2 is OSCAR WORTHY compared to this B-movie (Z-movie) gorefest failure.Hurry up and add a ZERO out of ten option already, imdb.
But the first two movies made a lot of money, and then they decided they HAD to release a new Michael Myers story every couple of years, if only to satisfy fans of easy and predictable slasher flicks.
Because, truth be told, every Halloween sequel was worse than the previous one, with an indestructible killer who simply was a "seasonal" variation of Jason Vorhees, and all the writers had to do at a certain point was creating a new excuse for bringing Michael back, because the killer invariably ended "dead" or severely injured in each chapter.
The rest of the "plot" was basically the same in every movie: Halloween night, Michael comes back to Haddonfield, people are sure he's either dead or only a legend, he starts to kill everyone in sight, someone realizes he's alive, there's a relative of his that he's willing to kill, etc, etc.If this third installment in the franchise had been successful, things could have been different.
My theory is very simple: this didn't work out not only because people wanted Michael Myers back after his hospital bloodbath in Halloween II, but also because Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a very, VERY bad movie.
People might have thought: If the other installments in this series be like this one, then we'd rather have Michael Myers coming back every damn year for more of the same.What can I say not to "spoil" (sic) the party of anyone else?
Well, I will not describe the "plot", yet I must say this film does not have any sense whatsoever, bad actors, bad story line, horrible villain, pathetic death scenes, and you end up asking yourself if what you're seeing on screen is really for real.
Just can't figure out why in the world it was ever made.I do enjoy all of the other Halloween movies in the series, even if they have some dumb parts or even parts that are bad.
I saw it again last night, and got bored very quickly.The original Halloween film was great, menacing and with some genuine jump-worthy moments, but this film unfortunately has nothing in common with its predecessors in terms of plot or style..
*. The worst part of the Halloween 3: Season of the Witch is when you watch the film and think about what might have been if dear old Michael had graced the film.
Why name the film 'Halloween III' if it has nothing with Michael Myers.
On my top ten list of worst movies of all time, Halloween 3: Season of the Witch has the 'honor' of being number 1, and it's been up there for the past 6 or 7 years.
And this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Michael Myers isn't in it...especially b\c this was the first one of the series that I had ever seen, and honestly, it turned me off from the rest of the series until I saw the first one and ended up loving that one to watch the other installments of the series (which range from good to average).How embarrassing it must have been for John Carpenter and Debra Hill to both have had their names attached to this stinking pile of waste.
Now, I love horror films, and I really loved the idea Carpenter had in the beginning, to make a different Halloween themed film every year...but after leaving the cliff hanger of the first one, the people demanded there be a sequel, which I thought was very good for a sequel...so with that said, it was almost impossible to make a good sequel after Myer's supposed demise in part 2...but that's no excuse for this mess!
It is horrible beyond comprehension...I mean some horror movies are made bad, but have redeeming qualities like effects, scares, etc...and even other bad horror flims are so bad they're good (tongue in cheek type of stuff)...but the worst movies of all time, in my book are the movies that are plain awful and tried so hard to be serious.
I wonder if he had second thoughts upon viewing the completed film.Upon retrospect, it was probably unwise of John Carpenter to attempt to make the popular franchise an anthology series.
Most people who pay to get in a movie with the "Halloween" name expect to see the masked Michael Myers.
With the benefit of a full two decades between then and now, we can examine the situation dispassionately, and ask, "is "Halloween III" a good movie after all?" Sadly, the answer is a resounding "no!" It was awful back then, and time has not been kind to the film.
Halloween III makes the drastic mistake of getting rid of Michael Myers, moving away from Haddonfield, Illinois, and focusing on different (and far more bland) characters.
Instead the makers got this bright idea to come up with a completely different movie with a stupid, uninteresting plot about masks.
(That is if your eyes didn't burn from watching it) This movie shouldn't even be considered part of the Halloween series we've come to know and love.
The ridiculous plot concerning a Halloween mask company named `Silver Shamrock' who distributes masks replete with microchips that will make the owner's head blow up while watching a television program wasn't even remotely interesting.
First I don't care about Michael Myers not being in this film or the fact that it is called Halloween III, I understand the Anthology nature in which Carpenter wanted to take the Halloween franchise and I am not a Michael Myers Fanboy either so that said on with my two pennies worth....Now generally to enjoy a film we are required to suspend our disbelief to a certain extent, after all we suspend our disbelief when a guy is shot several times at point blank range with no visible body armour and apparently shot dead only to end the film with the disappearance of his body as though he got up and walked away to get ready for a sequel...That's fine and we enjoy such nonsense because there really is nothing to compare it with in real life except possibly a Junkie on PCP who is oblivious to his injuries because of the drug...But this films premise is that this crazy old git has just managed to steal a huge block of stone from Stonehenge, a World Heritage site, without anybody noticing?
(-5 points)-The acting was a disgrace (-3 points)-The music was plain annoying compared to the first two (-1 point)The reason why I would give this movie any mark at all is because it only went for 1 1/2 hours and the Halloween masks looked kind of interesting.Rating: 1/10.
The complete lack of any kind of justification, no matter how twisted it may be, or even a real reason for doing it (at this point, I'd even settle for a pact with Satan-- after all, he's about the only thing not in the film!) made me seriously consider how I had just wasted two hours.Although Halloween III was positively riveting in the beginning and the memorable repetitive commercial (sung to the tune of "London Bridge is Falling Down"), any truly novel aspects of the film were simply destroyed by trying to move into too many bizarre angles.
" If you want a true horror film watch any of the Halloween series, that includes 4,5,6 even if they aren't perfect..
Halloween 3: the Season of the Witch needed much more work besides putting Michael in there for like 30 seconds on a damn television screen, and playing the music just a little bit?
The movie is some trash about mask-making people who try to kill everybody who's wearing the mask and watching there STUPID commercial.
When i saw Halloween 3 i wondering how myers could have survived the fire (which was explained in 4)...but this movie all i kept saying was when is myers coming, when is myers coming...no myers.I had never been more disgusted in a movie like this..the acting was terrible, the writing was terrible...everything was terrible...i can't believe i am writing a review on the piece of ****.and i can't believe they showed a trailer of the original Halloween movie in this movie...arghhhhI suggest you keep away from this movie it's about as scary as a box of whet bix and that's saying something...this movie could have almost killed the Halloween series what was john carpenter thinking!!!.This is My least favorite Halloween Film.
But I have to say after watching Halloween 2, I actually thought "Hey maybe the people are wrong and maybe Halloween 3 is just as good without Michael Myers!" so I rented it on DVD, I was so wrong.The movie starts disappointing with no Halloween theme song by John Carpernter (director of the original Halloween) so I had worries and it grew worse and worse.
"Halloween 3: Season of the Witch" is the only movie from the series that I just didn't enjoy, but is actually one of my all time favorite horror films.
me personally think it was all about the money he Had a known name and he used it to make a Bad movie semi good because of the name face it only reason i watch the whole thing is because the name was Halloween 3, and i want to say clearly i loved all the other movies but when i watch 4-5-6-7 i just codent stop thinking about no3 and how i disliked that kind of Hollywood behavior where a name is more important then the movie,A little tip if you haven't seen this wonder full series of movies, watch them!
I like this movie because it had a break from the original idea, i bet John Carpenter just wanted to try something different.
I hated the movie because it was stupid, corny, pointless, and full of ridiculous characters, the thing that really bugged me in this movie was that stupid song through the entire movie, if John Carpenter wants to make a movie about madmen, robots, and evil, let him write another sequel to the terminator and leave the halloween series exactly the way it was to begin with..
Like some'50's sci/fi movie, the plot has to do with a man and his girlfriend and they are looking for a man who makes these masks that when the kids put them on and watch TV, they die and snakes and bugs come out of there head.
This movie was just down right awful and even if it wasnt apart of the halloween series it would still be a very bad film.
It has nothing to do with the previous 2 and the only reason they put the halloween label on it was because they thought people would mistake it for a mike myers movie and rent it.
Seriously this movie just isn't worth it so when renting halloween films skip right to 4 after 2 and you won't miss a beat..
It is very sci-fi horror though, so I think if you've a problem with far-fetched content, you'd best avoid the film as you will find it ridiculous.I called it Season of the Witch in the first sentence, because I prefer to think of it as it's own movie, rather than having anything to do with the original classic "Halloween".
Let's get some things straight...The only real reason people seem to hate this film is because Michael Myers was absent.For those who don't know, John Carpenter and crew decided since Michael Myers was dead at the end of HalloweeN II, there was no reason to continue on with his story.
Obviously the majority of the audience would rather more Michael Myers rampages than creepy stories set around Halloween time.Oh well, this movie gives a taste of where the series could have and should have went, before the disappointing HalloweeN 4.Overall, the acting is top notch.
The story is typically ludicrous and fanciful to the extreme, (the theft of parts of Stonehenge and transportation to Western US for example, and the formation of snakes and insects out of thin air, but then we are talking witchcraft here so fair enough...) A very bizarrely positioned film in a series that was both preceded and succeeded by psycho-killer Micheal Myers' character, this is in my opinion a little b-movie gem..
Halloween III:Season Of The Witch is not, as almost everybody says, a bad horror movie.
I have almost all Halloween movies:1-5 Do be serious, I like Halloween III Season Of The Witch better than Halloween 5 The Revenge Of Michael Myers.Have A Great Day!!!.
Halloween 2 wasn't bad, but really added nothing to the series and was more of the same.So while it may have been a risky decision to make a third film completely seperate from the other two, I think it was quite a good one.
You just need to make sure, before you watch it, that you're not expecting Michael and Laurie to run across your screen (apart from the Halloween trailer cameo).The plot was great, and revealed itself well, and while it was quite silly in places, and completely off the wall in others, I personally think that this was a great addition to the series, and a highly enjoyable horror film.Guess I'd better go and buy Halloween 4....
If you honestly sit down and view it some evening, maybe you'll see what I did: a nice little horror film with a grand bad guy, one of Carpenter's best scores and one of the best reasons to not watch television on Halloween..
Had this film just been called "John Carpenter's Season of the Witch" it probably would've been received a lot better by fans of the franchise.John Carpenter's plan was to have Michael Myers, "killed off" in the film "Halloween II".
This is a very good horror movie, and the only reason people don't like it is because it has nothing to do with Halloween 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
The first rule of a horror film is to scare the viewer and HALLOWEEN III has scared the hell out of me every time I've seen it!
Actually,I was expecting another Michael Myers gore-action,when I first rented it,so I felt a bit sorrow after not finding his name on cast.However,feeling of disappointment turned into a grip of horror in the very first moments of movie.This one is better than even half of the other movies in the series.I can only describe the effect of this movie as resembling it as a Carpenter movie.I am a deep fan of John Carpenter and I felt his presence in this film a lot,Even he is not officially credited.Finally,If you are a fan of original Halloween series,and do not want to see anything else,this may not be for you.But if you like original stories,Carpenter flicks,and B-movies this is your title..
The idea was to make a new Halloween movie every year with a different storyline each time, but HIII failed at the box office because people wanted Michael Myers.
The series is called "Halloween", not "Michael Myers", and this untraditional sequel is proof.
It was a good idea, one year, one horror movie, all under the same anthology franchise.Except the audience, after two stellar slasher films wanted Mike, so best laid plans of mice and men and all that.What we got instead of Mike was a movie that would have been a halfway decent stand alone end of the 70s horror film, one that was atmospheric, moody, and though it was too flawed to be big, it would have been a fair enough start to the franchise...it would have made a bit of money for the seasonal scare fair.Except....it was called "Halloween III" and all the publicity in the world wouldn't have stopped the public from expecting Mike.So, "robbed" would be the best phrase to describe how one feels whilst watching this film.Even now after knowing what it was intended to be...still feel a little robbed.
For those of you who turn to 'Halloween' movies to get your Michael Myers on, you probably already know to avoid this movie like the plague.
I knew that Michael myers wasn't in it so I thought I wouldn't waste my time with this crap, but it turned out to be pretty good and the Halloween countdown song for silver shamrock is frickin funny!
I am not going to say that this is awesome or it's the best Halloween movie of the series because then you would think I was looney,or just plain stupid, but I will say that I am glad I have it in my horror movie collection because it is a pretty decent flick, a little slow at times but still good.
Halloween 3: Season of the witch is totally a complete different story in the halloween series, based on the season of the witch and is the odd halloween movie as this one is not based on Michael Myers.
The most commotion about this film is that it was entitled Halloween 3 hinting to fans that this movie may have the slasher king in Michael Myers.
Sure, this film is not as good as the Michael Myers' films, but if this is the worst Halloween film, then the Halloween series is doing something right!. |
tt0478970 | Ant-Man | In 1989, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) resigns from SHIELD after realizing that Howard Stark (John Slattery) had been trying to replicate his shrinking technology.In the present day, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has just served his last day at San Quentin State Prison. Waiting to pick him up is his old cellmate, Luis (Michael Peña), who offers to let him stay at his apartment. Scott is unable to find a legitimate job with his criminal record. He had found out that the company he worked for had been overcharging their customers, so he hacked into the system and transferred millions of dollars back to the customers. Luis introduces him to Dave (T.I.), a getaway driver, and Kurt (David Dastmalchian), an identity theft specialist. Luis has a tip about a robbery they could do together.Hank gets invited to a presentation at the company he founded, Pym Tech. He runs into his daughter, Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and his former protege, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who shows him a prototype of the Yellow Jacket suit, modeled after the Ant-Man suit that Hank wore. Darren has not had success at shrinking living tissue.Scott borrows Luis' van and drops in on the birthday party of his daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson). He runs into Cassie's soon-to-be stepfather, Officer Jim Paxton (Bobby Cannavale) , who is not happy to see him. His ex-wife, Maggie (Judy Greer) tells him that he has to find a legitimate job and pay off his delinquent child support before she'll allow visitation with Cassie. Jim and his partner, Gale (Wood Harris) insist that Scott leave the party after saying goodbye to Cassie.At Pym Tech, Hope and Darren are trying to shrink sheep to microscopic size. Their experiment fails, and a sheep is killed. Darren insists they press forward with another sheep.Scott realizes that it will be more than a year before he can see Cassie again if he takes a minimum-wage job, so he takes up Luis on his offer. Luis' cousin, Ernesto (Nicholas Barrera) had a friend, Emily (Lyndsi LaRose), who was a housekeeper and was dating Ernesto's friend, Carlos (Carlos Aviles). She told Carlos that the man whose house she was cleaning has a giant safe that's sure to be holding valuables. Scott agrees to help them with the robbery.Luis picks up supplies for the break-in, and Kurt steals a communication technician's uniform. That night, Kurt climbs up a pole outside Hank's house and blocks the electrical circuit, cutting off all phone communication. Scott climbs the fence and takes out the window sensors, then pries open a window and heads to the basement. He unlocks the basement door only to find a second door that is fingerprint-coded. Using tape, he lifts Hank's print and opens that door. When he gets to the safe, he realizes that he'll need some ingenuity to break the steel door. He drills small holes around the lock, then squirts in water and uses nitrogen to freeze it. The frozen water warps the steel and causes the bolts to shoot out. When he opens the safe, the only thing inside is a weird-looking body suit and helmet. He grabs that and heads out. Meanwhile, Hank has been watching the whole episode upstairs.Dejected at not having gotten anything valuable, the group heads back to Luis' apartment. Scott goes into the bathroom and examines the suit he stole, wondering why it was so heavily guarded. He notices tubes full of red and blue liquid. Out of curiosity, he puts it on and steps into the bathtub to get a better look at himself in the mirror. Noticing a red button on the glove, he pushes it and instantly shrinks, becoming a half-inch tall. Luis comes into the bathroom and he turns on the water in the tub, which is like a tidal wave for tiny Scott. He hears a voice coming from an earpiece in the helmet. He tries pushing a blue button to return to normal size, but it's broken. Panicked, he jumps away from the water and finds himself sailing across the room. He lands in a crack and falls through to the apartment below. In that room, there's a party going on, and Scott realizes he's on a record player, with the needle moving toward him. He jumps free and lands on the floor where people are dancing. Avoiding the giant footsteps, he gets under the door and into the hallway, where he is promptly sucked up into a vacuum cleaner. When the dust bag gets emptied, he jumps again, this time landing on a rat. He runs away, but lands on a mouse trap. When it's triggered, it sends him flying out through a window and into the rainy night. He sees raindrops as big as his head, before landing on a car. The impact jarred the blue button free, and he grows back to normal size.Scott races home and takes off the suit. Realizing that someone had been tracking him all along, he decides to return the suit to Hank's safe. He easily breaks into the house again and puts the suit back. But when he gets out, he's surrounded by cops. He is arrested and brought to prison, where Paxton is waiting for him. Gale tells Paxton that Scott's lawyer is there. Confused, Scott goes to see the lawyer that he hadn't asked for and doesn't know.The "lawyer" waiting for him is Hank. He offers Scott two choices, life in prison or follow his instructions. Scott is thoroughly bewildered, so Hank tells him that he allowed him to steal the suit. Scott is taken back to his cell, and an army of ants brings him back the suit. He puts it on and shrinks, and then quickly escapes from the prison. One of Hank's ants spreads its wings, and Scott climbs on and flies over the city.Hank tells Scott that he invented the suit, but was afraid it would be misused, and so he had locked it away. Darren had found out about the shrinking technology, but when Hank wouldn't give it to him, Darren forced Hank out of Pym Tech. When Hope realized how dangerous Darren was, she teamed up with Hank to stop him. Hank tells Scott that he needs him to become "Ant-Man" to stop people like Darren. Scott realizes he has a chance to become a true hero, the kind of father his daughter deserves.Scott gets trained in martial arts and how to lead the ant colonies. He practices his timing with shrinking and growing back. Hank tells him that one piece of technology he'll need to steal the suit from Darren is in an abandoned SHIELD building. When Scott flies to the building, he sees that it's the current Avengers' headquarters. Pressing forward, Scott lands on the roof, triggering a sensor. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) arrives to investigate, and he can see Scott even at small size. A battle ensues, with Scott going inside Falcon's jetpack and causing it to short out. Scott escapes with the equipment he needs.When Scott returns, Hank explains the truth about how Hope's mother died. There was an ICBM that had been launched at the U.S., and Hank was trying to stop it, but even at ant-size, he couldn't get inside. She had a similar suit, called the Wasp. She decided to shrink to sub-atomic size and was able to stop the missile, but she couldn't return from that size and was lost in the quantum realm.Darren Cross finally has success at shrinking a lamb. He envisions himself taking over Pym Tech. He invites Hank to the grand unveiling, then calls Hope and tells her that he has increased security, including covering all the vents with microscopic mesh. They realize the job will be harder than they thought, and they'll need more people. Luis, Kurt and Dave are brought in. Luis poses as a security guard and lowers the water pressure so Scott can get in through the pipes. Scott plants explosives throughout the building, but when he tries to steal the suit, he gets caught in a glass cage by Darren, who had anticipated the burglary. Darren plans to sell the technology to HYDRA. Scott breaks free and takes out the Hydra agents. Darren gets into a chopper on the roof and escapes just before the building blows up. Hank and Hope break out by turning a tiny tank to full-size, and ride it out the side of the building.Darren puts on the Yellow Jacket suit, and he and Scott fight inside the helicopter. After they both fall out, Scott is able to trap Darren inside a bug zapper, but Jim Paxton shows up to arrest him before he can destroy the suit. Darren goes to Jim and Cassie's house and threatens their lives, hoping to draw Scott in. Scott arrives and they fight. The only way Scott can get inside Darren's suit is to shrink to sub-atomic size, and he causes Darren to shrink into nothing. Lang is trapped in the quantum realm, but hearing Cassie's voice, he manages to rewire the suit, reversing the process and returning him to normal size. Following the battle, a grateful Paxton covers for Scott so he would not have to go back to prison. Hank wonders if Hope's mother is also still alive somewhere. Luis tells Scott that the Falcon is looking for him.Hank shows Hope a new version of the Wasp suit, and tells her that it was made for her. Captain America (Chris Evans) and Falcon have trapped the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), and are trying to figure out what to do next. They decide not to tell Iron Man, and Falcon says he knows who to contact. | comedy, murder, violence, flashback, good versus evil, psychedelic, melodrama, revenge | train | imdb | But this film had jokes in the right moment, it was very well used.To be honest, i was very surprised by Ant-Man. Paul Rudd makes a very good performance as Scott.
And I was glad I did.Paul Rudd ("Friends", "Anchorman") plays ex-con Scott Lang who is recruited by brilliant scientist and would-be superhero Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his gorgeous daughter Hope ("Lost" and "The Hobbit"'s Evangeline Lilly) to steal a jacket.
And (as is common in these films, and notable as 80% of the audience stayed in their seats for the full credits) there is both a mid-credits scene (that's a set-up for the sequel) and a final post-credit scene that (so I'd told) is hugely significant for next year's "Captain America: Civil War" (in which Rudd is set to reprise his "Ant Man" role).The director is Peyton Reed, whose limited movie portfolio to date includes Jim Carrey's "Yes Man" and "Bring it On".As I found myself thoroughly enjoying the experience, my rating, against all the odds, is twice what I expected it to be.
And yet, the final product – Peyton Reed's Ant-Man – is a fun, frothy delight, one that proves once and for all that Marvel knows precisely what it's doing and where it's going with the most crazily interconnected movie-and-television franchise of all time.After serving his jail sentence, Scott Lang (Rudd) just wants to reunite with his daughter Cassie and get his life back on track.
His discovery of the Ant-Man suit and all that entails – working with Hank, meeting Hank's aloof but eminently capable daughter Hope (Lilly), training to prevent Hank's former protégé Darren Cross (Stoll) from replicating the Pym Particle for sale to the highest bidder – give the story the shot of adrenaline it needs.
Reed's camera zigs merrily from Luis' unique method of exposition (brilliant) to Scott's attempts to survive Hope's training (bruisingly hilarious), before zagging into the dark, trembling heart of Hank's troubled relationship with his daughter.Indeed, what makes Ant-Man work so well is its insistence on respecting its characters and taking their concerns and relationships seriously.
(Stay through the credits, by the way, for two incredibly exciting hints at what's to come for the MCU in the future.)As with all the other films and television shows in Marvel's burgeoning media empire, the cast of Ant-Man is pitch-perfect.
Douglas plays a far more palatable version of Dr. Pym (who can be tough to swallow in the comics), and does so with his trademark charm and magnetism, while Stoll gives good psychopath as the increasingly unhinged, patently cruel Cross.Ant-Man may not edge out the other films that make up Phase Two of the MCU in a straw poll – it does, after all, face some pretty serious competition in what has been an unbroken run of truly excellent superhero films.
Using a military suit that allows him to shrink back and forth, in size, Lang carries on with the mission with the hope that by doing so, he would be able to reclaim and earn the reputation and respect he lost, especially his daughter's.It's easier to see Ant-Man as a beautiful mess, rather than a well-crafted superhero flick with profound depth and sense .
Most importantly, this new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe places its comic prowess at the center of its general effort to validate its entry to the franchise, and that is achieved without putting the natural action/adventure tendency of its superhero, nor the inevitable emotional nature of its characters, at risk of getting overshadowed by the rudimentary elements of the narrative.It's actually hard to gauge ANT-MAN using the same measure that made the rest of its pack, mammoth and omnipotently powerful.
Stoll's performance is more three-dimensional than one might expect in a super hero movie, and adds to the already great cast.Perhaps the most impressive part of Ant-Man was the visual effects.
I'm not an Ant Man fan so I was not waiting in anticipation for this as much as I wanted to see Age of Ultron.The character that Paul Rudd plays in this movie is not the Ant Man I wanted to see, and Micheal Douglas' role as Hank Pym, the original Ant man only made me want to see him dawn the suit even more, cause Micheal Douglas was everything a superhero should be in this movie, Charming, really good dialog, and ready for action.
Ant Man did things far beyond just punching and kicking that a lot of superheroes are doing on the big screen and went places no other super hero could go making for an action packed adventure.
With a screenplay largely penned by Shaun of the Dead legend Edgar Wright, and built upon by other great comedic writers, Joe Cornish (Attack the Bock), Adam McKay (Anchorman), and Ant-Man himself Paul Rudd, Ant-Man does indeed do some heavy lifting, delivering one of the funniest, most entertaining, and visually satisfying superhero movies to date.The ant super-suit is sick.
Let me close this by taking a moment to acknowledge how perfect Paul Rudd is in the role of Scott Lang/Ant-Man. He is a master at self-deprecating humor, as seen in movies like "I Love You, Man" and "Knocked Up" and his role as Mike Hannigan on "Friends." This is a necessity when you see how Ant-Man may have somewhat of a Napoleon Complex when he inevitably has to measure up against the mighty Avengers.
Paul Rudd has shown his chops as a dramatic actor in movies like "The Shape of Things" and "Admission," and again here in Ant- Man as an estranged father, who wants nothing more than to spend more time with his daughter Cassie.
Character development, solid plot, fantastic humour and amazing cast all done flawlessly and did not leave me hoping for more, but rather asking 'When's the sequel coming out?'With Michael Douglas and Michael Peña, having seen them both in previous movies where their performances are exemplary to say the least, I expect such mastery, but with Paul Rudd, and all the other actors, given this is the first movie in which I ever saw them, I had no idea what to expect.
A delightfully entertaining Marvel superhero movie that you'll enjoy from beginning to end, thanks to leading man Paul Rudd's slacker dude charm.
Are you sure you need Ant-Man when you've already got Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye from The Avengers?One thing we are setting straight here – we enjoyed Ant-Man more than the recent The Avengers: Age of Ultron.The Peyton Reed directed movie, which is also the 12th installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (who's keeping count, really?), sees protagonist Scott Lang (Rudd) help Dr Hank Pym (the always reliable Michael Douglas) safeguard the mystery of a technology which allows users to decrease in size but increase in strength.
The result is a superhero movie that makes you sit up and watch, laugh and enjoy till the very last minute.Because it is backed up by a major studio, you can still expect the usual special effects, big explosions and well choreographed action sequences.
These are enough to keep fans of Hollywoodblockbusters happy, and to have them feeling that the movie is well worth the price of the ticket.Credit goes to a wonderful ensemble cast, which includes Evangeline Lilly (The Hobbit series, TV's Lost) as the serious but well intending daughter, Corey Stoll (Dark Places, TV's House of Cards) as the villainous disciple and Bobby Cannavale (Blue Jasmine, Chef) as a stepfather to Lang's daughter, as well as Michael Pena (End of Watch, American Hustle), rapper Tip "T I" Harris and David Dastmalchian (The Glass Menagerie, Buried Child) as Lang's amusing but resourceful friends.In this day and age where everyone takes everything too seriously, this is one superhero movie that you'll fine immensely entertaining and enjoyable, without compromising on storytelling and action.
And it's a good reminder that joy can still be found in this genre even at its smaller scale, thanks to its engaging cast and downright appealing personality.The movie doesn't involve stopping some mass destruction or a general build up for future installments (the reference still exists, but isn't exactly the priority.) People may brag about this as going back to the basic mold of origin stories where you see outcasts living in a city having unexpected fate of becoming a superhero.
Michael Peña steals all of his scenes, which a role that could have been just another comic-relief, he makes all of his character's greatest comedic moments remarkably delightful.It's still quite inevitable to keep bringing up the supposed-to-be helmer of Ant-Man, because his fingerprints are really there, while it's actually nice to see it hinting every once in a while, it also feels somewhat exasperating for what daring opportunity it could have been.
I though Michael Pena did a great job as comic relief, and Paul Rudd was a good Ant-Man, but while I enjoyed this movie, I left feeling sure that it should have been better.
If it would have just been about some guy shrinking himself then it would indeed have been somewhat boring but the added coolness of this guy being able to command armies of bad-ass ants really helped stave of the boredom.As I wrote above it is a Marvel super hero movie so it is heavy on special effects and, personally, I felt they where quite okay.
The twelfth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the final chapter of their Phase Two plan, Ant-Man is a small-scale, light-hearted & sufficiently entertaining blockbuster that brings a new superhero into the already crammed Marvel family and although it may not be as heavy handed as some of their biggest extravaganzas, there's hardly anything refreshing about it.Ant-Man tells the story of Scott Lang; an engineer turned criminal who wants to support his daughter but is unable to secure any job due to his criminal record.
Things are set in motion when he decides to commit a burglary with his crew and steals a super-suit that allows him to shrink in scale & amplify in strength, following which he assists the suit's owner in pulling off a heist that will save the world.Directed by Peyton Reed, Ant-Man was initially supposed to be Edgar Wright's pet project, who worked on it for years before being removed by the studio after creative differences arose between the two.
Nevertheless, Reed's take isn't a total disaster for the movie actually feels like a typical Marvel flick with its simple plot, charming lead, playful wit, fun vibe & family-friendly entertainment.
Visual effects is top-notch as expected while Christophe Beck's score feels pretty generic.Coming to the performances, Ant-Man features a good cast in Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Peña & others, and most of them do a fine job in their given roles.
Lilly does well with what she's given, Peńa is annoying & Stoll isn't really intimidating as the villain.On an overall scale, Ant-Man delivers the big-budget extravaganza it promised, even if it is on smaller scale when compared to its predecessors but from the storytelling perspective, it definitely ranks amongst Marvel Studios' weaker entries, that may have been avoided if it had added greater depth to its main plot & characters.
After denying several advances from his old crew of bumbling thieves (Michael Pena, David Dastmalchian and rapper T.I.), Lang is approached by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the original Ant-Man, with an offer to steal a copycat suit and prevent it being sold for warfare.Even a screenplay co-written by the clever Edgar Wright (The World's End, Scott Pilgrim vs.
On leading man duties, Rudd is eminently lovable as burglar Scott Lang – his effortless charm ideal for such a breezy adventure – whilst Michael Douglas brings gravitas to mentor Hank Pym. Coming so soon after Terminator: Genisys gave us a decent-looking youthful Arnie, the digitally de-aged Douglas in the opening scene here is scarily good too, with the CGI staying at a top level throughout.
It is possible that this comedic actor could be right to provide the 'nudge, nudge, wink, wink' element of this heist film, but can this film be taken seriously?Rudd plays the con-man, Scott Lang who is recruited by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to pull off the recovery of another super-suit that provides the same abilities as the Ant-man suit.
(2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Timothy 2:21)Written by Russell Matthews based on a five star rating system @ Russelling Reviews #russellingreviews #antman Posted just now by Russell Matthews Labels: #antman Corey Stoll Evangeline Lilly Is Ant-man any good Michael Douglas Paul Rudd Peyton Reed redemption will ant-man be the first Marvel failure Yellowjacket.
The shrinking effects on display aren't the old-style Honey, I Shrunk The Kids type of thing, but more refined, the concept of Ant-Man allowing for something definitely different to what we're used to when it comes to Marvel movie action sequences.
Corey Stoll also goes through the motions as the rather generic and under-characterised villain.On the other hand, 'Ant-Man' is a great looking film, it's beautifully shot, very atmospheric, is very slick and the special effects, mostly the rapid size-changing and with the ants, are clever and of the usual high-quality Marvel standards.
Ant-Man creates its unique identity with mild fun entertainment, and it's a big merry escapade in its own right.Story basically follows Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) as he tries to keep his size altering invention hidden from prying hands.
There's great chemistry between the on-screen characters as they trade banters, down to smallest easily digestible quips.Just like Marvel movies before it, Ant-Man possesses quite the spectacle with special effect.
Its not as bad as Iron man 2 But, Like it this film Introduces a lot of great Possible Concepts Ideas and future story lines, That makes this movie Worth seeing.
What was good was the cast : Michael Douglas is great as Hank Pym and does overshadow Paul Rudd who, when taken by himself, works as Scott Lang.
And it does a good enough job in making it fun, but it also has a very uneven tone and doesn't make any sense throughout the whole movie.Dr. Hank Pym was Ant-Man many many years ago, but decided to give up and hide his suit behind a safe in his house.
Still, a little background and perspective wouldn't hurt and that's what the first part of my reviews are for, so let's see if I can give you a little context for this movie before I set up its story.The "Ant-Man" character first appeared in a January 1962 comic and was one of the five original "Avengers", but is only the fourth of them to get a solo film.
Ant-Man (2015)*** 1/2 (out of 4)Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is released from prison and plans on going straight but that doesn't go as planned but he's recruited by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to try out a suit that manages to shrink his size while making him even stronger.
There have been many good movies made from Marvel comics but ANT-MAN is certainly among the best..
What is not told in any of The Avengers movies or even this movie, is that Hank Pym was the scientist who created Ultron- The films have Tony Stark doing it.This film is based on one of the side stories, where a burglar named Scott Lang steals Ant-Man's suit, but ends up using it to defeat a crook named Darren Cross.
Soo Ant-man is another marvel phase 2 movie starring Paul Rudd as Ant-man , who definitely did a great job portraying the hero , and I also like Michel dougles as hank pym cause he was a really good hank pym , aside of the acting the writing was good although it could've been better the premise and concept of the movie is odd yet well executed , cause in the end it is a heist movie starring an ant sized superhero , and I didn't expect the movie to have great action sequences which it did , though sometimes it felt like the bad guys were just faking getting punched or kicked aaand sometimes Ant-man really kicked ass , however you can expect a typical villain who really seems justtt you know clichéd , anyways I also loved how it ties to the MCU and that one duel between falcon and Scott !!
Man that was cool , also this film delivers the usual marvel light tone but also providing emotional and deep moments aand it really really reallyyyy is funny , or maybe its just my sense of humor that is outdatedIn the end Ant-man is must watch movie for marvel fans or superheroes fans in general or anyone that wants to enjoy an amazing action heist movie.
Marvel movie fans are asked to believe Pym was merely an unmentioned part of S.H.I.E.L.D. for decades, but regardless, Pym hand-picking and training his successor is a new dynamic for a superhero film.Lang is a burglar with a background in electronic engineering, and unlike his major Avengers contemporaries, he's a family man too, albeit his daughter lives with his ex-wife.
Pym is in need of someone with Lang's skills to infiltrate his former company, now run by his ruthless former protégé, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who is on the verge of a breakthrough in his attempts to replicate Pym's shrinking technology.If "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" was Marvel Studios' take on a spy movie, then "Ant- Man" is its heist film.
It really makes the movie a lot smaller than other recent MCU films, and almost gave it the same vibe as the first Iron Man (though not as good).Paul Rudd as Ant-Man was perfect.
PAul Rudd portrayal of Ant man is extra=ordinary.Certainly an entertaining sci-fi action movie by the marvel series...
Much better than Marvel's previous film Age of Ultron.+A well made plot and premise, +Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym and the cast, +An actual menacing villain for once, +Heist, +Action and Excellent use of visuals bringing a great 3D experience. |
tt0050292 | Daughter of Dr. Jekyll | The movie opens with a swirling mist and narration about the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1886 and titled: "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"). There follows a close up of a man, Dr. Lomas (Arthur Shields), mid-transformation into a Mr. Hyde like character. Title and credits roll over a long shot of a mansion. It is the early-1900s, we are somewhere in England, and an old car pulls up to the mansion.George Hastings (John Agar) helps Janet Smith (Gloria Talbott) out of the car. He moves the luggage up to the house and rings the doorbell. Jacob (John Dierkes) answers the door but has no reaction to Janet. He stands there mute staring at her. Mrs. Merchant (Martha Wentworth) pushes him aside and welcomes Janet and George. Janet goes upstairs to her room where she meets her maid, Maggie (Molly McCart). She freshens up and changes for dinner. Maggie is in a hurry to walk home to the village. She refuses to sleep in the house, but won't give Janet an explanation. Maggie leaves the house, but the moon has already risen. Janet asks Mrs. Merchant about Maggie's superstition. Dr. Lomas, Janet's Guardian, arrives home and greets Janet and George. Janet explains George came along to celebrate her twenty-first birthday. She also explains that she and George are to be married. Dr. Lomas expresses his surprise. He tells her he should have been consulted before such an announcement. She is seeking an independent life, free of any financial entanglements with Dr. Lomas. While she is grateful for seeing to her needs as a child, she and her new husband want independence. Lomas tells her she was never living on his money, but her own money. She is an heiress to an estate and considerable fortune. The house and surrounding land is vast, and all hers. He has one final item on his list, but he begs off telling her. He says it can wait until morning.The next morning George and Janet join at breakfast. They explore the house. Janet tells George she's already counted thirty-six rooms. George notices that the room they are in is missing some space. There must be a secret room nearby. As this is an old house, hidden rooms in large houses were common. Janet opens the visor on a suit of armor and the bookcase swings open revealing the hidden room. It is a well-equipped chemical laboratory, but the dust suggests it hasn't been used for quite a while. Dr. Lomas enters and tells Janet the room was originally used to hide Jesuits at the time of Henry VIII, but her father used it as a lab. He tells George he must speak to Janet alone. Despite Janet's protests that George remain, Lomas is adamant. George leaves the room and Lomas and Janet talk.Jacob is out gathering wood. One of his jobs on the estate is to stoke the cooking stove and fireplaces. Janet comes down to see George in the dining room. She tells George, "I can't marry you. You must go and forget me." George demands an explanation, but Janet refuses to discuss the matter. Lomas asks Janet if he may tell George the story. She nods yes. The three leave the house and walk to the family crypt. Lomas unlocks the door and they enter. Jacob lets himself into the crypt with his own key to eavesdrop. Janet sees the tomb of Dr. Henry Jekyll, her father. Lomas explains Jekyll's theory and drugs--a recounting of the Stevenson story. Lomas tells the pair he saw Mr. Hyde only once before the mob killed him. Janet is concerned the madness may be hereditary. They leave the crypt and return to the house.Dr. Lomas suggests Janet get a good night's rest. He tries to hypnotize her. Maggie enters with Janet's warm milk to help her sleep. Lomas leaves and Maggie helps Janet get ready for bed. Maggie leaves for the village after telling Janet that during the full moon the monster Jekyll rises from his tomb. Janet dreams she is transformed and chases and kills Maggie. Her screams bring George, Lomas and Mrs. Merchant into her bedroom. Lomas gives her something to help her sleep. A short time later, Janet gets out of bed and notices blood on her hands and nightgown.The next morning George tells Lomas he wants Janet to leave today. Lomas advises against it for vague medical reasons. Janet, for her part, can't make a decision. Mrs. Merchant tells all assembled for breakfast that Jacob didn't show up and that Maggie is late. Jacob enters the house carrying the dead body of Maggie. She has a huge bruise on her neck. He puts her body on the couch for Lomas to examine. Jacob blames it on a werewolf, "We've seen it before." He directs his comments towards Janet. He addresses her as Ms. Jekyll. Janet sobs.Jacob arrives two hours late with groceries for the house. He was down at the local pub and has been drinking. Mrs. Merchant is mad, and they talk. She tries to set him straight, but is unsuccessful. Dr. Lomas puts Janet to bed, gives her a sedative and locks her in her room. That evening Jacob prowls around by the family crypt. Janet sleeps fitfully. She dreams she is outside wandering around the countryside. She encounters a young man (Marel Page) and woman (Rita Greene). She attacks and kills the woman in the woods. Janet wakes and again finds blood on her hands and nightdress. George and Lomas respond to her screams. Jacob enters the bedroom and informs Lomas they found Lucy, the young woman killed. Jacob blames Janet and he is fired on the spot. He tells them, "Let me tell you something. It won't be long till the daughter of Dr. Jekyll joins her father in the vault with a stake in her heart. We know how to deal with werewolves."Mrs. Merchant quits and leaves the house. Lomas goes to find another housekeeper. After he leaves, George retrieves a book from the library entitled, "Witch, Warlock and Werewolves." He begins to read a passage on werewolves. Janet, now dressed, comes downstairs and looking over George's shoulder reads the rest of the passage. Janet becomes hysterical. George takes her back to her room and gives her the pills Dr. Lomas left for her. Lomas returns home and tells George that he talked the constable out of swearing out a warrant for Janet, but there will be a coroner's inquest and Janet will be summoned as a witness. So now Janet has no decision to make about leaving, she cannot leave town until this matter is resolved. George goes up to see Janet but returns almost immediately and informs Lomas that Janet is missing. They search the house without success, so they search the grounds. They find her just outside the family crypt. George takes her back to the house. Lomas finds Jacob by the crypt sharpening a stake and orders him off the grounds. Back in Janet's bedroom, George nails the windows shut. Janet takes the sedative Lomas provides. Lomas volunteers to spend the night in her room guarding her. He wants to catch up on his reading of medical journals. With a candle, Lomas hypnotizes Janet and leads her out of her room. George gets out of bed. He is already dressed, and follows the pair. He suspects something. Lomas and Janet enter the hidden lab. They walk to the crypt. Lomas tells Janet she will dream again, she will attack and kill a woman, cut herself and cover her face and hands with blood, and then commit suicide by hanging herself.George follows Lomas upstairs in the crypt and is surprised to see him transform into a werewolf. George now sees for himself that is was Lomas who has been killing and blaming it all on Janet. He got Janet to believe she committed the horrible acts via hypnosis. Lomas attacks George and knocks him out. Lomas enters the village and spies on a woman getting dressed (Marjorie Stapp). She gets a phone call warning of the danger in the village. She is attacked by Lomas and killed while a phonograph plays in the background. Lomas runs off chased by two villagers armed with rifles. More men join the posse. As George comes to he sees Janet stringing the rope to hang herself. She starts to scream and George has to slap her into consciousness. He explains that Dr. Lomas is mad and committed the murders. He tells her Lomas hypnotized her. He wants control of the estate. They try to exit the crypt, but the door is locked. The mob is getting closer to Lomas. One shoots the doctor. He stumbles to the crypt. George tells Janet to lie down on her father's tomb and pretend she is still in a trance. The mob has now grown to a few dozen men and they are getting closer to their target. Lomas enters the crypt and smears blood on Janet. George attacks Lomas with a club, they struggle, but Lomas is too strong. George knocks Lomas down and Jacob, who entered the crypt with part of the mob, spears him in the heart with a stake. Lomas transforms from a Mr. Hyde character back to Dr. Lomas and dies. Jacob announces, "He will never prowl the night again." We cut to the same opening scene of Lomas in mist and are asked, "Are you sure?" This is followed by a demonic laugh. The movie closes with a long shot of the house and more demonic laughing. | gothic | train | imdb | null |
tt0087910 | The Philadelphia Experiment | In 1943 United States Navy sailors David Herdeg (Michael Paré) and Jim Parker (Bobby Di Cicco) are assigned to the destroyer escort USS Eldridge during a project to make it invisible to radar. The ship is in Philadelphia harbor, filled with equipment from a team led by James Longstreet (Eric Christmas). During the experiment the equipment begins malfunctioning. Observers simply see the ship disappear but sailors on board experience a bizarre and disorienting phase shift. David and Jim try to shut down the generator to stop the experiment but receive severe electric shocks when they touch the equipment. The two men jump overboard to escape.
Instead of landing in Philadelphia harbor during the daytime, David and Jim land during the night in a small desert town, which then disappears as well, leaving them in the dark open desert. They are startled by the appearance of bright light in the sky - it's a military helicopter with a spotlight looking for intruders. They escape into the desert and eventually find their way to a diner the next day.
An energy discharge from Jim destroys an arcade game in the diner, and the upset diner owner grabs a revolver, demanding Jim pay for the damages. David grabs the gun and the men run and carjack a car in the parking lot. Since he is unfamiliar with the automatic transmission, David takes the driver - a woman named Allison (Nancy Allen) - as a hostage and driver. They are shocked when she tells them that they are in the year 1984.
The police eventually catch them and Jim, who is suffering increasingly severe seizures, is hospitalized. David explains that he and Jim accidentally traveled through time, but no one believes the story. Jim eventually disappears from his hospital bed in a corona of energy. David and Allison then evade military police, who have arrived to take David into custody.
Jim was from nearby California, so David decides to try to find his family. He and Allison find the family listed in a phone book and drive to see them. Jim's former girlfriend Pamela (Louise Latham), who is now a senior citizen, immediately recognizes David from 1943. She says that the USS Eldridge had reappeared minutes after disappearing and that a lot of the sailors on board had been horribly burned. Jim had also returned and had been hospitalized for telling the truth about temporarily visiting 1984. David asks about himself and finds that he never came back, but that Pamela and Jim have been married for many years. David sees Jim in the distance riding a horse, but Jim, who had slowly come to terms with the bizarre events of 1943, refuses to come inside to speak with David. David and Allison see military police approaching, but manage to elude them. From one of their cars, David salvages documents mentioning Dr. Longstreet. Recognizing that Longstreet had been involved with the Philadelphia experiment in 1943, they decide to find him. As they spend time together, David and Allison fall in love.
In 1984, Dr. Longstreet has attempted to use the same technologies that were used in the original Philadelphia experiment to create a shield to protect from an ICBM attack. When the equipment was tested, a nearby town disappeared into "hyperspace", just like the USS Eldridge had. The scientists are unable to shut down the experiment, despite cutting the power. Worse, the experiment has left a vortex in 1984, which starts sucking matter into it. The vortex causes extremely severe weather, including tornadoes and monstrous bolts of lightning. Longstreet predicts that the vortex will continue to expand until the entire world is consumed. The scientists send a probe into the vortex and discover the Eldridge inside; the two experiments have linked together across time. They theorize that the generators on the Eldridge are providing the energy to keep the vortex open.
David captures an assistant at Longstreet's home, which includes a small model of the town he saw when he first arrived. He forces the man to take them onto the base but is captured when they get off the elevator in the control center. Longstreet tells the military police to let David in and shows him the situation. He tells David that, according to surviving sailors from the Eldridge, the ship returned to Philadelphia in 1943 after David shut down the generator. Longstreet says that David must go through the vortex to the Eldridge and shut off the generator, or the vortex will destroy the Earth.
Allison urges David not to do it, but he volunteers to go and save his ship and is outfitted with an electrically insulated suit to enable him to shut down the generator. He is catapulted into the vortex and lands on the deck of the Eldridge, where he finds the crew panicked and injured. He hurries to the generator room and smashes arrays of vacuum tubes using a firefighting axe. The generator shuts down and David looks for Jim. Assured that Jim is fine, David jumps over the side of the ship and disappears. Back in 1943, Longstreet and others watch the Eldridge reappear in Philadelphia, and long range observers note some crewmen are badly burned and others fused alive into the ship's hull.
Likewise in 1984, the missing town reappears. Allison steals a jeep to drive to it. She finds David, they kiss passionately, and he proclaims "I got it all figured out. The Navy owes me 40 years back pay." | romantic, action | train | wikipedia | The modern day reaction of Jim to his old friend seems unrealistic at first until you think about it, and the explanation given about Jim's psychological problems after the experiment makes perfect sense and adds a bit of unexpected realism.
I've seen every time travel movie ever made, and I must say that the Philadelphia Experiment ranks pretty high on my list of favorites.
Despite the cheesy love story (almost as bad as Titanic or Pearl Harbor) the effects are pretty good and the story is cool.The actors were fair (Nancy Allen was great, though) and the screenplay is pretty good.
(a couple of people who were phased into solid objects can be seen in the movie - pretty cool!) The "true" story makes a great read and even if only a fraction of it is true, it's a pretty remarkable idea that any of it happened in reality.The Philadelphia Experiment is an entertaining movie, but more for sci fi fans and their girlfriends rather than the average moviegoer.
I think the plot is genius - When something disappears nobody thinks what's going on while it's invisible - This is what happens in the film as a ship is cloaked during world war 2 to prevent radar detection but the ship completely vanishes - while invisible 2 crew members jump overboard into one of the best time warps i've ever seen, into 1984 - I think the acting, effects and overall tension of the movie was way ahead of it's time and will remain my personal favourite film..
Based on an "actual event" that took place in 1943 and set during WW2 , a ¨Philadelphia experiment¨ about invisibility and involving an anti-radar goes wrong , causing an USS naval battleship -Navy Destroyer Escort- to disappear from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , Virginia , by means of a warp time .
Meanwhile , they meet a beautiful girl(costars Nancy Allen) who help them .This is a far-fetching but acceptable story about two sailors traveling forward in time to just to discover weird incidents and save the world .
The sailors David Herdeg (Michael Paré) and his best friend Jim Parker (Bobby Di Cicco) are projected to 1984, where they meet Allison Hayes (Nancy Allen).
Will he be wheel succeeded?"The Philadelphia Experiment" is an enjoyable film with a story with paradoxes, like most of the stories about time travel.
I think the idea of a war film, with time travel, and love story is very good, and this works very well in this film.
"The Philadelphia Experiment" takes the intriguing idea of time travel forward and turns it into a routine, often silly thriller.
Based loosely on an alleged WWII radar invisibility experiment, this film nicely covers the 'alleged' experiment and then takes you one step further, with time and place transference, and a love story thrown in for good measure.
But there were some fun things about the movie so if you like sci-fi films, you may very well enjoy this kooky story that some people have taken to believe was a true story..
Especially the part where the teleported guys phasing in and out of the field of the original experiment.It would have been better if the lost sailor's names were Wilson or something, and they ended up in Camp Hero in 1983.It's probably difficult to make a good movie of this type that's both based on facts and targeted for a commercial audience.The story deserves a better treatment, and I hope a better version of this movie will be made someday..
as time travel travel movies goes this one's pretty decent.i've seen a few in my time,many of them stinkers,and this is certainly no stinker.it isn't necessarily the best of the genre,but it works for what it is.it's fairly low key and sedate.the special effects range from not bad to pretty good,especially for the time period during which the movie was made.the acting was pretty decent as well,though also low key,like the rest of the movie.the story is decent enough.the movie reminded me of another time travel movie from 1980 starring Kirk Douglas called The Final Countdown,which to me is a superior movie.as for The Philadelphia Experiment,i give it a 6/10.
The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Nice bit of sci-fi and romance about two WWII sailors (Michael Pare, Bobby DiCicco) who take part in an experiment that will put an invisible shield around ships that will allow them not to be spotted by enemy ships.
THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT is a pretty interesting little film that sadly just doesn't have the budget or performances to really work as well as it possibly could have.
The sci-fi elements are also pretty good as the mystery to what happened is something that keeps you glued to the film even when the special effects are making you want to gag.
Two Sailors (Michael Pare and Bobby DiCicco) joined an top secret experiment to try to succeed the U.S. Navy Ships Invisible to enemy radar but instead something went wrong.
Too bad that on hindsight this is a mediocre time-travel sci-fi B-movie, with the inevitable romance thrown in for good measure (with Nancy Allen in her pre-"Robocop" days, coming hot on the heels of "Blow Out").
OK i had wanted to watch this movie for years & finally did today,i was expecting it to be rubbish due to reading other comments & i suppose had it of been fiction i would of given it just 4 poss 5 however its based on real events & thats worrying & i suppose pending on how much is correct in the film as to what happened i liked it a lot i do agree with someones comments on the acting is a little bland at times however look at its year it was made eh...1984...there was a lot worse films out then,i thought the special effects was pretty good too & the real issue if its the only one i had with the film is about 3quaters the way through there is a scene when the main man & the girl he meets are driving & although there i a car behind them the camera changes angle to just him but when it goes to view them both from a front mirror view the car has gone then camera changes again then car is gone & so on & so on i was a little disappointed there..not sure if the ending was true as well i wont spoil it for anyone but it was what he does to get back to her...?
If you like Michael Paré, Nancy Allen, Stephen Tobolowsky, the rest of the cast in the film, Action, Science Fiction, Thrillers, Mysteries, and interesting films then I strongly recommend you to see this film today!.
this movie is very underrated i think the acting was great and the story line was very good, i find the special effects ahead of it's time.
I think a war film with time travel, is very good, i usually hate love stories but i think it was kind of cool the way it was done 2 people from different times he is actually going to become the oldest person in the planet if we think about it .
It was 1984.SFX and CGI were nowhere near the top of their game, but passed with most movies to give us the idea where things were going in plots and particular scenes.The Philadelphia Experiment comes across as more of an independent flick than a typical Hollywood blockbuster.
And while it fails on a number of levels for most critics, I felt it did the job and highly entertained for the most part.With great performances from most of its cast, it is the gorgeous Michael Pare who keeps you glued to the screen with his stunning eyes, on-screen charisma, and conviction in the role as the navy officer sent forward in time.Based on potentially true events, TPE isn't perfect but it is worth the watch for fans of time travel movies, 80's action, or just Michael Pare in his role!Enjoyable!.
This would be a very good sci fi thriller, if not for the overly melodramatic and inappropriate, inconsistent use of aggressive military action in this rather fascinating time travel movie.
When those fantastic VCR come out in late 80' I'd rented this movie in VHS with subtitles, I've really like it, a time travel through unsuccessful experiment seems an impressive plot to start, having John Carpenter as executive producer raised the picture in higher degree, despite Michael Paré was unable to the role on account of by far to be a bad actor was easily suplanted by Nancy Allen's talent, Louise Lathan still bright as olden times, a smooth production in early graphic computers availabe were enough, the storyline was quite original, I have this picture from old VHS transfer, but hopeful for a long waiting is close to be ending and this maybe will be release soon on dubbed version!!Resume:First watch: 1989 / How many: 6 / Source: VHS-DVD / Rating: 7.
The intrigue and mystery still, after 18 years, leaves me thinking.I have not seen another movie that deals with time travel in such an intriguing manner.
You just know going into the movie that the good guys will win.The Philadelphia Experiment does have some limited action, but that is not what makes this movie great.
Try to look at it as a documentary, about a so-called "true" event, and you'll be terribly disappointed.If you want to see another movie about ships doing the "time-travel" bit, watch "The Final Countdown (1980)" which has better acting and direction.
I recommend it to all of you who like to watch science fiction and time travel movies..
Michael Pare plays David Herdeg, a sailor on the U.S.S. Naval destroyer Eldridge in the year 1943 which is involved with a top secret invisibility experiment in Philadelphia that goes wrong, with the unexpected result of sending him and another sailor forward in time 41 years, where they find themselves shocked by the technological and cultural differences that exist.
Government forces catch up with them, and after the other sailor is spontaneously transferred back to the Eldridge, David is enlisted to undertake a dangerous mission to be sent back in time there as well, in order to stop the experiment that is still continuing on its own, causing havoc...Good-natured film has appealing performances and an interesting storyline, though is hurt by becoming a standard chase picture for some of its length.
and the reason john carpenter was executive producer was he was working on this film but could not quite get it finished like he wanted to so he did STARMAN{which by the way is similar to this move}and gave the directorial role to someone else.this was the only reason why i had an interst in this was because john carpenter was involved.this is almost like starman meets back to the future.this movie was fun to watch however the dialogue is pretty weak at some points.the effects were good and as a whole the film was moved along fairly smooth.michael pare would have role{small one} in village of the damned in '95..
This hasn't gone down in the annals of sci-fi history as one of the great sci-fi stories of all time, but it's an enjoyable enough story and features pretty decent performances from the two leads, Michael Pare and Nancy Allen.
It ran the risk of becoming little more than a time travel, fish out of water kind of movie but it overcame that in the end by becoming an interesting and thought-provoking story about the danger of science (or at least scientists) pushing things too far when they really aren't sure what it is they're dealing with.The movie begins in 1943, with the US Navy conducting an experiment to see if it could render the USS Eldridge invisible to enemy radar.
The movie builds on that story, adding the story about a 1984 experiment and creating a more dramatic story of time travel as a result.Pare's character is David Herdeg, an Eldridge crew member who gets trapped in 1984, and Allen plays Allison, who meets him in 1984 and becomes his helper, companion and love interest.
The film,"The Philadelphia Experiment" is not so interesting however it should not be readily dismissed either.The stumbling block in so far as my understanding allows is the claims made by the film and the rather difficult illusion that it creates.There are some useful areas to ponder as matters evolve in this picture with both the concept of and the intelligence that the experiment itself provided for.There is a difference between "radar invisible" and "dissapearing" entirely.These matters did provide some thought,though in truth the position is in fact that this film is in reality a far fetched bunch of non-sense.I was not brought into the film as perhaps viewers might be with both opening scenes providing for less information and even less drama than even the acknowledgment through the film of an event that was to occur and of course that would be "The Phildelphia Experiment".The movie had a feel of a less than effort which left it in some sort of grade B status.This is in principal due in as much of the hard to believe story as to how this was played out.There is just about the same hard to believe escapade from start to finish as it would be to believe that this really was an actual event and as yet if you will,a story untold.That to me is and was part of the difficult job that a motion picture provides the viewer with,and that would be to become a part of this story,if you will as yet untold.What is as yet the story untold?Of course we are looking at the concept of moving matter and as well time travel.It certainly would allow for something more than some hard to believe non-sense and as well the escapade did not allow for a conviction as to time,it dealt with an inability to know what was in effect occurring with there being less to know and even perhaps less to care for.There romp as it were required lives to be lost with such indifference that there is no claim made as to the cost nor its value.It is in these areas that there is a underwritten theme and it doesn't have to do with honesty either.It has to do with having a good time with no ability to provide anything more than that and that of course of having a good time even if it is at the expense of others.Though not in and of itself serious, this would not need to be if in fact this was a story worth telling.The answer is there needed to be greater intellectual input to make believable or at least more so such as is the scenario put forth by "The Philadelphia Experiment"The participants were,the actors and film making people, which the viewers now were not, included in the making of the film and as such were kept out of the assumptions that the sailors and everyone else in the film were included in.This provides only that the film was not convincing and though it is a pity it is not believable either.In as much as the performers are concerned it was as much a problem not to know as it was to know due to the inability to prove what it was that they were involved in and here again we come against the idea of a story that skirts the issue of believability.It is this opinion that I believe is were the answer was and is and that be,that those who made the film did not believe in the film and it shows.I would guess that it is much to require that those who make these films have some belief attached to the film however I think not as there's is a bottom line and as well a manufactured good that provides all the illusion that you need.That is in fact nearer the truth and as such not much on real intelligence gathering nor would it provide any ability to properly inform the audience as to what there was an attempt to provide.This film is not entirely unworthy though indeed it does attempt to stretch whatever storyline there is and as such increase the inability to place conduct and its purpose within a believable context.Ultimately as a reader the opinion would not be one way or another though I have managed to see this film for a third time since 1984,the last two times were as today on my computer..
The men who actually served aboard the Eldridge laugh at the premise, and flatly deny that the ship was anywhere near Philadelphia at that time.That aside, this could've been a very good sci-fi film.
And somehow, he made it gently onto the ground.I love a good time travel/alternate reality story, so I sincerely hope that someone remakes The Philadelphia Experiment, and does a better job than was done the last time around.
The Philadelphia Experiment is one of the most interesting movies of last century were both fiction and reality seem to match together in such a great manner.
Actually the effects for the time vortex aren't too bad and the shots of the vortex hole in the sky with lots of swirling cloud around it are quite good still.The acting is very basic and hokey with chief of cheese Mr Pare and one of the Queens of the 80's Nancy Allen both in a very soppy love plot.
The Philadephia Experiment is a decent time travel/action film with some romance thrown in for the ladies, which I often don't really like, but since it's Nancy Allen, I won't complain.
"The Philadelphia Experiment" may not be a classic, but I really enjoy sci-fi time travel flicks like this. |
tt0080180 | Zulu Dawn | The film is set in British South Africa, in the province of Natal, in January 1879. The first half of the film revolves around the administrators and officials of Cape Colony, notably the supremely arrogant Lord Chelmsford (Peter O'Toole) and the scheming Sir Henry Bartle Frere (John Mills), who both wish to crush the neighbouring Zulu Empire, which is perceived as a threat to Cape Colony's emerging industrial economy. Bartle Frere issues an impossible ultimatum to the Zulu king, Cetshwayo (Simon Sabela), demanding that he dissolve the Zulu Empire. Cetshwayo refuses, providing Cape Colony with a pretext to invade Zululand. Despite objections from leading members of Cape Colony's high society and from Great Britain itself, Bartle Frere authorises Lord Chelmsford to lead a British invasion force into Zululand.The second half of the film focuses on the British invasion of Zululand and the lead-up to the climatic Battle of Isandlwana. The invading British army, laden with an immense network of supply wagons, invades Zululand and marches in the direction of Ulundi, the Zulu capital. British forces, eager to fight a large battle in which they can unleash their cutting-edge firearm military technology against the vast Zulu army, become increasingly frustrated as the main Zulu army refuses to attack the British, and fighting is restricted to a few small skirmishes between British and Zulu scouts.Concerned that their supply lines are becoming overstretched and that the main Zulu army is still at large, British troops begin torturing captive Zulu warriors in an effort to learn the location and tactics of the Zulu army. Halfway to Ulundi, Chelmsford halts his army at the base of Mount Isandhlwana, ignoring the advice of Boer attendants to entrench the camp and laager the supply wagons, leaving the camp dangerously exposed. During the night, Colonel Durnford (Burt Lancaster) and an escort of 50 mounted Basutos approach the camp. Lord Chelmsford then orders Durnford to return to his unit, bringing them to the camp immediately to reinforce Colonel Pulleine (Denholm Elliott). Lt. Vereker (Simon Ward) should join Durnford as aide-de-camp.Reacting to false intelligence, Chelmsford leads half of the British army, including the best infantry, cavalry and artillery units, on a wild goose chase far from the camp, in pursuit of a phantom Zulu army. On the day of battle (January 22), Durnford and his troops are arriving at 11:00 a.m. at the camp at Isandlwana. Meanwhile, the Zulu captives escape their torturers and regroup with the Zulu army, informing them of the British army's direction and strength. After having lunch with Colonel Pulleine and Lt. Vereker, Durnford quickly decides to send Vereker to scout the hills. Durnford then decides to take his own command out from the camp too, and scout the iNyoni heights.The entire Zulu army is later discovered by men of Lt. Vereker's troop of scouts, who chase a number of Zulu herdsmen, trying to hurry away their cattle, only to discover the main Zulu enemy force of thousands at the bottom of a valley. Lt. Vereker then sends Lt. Raw to warn the camp that it is about to be attacked.As Zulu impis descend upon the camp, Durnford's cavalry retreat to a donga in an effort to hold back the Zulu advance. Forced back, the British take heavy casualties, including the battery of Congreve rockets, which is overrun by the Zulus. Initially, the British infantry succeed in defending the camp, and Zulu forces retreat under a hail of artillery and small arms fire. British units defending the camp are now becoming dangerously spread-out, and are oblivious to Zulu forces moving round the sides of the mountain in an encircling move.As British infantrymen begin to run out of ammunition and the British cavalry are driven back towards the camp, Zulu warriors charge the British troops en masse, sustaining horrific casualties, but succeed in breaking the British lines. As British troops break and flee towards the camp, the battle breaks down into hand-to-hand fighting between British soldiers and Zulu warriors, amongst the débris of tents, fallen soldiers and supply wagons. Overwhelmed by the sheer number of Zulu warriors, British soldiers and their African allies are slaughtered in the camp, some being cut down as they attempt to flee back towards Natal. Colour-Sergeant-Major Williams (Bob Hoskins) sees many of his redcoated men being cut down by Zulu spears. Williams is stabbed in the back by a spear while attempting to save the life of one of his young soldiers, and having killed several Zulu soldiers with his bayonet after he runs out of ammo, dies at the hands of a large band of Zulus.As the British forces break apart, the one-armed Durnford becomes trapped in the camp. Hoping to save his men, Durnford orders his African cavalrymen to retreat. Remaining on foot at the battlefield, Durnford is killed alongside his infantrymen.During the last minutes of the battle, Colonel Pulleine entrusts the Queen's Colours of the 2nd battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot to two junior officers, Lts. Melvill (James Sebastian Faulkner) and Coghill (Christopher Cazenove), who attempt to carry them to safety in Natal, passing gruesome scenes as Zulu warriors hunt down British and African infantrymen attempting to flee across the river. While crossing the Buffalo River, the three lieutenants are cut down by Zulus. Coghill accompanies Melvill in his attempt to gallop the Union Flag back towards Natal. When Melvill nearly drowns while trying to cross the Buffalo River, Coghill turns to help him, and is ambushed by Zulu warriors. Coghill attempts to defend himself with his revolver, but is killed. Melvill is assegaied by Zulu warriors while defending the flag.The Colours (a Union Flag embroidered with the Regiment's insignia) are captured. In his dying moments, Vereker shoots and kills the Zulu wielding the Colours, and the Colours fall gracefully into the river, where they are carried out of reach. Vereker's fate remains unknown (though it is implied that he too gets killed).Seeing the battle lost, Pulleine returns to his tent to pen a last letter to his wife. He is discovered by one of the escaped Zulu prisoners and, unwilling to kill the young soldier, the elderly Pulleine allows himself to be killed in his tent by the Zulu and other warriors that storm in.In the evening, Chelmsford and the rest of the British army return to Isandlwana, to be greeted by the sight of their slaughtered comrades, and the news that a mass Zulu army has invaded Natal and laid siege to Rorke's Drift. Charles L. Norris-Newman (Ronald Lacey), a war correspondent for 'The Standard' also views the devastation (having accompanyed Chelmsford's expecition and so avoid the battle/massacre. The film ends with Zulu warriors in a silhouetted victory procession, dragging captured British artillery back to Ulundi. | cult, murder, violence | train | imdb | Released in a badly cut version in 1979 just before the resurgent interest in Burt Lancaster for his performance in "Atlantic City and Peter O'Toole for "Stunt Man", this fine historical epic died an ignominious death at the box office, on the second half of a double bill with the horror film "Silent Scream".
That film opened with a voice over of Richard Burton speaking Lord Chelmsford's communication to Prime Minister Disraeli detailing the massacre that befell a British column of about 1,800 British Infantrymen and native contingents at the hands of Zulu warriors at Isandlwana on January 22, 1879.
"Zulu Dawn" chronicles the chain of events that led up to the British debacle at Isandlwana, the worst defeat ever suffered by a professional army at the hands of native forces in history.Director Douglas Hickox keeps the film moving along and the film is an excellent example of adapting historical events to the needs of cinematic form and drama.
The arrogance of the British Empire as personified by Sir Henry Bartle Frere, (John Mills in another stiff upper lip performance) and his chief lieutenant, Frederick Theisger, Lord Chelmsford, (Peter O'Toole, nicely understated and subdued) are in the filmmaker's view clearly responsible for a war that need never have been fought at all.
Although made some 15 years after the 1964 flim "Zulu", this film is actually the "prequel" to the other and should be viewed first in order for a better understanding of these two events in the British invasion of Zululand.
This movie had the potential of being great - what with us going well over budget ($52mill) We had the stars - most being very professional but with two major flaws - with incompetents such as Douglas Hickox and Peter O'Toole (directly responsible for the over-budgeting) 2nd Unit Director, David Tomblin and Peter Mc Donald - 2n Unit film Director were largely responsible for saving the production - in many more ways than one.Our skeleton crew had to re-shoot many scenes.
It took a lot of serious brainstorming and communication with the amaZulu to be able to complete this very important depiction of one of many battlers that took place between the "natives" and the invading colonialist (Boer & British) armies.The passion, pathos, emotion and pain of reliving this momentous battle had an immense effect on myself, especially as I was one of the isiZulu Interpretors and Liaison people - as well as one of the second assistants.The scenery may well have been spectacular; but working in such close/intimate - trusting proximity with 6000 amaZulu warriors was an experience beyond all comprehension.I still regard this movie to be a very valuable one - especially since the fall of the previous South African regime and highly recommend it..
Not perfect, but awesome in its spectacle and casting, ZULU DAWN makes a fine companion piece to it's earlier sequel, ZULU.DAWN starts fairly slowly with lots of lengthy contrasting scenes in Zululand and Natal, showing a big rift between the comfortable life of the British Colonials in Natal vs.
The final battle scene consumes roughly the last 30 minutes of the movie and it's very exciting to see roughly 1200 British soldiers swiftly get overrun by a 30,000 strong army of Zulu warriors armed with spears.
Then comes one of the best shots in any epic film (reminding me of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and BATTLE OF NERETVA) with one excellent long shot where the entire background shows the Zulus swarming through the British tents while in the foreground a Zulu stabs and British soldier to death.The main disappointment here is that Peter O'Toole is a bit underused and in his rather 2-dimensional presentation of Lord Chelmsford as an uptight snob really doesn't have the complexity or larger than life impact that one would usually expect from him.
The musical score is very good as well, though at times possibly a little distracting and oppressive.Hats off to the cinematographer and location managers for this one - I believe ZULU DAWN was shot at the actual South African locations near the real battle (though Isandlwana hill was too modernized and built up to use for the film), so the authenticity of this film shall probably go unequaled into history.
As 'Zulu' is about the battle of O'rourke's drift, one of the most celebrated victories in British military history, ZD deals with one of the biggest defeats of the British army by an indigenous force.
It happened just a few days before the events in 'Zulu'.ZD is sheer heaven for history buffs : everything is recreated into the tiniest detail : the uniforms, entirely filmed on location in South-Africa Natal province , the famous Martini Henry rifles, even including some kind of prehistoric rocket launchers, so no cost or effort were spared to recreate the conditions of the battle.The Brits are represented by the cream of English actorsgild : Peter O'Toole as the too self-confident general, Simon Ward as the green lieutenant, Bob Hoskins (just before his breakthrough role in "the Long Good Friday") as a hardasnails sergeant and Denholm Elliot as one of the ignorant troop commanders.Also a large Boer party ( settlers mostly from Holland as 'Boer' is the Dutch word for farmer) took part in the battle, lead here by none other then Burt Lancaster !
A very bloody three-year war followed, simply known as 'the Boer war', where the British army was nearly defeated by the much smaller number of unprofessional Boers soldiers.Director Douglas Hickox ( Entertaining Mr Sloane, Sitting Target, Sky Devils,etc..)does an excellent job and turns in a classic-style, immaculate and spectacular epic.
Sadly ZD was a big flop at the box-office and marked the end of the old-style colonial epics, up until the recent remake of 'The Four Feathers'.It also marked the end of the career of director Hickox in feature-length movies and he was forced to work for TV, condemned to churning out superior 'schmalzy' series as 'Mistral's Daughter', 'Sins', etc...But as historical epics go, they do not come any better than this.
Here, it's easy to follow exactly what's happening, and why.What makes the film especially memorable is that it's the story of a military disaster - the biggest defeat of a "modern" army at the hands of a "primitive" one (though I believe the Zulus suffered higher casualties than the British did).
I guess that's what makes this initial Zulu victory so noteworthy - almost unbelievable, really.As is often the case in war movies, "Zulu Dawn" features big-name actors playing real soldiers.
Though nobody gives a career-best performance, it's great to see O'Toole, Burt Lancaster, Bob Hoskins and a solid cast of British character actors together in one movie.I don't suppose they'd ever make this today.
"Zulu Dawn" is necessarily more diffuse, covering the folks at home (both in South Africa and Zululand) and the converging of battle forces and the division of the British between Lord Chelmsford's column and the men at Isandlwana.
In command of British force is General Lord Chelmsford well played by Peter O'Toole and an excellent Burt Lancaster plays Colonel Durnford as a tough and veteran officer.
The battle scenes are magnificent with deployment of the vast forces, and exciting combats when the army try to defend from attack by thousands of Zulu warriors.Stunning cinematography with colorful landscapes and martial musical score by the master Elmer Berstein.
This is a prequel about 'Zulu'(1963,Cy Endfield) depicts the electrifying battle of Roarke'Drift where little more than hundred soldiers made a valiant stand against thousands Zulu warriors.Adding more details over the largely depicted on the movie, the incidents happened of the following manner : Zulu victory over British forces 22 Jan 1879 about 160 km, north of Durban.A column led by Lord Chelmsford seeking the Zulu army camped at Isandhlwara, road to Ulundi while patrols went out to scour the district.
It turned out to be one of the great disasters the British ever experienced.The Zulus in this film are accurately depicted as highly disciplined soldiers, and in some ways shows them in a more human way than "Zulu".
Although less spectacular than its predecessor "Zulu" "Zulu Dawn" is still an excellent war film which properly captures the sheer incompetence of the senior British officers and the nobility and fighting spirit of the Zulus.
The British almost repeated the same mistakes during the Boar war , and the French and Americans done it in south east Asia , and the red army did it in Afghanistan.DAWN does chronicle in great depth the mistakes made at the battle of Isandlwana: Chelmsford split his forces , the army didn't reinforce the perimeter , they were spread too thinly , and the method of supplying ammo was totally flawed , but it's this that spoils the film , there is too much emphasis of what happened to cause this defeat .
The film would have worked much better if it concentrated on just Chelmsford and Bob Hoskins gruff Sgt Major instead of the many characters who drift in and out of the picture ZULU DAWN isn't a complete waste of time though , despite the long wait the battle scenes are handled well ( But not as good as ZULU ) and like ZULU it shows that a lot of brave men died on both sidesUpdate March 2008 .
The second film shows what happens at the second battle that occurred very shortly after the massacre in Zulu Dawn.Peter O' Toole is magnificent and the commanding officer that doesn't know how to fight the Zulu and won't take advice from those that do.
The impressing films battle scenes (thousands of Zulus in a frenzy run towards the British lines) are a masterpiece of coordination, although the in-fight is not very much realistic in parts, which is typical for films where no experts are consulted (later they are insulted).
As a big fan of Zulu 1964,i had to watch the sequel Zulu Dawn.I must admit i was not disappointed,as this film does not try to out do or better the first,as there both about different battles of the same conflict.The good thing about this version is that it shows both points of view from both sides so you can make your own mind up.Another good point is that it shows the different classes that make up the British army,from the cockney Sgt to the stiff upper lip generals to the northern privates,this is just how the British army was and still is,this was the last time the British army wore red in battle.The only thing i thought was wrong with the film was when Burt Lancaster gets shot,and the music becomes very dramatic,its seems the bigger the star you are the more dramatic the death scene,after all when the boy soldier gets shot by our own rifles he doesn't get any music ,he just gets trampled over by thousands of Zulus.I'm surprised know one else commented on this,you rotten lot..
It's a very dark irony that it turns out to be the worst job he could have done in this battle.John Mills, as the one who nominally sends an ultimatum to the king of the Zulu and declares war, states chillingly at one point that this is the final solution to the "Zulu problem" - calling to mind other such statements in history and an indication of where the writers' sentiments may lie; it also begs the question, would the anti-war slant have been evident if this film were made right after Zulu, in the mid-sixties?
Despite it's violence (more than half the film is the battle), it never lost sight of its primary themes - the remarkable courage of common men, the profound differences between the two cultures in conflict."Zulu Dawn" is a weak follow-up.
In the case of the Zulus and the Lakota Sioux the defeats were smothered to contemporaries (who deified Pullein and the others in their African camp, and Custer on his little hilltop) because the British went on to smash the Zulus (after a year of heavy fighting) and the Americans went on to destroy the Sioux (Crazy Horse, who won Little Big Horn, was killed within one year while under arrest).ZULU DAWN was meant to be the prequel to ZULU, which is (in some ways) a better film.
Nobody likes defeats and it lasted almost 10 years before movies about the last Stand of the Guides (The Far Pavilions) and the Battle of Isandlwana (ZULU DAWN) were made.
That film concerned the freshly victorious Zulus from the battle of Isandlwana where they nearly annihilated a British army and were marching on a post at Rorke's Drift.
Lord Chelmsford the British commander played by Peter O'Toole made a lot of tactical errors including leaving his cavalry under Colonel Anthony Dumford who is played by Burt Lancaster on the other side of the Buffalo River out of Zulu Territory.
Whilst the first movie has the action and good characters, it's not a great portrayal of what happened.Zulu Dawn on the other hand tries very hard to be 'true' in it's portrayal of the events leading up to and including Isandlwana and to the large part, pulls it off well.
See it – This is the prequel to the classic movie "Zulu." Starring an aging Burt Lancaster and Peter O'Toole, it chronicles the events leading up to the battle at Rorke's Drift in "Zulu." Made 15 years later, it is not quite the classic that its predecessor was.
i saw this movie on television about twenty years ago,but i can't remember if it was the 98 minute version or the 113 minute version or the 115 minute version.in addition,it was not presented in the widescreen format, which needless to say is a must.about a year ago "zulu dawn"was released on DVD,but in the pan-scan - full screen format.i did not purchase it because it was not presented in widescreen.the version i saw two decades ago was very good and staged some of the best battle scenes i have ever seen in any movie.it also was a very good period film,with much attention to detail and much realism.it is an outstanding war film and in its own way on par with "zulu".burt Lancaster and peter o'toole head the cast.both are solid and if i remember correctly,Lancaster employs a British accent to add to the realism of his real life character.so you have two great stars in a great historical war movie.now all we need is the 115 minute WIDESCREEN VERSION PLEASE.thank-you..
Zulu Dawn has some incredible photography with an epic feel it seems a lot of the plaudits for that should go to the second unit team rather than the director Douglas Hickox, who was more of a hack and unfortunately this epic was over his head and thus he delivered a less than engaging and loose film that also went over budget.The film recounts the defeat of the bellicose British forces intent on invading Zululand as the British forces are split and soon taken by surprise by the Zulus.The film has the usual cyphers from the arrogant, pompous nobility (Peter O'Toole), the experienced Sergeant Major type (Bob Hoskins), the more sensitive and noble officer (Simon Ward), the natural heroic leader of men (Burt Lancaster).
This is a diffuse story, a lot of fine actors with little to do, and although the battle scenes are fine, you do wonder why the Zulus are shown as nothing more than warriors running with spears while some of the British soldiers are having a noble death..
Depicting what is claimed to be the worst defeat of the British colonial army against a native force (battle of Isandlwana), ZULU DAWN is a remarkable film that goes until the most little detail when portraying this battle and what preceded it (the British ultimatum against the Zulu king).
As far as I learned the British ended up invading Zululand (in Anglo-Zulu war in 1879), but this defeat at the battle of Isandlwana against the Zulus was an infamous loss to them, mostly on their pride and typical arrogance.
a little sad to see such a movie have such a low average rating...its incredibly historically accurate and well paced with high production budget definitely a must-see if you like historical war moviesthis and the original Zulu film are some of the best representations of asymmetrical colonial warfare that is part of our history.
Col Pulleine was an administrator and had never been in a battle.He was caught flat footed, spread out, and was cut up piece-meal, although according to the Zulus it was still a close call...for a time the British were winning, but they couldn't hold.Notice BTW in the movie, the man Chelmsford sends with a spyglass to observe ISandlwana comes back and says, "The tents have not been struck.".
The film is excellent for the atmosphere it creates at what it must have been like with 20 odd thousand Zulu's coming at you in full force.The Zulu battle tactic of the 'horns of a bullalo' are not explained at all in the movie and also the fact that the entire camp was surrounded and swallowed up in less than an hour.
That began on a day in which a British Force of 1,800 men several miles away was defeated and almost annihilated by 20,000 to 30,000 Zulus in the Battle of Isandlwana.
"Zulu Dawn" isn't on the level of the first film, but it is a very good movie and addition to the history of the Anglo-Zulu War..
Fine cast, of British actors, with the obligatory American (Burt Lancaster), Zulu Dawn features the PREVIOUS battle to Rorke's Drift, (Portayed in the superior 'Zulu') Isandhlwana.
Excellent battle scenes.For some reason or another, this film has been the hardest thing to find, it's so good to see it on DVD after years of waiting.
Otherwise Zulu Dawn is a very good depiction of a true historical incident and a must for fans of this type of Film. |
tt0365498 | Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater | === Characters ===
The protagonist of Snake Eater, Naked Snake (David Hayter/Akio Ōtsuka), known as Big Boss in subsequent games, is a young former Green Beret assigned to the CIA unit FOX. During his mission, Snake is assisted by fellow FOX members over his radio: Major Zero (Jim Piddock/Banjō Ginga), commander of FOX and a former member of the British Special Air Service, who provides Snake with mission advice and battle tactics; Para-Medic (Heather Halley/Houko Kuwashima), who provides medical information, as well as advice on flora and fauna; and Sigint (James C. Mathis III/Keiji Fujiwara), who provides weapon and equipment information.
The two primary antagonists of the game are Colonel Volgin (Neil Ross/Kenji Utsumi), an electricity-controlling GRU colonel and member of the extreme Brezhnev faction, who are attempting to overthrow Nikita Khrushchev to seize power for Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin, and The Boss (Lori Alan/Kikuko Inoue), former mentor to Naked Snake and co-founder of the FOX unit. The Cobra Unit, a Special Forces unit led by The Boss, is composed of The End (J. Grant Albrecht/Osamu Saka), a venerable expert sniper credited as the "father of modern sniping"; The Fear (Michael Bell/Kazumi Tanaka), who has supernatural flexibility and agility; The Fury (Richard Doyle/Masato Hirano), a disfigured former cosmonaut armed with a flamethrower and a jetpack; The Pain (Gregg Berger/Hisao Egawa), who can control hornets to both defend himself and attack his enemies; and The Sorrow (David Thomas/Yukitoshi Hori), the spirit of a deceased medium.
Other characters include Dr. Sokolov (Brian Cummings/Naoki Tatsuta), a rocket scientist whom Snake must rescue; EVA (Suzetta Miñet/Misa Watanabe), Snake's love interest, American defector, and KGB agent sent to assist him, and a young Ocelot (Josh Keaton/Takumi Yamazaki), commander of the elite Ocelot Unit within Volgin's GRU.
=== Story ===
==== Virtuous Mission ====
Metal Gear Solid 3 is set before the events of first Metal Gear during the Cold War in 1964, where a CIA agent, codenamed "Naked Snake", is sent to the jungles of Tselinoyarsk, in the USSR. Aided over radio by Major Zero, Para-Medic, and his former mentor The Boss, his mission is to rescue a defecting Soviet scientist named Sokolov who is secretly developing an advanced nuclear-equipped tank called the "Shagohod". The mission goes smoothly until The Boss appears on the scene, who announces to Snake that she's defecting to the USSR, and provides her new benefactor, Colonel Volgin, with two Davy Crockett miniature nuclear shells. Sokolov is captured by Cobra Unit and Snake is heavily injured and thrown off a bridge by The Boss, allowing Volgin and his cohorts to escape with Sokolov. Volgin detonates one of the nuclear shells to cover up its theft, which is subsequently blamed on The Boss. Snake is recovered using the Fulton Recovery System.
==== Operation Snake Eater ====
Having detected the U.S. aircraft which deployed Snake flying over Soviet soil, the Soviet Union declares the United States responsible for the nuclear attack, tipping both nations to the edge of a nuclear war. In a secret conference between U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, a deal is hatched to prove the U.S.'s innocence and restore peace. The United States agrees to stop Volgin's renegade faction, destroy the stolen Shagohod and eliminate the American defector, The Boss.
A week after being rescued from the region, Snake is redeployed into the Soviet jungle as part of "Operation: Snake Eater", to fulfill the United States' promises. During the mission, he gains the assistance of another American defector, ex-NSA agent EVA, who defected a few years earlier (though she is informed she would be helped by ADAM, who defected with her). After numerous encounters with the elite Ocelot Unit (led by a young Revolver Ocelot), and defeating nearly every member of Cobra Unit, Snake succeeds in locating Sokolov and the stolen Shagohod, only to be captured in Volgin's military fortress, Groznyj Grad. After listening to Volgin brutally beat Sokolov to death, Snake is tortured by Volgin and loses his eye while protecting EVA from Ocelot, who was attempting to kill her upon suspecting her of being a spy; Snake ultimately escapes.
When he returns to the facility to destroy the Shagohod, Snake is once again confronted by Volgin and learns of "The Philosophers". Made up of the most powerful men in the United States, Soviet Union, and China, they were an Illuminati-like organization who control the world behind the scenes. However, after the end of World War II, they began to fight amongst themselves, and the organization broke down. The Philosopher's Legacy, a fund the organization had jointly amassed to finance their wars ($100 billion), was divided up and hidden in banks all over the world. Volgin had illegally inherited this money, and Snake learns that the U.S. is attempting to retrieve it.
Snake continues his mission, destroying the facility and the Shagohod tank, while engaging Volgin, who is killed by a bolt of lightning during the battle. Snake and EVA travel to a lake, where a WIG ground effect vehicle is hidden. Before they use it to escape the region, Snake confronts his old mentor, The Boss, whom he must assassinate to complete his mission. After an emotional battle, The Boss gives Snake the microfilm containing the location of the Philosopher's Legacy, and requests Snake to kill her. Soon after, Snake overcomes his feelings and kills The Boss, emerging victorious. He and EVA escape to Alaska, and spend the night together as they make love. During the night, EVA disappears with the microfilm, and leaves behind a tape revealing herself to be a Chinese spy sent to steal the Philosopher's Legacy for China. The tape continues, and EVA reveals that The Boss did not defect to the Soviet Union; rather, she was under orders to pretend to defect so she could infiltrate Volgin's ranks and find the location of the Legacy, which could be brought back to America. The final part of her mission was to sacrifice her honor and die at the hands of Snake, under the guise of a traitor, to prove the U.S.'s innocence in Volgin's nuclear attack during the Virtuous Mission.
Snake is awarded the title of "Big Boss" and given the Distinguished Service Cross for his efforts by President Johnson in front of his FOX Unit and other officials; however Snake has become so distraught and demoralized after EVA's revelation that he leaves almost immediately after getting his medal, hardly acknowledging Major Zero, Para-Medic and Sigint. Later, he arrives at an anonymous grave, The Boss's, just one of thousands located in Arlington National Cemetery. Laying down The Boss's gun and a bouquet of lilies upon the nameless gravestone, he scans the endless rows before him, salutes, and sheds a single tear, knowing that The Boss will forever be seen by the world as a terrorist, and a traitor to her nation, and that her true patriotism will be known by only EVA, himself, and others who knew of her mission.
After the credits roll, Ocelot is heard talking to the KGB Chief Director over the telephone. After suggesting that the KGB use the knowledge of both the Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater to blackmail the United States during future negotiations, he then calls another, unidentified man. Ocelot informs him that the microfilm stolen by EVA was a fake and that half of the Philosopher's Legacy is now in America's hands, with the other half held by the KGB. It transpires that Ocelot has been triple-crossing everyone from the very beginning. He then reveals that he is in fact ADAM, that he is talking to the director of the CIA, and that he has been working for the said agency all this time. | violence, dark, cruelty, murder, sadist | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0044502 | Clash by Night | Mae Doyle (Barbara Stanwyck) returns to her home town, the fishing village of Monterey, California after ten years "back East." Her fisherman brother Joe (Keith Andes) is not particularly pleased to see her, but accepts her back into the family home. His girlfriend Peggy (Marilyn Monroe) is more welcoming. When Joe asks Mae about the rich man she was seeing, she explains he was a married politician. He died and left her some money, but his wife and relatives took her to court and won.
Mae begins to date Jerry (Paul Douglas), a good-natured, unsophisticated fisherman with his own boat. Mae instantly despises Jerry's friend, Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan), a bitter, dissatisfied film projectionist. Mae's politician lover had made her feel more confident in herself; in stark contrast, Earl has a low opinion of women in general and makes no attempt to hide it. His wife is a vaudeville performer who is away frequently on tour.
Earl, sensing a kindred restless spirit, is attracted to Mae right away. Jerry is oblivious to the tension between the two and soon asks Mae to marry him, despite her warning that she is not good for him. Mae decides to accept, even though she does not love or even respect her future husband, for the security and in the hope that she can change.
After having a baby girl with Jerry, Mae becomes bored and restless after a year. Earl, now divorced, makes a move on Mae. She resists at first, but then begins an affair with him. Jerry's uncle Vince (J. Carrol Naish), who bears a grudge against Mae, tells his disbelieving nephew. When Jerry confronts the couple, Mae admits that she wants to leave Jerry to be with Earl.
After a few drinks and prodded on by Vince, Jerry finds and starts strangling Earl, until Mae arrives and breaks up the fight. Jerry leaves, horrified at what almost happened. When Mae goes home to take her baby away, she finds the crib empty. Earl tries to coax Mae to leave with him anyway, without the baby, but this does not sit well with Mae. After trading bitter recriminations, she breaks up with him. Mae repents and convinces Jerry to take her back. | sadist, melodrama | train | wikipedia | In transposing a Clifford Odets play from New York to a Californian fishing community some of the more florid dialogue seems unnaturally heightened but the performances of the three principals (Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan and particularly Paul Douglas) are stunning and the emotional core of the film is so strong that an audience can feel bruised by what's on screen.
But it's a tribute to the acting skill of Stanwyck, Paul Douglas and Robert Ryan that their characters come alive with all their flaws and longings exposed.Barbara is excellent as a woman who returns to a fishing village after a long time away, a bitter, defeated woman still trying to find a niche for herself.
Andes breathes life into the role of Barbara's disgruntled brother and should have been groomed for stardom--he had the looks and appeal of a major star.A somewhat downbeat ending resolves the conflict--but along the way there are some very high-strung moments from Stanwyck that she plays to perfection.
Far from vintage Fritz Lang, but still enjoyable in its high-strung melodramatic antics, accentuated in a needlessly symbolic way by the raging of the sea and the clouding over of the sky.Tough girl Barbara Stanwyck returns to her hometown after ten years of being the mistress of a married man.
She meets and marries simple, goodhearted fisherman Paul Douglas, but is bored by ordinary married life: "Every day you get a little older, lonelier, stupider", and soon succumbs to her attraction to cynical, boozy movie projectionist Robert Ryan.The power of 'Clash by Night' lies not in its trite plot or in its overblown imagery, but in the no-nonsense acting of Stanwyck and Ryan, tough as nails but raw at the core.
They have an animal eroticism together between them that sparkles like fireworks, but they are also, alas, quite self-pitying.Many of the bit parts are surprisingly unsavory, but then we also get the young Marilyn Monroe as the naive young girl who hopes to marry Stanwyck's hunky brother, played by Keith Andes, more often than not strutting his naked torso..
Lang's role was to push them to that level recognition in themselves.Even the seemingly secondary characters like Stanwyck's brother and his girlfriend, the latter played surprisingly and delightfully by a young Marilyn Monroe, give strong performances.
It does have one of the great film noir directors in Fritz Lang and stars two of the genres foremost performers in Barbara Stanwyck(DOUBLE INDEMNITY) and Robert Ryan(The Set Up).
Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan and Marilyn Monore: wow, not a bad leading foursome of actors!
Douglas plays the simpleton good guy who gets shafted by his wife Stanwyck who has an affair with Ryan.Monroe and her boyfriend (played by Keith Andes) have a smaller role but are just as fascinating a couple, of not ore so than the leads.
story is full of usual cliches, but stanwyck, paul douglas, robert ryan, and a young marilyn monroe: wow!!!
Mae is courted by Jerry D'Amato (Paul Douglas), a good and naive man that owns the boat where Joe works, and he introduces his brutal friend Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan), who works as theater's projectionist and is cheated by his wife.
When the wife of Earl leaves him, he becomes depressed and Mae, who is bored with her loveless marriage, has an affair with him."Clash by Night" is an unpleasant drama with a bitter story and a moralist conclusion, actually a minor film of Master Fritz Lang in his career in Hollywood.
Despite several of the genre's quintessential elements (director Fritz Lang, director of photography Nicholas Musuraca, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan), this is not a film noir in the strict sense of the word and, in fact, as was the case with DILLINGER (1945), it made for a rather baffling choice to be included in Warners' "Film Noir Collection Vol. 2"!
Actually, it's one of Lang's least typical films, though his beloved theme of Man being unable to escape his Fate does in fact play a major part in the proceedings.In any case, CLASH BY NIGHT remains full of interest throughout and the melodramatic flourishes of the (familiar) 'love triangle' plot - adapted from a stage play by Clifford Odets (hence the tendency to overstate its points from time to time) - seem to have inspired the cast and crew to give it their all: one simply can't ignore the excellent performances (including a wonderfully disarming turn from Marilyn Monroe, not yet a star) and the typically great, hard-boiled (if often, necessarily, theatrical) dialogue (my favorites are two lines delivered, in his uniquely contemptible fashion, by Ryan - having had enough of a tediously uneventful night-out at the local tavern, he exclaims: "Excuse me while I shake this dump upside down!"; and describing the failed relationship with his estranged wife with the delicious "Sometimes I'd like to stick her full of pins...just to see if blood runs out!").
Douglas's Jerry is not just a nice guy, he's a rub-your-nose-in-it Nice Guy. Similarly for Ryan's cynical Earl and Stanwyck's hard case Mae. Not even such first-rate performers as these can overcome the relentlessly overblown dialog or stagy sets.
For me there were several reasons for liking and disliking this movie: Pro: Stanwyck and Ryan are outstanding as usual, Marilyn Monroe pleasant and performing well enough, the dialogs are frequently sharp and revealing and Lang's directing make it almost feel noirish.
She was forty-four years old when Clash by Night was released, and in Old Hollywood, women of that age were playing matronly roles, not playing the sexy lead in a movie that also featured Marilyn Monroe!Barbara plays a hardened woman with a past who marries a small-town fisherman, Paul Douglas.
The only noir things about "Clash by Night" are its nonsensical title and some actors, notably Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan, who appeared in their fair share of films of that genre.No, "Clash by Night" is a character study of three people caught up in a romantic triangle.
Considering the film was directed by Fritz Lang and starred Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan and Paul Douglas, it should have been a better film.
Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, and Keith Andes star in "Clash by Night," based on the play by Clifford Odets that flopped on Broadway.
She was 45 at the time of thee filming and obviously playing someone a good 10 years younger, but it still works.Marilyn Monroe has a supporting role playing the girlfriend of handsome Keith Andes.
I think that the excellent contrast between Paul Douglas,and Robert Ryan in this movie,make it one of the "must see",for any real movie buff out there,goes down in my book,as one of the top 20.You get to see many different faces of Robert Ryan,in a short time,he can have you going back and forth,from thinking him a heel,to pitying him,in a span of seconds.Acting like this is not found very much in today's movies,and they did it without explicit nudity,left it to your imagination.If you really are into great oldies,and love black/white movies,this a truly a must see for anyone even studying film class.Anyone out there wants to see a truly versatile actor,you need look no further,you have two great ones in Robert Ryan,and Paul Douglas..
"Clash By Night" is probably remembered more for the appearance of the young and beautiful Marilyn Monroe rather than for the excellent "eternal triangle" drama that it is.Woman of the world Mae Doyle (Barbara Stanwyck) returns to her home town, a small northern Califoria fishing village, having no other place to go.
Her brother Joe (Keith Andes) is not exactly glad to see her but she manages to strike up a friendship with Joe's girlfriend Peggy (Monroe).Mae looking for security meets local fisherman Jerry D'Amato (Paul Douglas) and the two begin dating.
A little Clash by Day,Too. In this seldom seen or talked about movie,nowaday's we have a special vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck to demonstrate the art of love triangle.She being THE top gross actress of 40's and one very gifted thespian{if given the right script}has plenty of cards to deal and work with in this game of love,integrity,conceit and possible betrayal.Forget that Marilyn Monroe is cast.Her character is fodder for sailor mindset.Since the action and gripping drama take place and very realistically so ,right off the fishing harbor.Which give the movie a true feel for the circumstance and possible dilemna facing cast.Everything about setting is so believable,with grayish overcast sky to blistery and faded dwellings,that feel the salt air as well as breath.Even the costumes,especially of lead character Paul Douglas is very sailor-fied.So to with his family members,J.Carroll Naish,in particular.And I am pleased to announce that finally Stanwyck has that gown put away somewhere,hopefully never to be seen again.She wore more gowns in her career ,than would be humanly possible,except for Hollywood's ,40's fetish for.But not in this movie,and all for the good.From the very first scene of her,lugging big heavy suitcase,without any assistance,we feel her toughness.Both mental and physical.But inwardly psychological and outwardly,a facade waiting for possible cracks to expose themselves.They will and they do,fare thou thee lady.
But not to be underscored are two masterfull performances by the likes of which could not be better adapted.For within Paul Douglas{Big lug Shipping Captain} and Robert Ryan{Conceitfull and unaccomplished bachelor of little means other than what coulda been} we have an ideal combination of polar opposites competing for the attention of our less than grand femme fatale.I like the way each character is developed by way of their dress and mannerisms.Kinda like a old Marie Dressler/Wallace Berry movie.Which lends credibility too and watchabilty for added flavor of fishing theme.There's note a false played within entire movie,except maybe Marilyn Monroe,who is only in for sexy appeal.The movie is about sex,after all,but not outwardly which would be superficial and fleeting at best,but rather a heartfelt passion of minds.How each character feels about themselves and predicament in life and what they can and should do about.Great and simple plot that begs for good acting and feel for part.One can take sides as to who would make better companion or lover for Stanwyck and who would make better husband.How her true character is exposed and brought out for all to see,and test her abilities at true inner self.And how each competing lover or soulmate will test their skills and possible manipulation of ,to win over.Will it be at all costs or with a stretching of the truth,or more with an honest and trustworthy demeanor fitting of any good fisherman.?
(All this, of course, fits in wonderfully with the movie, its locale, images and so forth.)Here are the lines: Ah, love, let us be true to one another....forWe are here as on a darkling plainSwept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,Where ignorant armies clash by night.I don't know who came up with the title, Odets, Lang, or whoever.
Fritz Lang directed this soap opera-like story that stars Barbara Stanwyck as Mae Doyle, who returns to her childhood home to live with her brother Jerry(played by Keith Andes), and his girlfriend Peggy(played by Marilyn Monroe).
She meets, marries, and has a child with a successful but simple fisherman(played by Paul Douglas) who one day introduces her to his employee and friend Earl(played by Robert Ryan) whom there is initial dislike, but eventual attraction, starting an affair between them with possibly tragic consequences...
Okay, let me say what I liked about this movie: Fritz Lang's direction of the various views of the skies with birds and clouds moving in the daytime and nighttime, the performances of Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, a tough-acting Marilyn Monroe, Keith Anders as her likewise boyfriend, and the people that played Douglas' uncle and father-J.
Having said all that, here are some minuses: Clifford Odets' original dialogue from the play and perhaps some from adapter Alfred Hayes come off as high-falutin' at times and some parts of Stanwyck's suddenly wanting forgiveness from Douglas at the end.
Like Mae, he has seen it all - no more illusions."Clash by Night" - Jerry (Paul Douglas), Mae (Barbara Stanwyck) and Earl (Robert Ryan).But don't worry because the film goes deeper than your traditional Hollywood movie.
I was looking forward to seeing another Fritz Lang film noir, one that featured a young Marilyn Monroe in a mostly unglamorous supporting role.
Peggy, who works in the local fish cannery, is very happy being with Joe but Mae's talk about the great life, that she experienced the last ten years, in the big city greatly upsets her kid, who's some 10 years younger then her, brother Joe.It doesn't take long for Mae to get involved with Joe's boss, on the fishing boat, Jerry A'Mato, Paul Douglas, who knows her from the old days when she was still living in Monterey.
Barbara Stanwyck as Mae Doyle portrays another malcontented woman, trying to make a go of her life, and following in all the wrong directions.Robert Ryan as Earl, a friend of Joe the fisherman (who eventually marries Mae, and truly loves her, at first).
Ryan is excellent and indelible, as a man who is also restless, and eventually has an affair with Mae.There are also some interesting scenes with a young Marilyn Monroe as a local employee at the fish cannery in Monterey, California.
Directed by Fritz Lang, Clash By Night's biggest asset was that it starred a 26-year-old Marilyn Monroe who looked absolutely wonderful as Peggy, the girl with the insanely jealous boyfriend.Unfortunately, this film's story was mainly focused on Barbara Stanwyck's character, Mae, a world-weary woman who returns to her girlhood home (the fishing village of Monterey, California) to settle down, only to find out that things are just as topsy-turvy there.For the most part, Clash By Night (from 1952) was an entertaining drama of strong emotions and intense desperation.This film was based on the play of the same name written by Clifford Odets..
The original play takes place on Staten Island and all of Odets's left wing views are taken out of the film and it becomes a standard triangle drama.On Broadway the roles played by Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, and Robert Ryan were originated by Tallulah Bankhead, Lee J.
Robert Ryan was also in the Broadway play in the part of Stanwyck's younger brother played in the film by Keith Andes.Stanwyck has returned home to a fishing village, a woman who's been around the block more than a few times.
Marilyn did eventually get it right though and her performance is important her as her husband fears the bad ways of his sister might just rub off on her.Fritz Lang directed the film, Monroe must have driven that particular set drillmaster nuts.
Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan play a couple of dissatisfied, bitter middle-aged people in 'Clash by Night', a film which may leave you as dissatisfied as it left me.
Her brother Joe fears that his love, fish cannery worker Peggy, may wind up like Mae. Mae marries Jerry and has a baby; she is happy but restless, drawn to Jerry's friend Earl.Although considered a film noir, and coming from Fritz Lang (who has made many noir films), I would not really put it in that category.
The characters (at least some) are a bit seedy, but it's really more of a bad romance told in a stage-play style.Barbara Stanwyck is great as always, and this was a bit of a breakout role for Marilyn Monroe (though her part is quite small).
Luscious Marilyn Monroe (Peggy), with a swimsuit scene, and shirtless Keith Andes (Joe) are both very chesty.Incidentally, playwright Clifford Odets' world-weary "Mae" was originated by Tallulah Bankhead on stage; and, Robert Ryan ("Earl" in the film) portrayed Keith Andes' movie role (of "Joe").
******* Clash by Night (6/16/52) Fritz Lang ~ Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Douglas.
Directed by Fritz Lang, it had good performances by Barbara Stanwyck as a woman seeking some type of excitement in her drab life, Paul Douglas as a decent man betrayed, and Robert Ryan as a guilt - ridden betrayer of his friend.
Emotions run high in this tale of betrayal, adultery and selfishness whilst the passions of its characters ensure that violence, or the threat of it, is never far away.When Mae Doyle (Barbara Stanwyck) returns to Monterey, she says it's because "home is where you come when you run out of places" and describes her life in four words "big ideas, small results".
On their first date, fishing boat owner Jerry, introduces Mae to his good friend Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan) who's a movie projectionist.
The quality of the acting is also generally good with Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan standing out and Marilyn Monroe making a strong impression in one of her earliest dramatic roles as the very spirited Peggy..
Marilyn as usual, can't act and just annoyed me but luckily was not in the film for very long.What I liked: I did enjoy the scenery- Lang did a good job of showing Monterey as a fishing town.
The title of Fritz Lang's Clash by Night and its placement in his filmography might lead you to expect a film noir, and a couple of its characters (played by Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan) express themselves almost entirely through noir-soaked barbs and aphorisms, reflecting the tortured worldviews beneath.
Maybe it's because I am watching this film through modern day glasses, because I could not understand why Peggy (Marilyn Monroe) stayed with her boyfriend or why Mae (Barbara Stanwyck) would even want to be with Earl (Robert Ryan).
She also becomes the centre of attention of two men, fishing boat skipper Jerry D'Amato (Paul Douglas) and his friend, Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan).Although he didn't adapt the play for the screen, Odet's ideas and world-view still come through."Clash by Night" takes a while to get into, but the film picks up the pace when the focus turns to Earl's character. |
tt1564367 | Just Go with It | In 1988, Daniel "Danny" Maccabee (Adam Sandler), a 22-year old man, leaves his wedding right before the ceremony is about to begin after learning that his fiancee is cheating on him, and was only marrying because he was going to be a doctor and provide her with a comfortable lifestyle. He goes to drink alone at a bar, where a young, beautiful woman (Minka Kelly) walks in. She sees that Danny has a wedding ring on his hand, and asks him about his wife and he says how she recently left him for someone else, and the woman from the bar ends up sleeping with him.
Twenty-three years later in 2011, Danny (now 45-years old) is now a successful plastic surgeon in Los Angeles who feigns unhappy marriages to get women, and to avoid romantic commitment that may lead to heartbreak. The only woman aware of his schemes is his office manager and best friend Katherine Murphy (Jennifer Aniston), a divorced mother of two. At a party, Danny meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), a sixth grade math teacher, without his wedding ring on, and they have a connection together. The next morning, she finds the ring and assumes he is married. She refuses to date him because her parents divorced due to adultery and does not want to be an adulteress herself.
Instead of telling her the truth, Danny tells her that he is getting divorced from a woman named Devlin, named after Devlin Adams who Katherine had mentioned was an old college sorority nemesis. Danny tells Palmer that they are getting divorced because she cheated on him with a man named "Dolph Lundgren" (not the actor). Palmer then insists on meeting Devlin. Danny asks Katherine to pose as "Devlin" and they go shopping on Rodeo Drive for new clothes to dress like a trophy wife.
A made-over Katherine/Devlin then meets with Danny and Palmer and gives them her blessing. However, after hearing Katherine talking on the phone with her kids, Palmer assumes that her kids are Danny's as well. Danny then privately meets with Katherine's kids, Maggie (Bailee Madison) and Michael (Griffin Gluck), to get them to play along with the ruse and gives them the aliases of "Kiki Dee" and "Bart" respectively.
Palmer meets the kids, who then blackmail Danny in front of Palmer to take them all to Hawaii. At the airport, they are all surprised by Danny's goofball cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson), who has adopted an Austrian disguise as the "Dolph Lundgren" that Danny had made up earlier. To maintain the lies, Danny and Katherine are forced to bring him along.
At the resort in Hawaii, Danny tells Eddie he is considering asking Palmer to marry him. Katherine and Danny also run into the real-life Devlin Adams (Nicole Kidman) and her husband Ian Maxtone-Jones (Dave Matthews), who allegedly invented the iPod. Because of Katherine and Devlin's long-time rivalry, Katherine introduces Danny as her husband rather than admit she is a single mother.
Later, Palmer decides to spend time with Katherine so that Danny can spend more time with the kids. Danny teaches Michael how to swim, and Katherine and Palmer look on in admiration.
Katherine again runs into Devlin, who invites her and Danny out to dinner. Eddie agrees to take Palmer out to dinner so that Danny can go with Katherine. Since he is supposed to be a sheep salesman, Eddie's cover is nearly blown when he is forced to save the life of an actual sheep who choked on a toy whistle, though he nearly kills the animal in the process. At dinner, Devlin asks Danny and Katherine to tell each other what they admire most about each other, and, as Danny and Katherine talk, they start to feel a connection. Later, when Palmer and Eddie return from their dinner date, Palmer suggests that she and Danny get married now, since a drunken Eddie told her about Danny's plans of engagement. Danny and Katherine are both surprised by her proposition, but Danny ultimately agrees. Danny later calls Katherine regarding his confusion, but Katherine says that she will be taking a job in New York City (which she had mentioned to him earlier) to get a fresh start to her life.
The next day, Palmer confronts Katherine about Danny's feelings for her, which Katherine dismisses. Katherine then runs into Devlin at a bar and admits that she pretended to be married to Danny to avoid embarrassment. Devlin confesses that she is divorcing Ian because he is gay and also that he did not invent the iPod, but made his money by suing the Los Angeles Dodgers after getting hit by a foul ball. Katherine confides in Devlin about being in love with Danny, but then Danny shows up behind her saying that he is not marrying Palmer and that he is in love with Katherine. Meanwhile, on the plane ride back to the mainland, Palmer meets a professional tennis player (Andy Roddick) who shares her interests. Sometime later, Danny and Katherine get married. | comedy, boring, psychedelic, entertaining, stupid | train | wikipedia | Sure, Jennifer Anniston is the "uglier chick," which is like saying a million dollars isn't that much money, but she did a good job in the movie.The only complaint I had was Adam Sandler used all the lines I planned on using with the girl I took to see it!.
so this is where I'm coming from.I think the whole cast was near on perfect with Adam Sandler providing hilarious moments throughout, with Jenifer Aniston sexier and funnier than I've ever known her to be.
Jennifer Aniston is perfect in that role; this is her best performance in a movie so far, except maybe for Marley and Me. Adam Sandler is much more natural than usual.
In fact, it had been a long time since I heard my two teenagers laugh so much and so loudly during a movie.The two kids are really good supporting actors.
I think with Big Daddy, Dennis Dugan and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison crew really started a formula of movie.
Central conflicted and imperfect character Adam (who has a good heart of course), falls in love with the girl of his dreams, who is younger and way better looking than him, all formulated around a specific central premise (i.e. with this film it's Adam's lies piling on top of lies) supported by extremely strong, quirky side character performances.
"The Wedding Singer," "Grown-Ups," and, now, "Just Go With It" all pander to this amiable style of film-making that is at times borderline gross-out - but just pulls away before you realize this probably isn't an Apatow-slacker movie, nor is attempting to be.Sandler is a plastic surgeon who long ago accidentally discovered he could play the "my wife is a terrible person who abuses me" card to score with hot chicks at the bar.
Decker somehow believes him and off we go with the rest of the movie where Aniston agrees to be his fake wife and ultimately go off on a vacation with Decker, Sandler, Aniston's kids, and Nick Swanson as the court jester/boob (basically a version of Rob Schneider from Sandler's other "Happy Madison" movies) who pretends to be Aniston's boyfriend.There are a lot of funny setups and jokes - enough to enjoy the movie, for sure, even if they do clearly seem to be Sandler-ish in their obviousness.
Decker and Aniston both of course fill this role, quite well.While clearly not an intentional Oscar-winner, Sandler proves he is again capable of making a funny, somewhat poignant, generally enjoyable PG-13-bordering-on-R-rated film..
If I want to watch a comedy, I'm not critical about anything, if the movie can make me laugh then I'm good.
Firstly, pretending to have an ex-wife (Jennifer Aniston), because Sandler gets caught wearing his old wedding ring that scores him many girls (in his dreams).
The script is so full of utter implausibilities, so stupidly riddled with holes, (not at all funny as Sandler can be), I felt insulted, violated, when watching this film, squandering 2 precious hours of my life which could have been occupied with much anything else - that's how meaningless of any entertainment value I think this piece of utter junk is worth..
A Nutshell Review: Just Go With It. Director Dennis Dugan was responsible for a number of comedies with funnyman Adam Sandler, from Happy Gilmore to Big Daddy in the 90s, to the more recent fare of I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Grown Ups. I'm a big fan of some of these if I may say low brow offerings, but hey, don't berate me for having a good time.
As with most of the comedies Sandler has starred in thus far, most straddle between two broad areas of being funny, and yet having some major drama and/or romantic fare to bulk up the running time, making the films seem more like two halves put together.And Just Go With It is no different.
Based on a French stage play and an earlier film called Cactus Flower in the 60s (hence making this a modern day remake of sorts), this movie has both all out, riotous scenes designed to make you laugh, yet having depth following a tried and tested formula for a romance, which gets catalyzed by a little white lie that grows out of control, needing as one character puts it, an index card to keep track of the sprawling tales they have to tell and keep at in order to not puncture their respective ruses.So the comedy here involves lies and truths, with Adam Sandler's renowned plastic surgeon Danny finding out the power of sympathy and the sex that comes with it with his wearing of a wedding ring, only that he hasn't got married just yet, playing on how some swingers just love to get it going with married men.
Palmer needing proof meant Danny's persuasion (with benefits in kind) of his assistant / reception Katherine (Jennifer Aniston), a divorcée with two kids, to pose as his soon to be ex-wife, and then roping in her children Maggie (Bailee Madison) and Michael (Griffin Gluck) to pose as his as well.And it goes two ways, since Katherine has a thing about her rival from school for many years (I shall not name this A-list actress so as not to spoil the surprise on her comedic performance, so don't go up looking IMDb.com, OK?), and uses her pretense with Danny to try and keep up with the Joneses.
The photo taking scene on the golf course is priceless, and possibly one of the funniest in the film.Then comes the dramatic, romantic half, where you can see it coming from a mile away when both Sandler and Aniston's Danny and Katherine come on screen, with their banter, the premise, the setup and such all spelling f-o-r-m-u-l-a, and you'll just about know what happens between them.
The romance between Danny and Palmer then looked like a shade of Ben Stiller's The Heartbreak Kid in a way, and like many other romantic comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hawaii serves as the perfect backdrop for friendships and relationships to unravel, and also to provide the Hilton hotel another major product placement opportunity after Up in the Air.A film like this will never steer clear of toilet humour, and they are here by the truckloads.
AS was as usual, funny and not pretending to be something that he is not.The bottom line is that you should not over-analyze this movie, or expect a great romantic story between main characters, but just prepare yourself for a great laugh.P.S. You should also check the official website (http://www.justgowithit-movie.com/), and the advertisement "Tell your girlfriend it's a ROMANTIC COMEDY".
I take it as to fool your girlfriend that it's a romantic comedy so she'd come to see it, and she won't get disappointed.P.S.S. I just made my review 'cause I really liked the movie, while half of reviews were negative, and all the stuff they are complaining about are related to their false expectations..
Thumbs up on making the feel of the movie stand out this much.There is a really good chemistry between Aniston and Sandler, and they really brought the story to life and they were in their aces in this movie.I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, as I had expected it to be another of Sandler's mass-produced half-funny comedies.
So if you like romantic comedies and are a fan of either (or both) Sandler or/and Aniston, then "Just Go With It" is definitely worth checking out.
Adam Sandler can be a bit hit & miss for me but here he is perfect, as is the lovely Jennifer Aniston, starting out as his homely lab assistant and then turning out all glammed up and as beautiful as we all know that she can be.Most enticing though, is model Brooklyn Decker, who is ravishing in every scene that she is in and soon is Danny McCabee's (Sandler) younger than he girlfriend.
Adam Sandler was especially good and even though I've never liked Jennifer Aniston, she did a fine job here.
Jennifer Aniston was her usual character but I didn't dislike her and actually found myself thinking 'Hmm, I'd like to wake up next to her..' You can tell what is going to happen almost as soon as the movie starts but I found it quite watchable.
Sandler plays Danny, who called off his wedding day when he heard his wife talking behind his back with her friends.Going to a bar with his ring on, he attracts a women and tells her a sympathy story leading to them sleeping together.
This works, until he meets Palmer (Decker), a beautiful women who finds the ring in his jean pocket.Danny panics and tells lie after lie that he is married, but getting a divorce to his office worker Katherine (Aniston).
Not even good for a bad laugh.It comes as no surprise Just Go With It is directed by Dennis Dugan who worked on other bad comedies like The Benchwarmers, Big Daddy, and Grown Ups. It seems ever since I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, a decent comedy, Dugan has had nothing but fun placing Sandler in every character possible.
God help us.Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nick Swardson, Dan Patrick, Brooklyn Decker, Nicole Kidman, and Dave Matthews.
I might be a bit biased about this because I have a personal sympathy for Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler but I found this movie entertaining, simple and relaxing.
The dialogue wasn't bad, the acting was pretty much what this movie needed, a pleasant appearance from the lovely Nicole Kidman, it has funny moments and not funny in a retarded way, no nonsense and no stupid development of both characters and story and last but not least, it has a solid "feel-good" atmosphere.
Jennifer Aniston actually had good chemistry with Sandler and I was surprised by how great they work together as they are two actors I would have not imagine together as "lover".
Nicole Kidman was wonderful as the bitchy school friend of Aniston's character and I might add that she was the best looking I have seen her on film in a long time.
If you haven't watched too many Sandler Aniston movies you might still like it.
Adding to Jennifer Aniston's growing portfolio of Rom-Coms comes Just Go With It, but despite a huge budget, this embarrassing flop ends up going nowhere.The premise is a good one: a plastic surgeon (Adam Sandler) is in romantic pursuit of a much younger girlfriend (Brooklyn Decker), and trying to smooth over a lie that keeps on building with the help of his assistant at the clinic (Jennifer Aniston).
This film genre, though I usually enjoy the comedy side, tends to be rather heavily focused on the romance.Adam Sandler's character was well played, and very funny, going to extraordinary lengths to cover up a lie he'd made to the gorgeous Brooklyn Decker (who would have made the film worth watching even if the story was rubbish).
Sandler and Aniston were on good form, but it was the involvement of the kids that made this film so funny.
We laughed so hard through most of the movie, and the ending is what we expected, but was done nicely.Adam and Jennifer were outstanding and believable.
Nick Swardson is along for the ride as Sandler's dippy friend who provides a few laughs along the way but little else and the young actors who portray Aniston's kids are kind of grating after a short while.
The story is illogical, predictable and another step downward in the once great comedic career of Adam Sandler.Sandler plays Danny Maccabbee, a once 'funny looking' goof who turned to plastic surgery (in order to fix his own problems with attracting ladies) twenty years earlier when his fiancée broke his heart on their wedding day.
Then when Palmer discovers Katherine has kids Danny idiotically tells her their his and has to carry on the charade for an entire Hawaiian trip vacation (with Katherine's family).Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston are both talented and funny actors but they do an extremely poor job of picking roles.
I used to be pretty much the #1 first person to line up to go see the new Adam Sandler movies, it started great with hilarious and off the wall comedies like Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, Adam Sandler was my favourite on Saturday Night Live and I loved his funny movies too, but they got less funny over time and his dramatic roles were good (Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, the one where he plays the dying comedian with Seth Rogen...) but I am just getting tired of his shtick, the latest movies like the buddy film with King of Queens guy and David Spade etc are just awful and these romantic comedies should not be his thing, they are just pathetic to watch.
I thought the preview looked good, and I love Adam Sandler (like many of us do) but I thought this movie was awful!
Honestly, for the past few years I have been losing interest in both Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston movies.
Everything culminates in a "family" trip to Chaos Hawaii with Danny, Palmer, Katherine, Maggie, Michael and Danny's cousin Eddie (Nick Swardson), where (throughout the chaos) Danny finds out that his heart is actually taking him towards the woman that knows him best.Adam Sandler has been creating very unique romantic comedies for years that are able to reach out to a wider audience.
"Just Go With It" is a 2011 comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston.
He tells her he's getting a divorce, so he uses his assistant Kate Murphy (Aniston) as his current wife and her kids as his to impress her.The film was funny in some ways, I do like that Sandler brings his best to this film and that Aniston even throws in entertainment.
Just go with it is a remake of the far superior 1969 film, Cactus Flower which won Goldie Hawn a Best supporting actress Oscar.Adam Sandler plays Danny a renowned plastic surgeon who improved his own looks and pretends to be in an unhappy marriage to sleep with hot women.
When she later sees him with a wedding band, Danny has to convince his assistant (Jennifer Aniston) to pretend to be his soon to be divorced wife and her two kids to be their own kids and they go off to holiday in Hawaii where Danny plans to propose to Palmer.While in Hawaii Aniston meets up with an old college rival played by Nicole Kidman where they have petty feuds.It all leads up to Danny discovering the Aniston is actually very attractive, has a sexy body and they have a romantic spark with each other.The film has the usual Sandler hallmarks.
Here he teams up with Jennifer Aniston -which was bound to happen sooner or later since she makes the same romantic comedy over and over again as well.Here Sandler is a plastic surgeon who enlists the help of his loyal assistant (Aniston) to pretend to be his (soon to be) ex-wife to help him woo a much younger schoolteacher and everyone ends up in Hawaii (because Sandler has admitted that's where he likes to film movies).Anyways the plots not really important, its a pretty silly movie with some terribly unfunny (stupid) dialogue.
Zero chemistry between Sandler and Aniston, who both portray the same characters we've seen from them in all their other movies along with a clichéd plot and just too long in general.I'm not sure what Nicole Kidman was doing here but she must have had fun with her role even if her hula/coconut scene went on about 10 minutes too long.
Danny (Adam Sandler) is a plastic surgeon in Southern California who thinks he has met the love of his life, Palmer (Brooklyn Decker).
Of course the film kept some of the 'Adam Sandler comedy' such as when a little boy runs into his 'junk' and yells, "He put his pee-pee on my face!" Danny yells back, "He put his face on my pee-pee!" While the actors fit their characters perfectly, a few parts were greatly dramatized.
It is not Adam's best film, but it is still funny and entertaining.The movie is about a plastic surgeon who pretends to be married just to get girls.
i don't want to spoil anything, but the girl is into acting and improv in the movie, which I think makes this movie genius because YOU KNOW there is some improv going on, and not just with Sandler, but with a lot of the actors playing alongside him, including Jennifer Aniston.
I cried my eyes out sitting in the theater seeing the Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston movie Just Go With It. Outstanding acting, incredibly funny jokes, and a very accurate rating for a PG- 13 rating.
The characters in the film like think up their own movie on the spot, being creative in the process and there's the good happy ending.
Just Go With It is about a good-hearted plastic surgeon (Adam Sandler) who likes pretending he is married to get women unexpectedly finds that in order to land the 23-year old blonde of his dreams (Brooklyn Decker, a former model) he needs to fabricate an entire family an an impending divorce.
If you like comedy, this one was entertaining like the usual Adam Sandler movies.
I used to like Adam Sandler's movies.
The characters are as dumb as can be, and none of the main actors Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, or Brooklyn Decker share chemistry.
I enjoyed it, but then again I like Jennifer Aniston and I think Adam Sandler is funny..
JUST GO WITH IT – CATCH IT ( B ) Just like all Adam Sandler's movies, "just go with it" is a slapstick comedy and hilarious.
This one does the same just like Grown Ups. Sandler and Aniston share a good chemistry, which makes it funny and enjoyable.
It also seemed like Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston were trying too hard. |
tt0068200 | The Amazing Mr. Blunden | Its 1917. A black wreath is put on the front door of a terraced house. Soon after, a mother with 2 children and a baby are seen moving out of the house.Its now a dark early Christmas evening and a smartly dressed old man is weaving his way through the market in Camden Town, noticeably shying away from a lit brazier. He knocks on the door of a dingy basement flat to which this family has now moved. He quickly explains he is not a rent collector but a partner in a firm of solicitors Blunden, Blunden, Claverton and a 4th member he cannot remember, who are seeking a reliable person to act as caretaker to a property in the firms charge. He is reluctant to go into details other than its a bit remote, but there is a rent-free caretakers cottage and the duties would be light. Saddled with little money other than a widow's pension and large debts, the mother (Mrs Allen) is tempted. The old man asks the 2 children Lucy (Lynn Frederick) and James (Garry Miller) if they would be afraid if they saw ghosts - say of children their age or an old man such as himself. He warns them they will hear tales about the house but when the time comes, they will know what to do.When the family accept his proposal, he visibly brightens and outside disappears mysteriously, saying to Lucy and James "We 3 Kings of Orient are my dears".Next day the family present themselves at the solicitors address. The clerk is puzzled as the job had not yet been advertised but shows Mrs Allen in to the partner Mr Claverton. Whilst waiting for their mother, Lucy and Tom see a picture of their visitor - Mr Blunden. The clerk retorts that is a picture of the current Mr Blunden's great grandfather who died 100 years ago and doubted if they had seen even the current Mr Blunden who was bedridden and senile.Mr Claverton delightedly offers the post to Mrs Allen and soon the family is travelling by bus to Langley Park, Buckinghamshire. The house proves to be derelict and overgrown and the cottage very sparse. They go to bed that night wondering what they have done.Next morning Lucy explores the house which has been extensively damaged. She hears childrens voices upstairs but is then startled by the presence of Elsie Tucker the daily cleaner. She mysteriously tells Lucy that the voices she hears are only kiddies.The following day the sun is shining and Lucy is happily picking flowers when out of a sudden mist she sees two figures approaching. She initially flees to find James but both return in time for the approach of two children dressed in old clothes. The ghost children, called Sara and Georgie, are pleased that Lucy and James have not run away and Sara recounts their story. Their parents had tragically died in a carriage accident in 1818. Their father's half brother Uncle Bertie, who lived in London, became their guardian as had the family solicitor Mr Blunden. Uncle Bertie, despite appearances, was short of money and often returned to Langley Park to steal and pawn the family silver. He subsequently married Bella, a simple chorus girl, and with her parents moved into Langley Park. He admitted to his new mother-in-law Mrs Wickens (Diana Dors) that he was hopelessly embarrassed financially. He explained that 10 year old Master Georgie was the only member of his family with money - £30,000 which was held in trust for him until he was 21. Uncle Bertie and Bella would only inherit this money if Georgie died before then.
Appalled at this revelation, Mrs Wickens assumed the role of housekeeper and sacked most of the staff at Langley Park as part of an economy drive. Mrs Wickens then got the idea that if the children caught their death of cold, her Bella would be in the money. She fed Sara and Georgie only on scraps and ordered the remaining servant - the timid Meakins - to make sure when she took their food up to their room that their window was left open during the cold nights. However Tom the gardeners son was very fond of Sara and used to climb up the drainpipe to their bedroom to provide them with newspaper to go under their bedding to help keep them warm and then close the window on his way downSome months passed until one night Sara and Georgie overheard the frustrated Mrs Wickens saying it was taking too long and a quick accident was now required. Sara burst in on Uncle Bertie to tell him and also wrote to Mr Blunden explaining their plight but neither believed her and ordered Mrs Wickens to prevent them running away at all costs by locking their window and bedroom door.That following night Georgie saw a message appearing on the window which said "look in library". Meakin had forgotten to lock the door so they crept down to the dusty old library. They saw an arrow drawn in the dust pointing to a book which contained a single sheet headed "A charm to move the wheel of time". It contained a recipe for which they had found the necessary herbs in the garden to concoct a potion, trying it first on the unsuspecting Mrs Wickens to make sure it wasn't poisonous. They used the potion to travel forward in time to try and get help and now Lucy and James are the first to stay and listen to their story. Their own potion is wearing off but before they leave Sara begs Lucy and James for their help and gives them the recipe for making it so they could travel back with her in future.The next day the children are in church when James gets Lucy to leave with him early to search the graveyard. Lucy refuses to help but James finds a grave for Sara and George Latimer dated April 21st 1818 ie 100 years ago tomorrow. They are startled by the sexton who says he's been there 40 years and knows the stories of each grave. He says a fire started in the library while the children lay in their beds and nobody could get to them to save them. He showed them another unmarked grave which his grandfather had told him belonged to the gardener's son, trying to save them by climbing up the drainpipe but he had fallen to his death.He said one of the guardians had left for London but his carriage had broken down. When he saw the flames he rode back to no avail saying over and over again that he was too late and subsequently died of a broken heart.Lucy and James now brew up the potion and meet Sara in the garden who says Georgie has been locked in the cellar. She begs them to return with her. Mr Blunden also appears and says he has a chance to put things right, promising them he will guard them and no harm will come to them.Lucy and James take the potion and travel back to 1818. They meet Tom who excitedly reckons they have come from America - the new world - where one day he hopes to go. They quickly realise no adults can see them, the exception being Bella who has the mind of a child. They spook her into getting her mother to release Georgie from the cellar.That night the 4 children eavesdrop on a dinner involving the Mr and Mrs Wickens, Uncle Bertie and Bella and Mr Blunden. As Mr Blunden leaves with Uncle Bertie, Sara and Georgie rush down to beg them to stay. The children are carted off by Mrs Wickens and the ghost of Mr Blunden appears to James, telling him to wait until the time comes. Then the ghost Mr Blunden goes down the stairs to be subsumed into the body of the living Mr Blunden.Lucy and James realise the nursery where Sara and Georgie sleep is above the library where the fire will start. They try unsuccessfully to get the keys off Mrs Wickens and rush outside to see Mr Wickens carrying a bundle of wood to the fire he has just started outside the library. Lucy waits for Tom who climbs the drainpipe to rescue Sara and Georgie, while James goes for an axe to break down the locked bedroom door. Mr Wickens sees Tom and tries to pull down the drainpipe but Lucy sufficiently distracts Mr Wickens to enable James to smash down the bedroom door and then smash the window locks to enable Tom to clamber in to safety. They find Sara and Georgie have been drugged but James leads Sara first and then Tom outside to Lucy and safety.James is afraid to go back in to the inferno to rescue Georgie but Mr Blunden appears back on horseback and promises they will go in together and he will protect James. They find Georgie and Mr Blunden pushes James and Georgie to safety before succumbing to the fire saying "Thank you Thank you". Georgie stumbles out of the house but theres no sign of James, leaving Lucy screaming for him and crying "You're always too late Mr Blunden".Her potion now wears off and shes back in the garden in her own time. She eventually finds an unconscious James lying outside the house and he is taken to his room.Next day being Sunday and with James still unconscious in bed, Lucy is in church when she suddenly decides to search the graveyard. This time there is only a gravestone for Mr Blunden with the inscription "He gave his life to save the children in his care" and dated April 21st 1818.As she wanders back home, her mother calls out that James is awake. Lucy tells James what she saw and they laugh with relief that the rescue had been successful.Sometime later a car pulls up and Clutterbuck gets out for a private meeting with their mother. Lucy and James gloomily say goodbye to the house and garden when their mother calls them. Clutterbuck says that Mr Blunden had suddenly got out of his sick bed the previous Thursday and ordered him to find the papers on the marriage of Miss Sara and Master Tom who are now revealed to be great-grandparents of their father. Sara Latimer had married a Tom Mortimer and they had sailed to America. As direct descendants, this makes James and Lucy legal owners of the house and cottage with an annual allowance of £500 for the rest of their lives.Clutterbuck leads them back to the car where he says all will be revealed. Inside is Mr Blunden and in reply to the childrens' question "which one are you?" says "We 3 Kings of Orient are" and gives them a wink.In front of their bemused mother, Lucy and James rush delightedly round the garden before the cast give their farewells. | horror, cruelty, haunting, flashback | train | imdb | The story is really one that I would love to share with my whole family.This one feels like a Dickens Narrative due to the time period it is set in, which adds to the overall feel and believability..
its a good old story with the sweetest ending EVER.It really encapsulates the film genre of the 1970's and the old way of telling ghost stories which seems to have been lost in modern films.This film is good for the whole family and actually deals with death and the afterlife in a manner that makes you talk about it afterwards.
The mysterious Mr. Blunden shows up and offers the mother a caretaker's position at an old country mansion which was partially destroyed by a great fire decades ago.
The two oldest children, Lucy and Jamie, are drawn into the unsolved mystery that surrounds the old fire.
The film takes a fanciful twist at this juncture, sending Lucy and Jamie back in time to save the two orphaned kids.
Older kids and adults will enjoy it; my entire family loves this movie..
Mr Blunden(Laurence Naismith) is the benevolent, kindly guardian of the children Jamie and Lucy who sets out to right a wrong from 100 years ago.
Because of Mr. Blunden's insensitivity and unwilingness to listen, two children and a gardener who tried to save them die in a fire started by the wicked Mrs Wickens (Diana Dors).
The children (the ghosts) get Jamie and Lucy to drink a magic potion which sends them back in time to try to change what has already happened.
Mr Blunden has been a tortured soul for 100 years as he ignored the pleas of the children who told him that Mrs Wickens was out to poison them, so she could get their inheritance for her beloved Bella who married the financially impoverished Bertie, who doesn't have a pot to pee in.
Some wonderful performances from the cream of English acting talent: Diana Dors, Laurence Naismith and the beau of the ball, ex playmate of the year Madeline Smith.
Like many films made by the British film industry at it's nadir in the 1970s, the Amazing Mr Blunden could be overlooked, but those willing to make the effort will find a gem.
There's the wonderfully English setting of the film, mixing the nostalgia of a Georgian England of Mr Blunden and Langley Park, with the Edwardianism of Jamie and Lucy's world.
Mixed with good background music and wonderful setting amongst a stately home and a traditional village and the film is playing to all the traditional strengths of British film and drama.
evil' aspect of the children's fight to save the lives of Georgie and Sara against Mrs Wickens (played excellently by Diana Dors who steals the film).
Sadly, the film misses much 'fun' that could be made out of the stark characters of Mr and Mrs Wickens and the rest of the cast (particularly the dandy-ish uncle played by James Villiers).
This Halloween challenge is giving me the opportunity to catch up with a lot of horror-themed movies I missed out on as I was growing up and this genteel but utterly charming children's ghost story is yet another one such instance.
Two young kids who have inherited 30,000 pounds (a fortune in 19th Century England) are about to be done in by their half-brother' (James Villiers)'s nasty in-laws a grotesque couple almost unrecognizably played by Diana Dors (complete with funny speech impediment) and David Lodge (playing a brain-damaged ex-boxer).
Unfortunately, their pleas for intervention to both Villiers and their solicitor Mr. Blunden (Laurence Naismith) fall on deaf ears, but the latter becomes so guilt-stricken that he reappears a century later and 'wills' a modern-day couple of kids back into the past to save his charges from a fiery death!
The film is highlighted by a literate script (by director Jeffries), a meticulously-detailed production (for what it's worth, the early setting in London's Camden Town brought back memories to my visits there in January 2007, highlighted by my attending an all-star Rock concert!), an evocative score (by Elmer Bernstein) and good performances by all concerned.
Ill-fated Lynne Frederick is one of the children, Hammer starlet Madeline Smith plays Dors' child-like daughter, while Graham Crowden appears briefly as the newest partner in Blunden's firm whose name the old man can never remember; incidentally, the cast list isn't given at the film's beginning rather, Jeffries has the actors introduced at the end and bowing down to the audience just like in a stage play!
Incidentally, former actor Jeffries (where he specialized in eccentric, bubbly types) had a reasonable directing career (with a penchant for children-oriented, though not necessarily kiddie, fare): even if his first effort THE RAILWAY CHILDREN (1970) is generally the best regarded of the lot, this one's definitely a close second.Though not genuine horror fare as such, the ghost and time-travel devices here are enough to grant THE AMAZING MR.
BLUNDEN a deserving place in this Halloween challenge; even so, the Leonard Maltin Film Guide's comment regarding its "muddled plot line" probably refers to the children going forward in time before the fateful accident (the boy even says, "You can be a ghost but you don't have to be dead") yet, in the modern-day (1918) setting, we can clearly see their graves (which are no longer there by the end, having been replaced by a monument dedicated to Mr. Blunden who has now died in their place)!
This movie is a classic fantasy film about two children who travel back in time to save the lives of two children who died in a fire 100 years ago.
Two siblings, Lucy and Jamie, get the shock of their lives when they encounter the ghosts of two children in the garden of the home there mother is overseeing.
They ask Lucy and Jamie to make the potion in order to travel to their time to help save their lives.
This movie is also nice because it has an interesting plot twist at the end and it is also one of the few movies in which you get to see Diana Dors act instead of just look nice.
I loved this film as a kid - aside from the cheesy " Goodbye, hope you enjoyed it" from the actors, coming out of character at the end of the movie ( very much a Lionel Jeffries signature - also did it in "The Railway Children") - which I HATED (!) this movie still holds the same magic for me now as it did when I first saw it.The premise has been described many times before but I will just add the fact that all the atmospheric ingredients are there - the mist on the open lawns, the cawing of the crows, the suitably haunted looking old ruin and a musical score that really captures every emotion that it needs to in the wonderful story telling.
However, Rosalyn Landor was perfect as, what turns out to be, Lucy's Great Grandmother.David Lodge and Dianna Dors were superb in their roles as Mr and Mrs Wickens although James Villiers looked a smidgen uncomfortable as the 1816 children's wicked uncle.However, it is the story and the atmosphere that Jeffrie's evokes in this movie along with the wonderful score.
This movie takes me back to my childhood, remembering how I used to sit in front of the tv and watch it.I recently watched it in dvd and I live it just as much as I did then.It's a child's ghost story, and all ages will love this movie.
I have never forgotten this film and while "The Railway Children" has justly taken its place in British cinema as a classic family film, this film deserves some love too.
Great atmosphere is provided courtesy of Wilfred Shingleton's production design, Gerry Fisher's excellent photography and one of Hollywood regular Elmer Bernstein's greatest scores (for what was a small British film - who'd have guessed?).In front of the camera, the talent is equally impressive and it is sign of Lionel Jefferies unrecognised talent as a director that he draws some great performances from his cast, some of whom have never been better than they are here.
Diana Dors shows a rare talent as a character actress and there are also good performances from David Lodge, James Villiers, Madeline Smith, Deddie Davies, Laurence Naismith, Graham Crowden, Garry Miller, Dorothy Alison and Rosalyn Landor.And for the ill-fated Lynne Frederick who has given a number of poor performances in bit parts over the years before her death and who was unfortunately better known for her chaotic personal life and the unpleasant aftermath to her marriage to Peter Sellers, her appearance here is a revelation.
It is a tragedy that Lynne Frederick did not go on to fulfil the promise that she showed in this film and if she really was a mediocre actress, then Lionel Jefferies deserves even more credit for drawing such a great performance from her for this film as she is excellent here (especially during the scenes in which Langley Park burns at the end).
It's a shame what happened to her in real life but instead of remembering her as the bloated alcoholic drug-addicted wreck that she became, I prefer to remember the Lynne Frederick forever immortalised on film here - a beautiful young woman who had so much promise.By the way, when is someone going to release Elmer Bernstein's wonderful score to this film on CD?.
Very overlooked period ghost story from Lionel Jeffries.
Lionel Jeffries, while being a character actor in his primary years, proved himself a great director as well with films such as the delightful Railway Children and this gem.
The Amazing Mr Blunden really is a very overlooked period ghost story, and while I know lots of people who love it, I honestly think it is one of Jeffries's more overlooked films.
The story may be a little strange in places, when I first saw this film I wasn't so sure about the ending, but it is well told and moves along briskly.
James Villiers is good as the uncle, while Laurence Naismith gives a ripe and charming performance in the title role.
The best performance and probably the most memorable thing of the film was Dianna Dors as Mrs Wickens the Housekeeper, warts and all she is every child's worst nightmare, she terrified me when I was a kid and still gives me the shivers.
The premise is a decent stab at an old spooky house ghost story; although things do get a little too silly at times (the time travelling ghost potion).
A delightful and thrilling fantasy, it plays almost as well to adults as to its no doubt target audience of children.The Dickensian-styled story is well-wrought with a nice blend of mystery, enchantment and adventure throughout.
Sympathetically and winningly directed by British character actor Lionel Jeffries who gives himself a brief expository scene too, it's a perfect example of family entertainment.All the principal characters are well-played, especially Laurence Naismith as the twinkle eyed title character, out to right wrongs from a hundred years before and Diana Dors as an over-the-top scheming harridan figure whose plans the amazing Mr B thwarts with the help of two young children from the future.
There's a fine understated score by Elmer Berstein too.It probably helps that this film evokes my happy child-hood but watching it again forty years on, I'm pleased to say I enjoyed it just as much as I did in a Glasgow flea-pit in 1973..
The Amazing Mr. Blunden is directed by Lionel Jeffries who also adapts the screenplay from Antonia Barber's novel The Ghosts.
It stars Lynne Frederick, Garry Miller, Rosalyn Landor, Marc Granger, Laurence Naismith, Diana Dors, Madeline Smith and James Villiers.
Music is scored by Elmer Bernstein and cinematography by Gerry Fisher.1918, London, England, and Mrs. Allen and her three children are visited on Christmas Eve by mysterious old solicitor Mr. Blunden.
There's a reason for the two eldest Allen children, Lucy and Jamie, being there, their help is needed....by child ghosts from 1818!It has one of the worst posters ever made for a movie, a poster that hints at some guy called Blunden being some superman type magician!
To those in the know, the nostalgic Brits like myself, it's a lovely ghost/fantasy story about cross time redemption, resplendent in period flavours whilst operating from an intelligent script.
The complex story is delicately crafted by director Jeffries (The Railway Children), this is never about scares, it's a Dickensian type drama that features ghosts of children clutching in the future for help in the past.
If you're looking for a family friendly period ghost story, this is for you.
1918, Camden, London: elderly solicitor Mr. Blunden (Laurence Naismith) calls at the squalid home of widower Mrs. Allen (Dorothy Alison) to offer her a job as caretaker of run-down country mansion Langley Park.
Despite rumours that the property is haunted, Mrs. Allen moves into the caretaker's cottage with her three children, teenagers Lucy (Lynne Frederick) and Jamie (Garry Miller), and their baby brother Benjamin (Benjamin Smith).In the grounds of the house, Lucy and Jamie encounter the spirits of two children, Sara (Rosalyn Landor) and Georgie (Marc Granger), who have travelled from the year 1818 looking for help: their Uncle Bertie's wicked mother-in-law, Mrs. Wickens (Diana Dors) is trying to kill the children so that their inheritance will go to Bertie (James Villiers) and his child-like bride Anabella (Madeline Smith), and they need Lucy and Jamie to help them thwart the evil woman's plan.The Amazing Mr. Blunden is best seen when young, when paradoxical plot problems are of little consequence.
For example, Sara and Georgie are found buried in the graveyard, having died as children in 1818, yet Sara is the great-great grandmother of Lucy and Jamie.
However, even with these time-twisting issues, the film is a lot of fun, with memorable performances from all involved and confident direction by Lionel Jeffries.7/10, with an extra point added for gorgeous, buxom Hammer babe Madeline Smith..
Classic British family film that leaves a lasting impression.
Now, all these years later it's still one of my all-time favorites.Directed by Lionel Jeffries as a follow-up to his very successful 'Railway Children' movie 2 years' before, it's also a charming period piece set in the Edwardian era, but this time with very a clever plot concerning time travel and ghosts.His direction is first-class, despite obvious budget restrictions, and it seems a pity this movie wasn't so well-received at the box-office as his previous film, as I think it's even better.
Once again the casting and performances are perfect too.There is excellent brooding atmosphere about the derelict mansion the family are mysteriously hired to caretake by the Amazing Mr Blunden...
The suspense builds up to an exciting climax with the terrible fire of 100 years before played out again - and we are left to wonder if history really has been changed this time.The music score is fantastic too - one of the best ever in my view, and one of the film's many highlights is the unforgettable performance of Diana Dors as the awful and scary hag-like housekeeper Mrs Wickens.This is simply an excellent family film that leaves a lasting impression.
He actually calls it 'The Ghost Children' - a title that I feel would have served the film better, and perhaps would have maybe drawn attention more to its supernatural elements..
I didn't buy for a second the story premise of Lawrence Naismith bringing a poor widow and her two children to be caretakers for a remote country mansion.
Or if I did, then surely I would cease to exist at the moment I killed him.SPOILERIn this film Jamie and Lucy go back in time to save three children from dying in a fire: Sarah, Tom and Sarah's younger brother, George.This they do, but then we learn that Sarah and Tom are Jamie and Lucy's great great grandparents.
This cannot be true, as Jamie and Lucy cannot exist on the timeline established before they go back in time because their great great grandparents died in the fire!END OF SPOILERIt's a pedantic point and one that I only thought of after talking about the film afterwards.
This movie is just the sort of feature at which Britain used to excel.It features kids, a very troubled hero, a baddie, ghosts, and time.
Although beginning in a contemporary setting, the story harks back to a tragedy some hundred years before, whereby ghosts reach out and communicate with living people in the present.There's just the right mix of drama, tension, comedy and pathos to keep the plot stirring and the viewer interested.
It's very much in the Dickens mould.Mr Blunden is good, family entertainment.
BLUNDEN is a delightful old-fashioned ghost story in the best traditional sense.
Directed to the hilt by actor Lionel Jeffries, who clearly has a thorough understanding of his genre, this is timeless stuff, a children's film filled with the kind of atmosphere and engaging storyline that you won't find in most of today's soulless fare.The story is entirely predictable for this particular sub-genre; two kids move to a remote and dilapidated country mansion, which they soon discover is inhabited by the ghosts of two children who mysteriously died in a fire in the past.
What follows is a traditional time-slip tale along the lines of TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN, packed with familiar character actors a sense of quality.As director, Jeffries has an eye for a decent performance, and thus the film is inhabited by quality acting.
Lynne Frederick and Garry Miller are excellent as the protagonist twosome caught up in the supernatural events, and the likes of Graham Crowden, David Lodge, Madeline Smith, Diana Dors and of course Laurence Naismith excel in various supporting parts.The narrative is action-packed, filled with incident and never less than engaging, and the story as a whole is filled with atmosphere and a kind of timeless joy which makes it highly entertaining to watch. |
tt2870612 | As Above, So Below | In the opening scene, there is a bus just crossing over the Iranian border. A woman, Scarlet Marlowe (Perdita Weeks) is speaking into her camera, saying she has come to Iran to search for a piece of history about to be lost in a hidden catacomb that is about to be demolished by the government. She tells the camera that she understands that she is putting herself in great danger and potential execution by the Iranian authorities by trespassing where she doesn't belong but slyly notes "They'll have to catch me first."Scarlet goes to the home of Reza (Hamid Djavadan) a man who is willing to help her. His home actually has access to the catacomb Scarlet wants to enter. Reza tells her they have to be quick as the government cannot see them and the demolition is going to happen very soon.Scarlet and Reza go down but notice soldiers are down there as well. They hide and wait until they pass by. Reza wants to leave in fear of his family but Scarlet begs for a few minutes. Leaving their hiding spot, they find the inscription Scarlet was looking forward. She begins to read it, amazed by what she finds. She then takes a chisel to it to Rezas surprise. Scarlet counters they are going to blow it up away. She knocks it away to find a bull statue, The Rose Key. It is covered in markings. Scarlet begins to read them as sirens wail. The blast is imminent. Reza tells her they need to leave NOW but Scarlet refuses saying this was what her father spent his entire life searching for. Reza runs and Scarlet says she will be right behind him. She quickly captures the rest of the statue on film and runs, as the blasting commences. She dodges debris all around her and nearly gets lost. Thankfully, she sees the entrance where she first went in and Reza drags her out.Scarlet tells him she got the markings on film and now has the next step to finish her fathers work. Reza cautions her against looking for the Philosopher Stone. Her father looked for it, and His quest was a path to madness.Cue Title Sequence.Later, Scarlet is being interviewed by her cameraman Benjy (Edwin Hodge). She explains her mission to locate the Philosopher Stone, a famed item of supposed myth that could turn base metals into gold and grant who possessed it eternal life. Benjy asks about her father, and how his work possibly lead to his suicide. Scarlet is reluctant to talk about him and deflects from giving deep answers.Scarlet and Benjy are in Paris, France. They go to the home of Nicolas Flamel, a famed alchemist who was purported to have the stone and used for immortality. They got to his crypt, and Scarlet explains that grave robbers open the caskets of Flamel and his wife hoping to find the stone, but both were empty of everything, including bodies, just adding to their myth. Scarlet says that the location of the stone was said to be hidden in code on the grave stone of Flamel but she is unable to translate the language but she knows someone who can.Scarlet breaks into a church to Benjy's shock. Scarlet says she is looking for someone she knows, someone who breaks into places and fixes things. At the top of the church clock tower, they find George (Ben Feldman). George is less than happy to see her, telling Benjy the last time that he and Scarlet were together he got locked up in a prison in Turkey. Scarlet tells him she found The Rose Key, and needs him to translate for her. George realizes she went to Iran, alone, and is incredulous she put herself in that much danger. George finishes fixing the clock and they go outside to hear them ring for the first time in 284 years. George looks at Scarlet. "I'll help you translate but that's it", he says.When night falls, they go back to Flamel's tomb and look at the grave marker. They try to translate several markings but get nowhere. Scarlet deduces they have to look at the back of the stone. They turn it over and find nothing. However, she thinks it is hidden via chemical reactions, so she mixes up some and lights it, revealing a message on it. They now have their next clue.Benjy, Scarlet, and George look at a map trying to find a place to access where they need to go. They figure out that in the old days, people believe that hell was 741 feet down from Earth so they need to be halfway between Earth and Hell, underneath Flamel's tomb to find the stone. Scarlet realizes the catacombs are the only place low enough but Benjy notes that it is not far enough down. However, George remembers that in three spots around Paris, land cave-ins caused 100 feet of ground to collapse inward. One of those points is near Flamel's tomb. Scarlet realizes there must be a hidden catacomb in there.Benjy and Scarlet go on a sanctioned catacomb tour. Scarlet points out to Benjy exactly where they would have to enter but it is too closed off for access normally. A teenage boy nearby tells her to find Papillion (François Civil) to be their guide. The Tour guide sees Benjy and Scarlet are trailing behind and urges them back to the group. When Scarlet looks back, the boy is gone.Benjy, George and Scarlet go to a nightclub where Papillion is at. Benjy notices a strange girl that locks eyes with him intently. Scarlet tells Papillion about the hidden catacomb and though is unconvinced initially, is finally swayed when promised half of the treasure in the hidden catacomb. He tells them he will lead them.The next day, the group gets ready their gear. Among the group is Papillion's friend Souxie (Marion Lambert) and Zed (Ali Marhyar). Benjy asks about Papillion's scars on his hand. Zed says they don't talk about that. As they prepare, George reminds Scarlet that he is not going with them. Still, Scarlet convinces him to at least follow them to the entrance.When they get there, Benjy turns on cameras on each of their lights, so they can record everything that happens. George sees the small hole they are going through and balks at what they are doing. As they enter one by one, George is still vehemently against going. Suddenly, a police officer who had been following the group tackles Papillion and a scuffle begins. The group along with George flees into the tunnel in a panic. Papillion soon follows, and pops a smoke grenade so the cop will not follow them. Now free, they begin to go to work. Scarlet apologizes to George for him being there, but George doesn't want to hear it. He told her many times he didn't want to be here and yet he is.The group begins to go down the catacombs. They stop at a split path. Papillion notices that the left path which they would have to swim to is a cool room but not the way they are going to. They take the right path and continue on. As they walk, they hear some kind of disturbing chanting. Looking through some openings in nearby rocks they see a group of women in some sort of ritual. Papillion notes they are plenty of crazy people that come down here. Benjy looks in and a woman gazes at him intently. He recognizes her from the club and is freaked out.As they come to another crossroads, Papillion tells they have to take a path where they will have to crawl over a path of bones. Benjy says he will not do it, freaked out. Scarlet points out another path and says it will save the group hours. Papillion says absolutely not, as that is the bad path. Scarlett continues to argue but Papillion tells her he knows the catacombs better than she ever will. Furthermore, he, Zed, and Souxie had a friend named Mole who took that path out of eventual curiosity and they never saw him again. George talks to Scarlet and tells her that Papillion knows what he is doing and she can be a little more patient if it means keeping everyone safe.The group moves through the path. However, Benjy gets stuck and begins to suffer claustrophobia. Scarlet works several minutes to calm him down, and he finally crawls through. However, his actions help cause a tunnel collapse and he barely makes it through alive.When the six of them look around, it appears they are in the same place they just came from but there is no other way to keep going but the "bad" path Papillion refused to go through. The rest of the group overrules him, noting they have no other choice.As they walk through, they see a graffiti symbol much like one Papillion tagged earlier. Scarlet confronts him over this, but he denies ever being in this part of the catacombs. Suddenly, they hear a ringing phone. George notes that they used to be some phone cables down in the catacombs but they were all taken out. As they continue to hear it, George sees a sign that confirms they are in the area where the ground collapse and a 100 people dropped to their deaths. Papillion confirms this and that when they went in to fix the problem, 50 more people disappeared.As they continue to walk, they find an old piano, randomly sitting in a corner. Everyone thinks it is trippy. George says he used to have one that he and his brother Danny would play but the A4 key was broken. He begins to play a song but hits the A4 key to find it broken. George freaks out, asking Scarlet what is happening.Scarlet continues to hear the phone ring and goes searching for it. She finds a rotary phone sitting on a table. She answers it and hears a disembodied voice on the other end. She asks who is there but gets no response. She slams the phone down in fright. The group then looks further down the path only to be confronted with Mole, Papillion's long thought dead friend. Mole asks if they are looking for a way out, and the group says yes. Mole tells them the only way out is down. He directs them to a well and they begin to set up to rappel down. As George is going down, Benjy preps to go down next. However, his rope breaks and he falls until he smashes into George. In the process, he hurts his hands badly, so Scarlett bandages them up.When all six are down, they walk down a narrow corridor with an opening in the middle where water flows. Suddenly, the noise around them distorts, making it hard for them to hear, only to be replaced with loud, banging noises right after. In the confusion, one of their cameras catches the image of small child.At the end of the path, there appears to be another dead end. However, George and Scarlet find some carvings in the stone and realize it is like an Egyptian tomb and they have press the right stone to get entrance. Using the inscriptions they have, they correctly guess the right stone and door opens.The group enters and finds a well preserved corpse in Templar armor. Scarlet sees inscriptions on the wall that prove that her search is not a wild goose chase; the stone is real. On a hunch, she makes the group turns off their lights. Seeing a light coming from the floor, she discovers and underwater chasm that she crosses over. In it, she finds a treasure room and a wall with markings. The rest of the group come over and of course overjoyed despite the hardships that they are now rich.Scarlet looks at the wall and relates a myth about the birth of the sun and his envy of his parents love. She finds the Philosopher stone and chips it out of the wall. She finds it funny that priceless artifact is right next to such to find treasure. Her face goes white. Its a trap! she screams too late. Papillion has just broken off the door of the treasure room, which causes a cave in to occur.The group is all shook up but alive. They have to drag out Souxie from the rubble, and she got a messed up arm in the process. Scarlet uses shavings from the Philosopher Stone and heals her to the shock of the group. Realizing that Mole had apparently been killed in the cave in, they move on, trying to find a new way out.Scarlet and George find a new opening and begin to crawl through. George finds an inscription and Scarlet translates it as Abandon all hope, ye who enter here which is supposedly what is inscribed at the gates of hell. Papillion is really freaked out by this point but once again, they have no choice but go through the path they have.When they come out on the other side, they realize it looks like the room they just exited but everything is upside down and/or opposite. Papillion then sees the way they came in has disappeared completely. He asks Scarlet if they are dead in Hell. Scarlett says no.Souxie sees Mole and is startled by him. She tries to go up to him to see if he is okay but he flips out, grabs her by the throat, and bashes her skull in on the ground to the horror of the group. As they go to help Souxie, Mole disappears. Papillion begs Scarlet to use the stone to heal Souxie but it doesn't work because she is already dead. Papillion is heartbroken and the group has to keep going. As they begin to walk, Scarlet sees a noose hanging only to look again and see that it is gone. The group realizes that everything they are experiencing now is a mirror image of what they have already done, and all they are doing is just going deeper down into the earth.The group finds another well and rappel down. As Benjy gets ready to go down, he hears a baby cry. He turns around and yells if anyone is there. Looking again, the same woman that he had been seeing over and over screams and charges him. Startled, he falls down the hole without his harness and hits the ground, dead. Scarlet is absolutely horrified now that her expedition has now caused two deaths. George pulls her along, saying they need to keep moving.They have crossed another path of bones. As George is going, he sees a reflection of Danny, his brother drowning. He screams, and tries to get to his brother through the bones. Scarlet has to calm him down, reminding him it isn't real, and why would Danny be here in the catacombs now. Crossing over the path, they see a light in the distance. Getting closer, they realize it is a fire. Turning the corner they see it is a car on fire, with a young man inside who turns and looks at him.Papillion looks at the car in shock and screams: "NO! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" (the boy is implied to be his brother or a close friend). Suddenly, an invisible force pulls Papillion towards the car. Scarlet and George try to hold him back but it is no use. Papillion is pulled into the flaming wreck, only for the flaming car to crumple up into a ball and disappear, leaving Papillion buried alive with his legs sticking out of the ground. Scarlet and George try to get him out only to realize it is too late for him. He's already dead.Now the group only has Scarlet, George, and Zed. As they continue down the catacombs, they see a robed figure. Knowing it is nothing good, they hide behind a corner. Knowing they might be dead soon, George talks briefly to Scarlet. Whatever happens, the week in Turkey was the best week of my life, he tells her. Mine too, she replies.The three of them look at the robed figure as he sits in a chair. He gets up after a minute and looks at them. The three run.They take a breather on a wall that has stone figures built into the walls. The stone figures come to life and attack them, one biting George in the neck. Scarlet and Zed drag him away, destroying some of the stone figures in the process.Scarlet tries to use the stone to heal George but it is not working. She realizes that now that reality is opposite, she never had the real stone. She has to go back to the wall where she found it, put it back and get the real stone. She tells Zed to watch George while she backtracks to the wall. Zed is afraid but Scarlet tells him if she doesn't go, George will die.Scarlet backtracks through the catacombs. At the spot where water flowed through the floor, it has been replaced with blood and hands reach out, trying to grab her. Scarlet escapes their grasp. She comes across a hooded figure hanging from a rope. She believes it is a hallucination of her father, but when she takes the hood off, she finds herself, who screams at her. She runs off and finds the wall where she found the stone. She puts it back in place but isn't sure where the real stone is. Looking at the wall she finds a large, gold orb at the center. She wipes some dust off it and sees her reflection. It is not explicitly stated, but this reveals to her that her earlier words- "as I believe the world to be, so it is"- is literal in this mirrored world, that she has the power of the Philosopher's Stone.On her way back to George, she sees a hallucination of her dead father, hanging from a noose. She gets up close and tells her father she's sorry she didn't take his call the night he killed himself. She didn't know he was that sick. His image disappears and she runs back to where George and Zed are, killing a few stone figures along the way.Zed asks if she got the stone and Scarlet says yes. She then puts her hands on Georges neck and kisses him. When she pulls her hands away, his wounds are healed and he comes back to life. Seeing the stone figures chasing them, they continue deeper into the catacombs.Scarlet finds yet another well down, but they know they will not have time to get down in a safe manner before the creatures get them. Scarlet says they will have to jump. Zed and George balk at doing that, noting they could die from a fall like that. However, Scarlet points out everything they have experienced and deduce if that they are actually in a circle of hell, they are being tormented for their guilt about past incidents. Scarlet is feeling guilty about her father's suicide, Zed had a child that he refused to acknowledge, and George's brother Danny drowned when he couldn't get back in time to save him. Scarlet says if they take a leap of faith and rectify their guilt, they have a chance. If they don't, they're dead anyway. George doesn't want to but Scarlet says she won't leave without him. The three hold hands and jump down the hole.They land, bruised but alive. Looking around, Zed doesn't see any exits and freaks out that everything was for nothing. However, Scarlet thinks about the phrase that has defined much of their journey; "As Above, So Below" and figures out there is an exit on the floor. Scarlet and George discover a manhole and after figuring out how to get it open, climb through and the three finds themselves back on the streets of Paris. They quickly cover the manhole back up, sealing the entrance. Zed exhales in relief and shock while Scarlet and George silently embrace, all three traumatized by the ordeal.The final scene is Scarlet's earlier interview with Benjy. She says some people think she is going after the Philosopher Stone for fame and fortune but it could not be further from the truth. Benjy asks if that is what she is really after, the truth. Scarlet confirms that is what she is truly after. "I want the truth", she says.The End. | dark, murder, paranormal, violence, flashback, tragedy, romantic | train | imdb | Seriously, that alone makes the movie worth a watch if you're a horror fan.
It's not anything spectacular, none of the film is honestly, but I was satisfied at the end of this movie and that's more than I can say about a lot of the found-footage movies I've seen recently.A pleasant surprise in horror is good acting, and this movie thrives on it.
As usual, with the films I like, I think it deserves better.This movie is different than others in this genre.
The acting is good and the movie builds and builds to a satisfying ending.I've re-watched it over three times.
He wrote Quarantine (2008), as well – another solid semi- recent horror.As Above/So Below is the best horror movie I've seen in a long time.First of all, it's shot on-location in Paris, which is a delight for any fan of that city.
It's tough to get through a whole scary movie without poor acting or cheesy moments.Apparently I'm in the minority because AA/SB is getting 13% amongst top critics and 57% amongst the users on Rotten Tomatoes.But I would encourage an open mind, because it's a cut above the rest.If you're looking for a decent flick this weekend, especially if you dig horror, you can do a lot worse than As Above/So Below..
Yes it is a horror film and no i was not terrified crying in the corner of the theater, but to say this movie didn't scare you it just seems like you think you're this super macho man who isn't scared of anything because you beat slender-man at 2 am in your parents basement.
Let alone i thought the actors did a great job, and it was very believable and it the hand-held camera work made you feel like one of the characters experiencing the whole thing.
Add to that some flimsy romantic love story, and you got a mediocre film at best.However, I do not want to give the impression that this movie was all bad.
But after Blair Witch Project, Rec, and Paranormal Activity, it is difficult to insert a new angle into the whole hand-cam-genre.So if you just want a decent scary movie for 90 minutes while keeping your expectations limited, Catacombes would be a decent choice..
Precocious young female British archaeologist equipped with martial arts skills & mandatory posh voice (but this time without dual firing pistols) is off following her father's footsteps on an adventure to find an ancient mysterious artifact with fabled mystical powers.It leads her into raiding a tomb (the French catacombs in this case, hmm why is this starting to remind me of something?) where mysterious things start happening involving angels & darkness.
The movie continually sets up little sub plots that it is blatantly not going to do anything with, randomly introduces things that make no sense in order to lead to the next set piece & everything is done with such gleeful arbitrariness that I couldn't help but be charmed & highly amused by it.Ultimately if you're looking for a dark unsettling movie about the nature of death, regret & evil or a psychological shaky cam movie with monsters you won't find either here (I'd recommend revisiting The Others or Rec instead).
I watch a new movie every night most of them being horror and no matter how much i have liked or disliked them i have never written a review, Until now.
When they find the stone, Scarlett removes it and soon they discover that they are trapped in hell with visions of their sins and she concludes that she must return the stone to the place where it belongs."As Above, So Below" is another irritating low-budget found footage horror movie.
Welsh born Perdita Weeks plays Scarlett, an archaeologist come alchemist come all round clever clogs who is obsessed with completing her dead-father's quest to find the famous 'Philosopher's Stone' (you see the Potter angle), supposedly buried with its 'inventor' Nicholas Flamel beneath the streets of Paris.She persuades ex-squeeze and ancient clock-mender (I'm not making this up) George (Ben Feldman) to join her on her underground quest , filmed by documentary maker Benji (Edwin Hodge) and roping in a bunch of Parisian adventurers who know the catacombs well.
Making me feel like i'm stuck down there with them and all of their fears being exploited left me as a paranoid wreck through the rest of the film.The movie isn't that scary, but more intense than anything.The ending was well thought out and not cliché.
Overall this movie is well worth watching for anyone looking for the thrills and chills associated with the history of the Paris Catacombs, provided they suspend the insatiable appetite to ask "why?".
This starts off very strong and the fact that they actually filmed in the catacombs beneath Paris gave this "found footage" more of a reality based feel.
The use of Paris catacombs as a movie location was an excellent move, adding value and interest to the film but, despite the gloomy atmosphere, it failed to create tension.
yet still manages to be largely forgettable.I actually like some of these low budget horror movies, and can appreciate that the cheap camera work is now a way of covering up the filmmakers lack of funds.
But i cant help but feel that "As above, so below" just tries way to hard to be something more than it is.For starters all of the actors/actresses in the movie are ridiculously good looking (Espechally the lead actress.
Other horror movies all have hot stars so this one has to too.It goes without saying that the shaky camera work in the film can just come of as irritating.
it had beautiful and not overdosed effects which all the other horror movies use and start to feel to fake after watching for a while..
I just got done watching this movie at the theater.I actually REALLY enjoy the hand-held-horror flicks ("The Blair Witch Project", "Cloverfield", "Chernobyl Diaries", "The Descent", etc.) so as one would expect, I was fairly excited to see this film.
(The 2009 movie "Triangle" offers a good example of this).In conclusion, if the idea of venturing deep underground to explore the mysteries of an abyss intrigues you, I recommend watching "The Descent" instead.
I am really not a fan of the "found footage" gimmick anyway, or horror flicks in general (besides The Shining), so maybe I am just not the right audience for this movie.
There was ONE legitimate jump scare, some pretty good locations and sets, a couple shocking moments with some alright blood/gore, but other than that, this movie would be a complete waste of money, in my opinion.
Maybe a horror junkie or a fan of the shaky-cam, "found footage" sub-genre of films might enjoy this, but I highly recommend you save your money for something much more original and not so incredibly idiotic and cringe-worthy in all the WRONG ways!-B.
The only good thing I'll have after the experience is that, whatever I watch in my next visit to the cinema will be, compared to this, a masterpiece.Yet another movie where they use the first person camera not to show any clear image, and if that fails..
But enough with "found footage" - let it R.I.P. FOREVER, please.I didn't give a damn about Scarlet or George or whoever else the writers decided to sacrifice to the scary movie gods - boring-ass characters.
Watching this movie was like going to Knott's Scary farm, stuff just exists to scare you and we'll tie it in with some guilt stuff that these people carry around and bang, formula for terrible movie.Also, for the first time in the history of ever, I actually got motion sickness watching this "found footage" shiftiest.
Kudos, AASB, kudos.But, there is some imagery throughout, some nice atmosphere the movie creates and that works well but its just too deep int the mucky-muck to rescue this garbage.The last shot though, or rather the final scene at the end is very well filmed and actually had me tripping out trying to decipher the physics of it.too long, didn't read - trite over-intelligent characters, scary stuff pops out, spooky sounds equals really bad scary movie.
There are people still that like to watch movies with amateur cameras???
There's no effort from the director duping that...blairwitch was original...then the others came...and even project x, all the same thing...they love to move the camera so viewers think that's real...come on, a really scary movie was "the others" with a great actress like Nicole Kidman???I just paid less than 5 dollars and left the theater, totally disappointed...I know that horror movies we're lets say "invented" in 70s and 80s...but one thing is scary movie and another is just get scare cos of the noise that they put when everybody is quite mixed with a hot teenager Indiana jones that knows EVERYTHING...
Sorry, not for me...I started thinking that this web page Is better to read it after u watch the movie, cos before change ur expectations in the very wrong way.
Assembling a team of plucky urban explorers, she ventures into the dark network of tunnels where horror awaits.As Above, So Below references classical art and literature and historical legends in an attempt to add a degree of intelligence to proceedings, but what director John Erick Dowdle's film ultimately boils down to is an oft confusing, very dark (as in you can't see what is happening) and derivative mess of a film (equal parts The Blair Witch Project, National Treasure, and The Descent) that basically consists of an hour and a half of repetitive meandering through confined passageways while assorted inexplicable supernatural occurrences terrify the characters (but rarely the viewer).Dowdle does admittedly conjure up quite a bit of atmosphere along the way, making the absolute most of his creepy, claustrophobic location, whilst the deciphering of long lost clues and the discovery of hidden treasure adds a modicum of fun, but the action, much of which proves as difficult to unravel as an Aramaic riddle, soon becomes tiresome, while the over-used found footage/mockumentary style only serves to annoy..
Awful, simply awful, a genre that has been done to death and none of them very well (despite what the critic tells you) first person cam, torches that flicker on and off at crucial/exciting moments, so you cant see a damn thing most of the time (what there is of crucial/exciting moments to see that is) "is it round the corner" rubbish,characters that you find very hard to believe, or even care about.100 PhDs and goodness knows what at 20 odd..right..I would not of minded if the actor in question playing the part had come across as "uber-intelligent"..but she does not.
The only reason i have given it a 2 and a bit of a (possible) spoiler here, is for the effort it must of taken getting a car and a piano down in to the Catacombs...one point for each item, but other than that..and just to add one more cliché to an over cliché'd film..avoid it like the plague..and go watch paint dry..
This one was yet another found footagesque type horror film with a relatively low budget and a mainly unknown, but familiar cast.This movie didn't really work for me.
Some of the supernatural elements were interesting, but in this case the feeling I got was that I had to be there to really know how scary it was.For some reason, watching this, I wasn't nearly as terrified as the people in the movie were.
It likely would have been better to make this just as a movie rather than a found footage film.
Lots of noise and horror elements we've seen before thrown in here and some pretty weak bad guys make for some yawns unfortunately.The ending was way to tidy as well.
I know this won't happen though because these movies basically print money because they are so cheap to make.In the end, this movie came a little too late into the genre and the story felt a little hokey to me...like I said earlier, I guess you had to be there..
In fact, as I watched it, I couldn't help but wish that someone would adapt it for the much more suitable genre.The film's premise and basic plot are intelligent enough to enjoy, and as usual the blend of ancient mythologies in a "relic-hunt" (as per Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider) is something I would have liked to explore more fully.
Unfortunately since this is a feature film that had to enclose its dose of jump-scares and shaky-cam, it set up a great first act and then proceeded to dash it thoroughly with standard horror-movie tropes for the entire rest of its run-time.
There's not much more to it than that.I have complaints about the way the "found footage" format is employed, but the problems are so common and inherent that they should just be taken for granted.Ultimately this film hasn't been made for the type of horror fan that loves the genre, it's for people who like going to the cinema and occasionally watching a relatively scary film.
The ending of the film is predictable, just as many horror film endings are becoming and at many times throughout the film, pointless, sentimental things would happen which have no meaning to the plot and make the viewer lose touch with the film (e.g. a supposedly cute "lets confess our love even though we may die in the next five minutes" scene).
Obviously not all of the characters were going to be great but Scarlett, George, and Benji where great and they save any of the weaker performances.Overall I think it was a well acted found footage film that feels a lot like a video game in ways that aren't bad.
This movie is based upon a team of explorers who venture into the catacombs that lies beneath the streets of Paris in search of treasure but they end up discovering something else.The movie starts off with great expectations but as it goes forward towards the middle we will start to feel that nothing is happening but I would say to wait as the rest is just a roller-coaster of chills.
First and foremost I despise the sub-genre that is found footage but, I always give the films a chance, no matter how awful I think the movie will be.
This found footage horror movie actually adds something different to the sub-genre which is searching for a long lost treasure.
I don't hate found footage movies, I'm always open to the idea but, when the idea is executed so poorly like in this film, I have to call it out for being the trash it really is.
Fans of the found footage sub-genre will likely watch this film at some point but, the best idea is to wait for home video and rent the movie.
For horror movie fans who really aren't into found footage, there is no reason to ever watch this awful film.
The catacombs is an eerie sort of place already, adding a horror movie to the mix seemed like a good combination but what it brought was the worst movie I've ever seen.I didn't expect the movie to be filmed via a video camera held by a character the entire duration but it was.
I have not watched a 'horror/thriller' movie in years that I could walk away from feeling that the writers and producers actually gave me the benefit of the doubt of having respectable intelligence.
There are some cool treasure hunting moments, the characters are likable enough, and watching the main character uncover hidden ancient clues is pretty fun.Then the movie shifts into horror mode and this was its weak point for sure.
Almost as if they wrote 3/4's of the movie to be an adventure flick then decided at the last minute to make it a horror film.
I would pretty much watch any horror movie that opens in theater whether it looks good or bad.
Look out for some hidden 'easter eggs' in this movie that give away the ending even before you see it - and if you already know about the ending then you'll be re-watching the film wishing you had seen these things earlier.
It has so many horror movie cliches that I would not recommend this film to anyone.
It just looked like another PG-13 found footage horror film.
I was on a horror movie website (at work) and an article came up about the film.
And finding out that it was R Rated, I jumped online to give it a watch.As Above So Below shot found footage style by director John Erick Dowdle, follows Scarlett (Perdita Weeks) as she and a group of people venture into the catacombs in Paris looking for a specific artifact and treasure.
But for fans of layered films in their horror with some nice jump scares this is a good watch..
It was original in some tones – the Paris catacombs, the plot line of the film and the characters themselves, but also, it was just boring.
You'll get your answer pretty quickly, I'll tell you that.The best thing about this is that a lot of it was actually filmed on location in the real catacombs.
It looks and feels very similar to dozens of other found footage horror movies in recent years.
Really good for what it is: a modestly-budgeted B-grade horror flick in an exotic location.Best reason to watch this movie: The catacombs.
There's an actual reason to film the movie this way: the characters illegally enter the catacombs on an exploration mission.
If you're in any way into your 'modern horror' films, you'll already know that 'found footage' movies are basically entirely filmed from the perspective of the cameraman (using some loose pretext of 'needing' to film absolutely everything that everyone does).
The chases come in the second act, but, if you've seen any other found footage film, you'll know what's coming.You won't care about the characters. |
tt0119177 | Gattaca | In "the not-too-distant" future, where genetic engineering of humans is common and DNA plays the primary role in determining social class, Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is conceived and born without the aid of this technology. Suffering from the nearly eradicated physical dysfunctions of myopia and a congenital heart defect, as well as being given a life expectancy of 30.2 years, Vincent faces extreme genetic discrimination and prejudice. The only way he can achieve his life-long dream of becoming an astronaut is to break the law and impersonate a "valid", a person with appropriate genetic advantage.[4]He assumes the identity of Jerome Eugene Morrow (Jude Law), a former swimming star who, despite a genetic profile "second to none", won only a silver medal in a high-profile competition. He then attempted to commit suicide by jumping in front of a car, but again fell short of his goal in that he only succeeded in paralyzing himself from the waist down. However, as the incident occurred outside the country, no one knows of his newly acquired disability. Thus, Vincent can "buy" his identity with no one the wiser. Though he requires orthopedic surgery to increase his height, persistant practice to favor his right hand instead of his left, and contact lenses to replace his glasses while matching Jerome's eyes, he can use his "valid" DNA in blood, tissue and urine samples to pass any genetic test - as long as he takes extreme measures to leave no traces of his identity as an "in-valid". But, where he was once an object of scorn and pity, he is now a perpetrator of an unspeakable fraud. Legally, exposure would only subject him to fines, but socially the consequences would be far more extreme - he is now a heretic against the new order of genetic determinism. Vincent is now a "borrowed ladder" (a reference to the ladder structure of an un-coiled DNA strand) or in harsher language, a de-gene-erate.With Jerome's impressive genetic profile he easily gains access to the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation (his interview consists entirely of a urine test), the most prestigious space-flight conglomerate of the day. With his own equally impressive determination, he quickly becomes the company's ace celestial navigator. But a week before Vincent is scheduled to leave for Saturn's moon Titan, the mission director is murdered, and evidence of Vincent's own "in-valid" DNA is found in the building in the form of an eyelash. The presence of this unexpected DNA attracts the attention of the police, and Vincent must evade ever-increasing security as his mission launch date approaches and he pursues a relationship with his co-worker Irene Cassini (Uma Thurman).After numerous close calls, the investigation eventually comes to a close as Director Josef (Adam S. Gottbetter) is arrested for the murder by the lead detective covering the investigation (Alan Arkin). The Director reveals that he murdered the mission director in order to buy time for the mission to launch, because the window of opportunity for the launch is only open once every seventy years, and that it is now too late to stop the launch. However, just as Vincent appears to be in the clear, he is confronted by one of the detectives, who is revealed as Vincent's estranged brother, Anton (Loren Dean). Anton tries to convince Vincent to go with him for protection before Vincent is found out. However, it soon becomes apparent that Anton is acting more out of insecurity and is more concerned with how Vincent had managed to get the better of him, despite his supposed genetic superiority. Vincent and Anton settle their competition as they did when they were children, by seeing who could swim out into the ocean farthest. As he did once before when they were young, Vincent manages to beat his brother, and, once again, saves him from drowning. This is simply because he refused to save any strength to swim back - he is willing to risk everything to succeed. Conversely his brother worried about preserving enough strength to swim out and return again, and these fears kept him from testing his true limits.Anton: "Vincent! How are you doing this, Vincent? How have you done any of this? We have to go back!"Vincent: "It's too late for that, we're closer to the other side."Anton: "What other side? Do you want to drown us both"Vincent: "You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back."As the day of the launch finally arrives, Jerome bids Vincent farewell and says that he intends to travel too. He reveals that he has stored enough genetic samples to last Vincent two lifetimes. Overwhelmed and grateful, Vincent thanks Jerome for "lending" him the identity that has allowed his success at Gattaca. Jerome replies, however, that it is he who should be grateful, since Vincent lent Jerome his dreams. As Vincent moves through the Gattaca complex to the launch site, he is stopped for an unexpected DNA test. Vincent reluctantly agrees to take the test, even though he has none of Jerome's genetic material to hide his identity. The test result uncovers Vincent's "in-valid" status, and the doctor, Lamar (Xander Berkeley), reveals that he has known Vincent's true identity all along, saying: "For future reference, right-handed men don't hold it with their left. Just one of those things". Lamar then alters the test result to allow him to proceed regardless, confessing that his son admires Vincent, and wants to be an astronaut just like him, despite an unforeseen genetic defect that would already rule him out. As the shuttle lifts off, Jerome is shown committing suicide inside his home incinerator, wearing his silver medal, which turns gold in the flames.The story centers on the irony of the perfect Jerome failing to succeed despite being given every advantage while the imperfect Vincent transcends his deficiencies through force of will and spirit. A milder version of the disorder that afflicts Vincent prevents Irene from taking part in space flight. This dichotomy shows how the eugenic policy in Gattaca and the world in which it is set adversely affect the humanity of both Vincent and Jerome, as well as the "invalid" and "valid" humans they represent. A coda, cut from the final film, lists various people who have succeeded despite genetic deficiencies (and would be excluded in the modern society of Gattaca), such as Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln. | comedy, boring, neo noir, murder, dramatic, cult, violence, thought-provoking, atmospheric, flashback, inspiring, romantic, sci-fi | train | imdb | null |
tt0037913 | Mildred Pierce | Following several gunshots, Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott) collapses in the living room of a beach house. He whispers the name "Mildred," and dies. His wife, Mildred Pierce-Beragon (Joan Crawford), soon arrives at the police station and acts suspiciously nervous, though denies killing her husband. When the police reveal the man they believe to be the culprit- Mildred's first husband, Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett), who was the owner of the murder weapon- Mildred proclaims his innocence with emotion. Realizing that she knows more than she lets on, the detectives gather information from Mildred.Several years earlier, Mildred was married to Bert and spent her days as a housewife in their middle-class home. Her chief concern was providing all she could for their two daughters, Veda (Ann Blyth) and Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe). Bert loses his job, and reveals his frustration with Mildred's treatment of their children; namely showering them with expenses they cannot afford. Mildred sells baked goods to the neighbors to afford gifts for Veda in particular, but Bert chastises her for spoiling the girl. It is suggested that Bert has been unfaithful, and the two agree to separate. Mildred reveals the news to her daughters that afternoon when they return from school and witness Bert packing the car and driving off. Kay, the younger tomboyish daughter, is deeply saddened that her father had left, but snobbish teenage Veda is more concerned that they will no longer be able to afford any luxuries. Veda's status hunger and greed is shown when she tries on a dress that Mildred had scrimped to buy her, and calls it nothing more than a rag.Desperate for money, Mildred takes a job as a waitress at a local restaurant. She begins to excel at restaurant work, but keeps her job a secret for fear of being judged by Veda. However, Veda finds her mother's waitress uniform and gives it to their maid (Butterfly McQueen) to wear, intending to indirectly reveal her suspicion. Mildred admits her occupation, and Veda acts disgusted by her mother's "common" behavior. Mildred aspires to open her own restaurant, and with the help of family friend Wally Fay (Jack Carson), she locks down a piece of real estate for it. Mildred decides to divorce Bert for the security of her future business. The owner of the building, Monte Beragon, seems to be a well-mannered, intelligent man, and he begins a romance with Mildred after she buys the property.Bert visited his daughters and took them on vacation, but upon their return informs Mildred that Kay has come down with pneumonia. They get her to a doctor, but he is unable to save her. A grief-stricken Mildred puts every ounce of her energy into her restaurant, which quickly becomes successful. Her divorce comes through, and she and Bert part on good terms. Mildred uses her new found wealth to open more restaurants, and to shower Veda with luxurious gifts. Veda grows more and more spoiled and ungrateful, and enters into a relationship with a wealthy young man. Monte, meanwhile, has been using large amounts of Mildred's money to furnish his own playboy lifestyle, and also becoming strangely close with Veda. Mildred leaves him, but gives him a large sum in compensation.Veda claims that she had eloped with Teddy Forrester, a young man from a wealthy family, though she admits to not loving him. Teddy's mother insists they annul the marriage and Mildred agrees, though she does not care for Mrs. Forrester's snobbish attitude. At the lawyer's office, the Pierce's are about to be denied a $10,000 settlement for the annulment, due to Mildred's wealth. To secure the payment for herself, Veda claims that she is pregnant. When she arrives home, she gloats to her mother that her pregnancy was a lie, and that she now has the money to leave home forever. Mildred rips up the check. Veda slaps her, and is turned out of the house.Mildred, deeply hurt and conflicted by Veda's actions, lives in Mexico for several years before returning home to California. She meets with Bert and asks after Veda. He takes her to Wally Fay's bar, where she now performs as a lounge singer. Mildred reunites with her and begs her to come home, but Veda insults her further and claims that she wants the life Monte had described to her years ago. Mildred leaves, determined to win her daughter back. She visits Monte, and asks him to marry her. He agrees, in exchange for ownership of a third of Mildred's restaurant stock.Bert visits Mildred after her wedding, and she admits she does not love Monte, but will do anything to bring Veda home. Bert reveals that Veda has agreed to return, and she shares a tearful reunion with her mother, promising to change her spoiled ways.During a lavish birthday party for Veda, Mildred is held up at the office discussing the financial toll her business has taken, due to Monte's scheming dealings. When Mildred arrives home, she is told that Monte and Veda have gone to Monte's beach house. Mildred follows them there, and discovers them kissing. Veda again acts entitled and cruel to her mother, boasting that Monte had only stayed with Mildred to have access to her daughter, and that they will soon marry. Mildred, incredibly hurt, leaves the house. Monte then rejects Veda's advances, saying he never loved her, and calling her "a rotten little tramp." A livid Veda pulls a revolver (belonging to her father) and shoots him dead. He gasps Mildred's name before collapsing.Mildred returns to the house after hearing the shots. Veda admits to killing Monte, and begs her mother to cover for her and provide her with money and time to escape. Knowing she can provide nothing more for Veda, Mildred calls the police. At the station, as Mildred finishes her interrogation, Veda is led in. After prompting from the police and further evidence, it is admitted that Veda is the true killer. She is calmly led to jail as Mildred weeps. Free to go, Mildred leaves the station, where she meets Bert. They walk away together, leaving their past behind. | melodrama, romantic, murder, flashback | train | imdb | With those broad shoulders, those wall-to-wall eyebrows, that steely look on her face, and wrapped in those expensive clothes, the inimitable Joan Crawford exudes glamour and resolve as famed Mildred Pierce, housewife turned businesswoman, in this Michael Curtiz-directed film, part mystery, part melodrama.The film's story, told in flashbacks, begins with mystery, and it is helped along by terrific B&W lighting.
