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tt0101465 | Black Robe | The film is set in Quebec, New France, 1634. Captain Champlain(Jean Brousseau) approves a proposal by the Jesuits to travel up the St. Lawrence River and restablish contact with a Jesuit mission in the Huron nation. A young Jesuit is chosen to lead the expedition, Father Laforgue(Lothaire Bluteau). Daniel(Aden Young), a young Frenchman working in the outpost is also chosen after he expresses an interest in returning to France and entering the priesthood. Champlain uses pots, knives, hammers and beads to barter for the services of Chomina(August Schellenberg), an Algonquin, to take the men to the Huron mission. Chomina brings his wife(Tantoo Cardinal), young son, and daughter, Annuka(Sandrine Holt), as well as several other men and their families. The group departs and heads up river, but turmoil soon engulfs the expedition. Several of the men fear Laforgue and believe he might be a demon, they employ a sorcerer, who verifies their fears. The group contemplate killing Laforgue, but settle on abandoning him. Daniel, who has grown to love Annuka during the journey, also abandons Laforgue. Laforgue resigns himself to die in the wilderness if it is Gods will. Chomina has a change of heart and returns with his family and Daniel to continue the journey with Laforgue. However, Iroquois discover them and kill Chominas wife before capturing the others. They brutally torture the group, killing Chominas son out-of-hand. Annuka sacrifices her dignity to free the group. They head upriver, but Chomina is now dying, due to wounds received in the encounter with the Iroqouis. Chomina wants to die peacefully, but Laforgue begs him to convert. He sends them on their way, still unbaptised. Annuka and Daniel take Laforgue still further, before leaving him within walking distance of the Huron settlement. When Laforgue enters the settlement, he finds the Hurons are decimated by scarlet fever. One of the missionaries has been killed and the other is dying. The Hurons debate on whether or not to kill Laforgue, some believe the fever is a curse, others that baptisim will cure the sickness. Finally, Laforgue baptizes the entire settlement. An epilogue describes the almost immediate collapse of the Huron nation and its defeat at the hands of the Iroqouis. | violence, historical, murder, flashback | train | imdb | This exquisitely photographed film portrays the cultural clash between Europeans (in this case the Europeans happen to be French) and various native tribes in seventeenth century North America without romanticizing either French culture or that of the native peoples.Perhaps the most striking feature of this film from my perspective was utter arrogance of the Europeans to come into a wild country presuming the superiority of their way of life over that of the indigenous peoples.
The good Father soldiers on despite the evidence that his presence in the vast wilderness of North America won't make a whit of difference in his life or in the lives of the people he has vowed to introduce into "paradise." The Algonquin guides worry about their attachment to the "demon" LaForgue and wonder whether they shouldn't just kill him.
Even LaForgue's young assistant, Daniel, wonders how the presence of a French missionary makes the the native people's lives any better.
Finally, he journeys to the Hurons and a village beset by smallpox, where baptism has been sold to the natives as a miracle cure as much as it has a key to salvation.By avoiding the tendency of films depicting Native American life to romanticize, Bruce Beresford has captured more profoundly the daily harsh realities of life for the peoples inhabiting the northeastern portion of North America at the arrivals of the first trickling of Europeans.
Black Robe has the same kind of beautiful and haunting images Malick's films possess but the director in this case is Bruce Bereford, the man who directed Driving Miss Daisy a couple of years before doing this film.
As great as it is visually, this is a powerful story of a well-intentioned Jesuit priest in the early 17th century who travels to "New France" (upstate New York/French Canadian territory) attempting to convert a few area tribes to Christianity.
The story transforms from a quiet Malick-type "New World" poetic piece to a violent, suspenseful film and the question is, will the "good guys" make it out alive?The actors in here, perhaps, are not names most people outside Canada are familiar with, including me, but Lothaire Blueteau as Father Laforgue, Aden Young as his assistant "Daniel" and Sandrine Holt as Daniel's Algonguin lover "Anuuka" are all very, very good.
Most films have unreal people with unrealistic dialog....but not in this movie.Another big plus was the soundtrack: a lush, haunting score throughout.Without spoiling the ending, or adding political/theological agendas my own, let me just add that if you enjoy a beautiful-looking movie which also has a thoughtful, haunting story with honest characters, you should check this out.
Viewers with less patience for visual storytelling, or who don't like having to pay attention to details, will probably find it slow-going.Be forewarned: _Black Robe_ is a brutal film, by modern western standards.
No "simple savages", after all: The Iroquois did not come to control much of the northeast through stupidity.While widely excoriated by some native american advocates for its depiction of Mohawk and Huron brutality, the film actually soft-pedals the reality (as noted by other reviewers).
The story is about a jesuite priest who wants to bring catholic faith to the Indians of the french colony Nouvelle-France (New France, the future Quebec of Canada) in the seventeen century.
The priest in the story is a composite of actual missionaries, and the impact of this historical adventure thriller is heightened for me knowing that everything in this film happened, and often a whole lot worse.The rights and wrongs, the pros and cons, of the cultural collision of Europeans with the autochthonous peoples are still too contentious, so I would rather not get into them.
If you're American or Canadian, this is an important part of our shared past."Black Robe" is one of the very best Canadian feature films, with a solid cast led by Lothaire Bluteau with August Schellenberg and Tantoo Cardinal in support.
Beresford has crafted a marvelous film that ought to be required viewing in college history courses across the country.The cinematography is beautiful, whether we are watching the gilded altars of the cathedrals of Renaissance France, the iridescent glow of a fire at an Indian village, the cramped quarters of an Indian longhouse, or the awesome and heavenly magnificence of the Canadian woodlands and what appears to be the St. Lawrance River.
It is rare that a film makes you feel that you are actually witnessing history (rather than the "Hollywood Version"), but "Black Robe" accomplishes that and more.
What I love about this film (that I have watched over a dozen times and will watch many more times) is that it doesn't take a point-of-view regarding the European colonization of the New World and the native American culture.
I think that future generations will find a lot to enjoy here--beyond the beautiful scenery, the accurate historical information and the love of the natural world that appears throughout this truly amazing film....
Unlike the morbid European art films of the 60s that showed the meaningless of life by inventing meaningless lives, "Black Robe" shows people immersed in rich lives -- hard, beautiful, complex, compelling.
As a retired Christian minister, I have perhaps a different view of the movie than some of the other reviewers.I felt that Laforgue,the Jesuit Priest, showed amazing courage to undertake his mission under the most difficult of circumstances.
The genius of this movie is that it makes it easy for us to view the story from both the Native American and the French Jesuit point of view.
This film is often compared with Dances With Wolves, which is certainly understandable, but personally I feel that Black Robe is the better film, both in terms of art and fidelity to historical fact.
This is evident from the film but is not overemphasized, as we see the obvious conflicts between the French and their nominal Indian allies.Black Robe's take on religion during this time period is smart, and illustrates some of the similarities between native and European beliefs while demonstrating the latter's contempt for native religion (the main character--"Black Robe," a term many Algonquians used both in the movie and in historical fact to describe the French Jesuit priests--is the primary example here).
This does not diminish our sympathy for them and the difficulties they face as a result of the arrival of Europeans--as it should not--and instead actually shows the great extent to which Native Americans in early colonial history had power and affected the course of events.I write this review mainly as a student of history, but in terms of the art of cinema I think Black Robe is also excellent.
This film has no big stars or Hollywood-style love story (such as the one that made Last of the Mohicans essentially unbearable to watch) but it does a great job presenting the complex dynamic between Native Americans and Europeans during the colonial period.
Serious students of history (including teachers looking to show a film about Native-European relations) will find much to appreciate in Black Robe, and I think anyone who likes an interesting film even if it does not have famous actors in it will as well..
Unlike other films that have an agenda either to glorify or attack Catholicism (i.e. colonial expansion) or to praise or defame Indian life (enlightened shamans vs dumb savages), Black Robe shows its characters in moments of incredible faith, insight and personal triumph along with all their mistakes and failings.
But this one shows two very different cultures in early contact with each other -- and for the most part manages to show us each culture, Great Lakes Algonquin and Huron on the one hand, and French/European Canadian missionary colonizers on the other, from EACH OTHER's point of view.It is the most successful example of that I have ever seen.And it does all this within a serviceable plot.
It does not look like an easy life, and I imagine far fewer people would leave this movie thinking they would have wanted to be Indians, or live among them, than feel that way after films such as Dances with Wolves.
Released in 1991 and based on Brian Moore's researched novel, "Black Robe" relays the story of a young Jesuit priest in 1634 visiting the French settlement that later became Quebec City.
Viewing "Black Robe" is the next best thing to going back in time and viewing the events firsthand.Other highlights include: Lothaire Bluteau's solid performance as the missionary priest; LaForgue's assistant, well played by Aden Young, and his developing love for the daughter of the Algonquin leader, played by the beautiful Sandrine Holt; the Algonquins themselves, particular the patriarch; the freaky midget shaman of a band of Montagnais natives; the harrowing events at an Iroquois fort; the subtext on the truth or falsity of spiritual beliefs, both of the Jesuits and the Indians; and the spectacular cinematography of the Quebec wilderness (mostly the Saint Lawrence River, filmed on location).
As great and generally believable as those other films are, "Black Robe" shows the harsher, bleaker reality, which some may translate as boring.However, as raw and realistic as "Black Robe" is, it could've been more so, considering that it fails to show one disturbing reality of Eastern AmerIndian culture, as detailed in Moore's book (pointed out by another reviewer): The film avoids depicting the native practice of ritual cannibalism on a dead infant, a custom that was common among the tribes of the Eastern woodlands.
In the end I felt like the young Frenchman- I could see both cultures for what they were - not good and not bad but coping with the situation at hand.The importance of religion (both Christain and Indian) in everyday life is very well depicted.
It was interesting to me how many of my colleagues had seen "Black Robe" and agreed that it was a beautiful and fairly accurate depiction of history and cultural frictions that persist to this day.
The title credits are clearly inspired by those in Black Robe, and other aspects are familiar as well.Set in 17th century Quebec, the film follows a young Jesuit priest, Father Lafourgue (Bluteau), referred to as Black Robe by the natives.
On screen the wild beauty of unsettled North America is breath taking.Father Laforgue (Lothaire Bluteau) is a French Jesuit dispatched to New France (Canada; Northern NY) to bring the gospel to North Americans.Why?
I just have to say that religion isn't exactly my cup of tea, so the main subjects of the movie just didn't really appeal to me, though the movie still worked out as something interesting enough for me.Thing that makes this movie interesting is its cultural clash, between the and the Jesuit priests and the Canadian Indians.
If Bruce Beresford's 'Driving Miss Daisy' suffered from a softened, Hollywooden view of history and racial conflicts, the bleak, beautiful sometimes horrific, always uncompromising 'Black Robe' is its correlative opposite.Set in the 17th century, both the Native Canadian people, and the French Jesuits who come to bring then religion (when they already have their own, thank you very much) are presented as deeply flawed, cold and cruel at times, blind to the complexities of each other's humanity.Yet both are also touched by moments of kindness and understanding that lead to the sense that this story of one Jesuit's torturous trip with a band of native guides is not without it's growth for all involved.Most critics were mixed on this, and I understand their objections, though I don't share them.
The film is distant emotionally, and we never really get inside any of the characters, even the titular priest, called 'Black Robe' by the native people.
A Stunning Movie With A Fair Portrayal Of Both Native And Jesuit Culture In 17th Century New France.
"Black Robe" is a beautifully filmed, sensitive and in the end emotionally moving film depicting the work of French Jesuit missionaries in New France in the 17th century and their interactions with the natives (particularly the Hurons) of the region.
I thought the story did a great job of balancing all of these different perspectives.Also a highlight here was a superb performance by Lothaire Bluteau as Father Laforge - the Jesuit priest whose missionary journey we follow after he's dispatched from Quebec by Champlain and heads for the inland Huron mission.
"Black Robe" (1998): Set in 1634, the Jesuits decide to send out one of their new Priests to help spread the word of Jesus to the "barbarian natives" in Canada.
Sometimes they can be distracting (for example, you lose the illusion that a movie should create and instead you get the feeling that there are production people behind the camera) but still, the story and some of the characters depictions are so strong that you are still left with a haunting and depressing feeling long after the end credits.The best side of this movie is that it shows the life in those times to be as brutal and unappealing as it probably really was.
Based on a novel by Brian Moore Black Robe was a Canadian-Australian period drama made at a time when there was a mini boom of about Native Americans (i.e. Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans and Pocahontas.) This film set in 17th century Quebec sees two missionaries go to a remote village where they have to battle harsh winter conditions, hostile natives and their own doubts.Black Robe was a well received when it was first released but it has become more of a forgotten gem.
As a direct descendant of Zacharie Cloutier, one of the first settlers and a carpenter who immigrated to New France in 1634 to help build the settlement at Quebec (as portrayed in "Black Robe") and Abenaki people from the settlement of Odanak (Ste.Francois) every time I watch this movie I am watching a family history to a point.
LaForgue (Lothaire Bluteau) is a Jesuit which the natives call Black Robe.
Simple things like a clock and writing seems to be magic for the natives and they suspect Black Robe is a demon.There is great realism in this movie.
the heart of this relation - the profound solitude who defines the Jesuit priest who believes in his mission in few moments more than in God and the natives Canadians for who the danger against their life style is ambiguous.
Therefore, they view father Laforgue with suspicion, even hatred after a while believing that he is a demon (especially after he demonstrates to them the reading of a book, a fact that unsettles them) and they start to wonder if it is worthwhile to risk too much for a person who promises them a paradise in an afterlife after death.'Black Robe' is a very interesting film but I think it is not for everyone.
I recommend this film to all who are interested in North American history or just want to watch a good movie.
this film also showed how both sides thought the other was stupid, the Native's believed the Jesuits God was the clock and didn't understand the whole concept or for instance when the Black robe was lost and the Native's were directing him- they didn't understand how or why these foreign people didn't know anything about working with the land.
In addition to being a great story about a little-depicted part of North America's history, Black Robe portrays with stark effect the wide gap in the way that white Europeans thought and acted compared to the way that native Americans thought and acted in the 17th Century..
This film is the best attempt I have seen to make a true-to-life, culturally unbiased depiction of an early encounter between the white man and American Indian, in Eastern North America.
And, yes, the photography and the aboriginal landscapes are breathtakingly beautiful.Movie depiction of Eastern Indians, and of this era in North American history, are so rare, that I have to give it extra credit for illuminating a culturally formative time..
I have watched a lot of movies in my day and have never been so appalled and disappointed with a film as I was with Black Robe.
I cannot understand how this movie can be compared to film greats such as Dances with Wolves and The Last of the Mohicans.
This movie tells the story of father Laforgue(Lothaire Bluteau), a jesuit priest on a mission to convert indians into christians.
The two things that are most striking about this film are its unqualified realism and the beauty of its wilderness photography.The story takes place in the 17th century in what was to be Canada; it concerns a Jesuit priest (Father Laforgue) from an upper class family in France who comes to Quebec City and is tasked with traveling through the wilderness some 1,500 miles west to work at the Huron Mission there.
Warning: Possible SpoilersIn Black Robe, Australian director Bruce Beresford tells the story of the Jesuit missionary experience in New France (Canada) during the 17th century.
Preceding "Last of the Mohicans" but following "Dances with Wolves", Bruce Beresford's "Black Robe" seems to strike a neutral ground toward depicting Brian Moore's screenplay of a Jesuit on Mission bringing the Christian Faith to Huron Indians.
In this movie the principal characters: a Native chief, his wife and daughter, a French priest (the "Black Robe") and his companion, a young French man, are people caught up in a chain of events that highlight the similarities and differences, as well as the best and the worst features, of two cultural groups, one French and Catholic, the other Native American and non-Christian, as they take the first tentative steps in establishing contact.
This is a very powerful,moving Native American film that shows just how wrong the morally righteous Christians were in the 1800's when there was the first settelments on the rivers of North America And the US & how the white man came and became a burden onto the Indian by making trade with them which in forth makes it become necessary for the Indians to become dependent on their goods which is the beginning of the end for many of their tribes. |
tt1821694 | RED 2 | Three years after the previous film, while trying to lead a normal life with girlfriend Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker), Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is approached by Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), who claims people are still after them, but Frank dismisses him. After appealing a second time, Marvin drives off, and his car explodes. Although Frank does not believe Marvin is dead, Sarah convinces him to go to Marvin's funeral where he delivers a teary-eyed eulogy.
After the funeral, a group of government agents approach Frank and take him to be interrogated at a Yankee White Facility. During the interrogation, Jack Horton (Neal McDonough) appears with an armed SWAT team, kills most of the facility's personnel, and tells Frank that he will torture Sarah until he gets information out of Frank. Frank escapes from the room, evades Horton's assassins, and with the sudden timely help of Marvin, who turns out to be alive, goes on the run with Sarah.
In a diner, Marvin explains that he and Frank are being hunted because they were listed as participants in a clandestine operation codenamed Nightshade, conducted during the Cold War to smuggle a nuclear weapon into Russia piece by piece. Horton has convinced world agencies that Frank and his crew are terrorists and must be stopped. Victoria (Helen Mirren) calls, telling Frank she has been contracted by MI6 to kill the three of them. Meanwhile, top contract killer Han Cho-Bai (Lee Byung-hun), whom Horton knows is seeking revenge on Frank, is also hired.
Frank, Marvin, and Sarah steal Han's plane and fly to Paris to find a man nicknamed "The Frog" (David Thewlis), with the Americans and Han in pursuit. As they arrive in Paris, they are stopped by Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a Russian secret agent with whom Frank had a relationship earlier in his career. Katja is also in search of Nightshade, and joins them to find The Frog. When he sees them, The Frog flees. Frank and Katja catch him and bring him back to his house, where Sarah seduces him, both to help them and to prove she is a better girlfriend than Katja.
The Frog gives them the key to his security box, which Katja apparently takes from Frank after drugging him; but Marvin, anticipating this, had handed a similar-looking key to Frank before his meeting with her. Marvin, Frank, and Sarah later find documents in The Frog's security box which point to Dr. Edward Bailey (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant physicist, as the creator of the Operation Nightshade bomb.
They find that Bailey is alive, held thirty-two years in a maximum security asylum for the criminally insane in London. Victoria (alerted by Marvin) unexpectedly confronts the trio, but helps to fake their deaths and then gain access to the asylum, in which Victoria feigns insanity, while Frank and Sarah poses as the facility staff, (having tied up and gagged the real staff with duct tape). Frank and Victoria meet Bailey, who is hyperactive and cannot rationally respond to their questions thanks to mind-fogging drugs the asylum had been giving him, so they take him to one of Marvin's safehouses. After the drugs begin to wear off, Bailey remembers the bomb is still in Moscow.
They travel to Moscow, and Bailey concludes he hid the bomb in the Kremlin. They break into the Kremlin, and Bailey locates the suitcase-sized bomb, which is powered by red mercury, which has no radioactive signature and causes no fallout. As they are about to leave, Katja stops them. Frank persuades her to switch to their side. After they escape and are celebrating, Victoria, who has escaped MI6 imprisonment for failing to kill him, calls Frank from London and tells him that Bailey was locked up because he had wanted to detonate the bomb, not sell it.
Bailey quickly holds Frank at gunpoint and confirms Victoria's message, revealing that he made a deal with Horton and the Americans to give them the red mercury. He shoots Katja, making it look as if Frank killed her, and leaves with the bomb case. Horton reneges on his deal with Bailey, intending to interrogate him until all his secrets have been tortured out of him, but Bailey escapes during air transit using a nerve gas he created, administering the antidote to both himself and Horton. Bailey then moves to the Iranian embassy in London. Before Frank can follow him, Han attacks. Reaching a standoff, Frank urges Han to join sides with him and stop the bomb. Han finally relents, and the five enact a plan to recapture Bailey and the bomb.
Sarah first seduces the Iranian ambassador, then takes him hostage. Marvin poses as a person seeking to defect to Iran, causes a diversion with the embassy plumbing, and the disguised team comes to "fix" it. They discover in the ambassador's safe plans disclosing the location of the bomb, but find that Bailey has already triggered the bomb's countdown timer and killed Horton (after disclosing he also remembered how his family had been killed by people like Horton). When they are discovered by embassy guards, Bailey seizes Sarah and flees to the airport to escape the imminent explosion.
Frank, Marvin, Victoria, and Han, taking the active bomb case with them, give chase, but Marvin, in his attempts to disarm the bomb by cutting wires, causes the timer to speed up and count down thrice as fast. Frank, holding the bomb case, boards the plane and confronts Bailey who releases Sarah and forcefully insists he take the bomb off the plane with her. They rejoin Marvin, Victoria, and Han and wait for death as Han's plane takes off. As it disappears high in the sky it explodes in an immense fireball. Frank reveals that he had covertly placed the bomb from the case into a compartment near the plane's exit and confronted Bailey with only a closed empty case. Han angrily tells Frank that Frank owes him "$30 million for the plane and $20 million for not killing you (Frank)".
The closing scene shows Sarah enjoying herself on a mission in Caracas with Frank and Marvin. | entertaining, revenge, humor, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0492044 | The Haunting in Connecticut | As the movie opens over the sound of a piano playing we begin to see old black and white photographs, as the photos continue to change you see that the photos are being taken at a funeral home and show family members sitting with the bodies of dead loved ones.From the photos the scene changes to see Sarah Campbell (Virginia Madsen) preparing to be interviewed for a television show. The interviewer asks her why she thinks this happened to her and she says that he's really asking why bad things happen to good people. That she and her family didn't do anything wrong and didn't deserve what happened to them.We then jump to 1987 and Sarah is driving her son Matt (Kyle Gallner) home from the hospital where he has been undergoing cancer treatments. Sarah is praying out loud for his recovery when Matt wakes up and jokes with her that talking to herself is the first sign of madness. Sarah tells him that she is talking to God and he tells her that threatening the creator may not be the best idea. They laugh, and then Matt tells her to pull over, as he is about to be sick. Sarah pulls over and sits in the car as Matt vomits by the side of the road.The next morning Sarah is cooking breakfast amidst the chaos of her family. Her husband Peter (Martin Donovan) comes in and remarks that he didn't hear her come in the night before and asks her what time she got in. Sarah tells him that they got home at 4 am and he asks why the trip took them so long and she snaps that she didn't think he would want to know how many times they had to stop for Matt to be sick. She remarks that it would be a lot easier if they had a place to stay nearer the hospital and he asks how they could possibly afford that but tells her to see if she can find something.Sarah and Matt return to the hospital where Matt has been accepted into a trial of a new treatment. As we see him undergoing the treatment we see Sarah searching the classifieds for a rental house and not having much luck. She is driving down a street when she sees a man hammering a For Rent sign into the front yard of a large house. She pulls over and tells him she doesn't want to waste his time, but wants to know how much he is asking per month. Mr Sinclair (John B. Lowe) tells her that he will give her the first month for free if she takes the place so he doesn't have to keep trying to pound the sign into the ground.As they walk through the lower level you can hear Sarah remarking on how the place is perfect and spacious and affordable, that she is wondering what the catch is. The owner tells her that the place has a bit of a history and we see a dark shape moving away from the landing above them.Later Sarah is on the phone with Peter telling him about her search for a house. She tells him that she found a place that seemed perfect but she didn't think it would work out. That night she and Matt are driving home and Matt is in extreme pain, Sarah says that the doctor warned her about this but tries to cheer him up by reminding him that at least he's not nauseous. Matt agrees but then cries out as his body aches become worse. Listen to him suffer, Sarah turns the car around and heads back.She has called the owner of the house and he has come to let them into the house and is giving them a couple of mattresses to sleep on. Later, she is on the phone with Peter telling him about her command decision to rent the house without telling him because she couldn't bear to force Matt to suffer the long car ride back home. Matt is lying in the living room watching an old black and white movie. He reaches up and switches it off, revealing the reflection of a figure standing behind him.Later, Matt wakes up and hears strange noises upstairs. He grumbles to himself as he gets up and goes upstairs to the bathroom. He splashes water on his face and then goes back downstairs. He is about to lie back down when he again hears strange sounds. He gets up and follows them to the basement stairs. After trying the lights, he walks down the stairs in the dark into the basement. He looks around and sees that part of the basement is walled off behind a set of glass doors. He walks closer and seems to examine his reflection as he gets up to the glass his reflection changes to that of a distorted figure.He sits up to find himself back upstairs on the mattress and he writes the experience off as a dream. Sarah calls him into the kitchen and as the two have some sort of bad-tasting beverage for breakfast she tells him that he can have first pick of the rooms before the rest of the family gets there.Matt then is shown wandering around the upstairs, checking out the different rooms and examining a dumb waiter that goes to the basement. Sarah is in the front room straightening cushions on the window seat when she forces open a cabinet door and finds several framed photographs. These are the photographs that we saw at the beginning of the movie and as Sarah looks through them she becomes horrified as she realizes what they are and she rushes outside and hides them in the garbage. When she gets back inside she calls upstairs to Matt, asking if he's picked a room yet. She is surprised when he calls back that he has, but his voice is coming from the basement. She walks downstairs to find him standing in the middle of the room and she asks him which one he choose and is surprised when he tells her that he wants the basement since it chose him. He then clarifies that its roomy and cool and has its own bathroom so he won't disturb the family when he is ill. Sarah then sees the glass doors and asks him what is in there, Matt tells her he doesn't know since the door won't open and they both press their faces to the glass trying to see inside and are startled by the loud arrival of the rest of the family they both laugh and then goes upstairs.Peter has arrived with the other children including Matt's cousins Wendy (Amanda Crew) and Mary (Sophi Knight). The children laugh as they run upstairs to claim their rooms. Sarah is showing the older cousin, Wendy, to the room she thought Wendy would like as it has a large closet. As they shut the door we can again see the reflection of a figure standing behind them in a mirror mounted on the closet door.Matt is helping Peter move furniture into the house and his bed into the basement. Peter sees the walled off section and as he tries the knob wonders aloud if it was sealed off for storage.That night as he sleeps, Matt begins to see visions of dead bodies being interred and it seems as if he seeing it from the point of view of a young man. He gets up and walks to the door he reaches for the knob and gasps in pain as it burns his hand.The next morning, Matt is helping Sarah in the kitchen by setting the table. He grabs a stack of plates and places them on the table. He turns to grab the silverware and is taken aback when he sees that the plates are no longer on the table but are back on the shelf. He asks his mother why she moved the plates and she says she didn't. He turns to grab them off the shelf again and they crash to the floor behind him from off of the table. Sarah rushes over to help him pick them up as he apologizes, he starts to tell her that he thought he saw them back on the shelf which concerns Sarah as one of the side effects of his new treatment is hallucinations and if Matt begins to see things he will be dropped from the trial. Matt angrily denies seeing things and admits he is just tired and set the plates too close to the edge of the table.Later, Sarah is helping Matt into the house, as he is very week from another round of treatments. She helps him lean against one of the pillars on the porch while she runs back to the car for her purse. He puts his hand on the pillar to steady himself and stares in shock as his hand sinks into it revealing it is full of rotting meat. He calls for his mother and then backtracks when the vision ends.That night he again has visions of the young man watching an older, bearded man carve symbols into the flesh of corpses. He sits up, his eyes still closed and the door clicks open as he walks into the previously inaccessible room. The next morning his brother Billy (Ty Wood) comes downstairs and is awestruck by the room that was the morgue of the former funeral home. He examines all of the tools that are still left in the room and jumps on the embalming table when Matt says he will give him a ride. Billy lies down and Matt begins to spin the table faster and faster. Matt continues to see flashes of images including a quick flash of a man loading sandbags into an empty coffin. As he sees these visions he keeps spinning the table as his brother begins to cry out to him to stop.Peter comes in asking what all the commotion is and joking that they were able to get in because he loosened the knob. When he sees all of the tools he is taken aback and later takes Sarah out into the backyard and demands to know when she knew about the house's history. She hesitates, and then admits she's known for a while but wanted to take the house, as it is perfect for them. He says that he's surprised she hid the truth since she is the one who always said that there can't be lies in a marriage. She replies that that only applied to him when he was lying and drinking. Hinting that there had previously been trouble in their marriage due to Peter's drinking problem.That night at dinner, Peter is telling the rest of the family about the house, but states that it doesn't matter, as the house is theirs now. He asks if Matt wants to say Grace and the family joins hands and Matt becomes lost in another vision of a group of people (Blake Taylor, Keith James, Kelly Wolfman & Jessica Burleson) having a séance with the young man he has seen previously who is called Jonah (Erik J. Berg). He comes out of it to find the rest of the family staring at him in fear.Later he is talking with Wendy and they are reminiscing about a book they used to read as children with the poems The Man Who Wasn't There and Two Dead Boys Wendy says that he's scaring her and he tells her to join the club.The next day Matt is again at the hospital watching TV in a room with other patients when he hears a sound and looks in horror as he sees crabs crawling on the floor and on his legs and arm. He comes out of it as a nurse (Adriana O'Neil) is drawing blood from his arm and he has a conversation with another patient, Reverend Nicholas Popescu (Elias Koteas). Matt confesses that he's been seeing things and Nicholas cautions him to not mention it to the doctors as they wouldnt understand and tells him that his wife also saw thing on her deathbed and the two of them are now seeing things as they are near to death. Nicholas gives Matt his card and tells him to call him if he needs to talk.That night the family is in their respective rooms and Wendy is painting her nails and listening to the youngest cousin, Mary, talk to herself as she is playing with her dolls. The lights flicker and then die and Mary loudly asks for the lights to be turned back on and they do, but behind her you can see a withered hand with the symbols carved into them.The next day Matt is playing hide and seek with his brother and cousin and as they hide he looks for them upstairs. He is looking in Wendy's room when he is startled by a figure moving past him into the room. He is having another vision of Jonah who is franticly putting his belongings into a bag as a voice loudly calls his name. Matt follows Jonah as he runs down stairs and sees another figure grab Jonah and pull him into the basement. He follows and enters the morgue and jumps as the door shuts behind him and he is unable to open it. The room is no longer empty as every surface seems to have a shrouded body on it. As Matt stares at them he is shocked when one of the corpses feet twitches and he begins to shout for Wendy. He panics as the shrouds fall away and the withered corpses surround him, he pushes one away only to realize that he has instead shoved his little brother and again his family is frightened by his behavior.Matt calls Nicholas and tells him about what he's been seeing and Nicholas advises him to find out what the spirit wants from him. Later, Matt is in his room and painfully lowers himself to the floor and hooks his feet under his bed and begins to gingerly do sit ups. Matt sits up and finds himself face to face with a burned figure, he asks the spirit what it wants from him and the ghost begins to move towards him.Later the rest of the family comes home and Sarah rushes into the front room at the call of the children. All of the furniture has been stacked in the middle of the room and Matt is found shirtless with his fingers bloody from scratching at the wall.Sarah and Peter take him to Dr. Brooks (D. W. Brown) who assures them that his strange behavior is not due to the cancer or the treatment he is receiving. The family is beginning to crack under the stress of Matts illness and increasingly bizarre behavior. Sarah tries to pray for him but breaks down in tears. Peter is also shown to be increasingly tempted to fall back into the bottle and we see that he finally has started drinking again when he is away from the family during the week and is seen watching slides of Matt when he is younger and crying.The next day Mary and Billy declare that they are bored and ask Wendy who is reading nearby to play with them. She tells them to go and hide and they rush off. Billy decides to hide in the dumbwaiter and closes the doors before his cousin Mary can join him. Mary decides to hide in the attic. As Wendy begins looking for them Billy turns to find himself sharing the dumbwaiter with the burnt ghost and begins to shriek in terror. Mary tries to run out of the attic but her leg falls through a rotted section of the floor. Wendy helps Billy out of the dumbwaiter and they and Matt rush upstairs to find Mary stuck in the attic floor.Matt helps her up and then realizes that there is something in the hole he reaches in and finds a metal box and a bundle of photographs. Later he and Wendy are sitting in the kitchen examining the box and the photographs. The photographs show Jonah at the séance emitting ectoplasm, inside the box is another one that contains strange strips of material that neither Matt nor Wendy can identify. Matt puts the box away then asks to see the photographs and Wendy sees the look of recognition he gets when he sees them. She convinces Matt to talk to her and he admits that hes seen the boy in the photos every day since they moved into the house and Wendy suggests the house may be haunted and they should check out its history.She researches at the library and finds out that the funeral home was run by a man named Ramsey Aickman (John Bluethner) who was the sinister bearded man that Matt has seen in his visions. Aickman also conducted psychic research and would host séances with Jonah as the medium. But most disturbing is the fact that at one of the séances all those attending, including Aickman, were found dead and Jonah disappeared. Later, in the 1950s, the state was building a new road that would run through part of the cemetery near the house and when the coffins were exhumed it was discovered that many of the bodies had disappeared and were never buried. Matt and Wendy then contact Nicholas to seek his help.Nicholas examines the photos and the box and realizes that the smaller box contains the eyelids that Aickman cut off of the corpses in the course of his processing the bodies. He theorizes that Aickman was practicing necromancy in an attempt to control the dead and binding them to the house. He realizes that Aickman did this in an attempt to magnify Jonah's medium abilities. He asks Matt and Wendy to take his hands and pray with him for the souls of the missing bodies and for Jonah.When Matt takes their hands he again is drawn into a vision of that final séance. As he is watching Jonah begins to painfully emit the ectoplasm from his mouth as Aickman looks on. The table shakes and the ectoplasm glows bright and seems to turn to fire. He is broken from the vision when Sarah comes home and demands to know who this stranger is that is in her house. Nicholas attempts to explain and warn her about the spirits in the house and their intentions toward Matt because he is near death. She again asks that he leave and he does, but gives her a card and tells her she is not alone.That night the family is asleep when Wendy is awoken by the sound of birds in her room and a loud thud when it seems one has hit the window. She hears it fluttering on the floor and she looks down to see the sheets on her bed moving as if the bird were fluttering underneath them. She begins to creep closer when she suddenly sees a man's feet by her head; she jumps up and sees a figure standing over her. She grabs her lamp, but the figure is gone when she shines the light where it was.Sarah is asleep when she woken by footsteps, she sleepily calls for Peter, then Matt and realizes that it is neither. She sits up only to come face to face with one of the withered corpse figures and screams.Outside, Peter's car jumps the curb and drives across the yard and he unsteadily gets out and is disgusted to see that every light in the house is on. He slams the door and begins to loudly shout at everyone for having the lights on and costing him even more money. Sarah quickly gathers the family together in one room and locks the door but Peter bashes it open and yells at them while he removes the light bulbs from the room and then goes around removing all the light bulbs in the house and then smashing them in the kitchen sink.Sarah follows him outside and angrily tells him that he was acting childishly and all hes done is frightened his family. She tells him that if he gets drunk again to not bother to come home and storms back inside.After Peter leaves, the family is again asleep when all of the electronics in the house go haywire. The cacophony terrifies the family and in desperation Sarah contacts Nicholas. As Nicholas searches the house he explains to her how spirits can become trapped and he goes into the basement where Matt is curled up in his bed seemingly in pain. As Sarah comforts Matt, Nicholas looks into the morgue and sees the burnt figure of Jonah. He goes into the room and tries to examine the furnace but is unable, as the doors slam shut. The family is terrified as doors throughout the house begin to slam open and shut and Nicholas decides to try and get at the furnace from outside the house. As he staggers outside Sarah continues to comfort Matt but is unable to see Jonah's spirit, as it looms closer and closer to Matt. Nicholas manages to open the back of the furnace and finds a fragment of a skull amongst the ashes. He removes the remains and as he staggers away from the house, the activity stops.As he leaves with the ashes, Nicholas tells Sarah that the activity should stop, but there may be aftershocks of strange activity for a couple days afterwards. Sarah thanks him and he drives off. In the basement, Matt looks out the window and sees Jonah's spirit staring at him from outside before he rolls over and goes to sleep.Matt awakens later to find that something has carved Aikman's symbols into his flesh and he begins to scream. Sarah runs downstairs and demands to know what he's done to himself. Matt is loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital where he's placed in a room with a man who is muttering to himself. Matt stares at the ceiling but then looks at the door to see Jonah standing there.Nicholas is driving home with Jonah's remains when he sees Jonah in his rearview mirror, which distracts him, and he nearly crashes into a truck. He runs off the road and as he stares at Jonah he and Matt begin to have simultaneous visions.We see Jonah waking up after the flames had burst from him during the séance. The attendees are burnt corpses and Aickman is dying from his burns, Jonah runs to him and Aickman gasps for him to run as, Now they'll be after you. Jonah runs as the house comes alive and he is driven upstairs where he climbs into the dumbwaiter. As it descends into the basement he shouts for help but is hurled into the furnace, which comes alight and burns him alive. After imparting this final vision to Nicholas, Jonah's spirit disappears as his ashes float out of Nicholas car.Peter meets Sarah at the hospital and apologizes for his behavior but Sarah tells him its all right as he is there now. The doctor tells them that Matt is sedated, but they've discovered that his cancer has worsened, as the treatments have had no effect. He tells them that Matt is going to die and he has no idea what is keeping him alive. Sarah asks if they can see him, but when they get to the room they find a hole in the window where Matt has escaped and the disturbed man is muttering the Two Dead Boysrhyme over and over. We see Matt running through the night back to the house as the doctor calls security.Back at the house Wendy is settling Billy and Mary back in their rooms when she goes to bite into an apple and gags as she finds it has rotted on the inside. She goes downstairs and finds that all the food in the house has rotted and she throws it away outside. After spilling something on herself she decides to take a shower, missing Nicholas' frantic phone call. He leaves them a message saying that he made a mistake, Jonah's spirit was actually trying to release the bound spirits and now that Nicholas has removed him from the house they are now at the mercy of the bound spirits rage and they must get out. Mary misses the call and as she gets out of the shower she is attacked, the shower curtain wrapping around her and nearly suffocating her. She runs upstairs to get Billy and Mary when she sees Matt enter the backyard carrying an axe. She panics and runs back in to tell the children to hide as she locks the door, only to have Matt break through with the axe.Wendy runs into the front room and screams as Matt brings the axe down into the wall behind her. As she scrambles out of the way he begins to chop through a false wall revealing the corpses Aickman hid in the walls. Matt forces Wendy and the children out of the house telling her to not let anyone stop the fire. He barricades himself in the house and begins to tear down the other false walls as marked corpses begin to tumble into the room. As he swings the axe the view switches from Matt to Jonah, who seems to be occupying Matt's body. After he finishes knocking down the walls, Matt gets bottles of formaldehyde from the basement and lights the bodies and the room on fire and crouches in the middle of the room to await the flames as the bound spirits gather around him.Sarah and Peter arrive with the fire department and frantically try to get in to save Matt. Nicholas also arrives and Sarah asks him why it isn't over. Sarah gets around a firefighter and into the house and grabs Matt and drags him under a table to avoid the falling timbers. The spirits appear again, but then finally disappear, seemingly freed as a firefighter breaks through the wall to pull Matt and Sarah from the house.Outside, Sarah watches frantically as the emergency crew attempts to resuscitate Matt. As Matt slips away he has a vision of himself standing in the graveyard where he sees Jonah, no longer appearing burnt, standing in the distance. He seems about to follow Jonah when he hears his mother's voice and returns to his body where he coughs and Jonah's spirit leaves him, appearing next to Nicholas before finally disappearing as he can now move on. As Sarah hugs Matt, Nicholas walks away as the family gathers around Matt.As Sarah narrates how God works in mysterious ways, we are told that Matt's cancer disappeared and he made a full recovery and that the house was rebuilt and resold and the new owners reported no further incidents of haunting. | violence, psychedelic, gothic, haunting, flashback | train | imdb | I'm sure it helped that I was in the right mood and the right atmosphere when I saw this movie at a midnight screening at South by Southwest, but The Haunting in Connecticut was a horror movie that really struck a chord with me.I'm a longtime fan of this genre, getting acquainted with all the old classics and cult films through USA Saturday Night Horror when I was young, and continuing to see and love newer ones, such as The Ring, throughout college.
I wasn't looking forward to this movie because of it, but I had a chance to watch it at a friend's house, and I was completely amazed by what people thought about it.Now I am not going to say it was the best haunting movie ever because it wasn't, but the movie as a whole was pretty good.
The acting was good, it made you feel for the characters in the movie (espically the boy), it was definitely different as far as the plot, and even though the scary moments weren't terrifying, there were plenty of them to keep me interested.This movie has a lot of what you would call assumed and interpreted stuff in it.
you may be reading some weird comments over the movies i went on rant here at this web site under my name which is Evren Buyruk but I am trying to give you guys the core notion i absorb from movies.Yes,I wanted to post the wine comment on the summary area 'cause I do believe this movie is like one of the rare classics of horror movie genre.I'm sure it helped that I was in the right mood and the right atmosphere when I saw this movie at a midnight screening at South by Southwest, but The Haunting in Connecticut was a horror movie that really struck a chord with me.I'm a longtime fan of this genre, getting acquainted with all the old classics and cult films through USA Saturday Night Horror when I was young, and continuing to see and love newer ones, such as The Ring, throughout college.
However, when I go on a rant about the current state of horror movies, I tell people that today's movies make you heighten your sense of disbelief too much in order to be scared – I call it "fantasy horror." There aren't enough movies like The Exorcist anymore where it absolutely feels real, like something that has always existed but you've just been lucky enough to avoid.I loved The Haunting in Connecticut, because it is much closer to reality horror than fantasy, and I suppose that's because it's based on a true story.
However, when I go on a rant about the current state of horror movies, I tell people that today's movies make you heighten your sense of disbelief too much in order to be scared – I call it "fantasy horror." There aren't enough movies like The Exorcist anymore where it absolutely feels real, like something that has always existed but you've just been lucky enough to avoid.I loved The Haunting in Connecticut, because it is much closer to reality horror than fantasy, and I suppose that's because it's based on a true story.
If you're the type of person who loves horror movies, I assume that's the exact creepy way you want them to resonate.Besides the background story, one of the other reasons I think this movie worked was because of the performance of Kyle Gallner.
If you're the type of person who loves horror movies, I assume that's the exact creepy way you want them to resonate.Besides the background story, one of the other reasons I think this movie worked was because of the performance of Kyle Gallner.
This young man plays a much more complex (and believable) protagonist than most of the ones I've seen in horror films lately, as his character, Matt, has a very familiar (and scary in its own right) disease that makes him question whether the haunting is real, or a symptom of his sickness.
This young man plays a much more complex (and believable) protagonist than most of the ones I've seen in horror films lately, as his character, Matt, has a very familiar (and scary in its own right) disease that makes him question whether the haunting is real, or a symptom of his sickness.
I venture to say that his character could have made an interesting movie even BEFORE the paranormal activity starts, but Gallner was exceptional in this role, and I think we'll still be talking about "the boy in The Haunting in Connecticut," 10 years from now.So for true horror movie fans, I definitely recommend checking this one out.
I venture to say that his character could have made an interesting movie even BEFORE the paranormal activity starts, but Gallner was exceptional in this role, and I think we'll still be talking about "the boy in The Haunting in Connecticut," 10 years from now.So for true horror movie fans, I definitely recommend checking this one out.
So I say add some more scares, perhaps a little gore, do not try to pass off the movie as being a reenactment or something and this film might have been really good...just like a lot of horror movies it is usually might have is it not?.
I saw the documentary on the discovery channel and to be honest was thinking the whole thing was fake just like the hype (and hoax)of the Amityville horror 3 decades earlier.Whether it was real,imagined or fake the movie was very enjoyable from start to finish.The movie was set in the late 80's and this was portrayed well.It started out with a brief history of the house and then got started at a nice pace introducing the characters.A family takes possession of a home only to find that something else has already done so.The house is a too-good-to-be-true rental property just a stone's throw from the hospital where young Matt Campbell is being treated for cancer.The movie sets up the possibility that everything is just in Matt's head because his experimental cancer drugs list "creepy hallucinations" as potential side effects.Things get interesting when Matt,his cousin and a reverend uncover the house's evil history.Virginia Madsen gave a solid performance playing "the mother",and Kyle Gallner as "Matt" was equally as good!
Last few years have been rough for haunted movies with nothing really up to mark being released, I walked into the theater playing this movie with same expectations that it would be another rip off from Japanese ghost camera angles/ideas and stuff but my my,the movie really scares.Though many people on IMDb have argued to lack of originality of this movie but i don't agree.The movie is well interpreted,doesn't slow down and in between scares keeps interest as well as tingling those sensitive nerves.In terms of acting,I have been a fan of Virginia Madsen since SIDEWAYS and this time she delivers again.Kyle Gallner doesn't have much to do..I wont go into the story as it isn't the high point of the movie and every 3rd haunted story has same stuff but the way its presented,really matters.I definitely recommend to horror fans to go see this movie,it won't waste your ticket,and if you follow it up with DISCOVERY DOCUMENTARY on the story,this movie won't let you sit alone in your study and go to the attic at night..Great Experience...
It's pretty much everything after the first 20 - 30 minutes that ruins this.The horror side of things just feels so forced and fails in every way to bring any fear to the viewer , it doesn't even score with cheap jumps like a lot of modern horror films.The acting was quite surprisingly a lot better then it needed to be but the horror side of it gets quite jumbled.
Its not horrible in terms of acting or over the top, but I feel that the actors could have put much more soul into their roles, especially seeing how this movie is supposed to be based on real experiences.In about 15 minutes into the film it starts to turn into another The Amityville Horror clone, which sucks since the set-up was quite good and the atmosphere was alright.
I saw the trailer for this movie a few months ago, and hoped that the movie would be half as good as the trailer.Well I needn't have worried, as here is a movie that whilst nothing that new, executes it's storyline beautifully, and the plot is backed up by a convincing cast.For a change, there is actually character development going on here, and you end up caring what happens to them.The scares are of the old fashioned 'boo!'jump out of your seat type, and work amazingly well as they are just so well timed.The cinematography is superb, and the lighting creates the right mood too.When this comes to DVD, I think it will unnerve people even more as they watch it alone in the dark, rather than a movie theatre where there are other people around!
To be honest, the only part that scared me was when a pile of dishes broke very loudly during the movie, and that was only because I'd lost interest and was watching the teenager sitting in front of me text-message on his phone every 10 seconds and was startled by the noise.The Haunting was very slow-paced, there was very little character-depth or exploration, the movie was very slow-paced, the acting was wooden and forced (especially by the father and the cancer-ridden Reverend), the dialog was dim and slow...and the movie was extremely very way too absolutely extremely ridiculously slow paced.And what's scary about quick camera flashes of alternate scenes?
If you heard that this is based on a true story, then don't be afraid; there's nothing scary about it.Haunting in Connecticut tells the story of a family who moves into a creepy, run-down house (which happens to have a crematorium in the basement, go figure) so that the son can receive cancer treatment at a nearby clinic.
the movie was pretty every ghost story/horror cliché thrown into a single movie, ripping off classic horror films ("The Amityville Horror" and "Poltergeist" come to mind) and giving you nothing but bad cheap scares.
The Haunting in Connecticut, apparently based on a true story (but what horror movie isn't anymore?), gave me every single reason to hate it.
It threw every horror cliché (i.e., following strange and scary noises into a dark basement), it gave some cheap thrills (i.e., "people" randomly walking/standing somewhere in the house and only the audience sees them), and it has characters who happen to be randomly brilliant and understand the reason for all of these "occurrences." For the majority of the first half of the film, I was laughing.
It's centered upon a house which is dirt cheap in rent, but only because of the things that go bump in the night, given its dark and ugly past which Sara Campbell (Virginia Madsen) decides to take no heed of, in order to house their family close to the hospital where cancer-stricken son Matt (Kyle Gallner) has to undergo frequent therapy.For starters, the film has a relatively strong introduction, where once you got by the rather creepy opening credits, you're introduced to the family proper.
After all, it's a story about a family's ordeal (remember those 5 words?) with the supernatural, which initially got you suspecting whether it's all in Matt's hallucinating mind since he's under some strong medication, and of all places decide to make the basement into his room, complete with the set from Hostel with macabre tools complementing the decor.But what I like about the film, is how it plays up on beliefs, such as children being able to see and somewhat interact with their "invisible friends", or for those at the brink of death given an ability to see extra things within their field of vision, since they're only a stone's throw away to the other side.
While these may not be something that's not already clichéd, and in truth being innovative and original is getting extremely tough, these tried and tested moments still worked somehow under Peter Cornwell's direction in building anticipation, just waiting for something expected to happen became part of the fun.The Haunting in Connecticut is yet another creepy house story that's fortunately still slightly above average, where the fun factor would come with watching this with a full house of squeamish teenagers who would scream at just anything that moves..
Specifically it is based very loosely on Al and Carmen Snedeker's experiences in Southington, Connecticut.Virginia Madsen, an Oscar nominee who should pick better roles lest she become wealthy like Cage by feeding off deadly scripts, plays mother Sara Campbell moving her brood to the former mortuary to be near the hospital for cancer patient son, Matt (Kyle Gallner).
Contrast this story with the better-done family haunting in Poltergeist and The Shining and you have a good idea why Haunting in Connecticut makes you wonder you didn't wait until the next life to view this dross, a time when you will have all the time to look at junk and appreciate how the writers could have been so spot on about the horror of the next life.Haunting is filled with tired clichés, quick cuts to make MTV envious, and an amusingly confusing plotall a testament to the brilliance of 28 Days Later and the durability of The Exorcist.
Sadly, this is the case with The Haunting in Connecticut.The film purports to be based the "true" story of events that beset the Snedeker family (changed to Campbell in the movie) in the 1980s and was dramatized to much greater effect and creepiness by the Discovery Channel series "A Haunting".With their eldest son Matt's body ravaged by cancer, the family enrolls him in clinical trials for a new treatment at a distant hospital.
The scary stuff was fine (although I am wary of "cheating" horror where things just appear out of nowhere at any given time - forcing a fright), but there was absolutely no suspense to the horror and the film relied on cheap scare tactics.That being said, The acting by the young boy was great, (in fact all the kids did a fine job) but the adults in this flick really phoned it in.
This movie is so scary,that I can't even count the number of times that me and my friend jumped out of our seats in the movie theater.'The Haunting in Conneticut'is supposedly based on a real event that happened.But it's kinda hard to believe that all of the events that happened in this movie happened in real life.That's one of the movie's downsides.The upsides are the scares,the plot,and the good performance that Virginia Madsen gave the audience.Besides,this isn't the only good performance that she has done in a horror movie.Have you ever heard of the movie 'Candyman.'Virginia Madsen did an excellent performance in that movie and I highly recommend it.But enough talking about other horror movies,lets talk about 'The Haunting in Conneticut.'Well,like I said,Mrs. Madsen gives a good performance.And the scares will no doubt give anyone nightmares,so I would probably watch this movie with the lights on.You should definitely see this movie if you haven't already.7.5/10.
This is my favorite ghost horror movie, a story where the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut so teenager Matt Campbell (Kyle Gallner) could be closer to his cancer treatments.
I remembered that at the time the film had given a real good impression, and I wasn't wrong.As a devout Horror fan, the Ghost-Story sub-genre is definitely one of my favorites.
In fairness, there are worse haunted house movies out there but from something that promised so much you'll end up feeling a little short changed.The scares are clichéd and it cheapens a film that is nicely shot and well acted (especially Kyle Gallner as Matt).It's a decent story but it peters out toward the end and ultimately lacks any real substance.
As I have already mentioned on various comments,I am an aficionado of horror cinema; however,I usually do not like the movies from that genre which pretend to be "based on true events".To begin with,Hollywood is a horrible historian,and every proclamation of truth on any genre is,on the best cases,superficial and subject to the needs from marketing (or,luckily,to the need of the narrative).And second,I am absolutely skeptical about everything related to supernatural events.Because of all that,I was not very interested in watching The Haunting in Connecticut,not only because all the marketing from the studio Lionsgate insists on proclaiming it portrays true events which happened to a family in Connecticut during mid-80's,but also because I knew the story included references to the famous "seances" from late nineteenth century,which have been discredited everywhere trick and cheats from liars who wanted to take advantage of the curiosity or the pain of people who are interested in contacting "the other side".The result is that The Haunting of Connecticut is a mediocre horror film,but not because of any of the previously mentioned causes,but because it uses a lot of tiring clichés we have already seen too many times.The start from The Haunting in Connecticut is pretty promising,because it has a sober and subtle style which efficiently produces an atmosphere of sadness and paranoia.Besides,the first supernatural events work well.But,unfortunately,after that solid start,director Peter Cornwell looses the control,and he brings us irritating edition tricks,screech sound accents and hollow thrills which feel too bland...the sudden appearance of a horrible face on a window,or the mirror which reflects a sinister figure,or the typical tense music which is accompanied with the exploration of a dark room.The performances are a positive element from The Haunting in Connecticut and they clearly help to the movie.The members who specially stand out are Kyle Gallner and Virginia Madsen.So,the performances and the beginning from the movie are the things which make it worthy of a slight recommendation.However,I prefer by far the very interesting documentary A Haunting in Connecticut,which is more humble but much more satisfactory than this mediocre movie.. |
tt0405508 | Rang De Basanti | A young, struggling British filmmaker Sue McKinley (Alice Patten) comes across the diary of her grandfather, Mr. McKinley (Steven Mackintosh), who served as a jailer in the Imperial Police during the Indian independence movement. Through the diary, she learns about the story of five freedom fighters who were active in the movement: Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, Ashfaqulla Khan, and Ram Prasad Bismil. McKinley, in his diary, states that he had met two type of people in his life, those who died without uttering a sound and those who died with lots of anguish, crying over their deaths. McKinley reveals that it was then that he met with the third kind — those who die with a smile on their face.
Having decided to make a self-financed documentary film about these revolutionaries, Sue travels to India, with the help of her friend, Sonia (Soha Ali Khan), from the Institute for International Studies at the University of Delhi. After a few unsuccessful auditions in search of the actors, Sue finally casts Sonia's friends, four young men – Daljit "DJ" Singh (Aamir Khan), Karan Singhania (Siddharth Narayan), Aslam Khan (Kunal Kapoor) and Sukhi Ram (Sharman Joshi) — to portray the revolutionaries.
Though they aren't very enthusiastic at the idea of acting in a film about the independence movement, Sue eventually manages to convince them. Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni), a right-wing political party activist, joins the cast later, despite initially being unpopular due to his anti-Western ideology, due to which he is often at odds with the other four, and anti-Muslim beliefs and contempt for Aslam Khan. In the process of filming, the idealism of India's revolutionary heroes seeps into the protagonists. They gradually begin to realize that their own lives are quite similar to the characters they portray in Sue's film and that the state of affairs that once plagued the revolutionaries continues to torment their generation.
Meanwhile, Ajay Singh Rathod (R. Madhavan), a flight lieutenant in the Indian Air Force who is Sonia's fiancé, is killed when his jet, a MiG-21, crashes. The government proclaims that the crash was caused by pilot error and closes the investigation. Knowing that Rathod was an ace pilot, Sonia and her friends do not accept the official explanation. Instead, they claim that he sacrificed his life to save hundreds of other lives that would have been lost had he ejected from the aircraft and left it to crash into a populous city. They investigate and learn that the crash was due to a corrupt defence minister Shastri (Mohan Agashe), who had signed a contract exchanging cheap and illegal MiG-21 aircraft spare parts for a personal favour. To their surprise, they learn that the key person who was responsible for organizing the deal was Karan's father, Rajnath Singhania (Anupam Kher).
Angered by the situation, the group and their supporters decide to protest peacefully at India Gate, a war memorial in New Delhi. Police forcefully break up their protest using batons; in the process, Rathod's mother (Waheeda Rehman) is severely injured and slips into a coma. DJ, Karan, Aslam, Sukhi, and Laxman decide that they must emulate the early freedom fighters and resort to violence to achieve justice. As a result, they kill the defence minister to avenge Rathod's death, while Karan murders his father for his corrupt actions. The minister is reported to have been killed by terrorists and is hailed as a martyr by the media. To bring forth their intentions behind the killings, the five of them attempt to reach the public through a radio station. They forcibly take over the All India Radio station premises after having evacuated its employees. Karan goes on air and reveals the truth about the defence minister and his wrongdoings. While still on the air, the police proclaim that they are dangerous terrorists who have forcefully taken over the AIR, and therefore they are to be shot on sight. The first to be shot is Daljit, who tries to get out of cover and establish that they are not terrorists. Sukhi, unable to control his anger, shows himself and is instantly shot. As they are trying to lock the terrace doors, Aslam and Pandey are then killed by a grenade and the once archenemies die holding hands and smiling, as they have visions of Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan.
Daljit manages to crawl to the recording room, where Karan is still on air. When Karan understands that he has been shot, they speak amongst themselves for the last time, regarding the others, about Sue and about Daljit's love for her. They are then killed by police commandos while laughing. It is then revealed that McKinley described the third kind of people he came across as being the ones who embraced death as a friend and an equal, with a heartfelt laughter. After their death, the public reacts with outrage and expresses urge to bring Indian politics to justice, following the motives of all the boys.
The film comes to an end with Sue describing the impact of the boys on her life. As she and Sonia watch from the rooftop that Ajay proposed to her on, they have a vision of the boys running in the fields, singing happily and victoriously throwing their shirts in the air, acting as if they are celebrating life itself, as if the ebb of their once-there vitality still reverberates in the places where they once used to go, and a wave of melancholy comes over the two surviving women.
In an afterlife-like state, the boys watch as a father tells his son (a young Bhagat Singh) about gardening. They watch over him with smiling faces, then depart as friends for eternity. | avant garde, murder, cult, violence, flashback, revenge | train | wikipedia | The way each character gradually immerses into scenes from the past leaves you fantasizing about the hard work that has gone in the background to create this, both technically and on the part of the actor.The movie starts on a very high spirit reflecting today's youth mindset who believe that patriotism is something that looks good in history chapters and today's world is far ahead of all that, they would prefer to go boozing and dancing rather than thinking on any of those lines.
A.R. Rehman doesn't need any introductions and he is surely one of the most original music directors we have in the country.The brilliance of Aamir Khan is something very difficult to narrate, he has proved it umpteen number of times that he is truly the most versatile actor in the industry.
He appears so natural and his complete look with new hairstyle (which is now part of his every new movie) gives a very striking combination.Well the most wanting part of the whole thing has been the script to certain extent, it appears very loose in the second half and at times gives a droning feel.
However it has been the technical expertise of the director who managed to save the things with some outstanding camera work and editing.Rang De
is for sure a must watch movie, it doesn't have any preaching but still it will force you to think once.
If I wait any more to say all the things I want to say about this great soul-stirring movie I will never be able to say it.It is the best use of the film medium that I have seen in a long long time.Here in the west we have virtually abandoned good cinema.Where are our Capras,our Wilders, our Hitchcocks, our David Leans?
We make trivia now that neither entertain nor enlighten.To put it very bluntly, we make utter trash.Good work in the world is being done elsewhere, especially in India where a Bhansali stretches the limits of cinematic expression, where a new Wilder emerges in the shape of Anees Bazmee, where Shaad Ali springs a surprise with a Bunty Aur Bubbly,where out of nowhere comes a Guru Dutt in the garb of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and takes us to a new level of awareness and self-discovery through cinema in a stunning masterpiece called Rang De Basanti.I challenge anyone to name a film made anywhere in the last fifteen years or so to hold a candle to this one.It is simply awesome.As an entertainer it is superb, as purposeful film it goes even further.As a fearless, bold crusader for just causes it is beyond compare.The whole team deserves to be congratulated.Apart from the tremendous contribution made by the writers and the director of the movie, the people who need to be singled out and applauded for the high quality of their work are Aamir Khan(his best role yet),Soha Ali Khan(who finally claims our attention with this role and is destined to be as distinguished as her mother Sharmila Tagore).
Waheeda Rehman makes you feel that Guru Dutt is back directing her from heaven.Kirron Kher who is improving with every picture.And all the boys from Kunal Kapoor to Atul Kulkarni.All have turned in amazing performances.After Devdas and Munna Bhai MBBS, Binod Pradhan has once again shown that as an ace cameraman he is second to none.And what can you say about A.R. Rahman?This time he even sings like a pro.He is paired here for the first time with Prasoon Joshi who makes you think of Majrooh Sultanpuri.But before I forget, I must mention Alice Patten.
Reality is it is a sensible movie which talks to all walks of life.The balance between ideologies,reality and humor has been taken care off in the most spectacular manner; never making the audience feel small,blamed or negative.The characters are very real and they do make a lot of sense.
Salutations to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra for giving to our generation a renewed faith and hope, for making us believe that there is a fire kindling in all of ours' souls and no matter where we are and what we do, we love our country.The Story: A young English filmmaker, Sue (Alice Payton), arrives in Delhi to make a film on Indian revolutionaries and their struggle for independent India.
After grilling auditioning sessions, when Sue is almost disheartened and doubts if she will be able to find her heroes at all, she comes across DJ (Aamir Khan), Karan (Siddharth), Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor) and Lakshman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni) and she knows she has found what she was looking for.
When I first watched Rang De Basanti, it started out as a fair film, telling the story of a group of friends making a film about freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and his friends.
But when the film ended i thought "Finally symbolism has returned to Indian cinema, and Aamir has regained his status as a superstar." Aamir Khan easily outclasses himself and all the other performances in 2006 and breathtakingly acts very naturally.
Sameer Chanda's art direction and Allan Amin's action sequences are its other strong points.Aamir gets into the skin of the character and delivers a knockout performance from start to end, but the film has more gems when it comes to performances: Siddharth is excellent, Atul Kulkarni is fantastic, Soha Ali Khan is a complete revelation, Kunal Kapoor is natural and Sharman Joshi delivers a powerful performance.Alice Patten is brilliant and besides delivering a flawless performance, her style of speaking Hindi is sure to win a lot of hearts.
And the actor, playing a character 15 years younger, lives the role, conveying the right amount of mischief (as in the banter in Hindi with Sue without realizing she knows the language), carefree flippancy, earnestness, insecurity, even breaking down on screen, and keeping his infectious laughter till the very end.Well, in the movie its said " I always thought that there are two kinds of men; those who met their deaths screaming and those who die in silence.
The comparisons drawn between past and present and the way the characters really emerge out has been the high point of the movie.Aamir khan looks more mature than a college pass out but then he makes up with his fine performance and instinctive manipulation.
It is a patriotic movie and relates well to the younger generation.I would definitely rate Alice's performance among one of the best and how she's so much comfortable with Hindi is amazing.It is an irony in the film that it took a foreign girl to make the youth realize of their patriotic heritage.
Plot Outline: Sue (Alice Patten) is inspired by the legendary characters of Bhagat Singh, Azad et al from her grandfather's diaries during his days in the British Raj. She lands in Delhi to make a film on them and finds those characters in Sonia's (Soha) friends DJ (Aamir), Karan (Siddharth), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor) & Sukhi (Sharman Joshi).
This is whats gonna happen to any youth in this country if the Government continues to BS around and no you don't need no Al Qaida to do, just normal people can".Whats the result?Instead of a History Channel on Bhagath Singh, you get a contemporary rendering of the characters in present day India with a seemingly interleaving screenplay of past/present.
this movie released 4 days back and from the second day till this evening i have watched the movie 3 times.'RANG DE BASANTI' doesn't leave any scope for excuses to not to watch the movie.to tell the story in a few sentences it is a story about a group of urban friends from Delhi who are urged by an independent documentary filmmaker to act in a movie about the Indian revolutionaries fighting against the British empire in the 1920s.
initially as they act they do not believe in the ideal-isms of freedom ,patriotism and revolution as incorporated in the film but as the story moves on they begin to come face to face with the sacrifices made in the past in the revolution.as the story moves on the line between past and present becomes more and more blurred until it vanishes.here the friends become themselves the very characters they were playing in the documentary movie.the rest u have to see for yourselves.the movie is actually 2 movies in one.we see about the revolutionaries BHAGAT SINGH ,RAJGURU,chandrasekhar AZAD,BISMIL etc in flashbacks.we get to see the KAKORI train robbery,the SAUNDERS murder,the SIMON demonstrations,the hunger strike by BHAGAT SINGH and others while in jail,the JALIANWALAH BAGH massacre and many other things.
it is one with the film.it lifts the film to a different level altogether.unlike other typical Hindi movies in here you never realize when the songs come and go.they are simply a part of the story.in fact sometimes you would even wish that they were a bit long.i don't know why it is ,may because of the songs themselves or simply the way they have been shot.the photography is excellent.BINOD PRADHAN like his earlier movies has shown what a good cinematographer he is.the acting was fantastic.not only did the seasoned actors like AAMIR KHAN,ATUL KULKARNI and R.MADHAVAN but the younger ones like SHARMAN,SOHA,KUNAL and SIDDHARTH have done a perfect job.even you have to take the hats off for the support actors ANUPAM KHAR,KIRON KHER,WAHEEDA REHMAN.a special mention has to be there for ALICE PATTEN .she has done a great job.RAKEYSH OMPRAKASH MEHRA this is a movie of a lifetime.thank you for making it..
If you think that this is Yet another Indian movie dealing with the famous Indian freedom fighters.You are wrong.Raang de Basanti was a completely different flavor of all the patriotic films.The script clearly captures and awesomely merges the past freedom and the current India.
The cast selected (Esp Alice and the character Sukhi) were too good.Alternating of past and present and making them to meet at a point was awesome.Hats off to screenplay.First half was fully concentrated on the Film making by Alice which had built a different mindset ti the audience was died or ended abruptly in the second half..
The first 80mins of the movie are really hilarious with DJ (Aamir) one-liners as well as his passes at Sue. Sunil as Sarman Joshi needs special mention as he makes us laugh a lot.The first half cruises as the documentary develops, so do the group of start thinking more about what they are and what their destinies are.
It sure made my day !!!!!!!!........and the days to come !!!Rakesh Omprakash Mehra's movie 'Rang De Basanti' is a must-watch for reasons that the length of this review may not suffice to express.
More than just a technically brilliant flick, 'Rang De Basanti' has a story that entertains you, makes you think and stirs you deep inside in the end.The most remarkable part of the movie is the parallel that Mehra draws between the freedom fighters and DJ and his group of friends.
Starting off as a pleasant enough Bollywood entertainment about disaffected youth and the western blond girl who engages them in life and reminds them of the heroism of their ancestors against the evil British Colonial rulers (let's not even go there) the second half completely changes track and ends up as a political manifesto advocating violent terrorism as a way for social change.It's dispiriting that the film's (initial) message of unity, democratic change and resistance to the evils of power could have been done much MORE powerfully without violating the internal logic of the story.
The last quarter of the film comes out of the blueit's like you're watching a different movie.
There are about 10 different ways the script could have gone differently and held together conceptually, while keeping the message which is (or initially seemed to be) about coming together and resisting oppression: SPOILER ALERT!the youths could have been awakened to their problems, made a stand, and taken over the radio station, (even been killed and martyred for their beliefs) without killing someone in vigilante fashionthe youths could have discussed their understandable vengeful feelings before acting on them.the women, originally portrayed as agents of change, could have been included in the decisions, or continued as characters to encourage critical discussion and thinking (instead of being pushed aside and become the clichéd tragic, mourning, passive, victims).
A young woman from England (Alice Patten) comes to India to make a documentary about her grandfather's diary which was written in the 1920s about the Indian Independence with five young men.I probably missed something, because this film has had a tremendous influence and incredible positive criticism, whereas I saw a bunch of poor acting (particularly from Patten) and some over-the-top Bollywood singing and dancing.
However it is a very thin line for one to cross from the desired goal of inspiring and overwhelming into soul less preaching So to that end, Rang de basanti, does cause a lump in your throat, a resonating call in your heart and certain empathy for the five likable, very different characters of this story, without ever lapsing into either maudlin sentiments or moralizing to bring to the fore the plague called corruption sweeping India.
well, bollywood wallas don't like to give us too much of a good thing and always seem to come short.It will be great to watch a Hindi movie in which complex issues facing our society are addressed in an intelligent/clever manner rather than taking a short cut and shooting the politicians.
Awesome performances by everyone i would say .Soha was really graceful and AR Rehman stole the show with rocking music .......all in all a wonderful movie to watch ...Aamir yet again doing it..NO SURPRISES!!!!!!!!I guess it was expected .The direction was also up to the mark.The team as a whole look united at every moment and it was clearly reflected that they had done their homework .Aamir's new hairstyles was good for a change.Kirron also added a bit of humor along with Sherman who can been be seen really growing with every film he is doing.Soha has really shown that she has the potential to make a mark ,now we just have to wait and watch how she handles the success and carry forward..
Siddharth (Boys) was the perfect actor cast as the carefree and aimless son of an official military dealer, Anupam Kher(Saraansh, Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara) who just wants to leave the country because of the going-ons in this day and age (read "the system").Post-interval the movie deflects into a totally different direction due to R.
The movie goes through several interesting themes, like clash of cultures (Muslims in India), a love story, contemporary Indian politics, family values...
I did not hate it but the film could have ended in a different way.A.R. Rahman's music is first rate and comes at the right time.
It kills me to say this, but I don't think he'll make another film like this again.Now to the performances...but before that, let me say that there is not a hero in this movie...besides the director.
Aamir Khan as DJ played his role with perfection.It has only enhanced my love and respect for him.Other actors should not be deprived of their credit especially siddharth and sharman were terrific.Now,director did full justice to the the movie by not over-or-under doing anything.The contrast screenplay maintained throughout the movie was the main highlight.He has taken really best out of each actor.Ending was quite throat lumping but then "Good" movies have to have such things .Music has also complimented screenplay very well.Background score is extra ordinary and the song Luka Chuppi touches the soul.All in all best movie to come out of bollywood till now.The movie will take bollywood to next level....hopefully....bestest,super extra ordinary,brilliant,........and.......
Get hold of Radio Station, kill the minister and so on...People...don't you feel that the movie was nothing more than hang over of all the past good movies made by talented directors like Dil Chata hai, Lakshya, Yuva etc...Aamir Khan can hire anything....first he does not look 25 and secondly just swearing does not make you Punjabi...All the tution is wasted...Poor chap...he was acting to hard to look punjabi..but..Rest of the guys...sharman joshi was side kick and siddarth has problems with everything...from the country and from his father and everyone....
Kunal .....ok Only Atul Kulkarni was looking good in acting dept.Avoid it guys or you are heading for disappointment ...Full time...Having Aamir Khan does not mean good movie.
This one is piece of art...the ending..haven't seen any end touchy as much as the end of rang de basanti,i was literally into tears,with hicups,Aamir Khans acting was on top,he shown once again that he is the best in business...also Soha,Sidharath and Atul did a great job,Sidarath being a new actor was awesome.
Rang de basanti makes you feel patriotic in a way you have never felt before...The story starts off with Sue (Alice Patten) quitting her job and coming to India to make a documentary on the Indian Freedom Struggle during the 1920's.
R.Madhavan is a pleasant surprise.He plays Ajay, the patriotic Indian AirForce Pilot who is in love with Sonia(Soha Ali Khan).The second half of the movie is completely different.
and I say that not for the classy camera shots, great editing and cinematography, breath-taking music and background score, awe-inspiring performance from all the characters, but for the way Director Rakeysh Mehra had come up with a piece of art which blends moments of Dil Chahta Hai and Mangal Pandey!!
Yet, this time Mehra also proves that he is an excellent story-teller and brings out magnificent performances from all his actors.The title Rang de Basanti is inspired from the legendary song of the same name that the Indian Freedom Fighter Bhagat Singh sang, while he and his comrades were being taken to the gallows, way back in 1931.
Rang De Basanti is a world class movie from India or Bollywood that every youth should watch! |
tt0158983 | South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut | Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman go to a cinema to see Terrance and Phillip: Asses of Fire, which stars the boys' favorite Canadian comedy duo Terrance and Phillip. However, the boys are refused entry due to the film being R-rated, so they pay a homeless man to accompany them.
The following day, the boys begin swearing in class, and are sent to Mr. Mackey, the school councilor, who informs their mothers. Later, the boys see the film again, and Kenny bets Cartman $100 that he can set his fart on fire like Terrance in the film. Kenny immolates himself and ultimately dies, leading to Stan, Kyle, and Cartman being grounded. Kenny is sent to Hell, where he is tormented by Satan and Saddam Hussein. Back on Earth, the parents of South Park organize a boycott against Canada and Terrance and Phillip, which is led by Kyle's mother, Sheila. Terrance and Phillip are arrested as war criminals. When the United States refuses to release the duo, Canada retaliates by bombing the residence of the Baldwin brothers.
Sheila and President Bill Clinton announce that the United States will go to war with Canada and have Terrance and Phillip executed at a USO show. After overhearing Cartman leading the children in a song degrading her, Sheila has Dr. Vosknocker implant a V-Chip. The device gives Cartman an electric shock every time he swears. Back in Hell, Satan declares that if the blood of the two innocent Canadians touches American soil, he will invade Earth. Later, Kenny's ghost visits Cartman to warn him of the consequences of executing Terrance and Phillip. After failing to convince their parents, the boys decide to take matters into their own hands. They form La Resistance and Gregory tells Stan to recruit a God-hating French expert on covert operations named "The Mole".
La Resistance infiltrate the USO show, but The Mole is discovered and killed by guard dogs. The remaining boys attempt to warn their mothers about what will happen if Terrance and Phillip are killed, but they are laughed at, and Mr. Garrison activates the electric chair. A Canadian force attacks the base and a battle ensues between the two armies. In the confusion, the boys are able to free Terrance and Phillip, though Cartman's V-chip begins to malfunction. The mothers, seeing the destruction their movement has incited, decide to give up and look for their children.
Stan leads the kids to Terrance and Phillip, who have been cornered by the US army. La Resistance forms a human shield while Kyle tries to persuade the army and his mother against killing the two. Sheila refuses and shoots Terrance and Phillip, which results in Satan, his minions, and Saddam attacking Earth. As a result, Sheila regrets everything. Saddam tries to usurp Satan's authority, but is sent back to Hell and killed, thanks to Cartman's malfunctioning V-Chip and Kenny's encouragement. Satan then grants Kenny a wish; Kenny asks for everything to return to how it was before the war, even though it means he will have to go back to Hell. He takes off his hood to say goodbye to his friends, but instead of returning to Hell, Kenny ascends to Heaven due to his act of sacrifice. Everything returns to normal in South Park. | comedy, cult, psychedelic, humor, satire, entertaining | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0448075 | The Night Listener | Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams), a popular gay New York City radio show host, is dealing with a separation from his partner, Jess (Bobby Cannavale). Noone is given a memoir written by teenager Pete Logand (Rory Culkin), who chronicles the many years of sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his parents and their friends. Diagnosed with AIDS, the youth has been adopted by Donna Logand (Toni Collette), the social worker who handled his case.
Noone begins a telephone relationship with the boy and Donna. He and Pete become increasingly close and form a father-son relationship, much to the dismay of Jess, especially after he speaks to Donna and suspects she and the boy are the same person. Noone's personal secretary Anna (Sandra Oh) adds fuel to the fire by discussing her research into people who fabricate elaborate stories to get attention. Determined to prove the boy exists and his story is true, Noone decides to pay a surprise visit to Pete in his hometown in rural Wisconsin. Noone discovers the return address on Pete's correspondence is actually a mail drop. Soon after, while eating in a local diner, he overhears another patron and recognizes her voice as that of Donna. He's stunned to learn she's blind and uses a guide dog. Noone follows her home and Donna senses he has followed her. She invites him into her home and talks openly about Pete, who she says is currently in the hospital undergoing tests. She assures him he can visit the boy the following day, then suddenly becomes angry and tells him she will not allow him to meet her son. Increasingly suspicious, Noone contacts all the hospitals in Madison, the site of the nearest facilities, but none have the boy registered as a patient.
Noone's paranoia about the boy's existence grows and, hoping to find proof of his existence, he breaks into Donna's home. A police officer arrests him for breaking and entering and then, mistakenly believing him to be one of the boy's abusers, attacks him with a stun baton before taking him to the station. Noone convinces the police he meant no harm and is released, only to find Donna waiting for him with the news that Pete is dead; also, that he was in a Milwaukee hospital, and was never in Madison. Distressed that Noone doesn't believe her, Donna collapses in the middle of a road and tries to hold him with her in the path of an oncoming truck. She then moves everything out of her home and disappears before the police can question her. Noone is now convinced that the boy is a figment of the deranged woman's imagination.
In response to a phone call from Donna, Noone goes to a motel where she was staying, and finds Pete's stuffed rabbit and a videotape under a blanket. He plays the video of a child, who seems to be Pete, but who could have been anyone. The phone rings and the caller claims to be the boy, waiting for his mother at the airport. The caller ends the conversation after Noone asks what happened in Donna's past and how she became blind. Pete's voice changes to sound more womanly, just as the conversation is cut off.
Noone returns to Manhattan and uses his experience to create The Night Listener, a new radio story. In the final scene, Donna is searching for a new home in a coastal town, telling the realtor she needs it for herself and her son, who has just lost his leg but will be released the next day. She has drastically changed her appearance and no longer has a guide dog or dark glasses, revealing her blindness was also an act. | storytelling | train | wikipedia | Unfortunately, if you read more than 3 lines into that same review, you discovered the poster's reason for disdain: he/she does not like the fact that the director is gay (or that the production team smokes crack...apparently).So, despite the fact that I have never written a review before, I thought this movie deserved one based on its merits, not the sexual orientation of its director.
Of course I really don't think that makes a lick of difference (the only thing that matters is if YOU like the direction), but I thought I should simply establish once again that I'm basing my opinions here on something both substantial and relevant...for example: not the sexual orientation of the director (or the alleged drug habits of the production team, LOL).Patrick Stettner's direction was moody and dark, and he allowed the angles and lighting to help create those so-sought-after feelings of "tension and release" rather than the messy, fast-paced camera-work and quick cuts we're so often subjected to today.
Robin Williams plays Gabriel Noon, a storytelling night time deejay who is going through personal issues: his lover moves out and Gabriel is having what seems to be a case of storyteller's block.
Fascinating atmosphere for telling a story and good performances from Robin Williams and Toni Collette, who I thought was the film's key character.
There were so many points where the film could've gone for the cheap thrill, but it never did, and that for me put this movie above so many of the mediocre thrillers that have come out lately...and for the last number of years..
The movie was predictable, opportunities for some really great suspenseful moments were missed...like missing ten free-throws in basketball - painfully annoying...this director shot, and missed...a lot.There's nothing inherently wrong with the film...it just screams, "Help me!
That is the premise of the film entitled " The Night Listner." It tells the story of a popular radio host called Gabriel Noon (Robin Williams) who spends his evenings enthralling his audiences with vivid stories about Gay lifestyles.
This movie is pure Robin Williams and were it not for Toni Collette who plays Donna D.
The Night Listener held my attention, with Robin Williams shining as a New York City radio host who becomes enamored with his friendship with a 14 year old boy (Rory Culkin) who is very ill.
In "The Night Listener" a late-night NYC radio storyteller named Gabriel (Robin Williams) talks to, and corresponds with, a 14-year-old sick boy named Pete, and his adult guardian Donna, who live in Wisconsin.
The Night Listener is probably not one of William's best roles, but he makes a very interesting character in a somewhat odd but very different movie.
When I saw this movie, the confused feelings that Robin Williams so brilliantly portrayed resurfaced in my mind.Toni Collette probably gives her best dramatic performance too as the ultimately sociopathic "caretaker".
(And some of these devices are blatant cheats, deliberately deceiving the audience by showing, as real, scenes that are only imaginary.)I'd compare this movie (unfavorably) with CAPOTE, which also drew on factual material but managed to create authentic suspense and a deep uneasiness in the audience by exploring the main character's conflict of interest in a matter of life and death; here, the motives of the radio personality played by Robin Williams (clearly the alter ego of author Armistead Maupin) are barely touched on.
to successfully make a slow paced thriller.The story unfolds in nice volumes while you don't even notice it happening.Fine performance by Robin Williams.
...but turn the lights off, be alone, and get into the "mood".I didn't quite know what to expect, and maybe that was the key for me to get inside this film.Robin Williams is good, he always is.
This is more a mystery/suspense vehicle through which Williams attempts to locate a sick boy and his keeper.Also starring Sandra Oh and Rory Culkin, this Suspense Drama plays pretty much like a news report, until William's character gets close to achieving his goal.I must say that I was highly entertained, though this movie fails to teach, guide, inspect, or amuse.
the movie itself wasn't too bad.in fact i found it compelling and engaging.Robin Williams is in the lead role,and doesn't make an impression either way.the star of this movie though is the extraordinarily gifted actress Toni Collette.her performance comes across as very genuine.if it weren't for her,this film would be a lot less watchable.but some credit should go to the writing,which is also strong.Joe Morton(also a very good actor) also has small role as does Sandra Oh.back to the movie itself.there are some good twists to keep thing interesting.some may find the going slow,and i could see how that might be.though i wouldn't call this a masterpiece by any standards,and Robin Williams has done better,with the strong writing and the inclusion of Toni Collette,i give it higher marks than it would otherwise get.for me,"Night Listener" is an 8/10.
Though Maupin co-wrote the screenplay adaptation with Terry Anderson and Director Patrick Stettner, some of the inherent magic of the story is lost in translation when the camera makes the novel visual.Gabriel No one (Robin Williams in a fine, understated serious performance), a writer who reads the 'fiction of his life' on a late night talk show, is having a writer's block, due in part to his devastation of losing his AIDS ridden but stabilized lover Jess (Bobby Cannavale), having nursed him for years but now feeling discarded so that Jess can feel life again.
A literary agent Ashe (Joe Morton) asks Gabriel to read a galley of a book written by a 14 year old boy Pete Logand ('Rory Culkin') who is describing his years of sexual abuse as a child and his current coping with AIDS in Wisconsin and is under the faster care of a social worker Donna (Toni Collette, once again proving there is no role she can't master!).
What I did appreciate was this story did not question the lead characters sexuality, or delved too deeply in to it and not question why he is gay or make a big deal out of it and I liked the 'real' portrayal of Gabrielle & Jess'relationship.
As a big Sigourney Weaver fan, Sigourney says that a good role should be able to be portrayed by a man or woman, like her recent portrayal as Lenny in the upcoming 'The TV Set' (which was originally penned Ben Stiller)and I think the same with regards to a character being straight or gay it should not matter or be the focal point of the film (well that's depending if the films subject is sexual or not).Anyway, this film does have it's highs and its lows - I'm glad I have seen it but wouldn't get it on DVD..
Robin Williams does a great job of acting , and it may be worth your while to see the film for this reason alone.
By the time I jumped forward to anything resembling a plot revelation, the movie was over.I expected the film to be good based on Williams' past performances in "Insomnia," "One Hour Photo," and "Good Will Hunting." Smack me one.
This is Hollywood where actors and actresses do it for the money moreso than the script.I have rented so many of these crummy movies from Blockbuster that their name should be "Lackluster Video." Anyway, do yourself a favor and steer clear of "Night Listener." Rent "Insomnia" instead...even if you have seen it already.ANYTHING is better than this..
If you like suspense, you may enjoy this film, which at least gives the audience some credit for intelligence (an increasingly rare feat, by Hollywood standards).Robin Williams (as in "One Hour Photo") gives a diverse, and strange performance.
Good cast headed by Robin Williams and Tony Collette and written by Armistead Maupin.It makes a promising start with the lead character Robin Williams, in a New York studio giving a reading of a short story for a radio broadcast.
Robin Williams is a gay evening radio show guy in the middle of having a conversational relationship over the phone with a 14 year old terminally ill lad, who wants to publish his life story before he croaks it.
There are a lot of Robin Williams fans out there and I think that this movie really showed his talent rather than the family comedies he does so often.
I went to see it because of Robin Williams and Toni Collette and the fact that it was compared to an Alfred Hitchcock movie (I've got to stop falling for that!) The story line while attempting to be a thriller had very little, if any, mystery.
One of Robins Williams worst films..if you don't believe me wait a few months it will be out on DVD because that seems to be a pattern for movies that don't do well in the theaters are out as rentals before the year is over...
It moves slowly and deliberately it does not rush the action but allows us to absorb the story before the big revelation.The movie stars Robin Williams as Gabriel Noonne, a nighttime radio host.
First, Toni Collette shines in this movie even her part is much smaller than Robin Williams, again proves she is one of the most versatile actress in Hollywood now, a very creepy performance you cannot miss if you're a fan of her."The Night Listener", a script created by a severely sick boy, was passed to a famous midnight radio DJ, who had just broken up with his boyfriend.
But when the DJ tried to meet the boy face by face, he found that the boy could be an imaginary person, curiosity made him continue to search for the truth...The whole story is fine although the first half of the movie is pretty boring, but after Toni Collette's role showing up, leading to the climax of the film, a very decent work.
STAR RATING: ***** Jodie Marsh **** Michelle Marsh *** Kym Marsh ** Rodney Marsh * Hackney Marsh Still recovering from a bitter break-up from his younger lover, gay radio storyteller Gabriel No one (Robin Williams) seeks solace in a story sent to him by a young man who claims to have been sexually molested.
With a well working script and a comfortable cast this movie seems to be a tad on the slow side, but armed with a cup of coffee I'd recommend you sit through this relationship drama with it's mystery-coated comments on the weaknesses of the human mind.The whole cast does a good job of finding their characters making them believable and colorful enough to tune in on an emotional level.Defining it as a thriller is however a bit of a stretch and could fool you into thinking it actually has an ending and that just might make you disappointed.It's too good for TV, but needs a subplot and a few more twists and turns at a faster rate for the silver screen..
The acting performances by Robin Williams and Toni Colette were excellent in this confusing story.
I always liked Robin Williams except when he is always on during interviews, but his acting gets better with each film.
Night Listener is without doubt one of the dullest films I have ever seen.There was nothing happening in this film what so ever - I didn't care for any of the characters, didn't buy in to the whole mystery type plot, didn't care how it ended....nothing.There is no comedy, no action, no thrills, no suspense, nothing.
Sadly, "The Night Listener" is all lameness.Supposedly based on a true story about a recurring phone conversation with a 14 year old boy that may or may not have existed, director Patrick Stettner ("The Business of Strangers") has a nice cast and an bland script to work with.
Robin Williams has proved to be very effective in this type of film ("One Hour Photo"), Toni Collette ("Sixth Sense", "In Her Shoes") is one of the best actresses working and the supporting cast of Joe Morton, Bobby Cannavale ("The Station Agent") and Rory Culkin (superb in "Igby Goes Down") would make most directors envious.Where the film fails is the utter lack of story or suspense.
i'm kinda torn with this movie,, interesting plot here, kind of makes you think about things,, you have this radio show host, who get to know one of his listener's who calls in with this "story" which you don't know whether to believe or not,, t he part i don't like is the gay part,, obviously because i'm straigt,, i don't know gayness just bothers the holy heck ou t of me,, anyways,, after i got past that little issue, i liked most of the whole movie,, except that it lacked somewhat in action,, and the ending i could have done without,, somewhere along the line,, the director, or writer missed something big time,, because this could have been a so much better movie,, had it been told a little differently.
In "The Night Listener" Robin Williams stars as Gabriel No one, a well-known author and radio talk show host who becomes intrigued by the dark, abuse tale told to him by a teenage fan.
Robin Williams stars as Gabriel No one an openly gay radio host who takes an interest in a regular caller, a boy suffering from Aids contacted via rape.
(Synopsis) Gabriel No one (Robin Williams), a radio show host begins by telling his intriguing life stories to his night listeners.
Unfortunately, in this case the true life events were likely more compelling than this bland adaptation.For a basic plot summer, "Night Listener" tells the store of a radio talk show host (played by Robin Williams) who takes a liking to a young boy supposedly dying from a terrible disease.
However, as the relationship builds, "Williams" has reason to believe that the boy may not be who he says he is (or even exist at all), thus leading to a personal investigation to find out the truth.Now, had the film actually stuck to that basic plot line, it might have been a halfways decent thriller.
Like I said, more focus on the mystery at hand would have made for a more compelling experience.Thus, I think a 1.5-star rating perfectly pegs this movie, as it was only good enough to make you want to see how things turn out in the end, not so much caring about the journey to get to that point.
Robin Williams plays Gabriel Noon(e), a radio talk show host who tells deeply personal (but often fictionalized) stories.
Not worth a minute of your time I feel I have been violated I couldn't finish watching it and I doubt I'll ever rent another film that has Robin Williams in a lead role - I only watch movies to be entertained so a film about a character whose life is even duller than my own and who seems to have fallen into depravity all to willingly just makes me stab at the eject button - I would vote zero if IMDb would allow it since a rating of one implies it has some small merit which it doesn't billing this film as a thriller is blatantly deceptive and even calling it a drama is a misnomer since there isn't any dialog or circumstance that would even hold a viewer's interest too bad there isn't a genre called 'swill' because that how this movie should be classified consider yourself warned ..
I think Robin Williams and Toni Collette were both very good in their respective roles, but I don't think they had a lot to work with here.
I actually think the film did a good job of showing Robin William's state of mind surrounding his whole relationship with Jesse (or whatever his name was).
I am not convinced why Robin Williams becomes so obsessed with this boy.In summary, the film is too slow to be a thriller, and to bland to be a drama.
"The Night Listener" stars Robin Williams as a radio show host.
We are left with a lot of loose ends left untied at the end of the film which seems to have upset a number of our IMDb critics, but that's life.For my money, The Night Listener was an enjoyable good but not great movie and one I would recommend to friends..
Its themes linger long after the film is over.Gabriel No one (played by Robin Williams) is a late night radio talk show host.
Gabriel used parts of his relationship to create stories for his show, while Donna takes the idea further.Robin Williams's portrayal of Gabriel No one resulted in a very convincing performance which is as memorable as his 2002 film One Hour Photo.
He also acquaints himself with Pete's guardian,a woman named Donna(Toni Collette,brilliant!)and when Gabriel decides he wants to meet and talk to the two of them in person and goes to Wisconsin,he discovers some secrets he was(naturally)not prepared to find.Based on real events that happened to Armistead Maupin(who co-wrote the screenplay with Terry Anderson)and directed by Patrick Stetner,this film moves a lot faster(90 min.,maybe a few minutes longer)than one might think a movie of this genre would run.
In this "critically acclaimed psychological thriller based on true events, Gabriel (Robin Williams), a celebrated writer and late-night talk show host, becomes captivated by the harrowing story of a young listener and his adoptive mother (Toni Collette).
And, director Patrick Stettner definitely evokes Hitchcock - he even makes getting a sandwich from a vending machine suspenseful.Finally, writers Stettner, Armistead Maupin, and Terry Anderson deserve gratitude from flight attendants everywhere.******* The Night Listener (1/21/06) Patrick Stettner ~ Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, Rory Culkin.
It's one of the better movies of the summer.Robin Williams gives one of his best performances. |
tt0369226 | Alone in the Dark | The narrator reads a long, boring story about the existence of an ancient Native American civilization which disappeared for unknown reasons.Present Day. Edward Carnby (Christian Slater) is on board an airplane and has a nightmare, in which he remembers how he hid himself in a high-voltage box as a child, while staring at some alien-like creatures.As an adult (explaining in a voice-over narration), Edward looks for remains of an extinct Indian tribe, the Abkani, which disappeared suddenly 10,000 years ago for reasons unexplained. He's found a trinket piece of something related to it. On his way to the museum where Aline Cedrac (Tara Reid), an assistant curator and Edward's ex-girlfriend, works and is scanning some more Abkani pieces, he is attacked by somebody with supernatural abilities named James Pinkerton (Ed Anders) who tries to steal the artifact that he has, but Edward fights him off.At the same time, Professor Lionel Hudgens (Matthew Walker) almost doesn't make it alive from a sea voyage, where he finds the "edegus" or something like that. The ship's crew finds a coffin made of gold from the ocean floor. After they dock, the evil and greedy captain of the salvage tug locks up Hudgens and his men open the gold coffin... even though Hudgens asks them not to do so. Five minutes afterwards, they are all dead but for Hudgens, imprisoned inside a storage room on the ship. Hudgens slips away ashore after collecting another item from the empty gold coffin, which apparently contained a mysterious creature.Upon the opening of the gold coffin, an old friend of Edward disappears into the night. Several other people across the USA and Canada walk off in a trance as if being drawn by some beacon. Edward hears a ear-splitting screech while in his apartment looking over the Abkani artifact. At the same time in an underground military facility, called Research Agency Bureau 713, the location of the opening of the gold coffin is relayed by the control room techs who report it to their bureau chief by the evidence of the electro-magnetic wave that appears on their monitors.Edward, a paranormal investigator and former agent of Bureau 713, thinks it's related to the Abkani. The old friend was a fellow orphan, from when Hudgens convinced Sister Clara (Karin Konoval) to run some experiments on the children without anybody's consent (shown in another flashback). Edward investigates.Edward arrives that same evening at the Natural History Museum where he is reunited with a not-so-happy Aline with the artifact and she shows him another Abkani artifact that recently arrived and she has been working on it since Professor Hudgens is away. Just then, the mysterious creature from the ship attacks them inside the museum, killing a security guard, but Edward and Aline hide in a storage closet long enough for troopers from Bureau 713 to arrive, and the creature (which is a four-legged, fast-moving beast resembling a cross between a panther and the creatures of 'Aliens') retreats into the night.Commander Richard Burke (Stephen Dorff), the team leader of the Bureau 713 strike force, arrives where Edward tries to relay information to him that something big is going down, but Burke rebukes him, saying that since he no longer works for Bureau 713, to stay out of their investigation.The next day, Edward tries to get information from his former co-workers at Bureau 713, one of whom is staff surgeon and pathologist Sam Fischer (Frank C. Turner), to learn more about the creature encountered as well as the history of the Abkani.At the same time, Professor Hudges arrives back at the museum where he goes to his office where he has a captured creature (whether this is the same creature from the ship or a different one is never fully explained). Hudgens uses a syringe to draw fluid from the captive creature to study it as part of his further research to combine the DNA of man and beast.Edward continues investigating his past by going to his former orphanage to learn more about Hudges research, and then back to his apartment where Aline is and they consumate their attraction to each other.While the Bureau 713 soldiers are patroling the museum, they are attacked by several creatures, who are the missing people that wondered off upon the opening of the gold coffin containing the creature. During the firefight, several soldiers, and most of the human-creatures are killed. Edward arrives on the scene and talks more with Burke, who again tells him away. However, during a scuffle, Edward picks Burke's pocket containing his Bureau 713 security badge.The next morning, Edward goes to Bureau 713 where he talks with Fischer in the morgue looking at one of the dead bodies, where Fischer shows Edward a small, cenntipede-like baby creature in the dorsal spine of his old friend Pinkeron. Fischer also discovers that Edward has one of his own in his body, but it is dead, presumably because of the contact with the electro-shock while Edward was a child. Fischer tells him that he could take the creature out, but leaving him disabled. As the monster looks dead, it's not an urgent matter. Burke and his men arrive and escort Edward out of the morgue and the building.That evening, Professor Hudges ambushes Fischer as he arrives home to find his wife dead. Hudges inserts a baby creature into Fischer's mouth, thereby putting him under his control.Edward discovers that the Abkani had fought those creatures which can get killed by light (that's why they always move around on dark places). They also disrupt electrical light, creating blackouts. The Abkani artifacts found all over the world actually open the gate to another dimension, where millions of those creatures are sleeping, waiting to be freed and kill humans. Hudgens is making further experiments with the creature he's captured somehow when he takes some of the creature's blood and injects it into his veins. That way, he becomes a semi-alien being and can control the monsters.At the climax, Aline, Edward, Burke and the latter's military squad go to Edward's orphanage, where there are strong electro-magnetic disruptions. They are attacked by dozens of these reptilian-like monsters and there is a climactic and violent 20-minute fight where almost all creatures and humans kill one another. Edward, Burke and Aline reach the old surgery room underground where the baby creature was transplanted into Edward. There, Hudgens takes Edward's piece of archeological remains and opens the gate. Millions of creatures start to wake up and run down a huge cave. They go down the walls but they don't approach the gate for some reason, giving time for the three good characters to kill Hudgens, run away only to realize that they can't detonate the bomb from such a long distance. Burke comes back and blows everything up... himself along with the creatures.Edward and Aline rise to the surface at the back of the orphanage at dawn, only to find an evacuated city without people, cars abandoned on the streets. They walk down the street, but several noises are heard. The last shot shows them in the middle of an empty road turning around suddenly, supposedly to confront one of the creatures.... regardless of it being day.Aren't the monsters hurt by light? Because the gate hasn't been closed properly, the door has been left open for a second installment. (No, please!) | gothic, murder, stupid, cult, violence, flashback, good versus evil, psychedelic, romantic | train | imdb | If you don't want to feel slighted you'll sit through this horrible film and develop a real sense of pity for the actors involved, they've all seen better days, but then you realize they actually got paid quite a bit of money to do this and you'll lose pity for them just like you've already done for the film.
I can't go on enough about this horrible movie, its almost something that Ed Wood would have made and in that case it surely would have been his masterpiece.To start you are forced to sit through an opening dialogue the likes of which you've never seen/heard, this thing has got to be five minutes long.
Tara Reid is a bad actress but good looking and that's all that really matters in films like these.
Can mankind defeat the army of darkness unleashed by an ancient evil cult?¨Alien¨ and ¨Resident Evil¨ Sagas are two good terror/action movies with a lot of attributes which this film version regrettably fails to emulate .
The motion picture was middlingly made by Uwe Boll who poured a lot of money into special effects ; however , being deemed worst film of 2005 by the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards .All four of the films he has realized that were based upon video games, House of the Dead (2003), Alone in the Dark (2005), BloodRayne (2005) and BloodRayne II: Deliverance (2007) were listed on the bottom of barrel by the reviewers.
The movie starts with Slater hunting artifacts, obtaining his latest piece after some dealings with a "Chilean mercenary force specializing in selling rare antiquities." I may have the exact quote wrong, but you get the idea.There is an evil doctor that wants to unleash some hellions on earth (no reason given), experiments on children, super demon/alien-human hybrids, "photonic" bullets (the demon things can't stand sunlight) and, of course, Slater and Dorf to try to save everyone.Jesus, I can't even being to wade through the clichéd elements.
Yeah we get zombies.So lots of crap that could be entertaining, but none of it is.Also, the ending is completely stupid as everything turns out to be not that big of a deal to fix in the first place...at least nothing a little dynamite can't handle.Not the very worst thing you'll see, but a truly bad movie..
Most of the time it is exaggeration of the fact but I would like to welcome Alone in the Dark to the short list of real candidates: Plan 9 from Outer Space, Battlefield Earth, and the Adventures of Pluto Nash.As I watched the 90 minute bore I found it difficult to even stay awake even while I was trying so hard to laugh at the film.
Said plot basically follows Christian Slater, who looks nothing like the Edward Carnby of the video games, as he deals with supernatural creatures emerging in our plane of existence and a government agency attempting to deal with them.
Anyone aspiring to become a movie director should definitely watch Uwe Boll's films.
after reading all the dooming reviews, calling it the worst movie ever or boll the worst director i expected some good trash-fun à la future war, but really: all this criticism has absolutely no valid base, its just far far from reality, its a whitchhunt its not even a real trash-movie, there are a few scenes where you may roll eyes or laugh like a sudden sex scene riot along with a quite inappropriate "7 seconds" in the background, but there are many things the movie does just right, even though it takes a lot of inspiration from existing movies of the genre you hardly ever get the impression of really stolen or already seen scenes, the creators even experiment with own methods of staging the camera-work is really well done most of the time, its versatile and entertaining, sometimes its even experimental - partly successful, for example the distorted zooms same for the action-scenes, they are also very well done, its good martial arts and has some unique ideas a part where this movie really shines is the staging of the monsters, in this regard it achieves much more than many competitors of the genre, it doesn't have to avoid the comparison with movies like "the relic" here, the beasts look excellent and are superb animated, some scenes are really among the best you can find in any of the alien-clones, for example when professor Hudgens stands on a hill sending out his "dark minions", a really nice scene, or the look into a deep cave filled with monsters, or a beast going up in steam - its really excellent, even more if you consider the less than mediocre budget of this movie the acting is absolutely sufficient, slater remains a bit colorless, Reid has some short weak moments, but overall its just fine for this kind of movie, even some extras can keep a good straight face which is not the rule except for a somewhat edgy flow, some awkward scenes and a slightly clumsy introduction there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, you see that boll is still exercising but its solid monster-movie entertainment nevertheless boll-movies have become a shrine for bad movie-jokes, but they all get less funny once you ve seen the movies because they are just not that bad, its no "future war" and boll is no ed wood, maybe its because there is a German director buying American actors which annoys the people, or maybe they just continue what disappointed fans of the game started, its funny how even the "big critics" join the group of bashing monkeys but well: a study says that 60 percent of the internet users use message boards only to relieve their frustration...
If you watch his films to have a good time laughing at the bad dialogue or crappy acting/directing you are like me...
He seems to make the money back to the producers and that's all that counts in the end for him to keep making them.Those who watch His films so they can spread the word about how bad they are: It's like going to McDonalds and eating every week and then complaining that McDonalds have the worst food ever?
I not going to spend a lot of time on this but Alone in the Dark is another crappy movie with horrible actors including a washed up Christian Slater and Stephen Dorff with crappy acting by dumb rich blonde Tara Reid as a smart archaeologist(a big miscast).
Based on a popular yet aged video game I was surprised to see this was even a thing seeing as I had never heard much about the old or later games.I was actually a huge fan of the latest Alone In The Dark game (2008) and I like Christian Slater as an actor so I was expecting to have an enjoyable lazy watch.
It looks the most like an actual decently-budgeted movie out of all of his films.In addition, something about this movie strikes me very-much as a great example of "so bad, it's good." Whether it be chuckling at lazy attempts to make characters look smart (giving Tara Reid glasses, for example), or poorly-executed action beats...
I'm in no hurry to get in the boxing ring with director Uwe Boll, a man who has been known to use his pugilistic skills to silence his less favourable critics, but I have got to say that this horror/action film (apparently based on an Atari video game) is utterly diabolical—far worse than I ever expected (my opinion of Boll had been reasonably high after seeing Rampage, which was surprisingly effective).The long-winded opening narration is the first clue that this is going to stink: ancient civilisations, evil creatures from another world, a secret organisation devoted to investigation of the paranormal, and a mad scientist experimenting on orphaned children are clumsily thrown together in an attempt to establish the background to the film, but they only succeed in confusing the viewer before things have even begun.
Matters are made even more incomprehensible with a prologue that occurs '22 years ago' but which segues into the present day and proceeds to introduce even more mind-bogglingly random elements to ensure that even the most astute of viewers will be completely baffled.As the film progresses, more and more nonsensical garbage is haphazardly thrown into the mix, Boll's pointless directorial stylisms making everything impossible to follow, with the occasional voice-over by Christian Slater (intended to help explain matters) only adding to the embarrassment factor.
Ridiculous voice-overs aside, Slater's performance isn't all that bad, but his co-star Tara Reid is absolutely terrible and was clearly hired for her looks (yet she doesn't even have the decency to take off her bra during the obligatory sex scene!).After much frenetic shooting, a smattering of reasonably fun gore, some choice snippets of lousy dialogue ('Some doors are meant to stay shut') and lots of naff CGI creature attacks, during which Boll throws in some lousy Indiana Jones-style adventure and a scene completely ripped off from James Cameron's Aliens (the Xenos—yes the monsters ARE called that—obliterate a team of soldiers, despite the use of automated sentry guns), the film wraps up leaving the viewer none the wiser about what they have witnessed..
Actually I've no idea what kind of film is this one, I thought it was a Sci-Fi, Horror or even adventure film, but after watching it I found out that it has no goals, no story, no interesting events that may help you complete watching the movie.Also acting of Slater was too bad, I felt that he isn't an actor at all after watching that movie.Unfortunately the least vote here is 1, to be honest I want to give it -10 out of 10..
Sometimes people like to have something to rag on no matter what - right now, for the Internet film community, it seems to be Uwe Boll - and judging from quotes I've read by him, as well as movies I've seen, he deserves a lot of it.But some of the hatred goes too far.
"BloodRayne" was already on the IMDb Low 100 before it even really got launched into theaters.I'll give you an example of the exaggeration regarding this film: One critic I read claimed the opening narration went on for nearly ten minutes, however it lasts perhaps a minute at the most.The dialogue is pretty bad, and the beginning with Christian Slater telling a young child on a plane that his mother is wrong about being afraid of the dark is unintentionally hilarious.
I better take a look." Or how about Tara Reid - a supposed archaeologist (hah!) - referring to Newfoundland as "New Found Land." I read here on IMDb that Reid was invited on Jay Leno and wasn't even able to give a definition of her profession in the film.Christian Slater I pretty much just felt sorry for throughout the film - he's such a good actor and his resorting to crap like this and "Hollow Man 2" is a real shame.
If Boll's name had not been attached to the project and it hadn't attracted a theatrical run, I'm sure it would have a slightly higher rating on here and less of a "fan base" so to speak.I'm not supporting the film or saying it's remotely good - it isn't - but I am saying it's about as bad as any other straight-to-video horror garbage.I wouldn't recommend it because I didn't even have a fun time watching it for giggles - it's just a really lame film that takes itself way too seriously and perhaps its only positive attribute is that it has some amount of (admittedly ripped-off) style..
Moreover, the acting is a bit wooden and the dialog is kind of sub par but then again, there are many action movies that suffer from similar problems.One major annoyance with this film though is the darkness, yes, darkness would naturally be an integral part of a film called Alone in the Dark but having nearly all the action take place in near complete darkness ruins the film as it makes it impossible to see whats going on; this is especially poignant in one scene where pretty much all the light comes from the muzzle flashes of the guns.
At best he can garner a few points for some bad-movie fun at times, but the product over all is so poorly produced throughout, from its overwrought writing to the mis(or WTF)casting, to simple things like music and weaponry characters use, or the designs of the monsters or whatnot.
and it's ultimately too dull to care at all.The plot is so convoluted that you would have to be the biggest slobbering geek for Alone in the Dark the video game (and hell if I know any of them), and it mostly just concerns some paranormal investigator with memory loss and who is an orphan (Christian Slater) teaming up with an archaeologist chick (Tara Reid, who else), and some other prickly paranormal guy (Stephen Dorff) all trying to track some creatures that have escaped from a crypt off of a ship from God knows where over God knows what and blah blah.
Honestly, one would come to this at most expecting some cheesy-stupid dialog for the actors to chew on, and even in THIS it's a failure; Slater's narration sounds like it was made at gunpoint via ludes, and Dorff looks confused at to why he's even acting next to Tara Reid.
The ending, by the way, is retarded into such a way that it makes only minimal sense, and then gives an Evil Dead ripoff that is just staggering.While watching the movie Alone in the Dark, I was bored and more engaged chatting with my friends as it went from one big action ramp up to another with the same pale-faced actors and incompetent special effects went along.
After House of the Dead, I thought Uwe Boll had a decent chance of redeeming himself, because how could one make a movie as bad as (or heaven forbid worse) HotD?
Uwe Boll therefore is the worst possible choice to direct a movie based on a video game, and it is as good as hiring a director to do a movie based on a book he never even read.
From that point on I just wanted to punch mister Uwe Boll in the face (in pure boxing-fashion) for completely turning a great franchise into a travesty that has literally nothing to do with the source-material.Carnby looks and acts nothing like the character he is supposed to be playing from the games.
come on!, it's one of the worst movies i have saw, pointless nonsense incongruent plot, very badly direction and edition, scenes look forced some of them without any sense, no continuity (it's night then it's day), even in a scene someone dies for no reason and when everybody i walking away from the move she moves!, the sex scene it's terrible, starts with music like someone have pressed a button..
As more and more evidence of a connection appears between his own past and that of Bureau 713, Carnby must decide whether to help save his friends and possibly the entire human race or abandon them to uncover the long-hidden truths for which he's been searching all of his life.Now for the record, I have heard and read many stories about people walking out on bad movies but never actually witnessed it.
Tara Reid's performance was god awful, and thankfully, despite her having second bill, she does not over power the film.Slater and Dorff have definitely seen better days.
The rest of the cast is filled out by one of the staples of a Boll film: random, untrained people off the street who bring a warm, campy quality to the backgrounds of each scene.But the real star of this movie isn't the leads or the chatty extras; it isn't even the terribly familiar monsters (imagine H.R. Gieger's love child with a Velociraptor and Lon Chaney's makeup and you've got a very general idea of what they look like).
and disappointed because Vin diesel wasn't cast with Angelina Jolie or something, it shouldn't be in IMDBs bottom there's much worse like doom.I took this film as a stand alone horror thriller flick, with a talented cast of Tara Reid and the very good Christian Slater, and they pulled it off well, some great effects with some equally as good action fighting sequences, they tried putting some new shooting scenes together, like they did in Equilibrium, which i think is a different & new look about action shoot em up movies!
Richard Burke (Stephen Dorff), and his squad, they battle against the evil creatures.In spite of having a charismatic good cast, leaded by Christian Slater, Tara Reid and Stephen Dorff, "Alone in the Dark" never works and is a complete mess, without development of characters or plot.
Bad action scenes, a run-of-the-mill story, and ridiculous plot holes sprinkle the movie like the cheese that it is.
I strongly advise anyone not to go see this film but to beg Lions Gate not to allow this director (Uwe Boll --who also brought us House of the Dead) to continue with the video game franchise movies he has slated.
So I had some hopes for Alone in the Dark, but I now know since I have seen his latest film, I am positve: Dr. Uwe Boll cannot make a good movie if his life depended on it, and with the way his career is going now, I won't be surprised if something happens to him.
Cgi is lacking, story is also a bit, but is a video game turned movie...and has Tara Reid as an intellectual...take it for what it is, like I did, and you will appreciate it as I have. |
tt0084316 | Megaforce | Hunter: "Remember the name of the place?"Zara: "Lion's Head Hotel, London."The peace-loving Republic of Sardun is facing constant incursions from hostile neighbor Gamibia. Unwilling to retaliate and initiate war, high-ranking Sardunian military officials Major Zara and General Byrne-White arrange a rendezvous with MegaForce, a hi-tech and super-secret phantom army of top-shelf fighting men from all over the world, to ask for help in ending Gamibia's attacks. Ace Hunter, leader of MegaForce, is happy to take on the job as he has a past with Gamibian military leader Duke Guerrera, an old military academy friend who turned to evil.And he stole Ace's favorite lighter.Ace lays out a hopelessly complex plan to lure Duke's forces into a trap that will give Sardun the chance to wipe them out once and for all, which inspires Zara to try out for a spot in MegaForce. However, despite passing all the entry exams, Zara is ultimately denied entry into the team as she is still an outsider and hasn't yet established a mental bond with the rest of MegaForce, meaning her presence could put the operation in jeopardy. Resigning herself to this, Zara agrees to watch from afar as Ace and his awesomely-mulleted spandex-clad soldiers set the strike in motion.Despite successfully infiltrating Gamibia and causing mass destruction, MegaForce fails to lure Guerrera into their trap. Now the team must find a way out of Gamibia to avoid certain doom at the hands of Duke and his tanks, who are now authorized to destroy MegaForce by a government declaration of war. Duke knows that the only place MegaForce's escape planes could land is an old dry lake, and as such he plants his tanks right there to prevent the escape. Ace and his men refuse to give in, though, and soon it's all out war as MegaForce put their rockets, lasers, and machine guns to use against Duke and his tanks in an epic battle. Everyone makes it to the plane except for Hunter, who was temporarily incapacitated by an explosion. Undeterred and shockingly none the worse for wear, Ace defiantly runs right up to Duke to say goodbye and then takes to the skies on his flying motorcycle to catch up with the MegaForce plane. Triumphant (?), MegaForce head for home, and Ace prepares for a celebration with his new Sardunian friend Zara. | good versus evil | train | imdb | Watching the filming at Nevada's dry lakes, it did feel like something monumentous was in the making, but nobody could have imagined just how negative a reaction this movie was going to receive.
There's enough vehicle stunts, random explosions, and weapons futurismo to keep average 12-year-olds very entertained, and I think that may be exactly what Hal Needham intended for this project.
It was one of the tackiest movies ever made, but the energy was like Rambo II on steroids."Normal" people will probably never bother with this one, but if you do watch at *LEAST* the first 10 minutes, and see the ultra cool military-machinegun-rocket-motor bike intro scene.
I will leave plot & character issues to other commenter's -- This movie is either the dumbest piece of crap ever made by the worst director in history, or it is a form of kitsch masterpiece that is astoundingly honest about how utterly brainless it's concept & execution were.
The movie has zero pretense to be anything other than exactly what it is -- a stupid, loud, moronic action movie with heroic music, explosions, vehicular stunts, funky looking high tech junk, tight spandexed jumpsuits, helicopters, jingoistic catch phrase dialog that seems to have been randomly chosen from old episodes of The Superfriends, and Henry Silva.Henry Silva is one of those actors whom I marvel at with open admiration: His ability to make the ridiculous seem perfectly natural is on the same level as Boris Karloff, and every role he appears in becomes a Henry Silva performance.
A lot of people may dismiss him as an "actor", but as a character performer he is right up there with Harry Dean Stanton and Ivor Francis as one of the most ubiquitously recognizable bad guys from decades of TV & movies.
Mr. Silva, wherever you are, your work is invaluable, and MEGAFORCE is yet another stunning achievement.Back to the movie, though, this is going to be one of those things you either "get" or don't, like The Three Stooges, Tom Waits, professional wrestling or Rush Limbaugh.
It is only those who are not moved that I pity.MEGAFORCE can also serve as a time capsule for people who want to remember what it was like to be 9 or so, and ranks up there with THE HUMANOID starring Richard "Jaws" Keil and YOR, HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE with Reb Brown as amongst the most stupid, ham-boned, addle minded but enjoyable science fiction movies from the 1980's.
The movies exist as pure entertainment -- One sight of the Megaforce rolling into battle on their stupid mocked-up motorcycles and absurd missile launcher armored dune buggies while going against a column of military tanks was all it took for me to make my decision.
I had to rate it highly, even though it's not actually a "good" movie because I do think people will enjoy watching it..
And for this-then action film-obsessed 14-year old, for a film to be so utterly bad that he felt his lack of intelligence being insulted, well that was like a 2 year old telling his mother that the Teletubbies were stupid.
I remember when I was first getting into movies, and I would keep a log of what films I saw, when I saw em, and what I rated em (I think I used a scale of 1-to-10), I recall this one getting my first ZERO.
Anyone who watches this movie and tries to evaluate it as anything but pure camp (Think TVs BATMAN from the 1960s) is in bad need of taste and IQ points.
Some movies are bad in a good way.
Directed by Hal (Smokey and the Bandit) Needham, and set in the far-flung future of the 1980's, Barry Bostwick, dressed in jumpsuits so nauseatingly tight you can see what side he dresses on, leads a top-secret mercenary force against an oppressive dictator who rules over a country that looks an awful lot like a vacant dirt lot behind a shopping mall in New Mexico.
The president of the USA (Barry Bostwick, Spin City) a former Miss India (Persis Khambata) the director of Canonball Run (Hal Needham) a mafia boss (Henry Silva, Ghost Dog) in the kids action film to end all.
Barry Bostwick is the least believable action hero of all time, and somewhere, someone seems to have thought Persis Khambatta was an interesting, attractive, exotic beauty with screen presence: Megaforce proves this theory, however unlikely, dead wrong.
I liked the crazy character played by Michael Beck, especially the goofy thing he did with the holographic mission planner.
Sometimes, all you really need in life to make you happy is watching a really cheesy and utterly retarded early 80's movie with a grotesque plot, flamboyant types of vehicles, action heroes in tight gay spandex outfits, absurd futuristic gimmicks and nasty looking villains that are smoking big cigars.
You know, movies that are basically knock-offs of great cinematic blockbusters, like "Escape from New York" or "Mad Max", and deliberately exaggerate in the amount of excessive violence and sleaze they deliver.
It's embarrassing to behold respectable actors like Michael Beck ("The Warriors"), Henry Silva ("Almost Human") and Barry Bostwick ("Rocky Horror Picture Show") mutter their ridiculous lines whilst parading in flashy outfits, but nevertheless fun.
The acting was bad (Barry Bostwick acted with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek and Michael Beck still had the taste of Xanadu in his mouth...ptuey!), the effects were cheesy and the plot could have been at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre!
If there were motorcycles, tanks, dune buggies and lasers then how can it be a bad movie?
All guilty feelings were wiped away as the audience around us laughed along with us.Looking back on "Megaforce" over twenty years later, I can just imagine the cartoon character Johnny Bravo starring in an animated re-make.
You've got overly computerised techno-pop music, a "hero" lead who can do no wrong, with hair moussed out to *there*, a villain who's just evil for evil's sake, neo-deco futuristic vehicles with loud, wild paint jobs, and best yet, heavy military artillery and lots of big explosions topped off with stuntwork the likes of which hasn't been seen since The A-Team went off the air.It all comes wrapped up in a goofy, over-the top comic-book style story that looks like it was filmed by someone who wished he was making rock videos instead.Think "cannonball run" only armed to the teeth.A lot has been said about how bad this film is, and while it's not great, it's really not as bad as some make it sound.
Deceptive marketing guaranteed that the audience drawn would be the wrong one, doomed to annoyance when their expectations weren't met - and that people who would have wanted to see it, if they'd know what it was, would get scared away and go see something else.You won't hear a single curse in the entire film, nor toilet jokes, and as far as violent content goes this movie falls well below most anything you'll find on TV, with no death scenes, and no blood.
This is without doubt the worst movie I have ever seen in my life.So fitting for Hal Needham.At least with Plan Nine from Outerspace there was humor rather it was intentional or not.Henry Silva rates as one of the worst actors of our time and this performace equals his appearence in Steven Segal's debut "Above the Law."
Heck, I was 11yrs old, but what did I know, I knew I wanted to be Ace Hunter, and play with all the really cool toys!
Actually, I turned out a lot more like Egg, but hey at least I get to play with some cool toys now.
This movie offers you cool stunts, comedy, in general good fun.
Even the action scenes are pretty lame- just lots of footage of the dune buggies and motorcycles randomly riding through the desert, shooting missiles and laserbeams.
he hit all the nails exactly on the head.This is a baaad, cheesy, cliché movie that should probably have never been made but when you're a 11-12 yr old boy this is the best thing since sliced bread.my brother and I saw this (about 25 years ago) and thought it was the shizzle!
I would like to say that the movie Megaforce was awesome and had pretty good special effects.
This howlingly absurd futuristic sci-fi actioner stars Barry Bostwick ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show", 'Spin City'), absolutely nobody's idea of an ideal action movie star.
Among the people on Aces' team is easygoing Southerner "Dallas" (Michael Beck of "The Warriors" fame), who shoots at errant reptiles and delights in showing "holograms" to people.This is the kind of movie you enjoy for its utter cheesiness and ineptitude.
The movie co-stars Edward Mulhare ("Our Man Flint", 'Knight Rider') as a military man and George Furth ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "Blazing Saddles") as a Q-style gadget, weaponry, and vehicle designer.Despite the ropey "Introvision" effects, this utterly goofy entertainment does possess a certain oddball charm.Five out of 10..
As a ten-year-old chubby geek, I needed to know all about Ace Hunter and his crew of super soldiers.I wondered, "As a small child living in a small town, could I truly be ready to join Megaforce?" The answer was no.
Don't presume to tell this bandana-clad gentleman how to lead Megaforce.Barry Bostwick was all in on this movie.
His interviews at the time are so wonderful, like when he said that the Pentagon tried to stop the movie because of how close Megaforce was to covert CIA strike teams (one only wonders if they all had flags on their bikes and crazy collared dress uniforms, too).
Or when he opined that the world needed a real-life Megaforce.Megaforce came to us from Hal Needham, a former stuntman who went on to direct Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, The Cannonball Run, Stroker Ace and 80's BMX megafilm (seriously, it ruled the video stores of my teenage years) Rad. He even had his own toy -- the Hal Needham Western Movie Stunt Set!
"Even for the 80!" *zing*Seriously, someone thought the "future of America" would buy into this crappy idea of a multinational fast reaction force, and and that somehow borders and things like patriotism wouldn't matter anymore.Thank goodness kids are smarter than that, and that this film flopped for not only its content, but the presentation thereof.
What I do remember is the I the rage that I felt at having wasted time and money by watching this film.
There are plenty of terribly cheesy '80s movies that are fun to watch.
Besides Bostwick, whom I actually do like in the film, there's Michael Beck from the Warriors playing a prototype for Woody Harrelson.
For much of the film she tries to join Megaforce (by the way, they're some sci-fi special forces who hang out in the desert spying on everyone and are ready to invade other countries for no real reason at any time), but after a few sequences of showing Bostwick what a badass she is he tells her to screw off.
It makes the movie real fun to watch but at the same time it also remains simply an horrible one.It's literally a laughable bad movie, which is not just due to its simplistic story and lame characters and dialog but also because of the way how it looks.
I'm not even talking about Ace Hunter's heroic costume and haircut but more about the overall visual look of this movie, that is horribly cheap.
Seems like this movie got also actually aimed toward kids, also judging by its action.
Granted that I was not alway paying much attention but that was because the movie could hardly hold my interest.It's still a movie you could have a fun time with watching because of how bad and silly it can all get but still it remains a huge waste and shame that they didn't do any more and anything better with its potentially great and awesome concept.3/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
But, like a porno movie they rely on the strength of the action scene's to overcome a weak storyline and some bad acting.
This is a goofy action movie about Megaforce a mercenary group who will fight for the good guys.
They're a fighting force but they don't wear fatigues or camouflage instead they wear shiny spandex that glistens in the sun.The movie begins when Megaforce is hired to attack and destroy a rogue General played by Henry Silva.
Don't get me wrong I like Mr. Bostwick in his serious roles and much more in his comedy roles, but he is not the guy you ask to play a combat leader if Lee Marvin isn't available.
If this Movie was Called Gi Joe people would have liked it.
This film just did not work, though as a kid I sort of liked it.
Though I can see why, the plot is paper thin, the acting was not very good, and some of the stuff this movie presented is very bad.
The bikes are fast, the hair is feathered and the force is on fire!Most people go into watching Megaforce under the assumption that it's a serious action film.
And on top of the vapid typical-action movie parody of a plot, all the over the top costumes, lines and stunts there is a winking self awareness that says the people who made this are just in it to have fun.This movie is pure cheese, but it's highly entertaining cheese.
the only things I can remember aside from above are bad-dream like flashes of cheesy 'special' effects...
unfortunately,i saw it on HBO and saw it at a friends house,and the movie already started when we began to watch it,so we missed the opening credits.(hence) I never knew the name of this film until 1995,when i got to see it again on Joe Bob's monster vision or something like that on TNT.
the lead charactor is totally shallow and weak.AS you watch it you get the feeling that someone wanted to make a live action G.I.JOE movie but couldnt afford the rights to the name,so they cloned it...(the lead charactor even looks like the 1980's G.I.JOE lead charactor,with a spandex jumpsuit,and a blonde beard and all) This film has a made for T.V. feel to it(although its not).
i wondered as i watched this agian if this was meant to be a T.V. pilot-that was canned and released as a film.You know-the kind where the villian gets away,and everyone has a big laugh at the end as they ponder what the villian might try next,while smiling and taking pride in themselves because of how easy they were able to stop him this time.Even the theme music has the same feel as T.V.shows from that era(the A-team/Knight Rider)-however,Legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley did steal the "like a megaforce" theme song and released it as an original tune called "calling to you" on his 1986 Frehley's Comet solo album(just an f.y.i.).
this film is rubbish,its only worth watching for the cool vehicles and motorcycles.
MEGAFORCE is perhaps the best "bad" movie of the last 20 years.
Only the "Lawrence Welk Show" is the only show that possessed less special effects than Megaforce.I suppose this movie is was what inspired homophobia in the military...the thought of a company commander wearing a ULTRA tight shiny sliver jumpsuit...sheeze, that would inspire Regan be able to remember all the details about Iran/Contra!.
I have been wanting to see this movie for many years.I recall when it was new--some people I knew then saw it and recommended it....saying it "was my kind of of thing.
Today--and for some time now--I want a GOOD, REALISTIC plot in a movie.
But then GI Joe never had it's lead hero bedecked in oh-so festive skintight spandex and blue headband combos (something had to keep that blow-dried 80s mane in place!) Yes when Ace Hunter and his Megaforce boys (a carefully focus-grouped assembly of multiculturalism, including an "aw shucks" stereotypical Texan named...wait for it "Dallas") aren't blasting the evil balloon brigade or performing rainbow colored fog-evasion (they're not going going to let "stealthy evasion" get in the way of being FABULOUS on their missile-enhanced gaudily-painted...I mean "bitchin'" motorcycles, their wooin the ladies (or at least the bald chick from Star Trek '79) with oh-so sensual kiss- to-thumbs-up foreplay (saucy!)If such eXtreme action sounds ridiculous then...well it is.
With leaden jokes, nonsensical plot, silly action sequences, spectacularly poor special-effects and culminating to an ending that will have physics teacher cringing and viewers reminiscing their time at the motion simulation ride at their local third-rate amusement park, Megaforce is an abject failure as an action movie.
I liked it and if you come into it expecting to see a fun movie with some cool toys in it, you'll be entertained..The characters are pretty cool..
In this movie, his character is a bit like Kevin Bacon's from 'Tremors', only in a not very good way.Did I mention that things go bang?
Thumbs are kissed.And at least the blue-screen flying scene is more convincing than the ones in 'Pumaman'.The whole thing is an absolute hoot, and everyone looked like they had great fun making it.
It's filled with more 80s cheesy goodness than one movie should have a right to.Megaforce stars Barry Bostwick as Commander Ace Hunter, the leader of a quick deployment special force.
He is a total hoot throughout the film and looks like he's having a blast.
He looks like he's having a lot of fun playing the crazed Duke Guerera.
I know that a movie like Megaforce isn't for everyone.
It was soon relegated to the wastelands of cable TV, where it became a staple for my generation.Directed by Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit, Rad), Megaforce looks and feels very much what a live-action G.I. Joe film would have had it been made during that era. |
tt1727776 | Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse | The film starts with Ron the janitor (Blake Anderson) jamming out to "Black Widow" in the halls of a research facility. He enters where Dr. Pieter Morris (Theo Kypri) is working on something. Pieter leaves to get a snack from the vending machine while Ron cleans up. He notices something behind a curtain. There, he finds a man hooked up to a machine with tubes, and his skin is pale and veiny. Ron grabs the man's wrist, and he twitches, making Ron stumble backwards and screw up the machine. As he tries to fix it, he then attempts to give the man CPR, until he sees his bleeding gums. He tries to resuscitate him with his hands, but they go through the man's stomach. The man jumps up and starts throwing Ron all over the room while Pieter is struggling to get a bag of chips out. As he tries to reach the bag, Ron emerges from the room all zombified and attacks Pieter. The bag then slowly drops to the bottom.Three boy scouts and childhood buddies - Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller), and Augie (Joey Morgan) - are with their Scout Leader Rogers (David Koechner) for scouts registration day. Unfortunately, only one kid is there, and he leaves after watching the corny video. Although discouraged, Rogers reminds the boys that tonight is a special night for Augie, since he's getting his Condor Badge.While driving home, Carter tells Ben that they need to tell Augie that they want to quit being scouts, despite sticking around for the last two years after the death of Augie's dad. Carter is more interested in hooking up with girls, while Ben thinks they should stick around for their buddy. Ben then hits a deer on the road, causing a flat tire. As they change it, Carter sees his sister Kendall (Halston Sage) arriving with her boyfriend Jeff (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and friend Chloe (Niki Koss). Ben has a crush on Kendall, despite her seeing him as a little brother and Carter not knowing. While Ben talks to Kendall, Carter chats up the other two and gets an invitation to a secret senior party that night. Ben then notices that the deer is not in the same spot where it fell. Thinking the party could be life-changing for them, Carter tells Ben that they can go to Augie's badge ceremony and sneak out to the party when he's asleep. Ben drives Carter home where they run into his grouchy elderly neighbor Ms. Fielder (Cloris Leachman), who tells Carter to keep his garbage bins away from her driveway.In the woods, Rogers walks and finds Pieter's badge. He sees something rustling in the bushes. The deer emerges in its zombie state and tries to get Rogers. He stabs the deer in the eye with his lucky knife, only to then get his throat bitten out by zombie Pieter.On the way to the ceremony, Ben and Carter stop by the liquor store so Carter can give a drunken bum $20 to get them beer. This backfires since the man makes a ruckus in the store. Passing by is Denise (Sarah Dumont), a girl that supposedly dropped out from the boys' high school and became a stripper. Ben meets her when the handle of her purse breaks, so he fixes it with a special knot. Denise notices that Carter is trying to get the money back from the bum, so she goes in and coolly grabs the money and gets the beers for the boys before heading to work at the strip joint across the street, Lawrence of Alabia (seriously).Ben and Carter meet Augie in the woods where he's already getting his camping gear ready. The boys hang out and goof off all afternoon until it gets dark. They light a fire and roast marshmallows. When Carter leaves for a bit, Augie expresses his joy at getting to hang out with his friends, making Ben feel a little guilty about wanting to leave.After Augie falls asleep, Carter gets Ben and they drive away, only for Augie to show up on the road. He knows about the party, and while he's heartbroken and disappointed, he tells the guys to go anyway.Ben and Carter stop at the liquor store for a moment. Ben sees that the glass door has been shattered. Carter sees that the bouncer at the strip joint is missing. He gets Ben to go inside with him. Carter runs to get money from the ATM while Ben sits by the stage. A stripper comes out and does a dance, though she is already a zombie. When Carter shows up, the zombie stripper climbs the pole, and blood spurts from her open neck wound. The boys run and find the bouncer is a zombie too. He chases Ben into the bathroom while Carter hides from the stripper. She pulls him out from behind the bar, but Carter kills her by sticking a broken glass bottle in her head (which causes blood to pour from the open wound onto his face). Denise (who is really a cocktail waitress) appears with a shotgun and blasts the bouncer's head off.The three run outside, and the boys slowly realize that they are indeed dealing with a zombie breakout. They run to Ben's car as a horde of zombies approach. Ben drives like crazy out of there, causing his spare tire to fall off. Denise holds off the zombies as the boys quickly replace the tire before they drive away.Augie goes to Rogers' home. He sees nobody there other than a weird collection of Dolly Parton items. Augie then goes to take a dump and returns to the living room to find zombie Rogers. He chases Augie through the house all the way to the basement where Augie grabs a can of lighter fluid and a gas lighter to set his scout leader on fire. He then ties Rogers up and leaves.Ben, Carter, and Denise go to the sheriff's department and see a sign that says the town's been evacuated. The zombie horde gets closer, and the three run inside. The cops have been zombified as well, forcing them to lock themselves in a cell. Augie later shows up after seeing Ben's car and blasts "Crank Dat Soulja Boy" to distract the zombies. As the zombies leave, the three try to get the key from the wall. Ben uses Carter's condoms as a chain and manages to grab the keys until Augie shows up and accidentally kicks them into a drain pipe. Fortunately, Augie picks the lock with his knife. A zombie comes in, but Ben impales it through the head. They head out.The four walk down the road and encounter the drunken bum as a zombie. Augie attempts to assert himself using his scouts knowledge, leading him and Carter to sing "Baby One More Time" with the zombie after they notice his Britney Spears shirt. A bullet then goes through the bum's head, fired by a soldier. He takes the four to the address that Carter was given for the party so they can save Kendall. However, Jeff gave Carter the address to a sewage plant (because it's "full of shit"). Augie tells Carter now he knows what it's like to be screwed over. Carter then admits that he and Ben were already planning to quit being scouts. This makes Augie tell Carter that Ben has a crush on Kendall, angering Carter. To make things worse, they hear on the radio that the town is to be bombed in less than two hours. As the boys fight, the soldier turns into a zombie and attacks Denise. The boys help her, and she smashes the zombie's head with the car door. Carter deduces that Kendall probably wrote the location of the party in her diary, so they take the truck to his house.Back in the boys' neighborhood, they encounter Rogers, half-burnt, and they run him over. They go into Carter's house to find the diary. They look through Kendall's room until they hear a noise from downstairs. Carter and Augie go to check it out. Denise then sees a picture of Kendall and understands why Ben has a crush on her. Noting his lack of confidence, she tells Ben to kiss her. He tries but accidentally headbutts Denise. She then does it for him.Zombies break into Carter's home, including Ms. Fielder. She attacks Carter and tries to literally eat his ass until he and Augie force her against a window to break it and then chop her head off. More zombies attack. The gang fights them and run toward Kendall's room to jump on the trampoline and over the fence. Carter, Denise, and Augie go ahead with Ben going last. As the zombies break into the room, Kendall's diary falls out of the underwear drawer. Ben grabs it and goes to jump, but there are too many zombies on the trampoline, and too many in the room. Ben prepares to jump but nearly slips until he grabs hold of something...a zombie penis. The penis rips off, and Ben falls on the trampoline after Denise distracts the zombies.The gang runs into Ms. Fielder's home where they encounter her zombie cats. After escaping them, they head into the garage and steal her car before getting out of there.The boys learn that the party is at a rec center. Denise finds a motorcycle and goes to get help. Ben gives his friends a rousing speech on how they're going to kick zombie ass and save their friends. They stop at a hardware store and grab many supplies before heading to the party.At the party, Chloe and her boyfriend Travis (Lukas Gage) go into a room so Travis can have sex with Chloe. She refuses but allows him to eat her out. A zombie with no lower jaw enters and kills Travis. He eats Chloe out for a bit before turning her into a zombie. Kendall is worried about her brother, until Jeff admits he gave Carter the wrong address. Pissed, Kendall leaves. Jeff tries to hold her back, but she slaps him. He pushes Kendall as zombie Chloe enters and attacks Jeff. Kendall runs away, only to see that more zombies are coming. When it looks like she's done for, the scouts arrive to lay waste. Ben mows the zombies down with a weed whacker, Carter has a nail gun, and Augie has a gun that shoots heavy balls. Carter "nails" Chloe in the head, while Ben decapitates Jeff. The boys lead the survivors to the stairs while Ben rescues Kendall. He stays behind to lock the doors while his friends run toward a room. Augie places a bomb that he made on the floor and tries to light it. Ben makes another speech on how he and Carter were jerks for trying to ditch Augie and that he really loves being a scout because that's how he became friends with them. Denise shows up and guides the boys out through a slide. At the last minute, Augie lights the bomb and gets out before it goes off and blows up the zombies. The last one is Rogers on the outside, but he's blown up by a grenade. The military finally arrives to save the day.The morning comes, and Denise encourages Ben to go after Kendall. Without a second thought, he walks up to her and kisses her passionately. Augie thinks it's sweet, but Carter is displeased.During the end credits, we see the gang's selfies, including Ben taking Kendall to prom and Denise hanging out with the guys. After this, we see outside the rec center where Rogers' head is still alive. A bird poops on him and he goes, "Come on..." before turning to the audience and saying "The end!" | comedy, murder, violence, absurd, humor, romantic, revenge | train | imdb | null |
tt0108037 | The Sandlot | The film is told through the perspective of Scotty Smalls, who is reminiscing on his first summer in Los Angeles. In 1962, Smalls moves with his mother and stepfather, Bill, to a new neighborhood, and struggles to make new friends. One afternoon, he decides to follow a group of neighborhood boys, and watches them play an improvised game of baseball at a small field, which they call the sandlot. Smalls is reluctant to join their game, as he fears he will be ridiculed on account of his inexperience. Nevertheless, he chooses to play with them, but fails to catch a simple fly ball and properly throw the ball back to his infielders. All the other players, except for Benny Rodriguez, begin to jeer Smalls for committing defensive miscues, prompting him to leave the sandlot in embarrassment. Benny, who is the best player in the neighborhood, shields Smalls from the insults of his peers, and invites him to rejoin their game. He proceeds to give Smalls advice and helps him earn the respect of the other players. In time, Smalls is accepted and becomes an integral part of the team.As Smalls continues to play with the team, he begins to learn many of the customs of the sandlot, while experiencing many misadventures with his new friends:- Getting banned for life from the local pool after Squints kissed the lifegaurd, Wendy Peffercorn, while pretending he was a drowning victim.- Challenging and winning a game against their arch-rival, the Tigers at their manicured field, after the Tigers came on their bikes and insulted them on the sandlot.He learns that players avoid hitting home runs over the sandlots fences, as the property is guarded by a ferocious dog, called the beast. One day, Benny hits a ball so hard, that he ruptures its leather, causing the balls entrails to come out. The group cannot afford to buy another baseball, and is forced to retire for the afternoon. However, Smalls runs to Bill's trophy room, and steals an autographed baseball, in hopes of preserving the game. The team is impressed with Smalls gesture, and allows him to have the first at bat with the ball. He proceeds to hit the ball out of the sandlot, but is shortly enveloped by fear once he realizes that he has lost his stepfather's ball. The situation is further worsened when Smalls realizes that the ball was autographed by Babe Ruth, and is almost irreplaceable.Smalls and his friends begin engineering elaborate plans to recover the ball from the beast. After five failed rescue attempts, Smalls prepares to accept his fate. Around the same time, Benny has an enlightening dream, where he is visited by Babe Ruth, who encourages him run into the sandlot, and use his speed to recover the ball and escape. Ruth leaves him with the words, Heroes are remembered, but legends never die. Benny rallies his friends the following morning at the sandlot, and prepares to recover Smalls baseball. He tries to convince Benny not to, but the decision was already made. Using his PF Flyers, he steals the ball from the Beast, and successfully manages to elude the dog as it chases him through town. At the end of the race, the Beast is injured after a fence collapses on it. Smalls and Benny both feel responsible for the ordeal, and helps the Beast (whose real name is revealed to be "Hercules") escape the rubble. Hercules is grateful to Smalls helping him out that he licks his face and allows the boys access to the balls hit in the back yard. Benny and Smalls then decide to tell the dogs owner, Mr. Mertle (James Earl Jones), about the ordeal. Mertle revealed if they gone to him about the baseball that had Babe Ruth's singature, he would've retrieved it for them. The other boys began hitting Squints with their hats for making up the story about Hercules as the Beast. Squints told them they should be grateful they got the ball back. They eventually learn that Mertle was a professional baseball player at the time of the 1927 New York Yankees, and played with Babe Ruth. Mertle, whose career was shortened after he was blinded by a stray pitch, agrees to give Smalls a ball signed by Murderers' Row several of the best Yankee hitters in the late 1920s. In exchange, the boys are to visit Mertle once a week to talk about baseball. Smalls proceeds to give his stepfather the ball that Mertle gave him.While his stepfather is still mad at him, they eventually get over the issue. He then goes on to explain what became of all his friends, and the future careers they pursued(Squints marrying Wendy and running a store in their hometown, Bertram disappearing after he fell in love with the 60s, Hercules joined in their games and lived to be 100 in doggy years). The film then jumps twenty years into the future, where Smalls is a radio commentator for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Benny The Jet Rodriguez is one of the team's star players. While he is in the twilight of his career, Benny manages to steal home in the movies final comments, before flashing a thumbs-up to Smalls in the press box. | cult | train | imdb | So imagine his surprise when he winds up meeting a kid who invites him to play baseball with him and his best friends.
But eventually, the kids grow to like him and teach him the ways of the game, and before long they're having a lot of fun during the summer.
The Sandlot is a great childhood film because it examines changes and friendship among a group of pre-teens.
It is really just good old fashioned fun (especially James Earl Jones' cameo) in the adventures of their baseball days.
I thought The Sandlot captured the innocence and joy of being young and playing baseball in a small town neighborhood.
I grew up watching The Sandlot and what i realized about this movie is that this film doesn't have the players winning or losing, but this is about friendship and how a big dog can make your worst dreams come true.
The team accepts Smalls and what makes the film interesting like i written above is that this film isn't about winning or losing, but about living your days in the summer when you are ten to twelve and realize that there is more to life than winning.
Recommended for those of us who had great friends growing up, and never wanted the good times to end..
That's rare, as often "family films" have too much smutty language or sexual situations for kids OR are so saccharine sweet that sane adults would prefer suicide over watching the films (think Disney in the 1960s).The film isn't quite a comedy, though there are really funny moments in it (such as the evil dog that eats baseballs).
The Sandlot was my favorite kid movie when I was a kid myself.I was about 8 when I saw it the first time on German TV, so a couple o' years after the movie's release and man, I loved this one.
The best thing is, years after that I saw the movie again during another summer and it reminded me so hard on the good times one can have as a youngster outside...
I went for adventures again.As many other reviewers have noticed, this movie reminds us of what it was like to be a kid, and when dogs were dangerous monsters, and playing outside was just a huge adventure.
The movie captures all our youth so well and packs it in one huge summer so watch and love this one.An absolute 10/10 for being THE kid movie of my life and guess what?
But at the same time this reminds me of my childhood because my brother played baseball with all the neighborhood kids in our side yard and we always spent our summers outside or at the neighborhood pool just as the kids in the movie did.Besides, the nostalgia I'd say this movie is right up there with "A Christmas Story" or "Ferris Buller's Day Off" as far as extremely recognizable quotes go.
When Smalls becomes curious with a group of kids (Mike Vitar, Patrick Renna, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York, Brandon Quintin Adams, Grant Gelt, Shane Obedzinski and Victor DiMattia), who plays Baseball all day long in a old baseball field.
The Sandlot is a fantastic movie because it is appealing to many different age groups and fans: kids, teenagers, adults, seniors, sports fans, and fans of comedy will all love this movie.
Of long summers of "sandlot" games with him and his cousins (they were known as "the cousins") they could play baseball and football and kicked the butt of most of the teams in town, during the movie his memories spewed forth as if they had been bottled up and just needed to be set free.
Having gone through the little league stage with my son and his friends, I thought this was really a touching and wonderful movie about what boys love to do in the summer, organized or not.
What a joyful laugh he has!If you love kids, love baseball, love summer, and love a nice warm film, see it.
A time when all a kid needed for fun was a group of friends, a ball and a space to play in.Many of the changes of the past few decades have been wonderful, but I must admit I do miss certain aspects of the past; The Sandlot epitomizes all of them.Do yourself a favor and watch this movie.
I saw this movie for the first time when I was about 8 and really did love it although I'm from England and didn't really understand the rules of Baseball.
Thats what it was like and most people were like at that age and it really is an enjoyable feel-good film and I'm not surprised it has many fans although maybe not as many over here.I still watch it every now and then and its still very enjoyable and I can still see it being well-known in the future.A classic 10/10.
Growing up as a nerd can be hard, especially when you're trying to make friends with the local kids at the sandlot (where day in and day out it's nothing but baseball).
Things are going smoothly until the one day, when you find yourself in the world's biggest pickle -- sending your father's baseball (signed by Babe Ruth) into the neighbor's yard, which is guarded by a creature known simply as "The Beast".I watched this film on my birthday with my best friend Chelsea, not really knowing what to expect.
In fact, we watch it every time we happen to catch it on TV.It's not a groundbreaking film, but it is a movie that (especially if you, like us, grew up in the 60's) you'll just "get." Not only is it well written and entertaining, it brings back memories of a time when all we needed to be entertained was a group of pals, and the long days of Summer vacation.Good choice to watch with your family or if you are longing a tad for your own childhood..
Ersatz (Jean) Shepherd-esquire presentation of sandlot baseball life in early 60's Southern Cal. A "we didn't realize then what a great summer that was" sort of movie, I guess better than most of the genre.
Hearing the collective sighs of parents in the stands and seeing the encroaching outfielders strolling closer as I came to the plate was excruciating.Now that I am older, The Sandlot is more of a silly, good-natured summer movie than a vessel for childhood frustration.
The fact that Sandlot didn't see fit to add "the girl" is unfortunate but then Renna's "you throw like a girl," line wouldn't have been as funny and Leopardi's graft at the pool would have actually had consequence.What strikes me the most about The Sandlot the third time around (I think) is it's not really about baseball.
I totally love this movie, it is one great film for the whole family to enjoy, at least for those baseball lovers.
I have watched this movie dozens of times and i don't get tired of it.The one part i like in "The Sandlot" is when they're roasting marshmallow's in the tree house.(i shouldn't spoil it for you people that haven't seen this movie yet, but it's so great and funny)There are some funny parts and gross parts like the boys chew tobacco and puke on a carnival ride, trying to get a baseball that wen't over a fence and try many different things, and also Wendy Capricorn.
You will find out about her in the movie.This movie is based around 1962 and shows a lot of baseball and learning how to play.This is one of my most favorite movies of all time, plus "James Earl Jones" makes a perfect Mr. Mertle.
The Sandot Kids as it was known to me,would have to be one of the all time great movies.For it's simple and happy way of telling the story of our youth(although i am Australian and don't really follow baseball)it has a special quality about it.I recently viewed the Sandlot 2 and was not really drawn to it like the original as i kept finding myself trying to compare the story to the first movie.Once my kids were old enough to watch it with me,all i hear is the memorable lines from the movie constantly shouted at me in the backyard.My two kids always repeat the scene in the tree house where the guys have a sleepover and tell the story about the beast and how to roast a marshmallow and place it on a biscuit with the chocolate.It totally cracks me up and will always cherish this film as i think in this day and age we all need to step back and rediscover the little things that were important to us all as we grew up and this film is all of that.
In a nutshell,even an Aussie like me at age 36 still gets a kick out of this most wonderful movie.It should be put away for future generations to share and enjoy just as i have with my two kids.The Best.Regards, Darren Martens,Victoria,Australia..
Basically its a movie about a bunch of kids playing baseball over there school summer break.
It really hit home how much i missed being that age and that care free watching this movie, but it also gave me a great sense of happiness just to see these boys being the way i was with my friends back in the day.
It is a charming movie about a bunch of kids who have a lot of fun in their "sandlot", about Babe Ruth, about "the beast" and about friendship.
Great baseball and kids movie.
Parents will also like it.Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) moves to a new town where the kids play baseball all summer.
Smalls has never learned to throw a ball so he asks his step dad (Denis Leary) who is a baseball nut to teach him so he can play with the other kids.
The sandlot home run fence in left field is a no man's land and any ball that's hit over it disappears forever because "The Beast" lives there.The kids have a clubhouse in a tree.
Tom Guiry is great as the part of Scott Smalls, and the movie smoothly moves from one great subplot to the next in this great adventure about a nerdy child who experiences the summer of his life through the summer baseball group he joins in the summer.It's absolutely portrayed in the style that it will never get old.
Baseball is however about having fun in the dog days of summer...and oh look...isn't that what The Sandlot is about?
This movie takes me back to when I was a kid playing baseball with a bunch of my friends!
I like James Earl Jones' character in this movie playing the "mean, old neighbor man.".
It's funny how time flies and how a great movie like this still gets a lot of positive reviews.
I still can't believe this movie is over ten years old...feels like yesterday that I learned about "the beast" and seen Denis Leary in a role other than a foul mouthed burglar...10/10.
It is through these nine boys that we all find identification.There are some great supporting roles by the likes of Dennis Leary (surprisingly restrained, actually acting even), Karen Allen, and James Earl Jones (who becomes the oracle of baseball, taking in the two kids who will eventually spend the rest of their lives around baseball).This film is one of the many movies that was mismarketed.
Now those are all good concepts for great movies, but how about a movie you can actually relate to?The Sandlot is just that.It's one summer spent in the lives of 9 friends who play baseball in, well, a sandlot.
"The Sandlot" gives us a real story about real kids, and while kids will enjoy the movie, so too will anyone who's ever experienced a true love for the game of baseball.
The Sandlot is the one and only movie about kids and baseball.
A Fun Kid's Baseball Movie..
The Sandlot was a fun kid's baseball movie that is entertaining and fun to watch.
Great family movie about how baseball brings a group of kids together.
Every time I see it, I'm reminded anew why I love this movie so much.It's a great movie, for boys, or baseball players, or both.
In all, this is a great movie for anyone who loves the game of baseball for the game itself or those who remember this time..
Even if we'll never picture ourselves as Smalls, we can at least say we've met a naive kid like him.Scotty moves to the Valley with his mother and stepdad (Karen Allen and Denis Leary, who are little seen in the film but who are the primary adults here) and plans to spend his summer alone in his room reading and toying with his erector set.
Even if you never grew up playing or even liking baseball, you'll love this movie.
It's fun to watch these kids and their love for baseball.
The sandlot is a classic movie which depicts the childhood of growing teens, they love baseball, and have a lot of fun.
If you were a kid when this film came out, or you are just a sucker for cheesy coming-of-age movies, or you just really want a movie like this and you have not watched Stand By Me, I can understand it.
At times, it feels like it was designed to anger me and me alone.Some people have called this film a kid's version of Stand By Me, which is wrong for two reasons.
In this film the storyline is based in the 1960s and isn't like most baseball movies where there's a bad team that get some kind of magic and wins the championship or something like that, no it's about a group of friends who just like playing baseball, while they make the most of their summer.
But as most movies it has plot twist because scottie smalls grabs his step dads babe ruth signed baseball after Hamilton 'Ham' porter the funny big kid who plays catcher on their team hits their last ball over the fence into the beast yard the place of hundreds of lost baseballs.
The sandlot is one of my favorite childhood movies and never gets old I've probaly seen it about 5 times.
If you like baseball it's hard not to like the movie, it's about a group of teenage boys that are all neighborhood friends and play baseball together and have a ton of fun.
The movie is centered around Smalls who is a kid who has never played baseball before, Benny who is the best player of them all, and Hercules (aka the beast) who is the huge dog that everyone fears that lives behind the sandlot.
There are so many good parts to the movie the main one being where Smalls hits a baseball that was signed by babe Ruth over the fence into the yard where Hercules lives.
What I liked most about the Sandlot is that it is really funny and has lots of great scenes and I really enjoyed the movie because I grew up playing baseball..
The first time I saw The Sandlot was when I was 11 and I was playing little league baseball.
This movie is the pure example of friendship, young love and bravery which was a huge impact on my life and back then it was a simpler time where the only thing that mattered was baseball and playing on a team with your friends living your life to the fullest..
The pace of the film feels like those languid long days where you go from playing baseball to the swimming pool to making s'mores in a tree house, where time seems to stand still and school is so far off it's barely in your mind.This movie nails it and does so sweetly and with great nostalgia.
The other kids don't like him at first since he is a little geeky, but he eventually is accepted by the group once he learns to play baseball.
Scottie now has new friends and begins to have an action packed summer with them,like having camp outs, fearing the beast behind the fence, going to the pool, talking about Babe Ruth, and of course playing baseball.
The Sandlot is a story that follows a group of boys playing baseball all summer, and together they use teamwork to solve a problem.
Kids and fans of baseball all over the country watched this movie for years.
From the very beginning of the movie to the end, people have always had a good laugh each and every time they watch it.
I would recommend this movie to anybody who hasn't seen it yet.Baseball fans and kids have always loved to watch this movie ever since it came out.
No film better encapsulates the fear and wonder of the unknown, summer fun, and most of all; the everlasting bond of friendship and the love for the great game of baseball.
I won't spoil anything but it's really good.Growing up, a lot of us have had friends like the characters in this movie.
The Sandlot is a classic movie that's great for the whole family!.
All-in-all, a fun film about nine childhood friends in 1962, spending their summer days and nights at the sandlot playing baseball and having a variety of adventures related and unrelated to the sport.
The group goes through many adventures together, including dealing with their secluded neighbor's menacing, huge dog.Many kids grow up playing sports like baseball, and go through fun times, thick and thin, with each other.
It all culminates to a story of a lost baseball signed by Babe Ruth and a feared dog named the Beast.This is more than just a kids movie.
In the sport of baseball, they have accentuated the childhood love of the game.This is a kids movie for the whole family. |
tt1055366 | Camp Rock | Mitchie Torres is an aspiring young musician who hopes to become a professional singer. Mitchie wants to go to a music camp named "Camp Rock". Since the family cannot afford the tuition, Mitchie's mother, Connie, arranges to cater food for the camp, thus allowing Mitchie to attend. In return, Mitchie must help her mother out in the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Shane Gray, the spoiled and arrogant lead singer of the popular music trio Connect 3, has been assigned to be in charge of dance classes for one month at Camp Rock by his band mates Jason and Nate and is forced to record a song with the winner of Final Jam. Shane accidentally hears someone singing on the first day and falls in love with the voice, but does not know the identity of the singer.
During Opening Jam, Mitchie learns that many of the campers have notable roots and is embarrassed that she was only able to come to the camp because of her mother's catering service. She convinces Tess Tyler, a girl known for her famous mother and her popularity, that her mother is the president of Hot Tunes TV China. Tess, impressed, invites Mitchie to bunk with her group. Caitlyn warns Mitchie that becoming one of Tess's background girls will not be as she expects.
When Mitchie overhears Shane's new song, she compliments him. Shane, doubtful that his record label and his fans would accept the song, begins to fall for Mitchie. In the cafeteria, Tess and Caitlyn begin to throw spaghetti at each other and Mitchie gets in the middle of the fight. Brown, the owner of the camp, breaks the fight up and Tess frames Caitlyn for the incident. Brown punishes Caitlyn by having her work in the kitchen and Mitchie, who is worried that Caitlyn will learn her secret, does not help her out.
When Mitchie accidentally enters the kitchen while Caitlyn is working, Caitlyn learns about Mitchie's secret. At Pajama Jam, Mitchie supports Caitlyn when Tess attempts to upstage her show. Mitchie and Caitlyn reconcile.
Shane spreads the word that he is searching for a girl with "the voice." When Tess sees Mitchie and Shane rowing together, she becomes jealous and after finding out about Mitchie's secret, tells the entire camp. Shane thinks that Mitchie deceived him just to use him and Mitchie is forced out of Tess's group.
On the eve of Final Jam, Mitchie and Caitlyn are framed by Tess for stealing her charm bracelet and Brown bans them from Final Jam.
Final Jam arrives and everyone is ready for performances. Peggy and Ella confront Tess and leave her group. Ella performs with Barren and Sander in "Hasta La Vista". After that, Tess performs "2 Stars" and realizes her mom is attending, however she stumbles when her mom has to step out for a call. During the song, Mitchie and Caitlyn realize they can perform and run to the stage. Before the final song, Peggy performs "Here I Am" and reveals her name is actually Margaret Dupree. As Brown announces the final song, the spotlights turn on and he allows Mitchie to perform (saying he knew that they would catch on: as their performance was not in the lineup, thus not in Final Jam). Mitchie performs "This Is Me", which Shane realizes as the voice and soon joins in. Finally, the Connect 3 Members vote and decide that Peggy won the trophy and the song recording. The entire Camp sing We Rock. Backstage, Mitchie and Shane reconcile, and agree to meet next summer.
In the extended edition, Mitchie, Peggy, Lola, Tess and Ella gather in Caitlyn's garage (now a recording studio) and sing "Our Time Is Here". | romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1045658 | Silver Linings Playbook | After eight months of treatment in a mental health facility for bipolar disorder, Patrick "Pat" Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is released into the care of his father Patrizio (Robert De Niro) and mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver). His main focus is to reconcile with his estranged wife, Nikki (Brea Bee). She has moved away and obtained a restraining order against him after Pat had found her in the shower with another man and nearly beat him to death. During his time in the clinic Pat befriends Danny McDaniels (Chris Tucker), an easygoing man who is embroiled in a legal dispute with the clinic on whether or not he is eligible to leave. Pat's therapist, Dr. Patel (Anupam Kher), does his best to convince him to keep taking his medication, as a repeat of his violent outbursts might send him back to the clinic. But Pat tells him that he has a new outlook on life: he attempts to see the good, or silver linings, in all that he experiences.
At dinner with his friend Ronnie (John Ortiz) and his wife Veronica (Julia Stiles), Pat meets Veronica's sister Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a young widow with depression and relationship problems. Sparks fly between Pat and Tiffany and she tries to connect by offering casual sex, but Pat keeps focusing on getting Nikki back. Tiffany tries to get closer to Pat and even offers to deliver a letter to Nikki—if, in return, he will practice dancing with her (which she does as a therapy) and to partner with her in an upcoming dance competition. He reluctantly agrees and the two begin a rigorous practice regimen over the following weeks. Pat believes the competition will be a good way to show Nikki that he has changed and become a better person.
Patrizio hopes to open his own restaurant and has resorted to illegal bookmaking. Having put virtually all of his money on the outcome of a Philadelphia Eagles game, he asks Pat to attend as a "good-luck charm". Danny is eventually released from the clinic, and teaches Pat and Tiffany some new dance moves for their routine. Pat asks Tiffany for time off from practice to attend the game. She gives him a typed reply from Nikki, in which she cautiously hints there may be a chance for reconciliation between them. Before he gets into the stadium, Pat gets involved in a fight when some racist fans harass the Indian fans there including his therapist Dr. Patel, and is hauled away by the police. The Eagles lose the game and Patrizio is furious. Tiffany shows up at their house and points out that the way she is "reading the signs," Philadelphia teams do better when she and Pat are together. Convinced, Patrizio makes a parlay with his gambling friend: if the Eagles win their next game and Tiffany and Pat score 5 out of 10 in their dance competition, he will win back double the money he lost on the first bet. Pat is reluctant, and Tiffany, Dolores, and Patrizio conspire to persuade Pat to dance in the competition by telling him that Nikki will be there; it is revealed that his parents have secretly supported Tiffany's attempts to get along with him. Pat notices that the letter from Nikki also refers to "reading the signs" and realizes that Tiffany wrote it.
Tiffany, Pat, and their friends and family arrive at the competition on the night of the football game. Tiffany despairs when she finds that Nikki actually is in the audience, invited by Ronnie and Veronica who want Nikki to lift her restraining order on Pat and give Pat the chance to reconcile with her. Tiffany walks to the bar and starts drinking. Pat finds her moments before their dance and drags her onto the dance floor. They begin their routine as the Eagles defeat the Dallas Cowboys. At the conclusion of their set, Tiffany and Pat score exactly 5 points. Amid cheers from friends and family and confused looks from the crowd, Pat approaches Nikki and speaks quietly into her ear. Tiffany sees this and runs off. Pat leaves Nikki behind after a short conversation, and chases Tiffany. He hands her a letter, in which he admits that he knows she forged Nikki's letter and confesses that he loved her from the moment he met her, though it took him so long to come to terms with it. They share a kiss. Patrizio opens a restaurant with the money he has won, Pat and Tiffany become a couple, and both of them are no longer wearing their wedding rings. | dark, dramatic, violence, flashback, humor, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1496025 | Underworld Awakening | This latest addition to the 'Underworld' series opens six months after the events of the second movie, Underworld: Evolution. The vampire Selene is captured by humans during "The Purge," a massive crusade of war to exterminate vampires and lycans after mankind learns of their existence. Humans call Lycans "Non-Humans" and Vampires are called "The infected."12 years later, it is revealed that human governments all over the world had committed genocides to vampires and lycans, killing everything. Surviving populations were reduced to being scavengers and guerrillas. 90% of the vampire race was annihilated. Selene is freed from cryogenic suspension and escapes the medical corporation Antigen. The corporation is trying to make an antidote for the virus that creates vampires and lycans. Selene starts to have strange visions after her escape, which she follows, believing them to be linked to her lover, the vampire-lycan hybrid Michael Corvin. The visions lead her into a building where she runs into David, a fellow vampire.While talking to David, Selene has another vision. Following the vision, she discovers not Michael, but a young girl called only "Subject 2," also known as Eve. Later revealed to be a hybrid and Selene and Michael's daughter. David, noting that Eve (Subject 2) has been injured by the lycans and is somehow not healing, takes them to his coven. David's father, Thomas, does not welcome Selene and Eve, stunning Selene with the news that Michael died twelve years ago and that Selene was the cause for the destruction of the vampire race. Upon being given some vampire blood, Eve heals extremely quickly.Dr. Jacob Lane, director of Antigen, is revealed to be a lycan alongside his son, Quint. The "antidote" the corporation has been working on for many years is actually to make lycans immune to the deadly effects of silver and to enhance their physical abilities. Eve's hybrid genetic code is required to achieve this, so Lane sends Quint with other lycans to the vampire coven to recapture her.Meanwhile, expecting a human attacks at any moment, David tries to rally the vampires resistances to fight back, while his father orders everyone to evacuate and hide. Most of the vampires stay, and arm themselves heavily. Unexpectedly, lycans arrived in large numbers instead, and numerous vampires are slaughtered, a huge blow to the coven. Selene encounters a gigantic "super lycan", who is later revealed to be Quint, his body changed by injections using Eve's blood. Selene is knocked unconscious under a pile of rubble, Eve is turned over to the lycans by Thomas in exchange for their departure, and David is mortally wounded during the battle. Selene decides to save Eve but first revives David using her immortal blood, given to her by Alexander Corvinus in Evolution.Able to survive in sunlight, Selene enlists the help of Detective Sebastian, a human who tried to investigate Antigen earlier in the film. Sebastian agrees to help save Eve, admitting he was married to a nurse who was bitten at work and became a vampire, until she was killed by authorities during the Purge; they forced her to out into the day, into direct daylight, and she was burned to death.Selene destroys part of Antigen's headquarters using explosives and silver gas, forcing Dr. Lane to move Eve out of the building to perform an operation to create more of the antidote. Selene escapes from the lycans in the building. (Antigen is nearly entirely staffed by lycans) In the process, she finds Michael cryogenically frozen in a laboratory. She shoots his cell to let him out. Escaping in a van, Dr. Lane is intercepted by Sebastian and then by Selene, who causes the van to crash. Quint arrives, transforms into his super lycan form, and fights Selene.Eve awakens on her stretcher, frees herself from the van, and engages Dr. Lane in a fight, who has injected himself with the super lycan formula used on Quint. Sebastian and the revived David aid Eve in her fight until she kills Dr. Lane by ripping his throat out.Meanwhile, Quint corners Selene in a small cement guardroom but is forced to revert to his human form to get to her, only for Selene to shove an activated silver-based grenade into Quint's body. He heals instantly, trapping the grenade inside. Panicking, he half-changes back to lycan form, but it is too late, and he explodes.Selene goes to find Michael but finds an empty cryogenic cell with Eve sharing his vision and learns he is on the roof. Selene, Eve, and David run to the roof only to find Michael has gone. Selene narrates, concluding that she will find Michael and take back the world from the humans and lycans, so the vampires can rebuild themselves as the humans declared war. | gothic, murder, violence, good versus evil, action, revenge, sci-fi | train | imdb | null |
tt0087469 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | 1935. At the Club Obi Wan in Shanghai, Indiana Jones and his pal Wu Han (masquerading as a waiter) encounter crime boss Lao Che, who is seeking the remains of Nurhachi, an ancient emperor from the Ming Dynasty. When the deal goes down, Che tries to poison Indy, but chaos ensues, leading to a running gun battle and pursuit by Lao Che and his henchmen, a chase that sweeps up local torch singer Wilhemina "Willie" Scott. The getaway car is driven by Indiana's ward and sidekick, Short Round, a 10 year old Chinese boy with a cocky personality. At the nearby Nang Tao airport, Indiana escapes from Shanghai aboard a cargo plane -- though he fails to see that the plane belongs to Lao Che himself.En route to India, their plane crashes in the mountains, when the pilot and co-pilot bail out after dumping the plane's fuel. After a dangerous ride down the Himalayan mountains and a raging river in an inflatable life raft, the trio eventually come to a desolate village in India. The poor villagers enlist their help in retrieving a sacred Shiva lingam stone from the evil forces of nearby Pankot Palace. When the stone was stolen, the village's crops burned and the people began to starve. The forces of Pankot also kidnapped all of the children in the village. At night, Indy finds a small boy, one of the missing children, who has wandered back to the village. In his hand is a piece of cloth with Sanskrit. The writing gives Indy a new clue about the missing Shankara stones. Indy hypothesizes that the stone may be one of the fabled Adi Shankara Stones. The village's elder believes Shiva sent Indiana to retrieve the object.At Pankot palace, the travelers are met by the maharajah's major domo, Chattar Lal and also meet the local British regiment leader, Captain Blumburtt. At a dinner of gruesome cuisine with the maharajah himself, Indy questions Lal about the villagers claims. Lal at first dismisses them, calling them superstition. Lal becomes angrier when Indy claims that the sacred stone was stolen from the village and points out several instances of Indy's own lack of discretion and moral judgement while seeking other treasures from different parts of the world.Later that night Indy is attacked in his room by a would-be assassin, which leads him, Willie and Short Round to discover an underground temple beneath Pankot. They find a Kl Thuggee religious cult, practicing and ancient ritual of black magic and human sacrifice. Thought they possess three of the ancient stones, one of which belongs to the village, they are still missing two and the Thuggee have enslaved the village children to dig for two last stones within the mines of the palace. Mola Ram, the cult's villainous high priest, hopes to use the power of five united stones to rule the world. The protagonists witness a ritual in which Mola Ram bare-handedly digs a man's heart out of his chest. The man survives, his heart beating in Mola Ram's hand, until he is lowered slowly into a lava pit, causing the beating heart to burst into flame.Indy, Willie, and Short Round are captured by the Thuggee and separated. Indy is forced to drink the "Blood of Kali", a mind-control potion which puts him into a trance called the "Black Sleep of Kali Ma," and begins to serve Mola Ram. Willie is kept as a human sacrifice, while Short Round is put in the mines alongside the village children as a slave laborer. Short Round frees himself and escapes back into the temple, where Willie is about to be sacrificed to Kali. He burns Indy with a torch, shocking him out of the trance. After returning to himself, Indiana is mortified at the thought of having nearly cost his friends their lives, asking forgiveness from Short Round. Although Mola Ram escapes through a trapdoor, Indy and Short Round manage to save Willie, take the three Sankara Stones, and free the village children. In the fight to escape the palace, the three jump into a mine cart and are closely pursued by two Thuggee-filled carts through the tunnels. They manage to throw off their pursuers. Back in the mine, Mola Ram has his men topple a large water tower, spilling it's contents into the tunnel. Indy and his group barely manage to escape the rush of water, emerging on the stone wall of a canyon.The climax leads to Indy, Willie and Short Round trying to cross a rope bridge across the canyon, but are hemmed in by Mola Ram and the Thuggee on both ends. Indy prepares his friends to brace themselves. He uses a machete to cut the bridge in half. Many of the Thuggee are sent plummeting into the crocodile-infested river where they are eaten, but Mola Ram holds on. In a final battle for the stones, the evil priest declares that they belong to him. Unafraid, Indiana invokes the name of Shiva, which causes the stones to glow red hot. They burn a hole in his satchel and two of them fall into the river. The final stone burns Mola Ram's hand as he grabs it. Indiana catches it and watches as Ram is eaten. Jones climbs up the bridge as Blumburtt and his Indian riflemen help defeat the Thuggee reinforcements. Indiana, Willie, and Short Round return to the village with their sacred stone and the missing children. Indiana tells the village elder he "understands its [the stone's] power now". | mystery, gothic, cruelty, murder, cult, violence, action, brainwashing, romantic, sadist | train | imdb | null |
tt0106364 | Batman: Mask of the Phantasm | A meeting between crime lord Chuckie Sol (Dick Miller) and his cronies starts one night in Gotham City. Sol is instructing his men about the procedure for laundering some new counterfeit bills through their casino when the meeting is interrupted by the Batman. Batman takes out Sols' followers but Chuckie manages to get to the parking garage.Sol is greeted by a mysterious figure (who he first mistakes for Batman) stating the phrase "Your Angel of Death awaits." This mysterious Phantasm (voiced by Stacey Keach) is nearly run down by Sol's car, but tricks Sol into driving out a nearby window to his death. Batman arrives on the scene and observes Sol; the people below see Batman and assume he is responsible for what has happened.Next morning, Councilman Arthur Reeves (Hart Bochner) is giving a press conference about Batman's apparent actions. He wants to hunt down Batman and arrest the vigilante. Commissioner James Gordon (Bob Hastings) is against it, since he doesn't believe Batman would do something like that. Detective Harvey Bullock (Robert Costanzo), on the other hand, is in favor of stopping Batman.Alfred (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) and Bruce (Kevin Conroy) are watching the presentation in the Batcave. Batman is analyzing a chemical found on the glass from Chuckie Sol's car.Councilman Arthur is in his office, talking to a woman (Dana Delany) on the phone. She's flying into town after being gone for 10 years to settle some old finances.During a party at Wayne Manor, Bruce confronts Arthur about his Batman stance. Arthur counters with some remarks about Bruce's love life, and mentions the name of one woman from Bruce's past- Andrea Beaumont.Bruce confronts the portrait of his parents, flashing back to his memory of meeting Andrea in the graveyard while they both visited dead relatives (Andrea with her mother, Bruce with his parents). They both talk about how they miss their families. Bruce slyly mentions that he made a vow to his parents upon their death, and that "so far" he has kept it.The night after meeting Andrea, Bruce goes out crime-fighting for the first time in his life. Decked out in a simple mask and street clothes, he confronts a group of thieves. Bruce is able to fend them off, but the thieves do not treat him as a serious threat.Next morning, after bandaging his wounds, Bruce exercises while talking to Alfred. Bruce thinks that he failed to keep control of the situation because the criminals weren't afraid of him. Andrea arrives to speak with Bruce, and before long the two have begun a romantic relationship. The flashback ends and Bruce goes back out to the party.Another Gotham crime lord, Buzz Bronski (John P. Ryan) visits the grave of Chuckie Sol. He hears the mysterious voice repeating "Your Angel of Death Awaits"- the Phantasm has come for Bronski. Phantasm kills Bronski by pushing a huge stone angel onto him. Buzz's bodyguards see a caped figure walking away from the scene and assume it is the Batman.Elderly crime boss Salvatore Valestra (Abe Vigoda) reads the obituary of Buzz Bronski and the news story about Batman being thought responsible for the crimes. He is shocked at the news.Arthur is now more fanatical than ever in his crusade against Batman. Commissioner Gordon vehemently refuses to participate, so Bullock eagerly steps up.After Batman collects evidence at the scene of Buzz Bronski's murder, he takes a brief moment to reflect at the graveside of his parents. Andrea Beaumont is also in the graveyard; she spots a figure at the Wayne graves and automatically assumes that it is Bruce.Andrea has dinner with Councilman Reeves, her mind distracted by what she saw that night. Batman observes her on stakeout. This triggers another flashback- Bruce takes Andrea to the Gotham World Fair, observing several prototype inventions- including a distinctive looking car. Andrea invites Bruce to come and meet her father, and he agrees. Bruce voices his discomfort to Alfred; his relationship with Andrea wasn't something he's planned on.Bruce & Andrea greet Carl Beaumont, who is just finishing business with Arthur Reeves (Reeves works for Beaumont's legal department at this time). The meeting is interrupted by Valestra, who wants to speak with Carl. Both Bruce & Andrea are suspicious of Valestra.Bruce spots a street merchant being robbed by a motorcycle gang. He goes after them, but his concern for Andrea distracts him and they get away.That night, Bruce tries to design a costume for himself but cannot continue. Bruce knows that he can't complete the vow he made to his parents with someone like Andrea in his life. Bruce goes to his parents' grave site to try and justify his feelings. Andrea meets him and they go home together.When a police helicopter approaches the nearby roof, Batman is brought out of his memory trip and returns home.Next day, Councilman Reeves is approached by Valestra. Reeves confirms that Batman is apparently attacking "their people."Using the Bat-Computer, Batman confirms that the two dead men- Sol & Bronski- were partners in phony dummy corporations set up at least 10 years ago. There was a third man involved- Sal Valestra. Batman goes off to confront Valestra. Alfred asks if Bruce will see Andrea when he is done.In Valestra's office, Batman finds a photo of Carl Beaumont with Valestra and the two dead men. This triggers yet another flashback- Bruce proposes to Andrea and she happily accepts. They are interrupted by a huge swarm of bats coming from a cave below the house. Andrea returns to her father's house to see that some people have arrived to speak with Carl. She goes inside to tell her father the good news.Bruce explores the cave and marvels at its huge size. When he returns, Alfred solemnly hands him a package. Andrea has returned Bruce's ring, stating only that she is leaving town and encouraging Bruce to forget her. Bruce, heartbroken, throws himself back into "The Plan." That very night, he dons the Batsuit for the first time. Alfred, seeing the transformation from Bruce to Batman, can only watch and remark "My God!"Valestra goes to the now abandoned World Fair, which is a hideout for the Joker (Mark Hamil), who greets him like an old friend. Valestra tells him that he thinks Batman is killing off members of "the old gang." Joker notes that this is uncharacteristic behavior for Batman, and insists he is not a hired gun for the mob. Valestra reminds him that if the vigilante is specifically targeting his old associates, then its only a matter of time before they go after the Joker.Andrea ends her date with Arthur, and finds Batman in her room. He asks about the men photographed with her father, but she tells him nothing. Denying any connection, Andrea states that Batman is the only one there who is still controlled by his parents.The Phantasm comes to Valestra's apartment, only to find that Sal has been given a lethal dose of Joker toxin. Joker, watching from a hidden camera, is shocked to see that the killer isn't really Batman. The Phantasm narrowly escapes a bomb set by the Joker.Batman confronts the Phantasm on the rooftop. A police helicopter confronts Batman, and Phantasm uses the chance to escape. Batman hides out in a construction site, but is soon able to trick the police into attacking a phony target (losing his cape & cowl in the process). Andrea drives up as Batman is fleeing and offers him a getaway vehicle. They elude the police.Alfred bandages Bruce's wounds while he talks to Andrea. She tells Bruce about what happened the night he proposed. A flashback reveals that Carl Beaumont is begging for his life in front of Valestra's men. Andrea walks in, and her life is jeopardized too. Valestra gives Carl 24 hours to return the money that was embezzled or Carl will die. Andrea opposes her fathers actions and does not wish to run, but Carl insists that there is no hope for them in Gotham.In the present, Andrea tells Bruce that her father was eventually able to pay off his debt, but Valestra's men considered it too little, too late. Bruce thinks that the man in the Phantasm costume is Carl- killing off the gangsters to finally be free of his debt. Bruce & Andrea are obviously still in love, but Bruce states that he still has to stop the Phantasm.Bruce looks at the photo he took from Valestra again. He recognizes the features on one man, and-after an alteration with red ink- confirms that Valestra's former bodyguard is actually The Joker!Councilman Reeves is furious that Batman escaped. The Joker confronts Reeves and talks about what's been happening, mentioning that someone other than Batman is responsible for the killings. Joker doses Reeves with his laughing toxin, and Arthur is hospitalized in a hysterical laughing fit.Batman confronts Reeves that night, confirming the details about Reeve's connection to the Beaumonts. Arthur kept in touch with Carl while he was abroad, helping to set up funds. But when Reeves asked Carl for help in financing an election, Carl refused. So, desperate for funds, Arthur sold Carl out to Valestra's mob.Batman searches Andrea's apartment for more clues, finding a locket with a picture of Andrea & himself inside. The phone rings and Batman answers it- it's the Joker, sending another bomb into the apartment. Batman manages to escape and recognizes the design of the plane that flew in the bomb. He deduces that Joker is hiding out in the ruins of the Gotham World Fair.In a final flashback, Andrea returns to her father's new home after some grocery shopping, only to find Valestra's bodyguard emerging. Fearing the worst, she drops the grocery bags and runs. As Andrea screams in horror, the future Joker grabs an apple out of the discarded grocery bags, then casually walks away.Phantasm confronts Joker, and Joker applauds the Phantasm's scheme. Phantasm is revealed to be Andrea Beaumont, out for revenge against her father's murderers. Batman arrives and confronts Andrea, who states that vengeance is now all that she has left. Batman and Joker fight, eventually triggering a fire in the World's Fair props. Andrea grabs Joker, vowing that her crusade will end no matter what. She disappears in an explosion, but Batman manages to get away.In the Batcave, Bruce regrets not being able to save Andrea. Alfred states that it is quite possible Andrea didn't want to be saved. A glimmer in the cave attracts Bruce's attention- he finds the same locket from Andrea's apartment.Out on a cruise, Andrea gazes out at the sea, truly alone in the world. | comedy, gothic, murder, neo noir, cult, violence, flashback, good versus evil, insanity, psychedelic, romantic, tragedy, revenge, sadist | train | imdb | null |
tt0409011 | Love Wrecked | Jenny Taylor (Bynes) is a fan of Jason Masters (Chris Carmack), a world famous rock star, but her efforts to meet him are always thwarted by her nemesis, Alexis (Jamie-Lynn Sigler). Hoping to get another chance, Jenny takes a job in Masters' favorite Caribbean resort in St. Luchas with Ryan (Jonathan Bennett) her lifelong friend. She gets her chance by sneaking aboard a vessel Jason is on, but he is washed overboard in a storm while recovering from a bout of sea-sickness, and Jenny jumps in to save him. The pair find themselves stranded on a seemingly-deserted tropical island. Jenny discovers that they have landed a short distance from the resort, but instead of telling Jason the truth, she selfishly leads him believe they are stranded so she can make him fall in love with her. After she discovers Jenny's plan, a jealous Alexis pretends to be marooned as well and joins them.As Jenny's plans fall apart, she begins to realize that her perfect love may have been with her all along - Ryan, whom she has always put off dating due to their friendship, has had a crush on her his whole life. While Ryan has been helping her by giving her things to survive on the island (like food and makeup), he has been seeking advice on asking her out. He completely transforms himself and when she sees him, all she talks about is Jason. Ryan starts to feel bad and begins to leave, but he stops the car midway, gets off and kisses her. He tells her they are perfect together and confesses he can't stop thinking about her, but Jenny protests that they are friends. Upon hearing this, he feels bad and leaves her standing alone as he gets into the car and tells her that he is going back home. She feels bad and goes and tells Jason everything (on the other side of the island) and he promises to sue her before leaving.She is still on the other side of the island, when Ryan begins to pack his things and go back home. At that moment, the resort receives news that a storm is going to hit St. Luchas Puerto Plata on the side where Jenny is. Unaware of the news, Jenny sits on a branch when the storm hits. Upon hearing about the storm, Ryan rushes onto the other side to save her. When he reaches there, the storm has already hit, so he takes Jenny into the jungle separating the resort and the beach, and lights a fire to keep her warm. After this moment, Jenny realizes that he is the one that cares for her the most. She comes back to the resort with Ryan after the storm is over and sees that the whole resort is practically destroyed. When Jenny and Ryan reach the lobby, Jason and his manager pull her inside a room, where they tell her that they need her help and that they are holding a press conference to tell everyone about the case. When she is about to answer, Ryan bursts inside the room and tells Jason that whatever he does, he should not lose Jenny and that she will be the best girl Jason will ever meet.After that he confesses his love for Jenny and then is forced/carried out by Jason's bodyguard Gail (Leonardo Cuesta). During the press conference, when Jenny sees Jason lying about everything that happened on the island, she just wants to get it over with. She tells them all that Alexis is his girlfriend and that they are going to get married, and declares to everyone that her real boyfriend is Ryan and then walks up to him and kisses him after both exchange words. Then we see them walking down the resort and dancing. The movie ends with Jason in concert, unhappily dedicating a song to his wife, Alexis. | romantic | train | imdb | My friend CK asked me to go along for this movie, as he's a huge Amanda Bynes fan, having followed her television series What I Like About You, and both of us agreed upon her comic potential in She's The Man, which was a pretty fun gender bender movie.With a title like that, there's nothing too cerebral about Lovewrecked.
Bynes stars as Jenny Riley, and we're quickly introduced to her character's idol worshipping of screen pop singing sensation Jason Masters (Chris Carmack), going totally bonkers during his concert, much to the detriment of best buddy Ryan (Jonathan Bennett).During their summer job at a Caribbean resort, she finds herself caught in a man-overboard situation with Jason, and the two of them thus began a Robinson Crusoe life - until of course Jenny discovers that they aren't really shipwrecked on some remote island at all, and keeps this as a secret from Jason.
When her love rival participates in her little charade, it becomes like the reality TV series Survivor, where each have to outplay, outwit and outlast the other in order to get the affections of the lone pop star.Directed by Randal Kleiser of Grease and The Blue Lagoon fame, this movie too had Bynes strut around mostly in bikinis, the apparel of choice for any girl working at a resort / stuck in a desert island.
Bynes still haven't lost her comic timing, however here she's let down by an extremely weak story, and an even more disappointing lack of laughs from the stilted comedy.
The Riley parents were such throwaway characters that you wonder if their inclusion was for the sake of extending the run time, which clocks in at a short 86 minutes.So unless you're a true blue Bynes fan, or have that penchant for teenage romance movies, do steer clear or you'll find yourself getting pretty bored at predictability..
I grinned here and there, but, well, maybe it's just the dude in me, I'm not sure, because I really like the romantic comedy genre, but this film seemed to fall a little flat.
But the story premise wasn't played out to its fullest.I mean, this had the potential to be a really hilarious film, but the gags and story just seemed to plod along from one superficial "chicks fighting over dude" joke to the next.I don't know.
I'm not a total teen movie, chick flick freak or anything...but I watched this movie and must admit that it wasn't anything offensive.
I liked Amanda in "She's the man!", thought that she did a decent job, and she seams to have no shame in making a fool out of herself in this movie.
If you're looking for something very light and with nothing bad in it, then this might be a good movie to see once (as I'm so used to intense, sad and depressing pictures set in cold, dark, Eastern European castles where vampires are always popping up).Jenny is a bookish girl from Massechusetts, about to enter into medical school, right after she finishes her summer school job program (along with her best of friends', Ryan).
Set in a romantic Caribbean, paradise like resort, that is where she and Ryan are to spend the rest of their summer working at the Hotel.
Although, suddenly something disturbs what should have been the best time for Ryan to make a move on Jenny (because he's always had a crush on her since they were kids), when a Rock star comes to stay at the Hotel for 2 days on a layover to one of his other gigs.
Jenny has been waiting to be swept off of her feet by a man all of her teen life, and she's been fantasizing over this Rock star meeting her and somehow loving her that whole time.
Just then a storm hits the island, somehow her and Mr.Rock star end up in a life boat together.
Jenny realizes that this could be the perfect chance to make the man of her dreams realize he "loves" her...Meanwhile, back at the resort, Jenny's worst enemy is working hard to find out her secret and destroy her...Yes, other people have been complaining that this movie is too predictable.
But on the other hand, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of light-hearted humor, plus an innocent, nice guy getting the girl in the end..
If you're a fan of Amanda Bynes you might enjoy this just because she's in it playing her usual role, but otherwise, this movie is pretty awful.The main character Jenny is supposed to be a smart, soon-to-be pre-med student who is looking for love while working a summer job on a tropical resort.
Sure Amanda Bynes is cute and can be funny, but she comes across as a bit pathetic in this one.The movie is also filled with cliché characters, which makes it a bore, and it's very predictable from the moment it starts.
You have the cute best friend with a crush on Jenny, the typical mean girl enemy (who happens to be everywhere she is), the rock star's stuck up agent with a British accent and weird hair, the black friend who's a player, an unsympathetic boss, the whole works.Now other than the characters seeming more desperate than funny, there isn't anything else horribly wrong with the movie, but it definitely falls flat and isn't all that enjoyable.
But there is nothing offensive about it, it is cutesy and clean, so if you're really bored and are into teen girl rom-coms or you like Bynes, it may be worth a one time watch.
If you like more substance to a movie as far as plot, characters, or humor, you will probably want to skip this one..
Even if it's been a very long time since I watched this movie, I'd forgotten most of the scenes, but I could already predict what the ending would be during the first 2 minutes of the movie!
Watch the first two minutes, I dare you, and you'll know who Jenny's going to be ending up with.Love Wrecked revolves around Jenny (Amanda Bynes) who is utterly in love with rockstar, Jason Masters.
Jenny found out that the "marooned island" that they're on, is actually connected to the resort!
And mayhem occurs.Seeing Amanda Bynes in this movie, reminded me of her in "She's the Man", "The Amanda Show" and "What a Girl wants".
I don't know if that means she's a good actress or if she's just good in acting like a "goofy teenager".I did have a few laughs.
A nice cute story about a young girl who goes to the Caribbean for a summer job with a male friend who has feeling for her.
Randal Klieser did a nice job with this film, and Amanda Bynes and the rest of the cast do a nice job as well.Outstanding family entertainment!.
I wouldn't say this movie changed my life or anything, but it was very cute and romantic.
Amanda Bynes is absolutely adorable in this film.
Well, before I watched this movie, I'll admit I didn't have very high hopes for this "feature presentation" just by looking at the cover.
There's nothing really wrong with this movie, it's pretty much about these kids on a tropical island paradise with rock star "hunk": Jason Masters.
Jenny Taylor (Amanda Bynes) and this other girl come up with many wild and ridiculous schemes to win over Jason Masters.
This movie hits the pinnacle of dumbness when Jason Masters states very eloquently to Jenny that, "You rock me babe, you rock me two times around the world."....What????
Well, overall, if you and your buddies want to entertain yourselves, and have a few good laughs, I would recommend this movie to you.
A talented cast with some funny moments and a sweet storyline keep this movie from becoming just another teen waste.The story is simple.
Jenny loves a rock star and is delighted when she is shipwrecked with him on an island, only to find out they are steps away from the resort she was working at.Amanda Bynes never misses a comic beat, although here she doesn't have enough to do.
Jonathan Bennet is sweet and welcome as Jenny's best friend Ryan who also has deeper feelings for her.
The moment where Ryan rescues Jenny from a storm is one of the best in the movie.
Jenny wants to find romance from someone who really loves her instead of just to date someone for sex like in many teen comedies.There are some weak moments, mainly due to the supporting cast.
Despite these shortcomings, the movie is enjoyable thanks to good performances from Amanda Bynes and Jonathan Bennet.
Overall, this is a funny and sweet movie.
I would recommend it to any Amanda Bynes fan or anyone looking for a sweet and wholesome teen comedy..
This movie is hilarious, everyone loves to laugh right.
This movie would actually been wrecked and tore apart had Amanda Bynes not being casted in this film.
This movie is like what happens if Lucille Ball is stranded in an island.
Well Amanda (Jenny) is obsess with The famous Roch Star Jason Master.There are so many funny scenes and romantic scenes in the movie.
You simply can not imagine any other actress tackling Amanda's role in this movie.
Amanda is so believable as an obsess fan that you thought that she might actually be one.The place where the movie was filmed is just stunning beautiful, it was just smart to put an equally beautiful actress in the background.
a great movie for your Amanda DVD collection.
This may be Amanda last PG movie so enjoy!
I have HIGH expectations for this movie because I'm a fan of teen flicks, chick flicks and romantic comedies since I'm 15 myself.
Jenny Taylor (Amanda Bynes) is a rabid fan of rock star Jason Masters (Chris Carmack).
Her best friend Ryan (Jonathan Bennett) is secretly in love with her.
Alexis follows Ryan and competes with Jenny while joining in on the ruse.This is a silly teen comedy.
Somehow, Amanda Bynes is always good in comedies, and this one does not disappoint.
I love the parts where she and Jamie-Lynn Sigler fight over the rock star guy.
Bynes is not pretty but looks great in a bikini and convincing as an island-type of girl, which suits the story as it has an island resort setting.Jonathan Bennett looks handsome and very likable as the shy and nervous lovable guy who has a crush on his best friend.
Even with no story, it is great to see beautiful people running around the beach :) It is a happy movie that keeps you smiling out of the cinema.
The version they showed us was still in a rough cut stage.It is most definitely a movie for fans of Amanda.
The version they showed us was still in a rough cut stage.It is most definitely a movie for fans of Amanda.
I'm not a big fan but I like her acting style and her "cuteness factor." I would recommend the movie to anyone looking for a light hearted youthful sort of teeny-Hopper movie.As for the filming location, I would recommend Sun Village to anyone looking for a great Caribbean Vacation.
I'm not a big fan but I like her acting style and her "cuteness factor." I would recommend the movie to anyone looking for a light hearted youthful sort of teeny-Hopper movie.As for the filming location, I would recommend Sun Village to anyone looking for a great Caribbean Vacation.
Fun romance-in-paradise flick with Amanda Bynes.
Released in 2005, "Love Wrecked" stars Amanda Bynes playing a high school student who has a crush on a rock star (Chris Carmack).
If you are a teenage girl full of dreams about your prince charming, and also if you don't caret to watch a movie with bad actuations and bad performances then I think you will probably like this movie.
But what happens when you like to watch good movies?
with good performances, great stories, fun dialogs, and you know, those kind of movies that doesn't make you feel like you have lost your time, what happens then?
I love amanda bynes though.
Here we go again.Jenny and Ryan graduate from high school and spend their summer working on a beautiful island along the Caribbean.A rock star shows up and when he falls off a boat, Jenny rescues him and the two appear to be stranded on a remote island.
When Jenny realizes they're still on the island, she tries to fool the rock star so as to have him all for herself.
Enter her rival and eventually her boyfriend.When the truth finally emerges, the rock star threatens lawsuit, but his nasty manager wants to use the situation to concoct a story for publicity purposes.Let's say the ending is where everyone gets what they deserve.The scenery is beautiful but hit the deck on this one..
A teen movie with way too bizarre storyline.
When I rent this tape, I thought it's gonna be a wonderful movie, with the features of actors such as Amanda Byrne and Chris Carmack.
It started off with both Jenny Taylor (Amanda Byrne) & Jason Masters (Chris Carmack) 'stranded' in an uninhibited island, while actually there were just at the other side of the island.
But based on the movie, it's because she wanted to spend time with Jason all by herself.
Talk about being stingy, huh..By now you wouldn't have known how Jenny can end up with her best friend, Ryan Howell (Jonathan Bennett), right?
Haha ..Yeah yeah, just like all other teen movie, they finally were together.
It'd be nice if the love in real life could be that simple as in the movie.So, a score of 3 out of 10.
All credit to Amanda who tried his best to make this movie at least a watchable one..
The scenery was very beautiful...Dominican Republic now seems like a perfect summer vacation.Story: Jenny (Amanda Bynes) is nuts about this rock star Jason Masters.
Later on Jenny discover that on the other side of the island is where her resort that is working at is.
I love the part when Alexis and Jenny battle each other for jason.
And Amanda Bynes has been up and coming and a terrific comedienne for quite some time really giving a hilarious performance in such great films like She's The Man and What A Girl Wants.
Nonetheless here is Lovewrecked which is not quite a teen movie but ultimately turns into that and despite a rather amusing premise never really takes off the way you might hope.
There is no sexual content, no bad language, no really inappropriate humor with the except of a slightly crude 'fart' scene involving a noise maker which for once a 'fart' scene that was actually half decently amusing mostly because of Amanda Bynes.Amanda Bynes is still neat and tidy and just funny and cute in her role as star obsessed Jenny Taylor who has an unhealthy fascination with a rock idol Jason Masters.
Bynes still has great comedic timing but the script doesn't exactly do her justice and she could do far better...we've seen far better from her but she makes some of the more flat jokes seem a little more funny and she brings life to what could have been a rather dull film.
Jason Masters is played by former O.C. alumni Chris Carmack who does an okay job but his role and his performance is a little mundane and laid back.
Jonathan Bennett is a sadly underused addition to the cast as Jenny's best friend since child hood Ryan Howell who happens to be completely in love with Jenny despite her obsession with Masters but Jenny doesn't know.
Bennett does a good job, much like Bynes, considering the script given to him which doesn't give him much to play with but as the underdog secret admirer he is really good and him and Bynes have great chemistry and I would love to see them do something of a higher caliber together.
Lovely Soprano's actor Jamie-Lynn DiScala leaves her Jersey accent and tough girl demeanor behind to play the pampered and popular Alexis Manetti, Jenny's nemesis who is also obsessed with Masters and the two girls find themselves at each other's throat over him when they stumble upon him in real life.
They have almost hilarious moments against each other but it's such a light movie that nothing ever takes off.The thing with Lovewrecked that so many people are having a problem with is that it's 'cute', and absolutely nothing more than that.
But they like movies too so that's fine and dandy but if you're looking for a romance for yourself or adults then this one isn't gonna fit the bill but if you want something the whole family can enjoy with no worries and no explanations needed then you could do worse than Lovewrecked.
That's a shame that movie is on post production,or something like that.When I watched it I liked it.I liked it because I'm a Amanda Bynes fan.But,well,I really hoped the movie were more better.The movie just missed something.The whole wrecked on lonely island thing...It's OK,but when the lonely island come to light that is just other side of curort.That I wasn't expected.For example.
I was thinking they really was wrecked on lonely island,and I thanked not just they two: a rock star and Amanda,but i thanked that her be-lover also,it has to be a love triangle for my opinion.
Movie was OK..but i think it could be much better..
Jenny (Amanda Bynes) has just graduated from high school.
Off Jenny goes, along with Ryan and, to her chagrin, high school nemesis Alexis (Jamie-Lyn Sigler).
This is a fun film, definitely enhances by Bynes winning personality and looks.
She has a quirky sense of humor (see the wonderful What a Girl Wants) and lights up this film with ease. |
tt0035429 | Went the Day Well? | The story is told in flashback by a villager, played by Mervyn Johns, as though to a person visiting after the war. He recounts: one Saturday during the Second World War, a group of seemingly authentic British soldiers arrive in the small, fictitious English village of Bramley End. It is the Whitsun weekend so life is even quieter than usual and there is almost no traffic of any kind. At first they are welcomed by the villagers, until doubts begin to grow about their true purpose and identity. After they are revealed to be German soldiers intended to form the vanguard of an invasion of Britain, they round up the residents and hold them captive in the local church. The vicar is shot after sounding the church bell in alarm.
In attempts to reach the outside world, many of the villagers take action. Such plans include writing a message on an egg and giving them to the local paper boy for his mother, but they are crushed when Mrs Fraser's cousin runs over them. Mrs Fraser then puts a note in Cousin Maude's pocket, but she uses it to hold her car window in place; her dog, Edward, then chews it to shreds after it blows onto the back seat. Mrs Collins, the postmistress, manages to kill a German with an axe used for chopping firewood, and tries to telephone elsewhere. The girls on the exchange see her light and decide that she can wait. Mrs Collins waits until she is killed by another German who walks into the shop moments afterwards. The girl at the exchange then picks up the phone, getting no reply.
The civilians attempt to escape to warn the local Home Guard, but are betrayed by the village squire, who is revealed to be collaborating with the Germans. Members of the local Home Guard are ambushed and shot by the Germans. They begin to bow in until a young boy, George, succeeds in escaping; despite being shot in the leg, he alerts the army. British soldiers arrive, and – aided by some of the villagers, including a group of Women's Land Army girls, who have managed to escape, barricade themselves in, and arm themselves – defeat the Germans after a short battle. The squire is shot dead by the vicar's daughter, who had discovered his treachery, as he attempts to let the Germans into the barricaded house. During the battle, many of the villagers who left to fight are wounded or killed; Mrs Fraser is blown up by a grenade and Tom's father wrenches his ankle. The British troops then arrive at Bramley End and all ends well.