Mildred tells how she differs from her husband, working upward as a business woman and how she is willing to do absolutely everything to their already spoiled daughter Veda.Mildred Pierce literally sparkles.
Then there is a former spouse who is living his new life in the periphery, the friend who is helpful, but not without being sure to reap the rewards of Mildred's success and even a new one that might not be what he appears to be.Crawford got a well-deserved Oscar for this film..
Her daughters were her whole life, doting unhealthily on Veda, the older one, especially (a very young Ann Blyth, herself nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this film).
Joan Crawford, one of the world's great movie stars, truly shines in "Mildred Pierce", a tense, prickly film noir full of suspense and drama!Joan is Mildred, a hard working pie and chicken maven who becomes a successful restuaranteur.
The lighting, the costumes, the sets, and most importantly, the writing all help this gem of a film become a true classic.Joan won an Oscar for her breathtaking performance, but the tour de force powerhouse in "Mildred Pierce" was Ann Blyth.
James M Cain's novel 'Mildred Pierce' was much tougher, dirtier, violent and cynical than the gorgeously mounted movie it became, but the film still manages to maintain enough of the flavor of the book to be interesting.
Within its first hour MILDRED PIERCE captures something anxious about American life and marriages and families that is more true than most of what movies had shown up to that time, and it would prove to be even more so in the postwar world to come.
The movie actually becomes more false and synthetic as it moves into Mildred's rise in life, but by then the plot and characters have taken hold.And so has the film's increasingly bleak look at what women can expect when they live and work alone in a man's world, beset by men who want to exploit them, sexually and otherwise.
Crawford gets able support from Ann Blyth, Eve Arden (as comedy relief; she is almost appearing in another movie entirely), Zachary Scott and especially Jack Carson, dead-on as a sweaty hustler and low rent lothario, bringing nuance to what could have been a one-note portrayal.
Bruce Bennett isn't really a good actor in the role of Mildred's first husband, but he's perfectly cast -- he looks like an Okie from one of Dorothea Lange's photographs who went west to 'make it' and never did.And as has been frequently mentioned here, Ernest Haller's cinematography (especially in the brilliant prints now being shown on cable) is consistently evocative and beautiful.
Directed by Michael Curtiz, and based on James M.Cain's steamy novel, "Mildred Pierce" is a slick stylish sudser that ranks among the best.After a decade-long streak at MGM, Crawford, made her way over to Warner Bros.
Blyth was the ultimate bitchy daughter and deserved the Oscar as supporting actress.I learned later of Crawfords huge comeback with this film, and not knowing her successes previously, it made perfect sense.
Although some of the situations and scenes suffer from the passage of time (the modern audience in the cinema, myself included, couldn't help laughing at some of the more ludicrous things said/done), the film as a whole worked, mostly on the strength of the performances.Joan Crawford won her only Oscar for her role, and it was well-deserved--she held the film together with a confident performance that ranged from charming and sassy, to desperate and almost frightening.
Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) is a tiring housewife living with his husband and two daughters .
Jack Carson as the way-too-horny slob and ruthless businessman/lawyer .IN THE MIDDLE - The lead character, Mildred Pierce, played by Joan Crawford.
Then, once rich and successful, Veda behaves much like Louise Beavers' daughter did in IMITATION OF LIFE--she had no respect or appreciation of her mom's hard work.This film garnered Joan Crawford an Oscar for Best Actress and while she did do a good job in the film, I couldn't help but think that this was not a great but more of a very competent performance.
It also has the standard issue noir look; veteran director Michael Curtiz knew his way around a movie set, and gives his film a moody, shadowy look perfectly at home among the "Maltese Falcon's" and "Double Indemnity's" of the decade.
That said, Mildred Pierce is a film noir character because she has secrets from the past that implicate people she loves in murder.
It was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and won just the one for Crawford in the Best Actress category.Plot finds Crawford as Mildred Pierce, a devoted Mother of two girls who struggles to not only make her marriage work, but to also keep her eldest daughter, Veda (Blyth), in the luxurious life she demands.
But Crawford, just entering her forties, took the role on, and in spite of initial protestations from director Curtiz, gave a terrific performance that landed her the coveted golden statuette and prolonged her film career for another 25 years.Blending the psychological aspects of the woman's picture with the physical edges of film noir, Mildred Pierce is something of a unique picture.
As film noir was becoming a telling genre in film making, Mildred Pierce also coincided with the later stages of WWII; A time when the role of the Woman, either in the service or at home, was under scrutiny.
One of the great things about the film, and the performance of Crawford, is that it cobbles together many character strands of the 40s woman: in life and in film noir.
Shifting from sunny suburbia one moment to shadowy expressionistic bleakness the next, the photographer of such notable film's like Gone With the Wind and Rebel Without a Cause, is integral to the moody excellence of Mildred Pierce.A murder mystery flanked by asides of class distinction, bad parenting, dubious sexual leanings and pure greed.
His wife Joan Crawford (Mildred) is one of those arrested and relates her story in flashback to Inspector Moroni Olsen (Peterson) but Olsen is playing a cat-and-mouse game with his interview technique in order to catch the killer.I liked this film.
It was a pure genre-film in which the basic realizations and bases of film-noir were internalized perfectly.In the title role stars Joan Crawford, who won herself an Oscar for this performance, as Mildred Pierce: a strong independent woman who, after her husband leaves her, tries to attain an affluent lifestyle on her own.
The true nature of this tragedy starts to reveal itself when Mildred's daughter begins to show interest for Mildred's new husband.When writing about Mildred Pierce, we could easily start analyzing and interpreting the entire genre of film-noir -- as it is one of its finest blossoms.
All the people are double-crossing each other and try to fix their desolate situations by money and success but only to find themselves from worse tragedies.At its heart, Mildred Pierce is a mother-daughter drama and all the film noir-like crimes are actually done on personal level: in the relationships which are filled with greed, betrayal and passion.
Joan Crawford stars as Mildred Pierce,a divorced mother who spoils her daughters in the hope of there love and approval, especially her oldest daughter Veda.
I truly felt bad for Mildred Pierce in the movie but at the same time I realized how naive and soft she had become with her daughter veda who was spectacular in playing a seductive,spoiled brat who was hungry for money.
Michael Curtis the director of the film did a great job of using flashbacks and different lighting and scores to signify the mood of the people involved in each scene while leading you to the climatic action that surprises you and a twist that you would have never seen coming..
In all other ways Mildred Pierce follows the model for a great film noire.
Joan Crawford is astonishingly great in the title role, and so is Jack Carson as the smiley-faced Wally and Ann Blyth as the sadistic Veda.
Every time I watch Mildred Pierce I can't conceive of myself or any of my siblings treating our mother the way Ann Blyth treats Joan Crawford.
But Ann Blyth may very well be the Queen of all bad seed children ever put on film.Crawford won her Oscar in 1945 for Best Actress and this gave her career a fifteen year lease on life.
It begins with anintroductory sequence that shows a man being shot, a woman(Mildred Pierce herself, as played by Crawford) walking across abridge in tears, making almost as if to jump off before beingstopped by a police officer, and then finding an acquaintance(Wally Fay, played by Carson) at a restaurant and taking him to anelaborate beach house-the one where the man was shot, wherehis body still is.
The power of Mildred Pierce is that it makes a common trope or type or just one of those things that people associate the Film-Noir picture with - the "Femme Fatale" dame who ruins things for the man, usually leading in death - is given the personal treatment; "every girl's got a mother," says even the co-'headliner' at the small club that daughter Veda is singing at after being kicked out of her house by her mother of the title, and this is about, I suppose one could say, that character's mother as the protagonist.
I don't suppose one could've made the film from the man's point of view, as this isn't the sort of story like Double Indemnity where we can at least kind-of-sort-of relate to slick Fred MacMurray getting in over his head; Zachary Scott's Monte is a scoundrel, and in a way is not the 'Average Joe', but the kind of rich pile of crap that, sadly, women sometimes aspire to have - and maybe the same man throws interest as well.So we have the story as told from the point of view of Mildred Pierce.
Actually I have to think one of the appealed to Warner and Crawford and Curtiz is that it gets to have multiple cakes and eat it: it's a story of a woman finding the sort of independence that men take for granted (or, for a long time, remember it's not too long in modern times women could even *own* property of their own or have their own bank accounts, not even allow or look down upon), while at the same time Veda is one of the snottiest bitches in the history of that period of film.
If I could describe it with one word, I think the best I could come up with would be "sturdy." It's well acted, with Joan Crawford giving an excellent performance as a leading lady in a genre filled mainly with leading men, and the technical aspects of the film are good (although certainly not striking or memorable at any point) but none of this can really make up for the film's overall inability to be thrilling, or even compelling for that matter.After seeing Mildred Pierce for the first time I don't think it even affected me enough for me to feel the need to form an opinion on it.
Alas, it's all for naughty Ann Blyth (as Veda), the mother of all selfish and ungrateful daughters."Mildred Pierce" is one of the model woman's movies of the 1940s.
Michael Curtiz directs this great drama about a woman Mildred Pierce(Joan Crawford)and her struggles to become a success in the business world.
But what Mildred really wants the love of her daughter Veda is still not received, and despite going to extreme lengths, never receives it.In the lead role, Joan Crawford is superb.
Although Cain's novels are somewhat turned upside down and all around when it comes to making one of his books into a movie(witness "The Postman Always Rings Twice) - this is a wonderful melodrama that puts Joan Crawford in an unusual role as a self-sacrificing mother who will do anything to protect her selfish, manipulative daughter, so well-played by Ann Blyth.I could watch this movie about once a year, it's so good.
One of the factors in that style of film making is that none of the main characters are up to any good - they all have some hidden agenda and/or some dark secret."Mildred Pierce" fits under drama, soap opera, etc.
Now I know what it feels like to be tipped." And the noir lighting, as many fans of the movie have noticed, is first rate (even though Mildred Pierce is nothing more than a noir-wannabe, one with way too much sunlight, scenes of California beaches, restaurants that are cheerful and busy and profitable--and of course the leading lady's wardrobe.
She tells the police the story of their marriage where Bert left her alone with two children the tomboyish Kay and the materialistic Veda; how she started to work in a restaurant before eventually being able to open up her own place and making the money that she needed to give Veda everything she wants out of life.Despite knowing that it is one of Joan Crawford's better films I didn't know a great deal about it and decided to make good use of Christmas television by catching up on older films that I had never gotten round to seeing.
The film starts many years into the main story, using a murder to trigger a flashback into a rather melodramatic story where Mildred's maternal instincts are directed towards the pursuit of money for her demanding daughter Veda.
Joan Crawford plays the title role, a mother who will do anything for her selfish daughter Veda, played by Ann Blyth.
Mildred even goes into business, becoming a successful restaurant owner, but Veda is still ungrateful even as her mother has provided her opportunities in society.Jack Carson plays Wally Fay, a man Mildred manipulates; Zachary Scott is Monte Beragon, another who gets involved in a tragic love triangle of sorts with Crawford's and Blyth's characters.
And it retains that compelling grip right through to its final, climatic twist-ending.Told mainly in flashbacks (with voice-over narration by Joan Crawford), Mildred Pierce's story tells the tale of a devoted mother and house-wife, who, after divorcing her two-timing husband, proves that she can become independent and successful in the world of business.
But through all of her toil and trouble she cannot win the approval of her spoiled-rotten daughter.Filmed in b&w, Mildred Pierce features a really first-rate cast headlined by Jack Carson, Ann Blyth and Bruce Bennett.Joan Crawford's performance (playing the title character) won her an Oscar for "Best Actress".This picture was adapted from the novel of the same name written by James Cain whose other notable works include - Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice..
The film is renowned for featuring Joan Crawford's signature role, earning her the Oscar for Best Actress after she was fired from MGM, but although I was sensible to the poignancy of her role, I thought she was so melodramatic at times that Ann Blyth, could easily steal her thunder by remaining so horribly phlegmatic.A great villain always makes a film, the more you hate him or her, the most chances you have to appreciate the film, and "Mildred Pierce" is no exception.
For the most part the plot is decent, but the acting is what really did it for me.Joan Crawford was unbelievable (in the good way) as Mildred, a successful working mother who is overly devoted to meeting the demands of her her child and may or may not have been involved with a murder.
Mildred, portrayed by Joan Crawford is the mother who is trying to win the approval of her selfish, self-centered daughter.
Cain, Michael Curtiz's production of the 1945 film, "Mildred Pierce" was good.
Throughout the whole film you wanted to reach in, grab Mildred (Joan Crawford) and shake her for being so giving and nice to her horrible, spoiled, selfish daughter Veda (Ann Blyth).
A solid blend of mystery and melodrama, "Mildred Pierce" is probably best remembered for Joan Crawford, but it also has a talented supporting cast and some good atmospheric sequences.
Ann Blyth succeeds in her role as Mildred's scheming daughter, even holding her own in her scenes with Crawford.The production is good as well, and it is somewhat interesting in that it takes what at first appears to be a film-noirish story, and casts it more as a melodrama.
Joan Crawford gives an Academy Award winning performance in the title role of this melodramatic film noir.
Crawfords character, Mildred Pierce, spends her life trying to please her greedy selfish daughter Veda, and eventually this all comes to a sudden tragic end.
In these Film Noir movies, women are also shown as having a bad sad, which we see in Mildred Pierce, because she kills her boyfriend to have his home.
Mildred Pierce is your classic example of a film Noir.
The acting was great, the story was really good i thought, but the best thing about this movie was the way it looked.
"Mildred Pierce" is a unique film noir in that it features a woman as the main character, but the movie pulls this off very well and stays true to the film genre.
A classic film noir in Mildred Pierce.
A classic film noir in Mildred Pierce.
Joan Crawford was brilliant as Mildred Pierce and the audience is able to feel her struggles throughout the film.
Mildred Pierce is a classic film noir, and I like the fact that the main character was a female, as were some of the more compelling characters. |
tt0083169 | Taps | Bunker Hill Military Academy has just concluded another school year. Cadet Brian Moreland, a junior, meets privately with the academy commandant, retired Brigadier General Harlan Bache. Bache promotes Moreland to Cadet Major, the paramount rank at BHMA. Bache also reflects on the time when he was a cadet at West Point (Moreland's intended college), as well as a graduate of BHMA prior to that, and how he dreads his forthcoming retirement. Moreland is congratulated first by his friend Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer, as well as by Cadet Captain David Shawn and Cadet Lieutenant Edward West. Shawn leads a celebration in the hallway. The commencement is celebrated with a parade and pass and review. Following the ceremonies, General Bache announces that BHMA's board of trustees is selling the school to real estate developers. The school will remain open for one year in order to allow the seniors to graduate and give the underclassmen time to apply to other schools. The delay gives many cadets hope that BHMA can be saved. Bache also hopes that the institute can be saved, as he remarks to Moreland "We are here, and the condos are not".
The graduation ceremony is followed by a ball that evening. Outside the gates, a brawl erupts when several local teenagers harass the cadets, which escalates into one local assaulting a sentry. General Bache tries to break up the fight, but his service pistol is seized by one of the teens and the weapon discharges, killing a second teen. Although the magazine had been removed, a round was still in the chamber. Bache is arrested and charged with manslaughter. However, the trauma of the event combined with the arrest triggered a heart attack and Bache is hospitalized in critical condition. The board of trustees closes BHMA immediately.
Since Bache is ill, Moreland meets with the officers of the cadet corps and they take control of Bunker Hill. The Dean of Students arrives with the local Sheriff to empty the armory. They find the weapons in the hands of an armed cadre led by Major Moreland, who demands to meet with General Bache and the trustees so that BHMA will be kept open. The Dean and Sheriff are escorted off the campus by armed cadets, who secure the perimeter.
More cadets are sent to a local warehouse for the purpose of restocking BHMA's provisions, but one of the trucks breaks down on the way back. As Dwyer is fixing the engine, townies surround the truck, demanding vengeance for the death of their friend. Shawn fires several bursts from his M16 into the air, dispersing the mob. The cadets abandon the stalled truck, fleeing the scene in the second truck, ramming a police car that was blocking their path.
The police surround the campus, but Shawn oversees a defense of the wall which turns into a standoff. A delegation of parents and trustees is admitted. The parents include Moreland's father, a master sergeant in the US Army, who bluntly orders his son to end the standoff. He fails to sway Moreland. To show the police and parents that none of the boys are being held against their will, Moreland assembles the cadets and offers them a chance to walk out. They all choose to stay. The siege grows more tense when the National Guard, led by Colonel Kerby, arrives. Kerby negotiates with Moreland; the Colonel admires the academy, and does not wish to see it closed. But his loyalty is to the state legislature, which has been inundated with calls from concerned families and from locals who are scared by the standoff. Despite the Colonel's diplomatic approach, he fails to sway Moreland.
The next morning, it is discovered that eleven cadets have fled. Moreland assembles the battalion, to whom he again offers the opportunity to leave. Led by Lt. West, a number of the cadets discard their weapons and leave. Shortly thereafter, the Academy's water and electricity are shut off. Cadet Pierce is burned while restarting the school's gasoline-powered generator. An ambulance is permitted to enter and take the injured Pierce away. Colonel Kerby once again tries to reason with Moreland, and Moreland agrees, provided he be brought to the hospital and Bache orders him to stand down. Kerby says that Bache died the night before. The cadets hold a military memorial service in his honor. Kerby and the Guardsmen stand at attention at the front gates.
The next night, a tank approaches the main gate. Two young cadets, Derek and Charlie, are on sentry duty. Derek, the younger of the two, panics and rushes to surrender. Charlie tries to stop him. Derek drops his rifle, which goes off as it hits the ground. The Guardsmen open fire. Derek safely reaches the gate, but Charlie is killed.
Charlie's death weakens Moreland’s resolve and Dwyer persuades him to end the occupation. They muster the cadets and order them to stand down. Everyone complies except Shawn, who opens fire from the barracks with an M60 machine gun. As the Guardsmen return fire, Dwyer and Moreland rush inside to stop Shawn. When Moreland attempts to stop Shawn, they are both riddled with bullets. Dwyer carries Moreland's body out of the barracks as Kerby, the National Guardsmen, and the remaining Cadets look on. | philosophical, violence, entertaining, flashback | train | wikipedia | "Taps" presents a twist in the way students in a military academy of certain reputation perceive how honor is, above all, the thing to live for, even over all other qualities a man could possess.
The teachings of this military institution, molding young men 12 to 18 years old, have a profound effect, especially in the intense Brian Moreland, who is a clear favorite of the academy director, General Bache.Harold Becker directed "Taps", which is based on a novel by Devery Freeman.
The action of the film takes place in the fictional Bunker Hill Military Academy, that has just been sold to private investors who want transform the site into condominiums.With a history of having molded young minds during its distinguished history, Gen. Bache is horrified by the mere thought of losing the academy and the young people he has helped to involve in the rich life of the military.
After a tragic incident that involves the killing of a townie, Bache suffers a heart attack, leaving the academy in the hands of people that are seen trying to undermine the fallen leader.Brian Moreland, the serious minded young man, takes it into his own hands to take care of what he thinks would be Gen. Bache's reaction in saving the school by getting the rest of the students left at the academy to hold it hostage and not give in to the upcoming changes, or to other people who don't have the same purpose in mind.Timothy Hutton is about the best thing going for the film.
This film is basically the big screen debut for Sean Penn and Tom Cruise, who went to build spectacular careers of their own.
In my case the fight didn't get violent, however like the cadets in the movie I picked the losing side.In the movie I was heart broken that the governor would send troops to the school rather than try and work out a peaceful compromise when he saw the measure that people were willing to go to in order to protect their school.
Taps is about the cadets of Bunker Hill Military Academy and their commanding officer, George C.
His scenes with the idealistic and obstinate Hutton are the highlight of the film for me.Tom Cruise and Sean Penn got their first real notice in this film right at the start of their respective mega-careers.
Hold the fort seems to be the slogan of these military cadets when they decide to rally behind TIMOTHY HUTTON who wants an armed defense of the school from authorities who want to shut it down after an accidental shooting by the presiding General Bache (GEORGE C.
Aiding and abetting are TOM CRUISE and, in his film debut, SEAN PENN.The tale seems highly improbable but is played so earnestly, is scripted so well, and directed so competently that it manages to hold the attention until the more or less predictable outcome.The cadets are all extremely well played, from the very young boys to those who appear to be in their early twenties.
I agree with Maltin who says it "plays its cards too soon, leaving a lot of dead weight before the outcome." Summing up: Improbable story, but entertaining in a curious way.Memorable line from Hutton's father resonates today: "They think you're home grown terrorists.".
But what a time capsule!Of all of the young actors here, only Timothy Hutton was already a star, having become the youngest actor ever to win an Oscar for his role in Robert Redford's 'Ordinary People.' Ironically, among the suporting actors in 'Taps' are Tom Cruise and Sean Penn, one of whom has become the biggest box office draw of his generation and the other its most respected acting talent.
A story often overlooked for less-than-stellar acting and direction, Taps brings into question if classical military leadership and the traditional honor of fighting men has a place in the modern age.Providing a springboard for young actors into future careers, the film showcases a number of actors ranging in ages from pre-teen to late teens with varying results.
Some perform predictably while others really shine (particularly Brendan Ward as Charlie Auden).The film holds up well after 30 years, feeling more like a story SET in the early 80's rather than being burdened by its age.
Through powerful performances by Penn, Cruise and Hutton, the film is able to show that one's young age is not a prohibiter of understanding of one very important word: Honor..
You're still young enough to follow what adults tell you is a way to think and old enough to act on it.It wasn't an academy award type movie but it was entertaining.
Taps is one of my favorite movies and it is without a doubt one of Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn's best performances.
The message of the film, which is while there is honor and valor in war there is also young and meaningless death, is one of the best messages a movie can convey and is also conveyed so perfectly that it is easily noticeable and understandable.
That isn't so in regard to TAPS, the great majority of the comments that I've read about it here - and, I admit, I haven't read them all - are totally on target, whether the poster liked or didn't like the message that TAPS had about what goes into the correct training of a military officer, and what happens if that training becomes short-sighted.TAPS is an important movie because it is an excellent study into what a soldier IS and what he ISN'T.
Scott and Timothy Hutton to the courageous stand the cadets front to prevent their academy to close, it is clear to me "Taps" will remain lodged in memories for years to come.I knew "Taps" would be a special film from the very beginning; however, it turned out to be much more than that.
Scott as General Harlan Bache, head of the Bunker Hill Military Academy who is proud of its tradition, but is dismayed by the times he lives in, and when the board of trustees votes to shut the Academy down for the redevelopment of Condos, he and the cadets(led by Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise, and Sean Penn) are dismayed.
In my opinion, "TAPS" is probably the best military academy-based film I have ever seen so far.
Their roles basically made the movie better (and this was only their first film) I thought that Timothy Hutton, Ronny Cox, & George C.
There is nothing more one can ask for when all of the elements are there."Taps" spawned the careers of Tom Cruise, Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn.
There is nothing more one can ask for when all of the elements are there."Taps" spawned the careers of Tom Cruise, Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn.
There is nothing more one can ask for when all of the elements are there."Taps" spawned the careers of Tom Cruise, Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn.
There is nothing more one can ask for when all of the elements are there."Taps" spawned the careers of Tom Cruise, Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn.
Scott and Timothy Hutton to the courageous stand the cadets front to prevent their academy to close, it is clear to me "Taps" will remain lodged in minds for years to come.I knew "Taps" would be a special film from the very beginning; however, it turned out to be much more than that.
Scott and Timothy Hutton to the courageous stand the cadets front to prevent their academy to close, it is clear to me "Taps" will remain lodged in minds for years to come.I knew "Taps" would be a special film from the very beginning; however, it turned out to be much more than that.
Scott and Timothy Hutton to the courageous stand the cadets front to prevent their academy to close, it is clear to me "Taps" will remain lodged in minds for years to come.I knew "Taps" would be a special film from the very beginning; however, it turned out to be much more than that.
The fact that so many cadets unquestioningly follow Hutton's armed resistance to commercial takeover of the military school is only one of the movie's many stretches.
Continuing my plan to watch every Tom Cruise movie in order, I come to his second movie, Taps (1981)Plot In A Paragraph: Military cadets take extreme measures to insure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers.I really enjoyed this movie.
This was used later in my favourite Becker film, "City Hall".The performances from Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn and even Tom Cruise are quite decent.
The movie was one of the first in both the careers of Tom Cruise as well as Sean Penn, and Timothy Hutton once more (after Ordinary People) proves he's a fine actor.But otherwise, there's a lot lacking in the movie.
Scott revises a Patton character is this film about students at a military academy who take arms to prevent their campus from being turned into condo's.
Those in the military are taught about honor, loyalty, and duty, while their civilian counterparts seem only interested in financial gain.Cadet Major Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton) is the central figure, the leader of the "rebellion".
"TAPS" from 1981 is a decent drama about cadets at a military academy who make a stand after the school board decides to shut the school down in favor of a condominium complex.Timothy Hutton plays the leader of the cadets whereas Sean Penn and Tom Cruise play his two top guys.
He has been told so often about the importance of loyalty and honour that when an unexpected event occurs, he duly does what he has been trained to do, he
well, that's just the problem
At Commencement Day, in the presence of all the parents, following the parade and file-past with elaborate salutes to the General (the boy officers even hold swords to their noses as they do 'eyes right', it is all far more elaborate than any drill I ever did, and I was a cadet officer in a non-military school when young and did that kind of thing, but not with real rifles and a sword up my nostrils like we see here), the General announces that the trustees of the Academy have decided to close the school and sell off the land to commercial developers.
Some, however stay for 'the summer session', among them being Timothy Hutton who is now de facto in charge of the Academy, and Sean Penn and Tom Cruise leading figures amongst the other cadets.
(The film through was filmed in historic Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania, near the famous fields where Washington and his men took camp for the winter in 1777.) The academy, similar to the Surovov Military Schools in Russia and Belarus as a junior military college, trains middle and high school level boys academics, character and leadership skills preparing them to become part of the US Army soon as officers in the USMA in West Point, and is led by the great George Scott, a retired US Army general officer, as its Commandant.
soldiers on a mission to save this piece of history for good, all at the cost of their lives.While on the go for supplies the truck that CDT CPT Esposito drives with some of the cadets (Hutton was left behind and had told to the dean and others in the armory about his future plans to prevent the school's closure) is stalled and is attacked by the same teens that disturbed the prom but later comes back thanks to Cruise's efforts.
Although it is entertaining, 34 years on, to see a young Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise and Sean Penn in action..
It's beautiful!" – Tom Cruise ("Taps")"Taps" is a confused but entertaining military drama about a group of young military school cadets (led by a kid called Brian Moreland) who take over their military school in order to save it from closing.
Abstract this further, and you have a comment on the Vietnam war: a government starting a war to "preserve the honour of democracy" when in reality it seeks only to install its own power.7.9/10 – Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, George C Scott and Timothy Hutton make up for director Harold Becker's flat direction.
Timothy Hutton,Sean Penn and (aside from the younger kids)the 17/18 year old Tom Cruise are all fantastic in their roles.
In the case of Penn & Cruise a pre-view of good things to come for them as actors.Penn is a great friend to Hutton's character and this may seem like a simple role at first but as the story goes on his performance builds on itself with his still very fresh abilities as an actor.Cruise is unsettling but electric as the cadet who likes the power & control he's been trained with just a little too much.
"It's beautiful man!" is the most remembered line from the whole film.Hutton,the veteran actor of the 3,plays a young man who has a more idealistic view of his education at the academy and of the overall meaning.
The pressure of that later resulting in a bit of a dissension between Penn & Hutton.The thing that has not set to well with those that have seen this movie is the senseless killing of a boy who's only about 10 or 11 by the military.
Even over 27 years later,it still feels like it was not a necessary thing to put in this movie to make the point of what happens to these boys when they end up in "a real war".
The idea wasn't even intended to be real-life anyway; it was meant to show how idealistic students go crazy with the idea of honor and end up confronting the outside world.The film is most notable for its cast of then-young actors such as Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton who would go on to bigger careers later on.
General Bache won't take that without a fight, and neither will his new cadet commander Major Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton).
He sees that all cadets are armed, the school gates are locked, and there is a stand-off with local police and the national guard.Other cadets with key roles are Sean Penn as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer and Tom Cruise as the over zealous Cadet Captain David Shawn.
Hutton, Penn, and Cruise all were in the 17 to 20 year old range when the movie was filmed, and it was nice seeing them in good early roles.SPOILERS.
(tho the neanderthalic attitudes of reagan would drive the military budget up to new heights even tho it was never cut under carter contrary to most people's beliefs) ...but sean penn and tom cruise add a great deal to the movie as counter weights on the fearless and desirous warriors to hutton's cooler level headed leadership and the contrast between the blood thirst of these two lower ranking 'soldiers' and the leader looking at the big picture leads to some very good scenes and exchanges between them and the others involved ...a solid movie, i give it a solid 8 out of ten ...
Taps is a 1981 movie that stars the late George C.Scott,Timothy Hutton,Ronny Cox and introduced future Hollywood superstars,Sean Penn and Tom Cruise.The story was about how military cadets revolted to the announcement that their school,Bunker Hill Military Academy, a military school institution, is to be torn down and replaced with commercial condominiums.This sets off the young cadets led by their commander General Harlan Bache,who unfortunately passed away during an incident.With the passing of General Bache,the students continued their revolt under the command of a student cadet major,Cadet Major Brian Moreland.Eventaully,the cadets seize the campus, refuse entry of the construction crews and ultimately confront the real military led by Colonel Kerby.Aside from that,the story also presented two interesting characters in Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer and Cadet Captain David Shawn.The film's theme was about military idealism and how the cadets have yet to realize what the real world is all about.It was a great to see how twisted ideas and priorities can help the cadets realize their immaturity and gain knowledge on what the real world is all about..
I was only two when this film came out but it's long sat on my list of must-see movies, and finally at 34yrs old I have watched it and was very glad to say the wait was worthwhile.The film tells us how the changing times are going to take away this military school, an institution loved by those who attend and run it, in it's place condominiums.
It's the end of the year at Bunker Hill Military Academy but for the young cadets, it's a matter of honor when they learn that their school is going to be demolished by next summer to make way for new condos to be built.
Some of the students are staying for the summer, including Cadet Major Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton), Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer (Sean Penn), and Cadet Captain David Shawn (Tom Cruise).
It was fun watching Tom Cruise in an early role as a young army cadet who gets trigger happy, and Sean Penn as the relatively normal one(!).(Spoiler warning)This is one of the few films in the 70s where a young kid is allowed to get mortally wounded, and it works for the dramatic impact.
Scott, which never disappoints, playing an old school General Harlan Bache who rules the Military School with a code of honour and a sense of moral & values that seems out of place in the modern Era and Tom Cruise, in his first prominent part, as the reckless Cadet Captain David Shawn, well aware & committed on his performance, stealing every scene he's in.
"Taps" also features Sean Penn, in his debut role, playing the prudent, but loyal Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer; Giancarlo Esposito & Evan Handler, also in their first appearances on-screen and a solid performance by character actor Ronny Cox as Colonel Kerby, the head of the National Guard. |
tt3247714 | Survivor | The film opens in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan at night where Johnny Talbot, the son of American Embassy superior Bill Talbot (Robert Forster), is in an operation against the Taliban. However, the helicopter carrying Johnny and Ray is hit by a missile. Immediately, the Taliban capture them both. The next morning, Johnny is burned alive.Kate Abbott (Milla Jovovich) is an employee for the American Embassy in London, who began working in the government after most of her friends were killed in 9/11. Meanwhile, the Watchmaker named Nash (Pierce Brosnan) receives an explosive powder - hidden in a brick - using a mobile phone as a trigger, he then delivers it to the restaurant.Kate goes to Vicker's Pharmaceutical for Dr. Perry to ask the clearance and reference of Dr. Balan but she is not allowed unless authorized by the home office. Later an embassy, inspector Paul Anderson confronts Kate for making unauthorized inquiries about Dr. Balan and agent Maureen Crane (Angela Bassett) is disappointed with her for what she did.Kate and her four employees plan to celebrate the birthday of Bill Talbot in the restaurant, however while they head to the restaurant, Bill deletes the five visa applicants using Kate Abbott's account for what they did to his son, Johnny, in Afghanistan.Kate and her four employees arrive at the restaurant. While Bill heads towards and Kate left the restaurant to get a last-minute present for Bill, Nash activates the bomb using his cell phone, killing all of her employees, the glassware owner - who wraps the present for him - and some passers by. Kate approaches the wreckage to see if her employees are alive. Nash approaches and is about to shoot Kate but the gas tank blows up on him - incapacitating him for a while. Kate goes on the run as Nash pursues her and he acts innocent when the police patrols and officials are in his vicinity. Therefore, the officials classify Kate as a responsible for the bombing.Kate meets Bill Talbot at the park but he tries to kill Kate, realizing that he is being blackmailed to let certain visa applicants through after terrorists abducted his son. The two wrestle with the gun and she inadvertently shoots him. The nearby tourists film Bill - dying from his wounds - walking towards the fountain, and Kate holding his gun. Bill dies beside the fountain. Shortly, Nash arrives at the scene and Kate tries to shoot him but the gun is empty and Kate goes on the run again. Nash takes Bill Talbot's ID card - where the GPS chip is hidden in between those cards for tracking Kate's whereabouts.Kate calls her friend, Lisa, to bring her necessities (including money) to St. Pancras train station. Dr. Balan installs a gas tank in a building for test, and using sniper rifle Nash blows the gas. The result is the destruction of many of the building's floors. This plot is to be made in New York City on New Year.Lisa heads out to St. Pancras train station but it is being followed by Nash's men. While Nash is working on a spherical ball grenade, Kate is located on Nash's GPS and he comes for her. Kate and Lisa just met as Nash radios his men for Kate's presence. At the same time, Kate's fellow employee Sam (Dylan McDermott), along with Inspector Paul Anderson and his agents search for Kate. After Kate takes the necessities from Lisa, she makes a run for it as Nash tries to take her down again. Kate enters the train subway and Inspector Paul won't allow Sam to be with them to chase her. Kate manages to outrun the agents by entering the lower part of the subway. There, Nash finds her and throws a spherical ball grenade near her. Allowing her to escape, Kate stabs him with a metal shard.Kate sneaks inside Bill's apartment to hide but Sam is already there. Sam believes that she didn't do anything about the attack and he tells that Watchmaker Nash is the most wanted assassin in the world. He realizes that she is being tracked and breaks her ID. Outside, Nash locates Kate is in the apartment. While Nash is heading to the room where Kate is, they find Bill's tape from Taliban containing his son's last words to him before he died. Sam calls his men but no one responds because the two in the car have been killed by Nash. Realizing Nash is in their vicinity, they manage to get out but the bomb set on the door explodes, apparently killing Sam. Kate makes her run from Nash while she is being shoot. Nash acts innocent again as the police patrols arrive at the scene.Sally (Frances de la Tour) an embassy employee who works to track Kate after the incident - receives a call from Kate stating that she will sneak into the embassy and convinces her that she is innocent of the attack. In order for Kate to enter the embassy, Sally shuts down all the security cameras so that she will not be tracked by the agents. There, Kate accesses Dr. Balan's visa and discovers the new terrorist attack is in New York City. She manages to create a fake passport as the marines invade the embassy.Kate arrives in New York City using the fake passport as "Amy Harrison". Twenty-eight minutes before midnight, Dr. Balan pipes the gas into the Times Square Ball. After that, Kate follows Dr. Balan to the building she hides as Nash arrives. At the rooftop of the building, Nash uses the sniper rifle to aim at the Times Square Ball, ready to blow up as the New Year starts. Along with Dr. Balan, Nash stabs him in the neck, realizing that the approximate explosion damage will not travel far. Just as Nash can pull the trigger, Kate thwarts it and a fight between the two ensues. Kate ultimately kills Nash by throwing him off the roof as the New Year starts. Shortly, the officials arrive knowing that Kate stopped the terrorist plot. Kate receives a call from Sam, who survived the injury, stating that his name was cleared.An epilogue states that since the 9/11 attacks, the American Law Enforcement has stopped several terrorist attacks in the city alone. | revenge, suspenseful, murder, violence, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0052104 | Queen of Outer Space | We open with a long shot of a rocket awaiting launch. Captain Neal Patterson (Eric Fleming), Lt. Mike Cruze (Dave Willock) and Lt. Larry Turner (Patrick Waltz) wait outside the Colonel's office. When admitted they are introduced to Professor Konrad (Paul Birch) and told their next assignment is to take Konrad to the Space Station. They express disappointment at such an unimportant assignment, but Col. Ramsey (an uncredited Guy Prescott) cryptically tells them, "There are indications of serious trouble up there. Professor Konrad will tell you about it when you're underway."The crew prepares for launch when Konrad arrives. He explains the importance of the Space Station as a launching point for all future space missions. Outside, Larry is saying goodbye to his girlfriend (an uncredited Joi Lansing). With Larry back on board, Prof. Konrad is strapped into his bed for launch. The crew grimaces with the G-forces of acceleration until they reach orbit. They navigate towards the Space Station. Konrad tells Patterson about the true nature of the mission, "They've made some disturbing observations from the Space Station. Apparently we have some deadly neighbors in outer space. The Earth may be in mortal danger." At that a ray of energy from an unknown origin flashes across the screen. Multiple shots get closer to the Space Station until one makes a glancing blow. The next shot is a direct hit and the wheel-shaped craft is destroyed. The beams are approaching the spaceship, Starfire. They try to outrun the energy force and are struck. The force accelerates the craft to an incredible speed. Later they will discover the speedometer broken above the maximum pegged value. Capt. Patterson was injured by a piece of flying debris.Title and credits roll [15 minutes into the movie] over a star field. They approach a planet and crash land in the snow. The crew awakens to take stock of their situation. They deduce they are on the planet Venus and discover the air is breathable. Below the snowline they enter a jungle with strange plants and no sound at all. A strange pulsating sound pierces the silence and Prof. Konrad correctly observes, "My guess is that was an electronic signal of some kind." They build a camp fire and bed down for the night. Larry takes the first watch. Mike took the watch that brought morning, but he dozed off. As a result, he didn't notice until too late the crew were surrounded by the inhabitants of the area. Women in short shirts, clear plastic high-heel shoes, and carrying ray guns take them hostage. They are marched back to the city. Once inside the city they get the impression that strangers, and particularly male strangers are not welcomed. They are brought into the Council Chamber for an audience with the rulers of Venus.A curtain parts and Queen Yllana (Laurie Mitchell) and her council, all wearing masks, take their seats at a table on a raised platform. Yllana introduces herself, "I am Yllana, ruler of the city of Kadir and queen of this world." Next she asks, "Why are you here?" Patterson introduces himself and his colleagues, then explains, "We came from Earth on a peaceful mission, but our ship was thrown off course, and we crashed here." The Queen does not believe the Earthmen. She and her council adjourn to decide their fate. Motiya (Lisa Davis), the blond woman that Larry found so captivating, leaves to tell Talleah (Zsa Zsa Gabor) of the Earthmen. Talleah, the leader of the resistance movement on Venus, decides to visit the Earthmen and decide for herself if they can be trusted to help her cause. The Earthmen are returned to the Council Chamber to hear the decision. The Queen pronounces that, "You came here to spy on us, to prepare for invasion. What is the plan of attack? You will die!" They are returned to the prison quarters.Konrad voices his concern, "I have a sense of foreboding about them. A feeling of something monstrous, evil." Patterson adds, "I'm beginning to think our being here isn't an accident." He concludes the energy beam originated on Venus. Talleah visits the Earthmen. She tells them their lives are in great danger. She confides that she is one of many who want to overthrow the Queen and makes a deal, "If you help us, we are going to help you." Then she drops the bombshell, "The Earth is going to be destroyed." Talleah tells of an interplanetary war Venus had ten years earlier with Mordo. Most of the cities were destroyed and lost to the jungle. Yllana led the revolt and took over from the men. Many were killed, but the men she needed are kept on a prison colony moon, Tyrus, that orbits Venus.An escort detail comes to take Capt. Patterson to see the Queen. Konrad noticed the Queen had an interest in Patterson and advises he try to charm her. Betraying her true feeling for Patterson, a jealous Talleah says, "I hate her! I hate that Queen!" Yllana joins Patterson in her bed chamber. She tells him, "Bring me a glass of wine, Captain, and one for yourself." She sits, provocatively on the edge of the bed, showing a lot of leg. They drink. The charm appears initially to be working until she warns, "If you do not give us a truthful explanation of your visit here, the Council sentence will be carried out to the letter." She does provide an escape provision for the handsome Captain. She admits to a desire for him. He asks her to take off her mask, but she refuses. By way of warning, she shows him preparations of the Beta Disintegrator that will be used to destroy the Earth. In a moment of weakness she allows Patterson to unmask her. He is shocked by the visage. Severe radiation burns have left the angry Queen with a scarred face of blue and black skin, with open red sores. "For that you will die," she proclaims. Yllana replaces her mask and calls her guards to escort Patterson back to his cell. When alone, she removes her mask, looks at her face in the mirror and sobs uncontrollably. Patterson explains to his colleagues, "It was atomic radiation that disfigured her. I think its affected her mind." The four are taken to see Talleah in her lab. She introduces another of her circle, Kaeel (Barbara Darrow). Talleah tells Patterson they have no time to waste. She has learned that the Queen plans to destroy the Earth in two days. They plan to walk through the jungle to the site of the Beta Disintegrator and destroy it. Before they can leave, the guards search the lab. Since Talleah is still considered loyal she continues to work as the others hide. When the guards leave, Talleah frees her comrades and the Earthmen and they make their way through the city and escape outside.Odeena (Marilyn Buferd), who brought the Earthmen to see Talleah, has been captured and brought before the Queen. She protests her innocence, and is lulled into a sense of safety when the Queen reassures her, "Odeena has always been loyal to her queen. Release her. You may go." As she turns to leave, Yllana pulls a ray gun from a guard and blasts her into smoke. Outside the city, Talleah, Patterson and the others are under radar and searchlight detection. They conclude they are safest in a cave. The guards are searching in the jungle for them. Larry leaves the safety of the group to explore the cave system. Larry is observed by something that watches from a rock ledge above him. A giant red-eyed spider pounces down on him. He screams and fights it off. The commotion draws the rest to his aid. A blast with a ray gun soon reduces the spider to a smoldering shadow on the ground. They build a fire and wait in the cave. Patterson, Larry and Mike get to know their female companions on a more intimate basis. Konrad remains unattached, so he volunteers to go gather more wood for the fire. Outside he discovers the search party of guards have found their trail and are closing in fast. They devise a plan to have Talleah pretend to capture and march them back to the city.The Queen oversees final preparations on her Beta Disintegrator. She returns to the city to confront the Earthmen, unaware Talleah is no longer loyal. But Talleah reveals herself, "I don't want your reward. One move and I kill you." Patterson orders Yllana to give orders to suspend all work on the Beta Disintegrator. Talleah adds an order of her own, "You will contact the guards on Tyrus and tell them to free all the men." Yllana pretends to comply, goes to her bed and pulls a ray gun out from under a pillow, but is quickly disarmed. Patterson pulls her mask off and gives it to Talleah to masquerade as the Queen to give the orders. They tie up the Queen and hide her behind a screen. Motiya and Kaeel leave to warn their partisans at the weapon site. The masked guards enter the Queen's chamber. Talleah orders them out, but Yllana kicks over the screen revealing the plot. Talleah is disarmed and unmasked. The Queen is restored to power. Yllana delays the execution of the traitors until after she destroys the Earth, but promises, "For her treachery, Talleah will die last, and most horribly of all." Yllana makes one more appeal to Patterson for his love and attention, but her disfigured face even repells her guards.The Earthmen are taken to the jungle site of the weapon. While Yllana gloats, Motiya and Kaeel signal their mission is completed. On a giant screen the Earth is seen suspended in space. The Queen threatens, "It took untold millions of years to create the planet you call Earth. Watch it closely Earthmen. It will be destroyed in a matter of seconds. Watch it!" Yllana presses the button to start the machine. It whirrs up to speed, then makes an unexpected sound of distress. The Queen presses the button again, but all that happens is a screeching sound. She pounds on the button but still nothing happens. The machine explodes and a small fire erupts inside. The Queen enters the main operating room to work it manually. Every lever she throws only makes things worse. More explosions and more fires. A fight between the loyalists and resistance breaks out. A final fireworks display reduces the Queen to a burnt out carcass.Sometime later the Earthmen and citizens of the city assemble in the Council Chambers. A new Queen, Talleah, and her court assume their places on the dais. Talleah announces that the ship has been repaired and the Earthmen can now leave for home. They prepare to depart, but are delayed by a message for the Queen, "The electronic tele-viewer is working. Earth answers us." Colonel Ramsey tells the crew that their orders are, "Not to attempt a return flight in the Starfire. I will not risk his life or the lives of his men in a patched-up ship. Therefore, Captain, you and your crew will remain on the planet Venus until a relief expedition can reach you." We close with Patterson and Talleah embracing, then each principle cast member gets a credit and close-up. | satire | train | imdb | But after the captain rebuffs the evil queen's advances and the plot turns to action, the film starts taking itself seriously and its sense of goofy fun dissipates quickly.But, in fairness to Bernds: if he wasn't in on the joke, neither were any of his cast, who perform with earnest sincerity throughout.Although the film was made by Allied Artists (Monogram after their name change), some expense seems to have been spent on it: it's in color & Cinemascope and the sets, although gaudily and colorfully fake, are extensive.
Because of the film's reputation, those involved in the production were undoubtedly anxious to rewrite history to salvage their professional reputations.Favorite scene: Zsa Zsa's attempt to impersonate the queen by donning her mask and issuing orders in her imperious and distinctive Hungarian accent, then being shocked when the ruse fails..
Everybody involved seems to be having a good time, with the exception of lead Eric Fleming, who goes through the movie with a "when this is done I'm gonna strangle my agent" look on his face, but it's a fun movie to watch.
Somebody who heard that story passed it on to someone else, and eventually it became "Queen of Outer Space." Hecht sued the producers when he heard it was being made into a film, and as part of the settlement he got a story credit.)It's still a fun movie, although by no standards could it be considered a good one.
Steve Rhodes (newsgroup review) sums it up best when he says, "'Queen of Outer Space' is a parody of science fiction films.
Whether it meant to be so at the time is another question." This is prime material for MST3K (very similar to "Fire Maidens from Outer Space"), but they might be avoiding "Queen" because it almost makes fun of itself.
the hideous queen with her mask, the statuesque women of Venus, the death ray, the giant spider-beasts..and Zsa Zsa. Of course, now I see the film for the campy delight it is and was intended.
Happily, logic has nothing to do with it; the Venus La Gabor inhabits bears no resemblance to anything in our solar system.Not for the first time in movie history - I'm thinking "Fire Maidens from Outer Space" here - Venus turns out to be the province of buxom, slightly past their prime showgirls, and there's nary a man in sight.
It has everything: the 1958 view of life in 1984, space catastrophe, sex (well, sort of), Zsa Zsa, a man-hating queen with a shocking secret, babes in short togas, and the funniest plot ever.
Zsa Zsa Gabor (a former `Miss Hungary') plays one of the Venusian women who defies the evil Queen of Venus (Lauren Mitchell) and falls in love with one of the four Earth men who lands on their planet.
The queen hates all males because her face (which she hides behind a mask) was scarred in a war the women once fought against the now-extinct Venusian men (an idea perhaps borrowed from `Abbott and Costello Go to Mars').The captive Earth astronauts go nuts over the sexy dames, all of whom look just fine in their futuristic miniskirts.
The mission commander is Eric Fleming (`Rawhide' and `The Conquest of Space'), and one of the crewmen is Paul Birch (`Not of this Earth').The best thing you can say about this movie is that it gives the audience a look at numerous props from more worthy 1950s science fiction movies: the astronauts' uniforms and the Venusian women's outfits are all borrowed from `Forbidden Planet' (along with a few blasters).
Outrageous 1950s Sci-Fi. When one starts watching this movie, one gets a feeling that this might be a fairly serious, good sci-fi film...then the rocket lands on Venus, and all credibility simply vanishes.
The astronauts are then captured by a patrol of women in high heels (who also shout "Bagino!" over and over), and the familiar "men-encountering-love-starved-female-civilization" plot begins.The movie does have some interesting twists: The deadly "Beta Disintegrator" with which the evil queen is planning to destroy earth; the queen's advanced acne-like skin condition; gloriously saturated color photography; Paul Birch as the bookish scientist who is uninterested in the nubile Venusian women; and of course Zsa Zsa Gabor, who gives an interesting performance as the Chief Scientist on Venus (!).This movie is outrageously male-chauvinistic (even for the 50s) and has some of the dumbest dialogue in the cosmos.
Paul Birch, typically a pretty good actor, does a shameless job in this film smiling constantly and his scene where the space station is destroyed and he is suppose to look disconcerted is a real hoot!
One of the oddest things about this film (besides Zsa Zsa Gabor's Venusian/Hungarian accent) is that the costumes and minor props like rayguns all came from Forbidden Planet.
Four American astronauts blast off into space and discover Zsa Zsa Gabor in this truly strange 1958 film--a movie which actually received fairly positive reviews at the time but which is today regarded as a cult classic of the "so bad it's good" variety.The story is trivial.
A space ship carrying four American astronauts is struck by a mysterious ray and forced down on Venus--which is ruled by evil Queen Yllana (Laurie Mitchell), who has banished men from the planet and who now determines to kill our heroes and blow up the earth for good measure.
Along the way we encounter lots of leggy, busty women in short chiffon skirts, silly special effects that include a large rubber spider, and a doomsday machine that looks like it has been slapped together from cardboard and spray paint.The script was written by Charles Beaumont, a writer of no particular talent, and alternates great stretches of flat dialogue with accidentally funny one-liners, most memorably Zsa Zsa Gabor's "I HATE zat Queen!" The film was directed by Edward Bernds, prolific creator of grade C movies during the 1940s and 1950s, and in general consists of people standing around looking like they wished they had something to do.
Zsa Zsa Gabor aside, the most recognizable performer is Dave Willock, who appeared in close to two hundred films and television programs between 1939 and 1972, most often in small but charming character roles."So bad it's good" movies really are a matter of personal taste; one person's hilarity is another's boredom.
Now, when you go around looking for truly awful films, you can do no better (or worse) than to start with "The Queen of Outer Space"..
What other movie offers mini skirted Venusian women in high heels, giant phony spiders, incredible dialgue, and wide beamed Zsa Zsa Gabor all rolled into one??
Even though the effects aren't all they could be and the acting could use some help I love this movie and suggest you rent it to watch it even if you have already seen it as you might like it better the second time around..
You just need to enjoy its campiness and silliness.Filmed in Cinemascope, "Queen of Outer Space" offers laughable special effects, cheap-looking sets, a contempt for the laws of physics, a juvenile conception of future technologies and fashions, chase scenes with almost no action, and even a monster that's as threatening as a throw pillow.Still, it can be fun to watch a film that features corny dialogue and a Venusian rebel who speaks with a Hungarian accent and indulges in numerous costume changes.
Zsa Zsa Gabor is the rebel, and she plans to overthrow her man-hating queen when she is not applying her makeup or working in a laboratory that looks like the workshop of a flower arranger.The Earthmen who crash on Venus are imprisoned (a goulash archipelago?)by the evil queen but they are distracted by the all-female population of Venus.
The crew lands on a tropical jungle like planet (contrary to the real Venus which is 800 degrees Fahrenheit at it's surface temperature),anyway the crew comes across a group of Mini skirt clad Females with ray guns in hand.
In the "future" year of 1985, a team of astronauts - Captain Neal Patterson (Eric Fleming), Lieutenant Mike Cruze (Dave Willock), and Lieutenant Larry Turner (Patrick Waltz) - undertake a mission to escort eminent scientist Professor Konrad (Paul Birch) to the space station that Konrad helped devise.
Fortunately, not every woman is on the Queens' side, and a few brave women try to help the men escape, including gown wearing Venusian scientist Talleah (none other than Zsa Zsa Gabor).Fans have debated for years as to whether this was INTENDED to be a parody of science fiction or not.
Zsa Zsa Gabor, like all women, is from Venus in this mercifully short science fiction film that is determinedly Z grade in dialogue and production budget despite being filmed expensively in colour Cinemascope.A group of astronauts in 1985 go on a routine mission to a space station and end up in Venus.
Astronauts, including Baby Jane Hudson's Father land on the planet of Venus in 1985 (the film was made in 1958) and encounter beautiful Venusian women in mini-skirts (correct for '67) and flat-screen TVs (correct for today).
The women explain how the aliens and the earth people can understand each other (Plan 9 From Outer Space) is the only other sci-fi film to explain this) and yet when they slip into their native tongue, the main word they speak is "botchino!" For an Allied Artists film (formerly Monogram), the film is fairly lavish, in CinemaScope and color, with a decent musical score and gorgeous Zsa Zsa Gabor as the heroine.
Colorful sci-fi has Zsa Zsa Gabor and numerous other beautiful females trapped on the planet Venus, which is under the ruling of a man-hating feminist.
It's Not an Easy Task to Achieve a Movie as Awful as This One. In a decade -the 50's- where us moviegoers were not very hard on sci-fi or horror films because the genre was in demand and many of them became little classics even with their natural technological limitations ("Creature of the Black Lagoon", "The Fly", "The Incredible Shrinking Man"), this one was really bad and impossible to defend.If you just consider that Zsa Zsa Gabor is the main star you can imagine what you could expect from the rest of the cast.
Miss Gabor has always been a less than mediocre actress; in fact I can't recall an acceptable performance out of her."Queen of Outer Space" has no highlights whatsoever, it looks cheap and is boring; costumes and settings are standard or worse (it's impossible to imagine the guys are in Venus).
The story could not be less original (the destruction of the earth by aliens that look exactly like us).The face of the masked evil queen would have been something to maintain some sort of interest on; but not even that, director Edward Bernds shows it five minutes after she makes her appearance.Real bad product.
In "Queen of Outerspace", men bump into a planet inhabited completely by young women in short skirts of all colors.
One of these masked people is their Queen, Yllana, who wants to destroy the Earth with a beta disintegrator that they recently used to destroy a space station.Zsa Zsa plays Talleah, a dissenter who wants to fight Yllana but needs the men to help.
Queen of Outer SpaceThe upside to a planet without men is no weightless toenail clippings floating about.Thankfully, the gravity on the planet in this sci-fi film is similar to Earth.When they crash-land on Venus, Capt.
It's not long until the captain and his men learn of one of the queen's advisor's (Zsa Zsa Gabor) plan to overthrow her reign of misandry.In doing so, they uncover the terrible deeds that lead to man's banishment from Venus, and of the man-made atrocity that marred the monstrous monarch.A B-Movie through-and-through, Queen of Outer Space is not only a cautionary tale about mankind's warmongering, but also a progressive piece of feminist fiction that unfortunately succumbs to the sexism of 1958.Incidentally, banished Venusian males went on to colonize the first gay-friendly planet.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca.
It can be summed up in a nutshell: Astronauts in a plastic rocket ship land on Venus which is populated only by luscious females in short skirts and one over-sized rubber spider, and their evil queen hates men.
This trashy but Technicolor-shot sci-fi piece from Allied Artists was surprisingly given a Special Edition DVD release by Warners under their "Cult Classics" banner along with the even more notorious ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN (1958) and the still elusive THE GIANT BEHEMOTH (1959).Despite having (as the theatrical trailer would have it) "the most talked about woman" of the time, Zsa Zsa Gabor in the lead, she plays a Venusian lady scientist(!) who (predictably) falls for strapping American astronaut Eric Fleming.
Curiously, the film has a 15-minute pre-credits sequence showing the four goofy astronauts' (including a disappointingly wooden turn from NOT OF THIS EARTH's Paul Birch) ascent into space and turbulent journey through the stars as their hokey spacecraft (whose sheer wobbliness hardly disguises its model origins) is detoured towards the man-less planet Venus.
Needless to say, the Venusians are split over the arrival of the men: there are those who adhere to Mitchell's ultra-feminist credo while others follow Gabor's example and are all over the three young astronauts; by the end of it, when they are ordered by their superior officer on Earth to remain on Venus for a year, even the previously discarded Birch is surrounded by a bevy of smooching ladies!!
Campy Fun. Queen of Outer Space (1958) ** (out of 4) A spaceship with four men run into some sort of ray, which pulls them onto the planet Venus where the entire place is being ran by women.
An evil Queen (Laurie Mitchell) plans to destroy the Earth with this ray but the men and a female scientist (Zsa Zsa Gabor) have other plans.
Zsa Zsa Gabor stars(but does not play the title character!) in this unbelievably stupid, poorly made science fiction film(a failed satire of the genre?) A manned spaceship flight to Venus finds it populated exclusively by beautiful women, under the reign of tyrannical queen Yllana, who hates men, and was responsible for leading the revolt against them, exiling the survivors to a penal colony on the moon.
Some Venusian women want the men back, and so team up with the astronauts to take down the queen, and stop her from destroying the Earth with a "super weapon" as well.
In the years just before he went into long running Rawhide where he co-starred with Clint Eastwood, Eric Fleming got a shot at dubious screen immortality when he became the leading man to Zsa Zsa Gabor in Queen Of Outer Space.
Destroy earth and all the wicked aggressive male populace whose women have not overthrown male domination on that planet and have established an Amazonian society such as they had on Venus.But some like Zsa Zsa want men again, they're useful for some things and when earth astronauts Eric Fleming, Paul Birch, Dave Willock, and Patrick Waltz get thrown off course and land on Venus, the guys get involved in the sexual power play politics of the planet.This film is positively hysterical because it's so bad.
It's not a bad idea to watch "Forbidden Planet" before seeing "Queen of Outer Space".
Four men on a space ship -- ramrod Captain Neal Paterson (stolid Eric Fleming), smooth ladies man Lt. Larry Turner (smarmy Patrick Waltz), jolly Professor Konrad (a delightfully lively Paul Birch) and antsy comic relief Lt. Mike Cruze (annoying Dave Willock) -- land on the planet Venus and discover that men have been outlawed and women reign supreme.
All men have been disposed of and now all citizens are long legged sexy women under the rule of a masked Queen Yllana(Laurie Mitchell).
Patterson and crew are held captive, but gets help from a Venusian scientist Talleah(Zsa Zsa Gabor), who needs aid in defeating the evil Queen and restoring men to the planet.Very low budget, borrowed cheep sets, hasty script...but all in color.
She leads a group opposed to the Queen's ways and does what she can to help the men escape.Queen of Outer Space is another of those movies that I find very difficult to rate.
The movie is a mix of Zsa Zsa as a scientist who can't stand still without posing, some inspired set design, vivid colors, leggy Venusian women in short skirts and high-heels, wacky dialogue delivered with a completely straight face, arcane sexist jokes, and some of the best unintentional (at least I think it was unintentional) humor you can find.
Oddly, while Venus SHOULD have had a totally noxious atmosphere and ship-crushing pressure, naturally it is rather Earth-like and the air is breathable.The four crew men are soon taken prisoner and are taken to go see the planet's insane queen, Yllana.
The captain also learns that the queen plans on letting the men live BUT blow up the Earth with something like the "illudium q-36 explosive space modulator"!
It's Zsa Zsa Gabor and her fellow Venusians - All ray-gun toting, mini-skirted beauties in high heels who speak perfect English.This unintentionally camp, Sci-Fi, B-Movie from the glorious 50's is so utterly cornball, with the cheesiest-looking sets and special effects imaginable, that the viewer can't help but laugh out loud at its outright preposterousness.Queen Of Outer Space's story centers around the arrival of the first manned mission (by the USA) to Venus.When 4 "butch-as-ever" astronauts make their initial touchdown on Venus they are promptly confronted and taken prisoner by a pack of high-heel clicking Venusian lovelies.The Queen of Venus, Yllana, soon makes a royal appearance.
The most chutzpahtic of the three was undeniably Zsa Zsa, who brings her iconic Hungarian accent to the Planet of Love in "Queen of Outer Space".
Zsa Zsa (who allegedly was unimpressed with being surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women half her age), plays Talleah, part of a revolution against the masked queen who is planning to destroy the Earth. |
tt0055471 | Splendor in the Grass | Kansas, 1928: Wilma Dean "Deanie" Loomis (Natalie Wood) is a teenage girl who follows her mother's advice to resist her desire for sex with her boyfriend, Bud Stamper (Warren Beatty), the son of one of the most prosperous families in town. In turn, Bud reluctantly follows the advice of his father, Ace (Pat Hingle), who suggests that he find another kind of girl with whom to satisfy his desires. Bud's parents are ashamed of his older sister, Ginny (Barbara Loden), a flapper and party girl who is sexually promiscuous, smokes, drinks, and has recently been brought back from Chicago, where her parents had a marriage annulled to someone who married her solely for her money. Rumors in town, however, have been swirling that the real reason was that she had an abortion. Being so disappointed in their daughter, Bud's parents "pin all their hopes" on Bud, pressuring him to attend Yale University. The emotional pressure is too much for Bud, who suffers a physical breakdown and nearly dies from pneumonia.
Bud knows one of the girls in high school, Juanita (Jan Norris) who is willing to become sexually involved with him, and he has a liaison with her. A short while later, depressed because of Bud ending their relationship, Deanie acts out by modeling herself after Bud's sister, Ginny. At a party she attends with another boy from high school, "Toots" Tuttle (Gary Lockwood), Deanie goes outside with Bud and makes a play for him. When she is rebuffed by Bud, who is shocked, since he always thought of her as a "good girl," she turns back to "Toots," who drives her out to a private parking spot by a pond that streams into a waterfall. While there, Deanie realizes that she can't go through with sex, at which point she is almost raped. Escaping from "Toots" and driven close to madness, she attempts to commit suicide by jumping in the pond, being rescued just before swimming over the falls. Her parents sell their stock to pay for her institutionalization, which actually turns out to be a blessing in disguise, since they make a nice profit prior to the Crash of '29 that leads to the Great Depression.
While Deanie is in the institution, she meets another patient, Johnny Masterson (Charles Robinson), who is working out anger issues targeted at his parents, who want him to be a surgeon. The two patients form a bond. Meanwhile, Bud is sent off to Yale, where he fails practically all his subjects. While at school, he meets Angelina (Zohra Lampert), the daughter of Italian immigrants who run a local restaurant in New Haven. In October 1929, Bud's father travels to New Haven in an attempt to persuade the dean not to expel Bud from school. While Ace is in New Haven, the stock market crashes, and he loses everything. He takes Bud to New York for a weekend, including to a cabaret nightclub, after which he commits suicide. Bud has to identify the body.
Deanie returns home from the asylum after two years and six months, "almost to the day." Ace's widow has gone to live with relatives, while Bud's sister has died in a car crash. Deanie's mother wants to shield her from any potential anguish from meeting Bud and so pretends to not know where he is. When Deanie's high school friends come over, her mother gets them to agree to feign ignorance on Bud's whereabouts. However, Deanie's father refuses to coddle his daughter and tells her that Bud has taken up ranching and lives on the old family farm. Her friends drive Deanie out to meet Bud. He is now married to Angelina, they have an infant son, "Bud Jr.," and Angelina is expecting another child. Deanie lets Bud know that she is going to marry John, who is now a doctor in Cincinnati. During their brief reunion, Deanie and Bud realize that both must accept what life has thrown at them, as Bud says, "What's the point? You gotta take what comes." They each relate that they "don't think about happiness very much anymore."
As Deanie leaves with her friends, Bud only seems partially satisfied by the direction his life has taken. After the others are gone, he reassures Angelina, who has realized that Deanie was once the love of Bud's life. Driving away, Deanie's friends ask her if she is still in love with Bud. She realizes that she still loves him warmly, but that they can never recover that blazing love of youth which they once had. She does not answer her friends, but Deanie's voice is heard reciting four lines from a Wordsworth poem:
"Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower,
We will grieve not; rather find
Strength in what remains behind." | romantic, melodrama | train | wikipedia | And why wouldn't it be - with Kazan at the helm and an original screenplay by William Inge.The film begins with a similar theme to "Rebel Without a Cause" - that is why won't parents treat their children like human beings and really help them come to terms with becoming adults?
Barbara Loden is particularly memorable as Beatty's wild flapper sister, but Pat Hingle as his father, and Audrey Christie and Fred Stewart as Wood's parents are also unforgettable.This is a resonant film that I believe will be more and more appreciated with the passing of time..
Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood play two of the children of the families who go together in high school and are desperately in love.
Deannie's mother only wants the best for her, but it's the old fashioned values, restraint, and the pain of Bud with another girl, which eventually snowball into Deannie being sent to a mental institution after a nervous breakdown and suicide attempt (ironically Wood attempts suicide by drowning in the movie, years later the real life Wood died from drowning.
Beatty is solid, too, if a bit overly earnest.All of the twists and turns of the plot work, though ultimately Bud's family's economic setbacks and deaths and Didi's family's successes are mere soap operatic window dressing to the "A" plot line, which is the heart tugging reality of "nothing bringing back the hour of the Splendor In The Grass" for Bud and Didi, though both obviously still share the feeling.
This film makes we wish I had studied acting or directing or film or whatever, so that I could be involved in the production of movies like Splendor in The Grass.I am babbling and jumping around all over the place here but I want to add a couple more thoughts.
To the contrary, I think the true message delivered by this film is that you only have one life on this planet, one chance, and if you are lucky enough to find someone that makes you feel the way Deannie and Bud felt for each other, you should do your best to explore it for what it is and not throw it away, because you are young.
It besides is being a movie that really give all of its actors the room to really shine and tell the story, at times without using any words.Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty were such a great young screen couple within this movie.
How poignant this movie is....showing us young love between Deanie and Bud. All the time, you just know that the parents are setting them up for disaster.
Natalie Wood in particular proves this in the film, so does the nascent Warren Beatty, both whom deliver poise far beyond their respective ages at that time.
The character played as Deanie longed for basic love from Bud to which he was unable to deliver due to his family's constant intervention on his son's personal life; it is his father that denied him pleasure of having 'happiness' with his high school sweetheart.
It is visible to see from Deanie's eyes the disappointments, it just reminds me of my other favorite movie seen, "Carlito's Way," the character played by Al Pacino, when he was attempting to convince his love interest played as "Gail." In that seen, he meets her at a place of her work and very disturbed by what she does for living, strip joint dancer.
Based on a play by William Inge,Natalie Wood shines in every scene and also marks the movie debut of Warren Beatty.
The Movie is a true classic directed by master Elia Kazan,set in Kansas during depression era a love story between a rich boy (Beatty) and poor girl (Wood),the families are against the romance.
Elia Kazan's wonderful and tearful story about two young lovers fighting their own urges and everyone around them is certainly a film that is hard to watch at times.
The same is true with Bud, played here by a very young Warren Beatty.Perhaps the one true problem I saw with this film is that the story doesn't go far enough.
I understand they were already under fire from the censors for their portrayal of young people trying to repress sexual urges, but I'm sure Kazan could have come up with a way to show not just how Bud and Deanie felt about each other but to better examine the relationship with their respective parents.
This is absolutely touching and beautiful and a great ending to an other wise uncomfortable story.Still, to think of the film in retrospect is to take it seriously and understand that this is not just a story about two people in love at a time when everybody was telling them to not be.
I feel the desire Bud has and the torture Deadie is going through, and I think it's because of either the impeccable acting from the leads and supporting cast (Bud's sister was great in her role) or the flawless directing of Elia Kazan.The opening scene begins with Bud(Beatty) and Deadie(Wood) "necking" (got to get that old-timey vibe) in Bud's car.
This is a fine movie, with a great screenplay by William Inge, director Elia Kazan's ability to convey powerful emotions, and a marvelous performance by Natalie Wood.Typically relegated to the second ranks among playwrights, Inge deserves more critical respect than he receives.
Natalie Wood had an uneven movie career, but her Oscar-nominated performance as "Deanie" in Splendor in the Grass showed that, under the guidance of a great director (Elia Kazan), she could really deliver the goods.
Highlights in "Splendor": the classroom scene, and the entire last act, which is so devastating precisely because Wood and Warren Beatty (as "Bud Stamper") play it as if there were no movie cameras within a thousand miles.Kazan's direction and William Inge's Oscar-winning screenplay notwithstanding, the film as a whole is not as successful as the two lead performances.
In 1928 Kansas a poor girl named Wilma (Natalie Wood) is in love with rich Bud Stemper (Warren Beatty).
Starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty (in his first major film role), "Splendor in the Grass" centers on the conflicts inherent in young love, particularly regarding the choice between following one's feelings vs.
Wood's Oscar-nominated performance as Deanie Loomis, which requires her to radiate the bloom of love as well as the emotional torrents of heartache and despair, is nothing short of remarkable, and she is ably supported by a strong cast that includes Pat Hingle, Audrey Christie, and Barbara Loden.
Deanie Loomis (Natalie Wood) isn't just deeply hurt when Bud Stamper (Warren Beatty) dumps her for The Easiest Girl in Town (besides his sister--who's very serious competition)--she literally goes off the deep end.
Finally, special mention should be made of Zohra Lampert, who plays the woman that Beatty marries when his father loses all of his money--she does so much with so little and is so appealing while doing it that when the film ends you find yourself caring about someone besides Wood--because of Lampert's character, you almost find yourself worrying about Beatty's character, in spite of his best efforts.The director was Elia Kazan, who made a number of good decisions here (hiring Wood and Lampert, Boris Kauffman as cinematographer and Anna Hill Johnstone as costume designer) and a small raft of bad ones (Beatty, Hingle, Inge's script, and the yowling hysteria of Barbara Loden--then Mrs. Kazan and a much better actress than this film would lead you to think--she was good in her husband's earlier film WILD RIVER and quite brilliant as the numb center of her only film as a director, 1970's WANDA).
His emotional exhaustion and impatience have closed a door of his happiness.However, he has, in the end, stayed in the traditional environment, while Deanie has made an uncertain, but a decisive step into the world.Their support are Pat Hingle (Ace Stamper) as an unreasonable father, who inexorably separates his son from his happiness and Audrey Christie as Mrs. Loomis as a soft-spoken mother, who has built a prison cell" around her daughter.Mr. Kazan has very well described this social disorder, in which, missed opportunities and youthful fears have eliminated every crumb of optimism..
For my money, there is a loving God, but he had no control over whatever race of advanced, otherworldy beings landed on this planet and started playing games with the gene pool.....God can only watch the results, and hear the prayers, and teach humans how to live after the storm.If we are lucky the storm hits when we are young, and time has a chance to erode the scars....if we are profoundly unlucky, the storm hits later, devastating entire families."Splendor in the Grass" has to be the greatest portrayal of this phenomenon ever created, and it owes this to William Inge, director Elia Kazan, and Natalie Wood, whose aching, profoundly haunting beauty in front of a movie camera is pretty much unmatched in history..
Deany dons a white dress and a white hat to meet her lost love.This is a very effecting scene and lets the viewer know that there is no real finale or no "reel" finale so it seemsBoth Beatty and Wood made a big impression with the performances along with Pat Hingle.A period piece that speaks in its own universal language of love lost!C Pope.
This is really the golden age of American cinema.They don't do movies like that anymore.This Kazan work is close to perfect,as are most of the movies of this director.Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood portray young people confronted with a society that has yet to free itself from a puritan moral.Passion is allowed only in lit they study in high school ,and sport is shown as a repression way.In the book "Kazan par Kazan" (Michel Ciment,1985),the director insists on the fact,that,if a young man doesn't practice a sport,he'll be an outcast all his life.Relationship between Wood and Beatty is intense,and it will remain unfulfilled,because the boy thinks that sex would spoil his love 's purity(in the book,Ciment points out to Kazan that he uses the picture of water again and again :the director agrees and says:purity,sexuality,death,menace).Besides,Beatty has at home the sister figure,a slut who sleeps with the first to come:she's played by Barbara Loden,Kazan's wife who will make "Wanda" ,her only movie,in 1970.A visual splendor, a desperate love poem,with an apparently peaceful conclusion.But actually a harrowing one,because both of them will leave their life in the past conditional.Jackie De Shannon wrote a marvelous eponymous song after watching it.Listen to it!.
A fragile Kansas girl (Natalie Wood)'s love for a handsome young man (Warren Beatty) from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness.Natalie Wood was a great actress, especially in her younger days (she seemed to excel at being a love interest).
When I first saw this movie during the 1960's, I thought it was something special; more than fifty years later, I still do.The intensity of Deanie Loomis' emotions for Bud Stamper, clashes with the strictures and inhibitions of her emotionally burnt-out parents.
"What I liked about this ending", he says, "is its bittersweet ambivalence, full of what Bill had learned from his own life: that you have to accept limited happiness, because all happiness is limited, and to expect perfection is the most neurotic thing of all; you must live with the sadness as well as the joy." Kazan also said, "It is not my favorite of my films, but the last reel is my favorite last reel, at once the saddest and the happiest".The performances of Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty and all the others, are locked forever in this moving film.
Released in 1961 - Splendor In The Grass is a heart-wrenching, emotionally-charged, teen, tear-jerker starring Natalie Wood and introducing Warren Beatty (24 at the time) in his first starring role.This is a very effective and almost flawlessly acted story of the intense sexual awakening of two "very-much-in-love" young adults living in a small-minded, straight-laced, Kansas town in the late 1920s.Believing whole-heartedly in the saying "Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father", Deanie Loomis follows her mother's advice to resist desire for sex with her boyfriend, Bud Stamper, the handsome son of one of the most prosperous families in town.Bud, in turn, reluctantly follows the advice of his father, Ace, who openly suggests that he find himself another kind of woman to satisfy his desires.This whole traumatic episode of denial triggers a profound emotional breakdown for both of these 2 young people, especially for the fragile Deanie, who, driven close to madness, is eventually institutionalized.Splendor In The Grass is a highly-recommended picture.
Wood is utterly mesmerizing as Deanie, a beautiful but insecure young girl who carefully constructs her entire existence around the love of her life--a brooding young high school hero named Bud--only to have her mental and emotional worlds simultaneously come crashing down when Bud suddenly pulls himself out of her life.Looking back, it was apt that Wood first came to stardom playing opposite James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, for her performance in this film equals Dean's in terms of sheer emotional ferocity and raw vulnerability.
While Splendor in the Grass is by no means one of director Elia Kazan's masterpieces, it is very much worth watching if only as a showcase for the heartbreaking Natalie Wood..
In the same way he was able to extract a searing performance from Andy Griffith in 1957's "A Face in the Crowd", master director Elia Kazan gets similarly stellar results from Natalie Wood in this classic 1961 melodrama about youthful sexual repression in rural 1920's Kansas.
In the same year as her Maria in "West Side Story", she has never been more affecting then she is here as Deanie Loomis, the local butcher's daughter deeply in love with Bud Stamper, the son of an oil scion and the high school football hero.
Of course, I would add that anyone letting a beautiful being like Deanie, well, okay, Natalie Wood, slip out of their life has to be the real nut in the story; Bud, you dumb jock, you should be stuck in poverty with some pregnant, slovenly and undeserving woman with kids running around dirty and loud...oops, I guess he was...way to sucker punch the creep, Inge, with that terrifically haunting, unhappy and unfulfilled ending...let's see how THOSE lambs bound as to the tabors sound, ye that pipe and ye that play.And, oh yeah, always drink plenty of milk..
Beatty's unusual, almost delicately beautiful and innocent features, combined with the inability of his character to articulate his feelings to, especially, his father - or to even let them be heard, make him equally realistic as Bud. Beatty's performance especially is very touching and clearly inspired by the great director Elia Kazan, whom Beatty still to this day, credits for having taught him the most about the art of making movies..
Natalie Wood was such a great actress, I loved the way she acted in this movie!
Three of the greatest talents in filmmaking history, Elia Kazan, Warren Beatty, and especially Natalie Wood, make this film great.
I thought the Virginia character (Joanne Woodward) stole the show, only to go to the film's Wikipedia site and find that the actress playing Bud's (Warren Beatty) wild sister was Barbara Loden and not Joanne Woodward.Of any Natalie Wood film I feel that this was her best performance and she was more beautiful than in any of her other movies.The entire cast was great, from Pat Hingle to Sandy Dennis.
He managed to make this 2 hours 3 minutes long picture about dumb characters repeating the same lines over and over with variations a success, gaining thousands of teenage fans all over the world, fascinated with the winning theme of "true love", that magically turns any stinker like this into something "beautiful, transcendental, the best movie of all time".
Straining against the limits of 1961 censors, this Elia Kazan directed tale of two passionate 1920's teens--Deane Lloomis (Natalie Wood) and Bud Stamper (Warren Beatty)--should never be mistaken for a Mid-West, jazz age period piece.
You have got to admire how much emotion Wood put into her character as Deanie Loomis, a distraught, young in love teenager in this film.
Warren Beatty in his first film seems to be on less of an emotional plane as Bud Stamper, Wood's love interest.
Just when "A Streetcar Named Desire" made me think more caution would have prevented Blanche's descent into madness, Elia Kazan provided a perfect counter-example with "Splendor in the Grass", a passionate high-school movie about teenage love, but also a harrowing psychology study of the devastating effects of social and parental rules.Indeed, for all its evocative title (it's a quote from Wordsworth' poetic ode to youth memories), the film can be summarized in one word: frustration...
Deanie is asked to explain Wordsworth's lines at school and explains that the poem is about the way in which youthful idealism dies and is replaced by a more mature but harder adult realism, and this is what we see happening to Deanie and Bud; their youthful dreams die and they end the film disillusioned and yet perhaps wiser.The leading characters are played by a sweetly innocent Natalie Wood and the young Warren Beatty in his screen debut.
Splendor in the Grass (1961) *** (out of 4) A poor Kansas girl (Natalie Wood) is dating the good-looking, rich kid (Warren Beatty) in town but both of their parents find something wrong with the other.
In that respect, Pat Hingle's character, Ace Stamper turns out to be the most clueless one of the lot here.I'd have to say that Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty turned in virtuoso performances in this film.
But around the time when Warren Beatty's character Bud doesn't see Natalie Wood's Deanie anymore because Bud's father has bigger plans for him, plus he doesn't get to sex Wilma because her mother tells her it is evil, I very much became involved. |
tt0905372 | The Thing | Antartica, 1982. Three Norwegian scientists are in a snow cat are following a signal. They stop suddenly, and after a few moments, a crack in the snow/ice causes the snow cat to fall into a fissure in the ice and gets wedged. The lights from the snow cat are pointed down into the fissure and reveal a spaceship.Sander, a Norwegian scientist, visits an American Paleontologist, named Kate, and tells her that they have discovered a structure and an organism and convinces her to come to Antartica.Kate and her colleague, Adam, fly in a helicopter to the Norwegian camp in Antarctica piloted by Americans Carter and Jameson. They get to camp and meet the other Norwegians including Edvard who is in charge of the camp and Lars, a mechanic who is the only one that doesn't speak any English and has an Alaskan Malamute.Upon arrival, Kate and Adam and the Norwegians get into a snow cat and go to the site where we see a full view of the top of the ship in the ice. Some distance from the ship, they show Kate the strange-looking organism encased in ice. Back at camp they discuss the removal of the organism.The organism is removed and is in a wooden room back at the camp still encased in the ice block. Sander tells the team that he wants to take a tissue sample first, which Kate objects to as they need to do sterilization and take other precautionary measures. He tells her not to question him again in front of the others. They drill a hole into the ice and remove a frozen flesh sample from the organism and place it in a petri dish.Later, in the camp's rec room, the entire team is partying and realize the discovery they have made: aliens. Meanwhile, the ice block is beginning to melt. While everyone is partying, a shot cuts to the Alaskan malamute in its cage and it's barking and trying to get out. Jameson comes out of the bathroom and goes into the room with the ice block. Lars scares him by yelling 'boo' from behind and then Lars leaves. All of a sudden, the unseen Thing breaks out of the ice and jumps through the ceiling. Jameson runs back to the rec room and tells the others the Thing is alive and escaped. They all go to the room and see the ice block with the hole that the Thing left from escaping. Sander instructs the teams to divide into twos and threes and to search for the Thing. One pair goes to the dog's kennel and finds a big hole in the wall with a lot of blood and some fur.Two Norwegians, Henrik and Olav, see the Thing under one of the buildings. Seen for the first time, the Thing resembles a large beetle in that it is slimy, has multi crab-like legs, a large mouth with giant teeth, and tentacles. One of the tentacles shoots out and goes through Henrik's chest, splattering blood on Olav's face. The Thing then pulls Henrik back under the building and starts to eat him. Olav screams and they all come running. They start to shoot at the Thing with their rifles with little effect, other than causing the Thing to jump inside the building it was under and to climb up it. The team douses it with kerosine and sets it afire. The Thing, with Henrik still hanging halfway out of its mouth, falls to the ground dead.The team goes back inside, and all are in a daze. Olav is being treated and looks very ill. Juliette, the only other female on the Norwegian team, is consoled by one of the men. Carter tells the team that he will take Olav back to civilization in the morning as he needs medical help. Sander then tells the team that although Henrik has died, they are still scientists, and this may be their only chance to study the Thing. He has the burned remains of the Thing brought back inside. They autopsy the Thing, and inside they see the upper half of Henrik's body, and Kate comments that his skin looks almost new. Kate then pulls out a metal piece and asks what it is. Henrik's colleagues tell her that Henrik had a titanium bar placed in his arm to stabilize a fracture. Kate asks, "then why was it outside of his body?" Later Kate and Adam look at the cells from the Thing under a microscope. Not only are the cells still alive but they are overtaking Henrik's cells and then replicating them.The next morning, as Carter and Jameson prepare the helicopter, Kate is in the bathroom. She sees something bloody on the floor and picks them up with a napkin. It is four bloody, silver fillings. She then looks in the shower and sees a lot of blood, but no body. Olav and another Norwegian, Griggs, get into the helicopter with Carter and Jameson and the four take off. Kate runs outside to stop them. Carter sees her flagging them down and decides to land. Olav asks if anything is wrong, as he looks terrible. Griggs assures him everything is OK and then Griggs' face splits in half. Griggs has been replicated, and he attacks Olav. Kate and Sander watch as the helicopter goes out of control and crashes behind the mountain apparently killing all four of them. Sander asks her why she tried to stop them.Back inside, the team is all together, and Kate explains she found silver fillings in the bathroom. She tells them about the cells replicating and that her theory is that the Thing is able to replicate any organism perfectly. However, it cannot replicate inorganic matter such as metal teeth fillings and the metal piece inside Henrik. So, it spits those out. No one wants to believe her, and they decide to have a few of the team take the snow cat to go get help at a nearby Russian camp. Juliette stays behind with Kate and tells her that she saw Colins, another team member, with a rag coming from the bathroom. Kate tells her that they need to stop the team from leaving, and Juliette says she knows where the keys are to the snow cats.They go into a room and as Kate searches in a drawer for the keys she hears a slimy noise from behind. It is Juliette splitting in half. The Juliette-Thing tries to attack her, but Kate runs out of the room, down the hall, and passes another Norwegian and tells him to run. He doesn't, and the Juliette-Thing stabs him with a tentacle. Kate shuts the door to the hallway, and Adam and Lars arrive. Lars has a flame thrower pack. They open the door and Lars blasts Juliette-Thing and the other Norwegian with fire.The team gathers around, and Kate tells them the Thing is like a virus. Apparenly, anyone who gets blood or part of the Thing's cells onto them becomes taken over. She asks Adam what they should do about viruses. Adam says "Quarantine" and that they isolate it and then destroy it. They decide to do a blood test to determine who is the Thing. Adam and Sander work in the lab while Lars and Kate dismantle all the snow cats. Lars shows Kate a stash of grenades. As they head back, they see part of the camp on fire and it is the lab. They then see two people approaching from the distance. It is Jameson and Carter. Everyone thinks they must be Thing replicas because they couldn't have just walked away from the helicopter crash. They lock them both up.The team starts to accuse one another, and Kate says she knows another test. She gets a flashlight and tells Lars to open his mouth. We see that he has fillings in his teeth. She explains to the team that the Thing replicas would not have fillings. Everyone is eliminated as a suspect except for Sander, Edvard, Colins, and Adam who do not have any fillings in their theeth. These four are held at gunpoint while Kate tells Lars to go get Jameson and Carter. Lars and another Norwegian, Jonas, go to the building holding Jameson and Carter, but they aren't there. They have escaped through a hole in the floor. Lars goes to search after them and runs into a building and gets grabbed inside. Jonas runs back to the others to tell them that Carter and Jameson have killed Lars.Carter and Jameson (who is armed with a flame thrower) come into the building, and they have a stand off with Peder. The rest of the team hide behind Peder. Edvard yells at Peder to kill Carter and Jameson. Just before Peder blasts them with his flame thrower, Jameson shoots Peder in the head with a gun but also hits the flame thrower tank and gas pours out. The gas reaches the flame on the end of the flame thrower and explodes. Edvard is thrown down severly wounded by the blast. This gives Carter and Jameson the upper hand as they have all the weapons. They get everyone to go into the rec room, and two of the Norwegians carry Edvard.Once in the room, Edvard's arms suddenly detach from his body and transform into miniature Things, one of which attacks Jonas and attaches to his face. The main Edvard-Thing then grows a tentacle which stabs and severely wounds Adam, then fatally wounds Jameson. Kate and Carter try to get the flamethrower working, but are unable to do so due to trapped air in the main fuel line. The Edvard-Thing sprouts a new set of arms and legs and crawls over to Adam, and then starts to meld with him, causing their faces to attach. Kate tries to blast the Edvard/Adam Thing with the flame thrower, but it escapes outside and falls down in the snow. She returns to the rec room and finds Jonas being assimilated by the Arm-Thing, and kills them both with the flamethrower. Carter sits with Jameson until Jameson dies. Carter moves aside, so Kate can blast the dead Jameson with the flame thrower. Among all this chaos, Collins flees into the compound.Kate and Carter hunt for the Thing. Meanwhile, Sander is hiding behind a desk, but the Thing (which has now fully absorbed Adam into itself) finds him and attacks him. Carter and Kate split up, and the Thing follows Carter into the kitchen. Just before it attacks Carter, Kate blasts it with the flame thrower, seemingly killing it. They see the Sander Thing escape in a snow cat. Carter tells Kate to let him go, that he'll freeze, and he has nowhere to go. Kate says that he does have somewhere to go: the ship on the coast.Kate and Carter get into the other snow cat and head towards the ship. As they get out, Kate focuses on the earring in Carter's left ear. Carter also tells her that they didn't kill Lars. They walk towards an open hatch in the ship, but the ship activates and Kate falls through a hole into the ship. Carter enters through the hatch. Kate gets to a point in the ship that looks like the energy source (it looks like a bunch of pixels). Behind her is the Sander Thing and he chases her into a tunnel. Kate grabs a grenade as the Thing pulls her out of the tunnel. She throws the grenade into the Thing's mouth, which blows up, and destroys it and the ship's energy source.Back at the snow cat, Carter gets in and tells Kate to put the flame thrower in the back. She stays outside the Cat and tells Carter "You know how I knew you were human back at the camp? Your earring". Carter has no earring now. He reaches up and tugs at his right ear. Kate says "It was the other ear" and she douses him with the flame thrower. She gets into the other cat (that the Sander Thing had used) and rides away.In between the end credits, we cut back to a helicopter landing at the camp. A dead, frozen Colins sits at the radio. He has slit his own throat. The Norwegian helicopter pilot yells out if anyone is around, and a gun shoots at him. It's Lars, the only one left behind and not infected. Then the Alaskan Malamute jumps out, and Lars tries to shoot the dog. The dog runs off. Lars yells at the helicopter pilot that it's no dog and to get into the helicopter.Lars and the other Norwegian pilot chase and shoot at the dog from the helicopter, and it's the same opening scene from the 1982 movie The Thing. | violence, horror, murder, claustrophobic | train | imdb | null |
tt0093493 | Mannequin | In Ancient Egypt, Ema "Emmy" Heshire (Kim Cattrall) hides in a pyramid from her mother, who wants her daughter to marry against Emmy's will. Emmy prays for the gods to get her out of the mess and to find her true love. The gods answer her prayer by making her disappear.
Philadelphia, 1987; young would-be artist Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy), takes a number of odd jobs. The first job, where he assembles a beautiful, perfect mannequin, portends the rest of the movie and is representative of his efforts. In each of these jobs, Jonathan painstakingly expresses his artistic self; but each of these early employers dismisses him for taking too much time or deviating from a set pattern.
One night, Jonathan is driving in the rain when he passes the Prince & Company department store and recognizes his "perfect" mannequin in a display window. He declares that she is the first work he's ever done that made him feel like an artist. The next morning he manages to save the owner, Claire Timkin (Estelle Getty), from being hit by a falling sign. The grateful Claire hires Jonathan, much to the chagrin of Vice President Richards (James Spader), who assigns Jonathan to be a stock boy. Jonathan hits it off with flamboyant window dresser Hollywood Montrose (Meshach Taylor). That night, Hollywood and Jonathan construct a window display starring Jonathan's mannequin. They have a run-in with the store's night security chief, Captain Felix Maxwell (G. W. Bailey). When Jonathan is alone, the mannequin he is obsessed with comes to life as Emmy.
To the surprise of his detractors, Jonathan's window-dressing for Prince & Company attracts large audiences. Jonathan's arrogant ex-girlfriend Roxie (Carole Davis) and president B.J. Wert (Steve Vinovich), both of rival department store Illustra, learn about it as well. It is revealed that Richards is a corporate spy for Wert. At their board meeting, Richards wants to fire Jonathan, who is showing off with the window displays. In contrast, the board members promote Jonathan to visual merchandising.
Emmy and Jonathan's relationship thrives over the following week. Every night, she helps him to create window displays which dazzle everyone at Prince & Company. As a result, Claire promotes Jonathan to a vice presidency.
As the window designs are bringing a tremendous amount of customers and profit for Prince & Company, people from Illustra plan to steal Emmy—not knowing that she is alive—and put her on display at Illustra. The next day, Roxie offers Jonathan work at Illustra, but is refused as he and Emmy are in love.
Maxwell and Richards break into Prince & Company and search for Emmy. The next morning, Hollywood and Jonathan discover Emmy and other mannequins missing. Jonathan suspects Illustra and goes there, where he confronts Wert, who is dismissive regarding the stolen property. Roxie storms out of the office, swearing that Jonathan will never see Emmy ever again. Jonathan chases Roxie while being pursued by a dozen security guards. Hollywood bombards the guards with water from a fire hose as Roxie loads Emmy along with the other mannequins into a trash compactor. When Jonathan rescues Emmy, she comes to life, and stays human in front of other people for the first time.
Maxwell and his fellow guards rush in, followed by Wert, who attempts to have Jonathan arrested for trespassing. Claire arrives, accusing Richards and Maxwell of breaking and entering, conspiracy, kidnapping Emmy, and grand theft. Wert, Richards and Felix are arrested instead and hauled away. Wert fires Roxie as he is being dragged out.
Emmy and Jonathan are married in the shop window of Prince & Company, with Claire as a bridesmaid, and with Hollywood as best man. | cult, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0018876 | The Farmer's Wife | Tibby, the wife of Samuel Sweetland (Jameson Thomas) dies, and shortly afterwards his daughter marries and leaves home, leaving him on his own with his two servants. His wife had told him that he should remarry after her death, so he pursues some local spinsters who were at his daughter's wedding after he and his housekeeper Minta (Lillian Hall-Davis) make out a list of possibilities.
First is Widow Louisa Windeatt, but Sweetland is shocked and mad when she rejects his advances and says she is too independent for him. Next, he attempts to court Thirza Tapper, a nervous wreck who almost collapses when Sweetland proposes to her. She, too, rejects him because she says she has no need for a man, and he is furious yet again. He wanders outside as other guests arrive for her party. His bolshie servant Ash is helping at the party, wearing an ill-fitting coat and trying to keep his trousers up while doing his work at the party.
While the others are outside listening to some singers, Sweetland proposes to Mary Hearn, but she rejects him as too old, and then bursts into hysterical laughter when he angrily tells her that she is "full blown and a bit over."
Later Sweetland tells Minta that he is not going to finish the list of women because he is so dejected. He leaves the room and Ash returns and tells Minta what an embarrassment to men that Sweetland is by going around and practically begging any woman to be his wife. Sweetland overhears this and orders Ash to saddle his horse because he is going to try number four on the list, Mercy Bassett, a barmaid at a local inn. After he leaves, it is revealed that Minta is in love with him. Bassett rejects him too and he comes home dejectedly. Meanwhile postmistress Hearn and Tapper compare notes and Hearn decides she should marry him after all and she goes to his house with Tapper.
Having run through the women who have turned him down, Samuel sees Minta for the first time as more than a housekeeper and decides that she is the woman for him, if she'll have him. He tells her he has got used to being rejected and will not be angry if she rejects him, too. She accepts him and he tells her to put on the dress Tibby gave her. As she goes to the room, Hearn and Tapper arrive. Hearn says she is now willing to be his wife. Samuel says all should drink a toast to his wife to be and Hearn is sure it is her, until Minta comes down the stairs in an attractive dress. Hearn lapses into hysterics as Sweetland reveals that Minta will be his bride. | romantic | train | wikipedia | "The Farmer's Wife" is a charming rustic, semi-romantic comedy from the silent picture era.
Without seeing the credits, you might never guess that it was made by the "Master of Suspense", Alfred Hitchcock - but if you know who the director was, it is easy to see the masterful touches Hitchcock was known for.The story is a simple one.
Farmer Sweetland (Jameson Thomas) has lost his beloved wife some time ago, and comes to decide that he should marry again.
The plot, therefore, revolves around whether he will figure this out before he gets stuck with an unsuitable mate instead.Hitchcock applies the creativity and attention to detail that he would later use in his great suspense films, and makes out of a simple plot a movie that is very funny, and also at times quite touching.
Early in the film, as he hosts a wedding dinner for his daughter, he begins to look longingly at the chairs, and we know what he is thinking even before the dialogue cards tell us.
The suggestion is obvious to everyone but Sweetland.In the lead role, Thomas responds to Hitchcock's direction, sometimes making his character appear somewhat ridiculous in his miscalculated plans, and at other times evoking our complete sympathy and pity for his loneliness.
The rest of the cast works very well too, especially Gordon Harker, whose expert comic timing plays wonderfully in the role of Farmer Sweetland's handyman.There is one long, hilarious comic sequence, at a house party hosted by one of Sweetland's prospective mates, and you have to watch it two or three times to catch all of the detail Hitchcock packed into the sequence.
The rest of the movie is filled with lighter comic touches, and concentrates on giving us a surprisingly tender look at the characters' lives.Hitchcock fans should take delight in seeing how the master used his talents in such a different genre, and any fan of romantic comedies who is willing to try a silent film should also enjoy "The Farmer's Wife"..
My 8-year old daughter was apprehensive about watching a silent film, but once things started to get going in the second half, was hooked.Hitchcock referred to it in later years as one of his "photographed plays", but the action occurs in several locations, so is nowhere near as constrained as many of his films (plays or not).
In fact, even though the location shots are few and far between, they really give this film a non-studio feel.All of Hitchcock's films are notable for their visual storytelling (look at the initial scene-setting in Rear Window that speaks volumes without a single word being uttered), and it is interesting to see the origins of this, and the great influence of German Expressionism..
On retrospect it seems a very long drawn out 96 minute comedy film with a flimsy plot, even so I wonder what a 129 minute version would be like.Jameson Thomas plays thicko widower farmer who can't see beyond the end of his nose when it comes to looking to honour a woman by marrying him.
The farmers' handyman Gordon Harker was even stranger than his master, with make up absolutely caked on his face for some reason.Altogether, a nice little film, totally inconsequential but with some nice touches from Hitch and fluid camera movements, all helping maintain interest..
The shorter version is much funnier and more like Hitchcock, whose films weren't known for their dragginess.Jameson Thomas, who plays Samuel Sweetland, was at the time of filming a huge star in England.
This early Hitchcock silent, his first for British International Pictures, is a simple romantic comedy adapted from a stage play.
After his wife dies, and their daughter marries, lonely widowed farmer Jameson Thomas (as Samuel Sweetland) decides to look for holy matrimony with another woman.
With the help of devoted housekeeper Lillian Hall-Davis (as Minta Dench) and handyman Gordon Harker (as Churdles Ash), Mr. Thomas proposes to three matronly prospects: independent widow Louie Pounds (as Louisa Windeatt), frigid spinster Maud Gill (as Thirza Tapper), and pillowy postmistress Olga Slade (as Mary Hearn).
None of the women prove to be satisfactory, but Thomas' ideal mate is closer than he thinks
If "The Farmer's Wife" were filmed a few years earlier, in Hollywood, with Wallace Reid and Norma Shearer, we might have had four decades of romantic Alfred Hitchcock comedies
well, maybe not.
The opening sequence, which shows the sad passing of the farmer's wife, is very effective; it's a good change from the original play, considering the silent film medium.
****** The Farmer's Wife (3/2/28) Alfred Hitchcock ~ Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis, Gordon Harker, Maud Gill.
Slight but enjoyable early Alfred Hitchcock movie about a widower (Jameson Thomas) who sets out to find a new wife with help from his loyal housekeeper (Lillian Hall-Davis).
You know you have watched a good movie when at the end of the film you forgot it was silent.
Each character was placed with the utmost care so viewers would be subject to the best from each actor..Hitchcock's master of film was shown many times in this movie.
A charming, sometimes even winsome silent-era trifle from Alfred Hitchcock, "The Farmer's Wife" nevertheless demonstrates why the Master only came to life with the advent of sound.Newly-widowed farmer Sam Sweetland (Jameson Thomas) decides he "must take time by the forelock" and get remarried before he becomes a lonely old man.
His handful of silent films show him trying a bit of everything; "The Farmer's Wife" being his pastoral comedy.It's pastoral, alright.
An opening sequence shows us the Sweetland farm in all its sun-drenched splendor, with ducks, a horse, and a pair of lovely spaniels which Hitchcock tracks in matched shots all the way into the house, whereupon they disappear for the rest of the film.There's even an agreeably disagreeable farmhand, one Churdles Ash (Gordon Harker), to offer rustic commentary on his boss's struggles to find a bride: "To see an old man in love be worse than seeing him with the whooping cough!"Some directors took so naturally to the craft of silent movie-making that they seemed thrown by the transition to sound.
Many shots linger on Sweetland looking at an empty chair, representing the hole in his life left by his wife's death.Two things manage to make this film entertaining on the whole.
You really like the guy, even when he's making an ass of himself trying to pick up the next woman on his list.The other is the way the supporting cast play off each other, and Hitchcock plays off them, with lingering scenes that do drag but also create a real sense of village life.
Watching several characters we have come to know talk to each other at once at a house party, a fox hunt, and a bar, reminded me of a Robert Altman movie, and not at all like later Hitchcock sound films, as zestful as they are.Much of the humor revolves around the Churdles character and gets slapsticky and drawn out, but you do get some winning moments, both physical and verbal.
I love an exchange between Sweetland and his loyal maid 'Minta (Lillian Hall-Davis), who objects when he describes one target of his desire as "pillowy." "A woman that's a pillow at thirty be often a feather bed at forty," she replies.I'm not sorry Hitchcock chose another path, and don't really think he had the chops for making pure comedies (as his later "Mr. And Mrs. Smith" and "The Trouble With Harry" show).
Not one of Hitchcock's best - however it is still an interesting film to watch.
You could see Hitchcock's visual craft developing in this silly tale of a widowed farmer who is determined to find a wife, while not seeing what is right under his nose.
The Farmer's Wife is an old-fashioned silent comedy, but it's much too long.
May not be among Hitchcock's best but is still one of his better silent films.
The Farmer's Wife is neither among the best or worst of Hitchcock, but it is still well worth watching and among the better of his silent films.
However, it is well shot and has lovely scenery, one of the better looking films of Hitchcock's silent era.
Gordon Harker is the standout and is immensely fun to watch, though Lillian Hall-Davies is suitably sympathetic and Jameson Thomas carries the film competently(his character is not easy to warm to straight away this said).
Overall, interesting and providing that you don't expect masterpiece status- this is early Hitchcock where he was still finding his feet/style in a way- is also a good film.
Watching the mostly-unimpressive early films of Alfred Hitchcock is a price that we director completists must pay for our enthusiasm.
Still unsure of his strengths, the future Master of Suspense trialled both melodramas, such as 'Easy Virtue (1928),' and comedies, such as 'The Farmer's Wife (1928).' Viewing these early efforts is often worthwhile, since, even though their quality may not be ideal, it's usually easy to pick out the unique and original film-making techniques that with the aid of hindsight broadcast the arrival of a genius.
Stylistically, 'The Farmer's Wife' shows nothing that could be described as classically "Hitchcockian." Apart from the neat (but not unique) trick of cross-fading each potential bride into the opposite chair, there's nothing to suggest that this is the craft of a keen new innovator in the cinematic language; any play adaptation from that period to sure to look much the same.Fortunately, the film's saving grace comes from the fact that Hitchcock was among the authors of the screenplay, adapted from a play by Eden Phillpotts.
There's really little else to say about 'The Farmer's Wife.' Some Hitchcockians will undoubtedly cherish the director's wicked sense of humour {which later found its most pure form in 'The Trouble with Harry (1955)}, while others will find themselves losing concentration as the entirely predictable romantic plot unfolds.
(In fact, I find this movie very useful for non-British Tolkien scholars like me to get a glimpse of what kind of English rural life he had in mind when he created his hobbits).The story is a very simple and charming one.
The acting is very good, too.If you are interested in film-making history, and you enjoy watching the last pictures of a vanishing rural England, (and you don't get anxious because of the slow tempo), this is a movie worth viewing while smoking a pipe in the quiet of your home, like a true hobbit..
There is NOTHING wrong with this movie - it's cute and all - but as I have stated I'm not into most romantic comedies.I'm sorry I do not like this film - I want to because it's Hitchcock but I don't.
I like my Alfred Hitchcock thrilling, mysterious and horrifying and this film is definitely totally opposite of my favorite side of Hitchcock.This film is worth while if you enjoy silent movies and/or romantic comedies.
I don't know why I didn't like it but I can sure speculate,, there's no action what so ever,, no suspense,, basically in a nutshell the story is about a man who sees his young daughter get married,, and him being a widow he figures it's about time to get his life together and find someone,, he goes through a couple of different woman, and just cant' seem to find the right one..
The DVD version I have of 'The Farmer's Wife' is part of five disc 'The Hitchcock Collection', that range from this 1928 silent onward.It is also the poorest DVD of the bunch, both in terms of technical quality - and I'm talking mostly of the poor transfer than the actual film-making and the story itself.
With very few written notice boards telling us what's happening it's mostly guesswork and we just end up watching lots of people moving about quickly.I do enjoy a good Silent film but the genre can get tedious when they're not top-notch - and this very early Hitchcock just isn't.
As for the direction, it's proficient but simply workmanlike and does all it should for this type of period comedy drama, so anyone looking for clever camera-work, or even a hint at copying what the leading German directors of the time were doing, will be disappointed.I'm also very aware that I'm only watching it because it is a Hitchcock and because I'm reviewing it, which isn't necessarily a good thing....
I don't know if other reviewers are cutting this film a little more slack than usual because it's directed by a young Alfred Hitchcock, but I had a tough time making it to the end of this dull romantic farce.
Stage actor Jameson Thomas – looking much older than his 40 years – plays the gentleman farmer whose thoughts turn to marriage once he recovers from the premature death of his wife.
Much responsibility for the humour is placed upon the shoulders of Gordon Harker, who manfully turns down the corners of his mouth and juts his lower lip out; he's sort of funny, but he can't sustain a movie that goes on for more than an hour and a half, but which seems much longer.I suppose there's a certain fascination with watching the young Hitchcock learning his craft, and this film isn't any worse than many others from the late silent era (when audiences were accustomed to a more leisurely style of storytelling), but there's little evidence of the undisputed master of the screen that Hitchcock would eventually become..
The film is about a farmer named Samuel Sweetland whose wife dies so he starts looking for another wife to take her place.
Throughout the film he ends up asking five different women to marry him which really makes the viewer feel like Samuel is simply looking for a wife just to have a wife rather than him actually having any genuine feelings for the women.
For the movie being around one and a half hours it really feels like it drags on with a lot of unnecessary parts.The acting is another flawed part of the film.
Lillian Hall-Davis plays Araminta Dench (a housekeeper) and she does the best acting job in the movie but not as good of a job as she did in The Ring (1927, Hitchcock).
The story is predictable and boring, the film feels far to long, the acting is really bad, and the music makes me want to mute the television.
Although his name will forever be linked with 'suspense' films, this 1928 silent feature from Alfred Hitchcock shows the man had considerable comic sensibilities, too.
The story concerns a widowed farmer (Jameson Thomas) who decides he needs a wife...129 minutes later, he finds that the perfect woman he was after was under his nose the entire time.
Thomas is great as the desperate for love farmer -- watch how he makes a list of desirable women and goes to each one individually to propose, crossing each off the list when they turn him down.
He tried comedy later with Mr. and Mrs. Smith and did not succeed but The Farmer's Wife shows that he was a genius and a true artist.
The Farmer's Wife (1928)Like many of Alfred Hitchcock's more famous films, The Farmer's Wife begins with pure innocence (a beautiful day in the country, followed by two adorable puppies, maybe the cutest things in any of his movies).
Even the fact that a woman (the main character's wife, we learn) is dying in the first scenes is no impediment to the joy of life in the beautiful countryside--her last words are a reminder to the maid to "air out the master's pants." Can't you hear Hitchcock laughing?This is no diabolical thriller.
You know what Hitchcock's early movies make me think?
Or, when sound was introduced, his toying with the word "KNIFE" in "Murder." If the films and the plots were a little banal, they were often juiced up by one or another director's trick.This one, "The Farmer's Wife," is a genteel romantic comedy with some touches of genuine warmth.
This silent comedy was directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock (the director's screenplay was based on a play from Eden Philpotts), this silent comedy (!) begins with the death of the farmer's wife, though the titled character actually refers to said farmer's 'replacement' spouse; the film's story is about his pursuit of several eligible ladies in the community.
Apparently there are two versions of this movie; I watched and reviewed the 2+ hour DVD.Samuel Sweetland (Jameson Thomas) is an older man with a housekeeper he calls Minta (Lillian Hall-Davis) and a handyman named Ash (Gordon Harker).
After Sweetland's daughter (Antonia Borough to Haward Watts, his only film) is married, there is speculation within the small farming community about whether Samuel will seek another wife.
Had I not known I would have suspected this silent film came from the hand of early Carl Dreyer or Ernst Lubitsch.It is a lovely story of a widowed farmer, whose daughter is being married, and who decides to look for a second wife, all the while not seeing the devoted housekeeper who loves him as his obvious choice.
This early silent from Alfred Hitchcock doesn't follow the director's familiar templates.
It wasn't unusual that he would have been angry for being rejected by some of his prospective marriage candidates, but he compounded things by acting like a bit of a jerk, which I thought would have given his housekeeper Minta (Lillian Hall-Davis) second thoughts.But in true romantic fashion, Sweetland eventually comes to recognize the woman who pined for him throughout the picture as being his best choice for a wife.
(Flash Review)Far from his world-famous films, this is an early silent Hitchcock directorial effort.
"The Farmer's Wife" features nice sharp photography by Jack Cox, plus several really ingratiating performances (particularly by the really charming Lillian Hall-Davis).The St. Clair DVD is augmented by an adroit music score which makes light work of of the movie's comparatively long running time of 129 minutes. |
tt0042530 | Deadly Is the Female | At the age of 14, Bart Tare robs a hardware store and steals a gun. He is sent to reform school by a sympathetic Judge Willoughby (Morris Carnovsky), despite the testimony of his friends Dave and Clyde, his older sister Ruby and others that he would never kill any living creature, even though he has had a fascination with guns even as a child. Flashbacks provide a portrait of Bart who, after he kills a young chick with a BB gun at age seven, is hesitant to harm anyone with guns even though he is a good shot with a pistol.
After reform school and a stint in the Army teaching marksmanship, Bart (John Dall) returns home. He, Dave (Nedrick Young) and Clyde (Harry Lewis) go to a traveling carnival in town. There, Bart challenges sharpshooter Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) to a shooting contest, and wins. She gets him a job with the carnival, and he becomes smitten with her. However, their attraction to each other inflames the jealousy of their boss, Packett (Berry Kroeger), who wants Laurie for himself. As Packett tries to force himself on her, Bart enters and shoots a mirror behind Packett. They both get fired, and leave together.
The couple get married and embark on a happy honeymoon. She warns him beforehand that she is "bad, but will try to be good". When their money runs out though, Laurie gives Bart a stark choice: join her in a career of crime or she will leave him. They hold up stores and gas stations, but the money they steal does not last long. While fleeing a police car, Laurie tells Bart to shoot at the policeman driving so they can escape, but he hesitates and becomes somewhat disoriented. Ultimately, he shoots the tire out and the couple escapes. Later that day, Laurie intends to shoot and kill a grocer they had just robbed, but Bart prevents her from doing so. The couple have now been identified in national newspapers as robbers and murderers.
While snowed in, Bart says he is done with a life of crime. She persuades him to take on one last big robbery so they can flee the country and live in peace and comfort. They get jobs at a meat processing plant and make detailed plans. They hold up the payroll office, but as they are leaving, the secretary pulls the burglar alarm and Laurie shoots the secretary dead. As they are fleeing the scene, Laurie shoots and kills a security guard as well. The two are supposed to split up for a couple of months and have separate getaway cars to minimize the chances of both of them being caught, but neither can bear to be away from the other that long. The FBI is brought in, and the fugitives become the targets of an intense manhunt, yet they evade a statewide dragnet and escape to California.
In California, Bart arranges for passage to Mexico, but the FBI tracks them down to a dance hall by using the serial numbers from bills from the meat plant. They are forced to flee, leaving all their loot behind. With no place else to go and roadblocks everywhere, they jump on a train and go to his sister Ruby's house. Bart's old friend, now the local sheriff, notices that Ruby's house has the curtains drawn and the children are not in school. He informs Bart's other old friend, now a news reporter, and the two plead with Bart to give himself and Laurie up. Instead, the couple flee into the mountains where Bart used to go camping in the summer. They run while being pursued by police dogs, but are surrounded in reed grass the next morning. Fog surrounds them, but Dave and Clyde approach them to try to save their lives. When Bart sees Laurie preparing to gun them down, he shoots her and is in turn killed by the police. | realism, murder, violence, atmospheric, flashback, suspenseful | train | wikipedia | I found that the movie is just as good as I remember it.The film is essentially a story of a boy named Bart Tare (Russ Tamblyn) who loves guns for sport but refuses to harm any living being with them.
In all, it is a classic scenario of "Bad Girl" leads a "Good Boy" into evil.Personal opinion is that John Dall did a better acting job in this movie than he did in "Rope".
This movie alone placed Peggy Cummins among my favorite "femme fatales", which included the queen of mean, Barbara Stanwyck, Marlene Dietrich, Beverly Michaels and other notables.If you like classic film noir, it is a good movie to remember and see again..
And I love the scenes where young Bart can't seem to put away his fascination with guns.Bart (John Dall) starts off as a boy, and in some of these early scenes (some of the best in the film), we see how he is changed by an unfortunate act, and then the story skips ahead suddenly.
Now Bart is an adult, out of the army, and gets re-introduced to guns once he meets his soon-to-be love and partner in crime, Annie, played by Peggy Cummins.
I wouldn't want to get on this woman's bad side; she can shoot cigarettes out of people's mouths, for God's sake."Gun Crazy" is such an obvious influence on Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" that I can't believe the later film doesn't credit it directly.
They portray the Annie/Bonnie character as bored and restless, turned on by the thought of crime and by a manly man who can really use his "gun." The Bart/Clyde character is tickled by the idea of being a virile stud in the eyes of his lover, but is ultimately too sensitive for the life they choose.
I still enjoy watching this periodically, even after a half-dozen viewings.John Dall and Peggy Cummins make one of the more interesting male-female pairings I've ever seen on film.
John Dall and Peggy Cummins, in the roles of the doomed lovers Bart and Annie Laurie, make a great job.
I feel awful good, like I'm somebody." Charged with "Grand Larceny" and sent to reform school, the lad later emerges from the army as John Dall.Still gunning for fun, Mr. Dall partners up with shapely carnival attraction Peggy Cummins (as Annie Laurie Starr), after besting her in a shooting contest.
Back home now as an adult, after a stint in the army, he falls for a sharp-shooting carnival girl called Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) and promptly joins the act.
But after a fall out with the boss, the pair hit the road and turn to a life of crime; with Annie particularly showing a thirst for gun-play.No doubt inspired by real life outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, Deadly Is the Female (AKA: Gun Crazy) is as good a "doomed lovers on the lam" picture that has ever been made.
They go to a carnival to celebrate, where Bart meets the performer Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) that is also a crack shot.
"Gun Crazy", is a good film-noir with a story of a couple robbing several towns probably inspired by Bonnie and Clyde.
Joseph Lewis' excellent, low-budget noir, "Gun Crazy" is, in a funny way, a romance, despite all the shooting.
The film stars Peggy Cummins and John Dall as Annie Laurie and Bart Tare.
Obsession is what drives them - the obsession for one another.Low-budget but very stylish, gritty, and realistic, "Gun Crazy" gives us the nutso Annie Laurie and the nervous sharpshooter Bart, caught up in a cycle of robbery and death.
This movie was inspired by a 1920's short story about a gun-obsessed young man who couldn't bring himself to kill, who gets mixed up with a woman who brings him down.
It's classic Film Noir.Peggy Cummings is great as the manipulative woman who destroys this tragic guy, using 1950's implied sex to blackmail him into a life of crime he really doesn't want.
However, it soon becomes clear that Annie wants a shortcut to a fortune, and Bart is roped into using his guns to rob banks and shops.Unlike many other films that feature anti-heroes, this one does not glamorise their crimes and if anything shows what they are doing in a negative light.
John Dall (from ROPE and SPARTACUS) is perfect as Bart and Ms. Cummins (who apparently made many films before this and not too many after) is tough, biting, and frightening with passion that only real black and white can ooze!I know it's a "cult classic" now, but in 1949 (two years after Widmark pushed the old lady down the stairs in the wheelchair), this must have been a mind-boggler, even for a gangster "low budget" flick post-WWII.
After a brief cornball setup to explain the young boy's infatuation for guns (but not killing) in a juvenile courtroom scene via flashbacks ("guns...I just gotta have em" says the fourteen year old Bart), the film really takes hold and never lets go.The cute as a pistol Peggy Cummins plays Laurie ("I only kill, when i get scared") is a force to behold and plays it to the end.
John Dall is the Clyde to her Bonnie and is reluctant to pull the trigger, almost.The film is full of groundbreaking camera set-ups with long one takes and on the street realism with interesting angles and a feeling of cinema-verite.
It is forever downbeat with the desperadoes always in desperate situations and there is almost a feeling of empathy for the doomed couple (foreshadowed by the heist in a factory full of "dead meat"), where each of them stumbles.This movie and Film Noir, like Bart says, "goes together like guns and ammunition"..
This one is different in that most of the action takes place during the day as opposed to the dark night time of most films from this genre.The tragic anti-hero of the piece is Bart Tare (John Dall) whose love of guns is shown to us through two flashbacks to his youth.
With a growing interest in firearms began building, the studio that released this film decided it would take a chance and release this little ditty co-staring John Dall and Peggy Cummins while the main name in lights at the marquee is 'GUNS'.
A well meaning crack shot husband (John Dall) is pressured by his beautiful marksman wife (Peggy Cummins) to go on an interstate robbery spree, where he finds out just how depraved and deadly she really is.First of all, I have to say how glad I am that Russ Tamblyn was in this film.
Given Laurie's predilection for violence, this can only be the stuff of bad behavior and great film noir.Early on in the film, when Bart meets Laurie, there's a scene that typifies all that's right with "Gun Crazy" for me.
Bart (John Dall) is a crack shot whom a carnival barker challenges to outshoot his prize pistol-cracking artiste, Laurie (Peggy Cummins)...by shooting out lit matches from a crown she wears on her head.It's a scene that makes you stop and think.
Shot a little too low.""So did I.""Gun Crazy" isn't a movie for people who want sensible cinema.
From the opening scenes, featuring a young "Rusty" Tamblyn as a teenaged Bart, we know what we are seeing is not real exactly, but fed to us through Bart's fevered imaginings, a life where all is nightmare, as he puts it, and only Laurie is real.Dall was a stagey, mannered actor in other films, but here he plays in a surprisingly intuitive way that makes you feel his anxiety.
The scenes of Bart's hometown, Cashville, are a bit clichéd in their folky good nature, and one scene where Bart tells Laurie crime is a bad thing feels shoehorned as DVD Savant writer Glenn Erickson notes in his expert commentary, setting up Dall's only bum notes on screen.The reason that scene feels wrong is because Lewis is otherwise making a cleverly subversive film that encourages us to root for the bad guys.
We aren't only privy to their insecurities, but given a backseat pass on many of their crimes, for example during a three-and-a-half minute sequence as we watch them drive up to a bank, do a robbery, and ride away in real time.People compare this film to the more celebrated "Bonnie And Clyde", but for all that film's high stylistic points I felt more involved in the characters here.
I really enjoyed the scenes when Annie, played by Peggy Cummins and Bart, played by John Dall were in the car and the camera was placed in the backseat.
Lewis manages to make the film jump back and forth from documentary-like to highly stylized with quicksilver cuts, the sum of which somehow melds together into a crazy- great melodrama that clearly serves as the precursor for later couple- on-the lam movie classics such as Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" and Terrence Malick's "Badlands".
Motivated by what he sees as his own self-worth, he becomes an expert sharpshooter as he moves from reform school to a stint in the Army and then to an uncertain existence as Bart isn't sure what he's supposed to do with his life.Enter Annie Laurie Starr, a dead-shot trick-shooter who comes to town as part of a traveling carnival, and the fireworks ignite immediately when she shoots at him with a prop gun and then competes in a marksmanship contest where each shoots matchsticks on a crown placed on the other's head.
This is a dynamite, breathless, action-filled film noir featuring the misadventures and demises of a latter-day Bonnie and Clyde-type couple, who meet through their mutual love of guns and shooting.John Dall's Bart Tray character gets accorded a prologue of his boyhood which helps introduce characters and locations which will assume more significance at the conclusion as well as demonstrating his love/hate fascination for weaponry - he knows that using a gun is morally wrong but can't help himself from possessing and enjoying the thrill of firing one.Fast forward to him as an adult where a random night out with his friends at a fun-fair sees him fatefully enter a shooting competition against the carnival girl hot-shot, Laurie played by Peggy Cummings, where a mutual admiration for one another's shooting skills leads to what is initially a one-sided relationship, she the controlling one and he the more needy of the two before they get together, she leaves the carnival and the coupling deepens and becomes more complex.There's so much to like here, two fantastic lead performances, Dall and Cummings are wholly convincing, not only in their passion for guns but for each other.
There's a great line uttered by Dall as he ponders their relationship, that they go together like guns and ammunition, which summarises up their combustible pairing in three succinct words.There's brilliance too in Joseph E Lewis's direction, not only on his taut hold on the sometimes breakneck narrative, but in his innovative use of hand-held camera shots, extreme close-ups and high P.O.V. takes, plus it's not every film, even in the dark world of noir, where you see an old woman shot dead in cold blood and by another woman too, with said killer apparently turned on by the act of killing.
So, that, in turn, rendered its climatic, final showdown as being nothing but a complete and total let-down.Another thing that didn't impress me much about Gun Crazy was its two light-weight, lead actors, Peggy Cummins and John Dall.
Sexy Annie unlike Bart is cold blooded however and with him under her spell they begin to pull armed robberies and establish a body count.Highly stylized and featuring a florid use of cinema language Joseph Lewis made a pocket masterpiece with Gun Crazy that features one of the finest and coldest noir femme fatales in history played by Peggy Cummins.
At a time when gangster movies, thrillers and film noir were very popular - think Cagney, Bogart, Donlevy, Mitchum, Powell, Ryan, Raft et al - director Joseph Lewis and screen writer Dalton Trumbo, collaborated on a movie which casts a couple of ostensibly ordinary citizens, and not criminals, (Dall and Cummins) as two people with a special talent: both crack shots with guns.
Lewis directed this memorable film that stars John Dall as Bart Tare, who is portrayed as a gun-loving child in trouble with the law, who grows into an expert marksman, just out of the army, who meets Annie Laurie Starr(played by Peggy Cummins) in her sharpshooting act in a carnival.
The infamous Bonnie and Clyde pair of the Depression years is updated in this film of 1950, but with the femme fatale as a supposedly British woman from London (actually, Peggy Cummins was born in Wales), possibly because no US female could be half as bad (the real Bonnie was, though) and no self-respecting US actress would soil her image by taking on such a depraved role.As it turns out, Cummins does indeed look crazy throughout the film, killing as a matter of course, and even thinking of kidnapping her own baby nephew.
Curiously, the one thing that works is that these two misfits really love each other, and cannot be apart, even when it would be wiser to split for a while and reunite somewhere else.Inconsistencies of character undermine what could potentially be a very good film noir, but photography, some wonderful car chases, and assured direction make GUN CRAZY well worth watching..
Although John Dall did a few cinema classics like The Corn Is Green, Rope, Spartacus, he will probably go down with this small B film noir Gun Crazy which even with the Code firmly in place managed to come across with a finely etched portrayal of two young people with serious self esteem issues which are represented by their obsession with firearms.With Dall it's self esteem, with British import Peggy Cummins it's a great deal more than that.
She really loves her work and never more when someone gives her an excuse to fire fatal bullets.There's a lot of action in Gun Crazy, but ultimately the film is a fine character study of two flawed individuals.
Other players skitter distantly around the periphery; John Dall and Peggy Cummins take and hold the screen (she radiantly and naturally, he more reticently and stagily), making Gun Crazy in essence a two-character movie.
He's sent to reform school for the theft, goes into the Army for four years but does not see combat, and here it is the present - 1950 - and he's returned home for a visit.So here Bart is an adult, he has good support from family and friends but he's still gun crazy and has the misfortune of running into sure shot Annie Laurie (Peggy Cummins), a little lady who has big dreams without the problem of a pesky conscience.
So Bart's dilemma is that of so many in film noir - a bad set of coincidences coupled with a fundamental character flaw - he just can't say no to Annie Laurie.
If he hadn't gone to the carnival that night and done trick shooting against Annie Laurie in a scene that sure looks like foreplay with guns, he probably would have gotten that job with Remington for forty bucks a week and been happy with that.
Bart goes for Annie Laurie because he can't believe that a girl so pretty and so exciting seems to "get" him and actually wants an ordinary working stiff like himself - but isn't this how so many guys feel on their wedding day?
Dall, whom I enjoyed in ROPE, has another interesting role in Bart Tare, who, from boyhood, loves guns, but can't bring himself to kill after shooting dead a chick at the age of seven.
Bart(John Dall) returns home from the army, after serving reform school for attempting to steal a gun, meeting quick-drawing Laurie(Peggy Cummins) at a carnival, falling hard.
I am sure the producers of "Bonnie and Clyde" were influenced by "Gun Crazy." I wonder why John Dall did not do more films.
At various times during their relationship, Bart becomes troubled about what they're doing and especially about the killing but he never has the strength of character to distance himself from Laurie or their criminal activity."Gun Crazy" makes a terrific impact, has great drive and is simply an exceptional movie..
I didn't know what was going to happen, but I kept saying to myself "run you idiots!" The movie, however, ended like any film noir with the main characters having the law catch up with them.
Bart (John Dall), Dave (Nedrick Young) and Clyde (Harry Lewis) go to a traveling carnival in town, Bart challenges sharpshooter Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) to a contest and wins.
Dall is good as the gun-fixated man led astray, Cummins is equally good as the smouldering and psychotic femme fatale, they make a great sinister couple, it is tightly drawn story and plot, there are many exciting sequences, and it has all the right ingredients you expect from a movie in this category, a minor masterpiece film noir.
Even though the two lovebirds fit together like a bullet in a gun-chamber it's Laurie who has the killer instinct having murdered a man in a holdup, together with Packett, some time back and that gave her a taste for blood that would eventually lead to her and her husband Bart's doom.Razor sharp black-and white film noir photography together with some of the most innovated camera work, just watch the documentary-style driving scenes in the film, make "Gun Crazy" one of the best as well as underrated American movie ever to be released in the 1940's or 1950's.Running up a string of bank robberies as well as one kidnapping both Bart and Lourie decide to call it quits only after the "big one" a robbery of a meat packing plants payroll that would put them on easy street for the rest of their lives.
There's something erotic about femme fatale Peggy Cummins' obsession with guns in this superb film noir, the best low budget example of the genre since "Detour". |
tt0099653 | Ghost | Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze), a banker, and Molly Jensen (Demi Moore), a talented potter, are a loving couple who move into a New York City apartment. At work, Sam discovers discrepancies in some bank accounts and confides in his good friend and colleague, Carl Bruner (Tony Goldwyn). Carl offers to investigate the matter, but Sam decides to investigate himself. Soon afterward, Sam and Molly are attacked by armed thug Willy Lopez (Rick Aviles), after leaving a theater and Sam is killed by a gunshot in an ensuing fight with Willy. Sam's ghost arises from the dead body next to the distraught Molly and he gradually realizes that he is a ghost whose presence cannot be seen or heard.Sam meets Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), a con-artist posing as a medium and realizes she can hear him, although Oda Mae had been faking her abilities until then. Oda Mae is persuaded by Sam to tell Molly that she is in danger because Willy still has his wallet containing their address, but Molly is still in shock and will not believe Oda Mae. Carl convinces Molly that Oda Mae is a fraud. Sam discovers that Carl was involved in a money laundering scheme at the bank and that the attack was an attempt by Carl to acquire Sam's security codes.
Molly remains unconvinced by Oda Mae's messages and even talks to the Police, but they inform her that Oda Mae is a known confidence trickster.Sam learns from an aggressive New York City subway poltergeist (Vincent Schiavelli) how to master the skill of moving solid objects by his mental powers alone. He persuades Oda Mae to thwart Carl's money laundering scheme by impersonating the owner of Carl's fake bank account. With Sam sitting next to her unseen, she withdraws the balance and closes the account, donating the amount ($4 million) to a homeless shelter.
Carl is desperate when he cannot access the fake bank account which is now closed. He learns that Oda Mae closed the account and declares that if the money is not returned, he will kill Molly. Sam catches Willy in Oda Mae's apartment and physically attacks him. Terror-stricken, Willy attempts to escape from Sam but is killed in a traffic accident. Willy's ghost arises, only to be grabbed by a group of howling demons and pulled into the shadows, presumably to Hell.Afterwards, Sam and Oda Mae return to Molly's apartment to warn her about Carl, but she refuses to let her in and breaks down in grief. Sam enters the apartment and tells Ode Mae to push a penny under the front door, which Sam lifts into the air in front of Molly. Astonished, she finally realizes the truth and lets Ode Mae inside. After calling the Police about Carl, Ode Mae allows Sam to possess her body, allowing him and Molly to share a dance one final time.Carl arrives, prepared to murder Molly and Oda Mae, but they flee. Sam is left momentarily weakened by the possession, leaving Molly and Oda Mae to fend for themselves against Carl. After evading him for a brief time, he seizes Ode Mae and threatens her at gunpoint for the money. Molly comes to Oda Mae's rescue and is knocked aside just as a fully recovered Sam arrives to help them. Finally, Carl attempts to flee through a nearby window, but not before flinging a scaffolding hook in Sam's direction. The hook swings back and partially shatters the glass in the upper part of the window, which plummets down on Carl as he is climbing through, impaling him through the chest. Carl becomes a ghost himself much to his astonishment and to Sam's grief. Sam then watches in silence as the shadowy demons arrive and drag a screaming Carl away into the darkness.As Sam goes to Oda Mae and Molly and asks if they are all right, Molly suddenly realizes that she can hear him. As a heavenly light begins to fill the room, Sam becomes fully visible to both Molly and Oda Mae. Sam looks behind him and sees hundreds of people, presumably angels. Now realizing that his task is completed, he can finally move on. After thanking Oda Mae for everything she has done to help him, Sam says an emotional farewell to Molly and departs to the after life. | fantasy, mystery, murder, paranormal, dramatic, humor, romantic, revenge, sentimental | train | imdb | Thanks to the great acting trio of Patrick Swayze + Demi Moore + Whoopi Goldberg, for together they registered indelible moments into Ghost.
It is scraped in our memory how in time Molly and Sam happen to keep their thoughts off each others' feelings, and that taught us: "Love begins with emotions, ends with thoughts".
Then that scene came upon(Sam's ghost kissing Molly in Oda Mae's body), I felt lost deep in my heart seeking the girl I'm talking on the phone.
He's helped by a likable psychic (Woopy Goldberg) .In the film there are a wonderful love story , humor , tearjerker , suspense , action and a little bit of horror.Runtime film is appropriate , isn't slow-moving but adjusted and the movie is very entertaining.Woopy Goldberg's interpretation is fantastic and humorous , she was Oscar winner to the category for supporting cast , a very well deserved prize .The lover couple , Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze , are riveting but overblown sweets.Maurice Jarre musical score is fascinating but principal song is copied from Alex North's theme.Direction by Jerry Zucker is first class , better than his previous films like ¨Airplane¨ , ¨Top secret¨ or ¨Ruthless people¨.The movie will appeal to fantasy buffs and love stories fans.Rating: 6,5/10 .
Ghost not only has wonderful, likeable characters in Sam Wheat, Molly Jensen, and Oda Mae Brown, but it has an engrossing plot that moves right along.
The theme song "Ghost", written by Maurice Jarre specifically for the movie, is enchanting, and, of course, an oldie, "Unchained Melody", adds another magical touch to a magical film..
It's got action, mystery, horror, and at the heart is the pure, simplistic romance of it all.The story is about an investment banker played by Patrick Swayze and his girlfriend, played by Demi Moore.
However it turns out, Oda Mae Brown played in her academy award winning role by Whoopie Goldberg can actually hear Sam. Together the unlikely team must help each other uncover the horrible murder plot and save Molly.Swayze and Moore make an incredible couple..hot on screen.
In a short time director Jerry Zucker establishes a best friendship between Goldwyn and Swayze, a deeply loving relationship between Swayze and Moore, and a plot line that goes far beneath the movie.
Murdered businessman (Patrick Swayze, not a good actor but doing OK here) sets out in ghostly form to bring his killers to justice--and to watch out over his lovely girlfriend (Demi Moore, hitting all the right notes of a grieving lover).
Unlike that stupid movie, this guy doesn't want to fast forward his life with a beautiful loving wife and great career.
Among the great scenes that make the movie (I'll only mention some) are the scene where Sam follows his friend to the killer's apartment (actually just about every scene with his friend is classic), the scene where Whoopi goes to the bank, the scene where she leaves the bank, the scene where Sam is a ghost in the office with his friend, the scene where the friend hits on Sam's woman, the first scene with the little dark men, the second scene with the little dark men...I could go on and on.
In conclusion, if you like Patrick Swayze or Demi Moore, this is definitely a movie to see.
If nothing else the popularity of the film Ghost guaranteed a revival of that great love song Unchained Melody.
It's always a pleasure when good music is heard on the airways and we have Ghost to thank for this little treasure making a comeback.Ghost also provided Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore with a couple of career roles as a typical yuppie couple settling in Tribeca when tragedy strikes one of them.
But as it turns out, that's only the beginning of the story.If you were to describe Ghost I guess the best way you could describe it would be a drama/fantasy with some humorous moments, mostly as a result of the casting of Whoopi Goldberg as a fake psychic.
Good enough for Whoopi to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, the other Oscar Ghost won was for original screenplay.But you won't forget Patrick and Demi as a pair of literal starcrossed lovers.
It's a perfect song for the theme for Swayze and Moore.One of the best love stories of the last decade of the last century, despite the tragedy that takes place, Ghost is one feel good motion picture..
It's the story of two young lovers Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore).
The lead characters are Sam(Patrick Swayze) and Molly(Demi Moore).
They arevery much in love but when Sam is killed right before Molly's eyes by Willie(Rick Avilles), who turns out to the hitman and Sam's best friend Carl(Tony Goldwyn), Sam's ghost knows he has work to do before he goes to Heaven.
Molly struggles with whether or not to believe her because Oda Mae mentions private things between her andSam. Patrick Swayze is very charmingly romantic, Whoopi Goldberg is veryfunny, and Tony Goldwyn is an awesome bad guy..
But as a ghost he can not be seen or heard by the living, and so he tries to communicate with Molly through Oda Mae Brown, a psychic who didn't even realize that her powers were real.This film probably has every genre in it.
There are some memorable romantic scenes between Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore and hilarious scenes mostly done by Whoopi Goldberg, which is one of the most memorable character in the film winning her an Oscar.
Ghost is a wonderfully touching love story, and the chemistry between Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore makes the story believable and much sadder.
I have never been moved by a film as I was by "Ghost".I like movies with a lot of action, you know guns, explosions, chase scenes etc, but when Demi said "Ditto" near the end of the movie, I nearly lost it.If you have never seen this movie, or if you have not seen it for a while, watch it.
The movie in my opinion is so successful because of the many themes it's associated with it's not only a love story, but also this film has plenty of comedic moments while at the same time the main characters face a web of betrayal.
Never fear the only hope is to team with a psychic(Whoopi Goldberg who rightfully wins an Academy-Award for best supporting actress) to uncover the truth behind his murder and to rescue his love(Demi Moore).
Overall this movie is a great romance that touches your heart, and makes you appreciate your loved ones especially after their gone.
The laughs are also good with Whoopi and it's nice to see the now late Vincent Schiavelli have a small part as a subway ghost, who helps Patrick believe in his supernatural powers.
It remains a powerful, emotive tear-jerker in the finest traditions of Hollywood and despite looking understandably rough around the edges these days, it is still worthy of your attention if you're in the mood for a modern classic love story.Patrick Swayze plays Sam, loving partner of Molly (Demi Moore) and banking business partner of best friend Carl (Tony Goldwyn).
It is also a chilling ghost tale with scenes that are genuinely disturbing such as the "shadow people" who drag souls into Hell with an unearthly scream.Despite looking very dated in places and the fact that you know what will happen in the end, "Ghost" remains a film that no self-respecting romance fan should be without.
Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore) are the perfect couple, they love each other, they have an apartment, life seems to be going great but one night Sam is killed while trying to fight off a mugger.
Molly is having trouble coping with the memory of her late lover and is even more distraught when a simple seance con artist called Otamea Brown (Whippi Goldberg)turns up claiming that Sam has came to her to send a message to Molly that Sam wasn't randomly chosen out of the crowd by the man who tried to mug him...I love this film and it has an amazingly sad ending that touches the heart.
Patrick Swayze is brilliant as Sam, he really brings out the emotions of a man who is coping with death and the after lie of watching his love deny all the signs that he is still with her.A must see film, 9 out of 10 stars..
Ghost is lighting in a bottle, perfect acting jobs by three people in Hollywood that get no respect, (Moore, Swayze, and Whoopi Goldberg.
I love this movie, and no matter how many times I see it (and no matter how many more flaws I see each time), I will continue to think of it as a good, kind of sad/poignant, and very interesting thing to watch.
She didn't just bring some comedy to the movie, she acted perfectly.For the first time I kind of liked Demi's performance (and hey, she was playing a normal woman...).
It might be a love story, I ended up feeling sad when I saw "Ghost" for the very first time.
Whoopi Goldberg is at her absolute best ( same goes for Patrick Swayze ) and Demi Moore is believable but not outstanding.
The unexpected hit of 1990 earned a best picture nomination and a best supporting actress Oscar for Whoopi Goldberg's portrayal of Oda Mae Brown, a psychic delivering comic relief in a film.Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore are lovers separated by fate.
inpecable directed, rich in emotions and situations, absolutely lovely whoopi goldberg is hilarious, demi moore is a sweetheart and patrick sweise is perfectly good....a touching film that nobody will forget ever personally i couldn't stop crying.......
Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore were also great Sam and Molly..
Even the two villains were excellent though I heard that the actor who played Willie Lopez actually passed away not long after making the film.Sam Wheat a banker, is murdered during a mugging while coming from a show with his girlfriend Mollie.
The other ghost turns out to be one of the most entertaining characters of the film.The movie has it all from a love story, to excellent comedy, fairly decent special effects and a great story..
Patrick Swayze, Demi More and Whoopi Goldberg' DEFINING/BEST roles!A MUST FOR ALL GHOST MOVIE FANS!!Highly recommended!.
It's definety one of the best love stories to come out of the 90's and still remains a beautiful addition to the romance genre of movies..
Whenever anyone asks me what my favourite movie of all time is, I say 'Ghost.' I remember seeing it for the first time when I was really young, and I still love watching it.
Even if you're not a religious man, this film makes you believe in the afterlife, but only if you go to see a film, and suspend your disbelief.I know this is a relatively short review, but I hope it inspires people to check out the wonderful performances of Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and of course, Whoopi Goldberg.Having re-read my little review, it comes across as a political speech.
Whoopi Goldberg won her academy award for her supporting performance in this movie, she's funny and delightful as the medium who really isn't aware of her abilities until Patrick Swayze comes into her life.
And let me just say that I absolutely adored Demi Moore's performance here, she is one of the best on cue criers I've seen in movies, when she cries in that touching scene where she finally gets to come into contact with her dead boyfriend, it's just the most romantic thing ever and it's her acting that makes it work so well.
The actors have great chemistry with one another, Swayze and Goldberg work well on screen and are funny and Demi and Patrick have incredible romantic connection.
I was surprised to average this film both on IMDb as the Metascore , the cast is good, Patrick Swayze is very well , Demi Moore is beautiful and very well in the film, and Whoopi Goldberg is very funny in the film, the chemistry of Demi Moore with Patrick Swayze is very good, the direction is excellent, the soundtrack is good , especially the theme of the film, has very romantic moments , the script is very simple, but it works well , the idea of the film is very interesting , and the double Whoopi and Patrick works enough, I 'm not a fan of romantic movies , the more this caught me a lot and is very recommended, Ghost is a great film, has a very beautiful end , and has several memorable scenes.
A yuppie in New York named Sam Wheat(Patrick Swayze) lives with his sweetheart Molly(Demi Moore) with his life in full motion.
Ghost has everything of a genre, drama, sexy scene, suspense, romance, a little action, thriller, comedy, sci-fi, and even a painful death in the end that is so simple it would make SAW like a joke.
Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) is murdered, just as he and his sweetheart, Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) were enjoying their near perfect life.
He is trapped, only able to witness the truth behind his murder and the threat that now surrounds Molly.With the help of Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) a spiritualist with a questionable history; Sam tries to solve the mystery and save the one he loves.The cast is very strong and they all deliver, the direction is sublime and the story is both complex enough to provoke your thinking and simple enough to captivate everyone.
The result is a movie with many humorous moments, visuals that really work effectively, a love story that is very moving and a mystery that is thrilling to watch.Ghost is enjoyable time and time again, and it is still remembered for its originality and impact years later.8/10.
but let's just admit it: the plot would be less interesting if they had to deal with such limitations, or brought Sam back as a mere spirit with no shape.Quicker than you can say "turn me on, dead man" this film will work its way into your heart with a simple, romantic (yet somewhat action-packed) plot and classic song ("Unchained Melody").
So when Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) coos to her yuppie boyfriend Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) that she loves him, to which he dimly replies "Ditto," it's genuine romance - it's the real McCoy."Ghost" was the romantic hit of 1990 and was directed amiably by Jerry Zucker (of "Airplane!" infamy) and written by Bruce Joel Rubin, who also scripted "Jacob's Ladder" that same year, which was another film that questioned the paranormal activity that is life after death.
I do believe that the ladies might need tissues to wipe away the tears too, as the film's ending would prove."Ghost," I believe, is one of the best love stories I've ever seen.
The love scene between Swayze and Moore is both embarrassing and icky, embarrassing because they rub clay all over each other and icky because Moore looks like Pinocchio.The only person who salvages the movie is Whoopi Goldberg, playing a fake medium who ends up being a real medium after all.
In "Ghost", Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) is murdered, only to discover that he is now a ghost - and hubby Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) can't see or hear him.
Through these connections, Sam is able to protect Molly after he realizes that her life is in danger."Ghost" is the sort of movie that one would expect to be little more than a sappy mess.
Patrick Swayze does a great job as a ghost who not only seeks justice for his own murder but looks out for his true love and protects her from danger.
Don't get me wrong, im not the kind of guy that would search a movie for flaws to judge it, and i have enjoyed many films about ghosts and other supernatural things.
When Moore is later consoled by Sam's best friend and banking work-colleague Carl, the bigger picture quickly became clearer, leading to a reasonably exciting if slightly over-the-top conclusion as Sam races to save Molly from joining him in the hereafter as the bad guys come after her.Of course, to communicate with Molly, Sam has to find a suitable conduit so enter Whoopi Goldberg's Oda Mae fake medium character and an entertaining sub-plot caper where she and Sam conspire to thwart Carl's embezzlement plans in person at the bank as well as the inevitable scenes where Goldberg first becomes aware of his at first unwelcome presence and later when she's trying to convince Moore of Sam's "existence".Sure there are slushy bits too, like the oft-parodied (and very suggestive!) pottery scene to the backdrop of The Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody", making the film a woman's favourite ever since, but that may be as much to do with big old handsome Patrick as anything else.
Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg are absolutely brillaint!!!!
Ghost is one of the best romance stories ever made and it is not hard to see why this film became an instant classic.
How unfortunately the only person who can see or hear him is medium Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), so the pair must work together in a race against time to save Demi's character Molly Jensen's life when it to comes under threat.
As he watches he realizes that his lover is in danger from his murderer and his "friend." Swayze engages a medium, played by Whoopie Goldberg in an Academy Award performance, to try to connect with Demi.
The leads, Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg turn what could have been a B-grade forgotten film into a very touching experience.
In one of the most moving of scenes, the Ghost of Sam Wheat lets his presence known to the lover he left in the world of the living, Molly, played with absolute believability by Demi Moore in possibly her best performance. |
tt0275847 | Lilo & Stitch | Dr. Jumba Jookiba is arrested and put on trial by the Galactic Federation for "illegal genetic experimentation", as evidenced by his creation Experiment 626, a living creature which is capable of creating untold chaos. Jumba is imprisoned while Experiment 626 is supposed to be exiled on a desert asteroid. 626 manages to escape in a spaceship and activates the hyperdrive, causing its guidance systems to malfunction and randomly set a course for Earth. The Grand Councilwoman dispatches Jumba and Agent Pleakley, the Council's Earth expert, to the planet to have 626 captured discreetly. 626 lands on the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi, only to be knocked unconscious by a passing truck and taken to an animal shelter.
On Kauaʻi, a young woman named Nani has been struggling to take care of her rambunctious younger sister, Lilo. A social worker named Cobra Bubbles expresses increasing concern that Nani has not been able to take adequate care of Lilo. Seeking a change, Nani decides that she will allow Lilo to adopt a dog and they go to the animal shelter, where Lilo immediately takes a keen interest in Experiment 626, who is impersonating a dog in order to escape. Nani is confused and disgusted by the "dog" and questions Lilo's decision. Lilo names 626 "Stitch" and shows him around the island. As Nani attempts to find a good job, Lilo tries educating Stitch about Elvis Presley, whom she calls a "model citizen". In spite of this, Stitch's antics, including foiling Jumba and Pleakley's attempts to capture him, ruin Nani's chances of finding work.
Nani's friend, David, invites Nani and Lilo to take a break and enjoy a day of surfing. While Nani, Lilo and Stitch ride on a huge wave, Jumba makes one final effort to capture Stitch from underwater, causing Nani to wipe out, and Stitch unintentionally pulls Lilo down with him. Although everyone gets safely to shore, Cobra witnesses this unfortunate event, telling Nani that although she means well, Lilo's best interests mean she has to be placed with a foster family. After seeing how much trouble he has caused, Stitch leaves. Meanwhile, the Councilwoman relieves Jumba and Pleakley of their assignment, freeing Jumba to pursue Stitch using less covert methods.
The next morning, David tells Nani of a job opportunity, which Nani rushes to pursue. Stitch, hiding in the nearby woods, encounters Jumba, who chases Stitch back to Lilo's house. The two fight, destroying the house. Cobra arrives to collect Lilo and take her away. As Nani and Cobra argue, Lilo runs away and encounters Stitch, who reveals his true form just moments before they are both captured by Captain Gantu, who has been given the task of recovering Stitch. Stitch manages to escape before the ship takes off and is confronted by Nani. Before he tries to explain everything, Jumba and Pleakley capture Stitch themselves. Nani demands they had better rescue Lilo, although Jumba insists they only came for Stitch. Though Nani breaks down over losing her sister, Stitch manages to tell Nani about ʻohana, a term for "family" he learned from Lilo, in order to convince Jumba to help rescue Lilo. As Jumba, Pleakley and Nani give chase in Jumba's spaceship, Stitch is able to drive a tanker truck full of fuel into a lava flow and use the exploding tank to launch himself into Gantu's cockpit, distracting Gantu enough to crash-land the ship and rescue Lilo.
Back on land, the Grand Councilwoman appears and is about to take Stitch into custody and retire Gantu, but when Stitch explains that he has found a family in Nani and Lilo, she discovers that he has become a civilized creature; Lilo also shows her the adoption paper, declaring she owns Stitch and that taking Stitch would be theft. The Councilwoman, before leaving, decrees that Stitch will be exiled on Earth and entrusted into the care of Lilo and Nani, and asks Cobra, who turns out to be a former CIA agent whom the Councilwoman met previously in 1973, to keep an eye on them. Together, they rebuild the house, and Jumba and Pleakley become members of Lilo and Stitch's family as well. | cute, entertaining, storytelling, sentimental | train | wikipedia | However, as the film progresses, all those characters (small child, big sister and alien) all become nicer and more caring "people." There also is a good "no one is left behind" family message.
He eventually crash lands on one of the islands of Hawaii (Kauai?) where a little five-year old orphan girl named "Lilo" (Daviegh Chase) finds him in a dog pound (don't ask) and takes him home as her new pet dog, "Stitch" (Chris Sanders).
(Stitch's one weakness in the inability to swim, so for him to go surfing is a surprising concession to the little girl's whims.) His original motive for being "nice" to Lilo was to avoid the agents sent to recapture him, but soon he realizes that Lilo and Nani mean more to him than just sanctuary.Disney makes a point in all their trailers and commercials to show Stitch as the Rodney Dangerfield of animated characters: he don't get any respect.
At first, it's rather amusing, since Stitch is about the most obnoxious Disney character of all time, but after a while, you start feeling sorry for the little guy, and start hoping that he can find the love and acceptance he's longing for.I've often wondered why Disney's recent animated films cannot reach the level that Pixar's CGI creations do effortlessly ("Toy Story," "Monsters Inc.").
You find yourself caring for the orphaned Lilo, you find yourself hoping that Stitch can fin d a place in a family, and you hope that big sister Nani can find a way to keep social worker "Mr. Bubbles" (Ving Rhames) from taking Lilo away to a foster home.There are some really big themes being tackled in this film, such as unconditional love, the need to belong to a group or community, self sacrifice, and family unity.
"Lilo & Stitch" is unusual for a Disney animated movie in that it actually seems to take place in the real world (not to mention the present day), despite the latter half of the title being a genetic creation from another galaxy.
Devoid of almost everything that people come to expect when the name "Walt Disney Pictures" appears on screen - which is not to say we're in "Golgo 13" territory here - this, as did "The Emperor's New Groove," suggests that though the box office takings may go down, the House of Mouse may yet pull another "Beauty and the Beast" on us one day.The movie's a breath of fresh air not only in its setting - it's set on the Hawaiian island of Kauai - but also in its characters; Lilo is a little girl being brought up by her big sister Nani following their parents' death (offscreen), and the movie's not afraid to indicate that it's tough for both of them.
but even then the human element ups the involvement, with the added bonus of there being no real "bad guys" per se (yes, I said bonus - it's nice to see a Disney movie where there isn't a traditional black-hatted villain, just people doing their jobs).And if all else fails, take into consideration the fact that it's also often genuinely funny; the fact that it never condescends to its audience; the fact that you actually have real Hawaiians (the voices of Tia Carrere and Jason Scott Lee) as key Hawaiian characters; and the fact that the songs used here actually have a purpose (to add dimension to our heroes - Lilo is a major fan of Elvis and tries to reach Stitch through the King), something many live-action movies often forget.
All the same, it annoys me no end when people go on about how 'The Lion King' of 1994 was the last truly great film that the company produced, because, in their period of decline and lack of success, the House of Mouse still surprised us all by churning out one cracking exception - the sassy and heartwarming 'Lilo and Stitch'.In the Stitch of the title (and face it, he may have shared his title logo with Lilo but Stitch has always been the undisputed star of this empire) it really feels like Disney have found that very likable and very different kind of hero to break them out of their rut.
Though the film's anarchic spirit owes a fair bit more to 80s creature films like 'Gremlins' and 'Critters', I suppose you could look at it as a inversion on the plot of 'ET', in which, this time round, the humans are harmless and it's his fellow aliens who pose greater threat to Stitch.Finding himself stranded on Hawaii, our little anti-hero has no choice but to disguise himself as a dog and take refuge with Lilo.
Needless to say, it's great music.(Sadly, we also had to tolerate the likes of Gareth Gates and A Teens doing sugary covers over the end credits, but at this stage you can always switch off or leave the cinema.)Too bad that Disney are now really on the wane, or they could have tried doing these themed soundtracks more often with the Beatles and Pink Floyd...oh well, I can dream.To sum up, Stitch is the best.
Many will not feel the same way as I do but I thought "Lilo & Stitch" was one of Disney's most inventive and involving scripts with fleshed-out and well-written characters.We are set in Hawaii, a tropical background that gives the movie a great feel.
This is an original, funny, and extremely heartwarming film that I highly recommend to families."Lilo & Stitch" was wonderful characters that I instantly fell in love with.
First time, I commented how "The Emperor's New Groove" was my favorite Disney movie of the last ten years, and how "Lilo & Stitch" had left me wanting for more.How wrong I was then.I gave it another chance.
Sadly, Disney has gone back to churning the usual crap and the success of trash like 'High School Musical' can assure us that we cannot expect anything great from Disney for a while longer.'Lilo and Stitch' presents a very new style of animation with a new story.
The voice cast (that includes names like Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers Ving Rhames and even Chris Sanders who created the film) do a fine job giving life to their characters.'Lilo & Stitch' is sheer entertainment.
Needless to say, I wasn't the film buff I am now back then, and I entered Lilo & Stitch without any previous knowledge about what to expect.After all this time, I still don't know if it was the whole atmosphere of the brief vacation from the army or the fact it was an over the top animated masterpiece from the get go.
Once I was there, feeling for the ridiculous looking Stitch, I soon developed a gradual empathy to Lilo, the little girl who adopted Stitch after mistaking him for a dog, as I myself am an orphan, and I can see why she needed a dog to share her emotions.Now mix all this with the hilarious animation, numerous likable side characters, beautiful Hawaiian setting, refined Elvis Priestly soundtrack, and you got yourself a winner.
Like Shrek 1&2, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and other 3-D CGI animation films, it keeps its plot simple and easy to follow, when all the while manages to pay gestures to older films and themes us grown ups can relate to; thus really living up to the cliché that insists a G rating is for everyone from 4 to 90 9or something like that).As you can tell, I first and foremost fell in love with this film for sentimental reasons, but at the end of the day, what made me watch it again and again over time was its original mix of Sci-fi and traditional animation, unbelievable funny scenes (try watching Stitch running over the toy model of San Francisco and tell me you didn't laugh) and simple morals of family and friendship.
A funny, heart-warming story of friendship, love, family ties
To be frank I was not going to see this animated film considering it to be "little kids stuff".
As is often the case in animated features, part of the fun is to work out who the familiar voices belong to: Lilo's older sister Nani is played by Tia Carrere and Jason Scott Lee plays Nani's friend who offers her a shoulder to cry on (and probably wants the friendship to develop into something more!) Another character is the Ving Rhames-voiced social worker who oddly, is a big burly Man in Black type character.
Chaotic action towards the end of the film is a little bit of a let-down after the fun of the relationship between Lilo and Stitch and inevitably, the ending is a sentimental and happy one.Overall, Lilo and Stitch' is good fun and will win over audiences both old and young through the story's originality and the characters' charm..
That's the question Chris Sanders must have asked when he wrote the latest animated Disney movie Lilo and Stitch..
The film, directed by Sanders who also provides the destructive alien Stitch's voice, is a very touching animated comedy which turns Steven Speilberg's original ET movie on its head.
Opening at an intergalactic tribunal overJumba Jookiba, an alien scientist jailed for creating a living weapon of mass destruction, and developing into a high-speed star-trek type chase as theexperiment escapes to Earth, the movie segues into the introduction of a little Hawaiian girl named Lilo, who is clearly not a typical five or six year old.
Disney's animation division roars back with one of the funniest and most imaginative cartoon features in years.Starting in outer space, with a mad scientist on trial for creating a genetic monster (Stitch, a cross between a mutant koala and one of the Gremlins; but with a real mean attitude), the action shifts quickly to a Hawaiian island.There, the standard Disney family of two orphan sisters (what IS it with Disney's idea of the modern family?!) Nani and the much younger Lilo, are struggling; Nani to hold down a job and keep the feisty Lilo from the social services, Lilo against the world.When Stitch escapes from the space ship taking him into exile, he lands on the island, pursued by aliens intent on his recapture, only to be bought by Lilo, convinced he's a puppy!What follows is some of the most inspired madness in years.
This is a Disney movie, although the film has taken its competitor's taste for the irreverent and mixed it with its own Disney heart.Stitch is a monster created by the "mad scientist" Dr. Jumba (Disney animation regular David Ogden Stiers).
Meanwhile, Stitch gets adopted by a little girl named Lilo (Daveigh Chase), who after the death of her parents, is being raised by her older sister, Nani (Tia Careere).
Also, the animation is sub-par, especially when compared to the likes of the previous animated films Disney brought us.That being said, "Lilo and Stitch" is still a lot of fun for the whole family..
(It's even more surprising because the prologue before the main title, a meeting of the Alien High Council, suggests something generic and ordinary - but thereafter, every single moment is solid gold.) At least half of the humour, as it should, comes from the animation: the way Stitch is drawn, the way he moves, the strength of the characters' attitudes and, ultimately, the depth of their emotions.The animation is (after the disappointing "Atlantis") of the highest Disney standard; the art direction is fresh and lovely (the backgrounds are in watercolour, for the first time in decades); and the minimal computer animation is used tastefully and correctly - there is NOT ONE garish mismatch between, say, a CGI spaceship and a pencil-animated human.
There can be no doubt: this is a GREAT movie.One thing I will hear occasionally that will also make me want to scream is the critical kiss-of-death: "Lilo and Stitch" is "good for children".
Funny and sweet, Lilo & Stitch is a great watch for all ages, would recommend to anyone looking for a good family film.
This is one of the first times Disney willingly marketed a character that wasn't too presentable in quality, but after staring at his unique blue self for about a half hour, you begin to see the beauty in him, and by the end, he firmly clings to your heart.Lilo and Stitch is one of the brightest, cleanest, and cheerfully different Disney pictures I have seen, and one of the company's bravest of the decade next to Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Unlike that picture, which resulted in a disappointing performance at the box office because of its different look and crisper, more adult-like style, Lilo and Stitch shot and scored with audiences and revenue, and dare I say, was one of their best films of the decade.The story begins with Dr. Jumba Jookiba (voiced by David Ogden Stiers), who is on trial for his latest illegal genetic experiment.
This proved to many that despite flashy tech-work and glossy colors, that it is the story that matters, and that Disney was still able to deliver a rich, compelling feature of depth and heart.Lilo and Stitch is simply a wonderful film.
Lilo and Stitch is just a great piece of animation and I'm really looking forward to its DVD release here in Germany.I haven't seen the film in English yet, but Nani's voice is a bit annoying in the German version..
Underated Disney films like The Great Mouse Detective, and Rescuers Down Under pull off this subtle timing of humor, but never so masterfully as Lilo & Stitch.
This is definitely a kids movie, there's no question about that, but it seems odd to me that this film has a great deal of silly childish humor and at the same time has some more adult concepts and themes.The characters are all pretty cool, but I thought the origin of Stitch was really odd, and definitely not what I was expecting.
Put that to boot with a charming story, well voiced characters, and a lead that you can't help but enjoy and you have a winner.Lilo & Stitch is about a space alien that was an experiment gone wrong, that ends up escaping and crashing to planet earth (Hawaii specifically).
Lilo and Stitch is definitely not a 'usual' Disney movie, but then again, neither was the fun 'Emperor's New Groove'.
The only characters we can see eye to eye are Lilo and Stitch themselves - we are one of them, one of the family.This is not the greatest Disney movie ever released, but its not the worst.
stitch is very cute and the dog collar is awesome Lilo is also a great character and I love the sisters relationship.
Could be a little boring for some younger kids (not a whole lot of flashiness) but Stitch is a great and entertaining character.This is one of the last hand animated movies we'll probably ever see.
If you only need to see one animated movie this year, despite what critics like Berardinelli seem to think, skip Spirit and see Lilo and Stitch.
They, along with their social worker Cobra Bubbles and friend David, constitute a rare sighting of proper human beings in Disney cartoons (see also, surprisingly, Lucky Piquel from "Bonkers"), the reward writer-directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois get for putting the emphasis on the emotions rather than on the chase element of the plot (Stitch/Experiment 626 was created by a scientist in violation of the laws of his planet; when Stitch escaped, his creator and an "E-arth" expert were sent to bring him back) or on the potential for slapstick - though it's there and it's certainly used, the focus is purely on heart.The realness of the movie means that "Lilo & Stitch" often feels like a live action movie that just happens to be drawn (at one point Stitch sees a 1950s SF movie on TV, and the movie in question is shown as a genuine film clip).
They, along with their social worker Cobra Bubbles and friend David, constitute a rare sighting of proper human beings in Disney cartoons (see also, surprisingly, Lucky Piquel from "Bonkers"), the reward writer-directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois get for putting the emphasis on the emotions rather than on the chase element of the plot (Stitch/Experiment 626 was created by a scientist in violation of the laws of his planet; when Stitch escaped, his creator and an "E-arth" expert were sent to bring him back) or on the potential for slapstick - though it's there and it's certainly used, the focus is purely on heart.The realness of the movie means that "Lilo & Stitch" often feels like a live action movie that just happens to be drawn (at one point Stitch sees a 1950s SF movie on TV, and the movie in question is shown as a genuine film clip).
Lilo and Stitch was a sign of a great decade for Disney animation, but instead of making great movies they decided to rip off little girls with Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers, and High School Musical.
This animated film is the typical movie with the same problems as in most of the films.This is the story of a little girl called Lilo who lives with Nani, her sister.
(Stitch steals Aladdin's girl: funniest thing I've seen from Disney in years)And also, it's rather moving (at times) for a Disney movie, so all in all, seems like good fun for all ages as long as you give it a chance...
Even though there are children in the movie, Nani(the older sister) seems to be the central character and the one that the viewer can relate to the most, not Lilo (the problem child) and Stitch.
It has a bit of computer to give it that nice, modern look, but for the most part, this is the classic hand-drawn stuff."Lilo & Stitch" is certainly one of Disney's better movies.. |
tt0419984 | Mr. Woodcock | During their childhood, John Farley (Seann William Scott) and many of his classmates were tormented by their sadistic gym teacher, Mr. Jasper Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton). Since then, things have turned out quite well for John, who has gone on to become a successful self-help author and motivational speaker about "letting go", inspired by his own experiences. But when John's hometown offers him an award, he decides to return home and face his unpleasant memories. His manager initially rejects it as too trivial without consulting Farley, but Farley is pleased by the award and returns to Nebraska to receive it.When John returns home he is horrified to find that Woodcock is now dating his widowed mother Beverly (Susan Sarandon), and the two become engaged shortly after. To make matters worse, Mr. Woodcock is being awarded for his years of educating children. Mr. Woodcock's behavior toward Farley is still unpleasant. John tries to break up the engagement to save both himself and his mother.To that end, he decides to beat Mr. Woodcock at his own game. He spends the whole day with him, going everywhere with him. First, they visit a gym, where, after a rather long speech, Mr. Woodcock berates him for constantly talking. The two then go on treadmills, where John attempts to run faster than Mr. Woodcock, and is launched into a set of weights behind him. They then go into a retirement home where John meets Mr. Woodcock's father, a rude wheelchair-bound man. Mr. Woodcock makes the elderly people in the pool run in place, and take laps. He then spots Pulumbo, a wheelchair-bound man sitting in the corner of the room, not swimming in the pool, and decides to push him in. John, thinking he is unable to swim, tries to dive in and save him, but is knocked out by the man (who apparently can swim), and has to be given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When he gets home, his old classmate and that man's younger brother are there (with the boy having a black eye), with fake evidence of Mr. Woodcock's abuse, consisting of the boy begging an off-camera man he claims to be Mr. Woodcock not to do something, and is immediately hit in the head with a folded up chair. When Mr. Woodcock and Beverly come home, the fake evidence immediately cuts to a scene of the man driving in his truck, ranting about how hot Farley's mom is, wishing he could motorboat her breasts. He tries to rewind the tape, but only ends up repeating parts of his rant, for which he's ejected from the house by Mr. Woodcock. At the carnival, Woodcock is better at various games, though John wins in an eating contest, but not before embarrassing himself in front of the crowd.Irritated, he meets up with his old classmate, who says that he has found Mr. Woodcock's ex-wife, whom Mr. Woodcock's father had mentioned earlier. She tells John that they divorced because of infidelity; the reason she had not done that earlier was the great sex with Mr. Woodcock, once he made her black out from pleasure, and made her speak Portuguese, despite having no knowledge of the language. John, thinking Mr. Woodcock is cheating on his mother, decides to expose it to his mom, and he and his classmate go to Mr. Woodcock's house. As they are trying to find evidence, Mr. Woodcock comes up the stairs, forcing them to hide. As soon as Mr. Woodcock comes in, John's mom comes in as well, and they have sex on the bed (making her speak a phrase in Portuguese in the proccess) as John suffers underneath them. With excitement, his friend opens the shutters and records the whole scene.Next they are at the award ceremony for Woodcock. One by one people come up to the stage and praise him for the good that he has done in their life. Then John is awarded the "Corn Cob Key" and during his acceptance speech, he sums up the misery Woodcock has supposedly caused, but he makes a fool of himself. Much of his evidence is busted, as his classmate did not die as he thought and his ex-wife cheated on him, instead of visa-versa.After Woodcock threatens to beat up John, Beverly becomes so mad that she breaks up with Woodcock. The next day, John has to do a live video interview with Tyra Banks. His mother tells John that he never thought of what made her happy and always thought about himself. John runs out of his interview in the middle of it and apologizes to Woodcock. They then get into a fight that turns into them, in full costumes, wrestling. It ends with Jasper getting rushed to the hospital by John. John rushes Jasper on his gurney to his mom who is sitting atop a float on a parade. After his gurney flips over on the "one pothole in the town" his mother takes him to the hospital where John gives his blessings to his mother and tells his mother that Jasper is a very good person and molded him into what he is today.The film ends at christmas time with Jasper telling John that he read his book. Says one good thing about it, then burns it. After his next book is released, Jasper tells John that his mom is pregnant and the film closes with him saying "Just joking". | flashback | train | imdb | Like last year's School for Scoundrels, Woodcock is yet another movie in which Billy Bob Thornton plays a violent dick (no pun intended) and fails to be anywhere near as funny as he should be, thanks to a sloppy, almost laugh-less script.
Just about every truly funny part was crammed into the commercials.I love Bad Santa and all, but it has really done more harm than good seeing as another Thornton-acts-like-a-sociopath-and-gets-away-with-it "comedy" gets released every year.
I'm not denying that I laughed a couple of times ('cause let's face it, Thornton abusing kids is funny by default) but in the end Woodcock is just a half-baked comedy-drama which is neither hilarious nor touching..
I was pretty excited to see this movie because from what I saw it seemed really funny and I like Seann William Scott but I have to say I was sort of disappointed.
Mr. Woodcock, the evil junior high gym teacher that made John's life a living hell; and it looks like Mr. Woodcock has not changed his ways when he starts to treat "Farley" the same way he did when he was a kid.
Woodcock, Billy Bob Thorton's gym teacher character is much too one dimensional to really work since he has one expression the whole time.
His mother (Susan Sarandon) now dates the titled character (Billy Bob Thornton), Scott's former gym teacher who forever tormented and belittled him as a husky youth.
Mr. Woodcock is the sort of film that I usually dread going to see, a sort of Meet The Parents rip off in the same vein as recent pictures like Relative Strangers and Guess Who. To be fair this movie betters both of those considerably, mainly due to the talented cast at the directors reach.
Thornton ever since heavy success with Bad Santa back in 2003 has been making a career of playing weirdos (usually mean ones) and as Woodcock he's a solid choice who digs up several strong laughs.
Well there are, however, the best parts of Mr Woodcock are not the sexual innuendos, but come from the various gymnasium scenes, where Jasper Woodcock (Billy Bob Thorton) the PE teacher runs his classes like a sadistic drill sergeant, and all the misfits tremble in fear and loathe as he puts them through the paces, with physical, mental and emotional abuse dished out in deadpan manner.
The filmmakers know this, and set the bar high enough from the get go, but only for the movie to spiral in the general southwards direction.Thirteen years after his unforgettable years of growing up under Mr Woodcock's insults, John Farley (Seann William Scott) becomes a renowned self help guru and published a bestseller called "Letting Go: How to Get Past Your Past", because it takes one successful loser to teach the rest how to move on.
During a journey back home where you're hit with a barrage of literally corny jokes, John realizes to his horror that his mother Beverly (Susan Sarandon) is now dating Mr Woodcock, and he makes it his mission to dissuade her from giving him a new stepdad, one who has been the bane of his childhood.That basically becomes the premise of the movie, and a highly predictable one at that.
You can tell by some of the continuity errors, helped in no part by John's bad haircut episode.Billy Bob Thorton owns the movie as Woodcock, delivery his deliciously acidic remarks with aplomb.
Sean William Scott is better known unfortunately for his loud and over the top Stifler from the American Pie movies, but given a rather muted character like John Farley, he fades away quicker than you can spell l-o-s-e-r.
Most of the other supporting cast like Amy Poehler and Ethan Suplee got wasted, with the former being a self-professed alcoholic Barbie doll, while the other a fanatic who had read John's book 900 times and counting.Mr Woodcock isn't laugh out loud or laugh a minute, but it has its moments.
One of his students, an overweight kid by the name of John Farley, grows up to write a best-selling self-help book about letting go of one's past as a means of embracing one's future.
Billy Bob Thornton, Susan Sarandon and Seann William Scott (Stifler in the "American Pie" movies) have all proved their talent and likability many times in the past, but they aren't allowed to go much beyond one-note performances in this film.
Thus providing more hard times for our lead character and apparently some unfunny situations that we are suppose to laugh at.Ever since the very funny Bad Santa, there have been a slew of Billy Bob Thorton plays an asshole type comedy.
John Farley (Seann William Scott) is a successful self-help writer going back to his Nebraska hometown to get a local award Corn Cob Key. He tells his callous agent Maggie (Amy Poehler) that the book is about letting go of past trauma like his dead father.
However, Mr. Woodcock's screenplay feels as if it was devised by a group of teenage boys who knew no world outside of comic books, Playboys, sugary junk food, and Saturday morning cartoons.The story concerns John Farley (Seann William Scott), a once overweight child that grew up to be a very successful self-help author.
We'll say he's the typical, mean gym teacher stereotype that doesn't really exist outside of our worst nightmares.Farley returns to his hometown of Nebraska to accept a prestigious award to realize that his widowed mother Beverly (Susan Sarandon) is in a relationship with Woodcock and, worse, sees him as one of the kindest souls she has ever known.
Making your movie character a self-help guru is never a good idea, mainly because they either have to be smarmy in the regard that they don't believe what they're preaching, dense because they only believe a small part of it and act like they hold the secrets of the world because of it, or naive because they seem to genuinely believe every single they say or publish.
Mr. Woodcock has about two or three laughs in it, all of which coming from Billy Bob Thornton, which says more about him than any other actor at hand here as it shows he can still not even try to half his potential yet still succeed in being funny every now and then.Starring: Seann William Scott, Billy Bob Thornton, Susan Sarandon, Ethan Suplee, and Amy Poehler.
Sean William Scott , Susan Sarandon, and Billy Bob Thorton, excellent pairing,, our story is about a boy who had a horrible gym teacher,, always picking on him,, throwing the ball at him,, and stuff, so flash forward 20 or so years in time,, and our main character moves in with his mom, and who does he find dating his dear old mom.
the evil Mr. Woodcock ,, the gym teacher,, he spends the whole movie, trying to convince his mother that the gym teacher is no good,, he tries breaking them up several different ways, but all for not,, it appears that he is stuck with the evil gym teacher for life..
It has a great cast featuring Billy Bob Thornton in the title role of Jasper Woodcock, a physical education teacher, in Forest Meadow, Nebraska.
This film is about a successful self-help writer who goes home and find out that his mother is now dating the horrible basketball coach who haunted him years ago."Mr Woodcock" is a comedy that sees two men battling with each other constantly.
I know Billy Bob Thornton has played this type of role before, a la Bad Santa, but a lot of people won't care, because they go to the movies to be entertained, right?
Mr. Woodcock was a surprise for me.but a pleasant one.i found it very funny.in fact,riotously so,at times.i don't really like Billy Bob Thornton,but in this case,the movie transcends him.sure,a lot of the humour is juvenile and raunchy,but sometimes that's what you need.there's no subtlety here.they brought out the heaviest sledgehammer they could find,and employed it generously.if you don't like broad comedy stay away from this one.it also takes a very cynical view of things,but a lot of people can probably relate to having someone like Mr. Woodcock as a teacher/authority figure of some kind in their life,so it might resonate on that level.and it's always nice to see these things happen to others rather than ourselves.all i know is,i laughed a lot.for me,Mr.Woodcock is an 8/10.
I see why people hated this, but I found the movie to be clever especially with the talented duo of Seann William Scott and Billy Bob Thornton.This film is about an evil gym teacher who makes his students lives miserable especially John Farley.
Billy Bob Thorton plays Mr. Woodcock,an abusive gym teacher who tortures students for a living.One of his former students,John Farley,played by Sean William Scott,visits his mother only to discover that she and his former gym teacher are dating.But it gets worse.Soon he finds out that they're getting married.Tough luck for John.'Mr. Woodcock' is actually a funny,smart,and entertaining comedy that teens,especially boys,love.Well,maybe not every teen or adult loves this movie,but I really enjoyed it.The movie is full of slapstick humor and crude,suggestive behavior,just the way I like it.So ignore all of the negative reviews that this movie has been given and like it for what it is..
John's trauma was his gym teacher, Jasper Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton), picked on and humiliated weak kids as part of his teaching method.
Her character, a publisher's representative guiding a new author on a book tour, is mean, not funny.Susan Sarandon plays the author's mother who is involved with the sadistic gym teacher (Billy Bob Thorton) the author had when he was a chubby junior high student.
Seann William Scott plays a man who goes back to his old home town to see his mother(Susan Sarandon) get hitched again to his mortal enemy, "Mr. Woodcock"(Billy Bob Thorton).
Mr.Woodcock is a boring comedy which did not produce me any laughs because all the jokes are clichéd and tired.That's a serious problem in a comedy.Billy Bob Thornton is criminally wasted in this movie.He's an extraordinary actor but this movie does not show all his talent.He should appear in more movies like A Simple Plan or Bad Santa,which really take advantage of his talent,and not in craps like School for Scoundrels or Mr.Woodcock.Director Craig Gillespie shows nothing of artistic zeal.His work is simply mercenary.It was very difficult to me laughing with this movie because,as I said,all the jokes are tired and they left to be funny 20 years ago.I do not recommend this movie..
Put Seann William Scott in some good roles he is so much more talented and deserves much better roles than in movies like this.
I've seen some pretty awful films with IMDb ratings better than 5/10 - its current rating is way off beam.In Mr Woodcock, John Farley, an apparently together writer of a top selling self-help book "Letting go", (ably played by Sean William Scott), returns to his hometown to find that the gym teacher who tortured him through childhood is now dating his mother.
Also,Seann William Scott--as an adult former student who has become a best-selling self-help author who discovers to his great horror that aforementioned gym teacher is getting into his long-widowed mom's life--is effectively a good physical comedy foil for the situation.
In other words, it's a good, enjoyable comedy.There are two main subplots here: John Farley (Seann William Scott, aka Stifler from American Pie) used to be a pudgy ugly duckling who is now a successful self-help author.
Its main strength are the two central actors, Billy Bob Thornton as the tough-as-nails-but-not-quite-as-easy-to-hammer Jasper Woodcock and Susan Sarandon as the mom with a schoolgirl crush and "a hard man is good to find"-mentality, and both of them acting on a good script.
I tried to think of funnier Billy Bob Thornton films than his latest tepid comedy, "Mr. Woodcock," and came up with the following: "Bad News Bears," "Ice Harvest," "Pushing Tin," "Friday Night Lights," "Bad Santa," "Monster's Ball" and "Sling Blade." Heck, even "Goodfellas and "Passion of the Christ" had more laughs than this pointless piece of dredge which takes the worst elements of "Meet the Parents" and "The Girl Most Likely To," although with none of the charm, intelligence or humor of these pictures.After viewing this movie, however, I have a new-found respect for such comedic works as "R.V.," "Are We There/Done Yet?," "License To Wed," "Guess Who?," "Soul Plane," "King's Ranson," "My Baby's Daddy," "Little Man" and any of the "Scary Movie" versions.So, I suppose the experience wasn't all terrible ...Ah, but this film was.
With two Academy Award-nominated lead actors (Thornton, nominated for "Sling Blade" in 1996, and Susan Sarandon, winner in 1995 for "Dead Man Walking") joining up with Seann William Scott ("American Pie," "Old School") one would think some snickers would result, but few come about.The plot has Williams as John Farley (where's CHRIS Farley when we need him?), a successful self-help author, whose latest book, "Getting Past Your Past," is climbing the bestseller charts.
The nasty PE teacher whose methods affect children, the fat kid who has overcome Mr Woodcock's teaching to become good who has become famous, the widowed lonely mother who has found happiness in the arms of the bully, the nasty bitch who drinks and is abusive to all, the nice girl who stayed in the town and is a teacher herself and the loser, a loser at school and now a loser as an adult.This could have had the makings of a very funny, thought provoking story.
The most unfortunate thing about this movie is the waste of, particularly, an excellent actress like Susan Sarandon but also for wasting Seann William Scott, who has been far better in other comedies (even the American Pie series had more humor and came across as more realistic than Mr. Woodcock) and has also done well in some dramatic/action movies, with comedic qualities in his performance, as in Bulletproof Monk and the Rundown.
She gives an excellent, scene-stealing, scene-chewing performance as Maggie, the press agent and "handler" for Scott's inspirational How To book author character, John Farley.Sarandon plays his mom and its an age appropriate role for her and she looks fabulous even as a past middle age adult mother in a small, mid-west town.
bullshit author and victim returns home and learns things about him self and makes teacher see the error of his ways sounds like a good serious movie.
Billy Bob Thornton has had some great roles, and some good films but I've still never been a huge fan but his performance as Jasper Woodcock is just awesome.
Also Susan Sarandon looking lovely as always plays Scott's Mom and Woodcock's fiancé much to Farley's dismay.
Mr. Woodcock (2007): Dir: Craig Gillespie / Cast: Seann William Scott, Billy Bob Thornton, Susan Sarandon, Amy Poehler, Melissa Sagemiller: Here is a comedy that is all too by-the-book yet it also presents a theme that many viewers will likely relate too.
Even though 'Mr. Woodcocks' has its moments, and a relatively 'scary' premise to boot, the film fails completely in its execution and writing.Considering its premise (and most of its cast, except for Sean William Scott and Ethan Suplee), this could have been a great black comedy, but one look at the poster and the title, and you know what time it is: a(n ultimately) simplistic and in the end (confusingly) moralistic tale that really strikes no cord at all, even if the potential shines through here and there.
Basically as a child John Farley (Seann William Scott) and all his other physical education students were almost tortured by the abusive and bully like behaviour of gym teacher Jasper Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton), grown up John has become a successful self-help book author and is returning to his hometown in Nebraska to receive an award.
Scott has only a hint of his jock character in his role as the formerly chubby boy turned thin teacher hating author, Thornton is certainly a good choice as the sadistic seeming teacher who may be trying to be nice but you're not sure, and Sarandon hardly has anything to do, the plot is pretty straight forward, a guy with a grudge on his nasty teacher trying to ruin the relationship with him and his mother, there are not many overly funny moments, it is a slightly disappointing comedy.
Seann William Scott is certainly not good and not really funny as John Farley, one of those fat ones that suffered the most with Mr. Woodcock but now he is not fat, he has fame, he is quite successful thanks to the crap he writes, self-help crap that changed the lives of many (losers, as Mr. Woodcock says).
I hate the characters (with the exception of Farley, it's nice to see Sean not play Stifler for once, he's the only good thing about this film), I hate the story, I hate the ending, I HATE IT!I'm getting angry just writing this..
I wasn't really looking forward to watching this, don't know why, didn't look like my type of film, but my bro rented it and i was pleasantly surprised, there are some very funny jokes in this film, and i mean funny, i love the way Mr Woodcock has attitude, that makes him even funnier.The plot it's self is pretty basic, John Farely realises that is evil ex PE teacher is going to be his new dad, and John goes to great lengths to stop the marriage!So overall, a decent comedy with plenty of funny, funny jokes!7/10.
Craig Gillespie directs this comedy about Mr. Woodcock(Billy Bob Thornton), the junior-high gym teacher from hell.
I wasn't expecting much but I enjoy Billy Bob Thornton, even in bad movies.
It is easy to just look at the slapstick comedy, but there is a deeper message about finding yourself, and about learning to accept others, even if they don't fit your idea of what is right.Billy Bob Thornton is Jasper Woodcock, tough as nails Jr. High P.E. teacher. |
tt0086066 | The Outsiders | The film opens with Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell) sitting at his desk in his room, writing. He talks about walking home from the movies one night. As he is bouncing and messing with a ball, he recites parts of the movie that he'd just seen when a group of guys pull up in a red Corvair. They start to call him a greaser because he has greasy hair, and he tries to evade them. They're the Socials, clean-cut teens dressed in Varsity letter jackets and chinos, also known as the rich kids or the South Side Socs. The Socs stop, get out, and attack Pony, knocking him to the ground as he struggles. The soc on top of Pony puts his knees on Pony's elbows, asking, "How would you like that haircut to begin just below the neck?" Ponyboy struggles but is unable to unpin himself. As the socs try and shut him up, the knife accidentally slips and cuts his head slightly. Hearing his screams, Pony's older brothers, Darrel (Patrick Swayze) and Sodapop (Rob Lowe) and the rest of their gang, Johnny Cade (Ralph Macchio), Dallas Winston (Matt Dillion), Steve Randall (Tom Cruise), and Two-Bit Matthews (Emilio Estevez) come to his rescue, chasing off the Socs. Darrel, Sodapop, and Ponyboy lost their parents in a car crash. Darrel, a high school grad with a job, acts as the father figure. Soda is a dropout who works at a gas station. The three are allowed to live together without parental supervision as long as they stay out of trouble. Pony is still in high school at Darry's insistence.Dallas, Johnny, and Ponyboy go to a drive-in movie and sit in the bleachers. Cherry (Diane Lane) quarrels with her Soc date and leaves his car, going to sit in front of the greasers with her friend . Dallas tries to chat her up but Cherry seems to connect more with Ponyboy and Johnny. Dallas finally says something offensive and Cherry, unafraid of his tough-guy attitude, tells him to shut his mouth. When Dallas reaches for her, Johnny stops him, being the only member of the group able to do so. Spurned, Dallas stalks off. Pony goes with Cherry to the concession stand. While waiting in line, they talk about their respective friends. Pony's view is that he and his friends are persecuted by the Socs because they're poor, dress differently and are often considered delinquents. Cherry counters, saying that her group has their own problems, ones that the greasers couldn't even imagine. Back at their seats, Two-Bit joins the group and after the movie ends, the three boys and two girls walk together chatting. Cherry's boyfriend, Bob, stops in his car nearby. He's drunk and harshly admonishes her for hanging out with the greasers. To avoid a fight, Cherry reluctantly goes with him.When he arrives home, Ponyboy is harshly reprimanded by Darry for staying out so late. When his brother tries to stop the argument, Darry pushes Pony a bit too hard, spilling him to the floor. Pony runs out of the house despite Darry's attempts to apologize and he finds Johnny sleeping in a vacant lot.Not long after, the Socs ambush Ponyboy and Johnny at a park with a fountain. The Socs dunk Ponyboy's head in the water, nearly drowning him. Johnny pulls out a switchblade to stop them. Bob is left dead and everyone flees. Johnny, unusually calm only a few minutes after he kills Bob, decides that he an Pony should find Dallas. They go to a house where Dallas had been partying with an old friend and talk to him about hiding out. Dallas gives them instructions to board a train to a small village where they can hide out in an abandoned church. Johnny and Ponyboy hop a freight train and make their way, break into the church, and fall asleep. The next morning Johnny comes back with food, cigarettes, peroxide, and a paperback copy of "Gone With the Wind". The two hide out in the church for several days, waiting for word from Dallas. They cut their hair with pocket knives and Ponyboy dyes his blond in an attempt to disguise themselves. The two spend several days playing cards, Pony reads "Gone With the Wind" to Johnny, and they try to trap a rabbit. One morning, Pony wakes up early and sees the valley below the church in the sunrise, admiring its beauty. He recites a Robert Frost poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" that Johnny takes to heart.A few days later Dallas arrives and takes them out to eat. He tells Ponyboy about how the police are looking for Bob's killer, even hauling Dallas himself in for questioning. Soda and Darry are both worried about Pony's disappearance but Dallas has assured them that the two are safe.Johnny wants to turn himself in as it sounds like they can claim self-defense, but Dallas tries to discourage him, warning him of what can happen if Johnny gets jail time. On returning to the church, they find it burning and a group of young kids milling about with two adults and a school bus. The woman exclaims some kids are trapped inside. Johnny and Ponyboy enter to rescue the kids, Dallas reluctantly following. They find the kids in a back room and carry them to safety, Dallas helping out. Suddenly the roof collapses and Johnny is badly burnt and his back is broken. Dallas pulls both of them to safety. EMS finally arrives and takes them back to their hometown and the hospital. The boys are all hailed as heroes, and Ponyboy is reunited with Darrel and Sodapop.The Socs and Greasers plan a big rumble to settle things after the death of Bob, and Cherry acts as the go-between: No knives or other weapons; fighting will only be hand-to-hand. Two-Bit and Pony go to the hospital to visit Dallas and Johnny. Johnny is suffering from horrible burns and is in traction, seemingly paralyzed. The visit is very emotional and Johnny becomes very upset when a nurse tells him that his mother came to visit. He doesn't want to see her, as he feels she doesn't care about him. He orders the nurse to send her away, and faints. Pony and Two-Bit leave, shaken by the encounter. When they visit Dallas, he is arguing with a nurse. Dallas asks about Johnny and they tell him the outcome doesn't look promising. Dallas is desperate to join the big rumble and asks Two-Bit for his knife, talking about revenge for Johnny's sake.On the night of the rumble, despite signs of exhaustion, Ponyboy wants to go. Darrell reluctantly lets him participate, telling he and Soda to run away if cops arrive. The Socs arrive and the big rumble gets underway as the groups pair off and start slugging. Both sides get their licks in but after a while the Socs retreat, the Greasers whooping with delight at their victory. Just before the first punch is thrown, Dallas arrives, having left the hospital. When the fight ends, Dallas grabs Pony and they drive to the hospital to see Johnny, who is weaker than ever. On the way, Dallas tells Pony to stay tough and nothing will ever faze him. When they arrive, Dallas tells Johnny that the Socs have been driven out of their territory for good. Johnny seems not to care and tells Pony to "stay gold". He dies and Dallas becomes incredibly upset, dry-firing a pistol at a doctor and babbling madly. Pony heads home to find Darrell and the rest of the gang nursing their wounds. He tells them that Johnny died and Dallas tore off in a fury. While Pony worries that Dallas will do something crazy, Dallas holds up a convenience store and is shot and wounded. He calls Pony's house, asking for a place to hide from the police. The cops chase him and shoot him when he waves the unloaded gun at them. The police open fire and his friends arrive just as he dies; his last word is "Pony". Pony faints from exhaustion.At home Darrel rides Ponyboy as Sodapop runs off into the night. The three brothers reunite and Sodapop tells Darrel to stop being so hard on Ponyboy, the three only have each other and they all need to get along. They have a group hug and return home.At the trial Cherry gives her testimony and Ponyboy is declared not guilty. Back at school Ponyboy is now neatly dressed and coiffed; Cherry ignores him and a teacher gives him an extension to finish his writing assignment. At home at his desk, he sits down and begins to write his story, starting with the moment he left the movie theater: "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I only had two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home", the first line from the novel. | tragedy, cult, murder, violence, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0027800 | The Invisible Ray | THE INVISIBLE RAY synopsisDiane Rukh (Frances Drake) stares out the window from their home in the Carpathian Mountains upon the road below. Mother Rukh (Violet Kemble Cooper), seated in a chair, inquires whether her son Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) is still working in his lab. Diane confirms this, saying that he is preparing for the delegation of scientists due to arrive from England. Rising from her chair with help from Diane, Mother Rukh comes to the window with her cane.
She tells Diane that on a day like this her son Janos discovered the ray from Andromeda while working with his late father. It was holding the lens during that discovery which caused her permanent blindness. They discuss the brilliance of Janos and how he was rejected by other scientists and called a charlatan. Diane says she was told to watch for the headlights coming and notify Janos. Mother Rukh returns to her seat and Diane looks out the window again. Seeing the car approaching, she announces that she will go tell her husband. She dons her cape and goes through an outer walkway to another building where she rings a bell and enters. Coming into the lab, she tells Janos (who is gazing through a large telescope) that the visitors are arriving. He says he is ready and confident.The car pulls up and several people get out and enter the house. Diane greets Lady Arabella Stevens (Beulah Bondi) who introduces her husband Sir Francis Stevens (Walter Kingsford), Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi) and her nephew Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton). They are introduced to Mother Rukh who speaks but remains seated. Janos enters and greets each one and is greeted by Lady Arabella who presents her nephew Ronald who she says is a mapmaker and will be valuable to the work in Africa. Janos tells them he has a presentation to show them.In the lab, he shows his telescope, explaining and showing a device which will capture a ray from Andromeda containing pictures and information from thousands of years ago. Dr. Benet looks at Sir Francis with a knowing look of doubt between them. Janos attaches the device to the telescope and tells them to wait a few moments while he prepares the projector. Coming back from another room wearing a welding mask, he reaches into a panel and starts a series of electrical devices which give off sparks and energy. He announces he is ready. Diane leads the way to seats which are protected from dangerous rays by a new kind of barium crown glass, which is explained by Janos. He tells them about the distances the ray has traveled and turns on the projector, which is the type used in planetariums to show outer space. As he narrates, the picture shows a movement that passes our moon, Saturn, Orion and finally Andromeda. He tells Sr. Francis that he had previously predicted a meteor which struck Earth many years ago in Africa, telling him that this will prove it. As they watch, the view changes direction back toward Earth as seen from Andromeda but millions of years ago. A meteor is shown hurtling towards Earth and striking in the southern portion of Africa. Those viewing this are stunned. Various comments are made, saying this is no hoax.Back in the house, brandy is served. Sir Francis marvels at the discovery to Janos, asking when he will publish it to the scientific world. He says it is not yet ready. Sir Francis says it would be good to locate this meteor and see what it contains. Dr. Benet suggests that Janos join them in an expedition. Janos says he has no standing before their scientific congress and that he had previously been declared unorthodox and discredited. Sir Francis tells him their expedition will not be under the auspices of any scientific association. Dr. Benet says that he will be doing them an honor. Janos accepts, but Mother Rukh tells him no. She says he may make an important discovery but that it will not bring him happiness. She reminds him that Janos is not good with people but is better suited to remain with his experiments.A scientific magazine is shown that has an article about Dr. Benets expedition to Africa to recover Radium X. It mentions that Dr. Rukh has separated from the others. Meanwhile, at a camp in Nigeria, Dr. Benet shows Sir Francis how he has been healing natives by a medicine he derived from sunlight. A young native child is shown and given back to his mother. Diane sits in her tent, hot, tired and bored to death since her husband left them to go on his own expedition. She emerges from her tent only to see Lady Arabella and Ronald returning from a hunting trip. Seeing him stirs her. She turns away, not wanting to look. A conversation with Ronald and Lady Arabella about Diane reveals that they are interested in each other, but that Ronald dares not act because she is married. Meanwhile Sir Francis says he is sick of staying in Africa and will not remain for the sake of anyone.A safari group accompanying Janos arrives near a volcano when suddenly a loud buzzing and clicking sound coming from one of the boxes carried by a native frightens him. It is revealed to be a Giger counter showing the presence of radioactivity. Janos takes the machine and approaches a site giving off steam or smoke. He tells the leader to send a message back to the camp by his fastest runner. A runner is selected by the leader and Janos writes out a message, telling him to give it to Diana and wait for an answer. He says he has found what he is looking for, but not to tell anyone where they are.Antelope stew is served at the camp, but not everyone is interested in eating. Diane and Ronald avoid glances over the table at each other, but it is obvious that they are mutually interested in each other and this causes great discomfort. About this time the runner arrives and the note is given to Diane, who reads it. She reports only that Janos will not return right away but believes he is on the right track. Going to her tent, she asks the leader to meet with her and the runner. A small team is prepared to accompany her to see her husband. This is observed by Ronald, who then confronts Diane of her plans. She tells him she must go to her husband right away. He tells her hes not surprised that she wouldnt disappoint any man.Dressed in a protective suit and helmet, Janos is lowered into the volcano by rope controlled by natives. He uses a mining hammer to extract a sample of glowing, sparkling rock which he puts into a safe container. Returning to the natives, he is told they do not like the area because there are many devils. After the leader tells him they all want to leave, he tells them to watch a rock standing alone on a precipice. Loading the rock sample into a projector, he focuses it on the rock and shines the beam. The rock is disintegrated and melted before their eyes. He tells them they may leave if they want to, but threatens to turn the ray on them if they do. They beg and pledge their continued support.That night a meal is brought to Janos by one of the natives. He tells him to take the lantern inside the tent so it will not attract bugs. When the light is taken away, Janos begins glowing in his hands and face. Seeing this, the native cries out in horror. Janos sees his hands glowing and enters the tent. Turning down the lantern, he grabs a mirror and sees his face glowing. When the light is turned on, the glow cannot be seen. He remarks to himself that it has poisoned him. Sitting down on his cot to think, the dog approaches him and he reaches to pet it. The dog dies, and Janos realizes that his touch is deadly.Diane and her party arrive and she is pointed toward his tent. Seeing her coming, Janos draws the tent closed and turns out his lantern, hoping she will not enter. She notices the light go out and stops at the tent door to call him. Not wanting her to see or touch him, Janos questions why she came and tells her she must leave in the morning. She is shown a tent for her to stay the night, but is heartbroken and cries upon her cot. Janos gathers up the rock sample along with his mask and protective suit and starts out into the dark. Passing close by her tent, he hears her sobbing and pauses.Dr. Benet is shown mixing chemicals in his tent. Wearing full protective gear, Janos shows up with the runner and calls out to Benet, entering the tent. He tells Benet not to touch him, saying that he found the element and it is ten times more powerful than radium but that it has poisoned him. They step outside into the darkness and Benet witnesses Janos hands and face glowing. Confessing that his touch is deadly, they re-enter the tent. Janos asks Benet for help. Benet says there is an antidote for radium poisoning which is made from radium. Janos gives him a sample of the element and his chemical analysis which he has written down. Benet says he will begin at once to develop an antidote and that Janos can hide in a small equipment tent.Diane leaves on her way back to base camp. Meanwhile, Dr. Benet wakes Janos, and shows him in the dark that his skin no longer glows. He tells him that the antidote was given him at midnight and that the effect is only temporary. Touching his hand, he demonstrates that Janos is not lethal at this time, but cautions him that he must take doses of this daily for the rest of his life or the condition will recur and eventually kill him. Janos is given the formula on paper as well as a kit containing samples of the antidote and a syringe.Diane and Ronald have a discussion about their relationship, saying there is no point in denying it now. At this point a bell rings, calling them to supper.Natives sound jungle drums. Dr. Benet arrives at Janos camp and approaches him. When asked how Benet found him, he is told they followed the sound of the drums, which stated that a white man had found magic in the mountains. They go into the tent and Janos tells him that he has harnessed the power of the element to destroy cities. Benet asks if he can develop its power to heal and do good. Saying that will come later, he brags about his great discovery. Benet tells him that this was anticipated by himself and Sir Francis and that they must all share the discovery. Benet says Stevens is on his way to present the sample to the International Scientific Congress meeting in Paris. Janos argues that it is his discovery and says they are stealing it from him. Benet assures him that Janos will receive credit for it but reminds him they are united for a common purpose and that this element is too powerful and important to entrust to just one man. He says that Diane has taken ill and gone back to England. Janos is given a note from his wife, telling him that she believes that he no longer loves her and is now involved with someone else. Benet confirms that it is Drake. This further infuriates Janos, who tells Benet to leave before he turns the ray on him. Benet leaves.A newspaper shows that the Benet expedition has left Africa and that Dr. Rukh has returned to his lab in the Carpathian Mountains. Inside, Janos turns the ray on his mothers eyes, hoping to restore her sight. After a few moments, she confirms that she can see. She tells him he has much work to do, but he tells her he is leaving in the morning for Paris. She warns him not to go, for he will find tragedy there. In case of tragedy, he says, keep the formula which he has written down and sealed in an envelope for his mother to keep.In Paris we see Dr. Benet in his office who sees many patients, using the ray to heal. One girl has her sight restored and she and her parents rejoice. At this moment Janos arrives and Benet tells him that his discovery is helping to heal many people. Benet tells Janos that the Nobel Prize has been awarded to Janos and that all Paris is waiting to honor him. Janos says it looks like he is late again and declares that only he can correctly harness its power. Benet reminds him that is why the discovery was too important to entrust to just one man. Saying the counter-active is still working, Janos asks about Diane. He is told that she is working for Lady Arabella and that she and Ronald are in love. Benet tells him that Diane will do nothing until she hears from Janos. He replies that will happen soon enough and leaves.Wandering through the city, Janos finds a man who looks like himself and promises to help the man. About the same height and build, they go off together.Lady Arabella is seen dictating to Diane, who types onto paper. The maid comes bringing the newspaper and giving it to Arabella. She reads the headline and gives it to Diane. It shows that Dr. Rukh has been found dead, his body mutilated by the effects of the Radium X.Diane and Ronald are seen at their wedding at the Church of the Six Saints. As they are leaving, Janos watches from a distance as they get into a car to leave. He looks up at the statues of the six saints and pictures each of them as representing himself, Benet, Diane, Ronald, Arabella and Francis. Taking a room facing the church, he plots to kill each of the other five people.At the Stevens home, Arabella is talking to Benet about the marriage and noted that Sir Francis has not come down from his room. She sends the butler up to see about him. Before the butler can get halfway up the stairs, one of the maids comes screaming into his arms. He goes up to see while Arabella questions the maid. She cannot speak but only screams. Rushing back down, the butler calls for Dr. Benet to come, saying only Sir Francis! Sir Francis!. Entering his room, they find Francis dead on his bed with a look of horror on his face. Dr. Benet asks for an ultraviolet camera which he uses to shoot pictures of Francis eyes. Developing them, he sees captured in the reflection on the mans cornea the image of Janos.The next day there is a disturbance in the square below. The landlady (May Beatty) brings Janos his breakfast and the morning paper, telling him that one of the statues was destroyed. He sees in the paper the death of Sir Francis. Gazing at the second statue, he calls the name of Lady Arabella.The next day the papers announce the death of Lady Arabella, the third death in wake of the curse of Radium X. Diane and Ronald come into the bedroom where Dr. Benet and the authorities are with the body. He tells Diane not to look and for Ronald to take her away. Then he asks to show the Chief of the Surete (Georges Renavent) some evidence. As the lights are turned out, the cover is pulled back to reveal a glowing handprint on the victims neck. Benet says it was done by someone poisoned by Radium X. Meanwhile Diane blames herself for the deaths, saying they would all still be alive if she hadnt come on the expedition and married Ronald. He tells her not to think like that, saying he will fight with all his strength. She says how can you fight something you cannot see or touch?The paper headline shows that the second statue has been destroyed and people are upset. A discussion is held with Benet, Ronald and the Chief about Janos. It is suggested that the two men go into hiding. Ronald proposes a trap to draw Janos so they can arrest him. Benet says for the papers to announce that the remaining three will leave for an unknown destination after holding a lecture on Benets experiments with Radium X. He will invite distinguished scientists who will only be admitted by card which the police promise to verify. Benet warns that if the police fail to stop him at the gate that the house lights will be darkened at midnight (the time of the lecture) so that Janos can be seen glowing. It is a risk they are willing to take.The night of the lecture, the police are seen checking the cards of each scientist who enters. In the rain the last scientist, Professor Meiklejohn (Frank Reicher) is seen walking with his umbrella. Janos appears and stops him, introducing himself as someone else who remembers his lecture on radiology. Saying he is on the way to the lecture, the Professor locates his card in his pocket. Janos suggests they have a drink of Napoleon Brandy from his flask. They step aside and the flask is handed to him to drink. The touch kills Meiklejohn, who collapses. Janos takes the card and enters in his place. The police confirm him and he enters but remains outside so he can observe through a window.Inside, Benet greets everyone and tells them he must make final adjustments. Entering his lab with a gun, Benet looks around and heads for the outside door, opening it. Janos comes in and confronts him. The light is turned off, showing his glowing face and hands. Janos tells him he will kill the remaining three. Benet asks if he ever feels like he used to before the poison altered his brain. Janos answers not often now.. When Benet reaches for his gun, Janos grabs his arm, killing him.Diane waits upstairs but is very anxious to come down. There is a knock at the door and it is opened, revealing Mother Rukh entering. Ronald greets her and she is told that Diane is upstairs. At that moment the lights are cut in the whole place. Diane lights a candle and Janos is seen going upstairs with his glowing face. She rushes into the bedroom and tries to close the door but he forces it open. He approaches to try and touch her but hesitates. Trying again, he announces he is unable to kill her and goes out. She faints. Outside on the landing, he faces his mother who tells him he broke the first rule of science. He says he needs time so he can kill Drake, taking out his kit for more of the antidote. As he does this, Mother Rukh strikes it with her cane tip, destroying the contents. As he begins to smoke, he tells her that maybe its better this way. Turning away, he goes upstairs and crashes through a window, falling to the ground below as a fireball. There is nothing left. The head of the Scientific Congress congratulates Mother Rukh for her sons work. Handing him the envelope, she says that he is dead but part of him will continue to help mankind. | insanity, revenge, murder, romantic | train | imdb | There is no doubt that during the decade of the 30s, the names of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi became a sure guarantee of excellent performances in high quality horror films.
This formula would be repeated in several films through the decade, and director Lambert Hillyer's mix of horror and science fiction, "The Invisible Ray", is another of those minor classics they did in those years.In "The Invisible Ray", Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) is a brilliant scientist who has invented a device able to show scenes of our planet's past captured in rays of light coming from the galaxy of Andromeda.
Given that this was a movie with Karloff and Lugosi, Colton puts a lot of emphasis on the horror side of his story, playing in a very effective way with the mad scientist archetype and adding a good dose of melodrama to spice things up.
One element that makes "The Invisible Ray" to stand out among other horror films of that era, is the way that Colton plays with morality through the story.
In many ways, "The Invisible Ray" is a modern tragedy about obsessions, guilt and revenge.A seasoned director of low-budget B-movies, filmmaker Lambert Hillyer got the chance to make 3 films for Universal Pictures when the legendary studio was facing serious financial troubles.
Finally, a word must be said about Hillyer's use of special effects: for an extremely low-budget film, they look a lot better than the ones in several A-movies of the era.As usual in a movie with Lugosi and Karloff, the performances by this legends are of an extraordinary quality.
Still, two of the movie highlights are the performances of Kemble Cooper as Mother Rukh, and Beulah Bondi as Lady Arabella, as the two actresses make the most of their limited screen time, making unforgettable their supporting roles.
Frank Lawton is also good in his role, but nothing surprising when compared to the rest of the cast.If one judges this movie under today's standards, it's very easy to dismiss it as another cheap science fiction film with bad special effects and carelessly jumbled pseudoscience.
One final thing worthy to point out is the interesting way the script handles the relationships between characters, specially the friendship and rivalry that exists between the obsessive Dr. Rukh and the cold Dr. Benet, as this allows great scenes between the two iconic actors.While nowhere near the Gothic expressionism of the "Frankenstein" movies, nor the elegant suspense of "The Black Cat", Lambert Hillyer's "The Invisible Ray" is definitely a minor classic amongst Universal Pictures' catalog of horror films.
With one of the most interesting screenplays of 30s horror, this mixture of suspense, horror and science fiction is one severely underrated gem that even now delivers a good dose of entertainment courtesy of two of the most amazing actors the horror genre ever had: Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
Both are crisp, clean-cut fantasies that are very light on horror content despite the fantastic elements.Just as Lugosi went wild in The Raven, much needs to be said of Karloff's hamming in The Invisible Ray. The one aspect of the story that is particularly unsatisfying is that Karloff's character, Rukh, acts so madly before he is poisoned by Radium X, that there really isn't much of a change once he starts glowing.
THE INVISIBLE RAY (Universal, 1935, released January 1936), directed by Lambert Hillyer, is the third screen teaming of two horror greats, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, with KARLOFF (as he is billed in the casting credits with all capital letters), supporting a mustache and curly dark hair, this time dominating the storyline.
Not quite as memorable or as successful as their previous efforts, THE BLACK CAT (1934) and THE RAVEN (1935), both suggested on Edgar Allan Poe, in which the horror relies on their characters of good versus evil, THE INVISIBLE RAY, often classified as a horror film because of Karloff and Lugosi, is actually a science fiction story with three separate chapters.
PART I: Set in an isolated castle somewhere in the mountains as the thunderstorm rages, Doctor Janos Rukh (Karloff) is a middle-aged but brilliant scientist with a young wife, Diana (Frances Drake), and an elderly mother (Violet Kemble-Cooper), who is not only wise, but blind.
Rukh prepares to reveal his latest discovery to a group of scholars: Doctor Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi), Sir Francis Stevens (Walter Kingsford), along with handsome young Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton) and Lady Arabelle Stevens (Beulah Bondi) as spectators.
Rukh is even more upset when he learns that Diane now loves Drake, thus, as in Agatha Christie's acclaimed mystery novel, "And Then There Were None," Rukh prepares to kill off those he felt betrayed him one by one, and with each death comes the destruction of statues that stand on the side of a London church.THE INVISIBLE RAY is very much a production that predates the science fiction fantasies of the 1950s.
On the lighter side is character actress, May Beatty, in her humorous characterization as the nosy, gossipy cockney landlady.It seems interesting to note, however, that with this third installment of Karloff-Lugosi films that Universal didn't attempt to team these two masters of horror to fulfill the trilogy in having them paired in another Edgar Allan Poe based thriller, something like "The Tell-Tale Heart" for example, but as with the aforementioned predecessors, it would have been more Hollywood than Poe. THE INVISIBLE RAY, however, is in a class by itself, but hardly gets the recognition it deserves.THE INVISIBLE RAY, once a frequent late show or Chiller Theater replay on commercial television decades ago, played sporadically on the Sci-Fi Cable Channel in the 1990s during the late night hours where vampires and ghouls were its only viewers.
Karloff, austere and embittered in his Carpathian mountain retreat, is Janos Rukh, genius science who reads ancient beams of light to ascertain events in the great geological past
particularly the crash of a potent radioactive meteor in Africa.
Joining him is the ever-elegant Lugosi (as a rare hero), who studies "astro-chemistry." Frances Drake is the lovely, underused young wife; Frank Lawton the romantic temptation; and the divine Violet Kemble Cooper is Mother Rukh, in a performance worthy of Maria Ospenskya.The story moves swiftly in bold episodes, with special effects that are still handsome.
The mixture of horror, drama and sci-fi are a perfect blend, while the acting on the part of Lugosi and Karloff couldn't be better.Director Lambert Hillyer captures a lot of elements that James Whale did so often.
THE INVISIBLE RAY (1936) Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton, Walter Kingsford Directed by Lambert HillyerUniversal's third pairing of Lugosi and Karloff strays in to the realm of science fiction while retaining many of the elements of horror for which the studio was famous.
Janos Rukh (Karloff) is a brilliant, workaholic scientist who lives with his beautiful wife (Drake) and mother in a sprawling gothic castle/laboratory/observatory in the storm-swept Carpathian Mountains (where else?).Sir Francis Stevens (Kingsford) and wife, accompanied by the skeptical Dr. Felix Benet (Lugosi), arrive to see Rukh's latest discovery.
As with all such things, there is a price...Benet cannot promise what effects the counteractive will have on Rukh's mind.For a film released in 1936, THE INVISIBLE RAY has some pretty good special effects.
A middle segment that takes place in Africa is less eerie, but it does provide a nice setting for us to first see Rukh's glowing face and hands.THE INVISIBLE RAY is a fun movie to watch despite (or because of?) a few flaws, like the fact that all of the Paris newspapers seem to be printed in English.
With a special telescope, Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) successfully proves that years ago a meteorite landed in Africa containing an unknown, but extremely powerful element.
Living isolated in a castle with his blind mother (Violet Kemble Cooper) and his wife Diane (Frances Drake), he makes a private presentation of the recently discovered invisible ray to his colleague Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi), and succeeds in being sponsored by Sir Francis Stevens (Walter Kingsford) and his wife Lady Arabella Stevens (Beulah Bondi) in an expedition to Nigeria, where he believe he could find a meteor with Radium X.
Early sci-fi horror film with good performances from Karloff and Lugosi....
THE INVISIBLE RAY is a highly enjoyable horror film that seems way ahead of its time, coming as it does in 1936 and making use of meteors and Radium X in its plot design.
BORIS KARLOFF is the scientist whose ideas are "stolen", or so he believes, by others and goes about seeking an unusual method of revenge, killing off his intended victims one by one.FRANK LAWTON and FRANCES DRAKE are the romantic leads with BEULAH BONDI playing an aristocratic Lady Arabella who is one of the victims.
But the film is mainly a showcase for BORIS KARLOFF as the mad scientist, with BELA LUGOSI doing extremely well (and underplaying effectively) the role of a colleague among those on the "victim" list.Universal obviously planned this as a low-budget feature, but the sets are impressive, all the technical credits are more than adequate, and the story is well-paced and effective throughout.Well worth viewing and certainly one of the better Karloff/Lugosi joint ventures..
Radioactive Man. Brilliant scientist Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) discovers a rare element called Radium X that has unusual properties.
Enraged by this and his wife (Frances Drake) leaving him for another man (Frank Lawton), Rukh fakes his own death and uses his lethal touch to seek revenge against those who have wronged him.Another good Karloff/Lugosi film.
Not the best of Universal's 1930s horror films or even the Karloff/Lugosi pairings, but a very good one nonetheless..
Frances Drake and Violet Kemble-Cooper are good though, while the top-notch performances of genre masters Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi are the film's best asset.
The invisible ray comes from Andromeda and allows Dr Rukh (Boris Karloff) to see a meteorite that hit Africa millions of years ago.
He goes in search of evidence with a party that includes his wife Diane (Frances Drake), Dr Benet (Bela Lugosi), Sir Francis (Walter Kingsford), Lady Arabella (Beulah Bondi) and non-entity Ronald (Frank Lawton).
Following only five or so years after Dracula and Frankenstein, The Invisible Ray boasts one of Lugosi's best roles, and one of his comparatively rare portrayals of a protagonist rather than antagonist.The film also includes some pretty cool special effects for the time, suspenseful pacing, and effective horror movie atmosphere.
of the Karloff-Lugosi collaboration features in which it was clearly Karloff in the lead with Bela in support.Karloff is scientist Janos Rukh, who lives in a castle in the Carpathian Mountains with his wife Diane (Frances Drake) and blind mother (Kemble Cooper).
After "The Black Cat" in 1934 "The Raven" in 1935 the two horror icons Karloff & Lugosi teamed up again in "The Invisible Ray in 1936.
The Invisible Ray shows Bela Lugosi (Dracula) & Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) in roles very different & a departure from their signature identification stamps.
"The Invisible Ray" is a well crafted horror/sci fi film that features Boris Karloff in a new early Mad Scientist role and he plays it well.
The Invisible Ray (1936)*** (out of 4) Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) discovers a new form of radiation and he hopes to do great things with it but he becomes poisoned and soon everything he touches dies.This here was the third teaming between Karloff and Bela Lugosi and as fans often point out this film here isn't nearly in the same league as THE BLACK CAT or THE RAVEN.
What we got a spike in were old dark house movies and more science-fiction type of films, which is what THE INVISIBLE RAY here.The film isn't a complete success but if you're a fan of the two stars then it's certainly good enough to hold your attention.
Lambert Hillyer directed this science fiction story starring Boris Karloff as Dr. Janos Rukh, who organizes an expedition to Africa to locate a newly discovered meteorite of reputed power.
On a stormy night, a group of people—Lady Stevens (Beulah Bondi), her husband Sir Francis (Walter Kingsford), their nephew Ronald (Frank Lawton) and Dr. Benet (Bela Lugosi)—arrive at a castle in the Carpathians to witness an experiment by Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff, sporting curly hair and 'tache), who believes that a ray from a nebula in the Andromeda system will reveal secrets about the earth's distant history.
The guests are astounded when Rukh shows them a projection of a meteor hitting Africa, an event that occurred a few thousand million years in the past.Convinced that the meteor has left deposits of a previously unknown element, Rukh and his visitors launch an expedition to the dark continent, joined on the venture by Rukh's beautiful wife Diane (Frances Drake); going on ahead of the others, Rukh locates the element—Radium X—but suffers from radiation poisoning in the process, which leaves him deadly to the touch and just a little unhinged.When I was a kid, I had a model figure of Lugosi as Dracula that had glow-in-the-dark hands and face; in this film, it is Karloff who has the luminous head and hands, the result of exposure to the radioactive element with which he creates an all-purpose ray that can both kill and cure.
As fun as the sight of a glowing Karloff is, if it wasn't for the teaming of the Frankenstein star with Lugosi, I imagine that this clunky sci-fi potboiler from Universal would have been all but forgotten by now, suffering as it does from a meandering pseudo-scientific plot that can't decide what it wants to be (sci-fi, jungle adventure, horror, or murder mystery), a rather leaden pace, and a dull illicit romance between Diane and Ronald.3.5 out of 10, not rounded up to 4 because the ray doesn't actually make things invisible..
Universal Pictures teamed their two titans of terror once again in The Invisible Ray. Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi teamed many times, not always in the best of films.
Karloff plays Dr. Janos Rukh, a brilliant scientist who has invented a technique to look into the past through a telescope, and finds out that a meteor has hit the earth thousands of years ago.
Otherwise, "The Invisible Ray" is a wonderfully entertaining film which should satisfy every lover of classic Horror/Sci-Fi cinema, and a must-see for all my fellow Lugosi/Karloff fans..
In this entry the dominant role goes to Boris Karloff.Through specially designed astronomical equipment, Dr. Janos Rukh (Karloff) demonstrates to colleagues Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi), Sir Frances Stevens (Walter Kingsford), his wife Lady Stevens (Beulah Bondi) and their nephew Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton), that a meteorite containing a powerful element, landed on the African continent many millions of years in the past.
Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi) develops an antidote--but Rukh starts to go mad due to the Radium AND the antidote and sets out to kill all he believed wronged him.The plot is silly and the "effects" that make Karloff glow in the dark are laughable, but this is still a fun little chiller.
However, tragedy strikes while on the expedition and the good doctor ends up becoming exposed to the element; which makes him glow in the dark, and also sends him mad...The biggest draw of the film is undoubtedly the fact that it stars the two biggest horror stars of its day - Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and both give excellent performances.
The science here was - to say the least - a bit rough around the edges (thus science fiction, with the emphasis on the fiction) but somehow Rukh harnesses some sort of ray from Andromeda that allows him to look at the earth "several thousand million years ago." In that pre historic time, a huge meteorite slammed into Africa, leaving deposits of a substance the scientists call "Radium X" - which can heal and destroy.
A large portion of the movie is set rather tediously in Africa, on a search for the meteorite deposits, which Rukh eventually finds and harnesses to create a great weapon, unfortunately infecting himself with some sort of disease that makes him a great weapon as well.Karloff and Lugosi were both pretty good here.
He has finally gotten the support of a well financed expedition led by Sir Francis Stevens and his wife Lady Arabella Stevens (Walter Kingsford and Beulah Bondi), and has another scientist, a Frenchman named Dr. Felix Benet (Lugosi), Rukh's young wife Diane (Frances Drake) and a friend and protégée of the Stevenses named Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton).Before they leave, Rukh is warned by his mother (Violet Kemble Cooper) that he is possibly seeking wisdom that he shouldn't and it may end in tragedy.
As this is a science fiction story, he finds the image of Rukh on the the plate, but Benet drops the plate accidentally and it shatters.The film is good on many grounds, the most interesting that for a change Karloff and Lugosi are not unsympathetic towards each other.
Obviously, his knowledge of science came from an undetermined source.Well, Rukh demonstrates his invisible ray to a team led by Dr. Felix Benet, and their look back into the past reveals a giant meteor that descended to Earth millions of years ago, landing in Africa.
Karloff plays Dr. Janos Rukh, creator of a device that can capture light rays through his telescope in the Carpathian Mountains and translate them into pictures that form a visual history of the universe.Before several guests, including Lugosi as Dr. Benet, an astro-chemist who had previously scoffed at Rukh's theories, he demonstrates the existence of an unknown radioactive element, here termed "Radium X", contained in a meteor that fell to Earth in darkest Africa several thousand years ago.
Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi of "Dracula") heralds Dr. Janos Rukh's discovery, and they embark on an expedition to Africa to find the meteorite.
Really good horror flick featuring to of the greatest, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. |
tt0087843 | Once Upon a Time in America | The story is divided among three distinct time periods: the early 1920s, the early 1930s and the year 1968. The story is also jumps back and forth between these times and is summarized chronologically here.In 1968, David "Noodles" Aaronson (Robert De Niro), returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NY following a prolonged absence. He has been called back to his old neighborhood under mysterious circumstances; he's received a notice from a local rabbi telling him that the cemetery in his old neighborhood is being closed and the remains of those buried there are being moved. He sets himself up in with a room in a bar owned by an old friend, Fat Moe (Larry Rapp), and begins to investigate the summons he received. Noodles is suspicious of the letter, thinking he's been called back to see to the reburial of his old friends, Patrick "Patsy" Goldberg (James Hayden), Philip "Cockeye" Stein (William Forsythe), and Max Bercovic (James Woods), who he used to be in a gang with. Noodles believes someone is seeking revenge against him.In the earliest time period, the early 1920s, the boys grow up in poverty in a Jewish neighborhood of the Lower East Side. They ostensibly work for a young local gangster named Bugsy, however, Noodles and his friends Patsy, Cockeye and Dominic, have ambitions to strike out on their own. One day, while attempting to roll a drunk, they are foiled in their plot by Max, who is just moving into the neighborhood with his mother. He keeps the drunk's pocket watch and leaves the boys to be harassed by a policeman, Whitey (whom the boys call "Fartface") who constantly bullies them. Noodles finds Max later and demands the watch back. Whitey happens by and takes the watch for himself. Noodles and Max come to admire each others resolve and decide to be friends. Though Noodles and Max seem to share the leadership of the gang, it is Max who is the more charismatic and makes most of the decisions for them.One day Patsy spies Whitey walking along the rooftops of the neighborhood and follows him. Patsy immediately realizes that Whitey is going to see their pre-teen (and physically matured) friend, Peggy, who prostitutes herself. The boys catch Whitey in the act and photograph him; Patsy quickly disappears with the film plate. Whitey acquiesces to their demands that, as the new gang in the area, he pay them as much in tribute as he does Bugsy and that he do some enforcement work for them. They also get their watch back from him and make him pay for Noodles and Max to have sex with Peggy.Noodles has long desired to be romantically involved with a girl, Deborah (Jennifer Connelly), who lives in his building and whose father owns the local kosher restaurant in the neighborhood. While using the men's room in the restaurant, David often spies on Deborah through a small hole in the wall while she practices her ballet steps. Deborah, however, mostly ignores his advances, with the exception of an intimate moment they share when the restaurant's closed during Passover.The boys become something of a success in their neighborhood, thieving houses and stores and rolling more drunks and other weaker types for small earnings that are substantial for themselves. When Bugsy hears that there's another gang that isn't under his control, he and his thugs horribly beat Noodles and Max . Undaunted, the boys meet with a local Italian mobster, Capuano, and show him an invention of Noodles' that will allow Capuano to keep all the imported cargo he illegally deals even after his ships crews are forced to throw it overboard by harbor customs agents. The invention is a success and the boys become very wealthy, receiving 10% of Capuano's earnings. They rent a train station locker and stash their cash earnings in a leather briefcase, promising that they will only withdraw or deposit funds from the locker when they are all present and that the key will be kept by Fat Moe. On their way back from the station, they're attacked by Bugsy, who this time carries a pistol. Dominic is the only member of the gang who is shot by Bugsy (being the smallest, he is unable to run for cover as fast as his compatriots) and dies in Noodles' arms. Noodles retaliates and stabs Bugsy with a switchblade several times before a policeman tries to stop him - Noodles, still in a fit of rage about Dominic, stabs the cop and is arrested. He is sentenced to 12 years. His friends turn out to see him delivered to the child reformatory.In the early 1930s, Noodles is released from prison and is picked up by Max. Max explains that he and the rest of the gang have set themselves up in an undertaking business. However, the mortician's parlor is a front for their real business, bootlegging liquor, which has made them rich. According to Max, they run the most popular speakeasy in the city; they hide the scotch they serve in the building's steam heating system. A party is held for Noodles on his return and Max introduces him to some new associates, Frankie Manoldi (Joe Pesci) and his partner Joe (Burt Young). Frankie and Joe want the gang to rob a diamond broker's they own in Detroit. During the heist, Noodles hits and rapes a woman, Carol (Tuesday Weld), who works there; she's a masochist who provokes Noodles into beating her; Noodles also does so despite a stern warning from Joe himself not to abuse her. The gang meets with Joe to give him the diamonds and kill him and his men on Frankie's orders. Noodles, unaware of the deal that Max made with Frankie to murder Joe, is quite angry with Max; his reasoning is that their gang should not be liable to anyone like Frankie and should operate independently. Also, Noodles is concerned that one day Frankie may want Noodles or Max to eliminate the other. Max assures Noodles it will never happen.The gang then begins to aid a local union leader, Jimmy "Clean Hands" O'Donnell (Treat Williams), who has made a career of standing up to corrupt labor leaders, particularly a man named Crowning. After rescuing Jimmy from Crowning's thug, Chicken Joe, who is about to burn him alive, the gang offers their assistance to Jimmy, who initially refuses their help, not wanting to deal with men who operate in bootlegging, drugs or prostitution.The gang turns their attention to a local labor strike being engineered by a celebrity police captain, Vincent Aiello (Danny Aiello). Aiello is being manipulated by the factory owners into allowing his officers to protect the scab workers the owners have allowed into their factory. The gang concocts a brilliant and diabolical scheme to switch Aiello's newborn son (his family's only boy after four girls) at the hospital - Noodles calls him just after he discovers the switch (the gang switched his boy for a girl in the nursery) and tells him to call off his officers and let the workers and management work out the strike. However, when Patsy tries to remember which baby they switched Aiello's boy for, he can't; he's lost the switch list with the child's number on it. The mix-up doesn't faze the gang, however, & they agree to simply give Aiello the number of a random boy from the ward, coldly laughing over the fates of some of the children they'd mixed up.During the time that the gang is expanding their business dealings, Noodles rekindles his romance with Deborah (now played by Elizabeth McGovern). He arranges for a lavish vacation for them both at a posh resort that is closed for the season. Noodles reveals his love for Deborah, however, she is still as reluctant to get romantically involved with him, and plans to leave for California to study acting. On their return trip, during a romantic encounter in their limousine, Noodles forces himself on Deborah and rapes her over her protests. Ashamed, he orders the driver to take her home. Some time later, Deborah boards a train to California; Noodles, from a distance in the station, watches her leave; she closes the compartment blind when she spots him.While calling Max & Noodles for assistance, Jimmy is nearly killed on the street by Chicken Joe. The gang retaliates, shooting at Crowning outside his club, killing his bodyguards, including Chicken Joe. With a wounded leg, Jimmy is crippled for life but is able to continue his career. While they celebrate with Jimmy in the hospital, Jimmy's attorney, Shark, tells the gang that Prohibition may soon end and they should think about entering legitimate business with their large fleet of bootlegging trucks, with Jimmy acting as their front. Max seems to like the idea, however, Noodles is unconvinced, still adhering to his old mantra of not working for anyone but themselves. Max suggests that Noodles' idea of business is too archaic and that they need to expand to make more money, but Noodles still adheres steadfastly to his street code.In late 1933, Prohibition approaches its end, and the gang find themselves out of work. Not wanting to go into legitimate work, Max reveals an audacious plan to rob the Federal Reserve bank in Manhattan. Noodles thinks the plan is too outrageous, knowing that it almost certainly would get him and the rest of the gang killed. By this time, the woman Noodles sexually assaulted in Detroit, Carol, has joined the brothel that Peggy runs (in conjunction with the gang's speakeasy) and has become Max's girlfriend. She tries to convince Noodles to get Max to abandon his plan or tip the police to get Max arrested to give him time to think over the scheme's absurdity. Noodles plans to tip the police about a liquor exchange Max has planned with Cockeye and Patsy, which is set to take place a short time after the gang's party in celebration of the end of Prohibition. Noodles does so and, when Max joins him in the office, provokes Max into a fight by suggesting his friend is crazy; it is a vulnerable fact of Max's life that his father was mentally unbalanced and died in a sanitarium. Noodles shows up at the site of the liquor buy and sees that Patsy and Cockeye have been killed and it appears Max has been burned beyond recognition. After returning to Fat Moe's bar and finding his girlfriend Eve murdered and Moe horribly beaten (depicted in the first scenes of the film), he retrieves the key to the locker at the train station. At the station, he finds that the money has been replaced with newspapers. Puzzled, Noodles buys a one-way bus ticket to Buffalo and leaves.During his sleuthing in 1968, Noodles finds out that his friends were moved to a different cemetery and an elaborate mausoleum was constructed for them. He finds the key to the train station locker on a plaque inside that states Noodles himself put the plaque and key there to honor his friends. He goes to the locker and finds the same leather case and more money inside. A note inside the case says "Advance payment for your next job". According to news reports, a senator named Chris Bailey is under investigation for corruption; several witnesses set to testify against Bailey have all died under mysterious circumstances. Noodles suspects a connection between Bailey and the money left to him. Before visiting the senator's house under invitation, he talks to Carol who tells him that Deborah is once again living in the New York City area and is now a famous stage actress. Noodles visits her and the two have a lengthy conversation. Deborah's most important revelation is that she and Senator Bailey are together and have a grown-up son, also named David, who very closely resembles Max when he was younger.Noodles goes to Bailey's Long Island mansion and meets directly with the Senator, who reveals himself to be Max. Max had faked his own death during the liquor exchange where he was "killed" and has, for the past 30 years, created the Bailey persona as a disguise. With the impending investigation for corruption, Max tells Noodles that he wants to be assassinated and that Noodles is the only person to do it (hence the money in the suitcase as an "advance for the next job"). Noodles refuses, saying that he feels betrayed and has felt guilty for the entire span Max was gone, which is punishment enough. He leaves through a secret passage; on the street outside Bailey's estate, he catches a glimpse of Bailey standing by the road. A garbage truck drives by, the augers in the back clearly visible, suggesting but not concluding for certain that Bailey has thrown himself into them to his death.The film ends in the 1930s time period, with Noodles in a Chinese opium den. Laying down after a few puffs from an opium pipe, he smiles as the closing credits run.(Note: It has been suggested by fans, critics and some film historians that the 1968 sequences were all part of an opium-induced dream experienced by Noodles.) | cruelty, murder, cult, violence, atmospheric, flashback, good versus evil, sadist | train | imdb | If you want to see this film the way Sergio Leone saw it, you have to make sure you get the director's cut.
He understood perfectly what Sergio Leone wanted and composed most of the music even before the movie was shot.Last but not least there is also the acting and the script.
He ended up doing a film in Italy for an almost-unknown director named Sergio Leone and an almost-unknown sound guy named Ennio Morricone.
The actual film, the one that Leone left, was not seen until years later when the director's version surfaced.
When he returns 35 years later our view of the bridge is from under a freeway -- the world has moved along, but the bridge and Noodles are just as they were.The length: If you're looking for a brief distraction that you'll barely remember 30 minutes later, this isn't the movie for you.
The time span considered is long, including Noodles's childhood shortly after the turn of the century, through the prohibition era, and finally the 1960's.The film is about relationships; the many years Noodles spends away from his friends receive only a cursory mention.
When the final piece is revealed, the true essence of the story becomes clear and a sad and beautiful tapestry comes into view.This film is a true masterpiece, expressing a profound statement about friendship and betrayal, with fantastic acting, writing, directing and music.
Sergio Leone's films are all love letters to America, the American dreams of an Italian who grew up at the movies, who apprenticed with Wyler, and Aldrich, signed himself Bob Robertson, and gave us Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Charles Bronson as we know them.
That ellipse of a decade or so between conception and completed movie is paralleled in the film, itself, by Robert De Niro's ("Noodles'") opium dream of the American twentieth century, its promises, and betrayals.
Naturally, Leone was betrayed, once again, himself, by America, and this truly amazing film, with its densely multi-layered, overlapping flashback structure was butchered upon its release, becoming a linear-plotted sub-Godfather knockoff in the process.
At times, the movie has overwhelming visual impact -- when Leone films the actors close-up, they look like portraits painted by the Great Masters, and in wider shots he frames the actors so that they interact electrically with the locations or sets.
Elizabeth McGovern does what she can with the role of Deborah, but it's probably the worst-written role in the movie, and again her strongly-Celtic face doesn't exactly conjure images of a first-generation Jewish immigrant.Received opinion has it that Once Upon a Time in America is a great movie, possibly because it is a very long gangster movie (like those other ones), or because it was an epic work of passion for Leone, or because DeNiro is in it (again, like those other gangster movies), or maybe it's a combination of those elements.
I have seen all the best gangster pictures like Godfather parts 1 and 2, Goodfellas and Scarface (the really old one and the Al Pacino one) and decided to watch this movie again for the first time in twenty years because I read the Leone turned down the chance to direct the Godfather and later on made this movie.I just don't understand how this movie is ranked 115 on the all time list of movies on IMDb. This movie is unbelievably boring it is like watching a snail run the 100 yard dash.
It is high time that American critics and fans alike start to debunk their unquestioned, sloppy veneration of films like Sergio Leone's 'Once Upon a Time in America'.
The deadening pace is somewhat to blame, certain sequences drag along stagnantly for far too long, signifying very little, hinting at a director with so little restraint and narrative economy that he often feels obligated to usurp every iota of screen time possible in order to show off his production, fatal for a film that contains figures so sullen and aloof.
It's been said that when one watches a "spaghetti" western (one of the "Man with no name" films with Clint Eastwood) filmmaker Sergio Leone's trademark cinema style and flair for clear storytelling is instantly recognizable.
Robert De Niro projects his subtitles like a pro, with his occasional outburst in the right place; James Woods gives one of his first great performances as Max; Elizabeth McGovern is the heart of the film; and Joe Pesci should've had more than just a one scene appearance, thought it's still good.
It's a story of life-long friends, in the tradition of the Godfather movies with obvious differences, and the story cuts back and forth to Noodles (De Niro) in his old age returning from exile, looking back on his childhood in Brooklyn, his rise to power with his partners, and the twists come quite unexpectedly.
Ennio Morricone, as it says on this site, has scored over four hundred films in forty years, including Leone's movies.
However, "Once Upon a Time in America" is too long, too disjointed, the story is not compelling, and the acting in the early parts of the film is atrocious (especially the child actors).
In Leone's westerns these long sequences effectively built up tension while here they are just boring cinematic filler.It seems that Leone lost objectivity in editing because a lot of scenes drag on unnecessarily, making the nearly 4 hour running time seem twice as long.
In the first hour alone there's more than 5 minutes devoted to a scene of a 12-13 year old girl dancing ballet while a young Noodles (the main character) secretly watches.
It boggles the mind why stuff like this was not edited down -- it doesn't move the story, its not cinematic and its not even acting, its 4-5 minutes of a kid eating cake.Lastly, whereas a movie like "The Godfather" comes across as realistic and believable, "Once Upon a Time in America" while ostensibly gritty and realistic is anything but.
Certain events in the story are completely unbelievable and hard to view as anything but fiction, which is not an asset when you are making a hard, gritty gangster movie.If you like long 4 hour movies I guess this is for you, but to anyone else I would say that there's a good reason this movie has largely been forgotten, so proceed at your own risk..
It is also full of clichés that try to make Jews actually kind and also physically tough, Italians mafiosos and thugs and of course Chinese docile fu manchus that run opium lairs.All these clichés might have been interesting or art 30 years ago, but today we have evolved.Bottom-line: this movie serves a narrow band of an audience which is primarily people who were in Hollywood thirty years ago and had a background in Jewish New York City and want to promote it.Boring, overlong and nonsense..
Magnified as always by the superb work of Ennio Morricone, and the perfect acting of De Niro and Woods, it was for Sergio Leone THE movie of his life, his long time cherished plan, his masterpiece to end with.
I am usually a great fan of Sergio Leone's work, and I love most things with DeNiro and even James Woods, but I just couldn't sit through this movie.The pacing wouldn't have been a problem if the story were better, but I felt that it just meandered through a lot of scenes and recollections that were unnecessary.
My only merits for this film are for the principles of camera work, general acting and basic cinematics, besides that, this is almost 4 hours of my life I won't get back, this film drags on so much that by the first hour I felt like I'd spent a full day watching it and on top of that I still had very little connection to the characters and their story hadn't even started.
Once Upon a Time in America is Sergio Leone's epic tale of the lives of four Jewish gangsters in New York City.
Once Upon a Time in America is Sergio Leone's epic tale of the lives of four Jewish gangsters in New York City.
Once Upon a Time in America, which bookends Once Upon a Time in the West as director Sergio Leone's best work, is a powerhouse of a movie.
I think this movie includes one of Deniro's best roles, and far and away James Woods best film work.
However, the amount of violence is less than what you see today.The movie also sports an interesting twist near the end involving the two major characters, played by Robert De Niro and James Woods.
Confused or not, this film always is fascinating to view, especially with intense actors such as the two men just mentioned, along with Elizabeth McGovern, Tuesday Weld, Joe Pecsi, Burt Young, Treat Williams and more.The child actors in here take up almost half the movie and are excellent.
I decided, on Christmas Eve, to reacquaint myself with an old friend- Sergio Leone's heavyweight gangster epic, which I had previously watched in two sittings, 10 years previously, at Uni.I was rewarded with a movie of tremendous vision and creative style as well as emotional integrity.
When you take an idiosyncratic, brilliant, stylish director like Leone, his composer counterpart, Morricone, and a cast including two of the foremost actors of their generation (de Niro and Woods) then you have an idea of the kind of quality this film has.
Let me tell you, because I think this Movie has it all.An Amazing Camera work, the Music from Morricone is Godlike, the Story shows highly claim, the Actors Performance is Perfect, the Dialogues are brilliant.I watched the Godfather and rated 9/10 but Once upon a Time in America is much better.
Sergio Leone, best known as the godfather of spaghetti Westerns, here makes a film about a gangster called Noodles.
Unfortuantly, the dialogue and characterisation are not as strong as the imagery, the conclusion to the plot doesn't quite convince (or indeed, pack a big enough punch to wholly satisfy after a movie of this length), and at times the film seems almost to endorse its central characters' crude, and sometimes sexually violent, world view.
An ugly rape scene has zero consequence - when the involved characters meet again, it is like nothing has happened.Usually the involvement of Ennio Morricone upgrades a movie immediately, but in this case the soundtrack is badly chosen and badly edited, same thing goes for sound effects.If you like slow-paced, long movies, there are a few good ones out there (Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia).
However,those willing to submit will find it more than worth it.Reminiscent at times of some very old gangster films such as The Roaring Twenties,one will find almost every gangster movie cliché one can find-one can imagine Leone half remembering bits and pieces from films he saw as a youth.
Leone's most ambitious epic moves across three separate time periods: the twenties, the thirties and the late sixties
It starts in 1933, with the murder of a woman after merciless gangsters have briefly interrogate her (while Noodles hides out in an opium den), then returns to the disastrous night of the bloody betrayal, then jumps to Noodles' return to New York in 1968, then shifts back to the early 1920s to their adolescence
This display in a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards is used throughout the film, until the climax where all the dissociated parts of the story fall into place
"Once Upon a Time in America" tells the story of five precocious teenagers born in Brooklyn and the Bronx, Noodles (Robert DeNiro), Max (James Woods), Patsy (James Hayden), Cockeye (William Forsythe), and Dominic (Noah Moazezi), the youngest
As kids in 1921 Prohibition New York, they take only superficial interest in minor street crime, spoiling things or stealing from drunks, until they start running their own rackets
Noodles is sexually attracted to Deborah (Jennifer Connelly/Elizabeth McGovern), the mesmerizing ballet dancer, sister of their loyal friend Fat Moe (Larry Rapp), the son of a saloon-keeper
But the gang's rivalry with Bugsy (James Russo), another street hoodlum, leads to Dominic being fatally wounded and Noodles going to jail for years for taking a bloody revenge in a blind rage
When Noodles is released from prison a decade later, Max was there with a car and a hooker
Noodles joins his three pals, who have become prosperous by continuing in the crime world including entwining with unions and the strikers, led by their leader Jimmy Conway (Treat Williams).The four best friends accept to assault a jeweler in Detroit, for a major mafioso Frankie Minoldi (Joe Pesci), and his sidekick Joe (Burt Young)
And at the end of Prohibition in 1933, the top mob criminals find themselves having gathered $1 million
In their vacation in Miami, Noodles was highly worried that Max's next plan is a step too dangerous to take and too risky
The most tragic and moving part of the film is probably the romantic obsessions of Noodles
Noodles and Deborah have deep and strong affinity for one another
Noodles feels he has the right to Deborah's feelings, but she closed herself to him years ago when he responded Max's call over her own
Noodles seem unaware of her decision...
Too many plot lines and incidental characters are introduced only for their purpose or contributions to be left unfinished so the viewer is ultimately unfulfilled.Having said that I was impressed with the acting - James Woods, Robert De Niro (and even Danny Aiello) who all put in stellar performances.Spanning several decades this movie was never going to be easy to squeeze into almost 4 hours on screen.
Needless to say, I've seen the movie many times through the 80s and 90s, first in the theatre, thank goodness, and later on television.I don't want to imply that the understanding of this film is a cumbersome task.
You can't consider yourself a film-fan, a movie-buff, if you haven't seen this one (or two or three) in each of its versions, several times.
At the end, there is the final smile by Noodles, doped up on opium, the only time in the movie that he looks completely happy and at peace.
I know it is left to our imagination as the garbage truck passes but I would have liked to have seen a little more closure, other than that I can only give it the praise it deserves.Pity Sergio Leone never lived long enough to see his masterpiece become the cult movie it now is..
What is remarkable about this film is not only the screenplay but the remarkable ability of director Sergio Leone to create three movies in one with disregard to any chronological sequence of events.
Upon his call the police comes and his friends are killed, than Eve, his girlfriend is murdered by the police.The movie begins in 1933 and ends with the same scene, with Noodles played by de Niro smoking opium on the bed at the Chinese place.
Using the idea of the "American Dream" as a catalyst, Leone employs themes of friendship, love, crime, and nostalgia to illustrate why individualism is overrated.Max (James Woods) gradually takes over Noodles' (Robert de Niro) childhood gang.
To sum up my review, I have created a formula for the movie: Good action sequences+ Great cast+ Excellent acting+ dramatic and touching storyline= "Once Upon A Time In America" (The Classic Gangster Epic- a 5/5 motion picture)!.
Sergio Leone made no movies from 1975 until this film came out...
They stay friends until adulthood, when two of them, Noodles (Robert de Niro) and psychotic Max (James Woods) begin to have differences, though they were the closest as children.It's hard to think of anything wrong with this film.
The final meeting between Noodles and Max is one of the best filmed scenes ever.Still, it would not be a classic without Ennio Morricone's score.
(only the long Version)The only real epic Masterpiece in Filming ever made.LEONE WAS THE MASTER !!!.
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Tuesday Weld, Treat Williams, William Forsythe, James Hayden, Danny Aiello, Larry Rapp, Burt Young, Joe Pesci, Scott Tiler, Jennifer Connelly, Rusty Jacobs.Spoilers herein.At the start of the 80's decade, cinema had already gotten a strong start for making great films.
Objectively, Once Upon a Time in America is possibly the greatest gangster film I've ever seen along with The Godfather and Goodfellas.
Leone's methodical pacing is stunning.The acting is tremendous, can't praise James Woods and Robert De Niro enough, awesome!The photography is beautiful, it lacks colour giving it a gritty look, perfection!Morricone delivers another masterpiece, his score adds further depth and backups the director's story.See it wide-screen, this film is a stunning piece of cinema.
Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian-American epic crime drama film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niroand James Woods.
Once Upon A Time In America is, as Leone hoped it will be, his best movie!
Sergio Leone's last film was also his best, with this epic life story of two best friends who work together as gangsters.
The usual brilliant camera-work of Leone's films, and the wonderful musical score by Ennio Morricone are a wonderful accompaniment to the strong violence and character's emotions.
This is one of the best ever gangster films, a true masterpiece from one of the world's greatest directors, and was a perfect sign off for Leone..
There will be a time when Leone's family releases an even longer version, restoring over 45 minutes more of this film.
Once I saw for the first time this movie, I actually didn't know anything at all of Sergio Leone, what really attracted me to watch this movie is my passion for gangster films.
I discovered a new way of creating a movie by a director, that actually was not so much involved in Hollywood style cinema (from what I have read).Once Upon a time in America, its a tale of friendship, love, passion, crime, betrayal and history. |
tt0320691 | Underworld | Background: 1,400 years ago, Vampires had decided that the best way to ensure the survival of their species was for three Elders--Viktor, Marcus, and Amelia--to 'leap frog' through time, one ruling while the other two
slept, each being awakened at their appointed time according to a never-to-be-broken covenant. 1,000 years ago, during the reign of Viktor, the oldest and strongest of the Elders, the Vampire-Lycan War began. 600 years ago, Kraven set the 'great blaze' which killed Lucian, the leader of the Lycans. Kraven brought back a brand cut from Lucian's arm as proof of his death, a deed which earned Kraven high favor with Viktor, who put Kraven in charge of their coven. The great blaze caused the Lycans to scatter. Vampire Death Dealers, armed with silver bullets and shuriken, have been picking Lycans off one by one until very few remain.Present time: Three Death Dealers--Selene, Rigel, and Nathaniel -- follow two Lycans into a subway station in an unnamed European city. A firey gun battle ensues in which Rigel is killed, one of the Lycans gets away, and Nathaniel comes up missing. In the chaos, Selene (Kate Beckinsale) makes two discoveries: 1) the Lycans have devised an ultraviolet bullet that can kill vampires, and 2) there appears to be a large band of Lycans amassing under the subway.Selene hurries back to alert the Vampires at Kraven's luxurious masnion that sits on the outskirts of the city, but they are more interested in the clothes they are going to wear at tonight's formal party with the coven from across the 'great ocean' in celebration of the upcoming awakening of Marcus by Amelia, the current reigning Elder. Not interested in their gaities, Selene views some digital photos Rigel took of the Lycans and notices that they appear to have been following a human. A computer search reveals the human is Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman), an intern at a local hospital.Meanwhile, the wounded Lycan has returned to the Lycan den with the bad news that he lost the candidate he was tailing, as well as to have the silver bullets and stars dug out of his body so that he can regenerate.Selene pays Michael Corvin's apartment a visit. While snooping, she overhears a phone message about his involvement in some "shoot out." Now convinced that she is right about the Lycans stalking Michael, she tries
to interrogate him just as his apartment is raided by a pack of Lycans. While Selene holds them off, Michael escapes in the elevator, but the doors open to a face-to-face confrontation with Lucian (Michael Sheen), the
current leader of the Lycans. Selene attempts to shoot Lucian, but he is intent on biting Michael and spitting the blood into a vial which he takes to Singe (Erwin Leder), the Lycan doctor who has been researching humans with the last name of Corvin, so far with negative results. He analyzes Michael's blood and pronounces it
"positive."Selene and Michael make a getaway together in her car, but Selene has lost a lot of blood in her fight with the Lycans. She passes out, the car leaps into a river. Michael saves her, binds her wound, then passes out himself. When Selene awakens, she takes the unconscious Michael back to the Vampire's mansion, incurring the wrath of Kraven (Shane Brolly), who wants Selene to be his future queen and is jealous that she seems smitten with Michael. When Michael finally comes to, he is face-to-face with fellow vampire Erika (Sophia Myles), who realizes that Michael has been bitten and is becoming Lycan. Erika leaps to the ceiling and starts hissing at him. Terrified, Michael jumps out a window and escapes the Vampire's mansion.Although it is forbidden to delve into the past, Selene decides to do a little reading about the history of the Vampire-Lycan War, particularly the chapter on the Fall of Lucian. She notices that the Lucian in one of
the pictures is wearing the same medallion that she noticed the current Lucian wearing during the fight at Michael's apartment. Could he and the Lucian that Kraven supposedly killed 600 years ago be one and the same? Could Kraven and Lucian be conspiring together? Could the fact that the Lycans are amassing near the Vampire coven portend an attack on the Vampires? When Erika informs Selene that Michael has been bitten and is turning Lycan, Selene has heard enough. Against the covenant rules, Selene decides to awaken Viktor and ask for his guidance.Michael has begun having hallucinations and wants to know what is happening to him. Selene takes him to their Lycan interrogation room in the city so that he can hide for the night. She also gives him the good news --he has
been bitten by a Lycan, and during the next full moon (tomorrow night), he will turn into one. The hallucinations, she tells him, are memories passed to him from Lucian. When Michael asks Selene why she cares about what's
happening to him ("Do you intend to bite me, too?"), Selene explains that the lycan virus and the vampire virus are incompatible and no one has ever survived a bite by both species. When Michael asks her why she hates
Lycans so much, she tells him how Lycans slaughtered her entire family and how Viktor arrived just in time to save her from the same fate. Viktor made her vampire and then raised her like his own daughter. Selene then handcuffs Michael to a chair, gives him a gun with silver bullets, and advises him to use it on himself if she isn't back by tomorrow night.After Selene arrives back at the mansion, Viktor (Bill Nighy) has fully awakened and is being briefed by Kraven. When Viktor learns that he's been awakened full century ahead of schedule, he is livid. Not even Selene's attempts to explain her findings appease him. In fact, Viktor basically tells Selene to let Kraven handle this and that she will be judged by the council for breaking the covenant. Kraven locks Selene in her room.The next night, it is the night of the full moon. It is time for Amelia's train to arrive, and Kraven has ordered Soren (Scott McElry) and his team to fetch her and the council members. Erika, who has wanted to be Kraven's mate for a long time, cuts the power to the main gate, allowing Selene to run to Michael. Selene releases Michael, but they are attacked by Lycans. Selene stays to fight while Michael jumps out a window. When Michael lands on his feet some five or six stories below, he is immediately captured by Lycans posing as cops. On the way to the Lycan den, Michael begins the change. The Lycans pull over, and they dose Michael with an enzyme to stop the
change.Selene has captured Singe and brings him to Viktor where Singe is forced to explain how, for years, the Lycans have been trying to combine the blood lines. They've been testing descendents of Alexander Corvinus, a 5th century Hungarian warlord who was the sole survivor of a plague that ravaged his village and turned him into the first immortal. From Corvinus's offspring, one became the Vampire line, one became the Lycan line, and one remained human but carried the imprint of the original immortality virus hidden in its genetic code in dormant form and passed down through the ages to Michael Corvin. Lucian plans to inject himself with blood taken from Michael and from a powerful Vampire elder, creating a hybrid--both Lycan and Vampire--but stronger than both.Concerned that Amelia has not yet arrived, a group of Vampires are sent to find out what's taking so long. They find that Amelia and the council members have all been assassinated, having been bitten by Lycans. In addition, Amelia's blood has been totally drained. When Viktor finds out, he orders Selene to kill Michael.Meanwhile, Michael is being held at the Lycan den, where his visions have suddenly become clear and he now knows what started the Vampire-Lycan war. Many years ago, Lycans were the Renfields for Vampires, but it was
forbidden for Vampires and Lycans to fraternize. Lucian and Viktor's daughter Sonja fell in love and mated, creating a hybrid child that Viktor would not allow, so he (Viktor) placed Sonja, his own daughter in the sun
where she burnt to a crisp while Lucian was made to watch--'His own daughter burnt alive just for loving me,' says Lucian poignantly--and Viktor has spent the last 600 years exterminating the Lycan species so the bloodlines will never blend.Kraven knows he's been found out. He was indeed in league with Lucian. Together, they planned Lucian's 'death' 600 years ago so that Lucian could lay low. Now the agreement is for Kraven to gain control of both covens by obtaining an ironclad peace treaty with the Lycans, while Lucian gets revenge on Viktor.Time to knock off a few main characters. The Vampires, along with Selene, Kahn, and Viktor storm the Lycan
den in a climatic battle. Kraven shoots Lucian with a silver nitrate bullet (The silver is in liquid form so that it will go directly into the Lycans' bloodstreams and cannot be dug out). When Michael tries to escape, he is also shot by Kraven. As Michael lays oozing silver nitrate from his wounds, Kraven tells Selene the true story about her 'dark father,' Viktor. Her family wasn't killed by Lycans but by Viktor himself. Seems he didn't like the
taste of livestock very much, so once in a while he would engorge himself on human blood. Since Selene reminded him of Sonja, he spared her and raised her as his own. Selene is stunned.When Kraven demands that Selene go with him, she refuses. As he's about to shoot Michael again, the dying Lucian runs a sword through Kraven's leg and tells Selene to bite Michael. "Half vampire, half lycan -- they're stronger than both." Selene does it. Kraven finishes off Lucian. Michael turns into a hybrid (Lycampire or Vampthrope?) and, after Michael and Viktor tussle a bit, Selene cuts off Viktor's head. Selene flees the scene of the battle, and is now to become the hunted by both her people and the Lycans.[Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]
[Edited by azooty] | dark, fantasy, gothic, murder, paranormal, violence, cult, revenge, flashback, action, romantic | train | imdb | null |
tt1003052 | Secret défense | If French political thriller Secrets of State were any more topical, it would be about what you ate for breakfast. This fast-paced and meticulously-researched tale shows the recruitment and training of a young female Secret Service operative alongside a parallel story about how an unlikely but deadly young male terrorist is created. Each is skilfully manipulated for a cause.This carefully layered, mostly-plausible tale boasts several suspenseful set pieces. Although it requires near-exhausting concentration to absorb its heady mix of information and high-stakes activity, Secrets of State should appeal to audiences who liked the tone and content of The Interpreter, The Manchurian Candidate remake, or Syriana and would enjoy a Euro-take on the same theme.Al Barad (Abkarian), a Westernised terrorist posing as a businessman, twists Islamic tenets for political ends. Wine broker Alex (Lanvin) is a high-ranking counter-terrorism specialist, bending or ignoring the law to thwart his opponents and keep France secure.Both sides are playing a deadly game of chess that regularly requires new human playing pieces - a suicide bomber here, a sexy decoy there. Attractive young Diane (Giocante), who dabbled as a high-priced call girl prior to pursuing a degree in Arabic, is artfully recruited by Alex almost before she knows what hit her.Training exercises - how to give adversaries the slip, resist interrogation, etc. - convince us that the External Security academy is a pretty cool school and being a secret agent an exciting lifestyle. Diane's assignment to seduce Al Barad on his home turf may make her feel more alive but could easily lead to her death.Meanwhile petty drug dealer Pierre (Duvauchelle) is arrested and sent to prison. As the handsome white lad is emotionally and physically vulnerable, he's ripe for the picking. Under fellow inmate Aziz's (Belghazi) manipulative guidance, Pierre converts to Islam, convinced he's found a caring surrogate family. Upon release he attends terrorist boot camp, preparing to serve his handlers on an eventual mission.Two complex Arab characters -- smart, brave field operative Leila (Brakni) and intelligence officer Ahmed (Nebbou), a practicing Muslim whose allegiance to France is horrifically tested -- are a fine departure from movie stereotypes. Beyond their inherent importance to the script, Leila and Ahmed are a good example for other screenwriters striving to be politically savvy without being politically correct.A passage in which various specialists - played by the film's seven eminent real-life consultants - weigh in on a coded threat, gives viewers a taste of the crucial decisions constantly being made based on a combination of educated guesses and hard-won research. Little in co-screenwriter/director Philippe Haim's previous work (claustrophobic two-hander Barracuda and live-action comic book adaptation The Daltons) pointed to such a serious and ambitious theme, but he's definitely up to the task. Two thirds of the sharply-edited film are hand held, creating immediacy and sweeping momentum.Although it's not hard to tell the good guys from the bad, there are plenty of grey areas in their all-too-convincing motivations. Both sides use sophisticated indoctrination techniques, and, ideology aside, terrorists and secret agents seem to have a lot in common.Morocco stands in credibly here for Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Jordan. [D-Man2010] | murder | train | imdb | Magnificent and intelligent French thriller about the restless war against terrorism.
This splendid film gives an insider's view into the French anti-terrorist Agency .How traineers are recruited , besides , how terrorists are created , as each is skillfully directed to their aims .
Both sides are playing a deadly chess game requering guided pieces , being controlled by nasty master minds , as they are a beautiful girl named Diane : Vahina Giocante hired by the DGSF , Direction Generale de la Securite Exteriure, to be the sexy decoy , alongside a bomber suicide called Pierre : Nicolas Duvauchelle .Each is manipulated and both of whom are drawn into a long string of twisted happenings: treason , sex , killings , bombings ..
Stunning thriller full of noisy action , thrills , terrorism , intriguing set pieces , twists , turns and being fastly-paced .
However , it bears remarkable resemblance to the American movie The recruit , 2003, by Roger Donaldson with Colin Farrell and Al Pacino .The film delivers a real description of the French Service Secret , whose activity was meticulously researched and efficiently shown ; alongside a parallel story concerning about the restless terrorrism run by a powerful and wealthy Middle East man called Al Barad : Simon Abkarian .
It stars Gerard Lanvin who gives a very good acting as Alex , chief of counter-terrorism unit DGSF the French equivalent of the CIA and MI6 , who will stop at nothing to get his purports.
Vahina Giocante plays rightly as the female secret service operative who being a failed student is recruited for extremely dangerous missions .
Nicolas Duvauchelle performs Pierre as the troubled and imprisoned young who in prison is manipulated for a cause and drawn into a chain of terrible events who thinks bring him salvation .The movie contains an atmospheric and evocative cinematography by Jerome Almeras , being shot on location in Morocco , stands-in credibility for Afghanistan , Lebanon, Irak and Syria , places where the action actually occurs .
As well as a thrilling and moving musical score by Alexandre Azaria who has composed a lot of soundtracks , usually in action genre, such as Transporter 1, 2, 3, Legacy , MSI Lockout , The red inn, Asterix and Vikings , Fanfan La Tulipe .The motion picture was compellingly directed by Philippe Haim .He is a good composer , writer , producer and director .
The film will appeal to action fans and French cinema aficionados..
Tense French Anti-Terrorism Thriller.
It makes a difference to see it from the French point of view.
This film is about the French Secret Service, which has initials I can never remember, but you know the one.
It portrays them as hyper-efficient, hyper-modern, ruthless and dedicated professionals who will, as Gérard Lanvin the lead actor puts it in the film, be 'patriots' who will 'do anything for my country'.
The film portrays in grim, horrifying, and fascinating detail the fantastic entrapments devised to recruit young agents in the fight against Muslim terrorism.
The terrorists are portrayed in 'Damascus' and 'Afghanistan' (both actually filmed in Morocco) with extreme and convincing realism.
The film is disturbing in many places, with one homosexual rape scene and several murders.
I believe the horrifying footage of the dog in the glass cage who is killed by cyanide gas is a real Qaeda video.
The set-ups carried out by the French secret service are so devious that they would make Machiavelli blush.
The film does not have the Hollywood approach to violence, which always focuses on childish and adolescent fantasies of things crashing and exploding.
Instead, the French, who are a far more sophisticated people, concentrate on what happens to people rather than the havoc wreaked to mere objects.
As Lanvin says: 'An agent is not a person, he is a tool.' Controllers are not allowed to treat their agents as human beings.
The film features an astonishingly versatile performance by the young actress Vahina Giocante, who is tricked into becoming an agent, and who screams at Lanvin when she realizes what he has done to her that he is 'all alone'.
He answers with resignation: 'Yes, I know.' The whole story is very bleak, that is, when it stops its restless pace of action long enough to allow anyone a moment to reflect.
The film is really a most impressive achievement, exciting, well made, relentlessly entertaining, if you have the stomach for the grisly bits.
The director, Philippe Haïm, who also wrote the story, appears from his name to be of North African descent, so perhaps he has a special feel for all of this.
He has done a superb job of making a French 'blockbuster'.
French attempt at a Hollywood blockbuster....
Secret défense is an interesting movie in that it combines the style of French thrillers with Hollywood mainstream elements.
Even during the opening credits, the movie smacks of Tony Scott, right down to the music, which reminds of "Enemy of the State".I have not seen previous movies from director Philippe Haïm but I sensed he could never firmly put his print on this espionage thriller despite having the best of intentions.
The story is cliché but interesting enough despite quite weak dialogs, the pace is appropriate so we get to know all the characters and the tension builds slowly as the "pieces" move in this chess game of terror.Unfortunately, there's just something missing to make us care about any of these people.
The movie instead focuses on the cold, calculating work done by both national security agents and terrorists alike.
Bonus points for the gritty tone which at times might not have been possible in a Hollywood movie.
Food for thoughts: Secret Defense cost 11 million Euros.
Considering a movie like "Spy Game" cost 92 million US dollars, it makes you consider Europeans still know how to get a bigger bang for the buck.Not the most spectacular entry in the genre but worthwhile.
This is not classic French cinema.
But if you can appreciate an unambitious and entertaining movie somewhere between the two, this might be for you..
At last a GOOD French Film!!
At last a GOOD French Film!!
:) First, to introduce my opinion and place it in perspective, I must say that for more than two decades, I've been watching almost everything released both in the US and in Europe and the best of Asia, South America and the rest of the world.
And among all topics, realistic spy/intelligence Films/Mini-Series/TV series has been in my favorites for half a decade.
Thus I am a big fan of this genre and one can honestly say that my culture about it as well as about movies in general is quite large.
Being French, I also watch a lot of our films and I must sadly admit that it is most often a boring torture, especially lately.
But not today with Secret Defense.
And I can at last happily share and say that SECRET DEFENSE is probably in the BEST entertaining spy French Films released for a long time.
Only mostly to praise and recommend a good film that might need attention or to sack the worst pretentious ones that attract crowds of sheep despite having been a torture to watch for me).Why is SECRET DEFENSE so worthy of our attention?
There are not that many features on our former DGSE and I praise the production for not going in the James Bond direction but more in the MI5 one.
But we're getting in that direction here, right from the beginning when Lanvin introduces himself in saying that an agent must be seen as a weapon only and never as a human.The final editing is properly paced with no unnecessary elements making the movie properly entertaining and interesting.Then, the visual directing is OK+ with some cinematographic effects worthy of a big screen release.
That is becoming rare.The excellent beginning credits are Oscar worthy!!Then the actors directions is not questionable.
Gérard Lanvin (lead actor) is perfect as always.
That is remarkable in France where even lead actors can sometimes, way too often, be left directed out of tune in the final editing.
Not here.Vahina Giocante (lead actress) is also very well directed and surprising when she (quite often) manages to make us forget her exquisite beauty and discover her effective tormented face full of emotions that then becomes not only pretty but efficiently emotive, in the Charlize Theron direction.
And that makes sense to show them since the story uses her beauty as a "weapon, that only is an agent" (dixit Lanvin).
A bit too rarely here but more could indeed unfortunately have affected the nature of her performance in the movie.
Thanks Vahina.Overall, All this makes SECRET DEFENSE a very honorable or good French Film, one of its best made in the last decade in the entertaining with a substance spy action genre.
This is a very bleak and very well acted movie.
You will have more "fun" with the movie, if you read as little as possible about the story of the movie.Just be aware that the movie is a thriller and has a woman as a central character.
It's morally moving on a thin ground, but this is what makes this movie really great.
The performances are great and even if you dislike some characters, they are still very engaging and the movie might have some points, you might over think your views..
Right, I think the first issue is with the editing, pace was roughly there but it just seemed to stutter in places and when most of the actors seem to have come straight out of stage school the pace really needs to be right on the button(compare and contrast with the UK TV drama, Spooks).The story was weak and watered down, too many jumps without any suggestion, a poor script and direction also.Thirdly the female lead, Vahina Giocante, really should have been shown the door after the first week, too much overacting for me, I've seen comedians act better.
However I haven't seen any of her other stuff though so it could have been just a duff one for her.Simon Abkarian has played measured bad guys before and did pretty well but I'm afraid that poor old Gérard Lanvin just didn't have enough script to go on, they spent too much time on the Martyr when they could have worked more on his character.Sorry I really had high hopes for this and really wanted to like it, I even watched it twice to make sure I wasn't missing anything, but remember this is my opinion I'm sure others will love it.
they tried to take the Spooks concept and do a French big budget movie, perhaps they should have got a script re-write and got Mathieu Kassovitz to direct..
What is bluntly visible in this French film is the American look.
Actually it is not only the look - the whole approach taken by the film starting with its story and I dare say with its ideology, going through the rapid pace and crisp editing style and ending with the style of acting is borrowed from the American 'war on terror' movies.
We even have some kind of a French equivalent of the CIA headquarters in this film.
Philippe Haim is a talented director and his 'Secret Defense' is a good American thriller even if it is acted in French.Recruiting a young and sexy woman who finds herself in some kind of distress and turning her into a spy is a theme that we have already met in the classical Nikita, and original French film turned into an American movie and than successful TV series.
The world of Secret Defense is however today's France and Middle East, and a parallel thread develops the background of an abused criminal who falls of dark side of the war on terror.
The paths of the two characters are to meet inexorably, and we know it from almost from the beginning.
The smart and unfortunately true idea of the script is that both the good girl and the bad guy are victims, paws, foot soldiers in war machines that confront each other and eventually crush everybody who falls under their wheels.The story has logic and the development of the main character played by Vahina Giocante is credible and does not lack an unexpected dose of sensitivity.
There is one moment only when the accumulation of coincidences seemed to me to be hard to believe, but otherwise the story line and the excellent acting, the exact rendering of the various environments and the pace of action built upon interleaved threads contribute all to the good quality of a film that has an American look, and this time I am writing this appreciation on its positive meaning..
French cinema is famous for its romantic comedies and melodramas.
When French movie makers try to change the genre, it's usually resulted in a flop.
Secret Defense is an example of that unsuccessful attempt to mimic an American action movie.
How could the director let Vahina Giocante be so hysterical while playing a role of a trained secret agent?
She always runs and moves chaotically, and her amateurish performance finally kills the movie, which anyway has a very weak plot.
I would recommend watching that movie only on a deserted island while it's raining outside.
An excellent french espionage yarn.
That's the most wonderful and convincing film ever made about french Intelligence Services - DGSE - the equivalent of the CIA, MI 6 or MOSSAD.
A rough, sharp, accurate and awful programmer which tells the story of ordinary people who are manipulated by their own "managers" in order to become decoy themselves.
But so realistic.Lanvin is terrific as a cold blooded, ruthless supervisor who doesn't hesitate to sacrifice his own recruits, the rookies.
As his character says in the movie: "Agents are not human beings but weapons..."No comment.Simon Abkarian is also delightful as a machiavellian terrorist.
In this film, many things are revealed about Intellingence horrible proceedings, as well as terrorists networks.It's the first movie made about that subject since Frederic Schoenderffer's AGANTS SECRETS, in 2004..
A nice spy tale, though nothing like the real thing.
The filmmaker Philippe Haim obviously likes Ridley and Tony Scott and with Secret Defense he delivers a nice try.
The problem: he keeps too much to the surface.Secret Defense has the pace of a Tony Scott production but lacks the depth of character of other movies in the genre like f.e. Syriana.
Recruiting a prostitute/student and turning her into a top agent in a matter of (movie) minutes takes some skills.
Vahina Giocante sure is pretty (and she was perfect in Lila Dit Ca) but she never gets the chance to deliver a convincing personality (nor do most of the other actors).
The story is too flat, has too many clichés chasing each other and most characters are mainly one dimensional.Which doesn't mean Secret Defense doesn't deliver.
If you like your spy stories to be more like action movies you're in for a treat.
Just nothing like the real thing..
What,'s French For Spooks?.
In the case of Secret Defense Jaques Rivette got their first in 1968 but there's not much chance of anyone turning out a film like Rivette so where that was a rambling discursive intellectual exercise this one is more a melange of John Le Carre and David Mamet involving cross and triple cross in the ongoing war against Islamic terrorists bent, as always, on making the rest of the world cry Allah.
British television does much the same thing in its series Spooks', indeed one of your friendly neighbourhood terrorists here', Simon Akbarian, appeared in around 6 episodes of Spooks so presumably was able to phone it in for the big screen.
Horrible tendentious propagandistic movie.
This movie is not very french at all.
It is a rather poor attempt to transfer the ideology of some US-Secret-Service-flicks to french cinema.
The movie consists of a mechanical subsequence of disgusting out-of-law practices of some secret-service-maniacs and some crazy guys that are not any better than the Secret-Service guys.
The director tries hard to convince the viewer, that things work that way in reality and that its good that way, i.e. co-workers can be tortured any time just because of their religion - you never know.
What makes this movie disgusting is that the directors don't crititze thiese practices, but they advertise it.
They show what they think - their own narrow-minded fear driven moral.Plot is poor too: The movie starts with a girl that doesn't pass an exam at university and is then consoled by another student.
Surprise surprise, the co-student is an undercover recruiter and his boss blackmails the girl into becoming an agent (as a student she earned her money as a prostitute).
She then has to get into sexual intercourse with a terrorist to find out about his plans to release Vx-Gas in Paris.
The second storyline is about a french guy that has to deal with drugs to finance his mothers apartment.
He is picked by the terrorist to be the one to release the Vx-Gas in the metro of Paris.
After some luggage swapping in some airports the girl stops the guy in the metro and the ending credits say: Since 2001 french intelligence could prevent 15 attacks in France..
Does anyone know if the dog death scene was live (actual) footage of a dog being gassed or was that dog an amazing actor?
I cannot find any information on this, and it was suggested in a previous comment that the dog death scene was actual terrorist footage.
The film centers on a very touchy subject, but that scene is not one I am going to forget easily.
I found this just another example of horrific things accomplished by terrorists in the world, and replaying it whether in a film or on television just amplifies the effect they wish to portray to us "infidels". |
tt1041829 | The Proposal | The opening segments of the movie intersect between Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) and Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) as they wake up and get ready for the workday. While Margaret has time to work out and leisurely read the paper as she eats her breakfast, Andrew wakes to find he's overslept and leaps out of bed in a panic. Despite being late, he manages to pick up some coffee and rush into the office of a large publishing company in New York City just as his boss Margaret comes in. He fires off a mass mail warning everyone in their cubicles to look sharp as the 'witch on her broom' arrives. It turns out that Margaret is a top editor of the company, notorious for her cold indifference and iron fist, while Andrew is her assistant / secretary.Margaret begins the day by firing fellow editor Bob Spaulding (Aasif Mandvi) for failing to set up an interview with an author renowned for his reclusiveness. Bob responds by yelling at and insulting her in front of his coworkers, but this doesn't faze Margaret, who orders him to vacate the office by the end of the day and informs Andrew that, due to Bob's firing, she needs him to work over the weekend.Andrew explaining that he's planning to travel home for his grandmother's 90th birthday reaps no leeway. Margaret is then summoned to an upper office to speak with her boss, Chairman Bergen (Michael Nouri), who informs her that she is to be deported back to her native Canada due to an expired visa. When Andrew enters the office to fetch Margaret, she devises a desperate bid to stay in the country and maintain her job: She calls Andrew to her side and announces that the two are to be married. Andrew is too stunned and encouraged by Margaret's assurances to deny otherwise. Bergen arranges to have them go together to the immigration office to validate the engagement.Back in Margaret's office, Andrew tries to break away from the situation, but Margaret blackmails him into keeping the ruse up until she gains her citizenship, promising to swiftly divorce him once it's done. Despite his fears of being fined, or worse, sentenced to jail time, Andrew agrees. At immigration they meet with Mr. Gilbertson (Denis O'Hare), an investigator who sees through their ploy and tries to get them to confess. Though looking as though he will crack under the pressure, Andrew retains his composure and assures Gilbertson that he and Margaret are in love and that he's even due to be promoted to editor; doing a complete 180 on Margaret's blackmail. While Gilbertson is still unconvinced, Margaret insists and tells him they're planning to announce their engagement at Andrew's grandmother's birthday party that weekend, which turns out is in Sitka, Alaska.Once out on the street, Andrew demands that his promotion be immediate and tells Margaret to publish 20,000 copies of a manuscript he's been trying to get through or he will make a deal with immigration and confess. Trapped in her desperation, Margaret agrees and, upon Andrew's request, gets down on her knees and asks him to marry her. Andrew teases her but accepts.The first leg of their journey is in First Class on a transcontinental flight, during which Margaret quizzes Andrew's knowledge on her to find that he has been very thorough, while she knows nearly nothing about him. He reveals that he knows she has a tattoo since she once asked him to research removal techniques but canceled her dermatologist appointment. They are forced to take a second, smaller, and uncomfortable flight from Anchorage to Sitka. Upon landing they are greeted by Andrew's mother, Grace (Mary Steenburgen) and grandmother, Annie (Gammie - Betty White), who inform them that Margaret's hotel reservation was canceled so that she could stay at the family home.Margaret is clearly uncomfortable in this environment and, as they make their way to Andrew's home, is shocked to see that the family name is posted on nearly every business in town. She is equally shocked when she learns that the only way to get to the Paxton home is by boat. Since she can't swim, her fear is apparent, though Andrew tells her to shrug it off.Arriving at the family estate, Margaret questions why Andrew never told her he was rich. He plays it off by saying that he isn't but his family is. Inside they find a large gathering of family and friends waiting for them as a homecoming to Andrew, who's been away for three years. To Andrew's surprise, his friend Chuck (Michael Mosley) and high school sweetheart Gertrude (Malin Akerman) are in attendance.Andrew's father, Joe (Craig T. Nelson), confronts him about bringing his boss about whom Andrew consistently expressed hatred in the past. Having been estranged from his father for some time, Andrew defiantly declares his intent to marry Margaret before announcing the engagement to everyone. Joe is stunned but Grace and Gammie react with joy and request a story of the proposal. Andrew and Margaret improvise an awkward story of how it happened, playing off each other and laying subtle insults throughout. Clinking their wine glasses, everyone demands a kiss from Andrew and Margaret who oblige with a light peck at first but finish with a longer, passionate kiss that seems to surprise the both of them.Reassuring them that she approves their relationship, Grace sets Andrew and Margaret up together in a shared bedroom for the night. Gammie gives Margaret a quilt with 'special powers' that she won't divulge other than saying she's nicknamed it The Babymaker. Margaret tosses it aside for the night and insists that Andrew sleep on the floor.The next morning, Margaret is awoken by her phone and sees that one of her important clients is calling. She struggles for better reception and is told by Andrew, half asleep, to go outdoors. As she exits, she fails to shut the front door and the family puppy, a husky named Kevin, follows her out only to be swept up by a hungry eagle, which drops Kevin into Margaret's arms and swoops in again, snatching her phone right out of her hand. Margaret lifts Kevin in the air in a comical attempt to trade the puppy for her phone while Grace and Gammie watch from inside, thinking she's merely playing. Andrew goes outside to fetch her and tells her that he can place an order for a new phone to pick up in town. For now, he tells her that she's going out with his mother and Gammie, who take her to a local bar where they watch as Ramone (Oscar Nuñez), who Margaret recognizes as the man who was waiting hors d'oeuvres at the Paxton home, performs a dance to a remix of Relax. He places a veil on Margaret's head and brings her to the stage for a bachelorette strip dance, much to her embarrassment.Margaret steps outside for some air once her lap dance is over, and is soon joined by Gertrude. They talk about Andrew, and Gertrude reveals that he proposed to her after graduation, but she refused because he wanted to go to the city and she wanted to stay home. She's happy being an eternal local and always knew that Andrew was meant for bigger things. Grace comes outside to collect Margaret and, through the open door, Gammie is briefly seen dancing with Ramone.Back at the house, Andrew goes outside where his father is driving golf balls that dissolve in water into the lake. While Joe apologizes for his rash behavior over the engagement, he expresses his disappointment that Andrew chose to move to New York rather than run the family empire, berating his career choice as trivial and silly. Andrew argues that what he does makes him happy before rejecting his father's apology and leaving. When Grace, Gammie, and Margaret return, they find Andrew listening to an MP3 and hollowing out a wooden canoe in the yard, which Grace recognizes as a sign that something is wrong, as evidently the canoe has been a long-term project that Andrew usually works on when upset.Grace confronts Joe in the lounge and tells him to start being more supportive before Andrew decides not to come home again. Margaret overhears some of the dispute before going upstairs to shower. Just before she gets out of the shower, Andrew enters the room, still listening to his music, and walks out to the balcony where he starts to undress. Realizing that she forgot to grab a towel from the linen closet, Margaret tries to sneak out of the bathroom but is pestered by Kevin. As she makes a break for it, she runs straight into the naked Andrew and they collapse to the floor. Screaming at each other, they quickly cover up and run to opposite ends of the room and Margaret barely avoids using the Babymaker as a cover-up.Later that night, they lie awake and Margaret asks Andrew why relations with his father are so strained. Andrew eludes the question and changes the subject to Margaret and what she has a tattoo of on her back. Silent at first, Margaret tells him that she has two swallows meant to immortalize her parents, who died when she was sixteen. She warms up further and explains that she only acts tough to maintain a reputation; when Bob shouted insults at her, she retreated to the restroom where she wept. Andrew breaks the somber mood by singing It Takes Two by Margaret's favorite band and then asks her not to take it wrongly when he says she's very attractive.The next morning, Margaret wakes early and puts on some light makeup before Grace knocks on the door. Margaret frantically tries to wake Andrew and make it appear as though they'd been snuggling as Grace enters with Joe and Gammie and asks them if they will marry the next day in the barn where they were wed. Andrew and Margaret hesitate but quickly agree when Gammie asks if they could do so before she dies.The sudden decision puts Andrew into shock and he fears that if Gammie finds out about the charade, she will die. Margaret tries to console him, finding herself in a more caring mood before she leaves the room to change. Scared by her feelings, Margaret grabs a bike and heads down a trail in the woods where she happens upon Gammie chanting around a small fire, dressed in traditional native robes. Gammie invites Margaret to chant to Mother Earth to ask for blessing and encourages her to find a rhythm. Margaret starts chanting and to Gammie's surprise, breaks into singing Get Low. Andrew arrives and tells Margaret that her phone has arrived in town.They retrieve the phone at a convenience store, where Margaret is shocked to see Ramone working. Andrew takes her to an Internet café to check her mail while he runs outside to catch up with Gertrude, who is escorting a class of children while Margaret watches them with mixed feelings.Leaving the café, Margaret is kidnapped by Grace and Gammie, who take her to a dress shop where she is fitted with Gammie's wedding dress. Gammie does the alterations and gives Margaret a necklace that was given to her by her mother. Margaret is visibly moved by this and Grace breaks down with happiness.Afterwards Margaret meets Andrew at the docks to go back to the house but takes the controls and speeds off. Andrew asks her what's wrong and Margaret panics and shouts that she'd forgotten what it was like to have a real family; the idea of falsely marrying and possibly hurting Andrew's family now seems impossible. Andrew takes the helm of the boat back and narrowly misses a buoy, but the sharp turn sends Margaret overboard. Andrew manages to rescue her and take her back to the house safely. However, they are met on the docks by Joe, who takes them to the barn where Mr. Gilbertson the immigration agent is waiting. They both confront the couple on the possibility of a false marriage, but Andrew stands by his word and angrily leaves the barn with Margaret.Later, Margaret tries to tell Andrew that he should reconsider his actions, but he is adamant. Before they can do anything else, Gammie steals Andrew away saying that the groom must not see his bride before the wedding.The next day, everything goes as planned until Margaret is standing at the altar with Andrew facing the ubiquitous cleric, Ramone. Before he can start, Margaret stops him and, over Andrew's objections, faces the crowd and announces the farce. Mr. Gilbertson smiles in his seat as Margaret apologizes to the Paxton family and tells Gilbertson to meet her at the airport. Andrew goes to follow Margaret, but is stopped by his family demanding an explanation. By the time he gets to their bedroom, Margaret is gone. Her wedding dress and a hand-written note lie on the bed. He reads the note, an apology from Margaret acknowledging his writing talents and promising that she will keep her end of the bargain, as Gertrude enters. Though Andrew seems upset and tells Gertrude that Margaret was inconsiderate to leave without talking to him face to face, she asks him if he's simply going to let her go.Andrew runs back outside and is stopped by his father, who quarrels with him over what's happened. Gammie stammers in the background for them to stop yelling and suddenly gets short of breath and collapses. An emergency charter plane is called to take Gammie to the hospital. Grace, Joe, and Andrew accompany her and she asks the boys to make up with each other and to stop fighting. They promise to, and she lays back, content, and says the spirits can now take her. Then she sits up and announces,"I guess they're not ready for me!" before ordering the pilot to take them to the airport. Joe and Andrew are beside themselves, but Gammie defends herself saying that her dying act was the only way to get them to shut up.They arrive at the airport and Andrew dashes onto the runway but is too late to stop Margaret's plane. Joe can only express confusion while Grace and Gammie explain that Margaret wouldn't have told the truth unless she loved Andrew, who has discovered that he loves her too.With 24 hours to pack and depart to Canada, Margaret cleans out her office as coworkers still show trepidation around her, though she couldn't care less at this point. Andrew arrives, out of breath and out of patience. He tells her that, while only three days ago he fantasized about her getting hit by a taxi, things started to change in Alaska and he only realized how he truly felt when he was left alone at the altar. He properly proposes and, while Margaret admits that she's scared, accepts. They kiss and are applauded by the whole office.They return to the immigration office where Gilbertson tells them that if they show the slightest hint that their engagement this time isn't genuine, he will take them down. As the credits roll, Margaret and Andrew, along with the entire Paxton family, are individually interviewed by the Gilbertson with comical results. Ramone is also interviewed and he laughs nervously as his citizenship is questioned. | comedy, absurd, humor, entertaining, romantic | train | imdb | null |
tt0053125 | North by Northwest | At the end of an ordinary work day, advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) hurries from a Madison Avenue office building to a business meeting at the Oak Room bar of the Plaza Hotel. After asking his secretary to phone his mother, he realizes that she won't be able to reach her by telephone, so he will need to send a telegram instead. When a hotel pageboy passes by calling for a Mr. George Kaplan, Thornhill flags him down, to inquire about sending a telegram. Unfortunately, this also draws the attention of two henchmen, names Valerian (Adam Williams) and Licht (Robert Ellenstein), who mistake Roger for Kaplan because from the vantage point they are standing at, he appears to be answering the page. As Roger steps into the corridor to send his wire, the henchmen abduct Roger at gunpoint and force him into a waiting car.Wordlessly, they drive him out of Manhattan to a Long Island country estate displaying the name "Townsend" at its entrance. The car snakes up a long winding driveway to the front entrance. A maid lets them in the front door, and Roger is locked inside the library of the mansion. Left alone, he finds a newspaper on the desk addressed to "Mr. Lester Townsend, 169 Baywood, Glen Cove, N.Y."Shortly, the library door opens and there enters an urbane English-accented gentleman (James Mason), evidently none other than Townsend himself, followed soon after by his personal secretary, Leonard (Martin Landau). The gentleman addresses his captive as "Kaplan," and by his questions, Roger can only assume that the real Kaplan must be some sort of secret agent on this man's trail. Roger tries to convince him that his name is Thornhill and has never been anything else, but his skeptic captor will not hear of it. To "prove" his point, the man proceeds to recite the elusive Kaplan's recent itinerary of hotels, cities, and ever-changing hometowns, including Kaplan's present occupancy of room 796 at the Plaza Hotel, and his future stops in the next few days in Chicago and Rapid City, South Dakota. To find out how much "Kaplan" knows about his organization and their current arrangements, he puts Leonard in charge of extracting the information while he withdraws to join Mrs. Townsend (Josephine Hutchinson) and their party guests. Leonard unseals a fifth of bourbon taken from a liquor cabinet, and with the aid of Valerian and Licht, he begins to force the whiskey down Roger's throat.Having failed to get any information from their victim, Valerian and Licht place the severely intoxicated Thornhill behind the wheel of a Mercedes on a seaside highway under cover of darkness, planning to guide him off of a cliff to his death. Almost unaware of his surroundings, Roger comes sufficiently alert at the last moment to push Valerian out of the car and start driving for himself. The two thugs follow him down the winding highway in their own car. Roger, on the verge of passing out and plagued with double vision, manages to careen his way down the cliffside highway without hitting anything. As he slams on brakes to barely avoid running over a bicyclist, a pursuing police car plows into the rear of the Mercedes, and a third car plows into the rear of the police car. Finding themselves overmatched, the two henchmen drive away leaving Roger in police custody.Roger tells everyone at the police station how his captors had tried to kill him, but in his drunken condition no one pays any attention to his bizarre story. One of the policemen mentions that the Mercedes Roger was driving was reported stolen. Roger phones his mother to let her know he is at the Glen Cove police station for the night. In the morning, Roger and his attorney Larrabee (Edward Platt) face the judge, with Roger's mother, Clara Thornhill (Jessie Royce Landis), looking on in weary bemusement. The judge gives Roger a chance to prove his doubtful story, and continues the case over to the next day.A pair of county detectives accompanies Roger, his mother, and Larrabee to the house where he says last night's events took place. They are escorted into the same library while the same maid goes for Mrs. Townsend. Roger shows them the sofa which should still be stained and soaked with spilled bourbon, but it has apparently been cleaned. He opens the liquor cabinet, only to find it is full of books. When "Mrs. Townsend" comes in, she greets Roger like an old friend, and asks if he had gotten home all right. She says that he had been so drunk when he left their party the night before, that they had all been worried about him. When Captain Junket (Edward Binns) mentions the stolen car registered to a Mrs. Babson, Mrs. Townsend asks, "You didn't borrow Laura's Mercedes?" Roger suggests that they question her husband. Mrs. Townsend informs them that he is at the United Nations where he will be addressing the General Assembly that afternoon. As his protests continue to fall on deaf ears, his mother chimes in, "Roger, pay the two dollars!" The visitors get back into the car and drive away. Behind them, a gardener looks up from his work. It is Valerian, disguised.Roger and his mother take a cab to the Plaza Hotel, where Roger tries to phone Kaplan's room. But he learns that Kaplan hasn't answered his phone in two days. Rogers cajoles his mother into getting the key to room 796 from the front desk. They go upstairs and into Kaplan's room. Both the chambermaid and the valet treat him as Kaplan, since he's the man in room 796 whom they have never actually seen. Roger finds a photo of his host from the evening before, which he slips into his pocket. The phone rings. Roger answers it and hears the familiar voice of one of his recent captors. He then calls the hotel operator and learns that the call originated inside the hotel.Roger hurries his mother out of the room, and as they enter an elevator going down, Valerian and Licht step out of one coming up just in time to join the crowded group of passengers in the down elevator. To cut the tension on the way down, Mrs. Thornhill asks the two men if they are really going to kill her son. The thugs start laughing and gradually everyone in the car (except Roger) joins in. When the doors open, Roger insists, "Ladies first." And under cover of escorting the ladies off the car, he manages to elude his pursuers and escape into the street. He jumps into a cab and asks the driver take him to the United Nations. Seeing the thugs following him, he asks the driver to lose them if he can.When he gets to the U.N. General Assembly Building, Roger asks for Lester Townsend, giving his own name as Kaplan. He is told to go to the public lounge where the attendant can page Mr. Townsend for him. Meanwhile, Valerian steps out of another taxi and tells Licht to wait with the cab on the other side of the building for him. Valerian then walks into the General Assembly Building. When Lester Townsend (Philip Ober) answers the page, he is not the same man Roger had seen the evening before. Roger asks him about the house in Glen Cove, which Townsend says is his, but the house is currently locked up with only the gardener and his wife living on the grounds (implying it to be Valerian and the house maid). Townsend says that he always stays in the city when the General Assembly is in session. Roger asks about Mrs. Townsend and learns that she has been dead for many years. As Roger shows him the picture of his captor, Townsend flinches and begins to collapse. Valerian has thrown a knife across the lounge and flees unnoticed, and Townsend falls dead at Roger's feet. Reflexively, Roger pulls the knife out of Townsend's back just as people begin to look at the commotion, and a photographer's light bulb goes off. It appears to everyone around him that Roger has killed the real Lester Townsend! Roger drops the knife, bolts to the exit and jumps into a taxicab.The next morning, the action changes to inside the boardroom of a government intelligence agency in Washington D.C. where a group of planners remark about the photo of "U.N murderer" Roger Thornhill on the front page of a newspaper. They consider how to deal with the sudden appearance of a man who has been mistaken for the non-existent George Kaplan. It is revealed that these agents invented a non-existent agent named "George Kaplan" as a decoy for their real agent who has infiltrated an enemy group headed by a man named Vandamm. They've succeeded in making Vandamm believe that their phantom "Kaplan" is the real agent, by creating a trail of hotel registrations complete with prop clothing and other personal belongings moved in and out of the various hotel rooms by fellow agents. And now Vandamm has somehow mistaken Thornhill for Kaplan. The intelligence chief, a middle-aged gentleman called the Professor (Leo G. Carroll) suggests that the agency do nothing to help Thornhill. If they try to help him, they risk exposing their real agent who would probably be killed. For the time being, they will simply wait and let this real-life "Kaplan" (Thornhill) lend credibility to their invented "Kaplan."Meanwhile back in New York, Roger calls his mother from Grand Central Station to tell her he's taking the train to Chicago. He has learned that Kaplan checked out of the Plaza and has gone on to the Ambassador East in Chicago, so Roger is following him there to find out what is going on. He tries to buy a ticket on the 20th Century Limited, but the ticket agent recognizes him and quietly calls security. Roger slips away unseen, makes his way to the platform, and boards the 20th Century Limited without a ticket, closely pursued by police. Colliding with a beautiful young woman (Eva Marie Saint) in the train corridor, he ducks into a nearby compartment as the police appear at the other end of the corridor. The woman misdirects the police off of the train as it gets underway.As time passes, Roger manages to elude the conductors while they tally up the passenger count. Then he makes his way to the dining car, where the steward seats him with the same beautiful young woman who had helped him in the corridor earlier. She introduces herself as Eve Kendall. He gives her a false name, but she answers: "No. You're Roger Thornhill of Madison Avenue, and you're wanted for murder on every front page in America. Don't be so modest." But she assures him she won't turn him in, since it's going to be a long night and she doesn't particularly like the book she's started. He lights her cigarette from his personally monogrammed "R-O-T" matchbook. "Roger O. Thornhill. What does the 'O' stand for?" she asks. He tells her, "Nothing." When he admits he doesn't have a ticket, she invites him to share her drawing room, just as the train comes to an unscheduled stop. Two men in plain clothes get out of a police car and board the train. Roger and Eve leave the dining car to make their way to her compartment.Presently, Eve is lying on the lower berth while Roger talks to her from his hiding place in the closed upper berth. A knock comes at the door, and the two police detectives enter and question her about the man she was talking with at dinner. She deflects their questions, saying she'd never seen him before, and that they hadn't talked about anything important. They leave to continue their search. Using a key she had stolen earlier from a porter, Eve opens the upper berth to let Roger out.As the evening progresses, Roger and Eve become very close very quickly, falling in love in spite of not knowing much about each other. A buzz at the door announces the porter, who is ready to make Eve's bed for her. Roger hides in the washroom while the porter is there, and Eve returns the berth key to the porter, telling him that she had found it on the floor. The porter leaves. Since there's only one bed, Eve insists that Roger is going to sleep on the floor as they return to their interrupted embrace.In another part of the train, the porter delivers a note into the hand of Leonard, who passes it to his boss. The note reads, "What do I do with him in the morning? Eve."In the morning, Eve and Roger get off the train in Chicago with Roger dressed in a redcap's uniform and carrying her luggage. He walks ahead as the two police detectives stop and ask if she has anything to report. She doesn't, and she rejoins Roger. She is also aware of Vandamm and Leonard walking a short ways behind. She tells Roger to change back into his suit which she's hidden on one of her cases, while she calls Kaplan for him.The police soon discover a redcap who is missing his uniform, and they begin to examine every redcap porter in the station trying to find Thornhill. Roger ducks into the men's room, quickly changes, and starts to shave with a very tiny travel razor from the train's washroom. The police walk right past him, not recognizing him through the shaving cream on his face.Meanwhile, Eve in a phone booth is making notes, while in another booth several booths away Leonard is giving instructions into the phone. Eve and Leonard leave their booths at the same time, taking no notice of each other. When Roger joins her, she says that Kaplan wants him to take the Indianapolis bus and to get off at a stop known as Prairie Stop, where Kaplan will meet him at 3:30 p.m.. He asks how he can find her again later. Eve, for some reason, is clearly nervous. She looks toward an empty doorway and tells him, "They're coming!" He hurries away.That afternoon, Roger steps off the bus in the midst of a vast open prairie and begins to wait. An occasional car or truck drives by, with long empty intervals between them. Looking around, Roger notices a nearby corn field, and a crop duster at work in the distance. And still he waits. A man gets out of a car on the opposite side of the road. Thinking he might be Kaplan, Roger approaches. But the man is just waiting for the next bus. The man comments on the crop duster, observing that it seems to be dusting where there aren't any crops.After the man gets on the next bus, Roger is left alone again. The crop dusting plane approaches, swooping low over Roger's position. It comes around and approaches again, strafing the ground with machine gun fire. Roger tries to flag down a car, but it doesn't stop. The plane strafes again, and Roger runs into the corn field, hiding among the tall stalks. The plane's first pass over the field accomplishes nothing, and Roger begins to think he's eluded them. On its next pass the plane drops pesticide over the field. Gasping for breath, Roger has to abandon the cover of the corn stalks. He sees a gasoline tanker truck approaching, and he stands in its way forcing it to stop, which it does barely in time, knocking him to the ground unhurt. The tanker's quick stop presents a sudden obstacle to the low-swooping plane, and it flies headlong into the load of gasoline, bursting into flames. Roger and the drivers flee the truck moments before the second gas tank explodes. Some passersbys stop to view the accident scene, and Roger steals a pickup truck from one of them and drives away. The stolen pickup is next seen that evening parked on a Chicago street.Roger inquires at the front desk of the Ambassador East Hotel for George Kaplan's room number, only to learn that Kaplan had checked out that morning at 7:10 a.m., leaving a forwarding address for the Hotel Sheraton-Johnson in Rapid City, South Dakota. Roger can't understand how he could have gotten the message that morning at 9:10 a.m. if Kaplan had already left. Standing in confusion for a moment, Roger spots, of all people, Eve Kendall entering the lobby. She picks up a newspaper and takes the elevator to the fourth floor. Roger tells the desk clerk that Eve Kendall is expecting him in room 4-something-or-other, he can't remember the whole number. The clerk tells him 463.Roger rings the buzzer at room 463, and is admitted by a surprised Eve. She runs into his arms, apparently happy to see him alive, but he keeps his barriers up. Roger also notices a newspaper detailing the crop dust plane crash into the tanker truck killing both men aboard the plane. Roger plans to stick with Eve and not let her out of his sight, but Eve says that she has plans of her own. The phone rings. Eve tells the caller that she will meet them, jotting an address on a memo pad. She tears off the note and places it into her purse, where she also carries a small handgun. Roger insists on having dinner with her, but she tells him to leave and never see her again. Last night was all there was, they're not going to get involved. He keeps insisting that they have dinner first. She gives in, on the condition that he have the hotel valet clean up his dusty suit. Roger goes into the bathroom to shower, and he passes his trousers out to her. The valet takes his suit away. Then Eve slips away, not knowing that Roger was faking the shower and was watching her. He uses a pencil to shade over the impressions on the top blank sheet of the memo pad, revealing the address she had jotted down as "1212 N. Michigan."A few hours later, wearing his own suit again, Roger steps out of a taxi at 1212 N. Michigan to find an art auction underway in the gallery at that address. In the crowd, Eve Kendall sits under the attentive and watchful eye of Roger's recent captor, the false "Lester Townsend," with Leonard standing close by. Townsend/Vandamm puts his hand on Eve's shoulder, apparently as a clear sign of affection, and he smiles at her while she smiles back. Consumed by anger and jealousy, Roger approaches the trio, and his accusatory tone causes the suspicious "Townsend" to draw away from Eve. She becomes alarmed. Just then an unusual primitive figurine goes up for sale. "Townsend" bids on the sculpted figure, and when he wins the sale, Roger learns that his name is Vandamm. By now, Vandamm has had enough of "Kaplan," and he tells Leonard to finish him off who walks off. This whole scene is observed by the Professor who is lurking in the crowd. Roger starts to leave, but Valerian blocks his way at the main entrance, while Leonard blocks the front stage.(Note: It is speculated here that Vandamm's other henchman, Licht, was shooter in the crop duster plane which crashed along with the anonymous pilot aboard. Thus, Licht, from this point, is never seen again in the movie.)As Vandamm and Eve make their exit, Roger is trapped and must wait behind in the crowd. To manufacture an escape, Roger begins to disrupt the auction, bidding wildly and making rude remarks about the art work. When the police finally arrive, Roger starts a fight with a gallery employee to provoke an arrest. Vandamm's men can do nothing as the police lead him away. As they leave, the Professor makes a quick phone call. When Roger identifies himself as the United Nations killer on their way downtown, the policemen call the station for instructions. They are told to take him to the airport instead of police headquarters.At the Northwest Airlines counter, the Professor arrives and takes Thornhill off the policemen's hands, and leads him out onto the tarmac to catch a plane to Rapid City, SD, near Mt. Rushmore. The Professor explains that Vandamm has a house near Mt. Rushmore, and they think that will be his jumping off point to leave the country the following night. He explains that George Kaplan does not exist, but that he and his associates in Washington need for Roger to continue to play the role of Kaplan for the next 24 hours, to assure Vandamm that everything is all right. They want Vandamm to continue on his journey so that they can learn more about his spy organization overseas and his dealings with smuggling government secrets in and out of the USA. Roger learns that Eve is the government's undercover agent, and that the scene Roger made at the art auction has put her life in jeopardy. Roger's harsh words, and Eve's candid reactions, had made it obvious to Vandamm that his mistress is emotionally involved with a man he believes to be a government agent. For Eve's sake, Roger agrees to co-operate with the Professor to help set things right again.A meeting is set up between "Kaplan" and Vandamm in the cafeteria of the Mt. Rushmore Visitors Center. While the Professor stands hidden in the background, Vandamm arrives with Eve and Leonard. In exchange for not revealing Vandamm's plans to leave the country that night, Roger asks Vandamm to give Eve over to him so that she can get what's coming to her. Vandamm reluctantly agrees. When Roger takes hold of Eve, she draws the handgun from her purse, shoots Roger, and runs away. The Professor emerges from the crowd, examines Roger and shakes his head regretfully. Leonard prompts Vandamm to leave before the authorities arrive. Park employees carry Roger out on a stretcher, and the Professor has him loaded into a Park Service vehicle. They drive away.The Park Service vehicle stops in a secluded wood where a very healthy Roger steps out to find Eve waiting for him. She had asked for this meeting so that they can clear the air. Eve tells him that she had met Phillip Vandamm some time ago at a party and fallen in love with him. Then the Professor had contacted her and told her Vandamm's sordid secrets, asking her to use her unique relationship with Vandamm to help the government, the first time anyone had ever asked Eve to do anything important. Roger is glad that it will all be over when Vandamm takes off that night, and he and Eve can go on with their lives. But she and the Professor tell him that she will be going away with Vandamm, because they still need her to find out more information about him. Roger doesn't want to let her go, and he tries to hold her back forcibly. But the Professor's driver knocks him down, and Eve drives away to return to Vandamm's house.That evening, Roger finds himself locked in a hospital room wearing next to nothing. The Professor brings in a change of clothes for him to use for the next few days on his stay in the hospital. Roger asks the Professor if he could have some bourbon to help ease his stay, and agreeably the Professor leaves to fetch the bourbon. Roger quickly finishes dressing, climbs out the window and along a ledge, making his escape through the neighboring hospital room.He makes his way to Vandamm's house, where he sees lights flashing at a nearby landing strip as if someone is signaling an incoming plane. From outside the living room window, he overhears Vandamm reassuring Eve that everything is all right, and that the plane is about ten minutes away. Leonard asks to have a parting talk with Vandamm in private. Eve goes upstairs to get her things. Leonard notes that even though Eve's actions that afternoon had dispelled Vandamm's doubts, he still doesn't trust her enough to tell her that the figurine they bought at the auction in Chicago holds a bellyful of microfilm. Leonard's suspicions had been aroused by the scene at the Visitors Center. To prove his point, Leonard aims Eve's gun at Vandamm and fires. But Vandamm finds himself unhurt, just as Kaplan must have been unhurt, because the gun is loaded with blanks. Leonard had searched Eve's luggage and found it and immediately knew it was a fake shooting. Not appreciating this cruel revelation from Leonard, Vandamm punches him in the face. But Vandamm quickly regains his composure and knows for certain now that Eve has betrayed him, and that she is working with Kaplan. He tells Leonard that the solution to this is simple: he will drop her from the plane over the ocean.Roger has to warn Eve. He climbs up to her balcony just as she leaves her room and returns downstairs. He jots a note inside the cover of his monogrammed matchbook saying, "They're onto you. I'm in your room." From the upper landing, he tosses the matchbook down to her. It lands on the floor. She doesn't see it. Leonard comes over to speak to her, and he picks up the matchbook, tossing it onto the coffee table as he walks away, not realizing its origins. Then Eve recognizes it and reads the message. She makes an excuse and comes upstairs again.Roger warns her that Leonard found the gun with the blanks, that they plan to do away with her, and that the figure from the auction is filled with microfilm. Roger begs her not to get on that plane, but dutifully she goes downstairs again. The entourage leaves for the plane, and only the housekeeper, Anna (Nora Marlowe), remains downstairs. Roger tries to slip out through the house, but the maid Anna stops him at gunpoint. She tells him that after the plane leaves with Vandamm, Valerian (who is revealed to be Anna's husband), as well as Leonard will return.At the landing strip, Eve is wavering about whether to get on the plane or not. As Vandamm gives his goodbyes to Leonard and Valerian, he also tells them to say goodbye to his sister back in New York (the same woman who impersonated Mrs. Townsend for the authorities). Suddenly, shots ring out at the house, and as everyone turns to see Roger fleeing the house, Eve grabs the figure out of Vandamm's arms and runs away into the darkness toward Roger. He has driven a car from the house toward the plane, and Eve jumps into the car. They speed away. Valerian and Leonard give chase on foot. Roger explains it took him five minutes to realize the housekeeper had been covering him with that same gun filled with blanks.They stop at the front gate, which is now closed and locked. Abandoning the car, they run into the dark woods. Before long they find themselves at the top of the Mt. Rushmore monument, with Leonard and Valerian in hot pursuit. Seeing no other way out, they start climbing down the stone faces. Leonard and Valerian split up and start climbing down after them.Pausing for breath, Roger suggests that if they get out of this alive, that they go back on the train together. Eve asks if that was a proposition. Roger tells her it was a proposal. When Eve asks what had happened to Roger's first two marriages, he tells her his wives had left him because he led too dull a life. The two thugs keep coming at them from two sides, and they all continue climbing down.As Roger and Eve come around an outcropping, they are surprised by Valerian waiting with a drawn knife. He pounces on Roger, and the two of them tussle until Roger manages to kick him away. Valerian plunges to his death.In the meantime, Leonard has caught up with Eve and is trying to wrest the figurine out of her hands. He gets the statuette away, and pushes her over a ledge. She falls a few feet and manages to grab onto another ledge with her fingertips. Roger comes to help her. He reaches her and takes hold of her wrist, but he can't pull her up. Leonard comes to the ledge just above him. Roger pleads with Leonard to help them. Instead of helping, Leonard steps on Roger's fingers. Just then a shot rings out. Leonard drops the figure which shatters, revealing the hidden microfilm. He falls into the depths, already dead.On the summit, the Professor and the captive Vandamm stand with a group of park rangers. One of the rangers puts away his gun.Now the only way for Roger to save Eve is to pull her up on his own. As he finally succeeds in lifting her up, the scene changes to a Pullman compartment, and Roger is lifting his bride into the upper berth. The honeymooners embrace as the train enters a tunnel. | comedy, mystery, murder, clever, humor, suspenseful | train | imdb | Never did he challenge our endurance to keep still in our seats for such a long period of time, and yet the film's 135 minutes go by so fast it could only be explained by movie magic itself.Cary Grant is one of those actors that a filmgoer either falls in love with or deeply envies.
Sometimes this film manages the very difficult trick of being both suspenseful and comical at the same time, as in the auction house scene, or the wonderful scene in the lift when the hero's mother turns to two heavies in a lift looking menacingly at the hero and says "you gentlemen are not REALLY trying to kill my son, are you?".Of course the famous crop dusting plane scene and the Mount Rushmore chase are terrific.
Hitchcock takes his time here as with many of the other scenes, but the film is so crammed with memorable passages that one hardly notices it's 136 mins long.Ernest Lehman's script is full of wonderful lines, many of them delivered so well by chief villain James Mason that at times we almost want to root for him.
I thought it was interesting how Grant first is dismissing, then incredulous that people should be calling him by another name; then, as the tries to find out who this guy is, he enters the hotel room of this new identity, then he puts the suit on, and finally he identifies himself as George Kaplan.A succession of fantastic, memorable scenes, a great leading man in Grant, and one of Hermann's essential Hitch scores make for a movie i can put on at any time.10/10.
The highlights of the film are the sequences involving the crop duster, the train ride to Chicago where Eve and Roger first meet, the auction, and the Mount Rushmore climax.This is one of the best contributions by Cary Grant to any of his work with the director.
Carroll, and the rest of the supporting cast is excellent."North by Northwest" is one of Alfred Hitchcock's best crafted films thanks to the brilliant people that came together to work in it..
I guess you have to appreciate his themes - dysfunctional relationships between a man and his mother, flawed by essentially innocent men caught up in a web of intrigue, beautiful blonds, comments of authority figures, black humor, etc - to really appreciate Hitchcock.Interestingly, James Stewart was Hitchcock's original choice for the role of Roger Thornhill, the hapless ad man who is mistaken for a spy who doesn't even exist to begin with and is chased half way across the country by villains and authorities for a murder he didn't commit.
Grant seems better suited to the character and the situation than Stewart would have been, but I can easily picture Stewart being chased in the cornfield by the crop duster.Like all Hitchcock films, there are hundreds of things that aren't realistic though set in the real world and lots of highly improbable stuff going on everywhere, but if you give it a chance you'll enjoy it and won't care.
It's capped off by a fine Bernard Herrmann score that is almost as good as the one he wrote later for "Psycho".Cary Grant may be the ideal Hitchcock actor, and he is a big part of making this such great fun.
As one of the man-on-the-run characters that Hitchcock loved to make movies about, Grant is entertaining and believable, maintaining good humor even as he tries to work his way out of a series of desperate situations.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST is the Hitchcock film to end all Hitch films, with all his pet themes covered with maximum wit, panache, and suspense, as well as a romance between Cary Grant and a soignée Eva Marie Saint that's as tender as it is sexy.
With all due respect to Grant, if the imperious, unshakably confident Mason asked the Glen Cove police, "Do you honestly believe that this happened the way you think it did?" they would immediately reply, "No, sir, you must be right, you're free to go, sorry we bothered you." :-) Also boasts a great early performance by a reptilian young Martin Landau as Mason's possessive henchman, as well as one of Oscar nominee Ernest Lehman's best screenplays (in fact, he borrowed liberally from it for his script for the film version of THE PRIZE starring Paul Newman) and one of Bernard Herrmann's finest scores.
Cary Grant handles the twisted expressions of his face, his astonished look, his impulsive smile with professional self-assurance and charm while taking us right in the middle of confusion on a breathless 2000-mile cross-country chase which has its gripping showdown across the giant faces of the presidents sculptured on Mount Rushmore high above Rapid City, South Dakota
Grant plays Roger Thornhill, a stylish publicist, mistaken for a fictitious Federal agent, plunged into a world of crime and intrigue, hunted down by villains who want to eliminate him because he seems to be on their dishonest dealings
When questioned by bland Phillip Vandamm (James Mason), Thornhill is unable to convince him that he is a victim of a mistaken identity
His three thugs fill him with bourbon, and place him in a stolen car expecting him to have a drunken accident
After narrowly escaping death, no one believes his story including, obviously, his skeptical mother (Jessie Royce Landis).In an effort to discover the agent he is being confused with, and using the clues he collected, Thornhill returns to the United Nations Headquarter looking for George Kaplan
There, somebody falls into his arms and unthinkingly, Thornhill draws the blade out of the victim's back and is photographed holding the weapon in mid-air
And thus became a fugitive from justice, pursued by the cops and had to skip by boarding a train to Chicago
While on the run, he is caught by a provocative platinum blonde (Eva Marie Saint), who comes out as a glamorous woman and a delightful charmer
James Mason, a polished mastermind spy showed too well to be threatening...
Also, it does feature some memorable scenes, especially the famous crop field/airplane sequence (it really does deserve all the praise it has received) But again, it just proves to me that even a seemingly sure-fire combo like Ernest Lehman-Alfred Hitchcock can still come up short on the goods.The second 007 adventure, `From Russia with Love', received some hounding because people thought it was basically a rip-off of this movie (there are some obvious similarities), but in this madman's humble opinion, `From Russia with Love' is the one that achieves a better telling of a spy story..
The tale is ordinary Hitchcock fare that plays and preys the senses , as a hapless New York advertising executive , Roger Thornhill, (Gary Grant got $450,000 -a substantial amount for the time - plus a percentage of the gross profits ; though Yul Brynner and William Holden was suggested to play him) is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies (James Mason , Martin Landau) and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive .
Here includes Mount Rushmore images and now-legendary scenes such as crop-dusting plane sequences and the train station scene that was shot in New York City's Grand Central Terminal .Alfred Hitchcock couldn't get permission to film inside the UN, so footage was made of the interior of the building using a hidden camera, and the rooms were later recreated on a soundstage .
Wedged in between the making of two very serious, psychological suspense films, "Vertigo" and "Psycho", director Alfred Hitchcock created a very different kind of thriller, one consisting largely of comedy, both subtle and obvious, thanks in part to the talent of scriptwriter, Ernest Lehman.
When I first viewed this film at the innocent age of ten, I didn't appreciate the symbolism of the speeding train through the tunnel at the end, but I was nevertheless very impressed by the overall visual power created by Hitchcock, not only here but in many of his other productions as well.There were many memorable cinematic moments in this film, including an extraordinary aerial shot of Thornhill escaping from the United Nations building, a sudden showdown between man and a speeding oil tanker, which was immediately followed by a spectacular crash of a menacing crop duster with the same tanker, and several, breathtaking shots from atop Mount Rushmore.
As was the case with the Statue of Liberty in "Saboteur", the monument serves as a symbol of the freedom that the evil elements in the film want to undermine and even destroy.The success of "North By Northwest" is shaped by a combination of winning attributes, including a very gifted director, a sharp, snappy screenplay by Lehman, superb cinematography by Robert Burks, an effectively moody musical score by Bernard Hermann, and first-rate acting..
This time it is Cary Grant who is thrust into a world of international intrigue when is mistaken by villain James Mason for an American operative named George Kaplan (the film's "McGuffan" by the way).
One of Alfred Hitchcock's best movies has his favorite actor Cary Grant in it, blonde girl Eva Marie Saint and excellent actors like James Mason & Martin Landau.
Because of great scenes coming from genius Alfred Hitchcock, brilliant script that makes this movie a great thriller, with twists, good performances and some comedic parts (coming from Cary Grant and Jessie Royce Landis).
Cary Grant, who mostly played himself in his later movies (he did that wonderfully, I might add), gives one of his best performances as Roger Thornhill, a man who is mistaken as government agent and later falsely accused of crime he didn't commit.
Had I been alive in 1959 and capable of seeing "North by Northwest," I probably would have gotten up and left the theater halfway through--not because it's a poorly made film, but because it exists, to this day, for no other purpose than to jerk the viewer around to the point of cold indifference.Alfred Hitchcock enjoyed playing his audience like a piano, and while I have no problem with that, all his notes are out of tune here.
One part vanity piece, one part spy thriller, "North by Northwest" has innocent Everyman Cary Grant on the run after being framed for a diplomat's murder; Eva Marie Saint is the femme fatale who may or may not be playing both sides; and James Mason is some sort of vaguely-defined heavy masterminding everything.
Unlike Anthony Perkins in "Psycho" or Jon Finch in "Frenzy," Grant is filled with too much winking, boyish charm to ever convey a sense of consequence for his character; Marie Saint is presented as more of a plot device than a character; and Mason brings a fair amount of class to his limited scenes.Maybe I was expecting something different, and therefore kept waiting for "North by Northwest" to turn into the tense, gripping thriller it has been hailed as.
But when he is mistaken for a spy his life spirals into an adventure that leads him to Mount Rushmore, crop fields and a beautiful woman (played ever so greatly by Eva Marie Saint).The story is captivating, exciting and is everything a great film should be.
It has scenes and lines that have become classics in the world of film and the combination of Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock is unmissable.Ernest Lehmann has done an excellent job in writing the screenplay and this is by far one of his greatest achievements.Overall, this film is a must see for everyone.
At first she appears to just be that girl that will end up by Thornhill's side the whole movie, then she becomes the double-crossing spy, but then she double-crosses the enemies, and we realize so much more about her, that she becomes the most versatile character in the film, played to honest perfection by Eva Marie Saint.
Carey Grant and Eva Marie Saint have very good chemistry and the inclusion of not one, not two, not three, but severa plot twists makes this film one of Hitchcock's best.One thing not focused on in this film is the use of camera angles.
Roger Thornhill (Grant) is mistaken for another man by a group of foreign spies and after a few unfortunate events, finds himself on the run.North by Northwest is recognized as one of Alfred Hitchcock's finest films and with the adrenaline soaked narrative and a great central performance it is easy to see why.Cary Grant (Charade) delivers a sensational portrayal of advertising executive Roger Thornhill, a simple man who is mistaken for someone else.
Covering different genres is not a stroll in the park as recent films show and can be appreciated here with Hitchcock's wonderful balance.The balance of the action and romantic genres works well with the whole mystery concept of what is happening to the central character.The settings are well executed and further add to the intensity of the plot, particularly the field and the climax on Mount Rushmore.North by Northwest is a top notch action thriller, made so by Hitchcock's direction, great writing and a fine central character..
At the same time, it still manages to be quite suspenseful.Cary Grant was one of Hitchcock's favorite actors, and it's easy to see why; he lends a class and glamour to the film, yet allows himself to be put in all sorts of sticky situations which he is able to escape from, no matter how narrowly.
Eva Marie Saint, another legend (and a blonde, as most women are in Hitchcock movies) adds spice and edge to a role that would have been ordinary had it been performed by a less actress.On a side note, I don't think I'm the only one who finds it just a bit creepy to watch someone act on the screen when they're now dead, like Grant, and even more bizarre when they're still alive but have aged quite a bit since their role, like Ms. Saint, who is alive and in her nineties at the time of this review.Hitchcock is known as the Mater of Suspense and this film shows you why; it takes all sorts of twists and turns.
Grant appears a bit old for this but he pulls it off; Eva Marie Saint is incredibly beautiful and pretty good as the love interest (sort of); Martin Landau is so young and handsome with blazing blue eyes and James Mason is just perfect as the evil Vandamm--his lines seem to come so effortlessly and he's so suave...but you also see the cruelty hiding underneath.
`North by Northwest', written by Ernest Lehman and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, stars Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill, an advertising executive who finds himself embroiled in a particularly nasty case of mistaken identity.
He also meets up with Hitchcock's requisite blonde femme fatale, Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) and surrounded by this cast of characters makes a cross-country adventure where his life is threatened several times; all the while with Thornhill having to depend on his wits to keep him alive.
Unable to convince the enemy of his real identity, Roger escapes and goes on the run to look for the real Kaplan, aided by a beautiful, mysterious blonde Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint).The action moves along at a brisk pace, with charismatic lead Grant making for a likeable protagonist and Hitchcock delivering a couple of his most iconic scenes-the crop duster attack and the finalé on Mount Rushmore-both of which are excellent.
Hitchcock's Marvelous Direction, coupled with A Tight Screenplay & Impressive Performances, make this flick worth watching.'North by Northwest' Synopsis: A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.The only glitch in an other-wise super film, is its lethargic pacing in the latter-hour.
It has been said that this movie marks the beginning of the action/thriller as we know it today, and not without reason as this film takes Hitchcock's favorite plot (ordinary man in unbelievable adventures) to the extreme in an epic adventure across U.S.Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill, an ordinary man who is mistaken for a spy and suddenly gets involved in a series of intrigues and adventures that will take him from Washington to Mount Rushmore as he tries to put an end to his problem.
apart from the studio inserts, that is.But the plot is entirely original (or so I believe, but you always find something in the archives ...); Lehman's lines are very witty (and sexy!); the casting is superb (Grant never turned in a bad performance, and Landau, Mason and, especially, Carroll, setting himself up for his long-term role in his later acting career, are outstanding); and, like all Hitchcock's films, it's a fine comedy (and Psycho is the biggest joke of all).
Yet, this piece is not designed to spoil the plot, merely to entice those movie fans who have not yet seen this masterpiece."North by Northwest" stars Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Leo G.
Cary Grant can do drama and comedy perfectly, and this movie shows him in a peak performance.Eva Marie Saint is quite sexy and excellent as the "cool blonde" (Hitchcock liked blondes in the lead female role) in this tale.James Mason and Martin Landau play the antagonists.
Don't let the date, 1959, scare you off, this has everything possible for a movie: great, believable acting from all(Grant, Saint, Mason, Landau, and even the minor players); stunning cinematography(decades ahead of its time), fantastic stunts(the air-duster scene, and the Mount Rushmore finale), a brilliant score by Bernard Herrmann, and the perfect mixture of action, humor, and a dash of romance.One lesson that all modern film makers could learn from this movie is timing.
In addition to Hitchcock, we have great acting from the likes of Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. |
tt0981227 | Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist | The movie opens in Nicks (Michael Cera) room, the screen pans the scene as Nick leaves a message on his ex-girlfriend Triss (Alexis Dziena) answering machine. Nick tells her that he is leaving the last of his mixed cds on her doorstep, making this volume # 12 of the Road to Closure series. Nick is heartbroken that they broke up and wants to know why it happened especially why on his b-day. The scene then goes to Sacred Heart High school in Englewood, NJ.Bopping down the hallway listening to her ipod is Norah (Kat Dennings), on her way to her locker she meets up with Caroline (Ari Graynor). Caroline asks her if they are heading out to the city for the night, Norah agrees as long as Caroline promises not to get drunk again. Caroline agrees when Tris comes up to them. Tris used to be friends with Norah and Caroline but its obvious Norah and Tris dont agree on much anymore. Tris brags to the girls about how she received another mixed cd from her ex and ridicules the cover art and song selection, she ends up throwing it in the trash. As soon as Tris walks away, Norah picks it up from the trash bin. Norah has been listening to the past 7 mixed cds Tris has thrown out and loves both the music and cover art. The girls leave for home to get ready, on their way out they meet with Tris again who asks to meet up with them on her way to try and find the elusive band Wheres Fluffy?.A loud dingy van pulls up to Nicks house and his friends Dev (Rafi Gavron) and Thom (Aaron Yoo) get out. Apparently, all three of them have a gig at Arlene's Grocery in the East Village tonight with their band The Jerk Offs. Nick says that he doesnt feel up for it and is taking a mental health day. With some convincing from his friends they pack up their instruments and head out to the city.That night, Norah is in the crowd as the Jerk Offs take the stage. She listens intently all the while looking at Nick up on stage playing bass. Caroline, is off by the bar getting steadily drunker by the minute and flirting with whoever comes by her way. After the Jerk Offs set, Caroline pokes fun at Norah for obviously having a crush on Nick, she even proceeds to bump into her so she would bump into Nick and get his attention. This doesnt work since Nick has just spotted Tris and her new boyfriend Gary in the crowd. Nick says hello to Tris but is basically disheartened at the sight of her new boyfriend who is older and in college. Tris eventually goes up to say hello to Norah but ends up insulting her by saying that she is alone again as usual. In order to get Tris off her back, Norah says that she isnt alone and that she really should be headed back to her boyfriend. Tris is taken aback by this and asks her where her boyfriend is. Norah just walks away to the bar where she spots Nick; she quietly asks him to be her boyfriend for five minutes and plants a kiss on him. They both enjoy it until Tris rushes over and asks how they both met, Norah covers up by saying they met at a dentist and have been dating ever since. Tris is obviously jealous but ends up leaving with Gary, Norah decides that Caroline is again too drunk to handle and attempts to get her home. Nicks friends Dev and Thom see this and try to stall; they obviously hate Tris and think Norah would be perfect for their friend. Dev, Thom, and Thoms date Beefy Guy end up offering Caroline a ride home in their van so Nick and Norah could stay in the city and search for the band Wheres Fluffy?.Nick and Norah are both hesitant but ultimately agree. Nick tells Norah that Dev, Thom, and the beefy guy are all gay so if anyone gets raped in the van it would be a guy and not Caroline. Before the group splits up, Thom talks to Nick and convinces him to give Norah a shot since they obviously mesh great together. Dev takes Norah to the van and gives her a push-up bra to replace her sports one.Nick and Norah head off around the East Village trying to find Wheres Fluffy? Norah teases him about his Yugo and they both talk about how much they love the band and playfully argue about whom loved them first. A drunken couple blag their way into Nick's yellow Yugo, thinking it's a cab. They ask him to drop them off at Bowery Ballroom and proceed to make a drunken spectacle fooling around in the back seat. Nick let's them off at their destination and Norah continues to tease him playfully. Nick ultimately ruins it by bringing up Tris and asking Norah if she is the friend Tris claimed was always jealous of her. Norah gets out of the car and is about to get a taxi when Nick calls her back saying his friends had lost Caroline. Caroline had jumped out of the van after hearing the boys discuss band new band names like Balls Deep. Now no one knows where Caroline is so they all decide to meet up and try to find her. They scour the city looking for her; Caroline is shown in Port Authority terminal trying to get a ticket back home to Jersey, since she doesnt have any money she is pretty much stuck. Caroline end up having a drunken one-sided conversation with a guy dressed as a chef, she ultimately tries to eat half of his sandwich but ends up running to the bathroom and throwing up. Nick, Norah and the gang all show up at Port Authority and realize that the last bus to Jersey had already left, they assume that Caroline must be wherever Wheres Fluffy? is and they leave to go look for her. As they leave, Caroline is seen stumbling out of bathroom.Nick, Norah, and the rest of the gang end up at BK Pool, a club in Brooklyn. Norah can easily get into club and Nick asks why, but they're both interrupted by Tal (Jay Baruchel). Tal is Norahs ex, he proceeds to drag Norah away and kiss her neck. Nick is obviously jealous at this and steals glances at Norah every now and then. Ultimately, it turns out to be the old bait and switch routine and instead of Wheres Fluff? its a band called Are you randy? Everyone ends up leaving and Nick is surprised to see Norah walk back with them to the van, he ends up giving her his sweater to keep her warm. As they head back to the city they run into Tris again in a convenience store, inside Tris confronts Norah and tries to convince her that Nick isnt the guy for her. When that doesnt work, Tris teases her about the fact that she has never had an orgasm and never will have one with Nick. Tris ends up receiving a call from Caroline, apparently Caroline has found Jesus and Norah ends up rushing out to try and find her. Norah tells the guys the new information and they all scour churches trying to find Caroline. In one particular scene, Nick runs into a group of threatening homeless people including Andy Sandberg (SNL) in front of a church and ends up running away. Eventually, Thom and Dev remember a gay cabaret show with a Christmas theme; they all head there and find Caroline in the show dressed up as a lighted Christmas tree.On their way back to Nicks car, Nick realizes what a good friend Norah is by taking care of Caroline in her drunken state. In a sweet scene, he ends up using a saved wet-nap to clean Norahs hand after Caroline throws up on her. When they reach his car, Tris is found sitting on it. Nick leaves to confront her and basically forgets about Norah, Norah stops him and shyly whispers that it was nice meeting him as his friends lament Nick leaving her.Norah decides to call up her ex and meet up with him at Crash Mansion. Once there, she realizes that Tal is only using her for connections. Norah's Dad is famous music producer and that explains why Norah can walk into any club without being stopped. Norah eventually gets frustrated after being asked to take care of a bar tab, she tells the waitress she miscalculated the bill and to add an extra zero, she ends up storming out of the club.In the meantime, Tris tells Nick that she wants a ride home from someone dependable like him, on the way to Jersey she says that was wrong and that she wants him back. She convinces him to pull over on the Westside Highway by Pier 54 to seduce him and dances sexily to You Sexy Thing. As she dances, Nick remembers the fun he had with Norah; he ends up driving away and leaving Tris still dancing. Nick calls up Norah to apologize and asks to meet with her. Norah is eating pierogi at Veselka, and she tells him to meet her on 2nd Ave and 10th St. There Nick apologizes again and they both agree to go someplace where they know no one will find them. Norah decides to surprise Nick and drives the car, Norah turns out to be a pretty reckless driver and crashes Nicks car into a fire hydrant while scrolling through his ipod and deeming him her musical soul mate.Nick and Norah end up at Electric Lady Studios, which is owned by her father. Nick is amazed by where they are and all of the equipment, Norah asks him to record something and he steps into the booth and sings a little song about how she crashed his car. Norah ends up walking into the booth with him, they stare at each other before making out on the couch, the sound equipment then picks up Norah having an orgasm inside the booth, courtesy of Nick. The moment is interrupted by Norah receiving a text message from Caroline, they had found Wheres Fluffy? Norah and Nick rush out to meet up with them, in the crowd Norah is confronted by Tal and Nick is confronted by Tris. Both want to know why they were ditched, Tal ends up pulling Norah away from Nick again, Nick pushes him and a fight is about to start but the Beefy Guy/ Lothario ends up head butting Tal. Nick and Norah then glance at each other and leave hand in hand as Wheres Fluffy? takes the stage. They are then both seen entering Penn Station, Norah is curious if Nick regrets not watching the show and asks if he minds missing it all, Nick who doesn't care about the show answers her back instead about their connection, saying this is it and they share a kiss as they go down the escalator. | romantic, cute | train | imdb | null |
tt0137363 | Arlington Road | Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) is a widower and college history professor at George Washington University with a son, Grant (Spencer Treat Clark). While driving he encounters a boy, Brady (Mason Gamble), staggering in the road with horrific injuries to his hands. Michael takes him to hospital, and meets his parents Oliver (Tim Robbins) and Cheryl Lang (Joan Cusack), discovering they are his neighbors. The families soon become friends, and their sons join the Discoverers, a Scouts-style group.
Actions of the Langs arouse latent suspicion in Michael. Michael sees blueprints in the Lang's house which are not for the building project Oliver, a structral engineer, claims, and a wrongly delivered letter suggests he lied about where he attended college. Over dinner, Michael describes impersonal treatment from the government after his wife, an FBI agent, was killed in the line of duty. Oliver states his belief that the government should be punished for its mistakes. Michael's girlfriend, Brooke (Hope Davis), and his wife's former FBI partner, Whit Carver (Robert Gossett), dismiss Michael's concerns as paranoia.
On a field trip to the site of the standoff in which his wife was killed, Michael describes to his college class what he sees as a needless tragedy: that although certain activities of the besieged family raised "flags," other facts, not investigated before the FBI visit, both exonerated them and explained their wariness of the FBI agents, which provoked the standoff. Michael's students appear uneasy at the intensity with which Michael condemns the FBI's actions.
Conversing with Michael, Oliver says that Grant wishes someone could be punished for his mother's death, at which Michael is again suspicious. Researching archives, Michael discovers that Oliver's real name is William Fenimore, and that he tried to blow up a post office in Kansas at age 16. He is seen by Oliver, who later confronts him, incensed at Michael's intrusions and presumptions of judgment. He states that he was retaliating against the government for seizing his family farm's water supply, which rendered it unusable and eventually led to his father's suicide. He states he was imprisoned, and admits to assuming the identity of his deceased friend Oliver Lang to hide his criminality from his children.
Michael appears to let the matter drop. However, Brooke later sees Oliver swap cars with a stranger in a parking lot, and follows him to a delivery depot where a number of metal boxes are exchanged. From a payphone, she leaves Michael a message that his suspicions may have been correct, but is discovered by Cheryl.
Michael learns of Brooke's (off-screen) death on the news, where it appears she died in a car crash. He discovers inadvertently that messages left on his answering machine had been erased, and again suspects foul play, telling Whit about Oliver/William and asking him to check FBI records, and records of calls to his home.
Michael visits the father of Dean Scobee, accused of blowing up a federal building in St. Louis, from where the Langs had moved. Dr. Scobee is certain his son was not the perpetrator of the bombing since 10 children were killed, which he would never have done knowingly. Michael becomes certain that Dean was set up when he sees a photo of him in a Discoverer troop with Brady, with whom Grant is currently on a field trip. In a panic Michael rushes back to Washington to retrieve Grant, but is told by troop leaders that he was taken home with Brady. Returning home, Michael does not find Grant and confronts Oliver at his home. Oliver confirms that his group killed Brooke, and implies that Grant will be killed if Michael tries to involve others.
Whit accosts Michael the following day, stating the FBI discovered nothing suspicious about Oliver/William or his acquaintances, and says that Michael's 'missing' telephone message was from a payphone. The next day, Michael rents a car under a false name and drives to the payphone where he seeing a passing delivery vehicle, follows it to its depot, where he sees men he recognizes from Oliver's house and from Discoverer photographs, loading metal boxes into the van.
Michael follows the van and is shocked to see Grant at the window, and gives chase. Oliver blocks Michael's car with his own, causing a crash, and drags him to an abandoned building where he beats him, saying Michael will not see Grant again. Oliver believes his group is waging war against the government, and states their target is the FBI. Michael overpowers Oliver and drives to FBI headquarters, calling Whit at his office to warn him.
Michael sees a delivery van at the gate and illegally pursues it into the secure parking garage, but discovers that the van has a different driver and is empty. Whit tells Michael that he is the only unauthorised person in the building, in panic Michael rushes back to his own car discovering at the last moment that the conspirators have planted the bomb in his own trunk seconds before it detonates. Hundreds of government agents, and civilians, including Whit are killed in the massive blast which partially collapses the FBI headquarters. Oliver impassively watches the bombing from a distance.
In a montage of television news clips, Michael is portrayed as a lonewolf terrorist who had sought revenge for his wife's death and targeted the FBI, in particular her former partner, Whit. Statements from his students, one of whom is a conspirator, support the official story, giving accounts of his erratic and paranoid behavior in the days prior and inferring from them that he held a dangerous grudge against the FBI. Grant, now orphaned, moves in with relatives, tragically unaware of his father's innocence.
In the final scene, the Langs imply that they will move again to another city to plan their next terrorist strike as well as look for another fall guy to take the blame for their group's actions as they did with Michael Faraday and several others before him. | cult, neo noir, murder, violence, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0119794 | Nirvana | The film tells the story of a virtual reality game designer, Jimi (Christopher Lambert), who finds out that the main character of his game, Solo (Diego Abatantuono), has achieved sentience due to an attack by a computer virus. Asked by his creation (who feels everything the character in the game feels, including multiple deaths) to eliminate its existence, Jimi sets out to erase the game from his employer's server before it's commercially released, and thus spare Solo further suffering.Jimi feels desperate because his wife Lisa (Emmanuelle Seigner) left him. He starts to search for her as he tries to delete Solo from the game. These two paths of his life complement in the story throughout the whole film. By the end, Jimi hacks into one of the company's servers. This hack is in the world of virtual reality interpreted as encounters with persons from Jimi's life. That is the way the network defends itself. It tries to keep the hacker's mind in the loop of his own memories as it burns the hacker's brain. The only way to pass through the network defence mechanism is to free one's mind. To forget about life before or after, to forget about bodily feelings, and to enter a state of pure concentration where one focuses only on the target (in this case the server with the company's bank account). It is similar to meditation where one tries to concentrate on breathing; people who are able to do this are called angels (they are invisible to the system, can go anywhere they want, and their possibilities are limitless). In the end, Jimi feels enlightened. He is in inner peace with himself. He saves the character, understands why Lisa left, and understands why the things happened the way they happened. He is in the state of Nirvana. | romantic, alternate reality, sci-fi | train | imdb | No, no, it's not thought-provoking like eXistenZ of David Cronenberg and then again YES forget about Matrix - Nirvana is magical in a way a Hollywood film will never be.
While the movie doesn't have the big budget a Hollywood blockbuster would have had, it still manages to create an interesting & convincing near-future world.
Actually, it's one of the few films that really manage to create a decent cyberpunk setting; right now, I can only think of "Nemesis" which was a pretty good effort, and then there's always "Blade Runner", of course...As for the acting in this movie, it's always tough to rate the level of acting when the movie is dubbed, but all in all I'm not complaining.
Lambert is good, and Diego Abatantuono (sp?) is interesting as the sentient game character Solo - and kind of appropriate, too, since he has the physical look of a real-life "Mario on steroids".
That is totally incidental.The movie is about the voyage towards Nirvana - the real thing - of two men (or maybe of one man and his own projection in a virtual world): how the two (or maybe the man and his own inner conscience) start to understand what Nirvana is and how they eventually reach it, in spite of all misadventures and (that is not casual at all...) the cycles of deaths and rebirths that the virtual self Solo (meaning alone, in Italian, not Star Wars' character - again not a coincidence) has to go through.This is a movie about symbolisms.
Searches that cannot be disturbed by petty concerns (see Bebo Storti's apparently bizarre line after he appears in a flash for just a few seconds to shoot and kill a very unlucky henchman "I am MEDITATING [profanities deleted]!").Science fiction is incidental to its aims, and provides a fabulously well used tool to unravel the story in what I regard as a cinematic masterpiece.Blade Runner's climax ended on the recognition that replicants (and humans, maybe) were just "tears...
An European hard-science action movie is rare these days, especially a good one, and Nirvana was a good surprise when released in France...
This is not a Wakowsky Bros frenzy festival with "bullettime effect" (did you know that it was a french who created them ?) and kick-ass fighting, but Gabriele Salvatores (an "intellectual" director as it seems) did an excellent low-budget film with GREAT scenario, GREAT acting (Lambert at his best, seriously), a credible world...
He's got something in common with Solo, thats why he decide to help him, erasing the game, his last an great creation, Nirvana, before its too late.
and this movie represents it.Here there is everything: Sprawl, Hacking, Virtual Reality, Surviving, Cybermad, Corporations, Future....
Jimi, a computer programmer, is trying to finish his latest role-playing computer game Nirvana for the Okasama Star corporation.
He is surprised to find that Solo, the lead character has developed awareness of his location in the game, the fact that every time he dies he is reborn, and that he is doomed to live out the same life and situations over and over again.
Jimi is also battling painful memories of his own - his lost girlfriend who disappeared from his life leaving only a video recording and a picture to remind him of her...Although there is not much in this film for action buffs, there is conceptually a link to other films about simulated experience such as Total Recall and The Matrix, as well as some existential musings on the nature of memory and experience in the digital age where such things can be easily synthesised.
A delightfully ambiguous ending emphasises the film's main themes.Good use is made of a medium budget to simulate an anarchic future world sliding into decay, with a decline in morality and a low value placed on the sanctity of life and the human body - the streets of the slums are replete with organ thieves; and Joystick's synthetic eyes are a physical complement to Naima's synthetic memories.
OK, so you've always wondered what the matrix would be like with a good leading actor (rather than the wooden Reeves), a better script, no spectacular action scenes, and low budget.
Then I found out that's because the Miramax (DVD) is a total hack job of the original film, with 20 minutes chopped off and distracting dubbing of all the actors' voices.
In case you didn't already know, the original film is in Italian, and it was dubbed into English for this particular DVD.The story itself is really interesting, and it's a cut above all the other cyberpunk movies that were churned out in the late 90s capitalizing on the burgeoning net culture.
"Nirvana" is set in a dystopian future à la Bladerunner and follows 3 days in the life of a software programmer (Christopher Lambert) who is about to deliver his masterpiece virtual reality game called Nirvana.
The movie then splits into 2 concurrent timelines, one with Lambert trying to stop the game's release, and two with the video game character trying to understand his own existence.With a good dose of action, lots of style and peppered with some good unexpected comedic moments, the film is entertaining.
If you watch the Miramax DVD (96 mins) be sure to take it with a grain of salt, or as I'm trying to do, hunt down the original 113 min Italian version which is generally loved by all who have seen it..
Nirvana results to be a peculiar Sci-Fi film with an intricate screenplay dealing with the complex relationships between a game designer and program and how the main character , through a virus, controls the artist .
Jimi (Christopher Lambert), a successful computer game creator , finds that his latest issue has been infected by a virus which has possessed consciousness to the program's main role named Solo (Diego Abantautono).
Jimi affected by the memory of his fled sweet heart named Lisa (Emmanuelle Seigner)and begged by Solo to finish its useless "life", starts a search for someone who can help him both to discover what happened to Lisa and to delete his game before it is released .
I won't say that there aren't any issues because there are but overall the acting is pretty flawless.The reason that I think Nirvana is more reviewable than pretty much any other film is the story and the philosophical and cyberpunk elements of the story because with every viewing I catch something I didn't see the previous time I watched it.
Nirvana not only supplies the world with a whole new level of passable special effects mixed with style and substance, it also brings a whole new meaning to the word 'cyberpunk'.
It can also be seen only on its surface, and it will look fine: nice action, good FX, great casting...If you're looking for some truth in your life, and want some guidelines, less restrictive than religion try this Hi-fi Virtual-based piece of wisdom.
There are B Sci Fi movies and then there are B Sci Fi movies with Christopher Lambert, much in the same way Bruce Campbell enjoys the unofficial bad ass award when it comes to B Horror Movies.This is a gem for fan's of the genre, other's may not enjoy or understand how to enjoy a movie like this.
It's been called 'psychedelic', but I think, it's a perfect piece of cyber-punk as well and if you're a fan of William Gibson, then Nirvana is definitely a MustSee: brilliant soundtrack, mesmerizeing environment, adequate characters (Chr. Lambert really stars!), excellent dialogue etc, etc..
Basically if you liked "The Matrix", "Diva" and "Subway" you will love this movie which transfers the cyberpunk visions of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling et al to the screen in as accomplished a way as Blade Runner foreshadowed those same authors.
Even though the budget was obviously not huge the production manages to feel "big" in the way it gives you a real feeling that you are seeing a full environment/world and not just a bunch of back-lots and interiors.The way that Lambert as Jimi, computer games designer, interacts with his cyber-creation Solo is very funny and at times quite touching as he comes to realise he has a responsibility toward this digital creation which leads to a clever co-joining of the "real" and digital world of the computer game.It is a movie that asks some interesting questions about what it is that we create inside a computer and whether it has any consciousness, rights or artificial intelligence of it's own - quite relevant in these increasingly virtual times.Throw in a fantastic soundtrack and you have one of the best VR movies ever (not a large genre, but growing) which would easily hold it's own in a double bill with "The Matrix".SEE IT - If you can find it!!!.
The movie deals with homosexuality, deformity, grief, relationships, drug use, the power of the state, sexual depravity, overwhelming desire, delusion with an uplifting beat like some kind of Nirvanic Angel, skipping through and over the pit falls of life with a grin and a spliff hanging from her mouth.There are so many spiritual motifs running through this movie that if you are not that way inclined the main storyline of spiritual liberation, could easily be lost and judging from the mixed reviews has been lost.If you have a practice you will recognise a lot of what's going on here.
I have never seen Nirvana listed on the Buddhist movies to see list but it should be right up the top, mainly because it's context is the life we all lead, technology, drug use, desire.
I've seen the Italian version and I found the dubbing marvelous,in particular Lisa-Emmanuelle Seigner, the interpretation very good, I really loved Solo-Diego Abatantuono in this new role.
Jimi decides to leave his normal and blank life of programmer to find his beloved Lisa, his life, in a cyberpunk "blade runner like" world.
His story interlaces with Solo's story, the main character of the Jimi's video game.
Chris Lambert plays Jimi Dini in one of his rare top notch actings,a video game programmer who discovers that a renegade virus has infiltrated his computer and infected his newest creation,the cost,the main character realizes he is condemned of doing the same repetitive things,so he asks Jimi to erase him,so he needs to hack into the companies mainframe,well that´s the premise that makes the Matrix look like one of the most unoriginal movies of all time..
I really liked this movie, it was intense, fast-paced, with a very good, or should I say suitable, soundtrack.
And I was kinda disappointed that the movie was dubbed into English, since I partly went to practice my Italian ;).
This little movie which flirts with the idea virtual reality gaming is a delight to look at but has an underwritten script.
I would never expect anything intelligent or original from a B-movie, but Nirvana was neat.
This film has a colourful portrayal of the future, which plays with several different kinds of computer graphics, not to mention some other good quirks, like talking houses, alarms, and a computer game character who gains self awareness and has the ability to talk to his player.
I watched it in Italian, so bad dubbing was not a real problem for me (even if Christopher Lambert is clearly not speaking Italian).
A lot of reviewers compared this to films like Johnny Mnemonic and The Matrix, but that is just inviting disappointment.
The same ideas of games becoming too real, intermingling with reality, to the player's downfall.The film has several things going for it.
One is Christophe Lambert, who is always funny in any movie, no matter how bad it is.
The best thing, in my opinion, is that it is a truly Italian film, rather than a clone after an American movie, a feeling that is enforced by Diego Abatantuono playing the role of Solo in a typical Italian way.
Other things, like the scene with the guy killing someone in the corridor because they were making too much noise 'ma che cazzo?!' or the car antitheft device spouting Italian insults are good examples.The cyberpunk theme is clearly influenced by William Gibson's vision (I mean, what cyberpunk film isn't?), and in a way steals a lot of the elements you see in Johnny Mnemonic, released just two years earlier, but the moral of the story is more metaphysical in nature.As much as I liked all of these elements in the film, I have to also complain about a lot of others.
Not as bad as many people say and not nearly as good as it could have been, Nirvana is a take on the emotional politics of our cyber-future in way that only the french could have interpereted.
Lambert (as Jimi) delivers an understated performance as a man caught between the near-reality of a game character's (Solo's) world and that character's newly found self awareness -all while existential feelings creep over his personal VR headset.The effects are very light but surprisingly appropriate for each scene used.
A programmer for the 'Osaka Star' company finds the main character in his latest video game work becoming self aware and starting to speak to him, wanting him to delete him so that he doesn't have to go through the life death cycle of the game anymore.
The version of "Nirvana" that I watched was badly dubbed into English, which didn't do it any favours.
Unfortunately, the crappy clichéd dialogue wasn't all that was bad about this film."Nirvana" plays out like a badly-adapted sci-fi novel, directed by someone who's watched "Blade Runner" and "Alphaville" far too many times.
The concept of a virtual reality video game character becoming self-aware and having an existential crisis COULD be an interesting one if it was handled by a writer with the talent of Philip K.
In the near future Jimi Dini is a computer programmer working on Nirvana the newest and most expansive video game experience out there.
Haunted by memories of his ex-girlfriend, Jimi is given a different focus when one of the characters in his game "Solo" appears to have developed consciousness as a result of a computer virus infecting the software.
While Solo attempts to work out the world around him and negotiate his rigid world of regular "game overs", Jimi tries to get to the source of the game and delete the source.My first impressions about this film were mainly directed by my instant aversion to the bad dubbing and the obvious budget limitations but I tried to get passed them and look at the story and the ideas within the script instead.
In the "real world" things are delivered with a visual flair that a better budget would have made great but the material really isn't there for the viewer.I won't add my voice to the moans about bad dubbing etc because a lot of the criticism here is blunt and thoughtless, but I will agree that this is a pretty weak film.
Filmed at a time when Christopher Lambert's Hollywood glory days were over, Nirvana's only flaw is it's low budget.
With limited means it went as far as a movie could get before kung-fu fighting and CGI became a regular staple in SF genre.What we see here is a near-future dystopia where drugs and virtual reality are a part of everyday life.
Nirvana is a pathetic movie.Be very far away from it.
Nirvana is a horrible and repulsive film.This is a very pathetic movie and I do not know what was Christopher Lambert thinking when he accepted the role in this movie.It seems that the director of this movie is laughing at the people who see it.I cannot believe how this movie was released in cinemas.From the first scenes(which seem a very bad joke),it seems that the movie is gonna be really bad.Nirvana is one of the worst movies in the history of the cinema.Be very far away from it.This movie could only be seen by students of cinema to show them how to don't make a movie.Rating:1(sadly it can't be 0).
As he showed with his excellent film, "I'm Not Scared", the director is up to the challenge.This film will resonate with sci-fi and cyberpunk fans who will clearly see a lot in this intricate movie that has some of the best special effects in quite some time.
Christian Lambert plays his role of Jimi Dini in his usual deadpan style, which helps set the tone of the movie.
Diego Abatantuono, one of the best Italian actors of the last years makes a contribution with his Solo.
Stefania Rocca, Emmanuelle Seigner, Amanda Sandrelli, add their beauty to the story."Nirvana" is a great film to look at, in the tradition of others of the genre.
I like a lot of things about "Nirvana" - the ambiance, the soundtrack, most of Lambert's performance, the central "quest" of his character, and the general depiction of a future world in which most human meaning and connection has been subsumed by virtual realities.I don't rate it as high as I might for a couple of reasons: 1) The actual depiction and rationale for Solo's abrupt shift to self awareness isn't convincing at all, and neither is the depiction of the game itself.
I will gladly admit that some of this might be an issue with the dubbing in English, but I have to respond to the movie I saw, not whatever it was like in the original Italian - this is why I always prefer to hear the original voice acting and read subtitles if I can.3) Let's face it, the screenplay just drags in spots.
After returning to America, I have seen the English-dubbed DVD.***SPOILER:*** I DO have a problem with the crux-point of the story: a computer-character's ascension to self-actualization because of a virus(!) is a little too extreme for me to accept. |
tt0024894 | The Black Cat | The movie opens with the airplane circling the Earth, A Universal Picture, logo, and the title and credits. At a busy train station, passengers come and go. A train official examines the papers of Peter Alison (David Manners) and his wife, Joan (Julie Bishop as Jacqueline Wells). Satisfied, he closes the door of their compartment and moves on. The Alisons settle into their comfortable accommodations, but are soon interrupted by the conductor, "Excuse me sir, lady, a terrible mistake has occurred. The half sold space in your compartment to a gentleman. It is terrible." The gentleman in question is Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi). He agrees to make himself comfortable in the passenger car, but Peter insists he join them in their compartment. Werdegast stares at Joan, then at Peter, and finally up at a precariously placed bag above the Alisons. He jumps to his feet and catches the bag before it can fall on the couple. The three introduce themselves. Werdegast explains he is going to visit an old friend. The train rolls on to the first stop where it is pouring rain. Werdegast explains to Peter he was incarcerated at a prison in Omsk on Lake Baikal in Siberia. "Many men have gone there. Few have returned. I have returned. After fifteen years, I have returned!"The bus from the Hotel Hungaria in Gombos takes the four to the hotel. Werdegast tells the driver to drop him off at the Poelzig house on the way. Werdegast's servant, Thamal (Harry Cording) sits listening to the driver explain the sights. It is still raining heavily and the driver loses control of the bus. It crashes and the driver is killed. The passengers survive, but Joan is slightly injured. Thamal carries Joan to the Poelzig house, while Werdegast and Peter carry the bags. The Majordomo (Egon Brecher) answers the doorbell and lets the weary travelers into the house. On the way to their rooms, Werdegast tells the servant to call the authorities in Visegrad and report the accident and that the driver was killed. The Majordomo informs Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff as Karloff) by intercom that Werdegast has arrived. Poelzig gets out of bed, puts on a robe and slippers while Werdegast dresses a wound on Joan and gives her a mild sedative, Hyoscine. Poelzig enters the room and Werdegast addresses him, "It has been a long time Hjalmar. The years have been kind to you." Werdegast looks towards Joan and continues, "An accident on the road below. We are all very fortunate to be alive. Mr. and Mrs. Alison are going to Gombos. Mrs. Alison is slightly injured. I took the liberty of bringing them here." Poelzig escorts Werdegast out of the room, leaving Peter to fret over his sleeping wife.Werdegast confronts Poelzig over his treachery during the war. He does admire the construction of the house, "A masterpiece of construction, built upon the ruins of the masterpiece of destruction." Werdegast reminds Poelzig of his time in prison and then asks about his wife and daughter. Werdegast knows about his wife's travels with Poelzig and traced them to this house. He asks point blank, "Where is she?" Before Poelzig can answer, Peter wanders into the room. Poelzig invites Peter to join them in a drink. Peter explains that he is a mystery writer. When Werdegast sees a black cat, he drops his glass and throws a knife at the creature, killing it instantly. Joan wanders into the room in a drug induced trance. She asks Werdegast, "You are frightened, doctor?" Poelzig explains to Joan, "You must be indulgent of Dr. Werdegast's weakness. He is the unfortunate victim of one of the commoner phobias, but in an extreme form. He has an intense and all-consuming horror of cats." Peter kisses his wife then carries Joan back to her room and puts her to bed. Poelzig escorts Peter and Dr. Werdegast to their rooms. They discuss the origins of black cat superstitions. Werdegast and Peter decide to trade rooms so Peter can be closer to his wife. He asks the doctor if his wife will be well enough to travel to Gombos in the morning and is told yes.Poelzig wanders the lab petting his cat. He examines a couple of embalmed women in display cases. He returns to Dr. Werdegast's room and is surprised to find Peter. Werdegast invites Poelzig into his room and closes the door that adjoins Peters room. Again Werdegast asks where his wife is. Poelzig replies, "Very well, Vitas. I shall take you to her." The two walk downstairs to the main room. Next they walk down another set of stairs that served as the passage to the gun turrets when the property was a fort. They walk until they arrive at the old chart room. Poelzig turns on a light that illuminates a woman hanging in a display case. "You see Vitas, I have cared for her tenderly and well. You will find her almost as beautiful as when you last saw her. She died two years after the war." When Werdegast asks how, he is told of pneumonia. Poelzig tells the doctor that his daughter is also dead. Werdegast does not believe Poelzig and pulls a gun on the architect. Before he can pull the trigger, a black cat appears and Werdegast falls back against a glass chart on the wall. Poelzig escorts Werdegast back upstairs and invites him to play another game when the Alisons leave.Poelzig returns to his room and goes back to bed. His wife inquires about the commotion below stairs. He tells Karen (Lucille Lund) to stay in her room the next day. We learn that Karen is Dr. Werdegast's daughter. In his room, Werdegast tells his servant, Thamal, to put away the knife. They must choose their time carefully. The house is undermined with dynamite, so they must be very careful. Poelzig reads his book on Satanism before turning the light out. The passage refers to a ceremony involving a human sacrifice of a woman. The next morning Werdegast looks in on his patient, Joan. She starts to remember the accident, but not the injury or treatment. Poelzig enters the room to check on his guest. Werdegast and Poelzig sit at a chess set and agree to play a game for the freedom of the girl, Joan. Werdegast is invited to witness the ceremony Poelzig plans for the evening, with Joan as the guest of honor in the ritual.Peter and Joan decide they don't like the house or Poelzig and they want to leave immediately. Two policemen arrive at the house. The Lieutenant (Albert Conti) and the Sergeant (Henry Armetta) question the three men about the accident on the road. Peter explains they were on their way to Gombos when the bus crashed. Part of the road gave way due to the rain and the bus tipped over. Peter explains that he needs to get to Visegrad so his wife can contact her parents in Vienna. All his attempts to depart are thwarted by Poelzig: inoperative car, dead telephone to call for a car. Werdegast and Poelzig continue their game of chess and Poelzig wins. Peter gets his wife and tells her they are leaving, even if they have to walk. Peter and Joan walk to the front door where Thamal stands guard. Peter commands Thamal, "Open the door." Thamal grabs Peter by the throat and knocks him to the floor. The Majordomo catches the fainting Joan. Thamal carries Joan back upstairs and tosses her on her bed. Poelzig enters her room and locks the side door, and then exits and locks the main bedroom door. As Thamal picks Peter up, Werdegast warns, "I hope you won't carry this too far, Hjalmar." The two servants take Peter down into the basement and lock him in a room with a revolving wall.Poelzig sits at an organ and plays the Tocatta in D Minor by Bach. Werdegast secrets a key into his hand and enters Joan's locked room upstairs. He assures Joan she has nothing to fear from him. He tells Joan, "Please, Child. Listen to me. We're all in danger. Poelzig is a mad beast. I know. I know, I've seen the proof. He took Karen, my wife, murdered her and murdered my child." He tells her he shall have his revenge and very soon. Werdegast tells Joan that Poelzig is a Satanist, and she will play a part in the ritual this evening. The organ music stops and Werdegast knows he must get back downstairs to Poelzig. In parting, Werdegast tells Joan, "Be brave. It is your only chance." Werdegast walks back downstairs and Poelzig motions for the key. A black cat runs into Joan's room. A woman in a long, black dress, with long blonde hair enters the room. Karen introduces herself as Mrs. Poelzig. Joan makes the connection and asks if she is Karen Werdegast. "Yes, yes how did you know my name?" When Joan explains she knows Karen's father, Karen corrects her, "Oh, no, you are mistaken. My father died in prison. Herr Poelzig married my mother. She died when I was very young." Poelzig is outside Joan's door and overhears the exchange, including Joan's news that her father is alive and in the house looking for her. Poelzig enters the room and picks up the cat. His wife scurries back to her room. The door slams shut and we hear the exchange between husband and disobedient wife. Later we will learn he killed her.It is late evening and Poelzig is outside. It is cloudy and windy. The servants prepare for the guests and the ceremony. Poelzig, dressed in ceremonial black robe, descends the stairs to greet his Satan worshipping accolades. They are dressed formally and stand before a double-X-shaped cross on a dais. Poelzig takes his place behind the cross. Werdegast joins the worshippers, who now don black robes of their own. An organ is played in the background. Poelzig begins chanting in Latin. Joan is dragged from her room by two women and two men. She pleads to be let go. She faints on the altar and slumps over the cross.Down in the basement, Peter comes to and hears the organ music. He finds the light switch and operates the moving wall. Poelzig approaches Joan. A woman in a white dress turns to observe Poelzig and screams and faints. The distraction allows Werdegast and Thamal to rescue Joan from the altar. Peter finds the correct door and escapes his confinement. He sees one of the embalmed women, hanging in the display case. Werdegast leads the way down the spiral staircase, while Thamal carries Joan. As the Majordomo enters the lab, Peter waits to ambush the man. The two struggle, but the Majordomo succeeds in escaping. He pulls his gun and shoots Thamal. Thamal is strong and kills the Majordomo. As Werdegast tries to escort Joan to safety, she tells him of Karen, his daughter. She explains that Karen is Poelzig's wife. Werdegast finds Karen's body under a sheet in the lab. He screams. Joan and Poelzig enter the room. The two men struggle on the floor. With his last bit of strength, Thamal comes to the aid of Werdegast. He first locks the door. We see blood running from his mouth. Next he grabs Poelzig and the two men carry a struggling Poelzig over to a restraint device. They secure the man's wrists high above his head. Werdegast strips the shirt off Poelzig's body. Poelzig hangs helpless on the very device he so often used on his victims. With a glee in his voice, Werdegast tells Poelzig, "Do you know what Im going to do to you now? No? Did you ever see an animal skinned, Hjalmar? Hey, hey, hey. That's what I'm going to do to you now. Flail the skin from your body, slowly, bit by bit." He retrieves a scalpel from the table top. Joan watches with horror as Werdegast taunts the struggling man, "How does it feel to hang on your own embalming rack, Hjalmar?" We see, in shadow, Werdegast skinning Hjalmar Poelzig. Peter is drawn to Joan by her screams. The door is locked and Peter implores his wife to get the key. Thamal has it in his clenched, dead hand. Werdegast helps Joan retrieve it, but Peter doesn't know Werdegast is helping Joan. He orders Werdegast to stand back, then shoots the doctor when he fails to comply. Joan opens the door for her husband. After explaining he only wanted to help, Werdegast order the Alisons to leave quickly. With his strength diminishing, Werdegast approaches the self-destruct panel. "It's the red switch, isn't it Hjalmar? The red switch ignites the dynamite." He throws the power lever and tells Poelzig that in five minutes all will be destroyed. Joan and Peter exit the house and explosions are heard. They get a safe distance away from the house as it is destroyed. They stop a passing car on the road.Safely aboard the train, the conductor punches their tickets from Visegrad to Budapest and returns their passport. Peter picks up a newspaper and sees a review of his novel, Triple Murder. "In Triple Murder, Mr. Alison's latest mystery thriller, he fulfills the promise shown by the Sixty-ninth Crime in the Purple Spot. We feel, however, that Mr. Alison has in a sense overstepped the bounds of the matter of credibility. These things could never, by the furtherest stretch of the imagination, actually happen. We could wish that Mr. Alison would confine himself to the possible, instead of letting his melodramatic imagination run away with him." We close with Peter and Joan looking at each other in amusement and the cast credits. | murder, cult, atmospheric, insanity, psychedelic, revenge | train | imdb | Ulmer, marks the first scream, or should I say, screen teaming of Boris ("Frankenstein") Karloff, billed in the credits only as KARLOFF, and Bela ("Dracula") Lugosi.Suggested on the immortal story by Edgar Allan Poe, the plot, compliments of screenwriter Paul Ruric, set in Hungary, gets right down to business with Doctor Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi) returning home by train after serving 15 long years in a military prison.
Karloff, dressed in black garments with a feline haircut, is very creepy, especially using gestures with his evil eyes (which do everything but glow in the dark!); Lugosi, in a rare sympathetic role, is actually the stronger character, giving one of his best performances in his career, next to "Dracula" (1931).
A big plus in this production is the underscoring montage of classical compositions by various composers, lavish sets and the teaming of two horror greats, Karloff and Lugosi.Aside from Fright Nights on commercial television back in the 1960s and 70s, "The Black Cat" formerly played on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s, and later on American Movie Classics from 2000 to 2001.
Other commentaries will fill you in on the nearly-incomprehensible plot (if that's possible) but, as has been pointed out, you don't watch a film like this for plot.Despite the story inconsistencies and implausibilities, everything here just seems to "jell:" the fabulous sets, elegant photography, evocative music (drawing heavily from Schubert, among others) and the downright creepy atmosphere woven from the themes of jealousy, lust, revenge, murder, sadism.....all sounds delightfully sick, doesn't it?
THE BLACK CAT possesses a lyrical, rhythmic quality, upon which we drift through a sleek, ultra-modern nightmare world.One of the reasons it all works is its ability to pull us into a sort of parallel universe which, though it looks more or less like reality as we know it, glides along on a barely-concealed undercurrent - an "atmosphere of death," as Lugosi's character puts it - where things happen that "could never actually happen" (an inside reference for those who know the film).There are some wonderful set-pieces, such as Karloff's tour through a most unusual basement mausoleum/museum memorializing all of his dearly departed earlier "wives." And of course, Boris and Bela deliver, with their restrained but full-bodied performances.
The opening credits claim the film was "suggested by" the Edgar Alan Poe story, but other than the title there is absolutely no connection.Lugosi gets to play a good guy for a change and he handles it very well.
All glass and steel, the house consists of sharp angles that cast long, expressionistic shadows, which gives the film its extremely creepy atmosphere.Werdegast (Lugosi) meets the Allisons on a train and later shares a cab with them.
But the larger themes -- revenge, lust and innocents caught in the grip of forces beyond their sheltered experience -- have been central themes in horror tales for centuries.Karloff is a delight as usual, and there are many fine details to his performance -- including a brief but outrageously lustful stare at the half-dressed young wife of the innocent couple and the strangely gentle way his brutal character handles a cat.
Thanks to some terrific set design, lighting, and cinematography, the modern house exudes as much atmosphere as any old castle, dungeon, tower, etc.The Black Cat contains some of the most unsettling scenes of any classic Universal horror film.
The story is totally absurd and very simple (The black cat storyline has absolutely nothing to do with the movie and serves no purpose at all) but yet that is what maybe makes this movie extremely fun and easy to watch.Watching this movie made me realize something; Bela Lugosi actually was a very good actor that was ahead of his time.
Yes I think I can now be considered one of his fans.Another great thing were the sets that were wonderful and even now 70 years later they still look very modern.Don't expect a movie with ghouls and monsters, it rather is more fun to watch then it is scary and the Lugosi/Karloff combination is what makes this movie a real classic.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff playing chess and fighting it out over old wounds and new ones.The entire supporting cast is splendid as is the direction Edgar G.
If you know me you would realize what a ringing endorsement that truly is.I think you'll be refreshingly surprised at Lugosi playing the sympathetic character, even though it's not entirely clear early on in the movie.One of the scenes that has always stood out in my mind since first watching this film is the one near the end when Lugosi ties up Karloff.
For me, Universal's 1934 film, "The Black Cat," starring big-screen titans Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, totally personifies what an effective horror movie is supposed to be.
Lugosi stars as Dr. Vitus Werdegast, who travels to the home of an well-know acquaintance, Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff), who has built his art-deco dwelling on top of what was a particularly gory battleground.
This early horror film concerns about Dr. Vitus(Bela Lugosi) and a couple have an accident.They find shelter into the impressive mansion of architect Poelzig(Boris Karloff).He built it over the corpses of thousands dead in a horrible war whose commander was Poelzig.Karloff followed his success in Frankestein with the title role in this low budget terror classic about the leader of a band of devil-worshiper who wants to steal a gorgeous young woman(Jacqueline Welles:Julie Bishop) from her new husband(David Manners:The mummy).The movie provides genuine chills,suspense, mystery and is rich and dark although sometimes ludicrous.
Ulmer and results to be one of the most unusual horror film ever made and certainly one of the most unsettling.Suggested by the immortal Edgar Allan Poe novel of the same title which was filmed like as one episode into the ¨Tales of terror¨by Roger Corman and with Vincent Price and Peter Lorre,however here bears absolutely no resemblance.This gem features sets and production design with standards usually found in movies by the major studios.The rousing mansion,lounges, rooms get an art nouveau and modernism style,besides the satanic mass is developed in a surrealistic scenario.Art director achieves some remarkable tableaux that could be removed from the movie and hung in art galleries alongside the work of famous painters.A minor classic with outstanding performance by Karloff and Lugosi in their first of many pairing.The picture is today deservedly considered a cult favorite thanks the distinguished teaming..
And yet, such is the tense discomfort of the atmosphere it succeeds in establishing so quickly, the pace as it races through its 66 minute running time, and the strangeness of the various plot twists (which, upon consideration, make no sense at all) that the viewer is just kind of swept up into the flow of events much like the Honeymooning couple who have the misfortune to stumble into the dark and bitter rivalry of the two horror icons.The film kicks off on a train to Hungary where a mix up forces honeymooning couple Peter and Joan Allison (David Manners and Jacqueline Wells) to share their carriage with a certain doctor Vitus Werdegast (Lugosi) who informs them that he is an established psychiatrist returning home to visit an "old friend".
After all disembarking at the same station the trio are involved in a coach accident and Werdegast takes the couple to the nearby house of his "old friend", an esteemed architect by the name of Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff) whose house, of his own design, is a futuristic mansion-cum-labyrinthine mausoleum in which Peter and Joan become unwitting prisoners as the two horror icons go head to head in their obsessive and consuming game of death.From here plot twists abound as all manner of secrets and past transgressions of the twisted mindsets of Werdegast and Hjalmar are revealed leaving the viewer asking "what the
?" for the remainder of the film.
But there's something about the pace, the short running-time, the performances of Karloff and Lugosi, and the genuinely macabre vibe of the film which redeems it and makes it deserving of repeat viewings as long as you set out to experience it rather than understand it..
Hires Karloff AND Lugosi, buttresses them with a couple pug-ugly manservants and a truly goofy romantic-interest duo, and puts them to work: running through this outrageous modernist mansion built on a WWI bunker (they have electric clocks!), performing satanic rites and playing the organ, murdering (and stuffing) wives and daughters, settling ownership of virgins with a nice game of chess, fainting a lot, flaying each other alive, listening to stupid ass cops with feathers argue over whose home town is prettier, plus a line that EVERYONE should have implanted in their brains: "Supernatural - perhaps.
I've seen 'The Black Cat' several times over the years and I always remember it as being a very odd movie, and quite different in feel from the other Universal horror classics of the 1930s.
This was the first movie to team Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, both riding high from Universal's 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein' respectively at the time.
Add to that a very striking set, which has to be seen to be believed, a Satanic mass led by the organ playing of John Carradine, a malevolent black cat who absolutely petrifies Lugosi, and a climax involving someone being skinned alive, and you've got yourself one unforgettable piece of creepy entertainment!
The plot owes very little to the short story from Edgar Allan Poe but that slight reference is of no importance.For once, Bela Lugosi is cast against type as he is a more sympathetic character - even though he is still a bit unhinged!Boris Karloff is pure evil as the leader of his own group of Satanic followers.
Edgar Ulmer created one of the most chilling horror/fantasy odysseys in film history.Karloff and Lugosi are brilliant in their portrayals of the antagonists Hjamar Poelzig and Vitis Werdegast.
"The Black Cat" is a striking, atmospheric horror classic, marking the first of the teamings of genre icons Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
The music, though not original to the film, is used to brilliant effect throughout.This is the second of the three Universal horror films Bela Lugosi did that were inspired by Edgar Allan Poe stories.
American honeymooners in Hungary are trapped in the home of a Satan- worshiping priest (Boris Karloff) when the bride (Julie Bishop) is taken there for medical help following a road accident.Universal really made a great contribution to horror with this one, putting their actors David Manners, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff all in the same film, Karloff and Lugosi together for the first time.
While they may have objected to the level of horror in the picture, it adds to the mystery and darkness, something that has the picture standing out.Crediting Edgar Allan Poe, or even calling this film "The Black Cat" is a great mystery to me.
Not only does the plot bear no resemblance to the Poe story, but the film has pretty much nothing to do with black cats.Director Edgar Georg Ulmer brought his background in German expressionism to Universal, and we are blessed because of it.