The villager retelling the story to the camera shows the Germans' grave in the churchyard and explains proudly that "this is the only bit of England they got". | tragedy, suspenseful, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0051337 | The 7th Voyage of Sinbad | (Expanded, edited version)The Seventh Voyage of SinbadThe film begins with Sinbad (Kerwin Matthews) on board his ship, with Harufa (Alfred Brown) his chief lieutenant, sailing through a thick fog, en route to Baghdad from the Kingdom of Chandra (1) with a special cargo, the Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) (2), accompanied by her handmaid, Sadi (Nana DeHerrera): Parisa will wed her beloved Sinbad to avert a war between Chandra and Bagdad (3).The ship stops for supplies at the Isle of Colossa (4). While loading food and water, a magician named Sokourah (5) (Torin Thatcher) emerges from a mask-crowned stone portal, chased by a Cyclops with satyr's legs (created as a stop-motion model, like most of the non-human cast, by Ray Harryhausen). The wizard rubs a magic lamp and is helped by a boy genie, Baronni (Richard Eyer), (6) who creates a magic barrier between the Cyclops and Sinbad's crew, who escape, taking Sokourah with them. But the Cyclops throws a rock to sink their boat, and the lamp is lost: the Cyclops recovers it from the shallow surf.Now at sea, Sokourah tries to persuade Sinbad with a bagful of jewels into returning to Colossa to regain the magic lamp; but Sinbad's mission is to go to Bagdad and avert war with Chandra by marrying Parisa. Once in Bagdad, Sokourah tries to convince the Caliph (Alec Mango), to grant him a ship for an expedition to Colossa, also showing him designs for a giant crossbow. But the Caliph listens to Sinbad about the perils of returning to Colossa, and even after putting on a fantastic magic show during a feast for the Caliph and Parisa's father, the Sultan of Chandra (Harold Kasket), during which Sadi is transformed into a blue four-armed snake-woman which performs an exotic dance, Sokourah's request is denied. Sokourah then prophesies war between Chandra and Baghdad, which upsets the Caliph and the Sultan, and Sokourah is banished from the city.Sokourah steals into Parisa's bedchamber at night, and enchants her with the green smoke of a magic candle, which shrinks Parisa down to a few inches high. In the morning, Sadi discovers her and calls for the Caliph, Sinbad, and the Sultan: the Sultan becomes infuriated, vowing to avenge Parisa by laying waste to Bagdad.Sinbad seeks out Sokourah, and implores him to restore Parisa to her normal size, being apparently unaware that Sokourah was responsible for her miniaturization. Sokourah initially feigns helplessness, but finally concedes he can restore the Princess but he needs as a vital ingredient a piece of eggshell from the Roc (7), a giant bird that nests on the peaks of the Isle of Colossa. Sinbad now agrees to the voyage, and musters a crew partly from the condemned men from the Caliphs prison - a murderous rabble whose loyalty is questionable. Parisa journeys with Sinbad in a jeweled casket, and the giant crossbow is also made and loaded aboard.The crew mutiny once out at sea, and force Sinbad to yield by threatening Sokourah. They then lock up Sinbad, his loyal crew member Harufa and Sokourah, who curses the crew with madness: he knows that a storm will drive the ship towards rocks south of Colossa inhabited by wailing demons whose screams are unbearable: Sinbad saves his and his companions sanity by using waxed cloth to block their ears. The mutiny ringleader dies in a fall from the mast, and the men release Sinbad to save the ship. The ship and a more obedient crew arrive at Colossa.As the giant crossbow is assembled on the beach in front of the stone mask, Sinbad and Sokourah each lead a party through the Valley of the Cyclops, with Sinbad secretly (for a few minutes, at least) followed by his lieutenant, Harufa. Sinbads band discovers a giant spiked club and a store house full of treasure; though Sinbad tries to stop them, they become greedy trying to seize it: a Cyclops discovers them, hauls all five of them out, and locks them in a cage, from which it extracts Harufa whom it ties to a roasting-spit and starts to barbecue. Sokourah hears the shouts of Sinbad and the other trapped men, but does not release them, instead entering the treasure-chamber to find the magic lamp. Sinbad now reveals the tiny Princess Parisa, who manages to unfasten the cage's latch, enabling Sinbad and the men to escape. The four men who were with Sokourah, having become drunk on a stream flowing with wine, now attack: the Cyclops kills two by squashing them with an uprooted tree. During the following fight Sinbad manages to free Harufa, seize the lamp from Sokourah, and kill the Cyclops by first blinding him with a burning stake from the fire, and then leading him over a cliff, where the Cyclops falls to his death in the stream below.Sinbad is now suspicious of Sokourah, and refuses to let him have the lamp until Sokourah restores Parisa to her normal size. Sinbad, Sokourah, Harufa and the remaining three crewmen all climb a steep, rocky mountain (losing one man who falls off en route), until they find a giant egg. The two hungry crewmen break the egg with axes, releasing a two-headed yellow-down-covered Roc hatchling, which they kill and roast: Sinbad takes some of the eggshell. Parisa enters the lamp to speak with the genie, where he reveals to her his name, the magic words needed to use the lamp, which she passes onto Sinbad, and a prophecy which would free the genie to become, as he desires, a real boy - "into fiery rock, to rise, you must fall".Shortly an adult Roc appears, attacks the crew, knocking the two remaining crewmen off the mountain to fall to death, and carries Sinbad, unconscious, off to its nest. Sokourah seizes the opportunity to kill Sinbad's right-hand man Harufa with a spear, and takes Parisa prisoner. Sinbad escapes from the Roc's nest, and summoning the genie of the lamp, discovers that Parisa is being held in Sokourah's castle in a cave at the foot of the mountain. This is guarded by a chained wingless green fire-breathing horned Dragon, which Sinbad must bypass by winding in its chain on one of a pair of windlasses.At Sokourah's castle, Sinbad orders Sokourah at the point of a sword to restore Parisa to normal. Using the prepared potion, the piece of eggshell, and an incantation, Sokourah fills a large chest, into which the Princess has been placed, with green smoke, and Parisa becomes normal size again. However, Sinbad refuses to give up the lamp until he and the Princess are safely back at his ship: enraged, Sokourah animates a skeleton which, armed with scimitar and shield, fights Sinbad, he ultimately defeating it by pushing it off the top of a spiral staircase. Sokourah tries again to stop Sinbad and Parisa escaping by magically smashing a rock bridge over a channel of molten lava: the genie, summoned, helps them by materializing a rope they use to swing across the chasm to safety.Parisa realizes the chasm is the "fiery rock" mentioned in the prophecy of release for the genie, and casts the lamp into the lava flow, infuriating Sokourah. Sinbad and Parisa manage to sneak their way past Sokourah's guard Dragon, but another Cyclops enters the cave and blocks their way. Sinbad releases the Dragon by cutting the ropes of the windlass, enabling it to break its chain; the Dragon then fights and kills the Cyclops, biting its throat out. Sokourah follows shortly after, and with his dragon, chases Sinbad and Parisa back to the stone mask, where the giant crossbow is used to shoot the Dragon, which falls onto Sokourah, presumably killing him: the Dragon drags itself to the beach before expiring.As Sinbad and Parisa escape, back on board ship, Parisa calls Baronni by name he reappears, now a genie no longer but Sinbads cabin boy who has also thoughtfully filled Sinbad's cabin with the Cyclops' treasure, as a "sort of a wedding present".Notes (1) Spelling uncertain: historically, 'Chandra' is a Hindu lunar deity (2) This spelling of 'Parisa' is used p163 in 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen', by Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton, 2006, Billboard Books, New York (3) This spelling of 'Bagdad' rather than 'Baghdad' is used as a text overlay in the film, although the video sleeve has 'Baghdad' (and so may be unreliable on other points) (4) This spelling of 'Colossa' is used p162 in 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen' (5) Spelt 'Sokourah' in 'The Art of Ray Harryhausen' p 162 et. seq., and so used here, although the video sleeve has 'Sokurah': the role is not given in the title credits (6) Spelling uncertain, and could also be 'Birani' or any phonetic variant: in the title credits simply 'The Genie' (7)The roc or rukh is a giant bird in Persian mythology, probably inspired in part by the eggs or even sightings of the Aepyornis elephant bird, a now-extinct three-metre-tall flightless bird of Madagascar, for which there were reported sightings at least in folklore memory recorded in 1658. The eggs were known at least as early as 1420, according to a caption in the 1456 Fra Mauro map: Marco Polo also gave an account of the rukh in 1298.(Original version)The film begins with Sinbad and his crew sailing through a thick fog. They are enroute to Bagdad, returning from the Kingdom of Chandra with special booty, the Princess Parisa and her handmaid, Sadi. The ship must stop for supplies at the Island of Colossus. While loading supplies, a wizard named Sokurah emerges from a cave, chased by a cyclops. The wizard rubs a lamp and is helped by a boy genie. Sinbad's crew narrowly escapes the cyclops, taking Sokurah with them. But, the lamp is lost to the sea during the escape. The gigantic cyclops recovers its precious lamp from the shallow surf.Now at sea, Sokurah tries to bribe Sinbad into returning to Colossus and retaking the magic lamp, but Sinbad's primary mission is to go to Bagdad and avert war with Chandra by marrying Parisa. Once in Bagdad, Sokurah tries to convince Sinbad's uncle the Caliph to lend him a ship for an expedition to Colossus. But, the Caliph listens to Sinbad, and even after putting on a fantastic magic show before the Caliph of Bagdad and Parisa'a father, the Sultan of Chandra, Sokurah 's request is denied. During Sokurah's performance, he prophesies war between Chandra and Bagdad. The dark prophecies upset the Caliph and the Sultan, and Sokurah is bannished from the city.Sokurah steals into Parisa's bedchamber at night, and enchants her with the smoke of a magic candle, which shrinks Parisa down to the size of a small bird. In the morning, Parisa's handmaid discovers her enchantment. The Caliph, Sinbad, and Parisa's father the Sultan are shocked. The Sultan blames Bagdad, and becomes infuriated. He vows to avenge Parisa by laying waste to Bagdad.Sinbad seeks out Sokurah, and implores him to restore Parisa to her normal size. He is unaware, at this point, that Sokurah commited the treachery. Sokurah feigns helplessness, but finally concedes he may be able to help restore the Princess by using the egg shell from the Roc, a giant bird that lives on the Isle of Colossus. Sinbad agrees. He musters a crew from the prison. These are murderous, lecherous rabble whose loyalty is questionable.The crew proves unreliable once out at sea, where they mutiny and lock up Sinbad, crew and the magician Sokurah. Before they are locked in the hold, Sokurah curses the crew with a storm and madness. His curse plays out when a storm and the unbearable wail of sirens drives the crew mad. In their madness, they release Sinbad and his men to save the ship. The ship and a more obedient crew arrive at Colossus.The crew discover a store house full of treasure, and become greedy. Sinbad finds the magic lamp. The cyclops discovers them, and locks them in cages. It is soon learned the cyclops eats men. Sokurah has the opportunity to release the caged men, but leaves them behind without explanation. Sinbad reveals the tiny Princess Parisa to the men, who were unaware of her presence in a tiny tent crafted by the Royal Jeweler. Parisa manages to unfasten the cage's latch, and all escape. Parisa enters the lamp to speak with the genie, where he reveals to her his name and the magic words needed to use the lamp.Sinbad is now suspicious of Sokurah's intentions, but catches up with him. The magician is still needed to restore Parisa to her normal size. All the men climb a steep, rocky mountain, where they find pieces of the Roc's shell. The hungry men resort to killing a two-headed Roc hatchling for food. Later, while roasting the gigantic chick, the mother Roc appears, and carries Sinbad off to its nest. Sokurah seizes the opportunity to kill Sinbad's right-hand man Harufa, and takes Parisa. Sinbad escapes from the Roc's nest, and using the lamp, discovers that Parisa is being held in Sokurah's fortress in a cave.Sinbad finds the cave, and Parisa. He orders Sokurah at the point of a sword to restore Parisa to normal. Using the piece of shell and an incantation, Parisa becomes normal size again. But, Sokurah will not let Sinbad go with the lamp, and enchants a skeleton to life. Sinbad fights the skeleton, defeating it. He and Parisa narrowly escape Sokurah's chambers. There is another obstacle before them, a fiery chasm. The genie, whose name we learn is Baronni, helps Sinbad and Parisa one final time, by materializing a rope they use to swing across the chasm to safety.In an unselfish act, Parisa takes the lamp and casts it into the chasm of fire, for she recalls a promise of freedom, which read, "Into the fire you must go." Sinbad and Parisa manage to sneak their way past Sokurah's guard dragon, but another cyclops enters the cave and blocks their way. Sinbad helps the dragon to escape its iron collar, and the dragon and cyclops engage in battle. Sinbad and Parisa escape the cave, and the dragon kills the cyclops. Sokurah follows shortly after, and with his dragon, chases Sinbad, Parisa and the crew.The crew have one more weapon, a giant crossbow, which was originally intended for the cyclops. The crew unleash the arrow on the dragon, which falls to its death, also crushing Sokurah. The crew escape. Parisa is restored, but they have no lamp. Parisa affectionately remembers Baronni, and mentions his name."Did someone call Baronni? Here I am!" It is Baronni, no longer the genie, but Captain Sinbad's cabin boy. In his final act of magic, Baronni fills Sinbad's cabin with the Cyclops' treasure, "as a sort of a wedding present." The ship is safely on its way back to Bagdad. | action, fantasy | train | imdb | It had it all, adventure, fantasy, heroics, monsters, and Harryhausen's stop-frame wizardry that puts half the CGI effects right out of business.I too, saw it as a child and along with JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD and CLASH OF THE TITANS, bought it years later and played it to standing room only, in our lounge throughout the kids childhood.
The acting is very good overall; Kerwin Matthews plays a very agile and affable Sinbad, Richard Eyer(from The Invisible Boy) plays a sad genie, and Torin Thatcher is superb as the villainous magician bent on supreme power.
Great cast, great villain, great script and just the right balance of absolutely fantastic Ray Harryhausen special effects (without being excessive or absurd - as in the ridiculous and completely unbelievable baboon who appears to star in the deeply inferior 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger', 1977).Kerwyn Mathews stars as Sinbad minus the traditional beard, but compensates by showing off as much chest hair and his forearms as possible.
The gorgeous Katherine Grant is a beautiful Princess named Parisa (and not in a slightly sleazy, ever so tartish fashion that we see foisted on Caroline Munro in the 1974 'Golden Voyage of Sinbad').Torin Thatcher, born in Bombay and therefore possibly the token 'Asian' in this flick, is absolutely marvelous as Sakura, the evil wizard or magician (it's never made quite clear what side of the fence he sits on, or why).
When I was a kid, the experience of watching "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" started my admiration for the music of Bernard Herrmann, and confirmed my love for fantasy cinema (and stop-motion animation), in an unconscious way.
The film had princess Parisa reduced to less than four inches, cyclops running crazy, a dragon, a bird with two heads, an evil magician called Sokura, a boy genie, and the celebrated skeleton duel, but I was mainly impressed by Sokura's act of magic during the Sultan's ball, crossing a snake with Parisa's aide (actress Nana de Herrera, who looked weird even before the transformation.) The Harryhausen-Herrmann collaboration originated two more Sinbad movies, and other favorites, as "Mysterious Island", "Jason and the Argonauts" and "The 3 Worlds of Gulliver", but "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is number one in my list of the collaborators' films.
Schneer and featured special effects by Ray Harryhausen, Jason And The Argonauts is usually named as the best [certainly that was the film where Harryhausen perfected his techniques],but Sinbad is not far behind.
This is the first time that I have watched "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", a delightful adventure with Cyclops, dragon, magician, magic lamp and jinni.
After his wife-to-be, Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant), is shrunk by an evil magician, Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) undertakes a perilous journey to a mysterious monster inhabited island, in an attempt to restore her to full size (and who can blame himshe's a total babe and wears the kind of outfit most red-blooded men wish they could get their woman into).Almost fifty years on, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad may seem dated (particularly for those only familiar with CGI monsters) but, in my opinion, it still has the power to captivate and amaze.
With Ray Harryhausen's wonderful stop motion effects (which include a cyclops, a dragon, a snake-woman, a giant two-headed bird and an animated skeleton) and a timeless magical tale of swashbuckling heroics, director Nathan Juran delivers a classic slice of fantasy cinema.A cracking opening gets straight to the action with Sinbad and his men encountering bad-guy Sokurah when their ship is blown off course and ends up at the island of Colossa.
Sokurah wishes to be returned to the island in order to get his hands on a magic lamp (now in the possession of the cyclops), but Sinbad is headed for Bagdad where he is to be married to the gorgeous Parisa, and ain't nothing going to stop him from tying the knot.
Nothing, that is, 'cept for his woman being reduced to the size of a small doll.Not realising that Sokurah is to blame for her diminutive stature, Sinbad is conned into returning to Colossa, where the nasty magician says he can create a potion which will return Parisa to normal.Great fun from start to finish, The 7th Voyage is packed full of great scenes (my favourite being the Cyclops preparing a tasty snackspit-roasted sailor) and is perfect fare for fantasy-loving kids and adults alike.
This great fantasy adventure features the brilliant stop-motion effects of Ray Harryhausen.
The cobra woman, the Roc, the really nasty Cyclops, the dragon and the famous dueling skeleton are masterpieces of cinema FX that still have the power to amaze.Add the wonderful evocative score by Bernard Hermann to the movie and you have a film that is pretty hard to beat on any level.
Watching this movie makes me feel like an 10 year old kid at a Saturday matinée.The best of its lot, even better than the similar Jason and the Argonauts,-a fine film in its own right -also done by the same team.
So Sinbad and his men, and the dastardly magician, set sail for an adventure that is fraught with danger...From the land beyond beyond - From the world past hope and fear - I bid you genie now appear.Stop-motion maestro Ray Harryhausen, for his first film in colour, delves into the mythical legend of Sinbad The Sailor.
Top notch entertainment, a vivid fantasy-adventure starring Kerwin Mathews as the heroic Sinbad, who's conned into returning to an exotic isle by a conniving, greedy, grasping magician named Sokurah (Torin Thatcher).
If you had to watch two movies through a year and you were 8 years old and you were allowed to take the bus by yourself on a Sunday afternoon downtown to sit in the balcony and fold-down your popcorn box and hurl it at the other kids on the main floor beneath us like some sort of Frisbee and you could watch giant creatures attack Sinbad and weird you out for the 877th time...hey, that's movie magic.So, for all of you who were born in the eighties...this film DOES NOT suck...it soothes and takes me back to 1963 whenever I catch it...and I WILL watch it for the 878th time.
That said it's a film considered to be "movie magic" due to the special effects of Ray Harryhausen and one wonders how an adult in the 21st Century would regard this film now To be brutally honest the production only exists to exhibits the stop frame animation effects and everything else doesn't matter.
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a superb adventure film, as well as an influential classic, which still ranks as one of the best films from late-great Ray Harryhausen - cinema's foremost master of stop-motion photography.
As it's title implies, this film is based upon the mythical Arabian character of Sinbad the sailor, played by the English actor Kerwin Mathews and for the next an hour and a half, he spar's against the inspired, stop-motion, wizardry of Ray Harryhausen in this classic tale of good and evil.
As one would expect The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a film that's steeped in wizardry, ancient lore and "main-stream mythology", but best of all, it also happens to be over-flowing with Harryhausen's marvelous stop-motion magic.
Indeed The 7th Voyage of Sinbad comes loaded with an impressive arsenal of wondrous Harryhausen creations such as: Cloven-hoofed cyclops', four-armed serpent women, Rok's (giant two-headed birds), fire-breathing dragons and saving the best for last, an evil sword-swinging skeleton, that which is summoned to animated life by the treacherous wizard in black, Sokurah.
Upon it's release over the Christmas holiday season of 1958 Harryhausen and company made quite a splash with their monster-filled fantasy film and it was the first (and perhaps the best) of several forays, that stop-motion master made into the medieval times of swords n' sorcery.This classic of fantasy was efficiently produced on what looks like a pretty modest budget and it's cast, with the exception of Kerwin Mathews and Torin Hatcher (in the role of Sokurah the Magician) is, regrettably, adequate at best.
But the way I see it, the real stars behind this fantastic fantasy are, Ray Harryhausen with his patented "Dyna-mation" (stop-motion animation) and the Bernard Herrmann for his rousing film score.
But as time marches on, over the past nearly six decades, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad a true gem of the fantasy genre, continues to be frequently sighted as a highly influential source of inspiration in the eyes of many of the greatest directors and special effects artists of today; and just to name a few, the likes of: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Dennis Muren, etc.
7th Voyage of Sinbad is the most richly symbolic and best of several great movies from Ray Harryhausen.
I've seen this film numerous times over the years, both on the big screen and on tv/video, and it manages to hold its own, due simply to the fact that the story is none-too complicated and the animation effects are so deftly executed by the legendary Ray Harryhausen, whose accomplishments are all the more remarkable when you consider that he animated the Cyclops, the dragon and others WITHOUT the use of CGI or other electronic technology.
Shot in the then-dazzling film-process called "Dynarama" - I remember, as a wide-eyed kid of 10, being absolutely struck with total awe while watching this cheesy Fantasy/Adventure picture from yesteryear.With its introduction of several delightfully monstrous, stop-motion creations by effects-man, Ray Harryhausen (including a ferocious, one-horned Cyclops - Wow!) - This pre-CGI film was a child's most spectacularly exciting nightmare come true on screen.But, alas - (As one might expect) - Time (yes-unforgivable time) has not been at all kind to this 1958 Sinbad, the Sailor, production.
Although it is Ray Harryhausen's effectively animated monsters that make this movie really work out so well, it is undeniable that "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" has many elements that many of its descendants, the mythical adventure movies of today, do not have.
Its acting styles, action scenes, and special effects are very obsolete when compared to today's standards, but this does not decrease the power of the film.Harryhausen has always been a master of stop-motion animation, perhaps the most tedious and time-consuming animation processes in the world, but still one of the most fascinating and wonderful.
There is a particular sequence where our human characters fight for their lives against a cyclops and when fit along with the fantastic musical score, the scene is very memorable."The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is a very well-done, old-fashioned adventure movie that still proves itself to be one of the finest of its genre to date.
The fighting skeletons (from Jason & The Argonauts, this being the same type of thing) are still fun to watch and seems to be the trademark of these Harryhausen mythical films.Kathryn Grant, meanwhile, provides the female beauty.
THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINDBAD is a fantasy adventure film, which is remembered for impressive special effects (stop motion animation) and a pretty good soundtrack.
This is some of Ray Harryhausen's best work and first with classical characters as opposed to futuristic science fiction.Playing Sinbad is Kerwin Matthews who seemed to like doing these films, he was so often cast in them.
When a princess is shrunken by an evil wizard, Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) must undertake a quest to an island of monsters to cure her and prevent a war.Ray Harryhausen strays a little bit from the monsters and aliens we love him for.
When Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) refuses to help the sorcerer Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) retrieve his magic lamp from a Cyclops, Sokurah shrinks Sinbad's love Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) to the size of a doll.
Now Sinbad has no choice but to journey to Colossa and face the monster to save his lady.Fantasy adventure classic from director Nathan Juran and featuring the awesome stop-motion special effects from legendary Ray Harryhausen.
Kerwin Mathews stars as Sinbad, who is traveling to Bagdad with the princess Parisa(played by Kathryn Scott) when they are forced to land on a remote island for supplies, where they assist a magician(played by Torin Thatcher) who is being attacked by a giant Cyclops.
This is a perfectly fun and adventurous movie to watch, focusing on the adventures of Sinbad.It's of course a movie that mostly distinct itself through its Ray Harryhausen stop-motion effects.
Back in the days before computers made special effects in movies, Ray Harryhausen used highly detailed creature models and laborious stop motion photography to create larger-than-life fantasy monsters.
Among the most memorable sequences in, not just the movie but in stop-motion animation history, is the final sequences of this movie, wherein a dragon and a Cyclops are clashed into battle, a genuine inspiration that pioneered the special-effects we now know today.Ray Harryhausen is a genius, and one way to see how is watching "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad".
If you like this check out Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and The Beast from 20,000 fathoms, and of course the original King Kong (stop motion effects, but willis o'brien not harryhausen).
The fantasy tale of a magic lamp is brilliantly brought to life in this Sinbad film.Despite a Cyclops, a giant pre-historic bird, and several other monsters (brilliantly made by Ray Harryhausen) the man who steals the film is the Arabian magician Sokurah.Can Sinbad save the Princess?Is Sokurah a help or a hinderence to Sinbad finding the ingredients which would save the Princess?This film is first-class in its story-telling a must see for all the family..
"The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", considered to be the best by most, apparently, is a wonderful adventure film filled with excitement, thrills, and spectacular visual effects by Ray Harryhausen.What's notable about this movie is that it's not badly-written at all.
1st watched 10/28/2001 - 6 out of 10(Dir-Nathan Juran): Good B-movie fun with well-done Ray Harryhausen animation effects that were a marvel for it's time and still are a effective combination of live action and animation as long as the subject matter is as cartoon-like as the voyages of Sinbad.
This is a pretty interesting B-movie with a plot and cast of characters similar to Jack the Giant Killer: Kerwin Matthews stars as the hero of this movie, playing Sinbad who is on a quest to rescue Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) from evil magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher).
In the mix is a supporting character appearance by a young genie (Richard Eyer), an important ally to the heroes.The acting was decent and special effects were also decent for its time.Overall, it's a pretty good action/monster-packed B-movie!
As a child I remember being thrilled by Ray Harryhausen's special effects, (the cyclops, the two-headed birds, the dragon, best of all the dueling skeleton, not to mention Torin Thatcher's ability to shrink Kathryn Grant to the size of your small finger).
Released in 1958, "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" was the first of three Harryhausen Sinbad flicks; the other two being 1973's "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" and 1977's "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger." In this first film Sinbad's love interest, Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant), is shrunk by the magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) and Sinbad has to hurriedly muster up a motley crew to voyage to the monster-infested island of Colossa to apprehend an ingredient to restore her.
Ray Harryhausen's marvelously vivid and lifelike stop-motion animation creatures include a ferocious gigantic Cyclops, a vicious two-headed giant bird beast, an angry fire-breathing dragon, an exotic four-armed snake woman, and, best of all, a lethal sword-wielding skeleton who fights Sinbad at the film's incredibly exciting conclusion.
And it tells everything in this moderate runtime with success.This great little film has a great amount of adventure, nice visuals, amazing special effects (awesome for its time, beautiful even now) talented actors, one of the most gorgeous princesses ever and awesome creatures (such as a dragon, a roc and the cyclops).
Basically adventurer Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) and his crew are travelling to his wedding, but get lost at sea and accidentally find the island of Colossa, and there they rescue Sokurah the magician (Torin Thatcher) from the giant Cyclops.
Also starring Danny Green as Karim, Nana DeHerrera as Sadi and Virgilio Teixeira as Ali. Mathews as the famous sailor does alright, Grant is beautiful if a little corny as the princess, and Thatcher is not bad as the pantomime villain, for me the best thing about the film was of course the brilliant stop-motion animation from Harryhausen, the Cyclops, two- headed bird and warrior skeleton are some of the best creations on screen, and the story is filled with action and magic to keep everyone happy, a great fantasy adventure.
The acting isn't the best & Mathews makes for a somewhat forgettable Sinbad & even Thatcher makes for a bland villain.The 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a classic mythical adventure with wonderful Harryhausen effects & there's also plenty of entertainment to be had between the monsters.
Again cutting edge technology for 1958 and something that had never been seen before.Can you imagine sitting in the theatre in 1958 and watching Kerwin Matthews battle the cyclops - that must have been awesome.Indeed even nearly 50 years later the film still has the ability to scare."Build me a wall between Sinbad and the cyclops" says Sokurah (played here to great effect by Torin Thatcher).
Out of the trilogy of Sinbad movies that feature the stop motion animated effects work of the late great Ray Harryhausen, this is my favourite.
This was the first of the Ray Harryhausen fantasy epics, wonderful films packed with loads of special effects in the form of monsters and weird beasts (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD combine with this, in my mind, to make a great trilogy - just don't bother with SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER, as it doesn't have the same feel to it). |
tt0063206 | Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro | Air Japan flight JA307 is enroute from Tokyo's Haneda airport south
to Itami Airport in Osaka. As stewardess Kuzumi Asakura [Tomomi Sato] announces the
flight plan, which will take them over the island of Oshima and the city
of Suzuka, the pilot notices an unusual blood red color to the sky around
them. That's when the trouble starts.One by one, the passengers begin seeing bloody birds flapping their
wings against the windows as though in fear. The pilot [Hiroyuki Nishimoto] receives a radio
message to the fact that there may be a bomb aboard and is ordered to
return immediately to Haneda. Co-pilot Sugisaka [Teruo Yoshida] is ordered to check the
bags of each of the passengers, giving the excuse that a bag containing
confidential documents may have mistakenly been loaded on this flight. All
bags are clean and only one man [Hideo Ko] has no bag, but Kuzumi notices an
unaccompanied suitcase under a bench. Sugisaka opens it and finds not a
bomb but a rifle. The man without a suitcase suddenly pulls a gun on
Sugisaka and then orders the pilot to change course to Okinawa. To show
that he means business, he fires through the cabin a shot that knocks over
a transistor radio breaking the news that a UFO has just been spotted over
Japan and that Japanese and US Air Force fighters are in pursuit. Suddenly
a large luminous object is spotted directly in front of the airplane. It
passes overhead but knocks out the airplane's gauges, sparking a fire in
the engines. Air Japan flight JA307 goes down on what looks like an
uncharted desert isle.Sugisaka is the first to awaken but the pilot is dead as well as the
hijacker. Kuzumi is next to recover. Together, Sugisaka and Kuzumi check
for more survivors. There is Mrs Neal [Kathy Horan], an American Vietnam War widow;
Senator Mano [ Eizo Kitamura] of the Constitutional Democratic Party; weapons exporter Tokiyasu [Nobuo Kaneko] and his wife Noriko [Yuko Kusunoki], who flies into Mr Mano's arms when she finds
that she has survived the crash; Psychiatrist Momotake [Kazuo Kato]; space biologist
Professor Sagai [Masaya Takhashi]; and the young man who called in the bomb threat (whom
they lock in the cockpit). Taking stock of the airplane, they find that
they are out of water, have no food nor any idea of where they are. What's
worse is that a radio announcement says that a search has not uncovered
any trace of the downed airplane, so the search has been discontined.As Sugisaka worries about surviving, and Mano worries about his
upcoming election, and Tokiyasu worries about himself, and Sagai offers
scifi explanations, and Dr Momotake studies survival instincts clashing
with egos, the hijacker suddenly revives, grabs Kuzumi as a hostage, and
runs out into the night where they come upon a luminous spaceship. Kuzumi
crouches behind a rock, but the hijacker steps into a clearing to get a
better look. Suddenly, his face goes blank and he begins walking toward
the spaceship. A dark blob crawls along the ground towards the hijacker.
When she sees the hijacker's forehead split open from nose to hairline,
Kuzumi screams and passes out.Sugisaka finds Kizumi passed out behind the rock and carries her back
to the airplane. In order to get Kuzumi to tell what she saw, Dr Momotake
hypnotizes her. Kuzumi tells how the dark blob crawled into the hijacker's
skull through the split in his forehead. Tokiyasu doesn't believe her, but
Dr Momotake assures him that Kuzumi is telling the truth. Sagai points out
that it could be a flying saucer and backs up his suspicion with the fact
that reports of UFOs have increased ever since the bombing of Hiroshima,
giving extraterrestrials ample opportunity to invade the Earth while we
are preoccupied with senseless wars. While everyone bemoans the horrors of
war, the kid who called in the fake bomb threat goes berserk, not wanting
to believe Kuzumi's story. He attacks Dr Momotake, who falls off the
cliff. Waiting at the bottom is the hijacker. He latches on to Momotake,
bites his neck, and sucks out all his blood, turning Momotake a bright
shade of blue.A few hours pass as the survivors discuss the need to find water in
the morning. Suddenly, there comes a knock on the door. Mano and Tokiyasu
don't want to open it, but Sugisaka does anyway. As he descends the
stairs, he sees the hijacker lying on the ground and notices the big scar
on his forehead. Mrs Neal, whose husband was killed by a napalm blast to
the face, rushes to the hijacker and begs for the others to help him.
Against their better judgement, they carry the hijacker inside and dress
his wound.Mano is becoming extremely thirsty, thanks to the bottle of whiskey
that Tokiyasu gave him. Now, when Mano wants a drink of water from
Tokiyasu's canteen, Tokiyasu refuses. It seems that Mano and Tokiyasu have
been greasing each others' palms, Tokiyasu funding Mano's campaign and
Mano promising to pressure the committee to accept Tokiyasu's weapons bid,
a promise that Tokiyasu had no intention of keeping. In revenge, Tokiyasu
picks up a rifle and forces everyone out into the night then locks himself
in the safety of the airplane. But he forgot one person...the hijacker.Tokiyasu's screams can be heard outside the airplane. Suddenly, the
screams stop and the locked door swings open. Everyone rushes inside to
find Tokiyasu dead on the floor, all the blood drained from his body.
Noriko begins to laugh, exclaiming that she is now free from here
husband's abuse, but her laughter soon turns to tears when she thinks
about the way he died. When no one is looking, the hijacker comes out of
hiding and carries Noriko off to the spaceship. When the others notice
that Noriko is missing, they go in search of her.The sun is rising, and Noriko can be seen standing on a ridge. She
raises her hand to speak, but it is not her voice. It is the Gokemidoro
speaking through her. They have come to invade the earth, says the voice,
and to exterminate the human race. That said, the Gokemidoro have no more
need for Noriko's body, so she plunges off the cliff. By the time her
fellow passengers get to her broken body, she has disintegrated into a
shriveled old cadaver.Once again, the passengers get into an argument about whether or not
there are such things as extraterrestrials who would evade the earth.
Professor Sagai theorizes that the Gokemidoro have taken over the
hijacker's body and turned him into a vampire. Mano thinks that is
balderdash and challenges them to show him a vampire. Sagai agrees that he
would like to see one, too. The only way to do that is to sacrifice one of
them to the Goke. But who will it be? Mano suggests Mrs Neal, because a
foreigner will be less problems later. Mrs Neal screams that she doesn't
want to die. Sugisaka is against the entire idea. A knocking on the
cockpit door and a cry for water remind them of the kid who made the bomb
threat, so they let him out. Mrs Neal grabs a rifle and locks Sugisaka and
Kuzumi into the cockpit. Mano and Saiga shove the kid outside. Then they
line up in the windows to watch the hijacker slowly advance. The kid pulls
out the bomb he's been hiding and vows to blow up the plane unless they
let him back in. They don't, the hijacker continues to advance, and the
bomb goes off, killing the kid and blowing a large opening in the side of
the airplane.It's now evident that the plane can no longer provide cover, so
they'll have to get moving. But the bomb blast has wounded Professor
Sagai. Mano could care less and runs off. Mrs Neal follows him. When the
hijacker catches up with them, Mano pushes Mrs Neal towards the hijacker
in order to save himself. Mrs Neal shoots at the hijacker a number of
times but keeps missing. Finally, the hijacker grabs her, fastens his lips
to her neck, and sucks her dry.Back in the airplane, Sugisaka and Kuzumi are packing up supplies
while Sagai bemoans his loss of faith in humanity. As Sugisaka assures him
that they must believe in human goodness, they hear a shout outside. It is
Mano, and the hijacker is not far behind him. Sugisaka and Kuzumi go out
to help Mano, but he quickly runs inside the plane, locking the door
behind him. The hijacker turns on Sugisaka and Kuzumi. While Mano watches
from inside the plane, Sugisaka tosses a bucket of airplane fuel at the
hijacker, then sets him on fire.The Gokemidoro crawls out of the burning hijacker, creeps into the
airplane through the bomb hole, and makes its way into Professor Saiga's
forehead. Saiga drinks his fill on Mano, then turns to Sugisaka and
Kuzumi, who try to run. Saiga follows until they are stopped by a
landslide that knocks Saiga from the hill they are climbing. Sugisaka and
Kuzumi keep running, while Saiga makes his way back to the spaceship. Once
Saiga is there, the Gokemidoro crawls out of his skull, reducing Saiga to
a pile of dust.Sugisaka and Kuzumi keep running until they come out on a highway
where they see cars lined up at a tollbooth. Everyone in the cars is dead.
Everyone in the city is dead, too. The voice of the Gokemidoro can be
heard, giving the same message it spoke through Noriko...that they have
come to invade the earth and to exterminate the human race. Cut to footage
of mushroom clouds.Epilogue: Sugisaka and Kuzumi are wandering on rocky terrain. Sugisaka
wonders why this had to happen. Pan from the earth to outerspace where a
whole fleet of Gokemidoro spaceships are headed towards us. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.] | anti war | train | imdb | This is a slick, well-done horror/sci-fi that blends many elements and does it well.There's some vampires, people's minds being taken over, driven insane, killing each other, invading aliens with sinister plots, and a lot of innocents in peril.
The movie opens with a UFO sighting, and a plane being knocked out of the sky and forced to crash land in the wilderness.
Even if you have to watch a pan & scan dubbed copy, it is well worth catching.By the way, the English-language version is called GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL.
'Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell' is the perfect example of a low budget horror movie transcending its limitations, coming up with something surprisingly creepy and surreal..
Thanks to Quentin Tarantino homaging 'Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell's blood red sky in 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' I can finally get to see this obscurity on DVD in Japanese with English subtitles, instead of a badly dubbed fading old VHS tape.
Okay, this is a b-grade movie and the effects are pretty lousy (especially the plane crash sequence), but to say it's a bad movie is far from the truth.
For me it's the perfect example of a low budget horror movie transcending its limitations, coming up with something surprisingly creepy and surreal (See also William Castle's 'The Tingler', Herk Harvey's 'Carnival Of Souls', Coffin Joe's 'At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul',etc.) The opening is terrific - a plane flies through an eerie red sky and birds throw themselves at the windows in sheer terror.
On the ground the survivors are initially worried about the basics, like water and rescue, plus the presence of a suspected assassin, but pretty soon they also have to contend with a bizarre alien invasion!
The acting is generally quite good, the alien will freak you out, and there's several interesting references to the Vietnam war, which was unexpected and gave the movie quite a unique background (can you remember any American SF movies of the 1960s even MENTIONING Vietnam?).
Making a left to go to Okinawa when the plane is Hijacked be prepared to be surprise My first hint this was going in another direction then I thought is when the lone American turns out to be a widow of a GI who was just killed in Vietnam and she was on her way to claim his body.
The alien is a life form which takes control of a person by entering the body, and then turns that person into a vampire, who drains its victims of all blood.
The last of the J-horrors produced late in the decade, the pulp sci-fi magazine elements are presented in searing colors and psychedelic effects, giving this film an unforgettable visual impact.
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968) ** (out of 4) Japanese horror/sci-fi, which is a mixture of The Blob and Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires.
The special effects are good and the alien/vampire creature is pretty good but that's about all this film has to offer..
If you're a fan of Japanese cinema, vampire films and sci-fi flying saucer invasions, you won't want to miss this one..
The survivors of a plane crash in a remote area are attacked by blob-like alien creatures that turn their victims into blood-thirsty vampires.n a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin reviewed an 83 minute English-dubbed version of the film.
The review described the film as an "Uninspired mélange of flying saucers and vampirism" that was "woodenly directed and bogged down by long stretches of melodramatic dissension among the characters which acts as an uneasy springboard for much preaching and moralizing about why mankind deserves to be taken over by invaders from another world." That is terribly unfair.
This is a Grade B Japanese sci-fi-/horror flick, and another version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Maybe those who dissed Nicole Kidman for her performance may find what they are looking for here.The effects are cheap, and the acting is lame, and there are plot holes you can fly a 747 through, but that is not the point.I hear the red sky was so amazing that Quentin Tarantino used it in a Kill Bill movie.
No, it's not Lost, it is an invasion.The politics of war and hate are woven throughout this film from the flashbacks to the Vietnam War, the war widow on the plane, mushroom clouds, the arms dealer and politician also among the passengers, and the assassin, who becomes the first victim.
That's something I haven't seen in a Japanese film.It all ends with a new Adam and Eve, or in this case Sugisaka and Kuzumi, Maybe they will populate the Earth with people not intent on killing each other..
Intriguingly, the Janus logo which preceded the opening titles suggests this may be forthcoming on DVD from Criterion (I haven't yet purchased the other cult Japanese horror they've released, JIGOKU [1960], due to the defective first pressing of that film's disc; having watched GOKE, I wonder whether I should take the plunge now
hoping that I end up with a corrected copy).Admittedly, the plot of the film isn't all that original: the English title, obviously, implies a certain kinship with Don Siegel's 1956 classic while the gelatinous alien which possesses the human body through the face(!) is also redolent of THE BLOB (1958); but maybe its influences actually came from European genre efforts as a matter of fact, two Italian films I've just watched have a good deal in common with it, namely CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959; the oozing creature, again) and PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (1965; the remote setting, the 'body snatcher' element, the vivid color scheme and even the final apocalyptic revelation)!
Besides, the fact that the narrative revolves around a handful of passengers from a crashed plane also brings to mind the oft-used 'hazardous situation' plot line of classic Hollywood films such as FIVE CAME BACK (1939), STAGECOACH (1939) and the like; under pressure of hunger, thirst, isolation and the imminent threat of alien takeover, all the basic natures of the various characters come to the boil leading most of them inexorably towards their doom!
This mish-mash of elements ensures a stylish and entertaining ride but it's all filtered through the innately weird sensibilities of Japanese cinema (not to mention the country's first-hand experience of nuclear fall-out, which unmistakably pre-occupied most of their sci-fi entries), giving it a distinctive creepiness; the final reel peppered with red-tinted newsreel footage of devastation and violence has the two lone survivors finally reaching civilization, only to be met with a less than comforting sight..
Also a very terrible movie, but interesting none the less.The plot: A terrorist/assassin is hijacking a plane, but before that can happen, the pilot is blinded by a flying saucer and he crashes.
It's an incredible Japanese horror movie which is an airplane disaster movie/vampire movie/alien invasion movie/apocolypse movie.
The film begins with a Japanese airliner losing control when they see a blood red sky, evil birds, and a UFO, crashing into a desert.
This strange, colourful Japanese sci-fi/horror film has something for everyone: terrorists, assassins, plane crashes, vampires, flying saucers, alien blobs, and a great downbeat ending.
Forced to crash-land on a deserted island, a flight-crew finds their chances for survival hindered by their constant squabbles for control as well as the ravenous blob-like alien species on the island with them and must find a way of stopping them and get off alive.This here was quite the enjoyable if overall flawed horror effort.
Instigating a plot-thread about a damaged plane, the strange gas- cloud following them and the potential UFO sighting all within the first part of the film sets this one off on a seemingly wild bent even before bringing along the hijacker that causes them to crash the plane, and when that gets them not only stranded on the island but also forced to confront the potential of something else stuck there with them it's a rather strong and impressive set of circumstances that bring this along.
Followed by the crash and the first instances of the realization of the island being inhabited by something with the discovery of the alien ship there that infects the one passenger, it creates quite an appealing and generally wild atmosphere that carries on to the other scenes throughout here of the passengers being abducted and taken to the spaceship on the island where they also get infected with the virus-like being that turns them into the deadly creatures.
That gets carried on nicely here with the aliens coming after them repeatedly in the final moments of this one and generating quite a few tense scenes including where he attacks them on the plane, a chase through the mountains on the side of the crash-site and the thrilling final battle around the plane where they finally manage to overcome the creature, these here work nicely and give this one a lot to really like overall.
This is because this genre-bending film is a vampire, alien invasion, airplane disaster and anti-war film!!!
However, given the lousy special effects, horrid writing, cartoon-like characters, limp direction and rotten acting, the film was destined for failure.
Enjoyed this film which concerned an airplane which is flying with a group of people and find themselves being controlled by the power of outer space beings that seem to control their plane and their lives.
There are hints about the A Bomb dropped on Japan and also the fact that war creates suffering and horror, and also Viet Nam. This plane crashes into a desert and the outer space people invade those people on the plane and some of these people experience a creature that has a big glob that seems to enter his head and he turns into a vampire that seeks the blood of everybody living on earth.
This film goes into great detail about war that has occurred on earth and it brings outer space people who want to establish a more stable way to bring peace and less strive on earth, however, blood seems to be their only essential item they need to obtain daily..
It's a Japanese sci-fi horror B-movie.
Look, the whole point of this flawed-but-interesting film is that the invading aliens (Gokemidoro) are a metaphor for the United States.
That's why "space vampires." One of the few alien invasion flicks where the bad guys are ACTUALLY the good guys.
I don't recall the moment in Kill Bill cribbed from Goke: Bodysnatcher from Hell (a scene of plane in blood red sky), like many other details it was lost for me, just another colorful bauble in that magpie's nest of a film, but with renewed interest Goke can now be seen as it should, in pristine widescreen subtitled form.
It begins impressively on a plane mid sky, all around turns blood red and birds fly to bloody smears on windows, then comes a UFO fly pass and system failure leading to a crash.
Cool cheapo effects including a model plane, ominous colored lighting and a silvery alien slime creature, cool opening and absolute dynamite finale with enough to sustain between, overall memorably unusual atmosphere, its fun stuff that grew on me all the more thinking on it after.
A motley assortment of people survive a plane crash only to find themselves under attack by alien blob creatures that turn their victims into vicious predatory vampires.
The surprise bummer ending packs a devastating punch as well as makes a powerful statement that since human beings are already destroying themselves with things like war and assassination we basically deserve to be eradicated by an extraterrestrial race.
Further enhance by garish widescreen cinematography, a shivery score, and several striking surreal visuals (for example, the plane flying across a blood red sky), this one overall rates as an excellent little creepfest..
During the landing the pilot is killed but both Sugisaka & Asakura survive along with eight passengers, Mano (Eizo Kitamura) a top brass politician, an American lady named Mrs. Neal (Kathy Horan), Mr. Tokuyasu who owns a company that makes weapons & his wife Noriko Tokuyasu (Yuko Kusunoki, by the way I took these spellings directly off my sub-titled DVD & they are correct, the IMDb is wrong), the original bomber, Dr. Momotake (Kazuo Kato) a psychiatrist, Saga (Masaya Takahashi) who claims he is a researcher in space biology & the assassin.
If being stranded in the middle of nowhere with no food or water & surrounded by a bunch of a-holes wasn't bad enough they learn of an alien invasion that intends to wipe out the entire planet...This Japanese production was directed by Hajime Sato & I really liked it, it's eerie, creepy & atmospheric.
The script by Kyuzo Kobayashi & Susumu Takahisa has a great central idea, body jumping blob like aliens, a plane crash to isolate our human victims, birds committing suicide & a strong recurring moral message that war is bad.
Plane crashes into desert, OK, then the survivors have no food or water and a hideous blob-like thing oozes into a man's brain and turns him into a vampire.
This is a really scary movie with lots of scary, nightmarish scenes inside of an alien spaceship where blobs ooze in and out of mens heads by making gashes in there skulls with this horrible sound..
Alien Blob-Like Creatures Feasting on Japanese Airline Passengers.
This film begins with a Japanese passenger airplane on a routine flight over the Pacific Ocean when the pilot suddenly gets instructions to return to Japan because a suicide bomber might be on board.
Unfortunately, the alien spaceship also lands on this same small island and inside it is a malevolent blob-like creature who has no high regard for the human species.
Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that was a grade-B sci-fi film from start-to-finish which included a rather obvious anti-war message thrown in for good measure.
Most Japanese sci-fi B-movies of the '60s are played for fun, focusing on the surreal aspects of the plots and delivering a barrel-load of laughs at the same time.
Not so GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL, a film with a mission: to relay the horrors of warfare (in particular, the then-current Vietnam War) and to act as a warning against further conflict.
Nevertheless, it's a bloody good film, fun and enjoyable and delivering a shed load of tense character showdowns a la NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD as a group of survivors variously reveal themselves to be heroic, insane, stuffy, psychotic, or just plain evil.The direction is tight and confident throughout, utilising maximum effect from the basic settings and focusing on characterisation, which is no bad thing.
In fact, a lot of the violence in this film makes for particularly uncomfortable viewing, especially a burnt body which is clearly inspired by images of napalm victims.Typically for a Japanese film, such moments are countered by cheesier bits, in this film an alien blob-type creature which burrows into the foreheads of its victims, turning them into vampires.
The American star (appearing for the world audience, no doubt) has a surprising character twist whilst the others are all very good in their respective roles, especially weird-looking Hideo Ko who plays the villain.Special effects in the film are colourful and a lot of fun, with crashing planes, a full-scale UFO invasion, and lots of icky slimy bloody bits.
A surreal combination of a kiddie sci-fi film and a far more adult horror, I doubt you'll find anything else quite like this..
Admittedly I just fell in love with the two-line summary I read somewhere ("The survivors of a plane crash in a remote area are attacked by blob-like alien creatures that turn their victims into blood-thirsty vampires") but the film is much more than that.
A Japanese airplane with a versatile selection of passengers on board (a sniper murderer, a businessman with his butt-licking assistant and his wife, a youthful prankster, an American tourist
) crashes during a sinister night when the skies are blood red and birds spontaneously commit suicide by flying into the plane's engine.
On this island, there is an even more dangerous threat: Blob-like creatures invade the minds (through a head-vagina) of the survivors, turning them into blood-thirsty murderers.It's a shame this terrifying sci-fi/horror flick goes so unnoticed, forgotten by time.
The actors excellently display the desperation and fear that the situation provided and it's just another element that helps to make this one of the better Sci-Fi films to come out of Japan in the 1960s.Fans of Mario Bava's 'Planet of the Vampires' or, even, the old 'Lost in Space' series should most definitely give this film a look.Final verdict: 8/10..
Goke's objective is admirable: the destruction of the Human Race- and the ending of the movie is great-, but some of the lines are hysterical.
This 1968 apocalyptic Japanese sci-fi/horror classic (the opening shot of the aeroplane against a blood-red sky ripped-off by Tarantino) seems like a hybrid of the over-hyped TV hit "Lost", Romero's classic "Night of the Living Dead" and Jenkins/LaHaye's "Left Behind" (accept no Christian deity 'raptures' any Bible-thumping drones here).As the British Ambassador to Japan is assassinated, the Vietnam war and other conflict rages; the 'End Times' appear to be upon us.
Our survivors, now besieged in the plane-wreck, must co-operate but human selfishness (as usual) gets in the way, and they are picked-off one by one by the un-seen Gokemidoro; superior alien beings who've concluded humankind a hateful pest to be eliminated.With excellent, dateless FX and beautifully pessimistic conclusion "Goke Bodysnatcher From Hell/Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro" is a gem which belongs in every 'Weird Cinema' Fan's collection..
This could possibly be due to the English translation offered in the version I watched; my summary line is from pilot Sugisaka (Teruo Yoshida) to Miss Asakura (Tomomi Sato) after he crash lands their hijacked, UFO-blinded airplane. |
tt0800241 | Transsiberian | An American couple, Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer), take the train from Beijing to Moscow as an adventurous side trip on their return home from a Christian mission in China. The gregarious Roy befriends their cabin mates, a Spanish man, Carlos (Eduardo Noriega), travelling with his young Seattle-born girlfriend, Abby (Kate Mara). The reserved Jessie does not share her husband's warmth towards the globe trotting pair. In course of the journey, Carlos shows Jessie a collection of "rare" souvenir matryoshka dolls he is carrying.
When Roy misses the train in Irkutsk while sightseeing, Jessie is left alone with Carlos and Abby. Jessie gets off the train at Ilanskaya station, about 800 miles further, to wait for Roy to arrive in another train. Carlos and Abby get off with her, claiming she would not be safe alone. In a restaurant, Jessie sees dolls nearly identical to the ones that Carlos showed her. Abby is upset when she mentions this and goes off to bed. Jessie begs Carlos not to involve Abby in his suspicious activities.
The next morning Carlos comes to Jessie's room, tells her that his shower is not working and asks to use her bathroom. Jessie receives a call from the reception desk and leaves Carlos alone in her room. At the reception she later receives a telephone call confirming that Roy will rejoin her at 4 o'clock, and Carlos convinces her to accompany him on a trek into the middle of a snowy wilderness, where they come upon the ruins of an abandoned church.
Jessie, an amateur photographer, starts taking pictures of the old church. When Carlos makes advances at first she refuses but then she surrenders. The two begin kissing, but she has a change of heart and asks him to stop. He continues and becomes aggressive and chases her. She becomes terrified and beats him to death with a fence post. She waits until the body is cold and then returns to the railway station and rejoins Roy on the train.
Ilya Grinko (Ben Kingsley), an inquisitive Russian narcotics officer whom Roy previously befriended, is the new cabin mate of Roy and Jessie. Jessie finds Carlos' dolls in her own suitcase and realizes that Carlos must have hidden them when he was in her room that morning. In the course of a conversation with Grinko about his police work, Jessie realizes that Carlos was smuggling heroin in the dolls, and she unsuccessfully tries to get rid of them. She panics when Grinko becomes suspicious and confronts her. When she returns to her cabin to find Roy examining the dolls, she breaks down and explains their origins to Roy, though without telling him about Carlos' death. The two of them surrender the dolls to Grinko, who at first seems satisfied that they were not involved in the smuggling operation.
The next morning, however, she and Roy awake to discover that most of the train's cars are now gone along with the passengers; only Grinko and his partner Kolzak Yushenkov (Thomas Kretschmann) remain. Grinko and Kolzak stop the train in the middle of nowhere and take Jessie and Roy to an abandoned military bunker, where Abby is being tortured. Grinko is on the payroll of a Russian drug lord and explains that, in addition to the heroin, he wants the money that Carlos carried, which belongs to the drug lord. Grinko tells Jessie that Abby is not a "good girl" as Jessie had thought: Abby recruited Carlos, was responsible for another man's death and is trying to cheat the drug lord of his money. Jessie disbelieves Grinko because Carlos told her Abby was innocent.
Jessie and Roy manage to escape from the abandoned military bunker and return to the train, where they find the train conductor, who works for Grinko. Roy beats and kills the train's conductor. Jessie and Roy escape with the train because Roy, a railway enthusiast, knows how to operate a locomotive. The train starts to slow down and Grinko and Kolzak are able to re-board the train. When the pair question Jessie once again about Carlos' whereabouts, while holding her and Roy at gunpoint, Jessie comes clean and screams that she killed Carlos. Kolzak however does not believe her but, before they can do anything else, the train has a head-on collision with a troop-carrying train. With the army on the way, Grinko shoots Kolzak to maintain his cover that he is on the right side of the law, claiming to have rescued Jessie and Roy from Kolzak. The couple are taken away by the army, while Grinko escapes.
In Moscow, U.S. officials visit Jessie and Roy. Through a photograph Jessie took of Grinko and his associates, the officials believe it will be easy to shut down the drug operation. They reveal Carlos' criminal history and believe Abby just got mixed up with the wrong crowd. When signing statements, Jessie never tells the officials that she killed Carlos, although Roy may have heard her admit to this when the train was about to crash. Upon touring Moscow and seeing a billboard of a girl sitting on the end of a dock (similar to a scene Abby described earlier as her dream home), Jessie insists on talking to Abby in the hospital. Although off-camera, it is implied that Jessie tells Abby where Carlos' body is.
The final scene shows a still-limping Abby finding Carlos' body in the snow by the old church. She looks at his face. Earlier, she had revealed to Jessie that she was "working" on finding money to buy back her grandfather's cottage on the lake in Vancouver. She takes the stolen money from his jacket and walks away. | suspenseful, mystery, neo noir, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0078087 | Piranha | David (Roger Richman) and Barbara (Janie Squire) are two young backpackers who happen upon a military post that seems to be abandoned. They discover a large man-made reservoir and decide to go skinny dipping. Within minutes they are attacked and consumed by some underwater presence, their death screams attracting the attention of somebody still inside the military facility.Maggie (Heather Menzies) is an investigator hired by Barbara's parents to find their daughter and her companion. With financing from her employer Earl (Richard Deacon), Maggie travels to the mountainous area where the two were last seen, and she seeks out the cabin of Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman). Paul is a backwoods type who lives in a log cabin with his young daughter, who is away at summer camp. Maggie convinces him to take her to the military facility, and they discover the pond. Paul notices that the water is salty. Exploring the buildings of the complex, they find a laboratory with numerous strange animals, including a bizarre, lizard-like creation. Maggie decides that it's possible that David and Barbara drowned in the pond, and she takes the initiative to drain the pond to find out. She flips the switch, and suddenly they are confronted by a white-haired man (Kevin McCarthy) who lurches at them in a panic, trying to shut off the drain switch. In the melee, he is knocked unconscious.Paul and Maggie go outside to the empty pond and find the bones of David and Barbara caught in the drain. When the mysterious man attempts to steal Maggie's jeep, he crashes it and injurs himself even more. Taking him down to Paul's cabin for the night, the man rables on about 'razorteeth' and that they are all in danger.The next morning, Paul and Maggie load the man onto Paul's homemade log raft and they set out downstream to take him to town. When he awakens, he reveals that he is Dr. Hoak, and he explains that Paul and Maggie have done something terrible. The pond contained a breed of mutant piranha, which Hoak had been developing for use in the Vietnam war. After the war, the military pulled the plug on the operation, but Hoak remained and continued experimenting with the piranha at the facility after it was closed down.The piranha begin to claim victims immediately. Paul's friend Jack (Keenan Wynn) dies when the piranha chew off his feet while he sits on the edge of a dock; he crawls away and bleeds to death. Downstream, a father and son are out fishing on the river; the father is killed while trying to fix the outboard engine from under the boat when he is pulled under the water and eaten alive. The boy clings to the capsized boat, but it is gradually sinking into the water. Paul, Maggie and Hoak come upon the scene and the doctor leaps into the water to save the boy. He manages to lift the child onto the raft, but the piranha attack him. Paul and Maggie pull him out of the water, but his wounds are too severe and he dies before he can offer them any advice about how to stop the killer fish.Paul is especially concerned about reaching the summer camp where his daughter, Suzie (Shannon Collins), is located. The camp is downriver from the piranha, and it is only a matter of time before the fish reach it. There is also a new resort further down the river that is about to open for business. Grogan and Maggie make frantic phone calls to both places, but their warnings are dismissed as fiction.Eventually the military gets wind of the piranha and they send Dr. Mengers (Barbara Steele) with a group of soldiers to investigate. At first, Mengers denies the piranha exist, but Maggie soon realizes that Mengers and Dr. Hoak were once lovers, and Mengers represents the military's desire to cover up the incident. The soldiers confine Maggie and Paul to their camp, imprisoning them and refusing to let Paul contact his daughter.Maggie and Paul escape the camp, but they are detained by the local police before they can get anybody to listen to them. Paul does manage to contact the head counselor at the camp (Paul Bartel), but he dismisses Paul's message due to his reputation of being an alcoholic. Maggie and Paul manage to break out of jail by subduing the officer who is left to watch them, and escape in his squad car.The next day, the piranha attack the summer camp. Suzie, who is afraid of the water, is hiding on the shore when the other kids and counselors begin to panic in the water. Suzie bravely tries to rescue her two friends, counselors Betsy (Belinda Balaski) and Laura (Melody Thomas Scott) by rowing out onto the lake in a rubber raft. She collects Laura, but Betsy falls into the water and is consumed by the piranha.Paul and Maggie arrive at the camp too late, but after ensuring that Suzie is alright, they race off to the resort. The owner Buck Gardner (Dick Miller) refuses to answer their phone calls (under the advice of Dr. Mengers and her commanding officer who is there), but eventually the piranha attack and mass casualties result as dozens of people are wounded or eaten alive by the vicious fish. Mengers superior is one of the casualties when he falls in the water as people cling onto a ferry boat and he is eaten alive along with several others.During the drive in the stolen police car, Paul remembers that the water in the test pond was salty, but the water in the rivers is fresh water. They conclude that Hoak had bred the piranha to survive in either salt or fresh water, hence if the piranha reach the ocean, they will contaminate the world's waterways, and probaly the oceans as well.Paul and Maggie arrive at the resort and comandeer a speedboat to take them down the lake. Paul's plan is to poison the fish with pollution from a nearby sewage plant, but when they reach the plant by boat, it is now underwater, having been flooded. Paul intends to swim for it, tying a rope around his waist and instructing Maggie to take off if he has not surfaced within two minutes. He swims down to the plant and manages to get inside, opening up the tanks containing the raw sewage, but the piranha approach and attack him. Maggie finishes her countdown and takes off, pulling Paul to safety.Paul is wounded and in shock, but alive. He is tended by Maggie and Suzy at the resort as the military and other medics tend to dozens of dead and wounded people. As the film closes, Dr. Mengers speaks to the media, assuring everyone that there is nothing left to fear of the piranha whom have been killed by the sewage waste at the edge of the lake. But, the open-ending question leaves the end up in the air: have the piranha really reached the ocean as was once feared? | tragedy, cult, comedy, violence | train | imdb | Debut film of B horror director Joe Dante is this fun, exciting Jaws spoof that's the best of its kind!
A school of deadly, mutant piranha is released from a government laboratory and it's up to an alcoholic man and his detective love-interest to warn folks down stream!A fast-paced, campy, and humorous ride all the way, Piranha is a genuinely entertaining B film that recalls not only Jaws but many of the classic monster flicks of the 50's.
This is "Piranha", the 1978 camp-classic horror film from acclaimed director Joe Dante and the production of Roger Corman.
Also the evil Colonel Waxman who is evil solely because he represents the US Government around the same era in history as the Vietnam War. And let's not forget the cocky highway patrol trooper who informs the main characters, "Don't try nothing 'cause I got my gun right here in my left hand." What I find most amusing about Piranha is the fact that the "good guys" (Maggie and Paul) are the two characters most deserving of a crucifixion over the events in the film.
Kevin McCarthy and Barbara Steele play military scientists who experimented with the escaped piranha.While "Piranha" is sort of a "Jaws" (1975) knockoff, it's different enough to not be a rip-off: The story takes place in a river system deep in the mainland and not the ocean; the 'monster' consists of teams of little vicious fish rather than a huge Great White Shark; the beach sequences involve quaint campground-like beaches rather than major ocean beaches; unlike "Jaws," there's a focus on alluring young women, although "Jaws 2" (1978) delivered the goods in this area as well; there's more of a sense of adventure and even suspense; and the tone mixes-in amusing elements with the horrific mayhem.As inferred, the picture is highlighted by several quality females with curvy Belinda Balaski (from "The Howling") and cutie Melody Thomas Scott (from The Young and the Restless) featured in prominent roles.
Joe Dante directed this and he would go on to direct Gremlins while James Cameron would direct its sequel and also go on to bigger things so you have to give it to Corman, he does tend to help people break into the business.So we get a rather fun Jaws ripoff, so while you are not getting the performances or tension of the superior film, you are getting more kills and more boobies too!
Instead, those are merely dull "just-going-through-the-motions-to-make-a-small-amount-of-money" displays of ineptitude.There are several things to strongly commend this movie for, like the fact that the lead characters are likable so that you care what happens to them (unlike in some horror films), the way it is very self-aware and has small tributes to Jaws, the campy sound effect of the school of fish, the excessive amounts of blood that is shown in a comic manner, and how it is genuinely comedic and yet not a pure spoof in the way that films like Scary Movie are.
Chronically inebriated recluse Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman) and audacious city skip tracer Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies) searching for a missing pair of hikers attempt to warn those in the path, with little success.Scary, suspenseful and extremely witty little shocker with great visual effects, an eclectic cast, memorable score by Pino Donaggio and a superior screenplay courtesy of John Sayles.
Dick Miller has a fast-talking, scene-stealing part as the ostensible villain, whilst Barbara Steele, Kevin McCarthy, Bruce Gordon, Keenan Wynn, Richard Deacon, Melody Thomas AND Barry Brown (remember him?) comprise an immense cast (still amazes me how they managed to assemble that much talent for a New World exploitation romp).Naturally, there's an open ending prompting speculation of a sequel, which didn't take long to surface - 1981 - though it bares virtually no relation to this movie (which considering the standard of the successor, isn't a bad distance to enjoy).
It's little delights like the one just mentioned that make Piranha what is - the script doesn't take itself seriously, and that blends with the shameless ripping off of many a creature feature, and both of those in turn provide the audience with a very camp movie experience indeed.
The highlights among the ensemble are Barbara Steele, a regular in horror films, with performances in the likes of 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and 'Black Sunday', and Dick Miller; a cult star that Dante would go on to use regularly, but found his cult stardom in the Corman classic 'A Bucket of Blood'.
If you are a horror fan then I recommend that you watch Piranha!Movie Nuttball's NOTE:If you like director Joe Dante then I strongly recommend that you see Gremlins, Explorers, Innerspace, The Burbs (one of the greatest films ever in My opinion!), Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Matinée, Small Soldiers, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action!If you like sea monster movies then I recommend that you see Jaws, DeepStar Six, The Abyss, Leviathan, Deep Rising, Sphere, Lake Placid and Deep Blue Sea!.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsThe above OLS pretty much says all there is to be said about this entertaining little flick,which was purchased on the off-chance at a spur-of-the-moment retail indicisiveness.There is just so much to be admired on it's camp levels here.The funny little noises the piranha fish make they're attacking their victims,the rather plain/wooden acting of those in the lead roles,and the inevitably dated effects.Still,it's a good film,worth buying and treasuring.***.
Yes I'm aware it's not made as great or is considered a classic like Jaws but it's just as fun & yes piranha wouldn't exist without the phenomenon that was Jaws.Anyway Piranha is pure 70's creature feature fun & has excellent fx for what a low budget film it was & with every Dante film we have the BRILLIANT Dick Miller who i love R.I.P & Here he has a much bigger role than his usual bit parts so that's great & he's great as always & we have Bradford Dillman who makes a fun outdoors man type local hero who lives near the lake in the forest & that's got some beautiful locations & scenes around the summer lake & forests & lovely music all the way through, i love it it's a feelgood Horror adventure Thriller if that makes sense it's vicious with piranha eating carnage & gore but it's also done with that Joe Dante fun & humour tone, that dark fantasy fun like Gremlins & The Howling but when the piranhas attack the kids in the river it's as scary & violent as anything's Jaws did so piranha still stands out & way above water as just another Jaws clone.
Yes Piranha is a great old school 70's almost comforting little creature feature that's got some magic to it & that's down to Joe Dante directing this enjoyable fun filled B-movie gem.
The movie knows exactly what it is and isn't afraid to play with this.Another great facet of the story- its the heroes of the piece who actually cause the near disaster they have to deal with.The leads are amazing (Bradford Dillman and Heather Menzies) as are the supporting cast that features Kevin McCarthy, Corman regulars Paul Bartel and Dick Miller and Euro scream queen Barbara Steele.A cult classic and deservedly so..
As for the visual and practical effects, they suffer the most from the low budget, which explains the wise decision to leave the piranha unseen most of the time, using (slightly campy) sound effects to produce thrills, although the cheap-looking creatures sort of fit the film's overall irreverent tone.As far as the acting is concerned, it embodies another Corman staple: not much to write home about, with cardboard characters played by relatively unknown actors, with the major exceptions of Dillman, who specifically asked to have his role properly developed, and Steele, evidently happy to help out another first-time director after her deranged performance in David Cronenberg's Shivers.
That said, McKeown isn't too bad either, although most people are more likely to remember her for one specific scene that doesn't require that much acting talent.So yes, this is a pretty cheap knock-off of a much superior film, and even by Dante's standards the effort comes off as sub-par at times.
it's a bit too melodramatic in parts for my taste.and those moments don't fit for me.but mostly it's intentionally cheesy, with tongue firmly planted in cheek.and on that level,it works.the acting actually is not that bad,from both the main character and the supporting players.the extras on the other hand,that,s a different story.i nearly died laughing at some of the death scenes.overall,the movie is fun,and it does get your adrenaline going.i don't think it's a movie that's meant to be taken seriously,and if you approach as a serous piece of work,you will be disappointed.for me,Piranha (1978) is a 7/10.
It's action packed, it has just the right amount of gore without going over the top, and with dependable B-Movie actors like Paul Bartel and Bradford Dillman never letting things get too serious, "Piranha" still holds up as a classic creature feature.
It's up to an insurance investigator (Heather Menzies) and a drunken recluse (Bradford Dillman) to prevent the hungry piranhas from chowing down on children and vacationers, with the help of a scientist (Kevin McCarthy) who has been breeding the piranhas in secret.Producer Roger Corman responds to the success of Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" with this spoof/rip-off (and makes no apologies about it).
Having just watching this film last night on the TNT late movie for the umpteenth time only says how much I enjoy it.Since the first airing many years ago on NBC (heavilly edited),it has been a favorite since I was 10.Being that my alltime favorite film is JAWS,that is really saying a lot.Ever since it's first release it has been compared to Spielberg's classic.But PIRANAH holds up very well on it's own.With good writing,photography,and make-up effects,this little film also gets a little gutsy(so to speak).It is one of the few horror films where children fall victim to the title menace.Along with good acting,clever editing and sharp directing by Joe Dante,this film proves that you don't really need a multimillion dollar budget to make a good film.A good launching pad for Dante as well as many other now well known Hollywood players.An owner of the recent DVD release(wonderfull stuff on there)as well as a copy of the first videocassette release from 1982,I never tire of watching it.A true cult classic in the best sence..
The film is campy and has an irreverant tongue in cheek humor helped by its highly capable cast including Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Dick Miller, Kevin McCarthy and Barbara Steele and others.It comes across that the cast and crew had a good time making this film and Joe Dante's sarcastic sense of humor is at play here which can be seen in later films of his.The acting, creative filmmaking and story telling makes up for the low budget special effects making this one of the better underwater horror films since Jaws..
The genetically engineered piranha which are released into a mountain river and terrorize the waters (they're cross-bred with salmon, apparently, and intend to spawn downstream) are much more frightening when they are not seen, as in the creepy opening skinny-dipping "Jaws homage", so once you start actually seeing them dashing towards their victims the broad humor aspect of the movie is played up, thanks in large part to Paul Bartel as the Authoritarian Summer Camp Director, Bradford Dillman as the Grizzled Mountain Man, Kevin McCarthy as the Good Mad Scientist, and, of course, Barbara Steele as the Evil Mad Scientist, whose huge, shifty eyes are a punchline in and of themselves.The broad humor doesn't really sit well with a genuinely unpleasant attack on a bunching of swimming children or its bloody aftermath, and the following attack on a resort is anticlimactic (practically identical to the attack on the children), if in line with the film's politics (military experiment backlashes first against the nature lovers, then the children of the middle class, and finally the middle class itself, while the right-wing authoritarian and capitalist structure prevents the tragedy from being averted).
This is an exponent of this, and the video is worth watching for this reason alone.Put out 3 years after Jaws, one hopes that this is supposed to be a parody of this, if it's actually supposed to be a horror film I have judged Joe Dante badly.When mutated piranha are released into a river system in North America, it's at that point that you suspend any expectations of a serious film to follow.Plenty of gore, teenagers flapping around in water while being eaten (hmmm, where did they get that idea from?) and silly 70s films of this type make this a film to enjoy time and again for its plain awfulness..
There's no dull moments, and no filler, just a lot of good piranha action and a terrific cast that makes it tons of fun for film buffs.Marking the first solo directorial effort for Dante (after having co-helmed "Hollywood Boulevard" with Allan Arkush), it stars Bradford Dillman ("Bug") and Heather Menzies-Urich ("Sssssss") as Paul Grogan, a cranky loner / boozer and Maggie McKeown, a not terribly competent skip tracer who band together to find the objects of Maggies' latest search.
So now the mission is to save as many of the people in the piranhas' path as possible.You know you're in for a good time with a cast also including Kevin McCarthy ("Invasion of the Body Snatchers" '56), Keenan Wynn ("Point Blank"), Barbara Steele ("Black Sunday"), Dick Miller ("A Bucket of Blood"), Belinda Balaski ("The Howling"), and Paul Bartel ("Eating Raoul").
Take a Corman film and put it in the hands of the talented Joe Dante, and you are guaranteed to have a good time.Is this a ripoff of "Jaws"?
A shoal of ravenous, genetically engineered piranha, the result of a top-secret US army experiment, are accidentally released into an American river system, threatening the lives of everyone downstream, including a group of children at summer camp and the guests of a riverside resort.Not just another lame Jaws rip-off, but rather a fabulously entertaining parody of the whole killer fish genre that emerged in the wake of Spielberg's classic, Joe Dante's Piranha brilliantly combines the director's trademark black humour with surprisingly disturbing scenes of genuine horror (FX legend Rob Bottin supplying the delightfully gruesome gore), features a superb cast of cult-movie legends (including Dante regulars Dick Miller and Kevin McCarthy), and, as befitting of any self-respecting schlock horror about killer-fish menacing helpless bathers, delivers some welcome female nudity, the film's obligatory skinny dip scene occurring within the first few minutes, with several other gratuitous boob shots throughout (sadly, the toothy critters fail to nibble away at the bikini strap of camp counsellor cutie Laura Dickinson, played by Melody Thomas).All in all, a great little film to sink your teeth into..
Not a Masterpiece but Good Fun. Piranha (1978) *** (out of 4)Of all the JAWS rips this one here from director Dante is clearly the best as it has a good sense of humor as well as great creatures and some rather nasty effects.
To open up the valves at the local water-treatment plant and let out all the pollutions that would kill the killer fish before they make it to the ocean.Scenes of piranhas looking like a cross between humming birds, when their attacking people, and kindergarten cardboard cutout, when their in formation in the water, don't exactly lift the movie to special effects Acadamy Award winning heights.
This is a near-brilliant spoof of "Jaws" which owes as much to the witty script by John Sayles as it does to the artful direction of Joe Dante, with lines of the caliber, "The piranhas are eating the guests, Sir." There is actually not as much blood and gore as the viewer might expect, coming from the crypt of Roger Corman.
Veteran actor Bradford Dillman plays the lead character Paul Grogan with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek to give the entire film a feel of lightheartedness, even amid the horror of a lake full of kids being attacked and some killed by deadly mutant piranhas..
Before Joe Dante ("Gremlins") got really famous, he directed this "Jaws" send-up, in which man-eating fishes accidentally get released into a river and swim downstream, looking for people who dared to stick their feet in the water.What makes "Piranha" so neat is how it knows that it's a pretty corny movie, so it just lets the cast be as calm as they want.
Piranha is one of the better jaws rip offs,let me rephrase that jaws like movie,not rip off.roger corman co produced this cult classic which i think is an awesome monsters on the loose flick.genetically created piranhas that attack,mutilate and kill.there's a great cast Bradford dillman(bug)heather Menzies(sssssss!)Keenan Wynn(the dark)dick miller (little shop of horrors,gremlins)Kevin McCarthy(invasion of the body snatchers) Barbara Steele(black Sunday,castle of blood)and Paul Bartel.
(aka;the spawning)directed by James Cameron(titanic)if you enjoy mutated fish movies then you will like piranha.its a cult classic directed by Joe Dante(gremlins)from the famous school of roger corman.
At least they're funny.The Ugly:--The obvious "homage-to-Jaws" flavor of this movie will really kill it for some people.Memorable Scene:--This movie actually had the balls to have a bunch of children attacked by piranha.Acting: 6/10 Story: 6/10 Atmosphere: 6/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Character Development: 5/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10 Nudity/Sexuality: 1/10 Violence/Gore: 7/10 (pretty decent gore) Dialogue: 8/10 Music: 7/10 (average for the time) Writing: 7/10 Direction: 8/10Cheesiness: 4/10 Crappiness: 0/10Overall: 7/10This is a fun classic horror flick.
After Spielberg set the standard w/ Jaws this entry in the water killer genre is pretty weak but does have a couple of readable qualities mostly found in the alcoholic antics of Bradford Dillman @ the beginning of the film and some hardcore piranha munching that happens later in this hungry little fish story. |
tt0056194 | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" begins with Colin Smith (Tom Courtenay) running, alone, along a bleak country road somewhere in rural England. In a brief voiceover, Colin tells us that running is the way his family has always coped with the world's troubles, but that in the end, the runner is always alone and cut off from spectators, left to deal with life on his own.Next, we see Colin in handcuffs with a group of other similarly encumbered young men. They are being taken to Ruxton Towers, what we would today term a medium security prison for young juvenile offenders. It is overseen by "The Governor" (Michael Redgrave), who believes that the hard work and discipline imposed on his charges will ultimately make them useful members of society. Colin, sullen and rebellious, immediately catches his eye as a test of his beliefs.An important part of The Governor's rehabilitation program is athletics, and he soon notices that Colin is a talented runner, able to easily outrun Ruxton's reigning long distance runner. As The Governor was once a runner himself, he is especially keen on Colin's abilities because for the first time, his charges have been invited to compete in a five-mile marathon against a nearby public school, Ranley, and its privileged students from upper class families. The Governor sees the invitation as an important way to demonstrate the success of his rehabilitation program.As the Governor takes Colin under his wing, offering him outdoor gardening work and eventually the freedom of practice runs outside Ruxton's barbed wire fences, we learn in a series of flashbacks how Colin came to be incarcerated. We see his difficult, economically strained family life in a lower-class workers' complex in industrial Nottingham. Without a job, Colin indulges in petty crimes in the company of his best friend, Mike (James Bolam). Meanwhile, at home, his father's long years of toil in a local factory have resulted in a terminal illness for which his father refuses treatment. Colin is angered by the callousness of his mother (Avis Bunnage), who he knows already has a "fancy man", and who Colin finds has neglected to give his father an herbal concoction for pain and, as Colin believes, brings about his father's death..Colin rebels by refusing a job offered to him at his father's factory and watches with disdain as his mother spends the five hundred pounds in insurance money the company pays her on clothes, a television and new furniture. When his mother's lover moves into the house, and after an argument when his mother tells him to leave, Colin and his best friend Mike (James Bolam) take to the streets. Colin uses his portion of the insurance money to treat Mike and two girls they meet to an outing in Skegness, a nearby coastal resort, where Colin falls in love with his date, Audrey (Topsy Jane), and confesses to her that she is the first woman he's ever slept with. She eventually extracts a half-hearted promise from Colin that he might look for work, implying his feelings for her are such that marriage is a possibility.But one night, while prowling the streets of Nottingham with Mike, the two spot an open window at the back of a building. It's a bakery, with nothing much to steal but the cashbox, which contains about seventy pounds. Mike is all for another outing to Skegness with the girls, but Colin is more cautious and hides the money in a drainpipe outside his house. Soon, the police come calling, accusing Colin of the robbery. He tells the surly detective he has no knowledge of the crime. The detective produces a search warrant on a subsequent visit, but can find nothing. Finally, frustrated and angry, he returns to say he'll be watching Colin. As the two stand at Colin's front door in the rain, the torrent of water pouring down the drainpipe dislodges the money, which washes out around Colin's feet.This backstory is interspersed in flashbacks with Colin's present-time experiences at Ruxton Towers, where he must contend with the jealousy of his fellow inmates over the favoritism shown to him by The Governor, especially when The Governor decides not to discipline Colin, as he does the others, over a dining hall riot because of Ruxton's bad food. Colin also witnesses the kind of treatment given to his fellows who are not so fortunate - beatings, bread-and-water diets, demeaning work in the machine shop or the kitchen.Finally, the day of the marathon against Ranley arrives, and Colin quickly sizes up who the school's best runner is (played by a very young James Fox) and who he must beat. With a proud Governor looking on, the starting gun is fired. Colin soon overtakes Ranley's star runner and has a comfortable lead with a sure win; but a series of jarring images run through his mind, jumpcut flashes of his life at home and his mother's neglect, his father's dead body, stern lectures from detectives, police, The Governor, the hopelessness of any future life with Audrey. Just yards from the finish line, he stops running and remains in place, despite the calls, howls, protests from the Ruxton Towers crowd, and especially The Governor. In closeup, we see Colin look directly at The Governor as a rebellious sneer plays on his face. The expression remains there as the Ranley runner passes him and crosses the finish line to victory. The Governor's anger is evident.At the end of the film, Colin is back in the machine shop, punished and now ignored by The Governor. But he seems calm, even content, because in the end, he refused to buckle under to authority and has settled into the loneliness of the title. | romantic, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0052077 | Plan 9 from Outer Space | PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE synopsisCriswell (the Narrator) (Criswell) introduces this story about GRAVE ROBBERS FROM OUTER SPACE and warns the viewer about whether you can stand the shocking truth.As narration continues we see several people gathered around a grave with a small ceremony. An old man (Bela Lugosi) grieves for his recently deceased wife. When the ceremony is over a man reading from the Bible (Clay Stone) leads the old man away and the others follow. As two grave diggers begin their job, an airplane is shown piloted by Jeff Trent (Gregory Walcott) and co-pilot Danny (David De Mering), shown talking in the cockpit. Danny speaks to the Burbank tower about landing. Suddenly a flying saucer is seen. Flight attendant Edith (Norma McCarty) comes in to see whats going on. The UFO lands in a graveyard and a strange noise is heard by the grave diggers, who decide to leave. As they do, they see a vampire woman (Maila Nurmi)(the old man's deceased wife) coming toward them. A scream is heard (off-camera).The old man leaves his home that he shared with his late wife. Stopping to pluck a flower of hers, he is overcome with emotion again. Narration tells us he left the house, never to return again. The sound of squealing brakes is heard. An ambulance rushes him to the hospital where he dies.Some of his mourners visit his above-ground crypt, remarking how he was buried above ground but his wife below ground. A man (Ben Frommer) explains that he believes it is some kind of family tradition. They are unaware that his now-resurrected wife is nearby, watching. One girl (Gloria Dea) screams as she notices the bodies of the two gravediggers. The police arrive, led by Inspector Clay (Tor Johnson). He asks Larry (Carl Anthony) who found the bodies and is told the man and girl. He turns the investigation over to Lt. Harper (Duke Moore), telling him he will look around with a flashlight. Larry asks Harper if he notices an awful smell. Harper says he cant miss it. Clay is seen looking around the foggy graveyard with a flashlight. At this point another siren is heard. Harper says it will be the morgue wagon.At a nearby house Jeff and his wife Paula (Mona McKinnon) are relaxing on their patio and hear the siren. She remarks it is the fifth one today. He tells her something is going on down at the cemetery. Asking Jeff why is so moody, he explains about the flying saucer he saw on his flight. As he tells her the army swore him to secrecy, they are both buzzed by a saucer flying by, which knocks them over. At the same time, policemen and morgue workers carrying out a body are also blown down by a saucer. Clay looks up to see one go by and land in the cemetery. As he passes by the old mans crypt, it opens up and he (Tom Mason) comes out, face covered by his cape. Clay is surrounded by the old man and his wife who close in on him. He begins shooting at both, having no effect. Hearing shots fired, the police head that way and find Clays body, dead. Harper tells Kelton (Paul Marco) to call the coroner, telling him they have another body.Reverend Lemon (Lynn Lemon) is seen saying a few words over the grave of Inspector Clay. Next we see three saucers flying over Hollywood. Newspaper headlines say SAUCERS SEEN OVER HOLLYWOOD. When saucers are seen over Washington D.C., the army is called in, led by Colonel Edwards (Tom Keene) who gives the order to fire missiles. The missiles have no effect. Edwards tells the Captain (Bill Ash) that there were previous visits, always covered up by the government. He tells about a small town that was destroyed by a saucer, explaining that previous radio attempts at contact failed.Meanwhile in space at a mother ship, two aliens, Eros (Dudley Manlove) and Tanna (Joanna Lee) give their report to their Ruler (John Breckinridge) who asks what plan will be used next. He is told Plan Nine, which deals with the resurrection of the dead, activated by their rays to become zombies. They converse and return to their ship.Jeff is ready to go back to work. He discusses his concerns of safety with his wife, who promises to lock the door when he leaves.Flying the plane, Jeff seems preoccupied, which draws the attention of co-pilot Danny and the stewardess Edith. She suggests he radio in a call to find out if his wife is all right. Danny tries to make a date with Edith.The old man is seen walking in the graveyard. He enters Jeffs house. The phone rings and Paula picks it up. Someone is calling to see how she is to tell Jeff. After she hangs up, she sees the old man come in her bedroom and approach. Sliding off the other side of the bed, she runs around and screams. Leaving the house, she runs through the cemetery with the old man following. We also see Clay rise from his grave and begin walking around. The vampire woman is seen wandering. When Paula is seen near the road, passed out, Farmer Calder (Karl Johnson) stops to help her. He puts her in his car and drives off. The old man comes up and watches them go.The police, alerted of Paula's ordeal, come back to the cemetery to search. Meanwhile on the ship, Eros and Tanna open the door and admit the vampire woman and Clay. The old man also comes to the door and is let in. Inside, the electrodes are turned off before they can attack the aliens. The ship takes off, which is noticed and discussed by the officers and Harper. When one of them remembers seeing a disturbed grave, they go over and it is identified as Inspector Clays but his coffin is empty.Gen. Roberts (Lyle Talbot), meets with Col. Edwards about dealing with the saucers. A tape is played of a radio broadcast from the aliens, which has been translated by a new computer. Eros is heard telling about their mission, which is friendly in nature, but has become more violent in defensive moves. Edwards is sent out to San Fernando, where the saucers have been causing commotion.On the mother ship, Eros and Tanna bring Clay to show the Ruler. When Clay is about to attack Eros, Tannas gun fails and she is told to drop it to the floor. This breaks the jam and releases what is making him attack. Tanna is told to take him back. The Ruler tells Eros that two of his ships have been taken away for other purposes and that Eros needs to prove himself. The old man will have to be sacrificed, the Ruler tells him.The police return to San Fernando with Col. Edwards to interview Jeff and Paula about their experiences. As Kelton waits by the patrol car, the old man approaches to attack. Kelton backs away to the patio and begins firing at the old man. Harper also fires all his bullets to no effect. A ray is shown coming from the cemetery which neutralizes the old man. When Edwards pulls off the cape from the collapsed body, it is shown to be only a skeleton. They go back to the cemetery.Inside the ship Eros and Tanna prepare for the reception of living earth men. Harper, Jeff and Edwards locate the ship and when the door opens, they go in. Meeting with the aliens, they hold their guns on them. Eros tells them that the others from the car will be joining them shortly. Jeff threatens Eros, who says he will show them on a video screen. When he reaches to control it, Jeff fires a warning shot. Explaining he is only going to show them, Harper tells him to do so slowly. On the screen Clay is shown carrying Paula, who has only fainted, they are told. Eros explains about the development of bombs throughout history, including the atomic and hydrogen bombs. The next discovery will be the solorbonite, which harnesses the rays of the sun. When Eros responds to their closed minds as stupid, stupid , Jeff strikes him.As another patrol car drives up, Kelton confesses that Clay got Mrs. Trent and knocked him out. They go through the graveyard and see Clay holding the woman. They are able to knock Clay down and Kelton revives Paula. Meanwhile on the ship a struggle ensues with Jeff fighting Eros. The others try to open the doors while Tanna tries to launch the ship. As the ship catches on fire, Edward gets the doors open and he and Harper exit, telling Jeff to come. He is the last to escape before the saucer lifts off in a flame of fire and explodes over Hollywood. Edwards speculates that there may be others in the future.Criswell concludes his narration saying God help us in the future. | horror, cult, humor, murder | train | imdb | While it thoroughly deserves its reputation as a film only worth seeing so that you can enjoy its remarkably amateurish production, on the other hand it seems a bit unfair to label "Plan 9 From Outer Space" as the worst film ever made.
Those qualities put it well ahead of a great many movies that cost a lot more to make and that involved many more recognizable names than you'll find in this cast.To be sure, almost everything about it is of amazingly poor quality, from the incompetent directing and acting to the slipshod special effects to the dialogue that produces countless unintentional laughs.
Everyone who watches it has their own list of favorite examples of this film's complete ineptitude.If you have any interest in old movies, you should see this if you have the chance, as long as you can do so without paying for the privilege.
Poor production values, terrible acting, worse directing, and dialog that has to be heard to be believed, combine to create a cinematic gem.When speaking of bad movies, it is important to understand what is meant by "bad".
But it takes a hell of a lot to be almost universally considered the worst movie of all time, and here is Plan 9's true strength.
First things first - anyone who calls 'Plan 9 from Outer Space' "the worst movie ever made" needs to watch more movies!
Hell, it isn't even the most inept and bizarre movie Ed Wood ever made, that would still have to be 'Glen Or Glenda', which for some strange reason still doesn't have a tenth of the cult following 'Plan 9' does.
Speaking of cult, in some ways 'Plan 9' is almost THE definitive cult movie if you consider that it virtually vanished without a trace when it was first released and it still lives on because it was subsequently rediscovered by thousands of enthusiastic movie nuts, collectors, journalists, cartoonists, rock musicians (e.g. The Damned), and other film makers (Joe Dante, Sam Raimi, Tim Burton).
As much as I love Bela Lugosi I think the three main reasons this movie is truly unforgettable (apart from the obvious - silly aliens, laughably bad dialogue and "those" flying saucers,etc.etc.) are Criswell, Vampira, and especially Tor Johnson.
Ed Wood gives new meaning to the word "schlock." The cinematic legacy he has left to enjoy should be called "pop-schlock." If the point of the film is to ultimately entertain, this is one of the best films of all time, not the worst..
listening to the amazingly inept dialogue, worthy of George Lucas' "Episode II" (maybe it's a bit better ;), watching Bela Lugosi freeze for a couple of frames, then being replaced by someone else...No, it's not the worst film ever made.
As in "if I made a movie, I'd surely make one as bad / good / unintentionally funny as this one".Yep. Ed Wood is one of us.
Often considered the worst movie of all time, Plan 9 From Outer Space does boast tombstones that are made of cardboard and tip over during the movie, it does feature one shot of Bella Legosi that is reused over and over and over, it does show a cop scratching an itch on his head with his gun, and stars a Swedish wrestler as a California cop, but it is not the worst movie of all time because the story is not that awful.
Did he imagine his role in Plan 9 would lead to greater things?Although Ed Wood has been voted by the US film industry as the worst director in history, he lives on as a kind of cult anti-hero.
It's the ultimate corny, silly 50's sci-fi/laughable horror movie.I watched this film after seeing Tim Burton's biographical film Ed Wood, who wrote, directed and produced Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Having "seen" the hilarious making of Plan 9 while watching Ed Wood meant watching the real Plan 9 was immensely enjoyable, as you could pick up on all the arcane humour from Tim Burton's great film.Be sure to watch the documentary "Flying Saucers over Hollywood: The Plan 9 Companion" which is on the Plan 9 DVD.
I've rarely had more fun while watching a movie as I had with Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Ed Wood was a good film maker, because he made movies because he loves doing it, not because he wanted to make money.
Previously, I settled for enjoying the Tim Burton "Ed Wood" film, which is very good and tells the story of the making of this movie.Well, I agree "Plan 9" is bad and, yes, perhaps, "the worst movie of all time" as many label it, but I'm sure there are worse ones out there.
I thought, "Wow, this was a bad (meaning good) as advertised," but then I found the film starting to lag at the 35-40-minute mark and recovered a little bit in the end, but not enough to make me want to watch this again.
They should have just kept it as sci-fi/horror flick without all the heavy-handed preaching.Highlights included Tor Johnson's face, the many lines of ridiculous dialog, Vampira's zombie walk with her outstretched hand, and Criswell's incredible speeches and the beginning and end of the movie!
Wood Jr., a.k.a. Ed Wood, a man without talent that loved cinema."Plan 9 from Outer Space" is totally lame: the screenplay is messy, with characters that do not have any development; the lines are awfully silly and stupid; there is an absolute lack of continuity, and sometimes the shot begins in the night, the next scene is in the sunlight and then it is night again.
Another example is the footages of Bela Lugosi, who was drug-addicted, forgotten and poor in 1956, and died three days after the beginning of the filming of "Plan 9 from Outer Space".
Being listed there is a hard thing to reach as well as being listed in the worst 100 where "Plan 9" surely belongs ."Ed Wood" is all about a young wannabe-producer/director who is so fascinated and driven by the idea of producing movies that he does everything,sets every wheel in motion to make his dreams become reality,doing movies with a least-cost budget simply because he couldn't afford anything else,but he gave his whole heart to that movies and dedicated his whole life to them .O. K.
It doesn't matter any more how bad it is, how amateurishly made, how laughable or even how lacking in substance...it IS Ed Wood's PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE, and flying hubcaps or not, MORE people know of this film than of HELL IN THE PACIFIC or even LIMELIGHT.
As someone wrote, having seen Tim Burton's rather rose-colored biog ED WOOD, it would be churlish, even downright cowardly to savage this film, one that is unable to defend itself.PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE is like a lovable and worn out Teddy Bear - you don't toss it and buy a new one.
I suppose what really made this film famous was Bela Lugosi's death during the production and the poor attempt to replace him with a screen double (poor Ed Wood couldn't re-shoot the scenes, he was already over budget!).
Plan 9 From outer Space redefines al your perspective regarding bad movies.
There are people who say "Plan 9 From Outer Space is the worst movie ever made.".
Yet it is fun to watch so I do recommend this movie for sheer the novelty of it and because it is Bela Lugosi's last film before his untimely death on August 16, 1956.6/10.
Weird and Fun. Aliens resurrect dead humans as zombies and vampires to stop humanity from creating the Solaranite (a sort of sun-driven bomb).This is one of those "worst films of all time", though it is one of the least deserving of that title.
Like several of you, I saw the 1994 movie about Ed Wood, and then decided to go back and take another look at Plan 9.I have a theory.
I think Ed Wood made exactly the movie he wanted to make.It's true this movie is so bad, a group of seventh graders could write, direct, and act in a better one.
And even a seventh grader would realize that if an actor kicks over a cardboard tombstone in a fake cemetery, you shoot the scene again.Wood must have known exactly what he was doing, and as he also edited the film into its final form, he could not have missed all the incredibly obvious continuity fluffs.I originally rated it five out of ten, but raised my score to a seven because as a deliberately bad movie, it's very good.Try watching it again with the thought that maybe it's a send up and Wood made the movie he was trying to make.
Everything about it is stock b-movie material, but the fact that Ed Wood was SUCH a bad filmmaker means he let so much slip in to the film that shouldn't have happened.
After a year of trying to find this I finally found it with the prequel Bride of the Monster for $14, it was pricey but worth it, the film is a riot for the full 77 minutes.The first one may not be great but this one is so ridiculously bad that it cant help but get a smile from everyone who watches it, and thus proving, movies don't have to written, directed or acted well to be entertaining, this being the best example by far.Now, all movie lovers now Ed Wood, he was truly a service to all film makers, and he has reached his goal in life, to become a writer and not many people can even say that whether his movies are bad or not.
This movie has become one of my favourites of all time with its horrible special effects, cardboard props and the visibility of strings that make this movie so worth watching.Overall, if you can find this film get it, I would not recommend the first in the series "Bride Of the Monster" but I would recommend this and the 3rd in the series "Night of the Ghouls" I have not seen the 4th yet..
Though Plan 9 From Outer Space is said to be the worse movie ever, its very enjoyable and fun to watch.Aliens invade the Earth and bring the dead back to life as zombies so they can rule the World.
They call this operation "Plan 9".This movie is noted for its ultra cheap props which include cardboard headstones and what look like paper plates for the flying saucers.The cast includes Bela Lugosi in his final movie and he died before filing was complete and a double replaced him.
Directed of course by Ed Wood.Plan 9 From Outer Space is compulsory viewing for all movie fans.
I don't believe that the "Worst film ever"-label really applies to Plan 9 because this film is SO bad, so phenomenally inept that it's a total hoot from start to finish - in fact, it's probably one of the most entertaining movies you're likely to see (even if not for the reasons intended).
As bad as PLAN 9 is, there is one thing that I found interesting: that the aliens make mention of God. Though I am an atheist, I think it raises a good matter of discussion about whether beings from other planets know of Him and what do they call Him. However, I think this was added by Wood in order to get the funding from the Baptist church.
I mean, of course I will not give 10 in a movie like this one, but I laughed a lot with some situations, like the gravestone falling, and the guy that is in Bela Lugosi's place, with his arms covering his face all the time to not show this obvious fact.I agree with a guy who said that this movie is not the worst of all.
and didn't let the fact that he had no talent get in the way.This movie is also famous for featuring the final appearance of the legendary Bela Lugosi, who died before Wood had properly started shooting.
It was terrifying enough to give me nightmares and have me demand that my mother check under my bed for the monsters.PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (P9FOS, for short) is one of those unique movies that's so bad that it's actually good (well, sort of).
That's a killer!) So - Is PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (the cheapie of all cheapies) the worst movie of all time?
While we can certainly pick out the weakness in acting, plot, filming et al, this movie STILL is heads above anything made by the SciFi channel (will a million-dollar budget).It's good family entertainment without one single exploding body with gallons of spurting blood; no stupid teenagers (actually 30 year-olds) who even more stupidly enter a deadly situation; no over the top CGI that has Pirhanna or alligators the size of Texas.We have aliens with tacky costumes (one spouting insults); stupid cops who use their loaded guns to push up their hats, and lots of cardboard tombs and tombstones.I've seen Academy Award winning movies with worse acting.At least this one makes me smile and brings up memories of all Cult movies from the 50's.
Yes,this movie is considered the worst movie of all time,but believe it or not,it is a lot better and far more entertaining than say,Red Zone Cuba or Beast of Yucca Flats made by Coleman Francis.Coleman Francis is a lot worse a director/filmmaker than Ed Wood ever was!!
There, for this movie Plan 9 From Outer Space, came up the name Edward Wood Jr as the producer, director and writer.
Plan 9 From Outer Space is one of those movies Ed Wood made!
It would have been much more meaningful for me to have seen Plan 9 From Outer Space before seeing the movie Ed Wood.
Plan 9 From Outer Space captures the true cheesiness, the desperation and results of shoe string budgets, the lack of movie making skills and how those things all contributed to the basis of the plot upon which the movie Ed Wood was based.
I think you will actually enjoy the movie Plan 9 From Outer Space.
IS it a great movie by virtue of its being so bad, but so seriously filmed, that it just keeps people coming back to find out whether it has meaning?
Most other bad movies are too slow and boring to hold your interest, but Ed Wood's artistic vision was too keen to allow that to happen to this, his magnum opus.Leonard Maltin describes Plan 9 as "mesmerizingly awful." That's exactly right -- you get almost hypnotized watching it.
This is only scratching the surface.The most amazing thing about Plan 9 from Outer Space is not Ed Wood's ambivalence to detail but the fact that this ambivalence never detracts from the film's overall enjoyment.
Credited as Bela Lugosi's last film, "Plan 9" has all the makings of a terrible movie.
But, when there is little to do and an escape from the real world is needed, "Plan 9 From Outer Space" is the perfect movie to watch and laugh at.
anyway, i really think this film needs more liking insted of all these nasty reveiws from people who says "this film is a stupid movie", well sure some of the special effects in this film are dumb, but hey ed wood tryed to do his best and i think we should have more respect for him and his films and that goes FOR ALL THOSE REVEIWERS WITH NASTY REVIEWS.
The fact that to Ed Wood the concept of day or night in filming scenes weren't important and his major actor (Lyle Talbot Excluded) died before making the picture and was replaced by a taller chiropractor/"actor" detracted from the overall skill in which the movie was made.
And in closing, if you want just a tid bit of an idea of what to expect from Plan 9 from Outer Space, I'll say this- Bela Lugosi is in one scene in the beginning of the picture (the laugh out loud exit from the house when he holds the flower) and then for the rest of the movie he is substituted (he died minutes after filming the scene) by another, taller actor in a cape covering his face!
How does one grade "Plan 9 From Outer Space?" If we say that director/writer/producer/editor Ed Wood Jr. was trying to film a serious, scary movie, well then "Plan 9" is a terrible, terrible movie.
It's the only movie I know that's famous for being bad and it's been that way for nearly 50 years.Aliens are not planning on taking over mankind this time.
Great SF Fun. As far as 1950 SF films are concerned, Plan 9 from Outer Space is a real gem.
Bela Lugosi, Vampira, Tor Johnson - all so weird and bizarre that their presence in this movie makes "Plan 9 from Outer Space" such a unique hair-raiser.
Plan 9 from Outer Space one of My favorite film of all time!
This classic film with errors and a low budget is arguably Ed Wood's best film I love the story, the acting, knowing that Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, and Vampira are in the same film, the special effects, and every else that the film has to offer!
If you love low budget films that are extremely bad but are hilarious, and want to see a spookyish flick that is good to watch around Halloween time and any time if you want to laugh for a hour and a half then I strongly recommend that you buy this masterpiece Plan 9 from Outer Space!
And I consider PLAN 9 one of the greatest bad movies.The many flaws of this movie are: the acting, full of corny dialogue and overacting (especially by Tor Johnson and Vampira); the sets and the special effects may be poor and cheap (I laughed a lot when I saw the pie plates used as UFOs); and lots and lots of stock footage. |
tt0082250 | Death Wish II | The film opens with a grand view of Los Angeles, with a news broadcast in the background detailing an increase in crime in the city. The overview of the city goes until the end of the opening credits where we zoom in on the new house of Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) where the maid, Rosario (Silvana Gallardo), is preparing dinner. He seems to have picked up the pieces of his life to move on, as his girlfriend is KABC news/radio reporter Geri Nichols (Jill Ireland) and they both go and pick up Carol from the hospital and spend the day with her. Paul talks to the doctor, who says that despite her traumatic catatonia, she has begun to speak again. Her husband, Jack Toby, though not seen or mentioned, presumably divorced Carol. Paul, Geri, and Carol spend the rest of the afternoon at a carnival, where Paul offers to buy ice cream while the girls look around. While waiting in line for some ice cream, he gets mugged and his dollar bill is stolen by five gang members. At first Paul does not mind but realizes they also took his wallet. Paul manages to catch up with one of them (Jiver), but Jiver exclaims that he was not the one who took the wallet.Geri heads to do an interview with the senator while Carol and Paul go on a boat ride. The same five muggers who stole Kersey's wallet arrive at his house determined to kill him. The thugs break in, tightly bind, and gag, and then gang rape Rosario. Paul arrives home with Carol, only to get beaten unconscious when he walks in the door. Rosario tries to call the police, but the thugs hear the sound and quickly kill Rosario by bashing her head in. They then take Carol to their hideout, where one of the muggers rapes her. After the attack, she runs away from the thugs and jumps from a window, becoming impaled on the railings below.Geri arrives to the house as Paul regains consciousness and the police arrive. Lt. Mankewicz (Ben Frank) is one of the first on the scene, asking Paul about the identification of the muggers because the description was "a little vague". A short time later, Paul learns about the death of his daughter and is sent to the station to ID her. Later, Mankewicz asks Paul to view some photos at the station to rejog his memory since Paul is the only witness. Paul declines by saying: "it won't do any good."The next scene is at a funeral where Paul and Geri both attend. That night, Paul pulls out a .32 caliber semi-automatic handgun he kept hidden in his closet, changes clothing, and rents a low-rent apartment in the inner city as his forward base of operations. After wondering around most of the night through the rough part of downtown L.A. Paul returns to his own house. Geri arrives the next morning and lets herself in, where she nearly discovers Paul's gun laying on a dresser. Paul quickly gets up and hides it. After Geri leaves, he calls a locksmith to have the locks on his house changed.The next night, Paul spots one of the muggers, Stomper, and follows him into an abandoned hotel building as a drug deal is about to be made between his partner and two buyers. Kersey tries to be quiet as he can, but the others notice his presence when he knocks over a can. Kersey kills Stomper's partner, then orders the other two out of the room where he kills Stomper.The following evening, as he is patrolling the streets, Paul hears a scream coming from an underground parking garage where a man and a woman are being assaulted by four muggers. One of the muggers is Jiver, whom Kersey chased down the alley the day of his daughter's death. Paul opens fire on the muggers, killing two of them. Jiver is wounded, but he and the fourth mugger manage to get away. Taking a .45 caliber pistol off one of the dead muggers, Paul follows the trail of blood, and manages to wound and kill Jiver at a warehouse across the street. Paul flees before the police arrive.The L.A. police quickly hear about the murders, as does the NY Police Department. Detective Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) is called by the LAPD to help. The Police Commissioner (Anthony Francoisa) thinks the vigilante killings may be done by Kersey again. Fearing that Kersey, when caught, will reveal that they let him go instead of prosecuting him, the NYPD sends Inspector Frank Ochoa to make sure that does not happen. Ochoa meets with Lt. Mankewicz, who suspects that Frank is hiding something.That night, Ochoa breaks into Geri's apartment where he meets Geri and tells her about Paul's past and recent vigilante spree. But when Geri confronts Paul, he quickly denies it, ascribing the tale to Ochoa's imagination. Paul drives Geri to work the next morning, where Ochoa is waiting. In order to keep tabs on Paul, Ochoa calls Mankiewicz and asks him to park his car near Paul's apartment (but he doesn't tell Mankiewicz about following Kersey himself).Another night later, Ochoa follows an unknowing Kersey from his house to his low-rent apartment and from there to a local square where Kersey spots the three remaining gang members who attacked him: Cutter (Laurence Fishburne), Punkcut (E. Lamont Johnson), and Nirvana (Thomas F. Duffy). Kersey follows the trio on a bus to an abandoned park, where a major drug deal goes down. Ochoa follows Kersey and sees him from a distance hiding in a bush, but decides to help Paul after detecting a spotlight heading in his direction. Ochoa warns Paul with a shot by shooting a gang member who tries to shoot Paul. Paul runs behind a tree as the gang members grab their guns and fire back. Ochoa gets shot by a hail of gunfire, but Paul manages to kill Cutter (who vainly tries to shield his head with a boom box) with a bullet through the face. Punkcut is also wounded by a gunshot to the chest, as is another gang member. Paul also shoots and kills the getaway driver and seller of the firearms, who plummets off a cliff to a fiery doom below. The final mugger, Nirvana, gets away. Paul goes over to Ochoa and asks him why he saved his life. Ochoa responds he had to side with Paul against the criminals, and tells Paul to kill Nirvana for him. Ochoa dies as the police arrive, and Paul escapes into the night. The police get the name of Ochoa's killer from a badly injured Punkcut by inflicting pain, who succumbs to his injuries and dies.A few days later, Nirvana (who's real name is revealed to be Charles Wilson) is found by the police hiding out in an apartment. Paul, monitoring the police radio frequency from an acquired radio scanner, tries to get to Nirvana to kill him before the police do. But in the apartment building hallway, Paul narrowly misses his opportunity for a kill when he gets slashed on the arm by Nirvana during a chase. Nirvana runs outside when he sees the police approaching and gets tasered, but with no effect due to an influence of PCP. He is finally arrested after stabbing several officers.Tried and found criminally insane, Charles 'Nirvana' Wilson is sent to McLarren State Hospital. Paul comes along with Geri to the hospital where she is interviewing Charles Wilson's doctor. The visit allows Paul to secretly steal a facility ID card and a white doctor's lab coat. Despite his plans for revenge to kill the last surviving thug who assaulted him, Paul has lunch with Geri the next day and proposes to her. Geri accepts.The night they plan to go to Mexico for their wedding, Paul uses his altered doctor ID and stolen lab coat to gain access to the hospital and confronts Wilson in the hospital meeting room. They have a violent fight and Kersey is stabbed repeatedly by Wilson with a scalpel. But when Wilson slams Kersey up against an electrical device, Kersey ducks the oncoming punch. Wilson's hand smashes through the machine and Kersey turns the power up, electrocuting Wilson. Donald Kay (Charles Cyphers), the head orderly on duty, witnesses Wilson's death, but sympathizes with Kersey and gives him three minutes to escape from the hospital before sounding the alarm.Geri goes to his apartment later that night and finds the scanned copy of the stolen ID. She realizes that Paul is actually the vigilante after she hears a report of Wilson's death on the radio. She puts the paper and the engagement ring on the table and drives off. Paul arrives home minutes later to an empty apartment.Five months later, Paul is at his office speaking to his clients about a party in celebration of a new architectural design. His boss Elliott Cass (Michael Prince) invites him to a party that very evening, and when Paul is asked if he's free, he answers: "What else would I be doing?" The movie ends with gunshots heard on L.A.'s skid row, implying that Paul will continue his vigilante spree undisturbed. | revenge, cult, murder, violence, flashback | train | imdb | Charles Bronson is fantastic as Architect Paul Kersey getting revenge on a muggers who raped and killed his house keeper and his daughter.
Be grateful for Michael Winner's sledgehammer sensitivity because it produced this classic.None of Paul Kersey's (Charles Bronson) remaining family and friends get off lightly in this twisted nightmare of domestic violence, anal rape, vigilante justice and simplistic politics.For fans of rough justice, the rape of Bronson's Mexican housemaid is truly amazing and eroticized like crazy by Winner's leering direction.Thomas F.
Duffy as Nirvana, the film's lead thug, is really horrible and a joy to behold (in a perverse way).Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page provides a rock score that scorches the L.A. imagery and Vincent Gardenia returns as the cop who prefers to look the other way.A Cannon-backed sleazefest that brings home the groceries if you like eating trash.Screw GONE WITH THE WIND.
Charles Bronson reunites with director Michael Winner in this highly controversial sequel that sees poor Paul Kersey in L.A, and once again the target of degenerate muggers/gangsters, who viciously attack his housekeeper and daughter Carol(again!) leading to their deaths.
Enraged, Paul Kersey returns to his vigilante ways, bringing on the attentions of New York cop Frank O'Choa(Vincent Gardenia again) who is sent to stop Kersey, but ends up helping him instead...Jill Ireland plays his new girlfriend.Sequel pulls no punches in the violence and assaults(too much so I would agree, difficult to watch) yet otherwise delivers the expected vigilante retribution in effective and stylish fashion, depicting the stark nature of the streets memorably.
Like the films that best display gritty 1970s New York City--such as Taxi Driver (1976) and Basket Case (1982)--Death Wish II makes you feel almost dirty (in the grimy despair way, not a sexual way) while watching it.
This scene found me laughing in disbelief, shocked and horrified over what the Paul Kersey-character has become, and at the same time impressed that somebody actually dared to make this stuff more than 20 years ago, and even starring one of the biggest movie-stars in the world!This once bleedin' heart liberal family man has for sure turned into a messenger of death, with about as much mercy for the criminals as a hungry stray cat has for a limp mouse!
It's shocking to watch, but at the same time fascinating because the whole movie looks great, the atmosphere gets under your skin, and you still find yourself rooting for Bronson's character.This is still the best of the "Death Wish"-sequels, and it still packs a wallop and manages to stir controversy even today.
One of the gang members in here, by the way, is a young Laurence Fishburne.The negatives are (1) sub-par acting performances by Bronson and his real-life wife, Jill Ireland; (2) some blatant credibility problems with the story ( such as how Bronson could get across town all bloody but never be noticed;) and (3) not exactly the most intelligent dialog!Yet, this is still an appealing movie to our conditioned satisfaction for instant revenge.
It sparks the id, pummels it into submission, so that when the experience is over, a sigh of relief is uttered.The original "Death Wish" was a well-done exploitation flick with the professional gloss of an A picture; despite its relatively shallow insight into the murky moral terrain of vigilante justice, it contained an intensely subdued performance by Charles Bronson, and confident direction by Michael Winner.By comparison, "Death Wish 2" is a typical sequel, taking what the original had and dumbing it down to milk some cash for the franchise.
The plot is as before: Paul Kersey has begun a new life (courting the cheerfully cardboard Jill Ireland) which is shattered when a gang of punks (including a young Laurence Fishburne) rape and murder his housekeeper and daughter.
The film moves from one random encounter to the next, wherein Kersey stumbles across gang members and kills them.Of course this doesn't sound like highbrow film-making, but "Death Wish 2" never teases the audience with any notions of greatness.
Following to successful crime thriller that created the Vigilante genre with Bronson as the main star as architect Paul Kersey (wooding acting by Bronson who looks bored and tired with this rehash material) turned the one-man vigilante and he tries to find the five sadistic street punks who attacked his daughter and housekeeper , this time on the dark streets of Los Angeles .
The original film ¨Death wish¨ had great commercial hit , it was followed by various extremely violent sequels to this successful 1974 movie , that's , of course , the best from the series , being starred by Hope Lange , Stuart Margolin , William Redfield and Jeff Goldblum .
Architect Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) once again becomes a vigilante when he tries to find the five street punks who murdered his daughter and housekeeper, this time on the dark streets of Los Angeles.Early on, we have a nasty rape scene with Larry Fishburne.
While this is by no means as good as the original, which I consider to be a minor classic, Death Wish 2 is a great example of the short lived early 80s embrace of ultra violent entertainment before these kind of movies were labelled "video nasties" and expelled from the mainstream.The main reason why the Death Wish series became increasingly ridiculous is the improbability of one man suffering so much bad luck.
Unfortunately, I don't think that it is a coincidence, as the entire Death Wish series had dubious racial undertones.The action becomes increasing twisted when Paul's daughter, Carol, still traumatised from the attack in the original film, is kidnapped and raped.
I love the Death wish franchise i really do & have watched them all so many times it's crazy & Paul Kersey is my favourite movie character ever or atleast stands next to Snake Plisskin!!!
But either way it gives an eerie other worldly look to the night time world of Death Wish 2 & even feels very noir at times with it's look!!!It's actually a nice comfort seeing rugged old Bronson out stalking the dark & dangerous streets at night it's because he's a good man a vigilante hero & it's a comfort seeing some one taking revenge on the evil scum out there that in real life that doesn't happen oh no in real life the scum usually get away with the evil things they do & there is no vigilante hero out the getting vengeance on them so it's a nice fantasy comfort to watch Bronson act it out.& that's very important the look has to show us the night time world is dangerous & scary & Death Wish 2 oozes that Atmospheric look & atmosphere it's spot on.
Legendary Charles Bronson is excellent as Paul Kersey once again & this time targets & hunts just the one sick gang of thugs that Murdered his daughter & house maid.
Following these events, Kersey goes back to his old ways and sets about tracking down the gang of muggers.I think what I liked about Death Wish 2 is the fact that it is more focused than the first film.
It's horribly out of kilter with the outrageous (bordering on ridiculous) shoot-'em-up carnage that follows, as is a similarly disturbing scene in which Bronson's mute daughter is raped (again - remember the first film?) before jumping through a (closed) window to her death, a messy and graphic impaling on metal railings.
This time he's in Los Angeles stalking a street gang after they brutally raped and murdered his daughter (Robin Sherwood) and maid (Silvana Gallardo).Repellent sequel has Bronson in his wooden Indian performance who is no longer convincing as in the 1974 hit, but a man on a mission to kill making him no better than the thugs that he dispatches.
Bronson returns as the vigilante Paul Kersey who had to leave New York in a hurry at the end of the previous film, having gone a little nuts after the murder of his wife and eradicating various muggers and scum-bags.
If you like Charles Bronson and want to see him bust up some punks and like to see great revenge films with great action then watch Death Wish!.
Death Wish II (1982) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Two years after the death of his wife, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is now living in Los Angeles where he's dating a woman (Jill Ireland) working for a local radio station.
Yes, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is back along with his daughter, Carol (Robin Sherwood) and a new love name Geri(Jill Ireland, 1936-90) who lives in Los Angeles.
At the time of the film's release the BBFC cut over 3 minutes from the film (chief censor James Ferman seemed proud of this and said that it was surely a record) due to two rape scenes contained within the movie.The vigilante Paul Kersey (played with badass aloofness by Charles Bronson aka 'The Man') has moved from New York (the setting of the original movie) and is now practicing his considerable architectural skills in L.A. But after his housekeeper is raped and killed and his already traumatised daughter is subjected to the same treatment Kersey goes back into ass-kicking mode.There's so much to love about this film.
While the original Death Wish was more lavish and haunting as Bronson played a man who objected violence, the second film has him already used to it.
Plot follows a familiar trajectory, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is now in Los Angeles living a normal life, when wouldn't you know it, some scumbag youths cross his path after administering some rape and pillage on folk close to him...The problem here, and the reason why some critics positively burst blood vessels after watching it, is that for the first half it just is pure exploitation, this in spite of some decent production value.
"Death Wish 2" is nearly a carbon copy of the 1st.this time,the location has changed from NewYork to Los Angelos.i won't bore you with the plot here,but let's just say Mr Vigilante Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is forced back into action,doing what he does best.and of course once again the police can't have that.there is one amusing scene where Kersey has just saved a man from being possibly killed and his wife brutally raped.Kersey flees the scene,and when the police arrive,the only thing the care about is who shot the attackers,never mind that 2 innocent people were attacked.when questioned about what their Saviour looked like, of their Saviour,they give some riotous descriptions of him,something along the lines of "he was a tall black man with red beard or he was 2 feet tall and ha d ac left club foot.this movie does not have the importance of it's predecessor,but it is still a fairly good movie,and still illustrates some good points.
I watch the Death Wish movies for the sheer redeeming entertainment pleasure of watching Bronson (aka Kersey)getting his revenge on the bad guys by blowing them to hell in various methods of violence especially this bunch.
He runs into some low life Hoodlums who steal his wallet but not before Bronson gives them a beating for their troubles.With his I.D they go to his house for REVENGE, and boy so they get it, but of course good old veteran Charlie boy gets the last word.Filled with brutality and shockingly good Exploitation elements this is one awesome REVENGE movie that actually lives upto its name.Bronson cleans up the city but police don't like vigilante's taking the law into their own hands.If there was more men like Charles Bronson around today Mugggers, rapist and arseholes wouldn't mess with innocent members of the public.Quite simply there is a lesson to be learned from this film- DO NOT F*CK WITH THE BRONSON OR HE'LL BE ALL OVER YOUR ASS LIKE A BAD CASE OF H.I.V CAUGHT FROM ONE OF THE ETHNIC CHAPPIES YOUR MOMMA WARNED YOU ABOUT.Buy this film, YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT..
Eight years after Charles Bronson had first walked the mean streets of New York as the Sidewalk Vigilante in "Death Wish" (1974), director Michael Winner sends motion picture's toughest architect back on duty to cleanse the neighborhood of violent scum.
Director Winner doesn't even bother to throw in a long story before the action starts, and yet "Death Wish II" is all a Bronson fan could possibly desire.Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) has moved to LA with his daughter, who is still suffering from the traumatic events in the first film.
It was eight years before Winner reunited with Charles Bronson to bring us the first trashy sequel (of the five piece franchise) looking to eventually pickpocket the success of the original and urban vigilante films (like "The Exterminator (1980)") that were flooding the screens at the time.
Once again violence hits too close to home for Paul Kersey(Charles Bronson) and this time the muggers kill his comatose daughter and maid causing Bronson to turn vigilante and get those responsible.(Which creates the biggest flaw) In Death Wish 2 the biggest problem is that you know who Bronson is going to kill and therefore the movie covers the same ground over and over again.
The gang of thugs find Paul Kersey's (Bronson) daughter and housemaid - this is where the movie gets graphic.
The part where Kersey's mute daughter (a strong performance by the otherwise completely unknown Robin Sherwood) is raped is so uneasy, so bizarre, so awkward to look at that it will always be the first scene that comes to mind when I think of the "Death Wish"-series.
This time having Charles Bronson's house maid being raped and murdered and his mentally ill daughter (from the first film) being kidnapped and killed.
Part of the strength of the original Death Wish film is that Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) never actually tracks down the crooks who attack his family.
Death Wish 2, basically re-hashes the original's Plot once again, only this time The Violence is More Extreme and the Rape Scenes are far More shocking and Uneccessarliy more Frequent.This time Paul Kersey(Charles Bronson)Has moved to L.A With His Daughter and New Wife to start a new life, but one day his wallet is stolen by some street punks (One Played by a Young Laurence Fishburne), the punks find his address from his Drivers Licence and Decide to Rape and Kill both His Housekeeper and Daughter(Who Was recovering from the last Incident) This time Kersey Is more Determined than ever before to Catch these Guys and a lot of Bloody Carnage Ensues along the way.The Film is not as Deep as the Original nor is it as Stylishly Filmed, And this being the Uncut Version I'm reviewing, The film has Two Main Rape Scenes which Go on For WAY Too long, Which makes it Gratuitous, and they way it's filmed and acted is unpleasant but in a different way than in the original What i mean by that is it seems like the film is trying to be a Sadistic Porno at times, Which is very Disturbing Considering the Seriousness of the topic, Rape is unpleasant it's not a joke, which at times during those scenes is how its portrayed as a Joke, In which it should not be portrayed in that way.Aside from that the film moves at a better pace than the original and the Villains in this film are more Despiseable and you truly feel they deserve whats coming to them, and the Action is a few steps above the original making this film more of a traditional Action/Thriller, rather than a Drama/Thriller, Charles Bronson does well as usual but this time he seems to Camp up his character a little more with a few cheesy One Liners but they do work, and the score by Led Zeppelin Guitarist Jimmy Page is A treat.NOTE: Like the Original it's very shocking this time even more so,so much in fact I think I'll be Fast Fowarding the rape scenes in this film if i see it again in the Future, So once again for those who are easily disturbed by Brutality and Rape you have been Warned, there is a slightly Censored Version out there, but its still fairly Shocking.Overall: 5/10.
Charles Bronson recreates the role of Paul Kersey, who we can remember lived in New York previously at the time of the first Death Wish film, now he lives in Los Angeles.
Well, we don't get the great Herbie Hancock score of the first movie, but we do get Jill Ireland, Mrs. Bronson, in one of her last films, directed as Death Wish I and III, by Michael Winner.We also get what I feel is the biggest collection of scumbags ever assembled.
Well, we don't get the great Herbie Hancock score of the first movie, but we do get Jill Ireland, Mrs. Bronson, in one of her last films, directed as Death Wish I and III, by Michael Winner.We also get what I feel is the biggest collection of scumbags ever assembled.
It's been a few years now that Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is been living the good life in Los Angeles with his girlfriend Geri (Jill Ireland) and his daughter Carol (Robin Sherwood), who's still traumatized after the brutal rape in the past.
It's been a few years now that Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is been living the good life in Los Angeles with his girlfriend Geri (Jill Ireland) and his daughter Carol (Robin Sherwood), who's still traumatized after the brutal rape in the past.
Now Paul goes back being a vigilante in the mean streets of L.A. by night to finding these murderous, stealing, rapists thugs.Directed by Michael Winner (Lawman, The Mechanic, The Sentinel) made an OK if unnecessary sequel to the effective "Death Wish".
Now Paul goes back being a vigilante in the mean streets of L.A. by night to finding these murderous, stealing, rapists thugs.Directed by Michael Winner (Lawman, The Mechanic, The Sentinel) made an OK if unnecessary sequel to the effective "Death Wish". |
tt0268995 | The Majestic | In 1951 in the midst of the Second Red Scare, Peter Appleton is an up-and-coming young screenwriter in Hollywood. He learns from studio lawyer Leo Kubelsky and his own attorney Kevin Bannerman that he has been accused of being a Communist because he attended an antiwar meeting in his college years, a meeting he claims he only attended to impress a girl. In an instant, his new film Ashes to Ashes is pushed back for a few months, the credit is given to someone else, his movie star girlfriend Sandra Sinclair leaves him, and his contract with the studio is dropped. Peter gets drunk and goes for a drive up the coast where he accidentally drives his car off a bridge to avoid an opossum.
He comes to on an ocean beach experiencing amnesia. He is found by Stan Keller who helps him to the nearby town of Lawson, California and the local doctor named Doc Stanton to tend to his wounds. As the town welcomes him, Harry Trimble arrives and believes Peter to be his son Luke who went MIA during World War II seven years ago. Due to his amnesia, Peter accepts himself being treated as Luke by the rest of the town led by Mayor Ernie Cole as Sheriff Cecil Coleman tells Doc to "tell her slowly." Peter warms up to the town including getting to know Harry and Luke's girlfriend Adele Stanton who is Doc's daughter.
Peter adjusts to the new life and helps to renovate the Majestic, a movie theater that had been shut down due to hard times. Bob Leffert, a veteran of the war that knew Luke, does not believe Peter is Luke and fears Peter may be setting the town up for heartbreak given they had lost sixty other young men during the war. Despite this, Peter helps to restore the theater, invigorate the town, and encourages Mayor Cole to display a memorial commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after the war that the town did not previously have the heart to display. Meanwhile, Peter's disappearance leads Congressional committee member Elvin Clyde to believe Peter is a Communist and he sends two Federal Agents to California to search for him.
Peter recovers from his amnesia when the Majestic shows Sand Pirates of the Sahara just as Harry suffers from a near-fatal heart attack before the reel change. Doc reports Harry's time is short and Peter cannot come to admit the truth allowing Harry to die believing he is Luke.
After the funeral, Peter admits the truth to Adele, who had already suspected it, and supports his decision to tell the rest of town. Before he can do so, Federal Agents Ellery and Saunders as well as Leo and some police officers arrive. When Sheriff Coleman asks if they need any help with anything, the Federal Agents give Peter a summons to appear before Congressional committee in Los Angeles. During their meeting, Leo advises Peter to agree to reveal a list of other named "communists" as to clear his own name. Peter has an argument with Adele over this decision and she gives him a letter she had gotten from Luke.
On the train station, Peter reads the letter which contains both Luke's awareness he might die in the war for a real cause, as well as a pocket-sized version of the U.S. Constitution. Peter changes his mind at the session which is watched by all of Lawson and confronts Congressman Doyle during the televised session. Peter gives an impassioned speech about American ideals, which sways the crowd and forces the lawmakers to let him go free. As Peter discusses the result with Kevin, he learns that the girl he met in college was the one that had named him to the committee.
Peter attempts to return to his former career, but finds he cannot deal with the ridiculousness of their ideas and leaves Hollywood. Peter instead returns to Lawson fearing an unwelcome reception. Instead, he receives a hero's welcome from the town's citizens who have come to respect him as an individual. Peter then resumes ownership and management of The Majestic, he gets married to Adele, and the two have a son together. | romantic, boring, flashback | train | wikipedia | I always felt he had a bright future ahead of him,as talented as the man is.I very much looked forward to the man's film career beginning, but sadly,at least for me anyway,his big screen efforts have left a lot to be desired.Most of Carrey's films have been ridden with oversexed dialog and toilet humor.Finally,a much more toned down Carrey gives me something to smile about.His efforts in The Majestic are simply amazing.
The slapstick humor is put aside,very delicately,and what we have is a very appealing fictional story,with Carrey making an excellent romantic and dramatic lead.If you go into the watching of this film looking for the outrageous hairdo of Ace Ventura,the hideous green mask,or anything of the like from his previous films,this will be a big disappointment to you,but if you go into it with an open mind about what he can accomplish dramatically,you will be most pleased.Things are looking up for Jim Carrey.Also,Martin Landau is great as always in a supporting role.Thumbs up!.
A film-writer accused of being a communist loses his memory in an auto accident and ends up in a small town where he is thought to be a missing-in-action World War II hero..
Jim Carey plays such a caring role and his relationship with Harry is so warm and believable.The way he gets the town to rally around the Majestic is fun and wonderful.
The story (a man with amnesia is seen as a long lost son in a small town) is not that special, but it has some nice things to avoid the bigger cliches.
Like most people I know, I've seen Jim Carey preform in movies where the writers expected him to have a warped sense of humor or outlook on life, or a zany personality - or both.
He is content to live surrounded by people who admire him, Luke's girlfriend Adele, and work in the Majestic movie theater, unaware that he has both another life and a government agency waiting to catch up to him.
What I ended up with was an absolute gem of a film, from the quietly emotional performance of Martin Landau to the very restrained yet brilliant portrayal offered by Jim Carrey, every actor was cast to perfection and as the film moves gently along it takes you on an ultimately uplifting journey.
I would recommend this film to anyone who is bored of the constant stream of action blockbusters or who has never seen Jim Carrey do anything other than gurn his way through a film, if only more of his performances were laced with the kind of down to earth humanity he shows in this picture our perception of him as an actor would be quite different, my only complaint is that it took me 8 years to find this film but all good things come to those who wait I suppose:-) Do yourselves a favour, find a copy of this film, open a bottle of wine and sit back with someone you care about and just let it wash over you like a soft breeze on a summers day..
Jim Carrey plays a writer who has all he needs,a good job he (thinks)loves,money,a relationship ( an honest one,he thinks!),good (he believes)social life and friends..and than-out of nowhere,he loses all of it.In his lucky case he suffered from amnesia.But he still went for love and real happiness instead of (like today's..)money and the illusion of happiness after he found out who he really is.
In their promotional ads on television, Jim Carrey said that he wanted to be a part of something special, that would leave you to walk out of the theater and feel better about life.
When I think back on the movie, the only thing that comes to mind, is 'Wow' and a smile.It is a beautiful film, and one that I will cherish, and as soon as possible, bring into my home as a permanent addition..
With a very slow-paced and a lengthy, this movie will simply not be enjoying by everyone, but to me this is - Very Good Movie.Set in 1950's, a screen writer Peter Appleton (Jim Carry) accused of being a communize and at the same time met with car accident which lead him no memory of himself before being mistaken as the long lost son of a man in the small town.The story follows Jim and how he built relationship with the town (He now thought that he is Luke, a local soldier missing 9 years ago in the wars) and his dad and girlfriend to rebuilt The Majestic, the movie theater; while the police are trying to hunt him as thought he was communize fugitive.This movie Jim makes it damn good and damn convincing as you have seen him in The Truman Show that you wouldn't see any comedy side of him in here.
Unlike some early reviewers, I wasn't surprised that Jim Carrey could do a dramatic role, as I'd seen a very early film of his, "Doin' Time on Maple Drive," as well as "The Truman Show" and "Man in the Moon." This film is directed by Frank Darabont, who has directed two wonderful films I've seen - The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption.
Luke's grief-stricken father Harry (Martin Landau), having not seen his son for some years, accepts Peter as Luke, and Peter believes that's his identity.The town is excited that Luke is back, and Harry decides to bring back his movie theater, the Majestic, to its former glory with Luke's help.
Jim Carrey is marvelous as an ambitious young man who finds his heart in Lawson; Martin Landau gives a magnificent performance as Harry, a man who finds a new lease on life.The Majestic stands as a symbol of a time when we walked into glamorous theaters to attend movies; when we sat wide-eyed in the dark; when films were more of a family affair; when life was more high touch than high tech; and when a person's principles and integrity were more important than anything else.
I never thought of Jim Carrey as a romantic actor, but I fell in love with him after seeing 'The Majestic,' I wish he would make more of this kind of movie.
I do enjoy films with an historical background, and I think 'The Majestic' introduces a new generation to the Hollywood Blacklist and the army-McCarthy hearings, which were aired on live TV when they were happening.
However, if you would like to see a warm, romantic Jim Carrey, you will love 'The Majestic.'.
His story has been filmed and is screening at the theatres, the love of the life is an actress casted in the movie, he has one more work in the pipeline, so everything seemed to be going for him.
Until he was accused of being a Communist by Congress, and his entire love and work life turns upside down.While on a drunken stupor, Peter meets with an accident, loses his memory and ends up in the small town of Lawson, California.
Perhaps it is this sequence of restoration running in parallel with the rekindling romance between Peter/Luke and Adele that is my favourite in this movie.But like a fairy tale, all good things must come to an end, and Peter/Luke eventually rediscovered who he was when he chanced upon his own movie being screened at The Majestic.
The Majestic was over looked in the theater, and that is a real shame because not too many movies deal with the kind of courage that it deals with broadly in this film.
Jim Carrey really Shows great dramatic chops, Martin Landau is great as always, and should have gotten an Oscar nomination for his role, and Laurie Holden gives a great performance and holds her own with the boys.
Some of the Shaw shank cast - e.g. James Whitmore (Brooks), 83 years old - have fine supporting roles, the Darabont fans will love this.And when you think the story is over, it actually just begins; Like in 'Mr Smith goes to Washington', Jim Carrey stands up for his rights, and thereby defies the jury that wants to burn him as a communist, as communists needed to be burned at that moment in time.As in all great Hollywood movies, happy endings are a must.
I was pleasantly surprised by Jim Carrey's performance and look forward to seeing him in more movies of this type.
If you want to see Rubberface goofing around making artless observations about bathroom habits then go watch Ace Ventura or The Mask, or something equally subhumorous...this is not the movie for you.Here, Carrey actually acts, and by the way, he's really good at it.
You feel the impact in the heart more than the head.In the best role of his career, Martin Landau takes one look at Jim Carrey, and sees his only son Luke, missing in action and presumed dead for 9 and a half years.
These scenes in their audacity make this movie, and in spite of all the heavy drama, there are a few very funny moments.The Majestic is the summa theologica of Frank Darabont, the man responsible for good films such as The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.
Most people that I suggest this film to usually come back with "Jim Carrey, I don't think so".
Jim Carrey simply shows the GREAT actor he is, it was about time he received roles and direction like this, he is among the greatest now.
Well, part of the problem is the fact that the Hollywood film makers still underestimate their audience.Ironically, the same throwing together of plots and story lines which is shown at the beginning and the end of The Majestic is precisely what has happened here: throw in a large dose of heart-felt drama, wonderful romance, characteristic characters with a heart of gold, a hero without unforgivable faults and the hook-handed odd one out who at the end belongs to the gold-hearted bunch after all.
But a lot of people liked the movie, so this has to be one of the best examples of how Americans excel in the art of brainwashing themselves.Unfortunately a good comedian; Jim Carrey; seems inclined to follow the path of other comedians such as Robin Williams, who went from being incredibly talented and funny comedians to being pathetically melodramatic actors.
The Truman Show and this, The Majestic, are excellent movies with terrific performances from Carrey.
While Kapraesque (is there such a word?) the film stands up as its own take on life and identity, while taking a swipe at the McCarthy era.Martin Landau gives his usual solid performance and the script and music are both great.
Jim Carrey did an outstanding job of showing what a diverse actor he is...and the rest of the cast made you feel like you have known them for years.I give "The Majestic" two thumbs up!Thank you!.
The conversation brought this movie to mind and, thanks to Netflix, now I can be satisfied - Jim Carrey is truly the actor I was hoping he is.
This slipped through the usual glut of Hollywood movies, but it has so many facets, so much to say, combined with a delightful story and a wonderful cast to fill it out.Most people expect certain things from the headliner of this story, Jim Carrey, who's made a career of physical comedy with such favorites as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask, but The Truman Show showed his true acting potential, giving a range that hasn't truly been seen yet.
Many agree that this might not be his best work but it certainly is up there.But while the lead actor is great in the role, Mr. Carrey couldn't have sold this if not for a story which, despite the time it's set in, still echoes in the present.
As Peter's would-be father Harry, Martin Landau brings the character to life, letting the viewer feel the pain Harry goes through, the joy when he thinks the son he lost in war has returned home, and the quiet peace in Harry's final scene.
Without the support of a great cast, The Majestic wouldn't have worked.In all, watch this once with an open mind and no preconceptions of the actors in it or the type of movie it is.
This is one movie I can never pass up watching, even though I know it by heart and have seen it hundreds of times already over the years.
I finally got to see this film tonight, long after its release, and as a big Jim Carrey fan, I was tremendously impressed with - and gratified by - his performance.
I think some people miss the point about this terrific movie, perhaps the best film I've seen Jim Carrey in.
The story could have lapsed into the banality we've seen before about a man who loses his memory, but what raises it above the average slop is the film's absolutely wonderful relationship between Carrey and Landau.
I enjoyed the film The Majestic, it created a good atmosphere of life in a small US town getting back on it's feet after World War 2 when many of it's young men were lost.The characters were well acted and typical of the time, with the Town Mayor, the Doctor, staff at the local Cafe/Diner.The restoration and the re-opening of the "Majestic" movie theater of the title will warm the hearts of lovers of picture palaces, although with TV coming along, (and shown in the film,) one wonders how long the Majestic survives after the film ends.The sub plot of the main character being suspected of communist activities bring back memories of how the US was so concerned about the communists at that time.Music is used a lot to create the atmosphere of 1951, although in one scene there is a dance to the music "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White", I thought this was released in the late 50's or early 60's, but I am probably wrong.The camera work was very acceptable with a lot of use made of shots where the characters are in the background but face the camera and just add to the effect of the scene.The sound was fine, and the stereo balance good, the voices coming from different speakers during a scene where the main character is recollecting events in his head comes over well.It's a nice light print with well balance color.
This was a great movie, carried to the top by mr Jim Carrey.
There was almost nothing about this movie that I liked, with one exception, which is the precise element that I believed beforehand might be problematic for me, that being Jim Carrey's performance.
Being a fan of the Shawshank Redemption, which I consider to be a fantastic movie, and of serious works with Jim Carrey, such as The Truman Show and Man on the moon, I put some high hopes on that one.
I absolutely love Jim Carrey as an actor, and generally I think he is good at picking his roles.
Overall a good film but much like "The Green Mile", "The Majestic" does not come close to the excellence of Darabont's "The Shawshank Redemption".
Jim Carrey wasn't bad, but it could've been better.This is from the director of Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile, which are two movies that I really enjoy.
Basically, I very much enjoyed this movie and would definitely recommend it, especially if you are a Jim Carrey fan..
No matter how many times I watch it, the movie still plays on my emotions.Although some people care little for Jim Carrey's comedy, I've always felt that his comedic talents were genuine.
Carrey's character, Peter Appleton is somewhat a mystery to the viewer and the story gives you a "what if" feeling throughout most of the movie that keeps you wondering which life is real.Especially since his passing, the great Martin Landau's performances in this movie will bring you to tears.
The result is a decent enough movie that will entertain (though not outright enthrall) audiences for the duration.For a basic plot summary, "The Majestic" tells the story of Peter Appleton (Carrey), a Hollywood writer run out of town by Red Scare McCarthyism.
Jim Carrey did a fantastic and believable job in his dramatic role as screenwriter Peter Appleton in this touching patriotic movie.
Perhaps the public did not believe that Jim Carrey could perform a movie role without being silly, comedic or vulgar.
If this is the first Jim Carrey film that you see, you would never know that he is a comedian.
He has just written his first film, he has a movie star of a girlfriend, and life is good.
Jim Carrey's 'father' played by Martin Landau is superb and the chemistry between them in the movie is very moving.
Jim Carrey proves he can be subtle and in this movie he really allows himself to open up and show a different heart felt side to him that's really inspired and moving.My only flaw is that at times it feels to mushy and the characters are to light hearted which is a little bit sickly sweet but this doesn't takeaway from the fact that this is a excellent, inspired film....
Every other movie staring Jim Carrey, no matter how serious, you could still see a little bit of Ace Ventura coming out.
Every other movie staring Jim Carrey, no matter how serious, you could still see a little bit of Ace Ventura coming out.
Peter Appleton (Jim) is a movie writer during the time of the communist witch-hunt and he gets black-listed, loses his memory and winds-up in this town in which he looks like a guy that was lost in the war.
Peter Appleton (Jim) is a movie writer during the time of the communist witch-hunt and he gets black-listed, loses his memory and winds-up in this town in which he looks like a guy that was lost in the war.
it's not the usual jim carrey movie (very little humor)... |
tt0114004 | Not of This Earth | As Cheryl is on her way home after making out with her boyfriend, she is accosted by a strange man who mentally immobilizes her, burns
out her eyes with his stare, and drains her blood with a transfusion
device that he keeps in a briefcase. The next morning, a strange man
dressed in black and wearing dark sunglasses, walks into the Durkee
Testing Laboratory and asks to see Dr Rochelle. Paul Johnson [Michael York] seems very weak and claims "my blood is ill." Nurse Amanda Sayles [Elizabeth Barondes] attempts to draw
some of his blood for lab tests, but Johnson refuses on the grounds that
he requires "input of blood, not depletion." When Dr Rochelle [Mason Adams] explains
that he can't treat him without a blood test, Mr Johnson cuts his own arm
with a scalpel, dabs up what little blood emerges with a cotton ball, and
hands it to Dr Rochelle. Johnson then directs the doctor mentally to
immediately do the tests himself and then to prescribe a transfusion.After receiving a quart of blood, Mr Johnson is feeling and looking
better. Deciding to employ Amanda as a live-in nurse who can give him
daily transfusions, he mentally orders Dr Rochelle to support Amanda's job
change. Rochelle obligingly diagnoses Johnson with a rare form of
hemophilia and advises Amanda to take the job. Amanda escorts Johnson to
his car, only to find her officer friend Jack Sherbourne [Parker Stevenson] in the process of
writing Johnson a ticket for parking in a handicapped spot. Amanda talks
Jack out of it on the chance that she will someday accept a date with him.Later that afternoon, Amanda moves into Mr Johnson's home, an
impressive and expensively-decorated mansion that he shares with only one
other person -- ex-con chauffeur/butler/gardener/nutritionist/cook, Jeremy
Pallin [Richard Belzer], whom Amanda immediately puts in his place. Johnson shows Amanda
around the house, the only place being off-limits is the basement where,
Jeremy explains, Johnson has a workshop or something. Actually, the
basement consists of a refrigerator where he stores his collected blood
samples and a blast furnace where he disposes of the occasional
doorbell-ringing evangelist after exsanguinating him. In Johnson's "rest
room" (bedroom) is where Amanda will "feed" him blood. It also contains a
hidden communicator that Johnson uses to contact his home planet of
Davanna. Johnson, or Sidal-2 as he is known on Davanna, has been sent to
Earth to seek human blood as a cure for a disease that is killing his
people. His mission is to find a cure and transmit human blood for
transfusions and research. If human blood proves to be suitable, the
ultimate goal is, of course, to take over the Earth.One day, as he is on his way to the library, Mr Johnson notices a
number of homeless people lined up along a fence. He instructs Jeremy to
invite three of them home for dinner that evening. As Johnson is leaving
the library, he notices a Davannan female from E-13 Brood crossing the
street. Surprised because he thought he was the only Davannan sent to
Earth, Johnson communicates telepathically and discovers that his
superiors have been lying to him. Back at the mansion, Amanda has been
sunning herself beside the pool. After returning to the house and feeling
hot and sweaty, she notices that the thermostat is set over 90 degrees F
and goes into the basement to check the furnace, which is blasting away.
Just as she makes note of the vast array of specimen jars on the shelves,
she hears a car in the driveway and goes back upstairs. Unfortunately, she
leaves her sunglasses on one of the shelves.Dr Rochelle and off-duty Officer Jack drive up, quickly followed by
Johnson and Jeremy. While Amanda and Jack share an iced drink and Amanda
finally consents to a date with Jack, Rochelle gives Johnson the results
of his lab tests. Johnson's blood contains an airborne virus that exists
on an extremely rare element found only in Johnson's blood. Rochelle
concludes that Johnson is one in a trillion or he is not of this earth. Mr
Johnson mentally instructs Rochelle to research the virus and find a cure,
even if it means not sleeping.That evening, while Amanda is away on her date with Jack, Jeremy
brings home three homeless people. Mr Johnson takes them in the basement
to see his "cellar for wine." He kills them with his glance, exsanguinates
them, and tosses their bodies into the furnace. He sends back their blood
during his next communique with Davanna. During this transmission, Johnson
is asked to send a human female for further investigation and analysis. He
is also warned of Davannan defectors and ordered to immediately terminate
them should he see one on Earth. When Johnson asks about his own brood on
Davanna, he is told that they have all perished.The next day, while walking down the street, Johnson is accosted by
four gang members demanding that he hand over his briefcase. Johnson
refuses and fights them off. One of the members is a girl, so he mentally
demands that she accompany him. That evening, he sends her through the
transporter to Davanna. The next morning after breakfast, Amanda asks
Jeremy about the food being eaten by Mr Johnson. Oddly enough, he eats
nothing and leaves only a glass filled with a dark, nasty-smelling liquid.
Amanda suggests that they have the liquid analyzed by Dr Rochelle. Jeremy
also tells her about seeing the three homeless people and a street girl
enter the house last night and swears that he never saw them leave. Where
did they go? she wonders. "I think he eats them," Jeremy concludes.Firm in his duty to serve the hive, Mr Johnson contacts E-13 mentally
and they meet in an antique store. E-13 [Athena Stensland] tells Johnson that the people on
Davanna are eating each other and that the leaders are consuming the blood
and specimens that Johnson has been sending them. When he sees that E-13
is weak and in need of blood, he takes her to the Durkee Lab for a secret
transfusion. Unfortunately, the unit of blood he selects is infected with
rabies. After the transfusion, Johnson gives E-13 a pile of money and then
goes off in search of another female specimen. He finds a woman and
mentally orders her into his car just as someone drives up and honks his
horn. The noise from the horn causes excruciating pain to Johnson's ears,
and he loses control of the woman, who tries to run away. Johnson follows
her and, using his eyes, causes her to burst into flames.Dr Rochelle joins Amanda and Jack at the restaurant where they are
having dinner. He brings along the analysis from the liquid that Amanda
gave him. Amino acids, proteins, hemoglobin, bile, and a bunch of
components he can't identify, a "crazy gastric bouillabaisse", he calls
it. Meanwhile, E-13 is getting sicker, throwing up black goop. She heads
back into the Durkee Lab and collapses on the floor. Dr Rochelle is
summoned, and he and Jack hurry to the Lab. In front of their eyes, they
watch E-13 turn black, convulse, and expire. Under her dark sunglasses,
which are the exact same type as Mr Johnson's, they see only white eyes.
Jack calls Amanda, who has just returned to Johnson's house, and tells her
about E-13. He orders her to get out of the house.Jeremy catches Amanda packing her bags and suggests that they first
take a look around the house, since Johnson is not there. They search his
bedroom, finding a strange, pulsing, spidery thing which Jeremy squashes
with his foot. Poking at some buttons on the wall, Amanda opens the
transporter or, as Jeremy calls it, the "intergalactic cable." Jeremy has
had enough and leaves the room, but Amanda continues to poke around. When
the phone rings, Amanda answers it. It is Dr Rochelle calling to tell her
about E-13. He also informs her that his work on the virus has shown that
it can be wiped out by exposing it to radiation. Unbeknown to both Amanda
and Rochelle, Mr Johnson has returned and is listening in on their
conversation. After Rochelle hangs up, Johnson tells Amanda that he's
coming for her.Amanda panics and tries to get out, but Johnson is already coming up
the stairs to his rest room. Jeremy appears with a gun and orders Johnson
to stop, but Johnson turns him into a fireball. Amanda races back into
Johnson's room and tries to hide in the closet but finds herself next to a
nasty blob that starts waving its tentacles at her. She runs out on the
terrace and down the steps into the yard. Johnson pursues, mentally
telling her to stop, turn around, and look at his eyes. Amanda keeps
running.Mr Johnson returns to his briefcase and summons a flying
stingray/jellyfish to destroy Dr Rochelle and all evidence of Johnson's
presence. Then he goes after Amanda, intending to return to Davanna with
her as his breeder. Together, they will use the cure and start a new hive.
Although she can hear Johnson in her mind calling to her, Amanda continues
to flee. She gets as far as Griffith Park and finds a telephone booth. She
calls Jack and asks for his help, but Johnson is bearing down on her in
his car. Amanda continues to run, and Johnson continues to follow. When he
catches up with her, he forces her to stop. He commands her to return to
the house and wait by the transportation device.Amanda begins to walk back to the house. Jack drives up on his
motorcycle and, seeing that she is okay, he goes after Johnson. Jack pulls
up alongside Johnson's car and fires a shot at him, causing Johnson to
drive off a cliff and the car to burst into flames. Amanda does as she is
told -- returns to the house, opens the transporter, and stands in front
of it. As Mr Johnson lies dying, he calls out Amanda's name and uses his
eyes to shut down the transporter.Epilogue: Amanda and Jack stand before Mr Johnson's grave. It reads:
Here lies a being who was not of this earth. As they walk away from the
grave, another man wearing sunglasses and carrying a briefcase gets out of
a car and approaches the grave. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.] | cult | train | imdb | Intentionally cheezy is fun but it isn't that fun. I think the makers of this movie want you to heckle it. It's definitely obvious that the cheese was intentional but more importantly it's real MSTable material With some hilariously bad scenes. Roger Corman is the king of Cheese flicks and this is proof. Just make sure you have a friend to heckle this with when you watch it.. Excellent flick! Roger Corman rules.. Excellent flick! Roger Corman rules. This movie would be one of those "Read between the lines". Michael York plays the perfect alien. He does such a good job, he sort of makes you think he's an alien in real life, for those who believe in that sorta thing. What's odd is I was captivated by this movie the minute it came on. I wasn't expecting much, which made it even better watching. Without spoiling it for folks, there are several scenes to pay attention to that I would say compare to real life, for those who believe in the world of alien phenomena. Michael York makes this whole movie for me, special effects may be a little cheesy, but the actual story line is pretty good.. Not of This Earth. In this second remake of Roger Corman's '57 sci-fi classic, Michael York inhabits the role of Mr. Johnson, an alien sent to earth to send blood extracted from humans in the hopes of finding a cure for a dying race back home dying because of a virus sweeping their people. Johnson has hypnotic powers that force humans to do his will. He commands Dr. Rochelle(Mason Adams) to work on finding a cure while he hire nurse Amanda(Liz Barondes)to provide blood transfusions to keep him alive. He daily communicates with his leader, through the form of a blob monster whose tentacles work as a message link between Johnson and the boss. There's a method of travel, a type of wormhole which opens when Johnson needs to send "specimens" to his planet for "proper study" in his bedroom. He also has little creatures his digests inside this giant monstrous mouth in his stomach, for food. He wears sunglasses because his eyes always glow bright. He's a lousy driver so he pays a wise-cracking crook(..the always entertainingly witty Richard Belzer)as a chauffeur and butler. Parker Stevenson is the cop whose nose sniffs something fishy regarding Johnson and doggedly pursues Amanda..can't blame him for that, because Amanda is quite a tasty dish worth pursuing. Johnson's method of selecting human victims, burning their eyes before taking their blood leaving a shrivelled corpse, leaves a trail of bodies making him one of the worst serial killers. Johnson wishes to select the "waste"/dregs of society to supply his planet and Rochelle, but soon his ways will lead to his obvious downfall. There's also a sub-plot regarding an alien woman(Julia McNeal)who has departed from Johnson's planet with news as to what their government is actually doing with what is sent to them. Her tragic demise will yield a domino effect that Johnson will have trouble evading as he develops specific plans for Amanda hoping to renew life on his dying world.There are quite a many similirarities to the 1988 film, although this one is a bit wittier with a more polished screenplay, even often containing some thought-provoking dialogue(..such as when Johnson questions whether or not the virus, like AIDS, is a way of nature returning to humans what we ourselves have done to our own planet). There are more monsters in this one and the cast is more colorful with the humor more witty eliciting more chuckles. York plays the alien as straight as Arthur Roberts does in the 1988 film, but thanks to a bit more budget is given more of a chance to play off the "fish out of water" theme of an alien encountering us interesting humans. The way York apologizes before murdering the first female victim. There's no emotion attached to him(..well as far as extracting blood from us, obviously there's a deep care for his own "brood", as the tear that trickles down his cheek at the misfortunate of such devastation would suggest)in doing away with any earthling that comes between him and the collection for his people. While I found Lords incredibly sexy in the 1988 film, Barondes is so full of vibrant life, not to mention, she's incredibly charming, engaging, and just plain lovable(..not to mention she has a pair of legs to die for)that she succeeds in certain ways the former fails. The 1995 film, however, has a rather weak finale, which pretty much duplicates the '88 film..there's not much to differentiate the two. I think fans of the '88 film will enjoy this one, for the extra effort injected into it. Probably many's favorite scene will be the fate of a door-to-door Christian spreading the word, who happens to enter the wrong home when intruding on Johnson. I think one difference between this and the '88 film is Wynorski's low-brow sleaziness, which has it's own charm which fans come to expect(..and, perhaps even admire).. If you want to see a movie real bad.......... This lame remake does not compare to the atmospheric original. Never thought I would say this, but Michael York is no Paul Birch. His silly attempt to imitate Jeff Bridges effort in Starman is ludicrous. The inconsistency of his mental powers and the truly silly projection of fire balls from his eyes: Really!! The entire sequence with the "woman" from his home planet is really dumb. Why does he keep telling people/things to meet him at his house, expecting them to get there on their own, when he is going there and could take them along with him? Did they hold an audition for actresses with really skinny legs to play the nurse? Poor Mason Adams just seems at a loss as to how to act or maybe he just is not interested in this material. It also looks like they ran out of money one-third of the way through this, especially the doctor's office and "lab". This movie does not have a terrible idea behind it but it is worked out very badly and I cannot believe anyone thinks it is better than the 1957 original. |
tt2528814 | God's Not Dead | AP History teacher Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart), a devout evangelical Christian, notices that one of her students, Brooke Thawley (Hayley Orrantia), is withdrawn following the recent accidental death of her brother. Involved in little more than her studies, Brooke notices Grace's hope-filled attitude, and asks where Grace finds her optimism. Grace replies "Jesus", and Brooke begins to read the Bible for herself. As Grace lectures on Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., Brooke asks whether their peaceful teachings relate to the biblical account of the Sermon on the Mount. Grace responds in the affirmative, and relates parts of scripture to his teachings. One student immediately texts his parents about the class, and the ensuing backlash draws the ire of Principal Kinney (Robin Givens). She reprimands Grace, saying that the teacher's faith clouded her judgment. Grace is subsequently brought before the School Board, who inform her that legal action will be taken against her as she has violated the separation of church and state. Grace's case draws the attention of Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe), a young defense attorney who is willing to aid her despite being an unbeliever himself.
After speaking to his friend Josh, Martin Yip, a college student, visits Pastor David Hill (David A. R. White) to ask him several questions about God. Former left-wing blogger Amy Ryan goes to the hospital to check in on her cancer, only to find that it has miraculously vanished. She talks to Michael Tait of the Newsboys, who encourages her, stating that with faith, prayers can be answered. Amy ponders this, and later makes her blog a diary about her adventures with God.
The School Board brings Grace's case before a judge in Little Rock, Arkansas, hoping to secure her termination and strip her of her teaching license unless she issues an apology, which Grace refuses to do. To Brooke's horror, ACLU prosecutor Pete Kane (Ray Wise) declares that the lawsuit will "prove once and for all that God is dead". His opening argument suggests that the society of the United States will crumble should Grace fail to be found guilty. Endler responds by stating that Grace was simply doing her job, and that the law separating church and state was written by Thomas Jefferson in an effort to protect the church, not persecute it. Kane builds a strong case against Brooke by bringing forward witnesses such as Kinney and Brooke's parents, prompting Endler to rethink their defense. Meanwhile Brooke stands in solidarity with her friends against Kinney. The defense is dealt another blow when their key juror, David, becomes ill. Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace is called as an expert witness, arguing that it is illogical to think that the gospel was a conspiracy because despite facing persecution and death, none of the Apostles ever retracted the accounts of seeing the risen Jesus. Kane is floored to learn that Wallace was formerly an atheist who was converted to Christianity.
Amy encourages Brooke to follow her heart, despite what others are making her do. Martin is surprised to find his father in his college dorm. Mr. Yip angrily rebukes Martin for following God despite the family's sacrifices. Martin refuses to deny God, and Mr. Yip disowns him, then leaves. A heartbroken Martin goes to the church, where he finds Brooke. They talk about God, and Martin eventually brings Brooke to God. Later, Brooke sets up a protest to support Grace.
Brooke is allowed as a witness. Kane is able to trick her into admitting that it was Grace and not Brooke who initiated their first conversation about Jesus. As Grace becomes more and more discouraged, Brooke and her friends sing her a song in an attempt to build up her spirits. Martin visits David in the hospital with his friend Paul, and announces that he feels his call is as a pastor in China. Using a tactic to position Grace as a hostile witness, Endler gets the judge to inform the jury not to let their bias or prejudices interfere with their verdict. The jury ultimately finds in favor of Grace, who rejoices along with Brooke and Endler as Kane stands humiliated.
In a post-credits scene, a fully recovered David returns to church with Paul, only to then be arrested for refusing to turn in his sermons to the government, (shown earlier in the film). Paul and Martin watch as David is taken away. Then, Martin wonders what to do next, and Paul replies that the best they can do is wait, and pray. | romantic, intrigue, philosophical | train | wikipedia | I'm a conservative evangelical Christian (a Calvinist in fact), and I am not exactly proud of this movie.At times, it was actually kind of entertaining - mostly because of the laughably bad writing, but near the end there actually were some dramatic moments that affected me.
And to be honest, it doesn't reflect very well on believers.I think that the entire thing is supposed to teach Christians how to use apologetics to evangelize, but if that's what it's trying to do, don't expect a huge influx of converts anytime soon.
The entire movie seems VERY caught up in how stupid, evil and bad non- Christians and atheists are, without stopping for one minute to recognize that HUMILITY is one of the key virtues of our faith.
In truth, Christians are literally NO better than other people, and whatever difference exists in our life is not because we're smarter or more moral - it's because of Christ and Christ alone.This movie is nothing more than an amalgamation of clichés and stereotypes that us Christians unfortunately have.
It's almost like this movie was made Christians who knew absolutely nothing about their own faith and of other beliefs.
Josh wears a cross around his neck.Anyone desiring to watch this movie will know from the hype around it or basic plot summary this film uses a linear Christian vs.
I frequently find myself upset with the scripted circular- logic sentiments offered by the common atheist (as well as those from the average self-identifying Christian).And furthermore, I found it quite ironic that the person they chose to represent a "God-hating atheist" is Kevin Sorbo, whose career was largely spent as Hercules.
Not in the way that the producers probably intended, but I thought it was entertaining.Of course this movie is complete hogwash with conversations in the script that would never ever happen in real life.
The biggest problem that I had with the movie is that it seems to make Christianity sound like the best religion by having all of the atheists and people of other religions in the movie seems like total jerks or have something bad happen to them.
At the end of the movie, they also showed a message telling the audience to send 'God's not dead' to all of the contacts in their phone.
I would recommend this movie to any Christians, who firmly believe in their faith, but for people of other religions, I would stay away from it..
I have watched non-Christian movie and TV content at the urging of friends; they don't demand it, and then crow about how this "proves" that faith and Christianity and God are wrong or nonexistent.
Every time I encounter this tidbit of Christian exclusivity, I want scream, "What about God's grace?" I'm sorry that I couldn't give this movie a rating of minus 10 stars!!!.
I have read reviews about the non Christian characters in the movie as being portrayed poorly.
The college student in this film, did an excellent job of bringing to light that philosophers are not the know-all figures (held in grandeur) but our society believes in what they say, because they are educated people.
I went to support the movie but expecting the same old lame and wooden 'Christian' movie experience, but came away very impressed with all aspects.A little pointed, of course, but not far off what kids would face in today's university at times.
Nice that the 'artistic license' is on the other foot for one time (in movies/TV/etc)...and just listen to the howls (see other reviews here).The flow and point of the movie wasn't actually heavy-handed (sensitive raw nerves excluded), but went to the point of Christianity and the God-given right of freewill, along the way refuting the sophomoric-yet-ultimate 'show-stopper' argument of moralistic-atheists, 'How can a God who is (considered) good allow bad?'.Overall, accomplishes the point of any good movie...
In God's Not Dead, for example, we see a university coed raised Muslim converting to Christianity, and, while her father is violent in his reaction to learning of his daughter's conversion, both before that scene and at the end of that scene, we see a human dad sincerely striving to raise his children as best he can and his genuine disappointment over his daughter's loss of the faith of her upbringing.
In other words, for this female character, her Christianity was as external as her overly thick makeup.And many of the other characters were not left at the superficial level, we actually found out what made them tick, what drove them to be the way they are.The classroom discussions over the existence of God can spur viewers, no matter their beliefs, to investigate for themselves and perhaps be less afraid of opposing viewpoints.All that said, the movie's makers couldn't help themselves in forcing piecing of the puzzle by going to the evangelical Protestant "Come to Jesus" solution in unrealistic settings that stretch the imagination.
I've concluded that most viewers are over-rating or under-rating the movie, depending on their perspective on God. As a Christian, of course my friend and I had an appreciation for the subject matter, but as movie-lovers we also enjoyed the film..
The movie is about whether on not God is real, not about Muslim's reaction to Christianity.
No "AHA!" moment, but a lot to think about.I thought the local pastor's character was a bit weak, and appreciated the balance of "poor" Christianity provided by the student's girlfriend.The end seemed a bit confused and weak.LOVED seeing LSU!!
If you have friends or acquaintances who are professors, just ask them!I especially liked that this movie raises the scary question of the existence of evil (cancer, suffering, natural disasters, criminal activity, etc.,) in the world.
The movie points out that most people mistakenly think these things are "acts of God," which makes no sense.
Is God Real?This is not a Christian movie per se since it presents a discussion in a secular context and invites the audience to ask themselves and to think for themselves based on well known and published works.I'd just ask viewers to ask themselves - how does this movie make you feel?
If you're an Atheist, Agnostic or follower of a faith other than Christianity and have an emotional response - like many of the reviews posted - i'd just ask - why are you getting emotional?
If Jesus wasn't real, the Bible wasn't true, and God was dead then unbelievers and atheist would not be so offended.The movie was very well made and for those on here who claim to be Christians, my question is this?
Just curious because if you have then you are very well aware of the majority of scenario's in the movie are very real life for people in touch with reality.The very fact that Christian values are under attack or trying to be suppressed to practice in your home or Church only should be eye opening.The very fact that you running a Christian based business made it to the supreme court shows the hatred for our First Amendment rights.Take time and read your Bible and look at the public witness Jesus displayed.
Sure, some subplots are weird and some characters are stereotypical, but for a Christian viewer, they will certainly remind them of someone they met in the real world.Most of the negative reviews are biased and hateful.
God's Not Dead is the inspirational story of how much one person standing up for their Christian faith can impact family, friends, and their surrounding community.
It seems like people saw the title of the movie and went to watch it just to see how bad it'd be.
Obviously the script/acting/whatever wasn't anything special, but it was watchable for sure, and I actually enjoyed the positive energy displayed in the film, and the positive message.I've met a lot of Christians in real life, and I have to admit, they're some of the nicest people around.
If Christian films are bringing movies with good messages in them, then why put them down?
Sure there are Christians who are bad, that use religion just for money, but there are people like that all over the world and in every religion.
I encourage people of all backgrounds to attend the movie and allow themselves to acknowledge the benevolence of God and the privilege of living in the "free world".
I have read some reviews that described the movie as "offensive", I tell those who wrote that, that the most offensive thing about this movie is that it will be forbidden in over 80% of the world countries, along with other current movies like "Noah", "Son of God" and "Heaven is for real.
This movie probably will not appeal to non-Christians,ie atheists and the like.
I've been having what some call a crisis of faith for several years now, and I think I finally figured out that maybe the problem wasn't that I was trying to rediscover my faith, but perhaps it was that I was trying to find out why I quit believing in God. More and more, I've been drawn to an Atheist view, and was hoping that maybe this movie would help me firm up my stance on Atheism.I went into the experience knowing that it was likely to be tilted in the other direction, but was curious what arguments would be made.
I will let you see the film God's Not Dead for yourself but my wife and I really enjoyed the movie.
this is a must see for all, I know all atheist do not act this way but some of them do they feel the same way the Professor does I am a Christian and I will stand up for God just the way the student did he did not make the class choose God he let them make their own choice by proving that God's Not Dead.
He does a very good job proving his point and goes against his family and his Girlfriend to prove what he feels he needs to, he is impelled by God to prove that there is a God and that people should have a choice to believe the way they want to.
Thankfully, as word got out, the university apologized for the whole assignment.I can tell you I have met in my life people exactly like the characters in this film and although the interconnectedness of the principals is stretched, I believe that as a plot tool it works.
As a Christian it is wonderful to see a Salvation message in a mainstream, in regular theater , movie.It is well worth taking the time to see this film..
An atheist cannot possible write a fair review on a Christian movie.
Do not let the atheists or unbelievers keep you from this very moving Christian experience, its one for God in this movie and you won't regret it.
Movie is excellent, give us a wonderful message about the existence of God. In difficult times like now, thats what we really need to watch and feed our spirit with something that really fulfill our soul, not the garbage the is been around us!
The "point" of this movie is to speak out to the world that God is not dead and to "stand up" for what you believe so yes it shows each type of persecution towards believers with the dad and the professor and so on but it isn't saying all unbelievers are that way, That was the point of the movie, to show specific things that are really going on today if you choose to stand and say I believe in Jesus Christ.
The film really paints everything with a black and white brush and makes assumptions about atheists - AND people from other faiths and countries - that cause much of the criticism of the Christian community in the first place.
The in-class debate part of the film was interesting, but I believe professor Raddison when he said they did not have pre-law at the university, because just about every action he took was completely illegal, from threatening his students with failing grades or at least greatly enhanced workloads if they did not write down "God is dead" on a piece of paper and sign it, to confronting and taunting the student Josh when he began to get his goat.Josh makes a big deal during his portion of the debate about God allowing free will to reign on earth and that being the reason for all of the evil, and then the plot goes on to disprove exactly that by implying divine destruction of the ignition capabilities of every car that two random missionaries on their way to Disneyland touch (in one of many sideplots) so that they can be at a particular place at a crucial time.
God's Not Dead is not one of those movies.I took some of my youth leaders and youth group to see this movie (they bought their own ticket, the church didn't buy them and hand them out to the youth, like what members of the media think happens for Christian films.
I don't believe the movie creators were trying to portray the message that ALL atheists are like the characters in the movie; however, because strong Christians are a minority, there are atheists out there who will put God down in front of a class full of students.
This teacher she has at school is trying to make her class believe that there is no God. It's really encouraging seeing a movie where Christians prove God's existence with success.
If you are going to approach the story in a different perspective, you would probably not gonna like the movie since you have your own personal point of view in life.If you came from a different culture then there is a high chance that you would probably get offended even if you can not admit it directly to yourself since there are some scene that is quite disturbing if you don't have an open mind about things and stuff.The most important thing you need to know about this movie is its worth watching and its worth your time.
We went with several people some of whom are Christians and some who were not and everyone enjoyed the movie and what they got out of it.
I wasn't expecting an academy award winning movie, nor a deeply intellectual exploration of Christian apologetics countered by a balanced and equally effective anti-God perspective that would leave the viewer wondering what they should believe.
If you are a believer or have questions about God, its a great movie.
For a long time Christians have been told that if they don't like something on TV or in the Movies that they shouldn't go.
A liberal, atheist, or person who chooses to not believe in God berate, belittle, bully, and vilify Christianity or make rude, demeaning comments about followers of Christ in the media and through film or written word.
A well made movie that will make people rethink there views on whether God exists or not.
I have seen many negative reviews calling this movie propaganda, and how it makes atheists look bad.
To be honest, I've never seen a Christian film with good acting, nonetheless this is how I feel about the film: I noticed a lot of people said it was awful how the non-Christians were over the top jerks and the Christians in this movie were perfect.
This film did a great job outlining some of the major questions that "good people" have when it comes to Christianity and answering these questions.
Such as, if God is real why do horrible people live such good lives (as outlined by Dean Cain's character); how sometimes the most aggressive anti-theistic people are desperately seeking answers, and sometimes it takes a drastic life altering event to bring them to terms with this.The girlfriend of the main character was a good depiction of people who claim the faith but don't really live the faith.There were a few Luke-warm Christians in this film, so in no way did it depict Christians as being perfect.To the gentleman who said professors and University systems are not like this, I beg to differ.
If you are a Christian or a non believer this movie is a must see.
Good Christian movies have a way of striking a chord with those who are in tune with the message and is deemed "offensive" by those who don't understand a deep relationship with God. The main character Josh displays courage and the conviction to take on what is perceived to be an unpopular view of defending the existence of God. I found the movie to be realistic to todays culture as he defends what he believes and takes abuse from the "tolerant" secular world.
It is not just your normal christen movie it is different in a good way i never wanted it to end and i hope you think the something like i did.
If you have a friend that does not believe in God or doubts his existence this is the movie to watch!
Hollywood needs to take note...that people want to see movies like this.
But this movie ...I mean, to depict God as someone who needs to be defended, to depict Christians as perfect people, and to generalize all atheists as bigots ...just doesn't make any sense from a biblical perspective.
Christian movies seem to follow the pattern of having a non-believer, or someone from a different religion.
So the message of the movie ends up being "It's ok to believe what you want, and shove those beliefs down people's throats, but only if you're a Christian.
If you don't believe in GOD or Jesus then don't waste your time and see good clean movies like this one.
You just look stupid explaining why movies like this are so bad just because we believe in a Loving Creator. |
tt0758766 | Music and Lyrics | As one of the founding members of the band PoP!, former pop star Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) enjoyed considerable fame and success during the 1980s and early 1990s. Fifteen years after PoP! disbanded, Fletcher is a self-acknowledged has-been, reprising his 1980s hits for audiences of his now middle-aged fans. After years of performing in increasingly humiliating venues (such as high school reunions and theme parks), a chance to recapture some of his former stardom arrives when mainstream pop singer Cora Corman (Haley Bennet) asks him to write a duet for her to be called "Way Back Into Love". To Alex's dismay, however, he has only a few days to compose the song. Furthermore, he hasn't written anything in ten years, and even with PoP!, he usually only wrote the melodies, not the lyrics. His manager (Brad Garrett) helps him to search for a lyricist, without much luck.Alex meets former creative writing student reeling from a disastrous romance Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) when she comes to his house to water his plants. Sophie is also a writer with little confidence in her abilities. While Alex and a hired lyricist try to come up with lyrics, Sophie comes up with words to herself while watering the plants. Alex requests Sophie's assistance on the song, and although she initially declines, after a series of conversations with him, she agrees to collaborate. There are signs of a budding romance as the two write the song, which they finish in three days. Meanwhile, Sophie runs into her ex-lover Sloan Cates, who wrote a very insulting book about her, and whom Alex assists Sophie in trying to confront, after which they go back to Alex's house and make love under the piano.All seems well when Cora likes the song and decides to perform it and put it on her next album. However, she adds a highly sexualized "steamy and sticky" Indian-themed vibe that clashes with the spirit of Alex and Sophie's work. Sophie is determined to talk Cora out of the addition, only to find Alex vetoing her efforts for fear he'll lose the chance to work with Cora and finally revive his career. In the ensuing argument, Alex reveals a deep pessimism regarding the music business, admitting that Cora's addition is awful but viewing it as the cost of doing business. Scandalized by Alex's willingness to demean his talent and hurt by his argument that she is refusing to live in the real world, Sophie leaves him.Cora invites Alex and Sophie to the premiere of her new tour, at which she and Alex are due to premiere "Way Back Into Love." However, to Sophie's surprise, Cora announces "a new song by Alex Fletcher", and Sophie begins to leave, under the impression that Alex stripped her of her songwriting credit. Instead Alex performs an entirely new song ("Don't Write Me Off") written by himself about his and Sophie's relationship, despite his admitted incapability of writing lyrics. Backstage, Alex tells Sophie that he convinced Cora to remove the risqué Indian-theme music of "Way Back Into Love" as an attempt to win her back. The original version of the song is performed by Alex and Cora, after which Alex and Sophie kiss backstage. | whimsical, romantic, comedy | train | imdb | null |
tt0104257 | A Few Good Men | Late one evening, at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, two Marines, Private First Class Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Lance Corporal Harold Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison) are arrested for assaulting and killing a fellow Marine of their unit, PFC William Santiago (Michael DeLorenzo).At first it is assumed that they attacked Santiago because he reported Dawson to the Naval Investigative Service (NIS) for illegally firing his gun at a guard on the Cuban side of the island. However, Naval investigator and lawyer Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway (Demi Moore) suspects that Dawson and Downey, who were otherwise exemplary marines, were carrying out a "Code Red", an unofficial act of discipline in which soldiers are submitted to methods akin to bullying in order to get them to improve their performance, toe the line or follow procedure. Santiago compared unfavorably to his fellow Marines, being clumsy and lagging behind on exercises and was socially ostracized. He denounced Dawson in an attempt to be transferred away from Guantanamo.Dawson and Downey are taken to a military prison in Washington D.C. to await trial. Galloway requests to defend them but the case is given to Lieutenant Junior Grade Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise), an inexperienced U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps lawyer. Kaffee has a reputation for arranging plea bargains and has never even argued a case in a court room, which gives him time to devote himself to his passion for softball. It is indicated that he has a psychological fear about having to match up to his late father, Lionel Kaffee, a leading attorney, who is regarded as one of the great trial lawyers of recent times. Galloway manages to get herself appointed as Downey's lawyer, thus playing a part in the proceedings. The third member of the defense team is Kaffee's friend Lt. Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollak).Kaffee meets with the defendants and finds that they are of the strictest type of Marines - those that serve in a "forward area" (on the line between their country and an enemy country) and are required to take their duties very seriously. Dawson is tough and authoritative and believes in honor and duty. Downey, a simple-minded young man and an archetypal village idiot, is guided solely by his devotion to being a Marine and his dedication to his superior, namely Dawson.Kaffee, Weinberg and Galloway go to Guantanamo Bay to examine the crime scene. They also meet the base commander, Col. Nathan R. Jessup (Jack Nicholson), his executive officer, Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson (J.T. Walsh) and Santiago's commanding officer, Lt. Jonathan Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland). Pressed by Galloway, Jessup denies that Code Reds, which are against military guidelines, are actually encouraged but makes little secret of the fact that he sees them as a good way of enforcing discipline, especially on the front line. Jessup also tells them that he arranged for Santiago to leave the base for his own safety once his denouncing of Dawson became known but that he died before he could leave.When the defense team returns to Washington D.C., they learn that Markinson has gone AWOL and is unlikely to be found since he is a veteran intelligence operative who can cover his tracks.Hours before Santiago's death, Kendrick assembled his men and told them that they were not to touch him. However Dawson and Downey now tell Kaffee and Galloway that Kendrick subsequently went to their room and ordered a Code Red on Santiago. They never intended to kill him, just to shave his head in order to teach him a lesson, but he died as a result of a rag being shoved into his mouth as a gag.The prosecution is led by Marine Captain Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon) who is a friend of Kaffee's. Ross makes no secret of the fact that he has been given a lot of leeway by his superiors to close the case. Colonel Jessup is expected to take up an important post with the National Security Council (NSC) and this could be put in jeopardy due to the Santiago affair. In fact, Kaffee may have been appointed specifically because of his reputation for plea-bargains and the hope that the case would never make it to court. Ross offers a deal which will see Dawson and Downey serving just six months in prison. When Kaffee puts this to the defendants, however, Dawson regards such a move as cowardly and dishonorable and rejects it. He believes that he was doing his job and obeying orders and wants to make this point in court even if he and Downey end up serving a life sentence. Seeing Kaffee as nothing more than a coward for making the deal and trying to avoid fighting the case, Dawson fails to salute him when he leaves the room.Failing to understand Dawson's stubbornness, Kaffee at first decides to resign from the case, but after thinking things through he agrees to go ahead. He, Galloway and Weinberg work flat out preparing their defense, which involves weeks of intensive research, discussions, planning and rehearsals. However, on the eve of the trial, Kaffee concludes that "We're gonna get creamed!"The court-martial begins. During the cross-examination of other Marines from Guantanamo, it is established that Code Reds are standard at the base as a means of getting sloppy recruits to follow procedure, such as taking proper care of accommodation and equipment or completing exercises successfully. Santiago was clearly not up to doing any of these and yet was not subjected to a Code Red until the evening of his death. Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes (Noah Wyle), who has also been a victim of a Code Red, claims that Dawson would not have allowed it.In his post-mortem report, the base physician, Dr. Stone (Christopher Guest), stated that Santiago died as a result of poisons on the rag used to gag him. These caused a condition called lactic acidosis which led to his death. However, Kaffee gets Stone to admit that lactic acidosis could also be caused by other symptoms such as heat exhaustion caused by strenuous exercise. Kaffee then produces a report by Stone after a routine examination of Santiago when he was still alive. It indicates that Santiago had respiratory stress and was supposed to be exempted from such exercises for a while. The fact that he was not exempted means that he could have died of heat exhaustion even if the rag was perfectly clean but that Stone had to cover-up his negligence.Kaffee's effectiveness as a lawyer strengthens as the trial progresses and he proves to be a tough and clever cross-examiner, impressing even Galloway by the way he handles the proceedings. However, he is under little illusion that his clients are unlikely to be let off. They have never denied assaulting Santiago so the best Kaffee can do is persuade the jury that they did not intend to kill him and that they were acting under orders from Lt. Kendrick.While cross-examining Kendrick, Kaffee confronts him over the fact that he denied Dawson a promotion after the latter helped out a fellow Marine who had been denied food for several days for stealing liquor from the officers' mess. Under oath, Kendrick denies ever ordering Dawson and Downey to inflict a Code Red on Santiago.Lieutenant-Colonel Markinson, Jessup's executive officer, who has gone AWOL since the incident, resurfaces in Kaffee's car half-way through the trial. When Kaffee was in Cuba, Jessup told him that Santiago was due to be transferred off the base for his own safety but Markinson now reveals that that was a lie and that transfer orders were created as part of a cover-up long after Santiago's death. Jessup wanted Santiago to stay on the base in order to be "trained".A flashback scene shows a meeting between Jessup, Markinson and Kendrick, set on the morning prior to Santiago's death. Jessup was annoyed at the fact that Santiago went above the chain of command when reporting Dawson to the NIS for shooting at the Cuban guard and was not up to doing the tough exercises required at the base. Markinson advocated that Santiago be transferred immediately for safety reasons - the other marines would take revenge for his snitching on Dawson - but Jessup vehemently refused on the grounds that this would set a bad precedent which could weaken their defenses and cost lives. He even made a grand show of suggesting that sending Santiago back would mean that every other marine on the base would also be sent back to the States. He decided that officers have a responsibility to ensure that all personnel are trained appropriately and that Santiago should stay for "training". Jessup ordered Kendrick to ensure that Santiago show significant improvement on the next evaluation report or he would be held personally responsible. When Markinson objected, Jessup berated and demeaned him for questioning his decisions in front of Kendrick, a junior officer, and even implied that Markinson did it out of jealousy for the fact that, although they graduated in the same year and had similar careers, Jessup still outranked him.Back in the present, Markinson also states that Santiago could have left the base in a plane on the evening of his death, rather than the following day as Jessup had claimed. Kaffee is unable to find evidence of the earlier flight in the log book from the Guantanamo airfield. Markinson believes that Jessup has been covering his tracks.Back in court, evidence comes up which questions whether Kendrick ordered Dawson and Downey to carry out the Code Red, something the defense has always taken for granted. It now emerges that Downey was on guard duty and not in the barracks at the time when Kendrick supposedly gave the order to Dawson. Thus it is the word of Dawson, who had a personal grievance towards Santiago, against that of Kendrick, a highly-decorated, God-fearing officer.Kaffee wants Markinson to testify but rather than publicly dishonor himself and the Marine Corps, Markinson sends a letter to Santiago's parents, blaming his own weakness for the loss of their son, dresses in full dress uniform and commits suicide.Without Markinson's crucial testimony, Kaffee believes that the case is lost and gets drunk. Galloway tries to convince him to summon Jessup to court and confront him. She believes that Jessup ordered the Code Red and that they have to get him to admit it. There is no evidence for this whatsoever and falsely accusing a superior officer of such a felony could result in Kaffee himself facing a court-martial which will ruin his career.After Galloway storms out, Kaffee reflects on his late father with Weinberg. Weinberg admits that, with the evidence they have, Kaffee's father would never try to blame Jessup, but also says he would rather have the younger Kaffee as lawyer for Dawson and Downey any day. Weinberg pushes his friend to consider if it is he or Lionel Kaffee who is handling the case and Daniel Kaffee finally decides to put Jessup on the stand.Jessup is summoned to court. Just as Kaffee is about to start his cross-examination, Weinberg arrives with two Airmen from the Andrews Air Force Base which Jessup does not fail to notice. Kaffee initially gets Jessup to confirm that he had arranged for Santiago to be transferred off the base for his own safety and that the earliest flight was in the morning following his death.Kaffe then questions him over his travel habits. Jessup admits packing sets of clothes, including civilian and military, and various other items. He also admits phoning several friends and relatives in order to meet them while in Washington.Kaffee then points out that Santiago did none of these things! At the time of his death his clothes were unpacked and still hanging in his closet and, after spending months in desperate and vain attempts to get a transfer, he did not contact anyone or make arrangements to be picked up at the airport.Kaffee is hoping to show that the transfer order was phony. However Jessup successfully outsmarts him by saying that he cannot speculate on Santiago's habits and he especially belittles Kaffee for pinning his clients' defense on a phone bill. Kaffee is struck dumb by this setback and Jessup is about to leave with a triumphant smug when the young man demands that he be reseated.Kaffee now asks if Jessup ordered Kendrick to tell the men not to touch Santiago. Jessup confirms this and reconfirms that Santiago was to be transferred in case the men attacked him. Kaffee asks if Kendrick or the men may have questioned the order and decided to take matters into their own hands! Jessup angrily rejects this stating that as front-line troops his men have to obey orders at all times without question! At this moment, Kaffee points out that if Jessup's orders are always obeyed then there was no reason to transfer Santiago at all!Momentarily stunned, Jessup tries to come up with alternative explanations for Santiago's transfer which are torpedoed by Kaffee who demands to be told the truth, at which point Jessup explodes: "You can't handle the truth!"Because he defends his country, Colonel Jessup does not see why Kaffee, who has never been on the front line, should even question his methods from "under the blanket of the very freedom I provide". Kaffee should either thank him for protecting his country and his way of life or take up a gun and do it himself. But as the two men shut out their points at each other, Kaffee finally gets an angry Jessup to admit that he did in fact order the Code Red!At the prompting of Kaffee and the Judge, prosecutor Ross places Jessup under arrest. Jessup is outraged and lashes out at Kaffee, accusing him of weakening the nation. Kaffee simply expresses satisfaction that Jessup will go to jail for the death of Santiago. He later admits to Ross that the Airmen were brought to court as a bluff to make Jessup believe that the defense had evidence of the earlier flight which he covered-up. Kendrick will also be arrested for ordering the Code Red, committing perjury (when he denied doing it) and participating in the cover-up.Dawson and Downey are found not guilty of murder but are dishonorably discharged for "conduct unbecoming a United States Marine." Downey is confused, pointing out that Jessup confirmed that they were obeying orders, but, after getting over the initial shock, Dawson points out that they failed to stand up for those too weak to stand up for themselves, like Santiago. As the two prepare to leave, Kaffee tells Dawson he doesn't have to be a soldier to have honor. Dawson, who had previously refused to salute Kaffee, who he saw as a coward, now announces "There's an officer on deck!" and they exchange salutes. | dramatic, suspenseful, murder, flashback | train | imdb | In one of the most telling scenes in this movie, Navy Lieutenant Commander Jo Galloway (Demi Moore), a lawyer who is helping to defend two Marines on trial for murder, is asked why she likes these guys so much.
And she replies, `Because they stand on a wall, and they say nothing is going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch'.' Which veritably sums up the sense of duty and honor which underscores the conflict of `A Few Good Men,' directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise.
Which is the question asked by director Reiner, who examines the parameters of that code with this film, which centers on the murder of a young Private First Class named William Santiago, who was killed while stationed at the Marine Corps base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Ultimately, her tenacity prevails, but though Galloway is a seasoned lawyer, she has little actual courtroom experience, so Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (Cruise) is assigned to the case, along with Lieutenant Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollak), with Galloway, as ranking officer, to assist.
As Jessup, Nicholson gives a commanding performance, and once he enters the film you can sense the tension he brings to it, which begins to swell immediately, and which Reiner does a great job of maintaining right up to the end.
Cruise is convincing in the role, and some of the best scenes in the film are the ones he plays opposite Nicholson in the courtroom, the most memorable being one in which Kaffee exclaims to Jessup, `I want the truth!' to which Jessup replies, `You can't handle the truth!' And the atmosphere fairly crackles.
Also turning in notable performances are Pollak, whose dry humor adds such an extra touch to the film, and Wolfgang Bodison, who makes an impressive screen debut as Lance Corporal Dawson, on of the Marines on trial for the murder of Santiago.
There is so much great dialogue, headlined by Tom Cruise's courtroom battle with Jack Nicholson at the movie's climax.Too many people say the movie is average because it's "too slow," but I really believe anyone who appreciates good acting and good stories has to put this one near the top of their list..
She believes their innocence and suspects a cover up.In charge of the marine unit in question is Jack Nicholson, a hard-ass marine who commands respect and demands the best.With outstanding performances from Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, and Yes Demi Moore as well.
A deft plot device has her rehearsing to herself a request to be assigned to the case as she walks across the parade ground, efficiently conveying necessary information to the viewer.Dan Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is a smart, flippant, good-looking young Navy lawyer.
Jessep's walk to the witness stand is a moment of high drama, with Nicholson filmed from a low angle, emphasising the formidable authority of the man.This clever, highly-polished film finally convinced me that Cruise can act.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore This movie is for people who like lawyerly stuff and military type stuff.
He was just second to Jack Nicholson.I could not imagine if anyone else could have replaced Jack Nicholson - his stellar performance (as always) and the intensity and ferocity with which he delivered his dialogues - man, even his facial expressions at times were worth a watch.Story line and plot don't seem to be so strong and there will be many people who would not agree with its end and even with the message of the movie, which is although not so clear but definitely points towards some of the not so best practices being followed in any country's army (over discipline in the name of straightening the people and getting things in order or even avoiding any further chaos or things being run by certain people just to settle their personal scores and run in a way they think is the best, even disregarding other people's reasonable opinions).
Director Rob Reiner and writer Aaron Sorkin didn't leave any stone unturned when it came to dialogues in the movie - in fact, the dialogues delivered by each and every character (not only Jack Nicholson) have been simply stunning..
But here it works together perfectly in sync.There are quite a few career-best performances to be found here: Jack Nicholson at his growling best, Demi Moore as a true legal ball-buster, but it's Tom Cruise who deserves the most praise.
But the way Cruise infuses his character with slight nuances and cocky grins make him seem very charming, plus all the witty one-liners uttered by Cruise should keep you chuckling every time he and Demi Moore's Lt. Galloway face-off at each other.The script is a fantastic courtroom drama, the kind of movie I love where as an audience you get to participate because you want to solve the case as well.
A FEW GOOD MEN (1992) ***1/2 Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Keifer Sutherland, Kevin Pollak, James Marshall, JT Walsh, Wolfgang Bodison, Christopher Guest, Noah Wyle.
Absorbing and crowd-pleasing adaptation of Aaron Sorkin's hit Broadway play from director Rob Reiner about two Marines charged with the murder of a fellow GI at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with a tangled web of power and a green defense lawyer (excellently played by Cruise) assigned to follow the motions without a trial.
JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore), to defend two soldiers accused of murder, in the death of a Marine trainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.The film captures two stories in sync; accusations of murder against, and the subsequent trial of, the defendants, and the change in Kaffee that these events inspire.
As much a character study of Kaffee as a story of military justice, the film is about taking risks, and going beyond one's fears."A Few Good Men" is a topnotch, command production.
Especially in the scene where the following words were uttered (found it in the quotes):Lieutenant Sam Weinberg: Why do you like them so much?Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway: Because they stand upon a wall and say, "Nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch."Do I have to say that almost every soldier in that cinema burst out laughing at that?It's a well made movie, but I could not bear the naivete..
I think it deserves an overall rating closer to 9, its one of the best movies of all times.There are actually very few evergreen movies that one likes to see again and again, this is one of them, you always feel great after watching it.The final court room scene between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson is electrifying.
This is an extremely well-made film, not without humour, that provides a fascinating insight into the military and the litigation process.This is one of Cruise's best roles as the brash and confident young naval lawyer Daniel Kaffee, a talented attorney who has never been to trial before, who is assigned the case of defending two US Marines charged with murdering a fellow Marine.
Toward the beginning of the film, smooth-talking JAG litigator Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) and self-righteous career officer Luitenant JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) travel to GitMo to investigate the death of a Marine supposedly at the hands of a "code red".
And there is the real code of conduct as practiced by the Marines at GitMo.At the beginning of the film, we learn that JAG corp attorney Daniel Kaffee and Colonel Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson in an Academy-award caliber performance) represent the worst of these extremist ideologies.
The elements that make this film a good one are very basic.You have a story focusing one on event.This event is illustrated early on,and the result is the tragic death of a young marine.What then takes place,is an excellent bringing forth of the details surrounding the young man's death,with the ultimate climax of those responsible getting what they deserve.There is even a classic "The End" placed at the story's conclusion,something rarely done in modern day films,because even though the story is raw and graphic,it otherwise has the feel of classic cinema storytelling.Throw in a top notch cast giving their all (Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson are especially excellent),and what you have is an excellent film worthy of your time,and your home video library..
I thought that Tom (Cruise), Jack (Nicholson), and Demi (Moore) gave dazzling performances.
To me Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore give an outstanding performance in this excellent film.
The case here is two marines, Wolfgang Boddison and James Marshall, who are on trial for murder of a fellow marine on Guantanamo Bay. They are being prosecuted by Kevin Bacon and are defended by a team of navy lawyers that include Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Kevin Pollak.
There's no trace at all of the stage origins of this story, they've done their work that well.Besides those I've already mentioned pay attention to J.T. Walsh as Nicholson's conscience stricken second in command and Kiefer Sutherland as the hard-nosed platoon leader of the accused men.My favorites in this film are the two defendants and Tom Cruise.
Now let' Start like this Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Kevin Bacon.
Young Tom Cruise was still on the rise as a leading man here, but Nicholson is at his best, throwing out great lines by the dozen and even though Mr. Nicholson is just sitting there in the middle of the courtroom, he exudes excellence in execution, he was electrifying and you could feel the sense of patriotism (well, at a very bad perspective, in my own opinion) in him and he portrayed his character to a tee!
It starts Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Jack Nicholson and others.
This is a courtroom drama starring Tom Cruise as Lt. Daniel Kaffee, who is assigned to defend two marines accused of murdering a fellow colleague.
JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) and Lt. Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollack), and all three engage in a rigorous attempt to help clear the marines, who contend that their assault against the colleague was a result of acting under orders.While this film doesn't have much, if any, action scenes, the tense and riveting atmosphere of the court marshal makes the plot very captivating and the high momentum of the defense vs.
or *Conspiracy*!?!?!?Fact is, there's been so much official wrongdoing in the years since the release of "A Few" that I'm forced to ask: Is _A Few Good Men_ just yet- another in a long line of pop mythologizations that give us a vicarious outlet for the myth that America is a nation of laws?In other words, we watch movies like _A Few_, then even when our financial elites and highest elected officials commit heinous crimes ("Too Big to Fail", 2003 Iraq invasion, CIA torture), we still find a little spot in our hearts that believes, in direct opposition to the evidence of our own eyes, that America lives up to its ideals.The film is a sort of niche masterpiece: It shows how Sorkin by that time had buffed his storycrafting creds to a high sheen, and Meathead was certainly no slouch, either.
That's saying a lot considering the company this movie is in.Jack Nicholson's phrase "You can't handle the truth" became part of the American cliché that's still with us today.I never seen Tom Cruise or Demi Moore look so good on screen.
Code Red. Tom Cruise (Lt. Kaffee), Demi Moore (Lt. Commander Galloway), and Jack Nicholson(Col. Jessep) star in this Rob Reiner dramatic legal thriller about the dangers of following orders at all cost as a United States Marine.
Caution is advised to counsel, there is a very fine line between asking questions and smearing the name of a Highly Ranked Officer (Jessep) on the witness stand.From director Rob Reiner's view, this movie was based on a true event that came from(screen play writer) Aaron Sorkin's sister, a brand new law graduate.
The supporting cast was outstanding, and the seat-gripping courtroom argument between Kaffee and Jessep was the performance of a life time, and in my opinion a must see movie!.
Tom cruise , Demi Moore in this movie played naval investigators and they are representing the 2 accused as defense council , they jut want to prove that the suspects were following orders not intentionally performing their own set of rules , but it is also very difficult for them to blame the commanding officer in charge of the base played by Jack Nicholson and his most forward man Keifer Sutherland while Kevin Bacon is The prosecution by the US government who is a marine and a close friend to Tom cruise himself.
Top Ten best reasons why 'A Few Good Men' is one of the best movies ever made.#10 Direction: Reiner perfectly paces a 2+ hour film, giving all the cast freedom to actually act and develop the story beautifully without any scene dragging.#9 Cinematography and score: excellent scenes and music; making you believe you are there.#8 Despite your feeling on Cruise (God, I hate people who judge his couch-jumping to his talent on film) he delivers a perfect transfer from 80s hot-shot/top-gun to real acting.
As others have mentioned, Colonel Jessup, while not demurring, would certainly have shown the utmost in courtesy to peer and subordinate officers and NCO's.Tom Cruise comes off as he usually does, stiff and overly emotional, occupying the middle of the scene.It's no wonder that the U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps did not cooperate with the film..
Tom Cruise is great as the cocky young Lt Kaffee, and Demi Moore impresses as Galloway but it is Jack Nicholson's barnstorming performance as Col Jessup who is most memorable despite his relatively small screen time.
Jack Ross (Kevin Bacon), a long-time friend whom seems to have an open and shut case against the defendants.Cruise gives one of his best performances, even now in his later career.
Walsh ignited the screen, especially in his final scene, rendering all power to the viewer like a mastered Sensei.And the best in show and surely one of the best supporting performances of the last twenty-five years is Jack Nicholson as Colonel Nathan R.
Whether he's playing the villain, hero, or the misanthropic Melvin Udall, Nicholson remains true and raw at all times.A Few Good Men remains one of the best courtroom dramas of film history.
On first glance it seems to be a clear cut case of bullying gone wrong, but with Kaffee's colleague, Commander Joanne Galloway, convinced that more shady dealings are afoot at the Cuban army base run by Colonel Nathan Jessep, the case could have far reaching consequences for all involved.Directed by Rob Reiner and adapted from a hit Broadway play written by Aaron Sorkin, A Few Good Men is a quality drama boasting some of the 90s major A list stars.
Some of the best acting I've seen on screen.Demi Moore,Jack Nickolson,Tom Cruise and Kevin Bacon are wonderful in this film.Well directed by rob Reine.This movie focuses on a young lawyer played by cruise defending two military officers in a comrades death.The viewer will hear a lot of legal terms.I highly doubt anyone would be disappointed with this motion picture.I thought it had a lot of good guest appearances too.Like that comedian Christopher guest playing a doctor near the middle of the movie.And Cuba goading Jr who probably this was his first movie and he later worked with tom cruise in jerry Maguire..
When they don't get an easy plea bargain things get complicated as Moore pushes Cruise into pursuing this as an actual court case.Cruise really was a good actor in his younger days, now he just stars in Big Budget Action Movies that bring in the paycheck.
A FEW GOOD MEN works, thanks to a fine script by Aaron Sorkin from his play, Rob Reiner's taut direction, and the extremely effective performances from a solid cast.Not surprisingly, in a role that is tailor-made for his talents, JACK NICOLSON almost walks off with the film.
This cast includes Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, Kiefer Sutherland, and Demi Moore.
RELEASED IN 1992 and directed by Rob Reiner, "A Few Good Men" is a military drama about a smart-axx young Navy Lawyer (Tom Cruise) who's never seen a courtroom because he lazily arranges plea bargains.
Tom Cruise,Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson is plays three people that are the best out there.
The best scene unmatched in my opinion from any other movie is the exchange at the end between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson.
Continuing my plan to watch every Tom Cruise movie in order, I come to A Few Good Men (1992)Plot In A Paragraph: A young hotshot naval lawyer Daniel Kaffee (Cruise) is given what seems to be an open and shut case of two marines murdering another while he slept.All of the leads are perfectly cast and superb.
Rest of the technical aspects like camera-work, editing & music add to the enriching experience this film is but the best contribution comes from its cast.As far as performances go, A Few Good Men features a star-studded cast in Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson & Demi Moore plus makes excellent use of its supporting characters.
What "A Few Good Men" excels at is testing your ability to form a conclusion and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin delivers a fine script with one of cinemas most famous lines; "you can't handle the truth!" LT Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise), a Navy lawyer who has never seen the inside of the courtroom, defends two stubborn Marines who have been accused of murdering a colleague.
I like Tom Cruise in movies like this and while he's not an Academy Award winner, he does a good job in this and definitely holds his own against Nicholson in the final scene.
I like Tom Cruise in movies like this and while he's not an Academy Award winner, he does a good job in this and definitely holds his own against Nicholson in the final scene. |
tt0149261 | Deep Blue Sea | At Aquatica, a former submarine refueling facility converted into a laboratory, a team of scientists searches for a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Fluids from the brain tissue of three Mako sharks are harvested. Unknown to the other scientists, Drs. Susan McAlester and Jim Whitlock have violated the code of ethics and have genetically engineered the sharks to increase their brain size; this has the side effect of making the sharks smarter and more dangerous.