Honeymooning mystery novelist David Manners (as Peter Alison) and pretty wife Julie Bishop (as Joan) meet feline-phobic psychiatrist Bela Lugosi (as Vitus Werdegast) on a train and join him at the art deco castle of devil-worshiping architect Boris Karloff (as Hjalmar Poelzig) for fun and games.
The first, and arguably in terms of their dual performances, best teaming of Horror legends Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi is this almost bizarre Edgar G.
Based around a story by Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat sees a young couple, Peter & Joan Allison (David Manners & Julie Bishop), who while on their honeymoon in Budapest meet the mysterious scientist Dr. Vitus Verdegast (Lugosi).
Whenever someone talks about Universal classic horror films, two names always tend to show up in the course of the conversation: Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, two very different yet still similar persons who in 1931 shared the privilege of becoming the first monsters of the sound era in two enormously influential films.
However, while Karloff makes a terrific job as Poelzig, the highlight of the film is certainly Bela Lugosi, who in this movie proves that he was truly a remarkable actor and delivers what probably is the best performance of his career.
As the young couple, David Manners (Lugosi's costar in "Dracula") and Julie Bishop are nothing surprising, but still are very effective in their performances considering that the spotlight is not on them.If there is a flaw in this marvelous horror film, is definitely the fact that it has a very short runtime (barely 66 minutes), and this forces a very fast pace that in turn makes a bit difficult to expand on the movie's plot.
The best part of The Black Cat is the fact that two of the greatest actors in horror film history are pitted against each other in this ageless tale of good vs evil which is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's short story.
"The Black Cat" (supposedly based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe) was the first and arguably the best of the seven Karloff/Lugosi collaborations.
The gleaming black and silver art deco sets, the extra embellishments (note the presence of white lillies in many of the scenes)the Oriental statuary that decorates Karloff's study (and used in many key horror sequences over the years, especially in "Dracula's Daughter")and equally important the brilliant musical score, composed of German and Russian greats, helps create a profound sense of loss and doom.
It stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in what can easily be called their prime, or top form in a film that is(albeit very loosely) based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe!
Universal studio's The Black Cat from 1934, starred Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff for the first time together, a run they would share a total of eight times.
Verdegast (Lugosi) is close to his destination: the home of his nemesis Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff) and decides to bring the young couple with him for refuge for over night - from there the movie becomes a very creepy occult horror-thriller.I have to say that Karloff's costuming and look in this film is simply awesome and very wicked!
One look at Bishop and you know Karloff's got something in mind for her that ain't good.The story of The Black Cat gets a bit confused in the telling, but the atmosphere of evil in Karloff's castle can't be surpassed, another triumph for the Gothic horror masters at Universal Studios..
From the beautiful, futuristic looking house, the dark, brooding atmosphere and two chilling performances from two master horror actors, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, this movie works very well.It's also unfortunate that Ulmer decided for style over substance because the story had much potential that is wasted due to the short running time of only an hour.
Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi spar gamely in "The Black Cat," a loose take on the Edgar Allan Poe short story.
There, cat-phobic Verdegast learns his wife's fate, grieves for his lost daughter, and must play a game of chess for Allison's life.Bela Lugosi is without a doubt my favorite horror actor of all time.i love his roles.he was the no doubt one of the greatest actors ever and Boriss Karloff who terrible in Frankenstein i guess was very good in this movie.a little bit strange movie but i recommend it..
But, I liked the movie and enjoyed watching even though it was a little rushed and at only an hour long one of the shortest feature length pictures I know of.This is the first on-screen pairing of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff and is set in Hungary.
Edgar Ulmer had a good knack for these type of films and having Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff starring doesn't hurt either!
Don't get me wrong; THE RAVEN is a favorite of mine to this day, but I've come to discover that THE BLACK CAT is - in Dr. Werdegast's own words - "a masterpiece of construction".It's Karloff and Lugosi's first film as a team and maybe the best.
David Manners, as usual, doesn't create much of an impression; but I feel that this is his best work in a Universal Horror film just the same.THE BLACK CAT has nothing to do with Poe, but it doesn't matter in the least.
As Joan recuperates, Poelzig plans to use his pretty guest in a Satanic ritual, while Werdegast plots revenge against the man he holds responsible for the death of his wife and child.Karloff and Lugosi might sound like the perfect pairing for any Universal horror fan, but for me the real star of this rather dreary potboiler is Poelzig's house, which is far more interesting than any of the dialogue heavy action that takes place within.
The cold and clinical look of Karloff's home feels like an early sci-fi set, or at least, what would be perceived as such in the 30's.All that aside, the only reason to watch The Black Cat is Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.
Black Cat, The (1934)*** 1/2 (out of 4) Legendary first team up by Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi directed by Edgar G.
Ulmer along with Universal Studios put together on the same screen two of the biggest horror legends of all time for the first time, Bela Lugosi (Dracula) and Boris Karloff (Frnakenstein).
I was a bit disappointed with this film, considering that I expected more from a movie that has like major stars the great Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and that is in the book "1001 movies to see before you die".
"The Black Cat" was the second of three horror movies released by Universal in the 1930s that took their titles from Edgar Allan Poe stories.
"The Black Cat" stars Bela Lugosi AND Boris Karloff - This fact alone should be enough to make this a Must-see for every Horror fan.
Like many, if not all, of the Universal horror films, The Black Cat stumbles at the end.. |
tt3040964 | The Jungle Book | The panther Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley) opens the film by saying that there are many stories in the jungle, but none quite like that of the man-cub Mowgli (Neel Sethi). Mowgli is seen running through the jungle above the trees with his wolf brothers. Since he was a baby, Mowgli has grown up with the wolf pack, raised by Raksha (voice of Lupita Nyong'o).The jungle experiences a very dry season, so the animals come together by the Peace Rock to form a truce and drink water from there. Mowgli uses the shell of a fruit to grab water for himself, which makes the other animals see him oddly. The wolf pack leader Akela (voice of Giancarlo Esposito) tells Mowgli not to use his man tricks in front of the other animals. The crows then begin to caw, signaling the arrival of the fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba). He is aware of Mowgli's presence, and he considers man to be forbidden in the jungle. Akela covers Mowgli and tells Shere Khan he cannot have the boy. Shere Khan vows to come for Mowgli once the rivers run again.Knowing the jungle isn't safe for Mowgli anymore, Akela and the other wolves discuss his future there. Bagheera volunteers to take him back to the man village, despite Raksha's protests. The others agree it's for the best, and Mowgli shares a goodbye with Raksha, who says he will always be her son.Bagheera guides Mowgli toward the village, but once they come across a field of buffaloes, they are ambushed by Shere Khan. Bagheera holds the tiger off for Mowgli to run. Mowgli runs down a hill as the buffaloes stampede. Shere Khan tries to spot Mowgli, but the boy escapes.Shere Khan returns to the Peace Rock to confront the wolves. He mauls Akela and throws him off the cliff. The tiger then assumes leadership over the other animals and awaits for Mowgli to return.Now wandering alone through the jungle, Mowgli comes across a huge snakeskin that has recently been shed. He soon meets the python Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson). She puts Mowgli under her spell with her hypnotic voice and eyes. Kaa tells Mowgli of where he came from. He was an infant when his father came across a cave in the jungle and protected him from Shere Khan with the "red flower" (fire). Mowgli's father blinded Shere Khan in his left eye, and the tiger killed the man. Bagheera would eventually find little Mowgli. Kaa wraps herself around Mowgli and prepares to eat him until she is attacked by another animal, forcing her to release Mowgli.Mowgli wakes up and meets the bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Since he saved Mowgli's life, he asks the boy to help him gather some honey from up above a cliff. Mowgli breaks off the honeycomb, but gets stung a few times in the process. Thankful, Baloo takes Mowgli under his wing (or paw) and they form a friendship. Baloo shows Mowgli that the man village is nearby and that he can go whenever he wants, but Mowgli decides to stick with Baloo, who shows Mowgli all about the "bare necessities of life".Bagheera encounters Mowgli and Baloo. Baloo claims that Mowgli is helping him hibernate for the winter, until Bagheera points out that bears don't hibernate in the jungle. The panther still wants to get Mowgli to safety.At night, Mowgli comes across a herd of elephants. Baloo and Bagheera see this and get worried until they watch Mowgli help a baby elephant out of a hole. Bagheera tells Baloo how Shere Khan is after Mowgli and that he needs to get to safety. Reluctantly, Baloo tells Mowgli he never thought of him as a friend and wants him gone. Heartbroken, Mowgli retreats to a tree. A small monkey starts to bother Mowgli, and soon, more monkeys show up and capture him. Baloo and Bagheera see this and follow.The monkeys bring Mowgli to the temple of King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), a massive orangutan. Louie claims he can protect Mowgli, but he wants to learn the secret of the red flower and thinks Mowgli can deliver it to him. Mowgli says he cannot, sending Louie into a rage. Baloo and Bagheera arrive in the nick of time and fight Louie's monkeys while Louie chases Mowgli. Louie taunts Mowgli by telling him that Akela has been killed, which Bagheera knew about. As Louie tries to get Mowgli, he runs through his temple, causing it to crumble and crush him.Infuriated that Bagheera didn't tell him about Akela, Mowgli runs away. He enters the man village undetected and takes a burning torch back into the jungle. As he runs back, the other animals see him with the fire and follow. A piece of ember falls from the torch and slowly starts a fire.Mowgli confronts Shere Khan as the other animals gather to watch. Shere Khan tries to turn the animals against Mowgli by stating that man has brought the red flower into the jungle. Mowgli tosses the torch right before Baloo and Bagheera show up. They, along with the other animals, stand by Mowgli and against Shere Khan. Baloo battles Shere Khan as Mowgli runs toward the trees. Shere Khan takes Baloo down, but before he can kill him, Raksha and the other wolves attack Shere Khan.Mowgli sets up a trap in the trees and waits for Shere Khan. The tiger climbs the tree and walks the branch where Mowgli is standing. The boy tells Shere Khan he is not afraid of him. The tiger pounces after Mowgli as the branch snaps. Mowgli jumps to safety, but as Shere Khan goes after him, he ends up falling and is consumed by the fire. Mowgli returns to the other animals, and the river starts to flow, putting out the fire.Mowgli is seen running with his wolf brothers again and is reunited with them and Raksha. Baloo now lives close with Mowgli and the other animals, and he says he could get used to this. | good versus evil, flashback | train | imdb | Along the way, Mowgli learns valuable life lessons as his epic journey of self-discovery leads to fun and adventure.Disney Picture is the best company in making top and number 1 family movies.Everything is excellent about this movie.I guarantee you this top movie will win too many Oscars..
The Jungle Book is a live-action/CGI fantasy film that retells the story of Mowgli, an orphaned human boy who, guided by his animal guardians, sets out on a journey of self-discovery while evading the threatening Shere Khan.
I think the main reason as to why this movie worked it's because it also has a very good story line that's mixed in with the amazing visuals.
I've never been a fan of the original Jungle Book movie, but I did grow up watching it, and I did like it.
The wolves got more screen time, Kaa got a lot more dangerous (though she doesn't have as much screen time, which is my only complaint in this movie), King Louie is more sinister and less comical, and Shere Khan is a flat-out beast.I'm also glad that they brought back three songs I enjoyed as a kid.
Kudos to the visual effects team, for making a live-action adaptation of a movie like The Jungle Book.
Soon Mogwli realizes that since he is human he needs to live with humans.Yet,he can not abandon his loyal Animals who have already taken care of him since he was a baby."The Jungle Book" 2016 has a different,but an amazing ending than "The Jungle Book" 1967.I can guarantee that you will see a perfect movie with Great Graphics IMAX Effect and The Best 3D I Have Ever Seen.I really estimate Disney for their support of Lesbian and Gays.Disney is Simply The Best..
To those who still hold any degree of skepticism for Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book—Disney's live-action adaptation of the Rudyard Kiplingclassic—I say just sing along to "Forget about your worries and your strife
" That's a guaranteed earworm from this really good film.
Complete with splendid sound design and flabbergasting CGI wizardry, director Favreau, with cinematographer Bill Pope, deftly crafts this spectacle not only to dazzle viewers but also to enhance its dramatic agenda.With an excellent voice cast, The Jungle Book presents a colorful array of memorable characters.
Considering that he is basically working within the confines of his imagination and a green screen room for the entire film, he manages to make everything believable: the beauty and danger of the jungle, his kinetic and charismatic character, and his deep connection with the animals.
Jon Favreau knows the divine quality of the works and he gives us that and more and more and more.....I thought Disney's Zootopia has reached an epoch in CGI, but The Jungle Book is definitely the crowned jewel.
The film also awkwardly acknowledges its own pointlessness: since the only way to "improve" on the original is to make everything faster, louder and bigger, serpent Ka is bigger than even Anaconda's titular joke was, and Louie could take King Kong in a fight, while the climactic jungle fire setting the scene for Mowgli's showdown with Khan could probably, in this incarnation, be visible from space.So there you have it, a tale full of sound and fury, told by idiots etc, as the poet said.
This movie got High Rating by critics, a lots of them put it as number one in 2016 (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_jungle_book_2016) so I expected nothing but perfect, Unfortunately it was disappointing.
Disney is truly the best children movie company in the whole world.Mogwli is a Little Indian boy living in the Jungle .
Directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man), based on Rudyard Kipling's timeless stories and inspired by Disney's classic animated film, The Jungle Book is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who's been raised by a family of wolves.
Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don't exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire.This is a terrific must see movie.
.. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, the original Jungle Books has been adored by many, be it the animation or movie interpretations.
The new rendition takes the expectation and rises beyond with emotionally engaging and larger-than-life characters, which is no small feat considering it relies on sole child actor Neel Sethi while the rest of the veteran cast lend their voices for the animal kingdom.Story follows Mowgli (Neel Sethi) on his two feet as he ventures around the thick jungle.
Having grown up with the original cartoon version (1967) was expecting something much better than what I saw years ago when I was a kid, this version leaves much to be desired, photography & Visual FX are horrible,they abused the overexposing of the image almost all the time trying get a high key but they fail badly,and even worse in dark scenes the lighting was so bad, they should play with a more real natural illumination instead the forced digital light they used all time, There is no real performance of the main character the child, expressionless and flat emotions throughout the development of the story.
Jon Favreau's Jungle Book exists in a world that is somewhere between the animated feature film and the 1994, historically grounded, live action film.The result is a beautifully bland movie.
This is not a warm, well told story, with interwoven charm and wisdom, it's an kid friendly action/adventure in the jungle with lots of animated effects.I kinda knew it when I saw the trailers, but there is a strong vibe that the Jungle Book would much rather be an experience, than a movie.
Even though there is nothing technically wrong with the CGI, the movie makes some bad choices which destroys the illusion of having animals as real as say the Tiger in Life of Pi. Like their animated counter parts, the cast of this Jungle Book have animated lips, making them un-compatible with the very real world they live in.
There are also too many stagy sequences featuring unrealistic numbers of animals, which in the 21st century wouldn't even convince an eight year old that CGI wasn't needed.The film makes another very poor decision to include two of the original musical numbers but minus the one element that would make them worth while; the actors can't sing.
At the center of the story, the film is bolstered by its only human character, Mowgli (Neel Seethi), and his immersive adventure with his animal friends in the jungle.
The scenery of this movie was very beautiful, as were all the animated characters, but the kid acting as the main actor was terrible and I am shocked at how they could choose someone like that.
(I should note that I saw the dubbed German version; I'm pretty sure the original voice cast is much better but that won't make the fundamental flaws disappear.) The animals look and move incredibly real but they talk like humans.
This film has insanely brilliant visuals-the animals, the forest and Mowgli himself looks a lot like what you'd imagine but despite having such an amazing voice cast, the characters just don't work nearly as well as the 1967 film.
With an amazing voice over cast - and some singing surprises - Never have you seen a version of this movie more enjoyable and surprising - With plenty of action and amazing CGI - this movie will bring out the Bare Necessities in you - Take a walk down memory lane with all of the characters from the original - and then you will be rushing to IMDb to give it 10/10 stars - Even if you don't love the story of the Jungle Book - this movie can enchant the smallest heart..
For those of you who haven't seen Walt Disney's animated version of The Jungle Book--or haven't seen it in awhile, anyway--I'm sure you still know the famous songs, and perhaps even some classic scenes.
But with a runtime that could have used a few more minutes, there's always been some things missing.Definitely an improvement on the original, 2016's The Jungle Book fills out the classic story in a much more complete way.With this one, we get answers to a lot of characters' motives, as well as more realistic responses to drastic life changes.There's backstory provided for why Shere Khan wants to kill Mowgli, along with a more heartfelt goodbye as Mowgli leaves his wolf pack at the beginning of the film.Neel Sethi, who plays Mowgli, passes the cute test.
This latest Disney offering, a live action (mostly CGI) remake of its 1967 story of Rudyard Kipling's jungle book was epic.
But since I am also a big fan of Kipling's Jungle Books, I know that Reitherman's Cartoon is (at best) inspired by the books; basically, the movie uses only the setting and the names; the characters are completely different.So far, only Korda's "Jungle Book" of 1942 is a relatively faithful adaption of (some of) the Mowgli-Stories in the Jungle Books.
The script is poor, the special effects, oh boy, wasn't thrilling to say the least, and to make things even worst, right in the middle of the movie, when the story had no more place to go, here comes Christopher Walken singing – there the movie was totally ruined, the producers got lost, they didn't know if from that point on they should go on with a musical, or should they turned it back into a Disney movie – they literally got lost in translation
How I wanted to "walken" away, but I wanted to see how the boy, or should I say the man-cub would face the tiger – again double lost my time.
Adorable wolf-cubs in the movie will fill your heart up with delight.Screenplay is kind of average, sticking to origins at times, sometimes swaying, but not really that powerful.The parts that I didn't like much were these trivial insignificant things which I choose to ignore: Starting off with Neel Sethi, we could have done better.
Aesthetically pleasing and phenomenal CGI work, you'll enjoy the classic book and Disney movie come to life.
However, some of that magic transcends the film and the story and creates this breathtaking performance between the actor and the voice actors.The most unbelievable aspect of this movie is the fact that Mowgli (Neel Sethi) was on the set alone aside from crew members and the director.
No doubt, technically the film is somewhat a testimony of something you've ever encountered in movies.The acting of the boy as Mowgli and his screen presence looks astounding and the voices given to the animals get quite well.
because i was fill my self in that world.Graphics and Visual Effects Was Just Awesome Nothing else.I can tell that this is Disney best Creativity Animated Film.Just Awesome Graphics IMAX Effect and 3D i ever Seen.Like to see this movie more and more.I think this Will Oscar Winning Movie for 100% Sure Its Enjoyable for Adults and kids.Recommanded to see Once in Theatre at costly seat..
I'm really looking forward to watch the Blu-Ray featurette where they going to explain how they filmed some of the scenes.It was not a perfect movie but Disney were able to make me care about those animals and the story.
So it is up to caring panther Bagheera (a supportive Ben Kingsley, also doing the narration), carefree Baloo (a comically game Bill Murray) and the hospitable wolves led by Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha (Lupita N'yongo) to protect Mowgli, and for Mowgli to set his destiny, whether as a man or in the jungle.Initially, I was quite skeptical of how director Jon Favreau executed the story.
As a result, Favreau, together with cinematographer Bill Pope ("The Matrix") and visual effects houses Moving Picture Company and Weta Digital, was able to craft a visual splendor of stunning effects and beautiful animation.As for the performances, the ensemble vocal cast is at their A-game, with the addition of Christopher Walken as King Louie and Scarlett Johansson as Kaa. But the true MVP is Neel Sethi, who makes a compelling Mogwli, being an inventive and wholehearted boy.
From the wolves to the elephants and to Shere Khan himself, the CGI is top-class, and the scene of the jungle is brilliantly created as the detailed wildlife is a very nice touch — little animals doing amusing little things everywhere you look.
Cinematography is also used to great effect, especially visible in the Kaa scene.Aside from its looks, The Jungle Book may not be a masterpiece, but for entertainment it is up there with the best in the last couple of years.
It follows a simple yet effective story in which Mowgli is the victim of Shere Khan's lust for power and he has to run in different directions to escape his grip, inevitably of course bumping into classic characters like Baloo and King Louie along his merry way.
I love the jungle book Disney movie I was so looking forward to this.
the animation is good but that's no surprise nowadaysI would not recommend this to anyone that like the original jungle book movie.
Things thanks to which Jon Favreau and Justin Marks (and their indisputable talent) were able to make this movie: best 'Jungle Book's' version ever.
IN BRIEF: Superb CGI upstages reality in Disney's version that takes this simple tale of self- discovery and turns it into a lively action adventure for the whole family, although some scenes may be too intense for the younger crowd.GRADE: B+SYNOPSIS: A man/cub journeys to his own species, with many detours along the way.JIM'S REVIEW: Disney Studio's latest reboot, a live action film of its 1967 animated feature, The Jungle Book, did not skimp on its budget.
Jon Farverau did a great job on it, but what do you expect from the director who brought Iron Man from obscurity to the lime light.This movie has subtle underlining theme songs from the original cartoon, that isn't in your face JUNGLE BOOK.
It was just that, relating it to the other Disney live action adaptations, whether it was going to be one example of a re-boot that looked stunning, was well-written and performed, respected its original source material(s) and added its fresh spin, like 'Cinderella, or a well-made film with enough other decent elements to make it watchable but also one lacking in soul and charm, like 'Alice in Wonderland'.Fortunately, 'The Jungle Book' is an even stronger example of the former, and is one of Jon Favreau's best films along with 'Iron Man'.
As for the songs in the film, although "I Wanna Be Like You" was a disappointment "Bear Necessities" fitted right in and was as good-natured and easy-going as one can hope and "Trust in Me" is worth listening to if you stay for the closing credits, Scarlett Johansson with her low-register, smoky yet sensual tone does a surprisingly good job with the song.'The Jungle Book's' script is very funny (Baloo getting the funniest lines, and some of them were hilarious) without being childish or simplistic while also easy to understand and thought-provoking, there is a good amount of depth too without being too dark or sugary sweet.
We've come to expect nothing less than spectacularly beautiful animation from Disney, so the stunning visuals in the new 'The Jungle Book' didn't surprise anybody.
In 1967, Disney released their 19th animated feature film, The Jungle Book based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling.
Watching The Jungle Book, I started in awe wondering how much of the set and how many of the animals were real and how much of all of this incredible film was created digitally.
I knew the story and the characters, and was not disappointed with this current rendition of this classic Disney/Kipling.It was always beautiful to watch the almost perfectly realistic models of the animals.Mowgli looked the part and seemed to handle the physical side of his performance as the only live performer, but his acting at times made me think of 'Anakin from the Phantom Menace' which is not good for a comparison.
The monkeys and elephants in particular didn't talk, and these are two of the smartest most human-like in real life so this was really weird.On the other hand, Idris Elba was gold as Sheer Khan and Scarlett Johansson's Kaa is perfect, like her voice performance in 'Her' she was wonderful as the hypnotic snake villain.Had me in tears at times, all in all good, honest Disney fun in the spirit of the best of them like 'Lion King', Aladdin or Toy Story..
The movie had some decent CGI and the story somewhat stuck to the original book, however the most annoying thing was Mowgli.
I never thought that Baloo would be that interesting in the live-action version.The voice actors behind the CGI characters - with special mention of Bill Murray as Baloo, Scarlett Johannson as Kaa, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Christopher Walken as King Louie - did not disappoint; and of course, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) did well too (look at that stamina and convincing CGI interaction).
Fantastic special effects, with good voice acting, and a great story, Disney has made another great movie..
This one, however, is truly remarkable: It resembles the story of the original book more than the first film, it has absolutely amazing visuals, and has well-written characters.
Whether it's the placement of the animals or the way the camera moves with the jungle, the man knew exactly what he was looking for and he got it.Mowgli isn't quite on his own; you have an all-star cast lending their voices with Bill Murray, Idris Elba, and Christopher Walken being the highlights. |
tt0049922 | The Violent Years | The story starts off with 4 girls dressed as boys robbing a gas station. They nearly kill the attendant by bashing him in the head with a gun. Later we find out these are really 4 bad high school girls going on robbery sprees in surrounding towns. The gang is lead by Paula (Jean Moorhead), who takes her 3 accomplices on their crime sprees mainly for kicks.Along with robbing gas stations, the girls end up robbing a young couple in Lover's Lane. They tie up the
woman, and take her boyfriend into the woods where they gang rape him (off screen).Paula's father is also a member of the local newspaper, and has been working overtime covering the crime sprees that have been taking the town by storm. Knowing that he has no reason to suspect her, Paula goes to her father under the guise of finding out more about the robberies. Her father explains that local service stations will have an officer in disguise on duty to deter future robberies.With this information, Paula tells her friends that they will be stopping the gas station robberies for now, and go to see a woman named Sheila (Lee Constant). Sheila has been purchasing the items that Paula and her associates have been acquiring, though she and Paula come to heads pretty quickly over how much the ill-gotten loot is worth.When Paula explains that the money really means nothing to her (having plenty at home), Sheila explains that she has some associates who would pay good money if she and her friends would wreck some schools.On the night of Paula's birthday, just like the ones before, her parents are both out. Paula is having a pajama party, though unlike the 'no boys allowed' rule that she told her mother about, her friends have invited along some uncouth boys in their early 20's, and some alcohol is also present.One of her father's co-workers stops by with her father's gift: a new watch. Paula claims she knows this without opening the box, because her parents have been getting her the same birthday gifts every year for quite some time. Along with a new watch, Paula's Mom always trades in her new car from last year for a new one this year.After the co-worker gets in a scuffle with one of the young men at the party, he leaves but cautions Paula to watch out for the company she keeps. Naturally, Paula just dismisses this. Once the co-worker leaves, Paula tells teh guys to leave.Arriving at the local high school, the 4 girls set about to wreck one of the rooms. However, the noise from their vandalism catches the attention of a night watchmen, who radios the police.The girls get into a firefight, in which two of them are killed, and Paula and another girl escape to Sheila's.Paula demands payment for what they did, but Sheila refuses, claiming she'll call the Police. Paula then kills Sheila, and the remaining two girls in the group check Sheila's for new clothing. After leaving the house, the two are spotted by a Police car, and take off. Paula's driving causes her to crash into a store window, killing the last of her classmates.After she has recovered, Paula is put on trial, and sentenced to life in prison. It is also revealed that due to her acts with the young man in Lover's Lane, that she is now pregnant. It is after this that her parents blame themselves for their negligent acts that led to their daughter's crime spree and pregnancy.Eventually, Paula gives birth to a baby girl, but dies from the birth process. Her parents lobby to raise the child, but the judge denies their request, stating that the baby will instead be placed in foster care for a more worthy family to raise the baby girl. | murder | train | imdb | Wood, Jr. I for one definitely intend to give a great deal of thought to the problem of bad girls in tight sweaters.10 stars...or zero stars...?
Bad dialogue, bad editing and ham acting plague "The Violent Years" as much as any other Ed Wood production."The Violent Years" follows the exploits of a gang of four school girls led by the daughter of the local newspaper publisher.
Along the way we get to see hilariously bad shoot out and crash scenes, an even more hilarious scene where the girls "rape" a man they discover making out with his girlfriend at the local lover's lane, and arguably the most hilarious monologue by a judge in film history.The aspect of an Ed Wood written film that provides me with the most amusement is the dialogue.
No judge would write a decision in a court case like the one we hear in "The Violent Years", except if he were at least as drunk as Ed Wood was when he wrote it.
However, if you're looking for an exercise in film making ineptitude for laughs, then "The Violent Years" is your movie..
Ed Wood, purveyor of class and dignity with a veneer of exploitation, gives us a great story about the consequences of parental neglect, albeit wrapped in nice, tight sweaters.The movie deals with a newspaperman's daughter (who looks about the same age as her parents) who has become a wild child because her father is too busy at work to notice that he keeps giving her the same birthday present every year.
So, left to her own devices, she has a gang of other females in need of thrills who rob gas stations and rape young men.While this tragedy is at times overly done, the point is still well made that parents need to be involved in their children's lives.
They rob gas stations, rape guys (!!!) and kill a policeman.All the "teenagers" in this film are easily in their late 20s/early 30s, the acting is all horrible and the script has every cliche imaginable with hilarious dialogue--it comes as no surprise that it was written by the immortal Ed Wood Jr.!Worth seeing for laughs.
As the judge is talking, the mother begins to think back about recent events and wonder if she DID have anything to do with her daughter becoming a menace to society.This daughter turns out to be like a Jekyll and Hyde sort of person--acting sweet in front of Mom and being an evil thrill-seeking idiot outside the home.
Regardless, the bad acting and silly script is very watchable in a salacious and laughable sort of way--particularly if you enjoy laughing at such films as REEFER MADNESS, SEX MADNESS or HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL.
In what is yet another bad juvenile delinquent movie from the moralistic 1950s, four "teenage" girls rob a gas station, erase a classroom chalkboard, and do other vile things.
He starts out by blasting a teenager: "...this thrill seeking became the one great thing in your life, piling one thrill on another until, with ever increasing intensity, you became much like the drug addict, with his continual increases of dosage ..." As the actor playing the judge continually looks down at a paper, which is probably the film's script, he slogs on: "...
In _The Violent Years_, Ed addresses parental neglect and small-town boredom as the motivations behind a girl-gang's reign of terror.
Although they inherently verged on exploitation of the audience's desire to see girls being bad, they were supposedly serious and undoubtedly did reflect real concerns people had, however muddled their transition to the conventions of 1950s film-making was."The Violent Years" shows one of the worst examples of the trend.
The motivation for this belief was undoubtedly fear of communism in the 1950s, with the idea being that if we veered away from being good Americans we'd lose the cold war, but "The Violent Years" makes the ludicrous connection much more blatantly than any other film I've seen.
The film inadvertently shows how silly a lot of the fears of communist plots were: the viewer is asked to take seriously the idea that international communism is hiring upper class schoolgirls to break into their classrooms and destroy American flags."The Violent Years" is riddled with implausible characters and situations, broken only by a monumentally boring, laughably moralistic speech by the judge about how following the 10 Commandments will solve everything.If you want to watch a genuinely good 1950s juvenile delinquent moral panic movie, check out "Caged" (1950).
Proving Ed Wood can write just as well as he can direct, his script The Violent Years is brought to life by another director, and the result is still not good.
Like the later A Clockwork Orange, this has a gang of four teens robbing and raping- intriguingly, these four are all girls, which makes it harder to sympathize for the man who is raped- this is more male fantasy than horror.The film starts with the girl's parents up in front of a judge, who speaks about how hard it is to try a good friend.
The worst the woman who gives the gang its jobs can call the girls is "jerks." Of course, it all ends with more "If only I had..." mourning from the parents, reflecting a morality play with all the subtlety of being hit over the head with a hammer..
The Violent Years talks about female delinquency as wealthy, but bored Jean Moorhead gathers around her some followers and they form a girl gang.
She and her friends turn to crime by dressing up like men, holding up gas stations, raping young men at gunpoint, and having make out parties when her parents are away.
They have a chance at a big score that apparently involves trashing a school by doing very minimal vandalism and this somehow leads to a shootout with the police which leads to a very long winded courtroom session that features Judge Pad Film.As an episode of Mystery Science Theater, it is one I find very funny and one that kind of is one of the main reasons I prefer Mike Nelson as the host of the show to Joel Robinson.
Now, I should go before that judge comes to my house and starts telling me about how society and parents are why Ed Wood films exist..
Another Ed Wood movie this has some bad acting and is not as much fun as Glen or Glenda or Plan 9 but it is quite a good film it reminded me of Honest with the All Saints in but that is much worse the version i got has a introduction by mamee van doren the movie its self is about 4 girls who party rob pretty boys and make a young girl take all her clothes off it is not a violent movie a 5 year old could watch this, Ed does not appear i think he just wrote it worth getting if you like Ed Wood and can find a copy.
The Violent Years (1956) *** (out of 4) As our film opens, a judge is putting down a couple parents for their lack of skills when it came to raising their child.
Wood, Jr. wrote the screenplay to this film so there's the outrageous, silly and at times pathetic dialogue that his fans have come to love.
The poor acting just doesn't make it that believable so you'll be laughing at how "tough" they are and especially during one sequence where they rape a man (off screen of course).If you're familiar with the exploitation movies from the 1930s and 40s you'lll be somewhat shocked that the stories weren't updated in films like this.
Either way, THE VIOLENT YEARS is a really bad movie that manages to be a lot of fun as long as you know what you're getting..
This mid-50s low budget juvenile delinquency-themed film is about the very improbable story of four rich, bored, beautiful teenage girls (they look like their actually pushing 30 though) who get their kicks by robbing gas stations, trashing schools, and attacking young people on lover's lane.
The filmmaker simply wanted an excuse to film beautiful, busty girls wearing sweaters two sizes too small and put them in a contrived juvenile delinquency story.
The viewer can decide what sort of leauge it is.First things first,some reviews have given the impression that the bad girls/innocent boy scene is more graphic than what it is.It's a scene that's more like 50% visual-50% imagination.The newspaper in the film states that the young man was attacked,it doesn't use the r word.Some reviewers are stating an act happened that the law says is not possible.At least that was the law when I was an adolescent more than 40 years ago and spent time researching important information like that,I'm still trying to figure it out.
Knowing that Ed Wood is behind this movie can make the tough storyline easier to watch.The finger pointing at the parents may be hard for some to take.There are many parents breaking butt in life to provide for family and instilling religious values in them but they mess-up anyway(the family not the parents).Making the parents look bad in this movie may be touching a sore area for some persons.One comment that the judge lost interest in his own speech half way through it was very funny,I remember seeing the top of the judge's head and wondering if he was reading the script or falling asleep.Showing them off sweaters are popular in this movie even the older Sheila(Lee Constant)comes out with in-your-face lookers too.Being an Ed Wood movie though Sheila could be a cross-dresser..
Four teen girls-- going on thirty-- play desperadoes while sticking up couples on public highways, raping boys, getting into bloodless shootouts, and generally acting like refinement school flunk-outs.
Story is about a seemingly "good girl" named Paula Parkins (Jean Moorhead) who has nice parents and does well at school but the truth of the matter is that she's involved in an all girl teen gang that robs gas stations and assaults innocent couples necking at lovers lane.*****SPOILER ALERT***** Paula along with Georgia (Theresa Hancock), Geraldine (Joanne Cangi), and Phyllis (Gloria Farr) commit these crimes and sell their loot to an older dame named Sheila (Lee Constant) who has connections(!) but the truth is that Paula enjoys her bad behavior for the thrill of it.
Stanford Jolley) decides that they have proved themselves to be bad parents and the child will become a ward of the state.This small "B" film was directed by William Morgan who was a very good film editor (Song of the South, Tarantula) but as a director he had modest success and I guess the best thing you can say about his talent in this field is that he was capable.
Ed Wood wrote the script and while this may be thought of as one of his better efforts there are still enough funny lines to keep your expectations up like the detective who barks out "They're not kids, they're morons" but the most monotonous speech comes at the end of the film with the judge.
Four teenage girls, who are well into their twenties, disguise themselves as boys (they wear bandannas) and "run rampage" through the city by pushing their sexual advances on a weaselly boy on Lovers' Lane and hitting a gas station employee with a handgun, not killing him of course, but, as one policeman remarks, "Not for lack of trying."After enduring a friend of her father's who shows up at their slumber party, trying to hold a conversation with the "teens" as they make out robotically, Paula leads the gang on their most heinous crime of all: breaking into their classroom in order to slightly disrupt the furniture and even erase the blackboard!
Let this be a lesson to us all."The Violent Years" isn't nearly as inept as "Plan 9 From Outer Space" or "Glen or Glenda?" (possibly because Ed Wood only wrote it, didn't direct it) but it's still terribly entertaining..
The Violent Years, one of my favorite Ed Wood films, takes on the toughest problem of the fifties: violent girl gangs!
This clear "message" movie begins with a hep jazzy score and a blackboard with inspiring socially-concerned words written across it as lead actress Jean Moorland and other women enter and make dismissive gestures as to the value of the epithets.When the film shifts to a court room with character actor as Judge handing down a lesson sentence to the parents we know we're in that fuzzy land of Ed Wood whose flat-footed aesthetic has now become legend and imitated for its value in what it can say about its subject as well as what it says about the source of the story it tells.Rich kid Paula Parkins (Jean Moorhead) and her gang of tough high school women friends spend their days and nights committing crimes, and getting away with it because she uses her parents car and fences stolen goods though and underground source.
This may have been the closest Ed Wood came to monetary success, having written the script for the film.Many of the subversive ideas and themes can be ascertained in how the lead women refer to each other with men's names, making their rape of a young man all the more subversive.
The whole deal with the girls running round robbing, raping and eventually killing, its kind of like in A Clockwork Orange, except of course, its nothing like Kubricks masterpiece, but who'd expect that from Ed Wood?This is the second Ed Wood movie I've seen, Plan 9 of course being the first.
Written by Ed Wood of Plan 9 fame, this film centers on a group of girls who run around doing all sorts of criminal shenanigans.
Two of the gang die and no one cares, some other stuff happens, and end story.Truth is, the basic technical aspects are good, but they are drowned out by the bad acting, bad script, and bland feeling that makes it seem everyone had other things they'd rather be doing.Going forward, there are worse films from multiple stand points, but otherwise, this does just fall flat.
There are worse, but avoid this film unless you are drunk and like "bad girls".
The male victim 'sex attack' scene that everyone likes to talk about is boring and just ungodly stupid.This movie lacks all the charm of any of the other non-porno films related to Wood.
**SPOILERS** After a string of original and hard hitting cinematic classics about transvestites "Glen or Glenda" crime "Jail Bate" and nuclear destruction "Bride of the Monster" legendary bad movie director Ed Wood Jr decided to tackle one of the most pressing social problems that was traumatizing the country since the end of WWII juvenile delinquency.
Wood then came up with the unforgettable, to anyone who ever saw it, troubled youth film "The Violent Years".Paula is a nice girl who has everything in life that an 18 year old girl could want but the love of her parents Mr.
Getting in with the wrong crowd Paula becomes the head of a violent girl gang who, just for kicks, run up a string of 17 holdup of stores and gas stations with the last having the gas station attendant pistol whipped to the point that he was put into a week long coma.
It was tragic to find out that Paula turned out to be pregnant, by one of the many man that she made out with, at the time of her arrest and tragically died giving birth to a baby boy.Ed Wood Jr has Judge Clara give the grieving parents of Paula a lesson in child rearing by telling them, in the movies epilogue, that if they only took the time to show Paula that they loved her and attended to her growing up problems she wouldn't have ended up the way she did.
Judge Clara also had Paula's baby taken away from her parents to be given to a more sensitive and understanding couple to raise.A no holds bared and hard hitting movie about Americas troubled youth of the early 1950's, thats on par with the classic "Rebel Without a Cause" released a year earlier, that only the great Ed Wood Jr could come up with.The film shows, like in "Rebel", that when young people aren't given any love or direction from their parents and guardians they, like weeds in a garden, end up growing wild and destroy everything beautiful that they come in contact with including,like Paula and her girl gang members, themselves..
The movie is about 4 teenage (though they look 10-15 years older than that)girls led by Paula Parkins along with Georgia , Phyllis and Geraldine.
But Wood had a passion for film (and for cross dressing in angora sweaters) that pushed him to make movies in whatever way possible.And so it is that AGFA (American Genre Film Archive) is now releasing THE VIOLENT YEARS to blu-ray.
She leads a pack of degenerate girls into a gang doing things like robbing a gas station, pajama party orgies (if you can call them that) and eventually murder.
If it weren't for the bad writing and terrible dialogue you might think this was one of those government films from the 50s warning of the dangers of girl gangs.
Instead it's just a low budget movie that was probably a filler at some point.Just to be clear Woods didn't direct this film.
Paula Parkins is the teenage daughter of wealthy parents whom don't seem to make time for her, so she looks for thrills as the leader of her all girl gang who steal, rob, and rape a young man ...From The Mind Of The Great Movie Maker Ed Wood (Writer Of This Movie, This Time He Was Not The Director) Comes The Story Of "Girls Gone Wild" (No Not That Girls Gone Wild) ...
The Acting Is About As Good As Any Association With An Ed Wood Movie Can Be Expected To Be ....
At one point,the girl gang robs a gas station. |
tt0120891 | Wild Wild West | The story opens in Louisiana in 1869. A man fitted with a magnetic collar runs through a forest trying to escape a large spinning saw blade flying through the air. The saw blade eventually catches the man and decapitates him. From the decapitated man's perspective, we see another man in a Confederate Army general's uniform seize the saw blade, which is engraved with a large emblem of a tarantula.In a town called Morgan, West Virginia, Army Captain James West (Will Smith), hides out in a half-filled water tower. While he has a romantic evening with a beautiful woman named Belle (Garcelle Beauvais), he sees a small unit of Confederate soldiers arrive and load up a wagon with boxes of nitroglycerin. West remarks that he'd been waiting for the men for a week and that they're under the command of General "Bloodbath" McGrath, the man who'd retrieved the saw blade. The horses attached to the wagon become jumpy and cause the wagon to weaken the already rickety water tower, spilling West, naked, into the storehouse where the men are taking the nitro. West battles with them briefly, retrieves his clothes and jumps onto the wagon (which has no driver now). He finally takes control of the wagon, which almost goes over a cliff overlooking a saloon called Fat-Can-Candy's, or Fat-Can's. West sees that McGrath is in Fat-Can's.Meanwhile, in the saloon, McGrath (Ted Levine) draws the attention of two burlesque performers. One of them, Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek), is pushed aside by Artemis Gordon (Kevin Kline), who wears a drag disguise. After Gordon sings "Sons of the South" for McGrath and his men, McGrath drags him upstairs. They pass a room where a bundle obviously containing a struggling man is being tended to by McGrath's men and into an empty bedroom. McGrath wears a trumpet style hearing aid because he lost his ear at Chickamauga. Gordon hypnotizes McGrath with a belt buckle equipped with two swirling wheels and begins to question him about missing scientists, including Dr. Escobar. McGrath responds like a dog until the wheels begin to fail and his hypnosis is broken. At that moment, West bursts in through the window and punches McGrath, who falls stunned to the floor. West tries to dismiss Gordon, saying he's going to execute McGrath. McGrath wakes up and charges West, knocking them through the wall and into the next room. McGrath then runs out of the room, joining his men carrying the bundle.West and Gordon get in each other's way trying to apprehend McGrath, so McGrath and his men escape with the scientist. West identifies himself as being with the U.S. Army, while Gordon identifies himself as a U.S. Marshal. While West and Gordon argue about who has the authority to arrest McGrath, in a nearby carriage, Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh) watches the scene, while his assistant, Miss Lippenrieder (Sofia Eng), reads their lips. Loveless releases the wagon carrying the nitro, letting it roll down the hill, directly into the saloon, where it explodes.West rides to the White House a few days later and meets with President Ulysses S. Grant (Gordon in disguise) in the Oval Office. West reports that his efforts to arrest McGrath were thwarted by another agent, Gordon. Grant begins to praise the talents of Gordon when West draws his revolver and points it at him, calling him an impostor. Gordon insists that he is the president and West shoots at the ceiling of the room. Gordon admits that he'd been posing as Grant; West tells him that he noticed Gordon's Harvard class ring, which should have been a West Point emblem. The real Grant (also Kevin Kline) enters the office and tells the two they'll be working together on a new mission for him. Grant shows them his intelligence room, where he states that the nation's top scientists in physics, hydraulics, and explosives have been kidnapped by McGrath, and that West and Gordon have been working on the same case. Grant shows them a note that tells them that an unidentified despot is using the kidnapped scientists to develop a new weapons system far more advanced than any in existence. The conditions are the surrender of the United States government within one week. The note came with a cake of the White House infested with tarantulas, apparently from McGrath. Grant gives West and Gordon one week to track down the mysterious enemy.The two travel in a specially equipped train, the Wanderer. On the way, Gordon makes use of the head of the man killed by the giant saw blade, Dr. Thaddeus Morton (Michael Sims), whose retinas are imprinted with the last image he saw, General McGrath. The image also shows that in McGrath's coat pocket is an invitation to a costume ball in the Garden District of New Orleans. When they arrive in New Orleans, the two have a brief argument about how to infiltrate the ball undetected. West chooses to simply dress like he always does and sneak in. Gordon opts for the costume of a Russian frontiersman.At the ball, West watches McGrath from a distance upstairs. West fools Dr. Loveless's personal assistant Mae Lee East (Bai Ling), who thinks his uniform is a costume. When the party officially begins, a large papier-mâché head of Abraham Lincoln is brought out and explodes. Arliss Loveless emerges in a steam-powered wheelchair and announces his return after a horrible accident involving explosives that claimed his legs and most of his internal organs. Arliss is throwing the party for foreign dignitaries that have funded his operations. Loveless sees West at the party, knowing he wasn't invited and the two banter in masked racial and "short" epithets. Loveless also tells West that he hasn't had any recent contact with General McGrath. Moments later, Loveless takes McGrath to his study and tells him to meet him at Malheureux Point on a nearby lake, where he'll equip McGrath with a cache of new weaponry for him and his men. West, who had been listening to them outside the room, is able to determine the meeting location but Miss East discovers him there. She tries to seduce West long enough for a man hiding in a mural behind him to kill him. West dodges, causing the man to miss and kill Miss East instead. West opens fire on every other mural in the room, killing several would-be assassins also hiding in the paintings.In the ballroom, West dances with a woman who he assumes to be Gordon in disguise and tells her that he's going to the meeting point given to McGrath. When West touches her supposed fake breasts, Gordon encourages the crowd to hang him, even throwing them a rope. Gordon steals into another room of the mansion and finds Rita Escobar in a giant cage, and tells her that he's looking for missing scientists. She tells him that Loveless has them working in his dungeon. Gordon frees her and tells her that the dungeon has been cleared of its captives. Outside, West tries to talk his way out of a lynching. When Gordon and Rita roll by in a wagon, West uses the rope (made of rubber), to launch himself onto the wagon. Rita explains to West and Gordon that she's not really an entertainer, but is looking for her father Guillermo Escobar, a scientist. West detaches one of the horses and rides off to Malheureux Point.On an ironclad floating on the lake, McGrath speaks with Loveless and the foreign dignitaries from the ball. McGrath's men have assembled on the shore of the lake and are waiting for their leader when a heavily armed iron tank rolls out of the water and stops in the middle of the crowd. It opens fire with Gatling guns, flamethrowers and cannons, rotating 180 degrees and killing all of McGrath's men. From the warship, McGrath accuses Loveless of betrayal, but Loveless counters that McGrath and General Lee betrayed him when they surrendered; Loveless also tells McGrath that he is testing the effectiveness of the weapon the kidnapped scientists developed, and tells his assistants to check the timing of reloads and deaths and to calibrate the deadly machine. McGrath orders Loveless to stop at gunpoint, but Loveless shoots him with a gun hidden in his wheelchair and orders his body thrown overboard. He addresses his foreign benefactors, telling them that if they're interested in purchasing the weapons technology he's demonstrated, that they should meet him in his Utah retreat, Spider Canyon.On the lakeshore, West, Gordon, and Rita find McGrath's slaughtered men lie slaughtered. Gordon and Rita wonder what could have killed all the men and West relates a story he'd heard about a large, armored vehicle that killed all the residents of a freed slave community called New Liberty in Illinois. McGrath, mortally wounded, somehow made it to shore and tells West that Loveless is responsible for the deaths of his men and the people of New Liberty. He dies before he can tell West where Loveless has gone. Rita says that she'd overheard some of Loveless's women talking about the desert and a place called "OO-tah", which Gordon and West recognize as Utah. They make Coleman (the Wanderer's engineer) take them there immediately. They decide to leave Rita behind due to the danger, but she gets inside the train anyway by using the train's gadgets. Rita tells West and Gordon that she overhead the foreign dignitaries discussing the Louisiana Purchase and Queen Isabella. She also flirts with West, Gordon, and Coleman. The men decide to take her along, despite the distraction she might create.The Wanderer catches up to Loveless's train, but they lose the scientist when they pass through a tunnel. Loveless's train, equipped with huge hydraulic spider's legs, had been able to hide while the Wanderer passed it. Loveless's train then follows the Wanderer and opens fire on it. West tries to make use of "The Egressor" (a small rail-cart) that will allow him to board Loveless's train, but the cable attaching it breaks and he has to use Gordon's rubber rope. When one of Loveless's men attacks West, he uses a blade Gordon built into his shoe to kill the man. He stuffs the man's body in the train's smokestack, disabling it. Meanwhile, Loveless has stopped the Wanderer with a giant grappling missile. When West boards the Wanderer, Rita assumes it's Loveless and knocks all three of them out with Gordon's sleeping gas billiard ball.Loveless commandeers the Wanderer and takes them prisoner, and takes Rita for himself. Loveless outfits Gordon and West with the same collars as Dr. Morton and places them in a wire-fenced patch of ground near a cornfield. Loveless takes the Wanderer and rides off, telling them he'll be at Spider Canyon and later at Promontory Point, Utah. Gordon finds a note in his pocket saying that the wired area is Loveless's experimental prison camp for "political dissidents" and that if they remain within the wire, they'll live. West foolhardily steps outside the barrier and the magnetic collar on his neck activates a nearby machine, which throws two giant saw blades at them. The blades are attracted to powerful magnets in the collars and both are force to run. They're finally able to force the saw blades to collide when they jump into a nearby crevice of muck. After several mishaps with the magnetic collars, Gordon sees his toolkit floating in the water. He realizes he had his toolkit in his pocket the entire time and removes the magnetic collars.The two begin a long hike to Spider Canyon. While camping in the desert at night, Gordon notices that West is skilled enough to live in the desert. West explains that he'd become a fugitive slave when he was a boy and was raised by Native Americans. Gordon notices a tarantula on West's hand, and he lets it go. A desert wasp promptly attacks the spider, and West tells Gordon the wasp will kill the spider and lay its eggs inside the spider. West tells Gordon that he saw his parents again at the camp at New Liberty. Gordon pledges to help West get Loveless.As the two continue on, Gordon carries one of the magnetic collars because he thinks the high-powered magnet could be useful. The collar suddenly pulls him to the right and stops when it connects to a buried set of railroad tracks. The rail line leads directly to Spider Canyon where they find the Wanderer. In the canyon below, they see Loveless's private fortress. Moments later, Loveless appears driving an 80-foot tall mechanical tarantula, fully armored and powered by coal and hydraulics. When a large group of rocks blocks it from moving, the contraption shoots giant fireballs, which destroy the rocks.Gordon and West load up using the Wanderer's arsenal and ride on horseback after Loveless. Loveless rides his machine to Promontory Point where President Grant attends the spike driving ceremony of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Loveless demands the unconditional surrender of the nation to the "Loveless Alliance". Grant refuses so Loveless uses his fire cannon to destroy Grant's train. Suddenly, another Grant (Gordon in disguise) appears and tells Loveless that the real Grant is an impostor and tries to dismiss him. Meanwhile, West has scaled one of the spider's legs, but Loveless's woman Munitia shoots him. Loveless takes both Gordon and Grant prisoner and he returns to his fortress. West wakes up later, alive because he was wearing Gordon's chain-mail vest that stopped the bullet.At the fortress, Loveless announces to his foreign allies that the United States will be divided up among them and himself, with Spain, Great Britain, Mexico, and France having their former territorial claims to the continent restored. Meanwhile, West returns to the Wanderer and finds it stripped of all its weapons. The only gun left is a single-shot Derringer hidden in a belt buckle. Loveless orders the execution of Gordon when Grant refuses to sign the surrender. An exotic dancing girl, West in drag, appears and begins to tempt Loveless. West passes the tiny pistol to Gordon and activates a flamethrower built into the dress. Loveless orders West killed and he escapes to his mechanical spider with the president. West then rolls an incendiary 8-ball at Loveless's men, and Rita and her father are able to escape.Gordon and West regroup and, inspired by Da Vinci's flying machine and the desert wasp, formulate a plan to attack the spider using a mechanical bicycle outfitted with wings. Coleman tells them he is a U.S. Marshal and gives them firebombs made from gunpowder, nitroglycerin, and 44-caliber primers. Though the contraption seems destined to fail, it works when Gordon pilots it off a cliff. Loveless again asks Grant to sign the surrender, but destroys a town with the mechanical spider when Grant refuses. Gordon and West fly to the spider and begin to drop the bombs on it. Munitia, firing a Gatling gun, shoots them out of the sky and they crash land on deck of the spider. Loveless's women take them to Loveless, where he offers them a deal to join his alliance. West refuses, so Loveless drops him to the engine room through a trap door. West battles hand-to-hand with several of Loveless's henchmen and defeats them, drawing Loveless to the engine room. West kicks Loveless and disables his wheelchair. Loveless reveals a set of mechanical spider legs underneath his wheelchair and pummels West and pins him to the floor. Gordon disarms and defeats Loveless's women on the upper deck, then shoots the small Derringer at Loveless. Gordon misses Loveless but hits one of the hydraulic lines of his mechanical legs, causing Loveless to sink to the floor. Loveless climbs back into his wheelchair and shoots at West with a double-barreled pistol built into the wheelchair. West dodges, and the shot hits the steam pipes. The giant tarantula loses power and goes over a cliff, catching a rock outcropping that stops it on the edge. The impact throws West and Loveless out the front and they dangle from a chain above a deep canyon. After challenging West for being "yellow" and a "boy", West pulls the lever on Loveless's wheelchair and the two men plummet. West catches the end of the chain and Loveless falls into the canyon.Back at Promontory Point, Grant tells West and Gordon that he's forming a new government presidential protection service called the Secret Service. West and Gordon are agents One and Two. He also takes the Wanderer to return to Washington, leaving West to use Loveless's spider. Rita reveals that Professor Escobar is not her father, but is her husband. West and Gordon ride the spider into the sun. | comedy, violence, historical fiction, good versus evil, action, revenge, sci-fi | train | imdb | null |
tt0413300 | Spider-Man 3 | Months after the events of Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) attends the opening night of Mary-Jane Watson's (Kirsten Dunst) new Broadway show, Manhattan Memories. Also attending is Harry Osborn (James Franco) who recently found out about Peter's secret identity and has accused him of murdering his father, Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), who was also the menacing villain, the Green Goblin.As Peter leaves the show, he sees Harry, and runs up to him. He asks Harry to hear his side of the story, but Harry rejects him and leaves. Once home, Harry is seen stepping out of a gas chamber, his muscles considerably larger and with a look of confidence on his face. Peter goes backstage and catches up with MJ, before the two go to a park. Peter spins them a hammock with his spider powers, and the two lay in it, stargazing. As the couple leans in for a kiss, behind them a meteor falls nearby. Unknown to them, a strange, black substance crawls out of the meteor, attaching itself to Peter's moped as he and MJ leave.Meanwhile, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), an escaped convict, climbs through his sick daughter's bedroom window and watches her sleep with machines attached to help her breathe. After a few minutes, he goes into the kitchen to find some food, but is caught by his wife, Emma. He tries to tell her that he was wrongly accused for the apparent murder of a man, but Emma isn't convinced and his daughter opens her bedroom door; she hands Marko a small locket with her picture in it, and Marko promises that he will find the money to make her better again, somehow, but Emma requests him to leave.Peter arrives at his Aunt May's (Rosemary Harris) apartment and tells her that he is planning to propose to MJ. May tells him that he needs to put her before himself, and he convinces himself that he can do it. May then tells him the story of how Peter's Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) proposed to her. When she is finished, she tells Peter to make the proposal very special to Mary Jane, and hands him her wedding ring as a gift for MJ.Driving back to his apartment, Peter is whisked off his moped by a masked figure on some sort of hover board. The masked figure throws Peter into a wall, and then reveals himself as Harry, or the New Goblin. Peter and Harry fight through the streets of New York, and the end result is Harry getting knocked out in an alleyway. Peter takes him to a hospital and watches as they try and revive Harry.At the same time, Flint Marko is running from the cops through the marshlands (fenced test facility). He climbs a security fence, and then falls into a concrete pit, landing on a pile of sand at the bottom. The pit is revealed to be a particle accelerator, and Flint is caught inside it as research tests are begun. When the police finally reach the accelerator, Marko is nowhere to be seen amongst the sand - he appears to have deteriorated into the sand.Peter is told that Harry will be okay, and is led into the ward where Harry lies. Harry has lost his memory, and so he and Peter begin to get along just like the old days. Mary Jane arrives and then she and Peter are asked to leave; Harry tells the nurse that he would give his life for his two best friends.The pile of sand in the particle accelerator stirs later that morning, and a humanoid shape rises out of the sand. It is Flint Marko, transformed into the Sandman. He sees a small glitter in the sand, and realises that it is the locket that Penny gave him. He picks it up and attempts to stand, willed by his love for his daughter. He regains his human appearance, and starts learning how to walk again.Back at Peter's apartment, Peter is admiring the ring he is planning to give to MJ when she knocks on his door. He lets her in and she enters, flustered. She reads out a rather negative review of her performance in the play from the previous night; Peter uses his experiences as Spider-Man to try and comfort her, but MJ gets even more upset.Just when she thinks Peter is about to understand, Peter's illegal police band monitor goes off and reports about an out-of-control crane in midtown. Peter gives MJ a sympathetic look and then changes into his costume, swinging off through the city. MJ pauses as she leaves, startled by a small bang, but dismisses it almost instantly. What she doesn't see is the meteoric black substance crawling down the back of Peter's desk and into the shadows of the closet.In midtown, across the road from and completely unaware of the out-of-control crane, Peter's lab partner in science, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), is having a photoshoot in an office building. A rebar slams through the windows behind her, and then drops down another floor and smashes out the floor supports below. The corner of the building drops, and Gwen slides down to the edge of the building and hangs on with all her might.
Just as she falls, Spider-Man swings in and catches her, and sets her down. Spider-Man is approached by Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), Gwen's alleged boyfriend, who tells Spidey that he is the new photographer of Spider-Man. Spider-Man swings off, annoyed with this new photographer, and then goes to the Daily Bugle to deliver the editor some photos of the crane accident. When he arrives, it turns out that Brock has gotten there first, and J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) chooses Brock's photo over Peter's.Brock explains that he would like a staff job, and Jameson tells the two photographers that if either of them wants the staff job then they will have to get a picture of Spider-Man committing a crime. Peter tells Brock that he doesn't have a chance at getting the photo, and Peter goes to Times Square. There, he sees a sign saying Spider-Man is to receive the Key to the City. Peter then goes to take Harry back to his penthouse apartment and the two hang out there. Peter gives Harry his old basketball, and throws it to him in the living room. It knocks into a vase and knocks the vase off and Harry effortlessly catches both the ball and the vase. He marvels at his skill, worrying Peter.Mary Jane goes to the theatre to attend a rehearsal session, but discovers that after several bad critic reviews she has been fired from the show and replaced. She leaves the theatre, and is startled when she meets a round of applausefrom the crowd, but is disheartened as Spider-Man swings by and she realizes the applause is actually for him. She storms off, frustrated and upset.The next day, Peter attends the ceremony being held for Spider-Man. He meets MJ, who doesn't tell him about her being fired from the show. She encourages him, and then he walks off. Harry arrives, and he offers to attend her play that night. She tells him that she's been kicked off, and then wonders to herself why she told Harry rather than Peter.Gwen Stacy introduces Spider-Man as the person who saved her from certain death, and then Spider-Man swings in, performing small stunts on the stage. He drops down and suspends himself at head level with Gwen Stacy, upside down. He tells her to kiss him, for publicity, and she does so in a kiss reminiscent of the one Peter and MJ shared in the alleyway.Suddenly, a cloud of sand flies in, and the ceremony is disrupted. Spider-Man swings off to find out what is going on, and sees the cloud of dust form a person who breaks into an armoured car. Spidey lands in the car and tries to punch the Sandman, but his arm goes straight through his stomach. Sandman punches Spider-Man out of the vehicle, and Spidey swings back in to try and fight off the Sandman. Sandman runs off as Spider-Man realises that the armoured car is about to crash into a large vehicle, and manages to save the two drivers. He jumps out, with Sandman nowhere in sight.The following night, Peter goes to a fancy French restaurant and gives the Maitre d' the ring for Mary Jane for safekeeping. He sits and waits for MJ, practising his proposal. As MJ arrives, Gwen Stacy also approaches, and Peter introduces her to MJ as his lab partner. This infuriates MJ, and Gwen quickly leaves. MJ asks Peter if he's trying to push her away, inappropriately kissing another girl with "their" kiss, but leaves when he replies. Peter tries to follow her, but gives up and retrieves the ring.The following morning, Peter tries to contact Mary Jane, but she deliberately doesn't answer the phone. As he hangs up, the phone rings, and he picks it up. A Detective asks him to go down to the police station, where Peter and Aunt May are informed by Captain Stacy (Gwen Stacy's father) that the police got the facts wrong surrounding Uncle Ben's death, and that he was actually murdered by someone else. The cop pulls out a picture of Flint Marko, and Peter instantly recognises him. He storms back home, waiting for any news on Sandman.MJ arrives while he waits, and tells him she wants to support him through this. He tells her he doesn't need help, and she tries to make him understand that everybody needs help at some point in their lives, even Spider-Man. She leaves, and Peter continues waiting for the police band to give him some news about Sandman... as he waits, he falls asleep.Silently, the black meteoric substance approaches him, and he wakes up hanging upside down in front of a skyscraper window. His Spider-Man suit is now jet black, and has enhanced his powers, making him feel really good. He swings around the city and then visits Curtis Connors (Dylan Baker), his science teacher, who agrees to analyse the black substance. Curtis warns him that the substance appears to be a symbiote, in need of a host to bind to; he warns Peter not to get any on him. Peter goes home and finally hears a report about Sandman on the police band. He puts on the black suit and goes to fight Sandman, with his powers enhanced. Brock turns up to photograph the event, but Spider-Man turns on him, ripping the camera away and smashing it. Spider-Man then goes on to fight and kill Sandman, ruthlessly drowning him and thereby transforming him into a pile of wet mud.Peter goes home and argues with the landlord, Mr. Ditkovich, and then slams his door on him. The landlord retreats back to his room, shocked at Peter's sudden outburst. Peter, meanwhile, looks in the mirror and realises that the black suit is altering his personality, and so takes it off. He then visits Aunt May, telling her of Marko's death at the hands of Spider-Man. She is shocked that Spider-Man could act like that, and tells Peter that revenge can take people over, like a poison, and change them.MJ walks through New York, feeling lonely, and calls up Harry. She visits him, and together they make an omelette, singing and dancing to Chubby Checker's The Twist. After eating, MJ reads from a play that Harry wrote for her, and then the two kiss. Realising that she actually doesn't feel anything for Harry, she leaves, much to the dismay of the equally lonely Harry. He suddenly has flashbacks and remembers Peter's alter-ego; he sees his father in the mirror telling him to attack Peter's heart.Mary Jane arrives home and hears Peter leaving a message on her answering machine. As he finishes, she is thrown against the wall by the New Goblin, who was lurking in the shadows. With his mask off, he tells MJ there is something she must do for him if she wants Peter to live.Mary Jane calls Peter and asks him to meet her in Central Park, where she dumps him, claiming to be in love with another man. Peter then meets Harry in a diner, where Harry claims that he is the other man. Peter furiously leaves and puts the black suit on, arriving back at Harry's apartment that night. He furiously attacks Harry, knocking him into a glass shelf and then sneering at Harry that his father had never loved him. Harry throws a bomb at Peter, but Peter snags it with a web and throws it back at him. Peter leaves as the bomb goes off.The next day, Peter strolls through the streets and sees an article about Spider-Man stealing some money from the bank, photo courtesy of Eddie Brock. He recognises the photo as an altered version of one that he took himself years ago. He goes to the Daily Bugle and alerts Jameson to the fraud, who fires Brock from his new position as Daily Bugle staff. The paper has to issue its first retraction in 20 years, which infuriates Jameson.Peter then struts through the streets with an air of confidence, looking at several girls suggestively and clicking his fingers. As a montage, we see Peter on the phone with Dr. Connors, who tells Peter that the black substance, a symbiote, will amplify the characteristics of its host, especially aggression. Peter brushes it off and then we see him in the Daily Bugle, in a tight embrace with Betty Brant, Jameson's secretary. Jameson walks in and the two break apart; Jameson's assistant, Robbie, picks up some photos of black-suited Spider-Man that Peter placed on Jameson's desk. Jameson offers Peter the usual rate, but Peter says that if he wants the pictures, Jameson has to give him the staff job.As the last part of the montage, Peter struts into a shop, walking out in a new black jacket and suit, and does a small dance in the middle of the street before finally strutting off.That evening, some mud falls out of a sewer pipe and into a small pond; it reforms, and Sandman crawls out of the water. Strung around his hand is the locket, and he takes one look at it and then walks off, determined to live up to his promise.Peter takes Gwen to a jazz club where MJ is now working, in an effort to make MJ jealous. When MJ gets up to sing, Peter jumps up and starts playing the piano with the band, leaving MJ speechless. He suddenly jumps up and launches into a full dance routine throughout the jazz club, ultimately resulting in Gwen realising that he did it all to make MJ jealous. She leaves the jazz club, and Peter attempts to talk to MJ. The bouncer tries to throw Peter out, but Peter starts viciously beating him up; when MJ tries to step in, he turns around and smacks her hard on the jaw, sending her flying to the ground. She asks him who he is, and he accepts that he doesn't know. He leaves, MJ still lying on the floor with a look of shock on her face.Peter dons his full black Spider-Man costume and swings up to the top of a church tower, where he jumps down and begins tearing at the costume by the church bell. The bell sound seems to pain the symbiote, and it eventually comes off clean.At the same time, Eddie Brock is sitting in the church praying for God to kill Peter. He hears the bells ringing and goes to investigate, and is caught as the symbiote drips off Peter and lands on him. The symbiote changes Brock into Venom, a terrifying variation of Spider-Man with huge teeth and claws.Peter is visited that night by his Aunt May, who tells him that despite everything that he might have done to Mary Jane, he can make things right somehow. He watches as she leaves, feeling comforted.Venom swings through the streets of Manhattan when he is suddenly stopped by Flint Marko, who mistakes him for Spider-Man. Venom tells Marko that together, they could defeat Spider-Man, and Marko agrees to team-up. Venom gets a taxicab, then drives up to MJ's house and collects her when she flags him down to get to the Jazz Club. He kidnaps her and hangs her high in the taxicab in a web, suspended 80 stories above the ground in an under-construction skyscraper. Peter sees reports of the kidnapping on the news, and then changes into his Spider-Man costume.He goes to Harry's apartment and asks for help, but Harry rejects him again and turns to show Peter the scar on his face. Peter tries once more to get Harry's help, for Mary Jane's sake, but Harry merely growls at him to get out. Peter leaves, and Harry is confronted by the house butler, Bernard, who tells Harry that he cleaned his father's wound the night he died. He tells Harry that the blade that pierced his father's body came from his own glider.Spider-Man swings into the construction site and lands on the front of the car; Venom swings in and knocks him through the windshield. He grabs the back of the car and hauls himself up, and Venom knocks him down again. He lands down on the web and then Venom jumps on him. Peter tries to ask Brock to settle the problem some other way, but Venom declines. Peter and Venom topple out of the web and have a midair fight before Peter hits the ground. He is then tripped up as Sandman appears, more than ten times his normal size and growling like a monster. Spider-Man attempts to escape Sandman, but Venom knocks him onto a steel bar and holds him there with his webbing. Sandman pummels him with his gigantic fist while onlookers begin to weep.Just before Sandman can finish Spider-Man off, Harry flies in and throws a bomb at Sandman, and helps Peter up. The two fight Sandman and Venom, and Harry eventually knocks Sandman down while Peter gets MJ out of the taxi and into a safer area. Venom then attacks Peter, and traps him with his webbing, but Harry flies in and attempts to stab Venom with some blades protruding out the front of his hoverboard. Venom grabs his board and flings him off, knocking several rebars loose and collapsing to the floor. The clanging sound pains the symbiote, and Peter remembers back to the bell noise in the church.Venom leaps towards Peter with Harry's board, intending to impale Peter, but Harry runs in between Venom and Peter, and is himself impaled instead. Venom throws him aside and then leaps towards Peter again, who manages to snap his wrists free and smack Venom around the head with a rebar. Peter circles Venom with the bars, and the clanging sound pains Venom as each one is slammed into the ground. Peter snags Eddie from inside the suit with his webbing and pulls him out; he then throws a bomb from Harry's glider at the symbiote. Eddie rushes towards the symbiote while the bomb flies through the air, and is killed in the resulting explosion.Sandman approaches Peter and tells him that the killing of Uncle Ben was, in fact, an accident caused by his gun going off. Peter forgives him and Sandman flies off through the buildings while Peter swings down to Harry. He and MJ sit on either side of him, comforting him while he dies. Harry forgives Peter for the death of his father and then dies as the sun rises.Peter, MJ, Gwen, Aunt May and several others attend Harry's funeral, and then we fade into MJ singing at the jazz club. She stops singing as Peter walks in, and then he steps forwards, his hand outstretched. She takes it and the two embrace, slowly dancing on the spot to the music of the jazz band.THE ENDWritten by joel-waroftheworlds, 03.02.08 | murder, cult, violence, flashback, good versus evil, humor, action, revenge, storytelling | train | imdb | null |
tt0091203 | Highlander | In 1985, a man named Russell Nash (Christopher Lambert) is attending a wrestling match at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He feels a strange tremor and is compelled to leave. As he heads to his car, Nash is confronted by a man named Iman Fasil. Fasil identifies Nash by his real name, Connor MacLeod, and challenges him to a duel. Connor reluctantly accepts, and draws a katana. After a fierce sword fight, Connor decapitates Fasil and is enveloped by a mysterious energy which destroys several cars around him. He quickly hides his sword in one of the light racks hanging from the ceiling. Before he can leave the garage he is arrested by the police, who take him for questioning.The story goes back to Scotland in 1536, where an 18-year old Connor is seen with his fiance, Kate (Celia Imrie), and war weary cousins Angus (James Cosmo) and Dugal (Billy Hartman). Their clan is preparing for war against their longtime rivals, Clan Fraser.Detectives Moran (Alan North) and Garfield (Edward Wiley) are attempting to interrogate Connor. Garfield loses his cool and assaults Connor. This incident, coupled with lack of evidence, results in Connor's release. Forensics expert Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart) is intrigued by Fasil's sword, as it is a very valuable historical artifact, probably worth over a million dollars. Later, Connor returns to the garage to retrieve the katana, but before he does he sees that Brenda is looking at the crime scene. She finds some metal shards embedded in a nearby concrete column and saves them for analysis.The scene returns to the Highlands, where the armies of Clan Fraser and Clan MacLeod are preparing to face each other in battle. Clan Fraser's leader, Chief Murdoch (Alistair Findlay), has taken on the services of the Kurgan (Clancy Brown), a imposing mercenary in black leather armor. The Kurgan tells Murdoch that he wants to kill Connor on the battlefield and that nobody else should fight him. The battle begins and Connor, who has never been in battle before, is very scared. He soon finds nobody wants to fight him, but eventually the Kurgan finds him and easily defeats Connor by stabbing him in the chest, shouting "there are can be only one!" Dugal and Angus see the Kurgan preparing to decapitate Connor and attack him, forcing him to retreat. Connor is taken back to the village but is so badly wounded everybody assumes he is going to die.We learn that Connor, in his Russell Nash persona, is an antiquities dealer and seems to be quite wealthy. A very pretty older woman named Rachel Ellenstein (Sheila Gish) is his assistant. Later, the Kurgan, now wearing Judas Priest stagewear and sporting a hideous scar on his neck, drives into the city after hearing of Fasil's death. Using the alias Victor Kruger, he takes up residence at a seedy motel and assembles his sectional "bastard sword," made from composite alloys. He practices his technique, taking the occasional break for dalliances with prostitutes.Connor follows Brenda to a bar where they strike up a conversation and Brenda becomes very interested in him. They both leave and as Brenda tries to follow Connor he is attacked by Kruger. They fight but Connor is at an obvious disadvantage without a sword. The fight is interrupted by a police helicopter and everybody flees.Connor has made a remarkable recovery and is now back to normal, in only a few days. While he is happy to be alive, his friends ostracize him. Kate says that his recovery is the work of the devil. Most everybody in the clan mirrors that sentiment. Eventually the townspeople form a mob, tie him to a pole, and take him out to be executed -- but Angus frees him, convincing the villagers to commute the death sentence in favor of exile.Brenda has analyzed the metal fragments and discovered them to be extremely unusual. She makes a date with Connor and they plan to meet at her apartment. Although she tries to make it seem like it's only a date, she actually is trying to entrap him: she has a cassette recorder hidden in a drawer and also has a gun just in case. However, when Connor arrives he's immediately on to her and calls her out on this. Brenda insists that she only wants to know what's going on and that the shards of metal from Connor's sword date back several thousand years, but he tells her to stop digging and leaves.In 1541, Connor has settled in Glencoe, where he works as a blacksmith and is married to a woman named Heather (Beatie Edney). One day they are visited by a well dressed older gentleman (Sean Connery) carrying the katana that Connor uses in the modern era. The man identifies himself as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez. He explains that they differ from normal men: they do not age, are immune to disease, and will only die if their heads are separated from their bodies. He proves this by knocking Connor (who cannot swim) off a rowboat. Connor does not drown, and actually marvels at some aquatic scenery before bobbing back to surface, seething with confusion and anger. Ramirez simply tells him that they are ready to begin.While training Connor in the finer points of swordsmanship, Ramirez begins to explain a long cycle he refers to as "the Game," where immortals are compelled by an incomprehensible force to hunt each other down. When one immortal decapitates another, the winner receives a transfer of power called "the Quickening." The Game is destined to continue until only a few immortals remain, and this will trigger the Gathering, where the survivors feel an irresistible pull towards a far away land and fight until only one remains. The last immortal standing will receive the cumulative sum of every Quickening, which Ramirez cryptically refers to as "the Prize." Discussion soon turns toward the Kurgan, who is revealed to be the oldest and strongest of the immortals, descended from an ancient barbaric tribe from Kievan Rus, in the steppes of Russia. He must not achieve the Prize or mortals will be enslaved forever. Connor also learns that all immortals are sterile, and fears how Heather will react when she learns he cannot give her any children. Ramirez reveals that he has been married three times and his third wife, a Japanese princess named Shikiku (the daughter of the man who made Ramirez's katana), was the love of his life. Eventually, Shikiku died of old age, and he was devastated. He urges Connor to let Heather go, and foreswear future mortal relationships, to avoid the same heartbreak. Connor refuses.One night while Connor is away, the Kurgan arrives, demanding to know where "the Highlander" is. Ramirez lies, telling him that he has already killed Connor. The Kurgan sees through the deception and attacks. A fierce battle ensues. Ramirez gets an early advantage, slashing deep into the Kurgan's throat (revealing how Kruger got the scar on his neck and how his voice was altered) and wounding him in the side. However, the Kurgan's rage and ferocity eventually tip the battle in his favor. He asks who Heather is and Ramirez again lies, saying she is his woman so that his enemy won't use her against Connor. He decapitates Ramirez and receives the Quickening. After it has surged through his body, he falls from the tower where he and Ramirez had battled. Heather approaches him, thinking he's dead, but he grabs her.After the death of his mentor, Connor attempts to return to a normal life, but as Ramirez warned, Heather succumbs to old age while Connor remains youthful. On her deathbed, she thanks Connor for staying with her until the end, and ask that he honor her memory by lighting a candle on her birthday. After burying Heather, Connor plants his Scottish broadsword in the ground to mark her grave, appropriating Ramirez's katana as his weapon. He destroys all traces of his old life and leaves Scotland.Connor meets an exotic-looking man named Sunda Kastagir (Hugh Quarshie) in present-day Central Park at the Bow Bridge. It becomes apparent they are long-time friends as well as immortals. They talk about how few of them are left and say the time for the final battle is close. They also discuss the possibility that they might have to kill each other.Connor and Kastagir recall meeting in Boston circa 1783. Connor is about to duel a very snooty man and is so drunk he can hardly stand up, but he still attempts to fight. The other man easily defeats Connor by stabbing him, and quickly declares himself the victor. However, Connor gets up and wants to continue the fight. The man is stunned but resumes the fight, easily stabbing Connor again. A humorous situation ensues where the man repeatedly "kills" Connor and each time Connor gets back on his feet.After much investigation Brenda finds out that Connor should be dead -- Russell Nash is the name of a baby who died at birth. She confronts Rachel and in a flashback we learn that Connor rescued her from the Nazis when she was a child. Rachel tries to keep Brenda away, but eventually Connor explains to Brenda who he really is. He proves it to her by stabbing himself in the stomach. After this revelation Brenda and Connor become lovers, although Connor is reluctant, and the ghostly voice of Ramirez suggests that he let her go.Kirk, a gung-ho ex-Marine with survivalist tendencies, sees Kruger and Kastagir dueling in an alley. Kruger kills Kastagir and receives his Quickening. Kirk, clearly freaked out by witnessing this event, shoots Kruger, who shrugs off the injury and impales him. Kirk survives, and gives the police Kruger's description. In response, Kruger alters his appearance by shaving his head and covering the scar on his neck with a safety-pin necklace.Connor is at a church, lighting candles for Heather's birthday. Kruger enters, revealing that Kastagir is dead and he and Connor are now the only immortals left. Kruger taunts Connor by telling him of his defeat of Ramirez and about raping Ramirez's wife. He then realizes that Heather was actually Connor's wife and had never told him about the rape. Connor is furious, but is reminded of the immortals' oldest rule: they cannot fight on holy ground. Kruger finds out that Connor is having an affair with Brenda and kidnaps her in order to draw Connor into the final fight. Connor accepts the challenge and kisses Rachel goodbye, telling her that Russell Nash dies tonight, and that she knew this day would come.The two fighters meet on the roof of Silvercup Studios and an epic sword fight begins. Kruger tries to use Brenda to defeat Connor by tying her to a billboard, but Connor manages to save her. The fight causes major destruction. Both fighters fall into a large warehouse which is surrounded by windows. After a climactic fight Connor defeats Kruger and experiences the sum of all quickenings, which destroys every window in the warehouse. The police assume that Kruger is the headhunter serial killer they were looking for, and that Nash was his final victim.The last scene shows Connor and Brenda in the Highlands and it explains that the Prize gives Connor awareness of the thoughts of all people all around the world and allows him to exert some influence. As a result he can help people cooperate with one another. He is now also mortal, able to have children and grow old. Ramirez tells Connor that he now has power beyond anyone's imagination, and urges him to use it well. | comedy, fantasy, gothic, murder, cult, violence, historical fiction, good versus evil, flashback, romantic, historical | train | imdb | null |
tt0053221 | Rio Bravo | The town drunk - former deputy sheriff, Dude, (Dean Martin) enters a saloon through the back door. He's dirty, unshaven and broke. A man called Joe Burdette (Claude Akins), the brother of the wealthy, corrupt local rancher Nathan, (John Russell) stands at the bar smiling as he watches how desperate Dude looks for a drink. He tosses a coin into the spittoon and laughs. Dude reluctantly bends down to pick it up but his old friend sheriff John T.Chance (John Wayne) kicks it out of the way. Burdette smiles and Chance starts to approach him. Dude feeling shamed picks up a piece of wood and knocks Chance out with it. Joe still smiles. Dude goes to hit him but Joe's men grab him and beat him. As Joe starts on him, an unarmed customer grabs his arm to stop him and Joe pulls out his gun and shoots him dead. He strolls out of the saloon leaving Chance and Dude half unconscious near the dead body.Joe walks into another of the town's bars and Chance walks in, head bleeding, dazed and pointing his rifle at him to arrest him. He tells him he's under arrest. Because of Joe's connections, there's some men to back him up in this saloon as well. A man stands behind Chance and pulls his gun on him. Dude appears at the salon doors and whips out someone else's gun and shoots the other gunman's hand to protect Chance. Joe goes for his gun and Chance knocks him out with his rifle. Dude helps Chance take him over to jail.The next day, as the funeral of Joe's victim takes place, a wagon train arrives in town led by Pat Wheeler (Ward Bond) and his youthful gunslinging helper, Colorado (Ricky Nelson). Pat and Chance are old friends and Chance tells him about the trouble going on in town. Burdette has his men scattered all over and he only has his reinstated deputy dude and old, crippled Stumpy (Walter Brennan) for support. There's no way he can get Joe out of town to the marshal, - he's going to have to wait a few days for the marshal and his posse to arrive to pick him up. Pat goes off to leave the wagons which are filled with oil and dynamite near Nathan's warehouse, while Chance and Dude join Stumpy inside for a drink of beer. Just as Dude is about to take a drink near the cell, Joe starts to taunt him again about his shaking and trying to dry out. Dude throws the glass bottle at the bars in anger. A package arrives for the hotel owner Carlos (Pedro Gonzalez) and Chance takes it over for him.It's some underwear for his wife Consuela. As Chance and Carlos are talking, a woman appears at the door,"Feathers" (Angie Dickinson). Just arrived in town, she laughs at the sight of the sheriff and Carlos with the underwear.Chance walks out.Later at night, Chance,Dude and Stumpy are sat at the office. Chance and Stumpy see that Dude is restless and suffering with the drying out process.Realising he needs a distraction, Chance tells Stumpy that he and Dude are going to patrol the town. As they wander the street, Carlos comes out of the hotel and tells Chance that Pat has been spreading the word around that the sheriff needs some help. Chance goes inside and interrupts the card game that Pat's having with Colorado, Feathers and a few others. The two of them have a talk at the bar. Chance warns him that anybody who goes around publicly asking for people to help him out could end up dead. Pat offers to help him but Chance tells him no. He'd be no good if he needs Colorado for protection. So Pat offers him Colorado's help. As he goes to get him, Chance inspects a deck of cards that Pat and the others were playing with. Pat brings Colorado over but the young man says he's not interested. He's just going to mind his own business. Pat tells Chance that he's leaving in the morning. Chance gets ready to leave and notices Feathers winning another hand. He follows her up to her room to have a word with her. He tells her that the cards he looked at had three aces missing. He pulls out a wanted bill for a con-man and he's identified her as the man's partner. She admits she is but says she hasn't cheated. She says he's going to have to search her. As Chance starts to feel uncomfortable, Colorado appears and tells him he thinks it's the man with the checkered vest who's been cheating. They approach him downstairs and he tries to go for his gun but Colorado's faster. He whips his gun out and after searching him, he finds the cards. Chance tells Carlos to lock the man in his room all night and to make sure he leaves town in the morning. He tells the others to split his winnings between them and thanks Colorado. Colorado asks him about Feathers but Chance is reluctant to apologise to her. He just tells her he was wrong. He leaves the hotel and asks Dude where Pat is. Pat's walking down the street towards them but he is shot by a man hiding in the stable. Chance and Dude run to him but he's dead. Colorado asks Chance if he can help them pursue the gunman but Chance says no. Chance bursts into the barn but the gunman gets away to the saloon. Dude gets a few shots of and thinks he might have got him. Chance lets Dude go in the front entrance of the saloon while he goes through the back. The customers tell them that no one has entered. Dude looks for a man with muddy boots as the gunman watches from the balcony. None of the men have muddy boots. He even checks the barman's to make sure. The men start laughing at him.One of them tosses a coin into the spitoon. Dude looks shameful and Chance looks doubtful about his mind but Dude notices some blood dripping into a glass of beer on the bar. Dude knows he's there. He turns around, whips out his gun and shoots up at him. The dead body lands in front of the bar. Dude finds a 50 dollar goldpiece on him and know it's the work of Burdette offering money to hitmen. Chance confronts the man who told them no one came in and hits him over the head with his rifle. He tells the barman to collect the mens guns and take them over to the jail. Chance tells Dude that he'll let him go in the front often.Colorado arrives at the office with some of Pat's belongings. He thanks Dude for getting the man who killed him and tells Chance that he's just taken him to the undertaker's. Chance has to keep hold of all of Pat's belongings until he gets a court order, including the wagons, which means Colorado has to stay in the town for a while, broke.Chance goes to the hotel and finds Feathers at the bar. She apologises for acting the way she did. He tells her how he became the sheriff and she tells him what happened to her gambling husband. He cheated people one too many times and was murdered. Chance knows the sheriff who put out the wanted bills for her and tells her that he'll write him a letter to stop anymore been put out which she appreciates. The next morning, Chance wakes up late and wants to know why Carlos has let him sleep in. He says that Feathers told him to leave him and that she kept watch on his room all night sat in a chair in the hallway.Chance confronts her about it and tells her it was a stupid thing to do. He tells her she better get ready for the stagecoach.Dude is on watch making sure that the visitors in the town leave their guns in his possession upon arrival to be collected when they leave. Nathan Burdette rides into town with a bunch of men. He tells them to leave their guns while they visit Joe. They refuse but Dude shoots the raines on one of the men's horse and then they do what he says. They ride up to the office and Chance tells them that he's only letting Nathan see Joe. While he sees him, Chance lets Nathan know how angry he is about what he's been doing and the fact that Pat is dead. He tells him that if he and his men even try to attack the office, Stumpy will blow his brother away before he knows what's happening. After Nathan leaves, Stumpy asks Chance why he let him go. Chance says because whatever they are going to do is planned already and if Nathan's in jail when it happens it will just give him an alibi. Carlos arrives and tells Chance that Feathers never got on the stagecoach to leave. Chance goes over to her room wanting to know why. She says she doesn't want to leave town until all the trouble's over and she knows he's alright.Colorado sits in the saloon watching Nathan and his men drinking at the bar. Nathan walks over to the mariachi band. He whispers to them, leaves them some money and walks out with his men as they start to play a slow Mexican tune. The music plays out across the town all day into the quiet night as Chance and Dude listen to it.Colorado approaches them and tells Chance that Nathan asked them to play the tune. He says it's Nathan's way of sending him a message.It's called The Deguelio, a cutthroat song, a tune the Mexicans played for the Texans when they had them pent up at the Alamo. It's Nathan's way of saying No mercy.As Chance, Dude and Stumpy sit around in the office, Dude asks Chance about how he feels about Feathers. Chance is reluctant to talk about it. Dude brings up the fact that when a woman arrived in town off a stagecoach that he liked, he was the first person to warn him about her and he turned out to be right. Stumpy comes out from the jail and asks Chance to go and get him some coffee. Dude tells him that he's finding Stumpy's gun a little stiff and wants to file the action. Stumpy says no and tells Chance to give him his hold guns. He's been keeping them for a year and bought them off the man who Dude had sold them to when he was at rock bottom. Chance takes Dude over to the hotel to get washed and cleaned up. When he leaves, Feathers tells Chance that she's staying on at the hotel to bartend.Chance hears a gunshot go off over at the jail and runs over. He realises that Stumpy had fired at Dude after failing to recognise him and assuming it was one of Burdette's men trying to get in. Dude isn't hit but he's angry. He fully realises the dirty looking state he must have been in for the last two years. And Stumpy feels ashamed that he nearly killed his good friend.The next morning, whilst on his watch, some of Burdette's men sneak up to him from behind. They dunk his head in the horse trough and knock him out. They tie him up in the barn and one of the men, dressed in identical clothes, takes his place in the street so that Chance won't suspect anything. Chance talks to Colorado at the entrance of the hotel and Colorado goes inside for some matches just as Burdette's men approach. Chance is rolling a cigarette and his rifle is out of arm's reach as them men catch him off guard and pull their guns on him. They tell him they want Joe.Colorado sees what's going on from inside and tells Feathers to throw a plant pot through the window after counting to three. He calmly walks out side,he window smashes, just long enough to distract the men and Colorado tosses Chance his rifle and they gun them down.The fourth man in the distance tries to ride off but Chance shoots him too and goes to check on Dude. He finds him in the barn and unties him. Feeling ashamed and with the shakes becoming worse, Dude tells Chance he's had enough and that he's quitting. Chance tells him he's had enough too and that if he's going to get drunk don't expect to ask for his help again. Dude hits Chance. Chance tells him to wait for him at the office and he'll pay him what he owes him.Chance tells the undertaker to bury the men and it will be paid for by the town. The undertaker says there's no need. He's found enough money on the men to cover the costs. Chance realises that Nathan's price offer to get Joe out is going up. Feathers is sat at the bar with Colorado getting drunk and feeling emotional. Chance tells her that he appreciates what she did and offers Colorado a job as his deputy. Colorado agrees this time.He gives Colorado his badge at the office while Dude watches feeling helpless. Colorado goes to collect his stuff ready o sleep at the jail. Dude sits quiely craving a drink. Stumpy tells him not to but Chance, fed up with his self pitying, tells him to drink the whole bottle. Dude pours himself a glass and the Mexican tune starts to play again. He decides against it. He slowly pours the glass back into the bottle and tells them the shakes have stopped. He asks Chance for another opportunity which Chance is more than willing to give him.At night, Dude,Colorado and Stumpy have a little sing along while they sit around. Stumpy says it's better than been shot at in the street, which gives Chance the idea of shutting themselves away for a few days while they wait for the marshal to arrive. Chance and Dude go to the hotel to ask Carlos for some food and blankets. Carlos goes out back but finds that has Consuela has been taken hostage by some of Burdette's men. Dude takes a bath while Chance keeps guard on the landing talking to Feathers. He tells her he won't be seeing her for a few days. Burdette's men want to keep Chance alive so that they can get Joe out. So they tie a thin piece of rope across the bottom of the stairs,so that he trips over it as he charges down towards the screaming that they force Consuela to do. As Chance trips over it,he knocks himself out as he hits the floor. The men also take Dude and Feathers hostage. They want to trade Chance and Dude for Joe but Chance tells them there's no way Stumpy would do that. They tell Chance that he's going to have to tell Stumpy that they've put up bail for his release.Dude tells him they've no choice.Stumpy's old and alone. It's best to release Joe.Chance walks into the office with the two men behind him pointing guns at his back. One man waits outside.Stumpy is behind the bars with a shotgun ready. Chance calmly tells him that he's going to release Joe. Stumpy tells him the keys are on his desk and when Chance moves to get them, Stumpy blows the two men away. The third man runs in and Colorado wounds him.While Stumpy keeps guard on him,Chance and Colorado run over to the hotel to save Dude. But when they get there, they only find Feathers untying Carlos and Consuela. The men have taken off with Dude out the back door. Chance decides not to go after them in case it reults in Dude been killed.Instead he tells Carlos to get in touch with Nathan to tell him he wants to talk to him. He asks Feathers if she now regrets staying. She shakes her head.Chance, Stumpy and Colorado wait at the office for news from Carlos. When he turns up, he tells them that Nathan wants a deal.Trade Dude for Joe. Chance agrees.Stumpy wants to go but Chance tells him he's too old and slow to get involved in any trouble in wide open spaces. Stumpy reluctantly stays. Chance and Colorado leave and walk through the town to the barn overlooking Nathan's warehouse. Chance and Colorado get ready with their guns. Chance is happy to see Dude still alive and well as they bring him out. Joe starts walking towards Nathan and his men as Dude starts walking towards Chance and Colorado. Just as the two men are about to walk passed each other, Dude lunges for Joe and they start fighting behind a wall, as Chance and Colorado engage in a gunfight between the men hiding in the warehouse. Dude knock Joe out and Colorado tosses him a gun. During the shootout, a few men try and escape across the creek to try and get behind Chance and Colorado to ambush them. Chance and Colorado shoot a couple of them but two manage to get across. But two explosive gunshots are fired out of view and the men drop dead. Chance recognizes the laugh belonging to Stumpy. Chance and Colorado are pleased but Colorado tells Chance that Stumpy is near the wagons that are full of dynamite. Carlos arrives to help Chance with a big shotgun. Chance runs out of the barn to get across to warn Stumpy as the gunfight carries on. From behind a wall and out of range of the dynamite,Stumpy throws a couple of unlit sticks towards the warehouse for Chance and Dude to fire at and blow up. The dynamite gets closer and closer to the warehouse and on the final one that Chance fires at, the whole warehouse nearly blows up. The Burdette brothers and the remaining henchmen tell them they give up and come walking out unarmed.Later at night, the town is peaceful again. The remaining men have taken off and Chance goes over to the hotel to see Feathers. As he passionately embraces her, she throws her tights out of the window into the street. Dude and Stumpy are passing and walk off smiling and laughing. | good versus evil, cult, suspenseful, psychedelic, humor | train | imdb | Howard Hawks labours to create setting, mood and pace introducing genuine characters are colourful for the flaws they have as their positive points presenting heroes one can empathise with, people with three dimensions, not thin caricatures that popular many of today's movies.No character empathises this more than Dean Martin's broken down drunk Dude.
Chance will not release the prisoner Joe Burdette back to his murderous gang leave him stiff and awkward in front of Angie Dickinson's love interest "Feathers" creating perhaps the quintessential John Wayne movie in which the Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett's screenplay explores the depths of the ideals that Wayne stands for.
To save the day, he calls on a cast of standard Western characters:The old-timer( Brennan), the reformed drunk( Martin), The "kid'( Nelson), and the "hooker with a heart of gold( Dickinson).Thanks to Hawks' assured, efficient, direction,All of these actors transcend the stereotypes usually associated with such characters to deliver fine performances which are simultaneously "realistic' and archtypal.
Complicating the situation even further, Burdette is rich enough to hire a score of thugs, and the only support that Chance has is from a drunk, Dude (Dean Martin), and an elderly crippled man, Stumpy (Walter Brennan).Rio Bravo is a sprawling pressure cooker.
Even when the full blow-out action sequence begins (and that's not until about two hours into the film, although there are a few great shorter action scenes before that), the focus here is still on the interrelationships between these characters, with Brennan the continually funny comic foil, Nelson the suave, skilled youngster, Martin the complex and troubled but likable complement to Wayne, and Dickinson as the sexy, forward and clever love interest.Director Howard Hawks seems to do everything right.
He also brings in some hired guns who bottle the town up.Both Howard Hawks and John Wayne absolutely hated High Noon and made Rio Bravo as their answer to it.
Fitting it should be in the starring film of his best friend John Wayne.The only bad note in Rio Bravo is that of Ricky Nelson who is too much the nice kid from Ozzie and Harriet to suggest being a young gun.
The story itself is a composite of all the elements needed to make a great Western: good guys in white hats, bad guys in black hats, townspeople content to stand aside and to let the battle be fought between the outlaws and the man with the tin star, a beautiful woman to distract the hero and finally help him when the chips are down.The main stars, John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Angie Dickinson all turn in the top-notch performances one would expect from them, and Rick Nelson is a very pleasant surprise as Colorado.
The only hope Chance has is a drunk (Dean Martin), a kid (Ricky Nelson), and ol' Stumpy (Walter Brennan).This is classic John Wayne at his finest.
I know one thing is for certain, when you watch John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and the rest of the cast, you can tell that they had a really good time making the film, this, I believe is plain to see.
Meanwhile the tough Wayne falls in love with an enigmatic young (Angie Dickinson).Action western, an agreeable love story, shoot-outs at regular intervals, and humor abounds in this magnificent film whose characters are splendidly portrayed.
Frankly, the sheriff seems to be a pretty irresponsible guy with the mind of an adolescent and responsibility was the main theme of High Noon, a film, it must be said, of a different league.On the whole I find Rio Bravo an unconvincing movie.
You know John Wayne's character is in about as much danger of not making it as, say, James Bond in a 007 flick.Because of the lack of surprises, the story lacks any punch and is just another tepid bit of fluffy entertainment from the Howard Hawks mold...and he sure did like that mold.
The whole sequence is absolutely ridiculous, more proper of a "spaghetti" western and definitely sinks the film to the bottom.My 4 points rank for Rio Bravo comes out of acceptable setting and good performances by Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan and Dean Martin (shortly after breaking his comedy partnership with Jerry Lewis).
In Rio Bravo, you have Walter Brennan coming into his own as a western icon; John Wayne answering the call to serve the townpeople who elected him, in effect throwing down the gauntlet to High Noon.
The macho plot is simple but wholly effective as our heavily out numbered heroes (John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan & Ricky Nelson) defend a jail house against a marauding mob trying to release an incarcerated friend.
Also a big negative in the film is Angie Dickinson as the Female interest, she is raw and fresh out of water, and it shows, just like sushi on your plate.The bonuses with the film however keep the film talked about for ever more, Wayne is magnetic and believable, whilst Martin comes into his own as the drunk trying to do right, a superlative performance from him and one would think that is really down to Hawks' direction.
The action sequences are of a high standard, while the tight intimate feel of the town is precious; and who can resist an ending that makes you want to go fire yer guns in the air?Very good film but not a Western masterpiece by a long shot.
It still is good and fun to see a young Angie Dickinson in this, as Wayne's, almost 30 years younger, love interest.Because the characters aren't really that compelling, the dialog of the movie also falls sort of flat.
Helping him is a cantankerous old man named Stumpy (Walter Brennan), a deputy with a drinking problem named Dude (Dean Martin), and Colorado, a young man new in town but good with a gun (Ricky Nelson).Duke is excellent.
(John Wayne was angry about High Noon and wanted to do Rio Bravo partly to set the record straight about how decent people really will rise to help their sheriff in dire times.)The result is a surprisingly feel-good experience.
Boasting one of the best casts you're likely to find in a Western, "Rio Bravo" delivers the goods in terms of slam-bang action and entertainment but also provides an impressive depth of characterization and some genuinely poignant moments.John Wayne is at his best as the supremely Dukean Sheriff John Chance.
It was during this scene that I really felt what director Howard Hawks was getting at."Rio Bravo" is a thoroughly enjoyable and at times touching watch--even for someone (like me) who's not the biggest fan of the Duke, the Rat Pack, or teen idol actors (Nelson)..
It's just that by the time Rio Bravo was made, they both had already accumulated many superb performances in other pictures.Angie Dickinson and Ricky Nelson are also good in roles that are not quite as interesting.
And of course it's always good to see Ward Bond.Not one of my favorite westerns (I still prefer "The Searchers") but I like what Hawks does in contrasting his film from "High Noon".
This isn't a bad thing, as the film chose instead to deal with the way the good guys got along and worked together as friends.Exceptional direction, great acting and a top-notch script, this is a fine film and one any fan of Westerns or John Wayne simply has to watch.
A small-town sheriff (John Wayne) in the American West enlists the help of a cripple (Walter Brennan), a drunk (Dean Martin), and a young gunfighter (Ricky Nelson) in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.First of all, let us just say this is one of the all-time great westerns and Howard Hawks does the job right.
If I were to put one Western of this era in a time capsule as an example of this genre, RIO BRAVO would be the one I would put in there.This is the quintessential Western of the 40's & 50's with all the elements working wonderfully together to bring a very entertaining film to the screen.As with most of these Westerns, the place to start is JOHN WAYNE.
Angie Dickinson, though about half Wayne's age at the time of filming, as the love interest and good ol' Walter Brennan as the sidekick, Stumpy.Throw in Howard Hawks strong direction and this movie is what it is.
I don't know how anyone can say Rio Bravo is the better movie of the two.The only thing I can see getting out of Rio Bravo once you've watched El Dorado is to see a younger Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, or the one of a kind Walter Brennan.
Much has been made of its "tight story construction" and that Hawks made it to refute "High Noon" (he was right to do so), but take away Dean Martin's and Angie Dickinson's sub-plots and the story arc, a series of repetitious action sequences that lead up to a predictable climax, is flatter than the Texas horizon.I believe this film really marks the beginning of the end for its two collaborators - Wayne and Hawks.
John Wayne in particular, who could be very good in the right role - think of "Red River" and Ford's "The Searchers" only three years before "Rio Bravo" - shows the first signs of acting laziness that would degrade into self-parody over the coming years.
And John Wayne, while he has been better, does give a good and charismatic performance in the lead, while Dean Martin is likable enough and Walter Brennan is wonderful.
Howard Hawks''Rio Bravo' is a film so simple in appearance and execution that contemporary critics tended to brush it off as just another 'John Wayne Western', a charge they also leveled against John Ford's 'The Searchers'.
Together, the pair decided to create a film that would tell a similar story on THEIR terms; the hero, here, hasn't a shortage of allies, but too MANY who are willing to risk their lives!In putting together 'Rio Bravo', Hawks reunited 'Red River' stars Wayne and Walter Brennan, and composer Dimitri Tiomkin (Legend has it that Hawks and writer Leigh Brackett originally wrote the part of drunken deputy Dude with Montgomery Clift, from 'Red River', in mind; unfortunately, Clift, whose life and career had crumbled following his near-fatal car accident, was unavailable, and Dean Martin stepped in, giving one of the finest performances of his career).
Beautiful, tough, feisty females were always a staple of Hawks' films, and Angie Dickinson continued the tradition, verbally challenging Wayne repeatedly, until he finally acknowledged, by film's end, that he loved her (in a most unexpected way!) Rounding out the cast were veteran actor Ward Bond, as the 'Sacrificial Lamb', another Hawks' staple, and TV and musical star Ricky Nelson, complete with a 50's Pompadour hairdo and an acting style that could most kindly be called 'wooden', as a young stud gunslinger, to attract teenagers to the film.As with all of Hawks' best work, relationships are given equal status with the plot, and each character has ample opportunity to shine in his role, while bonding with the others.
Hawks, himself, was so pleased with the results that he 'remade' the 'Rio Bravo' story twice more, with Wayne; first, as 'El Dorado' (with Robert Mitchum taking the Martin role), then as 'Rio Lobo'.If you want to see one of the screen's greatest stars and a legendary director at 'the top of their game', or you'd just like to kick back with a classic western, complete with rip-roaring action, comedy, romance, and even a bit of toe-tapping music tossed in, look no further...'Rio Bravo' is for you!.
Chance has to enforce law and order all while dealing with his deputies alcoholism, with non professionals offering their help and with a mysterious woman who later becomes his love interest (portrayed by Angie Dickinson, in a typical hawksian woman role).What makes this movie is so great is the great dialogue, strong performances (especially Dean Martin and John Wayne), likable characters and the great portrayal of their interactions and relationships with each other.
John Wayne is his characteristically rough self, caring but rough-hewn as always in this movie who story line is simple: A spoiled outlaw (even at circa thirty years of age) is arrested for murder, and his older rich brother comes to the small Texas town of Rio Bravo to get him out: naturally, he brings his own hired guns to help him accomplish his purpose.
High Noon Blah, Blah, Blah...etc.) to other reviewers and state simply that this is a superb picture with great action sequences, quick gun play, and tough characterizations by sheriff John Wayne, cantankerous Walter Brennon, and Dean Martin as a drunken deputy (real stretch, huh?), not to mention an excellent musical interlude with Martin, Ricky Nelson, and Walter Brennon.I love the cinematography and especially the old-fashioned Technicolor.
It's hard to go wrong with a western with a cast that includes John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, Ward Bond, John Russell and Claude Akins, and with a master director like Howard Hawks.
Rio Bravo should have been a classic western but becomes bogged down with a drawn out love interest between John Wayne & Angie Dickinson.
Amazingly Ricky Nelson and Dean Martin pull out fantastic performances, which can be attributed to Hawks' direction.Beyond that this film includes everything that people love about westerns.
Then pop-star Ricky Nelson is cast in an effort to appeal to teenagers, and believe it or not the film comes to a grinding halt that he might perform the obligatory song; in the meantime, the usually expert Angie Dickinson is broadsided by some of the worst dialogue this side of the Pecos.Even so, Wayne and Martin play very well and have considerable chemistry--certainly more than enough to hold your interest right through to the end--and although the film sometimes feels slow, when the action kicks in it kicks in hard and with plenty of excitement.Gary F.
Rio Bravo was just one of many of the examples of the John Wayne in action, who despite playing the role at 52 left no questions who the star was among a cast of stars.One thing that is quickly noticed is the broad range of ages of the stars in "Rio Bravo" and the good guys included as mentioned John Wayne at 52, Dean Martin at 42, Angie Dickinson at 28, Ricky Nelson at 19, and last but not least in the old "spaghetti" western style
side kick Walter Brennan at 65.
It also doesn't hurt to have a gifted storyteller like Howard Hawks in command of it all.John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and Ricky Nelson make a very interesting combination, and except for Nelson, their screen presence is impressive.
Unfortunately, like many classic films, most of the humor in Rio Bravo - aside from Stumpy's dead-on impersonation of John Wayne that rivals only Joker's in Full Metal Jacket - does not age well.Young music and film star Ricky Nelson handles the character of Colorado Ryan with remarkable ease.
It found every involved artist in a top form: The actors, off course a giant performance of the Duke, impressive acting of Ricky Nelson and Angie Dickinson, Dean Martin at it's best as the drunken deputy and a wonderful Walter Brennan as the grumbling and slandering old sidekick Stumpy; Hawks intelligent and calm directing; the perfect dramatic and humorous script from Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett; Russell Harlans indoor-photography; and at least the powerful music score from Dimitri Tiomkin, who did his best job since "High Noon", the Western which made Hawks so angry that he filmed "Rio Bravo".
Rio Bravo is a western classic, where John Wayne plays a small town sheriff John T.Chance.The sheriff gets some help to beat the bad guys from the drunk Dude played by the amazing Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson is a young gun man called Colorado and the old Stumpy is played by Walter Brennan.And the sheriff's romantic interest is Feathers, played by Angie Dickinson.Rio Bravo has everything; shooting, romance and great actors..
I recorded it for my father, who is a western fan, and watched it with him and my wife.The movie has charismatic performances from Wayne and especially Walter Brennan as the old deputy.
I recorded it for my father, who is a western fan, and watched it with him and my wife.The movie has charismatic performances from Wayne and especially Walter Brennan as the old deputy.
i really like this Western.it stars John Wayne,Ricky Nelson,Dean martin and Angie Dickinson,to name a few.the acting is superb in this movie.but what i really like is the dialogue and the unique mix of characters.the story is also good.it's straightforward and simple.Unlike The Searchers,another John Wayne movie.Rio bravo is not a sweeping,grand epic.it takes place in basically one town.nevertheless,i found it engaging and compelling.this edition contains a raft of extras,including two documentaries and a short featurette.Like the Ultimate edition of The Searchers,here is also a reproduction of the 1959 Dell comic book,a reproduction of the original press book from 1959,and 8 full colour lobby cards.as for the movie itself,i think it's pretty well done,and deserves a 7/10.the collection is definitely worth having,and i give that an 8/10..
One professional critic referred to Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" as a "super Western." Released in 1959, John Wayne plays Sheriff John T.
Chance of Rio Bravo with three deputies: Dude (Dean Martin), who struggles with alcoholism the whole story, the cackling Stumpy (Walter Brennan) and, later, the youthful Colorado (Ricky Nelson).
Angie Dickinson plays Feathers, a gambling saloon girl who develops a things for the Sheriff."Rio Bravo" was Hawks & Wayne's response to "High Noon", the popular Western released 7 years earlier.
Apparently he was getting old and tired when making this movie.Wayne is in his usual bossy style; Martin good as alcoholic deputy sheriff; Brennan terrific as Wayne's side-kick; Ricky Nelson seems out of place as experienced gunslinger; Dickinson's role didn't help her career too much.. |
tt1247640 | Banlieue 13: Ultimatum | Three years after the events of the original film, the authorities are attempting to return law and order to ravaged District 13. The death of gang overlord Taha Bemamud has left a power vacuum, and total control of the area is now being fought over by five rival territorial gang lords who want to step into Taha's position. After taking out a major drug dealer, Damien is framed for drug dealing and arrested, but manages to make a call to Leïto.Meanwhile, corrupt government agents from the Department of Internal State Security (DISS), led by Gassman are bent on destroying the five tower blocks at the heart of District 13 with tactical precision bombing, and building luxury flats after the area is cleared. In order to spark conflict with the district's gangs, they shoot several cops, dump their car in District 13, and prompt several gang members into gunning down the vehicle. The footage of the incident convinces the President to carry out the strike. However, a group of teens videotaped the agents as they shot the cops themselves. The DISS agents soon come after the teen to arrest him and seize the recording, but the youth manages to slip his memory card to Leïto.Leïto escapes the cops in District 13 and goes to rescue Damien. After freeing Damien from his cell, they discuss the events and further plans, resolving to gather enough proof to expose the DISS agents. While Damien distracts the guards, Leïto breaks into Gassman's office to steal his hard-drive for the evidence that they need. Once they escape and return to District 13, Damien and Leïto convince the five gang lords to band together to prevent the destruction of the district. While the French president struggles with the decision to destroy District 13 even with the area evacuated, a large number of gang members storm parliament. When they eventually reach the president and show him the information that they acquired, Gassman takes the president hostage and tries to force him to carry out the mass demolition. Leïto, Damien, and the gang lords succeed in freeing the president and incapacitating Gassman, earning the president's thanks and a promise to fund District 13's restoration.With the conflict over and District 13 completely evacuated, the gang lords then decide that it would be better to rebuild District 13 from anew rather than trying to patch up its remnants. The movie ends with the president authorizing the strike and breathing a sigh of relief.At the credits, there is a short clip showing the president, the gang lords, Damien and Leïto all joking around and smoking cigars together. | violence, realism | train | imdb | The first movie had arguably the best action sequences I'd seen for a long time, so it's no surprise for a sequel to pop up, which cranks up the action 10 fold.
Pretty good sequel with plenty of noisy acting , impressive stunts and breathtaking scenes.
Set in the rundown ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and an ex-thug try to infiltrate into a police precinct and Palace of President in order to save their barrios when some enemies are bent on destroying the five tower blocks at the heart of District 13 with tactical precision bombing .
Once upon again Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) and Leito (David Belle , the originator of Le Parkour) are reunited upon to avoid a bombing on destroying the blocks at the heart of District 13 and save the city .
¨13th District : ultimatum ¨ is an amazing film that packs suspense , thrills, noisy action , shootouts and violent fights .
The highlights of the movie are The Parkour , also known in USA as Free Running whose origin was in ¨Yamasaki¨ film directed by Ariel Zeitoun , Julien Seri and also produced by Luc Besson with his production company called ¨EuropaCorps¨ .
The flick was stunningly realized by Patrick Alessandrin though Alexandre Aja and Pierre Morel (who took a break from filming ¨From Paris with love¨ to come visit the set in Paris) were originally hired to direct the movie the first .
Filmmaker Alessandrin gives the action a dance-like quality and the whole movie lasted 14 weeks for production , idea, script, casting, filming, etc .
Meanwhile a group of teenagers film the action of dirty agents leaded by Roland (Pierre-Marie Mosconi) from the security agency executing policemen in their car and then leaving the car with the corpses in the 13th District to blame the gangs and begin a civil war.
The teenager with the film is hunted by the police but he delivers the memory card to Leito (David Belle); meanwhile Damien calls him from the precinct asking for help.
The story has non-stop action scenes very well choreographed and an excellent screenplay; the performances of Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle with the Parkour are again very impressive.
I enjoyed it so much that I've just bought the first District 13 film on DVD from Amazon.Cyril Raffaelli makes a good hero in the Jason Stathan mold and I thought the fight choreography was exceptional - as good as anything that comes out of Hong Kong, more realistic than theatrical, and very effective for that.I was very impressed with Elodie Yung, too.
Fans looking for more of the amazing David Belle and the stunts of parkour will find these elements lacking in the sequel.
The story itself doesn't make much sense, but the moves are simply great.I have seen Banlieue 13 a long time ago and liked it for the action movie that it was, and this sequel was at least as packed with acrobatics, however I think it missed some of the feel of the first.Bottom line: Hard to say anything more about the movie.
B13 Ultimatum is simply a re-hash of the original B13, the latter merely serving as a stage for the incredible acrobatic stunts and action sequences displayed in the film.
The incredibly acrobatic pairing of Parkour pioneer, David Belle and martial arts maestro Cyril Raffaelli team up once again for this sequel to the simply breathtaking District 13.
Once again, a shady government faction has designs to blow up the place (there's a bit more to it than that actually but that's basically it in a nutshell!) and it's up to our boys to re-team in an effort to put a stop to their nefarious plans.Well, it has to be said that I concur with the general tide of opinion as regards this one; It's certainly a great watch in its own right yet pales against its predecessor not least of all due to the incredible Parkour displays which so elevated the original being extremely toned down here.......Why?!?!
Nonetheless, as if to balance this, Raffaelli at least gets to show off far more of his incredible fighting skills in some truly amazing sequences, the like which are so seldom seen outside of Hong Kong cinema.
Not The Original But Fun. The plot of District B13 Ultimatum is a lot sillier than the plot of the original movie, and our heroes are a bit older and as a result they move a bit slower, but this is nevertheless an entertaining sequel that you won't want to miss if you enjoyed the first one.
The free running is not as seamless as the original and there's some choppy editing to create the illusion of stunts rather than actually pulling them off, but this certainly isn't as bad of a sequel to a cult action flick as Ong Bak 3 was.
Luc Besson (of the Trasnporter series et al) wrote this script (or rather, this plan of choreography, as there is not a lot of spoken dialogue in this fast-paced thriller) and Patrick Allessandrin directs a story of a region of Paris (District 13) that is cordoned off the rest of Paris by a group of five warlords who manage to control the drug ridden violent region.
Basically the tale is that of two men - Captain Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli) and undercover cop of the 'good' police and Leïto (David Belle), an ex-thug who in the previous film infiltrated a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.
The film opens some years later when District 13 is now in control of power over the government and the 'bad police' are attempting to destroy the area and rebuild according to their greedy plans.
B13 Ultimatum is plagued by some bad scripting and cartoonish and ridiculous characters - like the face-tattooed Tao - and lost credibility as the film progresses, becoming a mediocre Hollywood action flick.
In my opinion is these the reasons for it: worse editing in the fights, shaky camera, too little Parkour, too little fights for Belle, some poor camera angles and too little screen time for Belle If they make a third film, which i think they will do.
Once reunited Damien and Leito set about exposing the truth and saving the community; to do this they will have to unite the various groups living in the district.It must be said the story isn't that deep and the villains couldn't be more obviously bad...
The story is just an excuse to give great scenes of parkour and martial arts action...
David Belle is amazing in the parkour scenes and Cyril Raffaelli is great in his martial arts scenes; these combine to give the film a feel similar to Hong Kong action films without it feeling as though the makers were copying that formula.
Overall this might not be a great film but it is a lot of fun and definitely delivers if you want action and a degree of humour.These comments are based on watching the film in French with English subtitles..
While I liked the parkour and the action there wasn't anything significantly different from the first movie which proved disappointing.
All that's required of writer-producer Luc Besson is to spin preposterous, half-arsed plots around Belle's 'running, jumping and rarely standing still' shtick to create 90 minutes of stupefying spectacle, a delirious, laugh-out-loud no-brainer.But if the original could have benefited from even less story than it actually had, this one's certainly ironed out the problem.
When I watched Banlieu 13 which was released in 2004, the first impression was: "Wow!" The action-packed movie was filled with parkour, or the art of movement.
How the fight scenes were performed by the lead actors David Belle (especially) and Cyril Raffaelli made the original Banlieu 13 a joy to behold, offering something unique in the action genre.
Of course, the story was practically simple and the ending was easy to predict.The sequel takes place in 2013, three years after the first movie.
I enjoyed this sequel a decent amount, I'll get that out of the way, but like the 1st it relies on its crazy action sequences and cool characters to get it over the hill.
These movies rely on crazy stunts and thrilling action sequences, and while they certainly deliver on that part, I really found the story to be superficial and rather mediocre.
Raffaelli has one incredible fight scene at the start of the movie, that really blew me away with how crazy it was, and some of his stunts were spectacular.
This film tells the story of a policeman and a district 13 resident, who investigate the reasons for strange clashes and unreasonable arrests."Banlieue 13: Ultimatum" has a very impressive beginning.
But this time around for "Ultimatum" it focuses too much on the plot for it's own good and tries to make it seem like one of those "Bourne" films which doesn't really work.
Basically the bad guys that are in high authority wants to blow up the ghetto district, by convincing the president to launch a bomb on the ghettos in "B13" by trying to somewhat frame some of the gangs in "B13".
Great fights, stunts and a good story which lead to a satisfying ending.
Great fights, stunts and a good story which lead to a satisfying ending.
The first movie had arguably the best action sequences I'd seen for a long time, so it's no surprise for a sequel to pop up, which cranks up the action.
One of the better movies of the year unsurprisingly and I say that because I knew what to expect whilst watching this film and I wasn't disappointed.
One of the better movies of the year unsurprisingly and I say that because I knew what to expect whilst watching this film and I wasn't disappointed.
I saw District B13 randomly in the movies when it first came out with my friend with no pretense only knowing it was an European action flick.
DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM is very much a lesser sequel to the first film, which was an unexpected hit that brought humour, martial arts and Parkour to the screen in a fresh, inventive way.
This time around, the freshness is gone along with director Pierre Morel, who went and made the excellent TAKEN with Liam Neeson instead.Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad film, it just doesn't have the edge that made the original so good.
I would have thought the filmmakers would have done everything in their power to top what came before, but they just don't have the guts to do so.One area the film excels in is the action, and in particular the fight scenes involving the excellent Cyril Raffaelli.
Two years have passed since elite police officer Damien Tomasso (Cyril Raffaelli) teamed up with reformed vigilante Leito (parkour originator David Belle) to save the notorious District 13, a racially charged ghetto populated by violent drug dealing gangs and vicious killers.
The first one was pure adrenaline with non-stop action, a ton of fighting sequences and a lot of Parkour in between, Ultimatum has a few cool sequences but nothing as fun and exciting as the first.
To the French there can be more greater act of treason than emulating Hollywood but this can be forgiven when you've got a film more enjoyable than anything Michael Bay can direct If there's a downside to the movie its set pieces are the selling point and the whole narrative is written around the action scenes .
Yes some may argue that a film like this should be focused on the action and not what's said, but the overall experience is nonetheless irrevocably marred.Picking off directly where we last left off with Captain Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli), Leito (David Belle) and Leito's sister Lola (being forgotten in this sequel) parted ways to jog your memory on who the top dogs are, the opening few minutes brings us up to speed where Damien and Leito are in their lives.
We get a special effects laden camera-work zooming in and out of a digitized city during the opening credits, before ample time's taken to show Leito still being the pain in the behind for the police with his District 13 antics, while Damien continues in building up his reputation as the go-to man for police stings, having single- handedly (ok, with fists and kicks) bring down an entire vice operations.Which provides for plenty of action in the film as Damien fights his way out of a trapped club, and probably one of the longest action sequences with hard-hitting action involving the playful maneuver of a Van Gogh piece.
Fans of Parkour though will have to wait a little longer for David Belle's Leito to strut his stuff, and the co-founder of Parkour doesn't fail to impress, especially with his one man escape from the cops atop rooftops, which warrant this particular segment a second watch as it's likely to serve as inspiration to all Parkour practitioners.Other than that the plot forces our dynamic duo to cooperate once more as they take on corrupt internal security who has been stringing the French President along with their naughty plan of creating havoc between the cops and the denizens of District 13, now with five different ethnic groups trying to fill a power vacuum created from the previous film, and Luc Besson tries hard to make it something of a political thriller as well, which director Patrick Alessandrin tended to shelve aside and include only as a necessary filler in between action sequences, which get larger and louder, only for the climax to falter with too many cooks spoiling the broth.
Three years after the events of the first film, Parisian cop Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) and good-hearted hood Leito (David Belle) find themselves teaming up again.
I will tell you about Banlieue 13 ultimatum.I don't like action movies but here, I find this movie excellent for these reasons: the story, the cast and the music.The story is not difficult to understand.A big wall surrounds the suburb 13 because in these suburbs, there are five gangs which are illegal.Leito and her friends Damien will try to stop the chaos with all the bosses of the five gangs.The film was released in 2009, directed by Patrick Alessandrin and produced by Luc Besson.The cast is composed of David Belle, Cyril Raffaelli, La Fouine, MC Jean Gab'1 and Danielle Duval.The movie happens three years after the first suburb 13.Sci-fi, thriller and action are the genres of the movie.La Fouine made a song for the movie.The production have filmed a scene in Serbia, in the city of Novi Beograd.The scene about Leito who is followed by the secret police of the government: I love this scene because Leito (who is agile) jumps on a lot of buildings.I recommend this film to you..
D13 Ultimatum is the sequel to the 2004 French cult flick District B13, a superstylized action movie boasting awe inspiring martial arts and mind blowing parkour.Directed by Pierre Morel (Taken, From Paris with Love) and produced by Luc Besson, District B13 garnered a large fan base in the years after its release, and I strongly encourage anybody with a remote interest in the action genre to seek it out.
Having just viewed it, I'm here to report that like most sequels to great movies, it was alright but nowhere near the original in quality.
The movie has decent production values, and the two leads played by David Belle (co- founder of parkour) and Cyril Raffaelli (the dude who jumps out of the helicopter in Live Free or Die Hard) return.
But a lot of the story is just a retread of last time, and the same can be said of the action sequences.
Just about everyone is corrupt, I guess echoing what they think is a common belief nowadays.************Spoilers************** There were some great scenes, when dude gets nailed in the kahunas- not the typical Hollywood ending where the arch villain has to 'die' harder than everyone else after a protracted fight.Then there's all the gang losers banding together and taking the president's word- These were the ones who profited by lives of crime that the district allowed- Then they trust a politician?!
Although the film is VERY unrealistic through scenes like meetings with the president, bombs to destroy the ghetto around Paris or jumps through windows directly into the car, i really like it because it's a typical funny and action-filled movie as we know it from Luc Besson, and it reminds me slightly of "The Transporter" , maybe because Cyril Raffaelli almost looks the same as Jason Statham and also their fight-styles are similar.
One thing i have to say is, that after the first film the story is a little bit repeating itself, the fights between the gangs and the drama around "banlieue 13" were already in the previous story, but in fact most of the viewers don't want to see a intelligent film with deep background, the incredible moves, jumps and fights between David Belle and the Police, the Action around the "ghettogangs", thats what convinces me to like this film..
He does this by a pretty elaborate scheme but 2 people - a cop and a criminal who do stunts so over-the-top The Matrix would call "bullshit" on them find out about the plan and get the leaders of every gang to leave District 13 and stop the evil guy.Okay, let me describe to you what kind of movie you're in for with how a character from this movie handles a bomb.
I'm going to mention what I think is wrong with this movie) Okay the over-the-top scenes are fun to watch there is some time spent with people talking.
But time is running out.As I said at the beginning, I have not seen the original film, District 13, so I can't judge whether this is better or not. |
tt1195478 | The Five-Year Engagement | One year after Tom Solomon met Violet Barnes, he surprises her with a ring. Tom's plan is simple: As they head out to a New Year's Eve party, he fakes a reason to drop by work. The staff patio at the über-trendy Birch, with its view of San Francisco's Bay Bridge, is the perfect place to pop the question. Tom is nervous as hell, but the candles are lit, the champagne is chilled and his best friend, Alex is in on the secret. But they are late for the party, so Violet fights him on the pit stop. Frustrated, he blurts out his agenda, and suddenly, they are engaged!By all accounts, Tom and Violet are destined for their happily ever after. As a sous chef at Birch, Tom is at the apex of modernist cooking and ripe for a promotion. Academia is Violet's life, and she's this close to a post-doctoral assignment in social psychology at UC Berkeley. There is nothing she can't handle with ease, and she'll spearhead wedding logistics. They'll be married in no time at all.Scoring the perfect wedding venue is a headache, but much more painful is Violet's rejection by her dream
school. When the University of Michigan beckons, she's conflicted. But Tom swallows his pride and tells her to
go for it. He can cook in Michigan for two years; they'll just have to postpone the wedding for a bit.In Ann Arbor, Violet thrives under the tutelage of brilliant faculty advisor Winton and makes quick friends with her fellow grad students Doug, Vaneetha and Ming. Left with too much time on his hands, Tom settles into Michigan life and gets a job at Zingerman's Deli, a local institution but a far cry from the fine dining he is used to. He bonds with his co-worker Tarquin and takes up hunting at the behest of the other faculty spouse, Bill. Back in San Francisco, Alex gets the restaurant promotion that should have been Tom's and marries Violet's quirky sister, Suzie. They quickly have two kids while Tom and Violet still don't have a wedding date. Life seems to be working out so easily for everyone else. Two people who once dreamed of the perfect day just want to get it over with. But even that seems beyond them, as comical problems torpedo every save the date. Maybe its not meant to be. Maybe they're not meant to be. Now, through the humorous trials of discovering who they will become as a couple, Tom and Violet will learn if they have what it takes to survive their five-year engagement. | bleak, romantic, depressing | train | imdb | null |
tt0489270 | Saw III | The aftermath of a Jigsaw game is discovered by a SWAT team. The victim, Troy, was meant to rip chains from his body in order to escape from a bomb. Lieutenant Daniel Rigg calls Detectives Mark Hoffman and Allison Kerry to the scene. Kerry, who is guilt-ridden over the disappearance of Eric Matthews, points out that the room's only exit was welded shut, breaking Jigsaw's modus operandi of giving his victims a chance to survive. That night, while reviewing the videotape, she is abducted and awakens in a harness that is hooked into her ribs. She manages to retrieve the key from a suspended beaker of acid and unlock it before the timer expires, but it tears her rib cage apart anyway, killing her.
Now bedridden from cancer, John Kramer instructs Amanda Young to abduct Dr. Lynn Denlon from her hospital. She is brought to Kramer and instructed to keep him alive until the other victim has completed his game. As Kramer explains the rules, Amanda locks a collar around Lynn's throat that connects to Kramer's heart rate monitor and will detonate if Kramer dies or Lynn moves out of range. The other victim, Jeff, awakens in a box in an abandoned meatpacking plant and learns from a microcassette recorder that he must undergo tests which will lead him to "the man responsible for the loss of his child". Jeff has become unstable and vengeful in the three years since his son Dylan was killed by a drunk driver, and is now estranged from his wife and neglects his daughter Corbett.
Jeff's first test leads him into a meat freezer. He finds Danica Scott, the only witness of Dylan's death, who refused to testify in court; she is naked and chained at the wrists between two poles which begin spraying ice-cold water at random intervals. She manages to convince Jeff to help her, but freezes to death before he can retrieve the key. His second test leads him to a vat, at the bottom of which Judge Halden, who gave Dylan's killer six months in jail, is chained at the neck. The vat slowly fills with liquefied pig corpses, but Jeff reluctantly incinerates Dylan's belongings in order to retrieve the key and save Halden. His third test brings him before Timothy Young, Dylan's killer, who is strapped to a machine that will twist his limbs and neck in turn until they break. The key is tied to the trigger of an enclosed shotgun. Jeff eventually tries to free Timothy, but taking the key discharges the shotgun and accidentally kills Halden, and Jeff is unable to stop the machine before Timothy's neck breaks.
During an improvised surgery, in which Lynn removes a piece of Kramer's skull to relieve pressure on his brain, he hallucinates about another woman and declares his love out loud, distressing Amanda. She leaves, and flashbacks show her time with Kramer, as well as her abduction of Adam, which left her guilt-ridden to the point she gave him a mercy killing out of guilt some time after his game. In the present, she reads a letter addressed to her which drives her to hysterics. As Lynn confesses to Kramer that her ordeal has given her new appreciation of her family, Amanda returns with the news that Jeff has completed his tests, but refuses to remove Lynn's collar. She reveals that she no longer believes in Kramer's philosophy, and has designed her traps simply to kill, including Troy's and Kerry's. She also fought with Eric Matthews after he escaped the bathroom by breaking his foot; she implies killing him, but Kramer believes she left him to die.
Refusing to listen to Kramer's warnings, Amanda shoots Lynn in the back just as Jeff arrives. He retaliates by shooting Amanda in the neck with a gun provided by Kramer during his tests. As Amanda slowly dies, Kramer reveals that Lynn's test was actually hers: aware of her modus operandi, and unwilling to allow a murderer to inherit his legacy, he decided to test "her will to keep someone alive"; to this end, he told her nothing about Jeff and Lynn, including their marriage. Kramer then addresses Jeff, offering to call an ambulance for Lynn if he accepts one final test: he can choose to kill Kramer or forgive him. Jeff tells Kramer he forgives him, but then slashes his throat with a power saw. The door to the sickroom seals itself as a dying Kramer plays a final tape, which tells Jeff that he has failed his test by killing Kramer, the only person who knows Corbett's whereabouts; to save her, Jeff must play another game. The tape ends as Kramer dies, and the collar promptly detonates and kills Lynn, leaving a screaming Jeff trapped in the sickroom with the three corpses. | gothic, murder, violence, flashback, clever, insanity, revenge, sadist | train | wikipedia | "Saw III" is a classic case of an ambitious sequel that has a few really nice ideas and some scenes that will make fans of the franchise very happy, but in the end it doesn't, it can't hold a candle to the original.
It's a rule of the series by now that a "Saw" movie must include a lot of gory deaths as well as an unexpected twist at the end.
The make up looks fine, but the stage design makes both sequels look like an episode of "Star Trek".So, yes, "Saw III" is as fast paced as its predecessors and the gruesome torture scenes don't disappoint.
Now that's just going to be a waste of time as "Saw III" already ends the series.
I highly recommend fans, and anyone who loves a good gross-out horror movie buff to see this latest Saw installment..
Well, after watching Saw 1 i was really looking forward to Saw 2, which as far as i am concerned wasn't as good as Saw 1 and my hopes for Saw 3 went down, but last night i got a free pass from my friend for an advance private screening of Saw 3.I can promise you one thing this movie is just like Saw 1 and has everything and loads more of gore than Saw 1 & 2.The acting particularly is good, but its the story and the plot that is extremely well written and of course the Twists again like the first 2 are huge and much much much much more enthralling and shocking!
the movie opens up, alike the first - reintroducing the bathroom, so i wasn't feeling too bad.the movie's a tad confusing, and i spent more or less, the whole time trying to keep the vomit down in my stomach, so that didn't leave me with too much mentality to make sense of the whole reminiscent, nostalgic, deja-vu way the storyline was written.the whole, disgusting gory, blood thing just isn't my style of horror.
They feel organic, they all connect smoothly at the end and make sense as to why.If you've seen a SAW film, you know the story is going to have twists, turns, and violence/gore to accompany them.
The slow pacing allows you to gradually absorb everything in, and this makes it all the more better.There is a lot of extreme gore in this film, but unlike some other installments like Saws IV and V, it's done very well and serves a purpose.
Moreover, the revelation that the horror isn't over, and what you feel as a result, drives home the Shakespearean tragedy in a very personal way because you the audience have to keep enduring it.SAW III is clever, solidly written, has the best characters, succeeds with the emotional aspect it was going for, and ties up loose ends perfectly.
I thought Saw and Saw II were great; you don't usually get gore and good plot twists in the same movie.
The parody element fundamental to the first two installments is in short supply in "Saw III", deliberately inserted into only one scene-the pig rendering trap.Checking my watch every ten minutes I kept hoping that something would happen to give an interesting tilt to what I had already seen, as had happened in the first two.
Every time something happened that was meant to scare people I either was filled with a, "Is that the best you can do?" feeling or I laughed.The acting has not gotten any better and by the end of the movie I was really getting tired of hearing Jigsaw say he wanted to play a game.
If you want to see gore or be truly frightened, look elsewhere because Saw III definitely does not deliver on either point.I should have went to see The Prestige instead..
Even once the full picture is revealed, there are still a few good twists and blindsides.The second saw movie was more like what I was expecting - gratuitous gore and violence.
As I saw the first 2, really liked the first, found the 3rd OK and heard that this is pretty gory I thought I give it a shot.Straight to the reason of my vote, those 3 stars are ONLY for the gross-out value of this movie.
Even if you don't, this movie has way too many stupid scenes and is sometimes so unrealistic to be considered even remotely good.I don't feel writing down everything that p***d me off, so I'll just elaborate the worst of them all.I guess that brain tumor gives Jigsaw the ability to look into the future or to mind control others.
Well please God let that be the end of it, I have not been that exhausted by gore since The Passion of the Christ.It was a ridiculous twist ending that seemed to have been thought up on the spot by the director with utmost contempt for the intelligence of his audience..The Saw movies seemed to be the exception to the sequel law of diminishing returns however part III ensures that this trilogy will be confined to horror aficionados and teenage gorehounds rather than fans of clever story lines and the fiendish traps..Shame really...
I read the reviews on IMDb, and all but one appreciated the movie, so I went to see it, knowing that there would be blood and gore; but also expecting that there would be an interesting story line.For the first time I saw that in Amsterdam there was an usher who was checking the age of audiences through their Identity cards.
After leaving this movie, I had the feeling that Saw III was just trying to compete with Hostel for gore-factor.
The first Saw was great, and definitely is considered one of the best horror movies to recently be released.
It's a good movie to see on Halloween, and I guess some people may be be awed by the gore, but the MPAA will only allow so much, so don't get your hopes up.
Saw had a moral at the end of the story; "Don't take life for granted." The morals of the Saw II and III are "With the right marketing and advertising, you can make millions of dollars off of garbage material." If one positive thing is to be said about this movie it's that the marketing and advertising team involved are FU*&ING GENIUSES..
I could stand the first two; they were watchable, I even thought the second one was better than the first, but when I heard a third 'Saw' movie was being released, all I could do was shake my head in disgust.This movie is rated 'R' for a good reason.
A continuous helping of stylised gore, violence and torture where the only tongue in check will be one that is literally chained there in a macabre and psychotic trip that needs no justification other than an audience demand for video-nasty type scenes with the slightest pretence of psychological storyline to justify prolonged physical and mental cruelty that makes the Nazis look uninventive.The moral dilemmas seem pretentious in the extreme - a lovely doctor is forced to save a monster's life or be killed herself.
Sadly, after so many films of this ilk have been made (particularly ones with the sophistication of say Hostel or Audition), Saw III loses much of its shock value and is little more than a late night gore-fest to wind up the series.
Above the gore though is some of the sounds of the film that make you go, "That was INSANE!" There is some crazy traps in Saw III that are very good but there's always room for more sick/twisted trap ideas.
This one also has good twists and like the other ones I was waiting to hear that Saw theme song music and sure enough, at the end, there it was.
Actually, there were more film-goers there than I had invasion, and I was shocked that there were still as many people remaining when the credits rolled.Saw III is a much too long, much too ridiculous, much to gory, and not at all frightening piece of B-Movie-with-money trash.
The two-hour movie would have been thirty minutes if all flashbacks were eliminated, I found myself thinking this film should come with a warning label that says, "This film contains 25% new material." Its amazing the amount of places that the audience is told Amanda (Shawnee Smith) back-story and what she has done to "aid" Jigsaw in the past.
Saw III tried to be so amazing by having a lot of twists to the plot, well lets just say when the plot is bad enough you can't really make these huge twists to it.One positive thing i guess is the massive amount of gore, but even that does not make a horrible plot good.Overall the movie just wasn't that amazing if you are a fan of good character development or even amazing traps I suggest to just watch the first two over again..
If u have seen Tobe Hoopers "Texas Chainsaw.." classic, and remember it had a blonde female character that screams a lot in approximately 30 minutes somewhere in the movie, then just imagine seeing that in a 2 hour cocktail like Saw 3.
Please God Close The Book On Saw. 8/10OK before you ask I'm not making this up i have seen saw 3 (went to the cinemas last night ended up watching Texas chainsaw massacre the beginning which was OK very predictable and basically everything i expected just more gory) anyway through some contacts i got invited to watch saw 3 some of the staff were watching it late night.Hmmmmm OK its hard to comment on the film much because i really want to tell you the main spoilers but would get shot.......all I'm saying is half the people on the saw3 board are making spoilers up from what I've just read.This film reminded me more of saw 1 than of saw 2.
Yes the film does answer most of the questions people want to know about the entire series and at time is flashbacks before the original saw.The traps seem to unrealistic unlike saw 1 where the traps were accepted as being able to pull off.
Putting people in big mechanical traps considering jigsaw is basically near his death in this film seemed very far-fetched but this is another long awaited saw film so who cares.The gore was more violent in this film and i think at times was not needed because the original saw was implied horror you didn't actually see much apart from a few quick shots of blood.There are quite a few twists in this film and i recommend watching saw 1 and 2 before seeing this one just so you fully understand certain characters relationships to the past character.
Basically this is still a class film and the twist although is very good didn't seem as shocking as the previous two films but was well written and remains a strong trilogy.OK not Leigh or James writing the next film then there should NOT be saw 4.......this film just about pushed the franchise too far but was really great to see jigsaw back in action but didn't seem as original as the past 2 films.
I was a little bit disappointed to be honest at the way SAW 3 ended but it could of been a lot worse i suppose but still a great film which i was expecting way to much from..
The only reason these movies are still being made is because people (like me) continue to pay good to see them.For all of you who love these terrible excuses for cinema, no worries the movie perfectly sets up Saw IV..
It crosses the line between acceptable and something that you would find on the black market showing real torture scenes.It has a totally confusing, complicated plot that twists and turns like the bones it breaks in the movie, leaving the watcher scratching his head with "What just happened?" The torture scenes were disturbing to say the least, but I wondered through the whole movie how the killer could have such precision timing even though he was on his death bed.
None of them developed well, I didn't care what happened to them, and in the end, I was relieved to just see the final credits.If you have $3 dollars, don't rent this movie...Use it to buy paper, a pen, an envelope, and a stamp so you can write to the people who thought this film was a good idea and tell them thanks for nothing..
While not being a huge horror fan I immensely enjoyed Saw 1 and 2 basically for their intelligent writing and great plot twists.There is a fine line however from creating an intelligent horror flick and just writing a gore fest, this was quickly crossing that boundary and losing what was great about the previous 2 films.
It used the age old solution to creating todays movies, either shock the audience or wow them with special effects.If you took out all the gore from the film there would be very little of a movie left and it certainly would not warrant a release, as the story and acting alone are not enough to carry it.
Yes, there is still some dialog, but it gets lost in the movie between the scenes of gore that drive saw 3.
Don't waste your time hoping for another Saw. This movie is intellectually devoid on every level and is only good for mind-numbing violence..
Vile Pap. I never did see the point of the Saw movies.There's no real point to any of them.You know that whatever people do they are going to suffer, plenty of gore but hell it's only latex n sh!t and since the main characters are neither believable nor likable the viewer has about as much interest in watching their fates unravel as watching paint dry.
Now that was a much better movie.I advise fans of this series to watch this movie once, it's all you'll need.And for those who've never seen any of the Saw movies, avoid this like the plague.
Although, Saw III has a plot with as many twists and turns as the other two movies, it could never bring me to the edge of my seat.
More often than not, it shows things with incredible graphic detail which might make you turn your head away more than they'd make you scream.Great writing fuses the two parts together beyond the ending you'll probably see coming and does manage to tie everything up so the typical cop-out ending for other modern horror films doesn't apply here which has always been a strong point for the Saw series.
i can honestly say that i was thoroughly disgusted with myself after seeing this film, and i was a huge fan of the first Saw. i do not understand why nobody has been able to make a legitimatly scary movie in years.
Some Film Critic Somewhere, Sometime, said Something like...We have to watch these God-Awful Movies so You don't have to.
And I can hardly understand why people find SAWIII such good film...First of all, throughout the movie I kept asking myself how one that is obviously in a very bad condition (the killer) has the power, wit, logistics, money to come up with all the mechanic torture devices.How is he or Armanda able to get the victims where they are?
OK, there was something greater going on with Armanda but that did not convince me.SAW I had the most striking final seconds a film can have.The ending of SAWIII is just terrible sad and drama-like.I did find the film to be entertaining because of my latent voyeurism - watching people die is one reason we watch horror, but if it is reduced to this one basic concept it does not succeed to fully entertain me.Since SAW IV is already planned, even SAWV: I wonder what sense this makes?
The concept is pretty much dead, and the ending of SAWIII somewhat makes it hard to continue the story.Sorry guys, this was a disappointment, However if you enjoy watching people die by sick torture-devices, this is for you.
Saw II = wow, for once, a movie is just as good or better than the original.
But if You have already watched parts 1 and 2 then Saw III will be like Christmas to a child - full of wonders and surprises.I had counted myself to those people who thought the second part to be lame.
I entered the movie theater to see Saw III with great expectations.
Holy crap.While I was a huge fan of the first 2 Saw movies, I could not understand why people thought they were so gory.
The thing that the writers did in the Saw trilogy is kept making the next movie better.
I certainly can't, as Saw III (just like its predecessors, possibly the two worst films ever made) takes the title as worst film of 2006.The reason why the Saw franchise is considered great by the fans that believe in it because there is essentially no difficult content: there's blood, guts, and gore right in your face, plastic dialogue, screaming, yelling, and predictable plot twists explained at the end of the movie instead of having the viewer feel free to interpret things on his or her own.
First off i was never a fan of the Saw series, i found them to be just another cliché dumb horror movie.
When i ask people about the saw movies what is so good about them they all answer with how gory and cool it was.
Saw III, good movie, but nothing special.
We keep feeling like there's supposed to be more to the story, more to the action, more to the violence and the horror, but there isn't.This third installment in an otherwise brilliantly frightening series of movies insults the audience's intelligence in the execution of its twists, it ends too quickly to be affecting, and its plot itself seems forced. |
tt0443680 | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | In 1881, young, starstruck Robert "Bob" Ford (Casey Affleck) seeks out Jesse James (Brad Pitt) when the James gang is planning a train robbery in Blue Cut, Missouri, making unsuccessful attempts to join the gang with the help of his older brother Charley (Sam Rockwell), already a member. The train turns out to be carrying only a fraction of the money originally thought, and Frank James (Sam Shepard) tells Charley Ford that this robbery would be the last the James brothers would commit. Jesse returns home to Kansas City, bringing the Fords, Dick Liddil (Paul Schneider) and his cousin, Wood Hite (Jeremy Renner). Jesse sends Charley, Wood and Dick away, but insists that Bob stay. He wanted the younger man just for his help in moving furniture to a new home in St. Joseph, Missouri. Bob becomes more admiring of James before being sent back to his sister's farmhouse, where he rejoins his brother Charley, Hite, and Liddil.
Liddil reveals to Bob that he is in collusion with another member of the James gang, Jim Cummins, to capture Jesse for a substantial bounty. Meanwhile, Jesse visits another gang member, Ed Miller (Garret Dillahunt), who gives away information on Cummins' plot. Jesse kills Miller, then departs with Liddil to hunt down Cummins. Unable to locate him, Jesse viciously beats Albert Ford (Jesse Frechette), a young cousin of Bob and Charley. Liddil returns to the Boltons' farmhouse, and argues with Hite, which ends with Bob Ford killing Hite. They dump his body in the woods to conceal the murder from Jesse.
Jesse and Charley Ford travel to St. Joseph where Jesse learns of Hite's disappearance, which Charley denies knowing anything about. Meanwhile, Bob goes to Kansas City Police Commissioner Henry Craig (Michael Parks), saying he knows Jesse James' whereabouts. To prove his allegiance with the James gang, Bob urges Craig to arrest Dick Liddil. Following Liddil's arrest and confession to participation in numerous gang robberies, Bob brokers a deal with the Governor of Missouri, Thomas T. Crittenden (James Carville). He is given ten days to capture or kill Jesse James, and promised a substantial bounty and full pardon for murder.
Charley persuades Jesse to take Bob Ford into the gang; the brothers return to St. Joseph. Introduced as cousins to the Howards (the James' pseudonym), they stay with the family, including Zee James (Mary-Louise Parker) and their two children. Jesse wants to revive his gang by robberies with the Fords, beginning with the Platte City bank. On the morning of April 3, 1882, Jesse and the Ford brothers prepare to depart for the robbery. Jesse reads in the newspaper about the arrest and confessions of Liddil. While the three men are in the living room, Jesse removes his gun belt and climbs a chair to clean a dusty picture. Bob shoots Jesse in the back of the head and flees with Charley. They send a telegram to the governor to announce Jesse's death, for which they were to receive $10,000. However, they never receive more than $500 each.
After the murder, the Fords become celebrities, touring with a theatre show in Manhattan in which they re-enact the assassination, but people soon dislike that Bob shot Jesse, unarmed, in the back. Guilt-stricken, Charley writes numerous letters to Zee James asking for her forgiveness, but does not send them. Suffering from terminal tuberculosis, he commits suicide in May 1884. Bob works around the West. On June 8, 1892, Bob is murdered by Edward O'Kelley (Michael Copeman), at his saloon in Creede, Colorado. O'Kelley is sentenced to life in prison, but Colorado Governor James Bradley Orman pardons him after ten years in 1902. | suspenseful, boring, murder, violence, flashback, philosophical, revenge, storytelling | train | wikipedia | Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, is a deliberately paced, stunningly visualized, and emotionally charged exploration of the early development of mass media celebrity in America.
However, instead of the understated, "realistic" performances featured in those films, The Assassination of Jesse James
showcases powerful, yet still realistic performances by an outstanding ensemble cast.Sam Rockwell, as the not-too-bright but well-meaning Charley Ford, and Mary-Louise Parker, as Jesse's loving wife, stand out.
The Assassination of Jesse Jamed by the Coward Robert Ford, is one of the longest titles I've ever seen for a film and the movie's run-time follows the same pattern.
This confusion is often associated with the bi-polar nature of the film's central character, Jesse James, played by none other than Brad Pitt.
I hated Robert Ford for a good portion of the film, thought he was so annoying and clingy that it was a wonder Jesse James didn't kill him within the first day of their complex relationship.
Bob Ford did not quite get the acclaim he would have liked as Jesse James became bigger after death than in life.Frank James as played briefly in the beginning is an odd peripheral character in this film.
But Jesse likes having the kid follow him around like a puppy dog to his ultimate regret.The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a very good western and we sure don't see too many of them in these times.
From writer/director Andrew Dominik comes the long titled and lengthy timed The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford starring Academy Award nominee Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck.
3:10 to Yuma may well be the big money-making Western of the year, but I think history will recall it as being the year that The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was released.
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" is a handsomely mounted, film-school like study of the last days of the infamous James' Gang by director Andrew Dominik.
Growing up in awe of Jesse James (Brad Pitt), Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) finally gets to live out his dream of living side by side with his idol when his brother, Charles (Sam Rockwell) joins the gang.
This leads to a sometimes snails' pace as the plot unfolds, though the haunting Oscar-worthy cinematography from Roger Deakins and mesmerizing music score from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis eventually get under your skin even as the hands of the clock seem to move slower as if stuck in a pretty photograph of a nightmare.The acting in the film is superb from all involved.
People face their deaths with stoicism, as if this is what fate has dictated for them, as if it is their role to play: the gang member Pitt shoots in the back for real, or imagined betrayal; James himself, who glimpses his assassin in a mirror but makes no attempt to dodge the bullet's path.It will probably be admired most for its performances: Casey Affleck's insinuating, awkward hero-worshipper, at once understandable and pitiable - bullied, insecure, unloved - and at once somewhat contemptible, annoying and disturbing.
The motion picture is well realized by Andrew Dominik who displays enough off-beat touches to keep things interesting.Adding more details over the largely described on the movie, deeds happened of the following way : Later events led disaster on 6 September 1876 in which Jesse(Brad Pitt) and Frank James(Sam Shepard) with three younger Younger brothers attempted a bank robbery at Northfield , Minnesota, only Jesse and Frank got clean away to live quietly for several years under assumed names , Jesse as J.D. Howard and Frank as B.J. Woodson.
Forced by public opinion to leave Missouri , Bob wandered through the old West , taunted by the words of the popular song : ¨The dirty little coward, who was shot Mr Howard, has laid poor Jesse in his grave¨ .Others films about this legendary outlaw are : The classic version (1939) titled ¨Jesse James(1939)¨ with Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda, ¨The return of Frank james(1950) by Fritz Lang with Henry Fonda ; ¨I shot Jesse James¨by Samuel Fuller with John Ireland as Bob Ford ; ¨Jesse James vs the Dalton(1954)¨ by William Castle with John Ireland, ¨The true story of Jesse James¨ by Nicholas Ray with Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter..
The pacing in that scene is deliberate and thought provoking, which will leave you thinking about it long after you see it.Casey Affleck plays the "coward," Robert Ford.
And James' character here is the closest to reality - best since The Long Riders (and that was the best until now, far better than some of the laughable depictions seen in The Outlaw and the like).But with Jesse as one endlessly scary dude, I spent most of the movie waiting for the promised old west justice and wishing I had brought my own six shooter so I could put an end to my misery.
Instead it went to the methodic killer in "No Country for Old Men" and not the reluctant one in Jesse James.Pitt gives one of his finest performances in one of his most challenging films.
Now don't get me wrong, i'm not the type of person who exclusively likes action movies, one of my favorite films is 2001 space odyssey after all ;)."The assassination of Jesse James etc" is probably the film which title corresponds the most to the content.
With its dreamlike landscapes and its delicate piano and violin score, The Assassination of Jesse James owes a clear debt to the early films of Terence Malick (Badlands, Days of Heaven), and there are images here that are among the most beautiful and haunting I have ever seen in a movie.
There are moments when Pitt suggests that Jesse is an enigma even to himself.The outstanding performance comes from Casey Affleck, whose creepy Bob Ford is one of the most original characters ever created for the screen.
Presented at the Venice Film Festival 2007, the second movie directed by New Zealander Andrew Dominik with Brad Pitt did win the Coppa Volpi for best actor prize deserved, considering the extraordinary performance offered by this actor, universally recognized as a pretty face relegated only to petty traders, but instead be able to grapple with expertise in roles far released, and "The Assassination of Jasse James by the Coward Robert Ford" is proof beyond question.
Dominik's movie is striking for introspection and careful definition of the protagonists: the expression of Jasse James/ Brad Pitt is ambiguous and painful, measured and intense, making infer in his eyes a deep existential angst: constant research, perpetually in motion, distrustful and unable to forge human relationships (the size is so high on him as to his throat to many), paranoid and violent, narcissistic universe in which it is confined and in which everyone thinks to safeguard their own safety, just wait the hour of his death.
The Review of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by the pseudo-Intellectual Me. Andrew Dominik's "...Jesse James..." is one of the best films I have seen in years.
Every performance in this film is pitch perfect, but Brad Pitt as Jesse James may be one of the best casting decisions in recent memory.
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", written and directed by Andrew Dominik, and starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, is one of the most striking and memorable films I've seen lately.
You can feel the dirt underneath its nails, the water as it runs down its face.The story, based on an (especially then) obscure novel by Rob Hanson, concerns the relationship between the two titular characters: Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and Bob Ford (Casey Affleck).
The supporting roles, played by notable actors such as Sam Rockwell, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Zooey Deschanel, and Michael Parks, round out the cast beautifully.The music, by Australian artists Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (both of them new to film scores) is incredibly beautiful, capturing the folk music spirit of the Old West, and compliments the tone and atmosphere of the film remarkably well.If one forced me to find one criticism of the film, it would be that it's a little too long.
Brad Pitt is very good in the role and Casey Affleck is great at creating a character that you love to hate; a truly breakthrough performance.I keep wanting to call The assassination of Jesse James an "existentialist Western." The only other film that I have given that designation to was El Topo, although the two films have absolutely nothing in common.
The Assassination of Jesse James falls somewhere in the middle, it's a good film by a director whose best work is yet to come.
Andrew Dominik is someone to look out for in the future with his noticeable sophomore release, offering a contemplative, slow-burning alternative to most westerns, guided by some impressive cinematography and airtight production.While much has been made of Casey Affleck's performance as Robert Ford, it really seems to be more about him simply stepping up to play a larger role in general.
The Assassination Of Jesse James is possibly not only one of the finest films to have come out in 2007, but also one of the best westerns ever made.
This film has layers westerns have rarely achieved (the exception being Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven) and you could almost find yourself falling in love with the pain that some of the characters are hoping to come away from, in an almost poetic sort of way.Be it in the characterization (an excellent adaptation I must say) or the way the music, dialogues, and the cinematography have been used to bring to life a book onto the big screen, every single thing falls into place and How!
Couldn't quite have been possible without the stellar cast lead by the two protagonists Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and Robert Ford (Casey Affleck).
Kudos to the director Andrew Dominik for bringing onto the cinematic world a brilliant gentlemen for whom the word 'sink' could only be in reference to a role, with his teeth thrown in.Do yourselves a favour folks, watch the Assassination of Jesse James today, and wait even after 'the moment' is over for another 20-30 odd minutes of drama so riveting, you could hardly blame yourselves for believing that the title was a dead giveaway..
As the world may know (or can find out with this and other movies), Robert Ford killed Jesse James, the famous outlaw from the West.
Well, Andrew Dominik's "The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford" (already a bit pretentious, even if it comes from Ron Hansen novel's original title) is a long journey to the 'how', 'when' and 'why' of the fact, giving that we know the who.
I thought he was right up there with Pitt and Affleck.I might be in the minority with this opinion, but I found the best part of the film to be the last 20 minutes, depicting how America reacted to the killing of Jesse James and what happened to the Ford brothers.
Here Bob Ford, the delusional, James worshiping sidekick attempts to inveigle his way into the good graces of Frank (played with a fine stoic, resignation by Sam Shepard) who will have none of it.Casey Affleck's speech and tick affected Ford is interesting for the first half hour of the film before he becomes downright annoying for the rest of it.
Andrew Dominik's second directorial effort is a character and dialogue driven piece of work, its thematic heart swirling with intelligence and elegiac beauty.The story centrers around the final days of notorious outlaw Jesse James, and how one of his young disciples came to murder him on April 3rd 1882.
It's incredible to think that this is only director Andrew Dominik's second feature film, following on from the hugely enjoyable Chopper in 2000, it is now evident that New Zealand can lay claim to producing a talent that if all goes to plan, will go on to become a director to rank up with the best of them.As it is, and just right now, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford should be filed along side Vertigo as a member of that club that only admits the greatest American films of all time, and that be even if it was directed by a Kiwi, wink wink America.Masterpiece 10/10..
Simply put, I thought that "The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford" was a cracking piece of work.
There is nothing in those films that could prepare you for his work in "The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford".
Here you will find a film that goes beyond its duties to tell a story, from the dialogue to the different tones, be prepared to go on an epic journey on this tale of the assassination of one of the greatest outlaws in US history.Brad Pitt gives an Oscar worthy performance as Jesse James, and Casey Affleck gives a haunting performance as Robert Ford.
The reason is the quality in the tale the narrative, the characters and the themes all come together to produce a film of quiet interest.I am not doing it justice in my description but the main story, taken at face value is an engaging story of the later life and fate of Jesse James, in particular his interactions with Robert Ford.
I think there are certain actors that should reconsider their choice of a career in acting, the first that comes to mind, anybody with the last name of Affleck, Casey's whiney voice is enough to turn off the film, the second, Colin Ferrel, the third, Brad Pitt.
Casey Affleck is a very talented actor and he sure gives a very good performance in this film, much better than Pitt, in my humble opinion.Also, Nick Cave was a very nice surprise.But this must be the most boring movie that I've ever seen.
No, I gave it minimum because of those who voted 10/10 only because Brad Pitt plays in this movie, or those who like Jesse James or western stories and that's why I was so angry.
Some of said the title says it all in this case, but nothing could be further from the truth.Casey Affleck steals the show in his portrayal of Robert Ford, the young man who idolized, then feared, and finally assassinated Jesse James.
I don't doubt that Casey Affleck, and perhaps even Brad Pitt, are doing a very good job; but I would never recommend this film, as art, history, psychodrama, western or entertainment.
The big difference is perhaps the voice over in "Jesse James...", a narrator that works almost like an historian and brings us closer to the characters and their inner feelings.Brad Pitt has good leading role the best in the last years looking a matured actor, and Casey Affleck has the first big opportunity to show what he's got and he delivers..
I thought Brad Pitt would put more energy into the role of the famous outlaw Jesse James, but he comes across as dry as the rest of the movie.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is not only one of my favorite movie titles of all time.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is one of the most thought-provoking films I've seen in a very long time.
This is not a movie about Jesse James, instead, it is a drama that explores Robert Ford's relationship with Jesse before the assassination and the fallout that comes from it.One thing is for certain, this isn't your fathers type of western.
Brad Pitt as Jesse James was the most real then real characters as if he was born to play the role and Casey Affleck's (Bob Ford) performance was unbelievably second to none.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a film for the ages.
The third-person narration, becoming so rare in contemporary films, gives the effect of the audience observing the real goings on of Jesse James and Robert Ford.
Frank and Jesse are the last two remaining original members.Andrew Dominik films a beautiful looking movie but his script runs on and on.
If you enjoy artists at the peak of their powers, Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a film you MUST see..
After going through a recent obsession of classic westerns, something odd nowadays for a teenager apparently, I bought The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford thinking it would be a nostalgic homage to western films of old like the brilliant Unforgiven.
Casey Affleck defies his brother's reputation for abysmal acting talent (sorry but it's true) by pulling off a stellar performance as the creepy but likable character Robert Ford and Brad Pitt has one of his best performances as the troubled Jesse James.
Anyone who enjoys films and wants to see some career best performances should definitely make the time to watch this brilliant movie..
I wasn't expecting much in the way of the entertainment factor when going into this film, considering its run time, however the performances of all the actors, namely Pitt, Affleck and Rockwell, assure that the pacing can be viewed as relevant to the character development.
The poetical narration adds to the biographical style the movie feels like.Put in a beautiful, yet unsettling score, some beautiful uses of cinematography and you have yourself a brilliant film.The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford= 9.4.
But in this film, Casey Affleck is better than Brad Pitt and deserves that Academy Award nomination.Overall, this is a fun movie to watch.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. |
tt0821642 | The Soloist | The film opens up in the early morning. A man is cycling by as a paper boy is driving around delivering newspapers. A newspaper hits a door and the main articles title is Life Has A Mind by Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.). Steve Lopez is cycling around town and goes in the opposite direction of a bunch of cyclists. Lopez gives an internal monologue chronicling a biking accident which occurred near a construction site. His bike hits a bump and he hits his head badly on the pavement. In the next scene hes in an ambulance being driven to a busy hospital. While in the emergency room, Lopez writes down his thoughts as if writing an article. He is given an MRI and after being cleared, takes a taxi home. He checks his messages (there are none), continues to narrate into a tape recorder.The next morning, he goes into work at the L.A. Times. He continues to talk to himself as he walks through the halls about how much he hates hospitals and health care under the governor. The Editor of the L.A. Times, Mary (Catherine Keener), walks down the cubicles past Steve as he is greeted by the people in the neighboring cubicles. Steve and Mary banter about an article Steve was supposed to write before his accident but he tells her that he wont write it as she goes off to her office.Steve is then sitting outside on the boardwalk drinking a soda. He hears a violin playing and starts to walk around the plaza until he finds the sources. He finds Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), playing a two string violin under a statue. Steve immediately realizes that Ayers is a schizophrenic and tries to walk away but Ayers follows him for a bit until Steve introduces himself. Ayers tells Steve that he once went to Julliard.Steve is in his office making a call to the Registrars office at Julliard when Mary sits down next to him. She tells him that the LA times stock situation is looking pretty dire before switching the conversation over to their son. Mary tells Steve to call him but Steve says that whenever he calls their son wont call him back. He sends her away stating that he is trying to find a story before deadline. The Registrars office tells Steve that there is no record of a Nathaniel Ayers ever attending Julliard and then hangs up on Steve. He says hes not taking the blood story but as he crosses violinist off his list of potential stories its clear hes out of options. He is then seen sitting in front of a young nurse preparing to draw blood from him. As part of his blood test, he goes to urinate in a cup. While hes peeing he drops the cup and slips when he gets a callback from Julliard. The Secretary tells Steve that she only checked the graduates but when she checked all students, she found that Nathaniel Ayers dropped out of Julliard during his second year.That night, Steve returns to where he met Nathaniel and narrates the content of the article Points West detailing how Nathaniel is missing while calling him shy. Steve drives back to his apartment and finds that raccoons ruined his lawn. His neighbor tells him that coyote urine will keep the raccoons away. Steve spends the night walking around his messy apartment while listening to music. The next morning, Steve is calling the head of the coyote urine business when he sees Nathaniel on the side of a busy intersection. He stops his car. Nathaniel turns away from him and continues to play his 2 string violin and doesnt speak. Steve waits patiently against the gate for Nathaniel to finish up. Nathaniel plays the same group of notes over and over until he cant do it anymore. Steve tells Nathaniel that he wants to write a piece about him and how he ended up on the street. Steve asks him about his family, but Nathaniel cant focus and give direct answers and continues to ramble, even asking if Steve is the pilot of a plane flying overhead at one point.Steve calls Nathaniels sister to learn more about him. A flashback shows a young Nathaniel walking down the street carrying a cello. He met with his music teacher and went on and on about how much he admired Beethovens work. He played the cello for his teacher and the teacher thought that he was an incredibly gifted student. Instead of playing sports, his sister said that all Nathaniel would do was play the Cello. Nathaniels mother told him that when she listened to him play, she heard the voice of God. Steve writes an article detailing what he learned from Nathaniels sister. After it is published, an old lady reads it and sends Steve her old cello with the request that he give it to Nathaniel with her prayers. As Steve is driving through the same busy intersection, he almost hits Nathaniel who is picking up litter from the middle of the street (almost being hit multiple times by other cars) and gets him to walk over to the side. Steve is concerned about Nathaniels safety and the cello and arranges for Nathaniel to keep the cello in the office of a homeless shelter LAMP (under the stipulation that Nathaniel also stay at the same shelter). Steve lets Nathaniel play the instrument on the street for a test run. Nathaniel plays for Steve and Steve is visibly moved by the piece. Steve drives away with the cello to take it to the shelter.The shelter is located in a bad neighborhood where a bunch of homeless people are gathered on the sidewalk outside the gate. He pulls up to the gate and asks to speak to someone named David. He and David put the cello in his office and Steve sticks around to wait for Nathaniel. He sees all the people with their problems and seems a bit troubled. He goes outside and continues to wait for Nathaniel. He mingles with several homeless people. He waits until nightfall and then goes home. He starts to put tie up a bag of coyote urine onto a tree when the bag explodes on him.The next morning Steve is seen interviewing an Atheist road-side cleanup worker on the side of the road. when he gets a phone call and hears Nathaniel playing the Cello. He goes back to the shelter and sees Nathaniel playing for the people gathered around.Another flashback shows Nathaniel in his first apartment and subsequent performances at Julliard. At one point he is surrounded by people and in the next he is in an empty auditorium. His musical performances grow more erratic and his paranoia starts to set in as a voice says they can hear your thoughts Nathaniel. He runs out of the auditorium and runs away because the voices tell him to. He hides in a closet and lets the voices overwhelm him. He calls his 'mother' from a payphone and shares the fact that he cant always tell what is going on in the world around him and that he cant differentiate whats real and whats not and drops the phone and the recording "please hang up and try your call again" is heard. It's obvious he wasn't actually talking to his mother but rather a dial tone.Steve asks David if he will diagnose Nathanials problem. David says that it would be pointless. Steve asks if theres a medication that can help Nathaniel but David tells him that the last thing he needs is another person telling him he needs medication. Steve goes to find Nathaniel but Nathaniel is gone. Steve goes out to his car and just sits there, observing the interactions of the people outside before going to find Nathaniel. He walks past some drug users and down the street before seeing the police around a dead body. As he looks down to see the person, he sees Nathaniel next to him. Nathaniel finds a place to sleep and starts cleaning the area a little with a broom before setting up his bed. He tells Steve that he will end up like Beethoven and lie down and die. Steve spends the night with Nathaniel on the street and they talk. Steve tells Nathaniel that it is no place for him to live, but Nathaniel is adamant that this is where he should be.The next morning Steve offers to bring Nathaniel to see an Orchestra perform Beethoven. Nathaniel watches the orchestra with Steve and as they perform, Nathaniel focuses only on the music and imagines each sound striking up a bright color.Later on, Steve and Mary are at a karaoke bar with their coworkers and Steve is telling her about Nathaniels enjoyment of the music and the grace Nathaniel gets listening to music. Steve finds Nathaniels love of music to be awe inspiring. He upsets Mary when he tells her the he has never loved anything like Nathaniel loves music. He tries to recover from that but Mary leaves and tells him the Mayor wants to talk to him. The Mayor announces that he intends to add 50 million dollars in aid to the citys homeless community.Nathaniel visits Steve at the office. Steve is busy and tells Nathaniel he cant perform in front of the building, so Nathaniel waits on the other side of the building. He calls Graham Clayton (Tom Hollander), a cellist, to rehabilitate Nathaniel. Steve convinces David to help find Nathaniel an apartment where Nathaniel can live and rehabilitation. Nathaniel doesnt want to live in an apartment. He frustrates Steve but then starts to question Steve about his family. Steve was once married to Mary, but they divorced. Their son, Tom is in college and wont talk to Steve. Steve tells Nathaniel that if he doesnt go to the apartment, he will be on his own.Another flashback details Nathaniels mental breakdown in his old apartment. He is slowly driven insane by the voices until he cries on the floor of the apartment. A week later, Steve and Nathaniel move Nathaniel into the place where he will live and practice. It is a small apartment with a bed and a bathroom. There is enough room for Nathaniel to be comfortable and practice, but Nathaniel is afraid to enter the room. Steve patiently tells Nathaniel that he can do it. Eventually, Nathaniel enters the room with his stuff. Nathaniel doesnt like the room because it doesnt have the natural sounds of the city and reminds him of the night he spent going insane.Steve introduces Graham and Nathaniel. Graham brings Nathaniel the sheet music for Bach to begin Nathaniels rehabilitation. Graham is impressed by Nathaniels skill but notices that it needs to be refined. Graham tells Nathaniel that God gave Nathaniel a gift and that Nathaniel shouldnt waste it. Nathaniel gets upset with Graham and declares that Steve is his God. Steve gets frustrated with Nathaniel for being so attached to him. Steve asks David to help Nathaniel with psychiatry and medication and tells David that if he puts Nathaniel into forced rehab for two weeks, that might be enough to get Nathaniel straightened out.Steve goes to an award show which honors Steves achievement in bringing Nathaniels story to focus. Nathaniel calls Steve and tells him all the things he needs. Steve hands the phone off to Mary, and she listens to all the things Nathaniel says. She gets drunk and tells Steve that hes good at avoiding responsibility. Steve calls her a drunk and tells her she needs someone to drive her home.Graham calls Steve the next day and tells Steve that Nathaniel should have a recital. At the recital Nathaniel wheels out his card and takes out his cello before sitting down in front of the audience. As Nathaniel starts to play, he begins to have a psychotic episode and hear the voices. He experiences a flashback to when his sister was taking care of him after he fled Julliard. She tries to give him a bowl of soup, but Nathaniel insists that it is poison and instead takes the spoon and starts force feeding her instead. Graham puts his hand on Nathaniel to bring him back to reality, but Nathaniel freaks out and the movie flashes between Nathaniel swinging a chair at Graham and the younger Nathaniel swinging the tray at his sister before he runs out the building. Steve picks up Nathaniels cello and looks for Nathaniel with his car. Again the movie flashes back to when Nathaniel freaked out on his sister and him running away with her following him in her car int he middle of winter and asking him where he is going and where he would sleep.As Steve searches for Nathaniel, he sees the police launching a large scale arrest of the homeless and drug users. Steve finds police guarding a bloody shirt and is told that a bunch of kids with baseball bats beat a man brutally. Steve, convinced it's Nathaniel, checks every hospital in the area looking for him. He spends all night looking for him. The next morning, Steve gets a call from David telling him that Nathaniel is at the shelter eating breakfast and that he spent the night in the apartment. Steve visits Nathaniel at his apartment and returns his cello. Steve gives Nathaniel a miniature Beethoven and asks him if he did a good job looking out for him. Jennifer, Nathaniels sister, is ready to take over as Nathaniels caretaker. Steve leaves him the forms and tells him to read them before he signs them.Nathanial reads the forms and throws them around the room when he realizes that its about his schizophrenic state of mind. Nathaniel gets violent with Steve, pushing and slapping him, and tells him that if he sees him again hell gut him like a fish. Steve runs out of the apartment the minute he gets free and leaves Nathaniel to the voices.A little while later, Steve is taking shots in a bar. He visits Mary at her house. They reminisce about when they moved into the house with Tom. Steve comes to grip with his failures as a father and a husband. He apologizes to Mary and tells her that he thought he was helping someone with a gift who had lost their way. He tells her about what happened with Nathaniel and how he doesnt know how to fix it. He tells her that he officially resigns from everything since he cant get it right. Mary tells him that Steve would never have been able to cure Nathaniel just like he would never prevent a earthquake and that all Steve could do was be his friend.Jennifer flies into L.A. to see her brother. Steve drives her to the shelter and she goes in to see him. The shelter is not as crowded as it was before the cops arrested people. Jennifer sees Nathaniel sitting and slowly approaches him. They sit together for a while as Steve watches from the car. Nathaniel remembers that Jennifer is his sister and reaches out his hand to her and she takes it. Steve sits outside dangling his car keys until the pair come out. Nathaniel looks down at Steve and apologizes for threatening Steve. Steve tells Nathaniel that its ok. Mr. Ayers, Im honored to be your friend.Steve begins his narrative epilogue as Mary, Steve, Jennifer and Nathaniel watch an orchestra perform. A year ago, he met Nathaniel and thought that he could help him. His mental state and well being havent changed but he no longer lives on the street. Psychiatrists tell Steve that his friendship alone gives balance to chemical misfire in his brain, but he cant attest to it. Steve tells himself that Nathaniels friendship and courage has made him a better person. They watch the orchestra perform in silence.Credits roll and the audience reads the following: Mr. Ayers still sleeps inside and is a member of LAMP. He continues to play the cello, as well as violin, bass, piano, guitar, trumpet, French horn, drums and harmonica. Mr. Lopez continues to write his column for the L.A. Times. He is learning to play the guitar. There are 90,000 homeless people on the streets of Greater Los Angelos. | romantic, violence, storytelling, flashback | train | imdb | Perhaps lower expectations propped up my perceptions of it, however, it still stands as time well spent.The film is based on a true story involving a top columnist at the LA Times, Steve Lopez, played with grace by Robert Downey Jr., who becomes invested in one of his more colourful subjects, Nathaniel Ayers, an accomplished musician overcome by mental illness, now living on the streets of LA portrayed by Jamie Foxx, who rambles his way to a convincing performance.The film is a satisfying adult drama that doesn't lose it's direction.
Making a film about a tale like this restores my belief in Hollywood beyond the mindless bunk it churns out year after year.Downey Jr and Foxx play a newspaper columnist and homeless man who come together in a most unusual way.
A caring Los Angeles reporter named Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.) tries to help a homeless man named Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx).Ayers suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
There is a quiet scene where Downey's Steve Lopez confesses to his ex-wife Mary (wonderful Catherine Keener) about Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), "He's got a gift
" But Steve is at the breaking point in his efforts in helping the disturbed former child protégée.
The subject matter does scream "Oscar Bait", with Robert Downey Jr. playing a newspaper columnist who writes about a schizophrenic genius musician (Jamie Foxx) who is homeless on the streets of L.A. We all remember Shine.
Steve Lopez is a Los Angeles Times columnist in need of a decent story.One day he encounters,by chance, Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless schizophrenic street musician with an abundance of talent.Lopez writes a series of articles about Nathaniel and tries to help him, to improve his conditions of living and gives him a chance to showcase his talent however Nathaniel's disease has created demons that he can't ignore and Lopez sees most of his efforts frustrated...To be honest I was expecting a way better movie, I saw the trailer months ago and it got me excited, the movie seemed to have all the ingredients to be a success,plus two amazing actors, Robert Downey Jr as Lopez and Jammie Foxx as Nathaniel.However, I felt disappointed.Lopez struggle to reach to Nathaniel and his constant efforts to help him were interesting to watch but that is pretty much everything that happens in the movie.In the end almost everything looks the same as in the beginning and not much has happened.Sure, Lopez had a small yet positive impact on Nathaniel's life and he,himself, might have gained a little something from that relationship too but I was expecting a wider range of events so to speak...I'm not saying that he should have been cured by the end of the film, as much as Hollywood loves happy endings that would be unrealistic but I did expect something to happen...some kind of development that would make this story worth telling.It never came.
Made watchable through it's rich performances (especially Robert Downey Jr.) and it's beautiful music, but the film feels like it's trying to hard to cover too much ground while at the same time beating you over the head with humanitarian elements that really have no place or room.A friendship is formed between a divorced writer and a homeless, schizophrenic musician when they have a chance meeting.
I felt like they were teasing me with a good story and actors but instead decided to give me pointless intersections throughout (don't even get me started on Nathaniel Ayers' "flashbacks" and "thoughts").The film would have been better if they had concentrated on the point of view of Robert Downey, Jr.'s character and not try to dive into Ayers' psyche.
Robert Downey Jr. plays Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles Times columnist desperate for a good story, when he one day runs into Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a homeless man with obviously tremendous musical talent.
There is a point in the movie, for example, where Ayers utters the line, "If I ever see you again I'll cut you open and gut you like a fish." I appreciate the portrayal of paralyzing mental confusion, but I'm going to go ahead and suggest the majority of the audience is going to see that as a good time to turn your life- saving mission over to professionals who have some idea of what they're dealing with.
This is a movie that wants, tries desperately, to touch on some very serious issues, but unfortunately causes itself to become undone as a movie.The story revolves around an LA Times columnist named Steve Lopez who stumbles across n eccentric and mentally ill homeless musician, Nathaniel, who is a musical prodigy and a Julliard dropout.
At first obsessed with the story, Steve inevitably becomes involved in Nathaniel's personal life while dealing with his own issues with his ex-wife and his job.That's all you really need to know, but even if I wanted to try to explain it further, that would prove rather difficult because the film itself doesn't even really know what it's about- is it about finding the kindness to be someone's friend, the homeless crisis in LA, dealing with people with schizophrenia, pursuing your dreams, coming to terms with not living your dreams, or even more basic, is it about Nathaniel or is it about Steve?
The movie doesn't know as it bombards you with as much information as you could possibly need to know about any of that, whether its via flashback sequences about Nathaniel's past, moments where "the voices" invade Nathaniel's head and freak him out, overly dramatic scenes involving policemen arresting homeless people, an excessive amount of really irrelevant time in Steve's office and about a head injury of his, and multiple musical montage scenes to Beethoven, one involving helicopter shots and pigeons, and another involving an uninterrupted three minutes of color splashing across the screen rhythmically.With that said, it's very well-acted.
As I walked in and sat in a seat at my nearby movie theater waiting to watch The Soloist, I was hoping to get what the trailers seemed promise: a strong, character-driven story led by two talented actors ultimately amounting to a solid film.
Robert Downey Jr. plays a writer for the Los Angeles Times (Steve Lopez) who comes across a homeless violin/ex-cello player (Nathaniel Ayers) with Jamie Foxx filling in the character's shoes.
Just unfortunately the screenplay by Susannah Grant (a talented dramatic writer responsible for "Erin Brockovich" and "In her Shoes") feels less like "Shine" and more like blah.Robert Downey Jr. plays Steve Lopez, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times who while eating lunch notices a homeless man with nothing but a shopping cart full of crap and a violin with only two strings.
If you want to see a movie about a relatively normal guy and a mentally warped guy watch Rainman; if you want to watch good Downey Jr movies watch his output last year; for Foxx, 2004's output (especially Collateral); for classical music put to dizzying visual heights, Fantasia (which, I should add, Wright desperately tries to emulate in the scene where Lopez and Ayers see the recital and all of those colors flash through his mind ending with the pretentious line: "Beethoven is in the room").On top of Wright crowding in FAR too much into making it a feat of the visual, even when it's not needed to express something about the story or the characters or mood (and an inconsistent one at that as it moves jarringly between flights of fancy like the shot careening across the sky with birds flying around to, yes, a documentary interlude on the homeless), Foxx goes way too over-the-top in his performance.
Together they are the best movie acting tandem I've seen in a long time.The film is brilliantly made, with just a hint of what Mr. Ayers has gone through trying to sort out reality and imagination and his triumph over the tragedy by finding a way to keep playing his music even if he was unable to continue his formal career.
They where very believable in there roles.Steve Lopez(Robert Downey Jr) a down on his luck reporter, who can't seem to get life all in order anymore, that all changes when he meets Nathaniel Ayers(Jamie Foxx) a homeless man who is a great musician.
Odd fact-based story of one-time musical prodigy-now homeless man Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) and his chance encounter turned friendship with LA Times writer Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.).
The story is pretty tough to watch at times but director Joe Wright (Atonement) does a good job of adding enough Hollywood to prevent it from spinning too far off into mental illness and politics.RDJ and Mr. Foxx are both excellent in their presentation of challenging characters.
It's faintly ridiculous to see such talent as Jamie Foxx paired with such shallow madness as Robert Downey Jr.Overall, the film becomes an unwittingly parallel to the man it set out to portray -- like Nathaniel Anthony Ayers himself, it started out with remarkable potential and deteriorated into an aimless entanglement of its former merits.
Arrestingly-filmed yet oddly distanced dramatization of LA Times columnist Steve Lopez's (Robert Downey, Jr) series of articles regarding his befriending and increased sponsoring of a failed classical musician, Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), now begging for change near several of the city's musical landmarks and during his investigations becoming forced to explore his own societal and interpersonal biases & fears.
In 2005, the Los Angeles Times published a series of articles by reporter Steve Lopez profiling a classical music virtuoso he found living - and playing his two-string violin - on the streets of Skid Row. After spending many hours with his subject, Lopez learned that Nathaniel Ayers' promising career as a musician was cut tragically short in the early 1970s when he fell victim to schizophrenia - he began hearing voices that crowded out his ability to think clearly and function in the real world - while still a student at Julliard.
Inspired both by the human interest potential of the story, as well as by a sincere desire to extend a helping hand to a fellow human being in need, Lopez touched an emotional chord in his readers, shining a spotlight on the very real problems of homelessness and mental illness, while, at the same time, turning Ayres into something of a household name.With selected passages from the articles serving as voice-over narration, "The Soloist," adapted by Susannah Grant, features Robert Downey Jr. as the well-meaning writer who, in the midst of his personal crusade, comes to question just how much good one human being can do for another when the object of those intentions is either already too far gone to be successfully reached or simply unwilling to accept any proffer of assistance from a caring stranger.
Movie Review: "The Soloist" (2009)Director Joe Wright continues to amaze in actor direction after his Academy-nominated effort for "Atonement" (2007) as "The Soloist" wanted to be a "Best Picture" contender against tight competition as "Slumdog Millionaire" directed by Danny Boyle and "Frost/Nixon" directed by Ron Howard, when only the tender outlined relationship between Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. can convince me toward another Hollywood fairy-tale-story of a better world to come.
The Soloist tells the true story of L.A. Times reporter Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) discovering Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) a cello prodigy whose mental illness has pushed him into homelessness.
This really doesn't add much to the story past giving a reason that Lopez throws himself so much into trying to help Nathaniel.The problems ultimately boil down to underwhelming direction from Joe Wright, which is disappointing given his excellent work on "Atonement" and "Pride and Prejudice." All the right pieces were there to make The Soloist a powerful and moving film, but it can't quite come together as a single piece..
But in reaching out, he experiences the hurt and pain that often comes from dealing with the mentally ill, in this case, schizophrenia.The film asks a few questions: can a person who refuses medication be forced to take it; does every homeless person want to be in a home; and why in such a rich country do we have so many homeless (90,000 in Los Angeles as of 2009).Lopez works to understand the talented Nathaniel, and Nathaniel begins to see him as a true friend.
The Soloist is a brutal movie with a poorly written storyline and a very promising cast that sadly failed to deliver.This films story and its powerful leads seemed like an easily enjoyable two hours for me,but sadly it was actually quite the opposite.It wanted to be an uplifting drama that inspired people grateful for what they have and also feel sympathy for these characters,I think it failed on both of those levels,it tries to be uplifting and inspiring much too early on in the movie,and struggles even more throughout.Robert Downey Jrs performance is not terrible,although he was certainly the movies highlight,but I was thoroughly disappointed by Jamie Foxx.He is easily one of the most talented actors in Hollywood at the moment,but fails to show any of his skills in this movie,to play a character like this Foxx needed to do his research in order to play a truly convincing man who is struggling with his mental health,but it is made very clear that Foxx didn't do this,he said his lines,and went home with his pay cheque,very disappointed by him.All in all,the Soloist is a disappointing drama with characters that I simply didn't care about and I would not recommend it to anyone.
It's really not a bad film at all, led by two central performances from Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. Granted, the film moves at a snail-like pace at times, but this melodrama brings to light some important issues such as mental disorders and homelessness.
Based on a true story, Joe Wright's film is about a LA Times reporter named Steve Lopez who has a chance encounter with a homeless schizophrenic named Nathaniel Avery, who is incredibly gifted with the cello.
The Soloist is the real life story of Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez and his friendship with the homeless, mentally unstable yet exceptionally talented musician Mr. Nathaniel Ayers.