After one of the sharks escapes and attacks a boat full of teenagers, Aquatica's financial backers send corporate executive Russell Franklin to investigate the facility. To prove that the research is working, the team removes fluid from the brain tissue of the largest shark. While examining it, Jim is attacked by the shark and his arm is bitten off. Brenda Kerns, the tower's operator, calls a helicopter to evacuate Jim, but as he is being lifted, the stormy condition cause the cable winch to jam, and Jim falls into the shark pen. The shark grabs the gurney and pulls the chopper into the tower, killing Brenda and the pilots. As the others try to figure out what caused the explosion, one of the sharks uses Jim's gurney, with him still strapped to it, as a battering ram to smash an underwater window, drowning him, flooding the facility and freeing the other sharks. Upon being confronted, Susan confesses to the others that she and Jim genetically altered the sharks.
Susan, Russell, wrangler Carter Blake, marine biologist Janice Higgins, and engineer Tom Scoggins make their way to the top of the center. While delivering a dramatic speech emphasizing the need for group unity, Russell is dragged into the water by the largest shark and killed. Later, while climbing up the industrial elevator, the ladder falls and gets wedged between the walls of the shaft, leaving them dangling over the water and the second shark. Janice loses her grip and falls; despite Carter's attempts to save her, the shark kills her. The cook, Sherman "Preacher" Dudley, is attacked by the first shark, but kills it by throwing a lighter into the kitchen's oven that had been turned on. He then encounters Carter, Tom and Susan.
Traumatized by Janice and Russell's deaths, Tom goes with Carter to the flooded lab to activate controls to open a door to the surface. The largest shark attacks them, killing Tom. Meanwhile, Susan heads into her room to collect her research material, but while there, she is ambushed by the second shark. She narrowly escapes by climbing onto a metal table, disconnecting a nearby power cable, taking off her wetsuit and using it as a conduit, and using the cable to electrocute the shark in her underwear, destroying her research in the process. Carter, Susan and Preacher go to the top of the research center through a decompression chamber and swim to the surface. Preacher is caught by the third shark and dragged through the water, but swims to safety after stabbing the shark in the eye with his crucifix, causing it to release him.
Carter realizes that the third shark is trying to escape to the open sea, and that the sharks made them flood the facility so they could escape through the weaker mesh fences at the surface. In an effort to distract the final shark, Susan cuts herself and dives into the water. When she attempts to climb out, the ladder breaks and she is killed by the shark. Carter dives in to try to save her, but is too late. Grabbing hold of the shark's fin, he is pulled through the water. Preacher grabs hold of the harpoon and shoots the shark through its dorsal fin, but the spear also goes through Carter's thigh. As the shark breaks through the fence, Carter is attached to the shark by the harpoon. He tells Preacher to connect the trailing wire to a car battery, sending an electric current through the wire and to an explosive charge in the harpoon, killing the shark. Carter managed to free himself in time, and he swims to the wreckage of the facility, joining Preacher in time to see the workers' boat en-route on the horizon. | violence, humor | train | wikipedia | One of my favorite shark horror monsters movies and favorite Thomas Jane film.
Deep Blue Sea (1999) is my favorite shark monsters horror film and favorite film of Thomas Jane.
The idea about Alzheimer's disease making sharks smart was brilliant.I enjoy this film it is my favorite shark film, a lot of peoples are going for Jaws this is my favorite monster shark movie.
From the actors, the plot, the story, music score, stunts and real practical effects no stupid CGI, I love movies like that.
A preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.In Jurassic Park was breakdown and a paleontologist with two kids in the park has to fight for survival, but in this movie a team of scientist must fight for survival when trio biogenic sharks becomes smarter and they flood the facility now the team must come on surfers and fight for survival.
The situation plunges into chaos when multiple genetically engineered sharks go on rampage and flood the facility.I love this film and it really surprised me with the plot twist: LL Cool J as Sherman "Preacher" Dudley so surprised me when he was stuck in the accident in the kitchen he dealt with the shark him self who eat his bird.Jumps out of upper oven and swims away, "You ate my bird!" lights lighter, throws lighter into open oven and blows up the shark fantastic scene.Thomas Jane as Carter Blake was the most smartest, tougher guy, brave shark hunter I have ever seen.
Music score for this film was excellent by Trevor Rabin.Jurassic World (2015) copied Deep Blue Sea (1999) T-Rex was faster and smarter hunter and he tricked people believing he escaped off the fence, but actually he was hunting them, they make, the T-Rex smarter hunter!
After the opening scene of *Deep Blue Sea*, in which (predictably) a shark terrorizes a quartet of partying teenagers on a boat, I decided I was in for a crappy movie.
I thought Deep Blue Sea was one of the best shark movies created.
It seems like the film makers thought about having a plot, but then they found they could have way more fun playing with the CGI Sharks (which are pretty good actually) The conversation between the film makers probably went something like this.'Hey i have a great idea for a story, we can breed super sharks with oversize brain capacity in the quest to find a cure for Altziemers disease' 'That sounds good, then we can have the sharks get out of control and add some action sequences' 'Yeah good idea, but lets show the scientific side first while we build the characters' 'Yeah of course we have to build the characters and set the scene, wow what's that over there; come and take a look what the special effects team have done it's brilliant' 'Wow that's really cool, lets have lots of that.''But what about the story and character depth' 'We could always show the sexy female lead in her underwear, i reckon that and loads of sharks and death will distract the audience enough and they'll never notice'And so Deep Blue Sea was born, and guess what?
"Deep Blue Sea"With "Die Hard 2", "Cliffhanger", the misunderstood "Cutthroat Island", the underrated "Long Kiss Goodnight" and guilty pleasure (but pretty damn good) "Adventures Of Ford Fairlane", Renny Harlin has proven himself time and again as one of the most visually competent action directors around.
He leaves the film all wet.Saying that "Deep Blue Sea" needed better acting might be stretching it a bit.
Despite some corny story elements (this is an action movie, remember) and some glaringly obvious CGI (I don't think they dared use real sharks for some scenes!) it is still entertaining since the clichés are not there to the point of insult.
If 'Jaws' and 'Alien' had a baby, that baby would probably look a lot like Deep Blue Sea', a big, loud, dumb action movie that doesn't try to pretend to be anything else.
It's short on logic, the dialog is dumb, most of the actors don't seem to be trying very hard, and the science is dubious at best, but despite all that, 'Deep Blue Sea' manages to entertain.The plot of the movie is simple: a group of scientists at an undersea research facility are on the verge of discovering a cure for Alhzheimer's disease.
With the base flooding and sharks roaming the corridors, the survivors find themselves in a race for survival.For the most part, 'Deep Blue Sea' works fairly well, and there are some good jolts and action sequences, but at the same there's nothing here that's particularly fresh.
However, there is one death that is so unexpected and surprising, you might find yourself hitting the 'back' button on the DVD remote to make sure you weren't seeing things.'Deep Blue Sea' is not an actor's movie, but most of the cast acquits itself fairly well.
The sharks are the stars, and everyone involved with the movie knows that.'Deep Blue Sea' is not a classic movie, but it delivers in its own modest way.
Its a good shark movie, but completely different then the more sedate Jaws and some of the scenes are actually quite scary.
i'm no professional, but i thought deep blue sea was an excellent shark movie.
i wasn't crazy about samuel l jackson's character, but he made it work...and did i add that the shark attacks were scary and GOOD!!
Deep Blue Sea was a good, enjoyable movie which I liked very much.
LL Cool J's acting is like the movie, poor but entertaining.Overall the movie isn't the best, but it is definitely watchable and thoroughly entertaining, it keeps you wanting to watch more because its very action packed.If first time watchers are reading this, I would say definitely watch it.
Deep blue sea is without a doubt the best Shark film since Jaws.
The answer is Deep Blue Sea. Researchers and scientists harvest brain fluids from sharks for a cure for Alzheimer's disease, but unknown to the other scientists, Dr. Susan McAlester(Saffron Burrows) and Dr. Jim Whitlock(Stellan Skarsgard) violated the code of ethics and genetically engineered the sharks to increase their brain size, with the side effect of the sharks getting smarter and bigger.
I recommend Deep Blue Sea to anyone who likes to see good action with nice special effects but remember to switch your brains off before you push the "play" button ;).
Deep Blue Sea is very good shark movie.
The cast is different and the acting is good especially by Jackson.Thomas Jane and LL Cool J was good and the scenes between him and his bird were funny.Saffron Burrows is really a good actress and a very good looking woman!I was disappointed that the great talent of Ronny Cox didn't say not one word:( The music by Trevor Rabin was great and the effects are awesome!
If you like Jaws then see Deep Blue Sea because its just as good!.
A Cast to Die For. Searching for a cure to Alzheimer's disease a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the bait as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.Screenwriter Duncan Kennedy acknowledged that "whenever anyone mentions a shark movie, they naturally think of Steven Spielberg.
Luckily, they approached this the right way -- nodding to Spielberg and carrying on.Roger Ebert wrote, "In a genre where a lot of movies are retreads of the predictable, 'Deep Blue Sea' keeps you guessing." From a horror-basher like Ebert, that is quite a compliment.
That was either one too many, or one too few.If you haven't seen this movie, you may ask yourself, "Is this an honestly exciting action movie, with real Oh-Wow thrills (like The Matrix), or a big dumb stupid poorly conceived b-movie that's more fun to make fun of (like Anaconda).I hope you don't ask yourself this, because the trailers proved this to be the MOST stupid, idiotic movie of the summer, and if someone is reading this long after the movie has appeared on video, then please believe that you are not missing a thing.Renny Harlin does indeed specialize in the action sequence.
Giant sharks have never been that spectacular when attacking.The CGI were pretty good but let's be realistic, when it comes about killer sharks, "Jaws" is the king.Still, a decent popcorn film..
Well that's what this movie tries to convince the audience.Unbelievable and hokey plot aside, "Deep Blue Sea" knows that it's not THAT smart so it doesn't try to push that idea too much.
Deep Blue Sea was not a great movie, but it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat all the way until the end.
As Preacher says, "The brother always gets it in this kind of situation." and Harlin undercuts that too by having Preacher live despite being dragged around by the shark for an absurdly long time.The water and underwater sequences aren't bad (as long as you ignore the CGI shark sequences, and the characters are just stupid enough to be believable as human beings (albeit really _stupid_ human beings).Overall, if you view DBS as a Scream-type parody, you should enjoy it..
Actually Deep Blue Sea is not that bad for a brainless action movie.
On the positive side, the sharks are lovely (no floating rubber in this film); the action is well paced and there is a certain, knowing, disaster movie tongue in cheek.
To me Deep Blue Sea was more a comedy than that of a thriller, I laughed just as hard as when watching a comedy, because it's very simple in this movie the sharks at times looked fake, and when I mean fake I'm saying the robotic sharks from JAWS looked better by a long shot, the sharks even sounded fake and the reason I say this is because that sharks do not and can not produce sounds yet you the sharks snarling and growling, then sharks can not swim backwards, they can't do it because their bodies were not meant to move like that.
Effectively thrilling sci-fi horror flick that retreads `Jaws' with `Die Hard' yet still manages to radiate enough tension and flinch inducing moments of dread: a research facility in the ocean experimenting with genetically altered mako sharks' brains to find a cure for Alzheimer's results in the old adage, `it's not wise to fool with Mother Nature', which unleashes the `smart', nasty and fast fish to destroy the fortress-at-sea and begin a human sushi-thon in gory detail!
Deep Blue Sea had some pretty good special effects, but had one of the worst & implausible stories since Twister.
This movie and several others like it leave me wondering if Hollywood really thinks that the target audience (males 20s) can only comprehend special effects and have no interest in plot & characters.
This could be his best.It is not just the sharks that are the star of this fast-moving film, it is many other things--The excellent acting by the cast(with the exception of LLCoolJ who is likable but can't act), the CGI Sharks,the great musical score, and the amazing sets of this film make you really feel the claustrophobia, and the constant menace of the sharks and the water everywhere, adding to the fear of drowning as well'This is an exciting film with many surprises, and you will have a fun time watching it.
If you don't love Deep Blue Sea, I can only assume you lack the intelligence, the soul, and the movie know-how to like anything at all.
It's already bad enough that the director can't come up with an original movie, but why does he have to be so moralizing in it as well?The story is about scientists who may have found a cure for Alzheimer decease in the brain of sharks.
But the sharks use their extra brain capacity in their own advantage, becoming fearsome hunters who have developed the taste for human flesh...I guess you already know where the link between Deep Blue Sea and Jaws can be found.
in fact this film has nothing of the great atmosphere, the great script or the great cast of great actors jaws had!this stupid movie has not only a story which some 14 year old could have come up with, it also has annoying flat characters, as there are:thomas jane: the mysterious and brave hero, a tough, reticent daredevil and ladykillerSaffron Burrows: spoiled rich girl who's getting all into trouble with her stubborn behaviorSamuel L.
ARGH!!!!!the only great thing in the movie where the animated sharks (and i'm not talking about the CGI here!!!!!), especially in the beginning, where Carter Blake pulls out the plate from the tigersharks' jaws!
However, the side effect was that the sharks (3 of them) grew smarter as a result of the experimentation, and they break loose, creating hell as they begin to prey on the group of survivors, who are trying to find a way to get topside.Deep Blue Sea is a movie that should have been dripping with suspense and action from every corner.
Considering the fact that Deep Blue Sea may very well be his best movie only goes to show he isn't that accomplished a director.
Sure, Burrows is a very good-looking woman, but it's a gratuitous moment.No one ever said Deep Blue Sea had to be masterful, but it's often too goofy, and thus prevents it from being the extremely entertaining action/thriller it could and should have been.
It's inevitable that Burrows should end up in her underwear like Sigourney Weaver in Alien, but even then the movie offers a credible reason for the strip-down; that Deep Blue Sea can be simultaneously ridiculous and sensible is just another one of its Shylock charms..
Although marred by occasionally overused clichés and occasionally dumb situations, DEEP BLUE SEA is a lot of fun, a package of thrills, action and comedy, all wrapped up with a package of some really smart sharks.Although we have a nice stellar cast of Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, LL Cool J, Samuel L.
By increasing the brain's size, the sharks got smarter.There's nothing really brilliant about the film, but it's a lot of summer movie goodness.
The other problem was with a lot of the visual effects which were very poorly done, other than that it was a good movie and I would have to say it's worth watching at least once and if you know nothing about sharks or physics then watch it more than once..
Deep Blue Sea. An action packed shark movie featuring Mako sharks this time around, instead of Great White Sharks.It is kinda of like Jaws meets Frankenstein in a weird sort of way.
During a wild storm all hell breaks loose and the underwater lab starts to sink, which leaves the humans to try and survive the smartest sharks in the world.The CGI has not aged well over the years, but the mechanical/practical effects sharks do look amazing.Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows and Samuel L Jackson and Michael Rapaport give good performances.
I think it's decent, but Jaws will always win when it comes to the best shark movie.Only things I didn't like were LL Cool J's character of Preacher and his stupid bird and the hideous song he performs at the end credits.
Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows and Samuel L Jackson head the cast with solid support from LL Cool J, Michael Rappaport and Stellan Skårsgard in this enjoyable shark movie.Plot In A Paragraph: Medical biologist Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) is searching for a cure for Alzheimer's disease.
So when the shark hits the fan you're never sure who'll go first and how, which is really the only tension or uncertainty in these films anyway.The giant super-sharks are apparently 45 feet long but their size seems to vary to suit the situation, meaning at one point they can be attacking a stove door without success, the next they can be destroying a major door between passages with no trouble.Deep Blue Sea has one cool CGI assisted bit, it provides a momentary shock thanks to it being so unexpected, then it is over and we must put up with another 40 minutes of narrow escapes, holding one's breath underwater and moving through passages to escape from animals that are generally seen next to small piles of chips.
With Deep Blue Sea, director Renny Harlin has made arguably one of the best monster movies of the decade.
In fact sometimes it feels like Jaws was more violent.Some may look at Deep Blue Sea and interpret it as a warning against human overconfidence in biological experimentation.
Of course this should probably be the last thing you want to keep in mind when watching Deep Blue Sea. It really is not a mind enriching film, it is pure fishy fun definitely worth checking out..
Yes Jaws (the original) will always be "The Shark Movie" but Deep Blue Sea is on a totally different level.
Not Oscar material, mind you, but solid enough to be convincing.If you like lots of action, it would hard not to enjoy watching Deep Blue Sea.
Deep Blue Sea won't top Jaws as the number one shark film, but it does provide some good thrills.
Deep Blue Sea is a good movie to watch as a release from work or whatever other activity may bring you stress.
On that score, this is somewhat like the movie Anaconda (although Anaconda definitely had more fun stuff).When it comes to Deep Blue Sea, I guess I'll have to read thebook..
You may think it hard to compete with such movies as jaws when attempting to create an effective shark movie, but in deep blue sea the combination of special effects, plot and characters make this a movie to be reckoned with.
Nobody is going to mistake Deep Blue Sea for Jaws but this is a good film- certainly great for its genre. |
tt0082377 | The Final Conflict | Damien Thorn (Sam Neill), now 32 years old and head of his late uncle's international conglomerate, is appointed Ambassador to Great Britain, the same position his adoptive father held in the first film. Unlike the previous Omen films, the adult Damien is now entirely aware of his unholy lineage, and his destiny.An alignment of the stars in the Cassiopeia region of the night sky causes the generation of a 'superstar', described in the film as a second Star of Bethlehem. Thorn realizes it is a sign of the Second Coming of Christ and he orders all boys in England born on the morning of March 24, 1982 (the morning when, in the story, the Cassiopeia alignment occurred) to be killed in order to prevent the Christ-child's return to power.A subplot deals with one of Thorn's disciples, Harvey Dean, attempting to hide the fact that his own son was born at the appointed time; Dean not only fails at hiding that fact about his child from Damien, but is killed by his own hypnotized wife - likely in retaliation for refusing to go through with Damien's command to murder his son as a test of loyalty (the last child whom Damien suspects).Thorn has also become romantically involved with journalist Kate Reynolds (Lisa Harrow), a complex relationship which undermines his plans for political dominion for the time being. But Damien is not deterred from his plans and even focuses his attention on her preadolescent son Peter (Barnaby Holm), whom he takes as a disciple, partly by manipulating and exploiting the boy's internal desire to have a father-figure.Meanwhile, Father DeCarlo (Rossano Brazzi) and six other priests armed with the seven daggers of Megiddo - ancient holy weapons which are the only Earthly weapons which can harm the Antichrist - hunt Thorn in the hope of killing him before he can destroy the Christ-child. However, one by one, Damien kills off all the priests (some in horrific circumstances) until only DeCarlo survives.Finally, in spite of Thorn's efforts, DeCarlo informs Reynolds that the Christ-child is out of his reach but that, nonetheless, the task still remains to destroy Damien. In hopes of getting her son back, she (deceivingly) agrees to take him to the Christ-child in exchange for Peter. This is actually part of DeCarlo's plan to lure him into a trap where he is hoping to ambush Damien and catch him off guard, since most of his attention would be directed towards confronting Christ.The plan backfires though when Damien manages to spot DeCarlo first and in a final act of evil, Damien uses Reynolds' son - now slavishly devoted to Damien - as a human shield against the dagger. As Peter lies dying, Damien strangles the stunned Father DeCarlo.In a desperate bid to salvage his waning power, Damien calls out for Christ to appear before him. As he does, Kate sneaks up behind Damien with one of the daggers and stabs him in the back, releasing an otherworldly reverberating wail of demonic agony throughout the cathedral ruins. Christ appears before a dying Damien who then mockingly tells Christ 'Nazarene...you have won...nothing'.After Damien dies, his body is seen lying on the ground with Kate standing over it. In the foreground, a fully grown Christ carries Peter's body and hands him to Kate. The film ends with scripture of Revelation Chapter 21, Verse 4 indicating that when Christ returns to earth, peace will reign for all who faithfully awaited the Lord's return. | gothic, murder, good versus evil, insanity, revenge, sadist | train | imdb | This series certainly hasn't lost it's touch, I'll admit.I suppose it's also very upsetting in places, since Damien is now an adult, in change of the Ambassador position after all this time, but even so, the film is very powerful, and very moving.Once again, the "Omen" series flourishes..
This second sequel to huge hit 'Richard Donner's Omen (Gregory Peck, Lee Remick)' centres on anti-Christ personified by Damien (Sam Neill) .
This was great i think,, you have Damien all grown up,, not a kid anymore,, this is pretty cool i think,, now you have all that evil in an adult, which by the way is very scary, Sam Neill does a wonderful job in this, and is very creepy evil at the same time.
THE FINAL CONFLICT is quite an interesting film Damien grows up and the series ends on a satisfying note..
Omen 3:The final conflict was released in 1981 and was meant to be the last film in the series before they made Omen 4 which was absolute disgrace.b The story is that Damien now aged 31 is appointed Ambassador to Great Britain like his father in the first movie however his greatest enemy the holy child.
It is a fitting story as Sam Neill really shines in his first major film role as the Adult Damien, now in command and ready to come into his full power, but knowing if he does not act the Christ child will be reborn and his reign will end.
Considering that I only watch horror movies, and every review I've done on IMDb has been extremely negative of really horrible horror films (hence my name) this being the first positive review I've given is really saying something, at least for me anyway :) In The Final Conflict, our hero (or rather not I guess, since he IS the anti-Christ) Damien is all grown up and using his demonic ways to basically take over the world for Satan.
Perhaps this is part of the reason many don't like this movie, today's horror films are a lot easier to make due to digital advances (which is a good thing) so they appear to have high production quality, but are really terrible made, written and directed.
The final conflict is well made, and of course the score by Jerry Goldsmith is excellent and adds much to the film, definitely would have been a worse movie without his score, I can't say enough how good it is.
"The Final Conflict," the startling, compelling, and above all, well-made, conclusion to what should have only been the "Omen" trilogy, is almost as good as the original.As the tagline promises, ultimate evil now resides not in a child, but in a grown man.
And while that idea sounds like a let-down compared to the owl-eyed coincidence of the character in the original film, it serves the purpose of a continuing story far better than having Damien as a boy of 12 and 13.
A major celestial alignment heralding the second coming of Christ leads Damien Thorn (Sam Neill), the AntiChrist, to England where he orders his acolytes to murder every baby boy born during the heavenly event.
Meanwhile, a brotherhood of monks also journey to the UK in order to kill Damien using the seven Sacred Daggers of Megiddo.I consider the first two Omen films to be classics of the Satanic horror sub-genre, but sadly part three isn't deserving of such an accolade: the 'monks on a mission' plot gets really silly, the bumbling would-be assassins being more accident prone than Harold Lloyd; star Neill hams it up something rotten, his expression alternating between an oh-so-wicked grin and a sinister glower; the malevolent raven from part 2 is replaced by a dumb, slobbering hypno-dog who commands victims to commit evil deeds; there's a unintentionally funny sex scene that sees Thorn going at it jackal-style; the AntiChrist's followers predictably include such 'unlikely' characters as killer kids, a vile vicar, and a nasty nurse; and Jesus even pops up at the end to say 'Hi!'.Don't get me wrong, though...
You really did believe that the end of the world had begun when it was all over.The first sequel, "Damien: Omen II" failed to match the original but still maintained reasonably good continuity from the first film and also had some fine performances too.
"The Final Conflict", by tackling subject matter that I think is impossible to depict or envision in a credible fashion when the gimmick has already worn out after two previous movies, was in a sense doomed to fail from the outset, though perhaps if there had been some actors the stature of Peck or Holden this time out, the results would have been better.Stick to the first film and the second, and envision your own scenario of how it all resolved itself.
Had it been in the hands of a more convincing director I think it would have been better.There are moments when the film is surprisingly shocking without applying graphic effects as seen in the previous 2 films, the most chilling of which are perhaps the events at the old church ruins halfway through the movie.Performances and script are very good (much less cliched than Omen II) and the almost lolita-esque relationship between Damien and Peter is somehow very unsettling, however the original momentum is lost as the end draws near and you can't help feeling that the ending just isn't right.A superb new music score for this chapter does add to what is best described as 'disappointing'..
Damien Thorn(played by Sam Neill,who later went on to make better movies like Jurassic Park)is now 32 and ambassador to Britain.Hearing that Christ has been born again to stop him,he does the cruelist thing and kills all of the baby boys that were born on the day that the second Christ was.At the end,he found out he missed one of the babies and is won over by Jesus.
I felt like this was a great Christian film ,maybe the best Christian movie ever made in the United Kingdom,with the association of American-film makers.A little bit emotional,but not too,with dry humor sometimes,and with two interesting ,and true messages,which messages makes this second sequel the best OMEN movie ever made.The first was too slow for me,the second was better ,the 2006-s version had big mistakes ,for example the too similar screenplay like the first,(not exactly but very similar screenplay like the first Omen film has),but that was stylish,and exciting 2006-s version.Now I don't talking about the fourth part what was made originally for television in 1990-1991 by a French director.Sam Neill Is very good as young Damien Thorn,and the ending is unforgettable,and some dialogs are to..
In the third part of the Omen series Damien,played by Sam Neil tries to thwart the second coming by killing every child born on a certain date and at the same time trying to avoid being murdered by the sacred dagger holding priests.
Sam Neil is fairly good in the part of Damien but that is as far as compliments go with this film.The rest of the acting leaves a lot to be desired as does the story itself.
There's no conflict in the film.The casting is quality, Sam Neill is very good as Damien, but didn't have enough to do!Jerry Goldsmith's score is fantastic, adds an epic feel to a rather average film.
However, a secret order of priests are in place to stop him, no matter how many of their number have to die in the process...Poor sequel is terribly misconceived(jumps too far ahead in time) and utterly ineffectual(no suspense and inept shock value) Sam Neil is the only successful thing here, making Damien a sinister and ruthless foe, but is swamped further by bad continuity, since the first two "Omens", were more or less contemporary(cars, fashions, technology are clearly modern, whereas this film would put them in the 1950's & early '60's!
In most films, we personalise and connect with the victims, in a lot of horror films the killer is shown as an inhuman being who feels no emotion, has no personality, we don't see that here over the three omen films, we connect with Damien, we understand his personality and his motives, and what leads him tobecoming the man he is in this final conflict film, he has emotion, seen in the scene in the second film after having realised who he is, where he runs to the river exclaiming "why me"
he is not portrayed as inhuman quite the opposite, compared to most films where the human killer is seen as not, this film reverses that portraying an inhuman being as human, i personally loved this film every bit, as a finally to a trilogy, it was splendid the kills were spectacular, most notably being of course the death in the tv studio, and as the film progresses it assumes a cat and mouse tone seen in many crime and mystery films, the detectives being the monks, with appocalypse film tones, the sense of doom to come, heard also in the music which flourishes at the end, the light gets brighter the music louder, and the chapters of the bible on screen, i wanted daniel to live, but i think the way the film ended was very appropriate, the acting was brilliant, the scene of the man holding the save our stages sign was hilarious, this film was not as dark as the two before it, in one sense it was almost autobiographic in nature, the person being Damien.
While "The Omen" is one of the best horror thrillers of all time, "Damien" also excellent but not nearly as strong as the first one, "The Final Conflict" is determined by good acting, lots of excellent cadres and complete lack of soul.
It was quite talky; Damien plays it cool, and Sam Neill's performance mostly involved making sinister expressions (at which he's a natural, granted,) and, frankly, the big lines he delivers come out kind of funny-sounding when modulated through his fake American accent (he has one of these in Jurassic Park, too, but at least that role didn't call for any serious acting.) I blame the director more than my man Sam, but I've seen some pretty terrible movies salvaged by one good performance.Why, this film even let down my bloodlusting side.
They were, of course, foiled and thus we arrive at this third Omen movie with the young boy having grown up into a man: foreplay revolving around this antiheroic creature causing mischief and generally coming to be at odds with the functioning Christian world around him gone, replaced only with a full on acknowledgement that destruction and religious new order is his calling.Alas, there is sadly a point wherein we realise the film appears all too keen to fall back into old habits.
What is refreshing is that they know what they must do from the off: the film one long conquest between these two sides of good and evil; not bogged down by what eventually got to be quite dull in the second film, as his step-father took an age to figure it all out before being granted the odd five minute burst at the end to act on it.With Damien striving to get those daggers himself, thus eliminating any threat of anyone turning the tables on him, and the priests tripping over themselves trying to eliminate the guy, the scene is set for an all out war complicated by a virtuous equivalent to Thorn due to be born in the near future (but wouldn't we all have to wait for him to be old enough to actually LEAD us in the war?) as well as journalist-come-love interest Kate Reynolds (Harrow) propping up proceedings.
Add to that the bunch of priests who want to turn Damien into a satanic pin-cushion and you've got an action packed spectacular of epic proportions, right?No.After a nifty gunshot to the face, The Final Conflict, just like the film before it, settles in for a languid trip to ho-hum-ville.
Sam Neill is fine as Damien, but the priest attacks are pretty lame, the sub-plot about the Second Coming is barely exciting, and the grand finale in a ruined abbey has hardly got a pulse.
The central plot idea takes form in Damien becoming the American Ambassador in Britain, a placement that allows him to put together his plan to murder all the baby boys born on the day of Christ's second coming; as one of them is said to be the son of God, and Damien's powers grow weaker all the time that he is alive!Sam Neill takes the lead role of The Antichrist himself, and given the two actors that went before him; he really does look the part.
Sam Neill does a great job as the charismatic and darkly seductive political wunderkind, but, as with the script for DAMIEN: OMEN II, the material isn't there to delve into the tormented soul of evil.THE FINAL CONFLICT attempts to be more in keeping with the original OMEN in terms of style and mood.
Perhaps its the impact of seeing all 3 Omen films on DVD so soon after each other, but by the end of The Final Conflict I was actually getting quite bored of the whole thing.Sam Neill is Damien Thorn in later life, as the last in the trilogy [well, until the 4th one was made as a TVM] comes to its ultimate conclusion of good vs evil.Perhaps ironically this time the good was represented by a TV journalist.
The Seeking out and Killing of the Christ Child, the Numerous and Well Done Assassination Monk Eliminations, Damien's Talk to His Disciples, His Ranting to Christ, and other things make this a Solid Horror and Supernatural Entry that is Neither Embarrassing or Disappointing as Sequels go.It's got a Good Cast and a Fine Jerry Goldsmith Score, a Sharp looking Production Template, and it all Contributes to the Success of the "Final Conflict".
Damien is now close to the US presidency,and his goal of controlling the world through evil is close.Neill is perfect as the suave,yet totally evil underneath Antichrist.It was a fitting finale,and all that was missing was actually seeing Christ appear properly at the end,not just a vague glow of light.
The Final Conflict is a lesser sequel but still worthy.Compentent direction from Graham Baker,a decent script,and Jerry Goldsmith's excellent score help(by the way Goldsmith's scores for all 3 Omens are now available in deluxe edition CD's)A young Sam Neill is very good as Damien,Also good are Rosanno Brazzi as Father DeCarlo and Lisa Harrow as Kate Reynolds.7 out of 10..
With a better script, and some competent directing this film could have been a classic.Sam Neill was a fine choice for the role of grown up Damien, and he does his best here.
Bad horror movie that had a promising start but then looses steam when the story starts focusing on the child killings instead of dealing with a more exciting revelation on how the ANTI CHRIST would come close to taking over the world.In this film,the writers seemed to back down from the expected climactic conflict and decided on a much more watered down,Hollywoodised and over dramatic script/screenplay.The horror sequences were not too edgy enough and the over all production was poor.Too bad because the story potential here was very good and so was the performance of Sam Neil.Only for fans of B grade religious horror movies and big fans of the lead actors......
It's one of Neill's earliest and he is quite young and gorgeous as a grown-up Damien (his co-star, Lisa Harrow, thought so too -- they fell in love during the filming of "Final Conflict" and have a son together).Neill, who apparently is incapable of giving a bad performance, imbues his character with creepy charm and sex appeal and, for those of us suspending disbelief, is quite believable.
However, as the 1991 sequel shows, they didn't use the Daggers of Megiddo properly and Twentieth-Century Fox, rather than Damien, will return to reap their revenge!A great performance by Sam Neill (who, apparently, has since disowned this early film of his); the consistently epic score from Jerry Goldsmith; a haunting opening sequence; the very, very occasional and instantly forgettable shock-factor about characters we care nothing about, and some intermittently nice and eerie location work are about all that save this film from being a complete waste of time!.
For all three movies his score remains as one of the best in the Horror genre.Overall The Final Conflict has a lot of problems but the film isn't entirely bad.
If that wasn't enough a group of seven priest's from Italy now possess the seven daggers of Meggido which are the only things on Earth which can kill Damien & are on a mission to do just that, an Antichrist's life is just never easy is it?This English American co-production was directed by Graham Baker & I actually thought it was a decent horror film that passed the time harmlessly enough.
Such was not the case.This story centers around Damien taking the position his "father" (Gregory Peck from the first movie) once held as American Ambassador to Britain and the priests who have found the holy daggers which can kill the Antichrist.
Having re-watched and enjoyed Omen 1 and 2, from which the combination of Jerry Goldsmiths score and creepy camera work left me pretty disturbed, I was looking forward to the third and final instalment which I hadn't seen before.What a massive disappointment.This film is a complete and total waste of so many good talents.Sam Neill is pretty good as Damian Thorne.
But the third film, The Final Conflict, there really wasn't anything happening in the movie, so that's probably why I didn't like it. |
tt1389762 | Garfield's Pet Force | On the planet Dorkon, Professor Wally (The professor counterpart to Wally) shows Emperor Jon (the Emperor counterpart to Jon Arbuckle) his new invention, The Moscram ray gun, a device powered by the Klopman crystal that can scramble inanimate objects and organisms into new creatures under the user's control. But Emperor Jon is concerned about finding a wife to continue the royal bloodline. Soon a warship lands outside the palace. Emperor Jon sees Vetvix (the super-villain counterpart to Liz), and asks her if he can marry her. She agrees, but only because she wanted to steal the Moscram Ray Gun. She zombifies Emperor Jon's guards. Professor Wally calls the Pet Force: Garzooka (Garfield's superhero counterpart, voiced by Frank Welker), who can spit green hairballs out of his mouth, Odious (Odie's superhero counterpart, voiced by Gregg Berger), who can whack and move objects with his powerful tongue, Abnermal (Nermal's superhero counterpart, voiced by Jason Marsden), who can run at an amazing speed and Starlena (Arlene's superhero counterpart, voiced by Audery Wasilewski), who can freeze her enemies by staring at them. But Vetvix zombifies every member of the Pet Force except Garzooka. He manages to get hold of the Klopman Crystal and escapes with Professor Wally in a secret passageway. The professor uses his computer to search the universe for counterparts with DNA matches with the Pet Force. Professor Wally finds the counterparts, and give Garzooka their pictures and some serums that will transform the counterparts into the Pet Force, and he flies away in his space ship to Comic Strip World leaving Professor Wally behind with Vetvix vowing for revenge.
The situation was revealed to be a comic book Nermal(Jason Marsden) was reading during a cookout with the gang. Nermal is really excited about getting the next 100th edition issue. Garfield's friends go to the Comic studio to work their new strip, except Garfield (Frank Welker) who wants to finish all the hot dogs. Nermal gets the new Pet Force issue from a news stand, with Garzooka jumping out of a comic book afterwards. Nermal finds that the events that are happening to them are in the comic book, and the rest of the book is blank because they have not happened yet. Garzooka heads for Jon's house, and is told where Odie, Arlene, and Nermal are by Garfield. Garzooka gives Garfield the Klopman crtstal as well, telling him to protect it.
In the living room at the Comic Studio, Nermal, Arlene, and Odie notice Garzooka behind them. Garzooka hands them the serums, asking them to help him stop Vetvix. But they don't change immediately after they drink the serums. However it's time for Odie, Arlene, and Nermal to go to work and Garzooka follows. Meanwhile, the real Garfield is enjoying a relaxing day all to himself, but is captured by Vetvix (who appeared in Comic Strip World earlier), who threatens him for the Klopman Crystal, but to no avil (because Garfield was a cartoon character). Garfield tried to protect the Klopman Crystal by putting it in his lemonade, and drinks it. But eventually Vetvix's guards get it. Garfield is told by Professor Wally to go over to Emperor Jon and him. He tells Garfield to grab the Professor's lens and puts them on the window. The sunlight burns the Emperor and the professor's ropes. Vetvix order her guards to get rid of Garfield, so they throw Garfield down the garbage chute.
Back at Comic Studios, the gang is interrupted by Vetvix, who crashes her war ship into Comic Studios, and zombifies most of the characters at the studio. Nermal, Odie, Arlene, Jon, and Garzooka escape to the back alley. Garzooka is wondering why the serums haven't taken effect yet. He notices Garfield falling from sky. Then Odie, Nermal, and Arlene turn into their Pet Force counterparts. They plan to bring down Vetvix's ship using the antenna on top of a tall tower nearby. Vetvix's ship backs up, causing a bill board to break to pieces. The Pet Force hide under one of the broken pieces of the bill board and escape while being chased by zombies and manage to reach the tower by crashing through walls. Garfield, Jon, and a cartoon trash can are the only ones left in the back alley. Eli saves Garfield from Vetvix, by making the air vent suck him. Jon, however, gets scrambled with the trashcan. Vetvix causes chaos, zombifying all of Cartoon World. Eli scolds Garfield for not helping Garzooka and if haven't been so lazy then Vetvix wouldn't have gotten the Klopman Crystal. Eli and Garfield manage to find three survivors: Wally (Neil Ross), Wally's wife Bonita(Jennifer Darling), and Betty. Garfield decides to name himself and the survivors "The Crazy Crew" and form their own plan. Meanwhile, at the tower, Garzooka realizes the zombies are too much for the Pet Force. Luckily Garfield and Wally disguise themselves as Garzooka (Garfield stands on top of Wally to make the fake Garzooka taller)) and get the zombies attention. The real Garzooka and the Pet Force go to the antenna and use it to bring down Vetvix's ship. Meanwhile, the zombies chase Garfield and Wally to the Comic Studio, and Eil opens the pit in the filming area, in which the zombies fall into. Meanwhile, at the tower, Vetvix shoots the Moscram Ray Gun, using the super scramble mode, combining all the Pet Force members into one creature. However, they move in different direction, and they fall off the tower.
Emperor Jon and Professor Wally break free, and take over the ship, flying into the air, making Vetvix fall off. However, she makes a giant monster by shooting the ray gun at most of the buildings in Cartoon World, and decides to use the monster to destroy everything and get her ship back. Meanwhile, Vetvix's ship (with Professor Wally and Emperor Jon controlling it) lands near the back alley of Comic Studio, and the Crazy Crew meet Emperor Jon and Professor Wally, who let Garfield enter the ship. The ship flies above the monster, and Garfield jumps off, just as the monster grabs the wings of the ship, wrecking it. The monster chases Garfield. During the chase, Garfield encounters the creature combined with the Pet Force members. They try to attack Garfield, but they miss and end up attacking the monster. Odie chases Garfield using his tongue. Garfield runs around the monsters, and the monster trips. Vetvix falls off and drops the gun. Garfield unscrambles the monster and the Pet Force creature. Garfield and the "Crazy Crew" surround Vetvix, and she backs up into a corner called the "Smile Section", which Betty invented. The "Smile Section" will anyone who goes into it think of happy thoughts and smile. Garfield shoots Vetvix with the Moscram Ray Gun, and Vetvix becomes a nice woman and says sorry to Emperor Jon and kisses him. Eli opens the pit and Garfield unscrambles the zombies. Garzooka gives Arlene, Odie, and Nermal the red serums, and drink it. Nermal misses having his super powers, so Garzooka gives him a mathching costume. The Comic Studio crew, Garfield, his friends, and the Pet Force (on Dorkon) watch Vetvix and Emperor Jon's wedding, Garfield finally wins Arlene's feelings, and two gaze at the stars. Suddenly, a trail of stars goes under them and they float into space and dance, before returning to Earth.
2 minutes in the credits while watching Emperor Jon's wedding, the gang watch a video (showing that the real Pet Force is back) at Comic Studio. They notice that Betty is there too, and realize that she followed Garzooka to Dorkon. It looks like there will have to be a new assistant to Charles, the director of Comic Studio, which Nermal is eager to take. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | the very young, and not in heart but mind.
A little context: I, 22 year old, go to movies all the time with both my parents.
There's few movies I can't get anything good out of, so I enjoy watching most.
Even more so knowing my parents are happy in my company.My feelings: Going in the theater with a cheery attitude for this 3D Computer Generated movie, from the moment it started I hoped for it to get better than the awkwardly innocent silliness that kept accumulating in both the movie play and in my unprepared mind.
I felt so dumb for letting my parents decide to see this rather than the other option (my would-be 3rd viewing of Thor), and also for having the trailer -shown to me some months earlier- purposely forgotten.My review: The plot summary is true, so I don't need to tell you anything more about it.
What one could -wrongly- expect is that the way the plot unravels or is presented has some quality that redeems it for being merely a kid's movie cashing on the Garfield license.
However this pic has nothing special going for it, just the dumb by-the- numbers approach.
Sure, they put some effort into making it, they made a single slightly amusing scene with jumping out 3D stuff, whatever.
By all that's good, this pic isn't worth the time spent on any part of the movie process, not the producing, not the animating,{...}, and very specially not experiencing it.
There are a ton of better things a child could (and should) be doing, and you would be a bad parent if you force this upon your child.Closing: Me and my parents?
Why, we endured the whole of it thinking maybe each other would feel offended if any of us walked out and kept hoping it would get any better at any time soon; in retrospective we were a bunch of good-meaning fools.
Except my dad who mercifully fell asleep..
My son LOVES "the cat movie".
In response to the reviewer above me, this is a little kids movie!Anywho, my boy just loves this film.
We watch it on Netflix at least once or twice a week.
It is a great silly film.
It doesn't hold much educational value, but I could care less- it's Garfield, it's cool.
I highly recommend this film for 3-9 year old children.
The best part: Parents, this isn't one of those types that make you want to put a drill to your temple.
Get it, let your kids have something to laugh at.
It is still the good ole' lazy cat that would rather eat lasagna than get off his bum and his dorky and gullible owner..
great 3D movie that should come out in the USA in Theaters.
it is a great 3D movie that it should come out in the USA in Theaters that is how good this movie is i think you will enjoy this wonderful piece of art and it is a masterpiece you may want to go to the stores and buy this wonderful movie i hope you enjoy this piece of art that is in 3D i never saw a movie that had this much 3D in it if you are really looking for a movie that has a lot of 3D in it than this is the movie that you are looking for i rally think that you and your kids will enjoy this wonderful 2D and 3D family flick it is a fun filled ride you really have to watch this wonderful movie that will blow your mind away that is how good this movie is i just hope you like it as much as i do i never saw anything this good before in my whole life i think this movie will be a huge hit in a few years i think this is the perfect family film in the whole earth i just hope you like it as much as i do if you like 3D movies than you will enjoy this 3D hit that will blow your mind away i know that for sure.
Garfield was never that good.
Everyone was disappointed when the live-action Garfield movies came out.
Well, 90% of people are disappointed whenever any live-action adaptation comes out.
Anyway, it seems like it would be much more suitable to make actual cartoon movies with Garfield.
We got our wish with this film and a couple others.
A pity some people view this as even worse.
Looking back, I used to love "Garfield" when I was a kid.
It's weird, because now I just don't associate with it at all anymore.
I guess you could say I just outgrew it, but it's more than that.
I can look back at stuff like "Peanuts" or "Sesame Street" and be impressed at how it holds up as an adult.Garfield just comes off as boring to me nowadays.
So the fact that this film was lacking in laughs in every way imaginable made it seem like a pretty faithful adaptation.
Most of this story is dumb.
There's a couple good moments, but it's mostly spoiled by terrible CGI.
These characters are just plain ugly to look at.
The biggest saving grace is Frank Welker as superhero Garfield.
He reuses the Nibbler voice from "Futurama".
It is so much fun to listen to him!
This film just isn't funny and it makes little sense within the world it creates.
If you're still into Garfield, good for you, but I just want to avoid it.
Finally a superhero Garfield movie.
Out of all the 3D animation movies of Garfield, I think this is my favorite movie of them all.
When I was younger I was a massive fan of Superhero shows and I also loved the Garfield show so when this movie aired on Boomerang it was a dream come true for me to watch this movie.This movie does show you about superheroes and what responsibility it takes to be one other than wearing capes and tights. |
tt1170358 | The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | In a flashback set in the town of Bree on the border of the Shire, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) arrives at the Prancing Pony, orders a meal, and notices that he's being watched. The watchers withdraw when Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) joins Thorin. Gandalf urges Thorin to begin a quest to obtain the Arkenstone. The stone will enable Thorin to reclaim the dwarves' lost kingdom of Erebor from the dragon Smaug and claim the throne of King under the Mountain. Gandalf suggests recruiting a burglar to steal the Arkenstone from the dragon-guarded mountain.Twelve months later, not long after the end of the previous film, Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf, Thorin and the dwarven company are chased by the orcs down from the Carrock, where they encounter a huge and ferocious bear. Gandalf urges the company to seek refuge in a nearby house. They make it there just barely ahead of the bear -- which, once the doors are safely barred, Gandalf reveals to be their host, Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt), a skin-changer who can take the form of a man or a bear. Remarking that he dislikes dwarves but hates orcs much more (they hunted and tortured his kind for centuries, and Beorn is the last of them), Beorn loans his horses to the company so that they can outrun the pursuing orcs.Azog (Manu Bennett), the leader of the orcs, is summoned to Dol Guldur where he is given command of the armies by the Necromancer (voice: Benedict Cumberbatch). Azog gives his son, Bolg (Lawrence Makoare), the task of hunting the dwarves.Gandalf departs as the others enter Mirkwood, urging Bilbo and the dwarves not to stray from the forest path and to wait for him before entering the mountain. After losing their way because of the evil enchantments that make the forest so dangerous, the dwarves are captured by giant spiders while Bilbo climbs a tree to get their bearings. Bilbo, with the help of his sword (which he names Sting during this encounter) and the One Ring, manages to free them from the webs of the spiders. However, while fighting the attacking spiders, the dwarves are captured by Wood-elves led by Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the son of the Elven King Thranduil (Lee Pace). Thorin holds a grudge against Thranduil for refusing the help the dwarves after the dragon drove them out of the Lonely Mountain, and he refuses to negotiate. Thus he and the other dwarves are locked up. Bilbo, however, uses his ring to escape the elves' notice and follows the prisoners to their dungeon.Kili (Aidan Turner) falls for Tauriel, who seems intrigued by him. Legolas is also sweet on Tauriel, but she's been told by King Thranduil to discourage him; Legolas is not for the likes of her.Under the cloak of his ring, Bilbo steals the jailer's keys and helps the dwarves to escape from the halls of the Wood Elves using empty wine barrels, in which they float down the river. Along the way, they are attacked by Bolg and his band of orcs, who had been lying in wait. When Kili tries to open the river gate, Bolg wounds him with a poisoned arrow. Tauriel and Legolas, sent to chase down the escaping dwarves, end up helping them fend off the orcs.Several miles downriver, Bilbo and the company meet Bard (Luke Evans), a bowman and descendant of the original lord of Dale, who was waiting to collect the empty barrels in his barge. They pool their coins to bribe Bard to smuggle them into Lake-town (Esgaroth). Using the barrels the company used to escape the elves, Bard covers the dwarves and Bilbo with a load of fish. When he's stopped at the main gate, Alfrid (Ryan Gage), assistant to the town's Master, stops him, nitpicking that the barrels are supposed to be empty and the contents will be dumped into the lake. Bard argues that the town needs the fish for food and Alfrid lets him go, warning him that he knows where Bard lives & he's being watched. Bard replies that the town is small & "everyone knows where everyone lives."Bard sneaks the dwarves past the town's extensive spy network and they enter his house through the toilet undetected. The dwarves scoff at the makeshift weapons Bard provides and consequently are captured trying to steal better weapons from the town armory. They're taken before the Master of Lake-town (Stephen Fry), where Thorin convinces the townsfolk and the Master that the dwarves will share the riches of the recaptured mountain with Lake-town. The adventurers receive a grand send-off, but Thorin makes Kili stay behind because his wound is slowing him down -- in fact, it's getting worse. Oin (John Callen) and Kili's brother Fili (Dean O'Gorman) stay with him. Bofur (James Nesbitt) stays too because he passed out under the table during the feast and misses the boat.Meanwhile, the Elvenking learns from a captured orc that Sauron has returned, and decides to seal off the Elf kingdom in Mirkwood to protect it from the impending evil. However, Tauriel leaves to help the injured Kili and a concerned Legolas gives chase.The remainder of Thorin's company make their way to Erebor and search for the cliff that houses Durin's Door. In a sheltered nook, they find the spot shown on the map and try to locate the keyhole. When they can't find it, they try to bludgeon their way in and are defeated. Hopeless, they leave in frustration, knowing that the sun has set on Durin's Day, the last day of Fall. However, a few moments later, Bilbo deciphers the clue on Thorin's map about the last light of Durin's Day; moonlight shines on the keyhole and Bilbo excitedly calls them back. Thorin unlocks the secret door into the mountain. Thorin is overcome with emotion at the sight of his old home and sends Bilbo in to find the Arkenstone. Balin (Ken Stott) warns Bilbo not to wake the dragon.Bilbo sneaks down the tunnel and attempts to steal the Arkenstone, but Smaug (voice: Benedict Cumberbatch) wakes up and discovers him. Bilbo slips on the ring, becoming invisible. Though Smaug is fearsome, Bilbo stands his ground and placates the dragon. Smaug is flattered but still furious that anyone would challenge the sanctity of his dwelling. Smaug continues to question Bilbo, gaining further clues to his intruder's identity. Eventually, Bilbo spots the Arkenstone but is unable to take it. Smaug wants Bilbo to steal it -- the dragon knows that Thorin will fall under the same influence as his grandfather and be overcome by greed. As the dragon passes over Bilbo, the hobbit spies the bare spot on Smaug's chest where the black arrow shot by Bard's ancestor knocked a scale loose.At the same time, Gandalf, after sending Radagast away with a message for Galadriel, knowingly steps into the orc-ambushed Dol Guldur and engages Azog, his band of orcs, and the Necromancer in a fierce battle. During the battle, the Necromancer appears to Gandalf as the Eye of Sauron, revealing his true identity. The battle ends with Gandalf's capture.Tauriel and Legolas arrive at Lake-town in the nick of time to fight off the orcs, who have tracked the dwarves to Bard's house. Legolas goes off after Bolg, sparring with him on the floating byways of Lake-town before embarking on a mounted pursuit on land. Tauriel attends to the wounded Kili using her healing magic and some kingsfoil that Bofur scrounged out of a pigsty. Sensing that the dragon is coming, Bard sets off to load the last Black Arrow into the town's Windlance (a large crossbow mounted on a tower) so that it can pierce the weakened spot in the dragon's armor. (The weak spot is a missing scale, courtesy of Bard's ancestor Girion, last lord of Dale.) Bard is captured by the Master's men, but not before handing off the Black Arrow to his son Bain (John Bell), who hides it in a small boat.The dwarves enter the mountain to help Bilbo. An infuriated Smaug chases them through the caverns. When Thorin and the company enter an isolated room, they find the last of Thror's folk lying dead, trapped by Smaug many years before -- they subsequently starved to death. Thorin refuses to surrender and thinks of a new plan to trick Smaug into rekindling the forge using his fiery breath. The gold in the furnaces melts and is set loose, flowing down a series of channels and into a giant mold of a dwarven king. Smaug, having deciphered a clue of Bilbo's, "barrel-rider", sets out to burn Lake-town in revenge. He is stopped when he sees Thorin atop the giant mold. The sides of the mold are cut loose and the solid gold statue that had formed suddenly collapses and covers Smaug with molten gold. However, Smaug bursts out, breaking free of the main gate and takes to the air, shaking off the gold coating. Bilbo watches Smaug fly off into the night to wreak havoc on Esgaroth and says "What have we done?" | mystery, fantasy, murder, boring, violence, flashback, good versus evil, action, romantic, revenge | train | imdb | null |
tt0109324 | Boy Meets Girl | This dark British drama features S&M and centers upon a woman who slowly, fatally tortures the man she keeps captive in her basement. Anne Marie, a French woman, finds her captive, Tevin, in a bar. She is beautiful and he willingly returns to her apartment for a night of love. Instead she spikes his drink. He awakens to find himself stripped to his underwear and strapped to a dentist's chair. Enter Anne Marie, dressed in full dominatrix garb. She swiftly begins a series of vigorous mental and physical tortures. An unseen third person videotapes the festivities. Anne-Marie is soon replaced by the camera woman and true perpetrator, Julia, a serial killer. For her good work, Anne-Marie is butchered and her head is placed in the cellar with Julia's other victims. Julia proceeds to continue tormenting Tevin until the film's inevitable conclusion.........
[borrowed from NYTimes movie review] | violence, sadist | train | imdb | One of the many things I love about DVD, as a medium, is the way that so many wonderful films that never got the video release they so richly deserved have being unearthed from the vaults and unleashed on the viewing public - usually a public that can't even remember them from the first time round at that.One such forgotten gem is Ray Brady's "Boy Meets Girl" (1994, UK) which although responsible for huge amounts of controversy upon its theatrical release (BBFC not liking its subject matter, for some reason!), never seems to get mentioned by many folk any more.
The film begins, as the title suggests, when Boy Meets Girl in that all-too-familiar setting of a divey little bar somewhere.
Girl is French, quite the 'randy little tart' it seems, so Boy thinks he's struck lucky, especially when she takes him back to her flat, plies him with wine and asks if he'd like to watch some porn with her.
and she wants to film it all.I'd love to tell you more, because the way I've put it probably makes it sound like one of the "Guinea Pig" films (which it's quite a far cry from!), but I also don't want to spoil the plot for you.
I WILL however go as far as to say, the entire thing takes place in the black room with minimal cast members (which all lends it quite a 'theatrical' feel), so major cred points distributed all round for creating such a continuously tense and edgy atmosphere that keeps you guessing and utterly engrossed right up until the final few grotesque scenes.There are so many things in this deeply unusual film's favour that enable it to be so effective.
It's almost disorientating, the way the characterisations manipulate perceptions of what's going on and, by the time the plot reaches its ferociously visceral climax, the impact is made all the greater, because you're being made to THINK about what's going on instead of just watching it through zombified, desensitised eyes."Boy Meets Girl" is one of the more genuinely disturbing films I've seen.
It kind of feels like I'm a "newborn" movie viewer, and makes me believe in the power of the medium again.
The effective use of clever camera fading and fade up techniques, invisible cuts and so forth, makes me think that it is now possible for someone to actually make the movies Anthony Burgess predicted in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, which are shown to Alex during his brainwashing.
Ray Brady's "Boy Meets Girl" is a low budget, uncompromising and controversial shocker.
Brady in his Director's commentary explains that the political context at the time in the UK was such that films that glamorized violence(when violence was perceived to be entertaining) were being passed by the censors and any films that showed realistic violence, pain, suffering etc were perceived by the censors to be dangerous and potentially damaging viewing material and were subsequently immediately banned.
Brady said that his motivation for making Boy Meets Girl was to provoke and challenge the censors into a public clarification of this problem and arguing that irreparable damage was being done to the sensibilities of British audiences in that they were slowly and insidiously being desensitised to violence by watching films where the pace of the narrative never allowed the time to portray or dwell on the subsequent casual effects of violence and the repercuations to the whole community that surrounds an individual that has experienced an act of violence.
Brady argued that the way films were being edited, to conform to censorship guidelines, was more likely to lead to potential dysfunctional behaviour by viewers of films with violent content.
Having heard of the darker appetites being indulged here and the possible repercussions if someone decided to make the events of this film a reality, I thought to always steer clear of this film, due to the subject matter but after it was released in the US on the Unearthed label I thought now it's finally on region 1 it's time to check it out.I then read that Danielle Sanderson was fantastic in it, and I decided to bite the bullet and give it a watch.
And like all writers, I'd fight for the right for a colleague's work to be read, even if I hated it.The acting is unbelievably good.Sanderson was perfection as the corrupt Julia (I can't even envision anyone else in that role) yet, she is perfection.
I hope that she has a long and happy career.Tim Poole has great range as an actor, and this role proves it beyond a doubt he manages to portray a disturbed nasty individual but still manages to evoke my sympathy before the end.This isn't a film I'd want to watch often, (I can't stomach the reading of Sade's prose, that was read out in an early scene, for long) but it is a film which is much better than expected and after watching the DVD extra's and listening to the Director's explanatory commentary on who the film was shot on a micro-budget and made as an argument within a film to challenge the way the then UK censors were desensitizing audiences to violence in the mistaken belief that they were protecting them, with the budgetary restraints it is an incredible film and I'm amazed they managed to pull it off.
"Boy Meets Girl" is not as nasty as I expected,but still we have here a pretty disturbing stuff.A man meets a woman in the bar,the two go back to her home and there they decide to watch a porno film.The guy passes out and wakes to find himself strapped to a dentist chair.The woman starts to torture him...This artsy shocker is full of brilliant color schemes and there is a lot of atmosphere through out the film.The torture scenes are pretty tame in comparison to "Guinea Pig:Devil's Experiment"(1988),but still there is enough shocking scenes to satisfy fans of extreme stuff.Recommended!.
After watching and being disappointed by Day of the Sirens (the directors latest movie) I was slagging the film off to a friend when she asked me had I seen Boy Meets Girl, she insisted that I borrow her copy and to watch it.
What a shocking surprise, I was glued to my seat, genuinely disturbing the film was intelligently written and felt at times as real as a documentary and left me with recurring nightmares.
This is the darkest film I've ever seen, you really don't believe that what you are watching is or could be a real movie, more like you are watching some sort of sick home movie made by a female Hannibal Lectern who has decided to make a demented snuff movie.
Perversely brilliant and unlike any other film I've ever seen I was repelled and drawn to it simultaneously, a movie more like a play written by a reincarnated Marquis De Sade.
Starting to work myself through the "Unearthed Films" I purchased recently, I decided to start with this interesting little take on a cross between "Man Bites Dog" and "Hard Candy".
Boy meets girl is the most brilliantly sick and twisted, exhilarating and outrageous kick in the ass film I've ever seen.
A film that questions the exploitative use of violence by cinema, something that makes this films subject matter appear more realistic and important, a provocative way in which to illustrate what the film is REALLY about.
The audience identifies with the film making inquisitor, fascinated and disturbed by Tevin's sadistic captor, unable to look away.
Other films have attempted to incite similar discussions on violence but Boy Meets Girl is simply the best of its kind.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.It gives an insight in the very realistically portrayed life of a serial killer with an impressionable charisma.Most people who commented on this film either love it or hate it.
The pivotal point of the film is when the audience begins to look "beyond" the obvious relationship, that of torturer (being obviously evil) and their subject Tevin (a victim).
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 it is also a display of film-genius.The movie is filmed in mostly in one room, more like a set for theatre as a "fly-on-the-wall" victim in the life of a serial killer.
Those who shy from blood and killing - about the most graphic and nasty domestic violence you'll ever see in a film - should shy from this movie.
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 maiming or torture or rape or any violent crime).
I wonder if this is the kind of numbness that soldiers experienced in wars like WWI, entrenched and under constant fire - to where the violence around become the norm ( one of the films many strange chapter/scene headings.
When I told him about this movie, a friend mentioned that "society, as a whole, is already numb to brutal killing and violence." He's right about that.
It's not Hollywood by a long shot so I'm pretty sure this film will have its detractors, but the film delivers what it says, it's a feel good movie for a teen audience.
I won't go into it too deeply, but their means include a microwave, maggets and a dildo.The problem this movie has is keeping things interesting, so at like 3/4 of the film we see a silly escape attempt to keep us awake.
Also at the end of the film you feel like: so what does it all mean, where does this lead us?
If going back to Man Bites Dog, that movie had more of a story to tell, and actually had an ending.Too bad as it's not uninteresting what the makers try to do, but in the end they do kinda fail...
A few days ago I received this film in the mail,and I must admit that I was expecting this to be something special,at least according to reviews that have praised this as something dark and unsettling.Well,I can tell you that's not the case at all,I'm afraid to say.First of all;I'm well aware of the fact that this is director Ray Brady's cinematic statement about the general portrayal of on screen violence.And I also realize that Brady had to choose an angle that didn't blur his message,meaning that he couldn't exactly revel in blood and gore.The result he would have got then,is that people would have perceived it as a sadistic gorefest,and ultimately failed in grasping his overall message.But then the question is;is it still possible to make it unsettling and dark,and at the same time let the message come across?Of course it is.Two examples that come to mind are "A Clockwork Orange",and "Man Bites Dog".Regarding the latter,it is stated on the cover that "Boy meets Girl" is "the English answer to Man Bites Dog".Well,sadly it is a far cry from this gem,and should not be compared at all!!My main objection to BMG is that the whole affair comes off as a amateurish attempt to make the viewers emphathize with the victim,and perhaps also with the perpetrator.My point is that this isn't accomplished at all,this mainly due to the apparent lack of really convincing actors,lack of top-notch dialogue,and the lack of realism that is acquired in order to make it look like a snuffpiece.To sum up;I have not watched a horrifying and unsettling film which is shaking one's foundation,I have instead watched a first-year's film student's idea of a innocent,masochistic wet dream.Mediocre at best.Definitely hardly anything that's worth banning,that's for sure!!Oh so many squeamish people out there,the reviews this one has got is a crystalclear proof of that!!.
Without question the very worst British film I have ever seen, this had me questioning my rental choice from literally the first frame (a Nietzsche quote on a pink background that looks like it was knocked up on a Fisher Price "My First Computer").A bunch of friends apparently pooled their student grants together to make a film (I listened to the first 5 minutes of the director's commentary) and the result was this.
Honestly it would have been better spent on beer and pork scratchings.A woman picks up a man at a bar, drugs him, and 1 minute into the film he's strapped to a chair and an 85-minute torture sequence begins.
Well not if that torture consists of her yelling ridiculous feminist mumbo-jumbo at him and quoting from books.A remarkable film in that the victim's plight is less painful than the audience's, Boy Meets Girl contains the worst actors outside of a Timothy Hines flick, and photography to match.
Things perk up when he gets his hand microwaved, but the big finale only excites because we know the film will soon be over.Hopelessly inept in every conceivable way..
and 20 minutes later I took it back and hired something else.I feel my comments may be unfair as I fast forwarded this all the way through in the hope of seeing something interesting.The film is about a woman who takes a man back to her place and subjects him to several forms of torture....
there are three characters in the film, and with the exception of the first five minutes the rest of the film was shot in a dark room.I have seen some bad films in my time but this actually makes all of them seem quite entertaining!
"Leave all that to me..."And thus Boy Meets Girl was born...The genius of this film is that they entrusted all of crucial aesthetic elements to the least talented film-maker in the entire world - Ray Brady.
The acting reminds you of 1970's Open University programmes, but without the lecturers charm and on-screen charisma.Basically this film takes self indulgent trite into a whole new dimension and you will leave it at best swearing never to watch a moving image on a screen for the rest of your life, and at worst planning genocide of the entire human race to ensure something like this is never made or seen again.Fun for all the family!.
A truly funny film.The comedy that I notice has not been mentioned here so far is truly brilliant.The director changing the main character half way through the film is one of the most inventive bits of cinema (or should I say SINema) that I have ever seen.It really is funnier than watching a late night showing of Jim Davidson after being hit by a truck!
That said, BOY MEETS GIRL is not a horrible film by any means - my MAIN problem with it is that it drags on for far too long.
What ensues is some pretty inventive but non-graphic torture, interspersed with way too much boring dialog...There ARE some positive things about BOY MEETS GIRL.
A couple of the torture scenes are imaginative, but lack the "payoff" that I expect in a film like this.
Our main protagonist Tevin, a grimacing Gordon Ramsay clone with a taste for all the usual 'bad' male behaviour (one-night stands, homophobia, heavy drinking, not reading books, macho violence, inbred sexism...the film-makers even throw in something about repressed bestial urges, as if he wasn't enough of a stereotype of the unreconstructed caveman), accompanies his latest conquest - a young, apparently French woman in a startling blonde fright wig - back to her flat, where the poor slob thinks he's in for the time of his life.
But things aren't quite what they seem, and when Tevin collapses after drinking drugged wine, the film shifts to a darkened basement-like setting with the hapless chauvinist strapped to a dentist's chair, where he is tortured and lectured...along with the audience.
Why do we watch violent films when real-life violence is this horrible?
Even in the digitally restored version, the photography is grimy and eye-straining almost beyond endurance, the sound is often inaudible (the sound recordist is pseudonymously credited as Alan Smithee, and I can understand why he wanted to keep his name off this stinker) and the torture scenes are broken up with dinky little paper-and-paste title cards (one of which reads 'The TV is laughing at you' - not as much as the video library manager who foisted this dreck on me and stung me for £1.50) that make the whole thing look even more like an inept student film project than it does already.
If you want to be lectured, patronized and taken for a senseless buffoon who will benefit from being told how to perceive the world by a bunch of precious quasi-intellectuals, then BOY MEETS GIRL is your film..
NO, this film is not provocative, disturbing, well-acted, shocking, "artsy", or in any way entertaining.*spoilers follow* - what do we actually have here?
Well a movie were obviously the main actress had had enough and made the perfect choice to abandon this film half way through.
I'll forgive them the year of making - 1994 and their possible naivety, but come on - I was more shocked by the "squeal pig" scene in The Deliverance than any of this nonsense.Avoid this film: it's cheap, nasty, not shocking, terribly acted....oh yeah he dies in the end , and umm so what I don't give a s**t either as I wanted him to from the beginning anyway.Baaaaad 0/10 |
tt0104119 | Dolly Dearest | American father, Elliot Wade, obtains ownership of the Dolly Dearest factory in Mexico. Not far from the factory lies the underground, Mayan tomb of Sanzia, or Satan on Earth. An archaeologist breaks into the sarcophagus but is crushed by the stone slab that covers the entrance and the malevolent spirit of Sanzia that has been trapped inside for hundreds of years is released. Upon its escape Sanzia takes refuge in the porcelain moppets of Dolly Dearest.
Despite the demise of the archaeologist, the sale is finalized and the unsuspecting Wade family travels from Los Angeles to Mexico to see their new home. Upon arrival, the family meets their realtor, Mr. Estrella and housekeeper, Camilla (Lupe Ontiveros)
After having the luggage unloaded, Estrella decides to take Elliot to see the factory, and seven-year-old daughter Jessica asks to go with to no objection of her father. Jimmy decides to tag along as well.
The building, long abandoned, is covered in dust and spiderwebs and structurally unstable to the consternation of Elliot, but Estrella hurriedly brushes his worries aside and discusses the history of the factory.
During the conversation, Jessica goes exploring. On a high shelf she discovers many well-preserved dolls covered by a sheet. She asks her father if she may have one and he acquiesces. Outside, Jimmy finds the entrance to the cave which is blocked by a wire fence. Unaware of recent events, Jimmy inquires about that area, but his father warns him to never go back there again. However, he does not listen.
That night, Marilyn tucks Jessica in bed and wishes her good night. As she falls asleep, Dolly slowly turns her head to stare at the sleeping child. The next day, when Jessica goes outside to play with Dolly, Marilyn finds a disturbing drawing that she believes Jessica drew. Although curious, Marilyn does not confront her. As the day progresses, Marilyn begins to experience unusual activities. In the beginning, she hears phantom footsteps (known to the viewer as those of Dolly). As time progresses Camilla sends a priest to bless the house. During the session, the Wade family is driving back to their house, and Jessica throws a tantrum in the car. Upon reaching their home, the Priest is seen walking away and Marilyn successfully calms her daughter. Jessica demands that she be given her Dolly immediately, and as the family walks into the house, she looks back and glares at Camilla.
Camilla becomes suspicious.
That night, Marilyn recounts the day's events to Elliot, but he seems unworried. However, Jessica becomes progressively more violent and obsessive with Dolly. To not arouse her father's suspicion, Jessica acts normal when he is around, but resumes her evil and threatening behavior around her mother. Camilla believes the doll is controlling Jessica. When the daughter speaks harshly in Sanzian tongue, Camilla's suspicions are proven correct and she tries to warn Marilyn of the evil but is killed by the spirit. The mayhem continues as Jimmy sneaks out the house one night and breaks into the factory from an unlocked window. He finds the night watchman Luis, dead on the floor and flees. It appears as if Luis died from a heart attack but in truth, the dolls had come to life and toyed with him for a while. Struggling to escape, his hand got caught in an active sewing machine. He was able to break free but the sight and shock of the wound was too much. As he was dying, the dolls made haughty giggles nearby.
While Marilyn listens to Jimmy pontificate upon his newly acquired knowledge of the Sanzian civilization she comes to the realization that Jessica may truly be possessed and tries to take the doll from her daughter. Jessica warns her mother not to touch the doll, but when Marilyn persists, Sanzia momentarily possesses Jessica and shouts, "I WILL KILL YOU!" before adding "The kid's mine."
The next day, Marilyn visits the dig for the first time and talks with the archaeologist, Resnick (Rip Torn) about the purpose of their dig. Resnick tells Marilyn that they are searching for the remains of the Sanzia devil child inside the tomb, which hasn't been opened yet. Resnick continues to explain that the devil child, a true force of evil, fed on the warm blood of children. The tribe eventually killed the creature because its dietary needs almost wiped out the population of the tribe. Marilyn then explains that Jessica is being controlled by her doll and visits Camilla's sister, a nun at a convent. The nun already knows about her plight but informs her it's too late. Not giving up, Marilyn decides to take matters into her own hands.
At home, Marilyn looks for Jessica. Moving stealthily around the house she is frightened by a creaking door behind her. She turns to see Jimmy hiding of the floor of the hallway closet. Jimmy tells her that he's hiding and that Jessica and Dolly are in Jessica's room. He also reveals that he's seen Dolly talk and move. When he mother begins to wonder aloud where the key to Jessica's room is, Jimmy hands it to her and she heads to Jessica's room. In the room Dolly reveals its true self to Marilyn. They exchange words, and the battle begins.
The mother goes back downstairs, loads ammo into the shotgun and tells Jimmy to call his father. At the factory, the dolls take the phones off the hook. Back at the house Jimmy informs his mother that the line is busy but she tells him to keep trying. Marilyn returns to Jessica's room to find the doll gone. It becomes a game of cat and mouse. While the mother is battling, Jimmy continues to try to contact his father. When he cannot get through, he decides to call the operator. Unfortunately, he is unable to communicate because he doesn't speak Spanish, so he hangs up and aides his mom. When Jessica becomes separated, the mother snatches her up and the family runs for the front door, only blocked by Dolly, who is holding the car key. Marilyn warns Dolly to move, but Dolly calls to Jessica and says, "Jessica, let's play with Mommy." Jessica attacks their mother. The shotgun slides on the floor toward Jimmy, who stands there, stunned. As the mother and daughter struggle, Dolly starts advancing towards them with a kitchen knife. Jimmy clutches the shotgun, and after figuring out how it works, aims it at Dolly. Before pulling the trigger, he says, "Play with this, bitch!"
The impact of the bullets sends Dolly crashing through the door, and Jessica becomes herself again. Marilyn, Jessica and Jimmy get in the car and drive to the factory were Elliot is being attacked by the dolls. Meanwhile, the professor enters the tomb and sees the remains of the devil child which has the body of an infant and the head of a goat. Realizing the myth was true, the professor runs to the factory where he saves Elliot from the dolls. They run outside and reunite with Elliot's family but the professor comes back with dynamite to destroy the factory, and they plant it around the factory. The dolls try to stop them, but fail, and the factory starts to explode, killing the dolls. As the explosions continue, an agonizing demonic scream is heard implying the evil Sanzia spirit is destroyed. The film ends as the family watches the factory burn. | cult, gothic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0055408 | Santo vs. las mujeres vampiro | In The Forest of White Pine, a coven of Vampire women living in a castle, has awoken after a sleep of over 200 years.The first one to awaken, is Tandra,the Vampire Priestess, who must prepare to awaken Thorina, the Queen of the Vampire Women. 200 years prior, a woman chosen to be Thorina's successor escaped the clutches of the Vampire Women and their henchmen. That woman's beauty has now been passed down to a current relative named Diane, on the cusp of turning 21. Per a prophecy, Diane is to take Thorina's place as Queen of the Vampire Women, as Thorina descends into the depths of darkness, to be with her husband: Lucifer.Tandra and several male henchmen go to Diane's home and spy on her. The young woman almost falls under Tandra's hypnotic gaze, when her father, Professor Orlof, and husband-to-be, Jorge, console her.Orlof recommends that she lie down, and as Jorge leaves for the evening, Inspector Carlos comes by. Orlof has called Carlos to provide security for a party of Diane's in a few days, but will not tell the Inspector just what he and his men are to protect Diane from.It turns out the Inspector has known for some time, due to some old parchments, that his daughter is destined to become the successor to Thorina. A mark on her shoulder shaped like a bat, is also a sign of Diane's 'destiny.' However, even with all this knowledge, Orlof has not told his daughter a thing about this prophecy.In the meantime, Tandra and her henchmen have attacked a couple coming out of a nightclub. The girl has been drained of blood, and her male escort has disappeared. Inspector Carlos looks over the body, with many perplexed about her bloodless corpse, until a doorman who saw Tandra turn into a bat and fly off, claims that the woman was attacked by a vampire! His declaration causes Carlos to declare the man be placed under arrest.Back at the Castle, the henchmen drain the kidnapped man of blood, and use his blood to revive the reset of the coven, along with Thorina.Back at his house, Santo arrives to speak with Orlof. Orlof tells of the prophecy, and how Diane's relation many years before, was saved by a former relation of Santo. Like then. Santo is the one who can save the woman destined to become Queen of the Vampires. Santo claims he will do what he can to protect Diane, but has to appear at a wrestling match.The day of the party, Inspector Carlos has a number of men watching over the party. However, their security does little, as Tandra and her henchmen detain several, and infiltrate the party. The two henchmen almost get away with Diane, before Santo appears, and detains them.It is in the aftermath of the attack, that Orlof finally tells of the vampire prophecy. Carlos then formulates a plan: hearing that another couple was attacked at the nightclub like the previous one, he suggests taking Diane there with several of his men to see if the vampire women and their cohorts might show up.Back at the castle, Thorina reprimands Tandra for failing to bring her Diane. Tandra then explains about Santo, and his possibly foiling the prophecy laid out.The vampires then send one of their male henchman to a wrestling match Santo is taking part in. The henchman takes out an opponent, and putting on his clothing and mask, attempts to take down Santo in the ring. The henchman's karate moves almost stop Santo, but Santo manages to unmask his opponent, showing his opponent's face to look like a wolf creature! Several officers fire bullets at the man, but he turns into a bat and flies off.Meanwhile, Diane, Carlos, and several other officers are at the club, when Thorina and Tandra appear, to take a look at her. Thorina leaves soon after, and Tandra and her henchmen manage to make off with Diane. Santo shows up too late to stop them, but manages to chase down one henchman, who bursts into flame upon running under the shadow of a cross.Carlos returns to Professor Orlof, and demands he quickly finish deciphering the parchments, feeling they have to tell where the coven is. With minutes ticking away, Orlof manages to find the location in The Forest of White Pine. Orlof radios to Santo, and the wrestler takes off for the castle.His attempts to infiltrate the castle end with him being trapped and tortured by the henchmen. However, Tandra does not act quickly in performing the ritual on Diane, and the sun begins to rise, burning the henchmen and Tandra, as well as sending Thorina and the other women to hide in their coffins.Santo manages to get free, rescues Diane, and burns the remaining Vampire Women in their coffins.Carrying Diane outside, she is reunited with her boyfriend and father, before Santo drives off. | cult | train | imdb | In the late fifties a horror genre burst onto the Mexican screen:masked wrestlers as super heroes.They were a huge hit in Mexico.As usual K Gordon Murray snapped up the American rights to these films.Most were sold directly to televison as saturday afternoon kiddie fare.These were pretty cool when we were well under 12.
The best of the bunch was Santo(called Samson in American prints).Santo was actually a wrestler who kept his identity private until 1982 when he was 65 years old.
A coven of some extremely crusty faced vampire women become hot mamas after a blood ritual.Their queen wants them to kidnap her successor so the queen can go to Hell and live with her hubby Satan.(Sounds like a real stormy romance).The queen to be is the unaware daughter of some idiotic professor.
Well the vampires and their 3 male vampire slaves(all wrestler types)generally bite necks and raise havok.After a couple of botched kidnapping attempts the professor calls in the man in the silver mask,Santo!His real identity a secret, the man in the silver mask,droopy drawers and flamboyant cape tools around in his little sportscar to kick vampiric butt.He also has a cool lab/hideout that the professor can reach via radio/tv.Neat!
After several fights the daughter is kidnapped and taken to the haunted hacienda to be prepared for the blood ritual.Santo arrives in time to get his arse kicked.He is chained next to the girl who will be queen.Will Santo somehow save the day?Will he ever get rid of that wedgie in his tights?Doesn't that mask itch?
The vampire women are very easy on the eyes.The idea of a wrestling superman is a real hoot.Go a few rounds taking punishment that would kill any human,win and go kick some monster arse.All in a days work for Santo!
As usual the lousy dubbing hurts this film.There are a lot of plot holes as well.Vampires appearing in mirrors and the male vampires look like they're out trick or treating.The wrestling matches except for the last one are seemingly endless.
Diana's father, the revered Professor Orlof (Augusto Benedico) has been waiting for this moment, and with the aid of his friend, the mysterious Santo (wrestler Santo himself), they will try to stop Thorina's plan.This is the plot of the film considered as the best in the infamous Mexican wrestler sub-genre.
"Santo Contra las Mujeres Vampiro" was the forth in Santo's career as an actor, and it sets the basis for his future films as his movies started to move away from the action genre and got closer to the realm of fantasy, horror and science fiction.The wrestling sub-genre was a mixture of action films & superhero comics taking as main characters the famous wrestlers of the time.
Santo was without a doubt the most popular of them, so he starred on a long series of films as a mysterious man devoted to justice.
While in his earlier films he battled crime lords, soon he started fighting the supernatural creatures (mainly because horror started to be popular), and this film is the perfect example of that.While this movie contains the typical flaws of the early Mexican b-movies (low-budget & cheap effects), it excels in other aspects such as the acting, and specially, in the beautiful Bava-influenced cinematography.
The Gothic surreal look the movie has owes a lot to the Universal films of the 30s and the school of Mario Bava ("La Maschera del Demonio" comes to mind).
The film has a visual composition that no other Mexican movie could surpass on a very long time.The acting is very good for a movie of its kind, and the script, while very campy, tells a very entertaining story.
A word of advice, DO NOT get the dubbed version, since the awful dubbing makes the film a lot cheesier than what it already is.Of course, as I wrote above, the movie's biggest flaw is the poor budget, resulting in very cheap SFX; also, the action scenes are a bit too long.
While this is not an award-winning film, it makes an enjoyable experience and the best way to experience the Mexican wrestler sub-genre.
Back when the wrestlers wrestled for real, back when vampires were scary and erotic, back when women were REALLY SEXY, there was "Santo contra las mujeres vampiro".
With a popular superhero, a very, very, very sexy vampire queen (I'd let be myself bitten by her)and an hour plus of really good entertainment this is easily the best mexican film ever made.
El Santo, The Man in the Silver Mask, was the most popular wrestler at the time, a true idol of the masses.
So somebody at some point decided to make "wrestling movies" transforming popular wrestlers into superheros (after all, they are masked and caped, aren't they?) and pitted them against criminal mobsters, evil scientists and in one occasion, a martian invasion.
Today this movie would only inspire chuckles and outright laughs, but its a nice history lesson of the time when caped and masked men were in the imaginations of millions of Mexican kids..
You haven't seen fun camp and delightful cheese until you've seen an El Santo movie, and his match with a bunch of beautiful vampire ladies is probably his best.Since Lucha Libre (Wrestling) is very popular south of the border, El Santo (or Samson, or The Silver Masked Wrestler etc) was the master of caped comic book heroes in Mexico back in the 60's.
This movie boasts not only the typical Santo plot: a wrestling match at the beginning, a pretty girl being menaced by bad guys, a professor who knows how to stop the bad guys, a second wrestling match with a concealed bad guy masquerading as a wrestler trying to kill Santo in the ring etc., but it also has some cool old-school Gothic style undead evil mistresses.
And some beauties they are too: Lorena Velasquez (a look-alike to a young Liz Taylor, except prettier) is the effectively sinister vampire queen who is looking for a successor.It's a lot of late night horror movie fun, the kind the "live monster" hosts like Elvira and Vampira used to show.
You can't help but love the stilted, translated dialog done in laughably out-of-synch dubbing, endless fighting scenes (the kind where people fall down even when a punch misses them by ten feet), a slowly unravelling master plot, and cheap special effects.
They attempt it several times and while they fail, I guess they are grating on the woman's nerves (You'd be upset too if the undead kept bugging ya), so she calls on Santo, a famous Mexican wrestler to stop the undead and protect her.
I missed the episode I guess, but regardless, you don't need their help to enjoy this movie, it is so ridiculous and cheesy on its own that even at 2 hours in length it is still a campy delight.For goodness sake they call on Santo like he's Batman, there's even a Comissioner Gordan type character who has a hotline directly to Santo in the car.
But enjoy Santo Versus The Vampire Women, it's a fun flick..
Used for the last season six episode of MST3K, this Mexican wrestler film has good cinematography, an interesting plot, cool vampires...
okay, so the girl's father has a goofy, dubbed voice and the wrestling scenes (one with a buff vampire!) might be tedious for some (like me).
if you want good acting, a good story and great special effects, stay away, but if you want to have fun watching a masked mexican wrestler kick vampire butt, this is the one for you!This is probably the most popular film starring legendary wrestler El Santo, a true classic..
In this flick, a vampire took his chance to wrestle mano a mano with the silver-masked hero, but the Arena Coliseum is Holy Ground for Santo.
Oddly, the title for this film when I found it on Roku was "Samson Versus the Vampire Women" and they call the hero 'Samson' throughout the picture*.
Now seeing Santo fighting against the undead is NOT unusual, as he made quite a few movies involving werewolves, aliens, vampires and Frankenstein!
But the title is totally misleading and stupid.The film begins with vampire women being awakened and released from her grave by some weird lady in bad make-up.
Las Mujueres Vampiro" is a stupid but fun film....much like all the other Santo movies I have seen.
Now from what I understand Sampson is sort of like the Superman of Mexico, he's their hero, I always honestly thought it was a joke with the Mexican wrestlers, thanks to this movie, I'll be having nightmares for weeks, seeing that ridicules costume, no offense to fans of Samson, just God, that was such an outfit!
But the only thing I can say about this movie, is that it's so bad that it turns around once again into the good/bad zone that makes it so laughable and you actually find yourself enjoying it, it's the vampire version of Goodfellas.A vampire woman has awakened and discovers that it is time to find the reincarnation of the queen of the vampires.
and SAMSON, a Mexican wrestler who for some odd reason sometimes runs away from the bad guys and just flips them on their backs.
the Vampire Women is pretty stupid, I mean we go from a vampire story to a wrestling match that has nothing to do with the story, it's like watching a movie with Paris Hilton and then in the middle of it cut to her sex tape just because that's mainly what she is famous for.
This movie is about a Mexican Alfred the butler who has a machine that can see anything in the world, much like the Chinese guy in that wrestling women movie, and a vampire woman who needs thugs to bop her victims over the head.
The Santo films, indeed the wrestling superhero genre as a whole, is unique to Mexico (I recently tried to sit through an Italian variant, Superargo, and wasn't impressed), and on that basis alone deserves more respect than it is usually accorded.
For my money, the best of the Santo films I have seen is Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos, which is wildly exploitative and inane, but the clips I have seen of Misterio en las Bermudas, together with what I have read of it, suggest that it is truly an epic of its variety.In any event, here we have a fairly early representative of the genre, and I write this because I was able to see an English dub version, that appearing in the Mystery Theater 3000 series.
But it is the Santo film that really makes the viewing worth it.It should be noted that for some reason best known to Santo's management and audience, a large chunk of his filmography has him battling vampires - he even battles Count Dracula himself on at least three occasions.
Perhaps that's just as well - when he battles simple gangsters, as in his first film Santo contra cerebro del mal, the going gets pretty slow."Vampire Women" is an odd film and a silly film.
Suddenly, literally out of nowhere, Santo appears, and the film becomes an excuse for the masked one to thrash some vampire - and werewolf - butt, in and out of the ring.It is silly because there is no coherence to how the myth of the vampire is used throughout the movie; one moment they can be seen in a mirror, then later not, the vampire becomes a werewolf then soon disappears in a fire-bolt at simply the sight of a cross on a church-steeple - The whole narrative seems terribly ad hoc - as if the script were written on the fly (and I suspect it was - although the first half has some money showing in its atmospherics, which are quite impressive, the second half looks pretty cheap).Fortunately, this is a fairly short movie, and the pacing is pretty good.
It is also representative of both the wrestling superhero genre and the Mexican horror genre, so may be a good beginning point for those interested in either.
When it comes right down to it, the "masked Mexican professional wrestler Vs. karate-chopping, wrestling, vampire/werewolf" movie genre has a fairly large void that this movie tries hard to fill.
This is the very best Mexican wrestler Vs. vampire movie I've ever seen (although it should be noted, it's also the ONLY one, so I guess that makes it the worst too).2.
It features some extremely good looking Mexican women, which is definitely NOT a bad thing.
What kind of afruit would enjoy seeing a cheesy black and white movie abouthow a tubby Mexican wrestler battles a bunch of withered oldhags that are supposed to be vampires, who slither around theircrypts ordering their bloodsucking slaves to do their dirty workfor them?
What do you expect when you mix Santo, the masked Mexican wrestler, with a bevy of beautiful vampires?
I don't know about you, but I expect pure, delicious cheese.Going through a plot summary or analyzing the positives and negatives seems a bit silly with a movie like Samson vs.
Even though he's called Samson by everyone in the movie and the title lists him as Samson, someone forgot to tell the crowd at the wrestling arena who seem overly exuberant in chanting "Santo!"2.
It's odd that Santo can do battle with three vampire goons and come out on top, yet when going one-on-one in a wrestling ring, he gets the snot beat out of him.There are more, but you get the idea.
And before anyone in the States makes too much fun of this movie's sheer goofiness, remember that our culture is responsible for "Gilligan's Island", "Ozzy and Harriet" and Sid and Marty Kroft.On to the actual movie.As promised by the title, Samson (actually "El Santo") fights vampires to rescue a young lady from her fate as the new Queen of the Undead.
Or that Samson/El Santo pledges to protect the young woman, but can't be bothered to actually hang around, so he's always pulling up in a convertible at the last moment and leaping on the bad guys.
(admittedly, we're talking about a Mexican wrestler film here, not "The Man Who Would Be King").There is also some unfortunate voice dubbing - El Santo is OK (if somewhat stentorian), but the Professor in particular has a fruity baritone better suited to an animated cartoon character like Dudley Doright.Still, this was a lot of fun to watch - there were some pretty good sets and lighting and camera angles, the women were pretty hot, the hero was noble and brave, and I can see how a young Latino audience would think that a masked muscle-man who drives his own sports convertible and travels around wrestling and fighting evil would be the shiznit.
It's one of those fun Mexican movies starring the wrestler/superhero 'Santo'.
In this one he is called on to help a father protect his daughter from a group of Vampire women who want to make her their next queen.
At least he knew to return to his own corner when the bell rang.There was some very good imagery in the first ten or fifteen minutes of the film when the vampire women first awaken from their 200 year nap.
The makeup on the waking vampires had a certain unique even bizarre look to it often found in Mexican horror films.
Unfortunately there's far more screen time given to Santo - who we twice have to watch in the ring taking ages to floor his opponents - than to the vampire women; who Santo only takes on at the film's very conclusion.
(If Tundra and her girls had thought to put blackouts on the window of the crypt and kept track of the time as dawn approached Santo would have perished on the slab to which he'd been chained, Diana would now be leading the vampire women; and I for one would have been well satisfied at that outcome.)One puzzling question remains.
The third of the Mexican wrestling movies picked up by K.
The human characters lack interest and the film spends far too much time concentrating on their activities when a look at the vampires and Santo himself would be far more interesting.
This film is from Mexico and features the fan favorite wrestler Santo.
So of course, this movie is going to have people saying that this film is good, we Americans just do not understand it and blah blah blah.
Sure Santo may be popular in Mexico, but that does not mean a film he is in is good or that he can act or the story is somewhat tolerable.
For the most part though when the film is not plodding along it is showcasing Santos' wrestling skills which for me is even more boring than the plodding along!
The story has a coven of vampire women and their three wrestling vampire men plotting to kidnap a woman and making her the new vampire queen.
Meanwhile, the coven has chants and this and that and about halfway in the movie Samson shows up (Santo).
Well Santo is not very effective, mainly able to just flip people away, but he somehow manages to get ahead in the game and burn all the vampire women alive as they close themselves into their caskets...basically helpless.So the main problem is the pacing.
Mexican wrestlers are hailed as heroes in Mexico and perhaps a little kid from that country can see the appeal, but I do not as I do not like wrestling and do not hail them as heroes.So the film is mainly a bore.
The only thing making this film a two instead of a one is the very attractive vampire women.
So if you are into Mexican wrestling and can enjoy a very pointless plot and non epic final showdown, give this one a look see. |
tt0430576 | The Secret Life of Words | Taciturn, partially deaf Hanna (Polley) is a Yugoslavian native working in a factory in Northern Ireland. She is forced to take a vacation by her boss, who tells her that her co-workers have been offended by her lack of socializing. After overhearing a conversation about a need for a nurse, she takes on a job as private nurse for burn victim Josef (Robbins). He is bedridden on an offshore oil rig after a fire on the rig, and has severe burns and is temporarily blinded. The rig is not operational awaiting an investigation, and few people remain on board.
Hanna talks very little, and especially does not want to talk about herself. Despite his pain, Josef is constantly making jokes, some of them humorous sexual advances. Hanna's care for him includes holding the urinal and washing his entire body. As they get closer, they start sharing their experiences. Unbeknownst to him, she listens over and over again to a message on his cell phone from a mysterious woman who was in love with him.
Hanna learns from a colleague that Josef was injured while trying to save a man who committed suicide by intentionally throwing himself into the oil-rig fire. Some other tragic connection between the two men is implied. He tells about a near-drowning experience because he cannot swim. Eventually Josef confides to Hanna his greatest secret guilt, and she tells him about her previous life in the former Yugoslavia. She describes in detail the horrors she endured during the Balkan Wars (Yugoslav Wars), including being kidnapped and repeatedly raped. She shares experiences of the other women, including one that was forced to shoot her own daughter, and the slow and agonizing death of her best friend. She tells of her own repeated torture and lets him feel the scars on her body from the wounds inflicted on her.
Josef is not getting better, and at Hanna's initiative he is air-lifted off the oil rig to be taken to a hospital. When the helicopter lands, Josef wants Hanna to accompany him, but she walks away without a word. However, she leaves behind a backpack (apparently intentionally), and it contains enough information to give Josef a chance to find her. After he recovers, Josef travels to Denmark to visit a counselor that Hanna had seen after fleeing the war, seeking to learn more about her. He then tracks her down at the factory in Northern Ireland where she works. They talk, and at first she keeps her distance, saying she couldn't be with him because she thinks one day she could drown them both in her sorrow. When he tells her that he will "learn to swim," she reciprocates the love. Later, Hanna is shown in a home with the voice of a young girl explaining that Hanna now has two sons, whom the narrator refers to as her brothers, indicating that the woman Hanna described as having been forced to kill her own child was, in fact, herself. The voice of her daughter ends the film with the hope that Hanna will one day be able to live completely in the "now" and no longer be haunted by the past. | romantic, depressing, murder, storytelling, sentimental | train | wikipedia | The little quirks of the characters liven up the story, as does the interaction between Polley's disturbed nurse and Robbin's rough patient.
the sea, Tim Robbin's eyes, Hanna's beautiful voice and her intense way of holding her feelings, Simon's delightful food in the middle of nowhere..The way it is conceived is somehow simple, a mysterious woman, in my opinion extremely well resolved by Sarah Polley, happens to arrive to a remote place where a bunch of loners have just had a deep dramatic experience.
I have a feeling this may be one of those movies like 'The Goddess of 1967', a movie people will either love (for its beauty) or hate (and claim it's hollow trash that pretends to be intellectual).'La Vida' is a movie that's largely based on an oil rig.
And all of it will come to a painful climax long before the movie ends.One of the other people on the oil rig is Simon (Daniel Mays of 'Funland'), who's sent to study the waves violently bashing against the rigs.
And yes, maybe this movie wants too much, but Coixet does manage to find a setting to make her story work and enough setting to back it up convincingly.Maybe the movie ends a bit too positive, but after what we've heard it's okay to lose reality and dream for the best.Polley and Robbins are very good, as are the rest of the supporting cast.
Two persons trying to cope with the past: a splendid Sarah Polley and (as always) a great Tim Robbins.
This is a smart and very interesting film about the way we try to escape from the past: with love and with words (and with silences).
Such is the case with THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS, and having seen the film now raises the question of how it went unnoticed in the theater release.
It is a minimalist statement about the indomitable human spirit, a story that slowly unwinds to reveal some of the most terrifying aspects of trauma of war and guilt and shame ever written.Hanna (Sarah Polley, in a phenomenal performance) is a deaf, silent reclusive young woman working as a line operator in a factory, so married to her meaningless job that her boss insists she take a vacation she deserves.
Hanna does as she's told, and journeys to a seaside spot where she hears about a man on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean who is severely burned and needs a nurse.
Hanna quietly takes the job, is flown by the doctor (Steven Mackintosh) to the isolated oil rig, populated with only a few men - cook Simon (Javier Cámara of 'Hable con ella', 'La Mala educación, 'Lucía y el sexo' etc), oceanographer and workers (Eddie Marsan, Daniel Mays, Dean Lennox Kelly, Danny Cunningham, Emmanuel Idowu) and a captain (Steven Mackintosh), and meets her patient Josef (Tim Robbins) who is temporarily blinded from burns to his corneas, and severely burned on his limbs.Josef seeks to discover information from Hanna, but Hanna shares nothing about herself, spending her time dressing Josef's wounds, feeding him and tending to his needs.
After some time has passed and Josef has recovered, he begins his search for Hanna and the journey and its finale serve as a touching end to the story.The cast is uniformly brilliant, including a small role of Hanna's therapist played convincingly by Julie Christie.
Hanna is a lonely woman, with the paranoid behavior of eating white rice, chicken nuggets and apple everyday and never repeating the soap, and she slowly interacts with the few workers first, opening her heart to Joseph later and disclosing her traumatic experience in her old country."The Secret Life of Words" is a touching and heartbreaking romance, with an awesome screenplay and wonderful performances of Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins.
"The Secret Life of Words" grows on you little by little, at a steady and constant relaxed pace, throwing at you intriguing images and sounds from the very beginning that will get you hooked wondering until the very end.Isabel has done it again, an emotional "rollercoaster" that gets to you in a devastating way.
this movie makes you think, think about your life, about your love about the world.i can recommend it to everybody, who likes little quiet movies, which touch you go watch it, the 2 main actors are brilliant.
sarah polley plays here role, with a heartbreaking truth, tim robbins (susan sarandons husband) does a great job as well..
Story of Hanna and Josef - another thoughtful delivery from Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet, poignant script of wounded hearts, a deep dark subject tough to retain solo.
Second time around collaboration with writer-director Isabel Coixet (previously in "My Life Without Me" 2003), Sarah Polley again gave us a stunning subdued performance portraying 'Hanna' (wears a hearing aid) with possible tough turmoil lodged within, seems rather be alone by herself.
Nothing is rushed - we are given time to ponder with Hanna and Josef, appreciating the growing relationship, closing the gap, trusting each other.The story setting includes life on an oil rig (off the coast of Northern Ireland at the time.) We get a sense of how each member of the team past their time after the alleged accident rendering the rig operation to shut down.
Sverre Anker Ousdal (I remember him from "Kitchen Stories" 2003) is the Norwegian ship's in-charge Dimitri who imparted his wisdom to Hanna: "Deep down, everything is an accident." Yes, the words (and the silence in between) to the dialog and scenes are well-thought out.
And when you reached the end of the film, you may want to go back to the beginning credit roll and try to catch the 'secret words' that transiently appears with the display of each name and title.
Some of the words are: silence, friend, sound, cut, pain, affection, scream, hope, child, ever, love, minutes, time, rain, believe, hope - ends with Coixet's name: always - hope.
I rated THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS at 9 out of 10: excellent script, thoughtful drama, superb acting, cinematography, production, editing both sound and visuals, music & songs and silence & dialog considerations, cultural diversity and the tough subject at heart, raising awareness and hope for the future.
Isabel Coixet, the most exciting name to come from Spain since Pedro Almodóvar (who produced this film, by the way), made another remarkable film after her unforgettable "My Life Without Me" (2003), also starring Sarah Polley."The Secret Life of Words" is the contemplative, poignant story of a young hearing impaired woman (Polley), who takes care of a man (Tim Robbins) who suffered severe burns in an accident on an oil rig.
This is an attractive movie by Isabel Coixet ; full of nice feeling , drama and stirring scenes , though slow-moving.
Hannah (Sarah Polley , Coixet wrote the role for her) is a factory worker who wears a hearing aid , she is forced to go on holiday , her first one in years .
She doesn't want it and instead , Hannah arranges to find a job : caring for Josef (Tim Robbins who used contact lenses that damaged his eyes) , an injured oil rig worker who temporarily lost his sight .
Interesting script by Isabel Coixet who wrote the role of Hannah with 'Sarah Polley' in mind , she knows very well inter-cross these two troublesome roles , a woman who have not been able to vanquish his dark past and suffering a fateful existence as well as a severely wounded rig worker .
As the excellent Sarah Polley as a hearing impaired who gives up her holiday and travels out to an oil rig , where she cares for a man and magnificent Tim Robbins as a burn victim on an accident .
Coixet is an acclaimed Spanish filmmaker who has previously found international success with Elegy and The Secret Life of Words and she's the camera operator of her movies .
From Hannah, who didn't speak and trust people becoming completely open and sharing her story (certain clues like her eating different food played a role in sensing this development), to Josef who's love life was tainted until he found his true counterpart.
The use of the little girl's voice to narrate gives it a dark, yet emotional sense of who she is and where the story of the movie is coming from.
As Jane Campion, Susanne Bier, Lynne Ramsay and Sally Potter, Spanish screenwriter and director Isabel Coixet who made quite an impression with "My Life Without Me" (2003) has a subtle, lyrical and ravishingly beautiful way of depicting human relations and emotions, which shines through in this heartfelt and universally appealing story about Hanna, a lonely factory worker in Northern Ireland who after being instructed to take a holiday by her boss returns to her lonely life at the coast where she realizes that a holiday is the last thing she wants and ends up taking a job as a nurse at an oil rig.Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet's fifth feature film is mostly set on a distant oil rig and centres on the main character's evolving relationship with her patient named Josef and her meeting with seven men who share her need for solitude and privacy.
The role of Hanna is portrayed by Sarah Polley, a Canadian actress with a great gift for interpreting internal and low-keyed characters with great conviction, "The Sweet Hereafter" (1997) being one of them, and here she practically conveys the soul of the film through her intuitive and quiet though expressive performance, which transcends in the scene where she confides to her patient, gracefully acted by American actor and director Tim Robbins."The Secret Life of Words" is a well-paced study of character with fragments of poetry that has lively visuals, atmospheric music and many colorful characters, and which is observantly written and gently filmed by Isabel Coixet.
That set up works because the performances allow it.The film is about being incomplete, abnormal people running away from normal situations - almost a reverse of the most common kind of drama this days, normal people in abnormal situations.There are great hints at understanding visually what the two main characters feel physically/deeply.
A solitary woman (Sarah Polley) is brought to the rig to look after a man (Tim Robbins) who has been temporarily blinded.
And after that just praise that little part.Neither "love story" nor "against war", not even a part of life lost in the wild capitalism.As about actors' performance, decor, costumes, expenses, I won't comment at all.The only slice of cheese you can express is " life and silence".Like Voltaire said: "we get to look into our garden!" Just watch!....
Gently compassionate work describes the unusual relationship between a hearing impaired, anti-social nurse and the burn victim she takes care of on a desolate oil rig.
To call the script underdeveloped would be a little unfair; there are plenty of details thrown in to keep a mild level of interest, but not until the final act does the film really offer anything of substance.Until then we still have the strangely involving lead performance of Sarah Polley, painfully alluring in a way few stateside actresses can manage, commanding attention in a difficult role.
There are amazing performances by Tim Robbins and Sarah Polley(what unforgettable characters!) with a ring of true life in the dialog and situations.This movie build up slowly but when the end arrives you are deeply affected by the story of these two human beings .Coixet , who writes and is director of the movie, is an amazing screenwriter who offers very good observations about human nature .I was surprised by this movie , cause at first I was not very enthusiastic about this film but at the end I find myself deeply moved .I think that "Mystic River" and this film are 2 of the greatest performances by Robbins .
in fact I've never liked Tim robins and i haven't seen many of his films but his performance completely swept me off my feet and made me dream of him as the perfect man, a man who feels and understands the pain of others and quietly delves in and take it away, the actress playing Hannah is always great in dramatic roles but her she was beautiful in every scene and when she smiled in spite of her suffering she melted my heart and the ending was more than satisfying.
the brilliant director immediately attracts you in.there are unanswered questions left so that you can make up the answers and participate in the film yourself.the synopsis is interesting and displays the lives or jobs of people far away from our sights and make the audience try to make empathy.it is like knowing that farmers exist somewhere but never ever thinking of what would it be like...to be a farmer...Moreover the film touches pathetic social issues in a very affective way without exaggerating and agitating.The only problem was dubbing...In short it is a film to see...a complete success.
We follow the secretive, insular Hanna (Sarah Polley) as she is forced to take a holiday only to get work on an oil rig.
Only when the things given life again by their words have died, can they rise above the waves that have engulfed them.Hanna says: ¨I may begin to cry and cry so very much that nothing or nobody can stop me and the tears will fill the room and I won't be able to breath and I will pull you down with me and we'll both drown.¨ To which Josef replies, ¨I'll learn how to swim, Hanna.
¨There are very few things - ,¨ (a voice-over says at the start of the film), ¨ - silence and words.¨Indeed, there is very little else in the movie.
She takes the job on the North Sea oil rig caring for worker Josef (Tim Robbins) who was blinded by the fire that shut down the rig.It seems unrealistic that Josef doesn't get airlifted to a hospital right away.
Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins are making a great job, as the rest of the crew on this oil platform out in the North Sea.The film is slow, like the life out on a platform with only 7-8 men will be.
It's the interesting part because many viewers had different views how to put the words Tim and Sarah's characters are telling.
Forced to take holiday after years without taking a break, Hanna (played by Sara Polley) gives up her vacation to take care of a man severely burned on an oil rig.
The supporting cast does not disappoint either and gives applaud-able performances all around.This is probably one of the most endearing and enthralling films where not much happens, however, because of the slow manner in which each character is revealed and miraculously developed I found myself demanding to know more during every second of each scene.
'The Secret Life Of Words' is a must see by those that favor strong character development and don't mind a slow moving film as long as its rewarding in the end..
The story, though strange, is quite good, but the movie has one main problem: during about 90min, nothing happens; only waves, sights breaths and few words.
I love Tim Robbins performance, and Sarah Polley is a great actress, no doubt.I can't find the 4 deleted scenes and the making of.
The film has a slow start, and even as you watch it you wonder why the character Joseph as played by Tim Robbins is in such a drastic state.
"The Secret Life of Words" is a good movie.
He is nursed by a character played by Sarah Polley, who has a tortured past.She knows how to work with the purpose of a film, and when that purpose it to turn things over to the actors, she really turns it on.
And, as Josef, Tim Robbins has material that draws out his best.Most of us have not spent time on an off-shore oil rig, so getting some insight into what life is like in such an environment is interesting.
Does a movie like "The Secret Life of Words" make us more conscious of genocidal wars and contribute to their prevention?
Not for the faint of heart, but a really beautiful movie with wonderful performances by Tim Robbins and especially Sarah Polley.
Not to mention Tim Robbins; this international collaboration is wonderful.Oh, and if you see the movie and can't understand what Ms. Polley's character is saying in a spot or two early on, don't worry.
I can take care of him." In opening credits we see glimpses in slow motion of a fire and Tim Robbins as oil platform worker Josef is injured while trying in vain to save another.
But SLOW( yes, secret life of words is very slow) is just a pretentious independent film like many others, is the result of Coixet's looking herself too much time into the mirror.
In this offbeat, slow-to-unfold picture (the first hour is hard to get through by any standard), Hanna, a war-traumatized Bosnian nurse (Sarah Polley) connects with Josef, a burn victim (Tim Robbins) whom she cares for on an oil-rig.
At the last second she tries to avoid leisure time and the possibility of introspection and resurfacing emotion by volunteering to nurse for badly burned oil rig worker, Josef (Tim Robbins).
Isabel Coixet's "The Secret Life of Words" stars Sarah Polley as a withdrawn, scarred, hearing impaired factory worker who volunteers to work on an oil rig.
There she takes care of a character played by Tim Robbins, who is suffering from severe burns and temporary blindness.The film overindulges in monologues, and is too reminiscent of Oscar-baiting fare like "Sophie's Choice" and "The English Patient", but Polley turns in another excellent performance.
She seems to specialise in giving good performances in films which should be better.The idea of a lonely girl on an oil-rig in the middle of the ocean is very good, and lends itself to all kinds of interesting possibilities, but Coixet can't milk these possibilities. |
tt0023948 | Dinner at Eight | One week before her next society dinner, Millicent Jordan (Billie Burke) receives word that Lord and Lady Ferncliffe, whom she and her husband Oliver (Lionel Barrymore), a New York shipping magnate, had met in England the previous year, have accepted her invitation. Overjoyed by this social coup, Millicent is oblivious to Oliver's lack of enthusiasm about the dinner and her daughter Paula's (Madge Evans) preoccupation about the impending return of her fiancé, Ernest DeGraff (Phillips Holmes), from Europe. Millicent fusses about finding an "extra man" for her single female guest, former stage star Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler), who resides in Europe.
Meanwhile, Oliver faces distressing news about his shipping business, which has been struck hard by the Depression. Carlotta, an aging retired actress and former lover of Oliver, visits Oliver at his office and asks him to buy her stock in the company, but he does not have the money. Dan Packard (Wallace Beery), a mining magnate, stops by long enough for Oliver to ask him to buy some company stock. Dan agrees only to consider the proposition, he then brags to his wife Kitty (Jean Harlow) that he will take the shipping business through deceit.
Unknown to Dan, Oliver has convinced Millicent to invite the Packards to her dinner with the hopes that it will increase Dan's wish to buy the stock. Dan's young trophy-wife, the ill-mannered but socially ambitious Kitty (Jean Harlow), eagerly has accepted. Although he at first refuses to go, Dan, who believes that he will soon be appointed to a Cabinet post, changes his mind about the dinner when he finds out that the Ferncliffes, the richest couple in England, are also invited. Also unknown to Dan, one of Millicent's other guests, Dr. Wayne Talbot (Edmund Lowe), has been having an affair with Kitty while pretending to be tending to her feigned illnesses.
On the eve of her dinner, Millicent, still short an extra man, telephones Larry Renault (John Barrymore), a washed-up silent movie star, and extends him a last-minute invitation, completely unaware that Paula is having a clandestine love affair with him. At Paula's urging, Larry, a three-time divorcé and hardened alcoholic, accepts the invitation, but advises the much younger Paula to forget about him and return to Ernest. After Paula stubbornly refuses to take Larry's admonitions seriously, she is seen leaving his room by Carlotta, who is residing at the same hotel.
Later that evening, Larry is visited by his agent, Max Kane (Lee Tracy), who tells him that the stage play he was planning to star in has lost its original producer. Max breaks the news to Larry that the play's new producer, Jo Stengel (Jean Hersholt), wants another actor in the lead but is willing to consider him in a bit part. Crushed, Larry takes to drink.
The next day, Talbot is discovered by his wife Lucy (Karen Morley) in a compromising telephone call with Kitty and confesses that, in spite of his love for her, he is addicted to women and needs help to overcome his weakness. Talbot then is rushed to see Oliver, who has come to the doctor's office with severe chest pains.
Although Talbot tries to hide his prognosis of terminal thrombosis of the heart, Oliver wisely deduces the seriousness of his illness. When he returns home, the weakened Oliver tries to explain to Millicent his need for rest, but she is too hysterical to hear because, among other minor disasters, the Ferncliffes have cancelled and are on their way to Florida. Although anxious to tell Millicent about Larry, Paula, too, is turned away by her upset mother and faces the prospect of facing Ernest alone.
At the Packards', meanwhile, Kitty reveals to Dan in a fit of anger that she is having an affair. When threatened with divorce, however, Kitty tells her husband that, if he wants his Cabinet appointment instead of a career-stopping revelation from her about his crooked dealings, he must back down from his takeover of Oliver's line and treat her with more respect.
Just before he is to leave for the dinner, Larry is visited by Max and Jo Stengel and drunkenly berates Stengel for insulting him with his paltry offer. After a frustrated Max denounces him for ruining his last career chance and the hotel management asks him to leave, Larry quietly turns on his gas fireplace and commits suicide.
At the ill-fated dinner, Carlotta confides in private with Paula, who is just about to break her engagement with Ernest, about Larry's demise and counsels the young woman to stay with her fiancé. At the same time, Millicent learns from Talbot about Oliver's illness. Finally awakened to her selfishness, Millicent announces to Oliver that she is ready to make sacrifices for the family and be a more attentive wife. Then, as the beleaguered guests are about to go in to dinner, Dan, with prodding from Kitty, tells Oliver that he has put a stop to the takeover of the Jordan shipping line. | satire, depressing | train | wikipedia | DINNER AT EIGHT takes a first class list of performers at the top of their form (Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Billie Burke) and seamlessly, if a bit implausibly, weaves a plot full of comedy & tragedy which allows each star to strut their stuff.Dressler was Hollywood's top star at this time and she is wonderful, fingering her jewelry - each piece a remembrance of an ancient romance.
She has only one scene with gorgeous Harlow and that comes at the very end of the film, but it's a classic.The rest of the cast is a wonderful grab bag of talent: peppery Lee Tracy, elderly Louise Closser Hale, gentle Jean Hersholt, as well as Phillips Holmes, Edmund Lowe, Karen Morley, Madge Evans, Grant Mitchell, Elizabeth Patterson, May Robson, Herman Bing.Take a moment to consider Edward Woods, playing Eddie the bell boy.
Dressler heads a large ensemble cast, with several distinct but interlocking stories, all leading up to (but never quite making) a posh dinner party at the mansion of Billie Burke, wife of shipping magnate Lionel Barrymore.
Jean Harlow portrays his wife, the low life Kitty, who was two-timing Dan. In a way, Dan and Kitty seem to have been the prototypes for Garson Kanin's "Born Yesterday" because both characters bear a certain similarity in both films.The supporting members of the cast are impressive.
Edmund Lowe, Lee Tracy, Madge Evans, Louise Closser Hale, May Robson, Jean Hersholt, Karen Morley, and the rest, aside from giving good performances, leave their own mark in the film.A great cinematographer was behind the camera for this movie: William Daniels.
Dinner at Eight is one of the consummate movie buff's movies...It has romance, glamour, wit, charm, intrigue, interesting characters and a great story.The agonies that Mrs. Oliver Jordan (the incomparable Billie Burke [Are you a good witch or a bad witch?]) must go through to stage what is supposed to be a simple dinner party will leave you laughing, sympathizing and grateful you are not her.Jean Harlow is at her most beautiful.
John Barrymore is fantastic as a once famous actor from the silent era, who cannot accept the fact that his career is over.To me the film is just a perfect time capsule of so many typical topics of the era: the depression, the transition from silents to talkies, the continuous transformation of the upper crust of New York society, the traveling by ocean steamer to Europe...
DINNER AT EIGHT (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1933), directed by George Cukor, MGM's second attempt with an all-star production following the success to GRAND HOTEL (1932), is a remarkable as well as memorable movie that has benefited from repeated viewings over the past years.
The star in question is Marie Dressler, a top-name at the time, leaving a big impression with her limited performance, and yet, it is Billie Burke as Millicent Jordan whose presence is felt throughout mainly because it's her dinner party.
As with the stage production, the movie plays out in numerous acts: (a) "The Jordan Home": Introductory scenes focusing on Millicent (Burke), her husband Oliver (Lionel Barrymore), head of a declining shipping company, and their troubled daughter, Paula (Madge Evans); (b) "At the Office": Oliver is visited by once acclaimed stage actress Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler), with whom he had loved in his youth, as well as one of the invited guests; and Dan Packard (Wallace Beery), a middle-aged promoter whom Oliver hopes could save him from his financial difficulties; (c) "The Battling Packards": As a favor to Oliver, Millicent reluctantly telephones Kitty (Jean Harlow) and invites the low-life couple to her dinner.
Being home all day doing nothing, Kitty secretly carries on a love affair with her family doctor, Wayne Talbot (Edmund Lowe), while her husband goes away on business, a secret known only by Kitty's maid (Hilda Vaughn); (d) "The Matinée Idol": In need of an extra dinner guest, Millicent invites matinée idol Larry Renault (John Barrymore), a friend of the family in town staying at the Versailles Hotel.
which concludes with a visit from gravely ill Oliver who is diagnosed with heart disease; (f) "Back to the Jordan Home": While Millicent is interacted between scenes involving the dinner guests, this segment involves Millicent's own domestic problems with her hired help as well as the news about her guests of honor departing for Florida, leaving Millicent to locate substitutes as the guests of honor; (g) "Final Showdown for the Packards": In their home getting ready for the function, Dan and Kitty come to a showdown revealing how they actually feel about one other, with all their secrets coming out; (h) "Renault's Tragic Performance": Renault turns down the one act part as a beachcomber in a forthcoming play offered to him by an important producer (Jean Hersholt).
When I think of comedy films from the 1930's,I tend to think of mile-a-minute Marx Brothers or Laurel and Hardy like romps.That's not what you get with Dinner at Eight.This was surprising,due to the fact that film placed 85th on the AFI's 100 Years,100 Laughs list some years ago.I'm not saying it is a poor film.Anything but.It's extremely well acted,well presented,and it does have it's humorous moments,but there are some depressing elements to the film as well that make me question why anyone would call it a comedy,let alone why it would make such a list.In the end,I would recommend it,but don't go in expecting a rip roaring slapstick film.You'll only be disappointed in that regard..
None of the cast from Broadway made it to Hollywood, but MGM put together one stellar cast of its own.The central figure in this American drama of manners is Billie Burke who plays Mrs. Millicent Jordan, society woman whose sole concern is seeing that a formal dinner she's given comes off just right.
Of course Beery's concerns are domestic, his wife Jean Harlow's been carrying on with her doctor, Edmund Lowe who in turn has got nurse Karen Morley on the side as well.Also on the Jordan domestic front, Barrymore and Burke's daughter Madge Evans is about to throw over her fiancé Phillips Holmes because she's gotten herself involved with a has been actor with a substance abuse problem, John Barrymore.
Through all of this Burke flounces her way through like a female version of Clifton Webb's Elliot Templeton from The Razor's Edge whose sole concern was gossip and making sure his clothes properly fit.Rounding out this cast and in fact first billed is Marie Dressler who plays an old musical comedy star who Lionel as a youth crushed out on big time.
It also deals quite maturely with adultery, illness, and aging.The movie follows a week in the lives of a number of New Yorkers who have been invited to a dinner party hosted by Oliver and Millicent Jordan (Lionel Barrymore and Billie Burke).
Marie Dressler as an aging grande dame of the theatre, Jean Harlow as a vulgar and ambitious young wife, and Billie Burke as the sublimely frivolous hostess all have great fun with their somewhat stereotypical roles, finding fresh gestures and intonations that make them very amusing.
John Barrymore is also excellent as a proud but washed-up matinée idol; in his last scene he is simultaneously funny and moving."Dinner at Eight"'s only flaw (but it's a big flaw) is that it still feels like a filmed play.
Quite a few things come to light, and you also feel that you have come to know about the characters and have a good idea where they are going in the future."Dinner At Eight" does justice to a fine cast, and is a movie that most fans of the classics will want to see..
Marie Dressler steals her scenes, to great effect, and is perfect up against Jean Harlow, with the famous reading a book double take at the end of the movie, for which this film is usually remembered.
The cast includes indominatable Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Edmund Lowe and Billie Burke to name a few.
Aside from the largely carefree Burke, the rest of the characters don't have much to look forward to with their impending affairs, bankruptcy, failing careers and illnesses.John Barrymore's story is my favourite; the quietly tragic demise of washed-up film star Larry Renault.
Are modern romantic comedies just so contrived and unreflective of real life, was adultery less frowned on back then or is it just a pre-code thing?The early 30's seems to be the one brief period in cinema history in which there was a number of older aged movie stars who box office draws; Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore.
Ms. Dressler often plays the matronly socialite for laughs; here she is a fully-developed character who is allowed to show her real acting talent.John Barrymore plays Larry Renault, an actor who is on the down-side of a career onstage and in film.
The story, characters, and setting are more related; they are all affected by the "Great Depression", and involved, directly or indirectly, with Lionel Barrymore (as Oliver Jordan) and Billie Burke (as Millicent Jordan)'s planned dinner party.One story, or subplot, in "Dinner at Eight" is much superior to the rest of the dramatic elements; it is the story of washed-up alcoholic actor John Barrymore (as Larry Renault).
Watch Barrymore's increasingly desperate "Larry Renault" and Dressler's wise overseeing "Carlotta Vance", for iconic performances from stars at their peak; in, at least, the best supporting characterizations of the year.********* Dinner at Eight (1933) George Cukor ~ Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy.
When New York society matron and relentless social climber Millicent Jordan has the opportunity to host a dinner for members of the English aristocracy, she determines to go all out--and the film follows the lives of her soon-to-be guests over the course of a week.Millicent (Billie Burke) is unaware that husband Oliver (Lionel Barrymore) faces both a business and medical crisis.
By coincidence, Packard's wife Kitty (Jean Harlow) is having an affair with Oliver's doctor, Wayne Talbot (Edmund Lowe)--and if this were not complication enough, Oliver and Millicent's daughter Paula (Madge Evans) is on the verge of provoking a social scandal via an affair with aging and alcoholic movie star Larry Renault (John Barrymore.) And all of them are invited to dine.DINNER AT EIGHT is usually described as a comedy, and it is true that there are several notable comic performances.
The most famous of these are Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow, who give outrageous performances as the bickering Packards; Billie Burke and Marie Dressler also score as the harried hostess and the retired actress whose charms are long gone.
The performances are first rate, with the comic moments a true delight; there is dark irony in John Barrymore's performance; and the set designs and costuming are nothing short of iconographic: it is impossible to think of Jean Harlow, for instance, without envisioning her against a white-on-white Modern bedroom--and that, and a great deal more, comes straight out of this film.
The cast of stars is flawless.Also appearing are Karen Morley as Lowe's sad wife, Phillips Holmes as Evans' unknowing fiancée, May Robson as the cook, Louise Closser Hale as Burke's cousin, Grant Mitchell as Hale's husband, Hilda Vaughn as Harlow's sneaky maid, Lee Tracy as the actor's agent, Jean Hersholt as the producer, Elizabeth Patterson as the secretary, Harry Beresford as the clerk, and Edwin Maxwell as the hotel manager.The acting honors go to Marie Dressler (always superb), John Barrymore, Jean Harlow, and Billie Burke.
The all-star cast including John and Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Lee Tracy, Madge Evans, Jean Hersholt, Karen Morley, and Edmond Lowe works brilliantly together.
Wallace Beery & Jean Harlow are fantastic as the bickering couple, we get 2 Barrymore's (John & Lionel, Drew's grandfather & great uncle) & the priceless Marie Dressler who steals the show as a once grand dame of the stage now having to deal w/actual life..
Her ability to feign 'culture' - and then talk like a carnaval barker the next minute is delightful to regard.Being a 'pre-code' film, we also get some frankness that would have been excised only a few years later: Harlow is having an affair with a handsome family doctor, who, according to his faithful wife, is a frequent philanderer; Marie Dressler confesses that she has acquired expensive jewelry from men in her previous relationships that were not matrimonial; pretty Madge Evans--engaged to a very suitable partner--falls in love with a charming, but over-the-hill, alcoholic actor (John Barrymore).
George Cukor directed this effective drama that stars Billie Burke and Lionel Barrymore as Millicent & Oliver Jordan, who are planning a high society dinner party for different reasons: She is a social climber wanting to make a big impression, he is an ailing businessman who wants advice from fellow businessman Dan Packard(played by Wallace Beery) about his stock, since he is in financial trouble.
I'd say the cast of "Dinner at Eight" was even bigger than "Casablanca" -- both Lionel and John Barrymore (Lionel and Ethel both won Oscars, but the consensus of the time was that John was the best actor, and this movie is Exhibit 1), Oscar laureates Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler (could a 65-year-old veteran be first-billed in today's youth-obsessed Hollywood?
Not likely.), Jean Harlow (Marilyn was never like this), and Billie Burke (it's not clear whether she's the good witch or the bad witch).The "madcap" hub of the plot is Ms. Millicent Jordan's (Burke) plan to have a large dinner party, a custom of New York high society not interrupted by the Great Depression, featuring the elusive Ferncliffes, visiting America from London.
To round out the table settings, she invites Carlotta Vance (Dressler), an aging actress now relying on soured business investments to support her during the hard times; an American stage actor (John Barrymore), as a natural complement to Miss Vance; and a ruthless tycoon (Beery) as a favor to her husband (Lionel Barrymore), who needs help saving his shipping company, unbeknownst to Ms. Jordan, who is reluctant to invite a man married to a low-class woman (Harlow).
If you watch this film you'll be treated to some fine performances not only from the two people I've described; Barrymore and Dressler, but the incredible Jean Harlow, the amazing Billie Burke, Wallace Beery and even another Barrymore, John.
An answer to the film "Grand Hotel" from a few years earlier with similar elements, "Dinner At Eight" features an all- star cast for 1933, which includes, but is not limited to Marie Dressler (in a very memorable and perhaps show stopping role), Billie Burke (the future Glinda the Good Witch), John Barrymore (who will break your heart), Lionel Barrymore, Madge Evans, Wallace Beery, and Jean Harlow, who is divine in the role of the spoiled, self centered wife of Beery.
I have loved this film ever since seeing it some thirty or so years ago on TV.I am a big fan of older films, and this one is definitely before my time, but I cannot get over the fine and talented acting in each and every role of this fine dramatic film.Every character undergoes some sort of transformation from the time they are invited to the dinner, up until the time they actually arrive at the dinner party.You really get a good glimpse of what life was like back then in the worst years of the depression, when even the rich people had to make adjustments to the world that was rapidly changing around them.With a top notch cast and excellent production values (after all, it was an MGM film), this is a real favorite of mine, for many reasons, and I repeat again, It is not a comedy, by any stretch of the imagination..
If you've ever wondered what made Harlow so special, just watch Dinner at Eight.Without a doubt, my favorite character in the film is that of Carlotta played by Marie Dressler.
Perhaps Selznick wanted this year to be taken seriously, and perhaps it was
but I'd recommend it for Lionel, Burke, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow, and the rest of the cast.Barrymore's quite good, but we found ourselves sitting through his scenes, and the Lowe scenes, uncertain if we were watching the movie which we had started watching not a while ago.
The film is a milestone in the number of high paying stars the producer was willing to hire in the early days of the talkies -John and Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Billie Burke and Marie Dressler.
The stage play of this might be interesting, funny and warmful but George Cukor's film with all the classic stars from MGM didn't add anything to his career simply because is boring, tedious to the fullest and we, as audiences, have no other place to go other than watch this film because it is often mentioned in lists of great films of all time, and when you see the constellation of stars present in this tragedy, names like John Barrymore, Marie Dressler, Billie Burke, Lionel Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery among others you really would expect something at least decent.
Harlow and Beery were great, they have the funniest scenes in the movie as a rich couple that seems to never go along right; Lionel Barrymore and Marie Dressler are quite well too; John Barrymore plays a figure that resembles himself, a decadent and drunk actor who lives in a hotel without having money to pay for, and desperate to find a good play to act.
In this case the roles are played by Lionel and John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Lee Tracy, Edmund Lowe, Philips Holmes, Jean Hersholt, Marie Dressler, Jean Harlow, Billie Burke, Madge Blake, Karen Morley, Louise Closser Hale, and Grant Mitchell.
Yet "Dinner at Eight" is a fun movie for classic film fans all the same, not only because we now recognize it is a last gasp of the pre-Code era, with innuendo and heated bedroom exchanges galore, but because of remarkable performances from Marie Dressler, Billie Burke, and Jean Harlow. |
tt0091003 | Eliminators | There's a time travelling 1-eyed mad scientist that created a cyborg with a laser on his arm. Said cyborg attempts escape certain dismantlement, which ends up killing some Asian assistant scientist that tried to help him. After escaping using tank treads as legs and shooting lasers at hired goons, he goes to another scientist for help... played by Lt Yar from Star Trek. Yar has a little flying robot that seems to be a mix of that owl from Clash of the Titans, and R2-D2.
Yar, Owl2-D2, and "Mandroid" then hire a river ruffian to pilot a boat to go up-stream. They find traces of Mandroid's human past with a picture of his wife and child. He can't yet remember who they are just yet..
That boat eventually crashes, and they end up being captured by some Neanderthals... presumably brought to the present by the time-travelling 1-eyed mad scientist. After escaping the poorly costumed cavemen, they come across a ninja who is out for revenge since he was the son of that random dead scientist at the beginning. He can manipulate time and space with his mind (done by playing recorded video in reverse or slo-mo)... but only sometimes, and for no reason.
The River Ruffian, Lt. Yar, Mandroid, Owl2-D2, and the ninja find those old tank treads and uses them to attack the time travelling 1-eyed mad scientist's lair. Owl2-D2 and the tank treads bite the dust, and they carry on inside the compound.
The time travelling 1-eyed mad scientist then shows up now also a cyborg (but red), yet wearing gold armour he took from Ancient Rome since he wants to go back and be the Caesar of the time. Looking like Iron Man on acid, he then shoots Force Lightning (a la the Emperor of the Sith) from his Roman shield, and traps the crew in a shrinking net of electricity. Mandroid then sacrifices himself (with minimal protest from the others) to save them. He dies. (Yes.. the main character dies and never finds out who he was and what happened to his family who should be still alive since it was only a year ago he was changed into a cyborg)
The Ninja, Ruffian, and Yar then go inside and send the time travelling 1-eyed mad Roman Iron Man scientist back to 430,000,000BC, where he yells and shakes his cyborg hands to the sky in anger. They all just smile and then.. credits.
The End. Awesome. | cult, violence, flashback, good versus evil, psychedelic, revenge | train | imdb | Seriously, as the amazingly varied collection of characters adds up (river-rat, scientist, robot, ninja, cavemen, Roman soldiers, and on) you will never be bored.
There is a lot to like, for kids or B-movie lovers, but somehow it never degenerates into the lesser-desirable qualities of the "so bad it's good" genre.
While this film has "I am a B Movie" written all over it, it is actually very enjoyable.
The person who holds this all together is Andrew Prine (from V.) He is a very likeable river "scum." The scenes on the river are very fun and they really keep this movie from being a "B" movie the whole time.If you want to have a "no brainer" good time, rent this movie!I give this film a B..
Joining him are a scientist (Denise Crosby), an R2D2 wannabe, an Indiana Jones wannabe, and a ninja!
mix in a bit of Frankenstein, some time travel and the potential damage of meddling with the past, a ninja (!) a materialistic, seemingly selfish but actually kind hearted charter boat captain (shades of Han Solo anyone?) and a feisty, pre-Star Trek: TNG Annette Crosby and you have Eliminators a highly likable yet almost forgotten gem of 1980's Sci-Fi!
The plot is quite obviously far too ambitious in scope for the budgetary constraints and yet somehow it all works so well, not least of all because of the highly likable characters featured in this (Andrew Prine's laid back character is especially fun to watch) There's also an excellent realisation of the 'mobile unit', a mode of transport whereby the Mandroid (bear with me on this) removes his legs (!) and rides around with the unit (a sort of miniature tank) on his lower half (presumably most of the budget was spent on this!) What can I say?
If you're at all a fan of 80's Science Fiction TV and/or movies then like me, you'll probably lap this up, it all makes perfect sense on screen and is highly enjoyable throughout.
Saw this recently for the first time in over a decade....I think the movie deserves a higher rating than the one currently on the IMDb. Some of the effects are great considering the budget (the only exception being the poorly realised 'SPOT' robot).
Andrew Prine & Roy Dotrice were great fun, and the script was both funny and pretty well structured.Perhaps if the movie had received a PG rating rather than a 15 in the UK, people wouldn't be so down on it, as this is at heart good family entertainment for all ages.....7/10.
This is just a fun movie with a bunch of fun two dimensional characters on a comic book mission.
If I ever have kids this is one film I'd want to watch with them.
Just as the guy says in the film "We've got robots, we've got cavemen, we've got Kung-Fu(actually it's ninjutsu) what is this anyway, some kind of comic book?" 7/10.
Tell me if this plot doesn't excite you; a cyborg who has rebelled against his creator must team up with the scientist who's technology created him, a martial artist with a katana and a river boat pilot to stop the evil scientist form turning himself into a cyborg and going back in time to conquer ancient Rome.
Paul De Meo & Danny Bilson (The Rocketeer, Arena, The 80s Flash TV series, Zone Troopers) are great are creating sci-fi movies with a pulp fiction-y flavour to them and this film is no exception.
Aside from that the effects are
decent, the action is great, the acting alternates between good and hammy, and the story is fun.
It is just such an awesome cheesy romp using the kitchen sink method, if you know what I mean, with just everything thrown in for flavor, Just like Fontana says in the movie, "an android, a robot, and kung fu?
And I greatly recommend it to sci fi, action, and Andrew Prine fans of all ages.
My favorite low budget sci fi movie of all time baby!.
What could and should had been a cyborg action flick is now an adventure movie through the jungle, without ever becoming a good, tense or exciting one to watch.
The movie is basically constantly more of the same, when new characters emerge, who for some reason want to see our main heroes dead.
It's main premise still lets the movie sound good but the actual end result is simply a failure.
It just isn't the best going movie.The movie makes some strange twists and turns in an attempt to give the movie an adventurous and perhaps even an epic kind of feeling over it.
Needless to say they failed miserably.The movie has some silly futuristic gadgets and futuristic images in it, like you could only expect from a silly '80s flick.
Of course all of its special effects aren't quite top-notch looking yet but I have to admit that for 1986 standards it simply is not too bad.I think this movie its intentions were quite serious but however the end result of course is nothing but a typical '80's B-movie and not a very good one either.
The music is dreadful and doesn't even sound like it got written for this movie at all.
Same can be said for the script, that also doesn't really feature the best dialog imaginable.So even though they aren't being helped with a good script or dialog, also the actors themselves are bad and lacking in their skills.
Guess they just went along with the cheapest actors available at the moment.Perhaps the movie would had still been better to watch with some more action in it.
The movie lacks 2 or 3 real big action sequences, that could had really spiced up things a little.This movie unfortunately makes a lot of wrong choices.3/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
we have the ability to film dreams,so we make this movie instead.
There's a mandriod, the dude is worried about his leg units, this movie also has a ninja.
Did anyone know while they were making this movie that it would look like this in the end?
An abysmally bad buddy-buddy-buddy-buddy movie with Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation).
Laughable scenes: the animation of SPOT, Nora Hunter's robot, and the bar brawl that occurs when riverboat guides battle over who gets to take Denise down the river.
When you're 14 years old, you can't yet comprehend that a movie can be a bad.
Seeing the Mandroid rolling around, knowing that a ninja was in this movie, I lost my mind and couldn't wait to see it.
I would have to wait 31 years to see this film and I can honestly tell you — it is a complete piece of crap.It's an entertaining piece of crap, though.Read more at https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/07/31/the-eliminators-1986/.
Watch it, if you have the chance, because it's one of the most interesting low-budget films of the 1980's.This movie has everything: a "mandroid" Terminator-type robot, a gutsy female robotics expert, a Humphrey Bogart/African Queen boat captain, a Ninja warrior, Neanderthal cavemen, an R2D2 clone, southern rednecks (wait till you see "Bayou Betty"!)---and a villain cyberneticist whose real ambition is to travel back in time and become a Roman Emperor!
It's a great family film, with action for the kids, and just enough intelligence and wit to make it interesting for the adults.One of the best if not the best "80's B movies".
I saw this movie when I was about 12 and into the whole "robots are cool" phase.
The boat chase is fun if you like to watch things blow up.
i was shocked by how much the caveman elder looked like Mortiis from Emperor and at one point the kung fu character jumps through a a big fan and for some reason i thought that was pretty sweet.
i think if this movie wasn't PG it would be a lot better but the little cute robot sucks and more people should have been murdered.
but oh yeah when the android gets back his tires and the stupid thugs chase him on three-wheelers that's also pretty sweet.i thought that the films stereotypes of southerners were really un-PC and not cool though..
(Even though, some "Next Generation" episodes aren't much better.) I hope, Bing Crosby, her grandfather (!), will never see that movie in afterlife.
This year, I recently scored with finding a few other titles from my list including the 1986 non-classic Eliminators.Released by Empire Pictures, Eliminators was the story about a downed pilot that is transformed into a cyborg "Mandroid" by two scientists (Dr. Reeves and Dr. Takada) - one of which (Reeves) has a penchant for evil.
When Dr. Reeves orders the Mandroid destroyed, the cyborg (played by actor Patrick Reynolds) escapes from his creator's laboratory and heads north in search of someone who can assist in getting revenge and stopping Dr. Reeves from realizing his evil plan that includes the use of a time machine.
Help comes in the form of Nora Hunter (Denise Crosby from Pet Semetary) who is a doctor/scientist of her own.
The Mandroid in the film resembled a poor man's Robocop (which was released the following year).
And his various mechanical costume gadgets that included lasers, grapple hooks and even motorized boots, were laughable instead of innovative or awe striking.The evil Dr. Reeves (Roy Dotrice) hams up the screen, but he really makes Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon look like an Academy Award performance when contrasted.
From the small teleporting robot that was their sidekick to the laser shootouts, the movie really failed to deliver on any of the promises projected from the movie's poster and cover art.Luckily Denise Crosby and Andrew Prine as the playful Harry Fontana give the film enough life to keep us smiling through all the disappointment.Eliminator s was therefore terrible.
This is the absolute best of B-movies, I could think of a whole lot of 'A-movies' I find either less interesting or simply less entertaining than this masterpiece.
This movie has: - An Indiana Jones - A hot army robot-technician - A terminator - An R2D2 - A ninja - Cavemen - Romans - An evil professor who wants to take over the worldAnd this all combined in a jungle adventure with Dukes of Hazard kind of action.How could this suck?
But this is such an over the top mish-mash of characters and situations, as a whole it's pretty unique and EXTREMELY entertaining.If you like 80s adventure movies and are not scared of lower production value, go see this.
Without a doubt, this is a movie made by some guys who were sitting around and started going, "You know what would be cool?
Ninjas fighting cavemen." "Can we do like a Romancing the Stone/Indiana Jones kind of riverboat adventure?" "Wait, wait, wait...
Androids and ninjas fighting cavemen with a riverboat captain and a pretty female scientist and her pet robot for some extra sweetness." "Sweet!
And the villain will be a time traveling robotic Roman!" Basically, that's the movie.
You don't have to think hard, you won't have your emotions poked or fondled, instead you'll think, "Well, this is certainly a movie." It's not going to win any awards, but it's fun to watch for sheer noise and pure 80s awesome.
The acting isn't terrible, considering how goofy the plot is (you try playing against a ninja, cavemen, tiny robots and time traveling Romans while keeping a straight face) and the whole thing has a very bouncy feel to it.The locations vary just enough and the costumes have juuust enough detail to them to not make it feel like an all out cheese fest, but instead it's a perfect movie to munch down popcorn to.
The Eliminators is such a good movie,please come back on video.
This is one of the great movies of the 80s in MY collection that I think about all the time.
Some minor spoilersI saw this movie only a couple times in the past but those two times I was grateful because I didn`t know what I was in store for.I just love the cyborg guy and his arch rival.The special effects is some of the coolest I have ever seen.I loved it when Roy Dotrice shot the lightning bolts out of his hands and the woman,Bayou Betty,wow is she manly,boy she is something in it.I just loved the big boat chase in this film.I wish I could buy this movie this very minute but Hopefully it`ll be on video very soon.I won`t pass it up and I hope you don`t either..
It knows full well that it's a B movie, but the cast and crew were clearly having a fine old time, and that feeling is infectious.
The actors play it for all that it's worth, to be sure.Our four character heroic team is made up of Harry Fontana (Andrew Prine), a charming rogue of a river guide, Nora Hunter (Denise Crosby), a young scientist, Kuji (Conan Lee), a ninja, and a "mandroid" (Patrick Reynolds).
The mandroid used to be a pilot before a power mad villain, Abbott Reeves (Roy Dotrice) got a hold of him and turned him into a half-man / half-machine experiment.
Now the mandroid has escaped and wants revenge, first seeking out Nora who then hires Harry to transport them through Mexico to Abbotts' lair.As written by the reliable team of Danny Bilson & Paul DeMeo and directed by Peter Manoogian, "Eliminators" should prove to be quite a hoot for kids of all ages.
As it turns out, good old Abbott was messing around with time travel.
Dotrice is an entertaining bad guy, and further antagonism / comedy relief is supplied by Bayou Betty (Peggy Mannix), a butch competitor of Harry's.One can see early on that this is never meant to be taken too seriously, and this extends all the way to the final shot, an absolutely hysterical "freeze frame" moment.Highly recommended to lovers of '80s cheese.Seven out of 10..
I'm not saying -good-, but certainly not the worst movie.If I were to explain, it's a movie about a cyborg, a ninja, Tasha Yar, and a guy doing a Han Solo impression teaming up to fight a time-travelling Roman cyborg who has a shield that shoots lighting force-fields at people.
If that doesn't sound a -little- cool, I got nothing to say to you.Again, it's not a particularly good movie, but had I watched this when I was 9-12 years old, it would've blown me away.
It's a good 80s action flick for the kids.
A mandroid (played in an appropriately stolid manner by Patrick Reynolds) vows to get revenge on evil mad scientist Abbott Reeves (well essayed with lip-smacking villainous gusto by Roy Dotrice).
The mandroid's funky tank, a cutesy robot scout called Spot, a lively barroom brawl, a subplot concerning time travel, and a tribe of pesky caveman further enhance the infectiously wacky merriment.
*Spoiler/plot- 1986, A brilliant scientist who's mastered time travel and recently created a Man-driod (half human and half machine) from a former crashed pilot named John is transformed into a mechanical slave with extensive weapons.
Along the way a mysterious Kung Fu expert joins them with his mission to avenge his madman's assistant scientist murdered father, all killed by Dr. Abbot 'madman' Reeves.*Special Stars- Andrew Prine, Denise(Annette) Crosby, Patrick Reynolds, Conan Lee, Roy Dotrice *Theme- Human spirit is stronger than steel and death itself.*Trivia/location/goofs- Filmed in Mexico, look for a politically incorrect flannel shirted butch lesbian character as a 'baddie' in the river traveling scenes.
Kung Fu, time travel, robots with human parts, and A-Team excessive explosions occur in this predictably laughable film for its triteness and predictability.*Emotion- An enjoyable but rather crazy science-fiction film full of clichéd genres of the 80's.
As part of their experiments in time travel, Drs. Reeves and Takada construct a cyborg with the body of a downed pilot.
Distraught by the death of his one friend, the Mandroid goes north to America in search of someone who can help him in getting revenge and stopping Dr. Reeves in whatever evil plan he intends to use his time machine for......Well this something I've never seen before.
Obviously influenced by The Terminator, our friendly neighbourhood Mandroid just seems like a knock off of Cameron's creation, and is doing nothing more than trying to cash in on that, especially with the time travel element.But then our lovely Mandroid has a car, and the film couldn't be further away from Arnie's star making turn.It's B-movie cheese for sure, with Mandriod dressing up like Phillip Marlowe for one scene, following some blue orb with a very disturbed looking heroine, and then getting on a boat with the real love interest, because I really thought she was into some mechanical stuff.It really doesn't make any sense, and the makers know this, so instead of trying to make the narrative more coherent, they chuck in a ninja, some cavemen, and two henchman so hilarious, thy should have appeared in every film for the rest of eternity.And then we have the bi boss fight at the end, and a finale ripping off the last shot of Disney's The Black Hole.It's a stupid film for sure, but if your like me, an absolute geek when it comes to anything 80's, then this is a must..
B movies can be fun.
You have time travel, you have cyborgs, you have Denise Crosby Side-Boob.
So the plot is a mad scientist intends to travel back in time and use his advanced technology to remake the Roman Empire in his own image.
He uses time traveling cyborg John Doe, who rebels against his programming and finds Denise Crosby to enlist her help.
But as the sum of its parts, it's kind of a fun movie to watch.
Considering they had no budget and few good actors, they kind of did okay with it. |
tt1323045 | Frozen | Princess Elsa of Arendelle possesses cryokinetic magic, often using it to play with her younger sister Anna. After Elsa accidentally injures Anna with her magic, their parents, the King and Queen, rush both siblings to a colony of trolls led by Grand Pabbie. He heals Anna, but alters her memories to remove traces of Elsa’s magic, warning Elsa that she must learn to control her powers. The King and Queen isolate both sisters within the castle. Elsa shuts out Anna, causing a rift between them. Elsa suppresses her magic rather than mastering it, causing her to become more insecure. When the sisters are teenagers, their parents die at sea during a storm.
When Elsa turns twenty-one, she is to be crowned queen of Arendelle. She is terrified that the kingdom's citizens might find out about her powers and fear her. The castle gates open to the public and visiting dignitaries for the first time in years. Amongst them is the scheming Duke of Weselton, and the dashing Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, with whom Anna falls head-over-heels in love. Elsa’s coronation happens without a hitch, but she still remains distant from Anna. When Hans proposes to Anna, Elsa objects, unleashing her powers before the court. The Duke brands her a monster. Elsa flees the kingdom, but her suppressed magic engulfs Arendelle in an eternal winter. Reaching the North Mountain, Elsa discards her crown and creates a palace of ice in which to live a solitary life.
Anna ventures out to find Elsa and end the winter, leaving Hans in charge. She gets lost, collecting supplies at Wandering Oaken's shop. She meets an ice harvester, Kristoff, and his reindeer Sven, convincing them to escort her to the mountains. An attack by wolves leads to Kristoff’s sleigh being destroyed. On foot, they meet Olaf, a cheerful snowman brought to life unknowingly by Elsa, who offers to lead them to her. When Anna’s horse returns to Arendelle, Hans sets out to find her, accompanied by the Duke's minions, who have secret orders to assassinate Elsa.
Reaching the ice palace, Anna reunites with Elsa, but when she reveals what has become of Arendelle, Elsa becomes agitated and accidentally freezes Anna's heart. She then summons a giant snow creature, Marshmallow, who chases Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf away. Anna's hair begins turning white, so Kristoff takes her to meet the trolls, his adoptive family. Grand Pabbie reveals Anna will freeze solid unless "an act of true love" reverses the spell. Kristoff races Anna back home so Hans can give her true love's kiss. Hans and his men reach Elsa's palace, defeating Marshmallow and taking her prisoner. Anna is delivered to Hans, but rather than kissing her, he instead reveals that he is actually been plotting to seize the throne of Arendelle by eliminating both sisters. He locks Anna in a room to die, and manipulates the dignitaries into believing that Elsa killed her. He orders the queen's execution, only to discover she has escaped her cell.
Olaf frees Anna and they venture into the blizzard outside to meet Kristoff, whom Olaf reveals is in love with her. Hans confronts Elsa outside, claiming she killed Anna, causing Elsa to break down. Anna spots Hans about to kill Elsa; she leaps in the way and freezes solid, stopping Hans. Brokenhearted, Elsa hugs and mourns over her sister, who suddenly thaws, her heroism constituting "an act of true love". Realizing her magic is controlled by love, Elsa ends the winter, giving Olaf his own snow flurry to survive the summer. Both Hans and the Duke are removed from the kingdom. Anna and Kristoff become a couple, while both sisters are reunited, with Elsa promising never to close the gates again.
In a post-credits scene, Marshmallow is shown in Elsa's ice palace, happily crowning himself as its sole inhabitant. | violence, cult, psychological, entertaining, suspenseful | train | wikipedia | Her standout scene takes place when she's relaying her fears about what might happen to her puppy if she dies on the lift, and if he'd think she abandoned him.Kudos to Adam Green for shooting this film on location.
There are some gruesome bits, particularly the hand scene from the trailer and a discovery towards the film's end, but most of the tension comes from the predicament itself and some of the debasing things the characters have to do.
Needing to take a leak while stuck on a ski lift may not be a big deal if you're a guy, but Parker's options aren't so easy.I didn't think much of Adam Green's Hatchet.
(Although personally I feel that nobody would have survived the cold and dehydration of the first night.)We even learn a little about the characters, in a way that's more convincing than most disaster films, I am thinking for example of The Poseidon Adventure.
Overall it could of had a slightly better conclusion and I don't think it's going to be the best genre flick of the year because I just don't see that happening but if you want to see something different, new and bone chilling go support Adam Green's latest effort Frozen, though more of a renter on a snowy night to me.
I can almost guarantee that you will not enjoy this movie if you have ever done one of the following actions--Lived in snow -Been skiing -Been to the snow -Read a book about snow -Seen a movie that has snow in it -Spoken to someone who has seen snow -Accidentally turned your air conditioning down to low.Basically if you have any idea of what being in a cold environment might be like, then you will spend this entire movie picking faults and questioning the characters actions, because it seems like whoever wrote this script has not.One scene (very early so not a spoiler of any sort) shows a character noticing the other has frostbite on face.
This is just one small example of the stupidity of the main characters that you will inevitably come to hate, even wishing death upon, they deserve it, for making you sit and watch as they make one idiotic move after another against hazards that will have you scratching your head as to why they are hazards.There are a few interesting scenes, but it really is not worth the painful "Why did you do that" and "That doesn't make any sense" moments.
The director (whom I didn't know before this movie) gets to generate an authentic tension from a real suspense story: the panic gripping the trio is absolutely palpable, although the strong implausibility of no one having a cellphone is not that believable.
Like a movie studio trying to emulate the moments before a car accident, then its aftermath.I'm not one of these reviewers that will take you through the entire plot of the film.
It's also extremely thought provoking and realistic.The acting is very good, especially as Adam Green, the director, actually tortured the actors so they come across genuinely cold.
"Frozen" is a great suspense movie that works -and does so extremely well- with very few elements: a natural environment as beautiful as hostile, three helpless characters, and time running against them.
Filmmaker Adam Green somehow manages to pull this off -keep the interest and the viewer's attention almost without a break for an entire hour, that is, the whole running time except for about 25 minutes to introduce the characters and create the atmosphere for their horrific experience -which is, in my opinion, a good point, because the characters are nice people and I cared about them and their luck.These three characters are Dan, his girlfriend Parker and his best friend Joe, all on a skiing vacation.
One evening they get on a chair lift back from skiing, but it stops without notice, with them being its only occupants -hanging 50 feet above the ground in the middle of nowhere and no hopes of being found in three days.Like I said, the suspense and the thrill work very well and go in a crescendo, especially for the first half since their situation begins.
This is survival horror at its finest -experiences that can happen to anyone, because they involve all real life elements.The pace goes remarkably down toward the end, and there are a few scenes that, though not long, drag it down a little bit and don't seem to serve any real purpose, except to linger the denouement a little more.The only real problem I have with "Frozen" is its ending, which I find objectionable not because I may think it is bad, but because the rest of the movie is so terrific, I expected something on par with that.
Blessed with a gorgeous face and backed with good acting skills, she seems like someone meant for the longer race.The best thing about "Frozen" is that it takes on a simple plot and deliver it with such great attention to details and turn of events that by the end of the movie, it feels like a very good movie experience.
I'm scared sh*tless."Frozen is a simple, effective horror/thriller about three people trapped on a ski lift with no one around to rescue them.
Not at all a complicated premise, but it leads to a pretty good movie.Director Adam Green has little problem keeping Frozen interesting for the entire hour and thirty-four minutes that it lasts, so don't worry about being bored.
Should you decide to watch this movie, nothing I say in this review will prepare you what you will experience.Set on location at a Utah ski resort, buddies Dan (Kevin Zegers) and Joe (Shawn Ashmore) spend a Sunday afternoon at the bunny slope (equivalent to the shallow end of a swimming pool) allowing Parker (Emma Bell), Dan's new girlfriend and novice snowboarder, to learn the ropes.
What works here is your level of imagination, depending on which, greatly increases or decreases the agony of a character during the moment of death.While mainstream critics have panned this movie from the screenplay to the acting, I felt genuine terror in Dan, Joe and Parker's ordeal.
He sets up a scenario that relies on two things that usually happen in horror movies: 1) teenagers or college kids are a bit ignorant in some practical things (i.e. the timing of a ski lift and the hours), and 2) minor characters like, say, an operator of a ski lift may forget about the three kids a top the ski lift going up.
It's a set-up that has to be given some suspension of disbelief- not to mention that this would happen the night before the Ski resort closes for a week- so that the meat of the picture can unfold.It's a suspense film before being a horror movie, where we're given three (at least somewhat) likable characters who know one thing and that is they can't stay on a ski lift that's stopped for five days in below zero degree weather on a lift that could conceivably break any moment.
Acting = excellent!I have pretty high standards of what I expect from a movie but this was good enough to watch and I didn't feel like it wasted my time.
Don't know if I can blame the actor for this entirely, but the performance wasn't one to write home about.The film looks good, with some terrific shots of the mountain, the silent and deserted lift, and the terrifying wolves who linger below.
In Frozen's case, when I say great acting, I'm only referring to Emma Bell as Parker O'Neil, who finds herself in an uncomfortable situation as she tags along on a skiing trip with her boyfriend Dan Walker, and his best friend, Joe Lynch.
I couldn't tell you what is worse being frozen to death, jumping from 50 feet in the air or being attacked by wolves but this movie pretty much got me thinking that staying indoors is the safest place on the planet.
One's enjoyment of this horror movie from writer / director Adam Green is going to depend on how much they're able to buy into the premise and how much they're willing to swallow - not to mention how sympathetic (or not) they feel towards the three main characters.
There's very little in the way of build-up and exposition, and instead the film gets on with tackling the various dangers that the stranded folk face: everything from frostbite to the possibility of being eaten alive by wolves.The movie emphasises realism throughout; there are no outlandish heroics here, no contrivances, just a very real chance of dying in an increasingly horrible way.
I always judge the success of movies by how well they make you feel like you're there in the situation with the characters, and FROZEN achieves that effect very well.
Instead they're presented as ordinary folk, little different from you or me, adding to the 'what would I do?' feel.Director Adam Green – the man behind the HATCHET movies – is clearly a horror lover first and foremost, thus the emphasis here is on the horrible nature of the scenario.
Or better yet, maybe one of the cars from Need for Speed could come screaming down the hill on top of the snow and run over one of the trio of fictionally marooned actors.If you're going to produce a movie like this, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do some research, do your homework, don't just sit down and write about how you think things are somewhere you've never been.
'FROZEN': Four Stars (Out of Five) Up and coming horror filmmaker Adam Green (writer and director of 'HATCHET' and the up coming 'HATCHET II') writes and directs this low budget ski-resort thriller that's recently made it's way to video (after distributor Anchor Bay dumped it in an extremely limited theatrical run with no advertisement, due to their own problems with the sale of their company at the time).
nature' psychological suspense tale, although there are killer wolves thrown in for added measure.The film tells the story of three friends who take a day trip to a local ski resort.
For the most part the movie is realistic and believable and that's what sets it aside from other low budget horror films; there's no psycho killer or monster, it's just three friends trying to survive against nature (and some aggressive wolves).
Obviously it can, as the three teenagers find out over the course of the movie.Played by the fresh faced Emma Bell (you may have seen her playing bit roles in Law & Order and Ghost Whisperer), the chatty Shawn Ashmore (you probably know him as Iceman in the X-Men series) and the brooding Kevin Zegers (remember Felicity Huffman's son in Transamerica?), they are a caricature of adventurous teens of today who would do anything to have that one opportunity to have a little more fun.
The young actors may not deliver the most mesmerizing performances you've seen, but they do a fairly good job of portraying your average teenager – the type that is neither very likable nor very obnoxious.So when they get into trouble and have to fight unexpected obstacles (let's just say these are situations you don't want to find yourself in on any given day), you feel the horror and terror they are going through.The production values aren't too bad either.
Frozen is a well done thriller which takes a potentially comic premise- three people stuck on a ski resort chairlift-and makes it into a gruesome, genuinely disturbing film.
Through the use of some good character development and gut-wrenching make up effects, as well as good direction by Adam Green, this premise becomes a worthwhile film.The basic story is that three college students, after bribing a ski lift operator, end up stuck on a ski lift chair as the ski resort closes down for the next five days.
As the weather deteriorates and wolves draw close, they must find a way to get down.Although the film offers some very visceral moments of gore, the main tension in it comes from the realistic depiction of the effects of the frozen environment upon the protagonists.
"Frozen" is a good ol' fashioned nail-bitingly intense experience that will leave you yelling at the screen long after the credits have rolled.In the film, three college buddies (Emma Bell, Kevin Zegers and Shawn Ashmore) take to the ski-slopes to forget about reality for the weekend but soon find stress where they least expect it.
I think this is the directors best to this point, and Adam Green may very well be the next great horror director, not dwelling on extremes like Rob Zombie or the SAW films for instance.
I've never really understood the attraction of a vacation where one risks serious injury on perilously icy slopes, and Adam Green's Frozen only strengthens my resolve to take fair weather holidays: the idea that I might fall to my death from a great height or be eaten by wolves just convinces me further that my preferred holiday destination, a sandy beach with warm waters lapping at my toes (shark-free waters, of course), is the only way to go.Parker, Joe and Dan (Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, and Kevin Zegers), the trio of unfortunate skiers in Green's movie, sure wind up regretting their choice of weekend break when they find themselves stranded on a chairlift in sub-zero temperatures.
As they slowly come to realise that their predicament could very well be fatal, fear leads to panic, and panic leads to a series of rash decisions that leaves them in a very sorry state indeed.With its slow build up, believable characters, well executed scenes of edge-of-the-seat suspense, and fair amount of realistic nastiness, Frozen is a surprisingly mature horror/thriller from the man who gave us the far less sophisticated but still immensely entertaining Hatchet and indicates that Green might well be one of the more promising new directors of the genre.
Undoubtedly, Frozen, the 2009 film by Writer/Director Adam Green, is one of the first to feature stranded skiers on a ski lift.
The suspense, the tension, the anticipation, and the sheer "edge-of-your-seat" feeling that is generated is impressive, especially with the wolf scenes...the first of these being the most fraught & the most harrowing not because of what you see but because of what you hear.The main cast of Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, and Kevin Zegers all work well together and do a great job with their characters, portraying them as regular 'down-to-Earth' people and not the usual stereotypes that we tend to see i.e. the buff macho hero.As a side note, it's quite comical seeing these "I'm a ski-lift operator/cable expert/ski resort worker" reviewers saying how ridiculous this film is.
The fact that the majority of the film takes place in a ski lift and that it still manages to be entertaining and tense is a real testament to the actors.Three skiers Joe Lynch (Shawn Ashmore) Parker O'Neil (Emma Bell) and Dan Walker (Kevin Zegers) - the latter two being boyfriend and girlfriend are spending a week end at a ski resort.
the elements" horror/thrillers, Frozen pits a college-age trio who's stuck on a ski lift against freezing temperatures, a pack of ravenous wolves, and the mental fatigue associated with these sorts of extreme situations.
Emma Bell's character, for example, does very little in the film but scream and complain, leading me to wonder what kind of self-respecting male would want her as a girlfriend.Despite its flaws, Frozen kept me stuck to the edge of my seat for the entire running time.
There is no light at the end of the tunnel in Frozen, only frostbite and hypothermia awaits.The story follows three College kids and long time friends Joe (Shawn Ashmore), Dan (Kevin Zegers), and Joe's girlfriend Parker (Emma Bell) who are spending their Sunday skiing at a resort.
the basic premise of the film is this:a trio of friends,through a misunderstanding,end up stranded on a ski lift close to the top of the mountain.they soon realize that know one knows they are up there.it's a Sunday and the resort will not open again until the following Friday.somehow they have to find a way to survive.without giving too much away,this film is a bit gruesome in parts.once the film focuses on just the three friends,there's some character development,so you get to feel some empathy for them and hope they survive their ordeal.the three are likable characters,so that helps.i had no idea how the film would end up,but i know it didn't end up like i expected,so points for that.for me,Frozen is a 7/10.
However, just as you start to think it's your typical disaster movie; the horror is thrown at you in large doses.Adam Green's story of a few friends trapped on a ski lift is all of the above, and relies heavily on the "what if?" factor.
The girl was starting to lose it in the emotional scenes but other then that it was great coming from a low budget horror.This movie is about 3 friends who go to a mountain resort for some skiing and snowboarding.
'Frozen' tells the story of three snowboarders, Parker (Emma Bell), Joe (Shawn Ashmore) and Dan (Kevin Zegers) who are the last ones on a ski-lift before it is closed.
And even if they could get safely to the ground, there are wolves waiting for them - looks like they can only choose from three different ways to die?Great, suspenseful little movie which is a good example that a simple formula sometimes works best.
Adam Green's latest chiller-thriller, Frozen is about a trio of college kids who get stuck high and dry on a Ski-Resort's chair lift and their struggle for survival.Gotta admit, this is a funny idea for a movie. |
tt2479478 | The Ridiculous 6 | In the Old West era, a calm man named Tommy Stockburn (Sandler) is raised by Native Americans, where he is named "White Knife", due to his tendency to use knives. He is due to marry a Native girl named Smoking Fox (Jones). He has a run-in with a gang of bandits with eye patches on their right eyes, led by Will Patch (Forte), and manages to outsmart them and a deranged, Native American-racist food proprietor named Clem (Zahn), whose left eye is badly dysfunctional. At his Native village a bank robber named Frank Stockburn (Nolte) comes by, claiming to be Tommy's biological father. Tommy explains to Frank that his mother was shot by a silhouetted man with tattoos on his hand when she was escorting him to school during his childhood, something that has haunted his dreams since. Frank also tells Tommy that he is dying of consumption, but that he has amassed $50,000 and buried it in a meadow next to a pine tree, which he offers to Tommy and the Natives. The next day, a group of bandits with connections to Frank come to the village, led by the ruthless Cicero (Trejo) who want Frank to give them his "big score" he gained a while back. Frank has the bandits kidnap him so he can lead them to the $50,000 at the so-called "Singing Windmill", in return for the bandits not attacking Tommy or the Indians. With no time to search the meadow and find the money, Tommy decides he must find another way to obtain it and save his father.
Tommy sets out on his quest to regain his father and decides that the best way to gain enough money is by stealing it. However, because his tribe does not condone theft and claims it is dishonorable, Tommy instead opts to steal from those who have no honor, leading him to target corrupt politicians, racist bankers, and thugs alike. During his quest, Tommy discovers that he has 5 half-brothers; Mexican burro rider Ramon (Schneider), whose innkeeper mother Frank had a fling with; mentally challenged yet happy-go-lucky Lil' Pete (Lautner), who has a strong neck that makes him immune to hanging; feral mountain-man Herm (Garcia), who speaks incomprehensibly; guilt-ridden drunkard Danny (Wilson), who served as a bodyguard for Abraham Lincoln until accidentally leading John Wilkes Booth to murder him; and African-American saloon pianist Chico (Crews), who confesses to be only 50 percent white; all of which join Tommy. Meanwhile, Clem joins the eye patch gang in hopes of finding Tommy to take revenge on him after Clem removes his only functional eye (since the other eye patch wearers claim that removing the right eye is part of the gang's way) before they kidnap Tommy's fiancee, though she manages to escape them due to Clem's poor eyesight and heads out to find Frank. When meeting Chico and Danny, they run with Chico's boss: the aggressive, always smiling saloon owner Smiley Harris (Keitel), who was part of Frank's gang until Frank stole his cut of their biggest score and left him to die at the windmill. He owns a large golden nugget the brothers steal after Ramon, while riding his burro, accidentally decapitates Smiley with a shovel from behind just as he is about to shoot the brothers as revenge against Frank for his betrayal, though Ramon was only trying to knock him out.
While relaxing in a pond, Clem and the eye patch gang show up and while the brothers manage to overpower them, the gang manage to steal the money the brothers stole. Hope isn't lost for the brothers, as Herm (through Tommy's translation) tells them that a gambler named Ezekiel Grant (Lovitz) is hosting a gambling game with Mark Twain (Vanilla Ice) and General George Armstrong Custer (Spade) in Yuma. After successfully robbing the poker game, they head out to ransom their father. As dusk falls, Tommy realizes (through a photograph carried by Danny) that it was Cicero who murdered his mother. Not wanting to put his brothers in harm's way, Tommy sets out alone in the cover of night to rescue his father and confront his mother's killer. After paying the ransom, Cicero decides to part ways but Tommy insists on getting his revenge. Having successfully killed Cicero, the half-brothers (who followed Tommy) have a reunion with their long lost father. Realizing that Tommy's group now have $100,000 after rescuing the Left-Eye Gang and getting their original $50,000, Frank double crosses them, revealing that he was in cahoots with Cicero for an easy $50,000. Tommy then reveals that their group also has a Plan B: a hidden bomb inside the bag containing the ransom money. When the bomb explodes and commotion ensues, Frank runs off with Smoking Fox (whom his group has been holding hostage) inside a mine. Tommy runs after them and successfully rescues his bride-to-be and captures his father. Also, in the process of the fighting, the Left-Eye Gang accidentally reveal that they lied about removing their right eyes, much to Clem's outrage.
Back in the Native Village, Tommy weds Smoking Fox with his brothers in attendance. Since the revelation that their biological father Frank Stockburn was no more than a two-bit crook, the Native chief decides to adopt the half-brothers as he did with Tommy. | revenge | train | wikipedia | I just really really liked this as far as Adam Sandler movies go.
Basically put, if you like Adam Sandler at all here and there, give this movie a go.
Particularly a couple cameos that occur during a poker scene.Chances are good if you're a Sandler/Happy Madison fan, you'll enjoy this..
Alternately laugh out loud and very low brow crude jokes, I kind of enjoyed about 60% of this Netflix comedy by Adam Sandler.
Political correctness is taking over the world and people can no longer just kick back and have a good laugh at some corny, but very amusing, jokes and visual humour.I admit it: I am an Adam Sandler fan.
It has a great cast, with all the old Sandler buddies popping up and we get some great cameos from other stars of film and music.The jokes are mostly big hits.
Blake Shelton's Wyatt Earp, along with Jon Lovitz, David Spade and Vanilla Ice form a crazy poker crew.Seriously, do not bother reading the reviews or paying any attention to the score here (4.9 as i write this), just watch the movie.
I like many of his movies also the more realistic and dramatic roles, but with the comedies it has come down to silly and strange characters that are just acting out on camera, sometimes it seems like they get to improvise and if it is silly enough they use it in the film :)There really are a lot of great cast members in this and they all play crazy characters, it is fun to get introduced to the one crazy son of a b....
We are talking the good old Rob Schneider, David Spade, Steve Buscemi and John Tuturo, we expect them to be part of a Happy Madison production, then there are all the others, the extras, the "cameos" and it is a lot of people Taylor Lautner, Terry Crews, Nick Nolte, Danny Trejo, Luke Wilson, Steve Zahn, Will Forte, Jorge Garcia, Blake Shelton, Vanilla Ice and many many more.
It is a crazy crew, but for me none of all these did make this a good movie.There were a lot of childish jokes a lot of slap stick humor, some things worked, but mostly it was just not good enough, I don't know maybe I just expected too much, but it could have been just a little more fun..
I cannot imagine anything worse, even if they had intended to make a bad movie.Apparently Mel Brooks said something about this movie in relationship to Blazing Saddles, saying that Sandler's movie couldn't touch Brooks' classic film.
Then, after watching it, they leave a bad review here because they found the film to be "goofy" or "stupid funny" and not much else.
You didn't know this was going to be a goof fest?For fans of Happy Madison Films, this movie is exactly what you'd expect.
A ton of laughs and a good time, with a tiny bit of poking fun at the "Western Films" genre.
The great actors that keep showing up like Nick Nolte, John Turturo, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, etc, all very funny in their own way, are what make this comedy special.
Adam Sandler looks and talks like Bob Dylan and his character Tommy, has the style of Dylan, so throughout the movie I had a feeling I was seeing a Bob Dylan film!
This one wasn't bad, however.If you don't like Sandler's comedy, then why would you watch this?
It's a silly comedy with silly jokes (there are some poop/fart jokes, but it's not all like that), but my brother and I got some good laughs while watching this together.
The brothers are Adam Sandler as "Tommy" aka "White Knife", Terry Crews as "Chico", Jorge Garcia as "Herm", Taylor Lautner as "Lil Pete", Rob Schneider as "Ramon", and Luke Wilson as "Danny".
Sure, this movie isn't winning any academy awards and haters are gonna hate, but sorry haters, Adam Sandler is laughing all the way to the bank with this one!!
I think the viewer has to appreciate Adam Sandler movies to understand where this comedy is coming from.
So it's come to this: I honestly believe that if not for the normal bodily functions of humans (and animals of course) for Sandler to make fun of -- over and over and over again in this, and about all of his movies, he'd be a broke joke remembered mostly for his okay SNL skits from 25 years ago.
Adam Sandler has been making movies for over 20 years now, yet even with this extensive body of work to draw on, the self-proclaimed film connoisseurs and cinema "artistes" still feel the need to fumble at the jaw to proclaim how awful he is...
Bottom line, if you've seen the Magnificent 7 (or even if you haven't) and have even the slightest soft spot for Sandler's brand of simple, dumb humor, you should enjoy this movie.
Unlike most of the IMDb reviewers here, Sandler has no pretensions, but delivers fun, enjoyable, and yes - at time dumb humor with a heart.
I don't normally like movies with Adam Sandler.
The beginning had one or two bad joke, but it definitely improves I thought the movie was fun, made me laugh at times.
You know the kind of movie you start watching and about half an hour in you realize just how incredibly bad it is but you figure you're this far in so you might as well see it through?
Yeah that is this movie.From horrible dialogue to incredibly offensive stereotypes (and this is coming from someone who loathes being pc) this movie has just about everything you can think of to dislike in a movie.Sandler brings along his usual companions in this one (Buscemi, Schneider...Vanilla Ice(???)) but even that (formerly) funny bunch cannot save...this..
The sad thing is that Sandler has a terrific cast to do something quite funny but instead rehashes old jokes and scenes from his former films.
Netflix has signed a four-movie deal with Sandler, but after The Ridiculous 6's incomparably negative reactions from critics and audiences forced the streaming company to minimize its prominence on the film's site, I assume the forthcoming three pictures will be released to the public with a lot more four-letter words mumbled under CEO Reed Hastings' breath as he cuts his losses and moves forward accordingly.The Ridiculous 6 is an atrocious film, but atrocious in an unsurprising way, frankly.
Frank also reveals to Tommy that he has $50,000 buried in the middle of a field before he is kidnapped by Cicero (Danny Trejo) and held for the hefty ransom.In efforts to rescue his husband, Tommy discovers he also has five half brothers: they are a Mexican donkey-rider named Ramon (Rob Schneider in his ongoing streak of never playing a tolerable character), a giddy, mentally-retarded man named Lil' Pete (Taylor Lautner), the large and feral Herm (Jorge Garcia), a black pianist named Chico (Terry Crews), and Danny (Luke Wilson), Abraham Lincoln's bodyguard who failed to protect him from no one else but John Wilkes Booth.
Together, the gang form "The Ridiculous 6," a bumbling but well-meaning sextet that attempts to find their father all while avoiding dangers such as rebel gangs, Wyatt Earp's (country singer Blake Shelton) sharp-shooting skills, and "Injuns." It seems that both Sandler and Tim Herlihy, the screen writing duo on this project, concocted a list of the most intolerable attributes they could include in a film and haphazardly sewed a film together conjoining those scenes which produced little in the way of a plot.
The strongest actor in the film, playing the most consistently funny and likable character, is Vanilla Ice, who plays Mark Twain in the film's sole good scene involving a staged robbery by the six before Twain, Earp, and a few others.The problem with Western satires is that most of the material is well-charted ground by now: how many more times can we see the eclectic and specific names of Native Americans made fun of, the fact that bumbling white people are uncultured and stole the land from the Natives, or the invention of popular conventions such as baseball that we know today?
Sandler just brings his brand of mindless stupidity to a different setting and turns recognizable faces (most notably Taylor Lautner, who is just unbelievably bad and unfunny here) and talented actors into the most unlikable cast of buffoons I've seen this year.Give Sandler credit in that he, at the very least, didn't make us pay any extra, leave our homes, or put on pants to see a film that's really not even good enough for a direct-to-Comedy-Central release.
The Ridiculous 6, which also parodies The Magnificent Seven, though, because of timing, seems to ride the coattails of Quentin Tarantino's forthcoming Hateful Eight, is an abysmal comedic affair, and that, above all, given Sandler's recent string of films and the dumping of his next four films on Netflix, is the most unsurprising thing about this entire mess of a film.Starring: Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Jorge Garcia, Taylor Lautner, Terry Crews, Luke Wilson, Nick Nolte, Steve Zahn, Danny Trejo, Vanilla Ice, Blake Shelton, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Will Forte, Chris Kattan, and Harvey Keitel.
This is an unpretentious, fun, dumb movie to laugh at, If you don't like it that's fine, but what kind of humor did you expect?
It was so politically incorrect (in a funny, not a snide or insulting way) we just couldn't stop laughing.Sometimes we watch highly rated comedies or shows hoping for even a single laugh.I think this movie was much funnier than Blazing Saddles since it didn't snobbishly intellectually make politically incorrect "jokes" that requires you to be "intellectually truly superior and clever to "get" it.Feel free to snobbishly reject and condemn this movie for its failure to follow the acceptable structure for intellectually proper politically incorrect humor and be so intellectually refined, or you might just enjoy the different and unique humor!
first off,i like this movie, its rare the the title perfectly explains what the movie is about,the acting is abit shallow at times but thats OK for a movie like this, i even teared up at the end (i tear up very fast tho), they also hide these little references in there that absolute awesome if you get them.adam sandler fits in, did not get annoyed with him at all,so overall i believe this is great movie and i recommend to watch it but some will hate it, everyone has its taste in movies,if you want to have a good laugh this is one of the candidates to succeed at the job,and to finish off i just want to say that by no means i am an experienced movie critic.
Most of the other actors are definitely Sandler favorites but they actually seem like they cared about this movie.
What's worse is that this film isn't a "so bad it's funny" kind of movie.
It's so uncomfortable to watch that when the film hits a legitimate joke you can't laugh because of how terrible everything is.'The Ridiculous 6' is a trainwreck.
I can safely say that there are Sandler movies that I admire and no matter how ridiculous the humor had some underlying meaning that left me with that feel good feeling when it was over...
If you don't like his movies, don't watch them.I also get tired of all the serious critics that try and review Adam Sandler movies.
Yes you need to pay attention or you will miss a lot.So, before giving it a bad review, watch it again and pay attention then tell me it isn't funny.No doubt this will become a cult classic..
If he wanted serious acting he would have a completely different script and actors, but then it wouldn't be a Adam Sandler slap stick stupid comedy.
Watching Turturro's acting as the father of America's favorite sport made me laugh so hard; Buscemi's character was brilliant; the toilet humor was not excessive, but funny; the Spanglish used was neat, and one you appreciate more if you work with languages.
No need to indulge in awful criticism as this movie hits the nail in the head, it is meant to make you laugh and have a good time, and I did.
So much more could have been done with Nick Nolte's (who actually does a pretty good job) character.The one redeeming quality is the many guest stars - I kept watching through the whole movie simply to see who showed up.
It's stupidly funny which is what we always get anytime we watch an Adam Sandler movie.
People with no sense of humor should definitely not watch, but if you're a Sandler fan and you love all of his crazy characters and his way of providing entertainment then this movie is something that you will enjoy.
What Sandler did, was take a few classic Western comedies like Blazing Saddles, A Million Ways to Die in the West and City Slickers, and switched things up a bit, adding even more satire to this mix than normal.
I am confused why someone would state "I don't like Adam Sandler films" then expect to enjoy this!This wasn't made to be an award winning flick and is for those who like a goofy comedy (like Happy Gilmore) and I was hesitant after the various negative reviews.
I for one welcome Adam Sandler's next 3 movies for Netflix..
It's an Adam Sandler movie, it's supposed to be stupid!
This movies is exactly the same as all Adam Sandler's previous films, so I don't know why people are saying this one is stupid and his films from the 90s so different.
This is an excellent, classic Adam Sandler movie that's enjoyable to watch when you had a bad day at work and just want to see something fun and light-hearted.
I found this movie really funny with a great cast and yes the story might be a simple but that doesn't mean is stupid!
Sadly, this movie turned out to be a disappointment, much like last year's western-set comedy 'A Million Ways To Die in The West'.
Like most Adam Sandler comedies, this movie tries so hard to get laughs out from the characters' stupidity, and it fails miserably.
The Ridiculous 6 is not a good movie and falls severely short of laughs, and its quite disappointing for such a star-studded cast.
I went in knowing it was an Adam Sandler movie.
I generally like Adam Sandler movies but not so much the overly stupid ones such as Billy Madison which puts me usually in the minority this one on the other hand made me laugh a little and there was some silly juvenile humor while still being basically Spaghetti Western type.I would definitely recommend it to friends as well as watch it again.
This is originality, something that movies had lost, which is why the most original stuff is in television and cable series these days!Adam Sandler deserves props as one of the writers, this was unique, and with all of the big budget flops, we needed this!If you do not go into this movie expecting a Clint Eastwood western or Kurt Russell's Tombstone, you'll have a wonderful time and pass your Saturday night away with some laughs and plenty of surprises!The Ridiculous 6 is the Generation X version of Blazing Saddles!.
(With lil' Pete)People are writing their reviews thinking they are amazing movie critics but honestly, this film is actually well done.
Everyone likes different things, you could read a terrible review to a movie and not watch it because of it, but who's to say your opinion wouldn't be different..
Some people seemed to not like the movie but I personally thought it was great.
It is in my humble opinion that people who rated this movie 1/10 didn't even watch this movie and/or they really dislike Adam Sandler.Lastly, this is a fun movie with a smahingly-great cast that you can tell really enjoyed making the movie.
Some parts of the film were ridiculous, but hey, it's in the title.I was very surprised, as I find some Adam Sandler films to be pretty stupid.Some reviews seem to be quite harsh on the stereotypes used, but stories and life are both boring without them.
The Ridiculous 6 certainly isn't one of Sandler's best comedic performances of all time (The Wedding Singer, Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, etc.), however, it packs more laughs than most of his films from the last 5 to 10 years.
Look, this is an Adam Sandler movie.
Don't get me wrong, you don't care all that much in the end, but, substantially more than at the beginning.There is this sense that much more could have been done here, especially with some sketches, and the overall story, but, Adam Sandler movies have been having such a feel to them for a long time.So, it's a good way to take a rest, have some fun and laughs and not think much about stuff..
I don't like Adam Sandler; I never have but I enjoyed every bit of this movie.
If you don't like Adam Sandler, then don't watch it.
Much like the old airplane movies, history of the world humor but modernized.The plot was different, a western comedy.
All of the actors really do it well on this movie like Sandler and Lautner.
I like his movies but this isn't funny in an Adam Sandler way.
He has a point but I don't care I think Sandler has some great movies and will always enjoy!!!!.
The Ridiculous 6 no doubt counts as another bad Adam Sandler film but he's hardly the only issue here..
I don't even know why I attempt to watch Adam Sandler movies anymore.
Today Adam Sandler has simply stopped trying and I'd really like to know what happened.The 'Ridiculous 6' (as I was told) was meant to be a parody of 'The Magnificent Seven', but I can't find parody in this film. |
tt0061578 | The Dirty Dozen | In Britain, in the spring of 1944, Allied forces are preparing for the D-Day invasion. Among them are Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin), an OSS officer; his commander, Regular Army Major General Sam Worden (Ernest Borgnine); and his former commander Colonel Everett Dasher Breed (Robert Ryan). The personalities of the three men are shown to clash and the characters of the individualistic Reisman and the domineering Breed are established. Reisman is aided by his friend, the mild-mannered Major Max Armbruster (George Kennedy).
Major Reisman is assigned an unusual and top-secret mission, code-named Operation Amnesty. He is to train a small band of the Army's worst convicts (previously selected by the Army) and turn them into commandos to be sent on a virtual suicide mission, the airborne infiltration and assault on a château near Rennes in Brittany. The chateau will be hosting a meeting of dozens of high-ranking German officers, the elimination of whom will hamper the German military's ability to respond to D-Day by disrupting the chain of command. Those who survive the mission will be pardoned and returned to active duty at their former ranks. However, as Reisman repeatedly tells the men, few of them will be coming back from this one.
After witnessing a hanging in a military prison, Reisman is assigned 12 convicts (the 'Dirty Dozen'), all either serving lengthy sentences or awaiting execution. Sergeant Bowren (Richard Jaeckel) reads out their sentences of each man (during the credits of the film) as Major Reisman walks down the line of prisoners.
On March 19, Reisman visits Franko, Wladislaw, Maggott, Posey and Jefferson in their cells. Some details of their crimes are revealed and he uses a different approach with each in an effort to gain their cooperation.
Under the supervision of Reisman and MP Sergeant Bowren (Richard Jaeckel), the group begins training. After being forced to construct their own living quarters, the 12 men are trained in combat by Reisman and gradually learn how to operate as a group. For parachute training, they are sent to the base operated by Colonel Breed. Under strict orders to keep their mission secret, Reisman's men run afoul of Breed and his troops, especially after Pinkley - under Reisman's orders - poses as a general and inspects Breed's troops. Angered at the usurpation of his authority, Breed attempts to discover Reisman's mission by having two of his men attack Wladislaw in the latrine, but they are both knocked out by Posey and Jefferson.
The 12 men think Reisman sent them until Breed and his men investigate the Dirty Dozen's camp, and recognize the two men who jumped Wladislaw in the latrine. Reisman, who had been away when Breed and his paratroopers arrived, infiltrates his own post and opens fire on the paratroops as the convicts jump them. They disarm the paratroops, Colonel Breed is ordered to take his men and leave, and Major Reisman is called on the carpet by General Worden and his chief of staff, Brigadier General Denton.
Denton, siding with Breed, insists that Reisman has exceeded his authority and urges General Worden to terminate Operation Amnesty. Reisman rises ferociously to the defense of his men, pointing out they had crammed six months of training into as many weeks and deserved a chance to prove themselves. Major Armbruster suggests a test that would show whether Reisman's men are ready. During practice maneuvers in which Breed will be taking part, the "Dirty Dozen" will attempt to capture the Colonel's headquarters. During the maneuvers, the men use various unorthodox tactics, including theft, impersonation, and rule-breaking, to infiltrate Breed's headquarters and hold his men and him at gunpoint. This proves to General Worden that Reisman's men can be used for the mission and that the operation is a go.
Due to the men's nature, Reisman makes them recite the details of the attack in a rhyming chant to help them remember their roles:
Down to the road block, we've just begun.
The guards are through.
The Major's men are on a spree.
Major and Wladislaw go through the door.
Pinkley stays out in the drive.
The Major gives the rope a fix.
Wladislaw throws the hook to heaven.
Jiminez has got a date.
The other guys go up the line.
Sawyer and Gilpen are in the pen.
Posey guards Points Five and Seven.
Wladislaw and the Major go down to delve.
Franko goes up without being seen.
Zero Hour: Jimenez cuts the cable; Franko cuts the phone.
Franko goes in where the others have been.
We all come out like it's Halloween.
The night of the raid, the men are flown to France, and practice a rhyme they have learned which details their roles in the operation. A slight snag occurs, when upon landing in a tree, one of the dozen, Jiminez (Trini Lopez), breaks his neck and dies, but as trained, the others proceed with the mission, Gilpin taking on Jiminez's duties. Wladislaw and Reisman infiltrate the meeting disguised as German officers, while Jefferson and Maggott sneak onto the top floor of the building. The others set up in various locations around the chateau.
The plan falls apart when Maggott sees one of the women who had accompanied the officers, abducts her at knifepoint, and orders her to scream. The German officers downstairs ignore her, thinking she is just having sex. Maggott stabs her and begins shooting wildly at enemy and ally alike, alerting the German officers. Jefferson kills Maggott because he has compromised the mission and evidently gone mad.
As the officers and their companions retreat to an underground bomb shelter, a firefight ensues between the Dirty Dozen and the chateau's guard force. As planned, Wladislaw and Reisman lock the Germans in the bomb shelter, then pry open the ventilation ducts to the shelter, drop unprimed grenades down, then pour gasoline inside. Jefferson throws a live grenade down each shaft and sprints for the stolen half-track the team has "liberated," but is shot down as the grenades explode. Over the course of the battle, all but two of the convicts are killed, leaving Reisman, Bowren, Wladislaw and Franko as the remaining survivors of the assault team. As they make their escape Franko, shouting triumphantly that he has survived, is shot by a stray round. Only Reisman, Bowren and Wladislaw (the lone prisoner) manage to get out alive.
A voiceover from Reisman confirms that General Worden exonerated the surviving members of the Dirty Dozen, and communicated to the next of kin of the rest that "they died in the line of duty". | cult, comedy | train | wikipedia | Quentin Tarantino looks like he just might follow through with his threat to make the ultimate "guys on a mission movie" if he gets his 'Inglorious Bastards' on to the big screen, but he'll be pushed to equal 'The Dirty Dozen', the quintessential movie in the genre.
It shouldn't be taken too seriously - I don't think anyone is going to argue it's a realistic depiction of war - but it's still one of the most entertaining movies around, and it's impressive collection of tough guys and character actors is really hard to beat.
Screen legend Lee Marvin ('Point Blank', 'The Killers') with the assistance of his Sgt (Richard Jaeckel), must train a motley collection of criminal and misfits (including John Cassavetes, Jim Brown, Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson, Clint Walker and Donald Sutherland), for a suicide mission behind enemy lines.
It stars Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes, Donald Sutherland, Richard Jaeckel, Robert Ryan and Jim Brown.1944, just prior to D-Day.Major Reisman (Marvin) is a none conformist kind of guy and he riles the higher brass no end, so it comes as no surprise to him that he is the man assigned the unenviable task of assembling a suicide squad of army criminals for a mission to destroy a château in France.
Over 50 years since it first lured people into the picture houses, Aldrich's movie shows no sign of aged frayed edges, or better still, and more remarkable, the enjoyability factors it holds has not diminished.What makes it a great film, then?
First off is the all-star macho cast assembled by Aldrich and his team, big hitters like Marvin (stepping in when John Wayne balked at the script), Borgnine, Kennedy, Ryan and Bronson were already names to the public, but these are also supplemented by soon to be "stars" like Cassavetes, Sutherland and Savalas (also stepping into a role vacated by another, this time Jack Palance who didn't like the racial aggression of the character) & stoic performers like Jaeckel & Robert Webber.
The messages in here are not sledge hammered into the story (Aldrich always said he wasn't making a message movie, just a film about camaraderie and unlikely heroes), and the construction of the action is top notch from one of America's most under appreciated directors.
OSS Major Reisman (Lee Marvin, "Hell in the Pacific") is an insubordinate Army officer who's facing a court-martial, when he's given one last chance for a reprieve: select twelve Army prisoners from a maximum-security detention center, train them for a top-secret mission behind the German lines, and then lead them into battle.
The key to every action men undertake in this very tough and and tough-minded Nunnnally Johnason and Lukas Heller script is: "Is that person dealing with the reality of the world of and his/her own responsibility to act?" From convict Telly Savalas' character, mystical murderer of women who claims a divine calling to punish their sexuality, to Charles Bronson and Jim Brown who reacted to persecutions and are innocent by reason of self-defense, to their leader, the mission's architect, Major Reisman, who wants his plan to go forward his way despite resistance from brass, every man of the outfit is tried against the same standard.
As a production, Robert Aldrich's direction is probably his masterpiece; the acting is far above average, especially Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker, Robert Webber, energetic John Cassevetes and Al Mancini; the inspired casting of powerful top-sergeant-level Ernest Borgnine as an obviously far-beyond-his element general works brilliantly.
In fact Marvin's and the performance of others in the cast helped The Dirty Dozen get over two very big improbable situations I have always found in this film.The first one being the way the conflict between Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin is handled.
Then again a whole big part of the film wouldn't have occurred if Ryan had been let in on Marvin's mission.The second thing is that granted these guys might be considered expendable to say the least with several of the dozen scheduled for a firing squad, but the army would want to make sure the mission had some chance of succeeding.
Only in movieland.Marvin's mission is to infiltrate and kill a lot of the German high command as they gather at a French château in the weeks before D-Day. How he does is something you have to watch The Dirty Dozen before.
A dozen criminals (Oscar-nominee John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, Jim Brown, Charles Bronson and Donald Sutherland being the major standouts) are trained for a suicide mission into Nazi territory in 1944 and act as assassins.
The rest of the dozen give good performances, but I'll be honest and say that the famous faces stuck in my mind more.Overall this is not a wonderful film and, as a war movie it isn't the best `mission' movie you could find (simply cause the mission is quite short and straightforward.
The training section and the mission itself combine to form an enjoyable film that is driven by a great cast playing good characters..
I just watched it for the first time last night on TV, clipped though it was for those smaller brained people among us who don't like to see dark bits at the top and bottom of their screens.It's interesting that there are three real character acts to this movie.
¨Dirty Dozen¨ is an entertaining film with Lee Marvin as tough officer along with the ordinary team of renegade soldiers of World War II .
The dangerous mission includes a numerous group formed by a motley and diverse squadron played by all-star cast .This is a rugged WWII actioner concerning about an experienced officer , Major Reisman , he's assigned by Military staff (Ernest Borgnine who acted in the original and all the sequels, Robert Webber , George Kennedy) to train a dropout group of murderers , criminals and rapists who get a chance to redeem themselves .
Lee Marvin reprieves a bunch of ¨Death Row¨ inmates , forges them into a two-fisted fighting unit and leads them on a deadly assignment into Nazi territory , but there is a religious crazy in the team .The prisoners are oddballs , rag-tag and undisciplined gang (a large cast formed by John Cassavetes, Clint Walker , Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas , Jim Brown , Charles Bronson, Trini Lopez), under command a sergeant (Richard Jaeckel).
At the end they must participate in the suicidal mission behind the enemy lines , to wipe the German group by means of a violent assault over a strongly protected castle.Lee Marvin as Major Reisman assumes the character of the leader of the Dirty Dozen in this wartime classic movie directed by Robert Aldrich and based on the characters created by T.M. Nathanson , being scripted by Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller.
This is one of the most entertaining action packed war films ever made with a tremendous cast playing unique characters.
I first saw this film when I was about 8 year old and thought it was the best thing I'd seen on TV.Lee Marvin heads the cast as an unorthadox, short on discipline rebellious Major during World War II whose given a suicidal mission by a bunch of Generals headed by the excellent Ernest Borgnine.
He must take 12 convicts train them and take them on a mission behind enemy lines to destroy a large chateau and kill a large number of important German officers who'll be partying there that night.The films explosive climax is fantastic as you know inevitably that not everyone will survive the mission and by now you've sort of chosen who your favourite characters are.
The build up and the training scenes are also brilliant as you discover the backgrounds behind these violent criminals.It's Marvin's show but John Cassavettes is superb as Victor Franco, in fact with a supporting cast featuring Robert Ryan, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, George Kennedy and Clint Walker you know you're in for a great ride, nobody is wasted.There's a lot of humour mixed with quite serious issues...you sometimes forget that this band of jokers are killers with only one chance to survive a mission they are hardly trained for.This classic is on par with The Great Escape and Where Eagles Dare, Three inferior TV movies were made in the mid eighties which basically take the same idea from the original but they are obviously no match.It's available on video and DVD and every home should have a copy.
With Dirty Dozen we have something of a go-between; the humour amongst the characters is light & welcoming but never falls into farce or bad-taste; and Aldrich quickly pulls us back into the fold with some tight scripted scenes of drama & mass murder (throwing petrol & grenades into that German bunker to name but one.
A great cast here with film veterans Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker and Charles Bronson and actors who would become well known including Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, George Kennedy, John Cassavetes in his only Academy Award nominated performance (he lost out to Kennedy who won for his performance in Cool Hand Luke)and Jim Brown, who retired from the NFL while filming this for an acting career.
It's a good action film with a great cast but it's too much like a comic book action story than an actual war drama story.
"The Dirty Dozen" is one of the best movies about war, with the perfect combination of action and comedy.
Most importantly The Dirty Dozen proves that to be a good solider you have to break a few rules.From the cold opening monologue to the explosive finale you've got yourself a film that sets a standard for how to make an action movie years and years since.
So you can either watch The Dirty Dozen in two ways, one to study the army through a wide open image or secondly as a highly entertaining action movie.
The most important question The Dirty Dozen make the viewer ask is none other than "Is this what the army is really like?" I'd say it is and by making a film that shows that the best war men are criminals Robert Aldrich has created an anti war statement..
To take a bunch of murderers, rapists, thieves, then make us root for them as war heroes, and laugh at their antics, then get caught up in their mission but (if we catch it) feel an unease at how that mission quietly echoes the gassing of Jews in concentration camps leads to high number of levels at which to take the film leads to a very complicated movie experience masquerading at 'fun' entertainment.
The Dirty Dozen(1967) is an entertaining movie full of exciting action and great acting.
Another great film from 1967 that stands the test of time.No one would ever believe in a story about a bunch of losers going into some German High Command and killing off Generals in exchange for their freedom.
Yet, this is one of the greatest and most successful war movies ever made.Robert Aldrich (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?) directed a masterpiece written by Nunnally Johnson (The Grapes of Wrath).The cast was outstanding with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, George Kennedy, John Cassavetes, Clint Walker, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, Ralph Meeker, Richard Jaeckel, Trini Lopez, and Robert Webber.
However, for the younger generation, it does just enough to stay on the right side of the "boring line".For a basic plot summary, this film focuses on the efforts of Army officer Major Reisman (Lee Marvin) to turn a ragtag group of convicts into a serious fighting force for a suicide mission behind enemy lines.
Many of the cons are played by popular actors/personalities such as Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Telly Savalas, and Donald Sutherland, to name but a few.Like I said, this film does just enough to keep it from being boring.
Again, this is probably a generation-gap difference in film watching at play here, but I just wanted to point it out.Thus, though I wouldn't ever call this movie a "classic" unless I'm referring to the decade in which it was made, it is decent enough to warrant a viewing if you are a fan of either WW2 flicks, or ensemble-cast blockbusters that showcase celebrities of that era.
If you asked me what three features made this film great in particular, I would say the excellent direction, the long but always engaging script and most importantly, Lee Marvin--in his greatest role of his career.Marvin is placed in charge of a group of 12 demented sociopaths who are given the choice to either join him in a suicide mission or have their full sentences enforced (and in many cases, this means the death penalty).
As a sadistic killer, who goes through religious rages against sex-driven women, Telly Savalas, who almost helped bungle the plot, deserved a nomination as well, but didn't get one.Lee Marvin is their faithful commander who asserts himself and then gets the guys into shape for this daring fete.The picture goes down some what as time is taken out for war games and the 12 men fooling Robert Ryan on two occasions.
The film has an all-star cast, including Lee Marvin, George Kennedy (albeit briefly), Clint Walker, Jim Brown, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson.
The characters are great, too (and so are all of the performances.) We really get to like and care for all of the sentenced men who make the "Dirty Dozen," and also for Lee Marvin, the best bad-ass to ever appear on the screen!
I dont know y i never get tired of these old films.Major Reisman (Marvin) is assigned a top-secret mission to train army's twelve worst convicts and turn them into elite soldiers to infiltrate and assault on a castle which will be filled up with high-ranking German officers.
Being that all of them are facing sentences from as little as 20 years up to hanging, the choice became easy.The characters were fantastic: Donald Sutherland as the Christopher Lloyd-like goofy Vernon Pinkley, Jim Brown as the few-worded Robert Jefferson, Telly Savalas as the fire and brimstone Southern religious nut, and John Cassavetes as the loud, unruly, and obnoxious Victor Franco were the real standouts.
During World War II, a rebellious U.S. Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers.
This "dirty dozen" includes a sex pervert (Telly Savalas), a psycho (John Cassavetes), a killer (Donald Sutherland), and the equally malevolent Charles Bronson, Trini Lopez, Jim Brown, and Clint Walker.
On the dim promise of receiving pardons if they survive, the criminals undergo a brutal training program, then are marched behind enemy lines dressed as Nazi soldiers, the better to overtake the chateau and kill everyone in it--including the innocent wives and mistresses of the German officers.The cast here is brilliant and each brings something to the screen that makes this such a great film.
Here, Lee is given the task of training a dozen army convicts, some basically decent guys, some real psychos, and lead them on a suicide mission to a French chateau to assassinate as many German officers as possible.
Donald Sutherland (as Pinkley) and others in the all-star cast have their moments and share in Robert Aldrich's box office glory.****** The Dirty Dozen (6/15/67) Robert Aldrich ~ Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas.
A great movie that's filled with explosive action and weird humor about a stubborn Army Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) is ordered by two generals (Ernest Borgnine and Robert Webber) to train twelve G.I. felons who are sentenced to long terms of imprisonment or be hanged, into commandos for a raid on a château in France where the German army's chain of command is at.
One of my favourite war movies, the Dirty Dozen is action packed, funny, bleak and cool.
"The Dirty Dozen" has one of the most impressive star casts ever (such as Ryan, Borgnine, Kennedy, Sutherland and Savalas ), and at least uses it pretty good.Rating: 7 of 10..
This film is funny and has an all star cast: Charles Bronson,Lee Marvin,Donald Sutherland,Telly Savalas....
Say what you want about the Dirty Dozen but it has a great story, with great characters and lots of great action.Think of almost all of the tough actors and you got them here.
Right up there with my favourite Aldrich films (though maybe 'Kiss Me Deadly' is still my number one), and of the greatest performances of both Lee Marvin and John Cassavetes (who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at both the Golden Globes and Oscars for his work here).This hearkened back to the heady times when if you got a great cast and director together, you were virtually guaranteed you'd come out of it, because of comparatively little studio interference, with a bonafide classic piece of cinema.
The Dirty Dozen is one of those off-beat classics that surfaces once in decade: a war movie with little violence, great acting, humor, tension, a good story-line and fine direction.
Just consider the cast: Lee Marvin, Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, George Kennedy, John Cassavetes, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, James Brown, Trini Lopez, Clint Walker and Telly Savalas!