Steve Lopez covers the story of how a Jilliard dropout with such exceptional music gifts ended out on the streets and while covering the story, Lopez, played by Robert Downey Jr., develops a special bond with the musician, Nathaniel, played by Jamie Foxx.The movie shows the tragic, disease-ridden and crime –afflicted world of Los Angeles streets.
Based on a true story the film focuses on the meeting between Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx) and Steve Lopez (Downey).
"The Soloist" is the reel adaptation of the real life story of LA Times journalist Steve Lopez (played by Robert Downey Jr) And Nathaniel Ayers (played by Jamie Foxx).Directed by Joe Wright ("Pride and Prejudice" and "Atonement"), there was huge expectations from this movie.
I tend to see with distrust any movie which includes a Hollywood star interpreting a mentally handicapped character.The simple fact that a famous actor (who is a man in most of the cases) wants to portray a role which so far away from his reality is something impossible to assimilate in my case, because in most of the cases the movies end up looking like crude parodies...or an offensive joke to the people who suffer from similar affections in the real life.I think the only time I liked a performance like that was with Leonardo DiCaprio in the excellent What's Eating Gilbert Grape...but thinking it well, I am doing some trap with that exception, because back in those days (early-90s), DiCaprio was an almost unknown actor who only had a few TV series and a "B" movie (Critters 3) on his filmography.Even when Robert De Niro interpreted a mentally handicapped character on the film Awakenings (which was 10 years before he lost all kind of interest in his career), I did not believe in his performance for a second.Because of all that, I went to see The Soloist without too much enthusiasm.However, I must admit that The Soloist resulted to be better than I expected, although I did not find it to be very satisfactory.First of all, let's see the positive points.Robert Downey Jr. brings a credible and honest performance.Jamie Foxx has the dangerous role of the mentally handicapped man, and I like to admit he made a good work on it, because his deep involvement with his character shows conviction and realism.And we also have solid performances from a group of talented character actors, composed by Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander, Stephen Root and the great Rachael Harris.And finally, I appreciated the fact that this movie wanted to do something different to the lachrymose drama it could have been.However, at the same time, I felt the story to be cold, impersonal and a bit tiring, because of the lack of focus from the screenplay and Joe Wright's diffuse direction.This movie has various pointless moments, and Wright lost the narrative flow a little bit, at the same time he made some very doubtful decisions, like for example moving the camera constantly and orchestrating complicated scenic choreographs in order to capture precise moments between the actors.What I wanna say is that his direction feels completely out of place in the context of this movie, because the narrative required a more intimate and sober work.I think The Soloist deserves a slight recommendation, because it is not lacking of some interesting elements, and mainly, because of the performances, although the experience did not leave me very satisfied..
The soloist is a movie based on an article written by journalist Steve Lopez about Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a gifted musical prodigy that lives on the streets of Los Angeles.
"The Soloist" is based on a true story of a Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez who befriends homeless musician Nathaniel Ayers in the city of angels. |
tt0167427 | Superstar | Mary Kathering Ghallagher (Molly Shannon) wants one thing in life, a kiss. Not just any kiss mind you. She wants a Hollywood fireworks type kiss. The only way that she can get what she wants is to become like all those people she saw on T.V. She had to become a SUPERSTAR! Sky Corrigan (Will Ferrell) is her passion and she will do anything to get his lips. Then the perfect opportunity arises. Catholic Teen Magazine is sponsoring the talents show and the prize is the chance to become an extra in a movie with positive moral values. This doesn't go along without a few comical obstacles along the way. This comical parody of a Catholic teen girl's life is sure to evoke laughter from the whole family. Will Mary's dreams come true? Does she have what it takes to become the next big thing a SUPERSTAR!? | tragedy, stupid | train | imdb | null |
tt0103905 | C'est arrivé près de chez vous | Ben (Benoît Poelvoorde) is a witty, charismatic serial killer who holds forth at length about whatever comes to mind, be it the "craft" of murder, the failings of architecture, his own poetry, or classical music, which he plays with his girlfriend Valerie (Valérie Parent). A film crew joins him on his sadistic adventures, recording them for a fly on the wall documentary. Ben takes them to meet his family and friends while boasting of murdering many people at random and dumping their bodies in canals and quarries. The viewer witnesses these grisly killings in graphic detail.
Ben ventures into apartment buildings, explaining how it is more cost-effective to attack old people than young couples because the former have more cash at home and are easier to kill. In a following scene, he screams wildly at an elderly lady, causing her to have a heart attack. As she lies dying, he casually remarks that this method saved him a bullet. Ben continues his candid explanations and appalling rampage, shooting, strangling, and beating to death anyone who comes his way: women (he is profoundly misogynistic), immigrants (he is a racist xenophobe), and postmen (his favorite targets).
The camera crew becomes more and more involved in the murders, first as accomplices but eventually taking an active part in them. When Ben invades a home and kills an entire family, they help him hold down a young boy and smother him. They meet a competing camera crew and take turns shooting the three men. During filming, two of Ben's crew are killed; their deaths are later called "occupational hazards" by a crew member.
When Ben takes a couple hostage in their own home, he holds the man at gunpoint while he and the crew gang-rape the woman. The following morning, the camera dispassionately records the aftermath: the woman has been butchered with a knife, her entrails spilling out, and the man has been shot to death. Ben's violence becomes more and more random until he kills an acquaintance in front of his girlfriend and friends during a birthday dinner. Spattered with blood, they act as though nothing horrible has happened, continuing to offer Ben presents. The film crew disposes of the body for Ben.
After a victim flees before he can be killed, Ben is arrested, but he escapes. At this point someone starts taking revenge on him and his family. Ben discovers that his parents have been killed, along with his girlfriend Valerie: a flautist, she has been murdered in a particularly humiliating manner, with her flute inserted into her anus. This prompts Ben to decide that he must leave. He meets the camera crew to say farewell, but in the middle of reciting a poem he is abruptly shot dead by an off-camera gunman. The camera crew is then picked off one by one. After the camera falls, it keeps running, and the film ends with the death of the fleeing sound recordist. | dark, avant garde, comedy, murder, cult, violence, flashback, satire, romantic, sadist | train | wikipedia | It is the masterpiece of the dark violence/comedy genre.Man Bites Dog was way ahead of its time - before Pulp Fiction, before reality TV, before movies about the "real lives" of serial killers (Dahmer, Bundy, etc..) there was Man Bites Dog. Simply, this film is superb.Benoit is a charismatic "up-n-coming" serial killer, working out of some Belgian suburbs.
This movie is a piece of art: shocking and disturbing, while at the same time funny as hell in a raw "should-I-be-laughing-or-should-I-be-ashamed" kind of way.
When watching this movie, try to imagine that this *could* be a real movie: documentaries about terrorists, drugdealers, and even mercenaries (the closest thing to an actual serial killer) have been made, and some of them were very close to their subject.It is *not* a "black comedy" in the classical sense of the word; more like a "Clockwork Orange" for the nineties.
But like "Henry," it's fascinating.....and certainly different.It is a fake (thank goodness!) documentary with sleazy cameramen following around a serial killer as the latter murders a bunch of people while spouting philosophy between killings.
You have not seen a film like this: I guarantee it.A couple of Belgians - Benoit Poelvoorde, Remy Belvaux and Andre Bonzel - did almost all the work on this movie: writing, directing, editing and acting.
But anyone with an interest in a glimpse at the darkest side of human nature will appreciate this film, not necessarily for its story or its darkness, but for its ability to make us think, and open our eyes to human behaviour we don't like to admit might exist.During the course of the movie you become totally numb to the act of killing (or maming or torture or rape or any violent crime).
That's the one I was looking for...Beautifully shot in black and white, this piece of art about a killer followed by a film crew is technically incredible.Camera movements or sound effects are among the most innovative I have ever seen.
Besides, the dialogues are so funny...We watch a lot of people being shot and this might shock a lot of people, but if the viewers bear in mind the real purpose of this "massacre" (to denounce the violence rather than glorify it), this movie is really funny.I surprised myself talking with a Belgium accent and learning by heart the dialogues in order to make people laugh.
It's (at least what I know of) the only Belgian film I've ever seen, but it's also just happens to be one of the best films I've seen from any country.Benoît Poelvoorde is fantastic as the totally mad and nihilistic serial killer Ben, his mere presence makes this movie stand out.
It's fantastically funny, if you can stomach it, that is.Many scenes of grisly violence against kids, bystanders, elders and various others will probably disgust a whole lot of people, but if you can handle it then you've got yourself a film you'll remember for a long time.I really wonder what happened to those who made this.
Consider a scenario where Travis Bickle after gaining hero status at the end of 'Taxi Driver' embarks on a rampaging killing spree(as is very likely for his character), but this time a documentary crew follows him and his actions, and with this you have the thematic equivalent of the mockumentary 'Man Bites Dog'.
The way the documentary crew remain indifferent and downright casual about the murders until things start affecting them personally is a clear statement on the film viewers of that time and subsequent generations and their tendency to gravitate towards graphic and disturbing violence.
Although the film has comedic sensibilities running through it, but it does not compromise when it comes to depiction of violence.There are some chilling moments in the film that underline this like the moment where two kids are scene playing with toy guns and shooting at each other and the it suddenly jump cuts to Ben actually shooting real people.
It does make you feel a bit contaminated by the nihilistic violence, a bit like 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer', but I think that was intentional on the part of the directorial team.The tag line for 'Taxi Driver' was 'On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.' This tag line is also very much fitting for 'Man Bites Dog'.
I was shocked by the violence and I was also laughing, and I was feeling uneasy about that.Many reviews talk about how the documentary crew moves from "observers" to "accomplices", but any court of law would already consider them "accomplices" within one minute of the film starting, so that development didn't register so much to me.
He IS the film, and I have a hard time imagining the story working so well without his inspired, genius turn.'Man Bites Dog' is perhaps one of the best and most original satires on sensationalist media since Sidney Lumet's seminal movie 'Network'; it's certainly the meanest (and not for the easily offended, mind you).
They've made a purposefully repulsive character that only seeks to prove that old Hollywood moral conundrum - if the protagonist makes us laugh and occupies a large amount of screen time, we, the audience will forgive him no matter what he does.I'm not really into serial killer movies as a rule - I think most of them fall foul of the criticisms hurled at Man Bites Dog. But I have NEVER seen another film that is anything like this.
You could say it is the sickest thing ever being recorded and no-one would say you're wrong and yet it's also so incredibly funny and interesting at the same time that it keeps you watching until the end.In this movie we see Ben whose every move is being followed by a camera crew.
At first the camera crew has a lot of difficulties to cope with all the violence, but as longer as they stay with Ben, they not only get immune for all the violence, but become more violent themselves.This isn't just an excellent and ultra-dark satirical movie about a serial killer.
And with all the reading and comments and all together talk around it, I was pretty much ready to break down and buy it, just to see it, I mean these foreign movies become almost like an enigma,2 or 3 go straight to the top of my must see list, but I found this DVD at a video store by my house, my expectations got thrown way off, my interpretation of it, is completely opposite of what I was expecting, it's almost like cartoon violence, it's in black and white, I mean don't get me wrong about this movie, it is what it is, it's innovative and flippant odd minded movie, the simple but clever plot is what triggered my curiosity the first time I ever read about it, I'm American, and not at all familiar with any of the actors in this movie, so my all around viewing of it was very unbiased, in that regard, The actor who play's Ben, is just unreal, way to convincing of the part,the serial killer.
"getting taken down the wrong path", I thought that was what was a little bit disturbing, it's like Ben is secretly his god, he idolizes everything Ben does, but serial killing isn't something you can really voice your enthusiasm over, so the whole playing it down scheme was also done to perfection, I recommend this movie to anybody that thinks for themselves, this wouldn't work in Hollywood for the simple fact that it's just way to much of a good thing, but come on, it's a very disturbing and violent movie, and definitely not for everybody, but the violence is given to you with disturbing scenarios, and almost no gore, It's a Masterpiece..
Man Bites Dog would have to fall under the category of the antithesis of Hollywood movies.If you can purge the shocking undiluted violence and put enough comfortable distance between yourself and the show then viewing the film with a critical eye isn't hard at all.That is, if you can do it.Because Man Bites Dog is as harsh as reality comes, displaying the warped sense of what counts for normalcy for different people and weaving in underlying messages of where we are heading with the genre of reality TV.The black and white footage, perhaps done to spare us gruesome details of massacre, effective does the complete opposite.
Mock doco about an affable serial killer.I'm not sure it intended to say anything deep about the "role of the media" (gimme a break), but it does say something about its makers:They have a sharp, ballsy sense of humor.Much of the material here is fairly repugnant from certain points of view, but it's funny because of its refusal to walk the politically correct line.Mirroring most real docos, the camera does more than record its subject, it becomes a participant -- in this case, the camera crew act as look-out for the killer.The performances are of a high standard and the black and white photography suits the style.One scene, in which the film crew line up to rape an old lady, is cut in some countries.Overall, a terrific little comedy that makes me glad cinema exists.Some will disagree, so form your own line..
I could bang on for an age about how 'violence should be disturbing' and all that cal: but that is essentially too painfully obvious and insultingly plain a point to see that it need not be mentioned on a site like IMDb.Man Bites Dog is a film like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Shining that totally invites audience participation (I don't mean 'Big Lebowski' or 'Rocky Horror' participation) and asks you to suspend belief and enter it's world.
There are 43 that I counted although I may have missed some, although 8 of those are by people other than Benoit.I particularly like the way that when we first meet Benoit he comes across as being a cold hearted being who kills postmen at the beginning of the month to get more money from the pensions in the postbags.As the film develops we see him playing the piano with Valerie, quoting poetry and appreciating art and architecture.
They have cleverly managed to give the viewer the feel that he is still making a show for the camera while doing some of these things.Also as the crew get more into the film they stop feeling revolted at the thought of killing and start to participate in the carnage.We see Benoit as playing a sort of godfather type, who boasts about the charity that he has given, and the fact that he kills people for a favour to family and friends if they want him to.
We see him and his friends talk of his 'profession' as if it were a career in accountancy.We also see his warped values - telling remy not to kick the dead body of the man who killed the soundman as revenge turns into a habit, but giving a critical analysis of his failed attempt to kill a postman while wearing a neckbrace.A fascinating fake fly-on-the-wall documentary, which is both keenly observed and witty.Record of Benoit's killings:1 x garotted; 3 x beaten; 25 x shot; 1 x asphixiation; 1 x shocked to death (I always like to try new work methods); 1 x suffocation; 1 x strangulation; 2 x don't really know..
It is definitely a far cry from the appealing and exciting world of Hollywood killers such as the ones in Pulp Fiction.This is most certainly not a film for your average cinema-goer, but if you can get in the feel of the film and the message that there is nothing that you should like about a serial killer then you will enjoy it, and be able to laugh hysterically at the stupidity of him and how seriously he takes himself - if you can do that then you will be in for a treat - this is a great film, if you know how to watch it..
But by the end, problems with the concept caused me to lose all interest, and in retrospect, find the film rather distasteful.The acting is excellent; unlike other mockumentaries, where it is fairly obvious from the actor's mannerisms that all is scripted and just an act, the actors portraying the film crew stay in character the whole time and, speaking and interacting with each other in a totally nonchalant manner (they even give off vibes that they are rather bored in most discussion scenes, which isn't surprising, given that compared to the excitement of filming murders, anything else must be excruciatingly tedious and dull), giving the impression that maybe it really is just a group of friends shooting a documentary project for film school.
After about 30 minutes, one hates the characters so much (Benoit for being so uncaring only because he is such a shallow bigot, and Remy for not trying to bring any conflict, thought or message into the documentary) that they start wishing for one character to come to his senses and turn off the camera and walk away so it will end.What I truly don't understand about this film though, is why it is labeled as a comedy.
This film has highly effective mood and atmosphere, excellent acting, and an intriguing concept (all of which I really wanted to like), but the characters' total lack of humanity kills what makes the concept (in my opinion, to execute this concept well would require at least a substory of a moral conflict between one or more members of the crew and Ben or Remy) so interesting..
I appreciate it for its originality and the way it got shot and done but other than that I got nothing out of this movie at all.It's supposed to be a fake documentary, or rather said mockumentary, in which a camera-crew follows the everyday and normal life and work of a serial killer.
We continue to watch as we are excited by gratuitous gore and believe we need to know what's going to happen next; however, at times the violence can seem a little overwhelming and the shocking impulsiveness of the scenes to come makes us want to look away; but we can't, as our utter fascination with the killer on screen does not allow it.
It's actually missing a bit of scenes and imagery as if stuff is being done in one take, it isn't so filled with the desire for "objective proof" that it doesn't show anything, and it slowly ingratiates us with a character who is lively and real and enjoys the camera around instead of pretends to ignore it.Most likely the most brilliant part of this film is the moment they come across the other filmmakers.
Just like him, the violence doesn't seem to affect anyone in this film UNTIL it hits home.MAN BITES DOG is basically a satire on our increasing, voyeuristic fascination with violence and at times, don't be surprised if you find yourself wondering why exactly you're watching it OR why the filmmakers even bothered making it.
It does has the perfect look and feel (grainy b/w 16MM, documentary-style hand held camera-work), the performances aren't bad (the cast and crew are interchangeable) and the violence is effectively disturbing, but this becomes overwhelming, irritating and redundant before it's all over with.My review refers to the unrated version (which runs 92 minutes) but an uncut, NC-17 version restores 3 minutes (including internal organs and a rape scene).
Man Bites DogThe problem with video recording your murders in the 1990s was no online ad revenue.So it's hard to understand why the serial killer in this black comedy would do it.With a film crew in tow, charismatic sociopath Ben (Benoît Poelvoorde) goes about his day-to- day, detailing in-depth for the cameras the finer points of slaying strangers.
Man Bites Dog is to me a cross between This is Spinal Tap and A Clockwork Orange, it is both a comedy that we can take seriously no matter how comical it gets and gives us a character who no matter how inhumane he is we are still engrossed with him, the character Ben is one of the most evil characters in cinema history but we still see what is like a 'sub-plot' of the story which is of Ben living a life we can relate to, at parts, such as him interacting with his friends and family and of him watching film reels of him as a child and that is why we are still intrigued by his many theories no matter his inhumane actions.
Though we do laugh many times Man Bites Dog is still one of the most disturbing films ever as it portrays a world of injustice with little regard for human life and has a character who is a ruthless serial killer who isn't the mentally ill loner that is usually portrayed in films such as The Silence of the Lambs but is instead a character who we witness going about his everyday life which involves brutal murder and still manages to fit in his normal routines which include developing his relationship with the determined film crew following his actions..
Shot like a documentary in black and white, the movie takes us through the "normal" living of a cold but always funny killer, which always murders with honor, and with a great philosophy to go with it.
If graphic violence and sadism turn you off, then just skip it.The movie is about a team of Belgian student film-makers who follow Benoit, a local sociopathic killer, as he goes about his business -- robbing and killing innocent (mainly older) people.
But that doesn't matter: the film looks cheap because killing someone is cheap, just like life itself to Ben's way of thinking.Of course the movie struggles a little near the end, especially when we see a second film crew shooting their own murder-documentary before they meet up with the first. |
tt0120324 | A Simple Plan | Hank Mitchell is an ordinary guy who works at a small town feed store. His wife Sarah is expecting, and life is good. One day, Hank goes out with his brother Jacob, a simple loser, and Jacob's friend Lou, the town drunk. Hank and Jacob visit their father's grave, and on the way home a fox runs in front of Jacob's truck, causing them to wreck. Lou insists that the three pursue the fox into the woods to kill it.The three men get into the woods and get to talking. It is clear that Lou resents Hank, accusing him of "putting on airs." Just then, the men discover a crashed plane. Inside is a dead body with no ID and a bag containing several million dollars in cash. Hank wants to call the police, but Lou insists that the three split the money. Hank is reluctant, afraid that they will simply all get in trouble. He finally agrees on the condition that he be allowed to keep the money until spring, and if no one comes looking for it, they will split it and leave town.They bundle up the money and bring it to Jacob's truck. At that point they are approached by Sheriff Jenkins, who just stops to chat. Jacob tells the sheriff that they heard a plane in the distance as Hank nervously excuses themselves. Hank is furious at Jacob and Lou, who thought they could mention the plane to the sheriff in order to absolve themselves of suspicion in the event that the plane is found.Hank takes Lou home to his wife Nancy. They agree that they will keep it a secret from their wives. However, Hank goes home and immediately shows Sarah the money. She brainstorms and suggests that Hank and Jacob return a paltry sum of the money to the plane, so that if it is found, people may not look for the rest.The next day Hank and Jacob (without Lou's knowledge) travel to the plane to return some of the money. Jacob runs into Dwight Stephanson, an old man on a snowmobile. Jacob panics and hits Dwight over the head, presumably killing him. Hank takes the body out to conceal it, but Dwight wakes up. Hank then smothers him in order to protect his brother. Jacob then decides he wants to confess to the murder, but Hank notifies him that he was the one who actually killed Dwight. They load Dwight's body onto the snowmobile and drive it off a bridge, concealing the crime.Jacob brings Hank out to the old family farm. Jacob suggests that when they can spend the money that he should buy the old farm and run it. Hank scoffs, saying that Jacob's idea not only breaks their plan but that Jacob has no clue how to run a farm. Jacob tells Hank that the only reason the family lost the farm was that their father spent his money on Hank's college education.Meanwhile, Sarah has done research and concludes that the money they found was money from a kidnapping, and not a drug deal as they had originally assumed. This makes Hank all the more nervous, especially as one of the kidnappers would still be on the loose.Later, Lou comes to Hank and asks for his share of the money. Hank lies and tells him that it is in a storage locker far out of town. Lou reveals that Jacob told him about Dwight's murder, and threatens to tell the sheriff if Hank doesn't hand over the money.Sarah gives birth to her baby. She then gives Hank another idea: go out with Lou and Jacob and goad Lou into falsely confessing to Dwight's murder, recording the "confession" on tape. Hank asks Jacob to go along with it, but Jacob is very reluctant to betray his only friend. Hank promises Jacob that if he helps, that they can buy the family farm back.Hank and Sarah have Jacob over for dinner. Hank and Jacob talk about their father, with Jacob revealing that their father didn't die in an accident, but committed suicide so the family could have the insurance money. Their family apparently has a history of doing extreme things for money.The next night, Hank and Jacob take Lou out, supposedly to celebrate splitting up the money. Lou acts friendly to Hank but is obviously still resentful. Jacob is quiet and clearly angry with Hank for making him assist with this plan.They go to Lou's house where the men continue their talk. When Lou leaves the living room, Hank tells Jacob to goad Lou into confessing. Jacob gets angry at Hank. When Lou returns, Jacob belittles Hank, much to Lou's amusement. Suddenly, Jacob suggests that the two roleplay Hank's confession. Lou drunkenly goes along with this, saying that he killed Dwight.Hank draws the tape recorder and plays back the false confession. Lou argues that no one will ever believe it. Hank says that Lou is the town drunk and a loser, while Hank is respected, so everyone will believe him. Lou grabs his shotgun and holds it to Hank, demanding the tape. Jacob runs to his truck and grabs his rifle. Lou's wife Nancy comes downstairs and begs Lou to stop. Lou fires a shot just over Hank's head, and appears to be ready to kill Hank. Just then, Jacob shoots Lou in the head, killing him.Nancy is horrified. Hank tries to calm her down, but she grabs Lou's shotgun off the floor. Hank grabs it away from her, but she then runs into the kitchen and gets a pistol. She fires at Hank but he shoots back and kills her. Hank convinces a very distressed Jacob to tell the police that the married couple had a domestic dispute where Lou shot Nancy, forcing Jacob to kill Lou. Jacob agrees, and the two men get away once again.A while later, Sheriff Jenkins shows up at Hank's house during the night. Hank thinks he has been caught, but it turns out that the sheriff picked up Jacob drunk at Lou's house. Hank has Jacob in, who is clearly distraught about the violent turn their lives have taken.Later, Sheriff Jenkins calls Hank over to his office, where he introduces FBI agent Neil Baxter. Baxter tells him that he is searching for a lost plane, and since Jacob mentioned the plane to Sheriff Jenkins earlier on, they wanted to know if they could help with the search. Hank nervously agrees.At home, Hank tells Sarah of this new development. She is certain that Baxter is actually one of the kidnappers. Hank says that he is going to burn the money, but she demands that he doesn't. She names all of the things that they could do with the money and how life would be miserable if they didn't have it. Hank bitterly agrees not to burn it.Hank shows up at the sheriff's office to accompany Jenkins and Baxter on a search. Jacob is a no show. In the office, Sarah calls and tells Hank that she checked with the FBI and there is no agent Baxter. She advises Hank to flee as Baxter will likely kill them both when he finds the plane. Hank stalls for time and grabs a gun from Jenkins' gun cabinet, along with a variety of shells that may or may not fit.They get to the woods. Jacob arrives, saying that he spoke to Sarah on the phone. The sheriff gives Hank a whistle and says that if they find the plane they should fire a shot or blow the whistle and converge. They all split up into the woods, but Jenkins finds the plane and fires a few shots. Hank panics and runs towards the plane, screaming at Jenkins to watch out for Baxter. Just then, Baxter shoots and kills Jenkins. He turns to Hank and demands his money. He forces Hank into the plane to retrieve it.In the plane, Hank struggles to load the pistol. Most of the shells he grabbed don't fit. Finally, one slides into the chamber. He comes out of the plane with the small sum he returned earlier. Baxter looks through it as Hank draws his pistol. Baxter surrenders, but Hank shoots him dead anyway.Jacob arrives and surveys the bodies. Hank starts to concoct another lie, but Jacob says he has had enough. He begs Hank to kill him and frame Baxter for it, or else he will tell the police the entire real truth. Hank tearfully pulls the trigger on Jacob.Hank is taken to the sheriff's office and interviewed by the FBI. They tell him that some of the money in the plane was marked. Hank now knows that the money is useless, since he would quickly be caught spending it. Sarah begs him to keep it anyway, but he burns it in his fireplace.Hank tells us in voiceover that he has tried to go on with life as if nothing ever happened, but that the murderous events constantly haunt him. | comedy, psychological, neo noir, murder, dramatic, cult, violence, tragedy, suspenseful | train | imdb | null |
tt0348150 | Superman Returns | For five years, Superman (Brandon Routh) has been away from Earth, coaxed into space by a belief that Krypton may still exist. In the time he's been away, the world has changed--not only has terrorism become rampant, but Lois Lane has been living with Perry White's nephew, started a family, and won a Pulitzer Prize for her piece "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman."Also during this time, Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) has conned a wealthy widow named Gertrude Vanderworth (Noel Neill) out of her fortune, with the assumption that he has changed his ways after being in prison. After inheriting her money, Lex, his assistant Kitty Kowalski (Parker Posey), and some henchmen take Gertrude's private yacht, and head North toward Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Lex carefully guides them to the location, where he finds several crystals, and the holographic image of Superman's father, Jor-El (Marlon Brando). After listening to the hologram, Lex and his crew take the crystals and return to Metropolis.Meanwhile, Superman returns to Earth, landing near the Kent Farm in Kansas where his mother, Martha Kent (Eva Marie Saint), currently resides. After spending some time with her, Superman re-adopts his Clark Kent persona, and returns to Metropolis. Reporter Jimmy Olsen (Sam Huntington) and Daily Planet Editor Perry White (Frank Langella) are there to greet Clark. However, his reunion with Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) is put on hold, as she is aboard a jetliner being used to launch a new shuttle into space. However, the shuttle fails to disengage before it's engines fire and rocket the jetliner in orbit, the flames from the shuttle's engines burning the plane's tail section.Superman flies into action, and manages to disengage the shuttle, but the jet ends up plummeting to Earth, with it's tail section burned up. Chasing it into the Earth's atmosphere, Superman manages to stop the jet before it crashes into a baseball stadium filled with people as a game is underway. After greeting the press and the public in the cheering stands, Superman takes off.Unknown to Superman and the rest of the public, the shuttle's error was due to a brief power outage that affected much of the country. This was caused by Lex Luthor, who, after taking a sliver from a crystal, placed it into some water in a model train layout in the basement of Gertrude Vanderworth's mansion. This triggered an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) reaction that cut off local power, but resulted in a large crystal growth to blossom from the sliver, that ends up demolishing the model, and growing up through the basement.Back at the Daily Planet, Lois wants to find out more about the power outage, but Perry White wants the entire staff to focus on getting as much information on Superman as possible. It is during this time that Clark reintroduces himself to Lois, and meets her long-term fiance Richard White (James Marsden), and their child, Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu). After their encounter, Superman later meets Lois on the roof, where they have a heart-to-heart talk, and Lois explains to him that she has moved on.Trying to distance himself from his emotions over Lois, Superman returns to fighting crime, not just in Metropolis, but all over the world. In one instance, he rescues Kitty Kowalski when the brakes fail on her Ford Mustang. However, this was all a ruse to keep Superman occupied, as Lex and some associates break into the Metropolis Museum to steal some Kryptonite. Shortly afterward, Superman returns to the Fortress of Solitude, where he finds the crystals containing the information regarding Krypton are now missing.Lois continues to investigate the power outage, which leads her to the Vanderworth mansion, with her son in tow. Finding the mansion locked, she finds the Vanderworth yacht floating nearby, and goes aboard. Before she can react, the yacht has pulled away, and Lois finds herself face-to-face with Lex Luthor.While aboard the yacht, Luthor begins to explain his plan to Lois. Using the crystals that he took from Superman's Fortress of Solitude, he intends to sink them into the ocean, creating brand new continents with enough land mass to overtake the Americas, Europe and Africa, and cause the oceans to rise, burying much of the present land mass, killing billions of people. With Luthor having a monopoly on land, he intends to charge exorbitant prices for people to live on his new continents.Lex then leaves Lois and her son under the watchful eye of one of his henchmen before going to the main deck of the ship. One of the crystals is inserted inside a tube made of Kryptonite and placed inside a stolen Russian missile. As it is fired into the ocean, it creates a reaction that starts the growth of a new landmass, albeit riddled with Kryptonite.Lois tries to distract their captor, and attempts to send a fax with their coordinates to the Daily Planet, but not before she's found out. However, before their captor can kill her, a piano flies across the room, crushing him. It appears to have been thrown by Lois' son...who it appears was actually fathered by Superman. When Lex hears of this, he has Lois and her son locked in the ship's pantry before the rest of them take off in a helicopter on deck to the newly-grown continent.Back at the Daily Planet, the fax has partially come through, and Richard heads off to find Lois. Superman attempts to follow, but becomes side-tracked when the newly-growing landmass causes a tremor that threatens the entire city. Superman has his hands full, saving people and averting catastrophes. Once it seems the tremors have stopped, he heads back out to sea. At the exact coordinates, he finds Richard's seaplane, but also the Vanderworth Yacht, skewered by a spiky growth from the new continent. Superman rescues Richard, Lois and Jason, before the Yacht cleaves in two, and disappears below the water.As the family takes off, Superman heads to the 'New Krypton' continent to confront Luthor. Luthor greets Superman, who, with the environment teeming with Kryptonite, has grown weaker. Luthor and his thugs beat and pummel Superman, before Luthor stabs him with a Kryptonite shard, and sends him plummeting off a cliff to the waters below.Superman is saved when Lois convinces Richard to go back, telling him of how the new continent is laced with Kryptonite. After Jason spots Superman in the ocean, Lois dives in and manages to catch hold of Superman's cape and haul him to the surface, while Richard gets him aboard the plane. Lois pulls out the Kryptonite shard, but is unable to remove it all. Regaining consciousness, Superman thanks them for the rescue, but decides to go back to stop Lex. Superman first breaks through the clouds above, to absorb as much energy as he can from the Earth's sun. Flying down, he burrows below the new landmass and then lifts it out of the water, shielding himself from the kryptonite underneath with as much rock and soil as he can.Lex, Kitty and their henchmen attempt to flee the ascending continent, but all the henchmen are crushed by a massive chunk of falling edifice. Lex, Kitty and her dog manage to board the helicopter. Kitty, who is tinged with guilt about the how many are going to die if the other continents get created, throws out the other crystals. With no time to retrieve them, Lex pilots the helicopter away. Superman, growing weaker and weaker due to the Kryptonite-laced continent, manages to push it into space before plummeting to Earth, crashing into a park in Metropolis.Superman is rushed to a hospital, where the remaining Kryptonite shard is removed, and the doctors attempt to revive him (spoiling several pieces of medical equipment in the process as they try to resuscitate him). However, after several days, he has not regained consciousness. A vigil is held outside the hospital by hundreds of people, and even Martha Kent is among them. Back at the Daily Planet, Perry White has two front pages ready to run: "Superman Is Dead" and "Superman Lives." Richard generously offers to drive Lois to the hospital, and Lois and Jason manage to get in and see Superman, though he does not wake. While Lois leans over the unconscious Superman, she whispers something softly in his ear, with a meaningful glance at Jason; we are led to think that she has told Superman that he has a son. Jason is entranced by Superman's costume lying on a chair, and as they leave, Jason dashes to Superman's bedside and gives him a brief kiss goodbye. As Lois and Jason are escorted from the hospital, Martha spots them, and gazes speculatively at Jason. We see Lex and Kitty stranded on a small desert island with no food or water. When Kitty wonders aloud what are they going to eat, Lex eyes Kitty's little dog that she's cradling. Shortly afterwards, as a nurse checks on the room, the bed is found to be empty, the window open, and the costume gone.Later that evening, Superman flies to Lois and Richard's house. Lois is at her desk tearfully attempting to start writing another article: "Why The World Needs Superman." Superman slips into the house to gaze at Jason, who is asleep. Superman repeats the same words his father spoke to him so many years before: "You'll be different. Sometimes you'll feel like an outcast. But you'll never be alone. You'll make my strength your own. You'll see my life through your eyes, and your life will be seen through mine." Gently he caresses Jason's head, and finishes softly, "The son becomes the father, and the father becomes the son." Just before he leaves, Lois, who is outside, suddenly hears Jason piping, "Goodbye!" and sees Superman leaving. She asks him if they will see him again, and before he flies away, he assures her that he will always be around. | good versus evil, stupid, flashback | train | imdb | Brandon Routh's portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman, I feel, is second only to Christopher Reeves, whom he does a great job of capturing.
From the casting of Brandon Routh (who I actually find slightly better than Christopher Reeve because of the emotional complexity and sense of mystery Routh brings to the character) to Kate Bosworth (who i think is the BEST actress to have portrayed Lois Lane) to Kevin Spacey (different interpretation than previous Lex's but still very good), all of the actors have played their respective roles well.As for the story, many have questioned its originality.
Like I said before, Routh seems to have taken a more serious approach to the Superman character than Reeve but still maintains many qualities of Reeve's performance.And the special effects...well...enough said if you've seen the film :) Overall, this may be the best of the "Superman" series, and, if not, it is definitely on par with Richard Donner's original classic.P.S. Don't listen to the haters :) Watch the film with an open mind and judge for yourself..
The special effects are really good, which that takes care of the lame FX from "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace." I do appreciate some of the nods to the original movies by Donner like having Marlon Brando as Jor-El, its wondrous moments, and of course, hearing the theme song by John Williams.
I wasn't bored by the movie as it goes at a good pace, and I did get teary eye from the part that Superman gets beat up Luthor's men as it makes me think of Jesus getting whipped by the Romans.
The X-Men films were each done with the presumption that there would be a next instalment, and that's fine I guess if you like always being on the edge of your seat waiting for the next one, but when his Superman movie does the same thing and drags past the 2-and-a-half hour mark, there's a problem.
Certainly so with last year's Batman Begins, which I thought was a great, perfect movie, while I though Superman Returns was really good, but probably could have been better.My rating: 7.5/10.
But between juggling his conflicting emotions for Lois and his duties to protecting the population, Superman has to face his arch-enemy Lex Luthor, who has stolen the crystals from the Fortress of Solitude and is intent on using them to rule the world.It was never going to be easy Brandon Routh to step into Christopher Reeve's shoes but he takes it in his stride, managing to capture the bumbling but kindly nature of Clark and the strong, reserved demeanour of a Superman who strives to find a balance between his alien heritage and the life he has made for himself on Earth.
They even avoid the clichéd pitfall of portraying Lois' love interest to be a sanctimonious twit and instead he came across as a genuinely nice guy who shows that it's understandable why she has problems choosing between him and SupermanIn fact, my only real problem was that there wasn't enough interaction between Lois and Clark, which would have been nice as Clark's jealousy towards his alter-ego and the attention Lois lavishes on him is a large part of the story yet in the film, you felt as if Clark and Superman really were two different people with Clark just being some rather random guy.
However, it can be over-looked by the fact that Clark was so happy to just have Lois' attention that he didn't care whether it was projected onto himself in his real personality or on Superman.For anyone who has yet to see the film, I do recommend it and don't allow yourself to be put off by nitpickers complaining about the actors' being too young (better they be a shade on the younger side than going the 'Smallville' route where you have adults in their late twenties and thirties prancing around pretending to be teens and just looking ridiculous for it) or that the film is too long (even the eight-year-olds in the audience sat quietly, glued to the screen, for the entire film) or that it's bland (no more so than 'Spiderman').
For a change, the big action scenes don't feel particularly staged, as they can in superhero movies - you know, "Looks like it's time for Our Hero to....
(Look for a line from him that echoes his first meeting with Lois Lane in 1978's Superman: The Movie.) Spacey, of course, was a lot of fun as Luthor.
All the characters after the main 3....Eve Marie Saint, Frank Langella, Sam Huntington who was amazing, Parker Posey, James Mardsen who had a scene where he almost outshines Superman in his act of heroism, and of course Marlon Brando who in basically his last role made the film connect to the past even more, pulled off a great supporting cast who will all hopefully be coming back for more.
considering the hype for this movie,i thought it would be better than it was.it wasn't a horrible movie,but i don't think it lived up to the Superman name.Brandon Routh as Superman,looked a lot like Christopher Reeve,maybe a bit too much.his mannerisms were also too much like Reeve,as if he were trying to emulate him,when instead he should have been trying to put his own stamp on the character.Kate Bosworth was okay as Loise lane,but Kevin Spacey was an inspired choice as Lex Luthor.i also liked Frank Langella as Perry White.however,i could have done without James Marsden as Richard White,especially since his role was so small it was pointless.the other problem i had with the movie is that it tended to lag at times,causing my attention to wander.this movie just didn't have the impact of a movie like spider man or even any of the x-men films.it just didn't have as much substance as it could have.if you've yet to see this movie,keep your expectations low and maybe you won't be overly disappointed.
Everything about this film is perfect to me: the story, the direction and feel of the film, the visuals and effects, the music, the action, the romance, and especially Brandon Routh as Clark/Superman.
It's exciting, fun, engrossing, entertaining, and very satisfying.I've been a long time fan of the original Superman movies (well, not so much 3 of 4) and both the Lois & Clark and Smallville TV series.
Her whole performance was great, but she sold me with the look on her face as she hid her true feelings after she told Superman on the rooftop that she didn't need him anymore.I can't wait to buy the DVD(s), and I'm hopeful there will be an extended directors cut version with the omitted scenes of Clark's trip to Krypton and the additional scenes on the Kent farm.
First off don't take advice on whether or not to see this movie from someone who didn't like the original film, doesn't know how to spell kal-el, and/or thinks Smallville is the only good representation of the superman story.
It was strange, however, to see the lovely Kate Bosworth who played Sandra Dee to Spacey's Bobby Darin in "Beyond The Sea" to be so extremely at odds with each other but I bought Luthor and Lane much more than Darin and Dee. Ultimately Superman Returns is a classy, classic rendition of a perennial tale by one of the most successful aesthetes working on film today.
And finally, congratulations to Michael Dougherty and the rest of the writing team for Superman Returns, who have done the seemingly impossible by blending together several elements taken from disparate Superman stories over seventy or so years of the character's development in several DC comics titles into a true-to-character, intelligently written and themed, blend of romance and wild world-saving action.I can hear the film snobs now - "just what we need, another bombastic action flick loaded with CGI and cliché in place of a 'SERIOUS' human story." Yup, it's a bombastic action flick.
Thus, the question for both worlds is, "Do we still need Superman?" After seeing the film, I am happy to report that the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Essentially, this movie pays tribute to that first great film in every single way.
Singer made more effective use of the messianic motif than even the first film did, and although I am not a particularly religious person myself, this fits the Superman mythos like a glove, as this is essentially who the character is: a secular messiah.The high quality acting helped Singer bring this ambitious vision to life.
Brandon Routh more than adequately filled the large shoes left by Christopher Reeve, and Richard Donner, the director of Superman: The Movie, wholeheartedly agrees (having said so in an interview with the BBC).
The half cocked smile, the timbre of his voice, the Clark Kent mannerisms perfected by Reeve are echoed here in Routh's delivery as both an homage and as a great device to tie the past generation into this new ability to tell a story with all of the technology at hand.A big Kudos must go to Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey who are awesome as Lex and Kitty.
There is tons of action packed into this movie and when there's not action there's comic relief and although I typically don't like the romantic turns that most hero stories take (just cause I'm a guy and they're a little boring) I had no problem with that stuff either, the imagery that comes along with it makes it well worth while.I've been babbling kinda randomly so I'll just talk straight for a second.
Just some small details.From the opening of the movie, fans who have seen the original film will be delighted at the fact that "Superman Returns" truly does feel as more of a 'continuation' from the original "Superman" and "Superman II" starring Christopher Reeve.
Even the opening credits will give the classic film fans a bite of nostalgia, simply because of the overall presentation of the opening credits.Director Bryan Singer really does know how to take these 'comic book based' movies to the next level and bring them success (or back from hiatus, depending on how you look at it) all while making the film watcher's experience something a bit different, not only in terms of plot, but his overall expertise and execution of being a really good director.Actor Brandon Routh definitely does extremely well in his performance as the main character "Superman/Clark Kent" and does so with such natural acting ability, you could have sworn that you've seen him act in many other things.
(Yes, I really can see him as 'Superman') Actor Kevin Spacey's performance as "Lex Luthor", although not too derived from Gene Hackman's portrayal of the villain, does a great job at bringing a different kind of arrogance to the character.
All of the films he's starred in usually have him performing at his best.Actress Kate Bosworth's portrayal of "Lois Lane" wasn't bad, but wasn't great either and for some reason, seems a bit young to be the "Lois Lane" character that fans will remember through Margot Kidder's portrayal in the original Superman films from 1978 to 1987.
Personally, I've always seen Lois Lane as a character in her early 30's, not as someone who is as young as Miss Bosworth is, although Bosworth's performance was just enough to be convincing.Overall, Superman Fans WILL be pleased by this 2 hour, 34 minute film that truly shows a triumphant return of the one and only "Man Of Steel".Would I pay to see it again?
Bonus points go to Singer for including Brando clips for Superman's father.In my opinion, a good superhero movie should make the audience want to live in the world which the hero inhabits, or wish that the hero truly existed in reality.
Perhaps remembered more as the film Bryan Singer chose to make instead of a third X-Men (which wasn't horrible), SUPERMAN RETURNS is a sequel of sorts to the Christopher Reeve originals that lovingly pays tribute to its cinematic forebears while moving the franchise forward.
(even though in Superman 2, after the amnesia kiss, she doesn't remember them having sex when he gave up his powers, but oh well)But, I do love the nostalgic feel of the movie, the airplane scene was awesome, the nods to the original film, and the cinematography was purely awesome.
..I feel I gotta say something more.I liked especially the way Singer portrays the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane (and no, Kate Bosworth is not too young to play this role!).
Before Superman Returns was released I read nothing on the subject and didn't expect anything , I was just curious and open-minded ; when I first went to see it with my children the theater was to my surprise only half full and at the end I felt just very slightly disappointed - I thought there was a lack of humor and not enough of Clark Kent but I didn't think I'd seen many other films of such visual beauty - so I went once again - and again , and the pleasure grew with each viewing; of course there are some inconsistencies (the effects of the Kriptonite!)and probably some weaknesses in the scenario , but the direction was perfect, Brandon Routh is a wonder both as Superman and as Clark Kent - by the way I found it easier than with C.Reeve to accept that Lois or other people didn't recognize him .
Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) plots an evil plan, using crystals he stole from the Fortress of Solitude, to create a new land and submerge the USA.After so many delightful movies of Superman with the unforgettable Christopher Reeve, or TV shows like "Lois and Clark" (and Teri Hatcher) or "Smallville", a great expectation was created for the return of Superman in this Bryan Singer's version.
The first time he smiles as Clark Kent, back at work at the daily Planet, it felt like it was Christopher Reeve again.Kevin Spacey is an excellent Lex Luthor.
Sure it's not the first time a Superman movie, or indeed any comic book adaptation, has made these type of errors, but it would have been better if they did little things like that right, instead of using the "Eh, it's just a movie" excuse.Ultimately, I loved this film.
They could had basically summed things up in 5 minutes but the movie chooses an overlong sentimental ending instead.Brandon Routh is perfectly cast as Superman and he also really looks like Christopher Reeve.
If you like a film with action and heart then this film's for you.Brandon Routh was a great Superman in my opinion, and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luther was just fantastic.Go watch the film, sit back and enjoy the ride!.
I saw an advance screening of this today, and had to write and say that Superman Returns was amazing.Brandon Routh as Superman is awesome, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor is amazing and Kate Bosworth, just great as Lois Lane.
It has been years since anyone has tried to cinematically resurrect the Superman character and who better than director Bryan Singer, the man responsible for creating the exciting X-Men films.
Instead, he settles into a tired quasi-remake of the original storyline, with Superman returning to Earth after a lengthy sabbatical to find that Lois Lane, now with a new suitor and young son, and the world have moved on without him, and nemesis Lex Luthor once again attempting a real estate swindle at the cost of a number of lives.The film is definitely not a failure merely a disappointment.
I didn't go into this film with many expectations, having seen comic-book movies at both extremes of the quality scale."Superman Returns" has pacing issues.
Much of the dialogue is dull, and formulaic subplots drag the film down.Here is the setup, in a nutshell: Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) has hatched a ludicrous get-rich-quick scheme (Isn't he a billionaire already?) that will just happen to kill billions of people, and it's up to Superman (Brandon Routh) to stop him.
Meanwhile Lex Luther is back with *evil* world domination plans, Bond-villain style.Casting is of the utmost importance in Bryan Singer's 'Superman Returns' for it often tips over into character-driven mode and moves away from the kinetic action sequences that we associate with Marvel.
And indeed it is.The first glimpse of our hero looks like it was made to grab the interest of people who have come to know the character through his most recent TV incarnation, Smallville: Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) lands in the middle of the family farm's corn field after being gone for five years (a similar thing happened in the popular show's Season 4 premiere).
And once again, a certain superhero will be in the way...The reason Superman Returns works is Singer has understood the movie can't just rely on visual effects and action scenes.
A sequel has already been announced, and considering Bryan Singer's X2 was ten times better than the first X-Men film, the next Superman movie will undoubtedly confirm, once again, that not only is he the first superhero, he's also the best..
I haven't met one person who didn't love this movie having seen it, but unfortunately I have met many more who didn't even know a new Superman film was coming out.
Routh and Spacey have kept subtle aspects of the Reeve and Hackman in the way they play the characters without imitating them either.As a kid I loved the original movies but after watching them again as an adult I noticed how much most movies at the time ignored certain aspects of physics that made them look rather unbelievable in some scenes.
The story relies too heavily on the Superman/Lois Lane love story so much so that the rest of the film, and the other characters, just feel like an after thought..
I like Brandon Routh as Superman and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. |
tt0976051 | The Reader | === Characters ===
Michael Berg, a German who is first portrayed as a 15-year-old boy and is revisited at later parts of his life: when he is a researcher in legal history, divorced with one daughter, Julia. Like many of his generation, he struggles to come to terms with his country's recent history.
Hanna Schmitz, a former guard at Auschwitz. She is 36, illiterate and working as a tram conductor in Neustadt when she first meets 15-year-old Michael. She takes a dominant position in their relationship.
Sophie, a friend of Michael's when he is in school, and whom he probably has a crush on. She is almost the first person whom he tells about Hanna. When he begins his friendship with her, is when he begins to "betray" Hanna by denying her relationship with him and by cutting short his time with Hanna to be with Sophie and his other friends.
Michael's father, a philosophy professor who specializes in Kant and Hegel. During the Nazi era he lost his job for giving a lecture on Spinoza and had to support himself and his family by writing hiking guidebooks. He is very formal and requires his children to make appointments to see him. He is emotionally stiff and does not easily express his emotions to Michael or his three siblings, which exacerbates the difficulties Hanna creates for Michael. By the time Michael is narrating the story, his father is dead.
Michael's mother, seen briefly. Michael has fond memories of her pampering him as a child, which his relationship with Hanna reawakens. A psychoanalyst he sees, tells him he should consider his mother's effect on him more, since she barely figures in his retelling of his life.
The daughter of a Jewish woman who wrote the book about the death march from Auschwitz. She lives in New York City when Michael visits her near the end of the story, still suffering from the loss of her own family.
=== Part 1 ===
The story is told in three parts by the main character, Michael Berg. Each part takes place in a different time period in the past. Part I begins in a West German city in 1958. After 15-year-old Michael becomes ill on his way home, 36-year-old tram conductor Hanna Schmitz notices him, cleans him up, and sees him safely home. He spends the next three months absent from school battling hepatitis. He visits Hanna to thank her for her help and realizes he is attracted to her. Embarrassed after she catches him watching her getting dressed, he runs away, but he returns days later. After she asks him to retrieve coal from her cellar, he is covered in coal dust; she watches him bathe and seduces him. He returns eagerly to her apartment on a regular basis, and they begin a heated affair. They develop a ritual of bathing and having sex, before which she frequently has him read aloud to her, especially classical literature, such as The Odyssey and Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog. Both remain somewhat distant from each other emotionally, despite their physical closeness. Hanna is at times physically and verbally abusive to Michael. Months into the relationship, she suddenly leaves without a trace. The distance between them had been growing as Michael had been spending more time with his school friends; he feels guilty and believes it was something he did that caused her departure. The memory of her taints all his other relationships with women.
=== Part 2 ===
Six years later, while attending law school, Michael is part of a group of students observing a war crimes trial. A group of middle-aged women who had served as SS guards at a satellite of Auschwitz in occupied Poland are being tried for allowing 300 Jewish women under their ostensible "protection" to die in a fire locked in a church that had been bombed during the evacuation of the camp. The incident was chronicled in a book written by one of the few survivors, who emigrated to the United States after the war; she is the main prosecution witness at the trial.
Michael is stunned to see that Hanna is one of the defendants, sending him on a roller coaster of complex emotions. He feels guilty for having loved a remorseless criminal and at the same time is mystified at Hanna's willingness to accept full responsibility for supervising the other guards despite evidence proving otherwise. She is accused of writing the account of the fire.
At first she denies this, then in panic admits it in order not to have to provide a sample of her handwriting. Michael, horrified, realizes then that Hanna has a secret that she refuses to reveal at any cost—that she is illiterate. This explains many of Hanna's actions: her refusal of the promotion that would have removed her from the responsibility of supervising these women and also the panic she carried her entire life over being discovered.
During the trial, it transpires that she took in the weak, sickly women and had them read to her before they were sent to the gas chambers. Michael decides she wanted to make their last days bearable, or did she send them to their death so they would not reveal her secret?
She is convicted and sentenced to life in prison while the other women receive only minor sentences. After much deliberation, he chooses not to reveal her secret, which could have saved her from her life sentence, as their relationship was a forbidden one because he was a minor at the time.
=== Part 3 ===
Years have passed, Michael is divorced and has a daughter from his brief marriage. He is trying to come to terms with his feelings for Hanna, and begins taping readings of books and sending them to her without any correspondence while she is in prison. Hanna begins to teach herself to read, and then write in a childlike way, by borrowing the books from the prison library and following the tapes along in the text. She writes to Michael, but he cannot bring himself to reply. After 18 years, Hanna is about to be released, so he agrees (after hesitation) to find her a place to stay and employment, visiting her in prison. On the day of her release in 1983, she commits suicide and Michael is heartbroken. Michael learns from the warden that she had been reading books by many prominent Holocaust survivors, such as Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi, Tadeusz Borowski, and histories of the camps. The warden, in her anger towards Michael for communicating with Hanna only by audio tapes, expresses Hanna's disappointment. Hanna left him an assignment: give all her money to the survivor of the church fire.
While in the U.S., Michael travels to New York to visit the Jewish woman who was a witness at the trial, and who wrote the book about the winter death march from Auschwitz. She can see his terrible conflict of emotions and he finally tells of his youthful relationship with Hanna. The unspoken damage she left to the people around her hangs in the air. He reveals his short, cold marriage, and his distant relationship with his daughter. The woman understands, but nonetheless refuses to take the savings Hanna had asked Michael to convey to her, saying, "Using it for something to do with the Holocaust would really seem like an absolution to me, and that is something I neither wish nor care to grant." She asks that he donate it as he sees fit; he chooses a Jewish charity for combating illiteracy, in Hanna's name. Having had a caddy stolen from her when she was a child in the camp, the woman does take the old tea caddy in which Hanna had kept her money and mementos. Returning to Germany, and with a letter of thanks for the donation made in Hanna's name, Michael visits Hanna's grave for the first and only time. | philosophical, romantic, sentimental, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0180052 | The Adventures of Pluto Nash | In 2080, there is a colony on the Moon called Little America. A retired smuggler called Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy), who just left prison, buys a nightclub, in an attempt to fulfill a long-time wish of his. Additionally, this prevents the murder by ingestion of battery acid of the club's previous owner, Anthony Frankowski (Jay Mohr), a Polish polka dancer, by mobsters Gino (Burt Young) and Larry (Lillo Brancato) whom Anthony owed money to. Pluto rebuilds the club and establishes it as "Club Pluto." In the next seven years, Club Pluto becomes a very popular Little America nightclub. Its staff consists of Pluto himself, a Hispanic assistant, and an android named Bruno (Randy Quaid), an inferior 63 Deluxe model.
In 2087, Pluto is approached by a young woman named Dina Lake (Rosario Dawson), who has become stranded on the Moon and desires to earn some money by which to pay for transport back to Earth to Salt Lake City. Because her father "Nicky Sticks" was a friend of Pluto's, she seeks help from Pluto, offering her skills as a singer. Pluto instead gives her a job as a server at his club and allows her to remain inside to sleep after its nightly closure to the public. During the same night, Pluto is accosted thrice by Mogan (Joe Pantoliano) and Kelp (Victor Varnado), messengers of a mysterious entrepreneur called Rex Crater. They tell Pluto that Rex wishes to buy Club Pluto and convert it into a gambling casino. Pluto refuses, and Rex Crater's minions destroy the club. Pluto, Dina, and Bruno escape.
Determined to get his club back, Pluto decides to investigate Rex Crater, of whom very few people know anything. From Rowland (Peter Boyle), a retired police officer, with connections to the FBI who is a friend of his mother's, Pluto learns that Rex Crater is never seen outside of a penthouse in the city of Moon Beach, and that he was involved with a geneticist called Runa Pendankin, who specialized in human cloning before her mysterious death.
Pluto and Dina visit Doctor Runa Pendankin's apprentice Mona Zimmer (Illeana Douglas), who operates a cosmetic surgery station. They pose as a married couple attempting to revive their infatuation for one another by having their figures altered. After having seen, and adapted to their liking, several examples of commonly preferred bodily shapes and contours, they reveal that they have come for information regarding Doctor Pendankin's death. Mona Zimmer, having been intimidated by Pluto's bluffs, reveals that shortly prior to her death Doctor Pendankin had worked for or with an Earth criminal whose initials, inscribed on his briefcase, appear to have been "WZW".
Pluto and Dina return to the motel and meet Pluto's mother Flura Nash (Pam Grier), who comes there, and has Bruno recharged in his room. They are subsequently attacked by Rex Crater's assassins, who have tracked them to the hotel. Upon hijacking a limo with a holographic chauffeur named James (John Cleese), Pluto takes Dina and Bruno to an old refuge outside of the colonies of his from his smuggling days.
At the hideout Pluto searches online for information regarding any Earth criminal with the initials "WZW." When this yields nothing, Dina suggests that the initials are in fact "MZM," having been seen upside-down by Mona Zimmer. Pluto searches for "MZM" and discovers a criminal called Michael Zoroaster Marucci (Alec Baldwin). Pluto suspects that Michael Marucci and Rex Crater are one and the same. Abruptly, he is contacted by his mother, who tells him that Rowland has been killed by a fellow police officer and the hideout is attacked by Rex Crater's agents. A chase ensues and the heroes escape, but their car is damaged and explodes, causing them to be presumed dead by the agents. They manage to get out in their astronaut suits but soon run out of oxygen and pass out. Bruno carries them through the Moon desert, but soon, his battery runs out.
They are eventually rescued and taken to Moon Beach by Felix Laranga (Luis Guzmán), a local smuggler who idolizes Pluto Nash. They infiltrate Rex Crater's casino/hotel. Bruno ends up running afoul of a robot slot machine whose lever he accidentally breaks. When Bruno is taken away by security, Pluto sends Dina to pay for the damages and get Bruno out.
Pluto meets with Anthony, who is now going under the name Tony Francis, a famous intergalactic singer. While in an elevator he stalled, Pluto asks Tony if there is a way up to Rex Crater's penthouse. Pluto is told that the only way is to climb up via the elevator ropes. When they leave the elevator after Pluto asks about a Plan B, Rex's assistant Belcher (James Rebhorn) and some men attack. They knock Tony out while Pluto is stunned, which was Belcher's version of "Plan B." Meanwhile, Dina approaches the security guard at the place where the robots are locked up. When the guard tells Dina that the repairs on the robot slot machine aren't done yet, Bruno manages to trick the guard into letting him out and then knocks him out. Just then, Dina and Bruno are captured by Mogan, Kelp, and some of Rex's men, and taken to Rex's penthouse.
Upon being un-stunned by Belcher, Pluto accuses Rex Crater of being Michael Marucci. At this, Rex Crater turns his chair around and reveals himself to be a clone of Pluto. Rex (also Eddie Murphy) and Belcher explain that Rex was created by Runa Pendankin from Pluto's removed appendix to act as the public face of Michael Marucci's illegal activities. However, Rex has killed both Marucci and Runa and established his own criminal enterprise. He also states that he was the one who told his henchmen where Pluto was hiding out due to him also inheriting Pluto's memories.
When his henchmen arrive and see both Rex and Pluto, Rex kills Mogan and Kelp for their incompetence. He and Pluto then fight while the others are uncertain which is which. Pluto shoots Bruno, and Belcher (who assumes that Pluto would not damage his own robot) shoots Rex. Pluto orders his men to leave and reveals his identity to Dina by speaking of her employment to him, then knocks out Belcher who has realized his mistake in shooting the wrong person. Bruno is shown to have survived unharmed since he was wearing a bulletproof shirt, but Rex is revealed to have worn one also. Rex attempts to garotte Pluto but is thrown through a window and dies upon hitting the card table below.
The movie ends with the heroes celebrating in the rebuilt Club Pluto with Nash as the owner, Dina as the lead singer and Bruno as the new club manager (as Pluto has bought a new model 78 robot as his new bodyguard). Pluto looks at Dina singing on the stage and smiles, smoking a cigar. | humor | train | wikipedia | (Although, I have found out that many great films flopped, among them "It's a Wonderful Life.") Finally a few months ago, a friend of mine said: "Hey Adam, let's watch 'Pluto Nash'!
It's on NetFlix!" I scoffed, but after he persisted, I agreed.I'm glad I did."Pluto Nash" was refreshingly entertaining, and in no way was it the abysmal slight against cinema I had been told it was.The film centers on Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy in a fun performance), his sidekick robot Bruno (Randy Quaid in perhaps my favorite performance in the film) and Dina Lake (the astonishingly beautiful Rosario Dawson), with numerous other actors in supporting roles.
This isn't supposed to be a revolutionary masterpiece, it's meant to be a fun good-guys-VS-bad-guys-buddy-movie type film, only set on the moon in the future.
They feel like people you'd want to hang out with.The special effects (which were unfairly criticized at the time) are surprisingly good, considering they were from 2000 (remember, the film was finished but shelved for two years), and the direction of Ron Underwood is quite nice.
Murphy, Dawson and Quaid are all great in their roles, and supporting characters are played very well by some big names, such as Peter Boyle, Pam Greir, Burt Young and even a cameo by Alec Baldwin.The music is fun, the editing is great, the set design is exquisite, the acting is generally very good, the direction is fantastic, the story is decent enough.
Randy as Bruno was awesome, Murphy was solid as always, the story was fun and with music from outcast makes this just a great space comedy!
But it's still Eddie Murphy being funny and filled with cute little moments.I'm not sure why this film attracts so much hate, it doesn't bother doing anything so terrible that it deserves the vitriol level of criticism that seems to be thrown at it.It's at worst a movie that's easy to classify as "average", but personally I actually really enjoy this film.
You could do a lot worse with your time than to sit back, turn off your brain for an hour and just enjoy the show.Honestly this is one of my go to movies for multitasking, something funny on in the background that doesn't require my 100% attention to still make me laugh while I'm doing other things.
And it ends up getting watched more often than some of the "better" movies that I would rate at 10 simply because those are often a chore to watch and require actually thinking to understand them.Yes if you understood that correctly: I do enjoy a deeper movie and would rate them higher, but it's also not what I would typically grab from day to day when I just want to laugh while getting through the grind: The Adventures of Pluto Nash "is"..
By the way, Eddie Murphy does a SUPERB acting job, he is real and sympathetic.Unfortunately this movie has been a huge fiasco worldwide, which means that we most likely never get a sequel :-( Whatever the critics say about this movie, I say "JOB WELL DONE!!!"..
If you can gain anything from this short rant, please: 1) Don't rent the movie 2) Don't look at the box 3) Don't read plot summaries or spoilers 4) Don't rent movies containing the featured "Pluto Nash" actors within a radius of 1 year from it's production.To gain some idea of how I feel, imagine having just watched that videotape from "The Ring".
Here's a prime textbook case at how not to do one.It's a comedy with only a microscopic trace of humor, a sci-fi that really could just have easily been set in present-day Earth with no sci-fi elements at all, and an action film that contains only the standard D-grade action story setups and climaxes - and done at a lackadaisical by-the numbers contract-delivery pace.The only element that has the slight bit of remote interest is Randy Quaid as a rather quirky bodyguard robot.
Yeah - the sort of role that your standard modern drama school graduate would be scratching their heads trying to get a grip on; and your academic drama scholar would be tearing their hair out till they looked like Homer Simpson over the fact "its not the type of role -or story for that matter- that has any credibility or truth to the human experience" (blah blah!) The fact that he is even a tiny bit watchable in that deserves a bit of a finger-clap - maybe.It could have been so much better - a few puppet-type aliens hanging around, a bit more showing of the light gravity bits, a dig at your serious Arthur C Clarke space drama like MOONDUST - anything at all to make this remotely interesting as a cinema experience - or even a storyline.But what we actually get is the real sort of movie that the conservative critics have accused all summer-style movies of being: brainless formulaic uncreative popcorn entertainment plying to the lowest common denominator that is churned out when the bloated Hollywood studio system is working on autopilot.Actually - this is the movie that makes the normal summer blockbuster movies look like works of literary genius.
It was like experiencing some mid-90's computergame in a movie.I think Eddie did a good job in his role of Pluto Nash, other actors were also high quality, but perhaps a bit shaded by Eddie, not because he acted better, but because of more screen time.
Eddie Murphy and Rosario Dawson star in the Misadventures, oops I mean the Adventures of Pluto Nash, which is a movie that was dead in the water before it ever came out.
I take it, this is supposed to be a "cool" shot but the angle of camera, timing and pace makes it about as cool as when your dad hangs up his coat upon returning home from work.The budget ($100 million allegedly) didn't seem to be a problem and the special effects as well as the sets seem pretty well done, along with a pretty nice cast (even tiny sub-minute parts are mostly done by actors you at least recognize).
A lot of great character actors (Joe Pantoliano) didn't get enough space to be interesting and there is a lot of untapped comedy resource in both Jay Mohr and Eddie Murphy.
Pluto Nash, i thought too myself I'm never going to watch a film that has gotten terrible reviews but then i changed my mind, while watching TV i thought i might as well give it a chance i mean it can't be all that bad right?
Give it ago, just because a movie gets a bad review doesn't mean it's going to be bad, Day After Tomorrow got more rave reviews then Pluto Nash (but then every film has) i found myself enjoying this film more then i did with that, it has some funny humour moments in it and is a well entertaining popcorn flip if thats what your looking for.
But, there are certainly much worse movies that have been made like the Italian Job, but watching Pluto Nash, I never wanted to turn it off and watch a blank screen instead.
I wouldn't say to make a sequel, but the premise was solid, the lead actors good, the visuals excellent, but there is just a lack in general direction in the movie, but each scene is fun to watch.
The next day I had conveniently a couple of hours to kill at home, so I thought I might as well check whether Pluto Nash was just bad or a real turkey.Much to my surprise I sat through the entire movie mildly entertained.
Certainly anyone expecting a movie where Eddie Murphy makes faces, laughs like a horse and tells immature vulgar jokes is indeed in for a sore disappointment, as this film gracefully lacks all those clichés.
Though no Eddie Murphy finest hour this is still a very enjoyable film, Don't expect it be a full on comedy and you will enjoy it.
I heard a lot of bad reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised that I totally enjoyed the movie.It's basically a gangster comedy wrapped in a Sci-fi treatment.
I think the problem with this movie is that having Eddie Murphy as lead raises expectations in the audience that it's going to be a full-blown comedy.The simple fact is that while the movie has plenty of funny moments, it is at heart a sci-fi action B-movie - and a pretty good one at that.
I wanted all that badly...until I got to see the movie and got sourly disappointed at such flagrant waste of resources.Not that E.Murphy's name is a guarantee of quality cinema anymore but at least he used to have some dignity, usually top notch character actor Joe Pantoliano(just watch"Memento") also sets something close to a career low here.
While Pluto Nash has an impressive cast, including Eddie Murphy, Randy Quaid, Jay Mohr, Pam Grier, and Alec Baldwin in a cameo appearance, it lacks good writing.
Pluto and his beautiful waitress/singer Dina Lake (Rosario Dawson), and his Robot (Randy Quaid) are chased by the gangsters, while they try to find and confront Rex Crater, the head of the mob.Pluto's attitude-filled but hilarious mother (Pam Grier) could have added some more humorous moments to the movie, but she only appeared in a few minor scenes.Randy Quaid, (Bruno the bald-headed Robot), is not nearly as funny as his other witty characters of past movies (my all time favorite - Cousin Eddy- National Lampoon's Vacation movies).
If this is so, then it's a comedy that has no funny jokes, action that has cheesy scenes, and a sci-fi with untasteful and unrealistic effects.The uncreative and lame scenes seem to jump around with confusing transitions, giving the feeling that there was some serious cutting going on in the editing room.Ron Underwood, (Tremors and City Slickers) didn't have much of a story to work with, however, there were some clever sight gags.
Having said that, it makes sense that Warner Brothers shelved this project for two years after filming.where it should have stayed.There is no doubt that this would have been a hit in the 70's and 80's, but in 2002, its simply dated!Expect to find Pluto Nash on the $1.99 clearance table at your local video store very soon.Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual humor and language.
I think the problem, more than anything else, was that according to some sources, the star, Eddie Murphy, really burned a lot of bridges while making this film...insisting on re-writes and overruling the director repeatedly.
Most of the film consists of Pluto and his companions (Rosario Dawson and Randy Quaid...who plays a robot) on the run until the final boss battle.So what did I like about it?
Also, the story isn't terrible and the acting is generally decent.So, on whole, the story just isn't funny, parts are obviously missing due to hack editing and re-writes but it looks good and isn't annoying or hellish....like a Bottom 100 film should be.
But despite this it is more sad than bad.I can't possibly see where they thought the laughs were going to come from
I can't fathom which parts were supposed to be entertaining
Worst of all I can't really see where the money was spent
I just sincerely hope it wasn't Randy Quaid's salary.Pluto Nash was made by the same guy that made Tremors which is the inverse if Pluto Nash, a low budget / high entertainment affair that is remembered fondly by all that have seen it.
Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy) is the guy who everyone on Earth's satellite adores – except the bad guys who want to force him to sell his bumpin' club to them.After a run in leaves his club a smouldering pile of rubble (like this film) Nash sets off with waitress Dana (Rosario Dawson – who obviously spent her paycheck on implants after filming ended) and his faithful robot Bruno (Randy Quaid).The trio traverse the moon trying to lay low out of the gunsights of the bad guys while working towards finding who is ultimately responsible for their situation.
As does everything else in the film.But again Pluto Nash is as harmless as it is pointless, unlike the braincell shattering Tank Girl it made me want to sleep more than vomit – admittedly neither is an endorsement for the film – but the issue remains how could something cost so much look so ordinary?Now I know how the Miami Heat must feel.A big budget light comedy set on the moon and featuring its own fading star in Murphy was never going to be a big hit.
This movie is amazing: a great budget, for the futuristic scenario (similar to Total Recall), special effects and good actors (Randy Quaid, Joe Pantoliano, Jay Mohr, Luis Gusmán, James Rebhorn, Alec Baldwin, Peter Boyle, John Cleese among others less known) and actresses (Pam Grier, Illeana Douglas, Rosario Dawson), mixes adventure, comedy and science fiction...
Poor Eddie has now scored three back-to-back flops which isn´t a good thing in Hollywood.The (Horrible) Adventures Of Pluto Nash is said to be a comedy, but I didn´t find myself laughing while watching the movie.
That can be forgiven with time and a lot smaller salaries for their next projects would be a suitable punishment.Pluto Nash takes place in the Moon and that would actually be the only correct place for a movie like this: far from the civilization and fans of good movies..
The only bright spots are Rosario Dawson - better and more beautiful in each movie, and Randy Quaid, acting good, though his robot humor is quite expected.
Pantoliano has done better but will survive but I'm sure for all the time they got on this that Guzman, Mohr, Boyle, Grier and Cleese all wish they could have this expunged from their CV's.Pluto Nash is not as bad as everyone says it is just that critics love to slate things when they get the chance because so many films are "OK" or a "bit sub-par".
Many people said that the movie has bad jokes or a weak story.I don't think so.
I really enjoyed Pluto Nash - Eddie Murphy was great!
First there was `Howard the Duck;' then came `Ishtar;' now we have `The Adventures of Pluto Nash,' a film so misguided in its conception and so ham-handed in its execution that it can take its rightful place among the great cinematic blunders of all time.At what point, do you reckon, in the course of making this film, did star Eddie Murphy, director Ron Underwood and the investors at Warner Brothers Studios realize what a monumental turkey they had on their hands?
Murphy, Rosario Dawson, Pam Grier, Peter Boyle, John Cleese, and, above all, Randy Quaid all fine actors under other circumstances - are made to look as ridiculous as possible, running around like mad trying to take all this seriously and pretend that they AREN'T stuck in one of the legendary bombs of all time.
After literally puking my guts out upon watching such horrors like Battlefield Earth (ugh) or Gigli (barf), I finally stumbled upon the Summer 2002 misfire that is Eddie Murphy's The Adventures of Pluto Nash.
So OK, it's hardly a masterpiece, but I oddly found myself watching it again and again, until I finally purchased the damn thing on DVD.The playful plot is set in a future where man settles the moon, there we meet Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy), a successful night club owner whose club is burnt down in flames.
Along the way, we also meet some wonderful actors in the likes of John Cleese, (the late) Peter Boyle, Joe Pantoliano, Jay Mohr, Luiz Guzman and others.While you won't find a solid moral value at the end of the road this film delivers the goods (and then some) on the pure old-fashioned entertainment field.
you know there were actor/director clashes, scenes missing, that were reshot, and, overall, there's likely an even more interesting story about the making of the movie, and the movie itself could never compete.pluto nash is a futuristic tale about eddie murphy's character running a casino on the moon, and getting into trouble with the mob.
I can only assume by the the talent in the cast (Murphy, Rosario Dawson, Burt Young, Randy Quaid, Joe Pantolino, Luis Guzman, Peter Boyle, John Cleese, Pam Grier and James Rebhorn) that at some point this movie was decent on paper, and read funny.
Pluto Nash is one of those films that wouldn't have been so bad - if it had been done 25 years ago with no stars and a smaller budget.Now we have Eddie Murphy and a whole bunch of, albeit not A-list, solid supporting actors (Rosario Dawson excluded) aimlessly wandering about from one pointless scene to another.
Big fans of Eddie Murphy might like this, or people who love sci-fi comedy.
She has a lot of potential acting in American movies;<)From the words of Eddie Murphy himself: "Its All Good"!
As much as I like Eddie Murphy, I was very disappointed by this film.
It seems like this film has a hard time deciding whether or not it wants to be a bad comedy or a bad action movie.
'The Adventures Of Pluto Nash', I know this movie for being one of the biggest box office bombs.
The long-ago released never gained popularity even it's DVD/video release, I know people who dislike this movie like anything.Honestly, 'Pluto Nash' is not as bad as people say it is, it's a okay one time watch.
I had expected Eddie Murphy and Randy Quaid to deliver outstanding performances in this movie since they are both experienced talented comic actors, wrong.
And it looked like Eddie Murphy knew, as he was almost reluctantly reciting this lines, that the movie was going to be a flop.
Best Eddie Murphy Movie I Think I've Ever Seen.
"The Adventures of Pluto Nash" isn't the best movie Eddie Murphy ever made. |
tt0471041 | The Tournament | A series of TV news reports are shown about acts of violence across the globe; gunfights, shootings, explosions, terrorist attacks, and other acts of murder, both small and larger scale. In some of these reports, the newscasters say that authorities are dismissing some of the random explosions as accidental. A voiceover by a man named Powers (Liam Cunningham) says that not everything is as it appears. Every seven years an extraordinary event takes place in an ordinary town, and every-day people won't see it or otherwise know about it... but it happens.Shirao, Brazil, seven years prior to the present. Blood drips off of a meat hook in a burning warehouse, and there is the distant sound of machine gun fire. Joshua Harlow (Ving Rhames) ducks for cover, finding his revolver empty. Off to one side, another man lies wounded, also out of ammunition. The wounded man asks Joshua, 'Don't let it be him.'Joshua checks a mobile device and sees a display with one dot in the center, and another dot rapidly approaching the centered one. Gene Walker (John Lynch), a long-haired man with an automatic rifle arrives on the scene, taunting Joshua and opening fire. He sprays the area with bullets, further wounding the wounded man. Joshua manages to hit a button that causes the meat hooks, some still with large slabs of meat on them, to begin moving, providing him some cover as he runs. A closed-circuit TV camera (CCTV) is shown in one corner of the ceiling as Joshua runs into another room; the armed man following. Walker calls Joshua a 'stain' on their 'profession' and invites him to see the only way to quit.Joshua sees a discarded shotgun near where Walker is standing. Creating a distraction, he runs, leaps and slides across the blood-slick floor as Walker hurries to load a new magazine into his rifle. Grabbing the shotgun and pressing it right up against Walker's nose and mouth, Joshua pulls the trigger and Walker's head is turned into a gory mess. On the mobile device, one of two adjacent dots on the display, disappears.Joshua walks back to the wounded man and lights a cigarette. The wounded man expresses relief that Joshua won the encounter. Joshua gives the cigarette to the wounded man, letting him take a few puffs. The wounded man tells Joshua to enjoy his new life together with another unnamed individual. Raising a handgun, Joshua fires, putting the wounded man out of his misery. Another dot disappears from the mobile display. Joshua slowly turns and glares at a CCTV on the ceiling.The scene shifts to a monitor with numerous screen displays, all switching to show Joshua's face as he glares at the camera. Powers turns to face a group of people and announces, 'We have a winner.' Cheers and applause break out. The view pans out to show the rest of the room; a group of well-dressed men and women stand and applaud, around a large betting table on which is placed numerous stacks of large-denomination currencies of all kinds.The movie logo appears.The scene switches to the present day, seven years after the events in Brazil. The location is Middlesbrough in England. We're shown numerous locations around the city, and a large prevalence of CCTV's.A dark-haired Chinese woman, Lai Lai Zhen (Kelly Hu) gets off a train, palming a card with the name and address of the Ivy House hotel. The card shows that she has a reservation at room 107. She arrives at the hotel in the early evening.On arriving in her room, she lays out her luggage and finds a largish metal briefcase waiting for her on a table; her name printed on a piece of paper taped to the side. Inside the briefcase are two firearms with high-load magazines and several boxes of spare ammunition, as well as a small medicine cup filled with a red liquid. Taped to the cup is a small piece of paper with '9 pm' written on it. Lai Lai stares at the cup nervously as she holds it up and examines it.Lai Lai takes a shower and, at exactly 9:00 on her clock, she swallows the red liquid in the medicine cup. Immediately the powerful drug starts taking effect. Lai Lai makes it to her bed before collapsing on it. As she loses consciousness fast, she sees two men in white coats come into her room, and grabs for one of her guns, but immediately drops it as she blacks out. The men don surgical masks and gloves, opening two briefcases. We see one of them making a surgical incision in Lai Lai's midsection.Father Joseph MacAvoy (Robert Carlyle) sits at a bar, asleep; his head down among several glasses of alcohol. It's early morning; the bar owner had left him there to sleep after he passed out the previous night. Father MacAvoy is a drunk with an alcohol addiction that disgusts the bar owner. He throws up at the bar owner's feet as he's awakened. The bar owner tosses him out of the bar and tells him not to come back.Two audio-visual Techies, Eddie (Andy Nyman) and Rob (Iddo Goldberg), tap into the city's CCTV mainframe, taking control of it, under the watchful eye of Miss Hunter (Camilla Power). She directs them to block all coms and scramble all emergency radio frequencies. In a matter of minutes they've hijacked complete control of all of Middlesbrough's communication systems.Miss Hunter contacts Powers and lets him know that all camera and com control is live, and all implants are active. Powers is satisfied and tells Miss Powers to make sure cleanup crews are ready, since they're going to have a busy day.Powers stands before a wall covered with digital monitors, at the head of a betting table on which are placed numerous stacks of high-denomination currencies of all kinds. A large group of well-dressed men and their girlfriends and wives sit around the table. Powers welcomes these guests to an event he calls simply, 'The Tournament,' which is being held in Great Britain for the first time, as the city of Middlesbrough has the highest concentration of CCTV cameras of anywhere on Earth.Powers explains the rules: Thirty of the world's most deadly and skilled assassins and killers for hire are gathered in Middlesbrough for 'the ultimate sporting event;' that is, an all-out battle to the death competition with the winner getting a cash prize worth ten million, and the title of "The World's Best." Powers has a team of beautiful young women in red dresses ready to take bets (100,000 minimum), serve refreshments, and some of the women are seen flirting with the men as well.Powers gives a run down of some of the entrants that are favored: Lai Lai Zhen, abandoned as a baby and left for dead; found and raised by the Triad and killing people on their behalf before she was fully grown; the number one hitter in the Eastern Market for three years. Odds on her are 10-1. Frenchman Anton Bogart (Sebastien Foucan) is a champion quality athlete; silent, stealthy and smart, he lives for the thrill of the hunt. Odds on him are 9-1. Yuri Petrov Scott Adkins) is Russian Special Forces; a lethal all-around killer and fighter, always armed to the teeth and thoroughly trained in unarmed combat, knives, guns and bombs. Odds on him are 12-1. Miles Slade (Ian Somerhalder) is 'a crazy Texan kid' as Powers calls him; although an outside bet, he's reckless, ruthless and wild, and guaranteed entertainment. Odds on him are 25-1.Powers then says that there's also a dramatic late entrant; Joshua Harlow, the champion of the previous tournament, retired from the business after winning, but has returned for this year's tournament for revenge. Four months ago, Joshua's wife was murdered in their Miami home... and one of the participants in this year's tournament was responsible for her death. Joshua is the odds-on favorite for this year's tournament at 2-1.Miss Hunter instructs the Techies to activate tracking devices, and more monitor displays light up with dots. Powers explains that a tracker is implanted in the body of each participant in the tournament. Not only does this allow the Tournament's staff and audience to track each participant, but each participant is given a mobile GPS device that lets them also track each other and find each other. Each tracker is tuned to a normal human body temperature of 98.6 degrees. When an entrant is killed, and their body temperature begins to immediately decrease, their tracker goes inactive.A timer then appears on the boards. Powers explains that this year, the stakes are being raised. The tournament will be lasting 24 hours. If more than one tracker is active at the end of that time, without a single winner, the trackers will detonate, killing all remaining participants. Thirty competitors, twenty-four hours, and one rule: kill or die.Lai Lai jolts awake in her hotel room, grabbing one of her guns and sweeping the room; finding it empty. On the table, where the briefcase had been, is now a mobile device which lights up with the tracking display. She lifts her sleeping garment and finds something placed just under the skin of her midsection, the incision closed with stitches. As the Techies watch her with ogling eyes, they pick up a proximity alert: another entrant in the tournament, a Steve Tomko (Craig Conway) is closing in on Lai Lai, and has killed an innocent man in the hall in the process. Miss Hunter notifies Powers, and all monitors light up with the camera displays for the hotel.Lai Lai hears a knock on her door. Silently padding to the side of her door, she asks who's there, and the answer says it's room service. Taking the do not disturb sign from her side of the doorknob, she waves it in front of the peephole. Hearing no response, she looks through the peephole and sees a covered tray on a portable table. Keeping to the side of her door, she slowly opens it, and then sweeps the hallway with her gun. Suspecting a bomb, she grabs the tablecloth covering the mobile table and yanks it away, causing the tray and its cover to clatter to the floor; a meager breakfast spilling all around.Lai Lai happens to glance down at the tray's cover, and in its reflection, she sees Tomko sneaking up on her from behind. With her hands and the barrel of the gun, she blocks a wire garrote as he snaps it around her neck from behind. The two struggle as Tomko swings Lai Lai around by the garrote, slamming her into the furniture and walls. Lifting her legs, Lai Lai braces against Tomko and 'runs up' the wall, flipping over Tomko and breaking the choke hold. Grabbing one end of the garrote, she snaps the wire tight around Tomko's other hand, ripping the fingers off. Tomko is left without any means of putting up an effective fight. He charges blindly, Lai Lai easily fending him off. She throws him into the bathroom and recovers her gun, putting a bullet through his forehead as he turns around for another charge.Lai Lai's win and scoring of 'first blood' is applauded in the show room, and the odds on her decrease to 7-1. The Techies pick up the signal from Anton, noting him heading into a cluster on the high street where several other tournament entrants are, and they switch monitor view to all the cameras there along that street.A woman in a long black leather coat, Gorel Modery, walks across a rooftop, holding a long carrying case. As Anton walks into a coffee shop, a man named Ivan Stoyanova drives up in a car and checks his mobile tracking display.Anton goes into the men's room of the coffee shop, safe from prying CCTV cameras. He cuts the tracker out from under his skin. Stoyanova looks at his tracking monitor with confusion as Anton's signal disappears. The Techies also note this, and not having seen any evidence of a fight, start conducting sensor sweeps and checking for his body heat signature.Anton walks back through the dining room of the coffee shop and tosses his tracker into a pot of coffee before sitting at a table. The hot coffee reactivates the tracker, again to the puzzlement of the Techies and Stoyanova. The waitress takes the coffee pot and refills the cup of a guest eating at a booth. Just before he can take a sip from his refilled cup, his cell phone rings. He answers it and finds the call is from a client bringing news requiring him to leave the diner immediately. The guest puts some money down on the table, puts the cup back down and hurries out.Eating at a table near the now-empty booth is Father MacAvoy. Seeing the guest's full coffee cup unattended, and his own cup empty, he looks around with shifty eyes and grabs the cup, taking a sip. The waitress notices and asks if he's going to pay for the cup. Anton suddenly comes up and puts some coins down, paying for the cup on Father MacAvoy's behalf. Anton walks out of the coffee shop and past Stoyanova, who, like most of the Tournament's entrants, doesn't know what any of the other participants look like.Unbeknownst to Father MacAvoy, he's swallowed Anton's tracker. As he leaves the coffee shop, Stoyanova and Modery, checking their tracking monitors, mistake him for a tournament entrant. Modery has set up a long-range, high powered rifle on a tripod on the rooftop and starts lining up a shot on Father MacAvoy. Just as the crosshairs on her scope center, a bus passes in front of Father MacAvoy, blocking her view and her shot. As the priest walks down the street, more signs and car roofs continue to obstruct Modery's view. Meanwhile, Anton stealthily runs across several rooftops, jumping from building to building. Stoyanova discreetly follows Father MacAvoy in his car.Stoyanova pulls a shotgun from the passenger seat and carefully pokes it through the passenger side window, preparing to shoot Father MacAvoy. But just as he's about to pull the trigger, Modery switches her shot and takes out Stoyanova instead. Lining back up on Father MacAvoy, she's about to take him out when a man who knows the priest stops him on the street and they start talking; the man obstructing Modery's view. She waits as the two men continue talking. The man finally walks away, and Modery's finger is tightening on the trigger, when Anton comes up from behind and grabs her, breaking her neck.The Techies note Modery's tracker going out, and think there's another software glitch, as there was no other tracking dot near her own signal. Anton takes Modery's rifle and watches Father MacAvoy walk down the street. The Techies pick up Anton's tracker, but don't have a visual on him, frustrating the both of them.Father MacAvoy walks toward his church. Parked near it is Yuri Petrov. Seeing a tracking dot signal as Father MacAvoy approaches the church, Petrov peers curiously at the priest, and then readies his rifle.Father MacAvoy enters the church and kneels before the cross, praying for hope and inner strength. The distraught priest sees only emptiness in his heart, and he prays for a renewed sense of being. But then, after he finishes, he reaches into his inside jacket pocket and takes a flask of alcohol, preparing to take a sip.Father MacAvoy hears a noise behind him and turns around, dropping his flask. Lai Lai Zhen is walking up behind him, her gun at the ready. She looks curiously at the priest, double checking her tracking monitor which confirms a signal from right in front of her. Father MacAvoy, not understanding but seeing the gun Lai Lai has trained on him, pleads for mercy as Lai Lai demands to know why he isn't trying to defend himself.Just then, the church door is blown open and Petrov storms in, throwing several grenades. Lai Lai shoots one grenade away from her, and then dives for cover and fires at Petrov, but one grenade blows a large wooden pew loose from the floor and it flies right into her, knocking her senseless. Petrov walks up to Father MacAvoy, mockingly waving his rifle as to make the outline of the cross. But before he can shoot, a recovered Lai Lai knocks the rifle aside. Petrov draws a pistol and Lai Lai also knocks that aside. But Petrov proves lethally skilled at unarmed combat, a match for Lai Lai. The two duel hand to hand, Lai Lai starting to gain an advantage until she uses a leg scissors throw to take Petrov down and then kicks him in the mouth. Infuriated, Petrov goes on the attack and takes the initiative, battering Lai Lai with furious punches, and soccer-ball kicking her into a pillar. Showing no mercy, Petrov looses a haymaker that clobbers Lai Lai like gangbusters and lays her out on the floor. Petrov grabs her up and plunges her head into a fountain in the church, trying to drown her.Bewildered, frightened and understanding none of what's going on, Father MacAvoy sees Lai Lai getting the beating of her life, and he reacts. He grabs up Petrov's rifle and presses it against Petrov's back, demanding he stop. Petrov easily kicks Father MacAvoy away, but this gives Lai Lai the chance to shove her head back up and out of the water. Taking the fight back up, Lai Lai locks Petrov into a cruel arm bar, and throws him to the ground again. As he starts to rise, Lai Lai gives him the middle finger... showing she's used it to pull the pin for one of the grenades still on Petrov's belt. The grenade detonates and makes a gory mess out of Petrov.Lai Lai turns her attention back to Father MacAvoy, interrogating him on who he works for and where he gets his orders from. Despite the priest's plain fear of her, Lai Lai's mobile tracking display shows a tracking dot right in front of her. When she grabs Petrov's rifle away from him, she sees he didn't chamber the next round, showing he has no idea how to use the weapon. Finally she grabs Father MacAvoy's shirt and pulls it up, baring his midsection; there is no scar, no trace of any incision. Lai Lai sees that Father MacAvoy was telling her the truth; he's an ordinary priest, not a fighter nor an assassin, and he has no idea what he's been caught up in.Back in the tournament show room, Lai Lai's win over Petrov is drawing cheers and a new round of wagers. Miss Hunter and the Techies have finally figured out that Anton Bogart managed to cut the tracker out from under his skin, and it somehow ended up inside Father MacAvoy. Anton having gone 'invisible' is troubling to Powers, and he instructs Miss Hunter to have the Techies try to maintain visual contact on Anton as much as possible.A proximity alert quickly draws everyone's attention: Joshua Harlow and an Irishman named Eddie Cusack (Nick Rowntree) are approaching each other. The scene switches to the inside of a parking garage. Cusack knows that Joshua is closing in on him and reacts with clear nervousness. He fires wildly at an approaching shadow; Joshua warning Cusack to 'cut the shit.' He's here for information. Cusack says he's heard that someone came for Harlow in order to kill him, and he heard what happened to Joshua's wife. Joshua wants to know anything Cusack has heard about it. Cusack says that Miles Slade was the one who told him, which Cusack figures, means that Miles was either responsible, or knows for certain who was behind it.As he speaks, Cusack creeps low to the ground among several cars, and as he looks underneath one car, he sees Joshua's feet on the other side. Carefully creeping around the car, Cusack darts out and fires several shots, only to see his bullets hit empty air. He glances down and sees Joshua's empty shoes on the ground. A second later and he hears the cocking of a pistol's hammer. Joshua fires a shot into the back of Cusack's skull and kills him.Near a railway yard, Miles Slade fires several shots, seemingly at nothing and nobody, and mumbles something about 'one more for the trophy cabinet' as he stands near a dumpster. How crazy and sick Miles really is, becomes clear as he coaxes a stray dog over to him, lets it sniff him, and then shoots the dog in the head, before looking to one side and yawning like he's bored. As Miles walks away from the area, a human body is seen in the dumpster. the Techies quickly backtrack a nearby CCTV's footage, showing that Miles cut one finger off of the corpse; the fingers being his 'trophies.'The special emergency line, the one phone line able to get through the scramblers, rings. One techie answers and says he'll put the call through.Lai Lai has called in to speak to Powers. Her personal honor code dead set against the killing of innocents, she wants to see Father MacAvoy safely removed from the hazards of the tournament. But Powers coldly rebuffs Lai Lai, telling her that Father MacAvoy is simply one of many 'famous innocent bystanders' that people hear about. She can carry him if she's that set on it, or she can kill him, but she's not to call back again. As Father MacAvoy fusses nearby, he watches a brown haired woman, Lina Sofia (Rachel Grant), catching a ball thrown by two playing kids and giving it back to them, smiling. As she closes the door to her SUV, she notices him looking at her, and her smile starts to fade.Father MacAvoy is aghast at the news that the tournament is not showing him any mercy, and the police aren't coming to help him. Lai Lai has no time to tell him anything further; Sofia is roaring straight toward them in her SUV. Grabbing Father MacAvoy, Lai Lai dives out of the phone booth just before Sofia crashes into it. As she swerves back around to head at them again, Lai Lai fires several shots. One shot hits Sofia's forward right tire, sending her SUV careening out of control. It rolls over several times before coming to a stop upside down. Sofia is trapped inside and the vehicle is burning. Lai Lai tells Father MacAvoy they have to get moving.As Father MacAvoy looks on in horror, Sofia starts to scream frantically for help. Focusing only on the moment, Father MacAvoy runs to the vehicle to try and pull the trapped woman out to safety. But as he struggles to pull open her seat belt, Sofia grabs a pistol and smiles in satisfaction as she points it at him. But it's Lai Lai who fires first, taking Sofia out with one shot. Angrily admonishing Father MacAvoy, she pulls him along.Lai Lai finally explains to Father MacAvoy that all the people who have tried to kill him, followed a tracking bug that he has inside him, and that the Tournament is a competition for killers and assassins where the last one standing wins. The police cannot help; as Lai Lai tells him, the tournament brass have enough money to control law enforcement bureaus and even many government officials, and that all the mayhem caused by tournament activity is explained away on the media as random acts of violence, terrorist attacks, and tragic accidents. Father MacAvoy has no time to try to rationalize all this, as Sofia's SUV explodes and they have to get moving.Back at Tournament HQ, the Techies are a little disbelieving at Powers ordering them to add Father MacAvoy to the tournament roster as a player, but they do it. Powers makes the announcement to the spectators/bettors, placing starting odds on the priest at 500-1. Everyone laughs and applauds.Anton continues running across rooftops, staying mobile. Meanwhile, walking through an alleyway, Father MacAvoy is freaking out as he tries to put his fingers down his throat to make himself vomit up this tracker that Lai Lai tells him he swallowed. Feeling compassion, Lai Lai tries to assure the terrified priest that he'll be okay.A police car comes driving up, siren flashing. Father MacAvoy is relieved, until the officer stepping out of the car aims a rifle and a laser sighter paints him for a shot; the 'officer' is a Tournament player. Lai Lai checks her mobile tracker and sees the dot to prove this. But before she can react, a gunshot comes out of nowhere and takes the 'officer' down. More shots are fired, this time at Lai Lai and Father MacAvoy, as Lai Lai scrambles to the police car. She and Father MacAvoy climb inside to drive off. As Lai Lai starts the engine, Anton drops down, landing on the car's hood. Seeing him reach for handguns, Lai Lai jams on reverse and hits the gas. Anton nimbly backflips off the car hood, landing on the ground on his feet. As Lai Lai has to look over her shoulder to drive the car in reverse gear, Anton pursues, firing at her. Lai Lai fires back, Anton using the terrain to his advantage to provide himself with some degree of cover. Father MacAvoy recognizes Anton from the coffee shop that morning, tipping Lai Lai off as to how Father MacAvoy ended up with a tracker-- it was Anton's, which he cut out from under his skin.The pursuit continues until Lai Lai finally emerges from the alleyway and has room to swerve. Anton again jumps up onto the car, but is thrown off from the swerve. Anton continues firing as Lai Lai aims the car toward him. Having no time to roll out of the car's path, he lifts his legs and braces his feet against the car's fender, letting it push him along the gravel road as he continues firing. Finally rolling aside, Anton again uses fire escapes and the natural building terrain to pick up the pursuit, but Lai Lai has too much of a lead, and drives off to safety.In the railway yard, Joshua Harlow finds the dead body left by Miles in the dumpster; one finger cut off via Miles' cigar cutter; his trademark. Miles is seen walking into a strip bar as Joshua reloads his gun and then looks at his wedding ring. Flashbacks show Joshua and his wife happy together, then Joshua finding his wife's body, and he was going to turn his gun on himself for failure to protect her, when suddenly the phone rang, and he heard Powers' voice on the answering machine, telling Joshua that he has information on who may have wanted Joshua dead and came after him.It's evening, and Miles is still at the strip bar, watching a bare-breasted woman dance up close near him. A brief shot of his mobile tracker shows that a number of other contestants also happen to be at the bar. The techies count a total of nine tracking dots in the strip bar, yet none of the contestants have tried to kill one another yet; probably because the bar's being so crowded makes it difficult for any shooter to tell who's who. Powers is notified about the nine-dot cluster in the bar, and he announces to the delighted spectator/bettors, "A bloodbath is about to take place."Miles starts the bloodbath as he makes visual contact with one other contestant, noting a gun tucked in his pants waistband. As the girl continues to dance in front of him, he reaches for his rifle, and as she bends backward, he takes aim over her body and head, taking the other contestant out. The music stops and a panic quickly breaks out among the civilians and dancers in the bar. Miles continues firing, taking out at least two dancers without hesitation before gunning down another contestant. The other contestants still there are now springing into action, taking cover and trying to pick out other contestants among the rapidly dispersing crowd.One contestant tries to spring up on Miles from behind, but the alert 'crazy man' dodges the attacks, incapacitates him hand to hand, then cocks his rifle and shoots him. A wild shootout starts to break out. Miles sees the bare-breasted dancer cowering in terror on the floor in front of him, and kills her for fun.The remaining contestants in the bar fall into a free-for-all shootout, bullets and blood flying everywhere as several more of them are taken down. Then, from the door and stairway, a dark silhouette heralding the arrival of Joshua Harlow. Joshua wades into the war zone, grabbing a dead contestant's corpse as a human shield, using a simple revolver to take down more shooters with higher grade firepower. He calmly reloads as one shooter wildly fires an automatic rifle blindly, unable to hit the broad side of a barn with it. Finishing his reloading, Joshua fires once, killing the shooter.Miles confronts Joshua, whooping loudly, holding a terrified woman dancer as a human shield. Joshua demands Miles tell him if he was the one who came after Joshua and killed his wife. Miles appears not to know what Joshua is talking about. At that moment, a female Tournament contestant disguised as a dancer, leaps on Joshua's back, stabbing him with a knife. Miles shoots, knocking the girl off of Joshua and knocking Joshua to the ground, wounded. The girl grabs a gun, looking to finish Joshua off, but Miles intercepts her, taking her out with his rifle. Letting his hostage go, Miles steps on Joshua's hand as he reaches for his gun again, and Miles then knocks Joshua unconscious with the butt of his rifle.Lai Lai and Father MacAvoy continue driving through the night. Lai Lai is looking to get further out of the town, which will make the mobile trackers less accurate in picking up the tracking device signals. Father MacAvoy needs a drink, which starts up an argument over why Lai Lai is in the tournament vs. why Father MacAvoy drinks. Lai Lai takes Father MacAvoy's admission that he feels lost emotionally and spiritually, with several grains of salt, talking about her own line of work, and how killing people is just her job... and yet she didn't kill Father MacAvoy because she refuses to kill the innocent; only people she's contracted to kill, all of whom have prices on their heads for a reason.Several flashback sequences of Joshua's wife are shown, in no particular sequence. Her putting Joshua's hand on her abdomen, smiling at him, a reverse-footage sequence of a cup that's fallen out of her hand to shatter on the floor; Joshua's wife begging fearfully for mercy as she's confronted by her killer, and her dead body accusing Joshua, "Where were you?"Joshua snaps awake, tied to one of the dancing poles in the bar. Miles gloats about having taken down the previous tournament's champion, and shows off more of his erratic behavior by pointing out a dead body he's dressed up in a stripper's outfit, and offering Joshua a drink right out of the bottle. Joshua again confronts Miles about the death of his wife, Mary (Tamika Cameran); but Miles is distracted by the groaning sounds of a random victim fo the bloodbath who's still alive, albeit greivously wounded. Miles goes over to the victim and starts beating him with the butt of his rifle, giving Joshua time to start preparing to turn the tables. Finding that a screw holding the pole in place is loose, Joshua partially unscrews it, to where he can start using the threading on the screw to cut his ropes.Turning his attention back to Joshua, Miles tells him that he should blame himself for his wife's death if he wasn't there to protect her... and then, making a big shot of the announcement, Miles tells Joshua he wasn't he one who killed Mary. When Joshua demands that Miles not lie to him, Miles slips behind Joshua and uses his cigar cutter to lop off one of Joshua's fingers, both for the sick fun of it, and because Joshua called him a kid. Pressing his burning cigar tip against the bloody stump to torture Joshua, Miles then says he knows who did it. Making another big show of the whole announcement, Miles tells Joshua that Lai Lai Zhen came after Joshua, and she killed Joshua's wife.Joshua flatly states he doesn't believe the announcement, and suddenly says he'd like to accept Miles' offer of a drink. Miles happily indulges Joshua, letting him take a generous swig from the bottle. Before shooting Joshua, Miles takes a moment to re-light his cigar... and just as the flame is near the cigar, Joshua regurgitates the alcohol and spits it right at Miles' face, causing it to ignite from the flame of the cigar lighter. Joshua then kicks the half-full bottle at Miles, and it shatters on his body, setting the crazy killer on fire. Joshua finishes cutting himself free on the threading of the loose screw, and grabs up Miles' rifle, shooting at him several times through a wooden bar. Darting around to get a clear shot, however, Joshua finds that Miles made a slippery escape through a cellar hatch in the floor behind the bar; his tracking dot on Joshua's tracker, rapidly moving away. Joshua finds a set of keys left abandoned on the bar and grabs them up, using a signal device on the ring to pinpoint the vehicle they belong to: a big eighteen wheel chemical rig. Climbing into the cab, Joshua drives off.A montage is shown of Tournament contestants finding and killing each other in various gory displays. It's late in the evening, with fewer than six hours on the countdown timer. As the number of remaining contestants drops precipitously, and the body count continues to climb, Joshua and Lai Lai drive on through the night down highways, and Anton Bogart watches his tracker monitor.Lai Lai pulls into a gas station, goes into the convenience store and grabs a package of Ex-lax laxatives, with the idea that they might help flush the tracker out of Father MacAvoy. Meanwhile, in the car, Father MacAvoy again prays for strength, before suddenly blurting out that he needs a drink. Happening to glance toward the open glove compartment suddenly, he finds a flask and looks upward in thanks. He grabs the flask and takes a big swig. He hears the car door open and close, and turns to the driver's side, thinking Lai Lai has returned... but it's Miles sitting there, holding a knife to Father MacAvoy's face; Miles is badly burned but very much alive.But Lai Lai has spotted Miles and rushed out to Father MacAvoy's defense. As the two assassins battle, a monitor display behind powers lights up with several CCTV angles as Powers eggs on the spectator/bettors to place bets on the aggrieved combatants, pointing out that a major player will fall.The convenience store clerk, listening to music through earplugs and watching macaroni and cheese heat up in his microwave, is oblivious to the battle even after Lai Lai hurls Miles through the glass door and takes the battle right into the store itself. Miles proves woefully inadequate in unarmred combat, barely able to hold off Lai Lai as she tears into him with punches and kicks.Father MacAvoy takes a last swig from the flask before hurrying into the convenience store, where Miles has managed to grab Lai Lai by the throat and pull a knife. As Lai Lai struggles to hold the weapon at Bay, Miles taunts her by saying that Joshua is really angry at her, now that he knows that she killed Joshua's wife. The taunt sets off a nerve in Lai Lai, and she renews her counterattack with redoubled ferocity. She hurls Miles to the ground, pulls the knife from his grasp and buries it to the hilt in his shoulder. Before she can get off a shot from her gun, however, Father MacAvoy pleads for Lai Lai to stop. Lai Lai hesitates, holding off on killing Miles, much to the displeasure of the spectator/bettors watching the scene on the big screen monitors behind Powers.The clerk's microwave goes off, and he pulls out his bowl, turning around and staring in disbelief at what's been behind him. Back in the control center, Techie Eddie says into his headset, "He said what?"A strange beeping noise starts up, growing faster as Miles starts to writhe about wildly and scream in confusion and fear. Suddenly his tracking device detonates, making a big gory mess, spraying Lai Lai, Father MacAvoy, and the disbelieving convenience store clerk, with blood.The convenience store's phone suddenly starts to ring. Still in a daze, the clerk answers, and then tells Father MacAvoy that the call is for him.Father MacAvoy gets on the phone to find Powers talking to him. Powers tells the befuddled priest that since he interrupted what could have been a spectacular kill, he needs to be reminded of 'the rules of the game.' Powers points out that four hours remain in the tournament, and Father MacAvoy just witnessed proof that the tracking device is much more than just that. He needs to kill if he wants to live-- should the countdown timer reach zero with more than one Tournament contestant still living, all of them will meet a similar fate as just befell Miles.Father MacAvoy sits on the john hoping for the laxative to take effect and eject the tracker out of his body. Lai Lai sits in the adjacent stall, waiting. As they wait, Father MacAvoy asks Lai Lai about Joshua's wife. Lai Lai rebuffs him, her voice becoming defensive, showing she doesn't want to talk about it. Father MacAvoy tells her about Catholic confession, and how difficult it can be, but well-worth it in his opinion.Lai Lai gives in, and she begins to talk to Father MacAvoy about her last job. This last job has slowly crushed her conscience and left her distraught. She explains how, as she confronts targets she's contracted to kill, the last thing she usually sees in their eyes is a look of understanding, of resignation to their fate. A look that bears her little ill-will for killing them. The last person she killed, Mary Harlow, gave Lai Lai a look of stark bewilderment and fear as she begged for her life. A look of complete lack of understanding why Lai Lai was there to kill her. Several months after she killed Mary Harlow, Lai Lai learned that Mary was pregnant. On learning this, Lai Lai became increasingly haunted by the killing. Talking to Father MacAvoy about it brings Lai Lai to tears, and it is now he who is comforting and counseling her as best he can. Lai Lai explains to Father MacAvoy that she's in the tournament with one goal in mind: to vanish. She wants out of the assassin business, and the tournament can help her disappear in one of two ways. If she wins, the money can buy her a new identity and anonymity to live the rest of her life in peace. If she loses, then as she says vacantly, she'll 'get what's coming to her.'Back in the control room, Techie Eddie notifies Miss Hunter that the last five contestants seem to be converging on the motorway. Joshua Harlow and "Long Shot" Carl Topuzov, are closing in on the gas station where Lai Lai and Father MacAvoy still are, and CCTV's are allowing manual and visual tracking of Anton Bogart, who's also closing in. Lai Lai sees the tracking dots converging on her tracker display, and she shows the display to Father MacAvoy, saying they have to leave.Lai Lai and Father MacAvoy hurry toward the stolen police squad car, stopping short as they spot Joshua driving the chemical rig. As Joshua drives past, they make another bid for the car when suddenly Topuzov, on a motorcycle, stops in the middle of the motorway and aims a rocket launcher. The heat sensor on the launcher gets a lock on Lai Lai's body heat signature, and he's ready to make te kill, when suddenly an onrushing passenger bus runs Topuzov down. The rocket is launched straight up into the air, flying around wildly before finally diving down and taking out the stolen squad car. Joshua is alerted to the increasing chaos and makes a big turn, crossing over the dividing island onto the other side of the motorway. The driver of the passenger bus has stopped and exited the vehicle to check on Topuzov. Seeing this, and seeing Joshua closing in again, Lai Lai hijacks the bus, leaving Father MacAvoy to "learn fast!" on how to drive it... all the passengers, sound asleep, still inside.Joshua sees Lai Lai and Father MacAvoy pulling away in the bus and speeds up to catch them. He pulls up alongside the bus, and he and Lai Lai exchange gunfire through the windows; the bus passengers quickly waking up and scrambling to get down on the bus floor. Joshua is hit in the arm by one of Lai Lai's bullets, and he has to redouble his efforts to stay straight on the road before losing control of his rig. Roaring in anger, Joshua rams the bus twice, and then speeds up more, looking to pull in front of it. Lai Lai fires twice more, puncturing the huge chemical tank of the rig. Joshua pulls in front of the bus and hits the brakes; Father MacAvoy barely managing to swerve wide to avoid crashing into the back of the rig and rush past it on the right side. As the aggrieved road battle continues, the techies note Anton Bogart watching his tracker display as he waits on a bridge... one that the two big vehicles are fast approaching.Father MacAvoy sees Anton atop the bridge and alerts Lai Lai, who must keep her focus on Joshua... until the bus passes under the bridge, and Anton jumps down off the far side, landing right on the roof of the bus. This gets Lai Lai's attention, and she fires through the roof of the bus, Anton running along the roof to avoid the gunfire. Lai Lai moves toward the back of the bus in pursuit, but makes a critical mistake when she draws too close to the rear window. Grabbing a metal bar along the back of the bus, Anton does a vault off the roof and swings into a double thrust kick through the window, knocking Lai Lai for a loop and making her drop her gun. On the road, Joshua rams the bus from the side again.Lai Lai gets to her feet and fights Anton hand to hand, but the Frenchman, fresher from being largely out of the action, outfights her and knocks her further down the aisle of the bus, while Joshua continues ramming it from the side; both vehicles careening wildly down the road at high speed. Smaller sedans and cars are knocked indiscriminately to the side by the onrushing behemoths. Inside the bus, Anton is using the passenger poles to execute gymnastic attacks that continue knocking Lai Lai from pillar to post. A swinging double kick aided by a pole clobbers her from the blind side and sends her crashing through the window of the bus' upper deck. Paying little if any attention to this battle, Joshua focuses on trying to stop the bus and continues to ram it with his rig, trying to force it off the motorway.Hanging from a metal bar along the outside of the bus, Lai Lai sees Joshua crush a passenger car between his rig and the bus. She pulls another gun and fires at him, but the bullets bounce off the thicker parts of the cab. Lai Lai shouts for Father MacAvoy to open the bus door so she can get back inside and on a stable footing in the bus' lower deck. Father MacAvoy smacks wildly on the various bus controls, finally managing to find the door control. Lai Lai swings inside the bus just before Joshua rams at that spot, narrowly missing crushing her against the side of the bus. Father MacAvoy drives past another eighteen-wheeler, forcing Joshua to hit the brakes and fall behind.Recovering her second gun, Lai Lai fires up through the ceiling into the upper deck of the bus. Anton backs away, returning fire through the upper deck's floor. Lai Lai runs toward the rear of the bus in pursuit, when suddenly Anton crashes through the upper deck's rear window and hangs on with his legs; his upper body dangling down to poke through the lower deck's broken rear window. Both of Anton's pistols and both of Lai Lai's pistols are aimed point-blank at each other-- but Lai Lai is out of ammunition. Anton has caught her completely unprepared and off-guard. Lai Lai looks at death. He has her cold, and there's nothing she can do.But Father MacAvoy can. He slams a foot down on the brakes, bringing the bus to a sharp, skidding stop, pitching Lai Lai off her feet and skidding along the aisle back toward the front of the bus. A second later, Joshua's oil rig, still barreling down the road at full speed, plows into the rear of the bus, crushing Anton to death between the rig and the bus. Father MacAvoy then steps on the gas pedal again, bringing the bus lurching forward. One of the tires on the chemical rig blows, and Joshua loses control of the rig and it tips over, rolling over onto its side and skidding across the road before the chemical tank ignites, bursting into flame. Father MacAvoy brings the bus to a stop again. Looking back at the burning rig, Father MacAvoy is in horror. Lai Lai slumped beside the driver's seat, covers his hand with a look of gratitude, telling him that he saved her life. Father MacAvoy leans over and throws up; the vomit bringing the tracker out of his body. Losing contact with his body heat signature, the tracker deactivates.Tn the Tournament show room, the mood continues to intensify. As Father MacAvoy's tracker deactivates, the techies confirm to Powers that both Anton and Father MacAvoy are down. Powers asks for an update on Joshua. We see the burning rig on the road, and Joshua's bloody hand reaches up; Joshua grunting loudly. The Tournament is down to two contestants: Joshua Harlow and Lai Lai Zhen. Adding to the pressure is that the twenty-four hours alloted for the Tournament to produce a winner, are almost up.Only fifteen minutes remain on the clock as Lai Lai and Father MacAvoy trudge through a field of high grass; Lai Lai limping and favoring one leg as Father MacAvoy helps keep her steady. Lai Lai begs Father MacAvoy to leave her and return to civilization; her body is battered and fatigued, and she suffers from both physical and mental exhaustion, leaving her unable to further protect him. But Father MacAvoy says that after she stayed with him through all that's happened, never leaving his side, he's now determined to stay by hers. Little by little the paradigms have shifted, and they've crossed into where Lai Lai is at her most vulnerable, and Father MacAvoy is at his strongest.The two find a church, which Lai Lai notes has no CCTV cameras inside. The two will be safe from Tournament scrutiny inside.Miss Hunter notes this with furious anger; surveillance satellites cannot monitor indoors either. When the Techies note a proximity alert, and that Joshua Harlow is closing in on Lai Lai, they put together a satellite display of the terrain and overlay the tracker signals, so that the bettors/spectators for the tournament can at least see that the last two contestants of the Tournament are just shy of the final confrontation. The tournament timer reaches five minutes and counting. Powers announces that if neither Joshua nor Lai Lai eliminate the other to win, and both of their trackers detonate, the Tournament hosting will pay out on Joshua, as the continuing favorite.Meanwhile, safe from Tournament cameras, Lai Lai and Father MacAvoy sit on pews. In desperate need of solace and guidance, Lai Lai asks Father MacAvoy to pray with her.But it's a decidedly dark angel who comes to answer the prayer: Joshua Harlow grabs Lai Lai and pins her against the pulpit, holding a knife ready to cut out her entrails. A mere 24 hours ago, Lai Lai would have been able to disarm him of the knife and cut his throat with it before he could blink. But her strength has left her, and she's beyond exhausted, with no fight left in her at all; she begs Joshua to just kill her and get it over with. It's Father MacAvoy who comes to her defense, trying to use his skill with words to appease Joshua.Joshua wants to know one thing: who sent Lai Lai to kill him, and why. Whoever ordered the hit on Joshua was ultimately responsible for his wife's death.Meanwhile, in the Tournament show room, all the bettors, Powers, Miss Hunter and the Techies watch the screens and monitors with baited breath. Both Joshua and Lai Lai's trackers continue to show them in the same immediate vicinity. Time continues to rapidly run out for both remaining participants to produce a single winner and Tournament champion, before their trackers both detonate.In the church, Lai Lai stuns Joshua with the last thing he ever expected to hear: nobody sent her to kill him; nobody put a hit on his head. Joshua's long held assumption that Mary was eliminated as a witness to his intended assassination, was incorrect. The hit contract was on his wife all along; Mary was the target, the one wanted killed. Moreover, as Lai Lai tells Joshua, he knows who ordered Mary's death; there's only one person it could be.Joshua is incredulous and not entirely believing of Lai Lai's story, and he's completely outraged. Father MacAvoy desperately pleads for Joshua not to 'honor' Mary's being his life, with death, and to think of what Mary would want him to do.Joshua suddenly bends over Lai Lai; driving his knife into her body. On the monitors at the Tournament show room, Lai Lai's tracker deactivates. The countdown timer stops at just under four seconds left. Everyone breaks into cheers and applause as Powers declares Joshua Harlow a two-time Tournament champion. As Joshua steps out of the church, a limousine pulls up, and a passenger door opens, to bring Joshua back to headquarters and into the show room.As Joshua staggers into the show room, he's greeted by cheers, applause and all the pomp and circumstance befitting a two-time champion. But as he's handed a glass of champagne, he shows he's in no mood to celebrate; he spills the champagne out onto the floor and hurls the glass at Powers. Climbing onto the betting table and staggering across it, Joshua confronts Powers with what he knows: Powers is the one who hired Lai Lai for a hit contract on Mary Harlow. Powers is the one who wanted Joshua's wife killed. Joshua demands that Powers tell him why.After a moment trying to deny the crime and convince Joshua that he's going crazy from the stress of the Tournament, Powers gives in and tells Joshua the cold truth. The hit was ordered as a means of motivating Joshua to participate in the Tournament in the first place. By hiring an assassin to kill Joshua's wife; an assassin who was enrolling in the Tournament-- Powers could be assured that Joshua would also enroll. As the last reigning Tournament champion, Joshua was a solid draw for big bets, large sums of money, and maximum entertainment for the bettors. Joshua would have refused to participate in the Tournament had Powers simply invited him. He, too, was looking to leave the business and begin a new, peaceful life. Powers refused to accept this, and handed Joshua the one thing that would make him enter the Tournament: a revenge vendetta.Powers tells Joshua not to worry, for he'll be seeing his wife soon. But Joshua counters with a biting retort that both he and Powers will be seeing Mary again soon. Grabbing Powers in a Japanese headlock, Joshua pries Powers' mouth open and pushes something inside.Immediately, Lai Lai's tracker signal lights back up on the monitors. Miss Hunter and the Techies realize with horror that Joshua cut the tracker out of Lai Lai's body. Now, pushed into Powers' mouth, it's come back into contact with a human body heat signature and reactivated. With the monitors and computers once again registering two Tournament participants, the stopped countdown timer, with only four seconds left on it, resumes counting down. Everyone in the show room scrambles out, diving for any cover they can find as Joshua holds Powers fast, using an iron hand to keep the tracker in his mouth. The countdown finishes, and both Joshua and Powers' trackers detonate, killing both of them in a grisly explosion that sends money flying everywhere.A flashback scene is shown of Father MacAvoy holding Lai Lai in his arms as she lay on the church floor, and slowly her eyes open. When Joshua cut the tracker out of her body, he spared Lai Lai's life.A short montage of TV reports gives a series of fabricated excuses to explain away the death and destruction wrought in Middlesbrough by the Tournament.Father MacAvoy delivers a moving sermon to a group of churchgoers, speaking about the tribulations the town has gone through, and yet they are now all renewed, feeling reborn. As he speaks, he happens to glance toward the rear pews where a woman in a black dress and hat sits, listening. Slowly the woman raises her head; it's Lai Lai. She smiles at Father MacAvoy as he speaks with passion and conviction. Father MacAvoy happens to look away for a brief moment, and when he returns his gaze to where Lai Lai was sitting, she's now gone. Father MacAvoy calls the congregation to prayer, and we fade to black. | comedy, murder, violence, flashback, revenge, sadist | train | imdb | A solid cast: Ving Rhames (always bad-ass), Robert Carlyle, Ian Somerhalder (who does surprisingly well!) and a action-packed small role for Scott Adkins.
The star cast is decent, the hot n attractive Kelly Hu (her sex scene from Farmhouse man), Ving Rhames, Robert Carlyle, Liam Cunningham, Scott Adkins n Sebastian Foucon (the guy from Casino royal).
I'll try to review it....Plot: pretty easy sell, every seven years the top assassins hold the tournament; they kill each other until the last survivor wins it all; all organized, tracked, and betted on by billionaires, of course.The whole thing is kind of like no limit hold'em....
Think Tekken and you're not in the right area, it is better than Uwe Boll and that ilk.Not quite lineage as Guy Ritchie (Obviously) but only needing Jason Stratham this is exactly what is says on the box: an out and out kill or be killed cartoonish film.Filming is good, nothing too dark or menacing but just nice.It's not Battle Royale but if action is your thing and you liked Death Race 2000, Shoot Em'Up or Wanted then you'll be happy enough.Any gripes about morality are irrelevant here, this is in a moral vacuum, and so are plot holes, logic, or how heads explode like watermelons, this is either your type of film or you should really it avoid totally.Yep, it's violent - limbs fly, people die in well, imaginative ways - but it is not horror.It's all well put together, nicely cast, and creates enough interest; better than just hunt or be hunted there is a real plot and even character development...Oh and great to choose Middlesborough, seriously one of the ugliest, most desolate pile of concrete crap evaar...ha ha....shooting it up the kyber pass can only improve it....This is a movie to watch with mates and wince and cheer to.....
The action is hyperkinetic and violent, and Scott Mann has undisputed Hollywood potential.The plot about the assassin tournament is clean and simple, a lot like "Taken" and when it comes to comparison between these two films, only advantage for "Taken" is Liam Neeson.
Actually, if we consider its budget, "The Tournament" is really outstanding in terms of casting because it combines available theatrical-feature actors like Kelly Hu, Liam Cunningham,, Robert Carlyle and Ving Rhames with top DTV names like Scott Adkins.
I feel like having this tournament, plus a bystander who's a priest who then becomes one of the players is more than enough plot for an action movie, the rest can be just watching the carnage unfold, and if the characters are interesting, and the action scenes are creative, that's all it really needs.
At first glance it checks all the boxes: madman running a contest between champions from a safe distance; greedy ultra-rich gambling on the lives of those they consider lesser; cameras everywhere; interesting cameos; mayhem and violence ...But then you look closer and you see A-list production values and a novel "redemption" twist with a priest in the game (well played by Robert Carlyle) -- and this strange arc comes to dominate the film and hold interest, even with all the shooting and explosives.And amazingly it more or less works.
But as much as I love the concept, the movie felt short of my expectations...there are a couple of well done fighting scenes but overall the action in the film is not nearly as spectacular as the trailer led me to believe, it's just not impressive at all considering other action films that have been done before, and the few twists in the story are very easily predictable.
There has been so much trash released over the past couple of years, however The Tournament is one of those fun trashy movies that hits the action spot very nicely, what we have is a game that takes place every 7 years and 30 top assassins play out for the top prize, and yes they have to kill each other to win 10 million, a bug has been placed inside them so they can track each other down and a bunch of rich folk place there bets in who will win..
So what now follows is a Battle Royal kill fest, and boy do we have some brutal and bloody kills, the film makers were smart to even through in some nudity...and hey presto we have another trashy exploitation movie, but this one kinda rocks, it will remind you of other movies you have seen...like Battle Royal, The Running Man, and even Gamer, so don't expect anything original but there are some nice set pieces, blood gets splattered all over the place and oh...
Oh, my, the action is dialed to the extreme.The "plot" is that every seven years the best assassins from all over the word are gathered together in a small town to go at each other in a free ranging field of play until there is one man or woman left standing.
The group is hosted by Powers (Liam Cunningham), who channels the most campy essence of Richard Dawson from The Running Man .Included assassins are Joshua Harlow (Rhames), the defending champ who is only back to settle a score; Lai Lai Zhen (Kelly Hu), a killer with a conscience; Miles Slater (Ian Somerhalder) a crazy killer from Texas; and the alcoholic Father Joseph Macavoy (Robert Carlyle) who, through a devious tactic by another assassin, gets pulled into the game against his will.What develops is a farcical stretch of anyone's credulity, but the action is so fun and violence so over-the-top that a fan of the action genre cannot help but to enjoy the show.
The gore level of the violence is nearly on par with Stallone's Rambo and the physical stunts (many actually done by this fun cast) are the high flying craziness of District 13-style.The finale comes as a bit of a surprise in that it revisits a style similar to action movies of the 80s and 90s.
THE TOURNAMENT makes its mark by delivering a knockout punch with over the top action and enough plot twists to keep the viewer interested.The story opens seven years ago with Ving Rhames character in a final bloodbath in a sordid meat packing company with two other assassins vying for the title of "World's Greatest Assassin".
My girlfriend decided to rent this recently so we sat down and watched it, looking over the cast I thought it might be OK but with an awful subplot, some mediocre acting and fight scenes that leave a lot to be desired I felt a little let down.It's somewhat similar to the Condemned(I really enjoyed), a group of people who share something in common have to kill each other and the last one standing receives a prize, it could've been good because the cast are good enough to pull it off the main problem for me was the Ving Rhames centred subplot which has him to return to the Tournament as the reigning champion after his wife was killed by an assassin.
Kelly Hu is absolutely stunning and Robert Carlyle is not bad.It wasn't the worst film I've had to sit through, but I won't be seeing it again, the fault lies with the writers who should've made this more about the killing and less about some ridiculous back story that seemed pretty pointless..
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Playing like a subtle commentary on CCTV Britain and the state it could be pointing the future of the country in, this independent action film revolves around a contest run by a shadowy group of rich, influential people where every so often they get a group of professional assassins together, and place bets to see who will be the victor in a no holds barred, battle to the death.
Father McAvoy (Robert Carlyle) is an alcoholic, emotionally unstable priest who finds himself thrust unwillingly into the chaos and bedlam that ensues between a female participant (Kelly Hu) and a vengeful charge (Ving Rhames.) Bringing Middlesbrough, often viewed as possibly the least desirable area in Britain, to life in a way no other film probably ever has, The Tournament is one of those smaller, more modest action films you don't see so much of these days.
Good cinematography, does not look like that if was filmed on mobile or poor DSLR like many movie does now a days.Good acting, Robert, Kelly hu, Ving, and Scott adkins in small role.Scoot mann also directed recently released FINAL SCORE and i also enjoyed this movie.(this movie is better than that), But it shows the scott is competent director and given enough budget and good script he can do good job.Give it a shot and you will not be disappointed..
No two ways about it, The Tournament is one hell of a bloody silly film, stretching plausibility way beyond breaking point, but that doesn't stop it from being quite a bit of fun.Every seven years, in an ordinary town, an extraordinary event takes place: the worlds top 30 assassins meet for The Tournament, a fight to the death that sees the winner pick up a cool $10million in prize money.
Unwittingly taking part is alcoholic priest Father MacAvoy (Robert Carlyle) who accidentally swallows one of the tracking devices.As I have already said, the idea that such a contest would and could take place in a town such as Middlesbrough without the immediate intervention of the armed police is ludicrous, but with lots of ballistic action (bullet squibs), martial arts, exploding bodies, impressive parkour, and plenty of vehicular carnage, plus the added bonus of the beautiful Kelly Hu as sexy assassin Lai Lai Zhen, The Tournament is mindlessly entertaining for the duration and should keep most undemanding action fans happy through its sheer energy..
The movie revolves around three people, Ving whose wife has been killed and is in the tournament to settle a score, a priest who accidentally gets one of the implants so is mistaken for a player, and Kelly Hu who tries to help him out.
I think this is the first movie I have seen him in where he keeps a long sleeve shirt on the whole time.People running the tournament hit the right note and the other assassins that get screen time all do a good job.
Lots of gun fire with great impacts, some really bad assassins killing wanton, and blasting gore.There's a lot of great street car chases with MMA body work, car crashes, car collisions, truck blasts, epic, big, I mean, this felt like a BIG MOVIE!
This edition is in suburban United Kingdom, with the usual multicultural bunch of characters and disparate personalities all showing up to take the cash, including deadly female Lai-Lai Zhen (Kelly Hu), a parkour guy, an American cowboy, some random tough guys whose only variances are in their accents, and carryover champ Joshua Harlow (Ving Rhames), who has only re-entered the competition to enact revenge on his pregnant wife's killer.The rules are simple: 30 assassins are dropped in close proximity, all are implanted with tracking devices and a corresponding locator.
(For those wondering, Kelly Hu is the kinda hot eye candy, but she doesn't get 'em out.) Unlike a great many so-called 'action' films I have seen in recent times, The Tournament has a few genuinely original sequences, none of which will change your life, but they at least remind you that not everything needs to be follow the same formula and obey the same rules.
The tournament is an action movie that fans will like, it has good shootouts,fight scenes,explosions, chase sequences and a little bit of humor to go around.
The acting is just average since most of the actors are unknowns except for Robert Carlyle,Ving Rhames and Kelly Hu. The story line is very simple,every 7 years assassins gather to compete for 10 million dollars by killing each other.
Fueled by high net worth individuals who have too much time on their hands and lusting after a blood sport spectacle, they pool their money together in a huge gamble, while paying off ten million dollars to the victor amongst assassins who enter The Tournament, a death match Royal Rumble of a competition where it's all man (or woman) for themselves, each assigned a random weapon to take to the streets of a chosen city of battle.The Tournament tried hard to make its premise plausible, insinuating that all the terror attacks, disasters and massacres in the real world are nothing but a cover up for this clandestine game to happen.
Then there's Robert Carlyle's priest Father Joseph MacAvoy, who got unwittingly caught in the crossfire and thought to be a competitor, only for Hu's hitwoman with a heart of gold Lai Lai Zhen to save his skin time and again and keep him safe from harm.The draw of a film like this is the violence, which is unadulterated with enough gore to please those who like their on screen violence dished out without flinching (thanks too to a higher rating), and full of blood with exploding body parts strewn everywhere.
It is this variety in the battle scenes that keep things relatively fresh over the course of 90 minutes.Attempts at providing character motivation, development and depth couldn't be expected from an all out action film like this one, so attempts to have Father MacAvoy's involvement in reasoning things out often fall flat very quickly.
That's not a bad thing though, it just means, that it is pretty straightforward and is exactly what you could and should expect from a movie like this.Good cast and some interesting action scenes, make this more than watchable, especially for people who just like to put in a DVD and completely relax (a men's night in movie so to speak).
A bit of a throw back to the ethos of the old straight-to-video action flicks of the 80s, this film arms a load of assassins with the aim that only one is to survive.The premise has been done before, with a "Tournament" set up with a group of people tooled up to take each other on, with only one to be left standing.
The director seems to like Luc Besson and Guy Ritchie, but direct influence is not always a good solution :) The Tournament is OK for killing shorter time, it is around 1,5 hours only, action scenes are enchanting, but often not realistic and over-acted.
It's no true surprise that this movie was relegated to a straight-to-DVD release, but it nevertheless works as an effortlessly enjoyable 95 minutes of solid entertainment.The storyline appears to closely resemble The Condemned, which itself was just a version of Battle Royale and The Running Man. Basically, every seven years an event known as "The Tournament" takes place.
I took such a big surprise with The Tournament.Before watching it, my expectations were neutral, but it ended up being an excellent film which was inexplicably condemned to the straight-to-DVD market.The screenplay from this movie may not be deep, but it is very well written and director Scott Mann's perfect work helps it to come alive.The precise way in which he builds the action sequences and Robert Hall's brilliant edition should be used in film schools as role models of clear and concise narrative, where the brutal rhythm does not avoid the sharp understanding of the scenes or the flow from the story (the long list of Hollywood directors associated with the action genre who should urgently learn that lesson includes Michael Bay and Stephen Sommers, who try to hide their ineptitude with confusing edition and fuzzy "close-ups").And besides of all that, The Tournament includes some delicious moments for the fans of "gore" (like me), from stabbings and head-shots to car accidents and body explosions.As for the actors, they make a competent work: Robert Carlyle is credible and brings a good amount of energy to his character; Ving Rhames shows an excellent presence; and Kelly Hu also shows conviction on her role.So, The Tournament did not unseat Die Hard and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior from my list of favourite action movies, but I liked it very much, and it deserves a very enthusiastic recommendation.We really need more action films like this one..
I have never been to Middlesbrough, but, based on what I've seen in 'The Tournament' I can obviously expect to see a pretty deserted city where the few remaining inhabitants appear to adopt a 'live and let live' policy to car chases on the motorway, shoot outs in strip clubs, exploding petrol stations, policemen being shot in the street, burning men running through the streets and bus hijackings.For all these events are apparently all part of everyday life in Middlesbrough - especially when the thirty greatest assassins in the world have come together to play a 'last man standing' game of death in the city, all for the benefit of some of the most clichéd billionaires ever seen.You may have to suspend quite a lot of disbelief to truly get anything out of this film, like the way the billionaires can see every inch of Middlesbrough courtesy of CCTV cameras which can apparently peek inside buildings as well as watch streets.
In terms of action movies it is a nice idea and I actually quite liked what it offered.The opening scene if the conclusion of the previous tournament and the silly excess in there tells you what sort of film this is going to be.
Like many people I wondered why an action movie with Ving Rhames,Kelly Hu and Robert Carlyle didn't go to the cinema screen.The answer is...its not good enough.It is totally predictable from beginning to end, even if you haven't seen the many movies it rips off.If you can't see who'll win and what part the priest will play after 30 minutes I'd give up.Liam Cunningham and Robert Carlyle look embarrassed to be doing this.
I first saw the trailer and thought this would be really good, mainly because Kelly Hu was in it, and I like the occasional action movie...It's Hollywood's attempt at the great 'Battle Royale'. |
tt1507364 | The Highwayman | The movie and subsequent series follow the adventures of "The Highwayman", one of a mysterious group, presumably of U.S. Marshals, conducting crime-fighting missions and solving bizarre mysteries. Each Highwayman in this group is equipped with a high-tech, multi-function truck.
The pilot movie used a different opening narration, also voiced by William Conrad:
The 1987 pilot movie starred Sam J. Jones. The lead character is more mysterious than any of the other Highwaymen in that his real name is never revealed (he is only known as "The Highwayman" or "Highway"). He drives a large, black, computerized truck with a bullet-shaped cabin, which is the nose of a concealed helicopter (an Aérospatiale Gazelle) which can detach from the rest of the truck. The truck can also operate in "stealth mode" to become invisible. A concealed futuristic sports car can emerge from the truck's rear. Some elements of the futuristic dashboard design were re-used from Knight Rider.
Claudia Christian co-starred as the Highwayman's liaison, Dawn, and Stanford Egi as technical wizard Mr. Toto. The pilot was retitled Terror on the Blacktop when shown as a stand-alone TV movie.
After the 1987 pilot film, only Jones returned for the weekly series. The retooling of the premise eliminated the truck's stealth mode, which was never mentioned again. The Highwayman was joined by a new sidekick, Australian outback survival expert Jetto, played by Mark "Jacko" Jackson; Jane Badler as the Highwayman's boss, Ms. Tania Winthrop, and Tim Russ as D.C. Montana, who was responsible for the maintenance and modifications to the vehicles. The show was also filmed entirely on location in the American Southwest. Unusually, the show even switched production companies (the pilot was the last co-production between Glen Larson Productions and Twentieth Century Fox Television, the series was independently produced by Larson's New West Entertainment). (The name "D.C. Montana" is a pun on the name of D.C. Fontana, famed TV script writer who worked on many shows including Star Trek.)
After Jetto's truck, which was identical to the Highwayman's, was destroyed in the first episode, "Road Ranger", he is given his own, unique truck, the front half of which can separate into a futuristic car. The truck was later used in the first episode of Power Rangers Time Force.
Although the organization shares elements with that of F.L.A.G. (the Foundation for Law and Government) from Knight Rider, it shares more with the mysterious "Firm" from the original three seasons of Airwolf. The exact organization that the Highwayman and Jetto work for is never revealed in any great depth. Highwaymen seem to have extra-legal powers that occasionally cause conflict with the local police.
With much of the series featuring the Highwayman (and/or Jetto) driving their trucks along vast stretches of desert road, there are heavy modern-Western overtones to many episodes. With the hybrid vehicles and weaponry, and the ordinary police unable to deal with many fragments of society, and the overall tone of the series, many of the episodes have a vaguely post-apocalyptic feel to them.
Despite its short run, the series was broadcast in various other countries including Germany, France, Italy, Mexico, The Philippines, South Africa, Brazil(SBT), Pakistan (NTM), Peru, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.
The original Highwayman truck (the one with the Gazelle helicopter cab) was designed and built by Jon Ward. It was restored and currently owned by a mobile tattoo service called 'Highwayman Ink' in Sulphur Springs, Texas. | revenge | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0105665 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | A body wrapped in plastic floats down a river in Washington State. It is 17-year-old Teresa Banks (Pamela Gidley).FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole (David Lynch) calls Agent Chester Desmond (Chris Isaak) about the mysterious murder of Teresa Banks in the town of Deer Meadow.At a small airport, Cole introduces Chester to his new partner, Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland), and they receive clues from Lil the dancer. During the drive to Deer Meadow, Chet explains to Sam most of the clues Lil provided, but he does not explain the blue rose pinned to Lil's red dress. After difficulty with the local sheriff's department, namely Sheriff Cable and his Deputy Howard, Desmond and Stanley eventually view Teresa's body at a morgue. They verify that her skull was crushed, note a spot on her finger where she must have worn a ring that is not logged among the items found on her person at the time of death and discover a tiny square of paper stuck under her fingernail, upon which is typed the letter "T."Late that night after completing the autopsy, Desmond and Stanley travel to Hap's Diner where Teresa worked the late shift and question the middle-aged chain-smoking owner Irene (Sandra Kinder) about Teresa. Irene tells the two agents that Teresa only worked at the diner for a month but may have had a drug problem. Irene refers to Teresa's murder as a "freak accident." Irene also tells Desmond and Stanley that Teresa's left arm went completly numb three days before her death.In the morning, the agents travel to the Fat Trout Trailer Park where Teresa lived. The cranky owner Carl Rodd (Harry Dean Stanton) gives them access to her trailer. Carl serves them coffee, but he is not very helpfull in telling them much about Teresa. They notice a photo of Teresa wearing a large gold ring with a green stone on the forefinger of her left hand. This was likely the ring she was wearing when she died that is now missing.Stanley leaves Deer Meadow after finishing his part in the investigation, while Desmond remains behind. Desmond returns to the trailer park to ask Carl about Deputy Howard's trailer. While wandering around alone, Desmond discovers Teresa's missing ring under a trailer, but when he touches it he disappears.The following day at FBI headquarters in Philadelphia, Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) tells Gordon about a strange dream he had the night before. Long-lost Agent Phillip Jeffries (David Bowie) suddenly re-appears. He questions Dale Cooper's identity before telling Cole about a meeting he witnessed in a dream. As he explains, we see images of the Man from Another Place (Michael J. Anderson), BOB (Frank Silva), Mrs. Chalfont (Frances Bay), and her grandson. Jeffries begins to scream and disappears as we see shots of electrical lines. Desmond is reported missing and Agent Dale Cooper is sent to Deer Meadow to investigate his disappearance. After Cooper talks with Carl Rodd at the trailer park about a lot on the property, now vacant, where two successive families named Chalfont both kept trailers, he sees the words "Let's Rock" written in lipstick on the windshield of Desmond's abandoned car. The clues to Teresa Banks' murder lead to a dead end.One year later in Twin Peaks, 17-year-old high school homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and her best friend Donna Hayward (Moira Kelly) return to school. Laura snorts cocaine and secretly meets with James Hurley (James Marshall). After school, Laura talks with Donna about the difference between Hurley and Laura's actual boyfriend, the dopey Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook).Later that day, Laura realizes pages are missing from her secret diary and tells her friend, an agoraphobe she met through her volunteer work with Meals on Wheels named Harold Smith (Lenny von Dohlen), about it. She claims BOB took the pages. Harold tells Laura that BOB is not real. Laura argues that BOB is real and says that he told her if she does not let him be her, he will kill her. When Harold argues, Laura appears to become possessed-- her face changes color and she growls, "Fire walk with me!" Returning to normal and visibly shaken, Laura gives Harold her diary to keep. She leaves, stating she does not know when, or if, she will return.In Philadelphia, Cooper tells fellow agent Albert Rosenfeld (Miguel Ferrer) that he believes the killer will strike again and describes the appearance of the person he believes the victim will be. It is clear that Cooper practices unorthodox, most likely paranormal, methods of acquiring this information. Back in Twin Peaks on her Meals on Wheels rounds, Laura sees Mrs. Chalfont and her grandson in the diner parking lot. Chalfont gives Laura a painting of an empty room with a door, and her grandson informs Laura that the "man behind the mask" is in Laura's room. Laura runs home and peeks into her bedroom. She sees BOB, who leers at her as he looks up from behind her dresser where she used to keep her diary. Laura rushes outside in terror and hides near a hedge. Moments later, her father, Leland (Ray Wise), emerges from the house. Laura realizes that her father could be BOB.Later that evening, at the Palmer family dinner table, Leland, upon seeing the half-heart necklace James gave her, menaces Laura and questions her about her "lovers." Looking at her finger, Leland insinuates there is dirt underneath the nail. Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) pleads with her husband to leave Laura alone and Laura appears speechless with horror. Later, Leland sits on the edge of his bed rocking back and forth until he suddenly begins to weep (his original personality having re-emerged). He goes into his daughter's bedroom and tells her he loves her. After he is gone, Laura looks at a picture of an angel on her wall and asks if Leland is really BOB.Remembering the picture she received from Mrs. Chalfont that she left near the hedge, Laura goes outside to get it. After hanging it on her wall, she falls asleep. She dreams about entering the Black Lodge and about a ring. Suddenly, Cooper enters the room and we see the Man from Another Place. He tells Cooper that the Man from Another Place is "the arm", and he utters an Indian whooping sound. The Man from Another Place offers the ring to Laura, but Cooper warns her not to take it. Laura finds Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham) next to her in bed, covered in blood. Annie tells Laura to write in her diary that "the good Dale" (Cooper) is trapped in the Black Lodge and can't leave. Laura sees the ring in her hand and is frightened. Hearing the muffled cry of her mother, Laura goes to her bedroom door. She is suddenly in the painting. When she turns she sees herself sleeping peacefully in her bed.Laura awakens in the morning, and the ring is gone from her hand. Disturbed, she removes the painting from her wall.Meanwhile, Bobby, Leo Johnson (Eric DaRe), and Jacques Renault (Walter Olkewicz) discuss drug scores. Bobby first phones Leo asking to score more drugs, but Leo hangs up on him. Bobby then calls Jacques at the Roadhouse, who agrees to send someone to meet with him in "two days midnight at the sound of sawing wood."That evening, Laura is alone at home, dressed for a night out. Donna drops by, announcing that she wishes to accompany her, but Laura, annoyed, says she is not invited. Laura heads off alone to the Bang Bang Bar. As she is about to enter the bar, she encounters the Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson), who compares the evil influences in Laura's life to a forest fire. Inside the bar, Jacques introduces Laura to two men. The group is about to leave for the Pink Room to have sex, but Donna shows up and the men in the group, impressed by her "audition" kiss, figure she's ready to party and invite her along.In the Pink Room, Laura discusses Teresa Banks' murder with Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine) while they both receive oral sex under the table. Ronette says that Teresa was blackmailing someone and planned to become rich that way. Laura sees one of Jacques' friends kissing Donna, who is sprawled on a table with her breasts exposed-- something snaps in Laura. She leaps to her feet in outrage, screaming at Donna not to wear her stuff, then yanks her jacket off of her drunken, oblivious friend, calling an end to the evening. The next morning, Donna awakens at home with no memory of the latter portion of the night due to the rufies their dates slipped into her beer. Laura tells Donna that she does not want Donna to become like her.Leland arrives to collect Laura and the sight of Laura and Donna talking triggers a memory of Ronette and Laura laughing on a bed together during their days turning tricks. Leland takes Laura to breakfast. On the way there, MIKE (Al Strobel), the one-armed man, shouts madly at Leland from his pick up truck during a traffic jam at the stoplight in town. Mike accuses Leland of stealing corn. He tells Laura: "The look on her face when it was opened. . . There was a stillness like the formica table top." He shouts at Leland: "the thread will be torn!" Showing Laura the ring, Mike attempts to tell her that her father is BOB, but both Leland and Laura scream, preventing her from hearing.Leland pulls into a gas station parking lot to gather his wits and recalls his affair with Teresa (in a long flashback sequence). After having set up a foursome with Teresa's friends, Leland fled in fear when he discovered Laura was one of them. This led to Teresa's discovering who her "John" really was. Leland is the man she was blackmailing.Back in the present, sensing a change in her father's behavior, Laura questions him about seeing him on the day she found BOB looking for the diary. Later that night, Laura realizes the ring she saw on the hand of the one-armed man was the same one from her dream. At the same time, Leland remembers killing Teresa.The next night, Laura and Bobby take cocaine in the woods, and Jacques sends a drug messenger (the Sherriff's deputy Howard) from Deer Meadow, carrying an enormous amount of cocaine. Howard takes out a gun intending to kill him, but Bobby's quicker on the draw-- he shoots the Deputy dead and futilely tries to bury him as Laura laughs, high as a kite. She keeps telling Bobby "You killed Mike!" until this appears to make some kind of sense to Bobby for reasons never fully explained.The following morning, James arrives at Laura's house on his motorcycle and expresses worry about Laura taking drugs. But she tells him off, and he rides away while Leland watches them from the living room window.That evening, Leland gives his wife valium to sedate her. She falls into a stuporous sleep (after seeing a white horse in her bedroom). Leland walks into the hallway to turn on the fan. BOB comes through Laura's window and begins to rape her. She realizes BOB has taken over her father.The next morning, distraught, Laura quietly warns Leland to stay away from her. Leland finally realizes that Laura knows. Upset over the realization her father is actually his alter ego BOB, Laura cannot concentrate at school. Laura later refuses sex with Bobby, and he finally realizes that Laura was using him to get cocaine, causing him to hand over his own stash, seemingly cutting their ties. Laura arrives home and goes to her bedroom where she sees that the angel in the painting on her wall has disappeared. High on coke, Laura is preparing to meet Leo and Jacques when she receives a phone call from James, who demands to meet with her.At 9:30 pm, James picks up Laura outside her house and rides away with her while Leland watches nearby. In the woods, Laura tells James "his Laura" is gone. Laura also blurts out that Bobby "killed a guy" two nights ago.James and Laura continue to ride around on his motorcycle, but Laura jumps off the bike while it is stopped at the red traffic light at the corner of Sparkwood and 21st Street. Screaming that she loves him, Laura runs away from James, and travels deeper into the woods. Laura meets Ronette, Jacques, and Leo, and they all drive in Leo's red Corvette to Jacques' cabin where they engage in an orgy as Leland watches from outside. Jacques wants to have hard sex and ties Laura up. Leland attacks Jacques outside, sneaking up behind him and knocking him out with a liquor bottle. Leo sees Jacques laying on the ground outside and flees in panic. Leland takes Laura and Ronette, both bound, to the train car.Meanwhile, the one-rmed man, Mike, realizes that BOB / Leland is about to kill again and chases after him. As Leland is tying Laura up a second time, she asks Leland if he is going to kill her. He does not answer. Leland places a mirror in front of her. She screams after seeing her reflection turn into BOB. BOB is real. He tells Laura that he wants her.Ronette prays. She breaks down, stating that she is not ready to die because she is "dirty". Suddenly an angel appears in the train car as all actions stop. The angel causes both Ronette and Laura's hands to become unbound. Hearing Mike outside begging to be let in, Ronette, now free, is able to help him open the door. When Leland sees Ronette trying to let him in, he knocks her unconscious and kicks her out of the train car. Mike is able to use this moment to throw in his ring. Laura, whose hands are also free now, dons the ring, preventing BOB from becoming her. Angered that he can't be her, BOB kills her as he promised by stabbing her repeatedly. Laura dies. Mike slips away. Leland, ignoring Ronette's unconcious body, drags Laura's body away from the train car.BOB/Leland places Laura's body in the lake. As her corpse drifts away, BOB / Leland enters the Black Lodge in the circle of small trees, where he encounters Mike and the Man from Another Place (who is seated at Mike's left side as the aforementioned "arm"). They tell BOB they want all their garmonbozia ("pain and sorrow"). BOB heals Leland's wound.Laura's body washes up on the lakeshore, where it is found by the Sheriff's department the following morning (in the very first scene of the TV series).In the final scene, Laura's well-dressed spirit later sits in the Black Lodge and notices Agent Cooper at her side; he has a hand on her shoulder. Laura looks deeply saddened until her own angel appears, and she begins to cry and then laugh. The film ends with Laura's face in white. | dark, avant garde, mystery, murder, cult, violence, horror, atmospheric, psychedelic | train | imdb | null |
tt0257044 | Road to Perdition | In 1931, during the Great Depression, Michael Sullivan, Sr. is an enforcer for Irish mob boss John Rooney in Rock Island, Illinois. Rooney raised the orphan Sullivan and loves him more than his own biological son, Connor. Rooney sends Connor and Sullivan to meet with disgruntled associate Finn McGovern, but Connor shoots McGovern, resulting in Sullivan gunning down McGovern's men. Sullivan's twelve-year-old son Michael, Jr. had hidden in his father's car and witnesses the event. Despite Sullivan swearing his son to secrecy and Rooney pressuring Connor to apologize for the reckless action, Connor murders Sullivan's wife Annie and younger son Peter. At the same time, he sends Sullivan to an ambush at a speakeasy. Sullivan realizes it's a set-up, kills two men at the bar, and escapes. He goes to Chicago with his son to seek Al Capone, for work and to discover the location of Connor, who has gone into hiding.
Capone's underboss Frank Nitti rejects Sullivan's proposals, before informing Rooney of the meeting. Rooney reluctantly allows Nitti to dispatch assassin Harlen Maguire, who is also a crime scene photographer, to kill Sullivan. Maguire tracks him and his son to a roadside diner, but fails to kill Sullivan; realizing Maguire's intentions, Sullivan escapes through the bathroom and punctures Maguire's car tire before fleeing.
In reaction to the ordered hit, Sullivan begins robbing banks that hold Capone’s money, hoping to trade it for Connor. Sullivan is impeded when the mob withdraws its money, so he visits Rooney's accountant Alexander Rance at his hotel. The encounter is a set-up, with Rance stalling Sullivan until Maguire enters with a shotgun. In the ensuing crossfire, Rance is killed, Maguire is injured by flying glass shards, and Sullivan escapes with the ledgers; as Sullivan flees, Maguire shoots him in his left arm.
When his father collapses from his wound, Michael Jr. drives his father to a farm, where a childless elderly couple help him recover. Sullivan bonds with his son and discovers from the ledgers that Connor has been embezzling from his father for years, using the names of dead men. As the Sullivans depart, they give the couple much of the stolen money. Sullivan confronts Rooney with the information while they attend Mass. Rooney already knew about the embezzlement and that Connor was likely to die, if not by Sullivan's hand then by the Chicago Outfit once Rooney dies. He still refuses to give up his son. He encourages Sullivan to leave with his son.
Later one night, cloaked by darkness and rain, Sullivan dispatches Rooney's entire entourage with his Thompson submachine gun and walks directly up to Rooney. As Rooney mutters that he is glad his killer is Sullivan, a reluctant Sullivan pulls the trigger. Seeing no further reason to protect Connor, Nitti reveals his location, after making Sullivan promise to end the feud. Sullivan goes to the hotel where Connor is hiding and kills him.
Sullivan drives his son to stay at his Aunt Sara's beach house in Perdition, a town on the shore of Lake Michigan. However, he is ambushed and shot by a disfigured Maguire. As Maguire prepares to photograph the dying Sullivan, Michael, Jr. appears and points a gun at Maguire but cannot muster the will to fire. Sullivan pulls out his gun and kills Maguire, before dying in his son's arms. Mourning his father's death, Michael, Jr. returns to live with the elderly farm couple. Growing up, Michael, Jr. reflects that his father's only fear was that his son would become like him. Michael states he has never held a gun since the fatal encounter between Maguire and his father. When asked if Sullivan was a good or bad man, he replies "he was my father." | boring, neo noir, depressing, murder, violence, revenge | train | wikipedia | He did himself proud as this is one of the best-looking crime films you'll ever see.Of course, the acting ain't bad when you have Tom Hanks and Paul Newman playing the leads!
I loved so much about this movie...the time taken to develop the characters, the attention to detail, the superb performances, the stunning lighting and cinematography, the wonderful soundtrack...It has a combined intensity and lightness of touch that won't work for anyone who wants the typical fast-paced action flick.
(Though I did enjoy the book too.) I've bought the DVD, which is great because it has some wonderful deleted scenes and insightful commentary.(I also took my little cousin, who's a little younger than the boy in the movie, to see it after I saw it for the first time, because he has issues at home and I wanted to use this as a way of starting a discussion on father-son issues with him.
Road to Perdition, a movie undeservedly overlooked at that year Oscars is the second work of Sam Mendes (and in my opinion his best work), a director who three years before won Oscar for his widely acclaimed but controversial American Beauty.
This is a terrific movie, and at the same time ultimately poignant and sad.It's a story of a relatively wealthy and happy family from outward appearance during difficult times of Depression when the, Michael Sullivan, a father of two children, played by great Tom Hanks (I'm not his admirer but ought to say that) is a hit-man for local mafia boss, played by Paul Newman.
I f you thought Sam Mendes' first film, the much heralded American BEAUTY was a movie with style to spare, wait until you see his highly anticipated second effort, the unrelentingly grim 30's gangster melodrama ROAD TO PERDITION.
If the mechanics of movie making are what make a picture great, then yes, ROAD TO PERDITION is a distant cousin to THE GODFATHER in terms of what it achieves in cinematography, editing, music scoring and sound.
As with American BEAUTY, there is a cold, distancing feel to this movie, despite some very tense scenes involving paternal love, loyalty and betrayal.This story of a hit man (Tom Hanks) and his relationship to a surrogate father - figure who is also his boss, an elderly Irish mob leader (Paul Newman) , seems to have been culled from innumerable gangster movies of years past.
The father /son motif that hangs over this picture is so heavy handed in its treatment that there is not much room for spontaneity ; the entire enterprise has been very carefully wrought , and nearly all the dialog is delivered with an air of great portent : this is obviously a gangster film , hence the requisite amount of violence and bloodshed , but the film is nearly devoid of any humor to speak of ; only in scenes involving a young boy driving a getaway car in a cunningly edited montage is there any sense of lightheartedness to leaven the pervasive sense of doom.That being said , I have nothing but the highest praise for the stunning look of this film ; indeed , it is not an overstatement to say that this is one of the most beautifully photographed and designed movies I have ever seen.
Mr. Mendes continues to astonish with his vivid use of color, and he and Mr. Hall again make very dramatic use of red blood splattered against pale colored walls , all the more effective and disconcerting due to the preponderance of blacks, blues and grays that dominate the movie's color scheme.If I have failed to duly note the acting , it is not because the actors do not purport themselves ably ; everyone in the film is top notch, with special mention going to the two malevolent bad guys : Daniel Craig is the classic "man you love to hate", the spoiled, impulsive son of Newman's gangster father ; and an almost unrecognizable Jude Law as an especially slimy miscreant who goes on pursuit of Hanks and his son and figures very importantly in the film's riveting second half.
It is definitely worth watching - for the atmosphere, tension, father-son- relationship, great dramatic scenes, brilliant actors and most importantly: Every single character has a depth that is unique in a film this short (two hours) - you really get each and every character.
Combined with a poignant story and stunning cinematography Road to Perdition is one of the best movies I've seen in ages.The story of a relatively well-off family living during the dark times of depression.
13-year-old Michael Sullivan Jr. has no idea that the family's money comes from his father job as a hit-man for the local mafia and when he begins looking for the truth his life changes forever as he accidentally becomes a witness to a murder.An amazing feat of storytelling and cinematography (not to mention acting), Road to Perdition really is a masterpiece..
Despite having a seen it all before feel this shouldn't be taken as a heavy criticism of Sam Mendes film which I repeat is haunting and beautiful and the only flaws that work against it is a very slow opening twenty minutes and I was slightly confused as the events that caused Michael Sullivan to be betrayed .
But if you stop to consider how much of a sentimental mess Spielberg might have made with the story that revolves around a father and his twelve year old son running for their lives you can't help thinking what a superb director Mendes is ROAD TO PERDITION is a film where the entire cast give flawless performances .
While never upstaging Newman who gives the best performance in the movie the two Brit supporting actors Craig and Law are also very memorable as American gangsters and while Law will still have a long career as a leading actor one wonders how Daniel Craig might have progressed as a character actor if he hadn't decided to become James Bond , a role which heralds the end of an actors career.
It isn't until that indie work has proved itself to be more than meets the eye will I choose it over a Hollywood epic.Starring: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Liam Aiken, and Tyler Hoechlin.
I loved the visuals--very fitting for a story connected to a graphic novel.I thought Tom Hanks was really great in this, he came across very well as someone who has been hardened by his work (which he didn't fully choose for himself) but still wants to have a normal life for his family.
In Road to Perdition, his character Michael Sullivanis a little bit different.In Sam Mendes' film Road to Perdition based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, he shows the story of a man and his son on the road during the Great Depression in Chicago.
This is a gangster movie with a difference as although it does deal with the shadier elements of gang life it really is a tale of one man's relationship with his son.Once you get past the fact that Tom Hanks is an assassin ( and this takes some doing) this is a wonderful film.
Tom Hanks has never been better and there is great support from Paul Newman, Jude Law ( his best performance) and Daniel Craig.
Following his acclaimed first film "American Beauty", Sam Mendes obviously decided that the it was time to make his own "Godfather", because his second film, "Road to Perdition" is a gangster drama in this tradition.
In some ways the audience can sympathise with Michael, a man who has suffered unjustly through the deaths of two innocent family members, and this sense of identification is strengthened by the casting of Tom Hanks, an actor normally seen as sympathetic characters.
And kudos to Jude Law also for going so very much against type and embodying such a repellent character.The best interactions are between Michael Sullivan's Sr. and Jr, but much credit has to be given to the contrast between their relationship and John and Connor Rooney's (acted to perfection by Paul Newman and Daniel Craig).I found that one of the film's greatest strengths was it's decision to depict so much of the violence barely in frame or viewed through an opening.
It's very difficult to get involved in any of the relationships, despite some excellent individual performances: Tom Hanks is fine as the honourable hit-man, Paul Newman typically on the button as his boss, grappling with a quandary of loyalty over business and self-preservation, Jude Law suitably menacing as a very seedy mercenary.But something on the human side doesn't click.
All the directors I mentioned, lost their touch, with all my respects, letting crime films reduced to a bunch of entertaining 'kiss-kiss bang-bang' flicks with no other purpose than entertaining younger masses before sinking into oblivion, as if all the emotionality and meaningfulness introduced by "The Godfather" had vanished in the wind of action mania forever
until Sam Mendes saved the genre through one of the greatest crime films of the last decade, and probably, one of the greatest ever made, a movie named "Road to Perdition"."Road to Perdition" is a darkly stylish noir film telling an engaging revenge story, driven by a beautiful father-and-son relationship between Tom Hanks and Tyler Hoechlin, as Michael Sullivan, Sr. and Jr. This is why the parallelism with 'The Godfather" is more than a simple compliment, it's a cinematic accuracy as if the beauty of Coppola's masterpiece traveled thirty years forth to inhabit Sam Mendes' film, one of the few that managed to bring an extra sentimental dimension to a genre where the protagonists are generally despised.
And one of the achievement of this film is to reconcile between both the gangster fans and the haters.The movie respects the intelligence of the viewer, and talks to his heart through the soul of this story, the father-and-son relationship, which in fact, is not just a reminiscence of "The Godfather", but also such epics as "The Godfather Part II" or "Once Upon a Time in America" as if the crime genre was the likeliest setting to explore the fascinating flaws and inspiring strengths of the human spirit.
This is why "Road to Perdition" is a movie the genre needed, and I used the word "masterpiece" knowingly and deservedly, and the achievement is not just in the story, but also in its absolutely dazzling cinematography.Conrad Hall's cinematography is so extraordinary it 'sublimated' the film, and embodied the cold and dark feeling of the heavy presence of an imminent death.
Like in "The Godfather", Family is a redundant theme, which makes the characters even more sympathetic, whether it's Tom Hanks or Paul Newman in his last heart-breaking performance as John Rooney, they're totally devoted to the their sons.
It's an extraordinary inspiring film served by unforgettable performance, from Tom Hanks and Paul Newman to Daniel Craig as Rooney's psychopathic son, and Jude Law, the professional killer.
As he proved before with his great film, American Beauty, he outdoes himself with this story set in the Chicago of the 30s at the height of the Prohibition Era.The story of the relationship between Mike Sullivan and his son, Michael is translated by Mr. Mendes for the screen with a lot of panache, which seems to be his style, and we're never bored by what we are being shown on screen.
It gives a "look" of the somber days, depicted on this film, by adding another layer of depth in the overall effect the director obviously wanted to create, one in which the dark tones of the sets used, give us a feeling of what it was like being there as silent witnesses to the story.Tom Hanks is very effective as Mike Sullivan, but the revelation here is how a great Paul Newman is with the proper direction and vehicle.
And despite my usual allergy to any film with Tom Hanks' name on it (still can't watch "Big" without wanting a cat to kick), I'm glad I gave this a try because this is one of those movies that you'll kick yourself for if you miss it.Normally squeaky-clean Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, a devoted family man and father of two sons growing up during Prohibition in the early 1930's.
Soon, father and son are pursued to Chicago where a fellow hit-man (a menacing Jude Law) is waiting for them.On the face of it, it reads like a pretty standard gangster film but as I've said, this isn't really about gangsters at all.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone Magazine says the movie "...reveals something elemental about fathers and sons and the bloodlust that seems hard-wired into the American character...the passion and precision of 'Road to Perdition' is staggering".One can't help but feel they all sound a little like corrupted Wall Street investment analysts praising WorldCom or Enron stocks right before their catastrophic collapse..
Tom Hanks gets another challenge this time (after a retard, an AIDS patient, an island survivor and a conflicted World War 2 soldier), in getting a role of the likes of Michael Sullivan Sr, a expertly trained hit-man for boss John Rooney (Paul Newman in one of the years best supporting roles), since his is a life that is cold and ruthless and sometimes compassionate given the circumstances, and Hanks pulls it off in his compelling fashion and it can be seen even in the more subtle scenes, like with his son Michael Jr. They go on the run when Rooney's son Conner shoots Hanks' other son and wife, and the story unfolds from there, which includes a juicy, sinister persona sent on Hanks' tale named Maguire (Jude Law).With photography by Conrad L.
To see such talent (Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, Stanley Tucci and Jude Law) wasted on this pathetically scripted and edited movie, makes one very sad.
A enforcer for a gangster in the liquor business finds the tables turned on him and goes on the run with his son in "Road to Perdition," a 2002 film directed by Sam Mendes.Tom Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, a quiet, remote father of two who works for a crooked liquor dealer, John Rooney (Paul Newman) who took him in and treats him as his son.
On looking at the note Connor asked him to deliver, it says, "Kill Sullivan and all debts are paid." Several hours later, Michael's life is devastated, and he and his older son are on the run, Michael determined to destroy Connor.I saw this film without being aware of anyone liking or disliking it or of it being overlooked by the Oscars - I only had heard of it and actually rented it because I am a huge fan of Paul Newman's.
Tom Hanks, taking a chance and playing a rougher character for once in his goody two shoes career, is Michael Sullivan, enforcer for small town Irish mob boss John Rooney, played with force and feeling by Paul Newman in his final cinematic outing.
Tom Hanks is perfect at Mike Sullivan, enforcer for Paul Newman, playing an Irish American crime boss in an Illinois town during the Great Depression.
Excellent work by all the actors Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, the kid and specially by Tom Hanks.
The most serene of all mob films, Road to Perdition is a beautifully crafted, finely composed & calmly narrated tale that not only succeeds as an effective crime thriller but also paints a touching portrait of father-son relationship over the course of its runtime and is equally notable for marking the final on-screen appearance of the legendary actor, Paul Newman.Set in the early 1930s during the Great Depression, the story of Road to Perdition concerns Michael Sullivan Sr.; an enforcer for the Irish mobster John Rooney who share a father-son like relationship.
Cinematography patiently captures the unfolding events & makes excellent use of cold colour temperatures, Editing steadily paces the narrative while Thomas Newman's score is truly mesmerising.Coming to the performances, Road to Perdition features a star-studded cast in Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig & Tyler Hoechlin.
Delivering an assured performance like he has all his career, Hanks adds another impressive work to his résumé, Law does fine with what he's provided, Hoechlin's chemistry with Hanks simply works, Craig is good while Newman steals every scene he's in & bows out on a high note.On an overall scale, Road to Perdition is a masterwork of its genre that nicely demonstrates the consequences of following the path of violence, covers the father-son dynamics with soothing grace, and benefits greatly from its polished direction, sophisticated screenplay, gorgeous photography, controlled pace, heartwarming score & sensational performances.
Finding oneself in the company of Paul Newman, Tom Hanks and Jude Law certainly gives one room for superior performances, but there is no punch to the story and the actors all seem somewhat misused (not to be mistaken with miscast) by the slow pace of the film and the lack of a definitive or strong arc in story.Mr. Hall, as per usual, shoots the film with beauty and style, yet it is frustrating to watch the camera not come in close at moments that could have been so much more if we were allowed closer to the faces in frame.
I thought it was just as good as the godfather.I am not a Tom Hanks fan but this movie has made me think differently about his acting capability's.I think that Jude Law was great too.
It should be noted at the outset that none of these are currently fashionable themes.The premise is that the fathers in the move, hitman Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) and his crime boss John Rooney (Paul Newman), love their sons and will do anything to protect them.
Tom Hanks, Jude Law, and particularly Paul Newman are excellent as always in this tale of fathers and sons, as an epic story unwinds. |
tt2294677 | In a World... | Don LaFontaine "The Voice" of trailers dies age 68. In the voice over world, five voices make all the money, recording 60 trailers a week, sometimes 35 a day. Don is labelled as the voice of God in archival interview footage. TV interviews with Sam Sotto (Fred Melamed) and Gustav Warren (Ken Marino) about their memories of the late Don reveal the enormous ego and self promotion of Sam Sotto who sees himself as equal to Don and mentor to new voice Gustav, young heir to a fortune. The late Don intoned "In a world . . ." the first iconic trailer. Film producer Katherine Huling (Geena Davis) is making a quadrilogy female mutant Amazons tween chick flick. Competition for the trailer voice over is fierce.Sam knows his voice is not as good as Don's. Sam sees himself generously stepping aside to allow Gustav to make the hotly contested quadrilogy trailer. Sam just published his self congratulatory autobiography and is receiving a Golden Trailer Lifetime Achievement Award, Oscar-equivalent in the voice over annual ceremony.Louis (Demetri Martin) is a shy solid young man who runs Sound Mix-a-Lot (Stuart Saves His Family) a sound mixing studio with Heners (Nick Offerman) and Cher (Tig Notaro) a lesbian who is hitting on their receptionist Nancy (Stephanie Allynne), an obsessive reader currently consuming Sam Sotto's autobiography whom she thinks is hot. We hear Louis leaving a voice message that Eva Longoria needs to re-loop a movie, and asks Carol Solomon to do the accent coaching.Sam's daughter Carol Solomon (Lake Bell, the producer, writer, and star of this movie) does dialect coaching and agrees to help Eva Longoria (playing herself) to loop her accent as a British mob boss wife. Carol lives with dad Sam because dialect coaching does not pay well enough for her to afford an apartment. Carol insists she can do any voice work Gustav can do. Sam reminds his daughter that voice over trailers are a man's world, no one wants to hear a female voice. Carol experiences voice cracking which prevents her from getting better paying trailer voice over work. She lives with constantly running humidifiers, sleeps late, surreptitiously tapes accents to add to her voice archive. Carol notices voices on the street and offers her card to women with sexy baby voices which prevent them from achieving professional credibility, recognition and equal pay for equal work.Carol is coaching Eva Longoria for looping when Heners bursts into the studio because he needs a romantic comedy with children temp tape 10 minutes ago in an adjacent studio. Carol volunteers leaving Eva Longoria to chew on a cork to round out her vowels.Louis is attracted to Carol and trips over himself trying to get her work, water and Fanta. Receptionist Nancy jealously bids for Louis's attention.Sam tells Carol she is 31-years old and needs to move out. He admits as a father he is enabling her to remain dependent, helpless and irresponsible using her cracking voice as an excuse to not assume the adult responsibility to be self supporting. Sam's much-younger girl friend Jamie (Alexandra Holden) is moving in so Carol needs to leave.Carol imposes on her older sister Dani (Michaela Watkins) and mensch brother-in-law Moe (Rob Corddry) for a place to sleep. Dani has lost her wedding ring and leaves for work as concierge in a hotel residence. One of the residents Irish Terry Pouncer (Jason O'Mara) is handsome and flirting with Dani since he notices she isn't wearing a wedding ring. He asks Dani as concierge to send a bottle to his friend Gustav who is sick.Carol wants Pouncer's accent for her archive and asks Dani to tape Pouncer answering a series of questions. Carol cannot do the taping herself since the last time she was in the hotel she followed a Bulgarian diplomat with her tape recorder. The diplomat thought Carol was a spy, lodged a complaint and the hotel took out a restraining order on her. Carol uses Sister Code guilt against Dani as leverage to get her to agree to do the taping.Louis calls Carol to inform her the producers like her modern quirky voice on the temp trailer and have chosen her to make the final trailer instead of Gustav Warner who was hoarse and unable to record the temp tape. Gustav yells at his agent Siegel on the phone about losing this big trailer job to a woman in front of Sam and Gustav's Russian maid. Sam complains women are taking over in front of Russian maid Alla as if she were invisible.Moe is making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hears a knock on the door. Neighbor Pippa is asking a favor, her pipes are broken, she wants to shower in Moe's apartment. Moe hesitates but agrees. He calls Dani at work and asks if she will be home for dinner because he is cooking a sandwich bar. Dani has to work late to help with a corporate function. Moe is relieved, welcomes Pippa in, tells her if she has problems with the shower faucets just holler. Just then Carol walks in. Moe blurts "Pippa is naked in the shower."Carol texts Dani that she doesn't need Pouncer's accent because she was hired for a second children's trailer and may be the voice of Sunny Delight. Moe congratulates Carol and asks if she has told her dad. "No but I will" as she eats Moe's PBJ.Text on Dani's phone from Carol: Don't worry about recording Irish guy. Got huge job! Will tell you tonight. 8:52PM Dani sees romantic couples pass her concierge desk going into the hotel. She grabs the typed page of questions and recorder Carol left earlier and rings Terry Pouncer. Terry assures Dani "You are always taking care of me so I'm thrilled to return the favor." Dani insists "it's my job to get you what you want." Pouncer "You don't get me what I want, you get me what I ask for. What I want would make you blush."Hener is going to Gustav's party so he can enjoy post party sex with wife Mimi. Louis reminds Hener he hates Gustav. Hener says "rape him for his open bar." Louis insists voice over parties are tiring, listening to the voice of Cialis hitting on the voice of Virgin America in the bathroom. Cher suggests Louis ask Carol to Gustav's party. Louis calls Carol as she is leaving an audition, to invite her to Gustav's party. Carol is attending with her dad and sister and says it would be fun to see him there, but is interrupted by a woman with a squeaky toy child's voice asking directions to a smoothie place. Carol hangs up and mimics the woman's squeaky voice claiming that she doesn't know.Louis tells Cher he told Carol he isn't going to Gustav's party. Cher and Carlos (Jaime Aymerich) convince Louis he should go with a date to make Carol jealous. Nancy says she will dress up and look totally hot if Louis will take her to Gustav's party.Sam invited his daughters Dani and Carol to join him and Jamie at a V.O. voice over party at Gustav's mansion. Sam's inviting his daughters was Jamie's idea. Sam can't say no to Jamie. Because Dani is working late she can't make it. Sam is revelling in his fame and sees himself as the new godfather of voice over, and views himself as beneficent mentor to Gustav all the while discouraging and demeaning the voice work of women in general and daughter Carol in particular. Sam's vanity plate reads ANUNC8 (enunciate, speak clearly).Carol doesn't have any dressy outfits. Carol and Moe ask fashion maven neighbor Pippa (Talulah Riley) to lend Carol dress clothes for this fashion emergency. Carol looks stunning in red dress and 4" heels. Dani is working late as usual. Carol "use protection ok?" Moe responds "I will, my diaphragm is in."Carol has to squeeze horizontally into the back of Sam's two seater. Sam wonders where Dani is. Carol says "work." Sam is disgusted "of course" and constantly cautions Carol to not harm his leather seats.As Carol is walking into Gustav's mansion she runs into Louis and Nancy. The voice over men are all preening in front of one another and tearing each other down with backhanded compliments. Jamie mentions the awards ceremony will help to bring the family back together again. Gustav notices Carol across the room examining his collected folk art and global maps.Moe keeps phoning and leaving messages for Dani who hasn't returned his calls. He is hanging around home alone, cleans out Dani's gym bag, finds the question sheet and tape, turns on the tape out of boredom. Moe hears Pouncer seducing Dani.Gustav approaches Carol and introduces himself "I've been clocking you out all night, you are really pretty." Mimi (Olya Milova) Hener's wife and Alla (Yelena Protsenko) Gustav's maid both Russian are friends in the tight small Russian community. Drunk Nancy is trying to seduce Sam Sotto, but Jamie pushes her away. Nancy is so drunk that Louis has to remove her from the party.Carol is wandering Gustav's mansion and discovers a hidey hole behind a painted faux library door. Carol enters and discovers a room filled with tribal folk art. Gustav "this is my private space. My parents died when I was young, I traveled the world, culture is my education." The room is filled with global exotica. Louis asks to kiss Carol and gloms onto her nose.Dani comes home after work, the tape of Pouncer seducing Dani is running. Moe puts her wedding ring beside the tape recorder "found it beside the sink." Dani collapses sobbing. Moe bends down kisses Dani on the hair while she says "wait" and he walks out.Next morning Carol wakes up in a red room entangled in red bedding with Gustav. Carol dresses, tiptoes down the stairs and is seen by Alla putting her shoes back on and leaving by the front door.Nancy wakes up asking Louis "did we sleep together?" "No" "Did I sleep with anyone?" "No" Nancy "Sorry about your sheets."Carol swings into Dani's apartment "Who's a slutty whore?" laughing until she finds Dani sobbing. "Danielle are you ok?" and bends to comfort her sister.Alla is shampooing Gustav's hair while he soaks in the bathtub and talks on his cell with Siegel his agent "found name of the broad who snagged that gig from you. She's a nobody two-bit vocal coach but now she booked two more movie trailer gigs, children's movies. Her name is Carol Solomon."Dani "I didn't even sleep with the stupid Irish schmuck. We just kissed then I ran out of the room after 25 minutes." Carol "Sister Code, did you sleep with him?" Dani "Sister Code I didn't."Heners "why were you late to work?" Louis "because I slept in, I couldn't wake Nancy up to get her out of my apartment" Cher "Nancy is a volcano of sensuality, you could have experienced her eruption." Louis "Volcanoes kill people Cher." Cher "you are just miffed about Carol" Louis "what?" Heners "Mimi knows Gustav's maid Alla because the Russian community is very connected. Alla said Carol spent the night at Gustav's." Louis yells at a man eating snacks (Janicza Bravo) in the studio.Sam and Gustav are chatting in the sauna. Gustav brags about taking down a girl at the party "she's super hot." Sam "you got lucky kid you sound like me" Gustav "she is the chick who snagged the gig from me" Sam "she bitch slapped you by stealing that gig from you. You should have fun, play this vixen out, it's her fault for messing with the scorpion. Give her the stinger from me" not realizing it is his daughter Carol he is encouraging Gustav to betray.Gustav calls Carol "you snaking another one of my jobs? Break a lung. Bye Carol Solomon" hangs up. To himself Gustav brays "I'm the boss."Carol in British accent does hairbrush voiceover. "Where's Louis?" Cher "went home early" Nancy "he doesn't want to see you." Cher "sorry to drop the broccoli, but I heard through the grapevine they want you to V.O. promo for some trilogy." Nancy "the Amazon Games quadrilogy hyperfantasy book series about fierce mutated female Amazonian warriors." Cher "they are reinstating the hokey 'In a world . . .' gimmick" Nancy "it marks the rebirth of epic cinema." Carol "thank you for dropping the broccoli" dances out ecstatic.Carol passes a woman with a squeaky voice on the street "here is my card, I'm not a vocal coach any more, but I will make an exception for you because you sound like a squeaky toy. You are better than that." Carol whoops into the apartment is startled by Moe standing there "just came back to get my cell. I'm staying at my friend PJs editing suite because I have a lot of deadlines."Carol joins Dani at her concierge desk. "Good news dinner at dad's, groupie is making casserole. Spoken to Moe?" Dani "I feel so lost without him." Carol surreptitiously turns on her tape while Dani "nobody takes care of me the way Moe does. I feel really safe with him. The only thing I gave him in return is total dishonesty. Doesn't matter that I didn't sleep with that asshole. I hate myself for squandering the most beautiful thing I ever had in my whole stupid life. I'm so scared Carol that I'm going to lose him. And I'm so sad because I'm not good enough for him and I don't deserve him. And I don't deserve his sandwich bar." Carol "who is that hot friend of Moe's PJ?" "Koopchick? he's married, fat and hairy" Carol "I like that, like dad." Carol's way of finding out where Moe is staying.Dinner at Sam's. Sam wrote an article and shares it with Carol "it's all about goals." Jamie enthuses about Sam's writing ability. Gustav Warner texts Carol "after dinner I want to steal you." 6:25PM Sam asks about Moe, tells Dani she didn't do anything wrong, Moe will get over this. "Marriage is about forgiveness, your mom understood that." Dani shouts "mom OD'd on the meds she had to take to deal with the anxiety you caused her." Sam "your mom had a deep affection for Sudafed which interfered with her love affair with Valium." Carol "it was Xanax dad." Sam "it was 16 years ago can you let it pass? the moment I find one iota of happiness the two of you start blaming your mother's death on me." Carol shares the news that she has two voice over trailer jobs which started when she swiped a job from Gustav Warner. "And now I'm going to be the voice of this new quadriliogy. I will be the first woman to utter the words 'In a world . . .'" Sam begins choking "you're the thief? why don't you share this stuff?" Carol "well you never ask." The daughters leave. Dani "dad can't let anybody in this whole family shine" because his mom Nana treated him badly as a child. "You cannot expect that man to ever be supportive of you."Sam phones his agent to let him know he is reconsidering being the voice of "In a world . . ." trailer for the quadrilogy. Agent "Too late. I suppose you can put yourself on tape and give it a shot" Sam "I will conquer."Siegel calls Gustav "Sotto is back in" Gustav "Amazon Games?"At Koopchick's Moe receives a tape labeled "better than a bubble" he had said he wanted a bubble to go into where there is no past, no judgment, where he could understand why. It is the surreptitiously taped conversation where Dani admitted how sorry she is for what she did to her relationship with Moe and how terrified she was of losing him - the best thing to ever come into her life.Louis wakes Carol with a phone call and asks where she is. Carol "I'm at my sister's place in Koreatown." Louis "let's get a snack" he brings hot water with lemon for her to gargle. As they walk Louis says he doesn't meddle but he likes Carol and he wants to pitch her an idea. He is excited about the quadrilogy job, he grew up with 3 sisters and is into women's rights. "The director wanted Gustav, but when the producer heard your voice, the job was yours. But now your dad's back in" Carol is surprised. "As of last night your dad's reps are pushing for him to be considered for it. Each person is responsible for recording and mixing their own audition which is due tomorrow and I'd love to help you with that." Carol "I gotta talk to Dani."Louis starts jumping up and down and shouting. "My mom had ADHD and its a way to jolt someone into focusing. I like you. I know you are with Gustav Warner right now." Carol "how do you know that?" Louis "Gustav's housekeeper Alla, the Russian community is really tight, she told Hener's wife Mimi that Gustav slept with you to push you off your game, he doesn't consider you a real threat for the job." Louis convinces Carol to really work hard on the audition. Carol kisses Louis "I like you too" and runs away."Right Down the Line" is playing as Dani returns home from work, she opens the door "you believed in me through my darkest night, put something better inside of me." Candles are burning on the table, surrounding plates of cold cuts cheeses and sandwich bar makings with Moe presiding. "You brought me into the light, threw away all those crazy dreams" Dani jumps on Moe.Carol thanks Louis for letting her spend the night since Dani and Moe need some alone time. Louis and Carol are awkward, but "tomorrow is game day" and Louis wants her to sleep well. He provides some homeopathic sleeping pills. Louis "I'm intuitive. Need anything coach on the couch. Rest that voice, big day tomorrow."Montage of vocal exercises by Sam, Carol, Gustav, gargle, Jamie puts her lucky scarf from her nose surgery on Sam's neck. Louis to Carol "I thought you didn't eat meat." Carol "game day, need the taste of blood" text on Carol's phone from Dani "thanks for being a sneaky shit. Love you" Moe "wish you luck" Carol begins taping "a time where mankind has been replaced by womankind" then a montage of Gustav Sam and Carol taping the trailer "one woman dared to rise up and exceed the boundaries of the impossible. . . of one brave warrior who must fight for her land. From BAFTA winning director Terrence Pouncer. . . It's a broad new world." Don LaFontaine's voice over is used for Gustav in the montage with the classic rumble of his distinguished voice in chiaroscuro with Sam and Carol.Moe and Jamie in bed laughing. Jamie "why do you have to deprive yourself before you perform?" Sam "they have to hear the sex in your voice."Louis and Carol celebrate completing the audition tape by singing karaoke, Wii dancing, riding stationary motorcycles, playing pinball games. Louis Parker and Carol Solomon kiss goodnight.Moe is in a suit for the Golden Trailer Ceremony where Sam Sotto will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Dani and Carol refuse to go. Moe "you are his only family. You are going if I have to drag you."Jeff Garlin is host of the Golden Trailer Awards. Executive Producer of Amazon Games Katherine Huling presents the first trailer of the quadrilogy at the Golden Trailer Ceremony. Everyone waits to hear which voice is used. Huling "Don coined those three little words that make this a truly epic promo." As Carol's voice is heard, Sam begins choking and runs out of the room followed by Jamie, then Carol. Sam escapes through numerous doors and finally screams out loud. Jamie "Sam don't scream - your larynx. You buck up and be proud of your daughter dammit. And when you are done crying and feeling sorry for yourself you are going to go apologize to both your daughters for being such a jerk. And you are going to be a good daddy from now on or you can say goodbye to me and my perfect nose. You are a better man than you think Sammy. Winning isn't everything. Family is. And being nice is a lot more fun. You'll see."Carol is rinsing her face in the ladies room. Carol unbends and finds herself next to Katherine Huling Executive Producer of Amazon Games quadrilogy. "I really appreciate you taking a chance on me." Huling "I'm using you for a bigger purpose. This pseudo-feminist fantasy tween chick-lit bullshit is a devolution of the female mission. It's cancerous to the intelligence of young women. You got this job because whether the general public chooses to acknowledge it or not, voice over matters. Everyone in the world watches movie trailers. Everyone in the world sees commercials on television, hears them on the radio. . . And that is power! This quadrilogy is going to make billions of dollars and your voice is going to be the one to inspire every girl who hears it. And that's why I chose you. Not because you were the best for the job. Because frankly you weren't. I bet your dad is proud."Gustav Warner makes the presentation of the Golden Trailer Lifetime Achievement Award to Sam Sotto. Sam's voice is cracking "a great voice is a blessing and a choice... my father would say 'you are good kid but as long as I'm around you will never be as good as me.' I want to dedicate this award to my daughters. You make me very proud. Thank you."In the final scene, a group of women are cheering after viewing the quadrilogy trailer in Louis's sound mixing studio. Carol stands before a sign: 'Voice Over the vocal make over. Find your voice and get ready to be heard.' Carol is now back at her old job as a voice coach to a group of squeaky voiced women.One of the women, named Stacy (Corsica Wilson), (the same woman who asked Carol for directions to a smoothie place earlier) explains to the group: "I'm a corporate attorney, and I've been interviewing for a job for 10 months. But no job because I sound like a sexy baby."Carol adds: "Women should sound like women.... [squeaky voice] not baby dolls who end everything with a question? [normal voice] In the next six weeks we are going to learn to make a statement. Now, who is ready to be heard?"Carol then leaves the booth to meet with Louis and Dani to discuss business while Stacy and the rest of the squeaky-voiced women are practicing their pronunciation of words.End credits. | humor | train | imdb | null |
tt0070212 | The Iceman Cometh | It is set in Harry Hope's decidedly downmarket Greenwich Village saloon and rooming house, in 1912. The patrons, who are all men except for three women who are prostitutes, are all dead-end alcoholics who spend every possible moment seeking oblivion in each others' company and trying to con or wheedle free drinks from Harry and the bartenders. They tend to focus much of their anticipation on the semi-regular visits of the salesman Theodore Hickman, known to them as Hickey. When Hickey finishes a tour of his business territory, which is apparently a wide expanse of the East Coast, he typically turns up at the saloon and starts the party. He buys drinks for everyone, regales them with jokes and stories, and goes on a bender of several days until his money runs out. As the play opens, the regulars are expecting Hickey to turn up soon and plan to throw Harry a surprise birthday party. The entire first act introduces the various characters and shows them bickering amongst each other, showing just how drunk and delusional they are, all the while waiting for the arrival of Hickey.When Hickey finally arrives, his behavior throws the other characters into turmoil. He insists, with as much charisma as ever, but now lumped together with the zeal of a recent convert, that he sees life clearly now as never before, because he is sober. He hectors his former drinking companions that they are meaninglessly clinging to "pipe dreams" of some kind of positive change in their lives, while continuing to drown their sorrows exactly as before. (This is true; the ex-cop and carny hustler tell each other they will ask for their old jobs back on the police force or with the circus, the bartender says he will marry his prostitute girlfriend, etc., with seemingly no chance of any of this coming to pass. One character is even nicknamed Jimmy Tomorrow for his constant protestations.) Hickey wants the characters to cast away their delusions and embrace the hopelessness of their fates. He takes on this task with a near-maniacal fervor. How he goes about his mission, how the other characters respond, and their efforts to find out what has wrought this change in Hickey, take over four hours to resolve. Eventually, after most of the characters briefly leave the bar intending to show Hickey that they actually intend to accomplish their dreams, they all return and are even more upset with Hickey. Hickey, who had earlier told the other characters that his wife had died and that she was murdered, admits that he actually killed her. The police arrive, apparently called by Hickey himself, and Hickey justifies the murder in a dramatic monologue, saying that he did it out of love for her. The other characters conclude that Hickey is insane. Almost everyone remains at the bar. At the end of the play, the youngest character, Don, kills himself. | tragedy, avant garde | train | imdb | "The Iceman Cometh" was part of American Film Theatre, an experiment by producer Ely Landau.