The Dirty Dozen is by far one of the best action movies of all time.
These men were not going behind enemy lines to capture an enemy outpost or liberate a village , they were going in to destroy a chateau and all the Germans in it.Good cast led by Lee Marvin, with other such standouts as John Cassevettes as Franco and Charles Bronson as Wladislaw as two of the most prominent prisoners in the group.The film has only aged just a tad with time, but it remains an awesome movie that reinvented the genre of action.
This is one of Marvin's best movies.The Dirty Dozen is a classic war movie. |
tt1999995 | Would You Rather | Iris (Brittany Snow), a young woman caring for her sick brother Raleigh (Logan Miller), is unable to afford to his treatment costs. Dr. Barden (Lawrence Gilliard, Jr.), the doctor treating Raleigh, introduces Iris to Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs), a seemingly philanthropic aristocrat, who offers her a deal: if she competes and wins in a game, his charitable foundation will pay for Raleigh's leukemia treatment and locate him a bone marrow donor. Iris reluctantly accepts.Arriving at the Lambrick's manor, Iris is introduced to his son Julian (Robin Lord Taylor) and the remaining contestants: Lucas (Enver Gjokaj); Travis (Charlie Hofheimer), a war veteran; Linda (June Squibb), an elderly woman paralyzed in a wheelchair; Peter (Robb Wells), a gambling addict; Cal (Eddie Steeples); Amy (Sasha Grey); and Conway (John Heard), an in-debt alcoholic.When the contestants are seated and dinner is served, Iris points out she is a vegetarian and refuses to eat the meat on her plate. Seeing this as an opportunity to begin the game, Shepard offers Iris $10,000 to eat the meat, which Iris accepts. Conway reveals to Shepard he is a recovering alcoholic after Shepard notices he hasn't drunk any of the wine. Shepard offers him two choices: $10,000 for drinking the glass of wine, or $50,000 for drinking a decanter of scotch. Conway accepts the $50,000 and reluctantly drinks the scotch.After dinner ends, the game begins and is revealed to be a version of the popular party game, "Would You Rather?" in which the guests will actually have to complete their choice of two undesirable options. Shepard offers his guests the chance to leave, but no one does. Bevans (Jonny Coyne), Shepard's butler and former special agent, enters the room with an electric shock machine and two wired headbands. Conway attempts to escape but is shot by Bevans. In round one, one of the players wearing a headband is given a buzzer with two buttons: one button is a self-inflicted shock, and the second delivers a shock to the other player. After the contestants take turns making the tough decision, the round ends with no one eliminated.The second round begins. Iris is given the choice of stabbing someone in the thigh with an ice pick, or whipping Travis three times with a sjambok. Travis tells Iris to whip him as stabbing would be more life-threatening. Lucas also chooses to whip Travis for this reason. When it is Travis's turn, he has the choice of stabbing Lucas or letting Bevans whip him. Travis once again chooses to be whipped. The dilemma then travels to Peter, who may either stab Linda in the thigh or whip Travis again. Knowing Travis won't survive another round of whips, Peter tells Linda that they have to work together. Peter stabs Linda in the leg, but pierces a major vein causing her to bleed profusely. Linda chooses to stab Amy since she can't stand up to whip Travis. Linda later bleeds to death. As the turn heads to Amy, she points out that the point of the game is survival, ultimately choosing to stab Iris. Agreeing with Amy, Cal's turn sees him choosing to whip Travis, leading to Travis' elimination from the game.The group attempts to run away as the round ends. Iris is able to escape from the dining room, but Cal is shot and eliminated while the other three survivors are forced to stay at the dinner table. Iris attempts to escape through the basement, but is stopped by Julian who tries to rape her. She manages to stab him in the knee with the ice pick and fight him off as a remorseful Dr. Barden, who was once the winner of the same game, arrives to save Iris. Before he can do so, Bevans arrives, shoots Barden in the head and takes Iris back to the table for the third round.The third round begins, which involves making a decision between the known and the unknown. The known requires one to have their head held in a barrel of water for two minutes. The unknown carries an unknown fate, in the form of a card: it can be deadly or it can be relatively harmless. Peter goes first and chooses the card, which commands him to ignite a firecracker in his hand. Peter reluctantly complies, but dies from a cardiac arrest when his hand is blown off. The turn goes to Lucas, who is forced to slit open his eye with a razor blade. Iris chooses to challenge the barrel, and manages to survive the two minutes. It is then revealed that Iris would have had all her teeth extracted if she had picked the card. Amy decides to go with the card, but the card reveals that she has to spend four minutes in the barrel instead of two. Amy drowns to death, mostly due to the start being called as she was opening her mouth to take a breath.The fourth round starts, with only Iris and Lucas left. Iris has the choice of sparing Lucas, and letting the two of them leave empty handed, or she has the choice of killing Lucas with a duelling pistol and taking the money to save her brother's life. Lucas attempts to talk Iris into sparing him, and begins to tell her why he came into the competition. As he pours out his heart and compares the struggles of his family to Iris's brother, Iris suddenly shoots Lucas in the chest, killing him. Shepard crowns Iris the winner and allows her to leave with the money, additionally stating they have already located a donor for her brother.Iris finds Raleigh asleep on his bed and proceeds to shower the blood off her. Upon further observation, she finds that Raleigh has committed suicide by overdosing on his medication. The film ends with Iris grieving over her brother's corpse, screaming, "What did you do?!" | mystery, cruelty, realism, murder, stupid, horror, suspenseful, sadist | train | imdb | The ending also felt so flat that it could hardly produce sympathy from the audience, an attempt to cater to the twist-necessitating crowd that has been delved since Saw's low budget first film hit our eyes.
the characters really don't hold much "character" at all), I did enjoy this suspense/horror film because it wasn't just another gore flick.This movie is, though sick, a very interesting look into the minds of people socially/internally/psychologically.
Overall, I do think the lack of character did make for problems; however, I would absolutely recommend this movie- more so, if you like psychological movies and/or enjoy taking a step back to look at your own mind and the choices you would have made..
It turned into a movie where you could predict every move up until the end.To me it kind of felt like hostel where if more time and effort had been taken it could have been really good and got the audience invested but sadly it was not the case.When watching a film like this I kind of hope to see the torture at hand but this movie lacked in this aspect.
Starring Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect), Sasha Grey (my personal hard drive), Robb Wells (Hobo with a Shotgun), and John Heard (Home Alone), Would You Rather gathers a group of strangers for a wealthy aristocrat, played by Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) who pits his guests against each other in sadistic games where they have to choose between two options – each of which can either cause pain or death to themselves or another guest.So guests are put in awkward positions of having to decide whether to electrocute themselves or someone else or whether to whip a guest or stab another.
The goal is to become the last person standing and the reward differs on the needs of each individual.The main character to which the movie focuses around the table is Iris (Snow).
Still, the script by Steffen Schlachtenhaufen (Primal) is interesting enough in various character developments.Not likely to make many Top 10 lists by year's end, Would You Rather still offers valued entertainment and a few good self-inflicted wounds along the way.
Desperate to help her ailing brother, a young woman unknowingly agrees to compete in a deadly game of "Would You Rather," hosted by a sadistic aristocrat.Would You Rather is a leading contender of the most angst and depressing filled horror film of 2013.
Other things lacking from this film include plot, character development, and competent acting and scriptwriting.The reviews calling this a character study are way off the mark.
People don't seem to really like this movie, but I think that's because it shows us a side of human nature we don't really want to see.
No cheap thrills or gore-for-the-sake-of-gore here -- which in itself is always refreshing when it comes to modern horror movies.There were a few unique twists and turns, but not enough to call it a strikingly original feature.I would still recommend this as a watch, if only on a day you can't find anything decidedly better and really need to get your horror fix.
Just like others described it, it's Saw at a dinner table.Willing to do anything to get the money she needs to help her dying brother, Iris (Brittany Snow) signs up for a game of "Would You Rather" unaware that it isn't just any typical party game, it's a competition to the death.Alright, I have to admit it had my attention the whole time, something very unusual for dumb movies like these, it's just that a couple of characters in the dinner table were kind of cool people and not just the annoying cynical horror movie characters I'm getting used to by now.I liked the moral choices the characters had to face during the movie, it wasn't paying that much attention to the gory aspects, but instead to what they're going to decide to do to get out of there alive.
What I didn't like about it was the performances, specially the bad guy who was trying too hard to rip-off Dennis Hopper's character in "Blue Velvet" and some scenes were just amateur and silly.I'd recommend it to anyone who liked "The Hunger Games", "Saw", "Sinister", and/or "Battle Royale" (it isn't as good as any of those movies though)..
Desperate to help her ailing brother, a young woman (Brittany Snow) unknowingly agrees to compete in a deadly game of "Would You Rather," hosted by a sadistic aristocrat (Jeffrey Combs).There are two issues I have with this film that I would like to get out of the way from the beginning: first, the complete implausibility of the whole thing.
Some might put this in the "torture porn" subgenre of horror, but I felt like it never sunk to the depths of "Hostel" or the later "Saw" films.
Her character (Amy) is the wild card that brings the situation towards complete chaos, and that is where the game gets challenging.No masterpiece by any means, but with the right editing, this could have been a slightly stronger film.
As anyone who is even remotely of this ever-present media plague's existence, she has had her breathing passage obstructed for much longer than that and lived to tell the tale, to all our chagrin.The "twist" ending is the thought creation of the kind of people who are as stupid and unimaginative as their low IQ audience.Watch "Se7en" instead, not this piece of amateurish tripe.
I just saw this film and all i have to say is i got bored out of my mind!!I did not like the script at all..The most exciting thing about this movie was that a porn star was in it and that's it!!Jeffrey Combs seemed like he was bored,the guests were random and Britney was the only one who gave it some effort..well at least she tried..This movie tries to show how far people can actually go for the money.I found the tortures rather boring and if i had to watch a torture movie then i would go for Hostel or Saw..this movie did not cover me at all so as you can guess i don't recommend it to anyone unless you have absolutely nothing else to do or see....
Their constant changing of the rules makes clear they intend not to study the limits of human interaction but rather to enjoy the suffering of others for what appears to be absolutely no feasible end.It's a shame because the concept of the film would have been exciting had it been properly thought through - in the vein of the earlier Saw films the "game" could have been an effort at redemption but instead revolves around escalating rounds of torture porn without imagination.
While its obviously your prerogative to watch 30mins of a film, but that it in no way whatsoever qualifies as sufficient in terms of giving any meaningful or even relevant review, opinion, or commentary about said film.This film by no means was an excellent, stand out horror movie, but I must correct the extreme misinformation that the above review states.
Because if you have seen them(rather than mere minutes of a film and then proceed to offer a review and critique) you would have a very real understanding and actual knowledge of what torture porn is and most importantly(re: the subject at hand) you would realize that this movie doesn't even begin to qualify for that tough to digest category..Again, my intent is not to give a raving review of this mediocre film, but rather to correct extreme misinformation stated in the above review.
The writer and other creative members responsible for this piece of trash display no understanding of what made those movies compelling and watchable despite their harsh (much harsher than in this movie) content.I wouldn't call any of those movies great works of art, but in order to use an analogy in proper proportion to just how pointless and vapid and terrible this movie is, if Hostel was a Monet, Would You Rather would be an untalented 3-year old's finger-painting, but lacking whatever small bit of charm the average such finger painting might have.Poor acting and cinematography and offensively bad writing, with characters and entire sub-plots, shallow as they were, dropping out with no notice and no actual justification within the story to have ever been there in the first place other than to pad screen time.Big fan of loveablely bad movies; this one's just offensively bad, and a waste of time and celluloid/digital data..
It's difficult to know if David Guy Levy's film is taking the rise out of the current horror market's propensity for torture porn, or if it is as it seems, a lazy exploitation flic pandering to an undemanding audience?Eight strangers with financial problems are invited to the mansion of rich nutter Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs) to partake in a game, the winner of which will get their utmost requirements met.What starts out as a promising piece soon descends into a boorish reliance on shock tactics as the guests are required to do "unspeakable" things to each other.
The premise is interesting; what would you be willing to do/risk to have a big problem in your life solved - and if something seems too good to be true, well, it usually is.Our main character is given a vague offer and she ends up attending a dinner party, before which all participants are still given the chance to leave if they wish to back out.
The movie starts out fine, really good acting and characters but a bit slow and you could lose interest easily.
Combs was a very strong actor and really made the movie more interesting, and he did make it seem like at the beginning that the game wasn't going to be too bad, but wow is that wrong.
Iris must make time sensitive choices under gruelling conditions if she is to survive and help her brother.This film brings with it an interesting look into the human mind and the choices that people make whilst under duress, taking into account values, morals, and the basic human instinct to survive..
It's that system that gives the film its story, how far would a girl go to change her brother's life.It starts off fairly mild, then gets more and more grim, without being visually gratuitous, that I think benefits the viewer, leaving the imagination do its work.
You feel the enjoyment the twisted benefactor Shepard Lambrick gets from each 'game,' Jeffrey Combs is undoubtedly the standout in the film, but Robin Lord Taylor and Brittany Snow also stand out.I wouldn't say it's ultimately satisfying, but it's still a good watch..
I went in to the move expecting to see gore, because the movie is a torture film, but I barely saw any blood.
In the genre it's really easy to lapse into over-the-top histrionics or fall into clichés of the genre, which are too numerous to mention and for readers of this review, you probably know what they are anyway.It's an ensemble cast of eight people who show up at a mysterious dinner given by an extremely wealthy man who offers promises of financial help if they are willing to take part in a "game." That premise alone would normally send up glaring red flags, but it's clear that all the dinner guests are taken in by the host's (skillfully portrayed by Jeffrey Combs) polite and convivial manner.While it is an ensemble cast, the script and cinematography benefit from being told through a desperate young woman's eyes (Iris, portrayed by Brittany Snow).
There are enough twists and turns to make the story even more compelling and when the "game" starts after a luscious dinner, the plot gets cranking.The movie's only shortcoming, at least to me, was the generic musical score.
If you have a chance to watch either "Cheap Thrills" or this film, I would advocate for Cheap Thrills, as it is very well done, has better writing, characters, and includes some great humor to balance out all the psychological torture, violence, and gore.
I found myself waiting for them to get to the point, rather than to see what would happen.Overall, to me, this is a movie only worth watching if you've long anticipated seeing it or have a particular love for one of the actors.
Really makes you think what would you rather do in that situation.I won't spoil too much, but although a lot of people might disagree with the ending, I find it perfectly ironic and goes well with the theme of the movie.Surprisingly very good!
The multiple twists are foreseeable in that you know they're coming, but you just aren't entirely sure how many, when, and what they are.Many others I've seen or heard comment stated that the film could've benefited from building more backstory into characters other than Iris.
If you like seeing just how sadistic and twisted people can be, this is the movie for you.Anyone who's played the game "Would you Rather" knows what it's all about.
But the real game, unlike the movie, sometimes has two good things to choose from like would you rather be able to fly or have super-strength.
Well, Would You Rather was one of the most discomforting movies I've had the pleasure of seeing.I have watched intensely gory movies, films with the express purpose of disgusting the viewer or making them physically ill, and essentially every horror flick I could get my hands on from a young age on...but this movie was deeply unsettling.At its core, it's a story of human nature and kin selection, forcing the viewer to question just how far we might go for those we love...but it's so much more than that too.The cast was fantastic.
All in all, a pretty decent film that can be uncomfortable to watch at times, and might make you think what you might do in that situation.
I don't really believe these kind of torture-porn movies reflect a depressing study of human behavior because, let's be honest, the chance of ending up in situations like these are fairly inexistent.
I was fairly surprises that for the SAW-like genre, this movie didn't try to scare you with lots of blood and guts, the tension builds up really well at some point as to make you want to bite your nails.
The film is really low budget and amateurish at times (in acting, cheesy music, melodrama, etc.) but it's sick and twisted enough to make it plenty interesting for horror fans.Snow stars as Iris, a young woman who desperately wants to find funding to get her brother Raleigh (Logan Miller), who's sick with leukemia, the medical treatment he needs.
But when the main movie starts, which is a demented kind of "Ten Little Indians," the acting thins out terribly, and the writing gets lame.What is meant to be interesting and is hard to get into because of the brutal gore is a kind of mind game amongst a group of "contestants." They've been mysteriously invited to a dinner and game by a demented seeming man who offers them a lot of money.
There's never any real reason to care about whether they live or die, as it become pretty predictable what their fates will be.The only thing that really motivates one to continue watching are the surprise "games" that characters must play and a satisfactory ending.
You should watch this movie if: -You like sadistic movies but aren't too thrown off by predictable -You can enjoy a low-budget horror film without a stick up your butt -You want to see Sasha Grey do a really good job at acting -You don't mind not getting to know every character.
-You actually prefer not getting to know every character(like me) So I voted it a 9 out of 10 because as far as bad horror movies so it's the best.
To finish up, if you like films where people will do anything for money and watching some good ol' horror cruelty then watch this...if you wanna know why they are doing it for money however...you will not find out.
There are intense scenes that brings the viewer to be in the place of the characters and to decide their reaction instead of them, although the actors performance are not so surprising neither extraordinary, specially the performance of Jeffrey Combs, who plays the roe of the magnate Shepard Lambrick but that looks like a clown in the movie with a completely unnatural acting.
Nevertheless is a good movie to watch and learn what a human being is able to do for money ...the real thing.
Would You Rather (2012)*** 1/2 (out of 4) Extremely good horror/thriller about a woman (Brittany Snow) and eight others needing financial help out of their problems and agreeing to take part in a "game." This game turns out to be the title where the sadistic host (Jeffrey Combs) makes them select whether to hurt themselves or others playing the game.
Watchable, But Only For Fun. If you only expect a fun popcorn horror out of this movie, you won't be entirely disappointed with this film.But even then, it's not that good.
"Would you rather...?"I've never considered movies like this to be horror films because for me there has to be actual scares involved and not just gory scenes.
I have played this game with my family, albeit not in the sadistic way we're privy to here.I liked the beginning - how the story was established, and how it introduced it's main character and her situation.
Some of the acting is pretty lame, but surprisingly Jeffrey Combs, who is usually pretty over the top with some of his stuff, does a really fine job of playing a sadistic, bloodthirsty host and he is actually the best one in the film.Would You Rather isn't too bad of a movie to watch and as long as you don't expect anything amazing then you'll be fine.. |
tt0289652 | Living with the Dead | James Van Praagh (Ted Danson) is a fifty yeared-old man who has his own small business, insomnia at night and leads a lonely life. As his business is going badly, he needs to do something about it, and has the idea of creating the company's own website. He hires a successful professional web designer Midge Harmon (Queen Latiffah).She had been said by her psychic that she would meet somebody called James who has an ailing mother (Diane Ladd). James tells her that his mother is alright, although she's sick in hospital. Soon, James dreams with his dead grandmother (Bethoe Shirkoff) on his mother's side calling his mother. That night his mother dies and is buried with a rosary. James sees a strange woman from Idaho who gives him a nesttle of blue eggs.Midge gives an ouija board to James and she insists that he talk to her psychic, Adrian (Michael Moriarty).James tells recently-widowed woman, Mrs Ziff (Joy Coghill) that his husband (Bill Meilen) did not suffer a heart attack out of the blue. A police informant tried to steal his watch from him and he suffered a heart attack.James' business goes from bad to worst, as Frank, his business consultant (Hiro Kanagawa) advises him. While talking to his psychiatrist (Jay Brazeau) concerning having two sessions with him instead of one, James watches as a depressed woman (Jessica Schreier) in a rage ravages through the documents of the psychiatrist's office looking for something, and then takes a whole bottle of pills, committing suicide. James realises it was the psychiatrist's wife. He stops attending consultation with him.Detective Karen Condrin (Mary Steenburgen) finally visits the informant, and finds a gold watch belonging to the deceased mother. James advises Midge to stop smoking, or she'll die because of it. He also tells Midge of her grandmother (the strange woman who gave him the eggs)- Those eggs have something to do with a boy who James sees. James keeps on watching that boy, who had been buried alive.He learns that it's Dennis Branston (Neil Denis) who was buried alive in the middle of a turtle conservation park. James sees 5 boys more (Joel Palmer, Ben Johnson, Branden Nadon, Matthew Brevner, Jaren Brandt Bartlett). One of the boys, Andy (Reece Thompson) was a frande of James when he was a child (Connor Widdows).There are also images and scenes of a kidnapped boy. Somebody has written in one of the dishes that he'll see his mother soon and then gives him some drug or pill with his next meal.Allan Van Praagh (Jack Palance), James' father, advises his son to take some medicine so that he won't have more visions. James refuses. He'll try to help other people and tell the concerned people about his visions.Midge gets diagnosed with cancer and has to suffer the chemeotherapy. Midge wants to leave the chemeo because she says it's not working. James insists that she go on with the procedure.It is discovered that Dennis was the first person murdered of a gunshot, and that somebody brought him flowers every year. Later, he would kill a boy and bury in a circle around him. When the circle was finished, the murderer started another circle. They follow the clue of the buckets to the florist Linda (Linda Darlow), who says that, after years of secrecy and anonimosity, the man who bought the flowers finally appeared to buy a final bucket of flowers. The postman (David Makay) interrupts Linda, but she talks to Condrin.One of the killed boy's mother, Molly, thinks that his son is alive because she has been receiving flowers on mother's day, birthdays, etc...At a restaurant, he passes a message to a businessman whose dead brother tells him that it was not his fault he had killed him while hunting. The businessman Richard de Rochelly (Tim Henry) gets extremely upset and suffers a heart attack right there. James wants to forget about the boys, because he thinks he has found the man who killed the boys, so he freaks out when he has a vision of them. Later in the car, he tells his mother's ghost to go away.The kidnapped booy tries to run away but he is discovered.At hospital, Richard confesses that his brother Lester (Fred Henderson) killed the first boy by accident. Lester had only confessed that before to a Catholic priest (Lindsay Bourne). Lester brought flowers to the boy until he himself died.As James was brought up as a Catholic, Condrin asks him for help. James was adamant in leaving the case, but finally, he goes visiting the priest, who used to be a teacher of his. The priest is a tough person. While interviewing the priest, they hear the boy trying to get out. The priest says that there are rats in the basement.Afterwards, while having dinner with his father, James runs to hospital as Midge is about to die.Meanwhile, the boy breaks free from his prison but he has to go up a nosity staircase. His captor discovers him and imprisons him again. After the priest has left his church, Condrin goes back to the church on her own. Midge finally dies and James goes her funeral. James tells Adrian that he's decided to stop working as a psychic. Condrin goes down to the basement. Behind a green door, she can only find rats. A man smoking a pipe watches Condrin.The case looks cold, and somebody makes the suggestion that James may be the serial killer.James has another vision with the boys. Dennis shows him a photograph of his mother, and James - who feels like one of those tied and gagged boys - also sees hers. The link among the boys is that they have all lost their mothers, the same as James. Condrin starts acting as if she thought James is the killer.Somebody is burying the boy alive, but when they go to the reservation, there's nobody. James realises that the boy must have been buried in the cemetery, where Eddy's corpse lies now. Condrin starts thinking that James is the killer, but finally goes to the cemetery.James goes to the cemetery and Condrin follows a black car which is leaving the area. Condrin enters a home - after following the car - but nobody seems to be home. She goes down to the basement, where there is another green door (very similar to the one at the church basement's).There, she finds Eddie's mother, one of the killed boys, scrubbing the floor clean. She says: "how terrible Eddie's friends are." At the police station, she says that Lester had confessed everything to her right before dying, and that she only wanted to bring friends for him to play on. When Lester confesses, she knew that his son was dead.Eddie talks to Molly through James so that she lets him and his friends leave. Molly breaks down and cries. | murder, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0086984 | Body Double | The film begins and ends with the protagonist, Jake Scully (Craig Wasson), playing the part of a vampire on the set of a low-budget horror film. After he ruins a take by being unable to rise from a coffin due to claustrophobia, a fire breaks out on the set and he is sent home by the director Rubin (Dennis Franz).Scully arrives home early and catches his girlfriend having sex with another man. Since it is the girl's apartment, he must leave, so without a place to stay he heads to an acting workshop, where he makes a new friend, Sam.Sam offers him a house-sitting arrangement at an opulent Modernist bachelor residence high atop the Hollywood Hills. He also points out a sexy female neighbor, Gloria Revelle (Deborah Shelton), whose seemingly exhibitionistic antics can be viewed by telescope; she is a wealthy and beautiful woman who evidently performs a remarkable erotic dance at her window, nightly according to Sam, "just like clockwork."Scully's nightly observations of this woman quickly lead him into a murder mystery. He follows Gloria one day and attempts to warn her that she's being stalked by an Indian with a disfigured face who could be a thief or worse. The mysterious Indian snatches Gloria's purse at the beach, is chased by Scully into a tunnel, and steals what is later discovered to be a card key to Gloria's house. In an ironic twist, Gloria "rescues" Scully by leading him from the tunnel in which he had frozen in a claustrophobic seizure during the pursuit. They briefly embrace, make out, and grope each other as the camera revolves in a continuous 360-degree arc, until Scully kisses her neck and Gloria comes to her senses, apologizes and pushes him away, adjusts her bra and blouse, and departs hastily.Back at the home he's using, Scully then becomes an eyewitness through the telescope as the young woman is brutally attacked and killed by the Indian, who pins her down and runs an electric drill the size of a jackhammer through her body - the auguring bit repeatedly emerges from the ceiling of the room below in a torrent of blood - after she catches him removing items from a wall safe.(That a purported thief would have and use with extreme deadly force such an implement leads viewers to suspect that perhaps the murder was of a personal nature as opposed to merely a bungled burglary.)Investigating on his own, Scully pursues a porn queen, Holly Body (Melanie Griffith), whose "signature" dance - "a routine that's a sure ten on the peter meter" according to her - he recognized on a 24-hour porn channel. A descent into her sordid world follows, in which he lands a role in an adult film in order to meet her and then pretends to be a skilled porn director who wants to hire her. He takes credit for a mirror (which inadvertently reflects the camera and crew as the door on which it is hung swings open during the scene).Their trail takes them back to the bachelor pad, where Scully confesses that he is not a porn producer and does not want to cast her in a film, but instead points out the Revelle house and asks her if she was the woman he had observed doing the erotic dance routines in the window. During a brief telephone call from Sam to Scully, Holly identifies the voice of Sam as the man who had hired her to perform specifically for the supposedly voyeuristic Scully. She storms out in a blustery huff and is picked up while hitchhiking by the Indian, who knocks her out with a tire iron.Scully follows them on foot, scaling a gate through which the pair was purported to have just passed (but which is curiously locked with a double chain), and arrives at an open grave adjacent to the Owens Aqueduct that the Indian has just finished digging. (It is not explained how the grave was dug so quickly.) During the confrontation between Scully and the Indian that follows, Scully grabs at the Indian's face, inadvertently removing what is actually a makeup facial cast, revealing that the Indian is actually Sam. Sam then overpowers Scully, tossing him into the grave. When Scully is again frozen from his claustrophobia, Sam begins to bury him as he confesses his scheme, which was to set Scully up as a witness to Gloria's murder by the "Indian" and give Sam an alibi.The film then cuts to the set of the vampire movie, where Scully (wearing the dirt-caked leather jacket from the aqueduct grave scene instead of the vampire costume and heavy makeup as before) again freezes during the coffin scene and ruins the take. This time, however, he convinces Rubin to let him try it again.Cutting back to the grave, we see Scully overcome his claustrophobia and attack Sam, who is knocked into the aqueduct when his dog charges at Scully and misses. The film ends with Scully, back on the set and in his vampire costume, filming a shower sequence in which a body double of his next victim is being carefully inserted into the scene, while Holly watches with the film crew. | neo noir, murder, violence, atmospheric, flashback, suspenseful | train | imdb | To my enjoyment, I had a few smiles, even laughters, intensity, involving to the storyline, getting that suspense that is needed.This movie is a perfect example to pull of what Hitchcock has done best in "Rear Window" and "Vertigo".
With Body Double, Brian De Palma has another of his "Hitchcock rip-offs", but in quotes as it's the easy critical thing that's already been said by others.
De Palma also intentionally casts to type with both women and the villains, one for each being more deceptive (i.e. Henry's Brouchard and Shelton's Gloria, who are very much like "movie" caricatures from the craftiest and most seductive of film-noir), and with one 'villain' called the Indian, donning a face that's a riot just to look at, who at one point engages in a murder including the most blatant phallic imagery in any murder scene from the filmmaker.
As cheesily 80's as it is, I loved the whole music video Relax, where occasionally as De Palma almost makes us forget that a movie is being shot within this scene, the camera shooting Wasson and Griffith comes into view in a mirror.
Body Double moves forward with a straight face but, as evidenced by the Frankie Goes to Hollywood video somehow slipped into this film and an awful rubber mask, De Palma's tongue is so firmly in his cheek it's liable to break through the skin.
No. Oh, and for you scenesters out there, QT may have found inspiration for his first film's title in Body Double's final scene which, you guessed it, contains both a reservoir and dogs.And yet, although the movie on some level parodies the preposterous suspense thrillers of yore, it also never condescends to them.
I liked a lot every De Palma's film I've seen: The Black Dahlia (2006), Femme Fatale (2002), Snake Eyes (1998), Mission: Impossible (1996), Carlito's Way (1993), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Casualties of War (1989), The Untouchables (1987), Scarface (1983), Dressed to Kill (1980), and Carrie (1976).As with all his films, you either love "Body Double" and let its typical De Palma's over-the-top charm, his mesmerizing beautiful camera movements, his 20 minutes long, dialog-free pursuit sequence, his intense interest in exploration of sexual "dysfunction," his constantly present obsession with voyeurism, his satire on making cheap horror and adult movies, and his loving yet humorous homage to several Alfred Hitchcock's films overwhelm you or you just dismiss it scornfully for its most impossible and unbelievable story, for the plentiful coincidences and the holes in the plot, for the excessive violence, and for its sensationalism and exploitation.
I believe that De Palma himself has provided the keys to better understanding and enjoying his films when he said, "My films deal with a stylized, expressionistic world that has a kind of grotesque beauty about it." All we have to do - to recognize the beauty behind the grotesque.P.S. Melanie Griffith gave her best performance and stole all her scenes as a hot blond smart porn star with "a head for business and a bod for sin" who might help Jack to solve the mystery of the brutal murder he had witnessed.P.P.S. After I finished watching "Body Double", I added to my rental list "Blow Out" (1981) and "Sisters" (1973).
That's director Brian De Palma, for you: intriguing visuals, with Alfred Hitchcock- type camera angles, a lot of twists and sometimes a great movie and sometimes a very bad one.
More often, sad to say, a bad movie.I'd have to rank this closer to "bad" than "good." I'd like to rank it higher but Craig Wasson's character, "Jake Scully," (he's the lead) was so stupid at times that I almost stopped the tape.
Not knowing that he's being set up to be a witness, he watches her with a telescope each night.Holly (Malany Griffith) supposedly is Gloria (Deborah Shelton)'s body double in this movie, but what's not clear is where was Gloria when Holly was dancing away in her room each night.
And with his box of cinematic tricks still impressive before he became over reliant on them, Body Double is a fascinatingly lurid viewing experience.That it's Vertigo and Rear Window spliced together is a given, but that doesn't make it a bad film, besides which it bears the De Palma stamp as well, undeniably so.
Plot finds Jake Scully (Wasson), a struggling actor with claustrophobia, thrust into a world of murder, obsession, deceit and paranoia, for when he house sits for a newly acquired friend, he spies a sexy lady through the telescope apparently being stalked by an odd looking Native American.
Cast are appropriately cartoonish or animated, the twists fun if not hard to see coming, and with De Palma's visual panache cosying up nicely with Donaggio's musical score, Body Double is fine entertainment brought to us by a director with a glint in his eye.
The story, which basically riffs VERTIGO and REAR WINDOW, has a B-movie actor named Jake Scully (Bill Maher look-alike Craig Wasson) who has a very bad day when first he gets fired from his only B-movie gig and later sees her girlfriend in bed with another man.
Discouraged, he bumps into a friend named Sam Bouchard (Gregg Henry, the most noticeable "Hey, isn't he that guy?" character actor appearing in De Palma's films) who invites him to watch over his place; a campy-looking tower mansion that looks like it came out of an episode of LOST IN SPACE.
Every night, Jake would watch Gloria doing her routine like clockwork through a telescope, which is harmless perverted fun until he realizes that her life may be in danger; danger in the form of a weird-looking Indian(!) who's spying on her too.It may take a lot of suspension of disbelief to understand the plot of BODY DOUBLE as it goes to even crazier heights.
At first, it looks like the usual De Palma-as-Hitchcock thriller with some terrific sequences, then it turns into something out of a slasher film, then enters the sleazy world of 80's pornography where a young Melanie Griffith plays Holly Body, a porn star who may be a key to solving the crime.
As usual, De Palma demonstrates his talents with staging mise-en-scene in sequences like when Jake stalks Gloria who is being stalked by the Indian (which is obviously borrowed from VERTIGO but is actually a little more voyeuristic in nature here) and there's the REAR WINDOW-inspired scene where Jake spies on Gloria while she's doing her striptease routine, backed up by a catchy score by Pino Donaggio.Overall, it's not meant to be taken seriously.
Jake becomes extremely obsessed with the woman and he gets caught up in a seedy web of intrigue when he witness the woman being killed.De Palma goes all out on this occasion with his obsession with Hitchcock and the master's films that are under the spotlight in this voyeuristic thriller are "Rear Window" and "Vertigo".
Brian De Palma's "Body Double" is one of my favourite films made in early 80's.This memorable thriller obviously borrows some elements from Alfred Hitchcock's "Verigo" and "Rear Window",but it's still entertaining and delightfully sleazy.There are some wonderful moments of style-particularly the Indian's attack on stunningly beautiful Deborah Shelton seen through the binoculars.This scene is truly nerve-wracking and gruesome.The acting is excellent and the score by Pino Donaggio is great."Body Double" carries the audience through a convoluted plot,making the story quite believable and captivating.It's surely not as good as De Palma's earlier releases like "Sisters","Carrie" or "Dressed to Kill",but I wasn't disappointed.Check it out,if you're a fan of murder mysteries..
There are some beautiful sequences but I always felt like I was watching someone imitating Hitchcock...DePalma never put his own style into films until later.
Brian De Palma hit the mark with DRESSED TO KILL (1980), a contemporary take on PSYCHO, but is less successful with this Hitchcock copy, which steals most of it's ideas from REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO.Craig Wasson stars as a claustrophobic actor who's fired from a vampire film, catches his wife (Barbara Crampton) cheating on him and ends up housesitting for a guy he doesn't even know (Gregg Henry).
There he witnesses his beautiful neighbor (former Miss USA Deborah Shelton)getting power-drilled by a creepy, facially-scarred Indian, and ends up in the middle of a complex murder plot, which also leads him into the adult film underworld!The plotting stretches credibility to the limit, Wasson's idiotic and gullible character elicits no sympathy and the ending is terrible, but some of the porn scenes are well done (and funny!) and Melanie Griffith is great as porn star Holly Body, who is unknowingly tied into the murder.
He was still paying homage to Hitchcock, (in this case both "Rear Window" and "Vertigo") and he still tended to use actors who were somewhat limited in their abilities, (the exception being the extraordinary Melanie Griffith who won the National Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Actress prize), but the set pieces are sublime and the suspense sequences are beautifully handled.
I caught the last half hour of this on the BBC a few years and was intrigued.Last week I got the chance to see the entire thing.This is a classic film.I love all the wee,subtle touches lifted from Hitchcock especially the cheapo back projection when Jake Scully is in his car.Craig Wasson who plays the central character is note perfect as the weak-willed everyman character.Wouldn't we all be as dumb as him in this situation.
And now watching it fully realizing it's a De Plama movie, I can see what a huge fan of Hitchcock De Plama is, which makes it so much cooler.This movie feels like Vertigo, Strangers in a Train, Rear Window, all combine.Craig Wesson was a perfect leading man in this, playing a young actor trying to get out of his shell, but it's funny, every time I see Wesson I keep thinking Bill Maher (He was the guy in Amazon Women on the Moon).
His life is on a downward spiral, until he meets a fellow struggling actor who cuts him a break allowing him to house sit, it's here where he begins spying on his next store neighbor that gets him tied up in a mystery, when someone else has taking interest in her It has some great visuals that you would expect from a De Plama picture, but more than anything it's a great homage to Alfred Hitchcock, just combining some of his best films into one.
Taking place at the end of the Golden Age of Porn, it was cool looking at how the industry worked when porn was more of a movie industry.Body Double has always been a movie worth watching, whenever I caught it, but now its even better knowing it's a Brian De Plama (channeling Hitchcock) film.http://cinemagardens.com.
Controversial movies like this always result in a lot of contradictory feedbacks.The plot revolves around a failing actor (who could use some serious couch time, if you know what I mean), who becomes obsessed with "the girl next door" - a sexy neighbor whose 'jones' for late-night dancing in the "all-together" and abhorrence for window blinds makes house-sitting worth the lousy pay.
In the case of Body Double, the characters (especially Jack), that wonderfully captured Hollywood feel and scenery, the nothing-is-as-it-seems symbolism right from the opening credits and that desert shot that turns into a backdrop, the "Relax" orchestration, and music generally, all stay with you vividly after -- for this reason alone it rates as a very good, successful film.
Brian DePalma knows how to make some movies and is no rip-off director to the great Hitchcock, infact he's just adding more style to the scenes that he recreates VERY WELL..
As a superior director of these suspense pictures DePalma was criticized savagely and you can see some of his reaction in Body Double after which he proved his versatility with crime (Scarface, The Untouchables) and drama pictures (Casualties Of War).Using elements of Rear Window (Craig Wasson sees a murder being committed but is powerless to stop it) and Vertigo (he fears confined spaces), DePalma weaves a suspenseful plot.
The acting is headed by Melanie Griffith's breakthrough performance in which she manages to combine a weary knowledge of the world with a sweet innocence.Placing his main character as an actor in horror films, he is able to take some potshots at the voyeuristic audience (what all movie lovers are) in that we crave sex & violence (the film's final scene symbolizes this) but in effect this is what life and death is all about..
The cast ranges from adequate (Wasson) to intriguing (Deborah Shelton) to extremely good (Melanie Griffith in a star-making role), and De Palma demonstrates considerable wit and not a little style.
Brian De Palma has mentioned his affinity towards Alfred Hitchcock and Body Double could be his most direct homage to the master of suspense.
Brian De Palma has mentioned his affinity towards Alfred Hitchcock and Body Double could be his most direct homage to the master of suspense.
Brian De Palma has mentioned his affinity towards Alfred Hitchcock and Body Double could be his most direct homage to the master of suspense.
While Brian De Palma's BODY DOUBLE taps adeptly into its hetero-normative erotic thrust, in post-mortem, its central plot fits right into a cracking-a-nut-with-a-sledgehammer case that if the nefarious perpetrator simply needs an eye-witness for his purported burglary-turned-murder skulduggery, he really wouldn't have concocted such an involute set-up to pull the wool over the eyes of our protagonist, Jack Scully (Wasson), a struggling actor in Hollywood afflicted by claustrophobia.
So what De Palma blatantly exploits down pat is the libidinous bent and voyeuristic tantalization mostly derived from the straight male demography, plundering Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO no end, BODY DOUBLE's misbegotten plot is at first a thoroughgoing manifestation of female objectification through man's wish-fulfillment, as if in real world, a luscious woman really enjoys putting on such a show for no one's gratification but herself, also the camp choice from a telephone cord to an electric drill in terms of the murder weapon in the archly designed gore climax does writ large a wicked sign of its times and De Palma's thinly-veiled mean-spiritness.
1984's "Body Double" isn't the best film of Brian De Palma still it's a tease of mystery and suspense all blended with sex and a creep tease to make it a watch even if it does seem like a parody of the Hitchcock films.You have Jake(Craig Wasson)a real Bill Maher look a like!
Across the way is a mansion inhabited by a stunningly beautiful woman (Deborah Shelton) — Scully is able to watch her undress as his friend has equipped a telescope overlooking the balcony.If you've had a filling serving of Alfred Hitchcock movies, I'm sure you can only guess where the film is going.
Yet not despite but because of these things, as well as director Brian De Palma working at his visual apex, "Body Double" sneaks up on you to become an inventive, highly rewatchable comedy suspense film.Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) is having a bad day.
It's also one of De Palma's most obvious nods at the films of Alfred Hitchcock, specifically "Vertigo" and "Rear Window," whose plots get almost conflated here.All this might seem a bad idea; imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery yet on its own it can't help but feel like a weak artistic premise.
"Body Double," like "Rear Window" and "Vertigo," works as an exercise in pure cinema, playing the viewer the same way Hitchcock did, as a kind of partner in voyeurism with the down-on-his-heel protagonist.Wasson doesn't leave a big impression in this movie, and he didn't have a big career after, but he proves the right man for this part.
I had liked the film to start with, but my first-hand experience of censorship during the Draconian '80s only made me like it even more!Director Brian DePalma's 'inspiration' for this trashy, nonsensical but irresistible murder mystery is, once again, the work of Alfred Hitchcock, most notably Vertigo, Rear Window and Psycho, the protagonist suffering from an irrational fear (claustrophobia) and partaking in voyeurism, with the seemingly central female character meeting a grisly fate well into the film.
But while originality is definitely not Body Double's strong point, the film is simply too crazy not to enjoy.Craig Wasson stars as struggling actor Jake Scully, who finds himself suddenly homeless after discovering his girlfriend carol (played by 80s scream queen Barbara Crampton) in bed with another man.
However, Jake decides to do a little investigation of his own after he notices Hollywood porn star Holly Body (Melanie Griffith) performing a routine uncannily similar to that of the now dead woman and begins to believe that she is somehow involved in the mystery.What follows is preposterous in the extreme, with Jake following Holly into the world of porn to find answers, even becoming a performer himself (in a riotous scene that starts with a ridiculous musical number from Frankie Goes to Hollywood); as Jake gets nearer to uncovering the truth, the film gets more and more unbelievable, but DePalma's impressive style, the spirited performances, lush Pino Donaggio score, frequent nudity (Griffith getting near naked for her role), shocking violence, and audacious finalé all add up to a whole heap of fun..
Director De Palma also pokes fun at Hollywood, Himself, Horror Movies and the film at times is tongue in cheek.
Of course there is a resemblance between Brian DePalma's direction of Body Double and of Hitchcock's works like Rear Window for example.
This film has a great ending, good acting, and a wonderful plot--another fun night with a movie from de Palma.
De Palma like to emulate Hitchcock, and I kind of relate this movie to a modern version of one of my all time favorites, Rear Window.
Melanie Griffith plays a porn actress and isn't afraid to show her body, but this movie also shows she can act well.Brian De Palma makes the best thrillers..
Actually, Body Double makes the most sense of all his films.Third, DePalma's choice of Craig Wasson in the leading role was heavily criticized. |
tt3470600 | Sing | Set in an animated world controlled by animals, the film starts with a young koala bear named Buster Moon (voice of Matthew McConaughey) going to see his very first musical production as a child. He is utterly enthralled by the show and quickly forms the dream to work in theater. As an adult, Buster has taken over the same theater where he saw that play. However, business hasn't been going so well, and the theater is in trouble. Buster's assistant Ms. Crawley (voice of Garth Jennings) informs him that angry stage crew workers are outside because their checks have bounced. Buster gets away on his bike as he rushes to the bank.As Buster rides through town, we meet some of the other main characters - Johnny the gorilla (voice of Taron Egerton) is singing to himself in an alley, but he ducks when he sees some cops. He speaks into a radio to tell a group of guys to stay put, but his father, gang leader Big Daddy (voice of Peter Serafinowicz), and his goons break out and grab Johnny as they have just robbed some valuables. Next we meet Rosita the pig (voice of Reese Witherspoon), an overworked mother of 25 piglets and wife to Norman (voice of Nick Offerman), who doesn't notice just how much work she does, or that she likes to sing. Then we see porcupines Ash (voice of Scarlett Johansson) and her boyfriend Lance (voice of Beck Bennett), a punk rock duo with Lance singing lead. He doesn't like it when Ash steps in to sing on her own. Somewhere else across town we meet Meena the elephant (voice of Tori Kelly), singing to her grandfather (voice of Jay Pharaoh) for his birthday. He loves her voice and encourages her to get out and show others what she's got. Finally we meet Mike the mouse (voice of Seth MacFarlane), a sax player who is also greedy and selfish. He calls out a guy who gives him only a coin and forces him to give up whatever else he's got in his pockets.Buster shows up at a restaurant to meet with his sheep friend Eddie (voice of John C. Reilly), whose family has invested a lot in Buster's theater, and they have not been happy with the results. Buster thinks he's come up with the answer to all his problems - he wants to hold a singing competition at his theater. Eddie isn't keen on the idea, and soon, he and Buster get kicked out of the restaurant when Buster takes out some sandwiches.Buster has Ms. Crawley make flyers for the competition. Since he doesn't have a lot of money to offer as a reward, he tells her to advertise a $1,000 reward, with a bunch of junk stuffed into a treasure chest to make it look like it holds prize money. Ms. Crawley's glass eye pops out and bounces on the keyboard, causing the ad to say the reward is $100,000. She prints out hundreds of flyers, but she stands next to the fan, causing it to blow every single flyer into town. Many animals find the flyers and think they have a shot at something big.The next day, Buster is surprised to see a whole line of animals going down the block outside the theater. Over a hundred animals, including Johnny, Rosita, Mike, and Ash all audition. Meena goes to audition, but she has a severe case of stage fright and she bails. When all is said and done, Buster selects Johnny, Mike, and Ash (without Lance) as the solo acts, while Rosita is paired up with another pig named Gunter (voice of Nick Kroll). Buster then learns that Ms. Crawley advertised a $100,000 reward, and he panics while trying to maintain the illusion that there is a lot of money in that chest.The animals start rehearsing for the show. Buster gives them a list of songs they can go with. Johnny learns he has to play the piano, and Ash is none too pleased to be given a list of cheesy pop songs since she is a teenage girl. Meena returns after having been pressured by her grandfather to re-audition. She brings Buster a cake and finds him as he is trying to connect an extension cord to a nearby building after the electric company shuts off the power. Since Meena is too nervous to ask for a second chance, Buster assumes she wants to be part of the stage crew. She accepts, and Meena returns home to find that her mother (voice of Leslie Jones) told all their friends that Meena got in the show.A bank rep named Judith goes by the theater to tell Buster to get his accounts sorted or else the bank will take the theater. Buster approaches Eddie and asks if he can get his grandmother, legendary performer Nana Noodleman (voice of Jennifer Saunders), to give the theater some funding. Eddie is nervous about talking to Nana, but Buster tags along to convince her to invest in the theater. Nana thinks Buster ruined the theater with the shows he's put on, but he never gives up with trying to change her mind.Outside of rehearsals, the other animals deal with issues of their own. Ash wants to write an original song, but Lance isn't supportive of her making her own music. Ash later finds Lance working with another girl porcupine named Becky, prompting Ash to kick Lance out of her apartment.Mike becomes so confident that he will win the reward that he takes out a loan so he can buy a fancy car to impress a lady mouse. They enter a nightclub where Mike plays against three big bears. One of the bears sees that Mike cheated, and he chases after the mouse, only to lose him as he escapes the club.During rehearsal, Johnny is supposed to be a getaway driver for Big Daddy and his gang as they are trying to steal some gold. Johnny tries to take his spare time to go to rehearsal, but when he needs to get back, he gets stuck in a traffic jam as a result of a car accident that he caused when rushing back to the theater. Big Daddy and his boys are arrested. Johnny later visits his dad in jail and admits that he was rehearsing for the show and that he would rather be a singer than to be in his dad's gang. Big Daddy is furious and he disowns Johnny.At night, Johnny sneaks into the theater and tries to steal the treasure chest, thinking he can use the supposed money in there to bail out his dad. However, he stops when he sees his own audition sheet and sees that Buster wrote him down as a natural-born singer. Ms. Crawley appears, and Johnny plays it off as though he just needed more piano lessons. She happily sits down to help him.Buster gets Meena to help him organize a set-up for a preview that he will put on for Nana. They get water from a water tower and use krill to come up with a lights display. Nana arrives and is impressed by the show so far, but the three bears find Mike in the theater and threaten to eat him unless he gives them their money. Mike tells the bears that the money is in the treasure chest. The main bear smashes the chest, revealing all of Buster's junk and no money. His ruse is exposed to the other animals, but things get worse when the water tank cracks, causing the whole theater to get flooded and eventually completely destroyed.The bank now owns what's left of the theater. Buster sinks into despair and hopelessness. The animal cast heads over to Eddie's home where Buster is staying to try and cheer him up, but he has given up and declares himself a failure.Buster and Ms. Crawley start a car wash business like his father used to do. Eddie steps in to help him out. A while later, Buster overhears Meena singing "Hallelujah" by herself where the theater used to be. Impressed and reinvigorated by her singing, Buster comes up with a new plan.Buster calls the animals so that the show may go on. Mike bails when he learns that it's no longer a competition and there won't be any prize money. They set up a stage in the middle of the theater ruins and get some of the animals' families to come by, except it's just Rosita and Meena's families that show up. The show begins with Rosita and Gunter performing "Shake It Off" with a dance in sparkly outfits. Rosita's kids are all excited, and Norman is so astonished that he runs up on the stage to kiss his wife.Next, Johnny plays the piano and sings "I'm Still Standing". Big Daddy watches from prison and is amazed by his son's singing. He immediately breaks out to go see Johnny, leading to a citywide manhunt for Big Daddy.Ash gets on to play her original song, but Judith comes by to unplug the music and tell everyone to leave. Ash continues to play the song, "Set It All Free", which even Lance is watching from home. Ash gets so into it that she accidentally shoots out quills into the audience.Mike sees the show on TV and sets out to prove to viewers that he's better than the rest. He rushes to the theater and puts on a soulful rendition of "My Way", right as the police helicopters fly overhead, nearly pulling Mike into the sky. He manages to finish the song, but unfortunately, the bears see the show and head to the theater to get him. Meanwhile, Big Daddy has made it to the theater and sees Johnny. He hugs his son and apologizes for what he said to him, then praises his musical talent. Big Daddy then willingly goes back to prison.Meena is the last performer. She is very nervous until Buster convinces her to get out there. She starts a slow and shy version of "Don't You Worry About a Thing" before belting out her voice, which even leaves Mike with his jaw on the floor. The bears show up and snatch him, nearly eating him until the lady mouse shows up to save Mike.Nana, having been in the audience the whole time, sees Buster and applauds with the rest of the audience. She finally gives Buster her funding so that they can re-purchase the theater and rebuild it into an even bigger and better theater.The film ends with Buster and all his new friends gathered for the theater's grand reopening. | flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0316396 | Peter Pan | Set in London, circa 1900, George and Mary Darling's preparations to attend a party are disrupted by the antics of their boys, John and Michael, acting out a story about Peter Pan and the pirates, told to them by their older sister, Wendy. Their father, who is fed up with the stories that have made his children less practical, angrily declares that Wendy has gotten too old to continue staying in the nursery with them. That night, they are visited in the nursery by Peter Pan himself, who teaches them to fly with the help of his pixie friend, Tinker Bell, and takes them with him to the island of Never Land.
A ship of pirates is anchored off Never Land, commanded by Captain Hook with his sidekick, Mr. Smee. Hook boldly plots to take revenge upon Peter Pan for cutting off his hand, but trembles at the presence of a crocodile, which consumed Hook’s hand and is eager to taste the rest of him. The crew's restlessness is interrupted by the arrival of Peter and the Darlings. Tinker Bell, who is very jealous of Pan’s attention to Wendy, persuades the Lost Boys that Pan has ordered them to shoot down Wendy, which Tink refers to as a “Wendy bird”. Tinker Bell's treachery is soon found out, and Peter banishes her. John and Michael set off with the Lost Boys to find the island's Indians, who instead capture them, believing them to be the ones responsible for taking the chief's daughter, Tiger Lily.
Meanwhile, Peter takes Wendy to see the mermaids. The mischievous mermaids delight in tormenting Wendy but flee in terror at the sight of Hook. Peter and Wendy see that Hook and Smee have captured Tiger Lily so that they might persuade her to disclose Peter's hideout. Peter and Wendy free her, and Peter is honored by the tribe. Hook then plots to take advantage of Tinker Bell's jealousy of Wendy, tricking her into revealing the location of Peter's lair. Wendy and her brothers eventually grow homesick and plan to return home. They invite Peter and the Lost Boys to return to London and be adopted by the Darling parents. The Lost Boys agree, but Peter is so set against growing up that he refuses, presumptuously thinking that they will all return shortly. The pirates lie in wait and capture the Lost Boys and the Darlings as they exit, leaving behind a time bomb to kill Peter. Tinker Bell learns of the plot just in time to snatch the bomb from Peter as it explodes.
Peter rescues Tinker Bell from the rubble and together they confront the pirates, releasing the children before they can walk the plank. Peter engages Hook in single combat as the children fight off the crew, and finally succeeds in humiliating the captain. Hook and his crew flee, with the crocodile in hot pursuit. Peter gallantly commandeers the deserted ship, and assisted by Tinker Bell's pixie dust, flies it to London with the children aboard. However, the Lost Boys decide to return to Never Land rather than be adopted in London. Mr. and Mrs. Darling return home from the party to find Wendy not in her bed, but sleeping at the open window. Wendy awakens and excitedly tells about their adventures. The parents look out the window and see what appears to be a pirate ship in the clouds. Mr. Darling, who has softened his position about Wendy staying in the nursery, recognizes it from his own childhood. | fantasy, murder, violence, action, romantic, storytelling | train | wikipedia | As a long time lover of the J.M. Barrie stories and play, all I can say is that P.J. Hogan's "Peter Pan" is the Pan movie I have waited my entire life for.
Hogan and company have brought the Barrie work to the screen and have rightly restored to it a child's sense of awe and wonder, of both beauty and terror co-existing side by side and for this reason alone it is the definitive film version of Peter Pan. The definitive version.
Please don't despair, as it turns out, the latest may just be the greatest of them all.In late 2003, Director P.J. Hogan brought to the screen his vision of the boy who would never grow up and having just viewed it on DVD, I can proclaim with all honesty that it shall forever be the definitive version of Peter Pan. Well, at least for me it will be.
These are just a few of the many magical, charming, and energizing moments throughout Peter Pan.As for the story, it pretty much sticks to previous incarnations we've seen in the books, films, and on Broadway.
I do not believe that this film's handling of this aspect of the book was merely present in "sick adult humour", I believe that it was beautifully hinted at in a way which would stimulate adult appreciation and childish fascination in the character of Pan.I should like to make mention of the parallel which Mr Ulmer draws between this version of Peter Pan and Jumanji (namely the use of the same actors to play the adversary and the father of the lead character) is not just a trick put in to hark back to that film.
Indeed the tradition of the same actor playing the role of Mr Darling AND Hook dates back to the story's original appearance as a stage play at the turn of the century and has been carried on on most occasions since then, though I concede that the Disney version (a far less worthy and sterilised version) failed to keep this tradition up.As for the point at which the two boys are hung upside down in their nightshirts, I thought it was funny, as did the rest of the audience in the theatre and we certainly weren't there with a red pen counting the number of bottom shots as Mr Ulmer appears to have done.
I've always loved the story of Peter Pan; I grew up watching the Disney and Mary Martin versions, and always thought the story to be one of undeniable power and beauty.
I laughed, gasped, and cried, and the movie had my complete and enthralled attention from the opening notes of James Newton Howard's equally magical score through the end credits.The actors and actresses for this film are all superb, Rachel Hurd-Wood as Wendy and Jason Isaacs doubling as Captain James Hook and George Darling being the obvious and inarguable standouts.
Miss Hurd-Wood perfectly captures the spirit of Wendy--maternal, precocious, brave, loving, and loyal--and Mr. Isaacs is endearing as Mr. Darling and both fearsome and deliciously erotic as Captain Hook.Jeremy Sumpter also did a fabulous job as the title character, Peter Pan, and I thoroughly disagree with those who proclaim his performance as "wooden"; in my opinion, he captured Pan's eternally childlike spirit perfectly, and the chemistry between him and Miss Hurd-Wood was very real and something that was sadly missing from both the Disney-fied version and the stage versions which have cast women in the role of Peter.The Lost Boys were all brilliant, and worked together and with Mr. Sumpter comfortably to create a believable and familiar little family.
The lovely and gentle Olivia Williams was a wonderful Mrs. Mary Darling, and her exchanges with Mr. Isaacs as Mr. Darling were believably loving.James Newton Howard did a wonderful job with the musical score for this film, completely capturing with both adult and children choirs, lilting woodwinds and strings, synthesizers, menacing and heroic brass, and magical bells, the spirit of Neverland and of Peter--mysterious, enchanting, innocent, with an undercurrent of darkness just beneath the surface that erupts full-force when Captain Hook is on the screen.
We attended the World Premier of "Peter Pan" in London and are happy to report that the film is exquisitely lensed, brilliantly cast and resounding with Barrie's original concepts of growth, loss and the bittersweet beauties of life.For young and old, this is definitely a must-see film.
Children will be able to enjoy the story on the full-blown adventure/fantasy scale, while adults will be deeply moved by the underlying emotion of Barrie's classic tale.While watching the film I was caught by the memory of being a child again.
M. Barrie's book, a sweet little English Victorian children's fairy tale with adult overtones, that tells the story of Pan, the boy who never grows up.
Jeremy as Peter has some rather heartbreaking moments that affected my male heart, and like all men, I suddenly felt a longing to be a lost boy.Wendy's father sans Captain Hook, is traditionally one in the same, and this movie rendition is no different.
That is because to even my amazement, the last time the true story of Peter Pan was done in a live action format was in 1924 starring the two above mentioned actors that while appearing in over 80 films collectively, we probably wouldn't recognize them if they walked down the street with name tags on their shirts.Enter December 2003, and P.J. Hogan's retelling of the classic tale that hit theatres amongst all the Oscar hopefuls and faded from memory before recouping even half of its reported $100 million dollar budget.
To have to spend time telling the true story of Peter Pan would mean that the reader of the critique was robbed of an incredible children's story about a fantasy land where kids never grew up and a pirate by the name of Hook set out on a personal crusade to avenge the hand he lost in an earlier confrontation with his nemesis, Pan.This updated version stars a bunch of newbies or character actors that might seem familiar if unplaced at the time of your viewing.
But pursued to the ruthless Hook and his pirates entourage, there are lessons to be learned, enemies to be defeated and as is ultimate in any fairy tale, a happy ending to endure.One of the first things you will notice while watching Peter Pan is the incredible production values.
When Pan and Hook eventually fight amongst the clouds and ships masts in the climax, the shadows are just perfect, the effects are not hokey and the style allows for the actors to feel free from the restraints of the conventional wires we were accustomed to seeing in cheaper adaptations.Sure, there was a few things that bothered me a little (the repeating 5 note musical score for one), but I was amazed how transformed I became while watching a movie that I was embarrassed that I coupled with Kill Bill Vol. 1 with my rental at the video store.
But it is his bravado, tempered with his boyish charm, that gives the role a new "feel" that was always lacking in past renditions of the tale of Peter Pan. He looks as though he is having a great time playing the part, and his delight at being the boy who never has to grow up leaps off the screen and envelopes the audience.
I thought Jason Isaacs did a terrific job as Hook and as far as Jeremy Sumpter goes as playing the titled role as Peter Pan, I thought he did amazing.
Peter Pan took viewers on a magical adventure to Neverland and back with the three Darling children, portrayed beautifully by Rachel Hurd-Wood, Harry Newell, and Freddie Popplewell.When I saw this brilliant movie for the first time, I was drawn in and flown away to Neverland where I battled pirates, believed in fairies, and truly didn't want to grow up.
The mixed reviews for P.J. Hogan's 2003 hit "Peter Pan" leave you wondering if adults should be permitted to give a bad rating to a children's film.
"Peter Pan" is really Wendy's story and there is no fault to find in Rachel Hurd-Wood's performance, which would be good enough to carry the film but fortunately is not required to do so.
Wendy is second only to Wonderland's Alice as the bravest literary heroine of all time and Hogan nicely incorporates the many admirable qualities of her character into the story.Jeremy Sumpter's Peter is far more obnoxious than appealing, but isn't that what you would expect from a boy who refuses to grow old.
You will have a much greater appreciation both for what J.M. Barrie was trying to capture in his original play and how this version nails it.)I guarantee you have never seen the story of Peter Pan told like this before, even though it is probably the most true to Barrie's original intent, in-so-far-as what he wanted you to realize about the suffering involved in growing up.
Mary Martin and Walt Disney did not even scratch the surface of the depths to which this movie plunges.In this film we are introduced to two central children of the same adolescent age, Peter Pan and Wendy Darling.
Peter is barely a boy, and Wendy just barely a woman.This rift creates a sexual tension between the two that Jeremy Sumpter and Rachel Hurd-Wood deliver beautifully, especially the latter (this is the first version of the story that ever has the two share an on-screen/stage kiss).
But whereas people must eventually grow up, fall in love, take on responsibility and start a family of their own, Peter has found a way to always remain a boy.This version also presents the most evil Hook of them all, and not because he makes Pan walk the plank or kills Lost Boys.
This means that every moment of this movie can be captured as a screen shot and would still be visually stunning, the mark of truly imaginative and brilliant cinematography.After watching Peter Pan, you will go on living your adult life, acquiring more and more responsibility until retirement and death.
The film centers about Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter), Tink (Ludivine Sagnier), Wendy (Raquel Evan-Wood) and brothers who escape from parents' home (Jason Isaacs and Olivia Williams) and they are going to Neverland .
Yes, the Disney film is a classic, it is one of my favorites...but now watching PP03 and bein older than I was when I first heard of peter, the boy who flew and never grew up...has put the entire world of neverland in greater perspective, one with more colors, more depth to the story...in all its ambiguity and this film really does love its characters.The Disney version was sweet and charming, this was too.
It was the same in the Barrie's book version, but making this movie could've been a great way to really stretch the picture of Neverland.I know and believe P.J. Hogan could've thought of great adventures if he wanted to.I am only 13 years old...and watching this film made me want to turn back time and stay being a mere 9 year old.
Barrie's fantasy story of what happens when a boy who refuses to grow up meets a girl who must.Director P.J. Hogan gives us a film that plays like live action in a series of stylized paintings.
The 100-year-old tale tracks over familiar ground yet seems totally fresh a wonderfully off-kilter recounting of a young girl's coming of age, told with compassion, style and grace.As Peter Pan, Jeremy Sumpter is believable as a selfish child trapped in the never-ending exuberance of youth..
'I'm sorry I must grow up,' she tells him.It's significant that Hook and the pirates of Neverland were central characters in Wendy's stories before Peter Pan showed up.
I understand that child labor laws have long kept boys from playing the title role, but I'd be willing to bet that there was/is also an underlying desire to suppress the sensual themes explored in the original story by having the safety of a female playing Pan. As Roger Ebert so aptly put it, "The sensuality is there, and the other versions have pretended it was not." (I agree, although the Disney version walked that fine line very delicately, what with the playing up of Peter's "rock star" appeal to basically every female he came across, including the mermaids and Tiger Lily....the latter, in this film version, becoming a belle for John instead.)Another intertesting choice in this film was the decision to make Captain Hook a rather attractive in that oh-so forbidden way (which is subtley hinted at in the book).
It was an effective choice though, as we are able to fully understand Wendy's moral dilemma when she is faced with the decision of staying underground with the emotionally detatched Peter or to become a pirate alongside the fascinating Hook, whom she describes as "a man of feelings."To all the critics out there who have flown into such a tizzy about this movie being so "overtly sexual," alls I hafta to say is Please seek a therapist, because you obviously have some unresolved Freudian issues that you are taking out on this film.
The tale of Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook, Tink, Neverland and the crocodile that ate the hand of Captain Hook with an alarm clock, is told again, in a delightful version, for adults and children, of this classic fairytale.
However, I believe that the important role of Peter Pan deserved a better actor, since Jeremy Sumpter is expressionless in most dramatic situations, keeping the same face along the movie.
This is the closest Peter Pan to the book that has ever been made-I recommend it for Adults-not exactly for kids.When I was a wee young thing my Italian Noni used to read us bedtime stories-usually not the ones with happy endings-more the dark kind.
He is the only character who makes us all feel nostalgic about the lovely days of our childhood.This is precisely what must have motivated talented Australian director P.J.Hogan when he started this film.His film has remained truthful to the idea and the spirit of the book as viewers get a chance to see their favorite hero Peter Pan create magic around the kids from Darling family when he takes them to different adventures.Young actor Jeremy Sumpter looks credible as Peter Pan.This is a perfect film to watch if you want to share your happiness with other members of your family..
I love the story of Peter Pan and I thought this was a good film.
Although it is not necessarily completely true to the original book, it is an enjoyable and emotional family film that is worth it's hour and forty nine minutes.I can't say I liked Wood(Wendy Darling)'s performance personally finding her quite annoying and brash, however it was well made up for by Chester (Slightly - Lost Boy)'s quick witted and amusing comments.
This isn't the Disney "happy time" Peter Pan, but one that has it's darker, more sinister moments...as it should, and yet keeps it just a step away from the line so as to remain a film that the whole family can enjoy.I highly recommend this movie to young and old alike...to anyone who enjoys fantasy, fairy tales, family movies and the like.
I have rarely seen a portrayal of the innocent sweetness of first love that felt more true.More, Hogan's screenplay really brought out some of the subtexts of the story in a way that made them clearer without knocking you senseless with them (Peter's connection with Neverland, the nature of fairies, the tragic side of never growing up, etc.).If you have any love for the story, whether from films, plays or books, you owe it to yourself to see this adaptation.
In the movie Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter) is always listening to the stories Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood) was telling her brothers.
It is the classic story of peter pan, the boy who never wants to grow up, yet it is also so much more than that.For kids its a fun film about fighting, pirates, swords and never growing up and then for adults there is all this and more.
I actually think adults would enjoy this film more than children, just for the fact of how it makes you feel.I have only ever seen the Disney animation of 'peter pan', as a child and 'hook' more recently.
Jeremy Sumpter is great as Peter, Rachel Hurd-Wood is amazing as Wendy Darling, and Jason Isaacs is brilliant in the dual roles of Captain Hook and Mr. Darling.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the 1953 classic, but one thing they failed to do in that they do in this was give him personality and pizazz, and actually feelings towards Wendy, the sexual tension between them was easy to spot and another great thing about the movie; Don't even get me started on Hook.In the 1953 we only see Peter Pan with a one-sided attitude that keeps throughout the whole film, but in this they took the extra step and actually taught him to love, and as well as change his emotions dramatically.
Peter Pan is a timeless tale of a land far away where children won't grow up, and after watching this movie, you're left with a feeling of longing for that Neverland.
This is a visually beautiful film and Jeremy Sumpter makes a terrific Peter Pan. All of the kids and adult actors do a fine job, and Jason Isaacs does his usual outstanding work, this time in the dual role of Captain Hook and Mr. Darling.
Lead star Jeremy Sumpter was born to play Peter Pan. His role is simply the best by a young actor that I have seen in many years.
His use of color gave the movie a more fantasy-like feel, at the same time drawing you in this fantastic world.The two lead actors, Jeremy Sumpter (Peter) and Rachel Hurd-Wood (Wendy) have wonderful chemistry onscreen.
At first I was cautious of another Peter Pan movie, but forget Hook and the animated version.The stand out is Rachel Hurd-Wood as Wendy. |
tt0079688 | Over the Edge | Carl (Michael Kramer) and his friends, Ritchie (Matt Dillon), Claude (Tom Fergus), and Johnny (Tiger Thompson) are hanging out at The Rec, a recreation center for the kids in New Grenada, a planned community full of condominiums and town homes. The Rec is pretty much the only thing in town for the children, as the Homeowners Association totally forgot about the fact that nearly 25% of the population of New Grenada is under the age of 15. So, naturally, the kids find themselves some other ways to have fun; sex, drugs, alcohol, vandalism, and rock n roll. One of the first scenes shown is Mark Perry (Vincent Spano), and his friend shooting his B.B. gun at oncoming cars on the overpass. However, when they hit a police cruiser, they laugh and cheer, and decide to leave before the cop sees them. They hop on their bikes, and ride down the road, passing Carl and Ritchie, who, when warned by the boys about cops, dive into the weeds behind an electric control box. The police car pulls up, and out steps Sgt. Doberman (Harry Northup), the most hated cop in town. He sees the boys, and, upon frisking them, finds a three-inch pocketknife on Ritchie. He take the boys to the station, and calls Carl's father, Fred Willat (Andy Romano), warning him about Carl's behavior.Fred is the local Cadillac salesman, an upper middle class job. Before getting Doberman's call, is talking to Jerry Cole (Richard Jamison), president of the Homeowners Association, about getting Mr. Sloan (Lane Smith), a wealthy Texas Landowner, to come to see the land across the street from The Rec, with hopes of building an industrial park there. Back at the police station, Doberman is questioning Ritchie and Carl about who had the gun, and Ritchie tells them that he has only 1 law; A kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid. Ritchie is then taken out of the room, and Doberman continues lecturing Carl about where hes going to end up if he keeps this up; The Hill, a correction center for the kids in the area. Then Carl and his father drive home, where Sandra Willat (Ellen Geer), waits. But instead of talking to his mother, Carl runs upstairs, and locks himself in his room, blaring the Cheap Trick.The next day at school, Carl and Ritchie tell Claude about their escapades with the police, and Claude announces that he took speed to prepare for the upcoming test. He then looks at a slide of a painting, and instead of seeing the actual painting he sees this mangled, horrid thing. Then they go to an assembly about the recent vandalism on the highway, where Carl gets a look at the love of his life, Cory (Pamela Ludwig), who hes absolutely crazy about. Later, after school, Carl is getting dressed to go out, once again listening to his music, only this time, its The Ramones. When Carl is dressed, he goes downstairs and asks his father about the land across from The Rec. but, upon getting an answer different from what he wanted, leaves for The Rec.The Rec closes at six o'clock p.m., but that doesn't stop the kids from having fun. The kids bring pot, music, and alcohol to The Rec after hours, and have their own little party, where Claude ends up buying a gram of hash from Tip (Eric Lalich), a friend. But the party moves when an announcement about a party at a boys house is made. The party is your basic teens; sex, drugs, beer, and Van Halen. Carl sees Cory on the couch making out with Mark, the boy who shot the cop car, and got Carl and Ritchie busted. Mark then warns Carl about mentioning his name to the cops, and when Carl gives a sarcastic remark, he leaves. Carl gets upset with Cory, telling her that she could do a lot better than Mark. Carl then leaves, followed (unknowingly) by Mark and his friend. While Carl is walking home alone, they jump him, beat him up, and take his money. When Carl gets home, he tries to avoid his parents seeing the cuts and bruises, but fails. Carl gets questioned, but, when refusing to tell them who jumped him, runs upstairs and locks himself in his room. Fred and Jerry Cole then talk about making sure The Rec is closed the next day, when Sloan comes to visit.The next day at The Rec, everyone is talking about Carl's event. But he only releases the names to Claude, Ritchie, Johnny, and Alan (Brian Parker), another friend of theirs. While they're talking, Julia (Julia Pomeroy), The Rec counselor, goes outside to talk to Doberman about The Rec staying open. Doberman goes inside and searches Claude, finding the gram of hash in his pocket, and taking him in. However, when they walk outside, Ritchie is standing on the cop car, and makes the cops chase him around the grounds. When the cops finally leave, Carl, and Ritchie go to get sodas, where Ritchie gives Carl firecrackers. They then get on their bikes and ride around the neighborhood, where they find Cory and her best friend Abby (Kim Kliner) running out of a house, carrying a plastic bag. They stop them, and grab the bag, finding a gun in it, which the girls stole from the house. They then all go to a half-finished town home, which Carl and Ritchie call their condo. After planning a picnic with a gun Cory gets up and starts dancing, with the gun in her hand, pointing it at Carl playfully. But the gun goes off, and Carl scares everyone into thinking he is shot. The group then goes their separate ways. When Carl gets home, he sees Sloan's car in the driveway, and, upset at his father, places the firecrackers given to him by Ritchie in the cars engine, so that when the car is turned on, they will light. Sloan and his boys, scared, then leave, but not before warning Fred that if he doesn't stop to listen to his son, it will come back to bite him.The next day, Carl calls Claude and Johnny, telling them to come to the picnic. They all show up, and after shooting the gun, and realizing that Carl is the only one with any sense of aim at all, they start walking. During the walk, Claude tells them that it was Tip who sold him the hash, and Cory announces that Tip had recently gotten busted for possession. They then decide to pay Tip a visit, and while the boys hold Tip down and interrogate him, the girls ransack his kitchen. Tip tells them that he told Doberman who he sold the hash to, because he was arrested. Ritchie then points the gun at him, and Johnny lights a firecracker, making a gun sound. Before leaving, the boys throw Tip in the water under his porch. Before Cory and Abby leave Carl and Ritchie, Cory runs over to Carl and gives him a kiss, showing him that she likes him as much as he likes her.When Carl gets home, he is told by his mother and father that he is forbidden to see Claude or Ritchie any longer, and that The Rec will be closed. Carl gets in a fight with his father, and when Carl takes a swing at him, he smacks him across the face, causing him to, once again, lock himself in his room. The next day at school, in science class, Carl sees Tips mother (Irene Lalich), and the schools principal (Molly McCarthy) talking in a connected classroom. Tips mother tells the principal the names of the boys that assaulted her son, and this causes Carl to snap. He then grabs Ritchie in the hallway and they run home. Ritchie grabs his gun, and they steal his mothers car, leaving town. However, Doberman sees them leave, and chases them. During the chase, Carl begs Ritchie to throw the gun out of the car, but he refuses. The car then gets flipped over, the two boys running in opposite directions. Ritchie points the gun at Doberman, who mistakes it for loaded, so Doberman shoots and kills Ritchie. Carl then runs away to his condo, but not before calling Johnny to confirm that Ritchie is really dead, and calling Cory to tell her to meet him. She brings a sleeping bag, and they spend the night together. After Cory leaves in the morning, Carl runs home to grab money, and along the way he sees Mark riding his dirt bike. He takes Marks B.B. gun, and shoots him in the shoulder (not harming him), causing him to flip over his bike. Mark then sits down with Carl, talking about what they're going to do about the parent situation. They then decide that their fight was stupid, and they make up. Then Carl goes home, and upon climbing into the house through an upstairs window, he sees his mother on the phone with his father about a big meeting at the school that night, to talk about the new trend of violence with the children. He then locks himself in his mothers room, and gets on the phone, asking his parents if they wish he got shot, too.After leaving his home that night, Carl goes to The Rec, where, all of his friends are. They then make a plan to show the parents that they need to listen to them; lock them in the schools auditorium, and wreck the school. Carl climbs onto the roof, entering the school through a sun window above a science classroom. The kids then take their bike chains and lock the gates surrounding the auditorium. The children decide that the only thing that will make them feel better is to trash the school, and all of the cars in the parking lot. However, when they find guns, all hell breaks loose. The kids run around shooting cars, causing massive explosions. When Cory almost gets blown up by an explosion caused by Mark, and cant find Carl, Claude and Johnny agree to take her home, but not before Johnny gives a phone to Julia, who is sitting by a gate in the school. Julia calls the police, and as soon as they hear sirens, all of the kids split, some getting arrested. The police unlock the auditorium doors, and Doberman runs out to find Carl. He gets in a cop car, and drives down the road until he finds Carl. He handcuffs him to the backseat, and tells him that he will have to go to The Hill. But, Mark is waiting down the road with his B.B. gun, and shoots the car, causing Doberman to run it off the road, into, of all buildings, The Rec. Doberman gets knocked out, and The Rec catches on fire. Carl grabs Dobermans keys, and unlocks himself from the car. He runs away, and stops and turns around just in time to see The Rec blow up. He then for sure knows that Doberman died.The final scene shows Carl in the morning, coming handcuffed out of the police station. Carl stops and hugs his parents, and is then escorted onto a bus (full of other kids involved with the school incident, including Mark and Abby) by Lincoln (Mike Osborne), another police officer. He is sat at the back of the bus, and driven down the highway to The Hill. But, when they go under the overpass, (the same one that Mark was shooting off of earlier) they see Claude, Johnny, and Cory waving from above. Carl then turns around to face the front of the bus, quite content with the fact that his friends are safe, and that Cory still loves him. | cult, violence | train | imdb | I remember as I watched the movie thinking that the clothes the kids were wearing looked worn just enough, like they had come out of the actors' own closets.
The adults in the movie can't be bothered with them and are more interested in bringing people into New Granada and developing the town rather than meet the needs of the town's youth.
The frustration finally builds and builds until the movie's destructive climax.Based on a true incident, "Over the Edge" is a film which, unlike most teen movies, deals with more weighty topics than who's taking who to the prom.
This film very accurately portrays what life was really like for many teenagers who lived in the suburbs during the 1970s.Growing up, my own life was very much like those of the teens in this movie: I was a teenager in the mid-70s and I lived in exactly the same sort of constantly under-development, suburban wasteland where whole mobs of kids were pretty much left to their own devices by parents who were too busy chasing the American Dream to notice what we were really up to; a place where there was easy access to lots and lots of cheap drugs and alcohol, and where boredom reigned supreme (remember, these were the days before the Internet, VCRs, or even home video games).If you were ever rebellious and grew up during the same time period and in the same sort of suburban community, then I guarantee that virtually every character in this movie will remind you of someone you knew back then (maybe even yourself!)..
This was a teen movie that wasn't a 'teen' movie.The best thing about this was how it showed that the parents imagined need to raise their kids in a sanitized environment can lead to mind-numbing boredom.
I loved the scenes where we rioted in the Circus tent styled John Evens Jr. High School......made it hard to attend class the following year.History has proved that the film makers knew what kind of society America would become...Cookie cutter homes,strip malls and teen murderers......Art predicts life..
"Over the Edge" is a powerful, unforgettable 1979 film about a planned suburban community, New Granada, where all the adults are worried only about bringing much-needed money and business to the struggling, barren dump of a town.
Matt Dillon's film debut, and an unknown actor, young Tom Fergus, gives the most natural performance from a kid I have ever seen as Claude, the kid most heavily involved in drugs.
With all of today's problems plaguing teens and their parents, this movie may seem a bit tame, but at the time of its release, it had a pretty powerful message (assuming anyone paid attention).
Further than the imagery of white, middle-class American kids and teenagers getting high, speaking in an acquired voice and lingo to convey a both tastefully silly and unsettling angst, there's a visualization of America in Jonathan Kaplan's appealing, outlandish generation gap exploitation film that's anything but silly, and by now has basically become the norm.
It's the assertion of the filmmakers that the planners of New Granada made a grave gaffe in not bearing in mind that a quarter of its population would be 15 years old or younger, with nowhere to go except an old Quonset hut used as a rec center, nothing to consider and, most terrible, nothing to do.The hub of the film is Carl, an ultimately good 15-year-old boy whose dad, a Cadillac dealer, frets more about selling than about where the kids are, before or after 10pm.
Provoked by the case of his more experienced pal Richie, played by Matt Dillon, who auditioned for the role while skipping school, Carl starts to embrace the scornful, tough-guy characteristics of the rest of New Granada's youth, most of whom are on drugs of one kind or another.
Like a New Granada street, Carl's life doesn't seem to be progressing.Doberman's jumpy shooting of one of Carl's friends induces the film's furious climax: The New Granada youth charge the high school, where their parents are holding an urgent assembly to argue property values and teenage crime, lock their parents into the school auditorium, and go on a huge sabotage binge.
There's something unluckily amusing in the image of a smug child, who looks to be no more than 12, talking about scoring some hash for his friends, and about the quandary of another, just as young student who stumbles into an art class, having taken some LSD to begin the day, just to be faced with a projection of a Bosch painting.The movie can't help idealizing its generally stupid teenagers, their incoherent yearnings and doubts, their disheartenment and, ultimately, their fuming revolt.
If New Granada's kids are apathetic robots, they're only a spot more offensive and less self-righteous than their ignorant parents.I suppose, the performances by the grown-ups in the film, particularly by Andy Romano and Ellen Geer, as Carl's parents, and by Harry Northup, as the harrying Doberman, are more effective than those of the younger actors, but both Kramer and Dillon are equal as Carl and Richie.
I also think social workers, etc, who work with troubled kids should see this.The music is one thing that really, really makes this movie what it is.
One must think the police in this town moved from an area like California and became frustrated at the lack of any apparently autistic teens to violate.Haas also crossed the line when he tried earlier to exaggerate a real-life incident into a news story, upon which he based the screenplay.
I happen to feel that in years to come especially, those who live in communities like the one in this film are going to be hit the worst when the economics of transport become increasingly unviable.I gave Over The Edge a two out of ten.
I also think the parents shown ,in the movie, was accurate as well.Like New Granada, we were bored and pretty much left to our own devices to find entertainment.
We managed to con our parents and adults long enough to get away with most of what we did.For the longest time I thought it was just my particular generation and our area that was screwed up in the head...that was until I saw this movie.
This is the cult teen movie of all time and I'm glad I'm lucky enough to know it.In 1979 another film entitled "The Warriors" was released not long before "Over the Edge", and in LA and Newyork gang members in the theaters caused trouble and vandalized the theaters.
The message behind this movie is something that we, as a society are still dealing with twenty years later; trying to find a balance between the need for teens to rebel, do drugs, drink, experiment with sex etc.
Teens do need places to feel like their way of life is not threatened, and teen centers such as the one portrayed in the film were perfect examples of what needs to be done more often.
These kids had nowhere to go, and nothing to do, with parents and authorities not helping at all by constantly barging into places like the rec center, which for New Granada teens, was the only safe haven they had to get away from it all in the first place.
I think parents specifically, have tried more to accept the realities of teen life, and understand that they themselves went through the same things at one point too.Overall, I think this film was poorly directed, and the acting was less then satisfactory, but the messages behind it were very accurate and clear.
However, there are definitely ways to satisfy teens, parents, and authority alike, and it is movies like these that effectively spark up the efforts put forth to find them..
While this film didn't get a lot of press when it first came out (1979) because there were similar type movies at the time, it eventually got rediscovered and is now considered a cult classic.
Living in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, the bored and disaffected teenagers of a poorly resourced planned community are eventually driven to revolt against the oppressive adult population in this searing drama written by Tim Hunter, who also helmed the similarly themed 'River's Edge' a few years later.
Indeed, while the parents of the film come under scrutiny for not understanding their kids and how boxed up they feel, the poor planning of the town is really the villain of the piece.
It takes a long time for the film to make its point though, and with the revolt only occurring in the final third of the movie, there are a lot of repetitive scenes of the teens trying to score drugs, pick up girls and evade the sadistic police to firstly endure.
i love this film, my childhood was exactly the same, this movie should be talked about more and seen, its the best high school teen movie ever made.
movies like KIDS, BULLY, were inspired by this film.
for 1979 it was way ahead of its time, the high school movies made now are a joke, schools should use this film, its perfect, not one ounce of sentimentality if i was a 16-17 year old i would love this film.
sad thing is the film has become just a footnote, rather than a genre definer, if you kids think breakfast club is cool, once you have watched this you will change your mind.
Predictably as the children turn into teens they dabble in alcohol, drugs, bored heavy petting and sex, vandalism, and pranks that could turn dangerous - shooting a bee-bee gun at a cop car from an overpass and setting up fireworks to go off underneath cars.The parents treat the kids like they are some other species.
Matt Dillon made his acting debut in Over the Edge playing a punk kid, a character he would parlay into a few more coming-of-age movies in subsequent years.
It's only a matter of time before the garden-variety vandalism worsens, and sure enough, when two kids fire a BB gun at a police-officer's car from an overpass, tensions in the town become proportionally thicker.At the center of the movie is young Carl (Michael Eric Kramer), son of the homeowners' association president, who's trying to get Texas millionaires to buy some prime real estate in town (rather than build a bowling alley).
Sure, I can understand the boredom and frustration of youth but I, myself was brought up on a farm and so there was always work and things to do when I was their age and so didn't suffer with that particular affliction.I didn't mind their dalliance with drugs, at least as far as the film was concerned; that seemed very natural and added interest and I think it was these elements that bumped the certificate up to 18.
The soundtrack may have appealed to those who liked those bands, they were before my time, at least in '79, when the film was released, so I can't even say that the music was great.The young cast is undoubtedly the movie's strong point and much praise has been made on Matt Dillon's debut role.
Again, maybe because of my now tender age, I found the politics and economics of it all that were causing all the social problems rather more interesting than that of the youths, which could be a bit worrying!Despite what I've said about not fully appreciating Over the Edge, it is a good film and well made and I hope that when I come to see it again, sometime, I'll get into it more..
And while the adults scramble to boost the resale of New Granada's stores, offices, and condos, the kids are left to discover theire own values --- and come up with enough drugs, booze and discontent to push themselves and the entire community "Over The Edge.""Over The Edge" sounds a memorable warning to any society that makes no place for it's young.This movie is hard to find in video stores so if you want to see it you are going to have to order it.
From the turning point in music when corporate rock (The Bay City Rollers,The Bee-Gees, etc.)was being over-taken by punk and 'new-wave' (which we thought was all punk 'cause we didn't know better yet):The Cars, Hendrix, Elvis Costello, The Ramones...you get the picture.Pulled from theaters before it opened due to rioting at the opening of the trash B- throw-away flick "The Warriors"...the authorities feared the truth and censored teen reality.
Unlike the contrived 'Warriors', this true-to-life drama probably would have caused not just riots, but as a looking glass, could have been the beginning of a discussion for change in how new communities planned for youth entertainment, learning and overall community infrastructure.The movie is set in Texas - but we lived it in Orange County, CA...another county completely sold out to developers - and remains so even today..
I wasn't like the kids in the movie, but it really portrayed life accurately.
During the day, they go to school, and what they do on their spare time is hang out at the rec center and getting high.The teenagers even hated, Sgt. Doberman (Northup) the head of the New Granada Police Department usually falls off the deep end.
They even, know what the teens listen to part of their spare time; Cheap Trick (Speak Now (Opens the film), Surrender, Downed), The Ramones (Teenage Labotomy), Van Halen (You Really Got Me), Jimi Hendrix (Come On), The Cars (Just What I Needed, Best Friends Girl), Valerie Carter (Ooh Child (Closes the Film)..
Although the acting is quite strong and several of the actors went on to grown-up stardom, ultimately the strength of this piece lies in its social commentary of the times.This film perfectly encapsulates the feeling of anomie, disillusionment, and utter boredom that teens faced living in American suburbia in the '70's.
I don't really dabble in the plotlines too much in my reviews, but essentially there are 4 core characters: Carl (the bright middle class son of the local Cadillac dealer), Ritchie (Matt Dillion's first performance as the "wrong side of the tracks bad kid who happens to be Carl's best friend) Claude (Carl's other friend who comes from a broken home and loves to drink and do drugs) and Cory (Carl's love interest).
The dialog was correct and the music wasn't created for the film - it was music that we kids were already listening to.I don't know how well the movie holds up now because I watch it with a nostalgic eye.
I actually never saw the complete film until many, many years later and was like, "wow, I know these scenes from somewhere and, wow, that's Denver!" And then it hit me that this is the one I had seen being made!Personally, though the story is very representative of late 70's high school drug culture (to a "T"), I find the movie a little too cynical and contrived of a story without great depth (really, could the police and parents be any made any more black and white and idiotic?
What really endears this film to me was that it reminded me of my youth as I was a teen just after this movie came out and I ran the streets with older kids getting into all kinds of mischief.
Th film does not try to take the side of the parents or the teens but tells a cautionary tale that this is what can happen without a good balance between home life and community activities.
I feel it is a timeless movie because drugs, vandalism and general teen angst are very real today.
See this movie if you like teen rebellion films!.
It's little surprised that things end up the way the do at the end.The film benefits from fine acting (especially from the young actors, which includes a 15-year-old Matt Dillon) and a great soundtrack, which complements the film really well.
Over The Edge is the story of a planned community called New Granada and the movement of rebellious youth looking for a place to call home.
The movie is packed full of great rock songs of the era by artists such as Cheap Trick and The Cars.I highly recommend this film to anyone who grew up in the seventies or enjoy seeing Matt Dillon.
The story centers on Carl (Michael Eric Kramer), an easygoing guy, and Richie (Matt Dillon, making his film debut), his trouble making friend.What's so damn effective about "Over the Edge" is you believe it at every turn.
The hip soundtrack includes tunes from groups ranging from Cheap Trick to Van Halen to The Cars to The Ramones.The finale is troubling but the good news is that, in the end, the film does maintain a degree of hope for its main character.All in all, this is a teen film worth seeking out and remembering.
Well, the film meant good, tried to portray the mood of these kids and ended up just giving us another movie that is just unrealistic and unbelievable...
Matt Dillon seemed to be in every teen movie of my youth & was great in this one.
It tells the story of some troubled Colorado kids who cause havoc (gunfire, vandalism, drug dealing, etc...) in their neighborhood at the expense of their mostly misunderstood parents.Director Jonathan Kaplan (admittedly) filmed a lot of scenes with wide shots that let things play out naturally.
Over the Edge was a good movie, but the events in New Granada was similar to the way things were in The Winter of 1971.
The movie "Over the Edge" had the same problems as Denton Jr. High had & as the for the former child actor who had his bad times at Denton, he walks among us today & has a steady job. |
tt0102138 | JFK | The film opens with a narration (by an uncredited Martin Sheen) showing newsreel footage, including the farewell address in 1961 of outgoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower, warning about the build-up of the "military-industrial complex". This is followed by a summary of John F. Kennedy's years as president, emphasizing the events that, in Stone's thesis, would lead to his assassination. This builds to a reconstruction of the assassination on November 22, 1963. New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) subsequently learns about potential links to the assassination in New Orleans.Garrison and his team investigate private pilot David Ferrie (Joe Pesci), but are forced to let them go after their investigation is publicly rebuked by the federal government. Kennedy's alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) is killed by Jack Ruby (Brian Doyle-Murray) before he can go to trial two days after the assassination, and Garrison closes the investigation.Three years later, the investigation is reopened in late 1966 after Garrison reads the Warren Commission Report and notices what he believes are numerous inaccuracies and conflicts. Garrison and his staff interrogate several witnesses to the Kennedy assassination, and others who were involved with Oswald, Ruby, and Ferrie. Russell B. Long (Walter Matthau), a Democrat senator, privately tells Garrison about the FBI investigation into Oswald and evidence surfaced that it was technically impossible for Oswald to fire off three shots from a bolt-action rifle in pinpoint accuracy that killed John F. Kennedy.Garrison and his associates question Jack Martin (Jack Lemmon) a former private investigator who worked with the late Guy Banister (Ed Asner) where Martin recalls Banister beating him with a pistol that day three years earlier after discovering that Banister's office had been broken into and several files stolen from the office. Banister was a career member of the FBI before he became a private investigator and then died suddenly of a "heart attack" one year after the Warren Commission released its report. Martin tells Garrison that Oswald had met with Banister a few times during his brief stay in New Orleans and that Oswald and Ferrie knew each other and were employed on some special project with Cuban anti-communist militants.Garrison meets with Dean Andrews, Jr. (John Candy), an eccentric lawyer who claims that an alleged phone call was made to him by one of his clients, named "Clay Bertrand" on the day after the Kennedy assassination in which Andrews was asked to represent Oswald in the assassination charges against him. Andrews tells Garrison that he may be in over his head with those who may have been involved.Another witness Garrison meets with is Willie O'Keefe (Kevin Bacon), a male prostitute currently serving five years in prison for soliciting, who reveals he witnessed Ferrie discussing Kennedy's assassination with Oswald, and a group of Latin men. As well as briefly meeting Oswald, O'Keefe was romantically involved with a man he knew as "Clay Bertrand" also known as Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones), a wealthy New Orleans businessman. Upon Garrison's informal questioning, Shaw denies any knowledge of meeting Ferrie, O'Keefe or Oswald, but he is soon charged with conspiring to murder the President.In Dallas, others come forward, including Jean Hill (Ellen McElduff). She tells the investigators that she witnessed shots fired from the grassy knoll and she heard four to six shots total, but Secret Service agents threatened her into saying only three shots came from the book depository; the implication is that changes that were made to her testimony by the Warren Commission.Garrison and a staff member also go to the sniper's location in the Texas School Book Depository and aim an empty rifle from the window through which Oswald was alleged to have shot Kennedy. They conclude that Oswald was too poor a marksman to make the shots, and two of the shots were much too close together, indicating that one or two more additional assassins were also involved.Another person comes forward named Rose Cheramie (Sally Kirkland), a Dallas prostitute who was allegedly beaten up by Jack Ruby's bodyguards. She tells Garrison that she was taken to a clinic on that day where she pleaded to the doctors that the Mafia was planning on killing President Kennedy.After discovering electronic surveillance microphones that had been planted in his offices, Garrison meets a high-level figure in Washington D.C. who identifies himself as "X" (Donald Sutherland). "X" suggests there was a conspiracy at the highest levels of government, implicating members of the CIA, the military-industrial complex, Cuban exiles, the Mafia, and Secret Service, FBI, and even Kennedy's vice-president, Lyndon B. Johnson, as either direct conspirators, co-conspirators, or, as having motives to cover up the truth after the assassination. "X" explains Kennedy was assassinated because his foreign policy would have meant diminished profit for the military-industrial complex, and enraged high-ranking military officials who viewed such diplomacy as weakness. Kennedy ordered control of secret para-military operations to be removed from the CIA and handed over to Department of Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff. This would have diminished the agency's power. Further, the Mafia had helped Kennedy win the 1960 election as a favor to his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr, who had done business with the Mafia dating back to the 1920s, and felt betrayed that he had let his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, continue his crusade against the Mob. Furthermore, the Mob wanted revenge for the April 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, which they had helped fund and support in order to get their Cuban casinos their biggest moneymakers back from the hands of the Castro government.In flashbacks, "X" reveals how his superior, General "Y", had "X" sent on a trip to Antarctica just before the assassination. One of "X"'s duties was to supplement presidential security. He points out all the lapses in security during JFK's fatal trip to Dallas: the open windows along the route, the hairpin turn from Houston to Elm which slowed the limousine, and bystander activities which would not have been allowed. "X" suggests he was ordered out of the country in order to strip away the normal security measures he would have had in place during Kennedy's fateful trip to Dallas.On his way back from Antarctica, "X" touches down in New Zealand. He reads a local newspaper which mysteriously presents a full dossier on Oswald and his guilt in Kennedy's death. This was hours before Oswald would be charged with the crime and anyone investigating the case knew much about him. "X" views this as clear proof of a cover story of the type used by CIA black ops. In other words, CIA assets in the media were being used to persuade the public of Oswald's guilt."X" further states that Kennedy was intent on pulling U.S. troops from Vietnam by the end of 1965 as evidenced by National Security Order 263. This was countermanded immediately by Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, with National Security Order 273. Therein, concludes "X", lay the foundation of the Vietnam War. "X" encourages Garrison to keep digging and make further arrests.Two of Garrison's staff, one of whom is Assistant District Attorney Susie Cox (Laurie Metcalf), quit the investigation, doubting his motives and methods. Garrison's marriage is strained when his wife Liz (Sissy Spacek) complains that he is spending more time on the case than with his own family. After a sinister phone call is made to their daughter, Liz accuses Garrison of being selfish and attacking Shaw only because of his homosexuality. In addition, the media launches attacks on television and in newspapers attacking Garrison's character and criticizing the way his office is spending taxpayers' money. Some key witnesses become scared and refuse to testify while others, such as Ferrie, die under suspicious circumstances. Before his death, Ferrie tells Garrison that he believes people are after him, and reveals there was a conspiracy around Kennedy's death that involved co-conspirators that were involved in the CIA planned Operation Mongoose.In June 1968, fellow Assistant District Attorney Bill Broussard (Michael Rooker) meets Garrison at the New Orleans airport where Garrison is boarding for Phoenix, Arizona and tells him the Canadian mob will attempt to assassinate him and is about to get Garrison some serious protection when Garrison confronts Broussard about his orders not to pass rumors about someone going to be killed. Broussard tries in vain to get Garrison to listen, but Garrison refuses, dismissing it as "paranoid garbage." He accuses Broussard of disobeying orders and decides to take him back to New Orleans as punishment. Broussard tries to apologize, but Garrison is too busy to accept it. After a few minutes, he has to flee from a public restroom when he hears strange noises in the adjacent stall and is approached by an unknown man who pretends to be a friend of his. Garrison flees after figuring out that he is about to be set up to be arrested by the airport police as part of a plot by the conspiracy to set him up as a homosexual.After Garrison returns to New Orleans, he and his staff discovered that Broussard has joined the FBI and disappeared from his apartment. They argue about the real reason why Shaw has been brought to trial. After Liz retires, he sees Robert Kennedy on TV and witnesses R.F. Kennedy's assassination. Garrison, who predicted it, and Liz, whose faith in her husband is renewed as a result, reconcile.The climax of the film is Clay Shaw's long trial which takes place in January-March 1969. Garrison presents the court with further evidence of multiple killers while attempting to debunk the single bullet theory. Garrison also presents the Zapruder film, a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a 8mm home-movie camera as Kennedy's motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza on that day, thereby unexpectedly capturing the President's assassination. Garrison uses the film to propose a scenario involving three assassins who fired six total shots.But after only one hour of deliberations, the jury acquits Shaw on all charges. The film reflects that the jury's members publicly stated that they really believed there was indeed a conspiracy behind the assassination of JFK, but there was not enough evidence to link Shaw to that conspiracy. The film ends with Garrison stating to reporters that he'll continue to find out what else may be there in the cover up. The final shot shows Garrison and Liz leaving the courthouse together.In the end credits, it is mentioned that Clay Shaw died of lung cancer in 1974, but in 1979 Richard Helms testified under oath that Clay Shaw had, in fact, been a part-time contract agent of the Domestic Contacts Division of the CIA. The Justice Department has done nothing to re-open the investigation of the Kennedy assassination.The end credits also state that secret records related to the assassination will be released to the public in 2029. | boring, historical, murder, flashback | train | imdb | JFK runs the difficult task of presenting fact, fiction, conjecture and opinion, twisting them all to present the increasingly difficult to dispute conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone (and according to director Oliver Stone, did not act) in the assassination of President Kennedy.