But collapse it did, and the legal can-of-worms that it left, with the AFT's liabilities mixed with the rights of authors and their estates, is probably what keeps the films out of theatrical circulation and unavailable on video.In the case of most AFT productions, truth be told, that's no great loss.
But "The Iceman Cometh" is head-and-shoulders above all the rest put together (I suspect Landau knew it, too: that's no doubt why he put his best foot forward by making it the premiere production).
It is, in fact, a great movie -- a great play with a once-in-a-lifetime cast (it was Fredric March's last movie, and Robert Ryan died even before it came out) under the hand of a fine director (John Frankenheimer) who cut his teeth on live drama during the Golden Age of Television.Nobody connected with this film ever did better work -- not Ryan, who was brilliant and deserved a posthumous Oscar nomination for it; not March, one of Hollywood's greatest; none of the supporting cast; not even Jeff Bridges, who was only 23 and just at the beginning of his career (he once said that this was the film that made him realize he was serious about being an actor).A special case is Lee Marvin in the pivotal role of Hickey; he was much disparaged by critics at the time, but the tone was one ofhow-dare-this-B-movie-thug-lay-his-unclean-hands-on-a-role-that-belongs-now- and-forever-to-Jason-Robards.
An impartial viewing of Marvin in "The Iceman Cometh" shows he was entirely up to the role, even in the demanding, shattering 25-minute monologue where Hickey's self-loathing hypocrisy slips out against his will.
I've never forgotten it, and there are moments as fresh in my mind as if I saw them yesterday: Robert Ryan's anguish when he snarls, "You think you'll get me to admit that to myself?" and Marvin replies, "But you just did admit it, didn't you?"; Jeff Bridges's tormented profile as he sits at the table with Ryan trying to sort out his life; Fredric March as the doddering saloon-keeper venturing outside for the first time in years; Lee Marvin's ironic little dance as he calls himself "a happy-go-lucky slob like me." All, and so much more, unforgettable.I am dismayed to read in another comment here that there seems to be a three-hour version of this film out there somewhere.
See it ONLY in its 239-minute version, uninterrupted except for the two intermissions O'Neill intended (this was, by the way, the first movie with two intermissions) -- the cumulative power of the play demands it, and a movie this great deserves nothing less..
The Iceman Cometh is one great film to go out on for not one, but two of the best players ever.
In the case of Ryan he knew he was terminal and his performance has real poignancy.Of course you can't beat the material that was given to them and the rest of the cast.
It's been argued that The Iceman Cometh is the greatest work from the pen of America's greatest playwright Eugene O'Neill and I'm not going to argue the point.Some would give the honor of O'Neill's greatest play to Long Day's Journey Into Night.
It's owner Harry Hope played by Fredric March, is a former Tammany politician who's not set foot outside his establishment because he's in mourning over his late wife Bessie.The whole usual crowd of boarder/drinkers is awaiting the arrival of one of the regulars who apparently likes to go slumming there.
It's Hickey, a gladhanding traveling salesman Lee Marvin who spends like a Diamond Jim Brady and is generally the life of the party.
But it's a new and somber Hickey that comes to bar that day.A stranger arrives that day also, Jeff Bridges a young anarchist is on the run he says from the Pacific Coast where his mother among others has been picked up.
He's looking for an older leader of the movement Larry Slade who is played by Robert Ryan.
Marvin came in for some criticism at the time, attempting to serious a part and one that Jason Robards, Jr. was given acclaim for as his career role.
My favorite among the supporting parts is Bradford Dillman who plays a lawyer who graduated from Harvard Law and for whatever reason, broke down and is now here.One member of the cast in this production was in the original Broadway cast when The Iceman Cometh premiered on Broadway in 1946.
If Bridges is a failed John Reed, O'Neill in Ryan's character of Larry Slade is looking back over the years when he drank in such places as Harry Hope's.
One of the films in the series that made my eyes pop was the promise to show Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh".
At four hours, it would task most theater companies, and Hickey's 25 minute soliloquy in the last act requires only the best actors to pull off.
Robert Ryan played his last film role here, and it was perfect.
I cannot imagine a better Larry.Fredric March played his last role here too, as Harry Hope.
Also an excellent performance.The question everyone would be asking about is Hickey, played by Lee Marvin.
Lee Marvin did that perfectly.The tragedy of Hickey was that he was his own best customer.
Lee Marvin convinced me that he was Hickey, and in a play like this, that is quite an accomplishment.By the way, I discovered that this film is now available on VHF and DVD.
It was a wise decision on the part of producer Ely Landau- one of the only wise ones, as seems to be the history of the flawed ambition of the American Theater Company's movie adaptation productions- to hire John Frankenheimer as director.
He was known at the time in the movie industry for churning out high-charged action and adventure pictures (i.e. The Train, Grand Prix), and the occasional dark classic (The Manchurian Candidate), but he started as a television director, and with a play that ran like The Iceman Cometh there would be needed someone who could track the stinging, meaning-of-life-and-death dialog of O'Neill's play with the camera and not make it feel too 'stagey'.
It's a tale of a community, a quasi-family of bums and stragglers who're stuck more or less in a dive down in a seedy section of New York city in the early part of the century, awaiting the return of Hickey (Lee Marvin), a big force of a man who works in advertising.
There's a whole mix; there's Larry the ex-anarchist who's slowly dying inside (Robert Ryan); there's the depressed-cum-demanding kid (Jeff Bridges); Harry (March); the bartender/pimp; a black gambler; the "Limey"; the "Tarts"; and a crazy, rambling European screaming about socialism from time to time.And despite what some may have said comparing it to the 1960's made-for-TV version directed by Lumet (which I would love to see but is at the moment unavailable), I'd be hard-pressed to see a cast better than this.
Just a reminder: Lee Marvin can act, amazingly, and here he puts his chops to such a test that he rolls on to his climactic, half hour quasi-confession like it's the performance of his life.
And the bulk of the supporting cast are all wonderfully played and transposed, injecting life into a play that requires it to keep it going full throttle.It's not an easy thing to endure; it's four hours long, and for the first hour here and there one has to go through some minor early morning drunkenness from the characters, which isn't the least effective portion of the play as well as the film.
It would seem that March and Jason Robards had this relationship with Eugene O'Neill.
I've been told that March's performance in "Long Day's Journey into Night" in NYC in the 1950's was for the ages; this "ICEMAN" is another example.
Probably the two greatest career finishes in cinema history were March and Robert Ryan in this movie..
One in the series of the AFI's American Film Theatre series, it's a very faithful rendering of O'Neill's great play, with one original Broadway cast member (Tom Pedi's bartender) and loads of good casting throughout.
Fredric March's deluded Harry Hope, Robert Ryan's despairing ex- revolutionary Larry, Jeff Bridges' guilt-ridden student (a very difficult role for a young actor, especially in company as august as this) -- all have the ring of truth, and once you get used to the deliberate pacing, repetitive arguments and apologies, and startlingly frank language for a 1946 play, you're hooked.
As to Lee Marvin's Theodore Hickey: I was convinced up to his famous Act Three monologue, but he stumbles here, launching into badly calibrated fits of temper and back again.
Compare it against Jason Robards Jr.'s interpretation in the 1960 Sidney Lumet-directed TV version, and you'll see the difference between a good actor overreaching and a master in a role he was born to play.
(I also saw Kevin Spacey's attempt on the stage a few years ago: He played Hickey like Professor Harold Hill, all bluster and forced charisma, and it didn't work.) A depressing four hours, but worthy, and a rich sample of the actor's art..
While I don't cover much of the plot in this long film, I do try to explain the philosophy that underpins why a bunch of drunks are sitting around a bar, in 1912 New York, waiting for their friend, Hickey, to arrive.
Various search results confirmed O'Neill's religious background and his rejection of Catholicism while the following, from another online source, supports the idea of a religious underpinning for the play: "The Iceman Cometh, the most complex and perhaps the finest of the O'Neill tragedies, followed in 1939, although it did not appear on Broadway until 1946.
Laced with subtle religious symbolism, the play is a study of man's need to cling to his hope for a better life, even if he must delude himself to do so." So, yes, the play is about a lot of drunken loafers in various stages of despair, but they all represent the status of humanity, according to O'Neill: besotted by its own self-delusion and self-pity.Consider Hickey (Lee Marvin, in a truly great performance) as a modern rendition of the biblical John: the quintessential salesman, the sharp-talking shark who can tear you to pieces verbally, and the man who has the message that will save you; yes, you twelve, you drunken bums, sitting on your asses twenty-four-seven, drowning yourselves in your collective delusions.
Because, continues Hickey, I've seen the light and I've given up drinking ah, well, except for the odd, important and festive occasion, y'know...So what could be more important than a birthday party for Harry Hope (Frederic March), the bar owner without hope, who hasn't stepped outside since his wife died twenty years earlier?
He and the other eleven men in that bar have been waiting and waiting for Hickey to come and lavish his eloquence (and drinking money, of course) upon them all.So, Hickey delivers, and then some, by convincing them all, except Larry Slade (Robert Ryan in his best-ever performance), in a moving - literally and figuratively - tirade during and after that Last Supper that Hickey will ever attend at this bar.
Hence, when Hickey meets his fate with the law, as did the biblical John, and the bums go back to their booze and their delusions, Larry is the only one to realize that he can no longer remain on "the grandstand of philosophical detachment" and must act now according to his convictions.Ironically, Larry's decision seals the fate of Don Paritt (a very young Jeff Bridges), a thoroughly unlikable coward and betrayer of lost causes.
And, as Larry savors his new found "freedom", such as it is, he looks through the window, and specifically away from his one-time drinking partners who are all now busily, once again, deluding themselves with drink.As the epitome of a modernity that rejects religion, Lee Marvin says it all, with consummate skill and panache; only Robert Ryan's Larry (O'Neill's alter ego), perhaps as a counterpoint to the biblical Peter, sees Hickey's message for what it truly is a rejection of that "opium of the masses" as Karl Marx opined - and finally decides to act for himself.
The other ten 'apostles' at the bar are lost souls because it's sufficient for O'Neill, in my opinion, that Larry finally woke up; the rest of the world can live in Hell.What's missing or, rather, who's missing from this whole play is, of course, a Christ-figure.
Again, given O'Neill's view of religion as a delusion, that is entirely fitting.The setting all in one long, dark and moody bar the directing from Frankenheimer, the photography that uses long takes and medium closeups throughout, the production standards, all add up to an experience that is only rarely presented.
And, without a doubt, all of the actors performed to the peak, I think, of their prowess.Highly recommended for all theatre and cinema buffs.I must now, of course, search for a DVD of the 1960 version and prepare a comparative review..
Another small point for me was to see the wide range of actors strutting their stuff - possibly their ages spanned over sixty years from March to Bridges yet their convictions came through in such a way that I felt I was in that barroom with them and after all, is this not what theater should be.
As good as Lee Marvin's performance was, I also agree that the TV version is superior.
The Iceman Cometh also happens to be my favorite play.An aside; I believe that Jason Robards Jr. was not offered the part for the movie version because at that time, his alcoholism got the better of him.
Mr. Robards Jr. interpretation of Eugene O'Neill's plays have always been masterful.
I am convinced he was deeply hurt and has always regretted not being able to perform in the movie production.An experiment that I am sorry ended.This movie was an early part of a new production experiment in which the audience prepaid for the series (I am not sure of the series name but I seem to remember the American Film Theater or Institute).
The movie, which is excellent and highly recommended (though seeing a production of the play is even more effective), was vastly shorter (by an entire hour!) than I had remembered it being when I saw it twice back in the 70's and 80's.
The many, MANY, internal cuts in the three hour version (probably unnoticeable if you're not familiar with the play or the longer version of the movie) seriously undercuts the power of O'Neill's great play..
In 1973 when the American Film Institute's repertoire played in selected U.S. city theaters, "The Iceman Cometh" was a series standout.
The film retains its effectiveness today, due to O'Neill's insightful script, John Frankenheimer's excellent direction, and a fine cast, headed by Fredric March and Robert Ryan.
We are fortunate to have so beautiful a production of this classic American play preserved on film..
The American Film Theater made about 10 films of notable plays which retained the feel of seeing a theater production, but employed high caliber actors to fill the roles, and enhanced production values so you are not just simply watching actors perform on a stage.
"The Iceman Cometh" comes across better than most of the AFT productions.
The only weak performance is delivered by Jeff Bridges who was probably too young at the time to rise to the demands of O'Neill's work.
Lee Marvin Iceman is Just as Good as Jason Robards.
One reviewer opines that Jason Robards' Hickey is better than Lee Marvin's.
Also, Robards strains in The Iceman that you can see he is "acting." Marvin, on the other hand lets Hickey be Hickey.
One other thing makes the Iceman Cometh with Marvin far superior is the supporting class.
Robert Ryan, Bradford Dillman and Frederic March give magnificent, believable performances.
I think Robards believed all the reviews that said he was the ultimate O'Neill actor.
Also, in Long Day's Journey we have an ensemble play/movie that doesn't require Robards to strain to be the great O'Neill actor..
Lee Marvin does his best here, but is just not in the same class as Jason Robards who is perfect for the role.
There are other fine characters in the Marvin version which makes it definitely worth a look, however, nobody in the supporting cast does a bad job.
Fredric March and Robert Ryan are truly spectacular in their roles and really steal the show from Lee Marvin.
The Iceman Cometh is a great play, probably the best Eugene O'Neill ever wrote.
Lee Marvin's acting is too one dimensional to make this an excellent film..
I have to confess right off the bat that I love O'Neill and this play is certainly one of the grandest of them all, but I am also one of those that would have preferred to see Jason Robards in the Hickey role.
I did see Robards play it on kine scope and thought he was about as right as it gets.Having said that, Lee Marvin does admirably in this huge role.
Special praise goes to Robert Ryan, in one of his best roles ever and a very young and vibrant Jeff Bridges who comes through against a long array of seasoned performers.I do not think I have ever heard the word "pipedream" more.
Never having see "Iceman" live or on film, I watched the 1973 Lee Marvin version first, then the 1960 Jason Robards version, because I wanted to see the Lee Marvin approach without the bias of having previously seen the famous Robards approach.
Both performances were excellent: Marvin was more believable as a coarse, cheating salesman, while Robards was more soft and humane.
As regards the 'Last Supper' model, the Christ character is not Hickey, but Larry Slade. |
tt1817771 | Freaks of Nature | In an all out war who will win? What will be left? In the nearly ancient right of Mortal
Combat , when you had thought that you had seen it all - you will be overtaken, overcome . Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? Zombies? Vampires? Aliens? Creatures of Various report -
From all walks of ghoulish life...and DEATH! Do you know what the bloodiest most horrifying thing for mom and dad was back in the day? It was the game mortal combat? Now imagine that virtually surrounding you completely.Just you and a few friends - that's all that stands between you and the rest of the world?
Overwhelmed ? You won't be ...once you discover for yourselves who shall inherit the earth from among the horrible combative creatures in Kitchen Sink. | dark, comedy, murder, allegory, violence, flashback, satire | train | imdb | It's even more fun describing it to a friend.When it was playing at one local Portland theater, with no local reviews and no advertising I knew I had to check it out.No spoilers here.I'm just going to say this horror comedy combines vampires, zombies and aliens in a totally original way.
'FREAKS OF NATURE': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)A horror-comedy flick about vampires, zombies and humans; that all live together peacefully, in a small conservative town, until aliens arrive.
The film stars Nicholas Braun, Mackenzie Davis, Josh Fadem, Vanessa Hudgens, Ed Westwick, Mae Whitman, Denis Leary, Keegan-Michael Key, Bob Odenkirk, Joan Cusack, Patton Oswalt and Pat Healy.
I absolutely loved it!The story takes place in the town of Dillford; where zombies, vampires and humans have all been living together peacefully, for years.
Three outcasts teenagers (a human, a vampire and a zombie) must ban together, to save themselves and their town.
I also love monster movies, so I might be a little biased, but I loved it!Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/Rd5zIXOxTPs. Monsters, Gore, Laughs, and Aliens - It Works.
Good Horror/Comedies are hard to come by, so many of them just tend to be super cheesy low budget movies with no real laughs or originality.
"Freaks Of Nature" isn't groundbreaking or some kind of cult masterpiece, but it is a lot of fun and full of monster action & Blood.The film has sort of a teen flick atmosphere but it isn't too heavy and it isn't as corny as most flick's with that atmosphere tend to be.
The film is riddled with some really fun cameos that help to speed things up a bit when things start to slow down a bit (which doesn't happen very often).I had a good time watching this film, it was fast pace, funny, gory, and original enough to make it not seem like just another horror/comedy.
Freaks of Nature blends in horror/comedy/romance/drama with zombie/alien/vampire/human smashed-up and it works really well thanks to the strong performance and likable cast.
The movie has insanely GORY and bloody action sequences and really interesting premise which continues to deliver that to the end despite some nonsense moments along the way.
It also has great dramatic moments, crazy twists, and is a really funny and pure entertainment film with a heart.
Overall, Freaks of Nature bites the right note in horror/comedy genre with its gleefully smashed-up theme, strong cast, freaky humors, ridiculously fun plot, and a heart, proving it to be more than just a brainless teenage flick.>>B+<<.
Freaks of Nature is really a curiosity; a town inhabited by zombies, human and vampires, living peacefully until an alien invasion creates havoc and a huge civil war.
It has some really comic moments (aided by the presence of comedians like Patton Oswald, Joan Cusack, Keegan-Michael Key, Denis Leary, Bob Odenkirk among others; and a voice cameo from Werner Herzog that is really worth watching).Sadly many times, the movie slow down too much to enter into the clichéd territory of school / teenagers stories, with the romance, the good girl and the slut one, the nerd and the former nerd trying to be cool.
If the movie did not sink is because the acting of the three main characters is really good and some secondary characters / situations are hilarious.With all its mistakes; however the movie has a deeper subtext that rise the movie above the classic teenager fare to become a satire on thin equilibrium of a society that looks peaceful but is a time bomb about to explode, the USA concept of family, food and culture; and the rejection of the smarter being just because it is smarter.In brief; if you can digest some gory situations and zombie makeup, the movie is worth to dedicate some time..
They put zombies, vampires, and aliens all in the same movie, and made it work.
Mixing zombies, vampires, and aliens sounded cool enough.
With Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk, Denis Leary, Keegan-Michael Key, and Werner Herzog, one would think this could be a really funny movie.
Instead, those really funny people all play relatively small roles and we are mostly left with a trio of unfunny heroes plodding around the film.The town has zombies and vampires mixing in society, mostly at a high school, and none of that ever gets a back story.
Vampire-on-zombie crime is most assuredly despicable, and we should all get along.This vague social commentary gets mixed with the eternal story font: High School is Tough For Everyone, Even the Popular People.
Mackenzie Davis, however, puts in a sincere performance and is a star-to-be.Freaks of Nature is neither clever enough, funny enough, gross enough, nor serious enough to be much of anything in particular.
But after seeing a group of zombies getting of a school-bus and moving towards the school entrance in their well-known manner plus a macho vampire who tries to seduce Petra in the next scene, it became clear that this could well be an entertaining film.It certainly was entertaining.
Welcome to the town of Dillford where if Zombies and Vampires don't live in peaceful harmony with humans at least they've arrived at a somewhat peaceful co-existence.
But that gets threatened by aliens who arrive at the small peaceful town and cordon off the place with a force field.In the end it's up to human kid Nicholas Braun, vampire girl MacKenzie Davis and zombie boy Josh Fadem to save Dillford and the human race from some other Freaks Of Nature.What are the aliens after?
Kind of like that famous Married With Children episode where the alien ship is powered by the stink of Al Bundy's socks.The factory is run by multi-millionaire Dennis Leary who is making pure profit here because he employs zombie labor and they work cheap.
Comedy version of zombie apocalypse has been done a few times in last year alone, but "Freaks of Nature" has a brilliant idea, throws in vampires and aliens too for good measure.
Its abrupt change can be distracting since it tries to pile so many fleshy gore together, then suddenly includes display of nudity."Freak of Nature" is the example of outlandishly bloody parody, it's as juvenile as they come but might work momentarily for a mindless fun escapade..
And "Freaks of Nature" turned out to be a very entertaining movie.The movie starts out in a fast pace, and the audience is introduced to a world where vampires and zombies live among the living humans.
Then on one fateful night, aliens show up and that upsets the balance of the world, causing the vampires, zombies and humans to turn against one another in a chaotic surge of violence.The characters in the movie were nicely detailed, lots of characteristics and personalities.
The three lead talents, Nicholas Braun (playing Dag), Mackenzie Davis (playing Petra) and Josh Fadem (playing Ned) really carried the movie quite well.The story is good, filled with action and humor, and the effects are great as well.
And having good special effects in a creature feature is a make or break deal, and I am glad to say that the special effects team really pulled their weight here and came through where it counted.The whole mixture of aliens, humans, vampires and zombies in one movie was really good.
It was surreal, for sure, but it was highly entertaining.There has been a good addition of zombie comedies to the zombie genre in the recent years, and "Freaks of Nature" does rank high on the list, right alongside with "Shaun of the Dead", "Zombies of Mass Destruction" and "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse"..
Humans, vampires, zombies and aliens oh my!.
FREAKS OF NATURE review by Mike Smith "FAT Mike"In the town of Dillford, humans, vampires and zombies were all living in peace until the alien apocalypse arrived.
This unique movie had me laughing from start to finish.This film has an awesome cast of up and comers including Nicholas Braun (Red State), Mackenzie Davis (That Awkward Moment) and Josh Fadem (Miss March).
The rest of the cast is made up of some well known people; Denis Leary, Bob Odenkirk, Keegan-Michael Key, Joan Cusack, Ian Roberts, Rachael Harris and the funny Patton Oswalt.
Unlike films similar to Caddyshack where the bigger named stars over power the smaller named actors, Freaks Of Nature doesn't do this and the main cast is the focus.This film has some good practical effects although the C.G. is a bit cheesy, but it gives the film charm.
One thing that makes me grade this movie so high is as soon as I finished watching Freaks Of Nature I wanted to watch it again right away.With an awesome cast, ridiculous unique story, laugh out a loud comedy and an all around fun ride I have to say Freaks of Nature is my first must see film of 2016.
"Freaks of Nature" has a great cast and a premise with potential, but just falls flat..
Then there's the cast: Denis Leary has voiced characters in "A Bug's Life" and the "Ice Age" movies, been a supporting player in the 2012 and 2014 "Spider-Man" films and starred in the TV series "Rescue Me" on FX.
You would think."Freaks of Nature" takes place in the fictional town of Dillford, Ohio ("The Home of the Riblet"), where humans, vampires and zombies live in relative harmony.
Two of Dag's classmates, the pretty but insecure Petra (Mackenzie) and the brainy outcast Ned (Fadem) decide to become a vampire and a zombie, respectively, which means that Dag is now friends with a girl who wants to drink his blood and a guy who wants to eat his brains.
You might think that the town's three main groups would band together in the face of a common enemy, but this alien invasion (which results in a force field being created around their town) just brings up long-held prejudices and suspicions, leading the vampires, humans and zombies to start fighting and killing each other.
Dag, Petra and Ned find themselves in a situation that provides them temporary safety, which allows them to calm down and become level-headed enough to devise a plan to save their small town."Freaks of Nature" has a premise which sounds fun, but fails to deliver on that promise.
Too many of the characters are unlikeable and the jokes aren't nearly as funny as in the similarly-themed "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" (which, by the way, manages to be far more entertaining with far fewer well-known actors).
hello!) and the humans (both the fictional characters and the actual filmmakers) look to be making up the rules to this brave new world as they go, with plot points that seem to come out of nowhere.
The first 7 minutes or so when I watched it, it felt like a poor spoof film (of Twilight and a bunch of other flicks) so I really wasn't getting into it at all as I really am not a fan of spoof flicks (at least the ones they do these days).But I decided to give it another go and although a lot of jokes (of which in some scenes every line of dialogue is one) fall flat (the ratio of funny jokes for me would probably be about 1 out of 10) once the action kicks off it still gets rather amusing.It helps that it moves at a fast pace so you can't focus too much on the flaws.Teenagers cracking jokes and battling various monsters seem to been a very popular subject in film in 2015 and if you loved DEATHGASM (2015), THE FINAL GIRLS (2015) and SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE APOCALYPSE (2015) I'm sure you will at the very least like this one as they are pretty similar..
Worse movie ever!It's the type of film that makes you think who in their right mind would give money to get it made.The premise is outrageous.
A town in which zombies, vampires and humans attempt to live in harmony together, gets attack by aliens from outer space.
It balances coming of age, high school cliques, zombies, vampires, pot heads, aliens, battle scenes, a bit of sports, and more (to avoid spoilers).
The acting was pretty good especially from Vanessa Hudgens & Mackenzie Davis and Keegan-Michael Key. I would definitely watch it again at somepoint.
For me not really, it do has funny moments as I said but again, the gore adds toward the fun, just look how a tough guy is been eaten by zombies.
It sure is above mediocre over all and it's the acting of the zombie Ned by Josh Fadem that makes it worth seeing.
Like the story is full of freaks and good and bad parts I'm stuck with mixed emotions, still I will recommend it because it do has things for everyone out their, if you're a horror buff of course.Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 2/5.
Freaks of Nature could have, should have and would have been a really fun romp with the genre and despite the pace of the film being set to go for most of the running time, lazy editing and shortcuts in the writing leave me a little than more underwhelmed.
Zombies, Vampires and Humans coexists in the small down of Dillford.
When the arrival of aliens throws everything out the window in a royal rumble of sorts between the three different "species", it's up to three teenagers, one vampire, one zombie and one human, to get the town's life back to "normal".What a wild and interesting premise.
Backed up by a comedic supporting cast including Denis Leary, Bob Odenkirk, Joan Cusack, Patton Oswalt and Keegan-Michael Key in small but decent roles, Freaks of Nature seemed destined to be a cult comedy hit.
I'm not sure if I enjoyed A Scout's Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse more or not, but both of those films feel similar in humour and structure.
So, in conclusion, Freaks of Nature is an unsatisfactory and boring film, and I can't recommend it despite the solid performances from the whole cast and the competent special effects.
Freaks of Nature is a prime example of this trend by throwing in a plot about the co-existence of teenage humans, zombies and vampires with raunchy one-lines.
The idea of combining monster genres was a clever idea, the film managing to mesh teenage inner-drama (the world being a cruel existence) along with the evolution of becoming a monster, such as been bitten at the neck by a vampire or on the foot by a zombie.
Enjoying the humor and original substance, I still couldn't find myself thinking this was a good movie at the end of watching it.
Say lets have a town where zombies, vampires and humans live together.
What makes Shaun of the Dead so great is that it's a horror movie, following all the conventions of such films, and it's funny at the same time.
A gang of teenagers, one a human, another a vampire, and the other a zombie, must work together to thwart an alien invasion..
Playing counterpoint to Dag's unconfidently cool exterior is Ned (Josh Fadem), who roams the halls between vampiric scorn and ridicule from long-time and long-toothed teacher Mr. Keller, and centuries old yet still high school senior Milan (Ed Westwick), who manipulatively preys on the fair skinned Petra (Mackenzie Davis).
After a series of strange events, a high-school nerd finds that the burgeoning war between humans, vampires and zombies is about to be tested when an alien invasion turns their peaceful town into a war- zone and tries to help the survivors fend off the intruders.This was quite the disappointing though really appealing effort.
The opening half spends a vast majority of time dealing with the high-school angst of the different crowds at the school and how he tries to get their different activities lined up with the set-up giving the groups quite a lot to like here, and once the film devolves into the different camps warring with each other as the three-way battle that erupts in the streets has so much incredibly great mini-action moments of the groups getting ripped to pieces in great ambushes at the main house and the spectacular scenes in the school where they realize the aliens are coming and what they want through the fun attack scenes that are given a humorous slant through the humiliation given to the characters forcing them to be nude during the encounter.
Usually like zombie/vampire/alien movies, but this was tooooo much to put up with.
"Freaks of Nature" is a comedy/horror movie that actually works for a change!
It takes place in Dillford, Anywhere, USA, where humans, vampires, and zombies live side-by-side and actually get along, that is, until some aliens decide to pay them a visit.
A town comprised of Zombies, Vampires and Humans.
Keep in mind that it does have an R rating, and while the concept might sound like a horror movie, there are no jump scares, and the movie plays out more like a action comedy.
These are zombies, vampires, and humans.
When the aliens attack, a human, vampire, and zombie team together to save the town.This is a campy film.
I'm really not trying to do write a full out review of FON, this was more like what I felt about the film, so as the reader you can take this however you want to take it...again, see Freaks Of Nature, you'll love it..
I used to like horror but I grew out of it and am not a fan of torture porn horrors - I like gore but only if it's done in a cheesy way in a movie where it is over the top and meant to be funny.It's like that in this film (not extremely excessive but fairly gory) and adding the aliens made the story, action and humor even better.
This was a great movie with a lot of funny moments and clever writing. |
tt1967545 | Labor Day | In 1987, Adele Wheeler is a depressed single mom who lives in a rural home with her 13-year-old son, Henry. While they are clothes shopping, a bloody man approaches Henry and makes them take him home to look after him. The man is revealed to be Frank Chambers, a convict who is wanted by the local police after breaking out of jail. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that Frank is a Vietnam veteran who returned home and married his pregnant girlfriend, Mandy. A year after the baby's birth, Frank and Mandy had a fight, in which he asks if he's even the baby's father. During the fight, he pushed her against a radiator, resulting in her death. Simultaneously, through imagery, it is implied that the baby drowned. Frank was sent to jail for murder.
Adele tells Frank, seen through flashbacks, that she had a number of miscarriages after Henry, culminating with the full-term stillbirth of a baby girl. This has left Adele with severe social anxiety and depression, which Henry's father later explains to Henry as the reasons their marriage failed. Henry has tried to be both a son and a husband (innocently) but he realizes he can't provide all of the things Adele needs. Adele is a passionate woman who loves to dance and teaches both Henry and Frank separately to dance. Frank teaches Henry car repairs and other handyman/fatherly things. He also teaches Adele and Henry how to play baseball and how to bake a peach pie.
Adele and Frank fall in love and plan to escape to Canada with Henry, packing the car and cleaning out the house. Meanwhile, Henry develops a friendship with a mature, but manipulative girl named Eleanor, and goes to see her one more time before they leave. She manipulates him into thinking Adele and Frank are going to abandon him and he accidentally reveals Frank's past. Adele assures Henry she would never leave him. The morning they are going to leave, Henry takes a note to his father's house and leaves it in his mailbox. While he is walking home, a policeman offers to drive him home, and Henry has no choice but to accept. The policeman is suspicious of the packed car and nearly-empty house, but eventually leaves. Adele goes to the bank to get all the money out of her account, and the bankers, too, are suspicious. While Adele is gone, the neighbor comes over to give Adele some cinnamon rolls, and speaks to Frank. She, too, is suspicious of who he may be. Henry's father finds the note that Henry left, and calls the house wondering what is going on. Before Adele, Frank, and Henry can escape, they hear police sirens approaching. Frank ties Henry and Adele up before he goes out to surrender, so that they won't be charged with harboring a fugitive. It is not revealed who called the police to report Frank's presence at the house. Adele wants to plea in Frank's case but is warned by her attorney that if she does, Henry might be taken away from her. She writes letters to Frank but to protect her he returns them all unopened.
Years later, adult Henry has become the successful owner of a pie shop and is contacted by Frank, who has seen Henry and his shop in a magazine. He tells Henry he will be released soon and asks him whether or not he should see his mother again. Henry lets Frank know that his mother is still single and lives in the same house. We see Frank appearing to her and they embrace. Adele and Frank in the Autumn years of their life walk in love and Henry takes solace in the fact that he won't have to worry about her being alone. | flashback | train | wikipedia | The movie tells the story of Adele (Kate Winslet), a woman who slowly shut herself off from the world, relying heavily on her young son Henry (Gattlin Griffith), whose father abandoned them to another wife and other children.
If you're interested in a good adult romantic drama, look no further than the movie "Labor Day." Superior acting by Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin and young Gattlin Griffith, this is a story with multi- layered depth and haunting flashbacks through dreams ...
The movie Labor Day stars Kate Winslet, Gattlin Griffith, and Josh Brolin.
I also think Gattlin Griffith, who plays Adele's son Henry, shows his characters struggle of having to be the "man" of the house in a very powerful way.
Kate, Josh and Gattlin are fantastic at giving the sense of not knowing what will happen to them in the near future and it really raises the stakes for the family.Something else that I love about this film is how throughout the movie there are short flashbacks of the past and it is done in such a way that it is hard to tell whose past it is.
"I'm a lot stronger than you think." "I don't doubt that." Adele and Frank.Director Jason Reitman is no stranger to unusual family stories (Juno) or character drama (Up in the Air), so his enjoyable Labor Day is a bit of both without the humor.
Because this is January, a dead-zone time for releases, it's even more impressive as an audience-pleasing drama about an escaped convict Frank (Josh Brolin) and a mother he kidnaps, Adele (Kate Winslet), along with her 7th grade son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith).Let's get the formula out now: she falls in love with her captor and the son willingly learns about life and baseball.
Yet Reitman and novelist Joyce Maynard have crafted a story that slowly makes believable the growing love between captive and captor, a relationship helped by the classy acting chops of Winslet and Brolin.
As Reitman slowly reveals their mutually grim backgrounds, we are aware that her needs for the touch of a lover are so acute that even this gamble could be worth the risk.Although Labor Day comes close to Nicholas Sparks' sentimental claptrap, Reitman preserves everyone's dignity, lets love grow, and ushers a kid into a complicated world of love and danger—a labor of love, so to speak, on the film's titular weekend, typically American and hard work: "I sensed my inadequacy," says the adult Henry in voice over.
what happens over one Labor Day. Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin star in "Labor Day," a 2013 film directed by Jason Reitman and also starring Gattlin Griffith and Toby McGuire.Winslet plays Adele, a divorced woman who has never really recovered from being alone; her husband has remarried, and she lives in a ramshackle house whose interior speaks of her depression.
So it doesn't look like they abetted him, he ties Adele and Henry up, planning to leave that evening.This movie is a great example of how a totally predictable story where not much happens can still be a wonderful film and a work of art - in fact, more of a work of art because it is so predictable and yet manages to hold interest.
Both Winslet and Brolin act with incredible sensitivity, and Griffith is adorable as Henry, a good kid who sees his mother's unhappiness and doesn't know how to help her.It's a sentimental film, but I didn't mind (well, I wouldn't anyway, but I think even people who don't like sentimentalism won't mind it).
In "Thank You for Smoking" and "Up in the Air" he has offered unique and insightful views into the business world, and in his latest "Labor Day" he continues to intrigue us with a different subject, a fragmented family that yearns to become full again.Kate Winslet, Gattlin Griffith, and Josh Brolin bring palpable chemistry as a tired single mother, her whole-world adolescent son, and a ragged man who walks into their life by chance.
There may be a simple quote that comes to greater significance in a later scene, or a plot device that may start making sense when the film is about to finish.The ending is rather rushed and roughly executed with the older version of Winslet looking eerily lively and the brief appearance of Tobey Maguire that feels superfluous.
the 2 adult leads were great and the kid was also very good.the story is about an escaped convict who gets holed up in a mentally fragile divorcée and her sons home over Labor Day and then what happens the next few days and the consequences of peoples actions even if they didn't mean anything bad by doing such acts.loved the setting in a slow moving beautiful town atmosphere where it seems like everything moves like molasses, there seem to be a calmness to the picture but right underneath that you could feel the uneasiness and hidden angst of each of the characters in this movie.also this is a movie about the coming of age of the boy and some of the logical and illogical choices he makes, including one biggg one that has direct consequences for Josh Brolins character.very very solid movie, bittersweet and moving, almost, but not made me cried.
There is no doubt about the implausibility of a lonely depressed Mother and her Son being picked up by a man in a grocery store (hardly a supermarket)who turns out to be an escaped convict on the run.The fact is that the two characters both in terms of real time acting and in terms of the story line blended and bonded well in my personal view and there is nothing appropriate in trivialising a movie which reaches deep inside our hearts and brings more than a few tears to our eyes while watching it as they both seek to re-discover love and a righteous way to live their life.There are too many films made nowadays focused on action and violence riddled with bad language, perverseness and inappropriate sexuality.This film is well directed, the screenplay story is entirely logical in the circumstances, the acting does not disappoint and the ending of the film was well considered.I am not altogether sure of the implied reference to 'Labor Day' in the title and I was initially put off watching this film for a couple of months because I thought this might be some kind of 'Mum gets pregnant' cheesy love-story film.
(I wanted to escape too.)That faint whiff of failure continued to spread throughout the theater as I sat there dumb-founded watching Labor Day, an inane tale of love and longing, That ever-reliable filmmaker, Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air, Young Adult), has his first misfire and it is an unintentional laugh-fest of overripe characters caught in overwrought situations.
Along with her son, Henry (well played by Gattlin Griffith), Frank kidnaps the two and takes them hostage, only to have this trio of mismatched souls find the true meaning of love and happiness during captivity one fateful September weekend.If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, then Labor Day's characters must have indigestion the way they chow down on all things edible.
Jason Reitman does well in his direction in handling leading players Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin and the way the son is played by Gattlin Griffith.
Unfortunately, it's also Reitman at his most melodramatic: his excellent cast of actors only just manage to help him drag the film back from the brink of cheesy soap opera.Adele (Kate Winslet) is a depressed, broken single mother suffering from agoraphobia.
Wounded and desperate, Frank finds his way into their car - and, over the course of the Labor Day weekend - into their house and hearts.The resulting film is a curious blend of hasty romance and psychological drama, twisted around a plot that makes little emotional sense.
Brolin, too, lends Frank a soul and heart that the script occasionally denies him, while Griffith is wonderfully natural as a boy who begins to worry what it means when his mother finds happiness that's seemingly independent of his efforts and existence.Of course, there's another reason to watch Labor Day: the infamous scene in which Frank takes a bucket of peaches and teaches his hosts/hostages to make the perfect peach pie.
The movie, based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, tells the tale of a love- and sex-starved single mother (Kate Winslet) who falls in love with the "dreamy" escaped convict (Josh Brolin) who's holding her and her 13-year-old son (Gattlin Griffith) hostage in their rural home on Labor Day weekend 1987.
For about the first 45 minutes or so, the movie actually seems to be endorsing the rather insulting romantic premise that all an attractive young woman needs to spice up her life is a gutter-cleaning, pie-making, baseball-instructing, son-loving man to come along and sweep her off her feet -.criminal background be damned.
But as the focus of our attention shifts from the two unlikely lovers and onto the son who's observing and ultimately commenting on this bizarre situation, the movie deepens into an off-beat and thought-provoking look into the complexities of human nature and of familial relationships (Tobey Maguire provides the narration as the grown-up Henry and makes a brief appearance later in the movie).Winslet, Brolin and Griffith all give remarkable performances, as do Robert Clark Gregg and James Van Der Beek in supporting roles.
On this occasion, she plays a traumatised single mother in a small American town who suddenly finds herself under the control of an escaped convict played ably by Josh Brolin.The story takes place mainly over a Labor Day weekend but, in the course of the film, there are flashbacks relating to the lives of both the principals and, at the end, we jump forward in time.
His newest film Labor Day, based on the book by Joyce Maynard, has the filmmaker venturing off into TV movie territory inhabited by full-fledged melodrama that is both over the top and disengaging.The film stars Academy Award winner Kate Winslet as Adele, a depressed single mother, who along with her son Henry (played by the young Gattlin Griffith), is held captive in their home by an escaped convict named Frank (played by Josh Brolin).
'LABOR DAY': Four Stars (Out of Five)Jason Reitman (The director of such critically acclaimed hits as 'JUNO', 'YOUNG ADULT', 'UP IN THE AIR' and 'THANK YOU FOR SMOKING') wrote and directed this coming-of-age drama about a single mother and her son who take a convict (who's on the run from the law) into their home over Labor Day weekend.
The story is pretty simplistic but the book is supposed be pretty emotional and I think the film rises above it's storyline as well, thanks to a great cast and Reitman's excellent directing.It's narrated by Henry Wheeler (Griffith) when he's an adult in present day (Tobey Maguire).
The plot of LABOR DAY is straightforward enough: depressed single mum Adele (Kate Winslet) struggles to look after thirteen-year-old Henry (Gattlin Griffith).
Suddenly an escaped prisoner Frank (Josh Brolin) rudely interrupts the rhythm of their lives - although initially frightened of him, both Adele and Henry come to admire Frank as he helps to create a new (and idyllic) family life for them.The plot is a familiar one, exploited for horrific effect in movies such as THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955), but here used to prompt reflection on precisely what constitutes a so-called "criminal" mind.
Having read the book, I knew what was going to happen so in some ways it took away any of the suspense that existed in the film for people who were seeing the story for the first time.I think the book fills in the details of the characters' lives better than the film does, however the director obviously had to choose how to provide the background stories of Adele and Frank, and given their individual pasts, it wasn't an easy feat.
The director did an admirable job in my opinion, yet I don't know if I hadn't read the book if I'd have been able to piece together Frank's story all that well.The casting of Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin was very inspired and they each captured their characters believably.
Based on a novel by Joyce Maynard and adapted for the screen by Reitman, the film features Kate Winslet as Adele Wheeler, a zombie-like mother of thirteen-year-old Henry (Gattlin Griffith), depressed after her divorce from her unforgiving husband, Gerald (Clark Gregg) who dumped her to marry his secretary.Narrated by Tobey Maguire as the adult Henry and set in 1987 in Massachusetts, the fugitive Frank is played by Josh Brolin who looks like he just escaped from a beer commercial rather than the penitentiary.
For some reason that has nothing to do with a contrived plot, the fierce-looking, wounded Frank, just happens to be hanging around the store after escaping from the hospital following an appendectomy (of course, where else would a convicted murderer on-the-run go but to a department store?) Forced to give him a ride to her house, Adele buys his story that he just wants to stay a few hours and meekly agrees to be tied her up to keep up appearances.Fond of all this attention, Adele asks him to stay another day because of the uncertain train schedule and he ends up as a house guest for the Labor Day weekend.
A Super-Hero of Sorts (notice the comic books sprinkled within) Fantasy come to Life for Depressed Mom Kate Winslet complete with Smoldering Good Looks and the Skills of a Heavenly Sent Handyman/Father.A Pretentious Director will Set these Things in a Bygone Decade for some Inconceivable Notion, except Maybe to Show-Off Memorabilia like Posters, Toys, and Comics to give the Movie a Kinda-Cool Look (like those dying leaves).
The plot of this movie that we are familiar with of Adele played by Kate Winslet and her 13-year old son Henry, played by Gattlin Griffith hiding an escaped convict, Frank played by Josh Brolin from authorities, and seeing him for who he is.
This film tells the story of a depressed single woman and her son, who helps harbouring a fugitive over the Labot Day weekend.To be honest, if it was not for the presence of Kate Winslet, I would probably not have watched "Labor Day".
24 March 2014 Film of Choice at The Plaza Tonight - Labour Day. This is the tale of Adele (Kate Winslet) and her son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) and an escaped felon called Frank (Josh Brolin).
That Labor Day features not an ounce of genuine wit is just one of its many flaws in a tale that squanders an opportunity to create any type of emotional sparks.In the telling of Joyce Maynard's story Reitman has made the cardinal sin of tailoring a film that never once feels like it is going anywhere fast, a slow moving and wholly predictable affair that culminates in one of the worst final acts you're likely to see in some time.
Moments within the film are supposed to show us a bond between these two lost souls, whether it's a heated pie making experience or a game of baseball in the backyard but believability is almost shot away completely when this romance takes place over a couple of days.Many aspects of Labor Day either feel forced or utterly unbelievable – elements such as Frank just wondering about outside fixing the house as the whole towns police force search for him just one example – and a story that should of mixed in a coming of age tale with a genuinely affecting romance, merely becomes a watchable yet instantly forgettable journey with some miss-timed direction by director Reitman.2 far from normal pie making experiences out of 5.
Labor Day took me through an amazing story about life,the pictures film location and the cast was well received,the directing ques to story line and the actors talent to project the true emotions of there experiences are heart felt and rewarding as a great movie should be.once this story grabs you and frees your traditional perspective and thought pattern an amazing life to live opens up for acceptance.
Meanwhile, he makes repairs to the house, teaches Henry to play ball, does some cooking and baking, among other things.The performances from the lead actors were very good but I found this film hard to follow due to the flash forwards of a young man's life.
It's a romantic drama that is masquerading as a crime film.Josh Brolin plays an escaped convict who holds Kate Winslet (and her son) hostage while his wounds heal.
Labor DayIf hosting an escaped convict at your home this Labor Day, you may want to enact the No White rule prematurely.Thankfully, the blood splatter in this romantic drama is kept to a minimum.Henry (Gattlin Griffith) and his mother (Kate Winslet) are taken hostage by a fleeing felon, Frank (Josh Brolin).Held up at their house, Frank's genial nature gets the best of him and soon he takes on a fatherly role - not only around the house but also in the boudoir.Eventually, he proposes a move to Canada to start a new life.
Maybe Reitman was trying to expand his directorial range with "Labor Day," but sadly he delivered an insufficient dramatic film.Divorced and lonely, Adele (portrayed by Kate Winslet) lives in seclusion with her son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith), after surviving a thorny personal past.
It features Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin as the main characters,Adele and Frank respectively,together with Gattlin Griffith Tobey Maguire.It was directed by Jason Reitman.The story focuses on the experiences of 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who struggles to be the man of his house and care for his reclusive and depressed mother Adele,who was left by her husband.
Labor Day (2013): Dir: Jason Reitman / Cast: Josh Brolin, Kate Winslet, Gattlin Griffith, Brighid Fleming, Tobey Maguire: Manipulative drivel about a long weekend that brought passion and love in the most unexpected way. |
tt4520364 | Morgan | The opening scene shows Dr. Kathy Grieff (Jennifer Jason Leigh) entering a secured room. She is there to meet with Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy), and the whole thing is seen through surveillance cameras. Kathy sits down to have lunch with Morgan. Morgan looks at her own hands curiously on both sides as Kathy says she couldn't get "them" to let Morgan go outside. Morgan pushes aside everything on the table, jumps over it, and begins to stab Kathy in the eye. Two other doctors enter to intervene and sedate Morgan.Lee Weathers (Kate Mara), a risk management consultant, travels to the facility where the incident took place. She meets Amy Menser (Rose Leslie), Morgan's behaviorist, and Skip Vronsky (Boyd Holbrook), the team's nutritionist. Lee then goes to meet Dr. Simon Ziegler (Toby Jones), who explains to her the creation of Morgan. After two failed experiments, Morgan was a creation of synthetic life that matured at a rapid rate over six months, where she now maintains the appearance of a young woman. Lee is also shown a video of the incident, showing that Morgan has managed to develop emotions as well. She has spent most of her time with Amy, who treats Morgan like a sister.Lee meets Kathy in her room, where she is heavily medicated and wearing a pad over her wound. She blames herself for what happened and says she provoked Morgan into attacking her. Kathy tells Lee that Morgan was once full of joy before she was put back into her room. Morgan was allowed exposure to the outside world at a young age, which the others think was a mistake. As Kathy refers to Morgan by female pronouns, Lee says that Morgan should be referred to as "it".Lee is brought in to meet Morgan personally. She is kept outside of Morgan's room for protection. Morgan already knows who Lee is and appears polite, but also highly intelligent. Afterwards, Ziegler asks Lee if she's impressed. Lee looks pretty unimpressed, which appears to displease Ziegler.That night, Lee joins the team for dinner and meets others such as Drs. Darren and Brenda Finch (Chris Sullivan and Vinette Robinson), Ted Brenner (Michael Yare), and Dr. Lui Cheng (Michelle Yeoh), whom Lee regards highly and whom Morgan considers to be her "mother". Later on, Lee is outside talking to Skip, who's had a bit to drink. Amy overhears their conversation, where Skip tells Lee that he and Amy had a fling before realizing he wasn't her type. He makes a move by kissing Lee, but then apologizes for it afterwards. Amy walks away to Morgan's cell to spend time with her after turning off the cameras.We see a flashback of Amy taking Morgan out into the woods for fresh air. Amy tells Morgan about trees and how some live to be thousands of years old. The two then see a deer that's been impaled in the side. Morgan breaks its neck out of mercy.The next day, Morgan is set for a psych analysis by Dr. Alan Shapiro (Paul Giamatti). Shapiro is supposed to sit outside of Morgan's room, but he finds that pointless and decides to go inside. He starts to talk to Morgan calmly before going off and yelling at her, asking her how she would react if she told the doctors to put her back in the box and never let her out, or if she should be terminated. Morgan sheds tears and says she doesn't know what to do. She looks at her hands on both sides until she reaches her breaking point. Morgan pushes Shapiro against the wall and lunges at him, biting hard into his throat and ripping a chunk out. The doctors try to go in and sedate Morgan, but she escapes. Lee grabs a tranquilizer and follows her outside. Morgan gets outside but only finds Amy, who sees her face caked in blood, right before Lee hits her with a dart.Morgan is strapped to a table to be terminated. She tearfully pleads with the doctors to not go through with it, even calling Dr. Cheng "Mother". She coldly responds that she is not Morgan's mother. Morgan is sedated and she passes out. Darren gets a needle ready to give her a lethal injection, but he refuses to go through with it. Cheng leaves the room and wipes away a tear. Lee decides to do it herself. She enters the room, but Ted tries to stop her. Lee hits Ted in the face repeatedly and nearly shoots him with a pistol, but she gets hit with a dart herself.Darren, Ted, and Brenda try to get Morgan out of there. Darren tries carrying her as she's out, but Morgan wakes up and headbutts Darren in the face. She grabs the needle he would have injected her with and sticks it in his chest, killing him. Morgan then grabs the pistol and shoots Ted once, which Lee sees as she wakes up. Morgan then shoots Ted in the head before retreating and leaving Lee locked in her room.Morgan goes into Kathy's room and kicks her in the face until she snaps her neck. She also kills Zielger by hanging him. Morgan then makes her way into Cheng's room as she finishes making a video confession. Morgan suffocates Cheng to death.Brenda gets Amy and tries to make a run for it. Morgan appears with the gun and aims it at Brenda. Brenda punches Morgan in the face and fights her, but Morgan overpowers her and proceeds to beat Brenda to death.Lee breaks out of the room by climbing to the top and smashing the glass. She meets up with Skip, who tells her not to follow Morgan. Lee gets in her car and chases after Morgan and Amy as they drive away, knowing where they're headed. Lee chases them though the woods, but Morgan causes Lee to crash into a tree. Skip drives up and drives Lee to find them.Lee takes Skip's rifle and tries to kill Morgan herself. Morgan catches up to Lee and fights her in the woods. After getting a few good punches and kicks in, Morgan pushes Lee to the ground where she gets impaled by a root. Morgan leaves her and rejoins Amy by the lake, which she is in awe of. Lee shows up after pulling herself out, and she pushes Morgan into the lake. Lee then holds Morgan underwater until she drowns. Lee gets out of the water and then shoots Amy with the pistol. She gets back to Skip and kills him too.The company's head, Jim Bryce (Brian Cox), declares the Morgan project a failure. His associate asks, "What about Lee Weathers?" Bryce replies, "What about her? She's perfect."The last shot is of Lee looking at her hands on both sides...JUST LIKE MORGAN! | revenge, suspenseful, murder, violence, flashback | train | imdb | Lee Weathers shadows the scientists to see how they work with Morgan and her responses in preparation for the real psychic-evaluation the next day.I felt the story to be compelling with some minor plot holes that I chose to ignore as the overall experience was worth it.
The movie is set at a slower pace so don't expect a lot of action or real horror elements which were kind of advertised.The movie features Anya Taylor-Joy as Morgan who really owns the role.
Kate Mara also shines as the lead character which is nice to see after the fail of a movie that was the Fantastic Four.I would rate this a little higher if it were more original but sadly it is too much of a reminder of Blade Runner, and more recently Ex Machina.
I just feel like there was much more potential there to really dig into the philosophical issues and ethical debates of creating a genetic hybrid.I had a chance to speak to director Luke Scott after seeing Morgan, and we dove into those issues a bit further.
Those are all great questions to explore, but Morgan really just scratches the surface of them.I asked Luke Scott what's next on his horizon, and he let me know he's working on a project that also comes with a moral and ethical dilemma, but this one is based on a true story.
Directed by Ridley's son, Luke Scott, you wonder if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree or the talent gets passed down trough genes, well, don't expect MORGAN to be on the same level as Ridley's "Alien," that's for sure, but again, a decent attempt is what it is, the closest to a compliment I can give the film at this point.Kate Mara plays a corporate risk management officer, a troubleshooter, and she's sent to a top secret location to investigate and evaluate a recent accident, she's supposed to be there to find out what went wrong and judge the asset in terms of the overall profit.
At this top secret location, scientists have successfully created what is perceived to be the perfect human (Anya Taylor-Joy) but turns out, she comes with her own set of unpredictable threats.What I can appreciate about MORGAN is that it takes familiar concepts from the world of science fiction and makes it its own.
With its ensemble cast and its emphasis on keeping you guessing till the very end while wowing you with fight sequences and a big reveal, MORGAN is just the right dose of horror/sci-fi/thriller for us fans of such films as 1997's "Cube" or "Event Horizon" -- Rama's Screen --.
Morgan, superbly played by Anya Taylor-Joy is housed in a confined facility in the middle of nowhere where she's raised by a group of scientists responsible for differences areas of her development like Behavioural Analyst, Amy played by GoT's Rose Leslie and an unrecognisable Boyd Holbrook who's the nutritionist or chef.
The worst possible example is a scene that goes on forever of this "pompous arrogant doctor"(the one note cliché could have been written by a new born) arguing with the doctors that he "Needs" to be face to face with Morgan instead of behind glass to properly evaluate if she should be put down post rampage, despite being warned over and over that SHE IS A WEAPON THAT JUST TRIED TO KILL SOMEONE.You know how you're in a theater and you'll hear some moron yell at the screen "OMG Don't GO IN THERE"?Thatll be you, constantly, every 5 minutes, through the entire movie.Seriously just avoid this one..
Most of the A-List Star Casting seem to Show Up as a Favor for Ridley Scott to Help His Son Luke in His Directorial Debut.Because Toby Jones, Paul Giamatti, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Brian Cox all have Screen Time that Amounts to Nothing More than an Extended Cameo.The Story of an Artificially Created Clone/Humanoid/Robot has become so Familiar as to barely Rate a Blip on Our "Species" Radar.
Unfortunately there's an incident that leaves one of her handlers without an eye, so the business that funds the research and development send in their "Risk Management Consultant" to evaluate the situation and ensure any necessary measures are enacted.The film spends a little time developing it's characters and the situation, but the second and third acts are almost indistinguishable as it cascades at break-neck speed to it's conclusion, giving the film a feeling of being rushed along.
I don't want to start avoiding trailers for movies, because I still think they're the best judge of a movie's potential, and I tend to treat them with a grain of salt anyway due to how they can be misrepresented, but Morgan makes me rethink that stance.That said, there are still a number of surprises in store, not least the big twist at the end.
The obvious star of the movie is Anya Taylor-Joy who manages to balance the emotional innocence of Morgan with her somewhat artificial nature without over-doing one or the other.
Kate Mara is quite good as the cold and somewhat emotionless Risk Management Consultant, Lee. But for me, it was Toby Jones as Dr. Ziegler and Rose Leslie as Amy who really shone and acted as great supports for Anya.
Anya Taylor-Joy (who had left me astonished in The Witch) also makes a perfect work in her role, and the supporting cast includes many brilliant actors (Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Vinette Robinson, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti and Brian Cox) bringing absolute credibility to their roles.
Morgan was an average sci-fi thriller with decent acting by the cast especially Anya Taylor Joy. The story is similar to Ex-Machina by inferior to that film.
Sure it's not the most original piece of sci fi films of all time or anything but it's still a fairly well-made film.If I was to compare it with something I guess I would say something like 'Ex Machina (2015)' meets 'Splice (2009)' meets 'The Guest (2014)' kinda.The cast are good all over the map, Kate Mara shines the most IMO.
Morgan directed by Luke Scott is a sci-fi horror film about a group of scientists who have artificially created a humanoid being.
although many of the characters are not very complex they each have clear motivations and emotions towards Morgan and their task as scientists and this makes the film have emotional impact and adds to the horror of the story.
But the main thing is do a humanoid creature and the creature is very intelligent and this is a threat for humanities and you have shut down this.this is not as common story line but the theme is very common and the central character is very similar to any other science fiction movie.
Let's get startedLIKES A true science fiction plot Decent acting Twist in the endTo quote a friend, "We seldom get a true science fiction movie that isn't drowned out by CGI action scenes and grotesque monsters." Fortunately, Morgan defies that trend and dives deep into the core of the genre, focusing on the scientific process in all its details.
DISLIKES: Boring, slow pace Not a horror movie or suspenseful Graphic Torture Morgan's message about the mistakes made when playing God are beaten over the head, but the package it's delivered in was so dull at times.
The movie stars Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy (of 'THE WITCH' fame), Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Toby Jones, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Paul Giamatti.
Something goes terribly wrong.The movie definitely isn't the most high concept sci-fi thriller out there; it definitely doesn't rival Ridley's greatest films either (like 'BLADE RUNNER' or 'PROMETHEUS'), but it's still a lot of fun!
I think it's a pretty impressive debut film for Luke Scott!Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/Xm22965_JOo. ex-Machine = Morgan.
It just shows that they had a cool premise but had no idea what to do with it, thus ending it as soon as possible, and with one of the worst death scenes ever for a "villain."There is a cool twist with Kate's character during the final shot of the film, but besides that, this movie doesn't need to be seen unless you have 85 minutes to spend.
"Morgan" is a slow-moving, dialogue-filled artificial intelligence thriller which lacks the action or horror elements many viewers expected from the movie, thus turning it into a major critical and commercial disappointment.
The film benefits mainly from its great A-list cast, including an amazing Kate Mara, the surprisingly good performers Anya Taylor-Joy and Rose Leslie as well as talented and experienced veteran actors Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brian Cox, Paul Giamatti and Toby Jones (all of whom are not granted more screen time than just a few minutes, unfortunately).
Overall, "Morgan" remains a shallow exploration of themes which have been examined in movies many times before, without offering a decent pay-off or anything that could possibly amount to more than just an average film..
The previous rule did not regulate the film of Luke Scott, considering that besides not give an inherently intelligent response to well-known story, living in the shadow of several classics of science fiction - among them, some of his father - and tries to innovate becoming the little it had been achieved in an incoherent horror-thriller filled with unjustified violence."Ex Machina", the Sci-Fi surprise of 2015 is its illustrious mentor.
Morgan went beyond the two previous movies in that it was looking at multiple people's view of the subject instead of just two persons views like Ex Machina.
So Morgan directed by Luke Scott is a sci-fi horror movie with the plot involving a team of scientist tried to raise a girl made from a lab that go horribly wrong .Basic concept that has been made million time before but this time it actually tried to tell a different story.Much like his dad Sir Riddley Scott the man who brought us many great sci-fi movie like Blade Runner,Alien and Prometheus he really know how to shoot a movie with great cinematography and beautiful isolation location.The acting in this movie is great,everybody is giving their best work throughout the movie with two spot on performance by Kate Mara and Anya Taylor-Joy play the main character Morgan who keep proving herself is one of the best young actress working day.In the end this is a damn fine sci-fi horror movie with many intense scene,good action movie set pieces and a very shocking third part which make me feel very disturbed.If you a hardcore sci-fi movie fan definitely check this movie out.
That isn't all bad as the action is quite suspenseful but it's disappointing if you wanted something deeper.The second half of the movie is consumed with the scientists' protection of their prodigy and it all seems so familiar that it's like watching Ex Machina again.
Boyd Holbrook, the team's chef, stands out as the human element of the movie but is underused and doesn't quite add the contrast to the artificial that he could have.Returning to the comparison with Ex Machina, Morgan takes the formula and improves upon it by twisting the ending so we're given a more satisfying conclusion.
Very engaging, very entertaining.When a genetic experiment named Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy) attacks one of the attending resident doctors at a hidden facility, a risk management expert, Lee Weathers (Kate Mara), is sent in to begin assessing the situation.
Overall, Morgan is a good addition as well as sometimes an apparent improvement on the vast majority of artificial intelligence movies to date, ranking with the best of them including the more forward looking Ex Machina (2015)(which I found an actress being too human trying to be an artificial life form instead of the other way around)), Transcendence (2014), Lucy (2014), Automata (2014), EVA (2011), and my favorite The Machine (2013)..
The script has several issues and there's a twist that's telegraphed almost from the get-go, but the cast (which includes Kate Mara, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Toby Jones) is solid, and the movie has a sleek, arresting visual look and a short running time, making it a serviceable diversion.
people keep comparing this movie to Ex-Machina.the two movies are completely different, if you love Ridley Scott and general Sci-Fi movies you'll definitely enjoy Morgan, it's intense fast paced thriller will leave you with more questions than answers when you finish the movie.
On the flip side, I also see many negative comparisons to Ex Machina - while I'd say EM was probably a more sound movie from an overall film-making and quality perspective, I'd watch Morgan a second and third time before I'd want to sit through EM again.It was a good, thoughtful, entertaining movie and it gives me hope that Luke Scott will carry on the Scott tradition of being a cut above in Hollywood..
In this Sci-fi Drama, Morgan is a Frankenstein-like monster, a human created in a lab by a group of mad scientist, but unlike Frankenstein's Monster, Morgan is a little more aware of her small group of villager's feelings on her and is design to be more capable to deal with it, making everyone's fears on Morgan come true.Kate Mara was really hot in this movie.
It mustn't be easy being the offspring of a legendary filmmaker if you yourself are looking to carve out a successful career behind camera.No matter what you do to start off with, its inevitable that you're beginning works will be referenced against the works of your parent.In consideration of this, it's hard to not judge budding filmmaker Luke Scott here on debut against the works of his father Ridley and in doing so the young upstart doesn't even come close to the best of Scott's many years of solid works and at the end of the day, Luke's Morgan feels like a cheap and nasty version of a much better film in the form of Alex Garland's Ex_Machina.Sharing many similarities to 2015's sci-fi hit in the way in which it deals with artificial/manufactured intelligence and the way in which we study/deal with it, Morgan has some very cool ideas but its uneasy mix of sci-fi and horror elements combine to create a genuinely unengaging experience that fails in almost all aspects.Scott doesn't at present possess his father's talent for visual pizazz and thrilling handling of action whilst the many more conversational moments of Morgan (of which there are many) fail to properly get you in their grips, bar one particularly good Paul Giamatti cameo (when isn't this guy MVP of whatever his in?).
The way also in which we are introduced to Morgan (an artificially created being) and the team tasked with handling her development also leaves much to be desired despite some solid attempts by the recognisable cast.Led by Kate Mara as emotionally void higher up employee Lee Weathers, Morgan also introduces us to Rose Leslie's loving carer Dr. Amy Menser and Anya Taylor-Joy's titular mysterious creation but unlike say Ex_Machina's wholly engaging cast of characters and scenes together, Morgan never bothers to make us care about the group were joined up with, even if at times Scott try's to manipulate our emotions in certain ways.It's arguable that there's a good story to be told within Morgan but there's also solid arguments to be made that this type of story has been told before and told a lot better and while it's great to know the Scott name is entering into its next generation, Luke certainly has a long way to go before we can start getting excited about that fact.1 injured deer out of 5.
In fact, that alone makes me want to re-watch the movie to pick up on clues that were sprinkled throughout the movie.Anya Taylor-Joy is well cast as Morgan and she does a good job expressing the conflicting and confusing emotions of an AI human who is only five years old and still learning.
After watching this and The Witch, I look forward to future Taylor-Joy movies.However, Morgan would have been improved with better character development in the supporting cast.
To be honest, I was getting a little bored of this movie before Giamatti showed up, so, at least, he pumped some life and energy in this film.Finally, there is the performance of Anya Taylor-Joy as Morgan.
There is no character development, no decent acting, no enticing script writing (not even a good plot!), just a rehashing of other movies (i.e. Ex Machina,Lucy,etc) that did it better.
very predictable - you know she's gonna escape, you know she's gonna kill as many of the egg heads - just like in ex machina, species or splice movies - and you know she's gonna be killed off in the very end.I agree with most of the youtubers the girl who played morgan, did a good job.
It was also unable to deliver on being any one of Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller/Horror purely through a lack of any major elements that contribute to owning those genres.The main thing for me was Mara's character, I never once bought into her role and I think she really struggled with the complexities of her character and bringing what was required to the screen.Given the meagre budget of the film and being the directorial debut for Son of a Gun, Luke Scott, I guess it is unsurprising that not every note was hit (or even played) in Morgan.I do however, believe that Anya Taylor-Joy's star is rising and we should see more of her in future.Oh, special mention - Brian Cox is such a great actor, I love most of his on screen roles, but I will never understand why he is continually under utilized.
Si-Fi horror movie.An agent (Kate Mara) is sent to a 'secret' facility to perform a risk assessment to determine whether the lab created 'Morgan' should be terminated.
Morgan (2016): Dir: Luke Scott / Cast: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Paul Giamatti: Underrated science fiction thriller that mat remind viewers of Ex Machina. |
tt0424774 | The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D | Max is a lonely child who creates a dreamworld named Planet Drool (similar to Fantasia), where all of his imagination and dreams come to life. He creates two characters, with the first one being Sharkboy who was raised by sharks and his dad. The second character is Lavagirl who can produce fire and lava, but has trouble touching objects without setting them alight. The two left Max to guard Planet Drool. In real life, Max's parents have little time for him, and he is bullied by fellow schoolmate Linus. However, he does receive friendship from Marissa, Mr. Electricidad's (whose name is Spanish for "electricity") daughter. Linus steals Max's Dream Journal, where all of his ideas are kept, and vandalizes it. The next day, a tornado rages outside the school, and moments later Sharkboy and Lavagirl appear and ask Max to come with them to Planet Drool. They reach Planet Drool via a shark-like spacecraft, where Max learns that the dreamworld is turning bad, courtesy of Mr. Electric (also portrayed by George Lopez), originally the guardian of the dreamworld but now corrupted.Sharkboy and Lavagirl save some children from an out-of-control roller coaster; then, with Max, confront Mr. Electric, who quickly drops them in a part of Planet Drool called the Dream Graveyard where some of Max's dreams have been dumped. They find Tobor (voiced by George Lopez), a robot toy that was never finished being built by Max, but offers them a lift to other parts of the planet. Whilst on the journey, the three form a friendship but they face hardships, such as Sharkboy's anger for the oceans being frozen over, and Lavagirl's desperation to find her true purpose on Planet Drool. They are pursued by Mr. Electric and his "plughounds" across the planet. They plan to visit the Ice Princess and obtain the Crystal Heart, which can freeze time, giving them enough time to get to the center of Planet Drool and fix the dreamworld using Max's daydreaming. However, they are captured by Mr. Electric and delivered to Linus's Planet Drool incarnation, Minus, who has altered the dreamworld with Max's own Dream Journal. Max retrieves the Dream Journal from Minus whilst he is sleeping, and the three escape. Max informs Sharkboy that his father is alive in his book, but when Lavagirl wishes to find out what it says about her, she burns the book to ash. In her rage, Lavagirl confronts Max and asks him why she was made out of lava, but is calmed by Sharkboy.With little time left, Max, Sharkboy and Lavagirl reach the Ice Princess (Marissa) after an encounter with the Ice Guardian (voiced by George Lopez). She hands over the Crystal Heart, but they find they are too late to stop the corruption. Mr. Electric fools Sharkboy into jumping into water filled with electric eels, seemingly killing him. Lavagirl jumps into the water to retrieve Sharkboy but dies moments later. Tobor's head appears and convinces Max to dream a better and unselfish dream, which in turn revives Sharkboy, who then races Lavagirl to a volcano where she is revived, Max concluding that Lavagirl is light. Max gains reality warping as the Daydreamer and battles Minus, defeating him, and offering to make a better dreamworld between the two of them, which Minus agrees to. Lavagirl then kisses Sharkboy, burning his cheek.Mr. Electric refuses to accept the new dreamworld, and flies off to Earth to kill Max whilst he is dreaming. Max awakens back in his classroom in the middle of the storm, Mr. Electric materializing before Max and an astonished Mr. Electricidad. Max's parents are caught in the storm, but saved by Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Max gives the Crystal Heart to Marissa, allowing her to gain the Ice Princess' powers, freezing and destroying Mr. Electric. Mr. Electricidad, Linus and Max all make peace with one another, and Max is reunited with his parents.In the end, Max informs his class that Planet Drool became a proper dreamworld again, Sharkboy became the King of the Ocean, and Lavagirl became Queen of the Volcanoes (even aquatic ones) and Max is shown building Tobor with his parents and Tobor finally worked. It also seems that Sharkboy and Lavagirl begin a relationship. At the very end the two walk away from the camera "holding hands" by touching the tips of their index fingers together so that Sharkboy hopefully won't get burned. | violence, storytelling | train | imdb | I hadn't planned on wasting my time reviewing this mess, but there are some subtleties that crept into my consciousness after the second forced viewing which may enhance a prospective viewer's experience.First of all, this movie obviously was designed for younger kids.
Any movie that gets a kid to write has got to be OK.Also, we watched the 2D version and seemed great.
Let me try and explain it this way - I have written ongoing lists of the greatest films ever made, and the worst films ever made, and Sharkboy and Lavagirl is the only movie I've ever seen that has gotten a placement in both lists for me.Sharkboy is about a young child named Max who dreams up wonderful fantasies and adolescent superhero type adventures.
I was pleasantly surprised, obviously, and I had a lot of fun watching the movie (I'm excluding the terrible 3-D version of the film, which is a pointless distract-or and takes away a lot of the magic).
But I can definitely tell that it's a movie younger kids, especially boys (for I'm pretty sure every boy this age has dreams and fantasies just like the ones in the film) will love.
I took my 9 year old son to Shark Boy and Lava Girl expecting to see a movie for kids.
I asked my son for a quote about the movie: "It is exciting, adventurous, and the 3-d effects could have been a little better, but if it wasn't 3-d it wouldn't be good at all".
As a mother and teacher, I can tell you that while the characters and situations are unique, they are also completely representative of the types of stories and imagination games that I have heard again and again.My own children have certainly created their own superheroes steeped in the same balance of derivative lore and imaginative elements that Sharkboy and Lavagirl possess.
i'm sure its target demographic of 6-10 year olds will love it because it has bright colors and kids as the lead actors, but that in no way makes it a good movie.
movies like the shrek trilogy are also targeted to younger audiences but are very enjoyable for adults too because they have good writing, a good plot, and a great cast.
Ten-year-old Max (Cayden Boyd) is having problems at his new school, where he is picked on by classmates and teachers alike after telling them about his superhero friends Shark Boy and Lava Girl (Taylor Lautner and Taylor Dooley).
Everyone thinks he's making them up until one day, they show up to whisk him off to Planet Drool to help them fight the evil Mr. Electric (George Lopez) and Minus.The plot sounds like a film that only kids will like.
A colorful and occasionally imaginative film, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (In 3-D!!!) is an overall disappointment, a movie that had good intentions at the beginning, but devolved into a cheesy "message for our youth." The movie revolves around Max (Cayden Boyd), the picked-on grade school student who would rather create his own world rather than live in the real one.
Writer/director Robert Rodriguez formulated the entire movie, from story to special effects, based on inspirations provided by his children.
I really enjoyed the visual style Robert Rodriguez employed in Sin City, and that movie may have even been enhanced with a few 3-D moments, but Sharkboy and Lava girl was a move in the opposite direction for the maverick director..
Really lame toilet jokes and third rate cgi tormented by horribly wooden acting (these guys make Keanu look like Oscar potential) throw that in with a crate of Velveeta and you've got this utter waste of time.With a plot (if you can call it that) that is a rip off of The Wizard of Oz (kid goes to a fantasy world where everyone is a representation of people that kid interacts with)and a few kids books and one or two graphic novels (a kid dreaming up super heroes who become real is not even a remotely new concept).
The humor was received in the very same way no groans no anything.Most of the adults in the theater i saw it in had to be woken up by their kids when it was over perhaps the best summation comes from the mouth of my 8 year old who said "That was the most boring adventure movie i ever saw.".Sorry Mr. Rodriguez but you can put glitter (in this case 3D) on a pile of manure and it's still a pile of manure..
Someday soon, perhaps!--------- earlier comments, posted in June 2005:Little did I know yesterday that when my eight-year-old granddaughter and I went to see The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D we would be viewing a polarized print of the film made exclusively for the Austin premiere.
As Robert Rodriguez explained what we were about to see there was no way to imagine beforehand how the 3-D experience would be transformed by the killer combo of the polarized version shown on an IMAX screen through multiple DLPs. Once the movie started, however, I immediately realized I was watching something light years beyond anything I had yet seen.
This story, written by a kid for other kids, hasn't been tainted by anyone's opinion about keeping the older film-goers entertained through adult-themed inside references and innuendo.In making this film, Robert Rodriguez has wisely protected and preserved his son Racer's unique vision without the addition of dumbed-down "mature" wisecracks.
There are several horrid one liners told by Sharkboy(Lavagirl's hair catches on fire and he says, "Let her cool off some steam".) Any good reviews that you read of this are from kids 3 and under that learned to type, or mentally disabled adults.
Having a kid movie is fine, in light of all the more abrasive elements out in the world, but making a bad move!Plus marketing it to be the vein of Spy Kids is bad planning on part of the film makers.
(much like Charley and the chocolate factory)all told, it is a fanciful story about a daydreaming kid, who is dealing with most of the people in his life telling him it's time to grow up, and stop dreaming.it's not bad, and fairly kid safe.
Since then, the director has not had to scrounge for money and exceeds expectations with movies as varied as Spy Kids and Sin City.After seeing the lava scene in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, director Rodriguez' son, Racer, came up with the story for The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl.
The film labors to be cute and instructive, two characteristics better left by themselves in movies or kept the province of artists like animators at Dreamworks.One hero of Max's imagination can melt whatever she wants by ejecting lava; the other can do considerable damage with his teeth.
A little like the characters from Peter Pan, these children are variously looking for parents either to pay attention to them or work harder at staying together as parents, similar to the four teens of this month's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a superior young-person's film blessed with solid acting and believable setups.
George Lopez was the one slightly bright spot of the film, but even his caricature teacher or "Electricity" villain wore thin after the first half of the film.Again, my boys and their friend loved it; children this age rarely catch gaping plot holes when sharks are jumping at them from the screen or a kid's karate chops can defeat an ornery electrical cord.
Admittedly, I was interested myself to see the 3-D effects and there was a part of me that hoped it would turn out to be a decent family film even though the trailers certainly made it look terrible......and it was terrible.I can't stand it when I hear the phrase 'but it's a movie about the imagination!
Never before can I remember a lead in a kids film that was so unlikeable.The story could have been alright had it been executed the right way.The 3-D is neat for awhile and all, but there aren't that many great effects really.You'd think a director like Rodriguez could make a family film that isn't afraid of being a little less cheesy and perhaps a bit daring...
The film is about a young boy named Max, who keeps a record of his dreams and one day shares with his class a dream he had about two superhero kids named Sharkboy and Lavagirl.
I usually tend not to see family films but the film is written and directed by Robert Rodriguez (who based this film on an idea he got from his son) who also directed this year's Sin City, which I liked a lot and plus I have always wanted to see a film in 3-D where I would have to wear a pair of cut out glasses so I decided to see this film.
The Adventures Of Sharkboy And Lavagirl In 3-D, is very creative and interesting and has a lot of neat visual sight gags with the 3-D glasses and the story is also fun and entertaining and I think that with the 3-D effects and the creative and fun story that kids will love this movie.
I think the story would have been much better without the character of Shark Boy. You just couldn't feel anything for this kid.
this one is definitely for the kiddies,not much here at all for us adults,but it's really not that bad,for a kid movie made from an idea of a seven year old...the main thing that just kills this movie,is the 3-D...it sucks...really bad...& it's completely pointless,only there for gimmicks sake & a few cartoonish cuckoo clocks to leap from the screen.now,maybe the problem i was having was just at my theater,i don't know how no one who made the movie couldn't have noticed this,but,with the glasses on,the movie was 3-D alright,but almost ALL color was gone...like watching those old crappy black & white 3-D movies on TV when i was a kid.with out the glasses,things looked pretty good,except for the things that were supposed to be 3-D,they were the red & blue blur of course.i think,wait till this comes out on DVD & just watch it in 2-D,& you'll enjoy it for what it is...just a fun little kid flick,though it has the best kid fight scene since the last dragon...raise your hand if you're old enough to remember that one?.
The plot was terrible, Sharkboy and Lavagirl's suits looked like they were made out of plastic (which they probably were) and it was overall a very childish film.
A six-year-old?Despite the horrible quality of the film, I must say that there were some amusing moments in it, I think casting George Lopez was a great idea.Overall, this film could have had a lot of potential, but instead they turned it into a computer-generated mess of a Planet Drool..
This is CG for the sake of CG, because it's way cheaper to pay 10 mouse jockeys $50K a year in Texas then it is to build millions of dollars worth of sets.The movie starts actually with decent potential, but the story and plot meanders after Max arrives on his dreamt "Planet Drool," when the CG is put on like a garish suit.
The 3-D qualities were so bad that 80% of the time the 3-D was on-screen, the effect simply didn't work.The movie could have been charming a great fun for the family.
I loved the first couple Spy Kids films and liked the third.
Rather than a nice, tight, fantastical, almost absurdist film about a couple superheroes, it becomes a random series of events taking place in a computer animated world that looks extremely rushed and unfinished.I say "almost inexplicably" falls apart above because as is well known, director Robert Rodriguez' son, Racer, came up with the story, which was supposedly inspired by his dreams.
Whatever the reason, when they're on Planet Drool, the rules of the game keep changing, there's no sense of progression or an arc from one event to the next, there's no rhyme or reason to the characters, including the villain, and there's an uncomfortable combination of derivativeness (of everything from The Neverending Story to Wizard of Oz to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Tron to everything else that Racer has probably watched), groaner corniness (the puns based on heat, fish and dreams/imagination grow more desperate by the minute) and very poorly executed computer animation.
However, the next day something interesting happens, Shark boy and Lava girl show up at school and seek Max's help Max then goes with Shark boy and Lava girl and this is where the fun filled adventure begins.One thing I can say about Robert Rodriguez is that he has a knack for film-making.
What amazes me about Mr. Rodriguez is how he can make films like "Sin City" and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" and also make great family films such as the "Spy Kids" series and this film.I don't understand why critics hated this movie but then again I don't always understand the critics.
When watching a movie like Shark boy and Lava girl, you have to remember one thing that this is a movie made for the enjoyment of little kids.
If you get into the film, you feel like you're a little kid again and that's a great feeling.If you go into the theater expecting a cinematic gem you're not going to get it.
The acting isn't as good as it was in the "Spy kids" movies or any of Robert Rodriguez's other work.
Like I said, go into the movie and take the movie for what it is, a great family popcorn flick that both adults and kids together can enjoy if you put your mind to it.So in conclusion, If you go into "The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl" knowing what to expect you will really enjoy the film.
It's on the "On-demand" movie channel here and he watches it at least twice a day.I've seen 80% of it and it's harmless fun (for kids his age certainly).There are lots of imaginative things in there (like the extension cord/wire dogs).
I liked Spy Kids better than this movie.
"The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D" is a Robert Rodriguez-directed film about a boy who's imagination comes to life and his friends, Sharkboy and Lavagirl, help him try to defeat this evil that is ruling the world that Sharkboy and Lavagirl live in.
This was a low-budget movie that does not have brand name actors, the plot revolves around a boy with shark features and a girl with lava powers, and the main idea for this movie came from a 7-year-old kid.
What starts out nice, once again goes horribly wrong.Another thing, this movie is a family film alright, but only kids will truly appreciate this one.
Your kids will most likely start keeping dream journals and invent characters of a similar calibre to Lavagirl and Sharkboy!
i've seen better family movies, but the kids loved it.
Max is ridiculed by the kids in Mr. Electricidad (George Lopez)'s class for making up stories about Sharkboy (Taylor Lautner) and Lavagirl.
Many things about the movie don't even make sense, like parents are still going to send their kids to school during a tornado?
I don't think it's as awful as some of the people reviewing this movie, but let me just tell you how my kids feel about this film.First of all, being an American in Germany, we cannot just go to Wal Mart and purchase any movie we want at any time.
It also helps to be not over the age of 9.Still bearing that in mind and trying to view the film with a child's eye it's a charming story about a young kid whose make believe fantasy superhero friends come to life and take him to where one of them is from.
Some of the pictures aren't that bad...some are unintentionally funny...some are just terrible....it's quite the adventure seeing which is the case for each film.When I first started watching the movie, I was taken aback by the CGI.
For adults, this alone make the film horrid...though kids often love garish colors (as seen in such movies as "The Oogieloves" and TV shows like "Teletubbies").The story is about a loner, Max, and his two new friends, Sharkboy and Lavagirl, and their attempt to save the world.
I like Robert Rodriguez and thought his first two Spy Kids movies were very enjoyable and while mediocre I actually thought the third Spy Kids film was better than this too.
The 3D didn't seem to work well, the mood was always dark, the effects were elementary, and the plot/acting was just weak (even for a kid's movie!).The child I brought to see this basically wanted to leave within the first 15 minutes, and he completely gave up after an hour.
The Matrix meets Spy Kids when 10 year-old Max (Cayden Boyd) blurs the lines between the dream world and the real world in The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl in 3-D.
Though his 7 year-old son, Racer Rodriguez, technically came up with the story and characters in the film, Sharkboy & Lavagirl is clearly a metaphor for writer/director Robert Rodriguez and his philosophy on life.
This movie, on the other hand, shows how much Rodriguez loves and honors his kids, and respects the imagination of all children.Besides the great message of this movie, it's also a blast to watch!
Every 5-year -old has seen love in every other movie they've ever seen.And plus, "from the director of SPY KIDS?" Doesn't that mean you should avoid at all costs?.
I've seen lots of trash created for kids to watch and I think this movie is a lot better than many of them. |
tt1821549 | Nebraska | An old man walks along the snowy roads of Billings, Montana. A police officer stops him. The man seems aimless.David picks up the old man, his father Woody, at the police station. Woody explains that he was walking to Lincoln, Nebraska, to collect a million dollars he won in a mail order sweepstakes. David explains that these sweepstakes are scams, but Woody says this one must be genuine.When they arrive at Woody's house, his wife Kate scolds him for believing in the contest.David, who sells stereo equipment at a local store, later comes back to his parents' house because his mother and older brother Ross are distressed that Woody has again wondered off on a long walk. Ross tries to convince David that Woody needs to be put in a nursing home, and David thinks he just needs more family support.David's ex-girlfriend stops by his apartment to drop off a few things. He asks her to move back in, but she is frustrated by his lack of direction in their relationship.Kate calls David to go searching for Woody, who is again out walking the streets of Billings. They argue, and Woody asks David to drive him to Nebraska.Kate yells at David for planning to go through with this plan.David and Woody drive southeast into Wyoming. While David gets gas at a stop, Woody wonders off to a bar. David finds him and chastises him for drinking.David and Woody drive further into South Dakota, where David suggests they stop to see Mount Rushmore. Woody stands and looks at the monument, but he is unimpressed.They stop that night at a motel. Woody goes out and comes back drunk. He falls, revealing a wound in his forehead.David takes Woody to a hospital for stitches. Woody realizes he lost his false teeth. The doctor tells him he needs a few days to rest and be monitored.David tells Woody that they can stay in Hawthorne with Uncle Ray and Aunt Martha. Woody does not want to go.David and Woody find his false teeth along some railroad tracks where he fell the night before. They joke about whether they are his real teeth.They make it to Hawthone, Nebraska, Woody's hometown, with a population of 1,358. They have not been there in a few decades. Aunt Martha is welcoming, but Woody's brother Ray and his two degenerate sons, Bart and Cole, are not very excited to see them. David discusses driving distances and travel times with Bart and Cole.They all make small talk and watch television.David walks into the dying downtown with Woody. They stop at a garage that Woody used to own, but he does not know the current workers. They go to a bar, where Woody has a beer and David complains about his drinking, saying he has tried to give it up himself. David relents and has a few beers with Woody as more customers come in.David tells Woody that he broke up with his girlfriend. David asks his father about his marriage, and Woody has little to say. David complains more about Woody's drinking, and Woody defends himself, getting angry and walking out.Woody sees another bar and David follows him in. They meet Ed, a gregarious man whom Woody claims stole his air compressor years ago. David warns Woody to not mention the sweepstakes to Ed and the guys, but he promptly does anyway. Ed and the guys tell Woody he is buying the next round of drinks.They drive home, and Woody boasts about how impressed the guys were.The two have breakfast with the family the next morning, and they have heard about the sweepstakes. David tries to dispel the rumor, but they still assume it is true.Kate arrives by bus and scolds David and Woody for their misadventure.The three go out to a cemetery and look at grave markers. Kate tells many critical stories about dead family members. She comes across the grave of an old suitor, pulls up her skirt, and shows him what he could have had.A boy from the local newspaper comes by to take Woody's photograph for a news story.David goes to the newspaper office to explain to the editor that Woody did not actually win any sweepstakes. She happens to be Woody's ex-girlfriend from their youth, and chats up David, allowing him to look in a very old edition about his dad's service in the Korean War. She says she'll just write a simple story about Woody and Kate visiting town.David goes to dinner with Woody and Kate, where they see Ed singing karaoke. Ed calls out to Woody to stand up, and the whole restaurant applauds. Later Ed approaches David in the bathroom and makes it clear that he expects to be repaid for money he loaned Woody years earlier. David insists that Woody did not win any money, but Ed does not believe him.Some of Woody's many brothers come over to visit the next day and watch football. Ross arrives, and everyone has dinner. Ross and Kate try to dispel the rumor that Woody won a million dollars. Woody says that all he wants is a new truck and an air compressor.An aunt and cousin approach David and Ross to ask for money that they loaned to Woody over the years, then Cole and Bart join in. Ross once again tries to explain that Woody did not win any money, and the cousins begin fighting. Kate walks out and tells them off.David and Ross drive their parents out to the old family homestead, which is an abandoned house on a barren farm. They walk around the empty rooms, and Woody recalls growing up there.As they drive outside of town, Kate says she sees Ed's house. David and Ross get the idea of looking in his barn and taking back Woody's compressor. After they load the compressor in the car, Woody tells them they went to the wrong house, so they take it back. Just then, as David and Ross hide in their barn, the homeowners show up, surprised to find Woody and Kate. They make small talk, and Kate drives away, leaving their sons to chase after them on foot.David and Woody go to a bar in town. Ed confronts Woody and asks him to pay back $10,000. Woody says he does not have the money yet, and Ed tells the story of when Woody wanted to leave Kate early in their marriage.Cole and Bart, poorly disguised, mug David and Woody outside the bar, stealing Woody's sweepstakes letter. David confronts them back at the house, and they say they threw it away when they realized it was bogus.David tries to make Woody feel better by looking for the letter back in town. They go into the bar and find Ed reading the sweepstakes letter to a small crowd, with everyone laughing. Woody takes the letter back from Ed, who realizes that Woody believes it. Before he leaves, David slugs Ed in the face.David finds Woody outside, dizzy and having breathing trouble. David tells him they are not going on to Lincoln. Woody says he just wanted the money for a new pickup truck, and to leave something for his sons. David drives Woody to the hospital after he faints.Ross and Kate meet David at the hospital, who tells them Woody will be kept overnight. Ross says he will drive Kate home in the morning. David spends the night in Woody's hospital room.David wakes up to find Woody missing, then discovers him walking along the road outside the hospital. He picks him up, and the two drive on to Lincoln.They make their way to the nondescript marketing office for the sweepstakes, where a secretary informs them that Woody does not have a winning number. She offers Woody a complementary hat. David asks the secretary if this happens a lot, and she says usually with older people.She asks David, "Does he have Alzheimer's?" David replies, "He just believes stuff that people tell him." She responds, "Oh, that's too bad."David stops at a car dealer on the way out of town and trades in his car for a pickup truck. Then he drives Woody to a store and buys him a new air compressor.On the way back west, they drive into Hawthorne. David stops in the middle of the main street and tells his dad to drive the truck, which he has put in his name. Woody drives through the dying downtown, and tells David to hide. He sees an old friend, and Ed with a welt on his face, as well as his old girlfriend from the newspaper. He drives past his brother Albert and waves.On the edge of town, Woody gets out of the truck and lets David continue driving them westward. | entertaining | train | imdb | He doesn't miss a note.Nebraska is the story of a family of usual dysfunctionals living where else but Nebraska - a quiet, distant father with a little dementia, Woody (Bruce Dern), his two sons, David and Ross (Will Forte and Bob Odenkirk), and their perpetually complaining mother Kate (June Squibb).
Woody runs into his old partner, Ed (Stacy Keach), and as word spreads that Woody is going to be a millionaire, everybody wants a piece of him, including Ed, who says Woody owes him quite a bit.This is really a character-driven film, with some of the most vibrant, fleshed-out characters ever on screen and some of the starkest landscapes, filmed in black and white, and giving the viewer the feeling of what it's like to live among miles and miles of farmland interspersed with small towns.Bruce Dern gives an Oscar-worthy performance as a lifelong alcoholic who has escaped inside himself, a man out of touch and seemingly untouched by any events around him.
As the outspoken Kate, June Squibb is absolutely hilarious - always yelling at Woody, threatening to put him in a home, complaining about him, but just don't let anybody take advantage of him, or you'll have to deal with her.The sons mirror their parents, with David quiet and thoughtful but trying to bond with his father, and Ross, more confident and less sympathetic.In learning about his father's background, in talking with his old girlfriend (Angela McEwan) David begins to see the man that his father once was and what shaped him.
" Nebraska " is :1- Heart-breaking , how and when: you don't get to know , it just breaks your heart in many moments and also along the general themes .2- Very thought-provoking , especially if you're in your 20s or 30s .3- Too deep without even getting near to being complicated and with very little dialogue .4- Too realistic and too believable , although unpredictable in the least sense with top-notch performances , mainly Bruce Dern who completely swept me off my feet and is too absorbing , thanks to Director Alexander Payne .One of the best movies I've ever seen , thought about and deeply felt .
But when people in Woody's hometown get wind of this, along with distant family members that maybe should've remained distant, Woody now owes everyone money and a favor.Director Alexander Payne and writer Bob Nelson work wonderfully with Nebraska, especially Nelson, who is sure to paint the characters as realistic as they are relatable to the audiences.
A key scene comes when Woody, Kate, and David are visiting the gravesites of Woody's family members and for every person buried six feet under, Kate has a smarmy remark for them.It's all the more surprising to note that Will Forte, usually known for playing characters in goofball comedies, does tremendous work in a serious, darkly funny, but also depressing drama film.
"Nebraska" is a humorous and heart-rendering story of family, but it also sheds a light onto the people of America's heartland, and our countries economic, moral, and cultural decline."Nebraska" starts as a road movie, with a father and son traveling from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska.
En route, they stop for the weekend in Hawthorne, Dern's hometown, where they're joined by his wife (June Squibb), and his other son (Bob Odenkirk) amidst your stereotypical Midwestern relatives and friends, all of whom are extremely interested to learn that there's now a millionaire before them.The central relationship between Dern's stubbornly gullible dad and Forte's passively irritated son gradually deepens as the movie makes its way through middle America.
The film tells the story of an aging and ailing Woody (Dern) and his son David (Forte) as they venture off from Montana to Nebraska to collect a million dollar prize that Woody believes he has won.I've long thought that Alexander Payne was one of the more overrated writer/directors working today.
Say hello to one of your Supporting Actress nominees.Other supporting players giving their all is Stacy Keach playing a sleazy old friend of Woody's and Bob Odenkirk as David's brother Ross, who bounces well off comedian Forte in some of the film's best scenes.One aspect that I fell in love with was the score of Mark Orton is musical accompaniment lands precisely with every bar and in every scene.
"Nebraska" stars Bruce Dern playing Woody Grant, a 77-year-old man living in Billings, Montana who believes he's won a million dollars from a publisher's sweepstakes just because he received a craftily worded sales letter from the company.
Events along the way take both Woody and David to Woody's tiny fictional hometown in northeast Nebraska where Woody's past awaits.And there you have the setup for another of director Alexander Payne's wonderful road-trip comedies, cast from precisely the same mold as "About Schmidt" and "Sideways." This movie takes us through Woody's long past so that the present can seen with sharper focus.
This is the melancholic setting of Alexander Payne's new film Nebraska, a sad yet endearing road trip film that becomes a sort of modern Don Quixote influenced story where a regret filled, dementia gaining father resembling the infamous dreamer Quixote resiliently chases the remnants of a thin dream accompanied by his affably neutered son serving as the loyal Sancho Panza.
Nebraska clearly resembles previous films that have captured the distinct American spirit and eccentric characters of the parched Midwest, including Peter Bogdonovich's The Last Picture Show and David Lynch's oddly accessible The Straight Story, but remains uniquely an Alexander Payne film containing his penchant for mixing whimsically dry humor with poignant humanity.
At the center of Payne's film is an astonishingly subtle performance from experienced acting veteran Bruce Dern whose stern blankness and aging dementia makes for an intriguing parallel to the derelict environments throughout the Midwest setting which is captured brilliantly through cinematographer Phedon Papamichael's poetic black & white imagery.
While Nebraska might be an engaging, humorous, and sweet amalgamation of Payne's previous works where the road trip element of Sideways meets the intimate family dynamic of The Descendants it's definitely a transition film for the quirky storyteller as it embraces a far more poetic and humanist side to the director's incredibly heartfelt style of filmmaking.
A deeply moving examination of the life issues we all must face, Nebraska is an absolute treasure of a film.Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is a simple man who listens to his wife and is trusting to a fault.
David Grant (Will Forte), Woody's son, knows the letter is a scam, and his father hasn't won any money, yet, feels compelled to take time off work from his job as an electronics salesman to drive his elderly father on his quest.
you can note the writer (Bob Nelson) superiority in making the characters and screenplay that makes you feel such a strange feeling when you watching the movie, as the whole cast are old-people except 4 or 5 characters in the whole movie, also the director (Alexander Payne) has made a great job to introduce to us such a great movie by choosing Black&White scenes, which can make you feel and touch lives of the old- people.Here we have the great actor (Bruce Dern) who outperformed his role as (Woody Grant), he is one of the most powerful Oscar nominees and he deserve to get it, we also have (Will Forte) as (David Grant) he played his role very well, and (June Squibb) as (Kate Grant) "Woody's wife" and she performed such an amazing role.It's An amazing story tells us how to respect anybody else's thoughts, even if that doesn't make sense to us, and it's a different cinematic trial which is made me amused.
Nebraska, an uplifting, heartbreaking treatise on love and family, is perhaps his finest yet: a sweet, tart, perfectly-measured balance between the comedy and tragedy of life and old age.Convinced that he's won a million dollars in a dubious mail-order sweepstakes, Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) resolves to travel from Montana to Nebraska to claim his prize.
As Kate fusses around Woody, casually insulting him in an almost shocking fashion, it's easy to see the years of love, frustration and life they share.Dern has been rightfully lauded for his turn as Woody: he drifts through the film, trailing a shock of unruly white hair and a puzzling determination to get to Nebraska come hell or high water.
And it really feels like a first-time script, with it not being concerned with genuine, natural feeling plot of character development, sticking to a trite formula that makes the viewer FEEL like they're watching a movie, which is not a good thing.The story ends well, but the last 10 minutes' payoff was not worth the excruciatingly slow and painful dialogue and "plot" that precedes it.
But its beautiful and I love the way Payne tells the heart warming story of an old man and his son and the son fulfilling a crazy desire of his father.The movie captures the emotions of people and beautifully tells us how people change when they see the need in us.Burce Dern is fantastic as the old man running after something which doesn't exist.
And while there are some bright spots in this father/son road trip movie that range from touching to smirk-inducing, there isn't enough here to allow "Nebraska" to come off as anything more than a minor disappointment.Synopsis: A half-senile old man looking for something to live for, attempts to convince his son and others that he has won a million dollars in a sweepstakes and must travel to Nebraska to claim it.
Finally, Bob Odenkirk better known as Saul from Breaking Bad plays a good performance as David's little brother, Ross.Overall, Nebraska is a poignant film about the bonding of father and son and shows this can happen at any age.
He learns from his mother that his father was on his way to Lincoln, Nebraska (Woody lives in Montana) to pick up a million dollars he believes he has won in a junk mail sales scam.
In his stubbornness, Woody convinces David to drive him to Lincoln, and David, having lived most of his life in the shadow of his small-town news anchor brother Ross (Bob Odenkirk), sees a chance to spend some time with the father he doesn't really know.Like most Payne efforts, Nebraska is low on plot but high on humanity.
Woody says "I figured, what the hell," and when David asks him if he was ever sorry he married her, he replies "all the time." It's a desperately sad and honest portrayal of a man helpless in his regret.Yet, like most of Payne's films, Nebraska is also very funny.
Though the entire cast gives great performances, the standouts were Bruce Dern (who got a well-deserved win at Cannes last year), Will Forte and (to my surprise, although I didn't have any expectations going in) June Squibb as Woody's long-suffering wife.
Written by Bob Nelson & directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways & The Descendants), Nebraska is the story of an aging, alcoholic father named Woody who takes a road-trip from Montana to Nebraska with his son, David, to collect a million dollar prize he thinks he won.
The music has a country feel & some tracks are just heartwarming.Coming to the acting department, Bruce Dern delivers a swashbuckling performance as Woody Grant; a slightly demented father who is hellbent on going to Nebraska & as the story progresses we get to see a tragic side of this old man too.
The best thing about this film is definitely its performances spearheaded by Bruce Dern & greatly supported by Forte & Squibb and hilariously explores the relationship between an estranged father & confused son whose once stale relationship finds a new life on a pointless road-trip to Nebraska.
The film is also quite emotionally intense at times, due to the simple premise leading to a lot of complicated conflicts-and the ending, which I will not spoil, is surprisingly heartwarming and satisfying.Bruce Dern is simply fantastic in this movie, playing a confused old klutz that receives a letter claiming that he has won a million dollars.
As Woody says, "Just wanted to leave you something...." So true, so true.Brilliant casting - Dern, Stacy Keach, Rance Howard, June Squibb, Will Forte et al - the crew, writer Bob Nelson and director Alexander Payne have created a gem - not to be missed..
It's all tinged with sadness, but also with goodness, and the experience is warm and if not quite dull, at least considering it.The two leading men are terrific: Bruce Dern as the father with just enough alertness and physical strength to want to collect the million dollars he things he won from a publisher's scam, and Will Forte as his son, who is the one family member left with some patience for the dad.
As for me and my lovely wife, we both had a very nice time watching this strange slice of life film.Bruce Dern plays Woody Grant--a somewhat confused old man who insists he's won a million dollars from a Publisher's Clearinghouse type of giveaway.
Bruce Dern will probably not win an Oscar as this film is too sentimental but both he and all the other actors including his 'wife' June Squibb and his son Will Forte especially and (better call Saul!) Bob Odenkirk are amazing.
An aging, booze-addled father (Bruce Dern) makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son (Will Forte) in order to claim a million-dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize.This film has been also nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Alexander Payne, Best Actor for Dern, Best Supporting Actress for June Squibb, and Best Original Screenplay.
From the beautiful black and white photography, to performances from Bruce Dern, Will Forte, Stacy Keach and Bob Odenkirk to a touching story told in a way totally avoiding the usual cliches of family dramas.
the cast is Bruce Dern this very well in the film, Will Forte is an actor of comedy, more can very well make dramatic scenes June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk, Stacy Keach, Rance Howard, etc., the direction is Alexander Payne who made the Descendants, which is very good, I cool the film is black and white, it's a good atmosphere for the film, the photography is excellent, but I found the script a little scuffed, even though competent, has some silly mistakes I found the film a little longer than it should, in my opinion one hour and a half was more than enough, two hours was a bit tiring, even hitting making brief explanations, Nebraska is a recommendable film, has good, even in my opinion being longer than it should.
Woody's son David (Will Forte) is compelled to join his father in his journey, to both watch after the old man's increasingly errant behavior and spend some time with him in what could be one of their last ventures beyond the town's borders.Bruce Dern is the unquestioned star of Nebraska in his understated portrayal of a man from a bygone era.
The witty dialog, the realism, the diverse characters, and the touching story, as well as the superb acting by the entire cast, including Oscar-nominees Bruce Dern and June Squibb for their roles here and Will Forte playing a non-comedic role, push this film beyond anyone's expectations.
Dig a little deeper and we find a fascinating and subtle commentary on the undercurrent of economic struggles sweeping across small-town America and yet, at its center, Nebraska is a sweet, hopeful, heart-warming film.The story follows thirty-something year old David, working in a local electrics store, going through some sort of break up; and his Father Woody, a doddery alcoholic who begins to lose his grip on reality when he swallows a scam telling him he's won a million dollars.
Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is an elderly man with the beginnings of dementia who receives a Sweepstakes Letter that he believes entitles him to a million dollars if he can get it to Lincoln Nebraska in time.
He is so insistent that he has won, despite the pleas of others that it is a scam, that his son David (Will Forte) decides to drive him all the way to Lincoln so that he will know once and for all that it is not in fact a winning ticket.During the trip we meet many of Woody's family and old friends, and David hears many stories of his father's past.
In Nebraska, he takes a gem of a screenplay by Bob Nelson about a fateful road trip and elicits strong performances from a terrific cast.An elderly man, Woody Grant (Bruce Dern), is determined to travel cross country from Billings, Montana, to Lincoln, Nebraska, to claim a million dollar prize despite the objections of his wife Kate (June Squibb) and skeptical son, David (Will Forte).
He portrays excellence by choosing his hometown Nebraska as the center of the film.Nebraska tells the story of old-aged, alcoholic suffering from dementia who travels with his son on a road trip from Montana to Nebraska to claim a million dollar prize.It is always a pleasure to watch Alexander Payne's film ( Sideways, The Descendants )as he has mastered the effective introduction of each character as the movie progress.
Despite his younger son David (Will Forte) knowing it is scam agrees to take his father from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska, visiting Woody's old home town and send time with his family.Nebraska is brilliantly acted film, particularly from Dern who is deserving of his Oscar nomination, being believable as a man who is no longer quite with it and becomes more sympathetic during the course of the film.
To collect his winnings, he is walking to Lincoln, Nebraska, telling his son David (Will Forte), that he's not "trusting the mail with one million dollars!" Filmed in black and white and set to a "down-home" guitar score by Mark Orton, Woody seems to parallel the director's experience with his own father. |
tt0025316 | It Happened One Night | It Happened One Night begins with a rich heiress named Ellie Andrews sequestered by her father on his yacht, disapproving of her marriage to a famous aviator named King Westley. After an argument, she escapes the yacht and swims away. She buys a bus ticket to travel back to New York to her husband, where she meets an out of work reporter named Peter Warne. Eventually he finds out her true identity from a newspaper article about her escape. He offers to help her get to her destination in exchange for exclusive rights to her story, and secures her cooperation by threatening to turn her in to her father if she does not agree.
Andrews and Warne share hotel rooms on their trip, pretending to be husband and wife to keep from arousing suspicion. Because she is a married woman, they put up a blanket as a barrier, with Warne referring to it as the walls of Jericho. One of the other bus passengers recognizes Andrews from an article offering a $10,000 reward for her return. While the bus is stranded in mud, the passenger offers to split the money with Warne if he helps him turn in Andrews. Warne scares the passenger away by implying that hes a professional criminal looking for $1,000,000 in ransom money and then threatens to shoot him when he becomes frightened. Warne and Andrews then leave the bus to hitchhike in case the other passenger decides to turn them in to the police.
After they spend the night sleeping in hay, Andrews gets a driver to stop by flashing one of her legs, who turns out to be a robber who drives off with their possessions. After chasing after him, Warne inexplicably returns with a bloody temple and the mans car. In the meantime, the father reluctantly agrees to allow the marriage to the aviator if his daughter returns. While spending another night in a blanket-partitioned hotel room, Andrews throws herself at Warne and proposes that they both be together. Warne seemingly rejects her and after she falls asleep he drives back to New York in the middle of the night. He sells his story about his love and potential marriage to Andrews to his old boss for $1000, so as not to propose to her while broke. Meanwhile, the suspicious manager of the hotel kicks out Andrews when she finds out that Warne has left.
Thinking that Warne hates her, Andrews phones her father in order to turn herself in. Her father picks her up with a police escort while Warne is returning just in time to see them drive by. Angry with her, Warne contacts the father about reward money. He agrees to go to their home while a real marriage ceremony for Andrews and the aviator is to take place. He only comes to collect $39.60 for his expenses and not the full $10,000 and admits to the father that he loves his daughter. The father starts to like Warne and during the ceremony manages to convince his daughter that Warne really loves her and that she should leave the aviator. Andrews runs away during the ceremony, her father pays off the aviator to annul the wedding, and she eventually marries the reporter. The film ends in a hotel room with the "walls of Jericho" coming down. | romantic, comedy | train | imdb | But in doing what he did for Clark Gable's character, Capra created a whole new type of screen comedy, the classic screwball comedy and It Happened One Night surely set the mold.Capra's autobiography told the story of the making of It Happened One Night which in itself could be a movie.
It Happened One Night directed by Frank Capra was made and released in 1934 by Columbia Pictures as a small budget film that was not expected to do well at the box office.
Claudette Colbert is seen in a close up of softer light to emphasize Clark Gable's character seeing her in a `different light.' In this romantic comedy Capra not only showed new styles and techniques but also addressed social issues of the time.
We follow the story of spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert), who jumps ship from her father's yacht (literally!) in Florida after an argument with said father (played by Walter Connolly) over her marrying wealthy playboy King Westley (Jameson Thomas) without her father's consent.
Technically, it was well-made for it's time.IHON won 5 Oscars- Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Capra), Best Actress and Best Actor for Colbert and Gable and Best Adaptation.
It wasn't until I actually looked into the film when I in fact realized I hadn't.The first film to sweep the major categories in an Oscar ceremony, It Happened One Night spins the story of a young spoiled heiress (Colbert) who marries a shallow, yet dashing aviator.
Of course, there were certain moments that were hilarious and overdone (the scene when Gable and Colbert pose as husband and wife to share a cabin for the night is absolutely rich) but the majority of the remaining film is clever romantic comedy with fairly even performances by the principles.
The set up is that Ellie (Claudette Colbert) is a rich, spoiled, independent woman who is running away from her father (in Florida) to join her husband (not quite a complete marriage) in New York City.
The main reason "It Happened One Night" worked then and still works today is the accidental pairing of Colbert and Gable, who provide an amazing chemistry under Frank Capra's direction.
The romance of a cynical reporter with a spoiled young woman is very funny despite being naive and dated, with witty dialogs, and the chemistry between Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable is marvelous.
Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are great together as they match wits and display warm chemistry.'It Happened One Night' has become an instant favourite, one that I definitely plan to revisit..
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Columbia, 1934), directed by Frank Capra, based on a short story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams, ranks one of the best known and popular romantic comedies from the 1930s, thanks to the star chemistry of Clark Gable (on loan from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) and Claudette Colbert (on loan from Paramount), with fine direction by Frank Capra, witty screenplay by Robert Risken, and for being the very first motion picture to win all five major Academy Awards, including Best Actor (Gable); Best Actress (Colbert); Best Director (Capra); Best Screenplay and Best Picture.
This might have been an "upset" in 1934, considering other top-rated films and performances of the year, but who would have imagined IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT to still be as entertaining today as it was back in 1934?This now well-known plot that's been remade twice by Columbia as EVE KNEW HER APPLES (1945) with Ann Miller and William Wright; and YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM IT (1956) with June Allyson and Jack Lemmon, opens in a yacht in Miami where Ellen "Ellie" Andrews (Claudette Colbert), spoiled daughter of a millionaire Wall Street banker, Alexander Andrews (Walter Connolly), who disapproves of her recent marriage to aviator King Westley (Jameson Thomas), making arrangements on having it annulled.
Hours before reaching New York and taking a rest stop in an auto camp, misunderstandings occur as Ellen awakens to find both Peter and the car gone.A simple story playing like an overlong "B" movie, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is a memorable bus trip of so many classic scenes that have been imitated by others but never duplicated.
Highlights include the "Walls of Jericho" where Peter and Ellen share a room in auto camps where a blanket is tossed over a rope that separates the couple as they sleep for the night; Peter demonstrating to Ellen on how a man undresses, particularly one in which he removes his shirt to no undershirt underneath; Peter's correct method of dunking a dough-nut into a cup of coffee; and the classic hitchhiking scene where Peter fails to attract cars while Ellen comes up with a method all her own.Although IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is essentially a Claudette Colbert movie from start to finish (there's no secondary female character, quite rare for its time).
A spoiled heiress (Claudette Colbert), running away from her family, is helped by a man (Clark Gable) who is actually a reporter looking for a story.In this film "a pampered socialite tries to get out from under her father's thumb, and falls in love with a roguish reporter", which, you know, is something that happens when spoiled daughters discover that they want to live like common people and do what common people do (like go to supermarkets).The film was the first to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay), a feat that would not be matched until "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and later by "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991).
besides, it is Clark Gable and Frank Capra.So, this might not be as outright funny as other films, and even as far as screwball comedies go, it sort of lags behind "The Awful Truth" with Cary Grant.
I was neither a Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert or a Frank Capra fan before I saw this road movie, which won 5 Oscars, but after I did I became of fan of them for life!
The story of the movie is very interesting and the comic attribute added by both Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert is sufficed to make anyone laugh.
"It Happened One Night" is a fine example of a quality screenplay, some good luck and a lot of chemistry, all coming together, producing an enduring and enjoyable comedy classic.Clark Gable comes across as completely natural and very entertaining.
For Gable, that meant macho romantic leading action man.To me, "It Happened One Night" is the best ever romantic comedy film, a gold standard for it's genre.
It's a very static made film, as if it was just a job that had to be done and no real passion was thrown into it.As could be expected, the acting is still great though, from Clark Gable and the much more unknown Claudette Colbert.
Having the great pair of Gable and Colbert, and Capra as the director lifts this film to the heavens of classic cinema.
Despite the clever set-up, I found the story and the main characters hard to take after the first 20 minutes.Director Frank Capra gets more out of ambiance here, and some fantastic visual language, like the way the rain falls outside the windows of a cabin where Ellie and Peter are holed up.
The worst part comes near the end, when he abruptly leaves her alone for a night and gets mad when she reacts naturally enough by returning to Pa.There are iconic moments in the film, like when she shows him up as the better hitchhiker, and when she is clearly affected by the sight of Peter without a shirt on, but what "It Happened" lacks are the smaller moments that pull you in without feeling manipulated.
You have to love the bit parts of Alan Hale Sr as the singing driver, Roscoe Karnes as the 'Shapely' guy on the bus(his name and....), the 'brawling couple' stuff, and as always, the 'Walls of Jericho'.I always enjoy the great b & w look, the heart that Capra gives us with the snap, and of course Claudette Colbert, Gable never better.It won a lot of Oscars, it deserved them.**** outta ****.
Since I had recently seen Capra's marvelous It Happened one Night I was reminded of the moment towards the end of the picture in which Claudette Colbert declares her love for Clark Gable.I was trying to understand the thought processes of Gable as he lies quietly, but obviously engrossed in his own mental meanderings.
Best Actress (Claudette Colbert) Best Actor (Clark Gable) Best Director (Frank Capra) and, of course, BEST PICTURE!!
Then, with bad news behind them, they'd tuck into a masterpiece of comic fluff titled `It Happened One Night.' Director Frank Capra's movie practically invented screwball comedy, movies that helped America take its mind off the ongoing worldwide economic depression.
The film won best picture, Capra best director, Gable best actor, and Colbert best actress.
only One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Silence of the Lambs have equaled that.After 70 years, it's charm still holds up and Director Frank Capra isn't guilty of manipulating the audience into sappiness...which he would do from time to time in later projects.He and screenwriter ( Robert Riskin) pit two opposites: gruff, cocksure and seemingly untrustworthy newspaper reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable); with cultured, rich, naive, sheltered American Princess Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert).
The Depression, the melding of 2 different classes, which is an American institution...sense of looking out for the other person, they're all here.there's a scene in mid film...on the second bus ride, where Peter gives all his cash to a young boy traveling with his starving mom to meet his father...that is Capra at his best.
Movie Review: "It Happened One Night" (1934)At the evening Acdemy-Award ceremony of Wednesday, February 27th 1937 at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, California founded in 1923 comes along the first Hollywood motion picture able to prevail at today's standards in speed, screwball wits, action as comedic beats by the minute, which only flaw has become not being in splendid "technicolor" receptions; nevertheless to stay relevant to this day as one of U.S. American motion picture milestones, if not to say the "Best Picture" of decade 1930s in favor of world-war-traumatized generation, when Hollywood under the ingenius direction of Frank Capra (1897-1991), pulling all the strings with privately "high-rise" as Columbia Pictures exclusive-contracted actress Claudette Colbert (1903-1996) playing richman's daughter Ellie in utmost spoiled brat supremes, who becomes the infamous often copied hardly reached character of a runaway bride, when also Academy-Award-winning actor Clark Gable (1901-1960) as Peter, the hungry New York journalist out for another hit story is stealing this high-end Hollywood showcase running with a "Clean-Sweep" whole circle win concerning five Academy-Award nominations equaled by five Oscars trophies, including for both leading actors, director Frank Capra and the production fully ingnited by Hollywood major Columbia Pictures (founded in 1918); in occasion only matched two times after in "Oscar" history concerning the four major catogories by independently-produced "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" starring Jack Nicholson & Louis Fletcher directed by Milos Forman und Orion Pictures co-financed successor to Michael Mann's "Manhunter" (1986) "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991) starring Jodie Foster and Sir Anthony Hopkins directed by Jonathan Demme (1944-2017).© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend
The first film to win the 5 major Oscars, 'Happened' stars the legendary Clark Gable as he accompanies a spoiled girl from Miami to New York, played by Claudette Colbert.
On her way on the bus, she meets a reporter (Clark Gable) on the look for a story, and who will challenge her attitude with his charms for an exciting cross-country tour.Frank Capra's direction of this film is typical of the instanses, where a great director is working from a great script - here from Robert Riskin.
(And, boy, did she ever have it coming to her!) I can't begin to tell you how much I wished that this royal, high'n'mighty bitch had gotten her over-lacquered face slapped a few more times, but, of course, it never happened.Over the years I have heard (time & again) people literally falling all over themselves, raving away to me about "It Happened One Night" (IHON) being the ultimate "be-all-and-end-all" of Hollywood, screwball comedies.Well, I must say, that after giving IHON a fair enough view, I couldn't believe how petty, small and downright trivial its sappy story was.Not only was there absolutely no on-screen chemistry, whatsoever, taking place between IHON's 2 co-stars (Clark Gable & Claudette Colbert), but, I thought that Colbert's character (Ellie Andrews) was positively despicable and I couldn't have given a wet fart about her "poor-little-rich-girl" problems.And, not only that, but, Colbert (who was 31 at the time) was clearly way too old to be playing this part which would have been more suited for a younger woman of about 20.I am absolutely shocked out of my socks that this trite, little, nothing-of-a-movie actually swept the 1935 Oscar presentations by scoring for itself 5 of its prized awards in all of the top categories of "Picture", "Actor", "Actress", "Director" & "Screenplay".Back in "Depression Era" America IHON might have thrilled and delighted its audiences to literal pieces, but, today, 80 years later, its apparent charm & appeal (which doesn't hold up very well) got completely lost on this here viewer.All that IHON came across as being was just a completely contrived, clichéd and predictable story whose attempt at cuteness and coyness left me utterly unmoved.From my point of view, this rather flat and tired "Boy-Meets-Girl" Comedy/Romance was, at best, only mediocre entertainment..
Frank Capra directs Clark Gable & Claudette Colbert, who star in this Academy Award winning(Best Picture, director, actor, actress, screenplay) comedy as Gable plays reporter Peter Warne, who stumbles onto a huge story when he discovers that runaway heiress bride Ellie Andrews is on a bus, and trying to conceal her identity.
She agrees, and so begins a road picture, as they later leave the bus and are forced to walk and hitchhike, until he can get her back home, assuming they don't fall in love of course...Hilarious comedy with two lead characters you like and care about, and many memorable scenes.
That aspect alone helps me to understand how and why this movie took Hollywood by storm that year and swept through the academy awards.Clark Gable is fantastic as a newspaper reporter who has a great story drop right in his lap when he gets on a bus with runaway heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert.) From the moment Gable appears on film, (calling his boss from a pay phone while he's drunk), every scene from then on is a classic to this viewer.
While this is definitely not my type of movie I had a great time watching Frank Capra's 1934 "It Happened One Night." The pace and timing throughout this movie is impeccable and I really enjoyed Claudette Colbert's role as the wealthy heiress trying to escape her father's wrath and find true love.
"It Happened One Night" is a hilarious and heartwarming romantic comedy about a young newlywed (Oscar-winner Claudette Colbert) who has been forced onto her rich father's (Walter Connolly) yacht after he annuls the marriage.
Every time I watched the movie , I understand what Clark gable was thinking , and I understand how Claudette Colbert could fall in live with him.
Peter and Ellie can't stand one another but he agrees to help her reach New York in exchange for an exclusive story.Frank Capra ended up winning Best Director and the picture ending up nabbing all the major awards, which was the first time this had ever been done and it wouldn't happen again until ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST did it fifty years later.
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is a film that has been copies dozens if not hundreds of times over the years so it's easy to look at it and not see anything original but in 1934 this here was original material and it's easy to see why it was a box office hit and walked away with so many Oscars.It's funny to think that Columbia approached this as a "B" movie but it shows what a great director can do with a good story and a wonderful cast.
This "classic" movie, starring Clark Gable, and Claudette Colbert and directed by Frank Capra, doesn't REALLY stand up the test of time very well.
Dialogue is incredibly fresh and snappy and even the romantic side is not straightforward, keeping the schmaltz to a minimum and taking some unpredictable twists and turns.The great direction by Capra and the solid script are aided by wonderful performances from Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in the lead roles.
Dialogue is incredibly fresh and snappy and even the romantic side is not straightforward, keeping the schmaltz to a minimum and taking some unpredictable twists and turns.The great direction by Capra and the solid script are aided by wonderful performances from Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in the lead roles.
Director Frank Capra, helped in no small part by the performances of his two great stars, produced a film which not only was a classic in its time but which still stands up today all these decades later..
The 1934 American film, "It happened one night" directed by Frank Capra, is a perfect example of a screw-ball comedy.
Starring such actors as Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, and Walter Conelly, this was the first film to ever win all five major Academy Awards(Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay).
Frank Capra's It Happened One Night was a film I saw a few years ago, first and only time (though there will be other viewings to come), and it's never left me.
Trust me -- It's that good!).The first film to win Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay, "It Happened One Night" is a heartwarming, charming, hilarious movie that I would recommend for any couple (young or old) to see. |
tt0061582 | Django spara per primo | At the start of the film, "Django" meets up with a bounty hunter who happens to be taking the body of Django's dead father to town for a $5000 bounty. Django kills the bounty killer and then decides to bury the bounty hunter instead of his father. He then takes his father's body into town for the money.The rich town banker, Kluster, cautiously gives Django the bounty money but tells him that he must leave town immediately. However, as he tries to leave, thugs attack Django. There is some fist-fighting and gun play but, of course, our hero wins. Afterward, a local character tells Django that he actually owns half the town since his father was partners with Kluster; that is why the banker wanted him to leave town so quickly.Django goes to the saloon with local guy and makes friends with the woman who runs the saloon with her young brother. Soon afterward the banker's thugs come to the saloon to collect that day's money. A bar room brawl ensues with Django getting help from a mysterious gentleman who is staying in town.The next day Django goes to Kluster and tells him that he wants his share of the money. After he leaves, the banker and his wife tell the thug leader to take care of Django once and for all. So the gang of villains follow Django into hills and ambush him. They injure him when they shoot him in leg. However, he hides in the rocks until night. After dark, he finishes off most of the gang and escapes back to the saloon. However, he kills one of the baddies with his knife which is left behind.The banker Kluster and his henchman devise an evil plan. They kill the bank clerk with Django's knife and "steal" the money from the safe. Kluster tells the sheriff that he was robbed and that it was Django with his knife as proof. The sheriff & a posse approach the saloon and call out for Django to come out & give himself up. However, the posse start shooting him, so he takes cover inside and escapes through basement hatch.The posse chase after Django & follow him back to Kluster's house. In searching the house, the sheriff walks in on the banker's wife in the bathtub. After the sheriff leaves, Django comes out of hiding from bubble bath. The wife tells Django that she is bored with the banker and wants to leave with Django and the money. She tells him where the baddie is hiding with the money.Django and the banker's wife go back to saloon where we learn that the mysterious stranger is the real husband of the banker's wife. He came to town to kill her but couldn't go through with it. Upset, the wife runs off and joins the gang of thugs who have the stolen money. She tells them the lie that Kluster said for them to go to Mexico with the money. Django follows them and cuts them off at the pass. Everyone is killed except the woman whom Django brings back to town with the stolen money. Kluster tells the sheriff that the wife stole money and so she is put in jail.Back at the saloon, Django and friends start a huge bar room brawl with everyone present. The mysterious stranger husband sneaks away and breaks his wife out of jail. However, she tries to double cross him. Of course he expected it, so his gun is not loaded. He tells her not to leave the jailhouse building because Kluster is waiting for her and intends to kill her. She doesn't believe him and leaves. Right outside the door, the banker kills her with a knife.Kluster follows the stranger, who has the money, to the graveyard. There, Django confronts the banker in front of his father's open grave. Django shoots Kluster in self-defense; the banker falls dead into the open grave. Django sneaks back to the saloon and hides the money. He sneaks back into the fight so it looks like he was there the whole time. When the sheriff finds out about the dead wife and the stolen money he assumes Kluster has escaped with the money because he was the only one not there.Django & his new buddy plan on leaving town, but find out that the female saloon keeper has double-crossed him and taken the money. Django goes back to town to marry the woman and run the bank, now getting his full share from his father's partnership. However, a stranger turns up in town claiming to be Kluster's long-lost son. He demands his share of the money. | western, revenge | train | imdb | null |
tt0791071 | Beauty and the Beast | The story begins when an old gentleman, father of five children, finds himself amidst great financial troubles. He had received news of his numerous ships carrying his valuable cargo being caught and destroyed in the China Sea. Finding himself in great debts, the heartbroken old gentleman sees no other option but to sell all of his property and move then with his children to the countryside, where they may begin a new life, without any real luxuries or riches. Though his two spoiled daughters, Alicia and Pauline are not happy with the change, his three other children, the two boys Robert and Nathan and his beautiful daughter Beauty, have an easier time adapting. The old gentleman and his two boys spend their days working outside in the great fields, while Beauty spends her time helping in any way she can, bringing the men their lunch, looking after the farm animals and her two grouchy sisters. One day, a messenger arrives bringing the working men great joy, for one of the old ships had made its way to the harbor in the city, the Golden Swan, and it possibly might be filled with valuable cargo. Excited, the two spoiled girls, Alicia and Pauline start asking for gifts, jewels and dresses, then the man asks of Beauty what she would like for herself and she humbly asks for a small rose. Without wasting any time, the old gentleman says farewell to his children and riding on horseback, makes his long way to the city. In the city, the harbor master takes the old gentleman to inspect the ship which seems to be in very bad shape. The gentleman insists on looking inside the cargo hold where he finds all of his cargo to be trashed, spices, tea and even silk. The harbor master tells the man that the ship too is damaged beyond repair and advices him to sell what is left of it for scrap. The old gentleman, downhearted and depressed, makes his way back to his new home in the country. On his way through the woods however, he loses his way and after a long ride finds a magnificent castle in the midst of the forest he had not even known existed. The old gentleman leads his horse to the castle, where he finds all the doors open. He leaves the horse in a welcoming stable and then walks over to the great dining room, where a delicious meal has been laid out for him. After dinner, the old man finds a comfortable bed and spends the night inside the enchanted castle. When morning arrives, the old gentleman loudly thanks his invisible, yet generous host and prepares to leave, for he realizes his children must be worrying. Remembering the promises made to his daughters, he knows he cannot bring the jewels and dresses Alicia and Pauline had asked for, but the castle gardens have many roses and the man decides to pluck one for Beauty. As soon as said rose is cut, the wind begins blowing hard and the man realizes that something strange is happening. Suddenly, a great, ferocious beast appears and scolds the man for having cut one of the roses he cares for above anything else in the world. The old gentleman tries to explain himself, but the beast simply tells him that he must pay for having cut the rose with his own life. Still, the old gentleman tells the beast about Beauty and about how she had asked for a rose. The beast then tells him that he may return and ask Beauty if she would die in his place and though the old gentleman hesitates, a roar from the beast sends him home again with the threat that if neither of them return, he shall search for them both and kill them.The old man returns to his home bringing great disappointment to both Alicia and Pauline, and sadly gives Beauty the humble rose she had asked for, asking her to cherish the gift that will cost her father his life. Shocked, the five children gather around their father to hear the story of the horrible beast and the price the old man must pay for having cut one of his roses, however, the man does not tell them that Beauty may die in his place if she so chooses. The next day, the old man prepares to leave for the castle again, saying one last farewell to his children. His sons, Robert and Nathan insist on going with him, so that the three of them may destroy the beast, but the old gentleman tells them that the beast would likely have the strength of ten men. Beauty had prepared a small lunch for her father to eat along the way and when the old gentleman thanks her kindness, he accidentally lets out what he had tried to avoid confessing; Beauty now knows that she may die instead of her father, and for the welfare of her family, she insists that her father's life is more important for he is the head of the family and it had been she who had asked for the rose in the first place. The old gentleman rejects the proposition with all of his heart, but Beauty insists that if he truly loves her, he will let her be the one to choose. The old gentleman is accompanied by Beauty to the beast's castle, where the girl is startled by the appearance of the beast. Though a bit offended by her reaction, the beast understands that if Beauty came it is because she has chosen to be the one to be killed and as compensation gives the old gentleman a chest full of jewels. The man, angered by the thought that her daughter should be replaced with jewels, begs for her life, but is calmed down by Beauty and asked to go home and to think kindly of the beast. Father and daughter part, and though neither one of them sees it, the beast is momentarily touched by their mutual affection. That night, Beauty finds herself in one of the many great rooms in the beast's castle waiting for the time in which he shall kill her; she tells herself that she is ready and has no regrets. Clara, a somewhat clumsy maid capable of doing magic, serves Beauty her dinner and the beast appears shortly after having had his own dinner "the way a beast should eat" as he says. The beast tells Beauty that he has decided to spare her life but that she shall not leave; the castle will be her new home and anything she wishes will be done or given to her, but she shall not be able to leave the castle. Beauty humbly thanks him for this great kindness and is later shown to her new bedroom by Clara. In her great new room, Beauty finds a wardrobe filled with the finest of dresses as well as a magnificent bed where she comfortably lays down to sleep. As she sleeps, Beauty is visited by a dark and sinister fairy who tells her to beware of the apparent kindness of the beast, for it is only to hide a heart of stone. Frightened, Beauty wakes up the next morning not sure if she had had a bad dream or if it had all been true. Once inside the great castle greenhouse, Beauty asks Clara about the beast, but she refuses to give her opinion on him since it wouldn't be proper, however, she does tell Beauty that she should not listen to others' opinions about the beast and make up her own. Beauty explains that the beast had shown her nothing but kindness and a great friendship since the day she had arrived at the castle.As time passes and the friendship between Beauty and the beast grows deeper, the beast begins to have a stronger feeling for the girl. One night after dinner and out in the balcony, the beast asks Beauty if she should like to be his wife. Beauty affectionately tells the beast that he means a lot to her and that even though she doesn't love him the way he loves her, she shall always be his friend. The beast does not find that to be enough and declares that he would grant Beauty anything in the world to please her. Beauty then asks of the beast to allow her to return for one week to her home and see her family. Though the beast believes that Beauty is just taking advantage of him in a weak moment, Beauty explains that she only means to keep him to his word. The beast agrees to let her go, but warns her that if she should stay away for longer than one week, he should then die of sorrow. The beast gives Beauty a simple ring that she only need to twist to be taken to her family. That night, Beauty goes to sleep knowing that she shall find herself at home when she wakes up the next morning, but as she falls asleep she begins to dream. Beauty finds herself running through the enchanted woods when the sinister fairy appears again telling her that this is her chance and that she must let the beast die for her own sake. The fairy tells her of the many young women who had come before her and asks Beauty to listen to their desperate spirits shrieking in the night. Beauty is frightened by the loud screams and yells of desperation, but soon awakes full of happiness and makes up her mind to forget about the dream. When she gets up however, she does not recognize the room she is in as her own room; she is not in the old countryside cottage, but in a fine city mansion full of luxuries. Beauty walks down to the living room to find her beloved family. Everyone is glad and surprised to see Beauty safe and alive again, everyone except for Alicia and Pauline, who fear that all of her suitors will now wish to marry their sister instead of them. Enjoying herself with her family, the one week flies fast and on the last day when Beauty must return to the beast, she is held back by desperate tears from her two sisters Alicia and Pauline, who are determined to let the beast die. The two sisters are jealous of the greater riches and attentions Beauty receives from the beast and both of them plan to keep Beauty long enough for him to die. Beauty, moved by her sisters' sudden show of sffection agrees that one extra day can cause no harm and goes out skating with Alicia and Pauline. After spending the day helping her clumsy sisters get up from numerous falls and breaking their quarrels, Beauty is surprised by the sudden appearance of Clara, the beast's servant. Clara angrily reminds Beauty of the promise she had made to her master and grabbing her hand twists the ring on her finger. When Beauty and Clara make their way back to the castle, Beauty is shocked to find the very different state of things; the beautiful roses in the greenhouse are wilting and the beast is nowhere to be seen. Scared, Beauty runs up to the balcony where she finds her dying friend. The beast tells Beauty that she had forgotten the promise she had made to him, and with a forgiving last farewell, dies. Beauty begins to cry hopelessly, wishing to tell the beast that she loved him and that if only he would return to her, she would agree to marry him. Then, she hears the beast's voice again, glad of having heard her say the words he'd longed for. As he gets up, however, the horrible body of the beast disappears revealing instead a handsome prince. He explains to Beauty that an evil fairy had cast a spell upon him and that only if a woman of good heart agreed to marry him, he would return to normal. Clara walks in bringing the evil fairy by the ear, the same sinister fairy who had warned Beauty those times in her dreams. Clara blesses Beauty and the prince and tells them that they shall rule this land as long as they live. | fantasy | train | imdb | I personally did find this one charming....
Then again I may be biased as I did grow up watching the Golden Films animations, and slowly going through re-watching them(as well as the Burbank and Jetlag animations) a lot of them are sweet and likable.
Golden Films' version of Beauty and the Beast is no exception.
It is not as good as their versions of Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid and Pinocchio, but one that does deserve to be judged on its own merits rather than be compared to any other version.(just for the record the 1991 Disney film is one of my absolute favourites and I admit I do prefer it, but that doesn't stop me from liking this version) The animation is not great really, I did think the colours were quite nice, but the backgrounds can lack fluidity and some of the character designs didn't work for me, Beast especially looks goofy.
However, the music is wonderful, the opening song The Beauty in the Beast is a real charmer and there are some classical music favourites like Clair De Lune(Debussy), Traumerai(Schumann), Carnival of the Animals(Saint Saens) and The Nutcracker Suite(Tchaikovsky).
The story has some additions like Clara, who I loved as a character, and is a little truer than the Disney film to the fairytale, and is very simple and sweet.
I did like the story-book structure also.
The dialogue also has a cute feel to it, again it's simple but, apart from a couple of childish moments, unlike Jetlag's Alice in Wonderland for example it wasn't overly so.
The characters are engaging on the whole, you do warm to the Beast and Beauty is a likable protagonist.
The voice work is interesting, always emotive and never passive.
Overall, a good charming animation, the music, story and characters more than make up for the wanting animation quality.
8/10 Bethany Cox. Cute and sweet,, despite being cheaply made.
I admit, I am a sucker for just about anything animated, especially if it happens to be based on a fairy tale.
This movie, for all its technical failings has a charm unto itself.
Sure its a simple and childish interpretation, but that is what its supposed to be.
I honestly really liked the addition of the character Clara.
She was really a kick.
I know this was made for small children, but I thought that the design for the beast was more goofy than scary.
They could have tried a little harder on that.
Another thing that bothers me about a good chunk of the movies released by Good Times ent.
is the soundtrack.
It's distracting to have familiar classical music constantly playing in the background.
This is one of the better Good Times films, and worth a watch for your little ones (or if you're an animation junkie like with an appreciation for the lower budgeted productions)..
Waste of Time.
This movie is generic rubbish.
You know those ridiculous Japanese low-budget cartoons of the 80's where there was almost no animation, just a bunch of still prints moving across a background?
The ones where the character's lower jaw just bobbed up and down when they spoke?
Well this movie is not far removed from them.
They're kidding, right?
You'd have to be stunningly demented to call this movie stunningly charming.
Oh, and watch out for the long coffee-like stain on the left of the screen visible throughout the entire movie.
It's not on your monitor, it's in the film.
No, I'm not joking.
Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time with this pauper's version of the classic..
Meh (for the most part).
I'm going to get this out of the way first.
Old Man is the best thing about this movie.
Just the attitude and stupidity he has has gotten him to become a cult classic character.
Other than that, the movie was MEH.
Beauty was just as dumb as her father, the two sisters, I wish could get karma back to them for being so mean, and the brothers are, well,just there.
Beast is a joke, and Clara could care less about what she does.
The animation is cheap, and some of the acting feels like the actors could give two s**ts.
But, personally, if it wasn't for Old Man, I would have given this a much lower rating than it has, maybe like a four or three.
And on a side note, this movie ain't an exact ripoff of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, but it is definitely a cheap cash in..
Seen it now.
I've watched this animated film of 1992.
It's of low quality compared to previous animated Beauty and the Beast films made by Disney and Childrens Fairytale Collection.
There has been a number of Beauty and the Beast animations found under Golden Films and Animated Classics.
This wasn't the best animated version of the story I've ever seen.
The music was a little sickly and slow.
The beginning was introducing us to Beauty and the Beast doing a waltz.
There are few complaints though.
One is that the sisters of Beauty are horrible and ugly, and it appeared like a Cinderella film.
In the original fairytale, the sisters of Beauty were not ugly or wicked.
They were just interested in clothes and jewels.
Beauty's character is unrealistic.
She shares the same genes as her ugly rude sisters but is ultra kind, charitable and prefers roses to pretty dresses.
She happens to be the most beautiful and blonde, while her sisters are dark.
She's got two brothers, who are kind.
Father is supposed to be kind because he sounds like a bumbling old man but he cared more about his lost cargo than of the lives of men working on the ship.
The introduction to a sinister fairy was a twist, and there was also the kind Clara spirit.
I found that the clothes of the characters come from different eras, and it was hard to pinpoint exactly what century they're from.
The artists of the film didn't know the history of clothes.
Other than my digs, it was a nice colourful film.
By the way there was no bad colour stain on the whole film as another IMDB user said in their review so it must've been that person's old VHS.
They need to get a new one. |
tt3322940 | Annabelle | The film starts with the same opening scene of the film "The Conjuring", in which two young women and a young man are telling Ed and Lorraine Warren about their experience with the doll that they believe to be haunted, known as Annabelle.One year earlier in 1970, John and Mia Gordon (Ward Horton and Annabelle Wallis) are expecting their first child. At church, the couple talks to their neighbors, the Higgins' (Brian Howe and Kerry O'Malley), over baby names. John is obviously nervous and not completely ready for it, even commenting on that to Mia. She is upset by his attitude toward the pregnancy, but he apologizes to her and gives her a doll that she's been trying to find for ages. Mia loves it and puts it with the rest of her dolls.At night, there appears to be a murder happening in the house next door at the Higgins home. It wakes Mia up. She tells John and he goes over to investigate. He runs out of the neighbor's house covered in blood (not his), telling Mia to call 911. She does and is about to head back outside when she hears a voice telling her it likes Mia's dolls. Mia stands back frightened when she hears it, and a man covered in blood appears from behind her in the closet, stabbing her in the side. John runs in and fights the man, while a woman is also there trying to attack the couple. Police arrive and shoot the man dead while the woman kills herself in another room. She left a bloody symbol drawn on the wall while holding Mia's new doll. A drop of her blood falls on the doll's face and sinks into its eye.A news report is shown that the assailants were Annabelle Higgins and her boyfriend. They murdered her parents and are said to have been part of a demonic cult.The doctors say that Mia's baby is fine but there was damage to her cervix. She is ordered to stay bedridden for the remainder of her pregnancy.John takes care of Mia as she recovers. Thinking the doll is creepy and involved with the mysterious happenings, Mia asks John to throw it away. He dumps it in a bin outside. Later, John is about to make Mia some Jiffy Pop popcorn until she falls asleep.The next day, Mia is sewing and watching TV, while in the kitchen, the stove turns on by itself and heats up the Jiffy Pop. Mia cuts her finger on the sewing machine and tends to it, not aware when the Jiffy Pop catches fire. She smells the smoke and sees the fire. She tries to run out of the house, tripping over a chair, falling on her stomach, she then starts to crawl but is then dragged by an unseen force. A group of men run into the house and pull her out.John, who works at the hospital, runs to find Mia. She is unharmed, and what's more, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. They decide to name her Lea.The family moves into a new apartment since Mia is afraid to return home. In their new place, Mia unpacks her dolls and finds that one doll (whom shall be referred to as Annabelle from here) in one of the boxes. Mia just places it alongside the other dolls.As expected, more strange activity plagues Mia and her new baby. Mia meets two neighbor children that are coloring on the stairwell. The girl tries to introduce herself but her brother tells her not to say anything to Mia since she's a stranger. When Mia returns home, she sees the drawings from the kids, which show a continuous animation of Mia wheeling Lea in the carriage and letting it go in the path of a truck, where Lea is dead. Horrified, Mia shows the pictures to John.On another occasion, Mia is alone and thinks she sees the ghost of a young girl. The door closes, and the girl starts to run to the door, then turning into the adult Annabelle Higgins. She disappears.Mia contacts the detective that told them earlier about the murders Annabelle and her boyfriend committed. He informs her of their history in the cult called The Disciples of the Ram that seeks to summon a demon by claiming a soul. This also explains the symbol that Mia keeps seeing.Mia goes to a bookstore run by a woman named Evelyn (Alfre Woodard). She gets a book called "The Devil's Welcome". From that, Mia determines that the presence that is haunting her wants a soul - Lea's.The couple contacts their church's priest, Father Perez (Tony Amendola). He takes Annabelle (who looks more gray and scary with bloodshot eyes) with him to church. The ghost of Annabelle is nearby, along with a demonic-looking creature. Perez enters the church but is blown back by a powerful force and is thrown on his back. He is hurt badly, and the ghost snatches the doll.John treats Perez at the hospital while Mia meets with Evelyn. Evelyn tells Mia that she had a daughter named Ruby that was around Mia's age when she died. Ruby died in a car accident caused by Evelyn. She was so distraught and guilt-ridden that she attempted suicide by cutting her wrists. However, she claims to have heard Ruby's voice telling her that it wasn't her time.Perez warns John that it was indeed Annabelle's spirit that caused his injuries, and that she will take a soul that night. John rushes to warn Mia. In the apartment, the demonic presence haunts Mia and Evelyn. It pushes Evelyn out of the apartment and taunts Mia by locking her outside of Lea's room where the baby sits beneath the bookshelf. Heavy books fall around her while Mia screams for her baby. Annabelle (the doll) falls down and stares at Mia. Mia breaks the doorknob and runs in to grab Lea. Then, the doll appears to stand up on its own. It then seems to float in mid-air, but it's really being controlled by the demon. All around the room, "her soul" is written in red crayon. Mia grabs the doll and bashes it against Lea's crib and throws it on the floor. The doll then appears to turn into Lea, bloodied and dead. Mia runs over to her and cries, thinking she's killed her baby. It then turns into one of Mia's giggling dolls. She screams and asks what the demon wants. The window then opens amidst whispering sounds, with "your soul" written across it.John runs home as Evelyn is trying to open the door. They both break it open to find Mia ready to jump out the window with Annabelle in her hands. John pulls Mia back in before she jumps, saying there must be another way. Evelyn grabs Annabelle and decides to make the sacrifice, knowing this is the way she can atone for Ruby's death. She plunges out of the window and hits the pavement. Lea is then heard in her crib, safe and sound. John and Mia mourn Evelyn but embrace their daughter.Six months later, the Gordons have moved on and have not seen Annabelle since then. Elsewhere, a woman (the mother of one of the girls in the opening) comes into a store looking for a present for her daughter. She then spots a doll that is said to be a rare collector's item. That's when she purchases... ANNABELLE.The ending text says that the Annabelle doll resides in a case in Ed and Lorraine Warren's little museum, and that it's blessed by a priest twice a month. There is also a quote from Lorraine Warren that says evil is real, and while we can contain it, we can never get rid of it. The camera then lingers on Annabelle as though she'll make a move, before cutting to black. | horror, murder, flashback | train | imdb | If that fact alone is enough to get one person not to watch "Annabelle", then I've done my job as a critic.If you went into "Annabelle" wanting to see something along the lines of "Child's Play" or at the very least, a doll-centric horror movie where dolls are either animated in some fashion or at the very least, trip someone as they walk down the stairs, then you will be savagely disappointed.
On the other hand, if you were a fan of the small snippet of Annabelle's story shown in "The Conjuring" and wanted a terrifying and in-depth origins story, then you
will be disappointed as well.Synopsis: With an engaging set up, set against the rampant cult-phobia of the 60's, "Annabelle" is the story of a couple living in California who begin to experience paranormal occurrences after the husband gifts his pregnant, doll-crazed wife a doll, that soaks up blood faster than a Bounty paper towel.
After that, the plot falls pretty flat by turning its focus away from the scary doll element, as the story becomes 10% "Rosemary's Baby", 20% every single haunted house movie ever and 70% watered down scares.Aside from the fact that not for one second did I care about any of the characters here, for the most part director John R.
About 20 minutes in, it becomes obvious that Leonetti is either just going through the motions or doing a rather poor job of plagiarizing much scarier films.Final Thought: Much like the countless throw away, straight to DVD Disney animated sequels to come out of late the 90's and early 2000's (Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World, The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea, Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True") "Annabelle" (a prequel) is nothing more than a soulless money-grab from this particular production company, attempting to feed off the success of "The Conjuring".
No mention of Ed and Lorraine Warren (real life paranormal investigators from "The Conjuring") no James Wan (the director of "The Conjuring") and not one doll-induced scare, all seemed to have a hand in making "Annabelle" a strikingly forgettable film.
I mean, in "The Conjuring", the Annabelle doll is only used in all of three scenes, but due to some smart direction, those are some of the scariest potions of the movie.
Let me start off by stating that as a devout Horror fan with a special liking to ghost stories, haunts and exorcisms, I have really enjoyed The Conjuring.
Unlike The Conjuring, Annabelle gives the doll a lot more well deserved screen time.2) The cinematography is at its best with the quick shots, giving the audience sometimes less than a second to realize what they're seeing.
In Annabelle, demons are shown, but for a snap shot, leaving much to imagination which serves to add to the scare gauage.3) Plot actually gets pretty intense towards the end, but only towards the end.So all in all, perhaps had I watched this film before The Conjuring I would have been able to be more objective, but seeing as how I am unable to ignore it's shortcomings - I give it 6.5, meaning you should definitely watch it (especially if you liked The Conjuring) but you shouldn't expect it to meet The Conjuring's level..
As a prequel and spin-off of The Conjuring – 2013's highly effective horror film – Annabelle does what it promises, even if it does so one jump and one jolt at a time.
But that's all you get, jumpy scenes done to perfection, with little or no atmosphere and a story that disintegrates before it reaches a satisfying conclusion.One of the most important aspects of The Conjuring and older sibling Insidious (both films directed by James Wan), is the cinematography and how it wreaks havoc with the viewer's peripheral vision.
I'm a fan of the Conjuring as it was a film that made me think the art of a horror movie is back.
There was no depth, no character relation, no story-line, nothing to get you even remotely into the film, except "saw the previews, this is gonna be so good !" feeling you saw when you watched the previews and couldn't wait for this to come out.
We have met the creepy vintage doll Annabelle before in last year's excellent and very memorable horror film "The Conjuring." She was just the front act there, showing up only at the pre-opening credits sequence.
A big part of the success of "Annabelle" as a horror film is the effective lead performance of coincidentally-named Annabelle Wallis as Mia. The character's name Mia, I am guessing, is a tribute to Mia Farrow, who was the star of a horror classic of the 1960s, "Rosemary's Baby." The stroller Mia uses for Leah sure looked like Rosemary's stroller which is seen in posters of that old film.
Leonetti, the cinematographer of "Insidious 1 & 2" and "The Conjuring" makes an auspicious directorial debut with "Annabelle." He learned very well from his his previous director James Wan, who sits as producer of this film.
The timing for the big jump scare was effectively surprising most of the time, even you were sort of predicting it to happen already.This is a film which may divide audiences as to whether it could match the successes of "Insidious" or "The Conjuring." As it is, I liked "Annabelle" more than I thought I would.
This movie is a lot of fun, and (to my surprise) I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a movie with fun scares and ACTUAL substance to the storyline (radical concept for a horror film).
In the first, rather scary, scene in the Conjuring, featuring the Annabelle doll, I wondered, what kind of woman would ever buy a doll that creepy looking?
The amount of either jump scare and suggested are well balanced making it enjoyable to watch, in a nutshell the ambiance that is settled is disturbing and is supposed to be.Only blind spot the actor play that can be qualified as not as good as the overall execution, briefly said if you're looking for a good scare and potentially the better horror movie of 2014 this is a serious contender.Make your impression as well and go see it, definitely worth it.
while I was watching the film at a packed movie theater, I was thinking Chucky has finally met his match in Annabelle.
not that Annabelle the movie is anything like the Child's play films, it is very different and perhaps the only common factor they share is the presence of a doll.the movie was executed professionally, everything was top notch, from direction to Cinematography, and from acting to plot and dialog, everything was in place.
I also loved the 70s vibe, and the lead actress Annabelle Wallis playing Mia was also excellent.the movie had its shares of scares, jump out of your seat surprises but nothing over the top, it might not be as scary as people might be expecting and hence some of the negative reviews here from other users.
However, I thought the movie was well balanced and relied mainly on story and character rather than being overtly scary, which was perfect in my opinion and it what made it so good and successful in my eyes.I highly recommend this, a good Horror film to start October with and prepare for Halloween.
I really wanted to go see Annabelle after seeing the trailer, which made it seem like a good horror movie...
And unfortunately even these scenes could have been made even more scary then they were.This was a story and a movie with a lot of potential, unfortunately it wasn't as good as it could have been.Annabelle isn't a complete waste of time, but if you're looking for a really good, scary horror movie, it's not for you..
Approaching the tension with a slow build rather than a "haunted house" jump scene, was so effective, that during one of the many "Collective Scream scenes" where the entire theater jump- started, yelled or both, one girl sitting 3 rows in front of me, just got up out of her chair and sprinted out the exit door (not sure what she was running to, but i'm almost positive what she was running from).Anyway, i fully expect there to be reviews from the "too cool", arm chair adrenaline junkies who claim to be "unshakable" in their choice of horror viewing and would probable claim no movie will EVER scare them, but for my $13.00 (not counting popcorn and Twizzlers), this movie delivered on average more scary images per minute than any film i have EVER seen in my entire life!!.
Just came back from the cinema AND this is so far the worst horror movie i'v seen i mean it started all good a nice story developed BUT as it was going on it was getting worse and worse it was getting such amateur low budget movie the story got all ruined and all the sound effects were trying to "scare" us but nothing special happened........very disappointed such a good story just done wrong.It is a perfect horror story but it was just so bad that i just wanted to leave the cinema early.
Usually a reviewer will say of a weak film, wait till it hits DVD, but my recommendation for Annabelle is if you want to waste you time on it, pay to see it in the theater where the loud sounds and the big screen will deliver a couple good jolts.
Avoid this movie unless you want to fall asleep like a baby, which is obviously contradictory to this movie's objective.Full Review:For those who don't know, Annabelle is a prequel/spin-off from the movie The Conjuring directed by James Wan. The Conjuring was a great horror movie that kept me up at night, at least for a little while.
That's it, that's all I got.This movie was so bad that I felt like I was watching a parody of horror films.
The rest of the scares are all horror clichés like staring long at the doll with creepy music, or woman walks past a doorway, or now it's a little girl walking a past a doorway.
The actress Annabelle Wallis act so good, I've never see her in a horror movie and she makes a great work.
Will make it short and concise, oh wait IMDb needs 10 f*cking lines before i can actually submit it , so i will write the 10 f*cking linesthis is one of the finest Horror movies in a long time , does not over do things, Gripping cinema .The Direction is Sharp , the cinematography is simple,the plot is will knit , the best thing is they are not trying to overachieve and this is what will sell this movie.
"Annabelle" is an unoriginal horror movie with an evil doll that is a sort of Chucky with skirt.
I really loved Annabelle because I loved the conjuring and I like the way horror movies have been coming up with wonderful ways to scare us lol.
Along with Insidious, there was genuine scares that stuck in your mind and had everyone talking.With Annabelle, first introduced in The Conjuring, we are given more of a slow burning drama, shot very much like its predecessor but not quite as scary.That said, my husband refused to look at the screen more than enough because of the wonderful use of sounds, and the site of the doll itself which I have since used to great effect at home when scaring him!But as a horror film maker and fan, I want something that will scare the crap out of me and have me boasting about it long after.Annabelle carries a few of those moments, but literally, a few.
If you like a good horror movie, I suggest Annabelle.
This movie has a better pace and no dull moments compared to "The Conjuring" but it's not as intense and scary as "Insidious" for example.I like the fact that the movie includes a little bit more than the usual supernatural elements.
It's a good thing that the entire movie doesn't only play at one location and only involves supernatural phenomenons."Annabelle" convinces with its steadily growing sinister atmosphere, a credible acting performance, a solid camera work without any unnecessary shaking, fitting sound effects and an atmospheric soundtrack.
The realistic tone of the film also makes the movie more intense and easier to get into for most people.Even though the movie avoided a few stereotypes such as an exorcism, some parts were still highly predictable: the scared housewife nobody believes in, the wicked demon trying to take possession of a child's innocent soul and the heroic actions of an old pastor attempting to save a young family and community members are elements that horror movie fans have seen numerous times before.
That's why the movie lacked some originality and ultimately tension towards the end as the ending was also quite predictable.Fans of traditional horror movies or more recent outputs by James Wan and his colleagues should watch this movie at the cinema as they are likely to enjoy this film.
How on earth is a quick cash like Annabelle going to be any way decent?Well, miraculously, even if it doesn't compare to the films I already mentioned, Annabelle is a very smart, clever horror film, that manages to create a lot of suspense, only bringing out the big scares after enough of it has been generated.
What that means is that a lot of the opulent, almost overwhelming atmosphere of that film is gone (and it's missed, if I'm honest), but is instead replaced by shorter, sharper shocks, with a lot more focus on the main story and the characters (who are unusually well defined and acted for a horror movie, especially the two female leads; for once, these people don't act stupid, and don't feel like stock horror movie victims - hurray!).Speaking of the story, it's actually pretty decent.
1.) It was following the very successful The Conjuring2.) Scary doll movies had already been done (see Child's Play and Dead Silence to name a couple).
Annabelle Wallis was the best actor for me, playing the lead role of Mia.There are some really cool original ideas to build the tension in this film, my favourite being the elevator scene, which really made you feel on edge.
OK, there are some moments in the film that are a bit slow and sometimes they resort to a cheap jump scare if something hasn't happened in a while, but overall Annabelle delivers exactly what you'd want from a pre-Halloween horror film.
Don't watch this film expecting to see a perfect story line and amazing acting, but do expect to see some pretty cool tense scenes and a decent scare now and then..
So, overall Bishara completes this spin off film with flying colors.In closing, Annabelle at the end of the day is a horror film that is meant to fill time before The Conjuring 2 is released next year.
I don't think horror is the actual genre for this movie it should be drama,romance,mystery .....conjuring was far more better than annabelle total waste of time...
All the horror part was used in the trailer ..nothing was left for movie....first half was full of drama...nothing interesting Also people say this is the prequel of THE CONJURING I didn't get a connection to that because the doll was shown at the house of the couple at the end of the movie and had no link whatsoever with haunted house ....had high expectations was disappointed .....should have opted foe a sequel that would have been interesting ...something dealing with haunted house or possessed person ........
With an average script and mediocre acting, Annabelle is by no means the best horror flick, technically speaking (does not measure up to the likes of The Conjuring).
I'm really at a loss after reading some of the other reviews that are praising this movie for things like character development, a suspenseful story, 'genuine' scares, and being the perfect movie to start the Halloween season.
I like to watch a good scary movie with a nice, or at least plausible or appealing story.
Very soon, creepy, sinister things will start happening to them.This is a sort of prequel of a well regarded horror movie I haven't seen, called The Conjuring.
All the other things like the pacing or close-ups on the doll are more than bad and destroying every horror aspect the movie could build up.I could write more, but I don't want to.
Leonetti Review O sweet a creepy doll movie, that's a prequel to the conjuring one of my favorite horror films, I mean what could go wrong.
"Annabelle" is a horror movie in which we watch a couple being attacked at their own house by some members of a satanic cult.
There are not so many scary scenes and the few they are in this film they are old school, they do scare you but I expected more because I compared it with "The Conjuring".
Some likely waiting to compare it to The Conjuring, others followed the fact that a spin-off cant make a good movie.
While this is John Leonetti's most competent film, it pails in comparison to its much better prequel "The Conjuring"; the scares and story (save for elements of the ending & a somewhat creepy basement scene) left me wanting.
Greetings from Lithuania."Annabelle" (2014) is a prequel or a spin off, call how you like it to a great horror film "The Conjuring".
"Annabelle" story is very simple and generic even for a horror movies - trust me you saw this kind of plot hundreds of time before.
Annabelle is the type of horror film you'd expect to come out around Halloween.
when I saw the Conjuring, like everyone else, I found that doll really creepy so I could not wait to see Annabelle when I herd about it. |
tt0400426 | Far Cry | Jason Brody is on vacation with a group of friends in the Rook Islands, celebrating his younger brother Riley getting a pilot license. However, on a skydiving trip, they land on a pirate-infested island and are kidnapped by a pirate lord named Vaas, who plans to extort ransom money from their parents, and then sell them into slavery. With the help of his older brother Grant, Jason breaks out of captivity, but Grant is killed by Vaas in the escape. Jason is rescued by Dennis, who is part of the Rakyat (the island natives who suffer due to the activities of the pirates). Dennis recognizes Jason's potential as a warrior, and gives him the Tatau, the tattoos of a Rakyat warrior. Jason then helps the Rakyat in a number of missions and ends up finding one of his friends, Daisy, at the house of Dr. Earnhardt. Impressed with Jason's prowess, the Rakyat allow him to be the second outsider to enter their sacred temple (Dennis was the first being born in Liberia) and their leader Citra initiates him into the tribe, after Jason finds and returns the Silver Dragon knife, a Rakyat relic, having seen it in a previous dream. He runs a series of missions during which he rescues his captive friends Keith, Oliver and Jason's girlfriend Liza while simultaneously helping the Rakyat retake their island, helped at times by Dr. Earnhardt and Willis Huntley, a CIA agent. After a few run-ins with Vaas, Jason discovers that he is employed by Hoyt Volker, a slave trader and drug lord, and that Vaas is Citra's brother. Throughout the adventure, Jason matures into a fearsome warrior and is revered by the Rakyat, begins to enjoy all the killing, and grows more distant from his friends, especially after receiving information that Riley is dead. After Citra asks him to stay in the island, Jason returns to Dr. Earnhardt's house (where his friends are hiding and preparing their escape by boat), and tells them that he is staying, completely distant from his friends and family, leaving them disturbed. Meanwhile, Jason has an affair with Citra after she drugs him and has sex with him while he is in a hallucination.
After bidding goodbye to his friends, Jason goes to the pirates base where Vaas is. Believing that Jason was dead after a confrontation between the two, Vaas is celebrating Jason's death, although it transpires he was actually waiting for him. After Jason kills numerous pirates and reaches a warehouse, he and Vaas fight, but Jason enters a delusional state, fighting multiple duplicates of Vaas in his dream. He reaches a final Vaas, and after a brief struggle, he impales him through the chest with the Dragon Knife and collapses right besides him. He wakes up to Citra in the Rakyat's temple, and promises her that he will kill Hoyt for her. After Huntley helps him get into Hoyt's island, Jason infiltrates Hoyt's personal army with the help of Sam Becker, Huntley's fellow operative. During this time, Jason discovers that Riley is alive, but a prisoner of Hoyt. Jason works his way into Hoyt's confidence, until Hoyt eventually invites him and Sam to a poker night. After making a plan to kill Hoyt, Sam and Jason sit down at the poker game, but Hoyt stabs Sam in the throat and kills him, knowing the two are traitors. After Jason gets one of his fingers cut by Hoyt, the two have a knife fight, with Jason emerging victorious and killing Hoyt. Jason then goes to rescue Riley; he receives a call from Liza, but the signal is cut before she can say anything. Jason rescues Riley and the two escape by helicopter.
The two then fly to Earnhardt's house, but find it burning and the doctor dying on the ground. With his last words, he tells them that the house was attacked by the Rakyat, and that they have captured Jason's friends. Jason and Riley arrive at the Rakyat Temple. Jason asks Citra why his friends were captured, but she sprays him unconscious with a sleep powder and captures Riley. Citra has fallen in love with Jason, believing him to be a powerful warrior of Rakyat legend, and that she will free him. He starts dreaming of walking a fiery path with the Dragon Knife, and having Liza as a monster in his dream. He wakes up holding Liza at knife point with the Dragon Knife, and is given the choice either to kill his friends or to spare them.
=== Endings ===
If Jason kills his friends, he stays on the island and has sex with Citra in a ritual. However, Citra then stabs Jason in the chest. As he dies, Citra tells him that his child will lead the Rakyat to glory and that he "won".
If Jason spares his friends, he prepares to leave the island, telling the Rakyat and Citra that he is done with killing. As Citra begs him to stay and proclaims her love for him, Dennis is outraged for what he considers a betrayal by Jason and tries to stab him, but Citra jumps in front of Jason and is stabbed. Citra once again proclaims her love for Jason before dying in his arms, as a horrified Dennis breaks down over what he has done. Jason and his friends then leave the island by boat, with Jason narrating that despite becoming a monster from all the killing, he still believes that in some place in his heart he is still better than this. The game ends with a still image of the boat and the Dragon Knife in the beach while the credits roll. | cult, stupid | train | wikipedia | The main difference between Bloodrayne and FarCry really is that the story from Farcry wasn't the games strong point whereas Bloodrayne had a strong story and thus Boll had more chance to mess it up.The action in this movie is actually fairly good.
But the lighter mood this gives to the film actually helps.While I think sticking a little bit closer to the story of the game might have made for a slightly better film the changes made are pretty practical and not big enough to make a difference.
Would have liked it set in the Jungle as that was a pretty integral part of the game but Canada doesn't have a great deal of Jungle and it is at least set in a kind of rainforest.Why Boll feels the need to change already professionally scripted and directed game plots I don't know but he does.
Uwe Boll must not have ever played the video games that he keeps making movies about.
Since Uwe Boll is regarded the worst director ever, we expected to see a stupid, bad, ridiculous action movie with a story hardly good enough for a video game.And this was, what we got.This film will just make you laugh all the time.
This, I could actually sit through and didn't think that I was completely wasting my time.The locations and sets were good, the cinematography not bad, the acting let things down a bit and the writing was very, very ordinary.
The movie seemed like something out of the 1980's with its numerous action sequences, a lot of which involved boats, water and explosions.The movie's plot didn't exactly follow the game's, but it worked to some extent.
You know, your standard Hollywood movie plot...there's a bad guy, the good guy infiltrates and gets caught, eventually escapes and in the process kills the bad guy and destroys his evil operation.Yeah, at times it drags, and yeah the guy who plays Jack isn't a native American which doesn't really work since the guy in the game comes off as your run-of-the-mill beer drinking American.
I just watched the movie, and I played the game, and although little more than 50% is in common, Far Cry movie isn't that bad.
:-) But I simply forgot about the game, watched the simple movie with some action and not exactly believable romance in it, and I was relaxed.
Acting is like the movie, probably the romance in the bed is the worst part (although I generally like bed scenes and I'm very forgiving there ;-)), some action parts are way too long (one chase with the mutant) but otherwise it's quite solid average movie based on a simple script without any great idea.
Seeing how the director behind this movie is Uwe Boll which, as a lot of you probably know, isn't a very well liked guy I'm guessing that a lot of people gave this a 1 on principle alone, some of them even without having seen it imagine.
The Better of Uwe. Up until right now, i have rated Uwe Boll's movies no more than a 4, everything was so poorly written and directed that i couldn't give a better one.On this particular movie though..i had to give him a 5 for trying.He managed to get the best second hand actors around and put out a better display of the movie....for the first part that is.The beginning made me think the movie could be it...the first one to which i could have given an over 7 rating....but from the middle ..it just kept lower and lower.The ending was too dull..no fun for the watcher..]Keep it up Uwe,you might get the chance of scoring a 7 with me for that matter !
And I know that the name "Uwe Boll" makes a lot of people say: "Oh my God, not another movie by this guy".
Well, I wasn't surprised, that the story deviated from the game, I wasn't surprised that they didn't have a lot of money for the special effects, but I saw the list of actors taking part in the movie, which was really surprising.For the movie, I must say, that it is a descent action movie and that it is - of course - on a low budget scale.
This also means, that some characters were invented (e.g. the big funny guy and the uncle, you will see, if you see the movie).What I liked about it was all about the game - they implemented the cars, the boat(s), the secret experiments stuff and the one guy that got there - uninvited.
I liked the movie and I must admit, that although the storyline changed and it doesn't really feel like "Far Cry - the game", there was a lot of fun and action in it.
Boll's reputation certainly precedes him so there'll always be a good number of people getting exactly what they expected even if the film wasn't as bad as...say...Bloodrayne.
There's gunfights, super soldiers, some somewhat lame attempts at comedy, but in the end it's all a decent way to kill some time.I must confess...I've only played the sequel to Far Cry, never the original so I don't know how faithful the movie is to the game.
ONE, forget the game (even though it is good);TWO,watch this movie empty headed/don't take it seriously; THREE, ignore the bad acting.
If you have played Far cry, or like action films i see no reason why its not worth checking this movie out.
Sure, Uwe Boll has directed his fair share of B-movies, but I think he has shown real promise with his latest video game adaption "Far Cry".
On the island Carver is faced with a mad German scientist who's genetically modifying people into mutant soldiers.Far Cry is very fun and quite an enjoyable movie, I can't imagine why anyone would rate this film anything less than a 5.
Its nice to see a movie where the characters are interacting with each other instead of spitting lame lines at one another.One more thing, the lead female (Emmanuelle Vaugier), its refreshing to see a hottie that can actually act for change, good job.
Based on a much-loved video game of the same name, and directed by Uwe Boll, a lot of critics were sure that "Far Cry" would be a complete failure, even before they had seen the movie.
In a movie, the director can only present his own interpretation, and that will seem unsatisfactory to many fans of the game.Given this restriction, Uwe Boll has done a fairly good job.
Still though, this could easily have been a much better movie, had story choices been made that were more in-line with what made the game great.In the beloved game, the lead character (Carver) is a former special-forces soldier, and is 100% American, complete with accents and vices.
That such a film is attached to such a wildly successful game title with so much potential is an insult and a shame.A bit of praise needs to go to the action sequences, fight choreography, and visual/special effects, which were better than I expected given the other elements of this disaster..
There is a real fun but short chase scene between Jack and a mutant and just a bunch of those comedy-action scenes.Uwe really made THE movie about far cry.
The film is grate in my opion Uwe did a fantistic job made it witty, funny and full of good action and stunts.But ooo there's a saw word in todays world "stunts" not "special effects" and the far cry crowed was expecting the latter.
Yet another video game adaptation by Mr. Boll, FAR CRY has a retired Special Forces guy (Schweiger) ferrying a female reporter (Vaugier) to a remote island where her uncle is being held by mysterious forces.
I'm pleased to report that FAR CRY is by far the best Boll film I've thus watched; it's no masterpiece, that's for sure, but it's reasonably entertaining, unlike the majority of his output.The film contains all of the ingredients usual for a Boll-style B-movie: an ensemble cast of fading faces, lots of low rent action, some cheesy effects and the like, and plenty of cliché.
When I watch this movie,I did not know who was director.Uwe Boll really?He finally made good movie.Of course its not perfect,but I think there are many good scenes,effect are also OK.Actors were not bad,but their performances were really weak.Don't trust any uwe boll'haters.Probably some people gave raiting without watch this film.
After all far cry was good game adaptation with some powerful action scenes If you want to see ridiculous film and already play far cry games,this movie is one of best.
Germany's most notorious director, Dr. Uwe Boll, has stricken again and just unleashed his next action-packed adaptation of a popular video game, namely Ubisoft's best selling ego shooter "Far Cry".
century" still allowed to make movies after all the atrocities he committed in the past and why couldn't he have chosen a game that's at least a little less popular and well respected than the legendary "Far Cry".I, however, have stopped to listen to the complaints of the naysayers long ago, cause not only have I more or less enjoyed almost all films that Boll directed since his infamous first video game adaptation "House Of The Dead" in 2003, but also do I believe that even those flicks, which I personally do not hold in the highest esteem, like "Alone In The Dark" or "Bloodrayne II: Deliverance", are still quite a bit better than the bashers say they are.Anyway.
If you're lookin' for a fast-paced, tongue-in-the-cheek no-brainer in the tradition of vintage b-movie classics such as Van Damme's "Universal Soldier", Chuck Norris' "Invasion USA" or Arnie's "Commando", "Far Cry" is definitely the right film for you to watch.If the cuts had been a bit slower during the action sequences and if the camera had been a bit less shaky during the fight scenes, I would almost have believed that I'm watching a cheesy cult flick from the past and not a movie that's been shot in 2007.
Except for a few minor reservations, Uwe Boll has indeed succeeded in combining the special charm of the action flicks of the 80s with modern techniques, spectacular effects and an up-to-date look.Sure, just like the afore-mentioned classics, "Far Cry" does also not really have a profound story, deep characters and clever dialogues, but then again, I really doubt that anyone in his right mind would expect a campy flick like this to come up with any of these things.
When the former elite soldier Jack Carver (Til Schweiger) and the ambitious reporter Valerie Cardinal (Emmanuelle Vaugier) set foot on a secluded island where the mad scientist Dr. Krieger (Udo Kier) is working on the creation of an army of genetically engineered super-soldiers, all hell breaks loose and bullets and fists are about to cut the air at minute intervals.In Dr. Krieger's secret labs the laws of physics and gravity seem to be no longer valid and hence we get to see a lot of cool and totally over-the-top action sequences that make us laugh and giggle almost as much as the corny dialogues and (unintentionally) funny incidents (you have to see the hilarious build-up to Jack's and Valerie's love scene, for example).The only things I didn't really like about "Far Cry", apart from the afore-mentioned fast cuts and shaky camera work during the fight scenes, are the fact that throughout the whole movie hardly any blood squirts out of the wounds when people get shot and the annoying character of Chris Coppola.
Neither the film itself nor the stars, like Til Schweiger and Udo Kier who both deliver really cool performances, take themselves too seriously - a point that really adds to the overall enjoyment of the flick.To cut a long story short, I'd finally like to recommend Uwe Boll's "Far Cry" to all those of you who are still into the old action hits of the past.
Don't worry who directed it, don't worry what you could have done better or pointing out all the falacies (come on...it's a sci-fi action film after all), and knowing nothing about the game I simply cannot comment on the movie.BUT...taken on its own, as a quirky kind of sci-fi action flick, it's a fun 90 minutes with a great pace, and decent all around production..
Just finished watching this and here is my simple review.This film is an adaptation of the popular Far Cry game series.The good points - Some good action,lead character is nearly perfect for the part, acting not too bad.The bad points - cheap plot,not every aspect of the game is not put into the movie(eg.
the main character in the game has the ability to change into superhuman at will there is no sign of this in this movie) All in all it's not a bad watch if you fancy a simple action movie and I am glad to say one of uwe boll's better films.Enjoy.
How to make viewers Cry & Laugh.Alright Far Cry is basically NOT based on a computer PC game, It is an action adventure thriller, I mean at least this is what this movie look likes.OK far cry starts with a weird examination that is going on an unknown Island far away from general population by some weird scientist (Dr. Lucas Krieger), who Experimentation are funded by government officials (General Roderick).
House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, and Bloodrayne, all horror games adapted into movies by Boll are far worse than this (they have no redeeming qualities).
Far Cry the video game released in 2004 created such a cult following that making a movie from the content should have been easy and scores of gamers would have flocked to watch the film.
I stumbled upon this so - called film by chance ,and as I had once tried to play the game ,I said what the heck , let's see the film .And, boy , was I surprised –riled – deadly amazed–disgusted only after about 10 minutes of this manure .That I was in for a horrendously bumpy ride on the supposedly best German highway, I did not expect , but I should 've known better after facing the introduction ,emblazoned with ,yes , prepare thyself and forgive them not ,God , none and nothing other than the infamous Uwe Boll !!!
It's bad enough that the game itself (in my opinion) could be a lot better, but the making of the film (by Boll) was a freaking sacrilege.
There are no spoilers in the review and neither in any other film review all my reviews are based upon my view on the movie and no one others please feel free to send me a message or your review on this movie far cry the movie based upon the great fps (first Person Shooter/s) Game seen as it is based on a game it probably would be bad because most movies based upon games are shocking Eg Alone in the dark It would of been good if it was not made by shocking The director 30 million for this movie no way i could make better on movie maker Pros Good Fight Scenes Cons Jack Carvers Accent Acting Effects Guns battles sound effects Muzzle Flashes Just about everything 3.5/10 Reviewed and Watched By Jack Doyne Next Review Doctor who Classic.
I've seen much worse acting, worse effects and sets, and worse action sequences.I've neither played the game, nor watched any of Boll's other movies, so although my expectations weren't terribly high, I wasn't offended by the film's take on the game (as I had no comparison) nor was I predisposed to hate it because of the director (never heard of him).Unlike certain other movies (I'm thinking the execrable "Click", for example), if I'd watched this in a cinema I probably wouldn't actually have walked out.Unexciting but not offensively bad.
After all, it's based on a video game that I played half of and got bored with.I was in no way even close to prepared for how bad this movie would be.
In short, there's NOTHING that was good about this film.Don't get me wrong: I love action movies with horrible plots.
Good plot and pretty action sequences, maybe the problem is its title "Far Cry" I played the game and I noticed that it is completely different but if you forget the title, there are no problems at all.
i was one "chosen" to see this movie in a sneak preview.first you should know that this film is based on the video game "far cry", a for its time really good game (2004).
there were so horrible mistakes in this film (like 3 scenes playing at the same time, 2 at day-time, and one somehow at night.....)so lets come to "far cry".
Beat Down Reviews : Far Cry. Okay this is another one of Uwe Boll's game-to-movies.
I know what you are thinking.I am crazy but seriously this film is a slight improvement on all of of his game-to-movie adaptations.
There is always a bad thing and a good thing when it comes to a game-to-movie adaptation.
If Uwe Boll has proved anything is that can direct a B-action movie properly if he wanted.
Far Cry truly is the perfect recipe for an action film but a lot of video games are like that and few of them ever translate into a kick-butt action flick let alone be held back by B-Movie actors and a hack like Boll behind the scenes.
Maybe its just a lucky shot by Moeller or maybe they happened to write him better but he is the only redeemable character.I think I trashed Uwe Boll enough to get the point across that he will ruin almost any video game and keep doing it with money, hence three Bloodrayne films, and a new Dungeon Siege sequel on the way. |
tt0075378 | The Van | Bobby and his best friend, Jack, sabotage their high-school graduation ceremony by rigging the stage to collapse. After leaving the graduation ceremony, Bobby and Jack (Harry Moses) drive up to another van and notice Sally (Connie Lisa Marie), his secret high-school crush, sitting alone inside, eating ice cream. Bobby cannot look away from her and expresses his fantasy to "be with" her just once. Dugan returns to the van and disapproves of Bobby's attention. Bobby and Jack run across Sue (Marcie Barkin) and Tina (Deborah White), and they attempt to arrange dates with them that evening. Sue is interested in Jack, but Tina states she is neither interested in Bobby nor other boys because they only care about sex.Bobby works in a car wash. Bobby's boss Andy (Danny DeVito) is also a bookmaker, who refuses taking a high-risk bet from an old lady called Bertha. Bobby's co-workers send his convertible into the car wash with the roof down, but Bobby plans buying a van anyway - not just any van, but a custom van with items like a waterbed, a ceiling mirror, a refrigerator, a toaster, an 8 track and multiple television sets. Bobby then gets revenge on his co-workers while showing off his new van by giving them beers spiked with laxatives.In a bar, Bobby unsuccessfully approaches women, including Sally. Finally, a pinball playing girl agrees sharing a joint in his van. Though going hand-in-hand, she objects his moves. Laughing it off, he tries raping her, but Bobby discovers she has stuffed her over-sized bra with wads of toilet paper, and she runs off. Up next is a Mexican girl, who removes her top but demands payment. Another woman is also a prostitute, and her pimp barges in for payment.Afterwards, Bobby and Jack force Sue and Tina to stop their car. Sue drives off with Jack, and Tina joins Bobby in the van. They plan to meet up again later at the beach, but Jack and Sue don't arrive until the next morning. Bobby and Tina form an uneasy truce and sleep in the van without fooling around. Eventually, they share a joint. When Jack and Sue return in the morning, Bobby makes them think that he is in the van having sex with Tina, who is actually out on the beach.After dropping Tina home, Bobby spots Sally with a see-through wetlook in the car wash. After seeing her making out with Dugan, Bobby stops by a quiet take-out place. The take-out waitress praises his van, so he offers sharing a joint on the waterbed. Noting she likes waterbeds, she says she doesn't have time for a joint, but does have some time for a quickie. She steps out from behind the counter and Bobby gasps at her very large buttocks. Once she is nude in the van, Bobby tries a pickup line, but barely finishes it, when she throws and mounts him on the waterbed. He protests, but she obviously rapes him, breaking the waterbed in the process. Bobby mentions her buttocks' size to Jack, and notes he never knew sex could be so physical.After tricking Bobby and Tina to join them to a van spot, at a local beach, Jack and Sue have sex in the back with occasional voyeurs in their window. Bobby and Tina see other vans, before Tina is nearly run over during the van drag races. Bobby and Tina get close, until Bobby again tries getting physical. Tina drives off in the van with Jack and Sue in the back, leaving Bobby to walk home.When Andy reveals he got beat up for not paying for a winning high-risk bet, Bobby volunteers his van's down payment. After getting rejected when approaching Tina's window, Bobby visits Sally's house. Sally says she feels abandoned by Dugan, and Bobby finds himself with her in his van. Unzipping him, she notes he is bigger than Dugan. Taking off her top, they proceed to have sex.The following morning, Tina runs across Bobby in a diner and agrees going together inside, where they meet Jack and Sue. Dugan then enters, lifts Bobby up and says he saw Bobby's van last night around Sally's place. Jack stalls Dugan, but Tina doesn't want to see Bobby again. Refusing to give up again, Bobby kidnaps her. Dugan drive chases Bobby, and the police join in. Bobby escapes, but Tina pleads to get freed. Bobby finally stops when she agrees hearing his side. He says he got the van to succeed with girls, but it changed upon meeting Tina. Tina says she too could never play "the game", and they have sex.The next morning, Bobby drag-races Dugan to regain his money, but not before mentioning he really was at Sally's place. Dugan tries crashing Bobby, but eventually crashes himself into a police car. In result, Bobby's van turns over. Tina, Sue, Jack and Andy are relieved when Bobby is neither dead nor injured. Jack notes Bobby even won the race (when the water seeping from the broken waterbed inside the van leaks out and across the finish line).Bobby leaves in Tina's convertible. Tina asks if he really was with Sally, and Bobby replies that Sally said he is "bigger than Dugan," but Tina just laughs. | cult | train | imdb | Racing vans, the total ass-wipe with the baddest van, the water bed, the smoking of herbs, the hot 70's chicks, the 'makin love in my Chevy van song, it was all so new to me.
When I watch this movie, it makes me want to get my skates, with 4 wheels, not in a strait line, go to the park and hunt down some babes with feathered hair.
I have used this line dozens of times over the years (no one has yet to believe it, though).This movie is one of the all-time best for sheer fun and nonbelieveability.
Steven Oliver was perfect for the part of Dugan, so much so that he was in 1978's "Malibu Beach" as the same character (not nearly as much screen time, though)."Nobody calls Dugan a turd!" is another line for the ages.
The 1975 Sammy Johns hit record "Chevy Van" is heard repeatedly on the soundtrack (this movie has even been reissued with the title CHEVY VAN), despite the film's title vehicle being a Dodge.
The movie is a comparatively sexist morality tale -- will Bobby find sexual satisfaction through the one-night-stand his customised van facilitates, or must he wait until Tina, the girl of his dreams, gives him the time of day?
Still, it is representative of the prevailing carnal dream of male American high schoolers of the time, and on that basis alone THE VAN has, almost in spite of itself, become an artifact of the period that must be referenced in any honest retrospective of the period's popular American cinema....
It may seem like a dumb sex comedy from the 70's but it's more like a window to the decade of decadence.This movie has it all!Sex,pot smoking,a car wash,super-cool vans,cool clothes,a pimp,hookers,van racing,the continuous playing of Chevy Van and other Sammy Johns songs and more!If you want to know what people were really doing in the 70's,get this movie.It will make you want to go FUN TRUCKIN'..
A film like THE VAN may now seem like a disposable piece of Drive-in esoteria, but it was a sizable hit when it was released (not to mention subsequent re-releases as a double feature with other Crown hits).THE VAN was a perfect example of Crown's hit strategy of seizing upon the mood of movie-goers at the time of a film's release.
I had a town Selectman where I was at the time even declare these vans to be "dens of sin on wheels!" A perfect ad line for the film!There are the usual assortment of "good" and "bad" girls, muscle-heads and low-brow hijinks (including a supporting bit by Danny DeVito).
In many ways this isn't much different from the old Beach Party movies of the 60's, but now spiced up with Nudity and Drug use.
Obviously done on a limited budget and a limited schedule, the film coasts along pleasantly enough with a breezy charm that compensates for some, by today's standards certainly, un-PC views of women.The classic touch is a Toaster for Bobby's den of sin on wheels.
Coming-of-age fare from the 70s; you know that period where a new van supposedly meant high living, fast girls, and tons of laughs.
A teen-aged Stuart Goetz, giving a very energetic performance, works at a carwash and finally saves enough to get his loaded van.
Well, naturally this ploy doesn't work all the time and romance buds with a girl that doesn't seem all that impressed with his wheels.
The hit song "Chevy Van" plays throughout the film.
Simple-minded but good-natured drive-in movie about a simple-minded but good-natured high school graduate who has dreams of owning the coolest custom van in the world to use as his "ballroom".
Joint sharing and love making quickly commence with girls Bobby has picked up at the local pizza parlor, but he finds out much responsibility, danger and heartache come with being the owner of such a mechanical marvel.The Van is a guilty pleasure of mine.
I remember seeing this movie at the drive-in, when I was a teenager.
.I wanted a van so bad after this movie, never happened.
. .The plot seems dated now But at the time.But the actors are good.A van was the "it" thing to have at the time.The Main song for this movie "Chevy Van" .
OK, our hero doesn't REALLY say that line in this movie, but if you haven't figured it out already, Stuart Getz is mostly known to millions as Charley in that legendary Brady Bunch episode where Marcia gets hit in the nose with the football (he was the dorky one with the wallpaper samples).Anyway THAT'S where you've seen our "star" before...
now on to the movie.This was a big drive-in hit in the summer of 1977 and is a pretty good time capsule for that era.
Guy hopes to impress chicks with tricked-out van, gets challenged to drag-race by rival.
Feather-light script would probably take at least 24 hours to hit the floor if it were dropped from the ceiling, but it's still a fun (albeit hokey) remnant from the "drive-in swill" days of the '70s.
The Rhino DVD is probably the best version (it's not heavily edited like other versions out there); the only drawbacks are it's full-frame, there are a few imperfections in the print and some of the color didn't age very well, but that doesn't really detract from overall enjoyment of the movie (if anything it enhances the "70s feeling").
Positively THE definitive film about toaster-equipped van lovin'.
A must for anyone who loves insanely bad movies - I saw this movie by accident 8 years ago, and now own 3 copies of it, and have watched it at least a dozen times.
One of those so bad it's good kind of movies.
What teenage boy wouldn't love his own van complete with waterbed, eight track tape player and...toaster!
The teen sexploitation comedy had its heyday in the early 1980's with movies like "Porky's" and a brief revival years later with "American Pie" (and perhaps we're experiencing another right one now with the new movie "Superbad").
The 70's movies were a little different, however, in that it was never clear whether they were trying to "exploit" the actual teenage audience of the era or just exploit the bodies of the "teenage" characters (almost always played by older actors) for the benefit of perverts of all ages.
It has a believable (relatively) and likable (very relatively) protagonist with a (somewhat)realistic problem: he wants to improve his love life by buying a customized van.
This movie is not particularly funny, nor is it exactly neo-realism, but it does capture the spirit of the times enough to achieve a kind of nostalgia (which certainly can't be said about stuff like "The Cheerleaders").
I was actually just a kid at this time, but I remember being disappointed when I reached adolescence in the "just say no" Reagan era that my female peers weren't quite as, uh, fun as my teenage babysitters seemed to be back in this era.
(At least, I personally never owned a van with a waterbed, a mirrored ceiling, and, for some reason, a toaster).I'm sure this isn't a totally realistic movie about being a teenager in the 1970's, but it's as close as THESE kind of movies are probably going to get..
I am simply looking for a time period where politics do not play a part in movies and the VAN was it.I love those 80's teen comedies like Porky's and Killer Tomatoes and Killer Klowns and the Beach and Malibu Beach and so on.
You get a real sense of the world back then and how truly free it was before Liberal Hollywood destroyed culture.PLOT: Something about a man with chest hair(The main character had non in the Van though) chasing a woman and not being labeled a rapist that is awe-inspiring.
this film is one of lifes little pleasures...................and it is a must see for fans of the street car flick, its about a teenager who blows his entire college savings on a coustom chevy van as a way to lure girls in for wild sex parties.
however there is some great 1970's music in this film - and its funny to watch --- I never knew Danny DeVito was ever that Young.
this is a fun movie and its a perfect break(getaway)from the period dramas and war movies that I love so well.
THE VAN:a tricked out xtra special drive in flick that's a must see!.
THE VAN is a simple teensploitation picture made especially for the drive in that goes out of it's way to make you feel comfortable, providing many opportunities to laugh and cry with your friends.
With that being the case, I should've known better than to even expect that the movie shown on it would play without cuts what with both cuss words blanked out and no nudity (good thing that some of the scenes shown on YouTube did have some skin).
The actual star is Stuart Goetz-best known for a guest appearance on "The Brady Bunch"-as just graduated teen Bobby who uses his college money to buy a, you know.
Deborah White plays Tina who Bobby likes but she doesn't feel the same about him.
Then there's a sexy blonde called Sally played by Connie Lisa Marie and her Neanderthal boyfriend named Dugan Hicks (Stephan Oliver who would reprise this role on Malibu Beach).
Okay, I thought the first 45 minutes were pretty funny and hearing Sammy Johns "Chevy Van" and some of his other tunes were fun to hear.
But then Bobby's constant pawing of Tina and her incessant rejection of him gets irritating real quick and "Chevy Van" gets played too many times, not to mention that director Sam Grossman does too many travelogue scenes whenever those songs play.
Still, there was a nice montage of various vans as Bobby and Tina walk around the beach, there were some amusing undercranking when there were car chases, and Danny DeVito had a hilarious opening scene.
The Van is a feelgood movie about a guy who tries to lure girls into his new van, in order to seduce them.
The only thing this movie doesn't fail at is precisely depicting the van fad in the US in the late 70s.
Let's be fair: THE VAN hasn't aged very well as a film.
The plot is so slim that it barely sustains the running time; a geeky guy buys himself a new van and then does his very best to bed a succession of women within its confines.It's lowbrow, dumb, and frequently offensive to women, not to mention incredibly dated in terms of the mannerisms and fashions.
Certainly it has no right to be: the characters are thinly drawn, the acting verges on the wooden, and random scenes of van chases thrown into the mix don't really contribute much overall.
The makers of the film obviously wanted to capture some of the out there craziness of other films of the time, but fell a long way short.
Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, they added more joints and more pink fuzzy-lined vans with raunchy sex scenes.
A classic coming of age story set against the back drop of the late 70's California van culture.
Bobby has played it safe and saved his money from his car wash job and the day he graduates from high school heads down to the Dodge dealer to buy a new customized van that ultimately changes our hero, but not always for the better.
While this movie's story line is amusing at best it does serve as a time capsule for the car culture of southern California.
There is even a scene in the movie set at an all van show gathering down at the beach.
I'm sure the real owners who got their vans on screen in this movie still talk about it now, some 35 years later..
we made love in my Chevy van, and that alright with me.
we made love in my Chevy van, and that alright with me.
"The Van" was one of the movies that was in heavy rotation on that network at that time.I remember watching this movie back then, and thinking it was a typical teen flick(along the same lines as other medium budget teen flicks) ...the ones where the plot revolves around nudity and parties.I totally forgot that this movie even existed until I recently seen this movie again after having not seeing it for decades( I found a copy of it on DVD for sale in cheap bin) I recognized it, and bought it for a mere $4.99.Seems like I had remembered this film being much better that it was(is).
However watching it back then was a different experience than watching now(30+ years later).It was fun to see the kids listing to rock n roll music, smoking weed, and having sex in the back a fancy van(often all at the same time).
This is what a good teen party movie should be.There isn't much of a plot other than the fact that the main character fantasizes about having sex with his arch rivals good looking girlfriend ...he blows all of his college savings money to purchase a tricked out Dodge Van(with shag carpet walls .
But watching this movie 30+ years later, it becomes more of a trip down memory lane.
Because I still can remember Pizza parlors, pinball arcades, It also brought back memories of cruising around a small town while we smoked pot as we would yell at good looking girls and hoping to get laid (sometimes I'd get lucky and get some decent looking girl to share a joint with me and we'd screw in the backseat afterwords, I also remember many of the songs in this move(when they were new)......this movie serves as a perfect time capsule for that era in those regards (brought back lots of memories)the one thing that is depicted in this movie that I honestly can not remember is ....I never remember a time when full sized vans were as popular as this film depicts them as being.
I remember that era very well, and I don't young men going around wishing they had a van.
Instead I remember young men in the 70's (self included) wanting a Pontiac Trans Am, Chevy Camaro or a hot rod Ford Mustang, but never a van.
This movie makes it appear as if vans were most popular item going and that every young man wanted one(which just wasn't true of that era).
It does attempt to make a sincere point about true love and friendship being more important in life than a cool set of wheels and a quick piece of tail.
Sure, it's essentially a blatant adolescent male fantasy pic -- the main teen goofus character Bobby Hamilton gets the girls, the respect of his friends, and a chance to show-up a local van-racing bully -- but it's way too dopey and good-natured to hate.
Stuart Getz as our gawky protagonist makes for an endearingly dorky lead, Deborah White as the main object of Getz's affection is a definite cutie, Connie Lisa Marie is likewise quite luscious as a beauteous blonde babe, and sneering beefcake Neanderthal Stephan Oliver (a 60's biker movie perennial) is wonderfully hateful as the brutish Dugan Hicks.
Breezy Fun. The Van benefits from having a very strongly established setting.
The comedy is pretty silly at times, but for the most part, I enjoyed the fact that this was written before the age of irony.
Second - WTF is going on with this van love.
The plot, basically, is: boy wants sex so buys a van (which, in fairness is quite cool).
Although he didn't need to because in tipping the van the ginger kid crossed the line first.
Car-wash employee Bobby (Stuart Goetz) doesn't have much luck with the girls, so to improve his chances at getting some action he puts a down payment on a custom van, which comes complete with fur interior, mirrored ceiling, water bed, hideous round side window, television, toaster, fridge, 8-track stereo, and a nasty paint job that makes the thing look like a courier vehicle.
Amazingly, it has the desired effect on certain females, but fails to work on Tina (Deborah White), the girl of Bobby's dreams.The Van wants to be a sweet coming-of-age tale with it's happy go lucky protagonist learning that, to win over the true object of his affections, he doesn't have to rely on his flashy vehicle—just being himself is enough; it's a fine sentiment, except that Bobby is such an unappealing character that the whole thing falls flat on its face.Once he has his tricked-out wagon on the road, Bobby acts like a jerk, luring girls onto his water bed with the promise of drugs.
Just a FUN Movie!.
I love The Van. Not only because I'm a 70's junkie and dig the vanning of that era, but also the fact the movie is so carefree and has an attractive summertime aura.
Stuart Getz plays his role as "Bobby" to a T.
At first, you may get the impression he is a suburban pretty boy type, but as the movie progresses, you get to know the real Bobby - a fun-loving, horny, pot and cigar smoking, liquor-drinking, daredevil vanner and he is simply a hoot to observe.
The music score by Sammy Johns is excellent and it jives in perfectly with key scenes, especially when Bobby and Tina make love in his "Chevy" (actually a Dodge) van.
I doubt people who criticize this movie for being too "simple" were around in the 70's, because if they were around, they would understand the cult following of The Van and how it being simple is a fine element.
So yeah, I love this movie and it's required viewing in June every year because I so much want to be in this summer party. |
tt0151804 | Office Space | Office Space is the first feature-length film directed by writer/creator Mike Judge. It is based on his "Milton" animated shorts. Office Space did not generate stunning box office on its original release in 1999, but the film, along with red Swingline staplers, have since attained cult status.This film chronicles the dreary life of Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston), a software engineer cubicle dweller at Initech. Peter has a frustrating commute, tiresome coworkers, an inane boss and a girlfriend that he's pretty sure is cheating on him. The only bright spots in his life are his two friends at work, Samir (Ajay Naidu), and the unfortunately named Michael Bolton (David Herman), his laid-back construction worker neighbor Lawrence (Diedrich Bader), and Joanna, a waitress at the local Chotchkie's restaurant whom he worships from afar (Jennifer Aniston).After enduring a morning at work consisting of repetitive reprimands about the minutia of TPS reports, the bleak office atmosphere takes a tense turn when the employees are informed that Initech is bringing in a consultant to help improve efficiency. All the Initechers are nervous about interviewing for their own jobs, but Milton (Stephen Root), a twitchy, mumbling long-time employee, is only concerned that he will either be asked to move his desk again, or that someone will notice he's kept his beloved red Swingline stapler after the company had switched to another brand. Michael Bolton threatens to unleash the virus he's been working on, or join Samir in trashing the horrible printer they're forced to deal with.On Friday Peter attempts to sneak out early, but is caught by his arrogant boss, Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole), and is roped into working over the weekend. Peter finally leaves the office and reluctantly joins his girlfriend, Anne (Alexandra Wentworth), at an appointment with an occupational hypnotherapist that he's hoping can help him have a more positive outlook on life. The hypnotherapist does indeed get Peter into a very relaxed state, but suffers a fatal heart attack before he can bring him out. The next morning, Peter ignores his alarm clock, blowing off working on Saturday. He also manages to sleep through the 17 messages left for him by Lumbergh. He takes an angry call from Anne, who's demanding an explanation for his odd behavior. Peter responds by hanging up on her, and Anne responds by breaking up with him (yes, she WAS cheating on him). Peter returns to bed for the remainder of the day.On Monday, instead of going to work, Peter goes to Chotchkie's and finally asks Joanna out for lunch. They get to know each other and he tells her of his plan to not quit, but just stop going to work. They also discover a mutual appreciation for the TV series Kung Fu, and a date is made to watch it later at Peter's apartment. Peter then heads over to the Initech office to retrieve his address book, and runs into Michael Bolton who advises him to go home instead of keeping his interview apointment with the efficiency experts, both of whom happen to be named Bob. Peter decides this is the opportunity he's been waiting for, and meets with the Bobs. He tells them in no uncertain terms about his lack of motivation and his frustration of having to answer to seven levels of management. He leaves the meeting feeling unburdened, wishes them all well, and the Bobs are duly impressed.Meanwhile, Joanna has her own version of Lumbergh to deal with, her boss at Chotchkie's, Stan (Mike Judge). He conveys his disappointment about the "flair" (the decorative buttons and the like) on her work uniform. He lectures that while the "flair" is her opportunity to express herself, she seems satisfied in only wearing the bare minimum of 15 pieces. Joanna, perplexed, assures him she will do more to express herself.The reorganization at Initech is progressing. The Bobs are meeting with upper management, and inform Lumbergh of several employees who will be let go. They also point out that they discovered an irregularity. Milton had actually been laid off five years prior, but through a glitch in accounting, continued to receive a paycheck. The Bobs report that they fixed the glitch, and that Milton will eventually leave of his own accord. When they bring up the subject of promoting Peter, Lumbergh has to go ahead and disagree with them, but they vehemently push back, and start quizzing Lumbergh on how much time he's spending on those TPS reports.Peter spends the next several days hanging with Joanna and fishing with Lawrence. He shows up back at Initech at the request of the Bobs to find out that not only is he getting a promotion, people reporting to him, a raise and stock options, but that among others both Samir and Michael Bolton are being fired. He meets with his friends that night and asks Michael Bolton if the virus he's always talking about will really work. Michael explains that the virus will take the fractions of a penny that remain on every bank transaction and deposit them into an account. The theft will be so gradual that it will take years before it's even noticed. The three friends agree that it's a foolproof scam, and decide to put it in motion the following day before Samir and Michael are let go for good. They also agree not to tell anyone else, even though Lawrence has heard all the details of the plan through the apartment wall. Peter assures Samir and Michael that "he's cool."The plan to upload the virus is executed with Mission: Impossible-like precision, and the friends declare, "That was easy." After Michael Bolton and Samir are escorted out by security, Peter takes them to a nearby field to give them a going-away present: the printer that's been the bane of their existence. Michael and Samir take out their frustrations on the printer, totally stomping and demolishing it with baseball bats and even their bare hands. The day ends badly for Milton as well, when he's asked to move his desk into Storage Unit 2, and Lumbergh confiscates his red Swingline stapler.That weekend, on their way to a party being thrown by a recently laid-off Initech coworker, Peter reveals the penny-pinching software scam to Joanna. Despite his best efforts, he fails to convince her that what he, Samir and Michael are doing isn't stealing. Once at the party, Peter finds out to his horror that Joanna once slept with Lumbergh! He confronts her with this information on the way home from the party, they argue, and she storms off after proclaiming that he needs to drop his judgment and grow up. Peter then suffers a horrible nightmare in which he envisions Lumbergh having sex with Joanna, but still being his "ah-yeah" Lumbergh self.Joanna's run of confrontations continue. Her boss, Stan, again reprimands her for not using her "flair' to express herself. Joanna decides she's finally had enough, expresses herself by flipping him the bird, and quits her job.The next morning Peter checks the balance in the illicit penny-pinching scam account and finds it is a shocking $305,326.13! The three friends meet, and Michael chalks the glitch up to a mundane detail that he's possibly overlooked. Meanwhile, at Initech, the insults continue to be loaded onto Milton's mental camel. After he is (again) denied a piece of office birthday cake, the last straw comes in the form of a request to please go ahead and take care of the cockroach problem in Storage Unit 2, an action that is clearly not in his job description. He mumbles that perhaps he'll burn down the building. Peter, Samir and Michael have been mulling over their problem of too much stolen money all day, and determine that they are simply not good criminals. Before they adjourn for the night, Peter learns from Michael and Samir that Joanna did sleep with someone named Lumbergh, but to Peter's relief, it wasn't their boss. After Michael and Samir leave, Peter knows what he must do: he decides to return the money to Initech along with a note taking responsibility for the whole thing. First, Peter meets Joanna outside of the new restaurant she's working for and informs her that he may be going to jail for a while since he's planning to take the rap for the penny-pinching scam. He asks for her forgiveness and says that though he might never find a job he likes, he thinks he could be happy in his life if he's with her. She forgives him immediately.Peter sneaks into Initech after hours and slips the envelope containing his confession letter and the $350,000 in traveler's checks under Lumbergh's office door. The next morning, Milton lets himself into Lumbergh's empty office in an effort to retrieve his red stapler. Back at his apartment, Peter bids farewell to Lawrence and heads off to hit the road. On his way out, he passes the Initech building ... which is completely engulfed in flames. As the building collapses, we see Milton wandering away from the crowd, mumbling about his stapler.Later, we see Peter has joined Lawrence's construction crew and is working on the clean-up of the Initech fire. Peter runs across the red stapler and scoops it up -- he knows there's someone who's looking for it. Michael and Samir come by to visit on their lunch break from their new jobs at Innertrobe. The friends conclude that the fire likely consumed the confession letter and all the money, and decide they're in the clear from their foray into crime. Peter soaks in the simple pleasure of being outside and making an honest living.Next we see Milton at a beautiful Mexican resort and the mystery of what happened to the money is solved. When he's given the wrong drink order, he first threatens to take his traveler's checks to a competing resort ... then to burn the resort down ... and then to poison the guacamole. | comedy, boring, cult, flashback, psychedelic, humor, satire, philosophical, revenge, entertaining | train | imdb | null |
tt0120873 | U.S. Marshals | The film opens with closed-circuit television footage of an exchange between two men taking place in a parking garage, which appears to be foiled by agents of the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). The two agents appear to be shot and killed by one of the two men making the meeting.The scene cuts to Chicago, where a tow truck driver named Mark Warren (Wesley Snipes) is driving down a highway while he returns a car to an impound lot. He suddenly has to swerve to avoid a distracted driver, and loses control of his truck. The truck crashes through several construction barriers, then is launched into the air and turned over its side as it skids into an intersection. Warren survives, although his left arm is broken in the accident. Within minutes, the police and the fire department arrive to extricate Warren from the truck. While Warren is being carted away in an ambulance, a firefighter makes an unusual discovery: a gun stashed inside the truck, velcroed underneath the dashboard.We cut to a South Side neighborhood, where a group of US Marshals led by Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) along with his team, comprised of Cosmo Renfro (Joe Pantoliano), Bobby Biggs (Daniel Roebuck), Noah Newman (Tom Wood), and Savannah Cooper (LaTanya Richardson), are staking out an apartment building where they believe two fugitive brothers, Michael and Greg Conroy, who escaped from a Tennessee state prison are hiding with their girlfriends. Gerard is stationed on a street corner, disguised as a chicken mascot offering free samples to passerby while advertising his food truck parked on the corner. Biggs is stationed nearby, disguised as a construction worker, as is Renfro. Newman and Cooper are stationed behind the building.While acting his part, Gerard sees a stationwagon pulls up and park outside the building. He watches as the fugitive brothers and their girlfriends climb out of the car and head inside with groceries. Once they're inside, he starts walking towards the building, removing his chicken feet and head and producing his pistol, and is joined by Biggs and Renfro. They advance up to the front door of the suspected hideout. On Gerard's signal, Biggs smashes the door open with a sledgehammer. Biggs and Renfro immediately draw their guns on Michael, who immediately fights back as they try to secure handcuffs on him. Gerard gets attacked by the girlfriends when they try to intervene, but he manages to overpower both of them. Greg Conroy attempts to flee out the back door, only for Newman and Cooper to burst in and pin him to the wall. His infant son starts crying and he immediately makes a move for the baby's crib, ostensibly to comfort it. However, Newman shoots him in the shoulder as he tries to draw a shotgun. Gerard picks up the shotgun and manages to use it to briefly hold Michael, who's been trying to fight off Renfro and Biggs this whole time, at bay. Renfro starts to secure the handcuffs on Michael, who suddenly yells in pain and bites Biggs's left shoulder, forcing Gerard to crack him over the head with the butt of the shotgun.Gerard and his men later celebrate the arrest of the Conroy brothers at a bar, as they watch a newscast of the brothers being led to the courthouse in handcuffs. Both brothers have made excessive force complaints against Gerard, with Michael having required 27 stitches after Gerard struck him with the shotgun.Meanwhile, Mark Warren is taken to Chicago Memorial Hospital, where his left arm is put in a cast and he is given a neck brace as support. His girlfriend Marie Bineaux (Irène Jacob) is there waiting to pick him up when he's released, as she pays for Warren's bill in cash. One of the police officers from the scene of the accident is also there, ready to pick up Warren on an illegal gun possession charge due to the gun found in the truck (thanks to Chicago's strict gun laws). The moment Warren is released from the hospital, the Chicago Police immediately arrest Warren and take him into custody.Warren is taken to an interrogation room, where three detectives show up to question him. The lead detective informs Warren that there's been a slight discrepancy: his name flags a white man with long hair. When asked if he's aware of the strict gun laws Chicago imposes, Warren dismisses it by asking, "You ever try towin' a car on the Dan Ryan at three o'clock in the morning without a handgun?" The detective then asks Warren if he's ever been to East 42nd Street and First Avenue in New York City, the scene of a brutal double homicide the previous December. Warren denies it, but the detective then reveals that Warren's fingerprints flagged him as Mark Roberts, the man wanted on a federal arrest warrant for the murders, and his prints were found at the crime scene. Warren/Roberts immediately demands to talk to a lawyer, and has to be restrained by the other two detectives, which as it turns out is a ploy as he uses the distraction to snap the glasses frames belonging to the lead detective.That evening, Gerard attends a party with his date, newscaster Stacia Vela. In actuality, he is attending because he's been summoned by his boss, Marshal Katherine Walsh (Kate Nelligan). Walsh reprimands Gerard for his actions during the arrest of the Conroy brothers, since the brothers are accusing Gerard of police brutality. As discipline, and damage control, she orders him to personally escort the Conroys back to Tennessee on a federal prison transport plane.Gerard reports that night to the airfield where the prison transport plane is awaiting departure. Several prisoners are loaded onto the aircraft, including the Conroy brothers, and Mark Roberts. Once on board, each prisoner is buckled in by a guard, with additional shackles being used to secure their legs to the floor.Around midnight, the aircraft takes off, headed first for Memphis, then for New York City.The flight is uneventful until about 20 minutes prior to landing, when Vincent Ling, a Chinese mob assassin being returned to prison after losing an appeal, suddenly asks to use the lavatory. One of the guards releases the leg shackles on Ling's feet and walks him back to the toilet. Ling sits down and pretends to use the toilet. In actuality, the toilet trip is a ruse for him to grab a zipgun disguised as a ballpoint pen that's been planted inside a roll of toilet paper. While that's happening, Roberts begins to use the piece of glasses frame (which he's smuggled on inside his plaster cast) to pick at his handcuffs. As Ling is being escorted back to his seat, he produces the zipgun and tries to shoot Roberts. However, Roberts deflects the aim, and the bullet pierces a window, causing an explosive decompression that sucks Ling and a prison guard out of the plane. The plane immediately goes into a dive as the pilots struggle to regain control of the plane. They are forced to ditch the plane on a narrow country road somewhere in Kentucky. The plane touches down smoothly, but then the left wing clips a row of power line poles, and eventually breaks off. What's left of the plane then rolls off the road, and down a hill into the river, where it comes to a rest upside down. As survivors are evacuated, Roberts escapes into the night.Work in progress | suspenseful, neo noir, murder, violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0072951 | Escape to Witch Mountain | We meet Tia and Tony as they are arriving at another orphanage. They do not remember who their families were or where they came from but know they have special telekinetic powers which make getting along with the rest of the kids difficult. During a movie trip, Tia gets a strong feeling about a man getting into a car across the street. She runs over to him and tells him that he should not get into the car. The man listens and decides to walk and get picked later by the chauffeur-driven car. Just then an out-of-control pick-up truck crashes into the door where the man would have been seated. This man, Lucas Deranian, (played by Donald Pleasence) happens to work for an eccentric rich man looking for clairvoyant kids that he can use to expand his fortune. Fake papers are drawn showing Mr. Deranian as the children's long lost uncle.The children arrive at the mansion of Aristotle Bolt (played by Ray Milland) to find everything they had ever wanted. Horseback riding, beautiful rooms, ice cream abound. They do not know there are cameras in their rooms watching them play using their special powers. Mr. Bolt tells them over dinner that they can name what they want to have and he will get it for them if they will teach him how they perform their magic. No deal. Tony and Tia want out because they overhear how they will be isolated on an island if they do not cooperate.They escape the mansion and meet up with an elderly man played by Eddie Albert. He agrees to help them find a place on a map that they have discovered on Tia's star case (pocket book).There are many close calls along the way as townspeople believe the children to be witches and from witch mountain. The three finally make it to the place on the map and are summoned toward a lake alongside the mountains. With Mr. Bolt in a helicopter, Mr. Duranian following in a car, and the townspeople coming up the rear, the final chase is on.This time Tony and Tia are met by their uncle and a flying saucer. Jason (Eddie Albert) is thanked for showing so much compassion getting the children back home. He is charged with finding others that survived from the spacecraft crash the night Tia and Tony were lost.Tia and Tony fly away with their uncle in the saucer. Jason is sad at parting but happy that they found their home. Mr. Winky, the children's cat, is left to keep him company. | paranormal, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0106856 | Falling Down | Michael Douglas plays a disturbed man whose true identity is unknown through most of the film. He is stuck in Los Angeles traffic on a very hot summer day and finally just gives up and abandons his vehicle. D-Fens, as he is credited in the film (based on his vanity license plate), begins walking west, trying to reach his estranged wife and daughter. It's the little girl's birthday, and he is determined to reach "home" to be with her.In a parallel story line, Detective Prendergast of the LAPD (Robert Duvall) is on his last day before taking an early retirement. His needy, bossy wife demanded that he do this, and Prendergast took a "safe" desk job a few years back to placate her as well. He comes upon D-Fens's abandoned car on his way to work and helps push it out of traffic.D-Fens calls his ex-wife on a pay phone but hangs up when she answers. Short on coins to call again, he enters a Korean-owned convenience store. He respects the "no change without purchase" policy and tries to buy a can of Coke. He is incensed at the high price and begins a tirade against foreigners who come to America and charge outrageous prices. He is soon fighting with the Korean owner and, after grabbing a sawed-off baseball bat from the man, begins wrecking the store. Eventually he calms down a little, pays a "reasonable" price for the soda, and leaves.Heading for Venice, California, D-Fens climbs a hill in "gangland," an area rife with Hispanic gang activity. Two young gang-bangers accost him because he's a white man in a white shirt and a tie, with a briefcase, wandering through their "hood." When D-Fens fails to hand over any money, they threaten him with a knife, and he counters with the bat he got at the convenience store. He injures one assailant's arm and drives the other off. Dropping the bat, he picks up the butterfly knife, establishing a pattern of increasing his armament throughout the film.The Latino gang members vow revenge, and a carload (with many firearms, including automatic weapons) is soon out hunting for D-Fens. He is again calling his ex from a pay phone, threatening to show up at his daughter's birthday party. The gangsters attempt a drive-by shooting but miss D-Fens, hitting other bystanders and crashing their car. Going up to the wreckage, D-Fens admonishes them for missing him, shoots one in the leg, and makes off with a gym bag filled with guns.Hungry, D-Fens stops by Whammy Burger, only to be told that breakfast stopped being served five minutes earlier. Not a wise thing to tell the psychotic D-Fens, and he soon pulls out a submachine gun, threatening everyone and deciding to have lunch instead. After berating the staff for serving him a hamburger that looks nothing like the advertising posters, he leaves.Prendergast (in between whiny calls from his wife) is starting to notice a pattern. The Korean store owner came in to complain, and the detective heard about the bold daylight shooting attempt. He looks on an L.A. map and sees that the mysterious man in a white shirt and a tie is walking toward the ocean. Perceived as a "fallen" cop by his superior, however, Prendergast's observations are not taken seriously.D-Fens's ex calls the police to gain protection from him, but they don't believe he's much of a threat and leave.The increasingly disturbed D-Fens goes into an Army-Navy surplus store run by a gay-bashing Nazi (Frederic Forrest) to buy more durable footwear for his trek. While he's being fitted, police detective Torres (Rachel Ticotin) comes in asking about him. The Nazi owner distracts her and, after she leaves, tells D-Fens he knows all about his activities. The Nazi assumes D-Fens is a racist who is attacking nonwhites. After being corrected about this, the irate skinhead attempts to handcuff D-Fens to turn him over to the police. He is instead knifed and ultimately killed. D-Fens clothes himself in military-style garb and sets out on his quest once again.He cuts through a nearby golf course and is accosted by two elderly golfers. After berating them for wasting such lovely green space on a silly game, he shoots up their golf cart, causing one to have a heart attack.D-Fens eventually reaches his former home, but his wife leaves just in time. Prendergast, who has put the whole puzzle together, rushes to the scene with his friend, Detective Torres. Having turned in his weapon (it's his last day before retirement), Prendergast is unarmed. D-Fens shoots Torres, wounding her slightly, and the older detective grabs her weapon and chases D-Fens onto a fishing pier. Prendergast has a final confrontation with D-Fens and kills him. | comedy, murder, cult, violence, tragedy, home movie | train | imdb | Set them against the decadent back drop of modern day LA where if you are 'Not economically viable,' you are of no use, and the result is Falling Down.The tag line 'The Adventures of an Ordinary man at War with the Everyday World,' makes Joel Schumacher's masterpiece sound like the benign story of a working stiff with issues.
However Falling Down is a dark and engrossing urban fable, a study into the mind of the disenfranchised and reminder to all that the removal of comfort is a lot closer than we care to believe.Full of clichés, like the cop on his last day before retiring, Falling Down bravely meets all expectations of stereotypes, rather than challenging them, making for a realistic reflection of a failing society.
Here, a man in extremis, without the feral cunning or killer instinct required for a life in the street, makes his way on anger and luck alone, somehow surviving to leave a paper chase of violence and destruction behind.Relying heavily on symbolism, illustrating a flip side of America running parallel to the hunky dory world occupied by the successful, the over all message of 'No Matter, Never Mind,' is clear in this world where children play next to vagrants dying from AIDS and Korean grocers can legally steal from the public with their overpriced goods.Michael Douglas displays some hitherto unseen talent as the unbalanced D-FENS, as he casually totes gang weapons (complete with rubber bands on the grips) in his formal shirt and tie, does battle with store owners and comes up against fast food restaurants, homeless people, gangsters and Nazis.
Robert Duval is equally brilliant as the desk jockey on his final day, determined to stop anyone else from being hurt, including the perp.There is, of course, a small amount of Hollywood sentimentality thrown in for good measure, however the dynamics of such a strong narrative make this completely forgivable and it's possible to overlook this as a flaw given the film's overall strengths.Praise surely has to go to Ebbe Roe Smith for writing one of the finest scripts ever to grace celluloid.
Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall star in a film that portrays life as true, funny and aggravating as it really is.
Falling Down (1993)Tagged as `the adventures of an ordinary man at war with the everyday world,' Joel Schumacher's `Falling Down' tells the tragic tale of William Foster aka D-FENS, a now unemployed defense worker who finds himself trapped on a hot summer day in bumper-to-bumper Los Angeles traffic.
As Prendergast, who is on his last day on the job, begins to put together the pieces of the mysterious crime spree plaguing the city (he seems to be the only one smart enough to figure out it's all the doing of one man!), it pits him in an inevitable confrontation between him and Foster.Michael Douglas, playing Foster / D-FENS plays an incredibly complex character.
You can't help but feel at the end of the day, when Foster gets his due, that he's, in some small way, made Los Angeles a better place despite the carnage he's unleashed.And this is perhaps what is so strange about the movie.
Falling down probably wasn't the best film of it's year and it's not one of the all time greats, but there is a lot of truth in it.
Michael Douglas delivers an astonishing performance as D-Fens (William Foster) an ordinary guy, who has an obviously perfect job at the department of Defense, until he gets fired and his wife breaks up with him.
On one of those typical LA dog-days, disgruntled motorist Michael Douglas, caught in what could be the traffic jam from hell, finally decides he can't take it any more, abandons his car on the freeway and decides to walk home and God help anyone who gets in his way.I suppose "Falling Down" could best be described as a road movie in reverse.
The script, very boldly, explores post cold war America and seems to ask this question: While we were busy defending ourselves from outsiders and fighting wars abroad did we forget what was wrong at home?The central character, played by Michael Douglas, represents old school, commie-fearing Uncle Sam. He's a man who has spent his life developing weapons to defend his country.
Despite what was written in reviews of the time Douglas' character D-Fens' actually commits very few acts of violence in the film.
His mirror opposite in the story, played by Duvall, balances the bleak view of modern America nicely but, as we gradually discover how horrible and strange D-fens has become to his own wife and children, the film leaves thinking about how strange and horrible so much of American society has become..
If we were less than tough and strong we would end up shooting and beating people up like Michael Douglas' character in this movie.
I'm not saying i would ever go as far as Michael Douglas does when he cant get his breakfast 2 minutes after the cut off time in this film but i understand EXACTLY how he feels.!.
On the day of his daughter's birthday, William "D-Fens" Foster (Michael Douglas) is trying to get home of his estranged ex-wife to see her daughter.
Meanwhile Sergeant Martin Prendergast (Robert Duvall) that is working on his last day before retirement is following the wave of crimes and believes that the responsible is the same man but the other detectives do not pay attention to him."Falling Down" is a movie with a story that is one of the greatest social criticisms of our contemporary way of life.
I parodied many of these experiences in my 20 or so years spent there, and this was always one of my favorites.Michael Douglas' portrayal of "D-FENS" was,I believe, his greatest triumph.William Foster (Douglas) had been canned from his government defence job, and leaves his clapped out old car, with the license plate "D-FENS", on the freeway and embarks on a walking crusade, on a very hot day, many miles to Venice Beach for his daughter's birthday celebration.
Too bad because a couple of actors I like are in those scenes but they are so annoying I couldn't watch them after two viewings of this film (Tuesday Weld and Robert Duvall).
The reason I like this movie so much is because every single incident that annoys Bill Foster (Michael Douglas) in this movie is absolutely true to life.
He's only trying to get home for his daughter's birthday.Michael Douglas does great as a man at the end of his rope.
Robert Duvall also does amazingly well in his role as a cop on his last day of the job, desperately trying to stop Bill Foster before he walks off the job.A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that because Joel Schumacher directed Batman and Robin that he's a terrible director.
Falling down is the movie I've been looking for years!!!, finally a film that shows what the real world is, nothing but discrimination, corruption etc..., this film is simply a masterpiece, I couldn't believe Joel Schumacher did this, a very powerful and impressive film that shows us what the system really is, surely we have all felt like this at somepoint including myself and sooner or later you pop!
and there it goes, you do the "right thing", "defending your rights" but you end up as the "bad guy", this film has one of the most depressing endings ever!, watching D-fense on the TV set with his ex-wife and daughter brings me to tears because that was all he wanted to do, go home with his family.A must see masterpiece!!!.
In "Falling Down", a recently terminated defense worker (played by Michael Douglas), stuck in morning gridlock, abandons his car on the freeway and goes on a rampage through the streets of Los Angeles.
Trailing him is humane, veteran cop Prendergast (Robert Duvall) on his last day before retirement determined to bring him in and prevent further bloodshed and destruction.Michael Douglas does a masterful job of conveying the frustration of the disenfranchised.
Joel Schumacher, who has directed some (let us say) below average movies, every once in a while comes out with a film like "Falling Down." While I believe this happens all too rarely, "Tigerland" being his last phenomenal venture, his good films are really good.And "Falling Down" achieves near-perfection in its dive into the urban nightmare that was (and perhaps still is) America, specifically L.A. It's about a man who, in a scene that harks back to the opening scene of Fellini's 8 1/2, exits the fiery hell of his automobile, grabs his briefcase and enters the streets.
It's a story of a man who simply cracks under pressure and Michael Douglas does a phenomenal job of portraying him.It also has one hell of a performance by Robert Duvall.
I would say, in the movie I want to make it with a guy that I'm obsessed with and I can't, so I turn out to be like D-Fens (Michael Douglas) just to make myself better & I take a gun out of the bag & get the girlfriend of the "guy I like"'s with it.
How many times have you wanted to ask this question when stuck in terrible weather, with the traffic backed up, and an itching insanity?This film is fantastic, with Michael Douglas giving his best performance since "Wall Street", Robert Duvall is also in fine form.
D-Fens as his license plate identifies him as, spends the day, "going home" to his daughter's birthday, along the way meeting an assortment of characters, whom many of us, would probably like to see treated the way they are in this film, but due to our day to day realities, no one has the nerve to!Take the lay-about asking for change, the construction workers "fixing the street" or the staff of a fast food chain all as prime examples.
From the psychopath in the army surplus store, punk home boys, condescending fast food staff,profiteering store owner, smart guy road worker, whining wife and the many police officers the viewer gets a snapshot of western society gone horribly wrong.It could be any country that is close to losing the social conscience it once had, in this case it is the U.S. There is one scene where an unemployed, protesting guy calls out to D-Fens, "Don't forget me".
No one wanted to touch it, yet, once it was made, it became arguably Michael Douglas' finest performance to date and an enduring classic which is as relevant today as it was in the early nineties.A man – just a man – finally snaps which sitting in a seemingly never ending traffic jam in L.A. and decides to walk 'home' through the city.
Along the way, we're given an insight into the type of people who live there and the human tragedy unfolds.Michael Douglas plays 'the man' who is mainly referred to a 'D-Fens' throughout the majority of the film due to his personalised number plate.
While not his best performance, Robert Duvall does a good job as the elder cop on Foster's tail and is suffering with domestic issues.Overall, Falling Down can be seen as a satire at times, but its message is clear as day and it practically means that our society is crumbling apart.
Falling Down stars Michael Douglas as William Foster, a man at the end of his tether.
Against all the odds the comedy succeeds, mainly thanks to Douglas, who turns in one of his best ever performances, as a man pushed too far by events beyond his control.Foster could be dismissed as a lone nut-case, but there can't be many who haven't contemplated acting as he does at one time or another.
He sees himself as just an ordinary man trying to live a normal life, and is genuinely amazed when told he is considered a bad guy.Falling Down is a terrific film, which illustrates some of society's problems through the travails of its central character.
Apart from the lead character's decent into madness, there is racism, homophobia, the decay of modern society, and cynical observations on life, poverty, commercialism and the economy.Many audiences know Michael Douglas for his roles in Wall Street (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, and Traffic.
Michael Douglas' character William Foster is certainly not a hero in this movie, instead he is the villain and the victim, and shows the audience that he is a sad and broken individual that is past the point of no return.Joel Schumacher has had a mixed career as a director (he almost killed the Batman franchise with the 1997 flop Batman and Robin), but without question Falling Down is his best movie to date.
The protagonist, "D-Fens", played superbly by Michael Douglas, is a man, who losses his innocence & takes the wrong way to lead his life.
There is one seen where he pulls out a machine gun in a fast food restaurant because they stopped serving breakfast at 10:30 rather than 11:00 as he thought.At times, you actually root for this character as he fights off gangsters and neo-Nazi's.This is a must see film and probably Michael Douglas' best performance to date..
Yeah, because director Joel Schumacher and writer Ebbe Roe Smith really came up with something truly unique here.The story in "Falling Down" is an entertaining one for sure, and it is a blast to follow D-Fens/Foster (played by Michael Douglas) in his quest to return to his estranged family and having what seems like the entire world turn against him.Not only is it a solid storyline and plot that carries the movie, but it is first and foremost an amazing performance by Michael Douglas.
Robert Duvall was also doing an amazing job in the movie, but then again he usually always is.The pacing in "Falling Down" is quite good, because the movie starts out in a pretty high gear and it doesn't really slow down to becoming dull or anything at any time throughout the course of the entire movie.The movie does raise some interesting issues if you think about it, such as are you yourself the root of the cause to all your problems, or is it mere circumstance, or is society conspiring against us all?
And in that aspect, then it is definitely a blast to follow Foster as he makes his way through Los Angeles and face his problems head on."Falling Down" is a movie that can sustain multiple viewings.
This is a great movie about a man, Michael Douglas, pushed to the edge.
Falling Down is a movie which stars an excellent Michael Douglas, as a Los Angeles man who cannot cope with the every day pressures many people experience during their lifetime.
In this movie we see Michael Douglas as an ordinary man who appears to be someone who is, in his mind, still living in the sixtees, when everything was better...
There is quite a THICK RED LINE between an utopian society and the reality.Well there are at times we all would like to set a few things right in our society the hard way.but we would rather keep that as an imagination than to put those thoughts into action, thats exactly what our hero mr.d-fens tends to do,try and set all the wrong things right his way just because he is unable to set his own house right and his life goes upside down.There are times you tend to sympathise with the main character, hell you sympathise him all through the the way till the very end.I for one found myself cheering mr.d-fens when he strikes the gangsta latinos and his encounter with the road authorities.Coming back to the plot we have a retiring cop who is all out to stop mr.d-fens's citywide rampage ,will he succeed?Will our hero really clean up this society of all its diseases, thats for you to see friends.Michael douglas is mr.d-fens and i should say this role was only meant for him ,he made mr.d-fens look so cool.He gives quite a powerfulperformance.Robert duvall is the retiring cop who is always at the receiving side from his department and he has given equally a good performance.For me this is easily one of the best movies of the 90's.I give this movie 5 otta 5 .Have a good day.
With both Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall on top form, this movie is a winner on every level.The movie starts off with Douglas' William Foster, a man with a BIG temper, stook in a traffic jam on the hottest day of the year.
Well, you get an exaggerated, yet plausible, depiction of what could happen if a man is pushed too far in this movie.Michael Douglas is phenomenal as Bill "D-FENS" Foster in Joel Schumacher's griping tale of a man who is trying to see his daughter on her birthday.
Duvall is always the character he plays, and in this movie, Michael Douglas was almost unrecognizable as the motion picture hero I had become accustomed to.
Michael Douglas should play characters like this much more often, because he's so much better at it then that victim he plays in all of his other movies.
One of the main reasons why I like this film so much is that Michael Douglas actually plays a character that everyman can relate to.
I know we all feel like we have bad days like Michael Douglas did in the movie.
If it does that I would want to end up what Michael Douglas (D-Fens) was like in the movie.
The story is fairly simple, but done so well that you just can't wait to see what happens next.Michael Douglas pulls off one of his best performances to date as William Foster, a man that has finally had it with the pressures and annoyances of life and just looses all control. |
tt0480255 | The Losers | The Losers are an elite black-ops team of United States Special Forces operatives, led by Lt. Col. Franklin Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) - Operational Control. The rest of the team consists of Capt. William Roque (Idris Elba) - Demo And Tactical; Sgt. Linwood "Pooch" Porteous (Columbus Short), - Transport And Heavy Weapons; Capt. Jake Jensen (Chris Evans) - Comms And Tech; and Sgt. Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez (Óscar Jaenada) - Long-Range Eliminations, who are sent to Bolivia in a search-and-destroy mission against a compound run by a drug lord named Fadhil (Peter Francis James).While laser "painting" the target for an air strike, the Losers spot a busload of school children arriving at the compound. The children are being used as drug mules. Clay tries to get their mission coordinator back in Washington, D.C., a man they know only by voice and code name, "Max" (Jason Patric), to call off the attack, but Max ignores Clay's pleas and orders them to proceed. Clay then orders the laser guidance system destroyed and informs Max that they've experienced irreparable damage to their guidance equipment and the attack will have to be canceled. Max informs them that the coordinates had already been locked in, so the jet pilot still knew where to go, and he was not going to withdraw his order to attack under any circumstances. Finally, the Losers attempt to contact the jet pilot directly, but the communications system on the aircraft had been locked out.Having no other option, and with only 8 minutes until the jet was due to arrive, the Losers decide to enter the compound and attempt to rescue the children. They come racing into the compound in their Hummer, guns blazing, shooting guards left and right, high and low. Their vehicle is destroyed but they manage to get 24 of the 25 children and hustle them back into the school bus. The final child, a young boy, was being held hostage by the drug lord and owner of the compound, Fadhil (Peter Francis James). After convincing Fadhil to release the boy, Clay is forced to shoot Fadhil when he makes a threatening move. He and the boy then join the others on the bus.The Losers and the children speed as fast as that bus will carry them, hurrying to get out of the kill zone of the aerial ordnance about to be released from the jet. The shock wave of the explosions drive them off the road and down a slope where they come to an abrupt stop. Everyone is okay. They call for a helicopter to come execute their pre-planned extraction. The load-master of the helicopter informs the colonel that they can't take both the team and the children, so the colonel tells him to take the children. Once the children are aboard and the helicopter takes off, the team hears the sound of an approaching jet. They watch in horror as the jet releases an air-to-air missile which destroys the helicopter and instantly kills all aboard.Knowing that the attack was meant to kill them, the Losers fake their deaths by tossing their dog tags into the fire of the crashed helicopter. They attempt to find their way out of Bolivia and back to the United States where the death of the 25 Bolivian children is a scandal. The government blames the children's deaths on The Losers by saying they were acting without sanction as rogue agents. The government claims The Losers are dead but refuse their families a military ceremony or funeral service.Roque is frustrated in his attempts to convince Clay to accept the fact that his life as a soldier is forever over, and that he has no hope of ever finding out who Max is, much less killing him, which Clay very much wants to do.Four months later, Clay finds himself being observed and followed by Aisha al-Fadhil (Zoe Saldana), a mysterious woman who proves to possess many unique capabilities. She at first seduces Clay, then tries to kill him in hand-to-hand combat. As they achieve a stand-off in their fight, Aisha offers Clay the chance to find and kill Max, against whom she also wants revenge, but she doesn't say why. She tells him she can provide all of the information, weapons and other items the team will need, including a way to get back into the U.S., undetected. Clay really doesn't have any other options, so he accepts the offer.Aisha then arranges for the Losers to return to the United States (New Mexico), smuggling them inside coffins. The team is completely outfitted with weapons, gear, and some information about Max and how he moves around. They hijack a military helicopter after using a military radio to call in a fake accident between a military vehicle (theirs) and a semi-truck on a remote road. They use a shoulder-fired missile to send the helicopter's GPS transponder way off into another area code, then fly the helicopter to a warehouse and give it a new coat of paint.We first meet Max when he is in Dubai attempting to force a deal with some Indian engineers or government officials for seismic nukes ("Snukes"), weapons that can cause an entire area to implode on itself, but without any radioactive fall-out. A Snuke was successfully tested when it was detonated on a small island and the island imploded and disappeared. The main official Max had been dealing with was having second thoughts and now just wanted Max to go away and keep his money. Max responds by having his henchman Wade Travis (Holt McCallany) throw the man off a roof. Max pretends that he hadn't meant for Wade to do more than punch the man around a bit, but that was just to show the others there that Wade was unpredictable and someone not to trifle with. One of the other men present promptly decided that they would be more than willing and able to work with Max in acquiring some Snukes.The team learns that Max often travels in a heavily guarded, multi-vehicle convoy, with himself situated inside an armored truck. They develop plans to intercept the convoy and kidnap Max. Clay and Roque direct the attack from their command vehicle, a beat up yellow Pinto. As the convoy moves quickly down a busy city street, Cougar shoots the wheels of the lead vehicle, causing it to crash and block further movement. The convoy stops and the guards exit the vehicles and form a perimeter. Clay steps from behind the wheel of the Pinto and fires a gas grenade into their midst, then Roque detonates an explosive device he had earlier attached to the fender of one of the convoy vehicles, blowing it high into the air.Pooch and Aisha then swoop in with the newly painted and outfitted military chopper, carrying a huge magnet that they attach to the top of Max's armored truck. Jensen, working from the sidewalk, and disguised as a hot dog vendor, fires a metal device that secures the back doors of the armored truck, preventing the occupants from getting out. As the helicopter lifts and carries away the armored truck, Wade grabs the controls of a .50 caliber machine gun and tries to bring down the chopper. He hits it, but Pooch is able to maintain control and fly out of range.When The Losers later open the armored vehicle at their remote warehouse, there are three security guards who come out, pointing their weapons. The guards know nothing about anyone named Max, and an inspection of the truck proves Max is not there. The guards prove to have been escorting only a small box containing an external computer hard drive, made by the "Goliath" mega firm. After the security guards are disabled with sleeper darts, the team becomes furious with Aisha for double-crossing them. Tempers flare and Aisha is nearly killed on the spot by Roque. Even after she tells them she could explain, and that they could still eventually find Max, Clay orders Roque to kill her, burn everything, and get away. Aisha hurriedly explains that the hard drive contains information that is critical to whatever it is Max is doing at the time, and if they can determine what that information is, they will likely be able to find Max and clear their names. Clay decides to postpone her execution.Capt. Jensen attempts to read the hard drive, but it's encrypted. He says it would require access to a Goliath system computer to be able to read what's on the drive. So, the team works up a plan to infiltrate the company that made the drive. Jensen poses as an in-house computer tech and manages to gain temporary access to one of the human resource manager's computers at Goliath. He does that by pretending to be a pizza delivery boy, quickly changing his clothes in the elevator (impressing some women who see him when the doors open once before arriving at his floor), then enters the office of the human resources representative whom he'd called to report someone exposing themselves on the main floor. He tells the human resources secretary that he was just going to quickly 'upgrade the firewall'.Jensen downloads the encryption key Goliath uses, but is soon confronted by an armed security guard, who was called by the secretary. Jensen knocks that guard down and runs, calling on his radio for advice on how best to escape the building. He's told to head to the north side exterior elevator lobby. He's trapped there by three more security guards, but after a stand off, where Jensen pretends to have invisible handguns he's pointing at the guards, two of the guards go down, shot by Cougar, who fired from a skyscraper a long distance away. The third guard voluntarily lays down on his stomach, as Jensen ordered him to do, and Jensen gets away.Back at the base, they find out that the hard drive is a kind of electronic credit card that holds all of Max's illicit funds, $400 million at the time, which he received for selling the Snukes to international terrorists. A list of frequent IP addresses are listed, including one that had been used frequently and which was traced to the Los Angeles International Port Of Entry. Jensen determines that all but $4 million of the $400 million could be directly traced. He was trying to sort out that last amount.Clay and Aisha leave the boys to it and hop back into bed together. Aisha keeps up with questions she had been asking about Fadhil, back in Bolivia.Jensen later reads more of what he finds on the hard drive. It notes that the Losers mission in Bolivia was a cover, so Max could steal Fadhil's drug money. Furthermore, he was able to locate the destination of that missing $4 million. It was paid to the daughter of the drug lord, Fadhil, a woman named Aisha. As he was reading that last tidbit, everyone on the team drew their weapons and pointed them at Aisha, while at the same time she drew two handguns and pointed the guns at two of them. Jensen didn't have his gun, but he was mostly concerned that Aisha was pointing her gun at his "junk." He said it didn't help when she repositioned the gun and pointed it at his head instead.It turns out that Aisha had needed the Losers to help her take revenge for her father and reclaim the money Max stole from him (she apparently didn't know her father was a drug lord). When she learned from Clay, during their pillow talk, that he and his team had targeted the compound for a hit, then called off the hit to rescue some children, and that Fadhil had been killed during their attack, she began to wonder if it was Clay that had killed her father.To end the stand-off, Aisha decides to shoot Jensen in his left shoulder and then runs into the bathroom of the hotel suite they were in, taking refuge in the bathtub as the team shredded the bathroom with gunfire. She is nevertheless able to make her escape out a window. Believing that she might betray them, the colonel gives the team members orders to go home and protect their family members, whose identities were known to Aisha. Each of the Losers in turn decide that they will continue on and help the colonel try to take down Max.The Losers break into a supermarket to get some items to patch up Jensen with, then continue to go ahead with the mission to take out Max, hoping to find some information on the servers at the pier to clear their names. The team get into action and plan their attack.Meanwhile, the Indian engineers have regained some of their bravado to challenge Max and they demand $1 billion in exchange for providing Max with some Snukes. Max, as always, doesn't demonstrably react to something that probably made him inwardly furious. Instead, he agrees to the demand and determines he can get the money from the CIA's coffers somehow.The Losers proceed with their attack on Max's base. Cougar takes out a sentry who had spotted Jensen as he was scaling the pier hanger building. Once safely inside, Jensen opens the doors for Clay and Roque, then heads for the main computer room. When Roque opens the door to a large container sitting on the pier and calls Clay over to have a look, Clay observes large pallets of U.S. currency and immediately suspects something is not right, that something had changed from what they expected to be happening. As he moves in for a closer look, Roque clubs him from behind, knocking him unconscious.When Clay regains consciousness, Max and Travis are making arrangements to exchange that container full of money for four of the so-called Snukes, and a Ducati motorcycle, situated within another container. However, Max suddenly changes the terms of the deal and tells the Indian engineers that he'll be keeping both the money and the Snukes. Further, in return for not killing them, they must arm the first Snuke. The engineer who arms the Snuke is shot in the head anyway. Max maintains control of a handheld pressure detonating device, set to less than 10 seconds.Clay witnesses the rest of his team members now in custody, all captured based on the information provided by Roque. He learns of Max's plan to frame him and his team for a major theft of CIA money. As Clay is being driven away in a car, Cougar, Pooch, and Jensen are being lined up to be executed. Pooch resists and refuses to get down on his knees as ordered, so one of the captors shoots him in both knees. Cougar is resisting allowing his hat to be removed and, as he is about to be shot in head, the shooter is distracted by Cougar's eyes, which are focused up and behind the shooter. As the shooter turns to look, he sees Aisha fire an RPG that explodes nearby.Cougar, Pooch, and Jensen fight against their captors, while Clay knocks out his captors in the car, forcing it to crash, and he escapes with a gun.In the heat of the ensuing battle, Aisha gets the drop on Clay and forces him to admit that it was he who killed Aisha's father. He tells her he wouldn't blame her if she shot him dead right then. Instead, she decides that they need everyone available to continue dealing with Max and his men, but she promises Clay that they would deal with the matter later.Roque supervises the loading of the money on Max's jet plane, but as the Losers are gaining the upper hand in the battle around him, he decides to try and escape with the money. First, he has to deal with Clay, who has managed to reach the jet and engaged Roque in a brutal fight. Roque is very good with knives and wounds Clay, eventually knocking Clay out of the jet and onto the pier. But Clay gouged Roque's right eye closed, maybe even out, before he was ejected from the plane.Roque orders to pilot to taxi to the end of the pier, turn around and take off. As Roque's jet heads down the pier, Wade had boarded the Ducati motorcycle and was attempting to intercept and stop the jet. Clay, meanwhile, was just coming to his senses on the pier, only to find the jet bearing down on him from one side, and Wade on the motorcycle from the other. He calmly speaks into a wireless earphone for Cougar to take the shot.Cougar is perched atop a container, suspended from a large dockside crane, and he sights and shoots at the motorcycle, hitting the gasoline tank and causing an explosion which hurls Wade forward into the jet's left engine. The engine jams and catches fire, while the flaming motorcycle crashes into the cockpit of the plane, exploding and killing Roque and the pilot. Burning money rains down on Clay, who had safely dived out of the way.As Jensen, Cougar and Aisha help the wounded Pooch, Clay spots Max climbing the stairs of a crane. Max is calling out on his radio for his helicopter pilot to come rescue him. Clay chases Max up to the top deck of the crane and gets the drop on Max. Max's rescue ride arrives, but decides to take off as Clay fires off a burst of automatic weapon fire at it. Max responds by revealing that he's holding a hand-held pressure detonating device to the armed Snuke. If he releases his grip on the device, the bomb will detonate within 8 seconds and basically take out Los Angeles.Clay shoots Max in the shoulder. Max is driven back and complains that the bullet really hurt, but he still had pressure on the device in his hand. Max then decides to get rid of the device and he flings it out towards the water. Clay doesn't hesitate even a second as he launches his body off the crane and dives after the device. He hits the water maybe a second after the device does and is able to grab it and reapply pressure to the trigger. Once he's back on the dock, he's given a roll of duct tape to use in securing the trigger.A phone in possession of the team rings and Clay is told the caller wishes to speak to him. It's Max, calling from aboard a bus somewhere in Los Angeles. He doesn't have much to say, just wishing that he and Clay could have found a way to work together. Clay tells Max that now that he knows what he looks like, he'd be seeing him soon. Max is approached on the bus by two big and mean-looking Latino men. When one of them tells him he's wearing a nice looking watch, Max just holds his arm out so the guy can remove it.The Losers help Pooch gain access into the hospital for the birth of his child, a healthy baby boy, blaming traffic for his delay in getting there. Later, they attend Jensen's 8-year old niece's soccer match, where Jensen picks a fight with a very butch female referee. | revenge, comedy, action, dark, murder | train | imdb | Good times.Some great locations, good editing (also nice marriage of comic book style to live action style in the credits),decent soundtrack.The Losers doesn't take itself too seriously, and neither should you..
I enjoyed The Losers against my better judgment.The premise and follow-through is kind of predictable, as it's about a group of elite fighters (think the A-Team) who get double-crossed by a rogue CIA agent and find a possible entry point with a mysterious woman to get back at him and clear their names.
But the cast is up for playing these parts with every ounce of fun and excitement in the material, and I liked seeing the camaraderie between Morgan, Evans and Elba (the latter really coming into his own as a star), and Zoe Saldana shows off again how she's becoming a formidable talent in Hollywood films.It's a hard movie to always defend for its plot inconsistencies, but it works in its own lets-just-play-it-loose logic.
And when it comes time for the BIG action set-piece at the end, it gives a good dose of what action movie fans look for: plausible implausibility, some gritty violence (albeit PG-13, it's still pretty intense), and a few real surprises in the course of events, for better and worse.
The film moves in an almost self-parodying way, as if it was aware that it was what it was, a slick, glossy, action- packed, and fun thrill ride from start to finish.The film is based on a comic book, and the story seems to prepare us for the upcoming "The A-Team" adaptation (which I'm looking forward to).
The actors seem to be having fun in their roles as the chemistry between the six leads show, but Jason Patric looks like he's having a terrific time, chewing every scene he's in and giving us what may be the funniest (although sometimes annoying) villain in years.The film has it's action packed moments and plenty of laugh-out loud moments, but that's about what you can expect from a movie like this.
With a cast like Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba and Columbus Short, I can't understand why this movie isn't still being talked about.
I knew Idris Elba for dramatic films but it wasn't until "Luther" that I started seeing him in action flicks, and after that I realized he is a very strong and athletic character, too.
First time I checked my watch: After 50 minutes.This is the first time I watched an action film in a long while and though it wasn't an excellent movie, I have to admit that it was entertaining.
The cast of protagonists is outstanding; they're funny (especially Chris Evans, whose "Don't Stop Believin'" rendition makes me want to have a Rock Band jam session with him; go Petunias!) and bad- ass, like watching a beer commercial about mercs.
The script is action- packed, with witty dialogue; the special effects are often exciting; the combat scenes are hard-core (and Saldana even makes hers sexy); the soundtrack is awesome; and the camera work adds just the right accent to the many adrenaline rushes.
All in all, this is not necessarily a movie that I recommend you make the time to see, but if you've got some down time and are looking for some fast-paced action with some witty and comedic dialogue, I'd highly prefer this film over similar movies like The A-Team.
The Losers is a film about a group of specially trained soldiers known as "The Losers," who basically deal with some of the toughest assignments the government has to offer, but when the group is framed and left for dead, they have to fight to get their lives back and stop an evil mastermind from creating a new world war.Directed by Sylvain White, this action-packed movie is full of funny one-liners, intense gun-fights and good acting for a straight-up action movie.
And then there's Zoe Saldana as the absolutely beautiful eye-candy Aisha, the ex-CIA operative who is helping The Losers take down Max (played by Jason Patric), the evil mastermind; she has great, sexy take-down moments during the action sequences.
Anybody asks me about a good action movie of 2010 id say THE LOSERS,yes the movie was brilliant and highly entertaining.Well the film impressed more with every minute that passed by,its witty,funny,& an action packed surprise for this year.If at all you are an action fan The Losers is gonna grip you solid.The film revolves around 5 well trained soldiers who because of a betrayal decide to take on those responsible..THE CIA...,I never expect action films to be good unless its some big franchise such as Die Hard or Terminator or X-men but now my expectations have changed i guess.The action scenes are well planned out and the movie has a stylish demeanor to it...absolute treasure for action fans,no way to be missed!!!.
From here on out it's true Michael Bay dedicated destruction with a sprinkle of wit, mainly thanks to Chris Evans (shame he couldn't have done the same for Fantastic 4) and Pooch's delivery of the line: 'Oh, this is Stupid Question Day' – you had to be there.It has a few shockers, despite being built on predictable foundations, which won't make you likely to stop rustling through the popcorn but gives the film a fluent flow as to not make the whole experience completely monotonous.
There are some outstanding ironic scenes (like the misunderstanding above the roof), some very nice action parts that somewhat recall the A-Team movie.
This movie was another one that piqued my interest with the trailer and like most action movies, it does enough to entertain without really stretching the medium as a whole.In deepest Bolivia, a CIA Special Forces team are assigned to take out a nasty drug baron but try to abort the air-strike after spotting children being used as human shields.
So when team leader Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is contacted by an alluring woman (Zoe Saldana) with a plan to get them home and armed to the teeth for revenge, Clay soon persuades his colleagues Pooch (Columbus Short), Roque (Idris Elba), Cougar (Óscar Jaenada) and Jensen (Chris Evans) to join him.
Created to appear like a comic book in motion, writers peter Berg, James Vanderbuilt and Andy Diggle have come up with a script that has defined some strong, unforgettable characters, outlined an all over the place story line, and managed to polish it all off with just the right amount of parody, humor, steamy scenes, and silly dialogue that makes the movie work.
The team is a talented and well trained unit and each of the members has a special identity and gift: Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is the leader (and womanizer), Roque (Idris Alba) is the brains, Jensen (Chris Evans) is the wildly funny guy, Pooch (Columbus Short) is the sensitive guy, and Cougar (Óscar Jaenada) is the sniper with the ever present hat.
Is she cheap to hire or people have distorted picture of an all-round-actress.But that stupid dialog/action between the characters is just another contributing factor to the epic fail story.Only plus for the movie are the bad guys.
My own fault as i totally admit i got the movie based on two facts, being that it starred Zoe Saldana who is really cute, and Idris Elba a talented British actor.And that's where the good points end.The film is so full of holes in the plot you could strain cabbage and actually straining cabbage would be preferable.
Don't you ever get sick of letting these money-grubbing villains in the big movie companies get away with making bad films like this?
The Losers is no Spider-Man, but it is headed in a better direction than DC recreation of Superman.Great dialogue and action push this films PG-13 rating, so don't let it steer you to thinking that this can't be a sweet action comedy.
It gave the movie a sense of reality as if a news team that just happened to get caught in the middle of the action is filming it.Read full review at FlicksWorthWatching.com.
I have no doubt that the comic book called The Losers was inspired off The A.Team, you'll seriously begin to see the similarities between them.The story starts with a black opps team called The Losers led by Clay(Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and the rest of the team are Pooch(Columbus Short), Rouge(Idris Elba), Cougar(Oscar Jaenada), and Jensen(Chris Evans).
The action where pretty good at first, but after a while it really starts wearing itself out, Chris Evans has the same sense of humor that he had in the two Fantastic Four films, this time it was not so memorable.
"The Losers" could've been done as a straight-up action film about a team of black ops soldiers getting revenge on the man who left them for dead, but director Sylvain White opts to honor the source material with an equally slick production.
There are a few scenes with Clay and Aisha, one being the only time hand-to-hand combat appears in the film (which is too bad, the scene looked and felt cool) and then there are some jumps over to the way Max crosses just about every man he works with.
Max is supremely unfunny, though it does work as a portrayal of a classic fictional villain.The pacing and cleverness of most of the action scenes makes "Losers" a good time.
This is the first time I watched an action film in a long while and though it wasn't an excellent movie, I have to admit that it was entertaining and quite surprising.
You could do much worse if you want a not-too-serious action movie rental, and especially if you used to like the A-Team.
It is a feel good laughing movie with some good action and a bit of everything for everybody.I know Morgan was better in Watchmen but this is completely different film, Evans is excellent in the role and Saldana is just stunning as always.
From 2003 to 2006, I was a regular reader of the comic The Losers; however, I confess that I could rarely understand what was going on in the plot.I liked the energetic narrative from author Andy Diggle, and the stylish art from cartoonist Jock, but the story was a labyrinth of alliances, betrayal, vengeance and mysteries, so I took the custom of accumulating the individual numbers during various months, in order to then read them all together and (theoretically) facilitate my comprehension of the complex story.So, before watching the film adaptation of The Losers, I had the awe that director Sylvain White was going to dilute Diggle's "voice", or that the story would loose richness in order to become into a simple vehicle for the action scenes.One of the reasons I liked the comic The Losers was its balance of action, intrigue and humor.The film adaptation handles the first two elements well, but the sporadic comedy sacrifices the credibility from the characters for the sake of some laughs.However, I appreciate the fact that co-screenwriters Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt were faithful to the comic, at the same time they avoided the arrogance from other screenwriters who try to "improve" the stories they adapt.Fortunately, The Losers eluded that destiny, but I still feel that the screenplay should have put more focus on the main plot, and to leave the "filler" for the hypothetic sequels (something I see as highly unlikely due to the poor box-office reception this film had).A problem of less importance in this film comes from the special effects.The Losers is not a constant parade of CGI, but the occasional instances of explosions, digital destruction and some blue-screen compounds look pretty deficient, and they run the risk of taking the spectator out from the story.I guess that the low budget from the film excuses that fails to some point, and it is needless to say that I appreciate the fact that this movie emphasized characters and story over visual spectacle; nevertheless, the poor quality of those special effects bothered me a little bit.And I also wished that the edition from this movie was less fractured and more logical...and I am not only talking about some fight scenes, but also about some dramatic moments.Talking about dramatic moments, I could not swallow the romantic aspect from The Losers; what worked in the comic along three years feels weak at being compressed to half an hour from the movie.But, despite its fails, The Losers kept me entertained, but it lacks of that indescribable "something" to make it memorable.Nevertheless, I think it is worthy of a recommendation..
Jason Patric was not a bad villain and I thought Zoe Saldana was the best of the the good guys.This movie is basically about revenge.
The film follows an ex-Special Forces team led by Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) that is betrayed on a mission to South America by a mysterious figure known only as Max (Jason Patric).
Left for dead, the team remains quiet in South America until they're approached by a woman of questionable intent, Aisha (Zoe Saldana) who offers them a chance to reclaim their old lives and get vengeance on Max.The cast was probably the only thing I really enjoyed about this movie.
I suppose if you aren't looking for substance and just want a fun action film, this could be just what you need.
The Losers is a great up lifting film full with quick one liners and an action packed storyline and really puts up as a contender against the likes of The A Team.
While this film may seem like another A-Team let, you tell you right now that you have never meet a team quite like "The Losers.Sylvain White's hilarious and audacious comic book adaptation is a work of art, well it is more like a grunge band song mixed with some good old action values, and revenge is a dish best severed cold.
Some may find "The Losers" well a loser and others will find it to be an extravagant and very well executed action comedy with some serious intellect, it's the kind of film that is just too good to resist and even harder to hate.What I like most about "The Losers" is the care that was taken into telling the story it is quite well crafted and played out on screen, how all the characters seem to bounce jokes and witty dialogue off of each other.
What makes it feel this way is the joke filled script by Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt they lay on the jokes, the charm, the cool hip vibe and the intelligence to make this action picture stand out amongst the crowd, while it may not seem like "The Losers" should work, it does.
It is an action film I am proud to say that I laughed so hard it hurt and was completely riveted by this film.The well know ensemble cast including Jeffery Dean Morgan, Idris Elba, Zoë Saldana, Chris Evans, Columbus Short, Oscar Jaendada, Holt McCallany and Jason Patric(who this film could have seriously done without.) deliver fine performances in a film that is better than it should be and allot more keen and intelligent than we would have thought.
Adding fuel to the fire is look-what-can-I-do editing that actively scrubs time (the 300 effect) and misappropriation of slow motion.With The Losers, you get the required levels of action you'd expect, but for a film that doesn't take itself seriously, it isn't funny.
Kind of ironic that its release is only a month or two before the big budget "A-Team".Okay, this question is for the guys......do you remember when you were a kid, and you saw an awesome action movie, and you thought is was cool as hell, but when you got older and watched it again, it was pretty stupid.
The Losers takes on entertaining action movies this year so far..
The Losers is such an entertaining way of delivering an action movie.
It is not slow-paced, everything is happening very fast so you can feel the energy from this movie and with all it's flaws and little clichés it's still one of the most entertaining action movies this year so far.There was no over-acting which was very good.
The rest cast are fine but a mix of stereotype good and bad guys.Director Sylvain White delivers an 80's A-team style, revamped actioner that's entertaining enough but feels longer than it actually is.
Maybe every scene was intended to be predictable, all the dialogue to be bad, all the action to be over-the-top like in the 'Crank' movies.
Fun, fast paced, seriously great dialogue..."Im like a black Mcguyver, Blackguyver"...The movie took the time to build the characters and the cast is overall a pretty good group of actors.
And if you are still game to catch "The Losers", then I guess you won't be bothered much about its ridiculous script that so often crosses the border to stupidity, or the inane lines.And if what counts for you is the action - accompanied by the Coke and popcorn, then you will find "The Losers" an unpretentious, testosterone-charged flick that you would wanna see with the boys - when there ain't no game on the TV.There's this bunch of five US Special Forces guys with silly nicknames like Clay, Jensen, Rogue Pooch and Cougar (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Columbus Short, and Oscar Jaenada respectively) who are betrayed by a baddie called Max (Jason Patric) and left for dead after botched mission in Bolivia.Left stranded in that godforsaken country, the five get high-paying jobs as consultants to the Bolivian military!
However, the mission goes south when the person, who sent them, Max, tries to have them eliminated.This movie is a feel good action comedy which has so many similarities to the A-Team.
The Losers gives comic book movies a bad name..
Agent Aisha (Zoe Saldana) tracks down the team for a mission to stop Max (Jason Patric) who is trying to sell a high tech weapon to the highest bidder.The movie doesn't waste any time on exposition or introducing the characters.
I watched both, The Losers and The A-Team, because I was in the mood for entertaining action movies. |
tt0114787 | Underground | Underground depicts the life of two friends throughout World War II, Cold War, and the Yugoslav Wars.The film opens in Belgrade, the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, early morning, 6 April 1941, as two roguish bon vivants Petar Popara nicknamed Crni (Blacky) and Marko Dren are heading home following a night out on the town. Riding atop a horse carriage while tailed and serenaded by a brass orchestra, they're drunkenly singing and shooting their way through the city's downtown. They pass through Kalemegdan and shout salutes to Marko's brother Ivan who's an animal keeper in the Belgrade Zoo. A stutterer with a lame leg, Ivan is already up to feed the animals and waves to them warmly as he records food portion amounts while listening to early morning radio bulletins.As the drunk duo pulls up in front of Blacky's home, his pregnant wife Vera comes out to angrily usher her husband into the house while threatening to leave him "just like Marko's wife left Marko". Intoxicated Marko pulls Vera aside and lets her know that they enrolled Blacky in the Communist Party (KPJ), but she's way too angry about Blacky's irresponsible behaviour as a husband to properly process that piece of information. Blacky goes into the house while Marko proceeds on and picks up a street prostitute before disappearing into his house with her.Part One: War
1941A couple of hours later, as Sunday dawns, Ivan is making rounds at the zoo to feed the animals, hungover Blacky is eating breakfast while pregnant Vera complains about his supposed affair with a theatre actress, and Marko is preparing for sex with his prostitute as he lecherously watches her take a scrub in his bath tub. Suddenly, the roar of the planes is heard, and Nazi bombs begin falling on Belgrade. In the ensuing chaos, as people run for cover (including Ivan desperately trying to save his beloved animals), unflinching Blacky and Marko show no signs of panic. The former stubbornly sits at his table eating his breakfast, cursing the Nazis as his wife pleads with him to go to the shelter, while the latter is about to climax with the prostitute on top of him when suddenly, frightened by the bombs, she runs away in horror thus forcing him to finish himself off.After the air raid is over, Blacky goes out against the wishes of his wife and inspects the devastated city. Encountering building ruins and escaped wild animals from the zoo, he also runs into disconsolate Ivan carrying a baby chimp named Soni. Blacky's parting piece of advice to his best friend's brother is a stern: "Stop crying! You want the Germans to see you like that and laugh at you?" before giving him some money to buy milk for the monkey.Royal Yugoslav Army's resistance is quickly broken, and Nazis soon occupy and dismember the entire Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Blacky starts operating clandestinely as a communist activist along with Marko and others. Their activism mostly consists of stealing German weapons shipments as well as jewellery and other valuables from the city's elite. In theory, the idea is to send all the weapons and money made from the stolen goods to Partisan guerrillas fighting in the woods, however, much to Blacky's dissatisfaction, many of the 'activists' are using the rackets for personal gain.Blacky occasionally visits his mistress Natalija Zovkov who's been assigned to a special actors' labour brigade that's helping the city's rebuilding effort under German occupational control. An acclaimed, pampered, and celebrated actress in the National Theatre, Natalija is finding it hard to adapt to manual labour, especially as she has a sick, wheelchair-bound brother Bata to take care of. On one of his visits to the site where she's cleaning bricks, Blacky brings her a stolen necklace, which cheers her up momentarily, but she now generally sees their relationship as a liability fearing that it could only bring her trouble like being sent to the prison camp, especially after she heard about the bounty prize the Germans have set for his capture. However, she's not without options as she's caught the eye of a high-ranking German officer named Franz who is more than willing to indulge her and pay for Bata's medicine, meaning that her manual labour days are over.Meanwhile, Marko has set up weapons storage and hideaway spot in the cellar of his grandfather's house. Following their interception of a large trainload of weapons, Marko and Blacky are mentioned by name and identified as dangerous bandits in Nazi radio bulletins. While Blacky is off hiding in the woods as Germans are intensifying door-to-door raids in the city, Marko takes Vera, Ivan and many others into the cellar to hide.Vera is due any minute and gets contractions immediately upon entering the cellar. She's not feeling well physically and emotionally, and is especially mad about Blacky not being there for her. After giving birth to a baby boy, she instructs Ivan to name the baby Jovan before passing away on the cellar stairs as Ivan weeps inconsolably.1944It's now exactly three years later, the war rages on, and Blacky is in town to celebrate his son's birthday at a local communist hangout. Despite the occasion being bittersweet (it is also the third anniversary of Vera's death), he's in his element: loud, brash, and boisterous - lighting a candle for his deceased wife before ordering rounds of drinks and proudly showing his son's photo around. Marko, who by now has progressed to the party secretary position, shows up and warmly greets Blacky before proceeding into the back room to make a weapons deal with some comrades. As Marko counts a huge stash of cash they've just given him, exuberant Blacky comes in and tells him to go out and buy the biggest bouquet of flowers available before giddily declaring: "there'll be a wedding". Blacky also inquires whether "everything is arranged about the priest's arrival", to which Marko assures him that it is all taken care of. As Marko leaves, Blacky goes back to the bar and picks a fight with some communist activists he knows to be weapons trade profiteers. In the middle of a fist fight, Marko returns with a requested bouquet and promptly joins the fracas on his friend's side.The two best friends then head for the theatre in jovial mood while blurting out random lines from a Mayakovsky poem. The bravado and jocular tone are only briefly interrupted when Blacky states his disgust about activists within the organization using the situation for personal profit, urging Marko to do something about it "as party secretary".Once in the theatre, they see Natalija performing on stage in front of beaming Franz and other German officers. Overcome by intense feelings of love and jealousy, Blacky forces his way backstage and enters the scene pretending to be part of the production. Speaking in broken German he requests the other actor to tie him and Natalija together back-to-back with a rope. With Natalija fastened to his back, Blacky walks up to the edge of the stage and shoots Franz twice in the chest before running away as chaos ensues inside the theatre.With Natalija still strapped to his back, Blacky manages to reach the river boat anchored just outside of Belgrade. Naturally, Marko is along as well, in addition to a brass band, and all are getting ready for a forced wedding despite Natalija's protestations. Blacky criticizes his tied up bride-to-be for performing for Germans, lecturing her that other women take care of the wounded in the woods. Blacky goes off into the bushes to relieve himself, leaving Natalija tied in ropes, and instructs Marko to "take care of my bride". Blacky is approached by Partisan messenger who just arrived from the high command informing/threatening him that comrade Leka plans on taking disciplinary action against him if the weapons do not arrive soon. Blacky is not worried and brings the messenger into the boat to show him it is full of weapons.While this is going on, Marko starts to put the moves on Natalija through belittling his best friend by pointing out class disparity between her "our greatest actress" and thuggish low-brow Blacky. He tells her that Blacky had been falsely presenting himself as an electrical engineer, when in fact he is "a mere electrician - a pole climber" by which she seems disgusted. Marko even brings Blacky's morals and communist resolve into question by telling her he has completely changed since he came into money. Suddenly, Blacky bursts in and roughs up both Marko and Natalija. Faced with Blacky's fury, she quickly changes her tune and assures him that she wants to marry him as Marko also pleads his case and denies any wrongdoing. Blacky is somewhat pacified, but still decides to humiliate Marko by riding him like a horse around the boat deck while the band is playing. The wild night of drinking and dancing continues. As dawn appears, the party is interrupted by German soldiers surrounding the anchored boat. Suddenly, Franz is seen yelling from the distance behind his soldiers, demanding Blacky and Marko release Natalija who runs off from the boat into Franz's waiting arms. Confused and angry, Blacky irrationally chases after her, but gets only as far as the boat ramp before Germans stop him with guns drawn. He yells back at Marko to open fire, but instead of heeding his request, Marko starts the boat up and sails off. Blacky is captured by Germans and tortured in the city hospital with electric shocks while Franz and Natalija visit her brother Bata at the same hospital and discuss moving him to a sanatorium in Austria. Meanwhile, Marko has found a way to enter the building through an underground sewer passage. Posing as a doctor, he enters the hospital room where Franz, Natalija and Bata are talking. Sneaking up on Franz, Marko strangles him to death with a cord in front of Natalija who switches sides once again. Marko then proceeds to free Blacky. They leave with fatigued Blacky hidden in a suitcase, but Blacky requests a bomb to commit suicide in case he is captured again. As they are all heading back through the sewer, Blacky drops the activated bomb by mistake and gets blown to bits inside the suitcase. He survives but requires an extended recovery period in the cellar.A few days later on Easter 1944, Marko and Natalija, now an official item, are watching comatose Blacky from their living room as he recovers in the cellar below. They proceed to dance and exchange exaggerated tenderness as the allied bombs start to fall on Belgrade.Soon, in late October 1944, the Red Army accompanied by Yugoslav Partisans enters Belgrade thus liberating the city from the Nazis for good. Marko, an important cog in the revolutionary movement is seen proudly waving the communist Yugoslav flag and victoriously exclaiming: "Freedom".Over the coming years he advances up the party and state ladder: he gives fiery speeches from the National Theater balcony during the Trieste crisis, he socializes with Josip Broz Tito, Rankovi and Edvard Kardelj - attending lavish parties and going on foreign state visits with them, and he stands right next to Tito during military parades through downtown Belgrade. Throughout it all, Natalija is right by Marko's side.Part Two: Cold War
1961Marko is one of Tito's closest associates and advisors. The physically recovered Blacky and company are still in the cellar under the impression that the War is still going on above.Marko and Natalija attend a ceremony to open a cultural center and unveil a statue of Petar Popara Blacky whom everyone thinks died fighting the Nazis and is thus awarded the status of a People's Hero. Before delivering a keynote speech, Marko is approached by a film director who inquires whether he would allow Natalija to play a role in the film based on his own memoirs. Marko refuses but he does agree to visit the set.Below ground, the full extent of Marko's meticulous deception is revealed. It goes to astonishing details: from time to time he stumbles down into the cellar looking haggard and beaten, pretending that Gestapo roughed him up so that the people below still think German door-to-door raids are on-going. He also regularly plays air-raid sirens as well as various newsreels that show Nazis holding strong on the Eastern Front, while urging restless Blacky to stay below and save his energy for the final battle. Marko even brings his best friend an engraved watch as a personal gift from Tito.With the help of his grandfather who is in on the devious con, Marko oversees the weapons manufacturing and even controls time by adding hours to a day so the people in the cellar think that only 15 years passed since the beginning of World War II instead of 20. They're continuously making weapons, and Marko profits from it enormously.The filming of an epic state-sponsored motion picture based on Marko's memoirs titled Prolee stie na belom konju (Spring Comes On A White Horse) begins above ground. Receiving a hero's welcome by the film's cast and crew, Marko and Natalija visit the set during shooting of the scene that erroneously depicts events on the anchored river boat in 1944.Back home, Marko has prepared a text for Natalija to deliver to Blacky down below. The premise is that she's been raped and beaten by Germans, and left for dead. Natalija agrees to go along with it and in make-up that's making her look savagely beaten delivers a scripted "I love you" to Blacky who seems energized by her declaration.Soon, Blacky's 20-year-old son Jovan is getting married to Jelena, a girl he grew up with in the cellar. Marko and Natalija are naturally invited for a celebration. Blacky pulls his son aside and tells him he can't wait any longer and that he will go above to fight as soon as everyone's gotten drunk. He also relays his frustration about being told to wait for Tito, the party, or the Russians, also stating his decision to take matters into his own hands.At the other table, all is not well with Natalija and Marko as she, influenced by alcohol, starts making a scene accusing Marko of stealing her youth and bemoaning her bad luck to have ever come across him. She soon begins admonishing him for the crime he got himself involved in, but he soon pacifies her.However, Blacky has heard their conversation and instead of personally killing Marko he hands him a gun and tells him to finish it himself. Blacky proceeds to tie Natalija to his back while Marko instead of committing suicide, blows out his own kneecaps with a gun. As he's doing that, Ivan's monkey Soni has wandered into a tank and fires a round blowing a hole in the wall. Soni wanders off, and Ivan follows.Blacky with Natalija tied to his back goes out and calls his son Jovan along. Along the way through the underground corridors, he lets Natalija go, reasoning that "women and revolution don't go together" with a promise of reuniting soon.Blacky, with his son Jovan, emerges from underground for the first time in decades. They encounter the set of Spring Comes On A White Horse and believing WWII is still on, they kill 2 extras and the actor playing Fritz, believing them to be the real thing. In the manhunt Jovan drowns but Blacky escapes.Part Three: War
1992The final section is set in 1992 at the height of the Yugoslav Wars. Ivan re-emerges with Soni, whom he was recently reunited with. He stumbles upon Marko, who is attempting to broker an arms deal in the middle of a conflict zone. The deal falls through and Ivan catches up with Marko beats him to unconsciousness and then commits suicide. Natalija arrives and rushes to Marko's side, proclaiming her love for him. They are captured by militants and they are ordered to be executed as arms dealers by militants' commander, Blacky.Blacky moves his people out to the cellar that he lived years ago. taking Soni with him. He sees an image of Jovan in a well, and inadvertently falls in while reaching for him.In a surreal ending, all friends and family, living and dead, are reunited at Jovans wedding, where Ivan (no longer stuttering) ends the film with a closing monologue. | comedy, murder, psychedelic, satire, romantic, revenge | train | imdb | Those who have seen "Underground" have probably noticed that we are not watching one film but a collection of at least 10 films in one single masterpiece!!I watched with great enthusiasm the work of Kusturica after "Underground" in films like "Arizona Dream" or "Black Cat White Cat" films which prove to be more elaborate and "smoother" in terms of direction (brilliant works as well!!) but none of these films could ever equal the "nerve" and strength of a very young Kusturica at his best!
It's as if he gambled his own life doing "Underground"How else can you describe this work of art if not a mixture of devilish and holy images that take the shape of a flawless piece of theater-dance!!The actors speak, dance and create (more than interpret) with a vigor rarely found outside the Balkan Circle!In terms of theatrical aesthetics the film incorporates Stanislavski( realism at its best), Brecht (at certain points the actors step out of their roles and mock at themselves) and Artaud (they are flames more than humans)Needless to say more!Shocking, raw, heart-breaking!!One of the most beautiful I have ever seen!
At the end of this film, however, I began to weep bitterly--not because I was saddened by the story (although it is sad), but because I knew that I could never hope to create anything as beautiful as the movie I had just watched.
Blending 60 years of history, wars, politics, ideas, lies and tragedy into 170mins with, irony, vibrancy, music, life, poetry and beauty whilst still retaining a genuine optimism in the face of it all.Effortlessly.
So much density of politics and history compressed into such a personal story expressed through actual war footage, real political figures, self reflexivity, theatricality, music and a totally relentless narrative that isn't afraid to switch up from comedy to tragedy from one scene to the next without pandering to formulaic structure in an effort to satisfy an audience..
You'll recognize the patterns easily.It tells a story how come a country which appeared to everyone inside as an uniquely ideal world (they aren't aware where they are) could abruptly dissolve in a really, really bloody war the moment that the outside interferes...
It makes you understand the Balkans as well as any other region held together by a weird, claustrophobic mix of hundreds of years of love and war on a small piece of land, a thread so fragile that it would break if love gets any more removed from war then it ever was.The sense of time in this movie is marvelously directed, and the reason it starts as an action flick but then at one point starts to drag towards the end is...
because there is always, always a slowdown just before the next big boom/collapse; don't fight this feeling or you'll miss on the experience.It is like the Truman Show without the Hollywood ending.The movie is based on a play from Serbian master playwright, Dusan Kovacevic.
Can only think of a few more with such "powers" - maybe Cinema Paradiso is in the same league.It's truly great, it takes you on a journey together with these people and you live it with them, completely believable despite the absurdities!
The story of the last 50 years in Yugoslavia in 3 hours in a film only Emir Kusturica can do.
Having watched around 4000 movies so far, this has been my all-time best cinematic experience since its release date in 1995.
I believe the main character is Yugoslavia, and I am a Mexican, living in Mexico, you don't need to be European to understand about the terror of the war and to feel sympathy for the people that have lived the war and the uncertainty of a situation that doesn't seem to have an end.
I saw "Underground" first when I was 11 years old,but it made so much impression on me that I was,to tell the truth,really shocked.There are many people who say that it isn't worth watching.But I see,I don't judge them.It's just a bit difficult for a simple person to understand the whole meaning of it.
And Kusturica really knows a lot about human nature the complexity of which he manages to expose in this masterpiece that is called "Underground", using a great but tragic sense of humor.Kusturica comes from Balkans, where people have suffered a lot through the centuries and maybe that's why he knows the true face of war so well.
I think it's some kind of nonsense, that such wonderful film was made under the influence of tragic events, like wars and communism.
I first saw "UNDERGROUND" in 1996 about a year after it was shownat Cannes and winning the highest honor in the world of cinema; Palme D'or was the tiniest honor that could be awarded to this eternal masterpiece .....
I have seen over 3000 movies so far and keep on watching at least 10 every week but nothing can ever replace even the memory of this unique work of art.....I have seen all Kusturica's movies; His touch is so magical and his technique so unique, that I dare to say noone can't even imagine to be able to make another better movie And it'll remain the best movie of my life ...
I could not help but love every character in this movieI don't care about the historical accuracy or political connotations (though I would maybe feel differently if I was from that part of the world), to me it's like a celebration of life and all the grief that comes with it.
"Underground", by Emir Kusturica, is the best film ever.
It can be seen as a treaty on politics, a review of the Balcanic history - and Yugoslavian in particular -, an anti-communist propaganda film, a beautiful fairytale, a (sometimes) very sad story of love, a sarcastic movie about the pointlessness of war (whether it may be among countries, citizens or even friends), or a thousand and one points of view possible.
Or would like.Emir Kusturica is nothing less than a visionary with extreme talent to direct movies, as anyone can see in some other personal favorites: "Time of the Gipsies", "Arizona Dream" or "Black Cat, White Cat".
Simply a masterpiece and the best film made on the 90's, a mixture of black comedy with tragedy, a film that can really touch you deeply, about what are this people really and how can far they go on, when you see at the end, that they only can be happy after death, after the end of that war, that started to be a war, when brothers are killing each other, the others weren't.
An undefeatable spirit that leads into this people, sad when this spirit fight against each other, the city underground is where Belgrado started and finished this new era in the life of a so called country Yugoslavia, a totally perfect view made by Kusturica together with Angelopoulos the best film-makers from Europe, made by the only people that can tell the history of this Brave country.Simply Perfect 100/100.
Underground is to be viewed as one of eastern-European cinema's greatest triumph and without a doubt Kusturitza's masterpiece.Everithing is brilliant in this movie!The razor-sharp satiric humor,the eccentric director's decisions,the energy coming out of every scene!It goes from plain satiric portrait of the time to the horrors of the bombing,then again to the satiric condemnation and then to plain madness!The performances of ALL the cast is brilliant,there is not even one moment that seems fake.The camera work is fantastic and the atmosphere,being unique is overcoming!
All that at a time of war, later socialism and finally destruction of post WWII socialist ideals.In fact, the first version of 'The Underground' I saw, was the 5 hour-long marathon version.
Perhaps you need to be somehow connected to the Balkans to understand scenes like the one when Lazar Ristovski asks the gipsy musicians to follow him as he goes to the toilette.The complaints that the movie is too political are perhaps true, but only for people who don't know anything about socialism or Europe.
By now, the music theme is extremely popular in Serbia and can be heard everywhere on Belgrade's streets performed by little gipsy groups.The most important movie to come out of the Balkans; And simply put, it is perfect..
This film definitely belongs to the best movies I have ever seen.
It is a shocking and surrealistic story about the history of Yugoslavia and it shows the charming but self-destructive temperament that is so characteristic to the people of the Balkan (unfortunately I cannot claim that Hungary would be entirely free from this madness, although my prideful countrymen get usually offended if someone suggests that we have anything common with the Balkan).After seeing the movie I browsed through these comments.
it is one of the best film I have ever seen.I really liked it.story is also perfect and Emir Kusturica's special imagines make the film wonderful.I saw other Kusturica films.They are also great.I think Kusturica is going through the Fellini's way..
And I have to mention that it makes me feel great that so many people have understood and felt this film for the cinematic beauty that it was.All I have to say is- hardly has any other movie ever captured the fire that burns us all in such a magical tale of passion and fear and humor as this one has....
There is some rumors that no one can betray you as someone really close, like godfather, or that there is no war if brother fight each other.This is at first story about friendship between two mostly different characters placed in two main roles, Crni and Marko, chasing for love of one woman, Natalia, which in one great musically color-full scene declares them as "there can be made one great made from two of you".
Lot of black humor comic scenes in war colored places of Balkan, filmed from genius Emir Kusturica, made this movie "must see" if u "wanna understand Balkan soul"..
Underground is simply the best film I have ever seen.
Some say great films (not merely movies) are not being made anymore, but this is one is there - thank God. It takes place in former Yugoslavia, but you do not even need to know history (although it greatly helps to enjoy it) to be emerged in this crazy vision.
This is the history of Yugoslavia which was able to shape it's own little universe while being at the mercy of the world.Watching this film you will know the people of the Balkins, their history, their legends, their symbolism their music their culture like nothing else can show you.Lastly This has the best soundtrack of any film ever.
Despite my respect for Kusturica's great previous pieces of art such as "Do You Remember Dolly Bell?" or "When Father Was Away on Business", I find the movie "Underground" as a very irritating distortion of historical facts and politically motivated in favor of the Serbian anti-Titoist 'chetnik' ultra-nationalism which Kusturica supports (he left his home-city Sarajevo for Belgrade and sided with the ultra-nationalist policy during the Bosnian war)Kusturica's overly exaggerated metaphoric 'scary story' about former Tito's Yugoslavia depicting a life of people being kept in isolation and total ignorance about the rest of the world for a half century, manipulated by an "evil-commie" leader may be an appropriate metaphor for the former Enver Hoxha's Stalinist Albania and the Eastern Bloc countries such as USSR, Czechoslovakia, Poland, East Germany etc.
Yugoslavia under Tito was a leading founder of the Non-Alligned Movement (not East, not West) highly opened to the rest of the world in many aspects (arts, fashion, music, film etc.) The citizens under Tito enjoyed a freedom of movement which gave them opportunity to learn and experience the rest of the world and there was a free exchange of goods and ideas with the rest of the world (expecially with the West who helped Yugoslavia to some extent as a buffer zone to the former USSR and it's satellite countries)Speaking of Kusturica himself, during that SAME socialist Yugoslavia that he criticizes and ridicules so strongly in this movie, he was actually a highly successful and respected movie director and he was involved in the Sarajevo rock'n'roll and art urban subculture (such as the crazy Sarajevo "New Primitivsm" movement which was related to punk rock and the new wave for example, then the 'Monthy Pythonic' "Surrealist" movement etc.).
This is probably the first film I watch coming from this region of the world(so I can't compare this to anything else coming from there), and I would definitely say that you need to have at least a basic understanding of the muddled, complex history of what went on there from World War 2 and the next 40 years(until when this was made, or just about; that's a lot of time to cover in less than three hours) to fully appreciate this.
With its beautiful images, drinking, music, laughter and tears; "Underground" is one of the most unique war films I've ever seen.
This movies develops trusting, doubting, and loving filings in the viewer, and makes you think about the truly valuable things in life like friendship and survival.The music is amazing and can rival classics like the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack.
It is not for everybody and everyone, since it is too politicaly oriented (for some people's point of view - I, on the other hand, think that it is a film about human and feelings, not about politics) and to "Balkan-driven".
(Does Kusturica perhaps think about that fascist Ex-Yugoslav war spreading over the rest of Europe, eventually?) The two protagonists are being shown in a justifiable - let alone sympathetic manner - pretending to everybody: "Well it is a tragedy with our people and our history, but that is the way we are...this is our way of life - we cannot help it..." By and by you feel like wanting to shout out loud (if only Kusturica sat in the cinema) "FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, COME TO THE POINT, PLEASE..!" In fact, if this movie really shows something the basic mentality of the Ex-Yugoslav people - why do we still keep asking ourselves why they don't get their acts together to come to terms with their political problems?!This film really got on my nerves.
I felt like being talked at by a mad preacher trying to convince me with his distorted, pathetic view of god and the world, instead of seeing a good and entertaining story, with a well written plot with some - at least some - suspense in it.This is one of the most embarrassing films that I have ever seen.
Just like Marko did to Blacky, the people were kept underground, oblivious to the changes in the world.The acting was superb, and the continuous gypsy music underscored a great tragedy..
(see Arizona Dream)Underground is like a legend, a story which you share with your followers to let them know that "once upon a time there was a country...".
I saw the movie in the period of the conflict in Kosovo (4 years after the making of the film) and it looked in some way prophetic.
After some years they break out from this underground factory just to convince themselves that the war is not over.I liked this movie because of the different kind of plot which I found very interesting.
Another interpretations that I liked were Lazar Ristovski's who played as Crni and Mirjana Jokovic who played as Natalija.Finally I have to say that "Underground" is a nice movie to watch because it combines very well drama and war with comedy in such a different and beautiful way that makes this movie not only interesting but a masterpiece of its kind..
I didn't have the knowledge of the history or the political piece in the movie but still the story is screen played in a very different, still understandable manner.
I've never seen such a film that shows the horrors of war so hard- hitting and at the same time filled with hilarious absurd comedy.
Underground manages to depict the ripping apart of former Yugoslavia in a very unique manner; the drama is reflected in the entire universe of the movie (nature, animals, etc), not only in the stories of the main characters.
Another comment said that he couldn't understand the whole thing with the people being in the basement for so long
..you have to wonder what he thought he was watching!The final redemption is a nice comment on war, but really it suggests that the film is deep and meaningful.
'Once upon a time there was country' - this is how this film starts, setting a tone of legend on what will follow - a long, breathtaking and heartbreaking allegory of 50 years in the history of Yugoslavia and the Balkans.
One needs not relate to this film as to a documentary, his tools are not the ones of the reporter but of the artist.It is a long movie, but I couldn't complain a bit, so fascinated I was by the story telling skills of Kusturica, by the music which is wonderful and plays an important role as in all his movies and by the acting which brings to screen a full colorful world of characters and situations.
'Underground', like all the other Kusturica films is completely fake, mystifying & false story, with unoriginal characters, banal ideas, suspicious messages, and it is generally completely worthless as a piece of art.
After some works more or less known as TIME OF THE GYPSIES (1988) and ARIZONA DREAM (1993), Kusturica saw his work finally recognized all over the world with UNDERGROUND, a poetic fable about the stormy and bloody history of his country, Yugoslavia.
Underground is a gripping movie showing you a creative and raw imagining of the events in Yugoslavia starting in WWII and ending in the Yugoslav wars. |
tt0047050 | Green Fire | The film opens with adventurer Rian Mitchell (Stewart Granger) inside a dark mine shaft, deep in the side of a Colombian mountain. He chips away at a vein of greenish ore, pockets a sparkling specimen, and starts back toward the entrance. On his way out, he stumbles upon a bronze conquistador's helmet. Chiseled above the mine entrance is the inscription "1687." Once outside, Mitchell carefully conceals the entrance with brush and starts down the mountainside. He suddenly notices a group of birds taking flight and warily pulls out his gun. He gets the drop on a lurking Colombian bandit, but the bandit's two companions fire on Mitchell and wound him. Knocked unconscious, Mitchell is stripped of his personal belongings and rolled down the mountainside to die.Once he comes to, a bleeding Mitchell stumbles through the dense jungle, only to be trailed by a hungry jaguar. He stops at a river to quench his burning thirst, and just then the jaguar pounces down on him from a huge boulder. A gunshot suddenly rings out, killing the beast. Mitchell looks up to discover a robed priest, rifle in hand. The priest helps Mitchell onto a horse and takes him to the sprawling coffee plantation of beautiful Catherine Knowland (Grace Kelly). The unconscious Mitchell is patched up by Catherine, awakening a full day later to discover his good fortune. He is nonetheless in a hurry to leave, insisting that she take him to board a river boat so that he can resume his journey. Catherine warns him that he needs to recuperate more fully, but she reluctantly agrees to drive him to the boat in her Jeep. A subsequent conversation between Catherine and her brother, Donald, reveals that the coffee plantation is struggling to survive and produce a successful harvest. As Mitchell dresses to leave, the priest confides that he came across the valuable ore sample in Mitchell's trousers. Mitchell tries to pass the specimen off as a worthless rock, but the priest knows better. He explains that he too once discovered the fabled emerald mine of the conquistadores, but he kept the location a secret, fearing the greed and violence that its discovery would produce. Mitchell frankly assures him that he is coming back for the emeralds.At the river landing, Mitchell bids a fond farewell to Catherine and says he will be back to "return her brother's borrowed clothes." She has to loan him the money for the boat fare. Back in the city, Mitchell returns to his mining consulting office and the waiting arms of his pretty Colombian secretary. She explains that his partner Vic Leonard (Paul Douglas) has given up and is catching a boat back to Canada. Mitchell catches up with him at the waterfront and tells him he has discovered the emerald mine. Leonard is undeterred, completely disgusted after twelve years of futility. When the boat is delayed, Leonard hunts down Mitchell at a cantina and joins him for drinks. Mitchell later helps his drunken partner to a hotel, relieves him of his boat ticket, and uses the refunded money to gamble. He wins big and talks an angry Vic Leonard into staying. They are soon headed upstream on the tiny riverboat.After an adventurous river trip, they arrive at the landing near Catherine's plantation. Mitchell tries to hire a large crew of laborers for the mining expedition, but when the local foreman discovers where Mitchell is headed he refuses to help recruit anyone. Catherine eventually shows up at the dock and coyly spars with the cocky, self-assured Mitchell. Mitchell soon recruits a group of men on his own and they journey to the mine. The mining crew is soon under threat from the local bandit chief, El Moro.Mitchell and Leonard are invited to dinner at Catherine's hacienda. As the romance between Mitchell and Catherine gradually blossoms, success at the mine remains elusive. Mitchell divulges to Catherine that his father was an impoverished coal miner, dying a broken man. Mitchell had vowed to become a miner himself, but a rich one.As work inside the mine progresses, a fight between two laborers loosens some support timbers and causes a cave-in. Mitchell is injured and pinned under falling rocks, but Vic charges in to save him. Nevertheless, the mine shaft is choked with debris. Mitchell and Leonard concede that they would need a great deal of money to resume their excavations, and no mining syndicate would touch the risky venture. Out of desperation, Mitchell slyly cons Catherine's restless brother into providing an infusion of cash and plenty of laborers from the coffee plantation. The plantation is left without workers or money.Catherine is furious with her brother and with Mitchell. To make matters worse, Vic is also disgusted with him.
Vic angrily splits with Mitchell and returns to the plantation, where he offers to help Catherine for free. He also awkwardly admits that he is in love with her. She takes him on as an unpaid partner. Just as a hopeful new spirit is born on the coffee plantation, a tragedy occurs at the mine. A falling boulder crushes Donald Knowland just after he uncovers a brilliant emerald outcropping. His funeral is held at the Knowland plantation, where Rian Mitchell is treated like an outcast.More emeralds are soon unearthed, and activity at the mine turns feverish. A new sluice box funnels the mine tailings directly into the river, altering its course and sending torrents of water downstream toward the Knowland plantation, threatening to flood it. Worse, the rainy season is fast approaching. Vic Leonard angrily tells Catherine that her plantation can only be saved by blowing up the mine, choking the current river channel and re-directing the water flow. She reluctantly agrees. Leonard plants dynamite above the sluice channel, then awakens a groggy Mitchell and advises him to get off the mountain before it blows up. Mitchell's workers flee the impending explosion as Mitchell and Leonard furiously duke it out. Catherine breaks up the fight and calls off the detonation. A dejected Leonard prepares to leave with her, but Mitchell stops him. He concedes that the mine must be destroyed. Just as they are preparing to blow the mine, El Moro and his men attack. The bandits are after the emeralds.A heated gun battle ensues, and Mitchell realizes that his small band is hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. His only option is to reach the dynamite charges and blow the face (and the bandits) off of the mountain. Catherine and Vic provide covering fire as Mitchell works his way up the steep slope to the dynamite charges. He sets the timer and starts his escape, but he is cut off by El Moro. His fight with the bandit dangerously delays him as the timer counts down. Catherine and Vic begin their descent without Mitchell. Suddenly, a massive explosion erupts and the mountain cascades down around Mitchell. Catherine and Vic exchange a sorrowful gaze and continue down the trail. From a clifftop, they can see that the avalanche has accomplished its purpose. The river has been diverted. Suddenly, Mitchell appears behind them, beaming. Catherine rushes to embrace him as Vic good-naturedly cheers their reunion. Reaching into his pocket, Mitchell happily presents Catherine with a beautiful emerald cluster. "My dowry," he exclaims as he kisses the radiant Catherine. | romantic, murder | train | imdb | Before writing this review I looked up emeralds in Wikipedia and found that Paul Douglas was wrong when he said during the film that emeralds are only found in two places, Colombia and the Soviet Union, specifically Siberia.
Would that were the only thing wrong with this film.Still Colombia is the area best known for it and until recently when you thought of Colombia you thought of emeralds and coffee.
But back in 1954 it was emeralds that was on the minds of adventurers Stewart Granger and Paul Douglas.
And the only place to get laborers is from the nearby coffee plantation owned by brother and sister Grace Kelly and John Ericson.Young Ericson is hot to trot to help Granger and Douglas, Kelly less so.
But she does have an eye for Granger even with both men pursuing her.And of course there's bandit chief Murvyn Vye who actually does own the land where the emeralds might be found.
In fact that's Green Fire's main problem, it's your basic routine action/adventure flick on which MGM decided to spend a ton of money.
Note that Stewart Granger was the star of King Solomon's Mines and he got first crack at every jungle picture that came along after that.Green Fire is hardly as good as King Solomon's Mines.
Grace Kelly seemed pretty distant in this film, looking like she was a Philadelphia débutante rather than a coffee plantation owner.
She did a flock of good films this year, Rear Window, The Bridges At Toko-Ri and her Oscar winner The Country Girl in 1954.
Adventures , action , romance and emerald mines in the exotic Columbian jungles ..
There prospector Rian Mitchell (Stewart Granger) comes across what he thinks may be an important emerald site .
A bit later on , emerald miner Mitchell is wounded by some bandits , however meets plantation owner named Catherine Knowland (Grace Kelly) and nursed back to health .
Rian goes back to get his colleague Vic Leonard (Paul Douglas) to join him in his mining venture .
This exciting film contains adventures , thrills , a love story and colorful outdoors well photographed by cameraman Paul Vogel .
Plenty of a Hollywood all-star cast as Granger, Kelly , Douglas and Ericsun ; however ordinary script complications muddle the tale .
Special mention to musical score by the classical Miklos Rozsa , a great composer expert on impressive atmosphere in Noir cinema and epic films .
The story well written and paced, the characters well portrayed, especially by Granger and Douglas.
Granger was a natural as the adventurous treasure hunting mining engineer , Douglas, solid and humane , played his long time partner and friend.
Filmed partially on location in Colombia, the movie offers dashing Stewart Granger as a treasure-hunting adventurer and radiant Grace Kelly as the heir to a struggling coffee plantation.
Granger plays his role with the requisite cockiness, and Kelly just has to look beautiful and act sincere.
The best role falls to Paul Douglas, who plays Granger's world- weary and curmudgeonly business partner.
If you liked The Naked Jungle with Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker, you will probably like this film, although Charlton Heston's Leiningen and Stewart Granger's Rian Mitchell are very different men.
It isn't great cinema, but if you want to settle in on a Saturday morning with a big mug of coffee and watch some '50s nostalgia, you could do worse than this movie..
Her only film to lose money on original release.The movie is a standard jungle picture typical of the fifties made better then it should be by the cast.
However the best performance as was often the case comes from Paul Douglas.
Even though he didn't have leading man looks he had a bruised dignity that softened his blustering demeanor and made him a sympathetic character.Some nice location photography and a decent if preposterous climax but this is without question the worst picture Grace Kelly made during her brief Hollywood heyday..
Green Fire is a Hollywood movie (with all what it means) One cant imagine a film like this be made any other places.
Grace Kelly is as always what dreams are made of, and a real Hollywood actors like Granger and Douglas know how to make a boy-film.
Stewart Granger is Rian Mitchell, who finds the famous lost mine which is supposed to be just filled with emeralds, thus the name of the film, "Green Fire", from MGM.
At first, his partner Vic (Paul Douglas ) isn't interested, and just wants to take a regular job in Canada, but ends up staying.
The miners get intertwined with the American owners of a plantation, as well as with Father Ripero (Robert Tafur) who seems to be on their side, bandits, and of course, a mariachi band, which was quite talented - couldn't find them listed in cast or music/sound credits...
Mitchell" (Stewart Granger) is an ambitious mining entrepreneur who is looking in Columbia for a long-lost emerald mine built by the Conquistadors in 1687.
Father Ripero then takes him to a nearby coffee plantation where "Catherine Knowland" (Grace Kelly) manages to tend his wounds.
When he recovers he tells her that he has a partner, "Vic Leonard" (Paul Douglas) that he has to see right away but that he will return.
Once he and his partner return to the coffee plantation they begin to work on the emerald mine which creates difficulties for all concerned.
That said, while the entire cast performed in a decent manner the film seemed slow in some parts and lacked energy.
By far, the cast overshadows this routine action/adventure tale of a duo of soldiers of fortune seeking emeralds in Columbia.
Kelly seems out of place as the young maiden running a coffee plantation, who eventually confronts Granger over labor and water rights.
The location shots are of interest, and Granger and Douglas do the best they can with the script.
This film only captures the audience because of Grace Kelly (Catherine Knowland),"The Swan",'56, who is very charming and magnetic through out the entire picture and is well matched with actor Stewart Granger,(Rian X Mitchell),"King Solomon's Mines",'50, these two great actors make this a classic film because of their great talents.
The director of this film, Andrew Marton was very famous for many great productions like, "Sea Hunt",'58(TV Series) with L.Bridges,Sr, and King Solomon's Mines,'50.
If you adored Grace Kelly, you will like this picture!.
Hard times in Colombia in collapsing emerald mines and a coffee farm at risk.
This seemed like a very ordinary adventure entertainment out in the jungles of South America about coffee and emeralds, but it turned out better than expected, mainly because of superb acting by Stewart Granger and Paul Douglas.
It's a good story which provokes some afterthought and could teach anyone a thing or two, and there is an amounting turn of action towards the end when the bandit league really do their best to turn everything to the worst.
The colour is also splendid, and as an entertainment it is definitely first class, not only because Grace Kelly is into it as well, but firstly because of the exoticism and excellence of the story of how two good-for-nothings finally get together in the end for something good..
Both Stewart Granger and Grace Kelly are wasted in this film, even though Kelly was past her best after 'Dial M For Murder'.
In his autobiography, 'Sparks Fly Upwards', Granger says 'Grace had one phobia, her behind.' Admittedly, I did notice that her behind stuck out when Paul Douglas embraced her.
To save her embarrassment, I covered it with both hands.' I bet Paul Douglas would have wanted to do the same thing.Although the film is awful, reading about Stewart's experience of making the film is interesting..
Stewart Granger is at his handsome best and he and Kelly certainly present their characters as a couple with spark between them.
Paul Douglas is a rock, as usual in his supporting role as the loyal partner to Grangers leading man.
I was pleasantly surprised by Kelly's acting in this little film.
MGM adventure set in Colombia (and beautifully filmed there).
Stewart Granger plays a somewhat hapless, but charming, down-on-his-luck mining engineer, hoping to make a big emerald strike.
Paul Douglas plays his solid, more practical partner, who's about to quit the game and take a job in Canada, when he's persuaded by Granger to give it one last go.
Granger has an accident and ends up recuperating at a comfortable coffee plantation owned by lovely Grace Kelly and her brother, John Ericson.
Yes, you've seen it all before, and despite top stars and first-class production values, as well as landslides, animal attacks, a villain called El Moro, and Granger with his shirt off, the picture still comes across as a bit of a potboiler.
Granger and Kelly, neither of whom qualify among my favorite actors are the stars.
Sure, I could easily imagine a woman that looks and dresses like Grace Kelly in the Colombian jungle!.
She starred in five films...one of which (THE COUNTRY GIRL) earned her a Best Actress Oscar and two of which were Hitchcock pictures.
But not all these projects were great...as she also starred, inexplicably, in "Green Fire"...a rather pedestrian film where the worst thing about it is Kelly.The story mostly is about Rian Mitchell (Stewart Granger), a scheming treasure hunter who seems to always be on the verge of a bit find....but fails.
As for Catherine (Grace Kelly), she mostly seems to be there as window dressing throughout the film...very weird window dressing.
Grace Kelly's most forgettable film.
Grace Kelly only appeared in eleven films during her brief acting career.
Kelly plays Catherine Knowland, owner of a coffee plantation in Colombia.
Stewart Granger plays Rian Mitchell, who's hunting for emeralds nearby.
Paul Douglas plays Vic Leonard, Rian's reluctant partner in the emerald mining expedition.
Rian gets frustrated, then he gets desperate and desperation can lead to terrible consequences.There's a lot of melodrama here but it doesn't really make for a very good film.
Granger comes across very flat in playing Rian.
The film plods along, leading man Rian being unlucky both in love and emerald mining, desperate enough to do things which make both the other characters and the audience detest him.
Kelly isn't given much to do besides look pretty, though she certainly is good at that.
A handsome looking early Cinemascope/colour romantic adventure story is probably about all that makes MGM's GREEN FIRE (1954) an entertaining enough movie.
Stewart Granger and Paul Douglas are a pair of Emerald miners prospecting in the hills of Colombia.
And Grace Kelly is a neighbourhood coffee planter who Granger has the hots for.
The thinly plotted adventure also has some local bandits headed by the infamous El Moro (Murvin Vye) who, of course, wants any and all of the yet unearthed green stones for himself leading to an action filled finale.Although a constantly busy actor Stewart Granger never did have a hugely distinguished career in film.
Appearing in a number of unmemorable British films in the forties the London born actor landed himself the lead in Metro's "King Solomines Mines" in 1950 followed by a contract with the studio where - with the exception of the fine swashbuckler "Scaremouche" (1952) and "The Wild North" (1951) - he continued on his merry way of churning out a load of indifferent pictures (including a most unfortunate and ill advised attempt at a western in 1957 called "Gun Glory").
Always a very likable character actor Douglas was more at home in urban dramas and light comedies.The film's most tangible aspect is Miklos Rozsa's music!
The highlight of the score (and the movie) is the brilliant, exciting and intense cue that comes towards the end for the picture's climax where the composer uses an ingenious, frantic and rhythmic clock ticking sound in the orchestra for the build-up of tension as Granger sets the timer on the explosives charge that will literally bring down the mountain on the marauding bandits.GREEN FIRE is by no means a great movie but with lovely Cinemascope Cinematography, a spectacular mountain avalanche and a great Rozsa score there are, I suppose, worse ways to spend 100 minutes!.
Those lyrics, which do not hang upon the cheek of this movie like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear, no matter how hard I try to love them, are about on a par with the rest of the story.Greedy Stewart Granger and skeptical Paul Douglas are two mining engineers determined to find emeralds in a South American country.
They set up a camp on a promising mountain and spend a good deal of time fraternizing with the owners of a neighboring coffee plantation -- Grace Kelly and her callow brother, John Ericson.Granger and Kelly fall in love under the tropical moon.
A shoot out at the climax, and all the bad guys die in an avalanche while all the good guys live, and the river changes its course, and the plantation is saved, and Granger has an epiphany, and it ends happily.Frankly, I kind of enjoyed it.
Grace Kelly is the most beautiful and least probable owner of a tropical empire you've ever seen.
Paul Douglas is always easy to identify with because he completely lacks any of the social graces.
There is also a love triangle of sorts.This one is set in Colombia, South America, and the idea is to find the emeralds in an old mine that the conquistadores first opened.
Stewart Granger is the mining engineer, Paul Douglas his partner and best friend.
Granger is presented as a lovable rogue who cons his buddy into staying on for one more adventure.Nearby to their mine is a large coffee plantation, owned by Grace Kelly's character and her brother.
The brother is young ands restless and doesn't care "beans" about coffee, which of course makes him a great patsy for Granger to con into backing the mining operation.Granger and Kelly fall in love, but she is afraid he will be ever the wanderer and she's firmly rooted to her plantation.
Granger becomes more and more ruthless in his pursuit of the emeralds - first alienating his friend Douglas, then Grace and eventually his actions endanger the lives of everyone in the region, and may destroy the plantation.
But of course it all works out in the end, he comes to his senses, regains his moral balance and kisses the girl in the rainstorm at the end of the film.A very routine plot line, set in what was then a rather exotic locale.
Grace Kelly is lovely as always, but not very convincing in the role - she just never really was the "outdoors type".The film is shot in beautiful widescreen color, some location shooting seems to have taken place, but most of it was on very nicely done sets and backlots.At 1 hour and 40 minutes, the film tells its story pretty briskly with not much extraneous material.It's not a timeless classic, but it is a good example of typical 1950's adventure films, and is entertaining enough to watch once every few years..
There are going to be a lot of comparisons to "King Soloman's Mines" because of the presence of leading man Stewart Granger and the same director.
However, I also saw in it a more glamorous version of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", with Granger, Paul Douglas and John Erickson equivalent to "Sierra Madre's" Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston and Tim Holt, if a bit toned down compared to that outstanding adventure film's cast.
Attacked by the bandits at the beginning of the film, he manages to survive, and is taken to the home of lovely coffee plantation owner Grace Kelly whom he is instantly smitten with.
Returning to Kelly's plantation after briefly leaving to bring his partner (Douglas) back with him, Granger finds himself the victim of the title, "Green Fire", which translates as the greed the earlier conquistadors fell victim to as their findings increased.
Other than this film, she "graced" audiences with her presence in Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and "Dial M For Murder" and her Oscar Winning turn in "The Country Girl".
Granger is essentially the same character he was in "King Soloman's Mines".
Acting honors go to Paul Douglas as the good-hearted seemingly brutish partner who falls in love unrequitably with Kelly.
For once, I'd like to see a film where the not so good looking hero ends up with the beauty and the hunk (Granger, whose character is only snapped out of his greed by impending tragedy) gets sent packing.
In the same year that she garnered the Oscar for "The Country Girl," Grace Kelly made this 1954 film set in Colombia.A tale of finding lost emeralds, Stewart Granger finds them and encounters all sorts of difficulties in pursuing many more of these green emeralds- bandits, dangers working the mines, and his love interest, Kelly in the film.As always, there is a rich score by Miklos Rosza and when I heard parts of it, I thought I was hearing some chords from his great "Ben-Hur" scoring.It was also laughable that his partner, the usually gruff Paul Douglas, would make Douglas vie for Kelly's affection.
When Kelly's brother agrees to help Granger in his pursuit and is subsequently killed, a rift builds between the Granger-Kelly pursuit of the emeralds, as she becomes dead set against it.An adventurous film which was nicely handled..
100 minutes.SYNOPSIS: An emerald miner in Colombia falls for the young owner of a coffee plantation.NOTES: Location scenes filmed at Barranquilla on the Magdalena River, and in the mountains surrounding Bogota, Colombia.COMMENT: The rush to film stories in CinemaScope resulted in some half-baked adventure dramas whose publicity promised far more entertainment thrills than the movie actually delivered or, as in this case, interspersed those thrills with a routine, lackluster, clichéd and predictable yarn that wasted the considerable talents of the players unwittingly involved in fostering this tedium. |
tt1205071 | Paintball | A truck rumbles down a potholed track. In the back sit a group of passengers, their eyes blindfolded. They don't know each other, but they have a lot in common: they're young, urban workaholics, with an appetite for extreme experiences. They've signed up for a weekend of adventure. As they head out into the unknown, they hear the others breathing in the darkness, steadying their pulses in silence as the adrenaline begins to flow The blindfolds come off to reveal in a dense forest. Each player is equipped with supplies to last the weekend, a powerful paintball gun, ammunition, maps and instructions. They have to complete an adventure trail that takes in ravines, caves and obstacle-ridden trekking paths. The group is split into two teams. The winners will be the team that wipes out their opponents and completes the circuit. They wanted adventure? They got it. Deep in the woods, one group is ambushed. Invisible snipers pin them down in a hail of paint then one of their number collapses, writhing in agony. Red blood mixes with the paint. Confusion reigns. Who is shooting at them? In the silence, they stare round at each other, and into the forest, looking for a traitor or some kind of explanation. The rules of the game have changed. The only law is the law of the jungle, and nobody trusts anybody else. Hidden among the trees, camouflaged by leaves and branches, there are deadly traps. Hunted down like prey in a lethal game, the teams face a desperate struggle for survival. There's nothing like a brush with death to make you feel alive. | murder, sadist | train | imdb | STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning The premise behind this abysmal action thriller has a group of people going for a good old bit of paint ball, only to find themselves really fighting to stay alive as a barrage of real bullets are fired at them.
It's like a bunch of 8th graders wrote a story in a half hour and never even bothered even coming for a reason why any character in the movie acts the way they do or any situation in the movie would be plausible.
I can see who a little misdirection can help a movie, but after repeatedly seeing useless visuals, you start to get the feeling that they were just letting the camera roll with hopes of making it work in the editing room.
The women (and only them) scream, gasp and sob a lot – not that unreasonable when nasty stuff starts up, but I suspect plenty of men would do the same in the unlikely event that real life could ever be remotely like this.This movie is a perfect 1.
I don't exactly know anymore why I thought that "Paintball" could easily have been a cool and exciting survival/slasher movie when I rented it
Maybe because I went paintballing with a group of friends recently and you immediately link this game to adrenalin-rushing action and sportive kicks?
Entertainment is also exactly what I wanted to get out of "Paintball", but apparently that was too much to ask for
It's truly a dire effort, with an utterly dumb and implausible plot, and sadly also severely lacking gore, brutality and fast-paced suspense/excitement.
Director Daniel Benmayor also thought it would be a good idea to film all the killings from POV angle and through a sort of unclear brown camera filter.
This exciting film contains stunning fights scenes and chases that illuminate the full-blown struggles with a plethora of engaging set pieces on the combats in which the action runs here and there .
The team (Brendan Mackey , Jennifer Matter , Patrick Regis , Neil Maskell , Iaione Perez , Claudia Bassols) is split into two groups , each player is equipped with supplies to last the weekend , a paintball weapon , paint bullets and maps .
However, they come to realize that the game is more deadly than they thought as they find out that the enemies are using actual guns instead of paintball guns to hunt and kill them.Firstly, my biggest problem with this movie is how badly written the characters are.
In this case, however, I was actually looking forward for the characters to die because the movie was so bad, I was eager for it to end.
Take these 3 words and tweet it to everyone who has ever thought of directing a horror movie.Also, most of the characters are idiots.
The movie tried to have him go insane but that was a very unrealistic and lazy way to kill off one of the characters.
It is also bad cinematography in my opinion.Like most low-budget, modern horror movies, the acting is garbage.
The reason this is so common is because many good actors know better than to star in modern horror movies because they know that they will ruin their careers by doing so.
The movie doesn't provide enough clues in order for me to be able to speculate a theory about what I think the origin of the area they were in is.The only reason this doesn't get a 1/10 is that the premise is actually pretty good and creative for once.
Unfortunately, the movie ruins any minimal hopes I had for it after 15 minutes.In conclusion, if you don't mind the style over substance, idiotic characters, and unoriginal and poorly-executed action sequences and if you just like watching senseless gun-battles then this movie is for you.
The title gives away a little bit and of course you can imagine, that this won't be a regular Paintball game, that you will watch in this movie.There are quite a few neat scenes, but especially one gimmick (where the camera uses a filter and therefor the picture you're seeing is "different") that it uses, wears off pretty quickly.
Some whiny and annoying card-board characters are dropped off in the field where the games with the opposing team will be held.After some paintball sessions an unknown hunter begins to kill them using real ammo."Paintball" is a highly derivative survival flick which reminded me "The Zero Boys" or "Masterblaster"(both flicks from 80's).The characters are annoying and not developed,the plot is predictable and there is plenty of clichés.The cinematography is shaky and the killings shot via grey night vision quickly become irritating.If you want a good survival flick check out "Rituals","Deliverance" or "Hunter's Blood".Unfortunately "Paintball" is one to avoid.5 out of 10..
I'm still waiting for the day that I'll break my duck and participate in a paintball game, especially if going back for in-camp training every year isn't enough that I'll want to wield a rifle with paint ammunition, and go around fragging peers or strangers in the opposite team.
Best played with a big group of friends (or against people you dislike), this sport is picking up momentum, and specialized shops selling paintball gear have been sprouting up, giving indication of its popularity.If only the cost of the game would go down, or if the terrain could be a little more challenging, like this one in the film Paintball, set in a fictional Redball Woods, touted as Europe's largest renegade paintball field, which would give infantry junkies a run for their money in terrain topology, with plenty of space for section movement and the application of section movement in order to organize and take out the enemy.
But that's a dream playground, and as its advertisement touts, you have the power to choose whether to live or die.The horror here, besides the fact that it's a film that failed to exploit its potential and chances, is of course for someone to have a weird sense of humour, and decided to substitute their paint ammunition, for real rounds meant to kill.
Then there's this mysterious, savage player who doesn't seem to play for either side, from whom we adopt the POV from, and behind his thermal mask we see the bloody atrocities that he gets himself into when dispatching innocent players.The story is pretty much standard, introducing us to the group of strangers who have signed up to participate in the game, and have to work together with great difficulty when they know that they're in for deep, deep trouble.
Their mission is to go from checkpoint to checkpoint and pick up stuff that they could use, such as bullet proof vests and a real machete, together with constant bickering as to who gets to use what.You can't help but to apply horror film sensibilities in wondering which caricature gets to be killed how, and in what order.
The other drawback is of course the story by Mario Schoendorff being really lacklustre, with director Daniel Benmayor not being able to bring out any sense of tension or thrills, having everything played out in a rather flat manner, despite the slight revelation toward the end which was a little to late to make any impact, coming across more like a sick joke played by Redball Woods.The only redeeming grace that stood out from the bad acting, caricatures and weak story, is the occasional flashes of brilliance in its initial long tracking shot of pandemonium.
Strictly for paintball fans, but even then you'd rather prefer to be playing the game, than to watch a horrible horror film about it..
PAINTBALL is another attempt at survival horror which reminds one a little of the likes of WILDERNESS although this is far, far worse.
Think of Eli Roth's "Hostel" meets Nico Mastorakis' "The Zero Boys" and you have the low-budget horror action hybrid "Paintball".
What the story sets up should have been a lot better than what actually eventuated, as in the end it was a chaotic muddle of frenetically noisy action and mind-numbing characters running around remote woodlands letting their instinctive and primal urges kick in.
The story follows that of eight adrenaline junkies taking part in a game of paintball in a forest, but when one of them ends up being killed by a live round.
ANd while that is positive, I will say that the movie wasn't particularly extraordinary though.The story is about a group of people who go to a remote forest to compete in a game of paintball.
But when one of the contestants is shot dead by a live ammunition round, the game changes dramatically, and it becomes an actual game of life and death."Paintball" was shot mostly with a hand-held camera, to give the audience the impression of being on the battlefield in the forest.
Granted it was just $2, but still I want a properly filmed movie to watch.It should be said that the characters were generic and totally devoid of any characteristics and personalities.
You know what will happen and there are absolutely no surprises along the way.If you have an hour and a half to waste, and got absolutely nothing better to watch, give "Paintball" a go for a no-brainer movie.
The idea of a killer in a paintball tournament should've been a lot of fun without knowing who to trust or if the game should be called off which is where this one should've worked, but instead the concept of the organization being behind it all given to us here is just quite lame as for what they're after or the purpose of this one to set off the problems in here.
There's some really enjoyable parts to this one which makes for an occasionally entertaining time, starting with the stalking at the end guided along by the helpful attendant which comes off a lot more tense and chilling here than expected during the forest segment with the preceding events fueling the paranoia, engaging in plenty of rather fun escape sequences and getting into the compound to add in the heat-vision tactics to great effect for once as the brawling is quite more active than expected and really putting out the creepiness of the corporation is fantastic as it brings about the great scene.
Still, though, this really doesn't come close to matching the even-more impressive beginning as it really delivers a lot of really good paint- ball shoot-'em-up action to get things going as this gets right in the heat of the battle and their tactics come off incredibly well that showcases this all to great effect.
Another problem is character development; there is none, so it's difficult to care what happens to any of these people you see being followed around by the shaky cameras.** Paintball (4/24/09) Daniel Benmayor ~ Brendan Mackey, Jennifer Matter, Patrick Regis, Iaione Perez.
Excellent direction, imaginative writing, and truly superb acting by a cast of relative unknowns make for one of the best films of this type to be seen in quite some time.
You know – the words say something like "celebrating a century of entertainment" as clips of memorable scenes flash by.Well, like those highlight reels, much of the best of "Paintball" comes directly from other films.
And if you can recall those clips, you can splice together "Paintball's" plot.The film follows a familiar formula – cocky expert hunters become the hunted.In this case, a group of paint-ballers answers an ad to play in the ultimate game.
Instead of disappearing into the woods like good players, they panic and spend the rest of the movie making themselves easy targets by shouting and arguing – and walking along open roads and fields.It doesn't help matters when the women shed their camouflage duds.The group does press on because the mysterious goodie boxes offer survival aids like a bullet-proof vest.Teammates die along the way, but we don't care since the movie never gives anyone much of a back story and the constant screaming and bickering gets tiresome to the point it's almost a relief to have characters die so they'd finally shut up.That said, "Paintball" is not a bad movie.
The action sequences really pop like bursting paint ball pellets, and there are are plenty of other shoot'em ups with bigger budgets that are far worse.The movie's biggest weakness is that by relying so heavily on other films for material, "Paintball" constantly reminds us these is better work out there – and it's already been done – so why not watch "Predator," "Descent" or "Pitch Dark" on DVD instead?.
A voice across a walkie-talkie gives out instructions when motivated by her superiors to organize the game so that it entertains the clients.The use of a machete motivates different responses within the story (it impales a player accidentally when the one who uses it is just trying to protect herself, while another has the leader of the green team purposely impaling an orange team member multiple times in anger), how the thermal camera can be used against the hunter (in the main room of the company's building, where Anna finds the death certificate files, uses the glass to hide herself among those watching behind it), and the taking apart of a rifle to kill the hung-upside-down player are among the more memorable bits in the film.
Still, with characters as dumb and obnoxious as those in this film, folk who willingly allow themselves to be hooded, shackled and driven to an unknown destination by complete strangers, I say have at it, Mr Johnny Foreigner—by all means slaughter these irritating, whiny, gung-ho morons for sport—you'll be doing the human race a favour!The whole 'survival game for real' idea is hardly original (Nico Mastorakis did the same thing decades earlier with The Zero Boys, which was quickly followed by Masterblaster), but that doesn't mean it doesn't still have the potential to be hugely entertaining; sadly, Paintball blows it in almost every conceivable way, the cocky characters just begging for a bullet between the eyes only being the start of the problem.
In addition to making the viewer not give a damn whether anyone lives or dies, the film suffers from lousy acting, a lack of decent action, and dreadful direction from Daniel Benmayor, who opts for a horrible wobbly cam technique and the use of POV for the killer, neither of which work particularly well: the frantic camera-work makes it hard to follow the action while the potentially gory POV kills are seen through some sort of high-tech thermal imaging goggles that display everything in monochrome and negative, meaning that the death scenes are frustratingly short of the red stuff (blood looks like milk!).After much tedium, frantic running around the woods, and screaming, the final survivor (a woman, naturally) is inexplicably given assistance by the people controlling the hunt, and faces off against the killer in a derelict building where the script introduces a dumb 'deus ex machina'—a case inexplicably chained to a wall—that comes in very handy in defeating the enemy.
I mean the idea of a paintball game where real death is involved seemed like a good idea.
I came into the movie expecting a few laughs from stupid "horror" scenes.
Another good thing about the film is the acting.
the thing i didn't understand the most was the fact they were running around with there paintball guns like they would help them ..
i do like low budget horror but there still has to be something to it, other people have said it on the reviews but its like they just stole all the ideas from other films.just don't waste your time and skip this ..
If you have 90 minutes you wish to fill with poor acting, thermal cameras and general shouting from annoying characters I would highly recommend this film, if not I highly advise you stay away from this film.
The camera-work is appalling as a lot of the time the action is filmed too far away.
Paintball may just be the strangest movie i have seen in a long time.
Basically you get 8 paintball pros, suddenly one is shot with a real bullet, the group suddenly go into panic and rush round splitting up slowly and getting killed one by one...Firstly, the beginning of this movie gives no introduction and jumps you straight in their.
Usually these kind of movies are good, but no, we do not have a clue who these people are, or where there from.
Secondly, the deaths in this are hidden, which is actually quite a good technique, only shown through this hunters view, who many times in the film I actually thought would turn out to be Predator!
They start getting killed one by one by an albino who has cheap Predator vision, because the makers cannot afford proper special effects.All along though, its discovered that the makers have seen Hostel, and people are paying to see Albino Predator kill the paintball crew......First off, this film is bad.It has no narrative, no real storey, and not one single likable character.
Survival horrors, slashers, and other movies made to bring out fear and emotions like it are not really my thing.
but i do love paintball, so i watched this.I think that the ratings given this film are too low.
Of course most of the characters are whiny little wimps and have no idea what they're doing, but some of them are brand new to the sport, and don't even know what to expect from regular paintball.When David starts taking charge, it feels good to see that someone is not an idiot.
I STILL thought it was too much gore in some scenes, but as i said before, I'm do not usually like these movies.
Weren't the greatest characters ever but I think the filming was done pretty good. |
tt0330099 | The Brown Bunny | The film opens with a motocross race shot from high above the racetrack. The racers careen around the track and the sound goes in and out as the racers get further from the camera. The camera focuses on one racer in particular, number 77, as he tries to keep up in the race. He is far from first, but is still in the race.As the race sequence draws to a close, we cut to racer #77, Bud Clay (Vincent Gallo) as he puts his motorcycle into his van and catches his breath from the race. He loads the bike into his van and gets behind the wheel.He drives to a gas station, and we discover that we are in New Hampshire. He gets out to fill the tank, and we see him doing so through the window of the service station, where a young girl sits, presumably reading, behind the counter. He finishes pumping the gas and goes inside to pay. Bud notices her necklace and comments on it. The necklace says Violet on it, and she says that she made it herself. She asks him if he was in the race, and he says 'yes'. She then asks him where he's off to, and he says he's going to California for the next race on the circuit. She says that she's always wanted to see California, and he asks her to go with him. She agrees, and they head to her house so she can pack a bag to go.Outside her house, Bud and Violet they kiss and he tells her that he likes her very much. He tells her to hurry and she runs inside while he waits. After about a minute or so of waiting for her, he pulls away, without her. No explanation... he just drives away.Bud is on an interstate headed to California. Through the vantage point of two cameras we alternately see the road and Bud as he drives. Soon he has pulled off the road into a town. He drives through the town, eventually stopping at a house. He walks to the house and tells a middle aged woman who answers the door that he used to live next door, and that the woman's daughter, Daisy, lives with him in Los Angeles. The woman invites him in.Bud sits at the kitchen table with the woman and a man, presumably her husband, and they talk. He tells her that he's going back to California to see Daisy and that she (the mother) had been to visit them, but the woman does not remember Bud at all. She asks if he and Daisy have any children and he tells her that they don't. Next to the table is a brown colored rabbit in a cage. The woman says that it is Daisy's bunny, and Bud admires the bunny for several moments. Bud then says goodbye and gets back in his van and drives off.He drives a good deal more, with Gordon Lightfoot's song "Beautiful" playing over the shots of the road. He comes up on St. Louis and decides to get off the highway. He stops into a pet store and looks at the birds, the fish, he plays with a kitten and some puppies, finally leading him to the bunnies. He asks the clerk how long bunnies live for and the clerk tells him they only live for about five or six years. He takes a particular liking to a brown bunny, but does not take it with him. He just admires it for a little while.He stops into a restaurant, has some food, uses the bathroom, and then gets back on the road for more driving. He drives a little while and stops at a rest area. There is a woman (Cheryl Tiegs) seated at a picnic table near where Bud parks. She looks lonely. We see embroidered on her purse that her name is Lilly, and Bud walks past her to the Coca Cola machine. He buys a Coke, and she watches him the whole time. He walks past her to his van and she continues watching him. He stops before getting in his van and goes to sit next to her. He holds her face, lovingly, and tells her "it's okay." They begin to kiss and they both cry while doing so. After kissing her for a bit, he gets back in his van, leaving her there.More driving. A lot more driving.During his drive, he thinks of a time when he and Daisy (Chloe Sevigny) were together in the van and he cries about this. His next stop is in Utah, where he gets a room in a seedy motel and has a shower. From there he heads out to the Bonneville salt flats where he takes his bike out of the van and races for a while. The shot follows him for seemingly five minutes until he is out of sight on the horizon. We then see him back in his van heading out from the salt flats.More driving.Bud arrives in Las Vegas. He drives for a bit, and at each corner, a woman approaches him asking him if he's looking for a date and he blows them all off. The third woman to approach his van has on a necklace that says Rose. (Note: all of the women's first names that Bud has picked up is named after a particular flower). He tells her he's not looking for a date, and pulls off. He then circles the block and comes back to her. He tells her that he wasn't looking for a date, and asks her if she'd like to have lunch with him. She says that she has to make her money and steps away from the van, but the next shot we see is of her in the van with Bud, eating french fries. They drive around for a bit, and Bud pulls down a side road. He gets out and tells her to get out the van. She does, and he presumably hands her some money, gets back in the van, and leaves her there.More driving, and finally Bud arrives in Los Angeles. Bud pulls into a garage where he's greeted by three mechanics who help him get the bike out of the van. The mechanics hook the bike up to a diagnositic system and check the bike out for him. One of them asks if he's heading to where the race is tonight, and he says that he's staying in L.A. for the night.He gets a room at a local Best Western and from the hotel he gets in his van and drives to Daisy's house. He parks the van in the driveway and goes to the front door. He rings the doorbell twice and knocks, but no one answers. A next door neighbor yells, "there's nobody there!" The neighbor threatens to call the police if Bud continues hanging around. Bud gets back in his van and seems to have given up, but he grabs a piece of paper and a pen and writes Daisy a note which he puts on the door, then heads back to the hotel.At the hotel, Bud calls the front desk and tells them that he's expecting a phone call or that a woman named Daisy will be looking for him, and he tells the front desk to let her up. He goes into the bathroom, and when he comes out, Daisy is standing by the door. She says "hi" to him and talks but he has no reaction to what she is saying. She says that she has to use the bathroom and goes in leaving him on the bed. In the bathroom she smokes crack, making no attempt to hide the fact that she is. She comes out and Bud is still sitting on the bed. She asks if she should go to the store to get something to drink and he says that he doesn't drink anymore. She asks if she can sit on his lap and hold him the way they used to. After asking him several times, he agrees and sits on his lap, holding him close. She gets up to get some water and says she has to use the bathroom again, that she "Drank too much water" before coming over. In the bathroom she takes three more hits off her pipe.She returns to the room and he's seated on the other side of the bed. She asks him why he's being so cold, and not talking, and he doesn't respond. He lies on the bed and she lies next to him and talks to him about how much she's missed him and how glad she is that he's back. They kiss a little, and then a lot more. He tells her to take off her shirt, and she is reluctant at first, asking him to turn off the lights, or if she can get under the covers and he says no. She takes her shirt off, and he removes her pants and her bra. He stands up, and undoes his belt.(Warning: I'm not going to go into too much detail, because, let's face it, it is what it is. We see his manhood, she does the "deed" A full blowjob. It's graphic, but much of it is focused on his face, or on a shot from behind them, so it's not the kind of coverage you would get in say... hardcore oral sex porn. While she is doing the deed, he asks her if she's done this to any other guys, or if she's fucked other guys, and she keeps denying that she did.)When he's done, he puts his piece away and collapses on the bed, crying, sobbing, saying: "Why did you have to do it?" She lays beside him and they jointly tell the following story, which we see in flashback....Apparently there was a party at the very same house where Bud looked for Daisy. Three guys at the party offered Daisy what she thought was weed, but was more probably crack. She smoked some and Bud yells at her, that she shouldn't have done that because she is pregnant. He said that because she smoked and drank that she lost the baby, and she says that she is an addict... she couldn't help it. Eventually, the alcohol and drugs made her pass out and the three men took her into a bedroom and raped her. As they raped her, Bud saw them doing so but did nothing to stop them. She asks him why he didn't stop them, but he doesn't answer. He just says that he left, he ran away, and when he came back later that night there was an ambulance there. He asks her why there was an ambulance, and she says that... she died. She tells Bud that she vomited while she was passed out and she choked on the vomit and she died. We see Bud kissing the dead Daisy's forehead in the ambulance in the flashback. When it comes back to the hotel room, Bud is on the bed by himself, sobbing. Daisy is nowhere to be seen.The next day, Bud is driving in his van to the race, and the film ends on a freeze frame of his face driving in the desert. | romantic, avant garde, flashback | train | imdb | Terrible, unforgivable waste of precious celluloid.Watching a road through a dirty windshield for hours might seem a clever metaphorical statement if you're on crack, or are as delusional as the director, who probably thinks of himself as the greatest film-making entity that ever lived.Me?
I saw Buffalo 66 long before I started posting reviews at imdb, so I haven't written about that film but I loved it, I give it a 10, and after seeing The Brown Bunny at the Nuart on Saturday evening, I am here to report that I give Gallo's second feature film the same rating.
And in fact that's what I loved the most about the movie - how Gallo has the artistic wherewithal to be true to HIS vision of what a film can be, to how a plot of a film (and there IS a plot) can be played out in a different, less recognizable way, which leads to one of the reasons I think people are calling this a vanity project (aside from the infamous scene toward the end -- which I have to say is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to the film, once you find out what's really going on with our sick puppy Bud Clay) : because the movie doesn't follow a 'typical' set-up, requiring a bit more patience on the part of the viewer, a lot of people feel more comfortable dismissing this unbelievably profound piece of work as a 'vanity project'.
Gallo definitely needed to step away and let a professional editor do his/her thing and mercilessly cut scenes that didn't move the story forward.While I could see that the author wanted the audience to crawl inside the protagonist, Bud, during the road trip, it didn't take that darned long to do it.
While this may have been believable for males, I don't expect it was for very many female viewers.I watched the film largely because I wanted to see if and how graphic sex could be incorporated into a drama without lowering it to the level of "high brow pornography." I think the film did a good job on that score, although I'd have preferred the use of a realistic-looking prosthetic such as that used in Boogie Nights.
I had heard about the controversy surrounding The Brown Bunny (who hadn't?)--the feud with Roger Ebert, the graphic sex scene--so when I received an invitation to a press screening, I jumped at the chance to see what the trailer calls "the most controversial American film ever made".
In a time of overblown budgets and enormous productions with endless crew lists, Vincent Gallo has almost single-handedly made a concise, well-thought out, conceptual film--a poignant, touching love story.
Out of the blue, Daisy appears in his hotel room and soon he learns why he cannot find her."The Brown Bunny" is an independent very low budget movie by Vincent Gallo.
The effect is that he doesn't know how to write and can't think of where to point his camera.Oh yeah, and the controversy, the other hook to get college students looking for a cinematic rush to rent this crap from Netflix - if a movie is controversial it must be worth seeing right?
Please come with me." felt painfully staged unrealistic, and sappy.Finally when the plot revealed itself to us during the last 20 minutes, I would like to make clear that unlike a lot of people I DID finally understand the point of this film, and what it was trying to express.
One major difference between both movies is "The Hand" shows context behind the displayed events, whereas in this film there is no context whatsoever in any scene aside from the last 15 minutes.
All the conversations in it were very engaging, very realistic and played out almost like a documentary which is what this film NEEDED to do in order to succeed in what it set out to do, and how it set out to do it, but quite simply, the people involved in this film thought they were vastly VASTLY greater than they really are to have made this, DO not know good cinema, and did not put the effort here.To be fair, the ending, when a plot was finally established was quite powerful, and the talk between Budd and Daisy IN ITSELF, was moderately well conceived which is why I gave this film a second star.
This moment would have been quite effective in its own contained capsule, as everything that happens before these 15 minutes is completely inconsequential to this scene, and moreso, when it is revealed that the scene was Budd's hallucination, so then too was everything that preceded this scene, which was the ONLY scene of the movie with any shred of value to it, though appearing rather cheap and amateurish when the best it can do is to utilize such visionary artistry as seen in Japanese porno films with the censored fellatio scene, in which Chloe Sevigny claims that the sex act was not simulated, which absolutely floors me, for since it is censored, and given that any real sex act would therefore be irrelevant to the viewer, that is basically like saying "I don't suck dick for any artistic end, I do it just for the taste of it." I find that very amusing, but nonetheless it has to be said, if this scene was its own short film, it would have been effective.I hate to use the word arrogant, but when you produce a movie that 1.
4. 50% of which is comprised of nothing but shots of driving on the open road, which have NO artistic point; if they expect the viewers to find meaning and value in illusions which essentially have no meaning or context and are not even interesting, that is pure arrogance, and this film is indeed nothing but self indulgence.
It was 90 minutes of Vincent Gallo self-aggrandizement complete with a 10 minute scene of explicit oral sex that added nothing to the movie whatsoever.
I think those that actually accept this as a valid "art film" are too wrapped up in long pauses, languid eyes, and landscape and forget a decent movie should have relevancy, real emotion, dialogue, and some semblance of reality.
At best, "Brown Bunny" was a home movie that has received far more press than it should have and Gallo knew it would get said press because of his little shocker.A movie -- Hollywood, independent, or art house -- should have rising action, a climax, and a denouement to at least achieve some type of artistic or visual credibility.
It must be ahead of its time!" That may be true but what's unsettling about the reviews is that they influenced director Vincent Gallo to cut the film in half leaving it more concise and marketable for mass audiences.
I just sense from his egocentric attitude of being the star, writer, director, producer and the fact that he's in 95% of every shot in the film, that he is just being creatively oblivious.Most artists will tell you that self-portraits are the most difficult subjects to tackle because they involve erasing your preconceived notions about who you think you are to showing how everyone knows who you are.
One day, and very soon, the critics who had anything good to say about this film will see the error of their ways; they will repent in sackcloth and ashes, and the entire production will be eternally damned and consigned to the sulphurous, unquenchable flames of cinema hell.A lot of people post comments on a lot of movies here, and quite often you read the comment, "This is the worst film I've ever seen." I don't want to be one of those people.
The plot is very simple: a motorcycle racer named Bud Clay (Vincent Gallo) begins a long cross-country journey in his van to the next racing location in California, all the while being haunted by memories of his former girlfriend Daisy (Chloë Sevigny) who he wishes to meet when arriving in his destination.
On his way to her, he also picks up other women only to drop them off soon.I wasn't bothered by the long scenes of Gallo silently driving by himself, even though the cramped mise en scène and grainy cinematography make them less easy to enjoy than such scenes in some other movies "where nothing ever happens".
The famous sex scene fits in the mood and its uncensored nature only adds to the rawness and prevents it from feeling phony.Ultimately the film is a curious exploration of feelings of guilt, regret, longing and loneliness, and while it's not as visually stunning and haunting as, say, Gus Van Sant's Last Days, it certainly doesn't deserve all the hate it gets.
I regard it as one of the more artistic honest film plays I have ever seen.(And I am not faulting the oft-cited sex seen between writer/director/cameraman Vincent Gallo and actress Chloe Sevigny.
Every nuance of his actions or lack of them, and in his sparse questions and answers with others bespeaks the loneliness I describe here, a loneliness not requited by Bud's brief contacts with anything or anyone else in the story, including Daisy herself.It probably would have been wiser of Gallo not to have engaged in a public slinging of written nastiness with Roger Ebert, the premium critic of American film.
Gallo makes the act of piloting a vehicle about as exciting as washing one.The road movie as existential quest has a long cinematic tradition, and this means that any new entry in the field needs to achieve genuine novelty or risk being trite.
Yet, with its hand-held camera shots of Gallo driving in medium closeup, most of the film comes off like a drive cross country with your uncle, complete with randomly bad song choices and fly splatters on the windshield.
What was shocking about The Brown Bunny was that it cost $10 million, or roughly the budget of Pulp Fiction, to produce a movie that looked like somebody's film school thesis project, and which was thoroughly hated by 90% of those who saw it.If the road trip really is a metaphor for the pursuit of meaning, then Gallo got nowhere because this movie is pretty much lacking it..
Even some of the worst movies up to this point had some redeeming qualities, yet The Brown Bunny wasted ninety minutes of my time and several hours of my life afterwards just thinking about it.The prestige of the independent movie has suffered a deadly blow.
Brown Lump -- er, Brown Bunny is little more than an excuse for Gallo to point the camera at himself for what seems like hours on end, until time comes to lower it to his genitals, so Chloe can perform an impressive Linda Lovelace imitation.As to the pathetic cretins who seem to enjoy this kind of garbage, what can I say, to each his own; even if it's watching narcissistic racists (read Gallo's personal website where he tried to sell his sperm; look for "not interested in women with dark skin," and "free insemination for women with Aerian features whose fathers fought for Germany in WWII".
Having just come from a 3-month film-making program in Hollywood, I can understand a director succumbing to the temptation of pointing his camera at anything hoping that it will eventually make sense in the editing suite; however, Gallo's film looks and feels like all the available footage has just been pasted together without any editorial intervention!
I watch a lot of movies, but this is the only time in my adult age that I couldn't sleep afterwards - as the few and very understated plot elements were still falling into place, I felt as if I had witnessed a train crash, and couldn't stop thinking frightening thoughts of what a fragile thing our comfort and happiness is.The movie would not have worked if it had been faster paced, dropped hints along the way, or contained more than the bare rudiments of a story.
On the other hand, while a lot of lovers of underground/experimental/artsy stuff are extremely open-minded, you'll find quite a bit of them who, pretentiously, will dismiss any new Hollywood vehicle for whatever reason -- just the fact that this film has Vincent Gallo and Chloe Sevigny in it is enough for some people to hate it.So, you've got "underground" people giving it crap, you've got "mainstream" people giving it crap, you've got people misusing the word "pretentious" endlessly.
If someone were to say that I am missing the point of the movie (what, he's depressed?) then I would have to reply, that the point should not have to be chiseled out of 4 conversations amidst 90 minutes of driving (and by the way Dr. Low Budget - feel free to clean the windshield next time you are going to make us all sit in your van.
I have not seen the original Director's cut of the film that had created so much bad press after the screening at the Cannes Film Festival and prompted Roger Ebert make the statement that "The Brown Bunny" was the worst film in the history of the festival but the 92 minutes long version that Gallo himself re-edited is certainly not the bad movie.
In exploring loss, regrets, yearning, grief, loneliness, inner numbness as the way to cope with pain caused by guilt, longing for the contact and inability to communicate, Vincent Gallo, writer/director/star/cinematographer/editor for "The Brown Bunny", definitely drove his point across (no pun intended).
They had a lot to talk about but their conversations were speechless - that's why there is so much silence in the movie and only shots of Bud's face and his eyes.Many viewers (and reviewers) mention in their comments the notorious explicit scene of oral sex between Bud Clay (Gallo) and Daisy (Chloe Sevigny), the one true love of his life.
Tedious shots of Gallo's character driving across country, punctuated by brief periods of him lying in bed.For me, the only interesting part of the film was the fellatio scene with Choe Sevigny.
It seems that when a personal little film that might not appeal to the soccer moms of America, people will not embrace it for bringing up concepts and ideas that do not make the movie going experience all the more zombie-making, but instead squash it far before even watching it..
The Brown Bunny is entirely his film("written, edited, produced and directed by Vincent Gallo" is the only opening credit - he left out "starring"), and he isn't talented enough in any of these capacities to create stirring emotion.
The most disturbing part of the film isn't the graphic oral sex scene, it's the fact that Gallo has created a 90 minute masturbation piece and he expects the viewer to sit there and share it with him.The emotion doesn't come off as realistic because Gallo is such a bad actor.He emotes like Ben Affleck in a manufactured and cheap Hollywood melodrama.The only good actor in the film (Chloe Sevigny) is given such poorly written lines and such stilted direction that even she comes off like a amateur.
Despite Roger Ebert's shockingly immature reading of this film as "the worst in Cannes' history" (and then inexplicably changed his mind after Gallo made minor edits) "The Brown Bunny" is deadly serious and not the least bit self-indulgent.
I can only hope Gallo will go on making more movies, not necessarily the same, but just as interesting.Oh and the blow job scene is indeed a bit like porn, but I don't care.
As it dawned on me and I realized I want others to know what makes this movie so special, whether you have already seen it or have yet to see it.I really didn't enjoy the first hour and fifteen minutes of the film as I was watching it.
Though certainly a point of concern as you are viewing the film for the first time, the pacing in this (US) version of the Brown Bunny ultimately is revealed to be perfect for creating the dramatic emotional effect that comes through enduring the story lead-in.
Unless you are to reject the film's conclusion as not producing this effect, which I cannot see how after watching and paying close attention to it, I see no reasonable way to vehemently criticize this work of art.I cannot remember the last time a movie has given me such a delayed and ultimately gratifying emotional response, and I hope more people will be willing to give this controversial movie a legitimate chance..
The spectator understands the cause of his feelings towards the end of the movie, when Clay's shard of glass is broken in the scene with Daisy.Vincent Gallo the director appears as an engineer of the film's unique emotional DNA, as an architect of an intricate interior of our psyche and conscience, as well as an anti material painter of America's landscape.
Vincent Gallo takes to the director's chair, as well as producing, writing and editing this pure bore for the next 90 minutes..Although, I've heard stories about this guy's film receiving poor response from the critics.
Brown Bunny, The (2004) BOMB (out of 4) Vincent Gallo's controversial film was one that I was really looking forward to but at the two minute mark of the film I really wanted to turn it off.
Vincent Gallo's THE BROWN BUNNY is a really creepy and weird film.
The major issue with the film is that it is supposed to be very minimalist in it's portrayal of the character, his environments, who he meets and basically the plot outline.Before watching Brown Bunny most people have to consider many things; when directors are making films they tend to think visually.
This is like what happens in most good movies, and Brown Bunny isn't any different...and yet, that's still a good thing in the end..
It's a road movie in its purest form, a perfect medium to express the utter loneliness our main character is experiencing.Much has been said about the last part of the film, when Bud finally meets his long lost love, Daisy (played by the wonderful Sevigny). |
tt0426459 | Feast | The people in the bar are all having a good time when a man covered in blood enters through the door. He tells everyone that they are in big trouble, but no one really heeds his warning until he exposes the head of a vicious looking monster. He is promptly decapitated by one of the monsters, and the young girl known only as "Honey Pie" is showered from head to toe in blood.Following this, a woman bursts through the door and is revealed to be the recently deceased man's wife. After a brief sentimental moment between the wife and her late husband, they begin boarding up the windows in the bar, which then results in the military guy getting killed. A smaller monster than the ones previously seen bursts through the uncovered window and begins incapacitating the various people inside the bar, starting with the woman named "Harley Mom", who has one of her legs sawed off at the knee. It is wrongly assumed she then dies from massive blood loss (she is used as bait later, despite actually being alive).After she is taken out, the monster disappears, only for it to be found humping one of the deer heads nailed to the wall. A shotgun blast promptly removes the deer head and monster from the wall and the monster then drops into a refrigerator, which is then sealed shut, trapping the monster inside it.Following this, most of the windows are boarded up and the bar patrons are given a moment of peace. The only phone however, has been hit by a stray shotgun blast, and is rendered useless. After a short breather, the woman known as "Tuffy" suddenly realizes that while most people are presumably safe downstairs, her son is still upstairs, and she bolts upstairs to get him.The kid is quickly found, and all rejoice, until the boy is pulled through the window and eaten by one of the monsters, leaving only his sneakers behind. Tuffy is now incapacitated by grief, and the monster then vomits a stream of slime at "Beer Guy", who is hit, and falls over, and is then hit again as he attempts to stand up. As the remaining people regroup downstairs, it is revealed that the slime has a decomposing effect and "Beer Guy" is slowly overcome by its effects.Meanwhile, "Honey Pie" begins washing off the blood and has to take off her clothes, much to the amusement of "Hot Wheels" and "Bozo". Following this is an attempt to scare off the monsters by killing what is now revealed to be a baby monster and hanging it outside. The monsters quickly have sex and produce two offspring in a matter of seconds. They begin to attack the pub with renewed fury.After many attacks and ultimately, a fight to the death between the last remaining humans and monsters, only 4 people survive: "Tuffy/Heroine 2", "Hot Wheels", "Bozo" and apparently "Honey Pie" (who actually escapes in a beer truck without picking up the remaining people). "Grandma" seems to survive but in the last second is seen being attacked by one of the remaining monsters. | comedy, boring, bleak, cult, violence, psychedelic, satire | train | imdb | null |
tt1386588 | The Other Guys | Officers PK Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Chris Danson (Dwayne Johnson) are the most bad ass cops that New York City has ever seen. The movie opens with them engaged in a high speed chase creating a wanton destruction path of every block that they cross. They do manage to capture the criminals at high speeds. However the infraction they picked them up for was very minor and they manage to do a lot of damage. They are also hailed as heroes and are given the key to the city by the mayor.Back at the station they're also greeted as heroes and treated like celebrities. There's several pairs of officers including Martin and Fosse, officer Bob (who makes announcements about banal activities at inappropriate times) and the other guys - Alan Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), They're admired by Allen Gamble, a by the numbers forensic accountant who is very straight laced and doesn't take any risks. Gamble's partner Terry Hoitz disagrees and he's grown tired of his desk job and wants to see some real hard core action. To make matters worse, Gamble is duped into a prank by fellow officers Martin (Rob Riggle) and Fosse (Damon Wayans Jr.) by firing his gun randomly in the air and he has it taken away. Hoitz also had his gun taken away thanks to a past incident involving working security at game 7 of the World Series and shooting Derek Jeter (Derek Jeter)in the process. Thanks to that incident, he has unwittingly earned the nickname "The Yankee Clipper". Gamble also has earned an unflattering nickname around the office: "Paper Bitch". At a support group for gun abuse Hoitz and Gamble don't know why they're there and Hoitz doesn't want to be there.The next day Highsmith and Danson are called into the field. This case has them chasing suspects in a jewelry store robbery. Once again they're chasing a suspect robbing a jewelry store up a high rise. The robber manages to escape using a zip line, and to follow him, they're planning to jump off a high rise and into the bushes. Unfortunately they miss and hit the pavement instead. No one really knows why they decided to jump. They're given a heroes' funeral by the city of New York. Without their hottest officers, the department turns to Hoitz and Gamble instead. At the funeral Hoitz and Gamble nearly start a brawl with some of the other detectives while the Captain (Michael Keaton). Hoitz decides that the void left by Highsmith and Danson needs to be filled and that someone is them.Hoitz desperately wants a taste of action. But unfortunately as he's paired with Gamble, Gamble is obsessed with a case involving faulty scaffolding being installed at a construction site. But then they get a call about shots being fired and cocaine at the scene. Hoitz forces Gamble out of the office to take to the case. As they finally get some field work, Hoitz discovers that Gamble is even lamer than he originally thought. Their first taste of action ends incredibly poorly when Gamble floors the accelerator on his red Prius and crashes into the crime scene.We are then introduced to billionaire investor David Ershon (Steve Coogan). Hoitz is still demeaning Gamble about everything he does isn't manly enough. They also berate officer Bob about the company picnic next week. They then meet Ershon at the contstruction site. Gamble arrests Ershon but fails to read his Miranda Rights properly. While transporting Ershon back to the station, Gamble has an accident with some very suspicious people who then steal Gamble's Prius and kidnap Ershon.Gamble and Hoitz decide that they need a fresh start while wandering the streets of New York City. Back at the station, they have a new case and that's to find out who kidnapped Ershon. Hoitz goes over to Gamble's house where he learns more about Gamble including the fact that Gamble has a super model wife named Sheila (Eva Mendes) who also happens to be a well respected doctor. Gamble acts like it's no big deal. Gamble learns who stole his Prius and it turns out that when it was stolen some homeless people performed some very unspeakable acts in the back seat. They also find Gamble's lost iPhone. The group of homeless people is known as "Dirty Mike & The Boys". The bad news about Gamble's car just keeps coming.The next day at a restaurant Gamble is showing off the smart phone app that he created that shows what a person's face looks like if you take a picture of the back of their head. Gamble and Hoitz then go to interview the next witness who also happens to be a former ex-girlfriend of Gamble's - another unbelievably attractive woman. However she is married and Hoitz manages to offend the woman by mispronouncing her name.Hoitz really wants to know what Gamble's deal with hot ladies is. While sitting in the Prius, they get a message from Ershon. The next day while at a local bar singing about their woes, Gamble and Hoitz discover that Ershon is up to something involving the state Lottery and some suspicious activity. Hoitz then goes to meet with his girlfriend, a dance instructor, who it turns out he has some issues with. Unfortunately Gamble awkwardly shows up and makes things worse than they were.The next day driving into the city, Gamble and Hoitz have an incredibly awkward moment which ends with another fight and Gamble playing his favorite music - the Little River Band. They go to the next stop on their list - another accounting firm - which ends with the store front they're going to exploding. Gamble is tired of the explosions and gun fights and wants to go back to his desk. Hoitz on the other hand disagrees and tells Gamble that life is loud and has incidents like this. Gamble then reveals about his past in college - he was essentially a glorified pimp. He made money working security for the college's attractive women and was very well paid. He attracted a huge group of women to his flock and earned the real nickname of "Gator". He decided to leave that life behind after an incident where he went to the emergency room and met Shelia, who he would later go on to marry and that's why he's as straight laced as he is.After that they go to meet Ershon, back at his accounting firm. They confront Ershon about his penny pinching and they don't know what he's up to with the state Lottery but they definitely suspect that he's up to something, they just can't quite put their finger on it. Ershon offers them a bribe of court side seats to the latest Knicks game, but they don't know that it's actually a bribe. The next day Ershon ups the ante by offering them tickets to the musical "Jersey Boys".Hoitz and Gamble learn that Ershon has employed some incredibly shady losses to cover his tracks on some bad investments. But Hoitz's aggressive tactics don't exactly earn him points. While at Ershon's offices they're confronted by some incredibly shady people in the parking lot. Hoitz and Gamble are then kidnapped and are being transported on a train in Gamble's Prius. They call the station and their captain where they tell them that they're in Las Vegas and were transported by train there. The captain then grills them about laying off Ershon despite that he's committed some criminal activity.Back at the station, the captain is grilling Hoitz and Gamble about their investigation into Ershon Construction and Ershon's shady business practices. The captain has a change of heart and removes Gamble's wooden gun but gives him a whistle as a replacement. The captain then orders all the evidence they have on Ershon turned over to the FBI. Later they're given orders about the police pension fund and that there's a vote being held on it next week.Hoitz then goes to his girlfriend's art gallery which ends extremely poorly when he manages to trash a piece of very expensive modern art - which he doesn't know is modern art. Meanwhile at Gamble's house, he is discussing the case with Shelia and that he's essentially done with that. Shelia reveals that she's pregnant and that causes Gamble to get in a fight, which she then kicks him out of the house. Later the next night, Gamble and Hoitz decide that they're both depressed about their troubles with their women and don't know what to do next. They're also confronted by Dirty Mike & The Boys. After that they decide to go on a bender to end all benders.Hoitz and Gamble then go to interview the next witness - who happens to be Ershon's lawyer. Unfortunately they accidentally hand all of the evidence they've gathered against Ershon over to him. Back at the station, Hoitz is extremely angry about the fact that they just handed over all the evidence. They then get a call over the police banner about a possible jumper from a high rise. Gamble tells Hoitz that he has previous experience about hostage negotiation. But it ends rather poorly when Gamble gets on the PA and has an extremely poor choice of words that has the jumper jumping. The jumper also happened to work for Ershon.The incident has Gamble and Hoitz losing their partnership and they're then demoted. We hear a monologue from Highsmith about what a man has to do to pick himself up once he gets his ass kicked. Gamble is still obsessed about the conspiracy theory involving Ershon and the lottery. Gamble thinks that the jewelry heist that Danson and Highsmith were chasing was actually a distraction for an even bigger robbery taking place behind the scenes. He investigates exactly what the thieves were doing when they took such a small amount of diamonds and escaped using a 20 story military grade zip line. They're them demoted and reassigned to traffic duty while other officers are glad to be taking over the case. While on the beat, Hoitz and Gamble both discover that there's other links to the case. Hoitz and Gamble then reunite and decide that to get back on the boss's good graces that they really need to go after Ershon. Gamble reveals that Ershon is covering his tracks by using two accounting firms and that he needs to be arrested for grand larceny. Hoitz tells Gamble that he's no longer interested in the case and that he enjoys working traffic. Gamble then forces Hoitz at gun point that he needs his partner to be on his case.Hoitz and Gamble then go to confront the captain while working at his alternate job at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, the captain is working the second job to pay his son's obscene college tuition. Hoitz and Gamble formulate a plan to take down Ershon by confronting him at his construction company. At Ershon's company he is having a meeting with his stock holders about the company's future. One of the investors happens to be fellow officer Bob, who they berated earlier about a proxy vote. Hoitz has come to a revelation that they're targeting the police pension fund. It turns out that Gamble was right with his theory that the jewelry heist that Danson and Highsmith were chasing was just a distraction for an even bigger robbery that was taking place behind the scenes involving Ershon. At the vote, Hoitz is stunned to learn that fellow Officer Bob is a part of the vote. Hoitz then comes to a shocking revelation that Lendel Global is targeting the police pension fund and that they stand to profit handsomely if the vote goes in their favor. A massive shoot out ensues. They get in a car chase involving Ershon and Gamble's completely destroyed Prius while his lame taste in easy listening music prevails.Ershon then reveals his involvement in some incredibly shady activity. They then take Ershon to his very small apartment. Ershon reveals that a money transfer is going to be involved and that the money involved goes directly to the police pension fund. Gamble then goes to reconcile his differences with Shelia, while Hoitz goes to reconcile his differences with his girlfriend. Hoitz desperately tries to pick up Gamble's girlfriend while they decide that either of them doesn't know what is going to happen the next day. Gamble then goes to his house and reconciles with Shelia. Meanwhile officers Martin and Fosse are lecturing a class of school children about poor decisions they will make in their lives and follows the call from Gamble and Hoitz.The next morning it's time for the bank transfer. Gamble of course has the proper sound track and his lame taste in easy listening music once again prevails. Gamble then shocks everyone with some high speed driving in his Prius. But it ends badly when they get into a horrific accident. But they then survive thanks to Gamble's jack knifing abilities. Meanwhile some of the other officers are giving a lecture to some school kids about how police work isn't proper action and decide to bring one of them along. It ends rather poorly when a helicopter starts shooting at the Prius and the ride along gets in an accident following Hoitz and Gamble. They're followed by a huge flock of police cars but manage to escape by hiding in a double level parking lot. Ershon is then pursued by another group of shady people. The chase ends with them on a golf course driving range and they manage to destroy the helicopter, but unfortunately it also destroys Gamble's Prius. The other officers are also in pursuit of Ershon and manage to get to the transfer before it happens. They hold the investors at gun point and manage to arrest everyone involved.Ershon is arrested and taken into custody. It's revealed that he is using his time in prison to make investments and further his shady accounting practices. Hoitz and Gamble are hailed as heroes for their ability to bring Ershon to justice. Thankfully Gamble's smart phone app was able to nail most of the criminals involved in the transfer. Hoitz manages to marry his girlfriend and wanted Shelia to be his best man, but she declines for very obvious reasons. While getting food at Nathan's on Coney Island, Gamble and Hoitz are greeted by none other than Derek Jeter. Jeter tells Hoitz that he was setup the night he was shot, and gives them their next assignment. Their next case involves the biggest shady investment firm in the world - Goldman Sachs - and where Gamble once again manages to attract another hot woman. While leaving Hoitz very badly wants to know what Gamble's secret is, and Gamble reveals who he lost his virginity to - none other than supermodel Heather Locklear. The film ends with a monologue from Highsmith about how every police department is the same - you have your star officers. You have your 9 to 5 officers. And then there's these guys - the other guys. During the credits we are shown a slide show presentation set to the tune of Cee Lo Green's "Pimps Don't Cry" about billionaires, income inequality, stock swindlers and Bernie Madoff. | clever, comedy, entertaining, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt1045655 | The Haunting of Molly Hartley | A young woman walking through the woods following a trail marked by string. She gets a little nervous because during her walk she keeps hearing strange noises. At the end of the trail is an old house. The girl is Laurel Hartley and its 1997. Once inside she looks around and is surprised by her boyfriend, who presents her with a heart shaped necklace as an early 18th birthday gift. Laurels father shows up to take her home and on the way they fight over the fact that Laurel wants to marry her boyfriend. Suddenly her father apologizes to her and puts his hand over a bible as he starts to drive recklessly. Laurel struggles with her father, finally managing to stop the car, only for them to be struck by a semi. As they lay injured, her father keep tells her he can't let her turn 18.Cut to the present where a young girl walks into a bathroom to find her mother on the floor praying. She begs her daughter Molly to pray with her until the young woman finally cedes. As they kneel there praying, her mother raises a pair of scissors. However, before the scissors meet Molly's body, she wakes up.Over breakfast, Molly discusses her new prep school and her mother's absence with her father.At school, Molly meets with the new principle and learns she will have an appointment with the counselor. The camera focuses on her records to show that they are sealed. Molly is shown to her new classes by Alexis, a very religious girl there on scholarship, and meets some of the other students. During lunch Molly begins to hear things and runs to the bathroom where she suffers a nosebleed. She starts hearing noises and begins to have a panic attack. It ends when a girl walks out of the stall saying she can't hide in there forever, she has tried. Molly ends up skipping her counselor session and walks around outside school. Joseph Young, one of the other students she met earlier, finds her and offers a ride but she turns him down.At home over dinner, Molly is pretty morose. She and her father discuss their day. Molly explains to her father that she is worried about her mother's capability to get out of the psychiatric hospital. She excuses herself to go do homework. During the night she has another nightmare about her mother trying to kill her.Later on, in class the students receive bibles because they are reading Paradise Lost and the teacher wants them to better understand the story. Alexis, who has her own bible with her, argues with the teacher over using the bible as a text. Molly's nose starts bleeding again suddenly and the teacher excuses her so that she can go take of the issue. In the bathroom she has another attack and is found by Alexis who has brought her a shirt.Molly has a session with a counselor. They discuss her mother's condition and how her mother stabbed her. Molly isn't really into the session and leaves, but not before the counselor gives her a card with her number. As she leaves, she notices the same girl that was in the bathroom, was now waiting for her own session with the counselor.Later on in the Library, Joseph finds her reading about her mother's mental state and offers her a ride again, which she accepts. As they are walking in the halls Molly's father shows and up and wants to know what is wrong. Molly walks outside where, in her father's car she finds a visitors pass for the hospital where her mother is kept.Later that night as she is getting ready for bed, she hears the water running in the bathroom. She goes to turn it off and the door suddenly slams shut and locks. She panics and screams out calling for her father. However the door remains steadfastly shut, because neither of them can open it. She passes out.Molly wakes up in the hospital to be told that they found a tumor in her nasal cavity near her brain, which could explain her symptoms. Later on Alexis visits her, asking her if she has been saved and mentions a relative who is a nurse. She gives Molly a teen devotional bible, which Molly shoves in a drawer.Back at school Joseph corners her and asks her to attend a party. After he walks away, a girl named Susie gives her hard time, till Leah butts in and breaks it up. Leah decides to join Molly at the party. Molly tells her father she is going to a study group and might be home late. She is told to keep her phone on her. Leah picks her up and drives her during which Molly and Leah share their stories.Once at the party they separate and Molly goes to hang and dance with Joseph. As he leaves to deal with a problem, Susie picks a fight with Molly, which ends with Molly breaking her arm. Leah refuses to leave the party and drive her home, so Molly hops the gate and walks home. When Molly's cell phone starts malfunctioning, she stops a payphone and calls her father. Molly starts seeing her mother who keeps telling her she knows what she is. Molly runs from her only to see her disappear. Molly's father arrives to pick her up and take her home.Later on Molly tries to apologize to Susie but she won't accept it. Suzie tells Molly she 'knows who she is'. Joseph arrives and tries to find out what is wrong but Molly runs off.At home she calls her father and tries to relax. However, the moment she starts to calm down, her mother shows up again this time with a blade. She tells Molly that she died the day she was born and that someone came forth and offered to bring her back. Having lost children before, her parents agreed on the condition that Molly belonged to them once she turned 18. They fight through the house. In defense, Molly shoves her away and her mother is thrown over the stairs to her death. Her father arrives and tries to tell Molly what her mother said isn't true. Molly hits him over the head and runs off.She ends up at a Christian center where Alexis works. Molly begs Alexis for help saying she doesn't have much time left, because she turns 18 the next day. Alexis takes her to a church to be baptized. During the baptism, Alexis tells her that a relative told her Molly's story and she tries to drown her. In the struggle Alexis hits her head and drowns. Leah shows up looking for Molly, but only finds her father there.Molly runs off and runs into Joseph who offers to take her away. At his house while wafting, Molly tries to call her counselor but can't reach her. She goes inside and finds Joseph waiting with a birthday cake and a knife. Molly keeps begging to leave. Her counselor shows up saying she didn't get the message Molly left for her.She finds out then that the counselor is the one who offered Molly's parents the deal. The counselor says that soon Molly will have great power and that she is 'the one'. Molly says she doesn't want the power. When her counselor offers her deal, Molly 's father is brought into the room. Molly is handed the knife and given a chance to kill her father for the deal she was offered. As the clock strikes midnight, Molly stabs herself instead. However, because she did it before the chimes finished tolling, she is spared.Later, Molly at a mental hospital talking to a doctor about her father's condition. Molly doesn't want anything to do with him. At her graduation she gives the valedictorian speech and leaves with Joseph in a car. The counselor wishes her good luck when they drive off. | insanity, cult, murder, haunting, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0080365 | American Gigolo | Julian Kay (Richard Gere) is a gigolo ; a young man who makes a living as a wealthy ladies' escort. His official pimp/employer, Anne (Nina Van Pallandt) realizes that he is her star prostitute despite not being faithful to her. A small 'chauffeur' gig is planned for the next day, but Julian looks more interested in getting a higher percentage of the profits than in the practical contact details. After bargaining some more, Julian leaves and refuses to suntan with other two girls (Michele Drake and Linda Horn). We learn that Anne has been carefully preparing a highly-paid job with a Swedish woman who is about to arrive in Los Angeles.Julian trains at home to keep fit when a gay pimp, Leon James (Bill Duke) calls to ask him to act as a sub for an urgent gig to be played the next day in Palm Springs, some 110 miles // -2 hrs drive from LA. Julian, reluctant, finally accepts for 90% of the fees agreed with client. Leon chokes but has no other choice than greedy Julian... Julian does his chauffeur gig for a rich widow. He looks forward to meet the lady again for more and so reports to Anne afterwards. Sometimes Julian tries to find his own clients, so he makes a pass at Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton), who is sitting alone at a high-end restaurant. In the ensuing conversation, Michelle sees Julian for what he is, although he claims to be only hired as a guide, a translator or a chauffeur. No deal is closed that night, and Julian leaves alone.Later in Palm Springs, Tom Rheiman (Tom Stewart) wants Julian to beat his wife Judy (Patricia "Patti" Carr) while making love to her from behind. Although Julian does not like that kind of jobs (S&M and bondage), he's already been paid, and he's already there, so it's understood that he complies.Two nights after that, Julian learns in the papers that Judy Rheiman was assaulted and killed in Palm Springs . Later, he goes with Lisa Williams (K Callan) at Sotheby's Parke-Bernet to choose the bric-a-brac needed to redecorate her mansion. They have fun and laugh together. There is then an incident when Julian pretends to be gay in front of a casual, embarrassing acquaintance of Lisa (Faye Michael Nuell) and he almost breaks a valuable porcelain into pieces in the attempt to get quickly rid of the lady. Right after that, Julian and Lisa leave the place laughing.Michelle appears at Julian's apartment. Many people know who he is and where he lives, so she only had to ask. At first, he says to her that he doesn't work in his own apartment, but she talks to him and they end up going to bed together. Afterwards, Michelle talks about how her marriage to politician Charles Stratton (Brian Davies) is void of love or emotion. He advises her to start thinking about herself, because it looks that the only reason for the marriage to stay together is because it would be damaging to Stratton's political career.The next day, LAPD Detective Sunday (Hector Elizondo) arrives at Julian's apartment in L.A. to question him about the death of Judy Rheiman in Palm Springs. She was killed, and Julian says (quite arrogantly), that she was with Lisa Williams choosing the decorations at the time of the crime. Detective Sunday leaves without arresting Julian, but warns him not to leave town for he may return to ask more questions.Julian keeps on seeing his clients. For example, Mrs Laudner takes him to a political party where the main guest is Stratton. He greets him and his wife, pretending not knowing her (and vice-versa). When Julian inquires about gossips concerning the Strattons, Mrs Laudner says that Michelle is very sad. As Michelle keeps on meeting Julian whenever she can, something which gets noticed by her husband, Julian starts being followed by a political aide of Stratton. Julian decides to face the beat and talk to Stratton directly. Charles Stratton tries to buy him up with $5,000 to stop seeing his wife, which Julian refuses, as he has started to feel really interested in Michelle. Stratton warns him about the good graces of his small HiSo supports to end soon, if he persists to see Michelle.Another day or two later, Sunday follows Julian to his usual shoeshine parlor. He says there were handcuff marks over previous handcuff bruises on Judy's wrists, meaning Julian lied when he said he never handcuffed her during the gig done for Leon. Since Lisa Williams had said to the detectives that Julian left her at 7:00 pm in the evening, not later, and basically denying that they had a sexual relationship together, Sunday states there was enough time for Julian to drive to Palm Springs back and forth plus commit the crime... Julian has to go to the police station for a line-up, but the witness is not sure about him being the person who went to Judy Rheiman's home earlier that day. Julian feeds a protestation from a fellow inmate obliged to participate in the line-up. Later, Sunday and Lt. Curtis (David Cryer) talk with Julian again at the LAPD. Sunday laughs at the situation, because in his previous visit Julian had given him some advice to be more attractive to ladies and he is trying to improve his overall appearance. Julian stays free after the key witness could not formally identify him during the line-up.Julian starts to get worried. He needs an alibi for the night of the crime. Next, he goes to the Williams' house, but Lisa doesn't want to acknowledge that she ever met him: the police has been to her home with a restraining order against Julian. Mr. Williams (Richard Derr) also appears, and he coldly dismisses Julian saying that on the night of the crime Lisa was with him all the time.Julian meets Leon at a gay disco and asks him to give him an alibi, what he finally seems to agree. Leon even suggests that Rheiman is the real culprit, as he is a 'freak'.The police search Julian's apartment during his absence, leaving it in a total mess.Later, Julian meets Michelle in a botanical park; she must leave for two months in Europe on her husband's orders, until the polls are over. Julian states the news are hard to stand.Once back home, Julian recognizes Leon's blonde boyfriend (Gordon Haight) leaving quickly the garage in his vintage Porsche 911. Julian gets really paranoid and he creates havoc in his apartment to find the jewels who have been said stolen at the Rheimans' in Palm Springs and are still missing. He finally finds them hidden in his luxurious car - a car he had to tear to pieces in order the find the jewels. He grabs the plastic pouch and decides to leave quickly for downtown, where he rents a plain Ford Pinto to pursue his quest for help.Julian calls Anne for help and accepts a short notice rendez-vous at the Perino's. Calling Jill (Jessica Potter) at his reception, he learns that the police are sitting there waiting for him and that Michelle tried to meet him urgently.
Showing dirty and jacketless at the Perino's, he is told off by the maître d'hôtel (Harris Weingart) because of his untidy look. There, Anne does not want to know anything about him: Julian forgot about picking the European lady at the airport, destroying a big deal arranged months ago. Anne gets really mad at him, and she does not want to work with him again nor help him through. As she has always been disappointed with Julian, who got clients on his own, and worked for other bosses sometimes now it's her opportunity to let him go. Julian, who had told Jill about the place he would be, notices Michelle at a table near. They meet shortly in the restroom and Julian requests from Michelle that she forgets everything about him, since he is framed and lost.Julian stalks Leon in the red light zones, but to no avail. He waits until the dawn near his home and finally sees him arriving along with his blonde BF. He shows up at Leon's flat, is granted access while his blonde boy hides then leaves discreetly; Julian argues again about the alibi he needs now. But Leon states that some things from the Rheiman's house, linked to the murder, have appeared at Julian's apartment and have being seized by the police ; that the 'bitch' from Palm Springs reviewed definitely her eyewitness report about Julian having been seen at the Rheimans house... So that Julian is obviously the ideal culprit and thus will fall alone.Julian throws the jewels pouch at Leon who ignores the thing. Julian tries to explain the case: blonde boy may have killed Judy Rheiman during a hardcore gig, then the husband arranged with Leon to frame him. Leon does not say anything. Julian offers to work for Leon the way he wants, to break in new boys, do any tricks... As this doesn't work, he offers to pay Leon a lot of money, but Leon says that the person who's framing him will always rise the bet higher than him. As an answer to Julian's "why me?" question, Leon reveals he was precisely the lonesome, self-centered and toe-crushing guy ideal for the role. Leon then asks Julian to leave while he greets the blonde boy from the balcony. In an ensuing rage, Julian runs after him, pushes him so Leon ends up falling down the balcony; but he is grabbed at the latest moment by Julian who holds tight Leon's legs - but his feet slip out of his boots and he falls many floors below. Julian stays stunned in Leon's apartment, all his hopes to escape the frame being lost.
Since a maid who happened to be around testified that Julian tried to pull Leon to safety, he goes to jail on the sole charge of Judy Rheiman's murder.There is a lot of media interest on Julian's case, as his profession has been disclosed. Michelle visits Julian in jail to inform him that she is willing to give up everything to be with him. Feeling that all has been lost, Julian asks Michelle not to see him again. However, Michelle pays for Julian's defense who changes his old-time lawyer (Peter Turgeon) for a new one (William Dozier).However, Julian will not be freed until Michelle finally faces Lt Curtis. The detective already knows that she's paying for Julian's defense lawyer. She says that doing so, she wants to show Julian's innocence, because she was with her that night of the crime. In the final scene, Michelle has already revealed her secret, and media immediately has set camp in front of the Strattons', so she cannot go back anyway. Although they are still talking through a glass, it's implied that Julian will soon be freed and that they will be together. | intrigue, neo noir, murder, sadist | train | imdb | null |
tt0075686 | Annie Hall | The comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) is trying to understand why his relationship with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) ended a year ago. Growing up in New York, he vexed his mother with impossible questions about the emptiness of existence, but he was precocious about his innocent sexual curiosity.
Annie and Alvy, in a line for The Sorrow and the Pity, overhear another man deriding the work of Federico Fellini and Marshall McLuhan; McLuhan himself steps in at Alvy's invitation to criticize the man's comprehension. That night, Annie shows no interest in sex with Alvy. Instead, they discuss his first wife (Carol Kane), whose ardor gave him no pleasure. His second marriage was to a New York writer who didn't like sports and was unable to reach orgasm.
With Annie, it is different. The two of them have fun making a meal of boiled lobster together. He teases her about the unusual men in her past. He met her playing tennis doubles with friends. Following the game, awkward small talk led her to offer him first a ride up town and then a glass of wine on her balcony. There, what seemed a mild exchange of trivial personal data is revealed in "mental subtitles" as an escalating flirtation. Their first date follows Annie's singing audition for a night club ("It Had to be You"). He suggests they kiss first to get it out of the way. After their lovemaking that night, Alvy is "a wreck", while she relaxes with a joint.
Soon Annie admits she loves him, while he buys her books on death and says that his feelings for her are more than just love. When she moves in with him, things become very tense. Eventually, he finds her arm in arm with one of her college professors and the two begin to argue whether this is the "flexibility" they had discussed. They eventually break up, and he searches for the truth of relationships, asking strangers on the street about the nature of love, questioning his formative years, until he casts himself in Snow White opposite Annie's Evil Queen.
Alvy returns to dating, but the effort is marred by neurosis, bad sex, and finally an interruption from Annie, who insists he come over immediately. It turns out she needs him to kill a spider. A reconciliation follows, coupled with a vow to stay together come what may. However, their separate discussions with their therapists make it evident there is an unspoken divide. When Alvy accepts an offer to present an award on television, they fly out to Los Angeles, with Alvy's friend, Rob (Tony Roberts). However, on the return trip, they agree that their relationship is not working. After losing her to her record producer, Tony Lacey (Paul Simon), he unsuccessfully tries rekindling the flame with a marriage proposal. Back in New York, he stages a play of their relationship but changes the ending: now she accepts.
The last meeting for them is a wistful coda on New York's Upper West Side, when they have both moved on to someone new. Alvy's voice returns with a summation: love is essential, especially if it is neurotic. Annie sings "Seems Like Old Times" and the credits roll. | comedy, thought-provoking, flashback, psychedelic, humor, satire, romantic, entertaining | train | wikipedia | The film that bested Star Wars for the 1977 Best Picture Oscar, Annie Hall is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking that transcends its simple, romantic premise to create a stunning portrait of not only 70's pop culture, but of human nature cumulative.
Directed and co-written by Woody Allen, who has since directed other gems such as Hannah and Her Sisters and The Purple Rose of Cairo, Annie Hall also stars Allen as Alvy Singer, a neurotic, death-obsessed comedian who seems unlucky in love and life.
Yet Allen and Keaton are so perfect in their roles, they improbably make this couple one of the most memorable ever.The plot revolves around Alvy's chronicles of loves lost and a retrospective on his relationship with Annie, with whom he has since parted ways.
This is a story not exclusively about a relationship between two people, but also a musing on 70's politics, drugs, East Coast/West Coast rivalry, narcissism, religion, celebrity, and several other topics with which Allen deals with extraordinary ease.Yet Annie Hall would not be among my favorite films of all-time if it were just Woody Allen ranting and raving about what he likes and dislikes.
What separates Annie Hall is its grace, the believable chemistry between Keaton and Allen, the unique direction (ranging from split-screens to cartoon imagery to on-screen subtitles of what the actors are thinking), but mostly because it's the rare film to find a perfect balance between sheer entertainment, humor, and poignancy.
When the dust had settled, Diane Keaton deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance, Allen took home Oscars for direction and writing, and the film beat out Star Wars for Best Picture, which most people consider a complete sham.
`Annie Hall', long thought to be Woody Allen's opus, is perhaps a perfect romantic comedy because it not only shows the happy, touching moments of relationships, but also displays the reality of coupling the occasional waning of interest in one another, the hypercritical moments, etc.
`Annie Hall' is like a fond memory, or a favorite old song anytime I have discussed this film with others their smiling expressions are usually tinged with a hint of nostalgia, because one can look back on either their past or current relationship and do what precious few films allow us to do relate on a personal level.--Shelly.
Woody Allen's seminal 1977 romantic comedy "Annie Hall" is not only laugh-out-loud funny (with some of the most quotable dialogue ever written for the screen...this is the "Casablanca" of comedies, folks) but also sweet and charming (due in large part because of Diane Keaton's smashing performance as the title character, the flighty singer from Wisconsin with a quirky fashion sense and "neat" outlook on life) without ever turning trite or sappy like so many romantic comedies tend to do.
Allen wisely deconstructed the genre with his non-linear story-line (something that was later done to even greater effect with a more recent and profound look at relationships, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") and charming little theatrical tricks like talking to the audience or pulling extras into the scene for their opinions on what's been going on.
It keeps the viewer off guard and allows for a free flow of comedic and philosophical ideas that might otherwise not have found their way into a more traditional film.In his latter years, Allen's best work has been when he is not part of the cast (my personal favorites being "Bulletts over Broadway," "Sweet and Lowdown," and the recent "Match Point").
There is an inherent uncertainty in everything that Singer says as though he really knows what he's talking about, but he can't convince himself that he's got it right.When he accompanies a friend (Tony Roberts) to a tennis game, Singer's first and foremost concern is that the club will deny him entry because he's a Jew. However, that fateful game serves forth something so much more significant and life-changing he comes to meet the ditsy and exuberant Annie Hall (Diane Keaton).
This is no small thanks, of course, to the main actors, who embody their characters so perfectly that we're unsure if they are acting or merely playing themselves.Though he had previously released a few well-received, light-hearted affairs, it was 'Annie Hall' that blasted writer/actor/director Woody Allen into the realms of super-stardom.
Having revisited 'Annie Hall' for the first time in a year, having since enjoyed many of Allen's other films, I am genuinely amazed at his transition from silly comedian to insightful observer on human relationships.
Of course, a noticeable evolution in his film-making style is evident in both the science-fiction 'Sleeper (1973)' and the Russian historical spoof 'Love and Death (1975),' but neither boasts the the intelligence nor the sophistication of this film, which wholly discards the Chaplin-like slapstick of Allen's previous films and adopts the Tracy-Hepburn screwball comedy of a decade later.Originally slated and filmed, in fact as a New York murder mystery with a romantic sub-plot, 'Annie Hall' was taken by editor Ralph Rosenbaum and cut down (massacred, if you will) into the modern, witty 1970s screwball comedy that we still enjoy today.
Two slightly more unusual cameos come from Truman Capote (as a Truman Capote-lookalike, no less) and scholar Marshall McLuhan (whom Singer suddenly procures from behind a movie poster to declare to a talkative film-goer that "you know nothing of my work!").Easily the most innovative and energetic of the films I've so far seen from Woody Allen, 'Annie Hall' is a spirited glimpse at the incompatibility of human beings, and a cynical yet bittersweet meditation on the falsity of the perfect romantic Hollywood ending.
"Annie Hall" is a brilliant romantic comedy that could have only been made by Woody Allen (Oscar-winning in directing and writing, nominated in acting).
Allen stars as a Jewish stand-up comic who falls in love with aspiring actress Diane Keaton (in a well-deserved Oscar-winning turn as the titled character).
Frankly, it does not speak well of our culture.This (yawn) movie revolves around a pair of self absorbed lovers...a neurotic New York comedian, Alvy Singer (played by Woody) and a would-be singer, Annie Hall.
This movie came out at a great time for hack Woody Allen - he had 60's and 70's audiences by the throat because they, for some odd reason, loved him for the most part.
Of course, the relationship fails in this film, as it reflects his personal life and taste in women...Annie Hall must have been too old for his liking or possessed too much of a will or a brain.
Annie Hall feels more like a fake, constructed front for a movie rather than delving into real emotional territory, but then, we are talking about Woody Allen..
Woody Allen makes Robin Williams look funny..Self important tripe.It shows how out of touch with society the academy has always been to give this clunker any kind of reward.Woody Allen while trying to come off funny(i think)comes across as annoying and whiny.His scripts are like junior college romance novels.I would like to tell you that I fell asleep during this movie,but Woody Allen's sniveling little voice kept me awake like a Catholic school nun and her ruler.I feel there is so much more I could have done with my life than see this movie.If I can warn one male in this country who has any testosterone left in his body to avoid this movie , I will feel I have accomplished something,and maybe just maybe they can use the time I saved them and make a difference in this world.God bless you...and God bless America..
The film is somewhat autobiographical about his relationships with a WASP woman named Annie Hall played by Diane Keaton in her Oscar winning role.
Woody Allen is one of the greatest film maker's of all time, his movies are written perfect and he does comedy perfect.This is not my favorite Woody Allen movie, but i do like it a lot and i love how he does this movie.It is drama with comedy, and scenes in new york and the same music in all his movies, Woody Allen dosen't like to change.But i think he has something perfect, i wouldn't change it either and one thing good about Annie hall is woody.Him acting the way he does and talking to the camera is perfect, this man makes the movie with Dian Keaton doing a great job as well.Her roles in a lot of his movies are always excellent, this was Woody Allen's first big Oscar winning movie and is still considered his best work.If you like Woody Allen, then this film is just for you and i think it is a good couple movie that you can watch with a wife and girlfriend.The great Woody does it again with Annie Hall..
Using a very unique form of storytelling that would become perfected by Quinten Tarantino, Annie Hall is totally not the average love story, for many many reasons.But, just because of it being a different kind of film, it does not make it any more entertaining.
Woody Allen's one-joke film (the entire film focuses around the bizarre personality of the main character) clocks in at a decent amount of time and offers a realistic bittersweet ending, but seems to lack that punch that truly makes it a standout film.The story revolves around a very nervous and neurotic comedian by the name of Alvy Singer who falls in love with this interesting and pretty singer Annie Hall.
Everyone else in the film really carried no weight and are totally forgettable characters, besides Christopher Walken's character, which shared a very funny moment with Woody Allen.Annie Hall denies the fact that there is a fourth wall, as the film has the main character talking to the audience.
Annie Hall is no Napoleon Dynamite mind you, but it still lacks that edge that the better romantic comedies contain, comedies like The 40-year-Old Virgin, When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, and There's Something About Mary.Bottom Line: Annie Hall is not worthy of having that Best Picture Oscar; it should have gone to Star Wars for sure.
There were one or two things I found humorous about it, but I thought it was so slow paced and boring that I can barely even recall a plot line (if there was one).Yet another movie where Woody Allen makes Jews look like wimps and Diane Keaton has shoulder pads and looks like Paula Poundstone in men's clothing.
This time I hated it.To begin with, I am tired of Woody Allen's attempt to philosophize life with his relationship with women and the fact that he is a self-deprecating Jew. He has constantly knocked the latter in many of his films.
Many of Allen's ideas have also been recycled since "Annie Hall" (oft-times by Woody himself) and so it feels occasionally like a rerun.
He goes back through his past in one long flashback to try and work out why and where it all went wrong.Woody Allen's career started out making films that were slapstick mixed with surreal humour.
The various tricks he uses are very imaginative as well - people's thoughts are shown in subtitles, Singer gets solves a cinema queue fight in a very novel way and at one point, to demonstrate how he makes the wrong choices in love, the film turns to a Snow White cartoon.Allen is great in the character he has played so many times.
And, although that's to be expected with any Allen film, I was anticipating something a little more sincere with this piece.Diane Keaton was very good in this, and I can see why so many people consider this to be her signature role, however you still see her has Diane Keaton, and not as the character Annie Hall.
It may have at least been openly honest, but never again will I sit through any movie which mentions the name Woody Allen in any part of the opening credits.Rating: Not listed so I don't offend Annie Hall fans.
Next to "Manhattan" this is Woody Allen's best film.It chronicles the relationship and breakup of Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) and Annie Hall (Diane Keaton).
Students are mesmerized by the innovative film-making technique of showing the linear transformation of a relationship in a non-linear collage, writing that is so clever and well acted that one forgets you are watching staged interactions, humor that is so sharp if you blink you will miss a joke, and genuine poignancy that always brings tears to my eyes at the end.I simply do not know how "Annie Hall" could be a better movie.
Meanwhile, Alvy avoids saying he loves her by using variations of the word ("I luff you, I lurve you...") Once the viewer realizes that, the rest of the movie changes, and you understand parts of the reason that Alvy's never had a truly successful relationship.Even on totally face value, "Annie Hall" is extremely funny.
I'm a cartoon character!")"Annie Hall" is Allen's best work, simply because it is one of the most imitated films ever, and, as we all know -- imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.One note-- even though the film is filled with cynicism and funny scenes, the ending always leaves me a little misty.
I like Woody Allen and Diane Keaton is great, but this movie just bored the living hell out of me.
I always thought that "Annie Hall" was Woody Allen's joke on the world - because he had started receiving such critical acclaim he decided to make the worst movie he could make in order to see the critics and public laud it because it was his.
It helps that Diane Keaton gives one of her best and most endearing performances, and while Alvy is not a particularly likable or sympathetic character Woody Allen is similarly great, his looking into the camera and breaking the fourth wall moments were funny.
Allen directs with assurance, and while there have been more visually audacious Woody Allen films since Annie Hall it is still cleverly made with the way it's shot, the cartoon images and how we're shown visually what the characters are thinking.
After you get past Allen breaking the fourth wall in the introduction with his monologue you get a sense of invitation to this New York style of living that is displayed throughout the movie with Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) and Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) a couple who has an up and down then out relationship.
"Annie Hall" teaches us that love is not always permanent and not always predictable.Winner of four 1977 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, "Annie Hall" stands as Woody Allen's masterpiece.This movie is so funny it will have you laughing and cheering as loud as it would have 30 years ago.
I have to figure it's cause Allen originally had a *three-hour* movie on his hands, that was Annie Hall and Manhattan Murder Mystery - or what would become of that.Oddly enough, I have to think that Allen canned the Manhattan Murder Mystery footage due to it, you know, not working, and then he and his fantastic editor Ralph Rosenblum made the film we have today out of all the sweet and funny relationship/cultural-awareness jokes that were in the story anyway.
Hard to imagine a film that could outshine the original 1977 Star Wars movie at the Oscars but this is it, and it shows what a really good film it indeed is.Staring, Directed by and Co Written by Woody Allen this is a damn good Romantic Comedy.
I like a lot of Woody Allen stuff, Manhattan is a big favourite, but I just can't see why Annie Hall is so revered.
This is a film about Annie, as the title suggests, which really makes this movie great and still shine among the Allen repertoire.The film stars Woody Allen as his usual neurotic, pessimistic self, in the form of comedian Alvy Singer and follows the story of his life with a focus on his relationships with women and his family.
Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) rehashes his love life to discover the cause of the ending of his romantic relationship to Annie Hall (Diane Keaton).
In Manhattan, neurotic Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) is trying to figure out what caused his break-up with longtime girlfriend, Annie (Diane Keaton).
I turned to my mother and said "It's just like the Halls and the Singers." You can tell that Annie Hall was one of Woody Allen's older movies based on the character he plays.
The disconnected editing and transitions actually help to embody the sporadic and nervous relationship, while seemingly portraying the varied speed and detachment our lives move at.The performances all help to make Annie Hall the film it is today, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen have perfect chemistry and both create emotional parallels for their characters.
We knew Woody could write good comedy; "Love and Death" showed he wasn't just very funny but clever and sophisticated as well but none of his films before "Annie Hall" showed this kind of cinematic sensibility.
"Alvy", like Woody, is always writing something too.ANNIE HALL is not my favorite Allen film.
His great films of the 90's MIGHTY APHRODITE and DECONSTRUCTING HARRY are direct descendants of ANNIE HALL because of the overlapping narrative, Woody's talking to the audience or to imaginary people, and adorable love interests.The one thing true of this film is that it is his warmest in regard to New York relationships and that is made completely possible because of Diane Keaton.
Annie hall is romantic comedy film with unusual and compelling story telling technique .Watcher will feel like woody allen is just having a casual conversation with him ..
The great thing about Annie Hall with Diane Keaton, who is also a really great actor, and her and Woody Allen play great off each other, is that this movie broke the invisibility gap in films that no other films have ever tried before. |
tt0319061 | Big Fish | Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), a charismatic teller of tall tales, is a source of frustration to his only child, William (Billy Crudup). At Will's wedding, Edward embarrasses him by telling the guests an impossible-sounding story about the day of Will's birth, involving a giant catfish that ate his wedding ring. Will believes that his father tells lies to get attention and confronts him angrily. They don't speak to each other for three years.Will receives news that Edward is very ill with cancer, and that he might not have long to live. Will and his pregnant wife Josephine (Marion Cotillard) travel to Ashton, Alabama, Will's hometown. They have a reunion with Sandra K. Bloom (Jessica Lange), Edward's wife and Will's mother, who is bringing Edward home from the hospital to take care of him until he dies. Edward is weak and bedridden, but he and Will finally speak again. Will asks to know the truth about his father's life. Edward retells his version of his childhood....In a flashback, a young Edward (Scott Christopher Mcpherson Jr.) and two of his friends meet a witch (Helena Bonham Carter) living in a swamp who has a glass eye which reveals the eventual death of anyone who looks into it. Edward sees how he will die (though the audience does not), and decides that he can now take unreasonable risks because he knows they cannot kill him. Soon afterward, Edward begins to grow at an alarming rate and is hooked up to a machine in bed, as his muscles and bones cannot keep up with his "body's ambition." In an encyclopedia, young Edward reads that a goldfish will remain small if kept in a small bowl, but will grow bigger in a larger habitat. Because he is growing so fast, he concludes he is meant for bigger things.As a teenager, Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor) is a high school star athlete, entrepreneur, and local hero. When a mysterious "monster" comes to town and eats livestock during the night, he volunteers to talk to it and get it to leave. Edward tracks down the culprit, a gloomy but goodhearted giant named Karl (Matthew McGrory), and convinces him to move to a bigger city. Edward explains that Ashton is too small a town for men of Karl's size and Edward's ambition. The two leave town, and Edward is given the key to Ashton by the mayor.They approach a forest, which Edward wants to take a shortcut through. He promises to meet Karl on the other side, and ventures through the woods (which are full of thorns, spiders, and bees). He stumbles across the town of Spectre, a seemingly perfect place where no one wears shoes. When he enters the town, he is greeted by Beamen, the mayor (singer/songwriter Loudon Wainwright III) and his wife Mildred (Missi Pyle). The mayor has a clipboard that says Edward was meant to be in their town, but he's arrived early. Beamen tells Edward of the poet Norther Winslow, who is also from Ashton. Edward encounters a mermaid in a pond near Spectre, but she swims away before he can see her face.After spending one day and night in the mysterious town, Edward shocks the townspeople by politely excusing himself to get on with his journey. His shoes are flung up onto a high rope along with many other pairs that were taken from each townsperson upon their arrival in Spectre in an effort to keep them there, but Edward continues his trek barefoot. He promises a smitten little girl named Jenny (Hailey Anne Nelson) that he will return someday.Edward and Carl stumble upon a circus, where Carl is immediately hired as an attraction by the owner and ringmaster, Amos Calloway (Danny DeVito) and his clown/attorney Mr. Soggybottom (Deep Roy). Edward glimpses a beautiful girl in the big-top audience, but she is whisked out the door with the crowd before he can speak to her. She turns out to be a family friend of Calloway's. Certain that she is the woman he will marry, Edward begs Calloway for a job, asking for only one piece of information about the girl for every month of work. Edward toils at the circus and learns that the girl loves daffodils and music. Three years later, having only learned trivia about her, Edward discovers that Amos is a werewolf. To reward Edward for his refusal to harm Amos in his monstrous state, Amos tells Edward the girl's name is Sandra Templeton and she studies at Auburn University. Edward bids farewell to Mr. Calloway and sets off to find Sandra.In the present day, the elderly Edward befriends his daughter-in-law, Josephine, but is still at odds with his son, who believes him to be a liar. Will begs his father to be himself, but Edward firmly retorts "I've been nothing but myself since the day I was born, and if you can't see that, it's your failing, not mine!"Upon reaching the university where Sandra Templeton (Alison Lohman) is a student, the teenage Edward finally meets her and explains that he loves her. She is kind to him and has heard of his accomplishments in Ashton, but is already engaged to Edward's hapless rival, Ashton native Don Price (David Denman). Still determined, Edward finds not-so-subtle ways to woo Sandra. One morning, Sandra awakens to find her lawn covered in daffodils provided by Edward. However, Don Price appears and begins to brutally beat Edward, who had promised Sandra he would not fight back. But as Sandra sees Don's cruelty, she breaks the engagement, and eventually does marry Edward. Edward later reveals that Don died from a sudden heart attack while sitting on a toilet only a few years later (as Don saw in the witch's eye).While recovering in the hospital from his fight injuries, Edward receives a draft notice, forcing him to enlist for the Korean War. While sad to leave his new wife, Edward knows from the glass eye that nothing in the war will kill him. Thus, he volunteers for the most dangerous missions in hopes of being sent home sooner. While parachuting into a North Korean army camp during a performance for the troops to steal some important documents, Edward meets struggling Siamese twin singers Ping (Ada Tai) and Jing (Arlene Tai) performing for the enemy troops. He offers to help them break into American show business if they can help him get home. However, the U.S. Army lists him as missing and presumably dead, sending a telegram to a heartbroken Sandra. (In the present day, Sandra finds the telegram and shows it to Will, proving that there is some truth to Edward's stories.) Edward eventually rejoins his wife and takes a job as a traveling salesman to buy them a better house.In line at a bank one day, the younger Edward encounters Norther Winslow (Steve Buscemi), a native of Ashton he met years before in Spectre. Norther has since become a criminal, and Edward is roped into assisting him in robbing the bank. However, the bank has literally no cash for them to steal. Norther resolves to go to Wall Street, where the money is. He later sends Edward $10,000, which he uses to buy a house for Sandra and a young Will.Years later, Edward is nearing middle age. He re-establishes his friendship with Jenny (also played by Helena Bonham Carter), the little girl he met in Spectre, who now lives in a dilapidated old house and gives piano lessons. Seeing the condition of her home, Edward begins to fix it up himself, with the help of Karl the giant. After he restores the house, Jenny reveals that she still has feelings for him after many years. Edward gently tells her that he loves only Sandra, and departs.In the present, still unimpressed by his father's stories, Will demands to know the truth, but Edward explains that he is who he is: a storyteller. While doing his own investigation into his father's stories, Will finds the small town of Spectre, and meets an older Jenny, who explains that Edward rescued the town from bankruptcy by buying it at an auction and rebuilding it with financial help from many friends and acquaintances; and that he used to work at Calloway's Circus, which he also saved from bankruptcy. Will suggests his father had been having an affair with Jenny, to which she replies that while she had indeed fallen in love with him, Edward could never love any woman other than Sandra.Back in Ashton, elderly Edward weakens more and more. However, he repeatedly tells his family that this is not the death he saw in the eye. Will spends some time alone, still believing that he will never have a chance to know his father's true character. Shortly after, Edward has a stroke and is hospitalized. Will encounters the family doctor, who had delivered him and is now treating Edward. Will asks to know the real story of his birth, having heard only his father's catfish story in the past. The doctor explains that it was simply a normal birth, and though Edward exaggerated it, hearing his story was entertaining and comforting. Will decides to reconcile with his dying father.At Edward's bedside, Will finds him only partly conscious, and unable to speak at length. Since Edward can no longer tell stories, he asks Will to tell him the story of how his life ends. Deciding to play along, Will tells his own impromptu tall tale: Edward regains strength, and he and Will escape from the hospital. Jumping into Edward's old car, they speed to a nearby river, where all their family and friends are waiting. Instead of a funeral, they are holding a goodbye party, and Edward happily bids them farewell as he transforms into a catfish and swims away. Shortly afterwords, Edward dies.Will is the only one present for Edward's death, and is deeply happy that they connected at last. At Edward's funeral, Will is astonished to see all of the characters from Edward's stories show up to pay their respects to Edward; Amos, Karl, Norther Winslow, Jenny, Mr. Soggybottom, Ping and Jing all arrive. However, each one of them is slightly less fantastical than they're described in Edward's stories. For example, Amos Calloway is not a werewolf, but only a short and long-haired man; Karl is not a 12-foot giant, but still very tall at around seven feet; Ping and Jing are not conjoined twins, just identical. It finally becomes clear that Edward had combined his love of storytelling with his own reality, which finally makes sense to Will. When his own son is born, Will passes the stories on to him, remarking that his father became his stories -- allowing him to live forever. | fantasy, boring, stupid, whimsical, thought-provoking, cute, magical realism, flashback, psychedelic, humor, action, romantic, entertaining, storytelling, sentimental | train | imdb | This movie is an absolute treat for our hearts, ears and especially our eyes with each cartoon/fantasy-like scene painted with Tim Burton's reliable brilliance and magical touch.
"Big Fish" combines Burton's unusual humor with a heart-wrenching story of a father-son deathbed reconciliation.
Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor share the role of Ed Bloom, one of the big fish from the movie's title while an SUV-sized catfish plays the other.
Burton deals with mythic themes in "Big Fish." Besides the surface story of the generational tension between father and son he explores the metaphor of the big-fish-in-a-small-pond by examining the impact Ed Bloom has had on the lives he's touched in his workaday contacts with colleagues, customers (he's a traveling salesman), and people in the small towns across the South.
Though this wasn't as dark as Sleepy Hollow or as bizarre as Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice, Big Fish definitely had the Tim Burton touch in its scenery.
I am a great fan of Tim Burton, and I really believe that "Big Fish", together with "Ed Wood", are his best works.
Still, there's no way around it in a proper review: We meet a disillusioned young man and his father, a charming old guy who knows exactly how to tell stories to fascinate first-time listeners and children.
I didn't exactly feel like watching my favorite comedian run around with a horde of little kids cracking bad poopy jokes behind them, and I didn't want to see Eddie Murphy do this either (it was bad enough in last year's "Daddy Day Care"), so I chose to see the more adult-oriented of these three films, and I'm glad I did, because Tim Burton's "Big Fish" is a marvelous film--full of wit and imagination and eerie vibes that sometimes don't fit into Burton's films the way he wants them to--but actually have a purpose here."Pee Wee's Big Adventure" is simply one of the best films of all time, and you can quote me on that.
That was Burton's breakthrough--then came "Batman," which was very good but slightly lacking in substance, and then came "Edward Scissorhands"--one of my sister's favorite films, a beautiful love story and an eerie fable...but just missing a very small ingredient that kept it from becoming a great movie (perhaps the same with his film "Ed Wood"--a very good film, but not exactly one of my all-time favorites).I have my doubts as to whether anyone other than Tim Burton could have pulled off "Big Fish." Here's a movie I expected I would dislike and come away feeling a little bit empty--but that's only partially true.
The movie doesn't quite exceed on the level it tries to, but as a film, it's one of the best motion pictures of the year.It stars Albert Finney as Edward Bloom, an old man who loves to exaggerate tales of his past and pass these on to his friends and family.
One night his son, William (Billy Crudup), tires of hearing the story about how he caught the town's largest fish in a lake using a gold ring--so he ignores his father for three whole years, until his mother (Jessica Lange) informs Will that his father is dying of cancer, and that he wishes to speak with his son one last time.Drawn back to his old Alabama hometown with his new wife, Will finally learns the truth about these so-called "exaggerated" stories--and we, as the audience, get to see them in flashback mode.
On his journey he comes across an assortment of odd fellows, including a "Gentle Giant," a failed poet living in a heavenly town named Spectre, and a strange circus ringleader who also happens to be a werewolf.All of these stories that Edward Senior tells his family relate to their current positions, and to call the film simply beautiful would be what John Candy once said is "the understatement of the year." My particular favorite character was the poet living in Spectre, played by Steve Buscemi (a wonderful supporting actor), who I had no idea played any role in this film prior to viewing the opening credits and seeing "with Steve Buscemi" appear on screen.Buscemi's poet has been working on a particular poem for twelve years whilst living in Spectre.
But, for what it's worth, DeVito's second re-teaming with Burton is magnificent--he's a supporting character, but the film certainly benefits from his performance.Like all of Burton's films, "Big Fish" teeters on the edge of greatness, but it never quite crosses the line.
In some moments, the film is spectacular dialog between McGregor and Albert Finney interpretation.In fact, "Big Fish" is a tale.
Now there's Big Fish, a film loaded with visual spectacle, and it shows Burton working an adaptation to his own advantage for the first time in years.
Here he tells a story about storytelling, using both make-up, sets, and CGI at his disposal, and it's about one man's own imagination and how he carried it on to others, whether they were delighted by the tall tales or not.This man is Edward Bloom, played by both Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor, and they both deliver wonderful work here as the dying Bloom still telling stories of adventures and the young Bloom playing them out, respectively.
As do Billy Crudup as Edward's son William, who's grown weary of his father telling the story of his birth (involving a catch of a big fish), among many others, and all he wants now at his deathbed is the truth.
Stories like the visit to the town of Spectre, and that town's most known poet Norther Winslow (Steve Buscemi in one of the film's highlighted supporting roles); the years spent working for nothing in the circus for Amos (Danny DeVito, another note of interest) just to know more about Sandy, whom he sees frozen in time; his stint in the war, etc.
The best thing that can be said about Big Fish, even to those who might not like it, is that the journeys and stories taken in the film, by real and 'elaborated' real characters, generate a film as a delight for all ages.
However the telling - that's where it is at.The stories told are wonderfully whimsical and amusing, like the film states the stories have elements of truth but also be coloured by Bloom to add life to them.
My favorite movies directed by Tim Burton are Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow.Ed Wood is a tribute to B movies from the 50's and Sleepy Hollow is a tribute to the horror films of Hammer.In Big fish,Burton uses his original style,at the same time dark and innocent.But,the result is a good but not great movie that,by my point of view,it could have been a little better.The best thing I can say about this movie is that it has a lot of imagination.But now,I'll mention the weak things I found on this movie:the characters' emotions are not very deep.For the other sight,Burton seems more interested on showing all the imagination the film has that in telling a good story.The film feels a little cold and without the sense of humor that films like Beetlejuice or Pee-Wee's adventure had.Big fish is not a bad movie;I have to say it kept me fun and interested but I feel it could have been a little better..
Rather it made some attempts at reconciling Edward Bloom's (Albert Finney as the dying old Bloom and Ewan McGregor as young Bloom) tall yarns he would tell repeatedly to anyone who would listen and especially to his son Will Bloom (Billy Crudup).
Instead of that "train wreck you can't look away from" feeling, Burton always leaves you with a voyeuristic sense that makes you want to watch his films more than once, to see the things you missed the first time.
Instead of hammering away at the viewer with the weirdness of the characters, Burton lets the personalities speak for themselves; and perhaps this works because his characters have always been inherently likeable.Not so this time with his latest effort, Big Fish.To tell this nested set of stories, Burton assembled a cast that is top notch: Ewan McGregor as the young Edward Bloom, Albert Finney as the elderly Edward Bloom, Jessica Lange as Bloom's wife Sandra, Billy Crudup as their son William Bloom; with a host of minor roles filled by such notable performers as Robert Guillaume, Danny DeVito, Helena Bonham Carter, and Steve Buscemi.
(He soaks in a tub, fully clothed!) Even some of the camera angles are downright awkward--as if an amateur camera operator had been given free rein to be as "arty" as he wanted to be.And probably the weirdest one of all: Tim Burton has made another movie about someone named Edward.None of these little items, or the other dozens of such things, are explained or illuminated in the film, especially not at the end, when one might expect them to become clear, or at least say why they cannot be clear.
Tim Burton has made a number of films I really like (Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Pee Wee's Big Adventure), but this is not one of them.
This has lead to years of alienation from his son Will (Billy Crudup) who feels he never heard the real stories and who doesn't appreciate his father's fantastic tales.
Feeling like he never knew his father, he hopes to separate the lies and fantasy in his stories from the truth, hoping to find the true person underneath the tall-tales.In the movie, Edward Bloom recounts stories from his life.
There are many themes in this movie as they vary with the story being told, but the main theme is the relationship between father and son as his son rediscovers and comes to terms with who his father is.It's a heart warming, adventurous, funny movie where fantasy and reality go hand in hand and the possible is as likely as the impossible.To me, this is Tim Burton at his best.
It's the kind of movie many folks wish they made more of today.The fun parts of the film are not the beginning or ending but the middle in which the dad's stories are brought to life.
Honestly, I have never met a Tim Burton film I haven't liked for one reason or another, but Big Fish is only the second to make me cry (Edward Scissorhands being the first).
Tim Burton was definitely the man for the job on this film, and if you like his other classics like Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, and Batman, you'll probably enjoy this one, too.
Big Fish will be in my movie library along with Edward Scissorhands and be a favorite in my heart, my 15 year old Daughters, my Wifes, and everyone I talk to about it.
This movie was I think one of the best I have ever seen from a Tim Burton film.
Of course the father lies about his life and comes up with a lot of stupid tales about himself as young (Ewan McGregor).What I don't get about this movie is how people can like a person as reprehensible as Ed Bloom.
And this exactly what Tim Burton is all about.A great film, wonderfully told story, excellent acting and a definite 10/10 for me..
Now, the story of Big Fish is told on two fronts: the first front being Edward Bloom as an old man in the present day dying from cancer, telling his son's wife all of these stories of his own youth, however, the son believes that the stories that his father tells are nothing but lies, and this whole part of the movie is the son, William, trying to know more about his father by getting his father to tell him the truth about his life before his eventual death, The second front is told in the late 1950s and mid 1960s with the young Edward Bloom living these stories that the older version of Edward Bloom is telling, even though the stories told are pretty exaggerated.
It's the most heartbreaking, poetic and romantic movie he's made since Edward Scissorhands, and it's a shame it didn't get the recognition it deserved.At the movie's center is the relationship between the dying Edward Bloom (Albert Finney, excellent) and his son Will (Billy Crudup) who wants to find out the truth about his dad: for several years, Edward has told some amazing stories concerning his life, and Will is the only one who has stopped believing them.
Now, he wants to know what really happened.That's when the film properly kicks off, as we're shown young Edward's (Ewan Mcgregor, absolutely comfortable in the role) life exactly as he has described it, alternating facts and, for most of the story, fiction.
I was charmed by the way it was written, the style reminded me of American folklore (actually that was a Russian translation, and a book of American folklore i had was also on Russian , so, maybe ,it is only a wrong impression) , and the story was so unusual , and so unusually told , and i loved it.On the back cover of the book it was said that Tim Burton have filmed it not long ago, so the only thing to do was buy the film immediately.
Slowly throughout the movie, the son learns who his father was, and who he still is, and that is the wonder of Big Fish.
So, to tell us about his father as a young man (Ewan McGregor), Crudup only has these stories to tell us.Obviously an intensely personal film for Burton, who is really here telling us a tale about his own father.* I could imagine it all before I saw it.
BIG FISH is Tim Burton's attempt to do a whimsical flight-of-fancy movie based around an old guy on his death bed telling tall tales to his son.
my plans failed, i was watching the movie and i didn't believe my eyes, it was so capturing, so magical, so wonderful, so ...everything, the story is absolutely amazing, it's so fanciful and at the same time so real, great characters, great music, great camera, great acting, the film is also so touching and emotional because it deals with us, humans, our life, the adventures we have, the stories we tell, and what is left behind, when we're gone ...
It has not only instantly become my favorite Burton movie ever, but has move onto my list of favorite movies of all time.The way this movie was filmed, the sets, the costumes, the cinematography, and all of it, combined to create a magical feeling to all the stories it tells.
Big Fish is director Tim Burton's most mature film to date, taking his regular fantasy elements and vivid imagination, and planting them in an adult environment, where they can be both visually entertaining and emotional shattering.
And yes, the film is that good.The story revolves around Ed Bloom (Albert Finney), a dying father who receives a surprise visit from his estranges son, Will (Billy Crudrup) while on his death bed.
By far the most underrated movie of 2003, "Big Fish" is a journey of the imagination to its greatest extreme; the vision of life in the eyes of a man who couldn't seem more ordinary.This man is Edward Bloom, and I would like to see life the way he does: ill and about to die, and telling his son Will (Billy Crudup) the true story of his existence, in an attempt to reconcile their differences.
Danny Elfman's score also steals the show but it's really one more character, as in any Burton film (if you haven't seen "Edward Scissorhands", give yourself a chance: it's a great movie, but the music...).In conclusion, "Big Fish" is no more than the piece where all the things Burton has worked on come together.
If Edward Bloom (the main character of the movie), is the man who tells the story...
The Tim Burton's best movie yet, where the real people with a "big-fish' in a same can..
Offbeat.Gripping.An epic adventure.Big Fish is one of Tim Burton's more colorful films.
They help carry the story, as do the unusual humour and the magical score by Danny Elfman.Toward the end of Big Fish, I realised how smitten I had become with all the quirky characters, the central father-and-son relationship and the overdose of style that Burton presents--to the extent that I was sad when the film ended even though the conclusion was very satisfying.
The ending was absolutely magical and reminded me of my late grand father : how he touched all those people during his life and no one would ever forget him and would still talk about his adventures even after he's gone!So don't hesitate buy it enjoy it then watch it again and show it to all of your friends again and again because its not everyday that you'll see such movie like this....
This movie tells the story of the beginnings of a tall-tale.Before watching it, I must warn viewers, this film is not for everyone.
This movie is strange and only those who can think like Tim Burton will understand it.
I would say that these well known faces had no more than 15 minutes of screen time throughout the film but they were instrumental to the total performance: Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter (Tim's main love in real life), Robert Guillaume, and Danny DeVito.
Of course, those unbelievably mysterious fancy stories are the coolest part of the whole movie, Tim Burton did a great job bringing those things to life, and everyone in the cast also gave us an extraordinary incredible and unforgettable performance.
Big Fish is considered by many the masterpiece of Tim Burton , since I think just a good film, has an interesting and competent script, good dialogues , a good soundtrack , excellent photography , has great moments , the cast is great , Ewan McGregor , Albert Finney , Jessica Lange , Alison Lohman , Helena Bonham Carter , Robert Guillaume , Billy Crudup , Danny DeVito and etc. |
tt0810922 | Take Me Home Tonight | The film is set in 1988 Los Angeles. Matt Franklin (Topher Grace) is a recent MIT graduate who works at a Suncoast Video store while trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life, something that his police officer father (Michael Biehn) has grown impatient with. While working one day, Matt's high school crush, Tori Frederking (Teresa Palmer) walks into the store. After pretending that he doesn't work there and saying that he works at Goldman Sachs in an effort to impress her, Tori invites Matt to a Labor Day party, hosted by Matt's twin sister Wendy's (Anna Faris) boyfriend, Kyle Masterson (Chris Pratt), at his hillside home.
Later that night, Matt, Wendy, and Matt's best friend, Barry Nathan (Dan Fogler), head to the party. On the drive over, Barry steals a brand new Mercedes-Benz convertible from the car dealership he got fired from earlier that day, justifying his actions by saying that Matt needs the convertible if he really wants to impress Tori. The trio arrive at the party. While there, Matt catches up with an old classmate (who actually works at Goldman Sachs) and then awkwardly tries to woo Tori. Barry snorts some cocaine he found in the glove box of the stolen convertible and gets involved in a dance-off, and Wendy's boyfriend proposes to her in front of everyone at the party. She says yes, upsetting Matt, who doesn't think that Kyle will support her in her dream to attend graduate school at the University of Cambridge. Tori eventually invites Matt and Barry to another party her boss is hosting in Beverly Hills. Matt takes Tori there in the Mercedes, while Barry rides with her two friends in another car, using the cocaine as an enticement to let him go along. Barry has a wild sexual encounter with an older woman while Matt and Tori continue to mingle with each other, after Matt's successful 'put down' of Tori's boss, a habitual sexual harasser. They leave the party to go into a neighbor's backyard where they jump on a trampoline, play truth or dare, and end up having sex.
Meanwhile, Wendy shares her unopened admissions letter from Cambridge with Kyle, and it is revealed that she was not accepted. Kyle is visibly relieved, while Wendy is visibly upset. Matt confesses to Tori that he doesn't actually work at Goldman Sachs. Tori gets extremely upset at his deception and storms off, back to her boss's party, leaving Matt guilt-ridden. Matt finds Barry there and they leave the party, and Matt tells Barry about how he told Tori the truth about his job. Barry patronizes him for not trying to have just one night of enjoyment and attempts to lighten the mood by offering Matt a line of cocaine, despite him driving. Matt, feeling vulnerable, attempts to snort the cocaine, but ends up driving the convertible off the road and into a ditch. A police cruiser soon arrives, and it turns out to be Matt's dad and his police partner. Already disappointed with Matt's unwillingness to choose a career path, Mr. Franklin damages the convertible even more as a means of coercing Matt to get a better job in order to pay off the damages. He takes Matt and Barry into custody, but lets them off in the neighborhood with a warning. Matt apologizes to his dad for being such a failure, to which his dad replies that because he's never even tried to succeed, he's actually less than a failure. Then, in a less condescending tone, he encourages Matt to take a shot at anything in life.
Knowing Tori has left her car at the party, Matt and Barry make their way back there, where bets are being placed on who will "ride the ball", a giant, steel sphere that someone enters and rides as it's rolled down a hill (something Matt's dad has stated that nobody has done since he himself was a kid). Matt finds Tori at the party and tries to apologize, but Tori is unwilling to forgive him. Feeling he has nothing to lose, Matt volunteers to "ride the ball". When he does the ball rolls downhill uncontrollably, hitting several parked cars and eventually flying off an embankment before landing in a backyard swimming pool. Matt almost drowns as the ball sinks, but manages to escape just in time. Barry rushes to the scene and walks with Matt back toward the party, meeting up with Wendy and Tori, who are elated to discover he wasn't killed. Matt apologies to Tori, and she forgives him after playing a little hard-to-get and then gives him her phone number. All four return to the party, which is beginning to wind down as dawn approaches. All who are still there 'whoop' it up at Matt's successful return.
Wendy, after realizing Matt was right all along, ends the engagement and breaks up with Kyle, who experiences a crying breakdown. Pondering his future with a Goth-type girl he met at the party, Barry is told by her that maybe he should go to college. Outside, as she leaves the party, Matt boldly kisses Tori goodbye. Matt's dad is shown investigating the scene where the steel ball was found. He finds Matt's Suncoast Video name tag floating in the pool, and smirks proudly. Barry staggers out of the party house, now in a shambles, to meet up with Wendy and Matt, who asks "Who wants breakfast?", and the three leave together as the sun is rising. | comedy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0108101 | Shadowlands | C. S. "Jack" Lewis (Sir Anthony Hopkins) is a serious professor of literature at Cambridge University. He also write some famous books for children and young teenagers entitled The Chronicles of Narnia. He is also a renown conference speaker and supports his Christian views strongly. He still shares a house with his brother, also a bachelor.One day, he receives a letter from a person who seems to know and understand him, the American poet Joy Gresham (Debra Winger). She is travelling around the UK in search of an editor for her poems and her son Doug (Joseph Mazzello) would very much meet him. The meeting happens in an old-fashioned pub. Jack has gone there accompanied by his brother Warnie, (Edward Hardwicke) who is also a Cambridge university professor. First, they greet an English-looking lady (Carol Passmore) and Joy looks incredibly modern and different to all the rest of the parisioners, old, male... when she enters the place and shouts aloud if any of them is C. S. Lewis. They invite her to a visit to their home. There, Doug shows to be vivacious and is especially interested in the penthouse, where there is an old wardrobe, the same which opens the way to the magic land of Narnia into Lewis's first novel. Warnie shows it, they unlatch it, and to Doug's disappointment, there are only common coats and jackets. Doug says he had always known it was going to be a normal wardrobe.Joy and Doug come back to the USA. Jack goes on living as usual: a predictable boring life in which he only talks to other professors, -whom he has philosophical discussions with- and keeps on giving his lectures. In one of these Joy re-appears. She has just come back to the UK after her divorce with her always-unfaithful husband and wants to settle down in London. They meet again, and Jack introduces her to his fellow professors, so everybody thinks they are having an affair. Joy doesn't let cynic Desmond Arding (Julian Fellowes) -and Arnold Dopliss (Roddy Maude-Roxby)- humilliate her, and replies back, which the professor must accept, as he was left speechless.Jack starts also noticing the motions of student Peter Whistler (James Frain). He is kind of rebellious in his own way although he is also a bright student. One day, he falls sleep during one of Lewis's lessons. Also, Jack sees him stealing a book from a book shop and visits him in his home to offer him some money. Peter rejects it, as it is not a matter of having the means to buy it or not. Peter will leave his studies soon afterwards, and also it isn't lack of money, it is that he considers it useless to finish his studies and move onto teaching at university. Jack will find Peter some years afterwards. Peter has become a school teacher, the same as his late father, and seems contented with his chosen path of life. This makes Jack even more thoughtful about his life, and he has the temptation of wondering about the futility of it all.Joy and Doug spend Christmas Day at the Lewis'. Joy wouldn't let Doug phone his father, because she knows he's such a careless father.Some little time after, Joy is finding it hard to be a published author. She asks Jack to marry her so that she can stay in the UK. Jack agrees, and Warnie watches all these motions surprised, although he doesn't oppose it openly. Jack and Joy get married by a judge in a civil wedding, as they don't intend to live together as husband and wife. Joy can now settle down in London with Doug, although she and Jack become the best of friends.One day, Jack phones Joy. She stops doing whatever she's doing and steps into the corridor in order to answer the phone. Suddenly, she breaks her leg. This is not an accident, because she didn't fall the stairs, of stumbled down, or anything. It just happens like that. It's so painful for her that she can't even crawl to pick the phone up. When at hospital, Jack and Warnie go to see her. It's cancer, and it's very advanced. It's attacked her bones, and that's why her leg bone broke like glass. She has surgery. While his mother is at hospital, Doug goes to live with the siblings.This makes Jack ponder about his life once again. He changes his Christian speech a little bit, talking about Joy's pain. He proposes to her, as he has realised he's in love. They have a religious wedding, the only one which Jack believes in. Joy and Doug move to the Lewis' for ever as soon as Joy is discharged. Doctors say that her cancer is very advanced, so that it'll probalby reappear. Meanwhile, Joy stays at her new home, and asks to travel around the UK in her honeymoon. First, she moves in a wheelchair, then she uses clutches. Jack and her have many happy moments.However, she will fall sick again. Doug watches how she gets worst and worst. She will finally die.His brother and his fellow professors can't sadly offer Jack any consolation. Doug becomes sadder and lonelier as well, and it's not clear if he really approves of her mother having married a different man to his natural father. Although he's never said clearly that his mother is going to die, he knows that it's going to happen. He and Jack have the opportunity of saying goodbye to Joy before she finally dies at her home, not in hospital.Doug keeps on living with Jack as his father. The last scene shows Jack walking down the same countryside path he had walked by when Joy was sick but still alive.Doug and a dog run down a green hill while flying a kite. | philosophical | train | imdb | This picture is a beautiful, thought provoking, and highly effective meditation on how love, death, god, joy, and pain all coexist in the strange universe that is life.
Yes, the film's magnificently depicted scenes of death and grieving never fail to jerk tears from my eyes, but Lewis's closing lines regarding the choices he made as a boy and a man make me sob.
Lewis is making a bit of a comeback with the "Chronicles Of Narnia" movie of late, but here's a film portrait of him made in 1993 starring the great British actor Anthony Hopkins.To Christians, Lewis has always been a familiar name: one of the greatest and most well-known Christian apologists theologians ("Merre Christianity," "The Screwtape Letters,"etc.) and fiction (the Narnia series) writers of all time.
But this film - no surprise - doesn't really deal with that: it's mainly a love story, the love he had toward his American wife, played by Debra Winger.Being a Brit, the film takes place in England and features some wonderful landscapes of that great country.
I particularly enjoyed the by-play of dry wit between the professors and Winger's various comments to her husband.Nice films like this are unusual and should be treasured, as Lewis and his works are by so many people, Christian or non-Christian..
CS Lewis was very quick, I think, to recognize this and embraced it completely once he found it out.Douglas Davidman Gresham (Joy Gresham's son), has said that the film is perhaps not completely factually correct, but the emotion representation is "spot on".For me, no truer words could be spoken.
Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger are perfectly cast in this beautiful film that contains what maybe the best and most haunting scenes in the history of motion pictures.I didn't realize that there was almost no music until the third time I watched it.
Hopkins delivers a career-best performance and Joseph Mazzello (as Winger's son) is terribly underbilled (his performance is superb), and I have no idea why Shadowlands didn't even land a Best Picture Academy Award nomination, it's certainly worth the price of the rental.+ (GOOD THINGS) 1.) Death scene 2.) Chemistry between Hopkins and Winger 3.) Richard Attenborough's direction 4.) Hopkin's performance 5.) William Nicholson's script 6.) Winger's performance 7.) Joseph Mazzello's performance(BAD THINGS) 1.) Winger's accent
(FYI, Douglas is Joy's son -- thus C.S. Lewis step-son -- played by Joseph Mazzello in this film.) I had recently seen Shadowlands, and so I asked Douglas how "true to life" the picture was.
Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger bring a wonderful love story to life..
S. Lewis who, despite his comfortable bachelor life, falls in love with a lively, spirited American poet played extremely well by Debra Winger.
But you tell me: when he was 10 his mother died; when he was in his late teens he entered the army, endured trench warfare, and was wounded; he saw his best friend killed in battle; honoring a pledge, he moved in with the friend's mother and sister and supported them for many years; he had a sexual relationship with his friend's mother, and although she was an extremely difficult woman he remained with her until her death; and during all these years his much-beloved brother Warnie was a binge drinker who often ended up face down in the gutter.
When Lewis goes through his crisis after her death, we hear quotations from his moving "A Grief Observed" that helped him regain focus on his faith, and the film ended with a powerful image of Lewis planning to tell his stepson Douglas about the meaning of faith.Alas, this important element is completely missing from this ultimately pointless theatrical version of the story.
To be sure there are fine performances by Hopkins and Winger, but in addition to the altered factual details (unlike the original telefilm, Joy's elder son David Gresham is zapped from existence this time out), this movie in typical arrogant Hollywood style decides to remove the importance of Christianity from both the lives of C.S. Lewis and Joy. The end result is something that is blatantly dishonest in the worst form, and one can only note that if Lewis and Joy were practitioners of any faith other than traditional orthodox Christianity, we would no doubt have not seen Hollywood (which will always have nothing but contempt for those of traditional faith) try to downplay this into meaninglessness.Leave it to Hollywood to find a way of turning a story about the 20th century's greatest apologist for traditional Christianity into what is ultimately another of their typical backhanded anti-Christian swipes.UPDATE: Four years later, I am amused to see the reasons for my negative view validated in so many of the positive reviews of this film, which again operate from the conceit that the importance of Christian faith in the lives of both C.S. Lewis and Joy is something that can be easily ignored.
This was the point that the original BBC telemovie did NOT forget, and it accomplished it without giving us a non-stop sermon (which is what the apologists for this movie seem to think a critic like me would have wanted to see) but by judiciously inserting the moments of Lewis and Joy talking about faith, and giving us that poignant ending that lets us know that Lewis is serious about teaching Douglas the meaning of how to find the true faith in God that he has now recovered in the wake of Joy's death.
Richard Attenborough has directed many ambitious but beautifully made films like Oh!What a Lovely War, Cry Freedom and Chaplin, and I will say that Shadowlands deserves to be up there with his best, it is a heart-rending film of true love and the consequences that left me speechless(I am 17), that I don't think has had enough praise.
The two leads' chemistry is the main reason why I love this movie, I confess I cried when Lewis held the dying Joy in his arms, the reason being it reminded me of Mimi's Death Scene in La Boheme.
The scene where he and Lewis are crying in each other's arms made my eyes well up with emotion, never until yesterday did I see Hopkins look so tender with anybody on screen, not even in The Elephant Man. As Warnie, Edward Hardwicke best known for his appearances as Dr Watson in the 80s-90s Sherlock Holmes series was remarkable, a minor character but one with feeling and understanding.
Anthony Hopkins, playing Lewis, doesn't seem quite into this role (his performance consists mainly of faraway glances and noble little smiles), but Debra Winger comes through with a strong characterization.
S. Lewis.STRONG WORDS AND VIOLENCE ETC N/A.MUSIC 92% Classical variations to bring the BIG church traditional music to life and glorious wonder.SOUND 10% Natural sounds for natural people.HOOKABILITY 79% Love the music, love the start!LASTABILITY 85% If you don't already know the story you will want to see the end.OVERALL 82% Good adaptation of a true story, not disappointing but could have been better if more of his personal christian experiences were related to the viewer..
Yes, I was a bit disappointed that there was so little of Lewis' grief and shaken faith, and I'd certainly have preferred that they'd have touched on some of Lewis' many books beyond the Narnia series, but on balance this is a well-done film about a limited portion of this great man's life.
The film tells the supposedly true story of CS Lewis' love and marriage with Joy in a slow manner that only lets out the feeling as slowly and as shielded as Lewis himself.
Another is at the end of this movie, when a brilliantly played Joseph Mazzello (Douglas) tells Anthony Hopkins (Lewis) that he just wishes he could see her again.
Based by writer William Nicholson on an episode in the life of author C.S. Lewis, every scene is like a warm and meticulously sculpted syllabub, a little slice of human interaction that, whether joyful, angry or sad seems shot through with affection and universal truth.The picture benefits considerably from the sublime tranquillity of its lead man Anthony Hopkins.
One of the strangest things about it all was that when he helmed this movie he had just come back from playing a man with a bad Scots accent in Jurassic Park.Despite being all about the man, Shadowlands barely mentions the high fantasy of Lewis's Narnia novels for which he is best-known.
Immensely moving, with a stunning, complex performance by Anthony Hopkins, and a very good one by Debra Winger as his slow developing love.
A 'tearjerker', but elevated way beyond that by the writing, direction and acting, into a profound examination of the way we need love to lift us up, while that very thing makes us so vulnerable.Ironically, while this may be the strongest of Attenborough's films, with a stellar cast, great reviews, a fascinating main character (The novelist C.S. Lewis), and powerful universal emotions, it has long been unavailable on DVD.
For years I was hunting for it and today I finally found a unique copy in my local videostore of all places and bought it straightaway.A beautiful movie about a man who finds love late in life.The key scene near the end between Anthony Hopkins and Joseph Mazzello (who interestingly also starred alongside Richard Attenborough in Jurrassic Park that same year) still brings me to tears..
Wonderfully touching story, great performances from Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, strong supporting performances and directorial effort, in a film that genuinely moved me.
As Anthony Hopkins as C.S. Lewis says himself in the film: `We read to know we are not alone.'As the movie opens Lewis is alone.
The novelist and critic CS Lewis (author of 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and members of the Inklings writing group alongside Tolkien) met poet Joy Gresham late in life and for the first time found himself in love.
Alongside them in the cast are Michael Denison, John Wood, Edward Hardwicke (memorable as Lewis' hard-drinking brother), and Joseph Mazzello as Gresham's young son, Douglas.The play focuses first on the meeting of the two leads, then into their awkward marriage, and into the onset of Joy's fatal illness.
Married American fan Joy Gresham (Debra Winger) comes to England with her young son Douglas to meet C.S. Lewis.
C.S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins), a world-renowned Christian theologian, writer and professor, leads a passionless life until he meets a spirited poet (Debra Winger) from the United States.One would think the story of C.
His role as Mr. Stevens in "Remains of the Day" was one example and in the same year (1993), Hopkins gave a similar interpretation to the role of C.S. Lewis in "Shadowlands." The reasonably contented old writer/professor might have died without ever knowing romantic love, that is, until a younger woman with no time to waste delivers a telling blow straight to his heart.
Debra Winger, as Joy, makes an increasingly convincing fit to Hopkin's Lewis, and as others have noted, the supporting cast is also quite good.
My favorite author is C.S.Lewis (played masterfully by Sir Anthony Hopkins), and like Joy Gresham, the American poet (played by Debra Winger) I have read everything Mr. Lewis has ever written.
This film deals with several subjects: love at an older age, fantasy versus reality, self-sacrifice, the meaning of suffering, the life of poet and writer C.S. Lewis, to name but a few.
(The young Joseph Mazzello appears in both films as well.) This is about the love affair and marriage of Joy Gresham (American poet) and C.S. Lewis (Professor, writer, and probably best known for his children's "Narnia" series of books).
He lets the characters tell the story and reach out the viewer through the story, making you feel as if you are a fly on their wall.Anthony Hopkins is superb as "Jack" Lewis, life-long bachelor, more set in his ways than he cares to admit, and Mr. Hopkins, who acts so much with his eyes, makes us believe that he really IS Jack.
In light of the story arc, one might wonder if Ms. Winger has been typecast, but if so, only because she sharpens the soft tones of the location, plays a character that brings new life to the Lewis brothers, and makes one believe that if the real Joy was as Ms. Winger plays her, then her name was apt.And watch for a scene near the end of the film between Mr. Hopkins and young Joseph Mazzello as Douglas.
Edward Hardwicke as brother and fellow life-long bachelor "Warnie" is a delight, especially in his scenes with Douglas, with whom he develops an especially endearing relationship.Maybe it's because I enjoy the classic romances so much that I enjoy this film, but I've had male friends enjoy the film as well, set as it is in 1950s Oxford, which was, at the time, a all-male institution, with the typical male banter and pub-crawling.The only reason I don't give this film 10 stars is that the momentum of the movie is lost in a couple of places, where a subplot appears that does not at first seem connected to the story.
An emotionally exhausting, yet spiritually energizing film, Shadowlands tells the story of renowned author C.S. Lewis' (Anthony Hopkins) relationship with American poet Joy Gresham (Debra Winger).
That, it accomplishes spectacularly.The idea of Debra Winger and Anthony Hopkins becoming involved in a romance seems somewhat silly considering their difference in age, but this only adds to the power of the movie, since in real life, Lewis was 17 years older than Gresham.
Shadowlands focuses on the personal life of one man (C.S. Lewis) and one woman (Joy Gresham) and their unique relationship.
Then, of course, there is the remission of her cancer, its return and her death, which forces Lewis to re-evaluate everything he believes about God, in the end, coming back to the realization that pain is a part of happiness, and that God is not to be blamed for Joy's death, but thanked for her life.Although the movie is spiritual, it's not in your face religious.
After a good start I lost interest about forty five minutes in and upon reflection, felt that the film needed a little bit more character development before plunging into the start of a relationship between writer CS Lewis and a married American woman.
A very solid biopic about writer C.S. Lewis and his relationship with a spunky American.This is one of two great performances Anthony Hopkins gave in 1993, the other being "The Remains of the Day." Debra Winger had a bit of a career comeback playing said spunky American, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for this role.
Hopkins Great, the Rest Bad. One can assume that most people are not yearning to learn about the life of C.S. Lewis, or as his friends call him, Jack, the writer famous for creating `The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' and wrote philosophical thoughts such as `The Four Loves.' If any person would remain slightly interested in the biographical film `Shadowlands,' based on Lewis, he would have to give appreciation to Anthony Hopkins, who plays the English scholar.
The acting of Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger is good but that doesn't make it a good movie.
This film, based on the love story of C.S. Lewis, noted author, scholar and religious apologist, and Joy Gresham, American poet, is so very haunting and beautiful.
S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins), and his relationship with American Joy Gresham (Debra Winger).
I think that the general thrust of C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham's friendship turned romance is portrayed accurately but the film takes some liberties in depicting her as only having one son as opposed to two and in having their entire relationship play out over the course of a year or so as opposed to eight.
In the early days of the Oscars, actors and actresses could be nominated for more than one performance and this is the first time that I have regretted that this system was abandoned as Hopkins deserved Best Actor nominations for both performances.Overall, this is a wonderful, extremely intelligent and deeply moving film which shows that love makes the world go around.
Based on a play which in itself became a film 'Shadowlands' follows Narnia writer C.S Lewis as he realises what love is, only when he then in turn loses it.I wasn't convinced I'd enjoy this film when I put the DVD in, but with such strong performances from Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger I was soon swept along in the warmth and heart of the story.At times it can make you laugh and then its ending leaves you in tears and it is that balance that to me makes a good film.I'd highly recommend this film and it is the type of film we rarely see these days.
When Joy walks into his life, it takes her sickness to make him realize how he truly feels for her.Anthony Hopkins is amazing in the role of Lewis and adequately portrays a man who doesn't know how to love and is crushed when he learns that after loving he will lose the woman he loves.
'We love to know we're not alone,' says Lewis in a part of the movie, and Hopkins shows how Lewis is able to be alone, and at the same time not be alone, when Joy Gresham comes into his life.
...and it was of course even more tragic when Joy (the American wife) died, as love had come to C.S. Lewis so late in life...The reasons I give the movie "only" 9 stars instead of 10, are two.
Acclaimed Christian writer C.S. Lewis is the focus of Sir Richard Attenborough's gentle but moving film about the realisation and discovery of love.Anthony Hopkins (an actor who has movie-goers waiting with baited breath for his next performance) plays the aging lecturer and philosopher who meets an American divorcée whom he takes under his wing. |
tt0116996 | Mars Attacks! | The President of the United States, James Dale (Jack Nicholson), is alerted when a number of spacecraft have been reported launched from the planet Mars, and are on a course to Earth. While General Decker (Rod Steiger) demands immediate Military deployment, Professor Donald Kessler (Pierce Brosnan) suggests that the General's protestations are uncalled for, claiming that they know very little about these aliens, and that this could be a new chapter for humanity.The President eventually has a newscast televised, in which the world is made aware of the Martian's impending arrival. Professor Kessler is even brought onto a daytime news show, in which he is interviewed by newscaster Nathalie Lake (Sarah Jessica Parker). Nathalie's boyfriend Jason Stone (Michael J Fox) notes that she seems to be flirting with the Professor, when the news transmission goes out completely, and all television signals are blocked by a transmission from the Martians.In the wake of this transmission, The President, Kessler, and several Generals hold a meeting in their war room to analyze what they know about the Martians. A scientist also brings a machine that he claims has translated the Martians' speech patterns...but the translations barely make any sense.Eventually, it is indicated that the Martians will first land near the Nevada town of Pahrump. A military escort is headed up by General Casey (Paul Winfield), a more quiet and docile general than the more outspoken General Decker. A number of spectators show up as well, as a ship lands. Emerging from the ship, are 2 armed martians, and one in a sparkling red cloak. After it is translated that he is the Martian Ambassador, and General Casey gives a greeting, a new sentence from the Martians claims they 'come in peace.'This causes a group of hippies to release a dove...which is quickly shot down by the Martians. The scene then dissolves into chaos as the Martians vaporize and kill almost everyone. The end up taking Nathalie Lake, her little chihuahua Poppy, and her handbag onto their ship, before leaving the massacre behind.Back in Washington D.C., General Decker demands that immediate action be taken, but Professor Kessler feels that what they witnessed could have been a cultural misunderstanding, due in part to the dove. A message is sent out to the Martians, and a response is soon received. The Martian Ambassador claims to feel remorse, and would like to appear before Congress.The request is granted, and one of the Martian's ships lands in front of the United States Capitol. The ambassador and two armed Martians appear in Congress, and approach the podium. After reading what appears to be a speech, the Martian Ambassador draws a gun that vaporizes two branches of the government. Professor Kessler pleads for the ambassador to stop, but is quickly subdued, and eventually taken aboard the ship.In the aftermath of the attack, General Decker once again demands that affirmative action be taken, but the President still chooses to go about the situation with no action taken against the martians...further infuriating the General.Aboard the Ambassador's ship, the Martians have also conducted medical experiments on Nathalie, Poppy, and the Professor. Nathalie and Poppy's heads have been switched, with Nathalie's head now transplanted onto her chihuahua's body. The Professor's body has been removed, with his vital organs still functioning, causing his head to remain alive. The Professor's disembodied head and Nathalie converse, and even in their strange bodily state, they both profess their love for each other.Meanwhile, back on Earth, a Martian has taken on the form of a beautiful woman, and seduces her way into the White House through Press Secretary Jerry Ross (Martin Short). Jerry is soon incapacitated by the Martian, who then attempts to kill the President and his wife (Glenn Close). The Secret Service manage to kill the Martian. This attack causes the Martian Leader to finally declare all-out war on the Earthlings, and Martian ships soon show up across the country, wrecking havoc everywhere. The Military is finally called out to try and stop them, but even they do not seem to have the firepower to stop the Martians.After invading Washington, the Martian leader and two of his soldiers enter the war room. They are first attacked by General Decker, who starts firing on the Martians, before the Martian Leader uses a shrinking gun, that reduces the General to a few inches tall, before stepping on him. The Martians then shoot the remaining people, before the President gives a speech, hoping to quell the violence. This seems to work, and the Martian Leader extends his hand...which turns out to be a mechanical spider, that impales the President.It is during a Martian attack on a small nursing home, that a young man named Richie Norris (Lukas Haas), discovers his Grandmother's favorite record, Slim Whitman's "Indian Love Call," is the key to defeating the invasion. The high-pitched yodeling causes the Martians' heads to explode, and Richie employs the help of the remaining military to play the amplified music live and via satellite. The Martians explode, their ships crash and the planet is safe. The President's daughter presents the Congressional Medal of Honor to Richie and his Grandmother while the people of Earth rebuild. | comedy, stupid, cult, psychedelic, satire, entertaining | train | imdb | null |
tt0076731 | Snowbeast | Winter 1977. The Rill Lodge and Ski Resort in Colorado is holding its 50th Annual Winter Carnival and is expecting a record turnout. Unbeknownst to the assembled people, however, something is lurking in the woods, not quite human and not quite animal. Two friends skiing on the North slope, Heidi (Annie McEnroe) and Jennifer (Kathy Christopher), find mysterious tracks and hear some disturbing noises coming from the woods. Heidi takes off, but Jennifer lags behind and is set upon by a monstrous beast.Tony Rill (Robert Logan), manager of the resort, is summoned and told that a female skier was found, babbling incoherently about some sort of monster and her missing friend. Rill, doubtful at first, listens to Heidi's story and, despite being unsettled by what he hears, surmises that it was probably a grizzly bear. He and a search party set out and split up to find Jennifer. Rill comes upon a remote stretch where he finds Jennifer's jacket, bloody and torn to shreds. He also hears a monstrous roar come from the woods and turns just in time to glimpse something white, hairy and massive at the edge of the treeline.Meanwhile, back at the resort, Gar Seberg (Bo Svenson) and his wife Ellen (Yvette Mimieux) arrive. Seberg, a former Olympic Ski champion, has fallen on hard times and has come to Colorado to see if his old friend Rill can give him a job. As they step into the main building, Seberg gets the brushoff from a worried Rill, and begins to feel that this whole thing was a bad idea. Rill, meanwhile, informs his grandmother, and owner of the resort, Carrie Rill (Sylvia Sidney) about what he saw and heard, and tells her that they should put up signs restricting access to the area and inform the sheriff. Carie, however, is put off by the thought of a story about some wild man-beast roaming the slopes hurting business, and convinces Rill that while no one will believe Heidi, his word is another matter altogether. She agrees that he should merely post signs around the slopes warning of possible avalanches, arguing that no one has actually *seen* the creature, nor has it ever come down from the slopes. No need to worry everyone needlessly and bring the sheriff in on the mater, concluding that, despite the possibility that Jennifer suffered a horrible death, "I'm not being insensitive, just realistic". Rill is reluctant, but decides to go along with his grandmother's plan.Stepping out of the office, Rill apologizes to Seberg and Ellen for the cold shoulder, explaining that there was a serious issue he had to attend to. With the apologies and handshakes out of the way (and some flirtatious banter between Rill and Ellen), Seberg tells Rill he needs a job, and is delighted when Rill happily hires him. Rill, meanwhile, returns to the slopes and tells one of his men, Buster Smith (Thomas Babson) that he and the others are to post signs saying "Restricted Area" and put them along the edge of the slope where Jennifer's jacket was found. Smith, unsure as to why his boss is so spooked, argues that he thinks he knows where Jennifer might be and requests to take a searching party to look for her. Despite RIll's emphatic "no", Smith takes off and heads out to the remoteness of the North Slope. A misstep on his part sends him scrambling down the slope, where he comes face-to-face with the monstrous Snowbeast. His screams echo through the woods.Ben Cochran (Richard Jamison), maintenance director for the lodge, and his son John (Jaime Jamison) show up with some workers at the Fairchild Farm, an abandoned barn that Heidi indicated she and Jennifer had skied past. John runs inside the barn, but quickly steps back outside, shaken. His father runs into the barn, where he finds the mutilated remains of Jennifer. Out in the woods, monstrous eyes survey the barn.Rill and Seberg pull up to the lodge, where they find Sheriff Cole Paraday (Clint Walker). Before Rill can talk to him about the strange goings-on, Paraday gets a message over his radio about a possible murder at the Fairchild Farm. He takes off, leaving a confused Rill and Seberg wondering what happened to set the sheriff off in such a hurry.Rill, meanwhile, returns to the lodge to find Seberg surrounded by adoring fans and Ellen off to the side, sitting alone in the dining hall. They begin to talk, and we learn that Rill and Ellen were once lovers, and that, instead of marrying Rill, she married his best friend, Gar Seberg, a decision which she is now beginning to regret. Ellen strongly suggests that she wants to have an affair with Rill, but Rill resists her advances, for now. As Ellen leaves, Seberg walks in and Rill asks him if he can confide in him about something important. Seberg, intrigued, balks when Rill insists that Ellen must be kept out of the loop because she is a television reporter, but before they can converse further, Carrie, panicked, stops Rill. He tells Seberg to meet him in an hour by the pool.At the Fairchild farm, Paraday and his deputy are shaken by what little John Cochran found, and Paraday sends his deputy off to find Rill. Meanwhile, at the pool, Rill tells Seberg what he has seen and theorizes that it is some sort of Bigfoot creature that is terrorizing the resort. Seberg recalls that Ellen once did a special on Bigfoot. Rill asks Seberg if he is still an expert marksman. Seberg replies that he is still pretty good on the rifle range, but Rill points out that this is going to be a moving target. Seberg is horrified at what Rill is suggesting, and accuses his old friend of giving him a job in order to make him a hired gun. Rill argues that he is only doing this for the good of the town and its people, as Seberg points out that Rill doesn't have the right to order the death of something that may be part-human, and that every report about Bigfoot has pegged the creature as docile. Rill reveals to Seberg that he found Jennifer's jacket, bloody and destroyed, and believes that whatever killed her is too dangerous to simply ignore.Back at the lodge, Ellen, all bundled up in a snow bunny outfit, is dismayed to learn that both Rill and her husband have seemingly disappeared, and is even more disturbed when the deputy pulls up and tells her and Carrie that Rill needs to get out to the Fairchild Farm ASAP. Ellen straps on some skis and decides to go go the farm. She arrives at the farm, but Rill and Seberg are nowhere to be found. She *dos* find some mysterious-looking tracks, and decides to follow them into the woods.Rill and Seberg finally arrive at the farm, and they walk into the barn. Rill offers to look at Jenifer's face to identify her, but is informed by the sheriff that her face was completely torn off. Rill is chilled by the statement but is able to identify Jennifer through her torn outfit, which matches her jacket. Rill informs Paraday that he and Seberg think that a Bigfoot killed Jennifer. The sheriff, somewhat skeptical, nonetheless listens to their theory. Still not convinced that it *was* a Bigfoot, the sheriff decides that whatever killed Jennifer is too dangerous to be allowed free reign of the woods, and that the three of them should go out the following morning, track it down, and kill it. Seberg, despite his previous aversion to killing the creature, concedes that the Snowbeast is much too dangerous and bloodthirsty to leave alive.Ellen, meanwhile, continues to follow the tracks into the woods. She quickly realizes that she has gotten lost. As the sun is slowly setting behind the mountains as nightfall approaches, she hears an ungodly roar come from the woods....Nighttime. The lodge is bustling with the activity of the Winter Carnival, as girls go scurrying around getting their dresses ready and the band practices for the ceremony. As Carrie puts the finishing touches on Snow Queen Betty Jo Blodgett (Jacquie Botts), the women are horrified to glimpse a monstrous face in the window. The Snowbeast breaks the window and panic ensues as everyone storms out of the room into the main hall. Outside, Betty Jo's mom (Liz Jury), oblivious of the goings-on, pulls up in her 4x4, only to be confronted by the horrifying Snowbeast. Betty Jo runs outside and opens the door to her mother's car, only to find the torn and mutilated remains of what was once Mrs. Blodgett.Inside the lodge, chaos ensues and Seberg, realizing that something is amiss, goes off in search of Carrie. She tells him that there is a monster outside and promptly gets knocked down and stomped on by the frenzied crowd. Shortly thereafter, the scene calms down and the police are left scratching their heads as to how to explain the carnage in Mrs. Blodgett's car. Carrie begs Seberg to apologize to Rill, stating that Rill was right all along and that she should have put the sheriff in the loop from day one. Seberg returns to his room, and realizes that in, the ensuing chaos, Ellen is nowhere to be found. Surmising that she must have set out earlier to find he and Rill, he straps on a pair of skis, the first time he has done so since his Gold Medal performance 9 years earlier at the 1968 Olympics, and sets off to find Ellen in the pitch-black wilderness.At the Fairchild Farm, Ellen has been able to sneak in and sleeps uneasily. Suddenly, she hears the barn door creak open and something heavy moving through the barn. Preparing for the worst, she is overjoyed to find her husband walking through the barn. They embrace and begin to prepare for the long night. As they build a fire, Seberg states that he's surprised that after 9 years he was able to take to his skis again like a fish to water. He then opens up to his wife, telling her that he knew she always questioned his decision to leave the sport altogether after the '68 Olympics, and that he did it because he didn't want to become some has-been hanging onto past glories. As Seberg tearily confesses that his retirement only made him miserable, Ellen gains some newfound respect and love for her husband.Morning. Seberg and Ellen wake up and begin preparing to head back to the lodge. As they walk by a loft, Ellen bumps into a ladder and body pieces begin to rain down. Realizing that they have stumbled onto the monster's feeding lair, they scramble out, but are stopped by the Snowbeast as it tries to return to the barn. They appear to be hopelessly trapped, but just at that moment Paraday, his deputy and Rill arrive on ski-mobiles, looking for the creature. Furious at the intrusion, the Snowbeast races off into the woods. As Paraday and his deputy take off after it, Seberg and Ellen are reunited with Rill and they return to the lodge.A view of the once-bustling resort now reveals every businessman's nightmare: Ski-lifts shut down. Empty parking lots and cabins. The resort has become a virtual ghost-town. Rill, Seberg and Ellen prepare to set off in pursuit of the monster, but suddenly the deputy bursts into the lodge and informs all the assembled that he and Paraday have captured and killed the creature. As everyone rushes outside, the trio are dismayed to find that the two lawmen have instead killed a large grizzly bear.Seberg and Ellen confront the sheriff and accuse him of giving up the hunt for the monster. Paraday tries to convince them that there is no scientific proof to back up their claims that it was a Bigfoot that killed Jennifer and Smith, but Seberg retorts that deep down the sheriff knows that if they cut open the grizzly they won't find any human remains in its stomach. Defeated, Paraday asks them what they want to do. Their solution is the only rational one: Get together with Rill, and set off to finally confront and kill the creature. Meanwhile, a funeral is held for Buster Smith, whose remains were the ones found by Ellen and Seberg in the barn.The following morning, Rill, Seberg, Ellen and Paraday set off in a camper in search of the Snowbeast. They set up camp on a deserted stretch of road and go into the woods in pursuit of the creature. Hours later, they have found nothing and in the process have exhausted themselves. Returning to the camper, they find that something has torn off their skis from the back of the camper. Deciding that it would be fruitless to go off after the creature, as well as putting themselves at a disadvantage by confronting it in its element, the party decides that now that the monster knows where they are, they will let *it* come to *them*, and set up a watch-detail in groups of two. Ellen suggests that her husband and Paraday take the first watch while she prepares dinner. Inside the camper, she and Rill finally confront their mutual feelings for each other, and decide that the best course of action would be to remain friends and nothing more. Shortly thereafter they relieve Seberg and Paraday.The following morning, the party finds nothing amiss. However, the creature is spying on them and kicks a stack of piled-up firewood down an embankment at the camper. Seberg, Ellen and Rill escape and climb up another embankment to avoid the rolling logs, but Paraday gets trapped in the camper. The trio can only watch and listen in horror as the Snowbeast kills Paraday. They return to the camper, only to find the monster's tracks and a pool of blood where Paraday had been trapped. Ellen climbs into the overturned camper to get a rifle while Rill climbs into the cab to retrieve Paraday's revolver. Suddenly, the monster appears on the embankment overlooking the toppled camper. Rill fires off a shot and hits it, sending it screeching back into the woods. Knowing that Rill has only wounded it, and that a wounded creature is doubly dangerous, Seberg straps on his skis, takes the revolver and sets off after the Snowbeast for the final confrontation... | violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0086465 | Trading Places | Brothers Randolph and Mortimer Duke own a successful commodities brokerage in Philadelphia. They witness an encounter between their managing director—the well-mannered and educated Louis Winthorpe III, engaged to the Dukes' grand-niece Penelope—and street hustler Billy Ray Valentine, who Winthorpe has arrested for suspected robbery. Holding opposing views on the issue of nature versus nurture, the Dukes make a wager of the "usual amount" and agree to conduct an experiment switching the lives of Winthorpe and Valentine and observing the results.
Winthorpe is publicly framed as a thief, drug dealer, and philanderer by Clarence Beeks, who works for a security company hired by the Dukes. Winthorpe is fired from Duke & Duke, his bank accounts are frozen, he is denied entry to his Duke-owned home, and is vilified by Penelope and his former friends. He befriends prostitute Ophelia, who agrees to help him in exchange for a financial reward once he is exonerated. Meanwhile, the Dukes bail Valentine out of jail, install him in Winthorpe's former job, and grant him use of Winthorpe's home. Valentine learns the business quickly, using his street smarts to achieve success, and begins to act well-mannered.
During the firm's Christmas party, Winthorpe is caught planting drugs in Valentine's desk in a desperate attempt to get his job back, and he brandishes a gun to escape. The Dukes discuss their experiment in the men's bathroom, and settle their wager of "the usual amount": one dollar. They plot to return Valentine to the streets. Valentine overhears the conversation and seeks out Winthorpe. Winthorpe attempts suicide by overdosing on pills. Valentine, Ophelia and Coleman (Winthorpe's butler) nurse him back to health, and inform him of the Dukes' experiment. On television, they learn that Beeks is transporting a secret USDA report on orange crop forecasts. Winthorpe and Valentine recall large payments made to Beeks by the Dukes, and realize that the Dukes plan to obtain the report to corner the market on frozen orange juice.
On New Year's Eve, the four board Beeks' Philadelphia-bound train, intending to switch his report with a fake. Beeks uncovers their scheme and attempts to kill them, but he is knocked unconscious by a gorilla who is being transported on the train. The four disguise Beeks with a gorilla costume and lock him up with the real gorilla. The fake report, which says the year's orange crop will be low, is delivered to the Dukes. Valentine and Winthorpe travel to New York City with Coleman's and Ophelia's life savings to carry out their part of the plan.
On the commodities trading floor, the Dukes commit all their holdings to buying frozen concentrated orange juice futures contracts; other traders follow their lead, inflating the price. Meanwhile, Valentine and Winthorpe sell futures heavily at the inflated price. Following the broadcast of the actual crop report, showing that the orange crop will be normal, the price of orange juice futures plummets. Valentine and Winthorpe close their futures position by buying futures at the lower price from everyone but the Dukes, turning a large profit. The Dukes fail to meet a margin call, and are left owing $394 million. Valentine and Winthorpe explain to the Dukes that they had made a wager on whether they could simultaneously get rich while making the Dukes poor. Valentine collects $1 from Winthorpe while Randolph collapses holding his chest as Mortimer shouts angrily at his brother about their failed plan. Beeks and the gorilla are loaded onto a ship heading for Africa. The now wealthy Valentine, Winthorpe, Ophelia and Coleman vacation on a tropical beach. | comedy, adult comedy, cult, humor, satire, revenge | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1091722 | Adventureland | In 1987, James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) has two plans. The first plan is to have a summer vacation in Europe after graduating with a comparative literature degree from Oberlin College. His second plan is to attend a journalism graduate school at Columbia University when his holidays end. A few days after his graduation, his parents (Wendie Malick and Jack Gilpin) advise him to seek a part-time job rather than going to Europe when they unexpectedly announce that financial problems have taken a toll on them and they would be unable to financially support him.
James gets a job at Adventureland, a local amusement park in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his childhood friend Tommy Frigo (Matt Bush) works. Assistant manager Bobby (Bill Hader) assigns James to the games area. He meets his co-workers: sarcastic Joel (Martin Starr); Bobby's wife and park manager Paulette (Kristen Wiig); Sue O'Malley (Paige Howard); Mark (Mark Miller); the alluring Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva); and the park's technician, Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds), a part-time musician. Another games worker, Emily "Em" Lewin (Kristen Stewart), saves James from being stabbed by a lying, cheating customer.
With her father and stepmother away, Em throws a party and gets to know James. During the conversation, Em persuades James to join her in the house's swimming pool. After Em leaves the pool, Frigo humiliates James by announcing to the party that James has an erection while leaving the pool, causing an embarrassed James to jump back into the water. After the party, Connell, who has been having an affair with Em, comes over to further pursue it.
Later that week, James goes for a drink with Em and she is surprised to learn James has never had sex. They share a first kiss. The following day, James tells Connell about his strong feelings for Em, which Connell reports to her. Em tells James she wants to take things slow due to problems in her life, leaving James confused and upset. Sue drunkenly makes out with Joel, but rejects him the next day, saying her Catholic parents would not allow her to date a Jew. Outraged, Em calls Sue an anti-Semite in front of other staff members in defense of Joel. Lisa P. asks James on a date, but he has mixed feelings because of his relationship with Em. After Connell talks him into going, he accepts Lisa P.'s offer.
After the date, during which Lisa and James kiss, James learns Em had called to say she regrets having rejected his feelings. Joel later sees James and Em walking together and, irritated by the chain of events, quits. James unsuccessfully tries to talk him out of it, and Joel reveals he's angry at James for dating Lisa P. when James is already in love with Em. James tells Em about going out with Lisa P. After hearing of this, Em goes to Connell's mother's home to end their affair. The park's mentally challenged parking attendant, prompted by Tommy, tells James he saw Em and Connell doing "pushups without any pants on" in the back of Connell's car.
James goes to Connell's mother's house, which is where Lisa P. told him Connell takes girls to have sex and sees Em leaving. Shocked to see James, Em becomes tongue-tied. James leaves angrily, and Em cries. James tells Lisa P. about the affair and asks her not to tell anyone, but she tells her friend Kelly. Upon noticing that all the park employees know, Em quits and moves back to New York. A heartbroken James drunkenly crashes his father's car into a tree and passes out. The next morning, his mother angrily wakes him up and tells him he has to pay to repair it with his summer earnings. On top of that, James' friend from Oberlin, Eric (Michael Zegen) who he had initially planned on moving to New York with, calls to let him know that he will not be going to Columbia and instead will be attending Harvard Business School, thus canceling their living arrangements.
Now, without enough money for graduate school or a place to live, James nonetheless heads to New York City with his parents' blessing and waits outside Em's apartment. She is reluctant to talk to him, feeling she has ruined everything. James tells her he sees her in a different way than she sees herself. Touched, Em brings James up to her apartment. James reveals he is not going to Columbia this year, and considers next year. He gets out of his wet clothes and finds Em still has an Adventureland shirt. They kiss and begin to take their clothes off. James asks, "Are we doing this?", and Em says, "I think so." | romantic, psychedelic, entertaining | train | wikipedia | The reason being that the film was marketed as another raunchy-sweet comedy from the Apatow empire, when in fact it has almost nothing to do with those films, and is very different from most of writer/director Greg Mottola's previous film "Superbad" (which is great in its own way, but it's nothing like this film).
It is a tender, intimate romance surrounded by goofball humor, but the extent of the 'dirty jokes' in this movie is Jesse Eisenberg's character James getting out of the pool at a house party with an erection.The movie is a sentimental (not sappy, mind), very personal, journey through the summer of 1987 for recent college grad and deep thinker James Brennan (played superbly by Jesse Eisenberg), whose plans for the summer fall apart (due to Reaganomics affecting his father's income) resulting in him having to get a crappy job at the titular amusement park.
James is a virgin, true, a 22 year old one at that, but that has far more to do with the character's tentative nature than any 'quest' to get laid (ala "The 40 Year Old Virgin", which works on its own terms of course, but is again nothing like "Adventureland"), and he is far from bad looking.
Em isn't a dolled-up 'hot chick' with perfectly styled hair and perfect style, she's moderately well-dressed and naturally beautiful, but wears makeup in a grand total of two scenes, and is actually NOT the 'babe' in the film (that's Margarita Levieva as Lisa P, who, though the 'babe', is not the sought-after one).I am finding it hard to describe exactly why I loved this film as much as I did, but I think it mostly comes down to subtle, wonderful writing by Mottola, who was obviously telling a personal story here and did a great job of it.
As noted by Nathan Rabin in his review of "Adventureland", in a lesser film Reynolds (a failed attempt at a 'rock star' who is in an unhappy marriage and is having an affair with Em, and who is a loser to everyone but the deadbeats younger than him at the amusement park) would be a villain, James Brennan's adversary in a typical love triangle.
James returns to his parents' Pittsburgh home with virginity and intellectual pretensions intact.Still planning on attending Columbia Journalism School and needing funds, James seeks summer employment and settles for a job as a game both operator at Adventureland, a local amusement park that has seen better days.
Extremely powerful performances are provided by Jesse Eisenberg, Martin Starr, Margarita Levieva, Ryan McFarland, and especially Kristen Stewart as James's sort of girlfriend Em.These are not stock characters (with the exception of the ballbusting Frigo character, put here for childish laughs).
Rather, it takes seriously the emotional resonance of the sex, the music, the clothes, the hair, the ganja, the drinking, and the want to all involved (it was serious) and in so doing achieves poignancy.The film touched me and not just because I was almost James's age living not too far from Pittsburgh in 1987, but because it addresses what it means to be on the shaky cusp of adulthood in such an honest way.
What makes the movie even more appealing is that it not only doesn't treat its characters as generic stereotypes, but as humans, which makes them more appealing to the audience.Our main character here is James (played perfectly by Jessie Eisenberg) who has just graduated college and is looking forward to his trip to Europe with his fellow pal.
There he meets some interesting people: the two owners (Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig), nerdy Joel (the likable Martin Starr) and the beautiful "Em" (Kristen Stewert).James and Em quickly fall for each other, but there is one small problem, she is in a very dysfunctional relationship with Connell (Ryan Reynolds), who plays the married park maintenance guy.
Most of the characters you can relate to in some kind of way or you may possibly know someone who is similar to them.This movie was definitely advertised wrong; it seemed as though it was going to be a crude but funny comedy like superbad only there was a hell of a lot more seriousness and romance involved.Kristen Stewart who plays Em Lewin does a fantastic job of showing multiple emotions in a single expression.
Anyone who claims she can't act must not have seen this.Jesse Eisenburg playing James also does very well in being one of those smart, funny, intellectual types who at the same time doesn't talk down to people in a condescending way.And may I say bravo to Bill Hader and Kristen Wigg who had just the right comedic timing.
Yes, Adventureland was pitched to us a romantic teen comedy about a horrible summer job but instead the film is a romantic drama that focuses on 21+ year old, coping with the fact that life is in fact full of sour lemons and you need to take a horrible job because it's the only thing you can do.
A love triangle turns into a square, then a hexagon and soon just a big pile of mess.The film itself could go for a very whimsical style here due to the amusement park setting but because of the directors previous works (Freaks and Geeks and Superbad) he decided to go for a super-realistic approach.
The costumes seem like they're right out of value village, the dialog seems like you could have said it today and the acting makes the characters seem as if they're real people.If feel that Adventureland wasn't pitched to the audience as a dramatic look at young love during the backdrop of the late 1980's because in the latter part of this decade, the only way young people are willing to look at the 1980's is through the eyes of irony.
It was funny and sad, so I'd classify it as a comedy/drama.The movie takes place in the 1980's and the main character is forced to take a job a Pittsburgh area amusement park called "Adventureland" so he can save enough money to attend graduate school.
Kristen, incidentally, seems to be playing the same exact character she played in "Twilight", wounded and needy.Based on the trailers, I was expecting something along the lines of "Superbad" but the movie was a lot closer to "Dazed & Confused", a well written period piece of the 1970's.
One thing this movie has that Superbad didn't though, is a truly heart felt and believable love story that gives Adventureland a bit of a more serious tone.
Anyone who sees this film to relax and enjoy a bit of comedy with a heartfelt story, or to reminisce about their teenage years, their first jobs or their personal time at Adventureland, or even to watch a teenage love story will get what they were looking for..
(Although, in the 21st century, that qualifies you as smarter than 75% of moviegoers.) Clichés abound in Adventureland, from Em showing how wonderfully good-hearted she is by criticizing a girl who won't date a Jew, to every single adult in the movie being a fool, to the nerdy guy who hasn't had sex yet, to a romantic meeting in the rain....
This is a character driven movie, and Jesse Eisenberg really shines in a very likable performance as the geekish underdog out to win the heart of the cool and beautiful but angst-ridden Kristen Stewart.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but "shenanigans" is putting it kindly.The '80s was the decade where coming-of-age dramedies blossomed with great soundtracks, and Adventureland pays off in that regard as well.Motolla himself has warned: "I hope people who grew up in the '80s don't assume it's not for them." Those who are expecting another raunchy teen romp like Superbad may be disappointed.
I'm not the type of person to walk out of a movie - in fact, I've never done it - but Adventureland made it a challenge to stay in the theater in a way that few films do.Let me preface this by saying that I hadn't seen any previews or heard much about Adventureland, so I wasn't expecting a Superbad-esquire romp like many other reviewers apparently did.
There were pockets of insight sprinkled throughout--especially in dealing with the dead-end of indecision that some lives take after college, and in the economic crisis of the late Reagan era that resonates with what we are going through now.This is Greg Mottola's next film after his breakout hit "Superbad," and thus audiences are likely to draw comparisons.
This is a more rewarding movie.Jesse Eisenberg stars as James Brennan, a young man in 1987 who must spend the summer working at a carnival (run by scene stealers Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) in order to pay for graduate school.
I have no clue why this is getting good ratings, and read through a lot of other peoples' comments to try and find out why, and actually came across one person who said practically word-for-word what my boyfriend and I had discussed directly after our viewing.This review points out EXACTLY what was wrong with this terrible film: --------------------------------- Boring and Cliché, 15 April 2009Author: B_D from USAI'm not the type of person to walk out of a movie - in fact, I've never done it - but Adventureland made it a challenge to stay in the theater in a way that few films do.Let me preface this by saying that I hadn't seen any previews or heard much about Adventureland, so I wasn't expecting a Superbad-esquire romp like many other reviewers apparently did.
If anything it subtly condemns the 80s while using its zeitgeist to fuel what is ultimately a rather shallow, go nowhere dramedy that we've seen a thousand times before; And often much better.The cast is blandly appealing and 80s kids will likely find some nuggets of retro joy despite the film's best efforts to eschew nostalgia, but there are few things more annoying than a film that thinks that it's much more profound than it actually is.In the end, 'Adventureland' isn't worth the price of admission..
Their presence gave an unfulfilled hope that this movie would be a lot more fun that it actually was, but Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg came back to remind us that Wiig and Hader were just used decoys for the dry, gloomy, semi-funny feeling the film preferred to fixate itself on..
An ambitious high-school grad has to earn college money to study journalism at Columbia, so he has to take a summer job at "Adventureland, Pittsburg PA", a brummagen (look it up) amusement park where he has to mix with the local dropouts and eventually (and inevitably) finds true love and the meaning of life!
Now Connell is played by Ryan Reynolds, who I detest, although this is how memorable I found him, I actually thought he was Dane Cook through the whole movie until the credits rolled and there he was.I still hate Dane Cook too by the way.Most of the staff are in their teens, which is fine but they are always in pubs, drinking and smoking, not that I am prudish, it's just that I'm sure the legal age is 21 in the US and they never seem to hide anything.To sum up Adventureland is a teen movie unlike many teen movies made for a while, there is no cheesy moments, it is slow and deliberately paced and everyone in it thinks about what they say before they say or do it.Strangely enough even though I would rather watch this a million times than sit through American Pie or Road trip once, I think the level of the dialogue is more accurate in those crappy films, as in my experience being a teen and since then dealing with them, they rarely discuss Melville or underrated Russian authors.Now I think I have suggested that this is not an "event" film, so there isn't much in the way of major plot developments aside from relationship and family issues, which are more easy to appreciate if they aren't listed here.I'm sure that the primary issue faced by the filmmakers and bean counters is that with the target market being teens, would they embrace a clever and intelligent film without explosions and tits?
Sure, it has some good jokes and funny scenarios, but at it's heart, Adventureland is a love story, and a very good one at that.Set in the summer of 1987, we follow Brennan (a typical Jesse Eisenburg character), a high school grad looking for a job to pay for an apartment and a trip to Europe.
Set smack in the late '80s, ADVENTURELAND tells the coming-of-age tale, which such movies are ought to do, of likable, Spielbergian every-boy James who schulbs along in the self-titled ma- and-pa run amusement park the summer before grad school.
ADVENTURELAND plays to the clichés of the time wrapped around a soundtrack of familiar standards, including many that normally don't make the cinematic memory rounds, and, if anything, tells truths that most Gen-Xers either believe, lived through or simply fall prey to that great lie of "remember the time...?" when friends, co-workers or whoever just sorta hung out and talked.With those truths is the, again, likable geek James, who could very well have been written into a John Hughes movie, learns, harshly, that a smooth life isn't handed out, you have to work and relationships aren't as perfect as one may think.
It follows the story of James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) who is struggling to raise the money to go to college and goes to work at a theme park (Adventureland) to raise the funds.
It strikes me as being a far more personal film, presumably because Mottola writes as well as directs.The movie is set in 1987 and is all about James, played by Jessie Eisenberg, who was meant to be having the summer of his life.
Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)USA 2008 English (Colour); Comedy/Drama/Romance (Miramax/Sidney Kimmel/This is that); 107 minutes (15 certificate)Crew includes: Greg Mottola (Director/Screenwriter); Sidney Kimmel, Anne Carey, Ted Hope (Producers); William Horberg, Bruce Toll (Executive Producers); Terry Stacey (Cinematographer); Stephen Beatrice (Production Designer); Anne McCabe (Editor); Yo La Tengo (Composers)Cast includes: Jesse Eisenberg (James Brennan), Kristen Stewart (Em Lewin), Ryan Reynolds (Mike Connell), Martin Starr (Joel), Margarita Levieva (Lisa P.), Kristen Wiig (Paulette), Bill Hader (Bobby), Matt Bush (Tommy Frigo), Wendie Malick (Mrs Brennan), Jack Gilpin (Bill Brennan), Paige Howard (Sue O'Malley), Dan Bittner (Pete O'Malley), Josh Pais (Mr Lewin), Mary Birdsong (Francy Lewin), Barrett Hackney (Munch), Michael Zegan (Eric)"Nothing brings people together like a crappy summer job."When a recent college graduate's (Eisenberg) plans for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe are dashed, he is forced to get a summer job in a tacky, run-down amusement park, where he suffers numerous indignities, falls in love with a beautiful but troubled co-worker (Stewart), and has the worst/best time of his life.A gently amusing, genuinely touching, only occasionally gross-out coming-of-age comedy-drama, set in 1987 to an apt, song-based soundtrack (including the perfect, repetitious use of Falco's annoying but popular "Rock Me Amadeus").First of three films (so far) to pair Eisenberg with Stewart; SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE players Hader (frenetic) and Wiig (subdued) are priceless as the park's oddball owners.Blu-ray Extras: Commentary, Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Short Films.
I was expecting some Eisenberg fast talk and Stuart wooden acting in an R-rated comedy, but it was actually pretty low key slice of life film about a college graduate (Eisenberg) who has to work a crappy job and finds summer romance at said job (Stuart), along with the realistic fun that they get into with their friends and coworkers.
The cast is outstanding, and they are all very well able to do both hilarious scenes, as well as dramatic, serious moments, ranging from Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Ryan Reynolds and Michael Zegen, I felt for and understood all these characters, which goes to show just how good their performances really were.
A great script and a stunning cast, Adventureland is a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good comedy drama.
He hit all the right notes, and managed to be funny and awkward without compromising the lead romantic role.This movie was also an Easter Egg hunt of little surprises, like Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig.
Ryan Reynolds, however, isn't anything special, much like the character he portrays, even if he is a central plot point.However, Adventureland isn't all work and no play: the film isn't without its Superbad-esque comedy.
As well as being a serious, coming-of-age story, Adventureland actually is a pretty funny movie.
Typical of Hollywood for the past 25 years or so, for every three or four terrible, cliché-ridden movies depicting the lives of young people in America, there is one really great film like Adventureland.
Although the story is often predictable, the film is enjoyable and succeeds with moments that actually made me laugh.Set in the summer of 1987, Adventureland shows James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) who has just graduated college with a degree in comparative literature.
His fellow sufferers-in-purgatory include his even more geeky friend, Joel (Martin Starr); his tormentor from elementary school, Frigo (Matt Bush); the elusive girl-of-his-dreams, Emily (Kristen Stewart); hunky security manager, Mike (Ryan Reynolds), who, though married, has got a secret thing going on the side with Emily; sexy hot bombshell, Lisa P (Margarita Levieva); and, finally, two park supervisors played by SNL regulars Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, whose function is to add some understated goofiness to the movie's otherwise gently realistic tone.Based partly on the experiences of writer/director Greg Mottola (who established his bona fides in the genre a few years back with "Superbad"), "Adventureland" is one of those rare youth comedies in which the characters actually come across as real people and not as contrivances paying script-service to a typical coming-of-age story.
It is the simple moments of cinematic magic that made the film work and it's been a while coming since Hollywood goes real and quite satisfying it is.The movie goes like this: Jesse Eisenberg plays a college graduate who is in the midst of a summer job at the local theme park. |
tt0065112 | Topaz | The story is set in 1962 and opens with images of a Soviet military parade on the Red Square. In Copenhagen, Denmark, a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer defects to the West with his wife and daughter after a chase through the streets from the Soviet embassy to the US embassy. Upon arrival in Washington, DC, CIA agent Nordstrom (John Forsythe) debriefs him and learns that Russian missiles are to be posted in Cuba. Nordstrom enlists the aid of his friend and French agent André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford), encouraging him to accompany his daughter Michèle (Claude Jade) on her honeymoon with journalist François Picard (Michel Subor) as a premise to get him to New York. André accepts, but his wife Nicole (Dany Robin) is worried for him.In New York City, André entrusts a familiar contact, a Hatian immigrant and former French secret agent named Philippe Dubois (Roscoe Lee Browne), who currently runs a local flower shop in Harlem, to get hold of some seriously damaging papers concerning Soviet plans in Cuba from the visiting Cuban official Rico Parra (John Vernon playing a Fidel Castro-esq character). Parra is in New York to appear at the United Nations and stays at the Cuban consulate in Harlem to show solidarity with "the masses". Dubois, taking the identity of a black journalist from Ebony, sneaks into the embassy (which is seething with visitors and surrounded by an enthusiastic mob), manages to take photos of some of the documents and then runs away, chased by Cuban revolutionaries. While cunningly dodging away, Dubois shams bumping into and overthrowing André Devereaux, who was watching events from the other side of the street, and slips the camera into his hand. A Cuban guard helps André to get up, stares at him, and lets him go. Dubois manages to escape from his Cuban persuers and returns to his job at working in his flower shop.After examinting the photos, Devereaux confirms that the Soviets are secretly transporting and placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. Devereaux, unheeding of his wife's fear and jealousy, jets off to Cuba to find out more details. He catches up with his Cuban mistress Juanita de Cordoba (Karin Dor), widow to a former first-hour wealthy "hero of the Revolution", and herself now leader of the local underground resistance network: she acts undercover and collects information as Parra's lover. André, on arriving, finds Parra leaving Juanita's mansion. During a scene of intimacy in the mansion, Devereaux asks her to somehow take photos of the missiles as they are unloaded from Russian boats at the harbor. But Juanita's people are arrested and tortured, while Parra's man, during a big mass rally held during a lengthy speech of the "leader màximo" recognizes André's face from the incident in front of the hotel.Parra, who has heard from the maimed and tortured female underground member that Juanita is their leader, confronts Juanita and, hugging her in his arms, shoots her to save her from being tortured to death.In one of the film's most memorable shots, Juanita is seen from overhead, her dress spreading out on the floor like a bloodstain (although it is purple not red) on the big black-and-white pavement tiles, as she collapses.André is arrested is searched thoroughly at the Havana airport on departure, but the Cuban authorities are unable to find the carefully hidden microfilms, which provide crucial information for the CIA about Soviet activities in Cuba. André finds them hidden behind the cover of a book that Juanita gives him prior to leaving just before she is killed by Parra.At this point, the plot of the movie completely changes course. When André arrives back in Washington, he finds his home empty: his wife deserted him due to his Cuban love interest and returned to Paris. He is also recalled to Paris, but before he leaves, he is informed by Nordstrom about the existence of a Soviet spy organization called 'Topaz' within the French intelligence service. He is given the name of one certain member, NATO official Henri Jarré (Philippe Noiret), who leaked documents to the KGB.On arrival back in Paris, Andre attempts to get to the bottom of the leak, while his daughter Michèle wants to reconcile her parents. He invites some of his old friends and colleagues, including Jarré, to a lunch at a fine restaurant, "Chez Pierre". While Jarré eats, André tells the others about Topaz in order to provoke some reaction. Jarré answers that all this is a piece of misinformation, since he knows that the Russian official in fact died a year ago. But he begins to panic, and visits the man who is the leader of the spy ring, Jacques Granville (Michel Piccoli). But Granville, in his night gown, is "waiting for somebody". As Jarré is leaving Granville's house, a woman arrives. It is Nicole, André's wife, and as they kiss we see a photo on a stand: Devereaux, Nicole and Granville were old friends from their days together in the French Resistance...Devereaux sends his son-in-law François to interview and extract information out of Jarré. François calls Devereaux from Jarré's home, but the call is cut short. Devereaux and Michèle rush together to Jarré's flat, and find him dead having been thrown from his second floor window and landing on the roof of a parked car. François has disappeared.André and Michèle return to Nicole's, and a short time later François arrives: he was clubbed, but came to and managed to escape from his captors' car. He has overheard a phone number and shows a sketch of Jarré. Nicole, who was staring at the window then turns around and tells her family, with tearful eyes, that the phone number is Granville's, so he must be the leader of the "Topaz" organization.Devereaux goes to meet Agent Nordstrom and the Presidential entourage at Orly Airport, and to tell him about Granville. Nordstrom and company then tell the French they will brief them on the missiles in Cuba, but insist Granville not attend.The next morning, Devereaux and his wife, now obviously reconciled in mutual forgiveness, board a Pan Am flight back to Washington. And watch, she in revulsion, he in sardonic good humor, as Granville, bidding Devereaux "Bon voyage," boards an Aeroflot flight back to Moscow. "He never misses a trick," observes Devereaux. "But at least that's the end of Topaz."A few days later, the New York Herald-Tribune prints the news that Khruschev has agreed to dismantle the Cuban missile bases. An anonymous reader, sitting on a bench on l'Avenue des Champs-Élysées (with l'Arc de Triomphe in the background), reads the article. He then folds up the paper, sets it on the bench, and walks away.Note: The above is one of three endings for this film that Hitchcock shot. The DVD release has all three:1. In which Granville boards a flight to Moscow in front of Devereaux, who shrugs and says, "Well, at least that's the end of Topaz." The final scene plays out as above.2. In which, after the French authorities dismiss Granville from the meeting, we look down the street where Granville lives. A single shot rings out. We presume Granville has committed suicide. The final scene shows the headline about Khruschev withdrawing the missiles from Cuba, against a montage of those who lost their lives to achieve that result. But this time the passerby, instead of leaving the paper for others to read, puts it into a public trash basket.3. In which Granville and Devereaux arrange and fight a duel with pistols. Granville, of course, loses.American TV networks, showing this film on their prime-time movie slots, typically showed the second ending. So also did various broadcast stations who acquired Topaz in syndication. But HDNet-TV, showing this film for its 2015 Alfred Hitchcock festival, showed the first ending. | suspenseful, intrigue, murder | train | imdb | Although not as humorous, nor as romantic, nor even as exciting as the director's best films, the movie is nonetheless an intelligent and intriguing spy drama, one that compares more to a motion picture like DAY OF THE JACKYL than usual Hitchcock fare.His other spy dramas, like NORTH BY NORTHWEST, may be more fun, but none of them are as realistic.
Dany Robin, Frederick Stafford, Phillippe Noiret, Michel Subor, Michel Piccoli all have had substantial careers in the French cinema.Topaz is certainly an international thriller with the action going from Copenhagen, to Harlem, to Cuba, and finally Paris.
A French intelligence agent named Andre Deveraux (Frederick Stafford) befriends American official called Michael Nordstrom (John Forsythe) and both of whom become involved in the Cold War politics to dig out info , first with uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missle Crisis, and then back to France to discover a secret conspiracy .
Meanwhile, an ex-KGB official defector flees to USA where he is interviewed and tells him about Topaz, the codename for a group of French officials in high circles who work for the Soviet Union , as the protagonists attempt to break up an international Russian spy ring (Philippe Noiret , Michel Piccoli) infiltrated in French government .This suspenseful Hitchcock film contains cloak-and-dagger intrigue , whirlwind plot , thrills , twists and results to be pretty entertaining .
Good support cast mostly formed by European actors who give nice interpretations such as : Dany Robin as Nicole Devereaux , Vernon as Rico Parra , gorgeous Karin Dor as Juanita Cordoba , Michel Piccoli a Jacques Granville , Philippe Noiret as Henri Jarre , Claude Jade as Michèle Picard and Roscoe Lee Browne as Philippe Dubois .
One aspect of "Topaz" that should be kept in mind is that while American and British critics were belittling Hitchcock as a "mere entertainer," the French New Wave critics, led by Francois Truffaut, were lionizing him and Truffaut even published a book-long interview with Hitchcock published in 1967.Hitchcock hadn't worked in years and was desperately trying to get another movie going when Universal showed him the book "Topaz" -- about spies in the French government, with a French protagonist and climactic scenes in Paris.
I think that Hitchcock may have -- unwisely -- decided to do "Topaz" so he could do a "French picture."There are some great individual scenes in Topaz -- the opening defection in Copenhagen, the suspenseful mission to get secrets from the Cubans in Harlem's Hotel Theresa (Hitchcock in Harlem?!); the hero's dangerous mission into Cuba and the death of his key contact there.But Hitchcock really didn't like making "Topaz," he was bored and ill and resentful (Universal had killed a project called "Frenzy" -- not to be confused with the 1972 film he made of that name -- and Hitchcock was bitter about it.) So we end up with a very half-hearted Hitchcock movie with a few good scenes, no real stars, THREE failed endings (all available to see on the DVD), and an attempt to "make nice with my French friends.".
What was most amusing was the criticism of the American espionage agents: "We would have done it better" and the exchange of words by the defector in Washington, D.C. Andre's outburst to his bosses on the outcome of French intervention in the defection would lead to the defector's assassination is equally poignant had the film ended with the French spy defecting to Russia (one of the alternate endings).Finally, Hitchcock's use of the newspaper headlines during key scenes in the background was interesting: The Pieta shot had the newspaper shot in the background and the newspaper left behind on a bench in Paris is the final shot.
The memorable scenes are pure and exclusively visual: the intriguing start, the stealing of the documents, the death of Juanita, the torturing of the cuban spies, the discovery of the body at Jarre's apartment, the meal of the french officers...Hitchcock used to take technical challenges in every one of his films, I assume that here he committed to deliver the most complicated information concerning the plot without using dialogue, and he succeed.There's a lot of subtle humor and some clever twists.
"Topaz" is at its best when Alfred Hitchcock lets the camera tell the story: there are several small but brilliant moments in this film.
Based on Leon Uris' novel of the same name about the tense days of the Cuban missile crisis, Alfred Hitchcock's `Topaz' is an underrated cold-war thriller - - underrated by English-speaking audiences and critics probably because the chief protagonist is a Frenchman!
This is, perhaps, the only movie in which Hitchcock seems to show some sympathy towards those who get murdered, as evidenced by the final scene, which shows the ironical contrast between the superficial newspaper headline about the Cuban missile crisis ending and the grim fates of the unsung secret agents who helped end it.
This film is better to me than the star powered Torn Curtain spy thriller he did previous to it.There are times where the story is a little predictable.
It is interesting that Maltin observes the fascinating use of no sound for suspense employed by Sir Alfred in this movie, but he is not smart enough to realize where Hitchcock got it from.Hitch was definitely still a great film maker in 1969.
Topaz (1969) is the 51st Alfred Hitchcock movie.In the year 1962 there's the cold war going on.The story takes you to Denmark, NYC, Washington DC, Paris and Cuba when it was ran by a man named Fidel Castro.Remember?
Topaz is based on the novel by Leon Uris.This is not Hitchcock's best work but it's not bad either.He couldn't make a bad movie.Hitchcock at worst would be a masterpiece to some directors of our time.One thing this movie was criticized about was that it didn't have any big stars there.That may be a little problem, but just a little.There still are some great actors performing their parts.The most known name would be the now 90 year old John Forsythe.Also the late Roscoe Lee Browne is in the movie.Frederick Stafford is there.Michel Subor, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret and so on.There are many French actors in this movie and people were probably expecting Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart.Nevertheless this is a good movie.Not the best of Hitch but for a man with so many masterpieces under his belt you couldn't expect him hit the jackpot every time..
In Washington, Boris discloses the Russian movement in Cuba, and Nordstrom asks the French agent and his friend Andre Devereaux (Frederick Stafford) to get further documents from the Cuban leader Rico Parra (John Vernon) using his anti-American corrupt secretary Luis Uribe (Don Randolph).
Excellent Cast (Stafford is the Right to play that role!, internationally acclaimed french stars Robin, Jade, Subor, Piccoli and Noiret, great: Karin Dor and John Vernon, charming: Roscoe Lee Browne) In my opinion one of the best Hitchcock's..
I have to put a 10 in, cause I loved it, and I loved that Mr. Hitchcock went for unknowns and foreign performers.What I can't fathom is what led so many contemporaries to say that Stafford wasn't anything but Amazing, a French intelligence officer friends with a CIA man, who have a working friendship/exchange going on.He is a man of conscience, and when he sees what Castro has planned despite his nations neutrality on the subject is moved by conscience.AND the fact that he knew what he was risking did it anyway, and It was an amazingly believable and compelling story.I just don't get fickle critics..
Alfred Hitchcock directed this cold war thriller that stars John Forsythe as American agent Michael Nordstrom, who is sent to interview a high-ranking Russian official who has defected to the U.S. with some vital information: that a ring of French spies codenamed Topaz has been stealing and selling top secret NATO information to the Russians.
Watching it again, I found myself enjoying the 1960s ambiance and gear-shifting plot, along with a few of the performances, enough to gain a healthy appreciation for what's good in this Hitchcock version of the globetrotting spy story.It's still not THAT good.It's 1962, and just as the real-life drama of the Cuban Missle Crisis unfolds, Soviet spy master Boris Kusenov (Per-Axel Arosenius) defects to the United States with his family.
He knows things the U.S. intelligence man Michael Nordstrom (John Forsythe) wants to know, about both Cuba and a ring of mysterious Frenchmen known as "Topaz" who are passing secrets to the U.S.S.R. To get at the bottom of both, he enlists a trusted friend in French intelligence, Andre Devereaux (Frederick Stafford).Forsythe is the biggest American name in the cast, and the only one with prior experience with Hitchcock, but he's really just M to Stafford's James Bond, whose Devereaux proves a surprisingly amiable gopher for Uncle Sam.At one point, Nordstrom pulls Devereaux from a dinner with his family for an on-the-spot spy mission in Harlem involving gun-toting Cuban revolutionaries."You understand, this can't have anything to do with us," Nordstrom tells Devereaux after the latter agrees to this escapade.
"If anything goes wrong, it's your operation." "I know," Devereaux replies.Stafford makes the character even harder to grasp by playing him so woodenly, his casting by Hitchcock in such a central role being a major weakness of the film.The best performances in this film are Roscoe Lee Browne as a Harlem florist Devereaux enlists for the above-mentioned mission; Arosenius as the defector, with a clipped way about him as he plays for the maximum advantage ("I gave you no understanding" he sneers as Nordstrom presses for info); John Vernon, implausibly cast as one of Comrade Fidel's loyal lieutenants but pulling it off with the help of some sinister eyeliner and deadpan humor; and Karin Dor as a Cuban beauty with secret ties.I can spend a whole evening just staring at the freckle on Dor's lower lip, and you get the feeling Devereaux can, too, in some swoony romantic scenes that show the director of "To Catch A Thief" still could shoot a love scene.
There's no reason why information about the missiles can realistically help uncover Topaz, but we are meant to think it somehow can, so the story can move forward.Not one of Hitchcock's best, or even a good one, "Topaz" still entertains with the odd shot, the funny line, or just the evocative Henry Bumstead set designs.
This isn't Hitchcock at his best, but it is an interesting movie about a French agent and how he is caught up in the Cuban Missile Crisis.The sequence involving the defection of the KGB official was very tense.
Overall, he was good as the French agent.Compared to Hitchcock's previous effort, Torn Curtain, Topaz is a much better spy movie.
On the other hand, the film's pacing is plodding, and while there are some nice touches- the murder scene- and an entertaining cameo Hitchcock didn't seem to have his heart in it as much of it seemed rather flat.There are too many characters, and a lot of them are thinly sketched, and nobody else really shines in their roles with Frederick Stafford especially stone-faced and wooden throughout.
There's a reason you don't hear much about Alfred Hitchcock's 1969 Cold War opus, TOPAZ, and that's simply because it's not that great a movie.
There are still some great moments – the scene in which a man attempts to photograph some secret documents is a 'how to' guide in building suspense – but by the time the action shifted to Cuba, back to America and then to France for the long-winded climax, I'm afraid to say I just didn't care much anymore.It all feels like an attempt to emulate the globe-trotting hijinks of James Bond, especially when Stafford takes time out to romance exotic beauty Karin Dor. But it lacks the excitement and danger that made those films so popular during this era.
Similarly, the great John Vernon is on hand as a larger-than-life Cuban leader, but his villain is underutilised and just seems to disappear from the story as it goes on.At over two hours and twenty minutes in length, TOPAZ is by far Hitch's longest movie.
Clearly one of Alfred Hitchcock's more experimental movies, "Topaz" focuses on Frenchman Andre Devereaux (Frederick Stafford) getting involved in espionage right before the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Incidentally the French star of Topaz was killed in a plane crash some years after working on the film, while that other great character actor John Vernon died about two years ago after acting in some fine films over the years..
Hitchcock had already worked with French actors:Pierre Fresnay in "the man who knew too much ,1st version" Brigitte Auber and Charles Vanel in " to catch a thief" or Louis Jourdan in " the Paradine case".But in Topaz ,French actors outnumber the others.And it is a very strange gathering: Dany Robin was a romantic female lead of the two previous decades ;Michel Subor was an earnest intellectual thespian ;Michel Piccoli and Philippe Noiret were two sixties favorites;and Claude Jade was François Truffaut's protégée ,which may help her or not become part of the cast.Add the poor man's James Bond F.Stafford( OSS 117 in France) and you realize that it was impossible to get a high standard Hitch.In the "Hitchcock/Truffaut "book, the French director reveals that AH had to cut some scenes which made the audience laugh (a duel between Piccoli and Stafford);that he did not know,for the first time in his life,how to end his film;that he (and it's obvious) imitated Costa-Gavras's "Z" ending ."Topaz" ,unlike " torn curtain" ,an underrated spy thriller,is probably AH's latter days' worst movie..
Still, it's not as bad as John Addison's music for Torn Curtain.True to Hitchcock's tradition of having at least one memorable shot in each film, in Topaz it is the magnificent murder scene between two lovers, made as if it were a love scene, with sexual implications.
I can't remember I have seen Topaz before, but, on the alike many other viewers here, I was not "put off" by the name of Alfred Hitchcock; as I knew the plot briefly, I did not expect any thrilling suspension in the style of Psycho.Nevertheless, I liked the movie in general, particularly direction and cinematography; as for the cast, there were no excelling performances, Frederick Stafford as André Devereaux was not very charismatic, and the French actors made conversations in English even if talking to themselves (a feature seldom visible in recent movies where dubbing or subtitles are used in scenes concerned).
Some people think that this movie was better than some of his later films like Family Plot, Marnie, and Torn Curtain.
As two examples, the early scene where U.S. agent Michael Nordstrom played by John Forsythe is leading the defection of a Russian diplomat and his wife and daughter on to a plane that is headed to the U.S. and also in a latter scene when French diplomat Andre Devereaux played by Frederick Stafford is running up an endless apartment stairwell to see if his son-in-law has been hurt was not the classic and suspenseful scenes that we have become accustomed to in Hitchcock films.
The trouble, however, is that it moves at such a glacial pace that it requires a bit of effort to finish.For a basic plot summary, "Topaz" is an espionage tale focusing on Andre Devereaux (Frederick Stafford), who (along with wife, child, Latin lover, and national government) finds himself in a mess of government secrets involving the Cubans, French, and Russians.The actual espionage portions of this film are quite interesting and compelling.
As cold war films go, this is unheralded and certainly far better than the more recent film that covered the same subject, the Cuban Missile Crisis.A Frenchman is co-opted to do some spying work for the Americans in Cuba and, in what is largely an unheralded cast, you are absolutely gripped as he works to uncover exactly what is going on with a Russians inflitrating the French secret service at the same time.The casting of the Cuban characters really did impress, as they were very Castro-esque.Not a usual Hitchcock thriller, but very well done all the same..
On the contrary, I would say.The film brings to screen a novel by Leon Uris which tells a true story of a Soviet spy ring in the high French political environments during the critical days of the Cuban missiles crisis.
there was a twenty or so year period where Alfred became Hitchcock and planted down the seed that made him the biggest director in the world, but the guy made movies before and after this period.When we think about the fat man, we think about movies like Psycho and Vertigo which are the highlights and if your a die-hard fan you are familiar with Rope and Strangers on a Train.I was curious about the movies he made out side that twenty year zone, and Topaz was the first that I came up on.Topaz is about a French intelligence agent who gets involved in Cold War politics that lead up to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis.It's got Hitchcock's stank all over it with camera angles and story set up.
TOPAZ, based on a novel of the same name by Leon Uris, was Hitchcock's second (and final) foray into the Cold War, and is about a French agent who gets caught in between the Americans and the Russians.
The French characters are good, believable, but this segment of the movie moves along and ends too quickly to ever amount to anything beyond a tease.So, I like this film, but it's many grades below other Hitchcock films, no question.
It is a very good film, a thrilling spy story which works better not having a famous cast, you get the impression these are real people caught up in all of this.C.I.A agent Michael Nordstrom(John Forsythe)sends one of his friends a French agent called Devereaux(Fredrick Stafford)to Cuba to investigate something called Topaz.The mission becomes very dangerous and Juanita de Cordoba (Karin Dor)the Cuban woman Devereaux loves and who assists him in gathering information is tragically murdered.Filled with plenty of suspense,thrills and betrayal this is a gripping film filled with excellent performances.. |
tt1322302 | La hora cero | The film begins at night, at the Venezuelan slums. A young hitman explains that he is called La Parca (Zapata 666) because he always brings death. [La Parca is the representation of death in the Spanish world, usually dressed in a black robe and with a skeleton bodywhose hand holds a scythe] Images of a starving dog and a suffering lady. Parca, in a voiceover, says that today, it's his time, because death reaches everybody. Parca, whose real name is Tito, is carrying in his arms a heavily pregnant woman. Buitre - which means vulture - (Laureano Olivares) approaches Parca and the woman; she is bleeding and calls Parca Tito, so Buitre wonders what the hell is happening.News excerpts and newspaper cut outs of a doctors' strike. "La hora cero (the zero hour)" means that from that time no medical services will be available to anybody, and it's thought that thousands will perish because of it.We return to Parca's ordeal. Cura - which ironically means priest - (Mascioli Zapata) is talking to a girl through his mobile phone, making sexual remarks to her. Then, Parca, Buitre and Ladydi (Amanda Key) arrive, and they use Cura's moped. Cura also wonders at her calling him Tito. Ladydi leaves blood marks, and wild dogs arrive to lick it.Margaret (Ana María Simón) is hosting her programme. She says that the strike takes place in a moment when a cholera strike is spreading through Venezuela. She gives way to Verónica Rojas (Marisa Román) a correspondant which is at the door of a hospital. Dr. Ricardo Cova (Erich Wildpret) prescribes "no diet pills and a milkshake" to a young girl who has fainted. A female doctor tells her to take side: he is with the strikers, or he is helping patients. When the female doctor leaves, after having complained that the hospital has run out of surgical thread, the mob gets more violent, so a clerk closes and locks the outer rail and main gate. Just afterwards Parca and his friends arrive with Ladydi. They shoot the clerk and the lock, which wakes up Cova.Cova tries to help, in spite of not having the right surgical equipment, as it is a family practicioner establishment, not a full hospital with emergency equipment. Ladydi is in her 33rd week, and has been shot, as was Parca. Fetal heartbeat rhythm is irregular, but Cova can't operate there. As they don't want to wait for an ambulance which may never even leave its parking slot, Buitre calls for a cab, and forces the taxi driver (Froilán Rivero) to give them the keys to his car. As compensation, Buitre gives the taxi driver the moped's keys, and laughs it off saying it was stolen anyway.They decide to make a run for the private hospital José Gregorio. Cova is taken on the backseat tending to Ladydi. The main song from the soap opera Cristal is heard "Mi vida eres tú", and Parca, who is driving, tells Buitre to stop fucking around with the radio. Cura is following them in his moped. Ladydi starts giving birth, but she is too weak to push, so Cova will have to try something. He asks for a knife, a lighter and somebody's help. Blood is everywhere. Parca jumps to the back seat and lets Buitre drive.Parca will push the baby out, meanwhile Cova hits the knife with the lighter and cuts Ladydi, to give way to the baby. They arrive to a road blockade, and after driving on the wrong lane for a while, they arrive to the point where two police officers are. Buitre stops and insists to Parca that will be teammembers fifty-fifty in every business, or he won't jump the blockade. Parca agrees.The baby (Kenyerly Robles) is born, and they are more in a hurry than ever. Cura shoots one of the cops and pushes the other one. There is blood absolutely everywhere, but Ladydi looks happy because the baby looks awake and healthy, in spite of the ordeal.Cut to a clean, snow-white, quiet hospital. Mrs Isabel Mendoza (Haydee Faverola) is trying to read a magazine, but her companion Alejandra (Tatiana Mabo) is worried. Doña Isabel tells that the doctors will only inform the relatives of the patient.The group arrives to the José Gregorio hopital. Cura drives inside the hospital and goes up the stairs in his moped. They interrupt some breast plastic surgery. They force the doctors to take care of Ladydi, who has lost a lot of blood, but the nurse Karla (Nana Ponceléon) says that today there are not any bags of blood, because of the strike - the people who had to send the supplies didn't send them. There are flashbacks of Tito as a child (Luis Alejandro Silva) who has bought ice-cream from stolen money, and he tells her that he will give her money. A teenaged Ladydi (Scarlett Jaimes) says that she wants to go to look for work in the rich areas. Cova tries to give information about the case and leave her with Dr Hernández (Antonio Cuevas), but the surgeon says he will need all the help available, so Cova has no option but staying, and makes a gesture of disappointment.Buitre kills a security guard and takes everybody hostage. Chino (Anthony Rivero "El Gringo") is sent to the rooftop to get a grip "on things" and Buitre has taken all available weaponry.Verónica tells Margaret that she got the scoop that something is happening at the hospital, and that nobody else knows from it. Jesús - or Jesus - (Albi De Abreu) was smoking some dope, so she tries to convince him of concentrating on her live broadcast, saying that this report will be their opportunity to work for the CNN in the USA.The police, with Comisario Peña (Alejandro Furth) on the lead, arrive, as we hear their sirens on the outside.Gobernador Gonzalo (Rolando Padilla) is talking on the phone. He wants the strike to end without casualties, but he's conscious that neither he nor the government has the money to give the pay rise which doctors are asking for. His wife Pilar Pérez (Beatriz Vásquez) is sowing a bikini for their dauther Laura, and she says that she would like his husband and Laura go to the beach on their own. Gonzalo is interrupted by the mobile phone. He switches on the TV and Verónica is there, broadcasting more.Parca bandages his own arm, and while smoking, he remembers the first time he killed somebody, at the age of ten. Karla appears and says that the baby's eyes are yellow: the baby needs a blood transfusion immediately. Cova trashes some medical equipment out of sheer frustration.A blond cop, Inspector Gringo (Steve Wilcox) says that the thugs are trying to save the life of a pregnant chick, and gives the name of Parca, who tattoos himself with the names of his victims. Verónica convinces Ponce to comb his hair and to talk to her, and also of letting her go through the police line. Verónica and Jesus approach the taxi on the entrance door, and they start to broadcast live. They panic and they get on the taxi. Buitre watches them on TV and puts on a shirt on his head and with the help of Cura, takes them inside the hospital, making them hostages as well.Margaret says that violence is spreading because of the strike. Buitre says that the situation is becoming very hard. Parca listens to him, and watches Margaret creating more panic. He tells Jesus to grab his camera and broadcast live. Cova shows the baby and stuttering, he says that they need 6 units of blood and some saline solution. Parca appears live and says that rich go to private clinics while the poor die on the streets. The maid of Pilar looks at her with accusing eyes. He offers to release a hostage for each poor patient which gets into the José Gregorio. The governor complains that Peña let the reporters in, and says that he wants all that to finish quickly without casualties - a bit late for that - and doesn't like Peña's plan of sending police officers posing as sick people. In private, he asks Salguero (Yugui López) for an undisclosed favour.Parca remembers how his mother was killed while having his handbag taken away. Ladydi offers him some consolation and wipes away his tears. They kissed each other. Buitre complains about Parca appearing on tv, but he says that Prince, Yunior (Lewis Martínez) and Cura will leave with the hostages, while Ladydi, the baby, Chino, Buitre and Parca will leave in a chopper. Buitre says that that is not a Hollywood film, and Parca acts all tough and tells him to do what he says. Parca tells Prince to tie everybody down with families. Isabel and her companion says that they are not relatives, but the young lady is punched because the thug will not believe her, as the two women came together to the hospital.Cova doesn't want to keep doing the surgery; when Hernández reminds him of the Hippocrates Oath he tells of once, when he saved a thug's life, he robbed from him and shot him in the ciatic nerve a week afterwards, and the thug told him that each one did his job. The dead security guard is pulled into another room, as they need his clothes.People want to get in because of Parca's words. They cheer Parca when the police won't let them in. Parca goes out to check on the situation and Verónica tells him that, with two more interviews, he could be running for President. Parca pushes her and saves himself and her of being shot by a sniper. Cura says that if they shoot them in spite of them offering to free the hostages, it's because they are not going to leave the hospital alive. Meanwhile, he's gonna feel Miss Venezuela (Vivian Ramos)'s tits - the girl who was going to have a boobs job done to her by Hernández.The governor tells Peña that he's incompetent, but he says that he's never lost an officer, and so far, following the governor's order, he's got 5 officers wounded, probably one of them dead. Peña tells him to solve the strike if he wants to have no civilians wounded. Milagros Mendoza, Miss Venezuela has her photograph appearing on Margaret's programme, where her implants on the day of the strike are mentioned. Margaret por la mañana [Margaret in the Morning] extends its timelength and launches a special called Especial por la tarde.Yunior is the first who leaves with some of the hostages, and threatens Alejandra to shut up about him being one of the thugs. The blood arrives. The governor wants to release Parca's previous crimes so that people won't think he's a Robin Hood of sorts. Salguelo tells him that Pilar is worried, and the Governor stops for a second saying that cancer is winning over her. Gonzalo shouts to Otto to end the strike, and to find the money wherever.Buitre picks up the phone and a male's voice asking for Parca tells him that he can help them out. Chino says that there are 15 or 20 thugs inside, but that he didn't think his pay was enough to risk his life. The companion helps him out.Ladydi's surgery goes on, with Cova a reluctant surgeon. Verónica has to grab the leg of the baby so that Cova can make an incision, take a vein out and put the blood through there. Cura and Karla praise him. Parca appears and wants to make him tend to the other patients. Cova says he's not afraid of him, but when Parca gives him his own gun, he won't take it, because they are different, Rodrigo Cova argues. But Parca tells him they are the same, because he knows all the shit which happens at the slums, and he knows that the doctor lets die all the thugs who arrive to his clinic.Buitre tells Parca that it was the governor who offered to help them out, but Parca won't trust him. Cova's workmate arrives to criticize the government some more. Verónica wants to interview Cova, and he starts flirting with her. Meanwhile, Marisol Mendoza has woken up from aenesthetics without having her boob job performed on her. Cura approaches her and starts telling what happened in a quite funny moment. Cura starts singing to her.Margaret is creating a public opinion favourable to Parca. Cova tends to an elderly woman, whom Verónica has disregarded. One of the patients called Doña Tita (Antonieta Colón) makes soup for everybody.Yuleisy Sandoval (Begoña La Barrera) phones them from inside and talks about the situation. Parca tells Buitre to wait for the chopper, and tells him to lead if he wants.Margaret phones Verónica and tells her that people from the top want them out of the air, and Jesus panicks when he feels that they both are fired. Hernández tells Parca that Ladydi needs one hour more before leaving, and the nurse tells Parca that Ladydi wouldn't want that to happen. Parca remembers her coming home with another boy and not taken the money he had taken from somebody - probably after killing that person.Margaret now says that Parca killed a security guard, the bread-winner of his family, in the first clinic he visited. Verónica is furious because she won't be in the air anymore. In her frustration, she slips in a pool of blood, and gets her hands bloodied.Outside, some doctors are checking on patients, but others are there to put pressure and have Cova freed. A representative - probably the Otto the governor was talking to before - says that the strike is over, and that all doctors who won't return to their posts will be arrested. This infuriates the doctors. A true mob appears. Peña wants to send the chopper. Buitre talks to the governor on his own.Verónica tries to find another station which will air her, as she is afraid that she and Jesús are going to be killed if she is not useful anymore. Cova nods in silence and consoles her.More hostages are released by Buitre. Prince (Robert "Splinter" García) is the second one to leave with the hostages; however, he hesitates, betraying himself, and he's shot mercilessly. Parca and Buitre see this, and they fight over the control of the situation. Margaret is bitching some more and calls Parca "animal", so he shoots the tv set.Meanwhile, there are two police officers inside posing as patients which have introduced weapons within their casts. Peña comments that Ladydi was working at the governor's but that she was sacked half a year ago. Parca threatens Jesus and Verónica, but the alarm rings because the baby is dead. She was smothered with pillows. Parca realises that there are cops in, and gives orders of killing them. He punches Cova when he tries to convince him otherwise.Buitre tells everybody to strip, including Veronica, so he does it himself. The police officers shoot Cura, but Hernandez refuses to leave. One of the cops wants to kill Ladydi, but Parca prevents it.The governor remembers his love affair with Ladydi while he nervously waits for the all-clear call. Pili phones the governor, saying that the police questioned her about Ladydi, who got pregnant with the governor's child. When she told him, he fired her; in result she scratched his back, and that's how Pilar realised about the love affair. Now Pilar says she can't take it anymore.Parca phones asking how many cops are inside. When he got no answer, he sent the cop Sandoval who was killed by the snipers. Parca asks for the chopper in 15 minutes or he will kill a hostage every minute. Cova is alone with Ladydi. He takes a gun and leaves.Buitre thinks that Verónica was who betrayed them and that Jesús is a cop. Jesús is fired. They are about to enter because Peña was sacked. Peña enters the hospital. Cova points his gun to Parca and Buitre aims at the hostages. Peña tells him that the governor was the father of Ladydi's child and has a plan to save everybody. The army obeys the governor.The police and the army aim at each other. Peña convinces Parca to let Miss Venezuela and her mother leave. Outside, Alejandra and Milagros kiss each other, and it looks like Isabel finally accepts the partner of her daughter.Cova offers to go with Ladydi in the chopper to monitor her. Peña punches the governor. Ladydi wakes up. Peña has taken a bloodied towel with the baby's blood and now he can compare it with the governor's blood. Ladydi gets frantic when she learns that her child is dead. Flashback to panicky Ladydi, who shot Parca by mistake, thinking he was one of the Governor's men.Buitre had betrayed Parca; for example, he was the one who gave the cops the weapons. Parca killed Buitre. Parca doesn't go with Cova and Ladydi in the chopper. He is shot on the rooftop while he remembers his love for Ladydi.The governor panics some more when he sees that Buitre is dead. The mob hails Parca's corpse as its hero. Ladydi and Cova arrive somewhere with Doña Tita in tow.Cast credits.Margaret bids goodbye, and says that, for the first time, Margaret por la mañana accompanied its audience for the afternoon and evening, and says that everybody can sleep tight and safely... for now.Final credits.---written by KrystelClaire | murder, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0082418 | Friday the 13th Part 2 | Two months later after Crystal Lake's brutal massacre, Alice (Adrienne King), wakes up after dreaming about Mrs. Voorhees' decapitation. She talks on the phone to her mother, then she takes a shower and decides to boil the kettle. When she opens the fridge, she finds Mrs Voorhees' severed head, before being stabbed in the head with an ice pick by a unidentified assailant.Five years later, a group of young adults have come to Crystal Lake to attend a counselor training center that has been set up near the now-condemned Camp Crystal Lake. While some counselors, named Jeff (Bill Randolph) and Sandra (Marta Kober), are in town on their way to the facility, the town drunkard Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney) appears and tells the counselors to turn back, as the young counselors five years ago did not heed his warning. At the camp, Paul (John Furey), the leader of the group, explains how camp counseling is a serious job, and that the main danger in this area is bears. Ginny (Amy Steel), Paul's former girlfriend, arrives in her broken-down Volkswagon and attends the meeting as well.One night, around a campfire, Paul tells the people about how Jason Voorhees drowned in the same lake which their training area also bounds; how his mother was found to be the infamous murderer of "Camp Blood"; and that Alice survived only to disappear shortly thereafter, and that some of the local residents believe Jason is still alive and viciously protects the area around Crystal Lake. When the counselors seem into the story, they are shocked by a mask-wearing man with a spear, but it only turns out to be the prankster Ted (Stu Charno) in a monster mask and Paul claims that Jason is dead. While some of the counselors are seen making out, Crazy Ralph is standing behind a tree, and is suddenly killed using a garotte around his neck.The next day, Jeff and Sandra sneak away to Camp Crystal Lake, which is now in disrepair. As they are about to go into one of the cabins, they are stalked by an unseen man who then approaches them; but it is revealed that is a local policeman (Jack Marks) who has caught them trespassing. The policeman returns the two counselors to camp, where Paul only recommends a light punishment. However, when driving away, the policeman sees somone dart out in front of his squad car, and is running in the direction of the off-limits Camp Crystal Lake. The policeman chases after the masked man to arrest him as well, only to lose him and go into a cabin. The policeman then sees a horrifying sight (not shown to the viewer) before having a claw hammer slammed into the back of his head.After getting to know one another and participating in some training exercises (which consist of dancing, jogging through the woods, swimming and a cookout), the majority of the trainees leave the campsite to party in town for the evening with the exception of Jeff, Sandra (it is their punishment), Mark (Tom McBride) (he is in a wheelchair), Vicki (Lauren-Marie Taylor) (she wants to stay and talk to Mark), as well as Vicki's friend Teri (Kirsten Baker), and Scott (Russell Todd).Teri decides to go for a swim, and goes skinny dipping. During this, her clothes are stolen by someone, and she exits the lake. It is revealed to be Scott who stole her clothes. As they playfully fight, Scott is caught in a trap, and is hung upside down. Teri goes to look for something to cut him down with. While she is looking, Scott's throat is cut by the assailant, using a panga machete. When Teri returns, she thinks Scott is playing a game, but finds him dead, and she is killed off-screen.Meanwhile, far away from the camp, the other group of counselors are partying at a local bar. Ginny brings up the legend of Jason, imagining what Jason would be like if he were alive, deducing he had seen his mother murdered and would be a vengeful creature unaware of the meaning of life and death. Paul, in response, dismisses her concerns and tells her that he is only a legend since Jason drowned in the lake and his demented mother, whom murdered seven people at Camp Crystal Lake, is also dead and buried. Ginny gets bored and decides to return to the camp, and Paul accompanys her, while Ted and the rest of the counselors stay behind at the bar.As it begins to rain, Vicki goes to put some make up on, so Mark will find her more attractive. Mark is on the balcony, when the killer attacks him from behind, by slamming the machete through his head and his corpse, along with his wheelchair falls down the raining stairs. Vicki goes into the house to look for Mark, but cannot find him. Jeff and Sandra are upstairs having sex, but not knowing the assailant heads upstairs and resulting both of them impaled through the bed with a spear. Vicki goes upstairs, and finds them dead, and finds the assailant, wearing a one-eyehole gunny sack over his head, where then she is stabbed through her stomach with a chef's knife.Upon their return to camp, the rain lets up and Ginny and Paul discover the lights are not working in the main cabin and sheets on an upstairs bed appear to be covered in blood. During the search, Ginny finds the two bodies of one the counselors, and then opens the freezer, where Crazy Ralph's corpse falls out. Soon, Paul is attacked by the gunny-masked assailant as Ginny runs out into the woods.After a lengthy chase, Ginny stumbles upon the assailant's cabin and enters. In the back room, she discovers an altar with Pamela Voorhees' head (Now mummified) on it, surrounded by the bodies of the recent victims. At this point, Ginny realizes that Jason Voorhees is the murderer, who seemingly survived his drowning and now seeking revenge upon his deceased mother. Using her study of child psychology to her advantage, Ginny dons Mrs. Voorhees' sweater and deceives Jason into believing that she is his mother (although Jason wises up when he sees his mother's severed head). Jason sees Ginny attempting to attack him with his mother's machete, in which he quickly acts by slashing Ginny's right leg with a pickaxe. Paul, (still alive) runs in and tackles Jason to the floor, at which one point Jason overthrows him and prepares to kill him with his pickaxe. Ginny revives, takes the machete, and slams it through Jason's left shoulder, seemingly killing him. Afterwards, Ginny and Paul uncover his disfigured face (unseen to the viewer) as they leave the cabin.Paul and Ginny retreat back to their cabin, now believing Jason is dead and find Muffin, Terri's pet dog (alive and active). As Ginny calls to her dog Muffin to come, an unmasked and deformed Jason (Warrington Gillette) breaks through the window (With the machete still intact in his shoulder) and pulls Ginny out.The next morning, Ginny wakes up while being placed in an ambulance with no recollection of what happened to Paul. The final shot shows Mrs. Voorhees' head still on the altar, where Jason is also nowhere found, but it is strongly implied that he is still active, before ultimately fading to black. | grindhouse film, gothic, murder, cult, horror, violence, flashback, insanity, humor, suspenseful | train | imdb | In my opinion this sequel is my favorite Friday the 13th film it is It is one of my personal favorite horror movie because of Amy Steel!
This movie is my number 4 favorite slasher Friday the 13th film in the series and I love Amy Steel so damn much as Ginny Field!
One of the most memorable final shocks rounds everything out.It is Jason Voorhees first outing as the murderer and the image of him wearing the potato sack over his head is burned into my retinas as one of the most memorable in the franchise.Amy Steel is a brilliant addition to the cast, a great heroine I love her to death in "Friday The 13th part 2" and I also love her in April Fool's Day she was excellent in those two films.
She is always my favorite lead and I really enjoy Friday the 13th Part 2 more then the first one.Friday the 13th Part 2 is a great sequel great horror slasher movie that made Jason Voorhees memorial cool horror icon.This time the film was directed and produced by Steve Miner who I thought did an excellent job directing the film.
This time for the special makeup effects was Carl Fullerton who did the right job like Tom Savini did with the first one.I love how Amy Steel defend her self against Jason Voorhees who was this time played by actor Steve Daskawisz with a potato sack.
Watch the climatic fight between Jason and Ginny in which Ginny imitates Jason's mom Pamela (Betsy Palmer) and then she swings with a machete towards Jason and Jason raises the mattock to block Ginny's machete swing this was an epic Climatic fight in the movie.Ginny Field with working tool fork in the hands is just memorial all over Amy Steel's picture we see her on IMDb and every where.Mrs. Voorhees is dead, and Camp Crystal Lake is shut down, but a camp next to the infamous place is stalked by an unknown assailant.Adrienne King and Walt Gorney did return that was a surprise for me and the were the first characters to die in the beginning of the film.Adrienne King wanted to reprise her role as Alice, but she said that she wanted to be on screen for a short period of time because there was an obsessive fan who was stalking her, broke into her apartment, and she feared for her life.
Amy was very upset with the director for the window scene and it was really annoyed cause director keep shouting they have to repeat the scenes.Great horror slasher suspense entertaining 80's movie my all time favorite horror film I still going to watch it.
I watched this film 7 years ago when I was a big fan of Supernatural and I heard Jared Padalecki auditioned for his lead role in Friday the 13th reboot and I was curious so I went watching this film alongside with the first original film and Jason X before I watched reboot that was my fourth film I saw.I remember seeing this movie on DVD in the video store when I was in high school.
While most sequels cash in on their original movie's fame, the second part of the Friday the 13th series lives up to its name.
The reason (s) being, the story was original enough to stand on it's own, even though it was a sequel; It is the first movie of the series that introduces Jason as the killer; and most importantly, Amy Steel starring as the movie's sole survivor was PERFECT casting .
(you know who you are,) since it is a sequel and a horror movie, but Friday the 13th Part 2, starring Amy Steel, is at the top of my list for the genre.
What they deliver is a good installment and top notch death scenes not surpassing the first, but still shocking.Five years after the events of the first film, the survivor of that horrible day is killed by JASON, the boy believed to be drowned for the last 25 years.
Sadly, the trimming down of key gore scenes definitely dilutes their impact, although there's still a delight in the way he stalks his victims as the preludes to the kills.Director Steve Miner keeps the story racing forward; if it weren't for that extended, 12 minute plus pre-credits sequence that reminds the audience of what has come before, this would be quite the short movie indeed.
The woodsy setting works just as well as before, and Harry Manfredini's instantly recognizable score adds to the fun just like it always does.The cast does acceptable work, with Amy Steel as Ginny making for an appealing and intelligent "final girl"; the best in this series in this reviewer's humble opinion.
Fine cinematography (by Peter Stein) and production design (by Virginia Field) are assets - Jason's isolated decrepit dwelling is truly a marvel to behold.All in all, Part 2 is one of the best sequels in this franchise by far, a solid continuation to one of the definitive slasher movies, delivering enough laughs, shocks, and thrills to make this a fine hour and a half or so of no-fooling-around entertainment.Eight out of 10..
Now he's out to avenge his mother's death as some counselors open a camp adjacent to Camp Crystal Lake.This movie is basically an exact copy of the first film, only now Jason is doing the killing.
Of course, I have to cut this movie a little slack, because Jason appears for the first time.Like the first film, mindless entertainment, just not as entertaining.4/10.
Pacing is great, performances are surprisingly decent and the director Miner keeps everything moving along very well, gore scenes aren't as good as Friday 1 but certainly don't detract from anything in the main picture.The plot is not quite as good, but this is the film where we really see Jason get to work and establish the identity of the franchise.
Once the main slashing section starts off, there's a lot more fun here as the film gets in some outstanding chasing and stalking sequences, from the sheriff running through the woods towards the abandoned camp after the shadowy figure, encountering the couple searching in the woods and then to the highlight offerings of the slaughter against the campers where this one piles on a series of incredibly brutal, clever kills that are real show-stopping moments with the most noteworthy a machete slammed into a paraplegic's face and forced to roll down three flights of stairs backward as such, though on the whole the deaths are truly fun and thrilling.
There's little to appease, though, of the rather exciting and thrilling final chase here which is one of the best and most thrilling chases in the entire genre as there's so much action spread throughout the scene as the chase rages through camp, out into the woods, throughout the cabins and finally back to the old campsite in a lengthy, scary sequence that gets quite fun not only for the surprisingly smart battle tactics use to try to escape while in the woods but also for the sequence of events in the cabin at the end where the psychology utilized to hold that whole scene together is a clever, unique and totally original idea that's wonderfully played off here.
Friday THE 13th : PART II is a definite sequel to the original 1984 film.The plot is very similar to the first film, young camp counselors are setting the site getting ready for young campers when all of a sudden an unseen assailant starts picking them off one by one.Eventually, we see the killer as a man wearing a potato sack over his head.
Jason Voorhees starts killing counselors after seeing his mother beheaded in the first film.Amy Steel is the heroine in this sequel and her character Ginny is not one of my favorite Jason girls in the film series and Jason does not even where the hockey mask until the next film, which we will get to.
PART II needed more scenes of violence and gore in this feature film and it doesn't do too much to scare the audiences.The creepiest part for me was when Ginny and Paul got back to the camp after a night out and Jason was hiding in the darkness of the living room waiting to kill them all.
I and all of the other people didn't know he was there until Ginny whispered that she thought there was someone in the room.This is one of my favorite Jason movies and this is a must-see horror extravanganza for all horror fans and non-horror films and future filmmakers.10/10..
The movie starts with our group of counselors trying to fix up Camp Blood again and there is a nice night time fire story about what happened in the first and how the legend says that Jason walks the camp looking to kill any counselor he finds.
It features a more pluckier heroine in Amy Steel, a nasty and scary atmosphere courtesy of Steve Miner, who would also direct Part III and of course this is the cult classic that introduced Jason Voorhees to millions of American film audiences.
Being a huge fan of horror movies.This is one of my favorite,now we got Jason without the mask slashing some teenagers in the now legendary "Camp Crystal Lake".What I really love about this flick are the scenes before the deaths.Again, like the first one,very atmospheric.Not as good as the first one but really close!.
All of those elements make Friday The 13th Part 2 a worthy sequel to the original and one of the best in the series.Set five years after the original,Friday The 13th Part 2 tells the story of a group of young Camp counselors who are working at a new camp that's right next to Camp Crystal Lake(aka Camp Blood)and are being stalked by Jason Voorhees(Warrington Gillette)the son of Mrs. Voorhees(Betsy Palmer).
After the Box Office success of the first Friday The 13th in 1980,the sequel Friday The 13th Part 2 was released a year later and was not only a Box Success but introduced audiences to one of the most iconic and memorable characters in the history of not only Horror Movies but film in general in the form of Jason Voorhees who's reign of terror would start with this film.
Friday The 13th Part 2 is a great sequel that is such an entertaining and thrilling roller coaster ride that takes some of the elements in the original(camp setting,kills etc)and builds on them with ease and gives viewers an intense,suspenseful film.
The scares and suspense in Friday The 13th Part 2 are well done with wonderful pacing and is very much like the original with terror coming and going with non-stop intensity that just grabs viewers by the throat whether it's the Jason POV shots,chase scenes or kills.
Despite being one of the brightest looking movies in the entire series(especially during the daytime scenes)the atmosphere in F13 pt 2 is still pretty effective and creepy and gives viewers a sense of dread and fright where you feel like no one is safe from Jason's wrath and carnage.
While the character Jason Voorhees makes his first appearance in this film he actually does well with a combination of being scary and at times clumsy(in a funny way).
In this film(and three and four)Jason acts more like backwoods hillbilly and hermit wearing overalls and a potato sack on his head(no Hockey mask in this one) as an outcast of society and a demented killer.
Also,lookout for appearances by actors from the first Friday The 13th such as Adrienne King(Alice),Betsy Palmer(Mrs. Voorhees)and Walt Gorney(Crazy Ralph).The direction by Steve Miner is great,with Miner always moving the camera and giving the film a good pace,style and atmosphere.
Fine Make-up Effects,Fullerman.In final word,if you love Horror Films,the Friday The 13th series or Jason Voorhees,I highly suggest you see Friday The 13th Part 2,a terrific sequel and one of the best in the Friday The 13th series.
A couple of scenes near the end of the film are almost comical because of how bad he is at being a killer.With mostly cutaway deaths, very thin storyline and little to set it apart from every other camp slasher film I'm starting to wonder how this franchise reached the pinnacle it did as I'm 2 films in and not impressed in the slightest.The Good: Follows directly on from the original Well cast The Bad:Jason really used to suck!
After watching the first one i was like okay,, first i was thinking well 99 percent of all sequels suck,,, not this one,, no sir,, you get to see Jason in this one,, and only mommy in flashbacks,, this time the action is jacked up to 10 plus on this one,, lots more killings,, sexy girls with nice apple bottoms.
If it weren't for the popularity of the series this would definitely be one of those VHS tapes you'd find in the back of your movie store (back when they had them) that you were happy you discovered.Steve Miner did an excellent job with all the horror angles and imagery that sticks with you like the house in the woods or the mothers head Jason built as a shrine in his junk house that he built as well.
This is simply a breezy, fun horror film with plenty of creative death scenes (none too gory to offend anyone sensitive), suspenseful set pieces, and one creepy-looking villain.Following on the heels of the previous film, this one takes place several years later as another group of young adults travel to the infamous Crystal Lake to attend a counselor training course.
The body count is higher this time with some good gore and death scenes such as for example the Icepick to the skull and the machete to the face of a crippled person sequence.This one offers good jump scares, gory violence and of course one bizarre ending but this installment is a solid entry that is a nice first starring role of the Jason Voorhees character who became an 80's horror icon with Freddy Kreuger..
This remains my favorite "Friday the 13th" sequel, with part 3 coming in at a close 2nd.The setting is pretty much the same as the original: a group of young adults gather at a lodge on Camp Crystal Lake for a counselor training course.
I'm not getting down on the classic hockey mask, but the sack Jason wears in this movie is much more frightening.And as usual for a film in this series, there are some great kills and some very effective set pieces that ratchet up the tension.
The idea of a psycho wondering around the woods killing unsuspecting victims was done to death in horror movies when this one came out (1981), but director Steve Miner delivers a slasher flick that stands out (he also directed Part three-probably the second best in the series).
It turns out that Jason Voorhees is alive (looking very much like the killer from Town that Dreaded Sundown) and ready to dice up some foolish teen counselors!One of the better sequels to the hit Friday the 13th (1980) this is an enjoyable guilty pleasure for slasher fans.
The acting performances were a notch-up from the previous film and even though it's still a typical teenager horror flick, the characters, I thought, were a little more likable and heroic, especially Amy Steel as Ginny and John Furey as Paul.The plot is pretty basic, with a lot of running around, slashing and screaming, and the elements pretty much match the first movie.
Overall good sequel well worth a watch if your a horror film fan or horror historian, Friday the 13th Part 2 is one film that's a cut above most in the slasher series..
Here, as in "Friday the 13th," you also see a lot of the cliché slasher film moments start to ingrain themselves in this series, its sequels, and every imitator that followed.
The sequel to the classic 1980 slasher film finally introduces Jason, but not the way you know him.
Jason comes to avenge his mother's death in killing the next few counselors that come near Crystal Lake.I think Friday the 13th Part II is a better sequel and a better film than the original one and for good reason.
As slasher film series go, however, this particular movie isn't a bad sequel at all.
for me,this sequel to the original was just slightly better,and only because there is some suspense in this one.i don't think the first one had any.if it did there was very little.otherwise,it's not that much different,just a different group of people that end up getting slaughtered.there are no acting stand outs in this one,but i get the feeling that Amy Steel was supposed to be the next big thing.this movie was slightly more graphic than the original,but not much.there's a bit of nudity,and one instance of the F word being used,but that's it for coarse language and nudity,as far as far as i can tell.for me,Friday the 13th Part 2 is a 6.2/10.
Jason's "bag over the head" get-up can't hold a candle to the hockey mask that would follow, but it does serve its purpose of cloaking the killer in an aura of mystery and, more importantly, building the suspense for the moment when it finally does come off."Friday the 13th Part 2" is not all that scary or thrilling, but it is a fun little horror film that should please those for whom it was intended..
Jason Vorhees, the son of the killer in the original, is back from the grave to kill all that dare defy the warnings of the wise and step foot on Camp Crystal Lake.This sparked the beginning of many, many more sequels, but is just as well as the first, a significantly remember-able film, and one of the best slasher/stalker films ever made.
This is probably the best sequel to "Friday the 13th." It reveals more to the story of Camp Crystal Lake and introduces us to Jason Voorhees as an adult. |
tt1046997 | Miracle at St. Anna | In 1983, Hector Negron, an aged Puerto Rican World War II veteran, works as a post office clerk in New York City. After recognizing a customer, Negron shoots and kills the man with a German Luger pistol. Several hours later, rookie reporter Tim Boyle and Detective Tony Ricci are at the crime scene seeking information. At Negron's apartment, Boyle, Ricci and other officers discover a finely carved statue head, the Head of the Primavera, a long missing segment from the Ponte Santa Trinita. Also found is a Purple Heart and a photograph revealing that Negron was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star.
Negron, in a flashback tells of his war experiences as a young corporal of the segregated 92nd Infantry Division in 1944 Italy. A disastrous attack ensues on German positions across the Serchio River. An officer, Captain Nokes, calls down artillery on the 92nd's own position, refusing to believe their reports of how far they have advanced. Many American soldiers are killed, leaving Negron stranded on the wrong side of the river with three men: Staff Sergeant Aubrey Stamps, Sergeant Bishop Cummings, and Private Sam Train. Sam rescues an Italian boy named Angelo from a collapsing building, and discovers the Head of the Primavera, which Sam believes to carry magical powers. While traveling through the mountains of Tuscany, the soldiers enter a small village, where they form a bond with the residents. Sam grows especially fond of Angelo, becoming the boy's father figure. One Italian villager, Renata, soon becomes entangled in a love triangle with Stamps and Bishop, which creates conflict.
After Negron gets his damaged backpack radio working, the soldiers contact headquarters and are told to capture an enemy soldier. A local Partisan group arrives with a young German deserter, Hans Brundt, as their prisoner. Earlier, residents of the nearby village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema were killed by German forces following a betrayal by a Partisan, named Rodolfo, who knows that Brundt can identify him as the traitor. After concealing the fact that German forces are approaching the village in a counterattack, Rodolfo kills Brundt and the Partisan leader before escaping. It is Rodolfo whom Negron will kill 39 years later. Captain Nokes arrives in the village to interrogate Brundt and finds him dead. The Americans prepare to leave the village ahead of a German counterattack, but Sam refuses to leave Angelo behind. After promising to court-martial all four soldiers, Nokes and his contingent drive out of town, but he is killed in the opening German offensive.
The remaining American soldiers and Partisans fight the Germans. Sam is fatally wounded after being shot twice while carrying an unconscious Angelo and dies from his injuries. Bishop and Negron hold off the Germans while Stamps tries to move the villagers to safety, but they are too heavily outnumbered. Renata and Stamps are killed, and Bishop dies after successfully reviving Angelo. Negron, in the retreat, is shot in the back and is saved by the radio. After Angelo gives him the Head of the Primavera, Negron gives the boy his rosary and tells him to leave. Negron is spared by a disillusioned German officer who hands over his own Luger and tells Negron to defend himself. American soldiers arrive and secure the village before evacuating the wounded Negron and Angelo, the sole survivors of the German attack.
In 1984, Negron is the defendant in a court proceeding, facing a life sentence for his killing of Rodolfo. He is successfully defended by a powerful executive attorney acting on behalf of a wealthy man. Hector is brought to the Bahamas and is reunited with the Head of the Primavera, accompanied by its new owner who takes out a rosary and reveals himself as an adult Angelo. They both hold Hector's rosary and happily burst into tears. | revenge, murder, romantic, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt4671848 | Taylor Swift: Bad Blood | A young lady executive, a beleaguered Taylor Swift, her top apparently ripped off, down to not much more than her short skirt and sheer stockings, fights for her life against several assailants in an office on the top floor of a high-rise building, and is unexpectedly aided in her struggle by a mysterious dubious-looking superheroine type called Arsyn. Not that she really needed help, she was doing fine on her own, dishing out defiance. Just as their battle seems won, though, she is, for no apparent reason, betrayed by her buddy, treacherously tossed out the window, to fall down onto the collapsing roof of a Jaguar sports car far down below, where the beauty lies stunned.Suviving, she joins a training facility where she becomes a superheroine crimefighter. Calling herself Catastrophe.The words of the song refer to the unassailable rift in the former friendship between Taylor and Katy, and the whole video is about betrayal by a former friend turned mortal enemy. "Oh, it's so sad to think about the good times, you and I...""And now we got drama... You made a really deep cut..."Team Taylor turned up in full force to show their support. Selena Gomez appears as Arsyn, our heroine's nemesis, with a hint at (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) Katy Perry. Lena Dunham is cigar-smoking Lucky Fiori. The Trinity, a self-duplicated group of three, is played by Hailee Steinfeld. Serayah is Dilemma, and Gigi Hadid is Slay-Z. As Destructa X, nobody less than Ellie Goulding, who has a knack for handling a rocket launcher. Martha Hunt is HomeSlice, Cara Delevingne is Mother Chucker, Zandaya appears as Cut-Throat. Hayley Williams in a cheap red dodgy-looking fright wig as The Crimson Curse, Lily Aldridge as Frostbyte, Karlie Kloss as Knockout, and former Dark Angel lead Jessica Alba as Domino. Further rounding out the cast are Mariska Hargitay as Justice, Ellen Pompeo as Luna, and surprise, surprise, original supermodel Cindy Crawford as Headmistress. Truth is though, this plentitude of bravura characters all appear fleetingly, and keeping track of them would be difficult at best. Suffice to say that Taylor shines the brightest, and, gee, that's the game plan. Flying kicks are delivered, nubile costumed bodies dash about, Catastrophe more than holds her own against whomever dares to stand in her way, good triumphs over evil, at the cost of an exploding city.But the damage has been done. "Band-aids don't fix bullet holes..." All because of nasty Katy, er, Arsyn..."So take a look at what you've done... We used to have mad love..."{posted by a Swiftie who thinks the two talented ladies should make up and be friends again, at least end the feud, come on!} | sci-fi | train | imdb | pointless and empty. The star is Taylor Swift and a host of other famous people. That's nice, but then, they appear, in a flash, and then, somebody else, so big deal! Big deal! Look, we're here to see the Taylster, and behold in here just how beautiful the Taylster really is, so, please! keep the other lot, and just give us the Taylster pleez?Count them, there are seventeen star-billed girls here, a whole lot going on, but a music video is by its very nature too short to accommodate so many characters, so it's really all a waste.The song itself is also not exactly genius, huh? Should such a classy lady, such an elegant white swan, be associating herself with a rapper? Instant down-class. Imagine a yacht, a grand three masted schooner, sailing in polluted waters. Rappers simply drown out everything else with their staccato rattle, do we, the fans, want this for our heroine?Not that I could give it the far lower score it deserves after seeing beautiful Taylor in those dramatic facial shots towards the end, with the raging inferno background. Next time, something simpler, just Taylor. Fancy, yes, but not the whole gang.. Style over substance. I have to say "Bad Blood" is the first time where I am slightly disappointed with a Taylor Swift music video. It's nice that she got all these famous names in here and says a lot about how big of a star she currently is, but it's not okay to sacrifice the essential components for that. I thought the tune was less catchy than most of her previous works and Swift's videos always had the strength that they told a bit of a story in a convincing way. This one does not and it certainly not an honor to Swift that she is listed as the writer here. Also, most of her songs had the advantage that not only the chorus was catchy, but the whole thing. This one does not have much more than a chorus and Swift is really screaming that one more than singing. I very much hope that she can return back to essentialism again with her next songs. Of course, "Bad Blood" has written girl power all over it, but you have to back such a statement up with substance somehow and not just with lining up famous actresses one after the other. Not recommended.. Taylor Swift over rated. Taylor Swift is so much over rated in all that she does, you take away the millions dollars and she nothing! |
tt0404112 | Hitman: Contracts | The hunter has become the hunted, as 47 is seriously wounded by one of his own targets, who seems to have been expecting him. Bleeding to death and taking refuge in a hotel room somewhere in Paris, France, 47 drifts in and out of consciousness as an army of heavily armed National Police units converge around the hotel. The newest game Hitman: Blood Money, has a level (Curtains Down) in which 47 is hired to kill an actor and U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican at the Opera house in Paris. At the end of the level a French policeman on the other side of the street notices him getting away from the crime scene and cocks his gun. It is also noteworthy that the gun he cocks appears to be a M1911, the pistol used by members of the Franchise, the main antagonists in the sequel. This could possilbly allude to the fact that the Chief of Police could be involved with the Franchise, for there is no other plausible explanation (at this time) that could explain how he knew who 47 was. The scene ends here but it's possible to conclude that 47 gets badly wounded afterwards. The very first mission of Hitman: Blood Money is a flashback mission in a funfair in which Diana welcomes 47 to the US. Between Curtains Down and this mission is when Hitman: Contracts occurs.It should be noted, however, that Contracts and Blood Money arguably contradict each other at points. The ending of Contracts shows that Diana is aware that the Agency is being targeted and she knows who is coming after them. It's implied that 47 will be going after their attackers immediately. However in Blood Money, 47 isn't informed that he's being hunted until near the end of the game. Besides this arguable continuity error, the briefing for "Curtain's Down", is different that the briefing 47 got in Contracts, in the appearances of the two targets from "Curtain's Down" and one of their names (Phillipe Berceuse as opposed to Alvaro d'Alvade). Also the Inspector 47 must kill in Contracts isn't even mentioned in "Curtain's Down". However, it could be argued that 47 was intended to kill the inspector after the events of "Curtain's Down", as the Inspector did not attend the opera house. 47's monologue at the beginning of Hunter and Hunted, however, could imply that 47 was taking the personal decision to assassinate the inspector on the basis that he knew too much about 47.Hitman: Contracts' story centers on 47's flashbacks to earlier assignments. Many of the game's missions are re-imaginings of previous ones in the series. Almost all of the major missions from Hitman: Codename 47 have been re-made and included in Contracts; the exceptions being the Colombia levels, which were scheduled to be included but were dropped, and the final two levels (the first level of Contracts begins with the conclusion of the first game and the escape from the asylum in Romania where 47 was created). The locations visited include Budapest, Hong Kong, Paris, Romania, Rotterdam, Siberia and the United Kingdom.As is the case with the overlapping of Hitman: Blood Money, there are also some contradictions between the recollected missions and their counterparts in Hitman: Codename 47; for example, in the two incarnations of the mission "Traditions Of The Trade", the first demonstrated Hitman checking into the Hotel Galar under the alias Tobias Rieper, which was used multiple times during the game; in the latter, he anaesthetized a representative of one of the countries attending the UF (a fictional UN) peace conference being held at the hotel, and checked in under his name, Mr. Metzger (German for butcher). Also in the first mission, the bodies of 18 48 series clones can be seen littered all over the asylum even though 47 only killed 10 clones in the first game. Though this is true, this could merely be how 47 reimagines it in the flashbacks he has, so the developers may not have been attempting to be true to the game canon. | violence, flashback | train | imdb | Once again you take control of Agent 47, the infamous Silent Assassin.
This time his world is amazingly intricate and incredibly dark.
Something that I say really reflects the overall motif that the previous two games were trying to achieve.
In "Contracts" there are no daytime missions like in the previous two games.
The second game had a few, but this time, it's all about rainy nights with plenty of dark corners to lurk in as you hone in on your target.
It is a slightly unrealistic touch as it seems to conveniently rain whenever Agent 47 is given an assignment, but no matter, because it supplies a great atmosphere to your surroundings.
Also in an interesting touch the game is shown in flashback.
The opening sequence is actually Agent 47 stumbling into a hotel room in an as of yet undisclosed city with a bullet in his gut.
As he passes in an out of consciousness during the painful surgery he remembers his previous contracts.The levels, aside from being remarkably ambient visually and aurally, are filled with possibilities.
If "Silent Assassin" had many, there is a multitude here.
A truly sneaky and merciless way to get at a target who doesn't even know you're there, but like I said, this is probably the first game that reflects the very dark nature of Agent 47 himself.
There are no rules, only the completion of the contract.
For instance in one level you can either poison your target's drink or throw a gas can down the chimney and into the fireplace by which he is sitting.
Result is the same: contract complete.
I'll leave you to figure it out.The flashback structure also has a potential letdown, in that many levels are remakes of levels from the first game.
The levels are redone very well with a serious boost in design, but something totally different would have been nicer.
Also, you start each mission with a preset gear set.
Unlike the first two games you can't choose anything for any mission until you complete the game.
Then you're finally awarded a level select as well as weapon select for each level and this is where you can finally use all of your bonus weapons that you receive with the "Silent Assassin" rating.
Each level has it's own bonus weapon and even if you don't first complete the game with Silent Assassin on each level, you can go back level by level and get your rating to the high enough until you have all the bonuses.
There are also several secret weapons (like the infamous MiniGun from the first game!) which can only be found through this process.
This also provides room for replaying past levels and enables you to try different approaches to for them.
Or it lets you go on a rampage with that MiniGun once you find it.Intricate, tense, and very re-playable this is Agent 47's best outing yet.
I have yet to play "Bloody Money" and I am really looking forward to it.
Right from the get-go, this sets the tone as a darker, bleaker entry.
This also makes the most sense as far as playing missions again goes...
though about half of the original Hit-man is remade in some of them.
Now, what does make that better is the fact that, once again, this is the one released where you can always earn Silent Assassin, the greatest rating to attain.
The level design leaves little to be desired, almost invariably.
Not just a handful, if that, of times, as the second one.
In general, the weapons here look and work well, and are remarkably well-chosen.
This is where it starts getting so confusing, in the way of overarching story, that there, among us fans, are several reasonable and credible theories as to what exactly the time-line and such is.
I have heard that this was to tide us over, until Blood Money came out.
I can see why, that one definitely had rather a lot of new features that were worked, and thought, through.
Navigating is now way harder than it ought to be, and you now have to stop moving, check the map, and go by what direction our dear agent is pointed in on there, and use that to determine which direction to turn in to, you know, be headed the right way.
It's nice that they now actually made deceased characters be reflected as such there, but for crying out loud, in a game so complex in detail, with tons of rooms and such, you need to be able to tell where, you know, the doors are and where they lead, which isn't always true in this, and all obstacles in the way would be pleasant to see, also.
Yes, I realize that they're, apparently, supposedly, satellite, and that even showing the indoors is a fallacy, if we're talking about realism, but that's how it's always been, and this is not the way to change them.
This retains the "open-ended" game-play of the preceding follow-up(so yes, you can still blast everything away).
Not the best in the series but still great.
I had very high expectations for this game and it delivers 75% of what I was expecting.
The graphics are great, but when you enter 1st person mode they just look ugly.
Second the computer controlled enemies are unpredictable, they just open fire on you for no absolute reason which leads to major frustration.
Though the voice acting is still stupendous, the music sounds like it's out of a cheesy 60's spy film.
One thing the series is still good at is allowing the player to kill the target in numerous ways, either by poison, a bomb, the old sniper rifle, going in John Woo style, the list goes on.
Finally the controls have been redone and finally their is a training mission.Final Score 7.1/10.
An atmospheric stealth game where dark, dastardly deeds pay off big time!.
The strongest aspect of the latest Hit-man game is its visual element.
Running on a new graphics engine, which seems to suggest Japanese Anime, "Hit-man: Contracts" delves deep into the mind of a professional killer.
Set before the events of "Hitman 2: Silent Assassin", it opens with Agent 47 seriously wounded in a Paris hotel.
He's haunted by the memories of his past killings and the game takes place almost entirely in his head.It's the psyche of Agent 47 that brings this title to life with a surreal atmosphere and the disturbing presence of the macbre.
Unlike "Manhunt", which bordered on the pornographic in its depiction of violence, this game is more of a psychological shocker.
Every level is a variation on the "it was a dark and stormy night" scenario and the first mission establishes this with a very bizarro style.It takes place in a strange European nightclub/slaughterhouse.
The owner is an overly obese man who's twin brother tortures a young girl upstairs while listening to oldies on a .45 record.
Agent 47's assignment is to kill the owner and his lawyer who dopes up in a private room.
"Hitman 2" was a huge improvement over the original and proved to be a great stealth game in the vein of "Splinter Cell".
It merely smoothes the gameplay of its predecessor and has made the missons more open-ended.
Stages now have at least two different ways of how to neutralize the "mark", but this can be either a blessing or a curse depending on the player's tolerance for self-discovery.In fact, Hitman fans will either love or hate the programmers' decision to include only a few number of original levels for "Contracts".
The bulk of the game consists of recreations of assignments from "Hitman: Codname 47".
This is disappointing considering Eidos' had first said it was not interested in doing a remake of the first game.
The best mission is a new one set at a British manor which the company claims was inspired by Robert Altman's "Gosford Park" (Go figure).If I seem to be negative in this review, rest assure, I am giving "Contracts" a thumbs up.
This is a good game, I did like stepping into Agent 47's shoes once again and its strenghts certainly do outweigh its weaknesses.
I only wished the title had been a complete original, then it would've been a great game.
This is the first Hit-man game I played, so it has a special place in my mind.
I was impressed by the way you had choices whether to be subtle or be a mass murderer or be in between.
Which at that time was very new to me.
You had to approach the game with logical reasoning, scout and scan the area, find options, learn the behavior of the guards and bystanders.
Which was awesome.But what I enjoyed the most was the atmosphere and mood.
Also the music set the tone perfectly and gives the atmosphere a boost.
The plot is good if you ask me and pretty straightforward.
Although the story is a little complex, because it goes back and forth with no set dates.
It is because 47 remembers his missions (the ones he remembers the most).
It kind of set the stage for 'Blood Money'.But anyway, it is my favorite Hit-man game because of the atmosphere.
Hit-man 2 is good, but too heroic if you ask me.
'Blood Money' is awesome, but lacks a bit of atmosphere if you ask me.
This game seems to be more in tune with 47 himself.
Some other gamers have complained about the game play, saying that it is dated but I think it is perfect.
'Hitman Contracts' gets 10/10 from me..
When I first played this game I found it hard and didn't want to play it but then a friend helped and I completed it in a number of weeks.
It is a complicated game i can assure you of that.
Very good game though.
Very good game though.
Excellent graphics with the blood to make it look almost real.
The first level is intense, picks up after the end of Hit-man Codename 47.
Great game you should play it.
The plot was the thing I din't get but it was a hard game.
Buy and play it, the second level is really confusing..
A darker sequel, but far from an evolution.
Coming 2 years after Hit-man 2 it's hard to believe that a game from 2004 could look and feel so 1998.
The story has Agent 47 collapse in a Paris hotel room where he has flashbacks to previous missions (including 4 remakes from the first game) while an unseen doctor helps him recover.
The tone is darker and more personal, and it feels tighter, I just wish the lazy programming didn't spoil it.There are 12 levels in total, and if you're just in it for the 'thrill' of mass murdering then you'll whisk though the entire game in a single day.
If you're going for the 'Silent Assassin' rankings then you'll get a bit more mileage out of it.
You better be rock solid on your controller with no twitchy fingers if you want those rankings, and be prepared to scream at the monitor until your larynx disintegrates.Hit-man: Contracts came in at the tail-end of the Sixth Generation of console video gaming and thus became dated very quickly.
It's a lot tighter than the expansive, and slightly overwrought, Hit-man 2, but IO Interactive really should have refined the programming.Graphics C Sound B Gameplay B- Lasting Apppeal C.
A good sequel with a mix of old and new.
Hit-man: Contracts is the third game in the Hit-man series from Eidos Interactive.In the opening sequence of the game, we see 47 wounded in a hotel room fading in and out of consciousness.
The various in-game missions are played as flashbacks in 47's mind.If you have played the original Hit-man: Codename 47 game, you will no doubt recognise some of the missions such as Traditions of the Trade or Deadly Cargo.
Thankfully, most of these mission levels have been redesigned to give them a fresh feel.There are some great new missions as well, such as Beldingford Manor and the Meat King Party.
These take place over a variety of locations and cover a variety of different environments, from slaughter houses to biker hideouts.Most of the missions are very open ended, giving numerous ways for the player to take out the target.
This adds to the replay value of the game, trying to discover interesting ways to make the hits.Another great feature of Hit-man: Contracts is the score by Jesper Kyd. He manages to make a good and dynamic score that fits a variety of gameplay situations, and he makes it different from the previous games while still giving it that Hit-man feel.The most noticeable improvements over the previous two games is in the graphics department.
Graphics have been improved with the inclusion of reflections (including in pools of liquid), post-processing effects and excellent use of real-time shadows and lighting.Beyond that not much has been changed save the inclusion of some new hand weapons, and the return of the minigun.
While this is good as it keeps true to the Hit-man lineage, there could've been more innovation to keep gameplay elements fresh.This is a definite purchase for fans of the other games, but players new to the series will enjoy it just as much..
A real psychological trip, don't be put off my the disjointed missions.
Been a fan of the Hit-man games since Codename 47.
The greatest aspect of this series is that it requires more thinking than FPS shooters, but doesn't bog the player down with non-sensical rules of engagement like the Splinter Cell series.
Additionally, there are a multitude of ways to complete each mission, which unfortunately itself may be problem which I'll mention more later on in detail.
Well, first of, Contracts starts of confusingly with the end of the first game after Mr. 47 has broken Dr. Ortomeyer's neck.
And before you know it, you are of on the second mission, a rather disturbing one at that, replete with S&M leather freaks in a slaughterhouse club run by a horribly obese, bedridden man whose disturbed brother has tortured and killed a young girl while listening to oldies on vinyl records.
The missions from here on are all generally dark, always taking place at night and on more than one occasion in stormy weather.
Some people have complained about the disjointed missions which seems to lack cohesion and relation.
But therein lies the beauty of Contracts.
In between each mission as we see more glimpses of the wounded 47, it becomes apparent that he's recalling past missions in his mind and it is from his point of view that we are playing the missions.
Some of the missions are remakes from the first game while a select number are original in Contracts.
Some aspects of the remade missions are different and may require a different solution than what was used in the first game, that's if you've played Codename 47.
Which brings me to the next aspect which I mentioned earlier, the multiple methods of getting the job done.
Unlike Splinter Cell's generally one track solutions, you have the freedom to do what so ever in the game to get the job done.
Unfortunately, some solutions are not obvious without a bit of trial and error as well as curious exploration.
For example in the mission, "Meat King's Party", the obvious solution was to gain entry to the target's room disguised as either a guard, waiter or chef.
However later with a bit of exploration, I discovered an open roof window above the target's room, from which I could also have easily used a silenced weapon to shoot from.
It's also worth mentioning that obvious solutions that work on Normal difficulty, might not work on Expert and Professional.
As an example, donning a SWAT officer's outfit in the "Asylum Aftermath" mission worked on normal difficulty setting but when I attempted to use this same method on Professional, the enemy easily saw through the disguise.
Ultimately, it would take dedicated fans to beat the game on higher settings.
So if you blasted through the game on normal and thought nothing much of the game then I suggest you do so again on the higher settings.
In the graphics department, the game has seen some major overhauling with the addition of reflective surfaces and lighting effects which only help to accentuate the dark nature of the missions..
A bit disappointing - but still "Hitman".
"Hitman: Contracts" must be the weakest one in the "Hitman" series.
Second one was a bit disappointing in my opinion too.
It didn't improve much from the original one and the missions weren't that good.
"Hitman Blood Money" however, was exactly what I hoped from a sequel.There's not much new in Contracts and the missions are not that special in any way.
Those remade missions from the first one could have been nice, even though replayed, but they missed exactly those points that made them so good in the first one.
They were too different to be as good as the original ones, and too much like the old ones to be good on their own.
New missions were very much mediocre.
They had some nice parts too, though.The game happens almost completely in Agent 47's head, in form of flashbacks, and therefore you don't really get any money nor do you need to select any weapons.
It's also missing other interesting parts and actually even a story.
The "story" isn't very long or wide or anything like that, but I can tell (without giving any spoilers), that it has a lot to do with "Hitman: Blood Money".In the end, I'd label this one as the weakest of "Hitmans", but still worth playing through.
And by the way, I found it extremely easy at normal to beat this game and also kinda easy to get the silent assassin rank in many missions. |
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