The film is loaded with quality stars such as Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones (in an Oscar nominated role), Gary Oldman, and Joe Pesci (who share an intense and crucial scene); as well as character actors and actresses such as Michael Rooker, Sissy Spacek, and Jay Saunders.
Oliver Stone's epic film which follows the real-life events of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison is a monumental movie event.
Kennedy has countless achievements and qualities as a president which makes his life and term one of the most incredible and worthy of deep study.Oliver Stone's JFK should go down in film history as one of the most important American films ever produced.
It's interesting that these films, all one-word titled, were made in the same intervals of time and like "Rashomon" and "Z", "JFK" is less a name than a code that encapsulates behind the mystery and the patriotic mask, a more universal truth about humanity.Still, patriotism is seriously involved and it's very significant that Oliver Stone, one of America's most prolific political film-makers, much more a Vietnam vet, handled the subject of Kennedy's assassination.
Garrison's struggle is magnificently conveyed by the sort of inspirational score that only John Williams could have performed."JFK" works on every cinematic level, it's one of the best political films and best conspiracy movies ever made because it doesn't try to tell its own truth but to belie a fallacious version.
Other great appearances include Kevin Bacon, Sissy Spacek, Michael Rooker, and even Walter Matthau in a bit appearance.Many of these fine performances were worthy of Oscars, but if there is one man that deserved an Oscar more than anyone else, it would have to be Oliver Stone, who did not win Best Director OR Best Picture.
Some, like Jim Garrison, tried to present the truth of "JFK", and their efforts are being felt even now.Before I saw this film, I had seen Oliver comment that "JFK" was a movie in which he got all the crazy theories and presented them.
The focus constantly changes -- yes, Costner will smile a bit when he makes a ridiculous remark that everyone rolls their eyes at, yes, even at the end of the film some clips will be left unchecked, and yes, you will see that there is no way that the question "who killed JFK" is answered as simply, solidly, and, dare I say it, Hollywood-esquely as a one man killing.
Even if we concede that some younger viewers knew little about the assassination, the notion of the critics of "JFK" that the film would automatically program their minds is an insult to their intelligence, of the ability of people in general to think and come to their own conclusions.
For no one can be programmed to accept Stone's alternate view.OK, some inaccuracies of Stone can be criticized, such as his portrayal of Garrison (All-American Kevin Costner, natch) as a wholesome hero, and the time-between-shots issue (it is now generally conceded that there was enough time, based on all the evidence, for Oswald to have done it, for those who believe he did).
Its no more a hidden truth that JFK was murdered as his ideologies went against the interest of the Military Industrial Complex.The government,CIA,FBI and Corporate Mafia were all involved in this conspiracy.May be this movie has went above the head of some idiots who call it a speculation and a propaganda or a conspiracy theory.The subsequent expenditure of trillions of American Taxpayers money to wage war by various presidents especially President Bush(both senior and junior) establishes the fact that America is a democracy not of American people but of American Capitalist Mafia.Imagine how much money the American government spends on countering Terrorism and then think who benefits from these investment..
The first film in Oliver Stone's films about the American presidency, JFK is a historical drama exploring a popular conspiracy theory regarding John F.
Some scenes in this movies are so interesting and amazingly filmed that created goosebumps every time i watch it, specially the assassination scene [2:54:32 to 3:07:30] in 3h 21m Director's Cut. The main key points to watch JFK are:1.
Stone obviously believes there was a conspiracy in the JFK assassination so of course that is the story his film will tell.
All three movies; "Natural Born Killers" "Talk Radio" as well as "JFK" were Oliver Stone films which depicted the numerous demented mannerisms that are indicative of many reprobates in the Dixie region of this country.
i have resisted the urge to view this film until now because having studied the JFK events and all the theories and stories surrounding the assassination, i came to the conclusion that Jim Garrison was very single minded and conspiracy crazy in his investigation of the fatal event that day in Dallas.As an Englishman and a believer of scientific and methodical reasoning and deduction through facts and not fairy tales, I looked at this event in an unbiased way and decided to read all i could find and form my own opinion based on facts available.
I have followed the investigations of Mr Howard Donahue, a very respectable and totally sincere man of outstanding abilities, and his credentials as an expert in ballistics and weapons etc are in my opinion, second to none, and after reading the book by Bonnar Menninger "Mortal Error", it is quite obvious that his conclusions are fact not fiction as in this film.There are very many things stated in the film that are factually incorrect, especially the point that garrison makes about the possibility of Oswald not able to get off the shots in time, which Mr Donahue proved is possible and actually beats that time!
It is amazing to me how many continue to believe that Oliver Stone's movie is somehow the truth behind the Kennedy assassination.
In which case, I would suggest you go for the Transformers sequel, as most of the world seems to be.Kevin Costner plays Jim Garrison, the New Orleans DA, who (after 3 years) discovers that things were just not right with the investigation and findings of the Warren commission regarding the murder of John F.
Mr. Postner directly discredits every "conspiracy" that this movie (read-Oliver Stone) claims to be the "truth."The real truth is the Garrison was a strong-armed zealot who threatened people to get testimonies he wanted, not the real ones.
The real life Jim Garrison ultimately lost his case against Clay Shaw and Stone loses his case as well by attempting to glue together a variety of conspiracy theories, many of which had been debunked long before the release of the film in 1991.
The problem, however, is that those theories are presented in "JFK" as historical verities, and large numbers of viewers haven't the historical grounding in the facts of the assassination and the scores of investigations conducted since to know where Stone is taking "artistic license" and the actual facts of the case.
Other memorable performers include Ed Asner, Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Laurie Metcalf, Sally Kirkland, and Donald Sutherland--and in a wicked twist of irony Jim Garrison himself appears as Justice Earl Warren.The film is available on VHS and in several DVD packages, including a "director's cut" special edition that includes a number of extras, including an often interesting director's commentary, an interview with famous conspiracy theorist Prouty, and a documentary on certain intriguing records recently declassified by Congress as a direct result of this film's impact.Historians and theorists will probably wrangle over the JFK assassination for decades, perhaps centuries to come.
Second of all, people who never believed that anyone besides Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK say that - after seeing this movie - they are now ardent believers that there actually was a conspiracy.
It's just that - once people started looking in that particular area - the Triangle began to seem like the disappearance capital of the world.In the case of JFK, it seemed that Stone proved by example that - if you look hard enough - you can come up with evidence to support the theory that Santa Clause was behind JFK's assassination.It seems to me that - after watching JFK, you either have to come to the conclusion that a) everyone in the known universe (except, of course, Lee Harvey Oswald) was in on the assassination, or b) that pretty much all of the conspiracy theories are the result of overactive imaginations.The only points I give to JFK are for effort and for an impressive cast.I give it 3 out of 10..
Plot In A Paragraph: Jim Garrison, a New Orleans District Attorney, discovers there's more to the JFK assassination than the official story.Does anyone still believe Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman??
I'm sure Stone must have also taken some pointers from the first movie about the Kennedy assassination, 1973's Executive Action.JFK continues the tradition of films such as The Longest Day in which a large ensemble cast of familiar faces and great screen presences to help guide us through the story.
I can't say for certain what they were like in real life but the in film I grew to dislike her character.JFK draws no conclusions, it doesn't prove who assassinated Kennedy and allows the viewer to make up their own mind.
I do not honestly know many facts about the killing himself, just as much as probably everyone else, therefore seeing things in "JFK" made me think otherwise to official story and a theory that was presented by the end by Jim Garrison sounded very, very convincing to me.
As much as I could gather, according to Oliver Stone in this movie, the assassination of JFK (as well as RFK and MLK) seems to have been carried out by a conspiratorial network consisting of people drawn from:a) disgruntled right-wing extremists in this country; b) fanatical Cuban nationalist mercenaries; c) the FBI; d) the CIA; e) the Dallas police department; f) the more secret echelons of the conventional military; g) members of Kennedy's cabinet, including then Vice President Lyndon Johnson; h) organized crime; and i) Big Business.The reasons for the assassination include (but aren't limited to):a) punishment for Kennedy's backing out during the Bay of Pigs; b) Kennedy being soft overall on Communism, and c) being too tough on organized crime; d) his perceived desire to ratchet down the cold war, including e) his plan to end US involvement in Viet Nam, which would in turn f) deprive the military of a much desired war and concomitant inflated military budget, which would then in turn g) deprive Big Business of lucrative military contracts.Lee Harvey Oswald is portrayed as a CIA operative who was only peripherally involved in the plot, but was then used by the masterminds as the "patsy." Oswald was particularly attractive for this role because, as part of earlier operations, he had developed a pro-Communist persona that had allowed him to infiltrate and spy on left-leaning groups.
They could have easily supplied billions of dollars worth of military equipment to South Vietnam ( America did do this under the Vietnamization program in the early 70s ) without getting caught up in the quagmire themselves Oh and there's several other points the script kicks up that can't be proved or disproved like Lee Harvey Oswald being a double agent working for the CIA against world communism , a mysterious character only known as X who sees senior military chiefs planning to do away with Kennedy etc , things that only probably only exist in the imagination of Jim Garrison and Oliver Stone.
One of the largest ensemble casts ever with Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, Jack Lemmon, Laurie Metcaff, Sally Kirkland, Ed Asner, Walter Matthau, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Brain Doyle Murray, John Candy, Lolita Davidovich and dozens more star in the 3 hour epic on the Kennedy assassination from director Oliver Stone.
This film is adapted by Stone and screenwriter Zachary Taylor from the books Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs and On the Trail of the Assassins by former New Orlenas D.A. Jim Garrison, calls for a large cast and gives them plenty to do.
This film had managed to collect two Oscar awards due to the fact that it is well made and the reconstructed 1960s scenes are very good featuring Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison, the DA in "search for a truth" in the wake of the Kennedy assassination in 1963.
Being directed by Oliver Stone, many of Oliver Stone's films focusing real life events have since then become subjects for love/hate theories and JFK is a classic example due to the fact that it is notorious for lots of inaccuracies as shown on such website; The Assassination Goes To Hollywood.
Even the weaknesses of Stone's JFK can be traced to its filming stages when the press began to get their claws out claiming Garrisons's investigations to be a fraud and saying that Garrison was a bizarre DA from New Orleans whom said that the assassination was carried out as part of the CIA cover-up, he even managed to put a hapless man on trial.
Whatever your opinion of the American government, the assassination of John F Kennedy and the war lobbying, "JFK" is an fine example of great acting by Costner and impeccable screen writing, in a highly engaging movie.
Kennedy is arguably the most interesting one, stemming from the subsequent lack of a clear, satisfying & irrefutable explanation for how the machinations of assassinating the United States President was carried out, and what exactly was the motive behind it.JFK is a 3-hour long political thriller that takes all the theories surrounding the case into consideration, looks for the inconsistencies in the Warren Commission, and then concocts a cleverly structured & masterly edited account that steadily grabs hold of the viewers' attention, only gets more gripping as plot progresses, and finally concludes by implanting a reasonable doubt in their minds..
Oliver Stone's ambitious, flawed, yet endlessly interesting drama which recounts New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's obsession with finding the truth behind the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
All of those elements make JFK a classic political Thriller/Mystery,an outstanding piece of cinema and Oliver Stone at his best.Based on the books On The Trail Of The Assassins by Jim Garrison and Crossfire:The Plot That Killed Kennedy,JFK tells the story of Jim Garrison(Kevin Costner),a New Orleans District Attorney who is investigating the Assassination of President John F.
While some think it was just Lee Harvey Oswald(Gary Oldman)alone that did the shooting,Garrison thinks that there was others involved and that there was a conspiracy to kill Kennedy and Jim Garrison is investigating the events that lead up to the assassination.Released in 1991,JFK is an amazing film that was controversial even before was released into movie theaters and is still one of the most controversial films of all time because some critics and the media felt that director Oliver Stone was taking liberties with historical facts and events.
Oliver Stone may (or may not) genuinely believe all of Jim Garrison's conspiracy theories – which implicate everybody up to former President Lyndon B.
Kevin Costner is very much on form and so is his support cast most notably, for me at least, Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald who really excels at showing the different aspects of the character as the film develops.With the director's cut coming in at 3 hrs 18 mins, it may be slightly too long, but with a powerful story line this is not noticed as much as one might expect.
JFK is in reality a film ABOUT America, about the feelings that go with a national tragedy, the assumptions, the cover-ups, the fears, control, and head question- why?Stone makes Jim Garrison, played by Kevin Costner in one of his few superb performances, as a man who starts off believing the Warren Commission following the assassination on the day 11/22/63.
2) in the exceptional cameo by Donald Sutherland as Mr. X, when he refers to the military industrial complex, and to the fact that in other parts of the world people already were hearing the entire history of Oswald was the killer before people in the United States even knew about the man, also to the black operations, which I definitely don't doubt exist.However, by the end of the 205 minute investigative epic into the "coup de-ta" of our 35th president, even those who may question Garrison's (as well as Stone's) views can still see the film as a masterwork of feelings, an atmosphere of a specific time and mood of a country.
What a fantastic movie, I hadn't seen this in several years but enjoyed Oliver stones controversial version of the events surrounding President Kennedy's assassination just as much in my re-watch as I did back in 92.Led by new Orleans DA Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) Wow, what a cast, it's almost a who's-who here with amazing performances all around; Ed Asner (is a bad, bad man) Joe Pesci, Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Oldman in particular stand out.
This comment is really TWO comments: One of Oliver Stone's movie itself and a second one on the premise of the film.First: The film is excellent in telling the story of the various theories surrounding the assassination.
Oliver Stone may honestly believe Jim Garrison was a great man, but his film (ironically enough) makes him (Garrison) come off as the nut he was.Conspiracy theories, as we know, rely on belief rather than evidence.
Oliver Stone directed this (still) extremely controversial film that takes the viewpoint of Louisiana District Attorney Jim Garrison(played by Kevin Costner) who believed that U.S. President John F. |
tt0211443 | Jason X | In 2008, Jason Voorhees is captured by the U.S. government and is being held at the Crystal Lake Research Facility. Two years later, Rowan LaFontaine, a government scientist, decides to place Jason in cryogenic suspension after several unsuccessful attempts to kill him. While Private Samuel Johnson places a blanket on Jason (who is hanging in chains) Dr. Aloysius Bartholomew Wimmer, Segeant Marcus, and a few soldiers hope to conduct further research into Jason's rapid cellular regeneration and instead try to take Jason. They pull off the blanket of what is supposedly Jason, but find a dead Johnson instead. Having broken free of his restraints, Jason kills the team of soldiers. Wimmer is killed by being impaled with a thrown machete. Rowan then spots Marcus thrown through the door. Before dying, he tells her to run. Rowan successfully lures him into a cryonic pod and activates it. However, Jason ruptures the pod with his machete and stabs Rowan in the abdomen, spilling cryonic fluid into the sealed room and freezing them both.In the year 2455, Earth has become too polluted to support life and humanity has moved to a new planet, called Earth Two located about 20 light years in the next solar system. Three students, Tsunaron, Janessa, and Azrael are on a field trip to the ruins of Earth One, led by Professor Brandon Lowe who is accompanied by an android, KM-14. They enter the Crystal Lake facility and find the still frozen Jason and Rowan, whom they bring to their spaceship, the Grendel. Also on the ship are Lowe's remaining students, Kinsa, Waylander, and Stoney. Once there, they reanimate Rowan while Jason is pronounced dead and left in the morgue. Lowe's intern, Adrienne, is ordered to dissect Jason's body. Lowe, who is in serious debt, calls his financial backer Dieter Perez of the Solaris who notes that Jason's body could be worth a substantial amount to a collector.While Stoney has sex with Kinsa, Jason comes back to life, and kills Adrienne by sticking her head in a sink filled with liquid nitrogen and smashing it against a counter top. Jason then takes a machete-shaped surgical tool and makes his way through the ship. He kills Stoney by impaling him with the surgical tool, and drags him away, to Kinsa's horror. Seargent Brodski finds out, and leads a group of soldiers to attack Jason.Meanwhile, Jason attacks Dallas and Azrael playing a game. He kills Azrael by breaking his back, and later Dallas is killed after having his face smashed on the wall. He then tries to attack Crutch, but Brodski and his soldiers save him by gunning him down. Jason disappears, and Brodski splits them up. Jason kills them one by one though. Sven is killed by having his neck broken. Condor is impaled on a drill. Geko is murdered after Jason slits her throat. Jason attacks Kicker, but he shoots him, causing him to back up and get impaled on a grappel. While Kicker tells Brodski, Jason unhooks himself and splits Kicker in half, killing him. Brodski tries looking for his soldiers, but comes across the dead body of Briggs impaled on a hook. Brodski is then impaled by two spikes through a wall, injuring him.Lowe orders Pilot Lou to dock in on Solaris. As he is talking with the Solaris engineer, he is then killed by Jason. With no pilot, the ship crashes through a nearby space station, destroying it, and killing Dieter Perez, and everyone else on the Solaris. The crash damages one of the Grendel's pontoon sections. Jason breaks into the lab, reclaiming his machete and decapitates Lowe.With the ship badly damaged, the remaining survivors head for Grendel's shuttle, while Tsunaron heads elsewhere with KM-14. After finding Lou's remains, Crutch and Waylander prepare the shuttle. Rowan finds Brodski, but is too heavy for her to carry, so she leaves to get help. Waylander leaves to help with him, while Crutch prepares the shuttle himself. Suddenly, Crutch is attacked and killed by having his head smashed on the control panel.On board the shuttle, Kinsa has a panic attack and launches the shuttle without releasing the fuel line causing it to crash into the ship's hull and explode, immolating her. Suddenly, Seargent Brodski attacks Jason, but is easily overpowered. Tsunaron reappears with an upgraded KM-14, complete with an array of weapons and new combat skills. She fights Jason off and seemingly kills him, knocking him into a nanite-equipped medical station, and blasting off his right arm, left leg, his right rib cage and finally part of his head. The survivors send out a distress call and receive a reply from a nearby patrol shuttle.Nearly an hour passes, as the survivors begin setting explosive charges to separate the remaining pontoon from the main drive section. As they work, Jason is brought back to life by the damaged medical station. Since much of his biological tissue was destroyed, he is rebuilt as an even more powerful cyborg. Jason then easily defeats KM-14 by punching her head off. As Tsunaron picks up her still functioning head, Jason attacks them, but is stopped by Waylander, who sacrifices himself by setting off the charges while the others escape. Jason survives and is blown back onto the shuttle. He punches a hole through the hull, sucking out Janessa. A power failure with the docking door forces Brodski to go EVA to fix it.Meanwhile, a hard light holographic simulation of Crystal Lake is created to distract Jason, but he sees through the deception just as the door is fixed. Brodski confronts Jason so the rest can escape. As they leave, the pontoon explodes, again propelling Jason at high-speed towards the survivors, however, Brodski intercepts Jason in mid-flight and maneuvers them both into the atmosphere of Earth Two, apparently killing them both. Tsunaron assures KM-14 that he will build a new body for her while Rowan breathes a sigh of relief.On the planet, two teens beside a forest lake set off to find where a "falling star" landed as Jason's mask sinks to the bottom of the lake. | comedy, murder, violence, flashback, absurd, humor, suspenseful, entertaining | train | imdb | I think is MILES way better then Jason Goes to Hell and Miles way better movie then Hellraiser: Bloodline that was in outer space this movie is just better.7.years ago when I become a fan of Supernatural I heard that Jared Padalecki will be in the reboot Friday the 13th movie I rushed to see this movie.
I watch Friday the 13th the original, Friday the 13th Part 2, the (2009) reboot and this film Jason X and yes I like it.I thought this movie will copy Alien and Aliens but it didn't copy any of those films it was solid and it was original it had his own story.
I didn't thought this movie was bad I thought it was an interesting story that had a good action and a good slasher kills.Lexa Doig was an alright as the final girl tough it was a science fiction film it was still good and I will still watching it.
Lexa Doig was in The Tracker with Casper Van Dien and I liked that action film I haven't seen in a while.Jason Voorhees returns with a new look, a new machete, and his same murderous attitude as he is awakened on a spaceship in the 25th century.Lexa Doig worked in facility Crystal Lake in which they capture Jason Voorhees but he kills everyone and escapes but Rowan Lafontaine (Lexa Doig) freeze him and her self in 2008.
It is the tenth installment in the Friday the 13th film series and stars Kane Hodder in his fourth and final film appearance as the undead mass murderer Jason Voorhees and his futuristic counterpart, Uber Jason.This movie get's a C+ 6/10 wasn't that bad of a film but wasn't a great Jason slasher film either, but still it is my all time favorite guilty pleasure of mine.I have enjoyed this movie and I had fun watching it.
Honestly I have enjoyed this movie much more then I did Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan but that is just my opinion It is my favorite guilty pleasure of mine..
The fact that this is the tenth movie in the Friday the 13th franchise, the most knuckle-draggingly, ball-scratchingly cretinous 'horror' series of all time AND it's set in space doesn't exactly suggest that this'll be an all-time classic, but it's a good fun way to kill an hour and thirty minutes nonetheless.Okay, the plot is so thin even a slight breeze would make it disintegrate and the horror element is practically non-existent but then Jason movies abandoned that long ago in favour of just providing dumb escapism with inventive and bloody death scenes, which this film certainly provides.
There's even a later scene which pokes fun at the earlier movie's clichés with a hilarious "beating one camper to death with the other" sequence.This is not The Exorcist, it's not The Omen, it's even a very long way away from the original Friday The 13th, but as director James Isaac has said, "it's just fun." Get your mates round, pop open a beer, disengage brain and you've got a very entertaining ninety minutes..
Retrieving a relic of Jason Voorhees frozen in time, a group of students studying in the future find themselves stalked through their space-station home by the reawakened killer and must use the technology of the time to stop him.This was an absolutely fantastic entry which was one of the more enjoyable and exciting entries in the series.
The best part of this is the extremely high-impact action scenes, which generate the best times here, starting with the opening attack on the guards in the facility in rather fun fashion before the big chase that gets him frozen with her, while the retrieval and stowing him on-board gives this one some really good times along with the initial rampage through the ship resulting in a lot of cheesy goodness to come from having these scenes set in the futuristic landscape.
The action is non-stop, and there are many impressive scenes with this one, as the inclusion of the soldiers allows for some incredibly fun times with a spectacular stalking scene in a cargo-bay that generates some fine deaths and great suspense as Jason uses a ton of creativity to his kills which allows the great shoot-outs with the soldiers as well to generate even more good times with this one.
Coupled with a Jason that is absolutely menacing and scary and looks like he's having too much fun in the role and a few nice odes to the others in the series, there's not a lot wrong here.
It's really hard to believe that Jason is fooled by a holographic representation of Crystal Lake that's not even a full-on trick with the edges exposed, yet he still takes time to destroy holographs of two women who look like they belonged in the first movie and allow the good guys to escape, which is the biggest example here.
This time around, however, he gets and upgrade in the last 15-20 minutes of the film, and is turned into some kind of hybrid man/monster/machine killing apparatus.The dialogue is below even the worst standards, the plot far from new, the acting is just above kindergarten ability...
i think this a thoroughly good horror films which obviously will not match up to the shocks of the first in the series still does what is supposed to and in a fun way.
the only problem i have with the film is the cheesy ending in which Jason is ridden into the atmosphere which just looks so cheap it is unbelievable, apart from that i would recommend it to fans of the series and of the genre.
there are clever parts in the film and i particularly like the way Jason freezes a woman's head in ice before smashing it on the table, the way he falls back onto the regeneration table is kind of convenient yet this still does not ruin the film, obviously it could do better but it could also do a hell of a lot worse.
Lexa Doig, Kane Hodder, and Peter Mensah do surprisingly well with their characters and the material, which is the biggest asset for this movie.Filmed in March and April 2000, released in Germany in July 2001, Spain in November 2001, South America in January and February 2002, Stateside and the rest of the world did get it until at least the spring of 2002, giving this film probably the oddest, longest delayed release in the series' history..
On there way to Earth 2, JASON awakes to weak havoc upon the ship, only to be rebuild to the ultimate killing machine...literary!This movie is not meant to take itself serious as the last one, but to have fun with what they got.
The acting was pretty good for a horror film, the special effects were quite decent, there were plenty of laughably bad but fun scenes, and although the movie doesn't do its job of providing any truly horrifying moments, it does provide some tension.
One of the aspects of this film that contributed to its awful-ness was the large cast, many of which get only a moment of screen time, many of them look similar to others, and it is hard to keep track of who is who, until nearly everyone dies and you are left with a final few.The premise is rather silly too, while it was another attempt at taking Jason out of Crystal Lake, taking him to space, of all places, not to mention it being set years ahead in the future, was rather painful, to the viewer (as well as the characters in this film).
I believe that the premise of the Friday the 13th films, set at Crystal Lake, is what makes the Friday the 13th films so cool.The cast are, like many other Friday films, all Jason-fodder, and while there are a varying degree of personalities, most get so little screen time they are utterly forgettable, with the notable exception of Lexa Doig, who gives a terrific performance.Overall, this movie is worth a watch, but unlike other Friday the 13th films, it's one that you may only want to watch once..
You take Jason Voorhees and put him in a cryo-freeze, then thaw him up in the distant future and put him into space...It is, of course, a matter of taste and personal preference whether or not you like the tenth movie and its deviant turn away from its usual formula.
I enjoyed it, seeing it as a fun approach to the franchise.There were some interesting things throughout the movie, especially with what happens to Jason, which spurred the 'evil gets an upgrade' catchphrase of the movie.The effects were fun and good, as you have been witnessing all throughout the series of the movies.
And there were some good laughs here as well.And "Jason X" has Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees, which is more than enough of a reason to watch the movie.
And a special appearance by none other than David Cronenberg.If you like the "Friday the 13th" movies and want a break away from the usual setting of the Voorhees movies then sit down and Watch "Jason X".
Can't wait for Freddy Vs. Jason and all you people that hate this movie and hate Friday the 13th, keep your stupid lame opinions to yourself!
Let's just hope that if they do make another Friday 13th film hopefully it will be good as this one and that they bring Kane Hodder back as Jason Voorheis.
When I saw Jason X and I told people afterwards that I thought it sucked on ice, people usually say back, "Geez, what did you expect?" Well, like I said above I expected it to be good.There is a school of thought in horror fan circles that the Friday the 13th series is all crap; Horror of the lowest common demoniator.
With Parts 6, 8, and 9 all having their moments.Frankly, I was looking forward to seeing Jason X since it was the first of the series since the Scream movies made all things with slashers ironic.
Not as much blood and guts in this one yet, I believe this is one of the best i have ever seen.Finally the Jason series gets a good story with a reasonable budget and some reasonably good acting.
I really like this one, It's very different from the other Friday the 13th series and it has a lot more fun factor as opposed to just gratuitous violence and sex!I would rate this movie as 8/10 and i think any open minded Friday fan would enjoy it too..
Actualy the cast is pretty good as this sort of thing goes and the producers decided to have some fun with the concept, throwing in everything from an obvious "Alien" inspired storyline to a "Terminatrix" babe (played by Lisa Ryder, who like co-star Lexa Doig hails from the "Andromida" TV Series).
There is no mention of any of the usual roots of the Friday the 13th movie; there is no Camp Crystal Lake and no camp counsellors, so why does Jason feel the need to kill everyone off aboard the ship, if they have done nothing in the first place.
The human characters aren't just fodder though, they have entertaining personalities and fun dialog which'll keep your interest even when jason isn't there to turn them into red smears.Jason X is particularly a movie for those at least marginally familiar with the Friday line.
Less of a review of the film, more sheer confusion at the spate of poor comments this film has received.Maybe the large percentage of 'critics' are not popcorn munching Friday fans?Okay so the space setting may be a little removed from the norm, but hey, they had to get out of that forest eventually, and to be honest, so long as Jason commits his usual string of violent original deaths, who cares where he is.Anyway, back to that string of violent Death, many of Jason's best kills are in this movie (among the 30 odd he dispatches!) the frozen face smash, the corkscrew, even a send up of the sleeping bag kill and my favourite, the stylish neck break and throw to the floor (arguably just because I hated the kid he done it to so much =0) Lets be fair, that's all this film ever promised, and hell does it deliver.To put it into perspective, This film is about Jason, not the dumb kids smoking weed while they should have been in acting class, its about Jason, and in this movie Jason is quite simply 'cool', he looks great (I like the new mask, although I appreciate some do not) he moves great, he kills better.
I only hope this Kirt dude can get Jason down as well as Mr Hodder!!If you were expecting a sci fi action, go watch NemesisAs a general movie, for people new to the franchise, I'd give this 8/10For Friday Fans 9.9/10So stop be so negative, and enjoy this mayhem for what it is, erm..
All Jason movies are fun to go watch with friends and have a good time.
As Alice COOPER sang it during the end credits of JASON LIVES: "He's back, the man behind the mask" for his best carnage since FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE NEW BLOOD that introduced the stunt man Kane HODDER as the definitive incarnation of Jason VOORHEES.For the second time, Jason returns after what was supposed to be the final chapter of the never-ending saga, and for the second time, he gets an upgrade.In JASON LIVES (the real follow up to THE FINAL CHAPTER), he became a living dead with an increased strength and an invulnerability to fire and bullets.Now, we get the Uber-Jason, a cross between the TERMINATOR and the killer of Crystal Lake.After the disappointment brought by JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY in which the killer was represented as a parasite with the ability to possess bodies and, as a result, allowed us to see Jason in his real shape for only two minutes at the beginning and five at the end, it's good to see that the hockey mask's back during the entire movie.
When you watch a FRIDAY THE 13TH film, you want to see Jason, his mask and his big knife, not a guy trying to imitate Kane HODDER.
This is one of best sequences that ever appeared in a FRIDAY THE 13TH movie, really impressive.However, the film isn't very scary but I don't think it aimed at making you jump out of your seat with terror.
It made me laugh so hard...There's even a little reference to John CARPENTER's DARK STAR at the end.As a conclusion, let's say that although it's not a typical FRIDAY THE 13TH movie, JASON X stands along with JASON LIVES as the best entry in the series.
Being a big fan of the "Friday" franchise I found Jason X to be a great entry into the long running series.
Well, I'm sure that you're probably not going to read this since everybody said that it sucked so bad, but if you enjoy Friday movies in any way...there is no way that you won't like this one.
If you want to see a good scary movie, what the hell are you watching Friday the 13th Part 10 for?
Jason X is the second Friday the 13th movie I ever saw, while the movie isnt perfect I can still enjoy the movie some problem that I have about the movie is the CGI, it's terrible, I don't know why people hate this movie much I like how this movie tried something different with the franchise and it succeeds in that this movie isn't just a couple of teens go out in the woods and get killed this movie doesn't do that.
Like I've said in other reviews...this hasn't got a great story but what you do get is a known horror character doing what he does best, kill, kill kill!Jason racks up an enormous body count in this film and makes it look cool (don't go killing people though).
Unlike the pathetic previous New Line attempt, JASON GOES TO HELL, which tried to do something different (by not letting us see Jason as Jason for most of the movie--big mistake!), here we get Jason right from the start doing what Jason does best: KILLING!!!While I found Jason X exciting when released, the film has not aged well, particularly the digital FX.
I'd say this is one of the best Friday the 13 movies ever made and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the 9 earlier films..
The movie starts off in present time where Jason is going to be frozen, since he cannot be killed.
After seeing all of the other 9 Friday the 13th movies by now people would think they were boring but i am a fan of blood guts and gore and simply Jason was getting tired out protecting his beloved camp Crystal Lake but the 10th in the series takes a new turn with Jason being in space and committing many a few good deaths like freezing a woman's head and shattering it but stays faithful to the Friday the 13th tradition of the return of the much beloved machete for fans of horror or Friday the 13th this is a must see Roll on Jason XI.
everyone knows that Friday the 13 after the first one the sequels really sucked ....but believe it or not this one is pretty good besides the point that every killer is in space but anyways this movie is pretty good,lot of action,some humor,and Jason famous machete ....i gave this movie a 8 out of 10 for being a fun movie to watch is better then what i expected so i really recommend it .....enjoy..
Jason X was one of the most fun movies i have seen in years!!!. |
tt0375100 | Strandvaskaren | A farmer kills three male students of an exclusive and elitist boarding school called Hallestad. Afterwards, the farmer kills himself by drowning in the river nearby. His body was never found.99 years afterwards, a female student, Rebecca (Sasa Bjurling), is depressed and commits suicide jumping from Hallestad's roof.A year later, life goes on at Hallestad. Sara (Rebecka Hemse) is making a class project about the legend of the farmer. 2 new students also arrive at Hellestad, Felix (Jesper Salén) and Leo (Peter Eggers). Leo immediately hits it off wit Sara, and Felix with Therese (Jenny Ulving), Sara's best friend and roommate. As the date of the murders and suicide arrives, Mans (Daniel Larsson), one of his friends and his new girlfriend Amanda (Rebecka Ferguson) prepare a party at the old barn where the farmer killed the 3 boys.Also, Rebecca's father (Tommy Andersson) runs away from the psychiatric hospital where he's been put away, killing the institution's new doctor. He goes to Hellestad to find Rebecca, who he refuses to believe it's dead. He enters Sara's room in the night, frightening him. Then, he talks to someone disguised as a scarecrow in the old farmer's barn.Sara talks to Anna-Lisa (Bojan Westin), the granddaughter of the farmer. She gives her many documents from the time: photographs and her father's diary. The farmer had killed the 3 boys because they had raped and killed the farmer's daughter. Nobody believed Anna-Lisa's father, who saw it all. One of the three boys was a relative of Mans' father (Kjell Bergqvist), who sits at the boarding of directors and finances the school.Headmaster Laia (Kerstin Steinbach) threatens to expell Professor Ek (Stig Engström) if he doesn't stop Sara's investigation. Ek doesn't fall for it and encourages Sara some more.Somebody dressed as a scarecrow kills one student who was supposed to leave for London to his father's funeral. Mans' father is also killed, in the middle of a road. He had to stop to remove a scarecrow from his way.Sara watches an old film concerning Rebecca's birthday party as a child. He thinks she saw something strange on it, but is interrupted by Prof. Ek. The night of the party arrives.Sara thinks it's Leo, because she found Rebecca's postcards addressed to him. [Shouldn't it be his reply to her?]
and a scarecrow kit with a stained knife under his bed. Mans and Amanda laugh about Sara's abortion of Mans' child. Mans' thug has tried to rape Therese, being completely drunk. Therese and Felix will arrive from the party because they have heard Sara shouting "help". The clerk is dead, as well as Mans and his thug. Sara puts Leo in a room, when she realises it has been Felix all along. He was Rebecca's brother, but was sent to Mexico as a child because he was a danger to her. Now he's come to avenger her, and the first person he killed was his and Rebecca's father.Therese and her escape through a basement window. Therese falls an old sewage well and gets hurt. Sara goes down trying to help her. They fall sleep for a little time until Felix comes after them. They ran through the sewage, but Felix traps and kills Therese. Sara gets into an old boat, but can't get far, because the engine is dead. There, Felix attacks her.Prof. Ek comes back to Hellestad to quit his job, but finds Laia muttering her farwell speech over and over again with Man's father's head in a bag. She's gone crazy forever.Sara hits Felix in his head with an anchor, saving herself. However, when the police arrive, they only find the farmer's skeleton.8 months later, in Stockholm, Sara and Leo are celebrating within a party/demonstration. She thinks she saw a board from Felix, but a second later it's not there. | murder | train | imdb | My brief review of the film.
A very well photographed Swedish horror fiasco, it features a creative range of camera angles and some wonderful camera movement, which keeps the film interesting on a visual level.
Other than the camera-work, it is not at all extraordinary stuff.
It has a formulaic story, a messy plot and run-of-the-mill characters.
The acting is not much either, and is a bit overdone by some of the cast members.
Just because it is Swedish does not make any difference - the film is still as trite as today's horror flicks from Hollywood that are marketed at the younger generation.
However, the work of the cinematographer keeps the film from drowning..
One of few Swedish horror flicks....
Strandvaskaren is one of the very few Swedish horror movies in existence, this does not make it good in any way.
The potential of the movie is fairly good.
Old ghoulish folklore can always be used to create a great horror flick, but the director has made some incredible faults.
The sounds is bad...
The effects are cheesy and bad at best.
When a knife cuts someone it usually has blood on it?
LOL.
The actors does an okay job with a quite bad script.
So I really don't have any heavy complaints there.But still its fun to see a Swedish horror movie, I hope that more will be done but this movie was a complete waste of time.
I gave it 3/10 and consider it to be almost a to high number..
Just sit right back and watch it drown..
A student doing an essay on her boarding school's dark past, where three students where killed and the murderer was found dead in the lake over 100 years ago.
Discovers a horrifically dark secret behind these murders and that off a recent suicide.
The problem is that secret can have some big consequences on that of a respected student and his father who provides beneficial benefits to the school.
While, Sarah is digging further into this mystery there's a killer on the loose knocking off people.
During the hundredth anniversary of the murders a party is organised, but this night is when Sarah comes face to face with the killer.When I got to the ending credits I thought what a big waste of time I spent on this very lukewarm Swedish slasher.
Other than the freely defined camera-work and glaringly grand location, nothing else hugely appeals or breaks any new ground.
Simply it looks great, there's no denying that, but its has to have more then strong polished visuals to back it up with because it doesn't go anywhere that we haven't been before and the tangled up story aimlessly plods about.
If you going make a slasher with a plot structure that we've seen over and over again, you might as well go out of your way to provide the big draw cards, instead it decided to wimp out and come up with a rather mercifully plain offering.
The story is very familiar that it's just simply worn out in its supposed twists and it doesn't provide much in a way of suspense, so hopefully you would ask for some blood and T&A then, well sorry it cops out on those factors too.So what does it have going for it then!
Well, actually the haunting opening scene with its pulsating score (that crops up at times) makes a better impression than it deserves.
The performances are fine, if a little glum, although the characters are your standard stereotypes waiting for their chance to be killed off.
Like I said the film's features are attractively glossed up.
But in the things that mainly count in these films, all of that falls vapid.
Just add something in once in a while to make me sit up and pay notice in this drawn out fodder, because nothing, that is NOTHING (ah other then camera-work and location setting) is formidable and remotely enticing about what's happening.
The deaths are incredibly lacklustre with most of it happening off the screen and when we did see one all we get was a puddle of blood in the most basic knockoff.
Where was the atmosphere?
Sadly with the countryside location and that of gloomy boarding school that has many poorly lit rooms, there was nothing generated to get your skin crawling and that's a sorely missed opportunity.The screenplay is handled in a wilted manner and the script tediously strings along its muddled back-story and the coincidences that make headway are all a bit too convenient.
When things start to unravel you can't stop thinking of why didn't this come sooner, as pointless scenes cement themselves and the whole mystery becomes increasingly ragged with bits and pieces from other slasher flicks that aren't hard to pick up on.
When it came to the sudden climax..
it had me thinking "was that it"!?
Also the final scene was a bit puzzling in what it was trying to accomplish with the suggestion.
The concept could've used some blatant energy to help with the stalk and slash moments too.
Hence you know you're in for a jagged time when the murder scenes are even more boring than what's happening in between them.The film's production is well made and it might be a highly unoriginal slasher, but what killed it for me was that is was so dead flat and tame in its execution that it just moulders away without much of a spark..
Generic Hollywood teen slasher...
in Swedish.
Yet another generic Hollywood teen-slasher with lots of attractive kids getting picked off at a boarding school...
except its not a Hollywood slasher, its Swedish!
Of course its fun to see this kind of genre film coming out of Scandinavia, but its less fun when its simply aping Kevin Williamson films and borrowing heavily from Friday the 13th (the "lake" motif et al).
Any unique Swedish identity is lost as it slavishly follows all the standard clichés of the genre: lots of confusing back-story to uncover, difficult-to-distinguish characters who exist solely to get killed etc etc.Its disappointing that Swedish genre cinema has regressed to this after the awesome high-point of 2002's DEN OSYNLIGE, which similarly dealt with ghosts and teen murder but in a brilliantly original, fantastically entertaining manner that did not feel the need to follow any established genre rules or conventions.
THE DROWNING GHOST's "by-the-book" cookie cutter approach ultimately means it will be ignored by any potential international audience in favour of identical Hollywood teen slashers, simply because they happen to be in English..
I thought it was quite good.
Despite the many bad reviews about this movie, I found it really good.Sara was a convincing acted character who gets herself involved in a rather deep mystery while researching the murder of three students some 100 years before.
Eerily, while she is researching this the more recent suicide of a female student becomes entangled in the mystery.I thought that all the actors did a good job and the camera work and music was fantastic.
I was sitting on the edge of my seat right to the end - I just had to know what happened!
I would recommend this for anyone who is not into a lot of blood and gore but wants to watch a movie because it has a good plot and script..
Swedish Conventional Slash Movie.
The traditional Hellestad Boarding School is celebrating its centenary, and the students are planning a big party.
However, there is a dark legend about a brutal murder of three students by a local farm a hundred years ago.
The killer drowned in a lake nearby and his body has been not found.
One year ago, the disturbed intern Rebecka (Sasa Bjurling) committed suicide during the anniversary speech of the arrogant dean, and her deranged father escaped from the mental institution where he was lodged.
The student Sara (Rebecka Hence) is preparing a composition about the tragic legend, and finds new evidences compromising the name of a traditional local family and top contributor of Hellestad.
Meanwhile, two new arrivals, Leo (Peter Eggers) and Felix (Jesper Salén), become close to Sara and her roommate Therese (Jenny Ulving), and students and staffs are vanishing in the place.My expectation with "Strandvaskaren" were the highest possible, based on the name of director Mikael Håfström.
His cruel "Ondskan" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338309/usercomments-45) is a stunning movie; indeed, it is a psychological study of violence taking place also in a boarding school.
Unfortunately, the disappointing "Strandvaskaren" is nothing but a conventional slash movie, with no originality, and using the same clichés of many American productions.
Anyway, I like this type of predictable movie as entertainment and my vote is six.Tiotle (Brazil): "A Maldição do Lago" ("The Curse of the Lake").
A poor first try..
This is the first or at least one of the first "teen hack" productions from Sweden.I've seen a lot of the usual teen hack Hollywood productions such as "Scream" one to three.
It is not my favorite kind of genre, I admit to that.
The Hollywood productions mostly seems to handle this type of genre well enough.
The scripting of these movies are quite good, the acting is often good and the movie elements are quite often timed well enough to create a fairly intense and scary atmosphere.
So here we are with the first Swedish production of a teen hack movie.How did it fare you wonder?
As you might expect, quite bad, I believe anyways.
The story is average, early planting a myth of a ghostly killer on a path of revenge.
The acting is quite good actually with a lot of the Swedish young "elite" in the acting ensemble.
They perform well I think so a big + to them.
The "planting" (the element you plant early in a scene to make the viewer slightly aware that something is awry thereby increasing the tension in the movie and later reap the benefits by creating a scary finish) is terrible.
*SPOILER* The first example of this is when a student early in the movie talks to the porter of the school wanting his cell -phone and some stuff from the basement.
The student heads down the basement...
The killer of the movie now grabs the keys to the basement door.
Unnecessary...
You already know that this kid is "gonna get it".
This kind of planting is not needed at all.
And examples like this seems to be "haunting" this movie all the way through.
Anyways...
Sweden's got a bobsleigh team....
From time to time, one cannot fail to run into bitter disappointments that shake one's faith in all sacred things such as trust, hope, and, in this case, good film-making.
Excuse me this rant, but from my earlier experience with this director (Mikael Håfström), I was led to expect a remarkable movie experience: perhaps not necessarily anything as brilliant and insightful as Ondskan, but still something out of ordinary, original and tactful, as European movies aspire to be.All my expectations were flawed, however, completely destroyed and torn to little shreds of contempt.
It seems to the movie deliberately sabotaged itself, opting to follow a by now more than exhausted trend of the America-Teen-Slasher which feels ill at ease in a Swedish setting and, in this adaption of what was not a praise-worthy effort to begin it, fail to follow the thriller-by-number with any amount of narrative coherent or scenic competence.The plot is formulaic: a predictable ensemble of characters set in a prestigious college (the building itself having a great potential for being a new Overlook, but, alas, it is completely wasted in this movie) wrapped up with a "mysterious" murder committed a hundred years ago, a pseudo paranormal demonstration, a suicide and an investigation undertaken by the said characters which, by the way, are nothing but one dimensional personality traits, not even stressed enough to be called clichés, one could say they are underdeveloped ideas.Of course, plot twists abound, none of them strike as fresh or even as surprising.
Half-ways through, the movie takes a turn and tries to explore some psychological drama, which makes the final work even more flawed and utterly clueless.*****Mild Spoilers*****It should be stressed that nothing rings original in this mess.
The ending is so reminiscent of Friday the 13th that it is nothing short of uncanny, a previous scene is a watered down version of something straight out of Seven, and I am quite sure the list could go on.Lovers of gore be warned, this movie has none.
It is, however, peopled with silly to borderline intelligent characters who believe that staring and trying to reason with an armed murderer is quite a plausible excuse to get themselves killed.I truly hope that Mikael Håfström will find his way back to brilliance and quit this emulation of American cinema at its worst..
A slasher with brains.
Recommended for those who are not that into violence..
Oh come on, this movie ain't bad at all.
In fact, it's a slasher flick with an interesting plot, very good acting, a decent score, excellent cinematography, and good direction.
Now, where could you find a slasher flick with those characteristics?
This one is far better than most American slashers.
It has some clichès but it's not as cynical as, for example, "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer", or "Scream".
The main plot situation is believed to be the revenge of the drowning ghost but the main problem really is that someone is taking his identity for unknown reasons.
Who is behind the murders?
What does Rebecca's suicide have to do with the whole situation?
Watch "Drowning Ghost" and witness that it isn't what it looks.
It's more than just a simple slasher.I must admit that the best feature about the movie is the acting.
Rebecka Hemse (Sara) delivers a solid performance.
She's firm, brave, intelligent, and beautiful.
That's my kind of woman!
This girl seriously needs more important roles, she has the talents.
The rest of the cats also deliver a good performance and do not make fools out of themselves like in many American slashers.
Also, the visuals are great.
The cinematography really helps to create the movie's atmosphere.
This Swedish exteriors are great.
"Drowning Ghost" may not be the best slasher film recently but it's a decent ghost story with slasher tones.
I would recommend it for people who are not into violence or gore but still enjoy the slasher formula.
This movie will keep you interested for it's plot, beautiful lead character, and some situations that are common in the life of a student. |
tt0301357 | Good Bye Lenin! | The film opens with old footage from summer 1978 at our old weekend cabin. A boy (Nico Ledermüller) pushes a girl (Jelena Kratz) in a cart while the father films. The boy and girl play in the back yard and around the house.After the titles, a television reporter speaks about a space program while the boy and girl watch. The boy points an astronaut out to his sister. A voice-over says that an East German citizen, Sigmund Jähn (Himself), was the first German in space. After that day, their life started going downhill. Mrs. Kerner is questioned by officials about her marriage. They are concerned that her husband has visited a capitalist country three times. The officials leave after Christiane Kerner (Katrin Saß) gets angry. The voiceover explains that while Jähn was in space representing East Germany, his father was having an affair with his new enemy of the state girlfriend and that he never came back.The voiceover explains that his mother was so depressed that she stopped talking. She is shown in a mental hospital, staring off into the distance while her son colours with crayons and her daughter plays a wind instrument. The son tries to get her to come back to them, saying that its boring at Mrs. Schäfer (Christine Schorn)'s. He tells her he loves her and starts to cry but his mother is unmoved.The boy looks upset as he watches television and the astronauts are on again talking about a cosmic marriage between two television characters.The voiceover explains that eight weeks later Mrs. Kerner came back home and was back to normal. They surprise her when she comes back home. Alex is wearing a cardboard space ship and his sister has a painted sign that says, Hello Mama. Mrs. Kerner packs up her husband's clothes and sends them to Mozambique.Old footage from spring 1979 shows the family at a train station and then on the train. The voiceover informs that they never mentioned their father again and that from then on their mother was married to their socialist fatherland. She is shown directing a choir of children and being involved with various youth activities. The voiceover says that she has become a social crusader and activist for the concerns of common people and tiny injustices.The family watches television in their home and a news report about special government awards is on. Alex points out that his mother is on screen. Mrs. Kerner is shown receiving her award and shaking hands with the presenter.More aged footage is shown, with a group of kids standing in front of a space ship in astronaut gear. The voiceover explains that after many hard days of work he would be the second German to venture into space. He is shown with other children riding on a bus labeled, Young Rocket Builders. He is then shown standing with a group of kids, all holding small air powered rockets. The voiceover explains that he had imagined exploring the secrets of space for the benefit of mankind. When he launches his rocket, it flies off into space.Alex (Daniel Brühl) is shown ten years later, October 7th, 1989, sitting on a bench drinking a beer. The voiceover explains that it was the 40th anniversary of East Germany and he had the day off from his job at a TV repair firm. He says he feels at the height of his masculine allure as he burps and slouches on the bench. Flags and posters celebrating the anniversary are everywhere. At a parade soldiers march and tanks ceremoniously dive down the street. Inside his apartment, Alex sleeps on his bed fully dressed. A woman informs him that there's a girl there to see him. The girl turns out to him baby Paula at three months of age (Philipp Kupfer), whom she's holding and the woman is revealed to be Daniel's sister Ariane Kerner (Maria Simon). The baby begins to wail due to the vibrations the parade is causing in the apartment. Alex joins two other older women in an adjacent room, who are writing a complaint about the sizes of women's clothing. Alex turns on the TV and sees news coverage of the ceremonies and voices his disapproval. One woman remarks that nothing will change as everyone migrates.In the evening, citizens march in the streets holding protest signs. The voiceover explains that they are marching for the right to take a walk without the Wall getting in their way. Alex walks with them, eating a piece from an apple which somebody as offered him, and repeating "Freedom of the press", at one point nearly choking on the apple. The East German military arrives and forms, with arms locked, a human wall around the protesters. A girl helps Alex spit out the piece of apple he was choking on. A man and a woman are shown driving and getting stopped by the cops. The man (Ernst-Georg Schwill) tells the woman that she might still make it if she takes the subway. Military vehicles with large metal plates on the front arrive and push the protesters back. Alex tries to get the girl's name but she gets taken away before she can tell him. As some protesters break through the police line the police turn violent. The woman observes protesters being treated violently and beaten and then notices that Alex is being taken away by the police (Martin Brambach). She faints and Alex rushes to help her, revealing that the woman is his mother. The police regain control of him and take him away in a truck.In a prison, the protesters stand in lines with their hands on their heads. One guard (Michael Gerber) approaches Alex and removes him from the line. He hands him a piece of paper about his mother. Alex leaves and catches a train to the hospital. His sister is already there and explains that their mother had a heart attack. The doctor steps in and tells him she's in a coma and that they don't know if she will ever wake up again. Alex goes into her hospital room where she is hooked up to various machines that keep her alive. He tries to get her to wake up but the voiceover explains that she kept on sleeping.At his TV repair job Alex watches the news as they discuss the resignation of Erich Honecker (Himself) for health reasons. As Alex takes down a poster of Honecker and leaves it outside in the rain, the voiceover says that Mrs. Kerner's sleep kept her in the dark during the resignation of Honecker, protests in West Germany (euphemistically called a classical concert), and the tearing down of the Wall (a recycling campaign).With his mother still in a coma, Alex takes his first outing to the West. She misses the first free elections, her daughter Ariane quitting college and starting work at Burger King, Ariane's manager and boyfriend moving in with her, the subsequent westernization of the apartment, the arrival of Lara (Chulpan Khamatova), the girl who had kept Alex from choking at the protest, now a nurse at the hospital, the triumph of capitalism (a tiny group of guards is shown doing military maneuvers in front of a museum while a car branded with Coca-Cola drives by in the foreground and then a giant Coca Cola truck blocks them entirely from view), and Alex's regular visits to the hospital at strategic times made to coincide with Lara's works shifts. As she sleeps, Alex talks to her about Lara. In her sleep she also misses working-class job loss, including the TV repair business Alex works at. Alex gets a job as what's described a part of a reunification crew selling satellite TV. With his new job occupying his time, he leaves a tape with his voice on it to talk to his mother. Believing that the doctors and Lara will not be there when it plays, he mentions his like of Lara, who is in the room tending to his mother. Soon he is dating Lara and they go to a club together. After, Lara remarks that it's too bad Alex's mother is missing the transformation of Berlin. Alex doesn't think so because what she believed in had toppled in a moment. She asks about his father and Alex says that he was a doctor who escaped to the West and that they never heard from him again.Alex and his partner Denis Domaschke (Florian Lukas) go door to door selling satellite TV. At one apartment complex, Alex and his partner leave having installed ten new satellites. Afterwards, they go back to his apartment, where Denis shows Alex his family and wedding film business videos. Explaining his ambition to one day make feature films, he shows Alex that he has edited a wedding video to match the famous bone and spaceship match-cut from 2001: A Space Odyssey.In a voiceover, Alex explains the by June 1990 the border separating East Germany was meaningless. One day while visiting his mother Alex and Lara begin to kiss. As they do, Alex's mother wakes up from her coma. Doctor Wagner (Eberhard Kirchberg) explains that even though she's woken from her coma, her life is still in danger as she could have memory loss, amnesia, or other conditions. He tells Alex and Ariane that she may not survive the next weeks. They are not allowed to take her home because any sort of excitement could lead to another heart attack. Alex tells the doctor that he thinks the newspaper discussing German reunification would be too exciting to her.Now awake, Mrs. Kerner is visited by her children. Ariane shows her mother her new granddaughter and Alex tells her that she had a heart attack because of a long line at the store on a hot day. As they leave the hospital Alex resolves to bring his mother home because of how easy it would be for her to find out about the fall of the Wall in the hospital.Back at home he surveys what's too new at the apartment and has to be replaced with the old. Denis and Alex remodel the room, resetting it to a condition from before the fall of the Wall. Alex purposefully breaks the radio antenna off.Alex returns to the hospital where a new doctor replaces the old doctor, who has moved to the West. The new doctor in charge, Dr Mewes (Hans-Uwe Bauer) tries to stop Alex to no avail. Alex points out that many people are leaving their jobs to enjoy the new richer life in the West, and how long would Mewes himself stay at his job? On the ride home, Alex asks the ambulance driver (Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey) and nurse (Dirk Prinz) to turn down the radio because its talking about East Germans exchanging their currency for Western currency. They bring her in on a stretcher and Alex tries to avoid his mother's old friend, now Westernized in dress. Upon arrival, his mother remarks that it seems like nothing has changed. Alex offers tapes for her to listen to, saying that the radio is broken. His mother confides that she contemplated suicide after her husband left but didn't go through with it because Alex visited her every day in the hospital and talked to her about Sigmund Jähn and other things. As Alex leaves to go shopping, his mother requests some Spreewald pickles and Alex agrees to get some for her.In voiceover, Alex explains that by July 1990, East German stores were emptied and real money was coming in from the West. The Deutschmark was double the rate of Eastern currency and the corner store no longer carried the traditional Eastern foods such as the pickles his mother had requested. Alex buys a different kind of pickle and pulls jars out of the garbage, disinfects them, and relabels them. He puts the new goods he bought into the old, relabeled jars.In an effort to gain power of attorney, Alex and Ariane find out that their mother didn't keep all her money in the bank. She hid it, but she can't remember where. She then lapses, remarking that her husband is running late in getting home. An upstairs neighbor, Ganske, turns on his television and the sound carries down into the room. Their mother is surprised that he watches Western TV. Alex makes up a story about Ganske (Jürgen Holtz) falling in love with a Western woman, and in consequence having let his communist commitment slip a little bit.With everyone leaving for the West, Alex and Lara find it easy to secure an apartment, as they just have to breat in it, and there will be nobody to claim it from them. Lara is enthusiastic about the working phone the apartment has while Alex is happy to find the old East German foods he's been looking for. They spend the night together and Alex leaves in the morning for work. He stops by his house first and his mother asks about TV again.At work he asks Denis what to do about the TV situation. Denis suggests showing old news programs on video. Meanwhile, Germany enters the finals in soccer. In a voiceover, Alex says that soccer helped reunify the country. At a marketplace he buys a whole series of old East German newspapers from a weirdly-looking man (Mennan Yapo).Alex talks to neighbors and friends of his mother about her birthday party, inviting them but also explain that she's unaware of the fall of the Wall. Many of her teaching colleagues have retired. Alex talks to the principal, who explains why his mother was demoted because he was sternly stric in her enthusiasm for Communism, complaining and fighting small battles all the time. Alex reasons that with the demotion the principal owes her something. He hires someone to act as an East German dispatcher and buyer for a restaurant. Denis gets Alex many different video tapes of East German TV.Alex hooks up a VCR to the TV and pretends to attach the TV to an antenna. Denis apparently has recorded over a tape and the first part of the tape talks about getting East German's satellite TV and the effect of German soccer on reunification but soon returns to the intended East German programming, nearly ruining the illusion. His mother remarks that she would like to work from bed and write petitions but Alex says he doesn't want her to work too hard.On his mother's birthday, Alex goes to retrieve the principal and finds him drunk. Alex gives him a quick shower and dresses him, then takes him to his apartment. At the apartment, everyone he has hired or invited is there and two children sing for her exactly as they used to. The principal presents her with a basket of old food items found in Alex and Lara's new apartment. As Alex speaks to her about how much things haven't changed and how much he loves her, she notices a giant Coca-Cola ad being rolled out on the building adjacent. As everyone tries to cover for the irregularity, saying that there was an agreement between the American and Germany's statalized companies, the party starts to unravel. Lara is dissatisfied with how they are tricking Alex's mother and with Alex telling his mother that Lara's father is a teacher when he's really a cook. The children stop singing and Lara leaves.Alex and Denis go to the Coca-Cola Company to film a fake news report about the giant advertisement. They are hassled by a company employee (Fritz Roth). They are about to start but Denis suggests waiting for better light. Staring at the clouds, Alex realizes that faking his mothers reality is as easy as studying the old news tapes and feeding Denis's desire to be a director. At home, Alex and his mother watch the fake news segment about Coca-Cola. They construct the segment as a visit to a West Berlin factory and say that Coca-Cola is angry about losing a lawsuit because the formula for Coca-Cola was invented by East German workers. As they watch TV, his mother remembers that she stored her money in the chest of drawers Ariane threw out when her boyfriend Rainer (Alexander Beyer) moved in.Alex finds the money in the drawers still outside and takes it to the bank to exchange it for Western currency. He and his sister go, but it's him who will speak. The banker (Armin Dillenberger) informs him he is two days beyond the deadline and that they don't take cash anyway. Alex gets angry and tells him that the money was their money for forty years until the Western money came in. He is forced to leave the bank.On the roof of his mother's apartment he throws all of her Eastern money into a Western-facing wind. Lara tells him to yell to let off some steam. When he does, fireworks go off as Germany wins the world soccer championship.In her apartment, Alex's mother dictates another letter of complaint about womens clothes to Mrs. Schäfer. Two more former students show up unannounced and sing songs for her. Alex discreetly kicks them out as they explain that their friends told them they would get 20 marks for showing up and singing. Rainer and Ariane say they are tired of pretending they are still in the East. Ariane then tells Alex that she saw their father while at work. She sees him driving through Burger King with two kids in the back seat. In a voiceover, Alex says that he imagines his father as a fat man stuffing his face with cheeseburgers and that they live entirely separate lives.At their apartment, Lara practices cast-wrapping on Alex for her impending examinations and then expresses her desire for Alex to tell his mother the truth. She gets so annoyed that he lets him with the plaster all over his body and will not remove it. Alex tries to move, falling into the bathtube in a funnily amusing scene. In the house, Alex notices a jar labeled Spreewald pickles. He races home on his motorbike and in a voiceover notes that while life around his was accelerating, he could always go to his mothers to live in a slower time and sleep.At her house, Alex sleeps while his mother eats her Spreewald pickles. Ariane's daughter Paula (Laureen Hatscher & Felicitas Hatscher), now one yeared-old tot who is giving her first steps, notices a blimp that says West on it and begins to walk toward it. Alex's mother gets up out of bed to see what Paula is looking at but by the time she gets to the window the blimp is behind a building. She leaves the room, takes an elevator down (and notices a Nazi symbol and lewd graffiti on the wall), and leaves the building. A group of young Western men are moving in, perplexing her. She wanders further away from the building and notices IKEA branding and ads for bras and cars. A helicopter carries a statue of Lenin away. Alex wakes up and finds that she's gone and rushes out to find her. Alex and Ariane find her at the same time and rush her home. She asks them what's going on.Denis has not build a sort of makeshift television studio and he and Alex work to create more explanatory fake news segments. They frame the situation as Hoenecker allowing West German refugees to enter the East as a token of generosity, promising 200 marks for every refugee entering the country. In a voiceover, Alex realizes that the GDR he is creating in his TV segments is the GDR he might have wished for. His mother suggests helping the Western refugees, offering the summer cabin.Rainer reveals that he and Ariane are getting their own place and will soon be leaving because she is pregnant. Ariane again says that she is tired of pretending for her mother.The whole family drives out to the cabin with the mother blindfolded to keep the new car and the cabin a surprise. As Alex is about to reveal that he has been lying to his mother, his mother reveals that she has been lying to him about his father. He didn't go to West Germany with a woman and he did write letters. He decided to leave because he wasn't in the Party and so they made his life miserable. There was a conference in West Berlin and he decided to stay. She was supposed to follow and bring her children but she feared getting her kids taken away from her so she stayed in East Germany. Now she regards it as the biggest mistake of her life. Alex gets upset and goes to sit by the lake.That night his mother's condition gets worse and she is rushed back to the hospital. Ariane meanwhile finds all of the old letters from her father and cries as she reads them. The doctor says that she's had another heart attack and that they should expect the worst. Ariane gives Alex a letter from his father and says that she won't go out to his new address. In the morning, their mother wakes up and suggests that now they take in a Western refugee with her out of the house.Alex leaves the hospital in a taxi driven by who he thinks is Sigmund Jähn (Stefan Walz), although the driver denies it is him. He asks the taxi driver to take him to Wansee where his father lives. At his father's house there is a party and Alex is treated as an invited guest. He wanders into a room where two kids are watching the Sandman and he asks to join them. The little boy in the room is his stepbrother Thomas (Rafael Hübner), and he says that the character on TV is an astronaut and Alex says that where he's from they say Cosmonaut. The little girl is his sister Carla (Hanna Schwamborn) and she asks where he's from and he tells her he's from another country. The father of the children walks in and it is revealed that he is Robert Kerner (Burghart Klaußner), Alex's father. He is told by his wife (Svea Timander) that it's time he gives a speech and then returns to talk with Alex. Probably, because of the shock of seeing his child, his is unable to deliver the long speech he's devised, but just says two sentences thanking everybody for coming. Coming back to the sitting room, he asks why Alex is there and Alex tells him that his mother wanted to see him one more time and that she is dying.On the ride home, Alex asks the taxi driver what it was like in space. This time he doesn't deny being Jähn and says that it was beautiful but far from home.Alex brings his father to the hospital and as he's walking to his mother's room Lara is explaining that Germany is reunified, although she stops before Alex can see this. While Robert is waiting outside, Ariane shows up but leaves when she sees her father there.Alex decides to tell his mother the truth but first wants to celebrate East Germany one last time, giving it the send-off it deserves. At the library, they enlist the help of Jähn and record him addressing the GDR. Since his mother can hardly wait he moves the celebration from October 7th to October 2nd, the day before reunification. In the film they show to his mother at the hospital, Honecker resigns from all positions and Jähn becomes the new leader of East Germany. By now, only Alex is unaware of his mother's up-to-date understanding of Germany and his sister can barely conceal her laughter. Jähn states in the video that he has decided to reach out to West Germany to make it better and has opened up the borders. After the video, fireworks start.Alex's mother dies three days later. Alex still believes that she never learned the truth and that this is a good thing because she died happy. She asked that her ashes be scattered in the wind, something prohibited in both East and West Germany. Alex puts her ashes into a rocket and shoots them into the sky, resulting in two fireworks.In a voiceover laid over archival footage, Alex says that the country his mother left behind was one she believed in. He says he will always in his memory associate that country with his mother. | comedy, dramatic, violence, flashback, satire, romantic, historical, home movie | train | imdb | null |
tt1530509 | The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) | The film opens with the final credits of The Human Centipede (First Sequence), including the closing credits. The camera pulls back, to reveal that this is playing on a portable DVD player, and a man in a toll booth in a parking garage is watching the film. Martin Lomax (Laurence R. Harvey) is an asthmatic, overweight, mentally ill, middle-aged, short British man. He lives in a small flat with his emotionally abusive mother (Vivien Bridson) while working as a security guard in an underground parking garage. His neighbors play punk music at high levels all night and day, and Martin often spies on the rich individuals who use the parking garage. Dr. Sebring (Bill Hutchens) suspects that Martin was sexually abused repeatedly by his father, now in prison (a suspicion confirmed when Martin has a flashback to this abuse, in which the audience hears the father raping his son).In a metanarrative device, Martin is obsessed with the movie The Human Centipede (First Sequence), watching it repeatedly at home and in his toll booth. At one point, he is depicted masturbating to the film with sandpaper wrapped around his penis. He keeps a centipede as a pet, and maintains a scrapbook on the film. When his mother finds and destroys the scrapbook, Martin kills her by bashing her head in and then props her dead body up at the kitchen table. Martin wordlessly decides to recreate the fictional experiment he saw portrayed in The Human Centipede (First Sequence). Medically untrained, he assembles a potpourri of kitchen gadgets, woodworking tools, and assorted household items, puts them in a suitcase, and secures a dingy, dirty, dark abandoned warehouse to recreate the film's medical experiment. But Martin intends to create not just a three-person centipede, but the "full sequence" of 12 connected people.He telephones the three actors from the first film, pretending to be Quentin Tarantino's casting agent, and tries to lure them to London. Only one, Ashlynn Yennie (portraying herself), does so. Most of the first hour of the film shows how Martin attacks, beats, and kidnaps his victims. Among his victims are a neighbor, a rental agent, and a man and his very pregnant wife. Once Martin has his victims, he severs the tendons in each person's legs (graphically and on screen) to prevent them from fleeing. He uses a hammer to knock out their teeth one by one, putting his fingers in their blood-filled mouths to fish out their teeth so they will not swallow and choke on them in a suicide attempt. He slices open the buttocks of 11 of the victims (graphically depicted on screen), and then, lacking any surgical equipment, uses a staple gun to attach each person's face to the next person's anus. Martin chooses Yennie to be the front of the "human centipede," so she does not have to eat anyone else's feces. Finally, Martin has his full sequence of a 12-person "human centipede". When one of his victims dies from their wounds, Martin sobs softly.Martin (who is clad only in his underwear throughout much of the latter portion of the film) becomes more and more sexually aroused by the desperation and travails of his "human centipede." He administers an excessive amount of laxative to his creation, forcing each individual in the chain to explosively evacuate their bowels into the mouth of the person behind them. When one of his victims chokes to death on their own vomit, Martin again breaks down in tears.Unbeknownst to Martin, the pregnant woman whom he believed had died regains consciousness under a tarp next to another dead body. She bursts out of the tarp and runs outside, screaming, and leaps into her car and drives off. Martin chases after her and throws himself against the car's windows, unable to get in. At the same time, the pregnant woman driving goes into labor and births a child into the foot well. Immediately after, the engine turns over and she stomps on the accelerator, smashing her newborn's skull in the process. Martin is shown crying in rage.Meanwhile, the "centipede" splits in half as one of the victim rips his face from the person in front. Martin then returns to the warehouse and shoots all the remaining eight members of the centipede in rage until his gun runs out of ammo. He decides to put his victims out of their misery by slicing their necks with a kitchen knife. Miss Yennie is the only member that remains alive. When Martin approaches her to slice her neck, she punches him in the groin then, in a fit of adrenalin-induced rage, she grabs the funnel Martin used to force feed her earlier, shoves it up Martin's rectum, grabs the centipede from his glass cage and sticks it inside. Yennie is then stabbed in the face by Martin and presumably dies. Martin is then shown screaming as he tries to remove the centipede. As he staggers out the door, the camera focuses on the dead centipede and Ashlynn Yennie is shown turning over of her own accord, possibly hinting that she survived.The final shot shows Martin, alive and well, watching the DVD of the original film at work, while a baby is heard crying in the background. (It may be that Human Centipede (Full Sequence) was merely a dream, or it may be that Martin has returned to his job and is now planning further crimes.) | violence, cruelty, murder, sadist, stupid | train | imdb | My friend came home once and said he had just watched a movie called 'The Human Centipede.' He then asked me to imagine what comes to mind when I think of those words.
I had no such problem with The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) as not only does it retain (and amplify) the revoltingness of the original, but strips away any twisted charm, tension, good performances and frequent tongue-in-cheek execution that made "First Sequence" better than it had any right to be.Many haphazardly brand films they dislike as "worthless," but some movies are genuinely without any merit.
I felt my time was being wasted, not that I was being shocked to new extremes.The only people I could recommend this movie to would be those like myself who enjoyed the first and are curious about the follow-up, but I would have to tack on the disclaimer that they will be disappointed and viewing could even diminish the bizarre appeal of the first.
Martin is looking at these cards he's been dealt, which ain't great, and decides it's time for the proverbial to hit the fan, which is to say he'd like to try and re-enact his favourite DVD, The Human Centipede.The British censors (and no doubt those of other countries will follow suit), have spared us a scene of a mother brutally killing her own newborn by mistake, of a coil of barbed wire being used as a marital aid, and like their forebears, the censors of Witchfinder General, had to ponder on just how many bludgeons with an axe, or in this case teeth removed by hammer blow, are acceptable, and decided on a lower number than the director.The film is not quite squared away in terms of plot plausibility, but does what it can.I actually found the movie implausibly human, what Martin ends up doing seems, on the face of it, entirely logical (which is not to say that everyone who is abused becomes an abuser).
The film seems to have a message that people are marginalised and forgotten about at our peril, that society is judged by the people who behave the worst.Two of Six's gambles that pay off extremely well are shooting the movie in black and white, and having Martin remain dialogue-less throughout.
"The Human Centipede II" by Tom Six delivers repulsive imagery in spades.The main character in this modern sickie is Martin,fat and sweating slob who works as a night-shift car park attendant.He is obsessed with the first "Human Centipede" and ghastly works of Dr.Heitner.His dream is about creating his own twelve-strong human centipede.Victims are strikingly easy to find and capture..."The Human Centipede II" is more unsettling and gory than its infamous predecessor.The scenes of mutilation,urination,serial defecation,ligament-cutting,tooth-pulling,vomiting and rape manage to offend.The main performance of Lawrence R Harvey is gloriously weird.So if you are into graphic torture porn and extreme body horror "The Human Centipede II" is a must-see.8 defecations out of 10..
I can understand why this film only has a score of 4/10 on this because of the non existent script etc but do not be put off by the low score, if your a fan of horror or enjoyed the first Human Centipede then your bound to like this.7/10..
The first film already caused quite a bit of commotion and controversy because of its plot and a handful of shocking sequences, but I swear the original looks like a politically correct Disney family flick compared to the totally messed up sequel!
However, the protagonist of part two – the obese and mentally handicapped midget named Martin – is addicted to watching this crazy movie and becomes obsessed with the idea of creating his very own (and bigger) human centipede.
In just two movies, Six has managed to encompass two grand extremes of the horror genre.In The Human Centipede (First Sequence), Six gave us a disturbing yet comedic film, very cleanly shot with a campy, madman of a villain.
The film progressed in a very Hollywood style, with an easy-to-follow story arc, plot turns along the way, and just enough implied to disturb the audience.Now, with The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), Six throws the audience to the far end of the spectrum.
You only watch this movie if you like disgusting or gory films or to be shocked.
This could, most likely, be why this movie made the list....it was just too sick, too gratuitous and was attempting to make torture entertaining.In this follow-up to a film I never saw, some dumpy loser named Martin has taken to copying the crap perpetrated in the first movie.
With the mentally challenged obese guy, Martin, this film reveals the new dimension of Human Centipede Movie.
Martin (Harvey) lives with his mother in a grim housing estate where he becomes infatuated with the first Human Centipede film.
Martin soon decides to make his dream of creating a twelve person centipede a reality.Tom Six wrote and directed this sequel to his surprise shock cinema hit of 2009, The Human Centipede.
The Human Centipede II joins this sub genre, alongside films such as A Serbian film and Antichrist, pushing the moral and ethical boundaries of modern cinema.Harvey does an outstanding job in his debut acting role as the pitiful and twisted Martin, executing an unsettling and terrifying performance, despite not having any dialogue throughout the film.
In the New York Times interview "A More Perfect Union", writer and director Tom Six himself indicated this film has humour, like maybe when there's thunder and lightning when Martin, the main character, gives an angry facial expression to someone.
Maybe it'd be interesting if his past was explored and if he used to normally talk, what his dialogue was like, but as the film is, I'm okay with him *as a character*.I didn't like or dislike "The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)".
Martin, a fan of the film THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE, finally reaches his breaking point and begins to pick victims so that he can create his own 12-person centipede.
The first portion of the film is going to remind people of ERASERHEAD as we spend most of the time getting to know this Martin character.
I have no intentions of posting here any content of the film at all, but, it was well slow starting at first...getting a feel for the characters and the completely different style plot took some time, but yes in the end well half way to the end there was a pay off effects and visual wise....When I saw The Human Centipede (First Sequence) I really enjoyed the movie itself, but watching it after seeing all the reviews on how "wrong" it was and there being next to no blood, and it basically being one hell of a psychological horror, I was happy with the movie, but disappointed because of the hype....with this installment, The Visuals and pure "wrong" that goes on ON SCREEN were exactly what I was hoping for, but the story line lagged if it was even there in the first place.....I think Mr. Six should REALLY take his time with his next installment....as he NAILED IT with storyline and production on the first one, and nailed it with the visuals on the second....Take a good amount of time man, and combine the two for the DEFINITIVE "Final Sequence"....This movie really has a potential to it if the proper ratios of one and two are used right!.
I would not be surprised if a man is truly a psychopath, just look at his face and you will agree with me, and the fact that this is his first film role in life can only confirm this.Indeed, one at a time creates a feeling of pity in the viewer, and you simply want to succeed in his attempt.
There is no logical explanation about why the deranged, unhinged Martin want to implement the same sick idea of creating a human centipede given in the first movie he had his aspirations from.
When I watched the first movie I did not really feel that disgusted but the second one tore my appetite for scary movies upside down cause of the disgust and implacability, nastiness and remorselessness of the main character who wants to appease his sick cravings by torturing people.
I was too busy cringing and reaching for the sick bag.The fact that Six believes filming this salad tossing 'Anal Fantasia' in black and white (and brown, apparently) gives it some sort of art school legitimacy or the feel of a bona fide horror movie is wrong.
I don't write many reviews but I feel compelled to have this on the record, for whatever that's worth, in the hopes of having other people keep a possibly useful 90 minutes of their life intact.This was the worst thing I have ever seen committed to film or kilobyte.
Throw in the fact that he randomly likes to soil himself and is sexually obsessed with the original "Human Centipede" film and you have an original concept for a sequel that I do not believe has ever been done before.
There's really no way to describe writer/director Tom Six's "The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)" on IMDb. It's so grotesque, violent, over-sexualized and exploitive that it's near impossible to describe it in general, let alone here, where reviews should be "PG" rated.
So I will try my best."Human Centipede II" is a strange hybrid of meta-fiction and satire of itself and of the first film (and is, to its credit, quite funny in a very "gallows" humor kind of way), while also being an extraordinarily grotesque and depraved "body horror film" at the same time.
It's one of those movies that is borderline parody of its own concept (again, in a meta-fiction way), in the same vain as "Gremlins 2" or "The Princess Bride."Essentially the plot is as follows- "Martin", a mentally handicapped man whom has suffered from rampant abused his whole life, becomes fascinated by the original "Human Centipede" film (which is a movie-within-a-movie in this sequel), and begins to kidnap various people in order to re- create the grotesque experiment from the original film.I will not spoil anything else, but the film in its second half, is essentially a much more grotesque remake of the first film, albeit with different characters and different motivations.I really must give credit where it is due.
The story revolves around a mental Security Guard, named Martin, who lives with his suicidal mother, and is secretly obsessed with The Human Centipede film, it's his sexual fantasy to create his own, but not with three, but 12 people.
The Human Centipede (First Sequence) would've been a lot better if it was a little cult thing, rather than a big mainstream film.
The cinematography in this film was truly a great aspect to such an already atrocious concept.The story follows Martin (Harvey), an overweight, asthmatic, clammy-skinned, mentally ill parking garage attendant who becomes obsessed with the original Human Centipede film.
It's sleepily, if at all, written and combines artless shock in hopes of making a good film.What kind of shock do we get, lovely injections of centipedes where the sun don't shine, extremely bloody torture scenes that could put Saw to shame, a very ghastly scene involving the emptying of bodily waste, and a sick masturbation scene.
Yes, Harvey, the cinematography, and the black and white tonality complement the film in a very minor way, but still, it's hard to appreciate a film that is mean-spirited for the point of being mean-spirited.Tom Six says that his next installment will be the final entry in the saga of The Human Centipede.
This is one of those movies where you wait in anticipation for months and months and are filled with joy when you are finally able to watch it (yes, I love my horror films lol).To start off my review I wanted to point out that this movie to me was very tame compared to many, many others I have seen.
Harvey) dreams of creating a 12-person centipede and sets out to realize his sick fantasy.I loved this movie, and I think it is probably receiving lower ratings than it should because it will not appeal to wide audiences.
Anyone who finds either of the human centipede movies entertaining probably has something not quite right about them, but I don't think that 'entertainment' is Six's intention; he's rather attempting to explore the depths and potential of human depravity in the most realistic and stripped down way possible.The acting in No.1 isn't exceptional so it misses the mark a little, but No.2 is right on target in this regard, it's like being present at a crime scene; having a camera's eye view of the daily life of a genuine product of extreme abuse, a twisted deviant homicidal psychopath, and yet Six still manages to elicit a little sympathy (through gritted teeth) for the main character, and humour (of the darkest kind) from his largely unwilling but powerfully compelled audience.The movie is irredeemable in many ways because of what it is so it's never going to get a particularly positive reception or review from any relatively sane and balanced person, but you do have to take your hat off the Tom Six for the masterful execution of his craft, dark and twisted though it's context is.Keep an eye out for Tom Six as a possible next big thing.
The Human Centipede 2 starts off showing that the first part was a film and focuses on the creepiest man in London, aka Martin, obsessing about it and wanting to re-enact it.The film's first half is like a London-based version of David Lynch's Eraserhead - full of weird (and horrible) characters all shot in black and white (I don't know why the film is shot in black and white, but it is).
The second half gives you what you came for - assuming you came for the gore and general distaste.Now, I'm well aware that horror is meant to scare/disgust/disturb etc, so I don't normally mention the acting ability, but, during those rare moments of dialogue (and there aren't many - it could practically be a silent film) the actors really are pretty bad.
The Human Centipede had me disturbed and grossed out for a good sum of the movie because it was at least slightly believable that something like that would happen..
It's surreal that a situation like this would go so smoothly without a hitch and makes people seem as stupid as those corny horror movies with the actors who honestly think it's a good idea to wander around on the patio when a killer rings on your doorbell.Simply put, if you have a weak stomach..go for it, you MIGHT enjoy it (in a sick sense)..
Regardless of what I write, however, I still feel hollow inside, knowing that this film was created with great deliberation and forethought by thinking, breathing human beings--people who chose to participate in its creation just as I chose to watch it..
The only thing that's making me give this movie 2 out of 10 instead of 1 is the acting, which is honestly not too bad.For those that are gonna say it's an exploitation film, so it's supposed to be like that, all I have to say is watch the first one.
The movie is filmed in black and white, probably to dodge an NC17 rating, but it got hammered with it anyway, so what do you think of THAT, Tom Six?
Harvey was (in my opinion) phenomenal, i'm in no way saying that the role was acted better than all other roles played by other actors, i'm saying that he played this role perfectly, to the point where while i was watching the movie, i felt bad for his character (even with all the horrible things he did).
Martin, a sexually abused, repressed and perverted grotesque, works at a parking lot, where he touches himself to the original "Human Centipede" film.
Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence takes liberties with the storyline of the original, it openly admit that the first film is, well, a movie.
the black and white makes sense and ads to the intensity and makes martin all the more menacing and the bad acting isn't important anymore ,as there is only screams and groans from here out,what you are treated to from here out is balls to the wall filth until the credits roll , for some this may well be the movie you have been waiting for it is depraved,sick,twisted,gross,stomach churning and at times relentless in the sense that it just gets sicker and sicker.its hard to score this any better than a 5 because in all honesty i didn't enjoy watching it,but i couldn't turn it of .it just kept me glued its a no win situation ,for me a film like this will never be great because of how gruesome it is (i did expect that when watching it) , but it will never be rubbish because it pushes the en envelope and keeps me morbidly entertained without wanting to ruin it for anyone ill end by saying that in terms of vulgarity new cinematic lows are reached in the uncut version of this film.the gore on screen is horrendous and the actions of martin (the centipede aside ) are also quite horrific.all things aside don't eat before you watch this film ,be prepared to see something that will shock you.and try to remember its just a film..
Martin, like any dedicated fanboy, watches his favorite movie, The Human Centipede nonstop.
The movie watched like a bunch of scenes stuck together, had absolutely no character development, and I really could not take it seriously as horror or gore.
The first movie of these "The Human Centipede" films was adequate, not great, but it was watchable.
Anyway, going back to the point, The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) is a tedious sequel which made me feel like wasting my time, so it's needless to say that I don't recommend it. |
tt0480269 | Interview | Pierre Peders (Steve Buscemi) is a political journalist who has been assigned an interview with a popular soap opera star, Katya (Sienna Miller). She arrives an hour late, doesn't apologise and immediately succeeds in convincing the maitre d' (David Schechter) to give them the best table, which up to then was occupied. The couple on that particular table (Elizabeth Bracco and James Villemaire) complies and is happy to vacate the table for her. Later, another fan (Jackson Loo) asks her to autograph his i-pod. Pierre becomes so irritated with her attitude, full-mouthed, cocky, brainless, answering the ever-ringing mobile phone with a stupid dog tone, that he leaves the restaurant without the interview. However, she has immediately noticed that he hasn't seen any of Katya's films, and only has overheard about her sexual relationships with several men. When he leaves, he picks up a taxi. He watches as Katya talks for a while to the paparazzi waiting outside, and then leaves by foot. Pierre's taxi driver (Craig "muMs" Grant) starts talking to Katya, saying how much he loves her, that he likes her tits, so his taxi crashes into a van in front. Pierre bumps his head on the inside glass of the taxi, so Katya takes him home.After she tends to him, they drink a lot of alcohol, and keep on talking. Her mobile phone is always ringing. She says that she knows what men like in women, for example high-heels and fishnets, because that way, women look like easy prey. Pierre tries to ask her questions, but they are very stereotypical. He watches on the TV the political interview he should be doing at that moment, asking about the last sexual scandal of the politician of the moment. She laughs about him, and he finally admits that he has seen some of the horror films Katya has done.Pierre tells her a terrible story: his brother Robert (Michael Buscemi), a graphic journalist, had fallen in love with a prostitute in Bosnia, and got her pregnant. The local militia gang-raped her and killed her foetus, sending it to Robert in a bottle. Pierre reads Katya's net diary, where she expresses feelings of loneliness, depression, darkness inside of her. Pierre considers that this is proof that she realises her films are bad, her own lack of talent, the uselessness of her relationship with her boyfriend Ethan...Katya also seems to be intent in avoiding her boyfriend. She doesn't pick up his calls and doesn't open the door when he knocks. Pierre tries to lead her to express those feelings to him. When she refuses to acknowledge the existence of those feelings, he shows the computer diary. She gets really angry that he has read it. Pierre sends that diary to his own mobile phone and makes a deal with Katya. If she tells him her secret, he will tell her his secret.So Katya sits in front of Pierre's camcorder and tells him that she has cancer, and that it is probably deadly. She gets really emotional, and Pierre says that there is no way he's going to make that piece of news public. Afterwards, she insists that he tells her his secret. He admits that he exaggerated his brother's story, that he has started to invent his sources so that his editor doesn't trust him anymore, and then he admits in front of a camcorder to a murder: he and his wife had come back after their daughter died, and both had problems with alcohol because of their angst. One day, when he was completely drunk, he saw his wife fall to the floor, drunk and breathing heavily; he didn't even bother to check whether she was alive, and didn't phone for an ambulance. He just left and when the police came to talk to him, he played the sorry widower - tears and shock.Pierre picks the videotape from Katya's camcorder thinking that it is the recording in which he appears. Instead, he picks the videotape where Katya and Maggie (Tara Elders), a fellow star, prepare for the next instalment of City Girls, the stupid soap opera which they star in. Pierre phones his editor saying that he has Katya's private diary and that he got some exclusive smashing news: she's got cancer. When he hangs up, Katya phones him: she tells him that he's stolen the script for the episodes of City Girls she is recording - so he hasn't got her diary - and that the story of the cancer sickness is part of the new script and part of her character's feelings. Pierre is terrified: he realises that Katya has the videotape where he admits to the murder.Alone at her luxurious loft, Katya watches Pierre's videotape, and he cannot do anything about it. | dramatic | train | imdb | One night in New York he is assigned to interview a beautiful actress known for B movie horror films and highly sexed cable TV fare of the "Sex in the City" variety.
Her only real claim to fame seems to be that she underwent a breast reduction operation, getting her implants removed.Through a fluke what starts off as an interview so disastrous that both want to immediately end it, turns into an all night affair when he bumps his head in a fender bender accident outside the restaurant where they meet.
And over the course of the evening, we learn quite a bit about both of them, or so we think.Steve Buscemi, who also directed, gets good marks for his acting, but even better for his work helming this story.
He keeps it moving along with such energy and such conviction that one hardly notices that this is a two character set piece probably better suited to the theater and a small theater at that.The real revelation for me, though, was Sienna Miller, who I had never seen before and know virtually nothing about.
Miller's character is smart, at times highly manipulative, and more than able to handle herself in a verbal street fight.Whether in real life any actress, much less any journalist, would reveal their deepest secrets to a total stranger is highly questionable.
The premise here is that Steve Buscemi is a washed-up political reporter who is assigned to interview a tabloid-fodder actress known for her direct-to-video horror movie sequels (played by Sienna Miller).
Theo Van Gogh, a renowned journalist, once said "I prefer covering the war between a woman and a man." With this remake, director and actor Steve Buscemi does a wonderful job of doing just that.The set-up is simple enough.
She is all over the place with the role, but stays focused on the internal torment and remarkable people smarts that Buscemi's Pierre is lacking.Along the lines of "My Dinner with Andre" and "Before Sunset", there is an enormous amount of dialogue and interaction between the two leads, who are on screen 95% of the time.
Of course, the whole time the viewer is skeptical about which stories are real and which are fabricated or embellished for the purpose of the moment.Really an interesting film and directed with a nice touch by Buscemi, who is also at his usual high level of acting.
Co-written and directed by Steve Buscemi, the film is an insightful, at times intense exploration of the nature of celebrity, as experienced by a world-wearied, overly cocksure political journalist who'd do well not to underestimate his beautiful interviewee.Buscemi is Pierre, the flailing reporter who begrudgingly finds himself waiting to interview Katya (Sienna Miller), the latest in a long line of flash-in-the-pan Hollywood It Girls.
Once here, moods swing violently, old wounds re-open and skeletons emerge from closets, an uneasy air of sexual tension underscoring the proceedings.Buscemi is certainly an excellent director of actors, himself not only in fine, sharply skewed form, but also earning from Miller possibly her best performance to date.
The hand-held digital camera-work ably services a voyeuristic plot, and the script crackles with caustic repartee.The remake of a film by murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gough, Interview is a tight, engaging drama with a thick nasty streak and an acutely barbed final act.
As I am staying in Amsterdam, that know-how interested me and on top of that I have a liking for Steve Buscemi (obviously after seeing Fargo).This is a story of a political journalist Pierre Peters (Steve) who is given a job to interview a B-grade movie celebrity Katya (Sienna Millers).
There is a final twist in the movie that makes the viewers satisfy.Both the characters are complex, especially of Katya and I should say that even though Sienna Millers has tried her best and acted well too, still her character remains un-defined and shallow.
I expect Buscemi was meant to be the villain of the piece but I ended up feeling far more sympathy for his character than I did for Sienna Miller's protagonist.Maybe that was intentional but it left me feeling less than satisfied with the ending and at a running time of under 80 minutes, it felt like there could have been a lot more to the story.
Perhaps redemption of either character or revenge for/reversal of the trick Miller's character pulls on Buscemi's.That said it was extremely well written and directed and the performances by both leads were pretty exceptional, hence a high score, but for the dissatisfaction I felt with the ending it would have been an 8 or even 9 out of 10 for me..
If they aren't pop superstars out of the gate or genuine teen stars that get great coverage with films like, I don't know, "Mean Girls" for instance, then they remain B movie actresses and never achieve celebrity.
Nevertheless, thanks partly to some intriguing "acting of acting" by Buscemi and especially Miller, between the lines the film succeeds in discussing its problematic theme: the relation between a journalist and an actor, in which information and truth become tradeable goods and instruments of power.
In case you're wondering, this story was not written by "the" Theo Van Gogh (brother of the famous Dutch painter) but his great-grandson who wrote and directed the original "Interview" in 2003 a year before he was shot, stabbed & partially decapitated by a ticked off Muslim extremist who didn't like his movies.The only reason I'm mentioning this is to illustrate that Theo Van Gogh's films certainly had an effect on people.
While I seriously doubt anybody will get assassinated over this film, I'm sure it may (good naturedly) ruffle a few feathers in the world of self-important journalism and Hollywood tabloid reporting.Steve Buscemi plays an arrogant political journalist who is sent on a fluff assignment to interview a soap opera/B-movie celebrity (Sienna Miller).
He's a character we love to hate, and that's what makes this film work.Sienna Miller is well cast as the starlet known for her love affairs & bust size more than her talent.
In the second half they raise the stakes, building momentum to a big finale which I found very satisfying.If you're a fan of plays or films made from plays, particularly ones where characters love to antagonize each other like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) or "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951), with a somewhat claustrophobic 1-on-1 presentation, then give this playful movie a shot..
Sometimes the acting is good--Sienna Miller plays parts of her flighty-actress role well, and Buscemi is good as a washed-up journalist.
The twist ending was mildly entertaining (hence 2 stars instead of 1), but it shows Miller's character to be much smarter and virtually psychic about Buscemi's next moves than she would ever have been.
Steve Buscemi's "Interview" is the remake of a 2003 Dutch movie of the same name (which I haven't seen, therefore I can't compare this to the original).
It was great to see him playing an atypical, much more serious role than usual - Pierre, a political journalist who's set to interview a blonde diva, B-movie star Katya (Sienna Miller, who surprised me with a good performance after her bloody awful turn in "Factory Girl", easily one of the most cringe-inducing performances I've ever seen).
They end up at her apartment for a long night of talking, drinking, and secrets revealed.Buscemi and Sienna have the right chemistry, plus his smart script and directing find the right pace for this kind of movie, so their long conversation never gets boring.
This movie is entertaining just by the performances of Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller despite its silly screenplay.I have to say that I liked the movie despite it was bad written, and I think the reason is because Steve Buscemi is a very good actor and Sienna Miller is likable in here, even though they play 2 characters who spend a night together in a very unrealistic situation acting in a very estrange way.Pierre Peders is a former political journalist now making interviews to the show business people thing which he doesn't like at all.
One evening very strange things will happen to him when he interviews Katya a movie and TV actress ....6.5 stars = regular +.
Interview, a remake of the Theo Van Gogh film from a few years back, is a taut tightrope act between two characters who can't stand one another and seem somehow fascinated all the same.
You really can't stand these people (or actually Miller's character), but you never want to look away from what they'll do next.It's about a political journalist (Buscemi) assigned to a "fluff piece", begrudgingly, with a hot young starlet of B-movies and TV (Miller), and after a bad dinner interview, or would-be interview, and a bad knock on the head in a taxi cab as Buscemi is leaving the restaurant, she invites him up to her place to clean his wound and suddenly the interview starts up again.
One might wonder why this film needed to be because of Van Gogh's original film from years before (which, by the way, had the actors playing their characters with the same names, and as a real serious actor playing against a real TV star).But Buscemi, as writer, director, and actor, is never one to stop his form of weird fascination too.
By the end we probably don't know her any better than when she sat down for a drink at the restaurant, except perhaps that she loves getting into character and messing with someone who has no idea who she is, in work and in life.When Interview is at its best, it combines fine performances with a beat after beat of dialog that does a double-cross: it's playfully self-aware of the situation, but at the same time the two characters go for truths about one another that take people sometimes years to get at in 'real' relationships.
And Sienna Miller is tremendous in her role of Katya, a young "with it" actress who lets it all hang out and then she encounters an INTERVIEW like no other.
Steve Buscemi and Miller light up the screen with an intensity and dialog that is ripping, angry and very much reflects what is happening at this moment of time on wanting to nail the perfect story.However, the twist at the end of the film is a wonderful scene and once again, Sienna Miller is at the top of her game in handling "the lies we tell each other" photographed in the glamorous loft settings of New York.
"Interview", directed and starred by Steve Buscemi, at first seems something like "Out of sight", where opposite attract, but then it turns into something like "Tape", where we experience various plot turns in a little space in a short amount time.
Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller obtain a great script and a naturalistic dialogue that have them interweaving a personal experience as they verbally fence over an interview.
A contemptuous political journalist Pierre Peders (Steve Buscemi) is assigned to interview a soap opera star Katya (Sienna Miller), much to his annoyance.
Even though Interview is not among my favourite conversation films, Buscemi alone makes it worth seeing for friends of dialogue-driven character dramas.
A political journalist (Buscemi) is sent on a clearly beneath-him assignment to meet an attractive B-list soap star celebrity (Sienna Miller).
Just like her character, Miller gets a lot of bad press but I've seen most of her work and she's actually quite talented.The direction was impeccable and kudos to Buscemi for making this film such an entertaining, engaging and wild ride and also for not trying to extend the running time.
INTERVIEW is a smart little independent film adapted from the 2003 Theo van Gogh film by the same name, a film that drew a lot of attention based on a script by Theodor Holman, which in turn was based on an idea by Hans Teeuwen sparring the famous Dutch actress Katja Schuurman with actor Pierre Bokma.
In this adaptation Steve Buscemi reworked the Holman screenplay with the help of David Schechter, changing the female role to a tabloid type bombshell actress (also named Katya, played with razor sharp clarity by Sienna Miller) with a disgruntle political reporter Pierre (Steve Buscemi) whose career is on the skids requiring that he take lousy assignments such as this interview to stay alive.Other than a disastrous opening in a classy restaurant where the two characters realize they are ridiculously mismatched as an interview pair, the entire film takes place in Katya's loft.
Miller is perfectly cast as a very popular soap/B movie actress, and Buscemi is loathed to have to interview her, as he is a Washington correspondent.
The two exclusive characters in the film are Sienna Miller's pop culture sex icon known for her roles in Z-grade slasher films and an earthy, intelligent yet down-on-his-luck reporter, played with great flexibility by Steve Buscemi, who's time is above being spent on her sort of movies and culture, with personal problems and a back-stabbing agent.
I had only seen her in Layer Cake before seeing her in this, wherein she was a decorative T&A role.The movie perceives a different side of the image society brands on these two types of people and communicates an understanding far deeper than anyone picking up a tabloid with Miller's face on it or reading an interview by Buscemi would ever go.
We wave off our celebrities and providers of information with fleeting judgments that we cynically and obstinately cling to, and Interview knows it, which makes it all the more powerful and beautiful and fascinating to see these two people in the privacy of an NYC studio apartment hacking away at each other's brains and hearts in very ambiguous ways that are underhanded and dishonestly motivated at the same time they're yearning to pour their oft-misunderstood hearts out to someone.Any semblance of visual style in Buscemi's directing is quite deadpan, yet it may be intentional to lend focus on the personal nature of the film.
I watched this film just last night and thought it was absolutely brilliant and this is without the words but the concept of keeping 2 people in a room in a movie for 90% and keep the audience entertained It was very clever very funny and very disturbing all at the same time could not take my eyes off the screen if for no other reason than Katya.
Watching a Dutch person trying to act is like watching a bad TV commercial trying to to be artistic.Steve Buscemi is a wonderful actor and proved with this film that he can also write.
What did you think of Steve Buscemi's film "Interview"?
Buscemi plays Pierre Peders, a political journalist who is given a non-governmental cumbersome assignment in interviewing a tabloid soap opera star named Katya, played by the ravishing Miller.
The script is incredible and spot-on; every single word is the perfect choice for the two characters, Pierre (Buscemi) and Katya (Miller).
The movie is about a journalist(Buscemi) who is sent to interview a young and famous actress(Miller), they end up asking intimate questions about each others personal life's in (millers) house.
Miller is a young actress, she shows talent with this performance, by the end you'll believe that she is the character she plays, in real life.
It starts out interesting enough with Steve Buscemi playing a political reporter who has to do a story on starlet Sienna Miller and can't really hide his contempt for this.But it doesn't go anywhere.
Steve Buscemi does double duty as director and lead character, political journalist Pierre Peders, assigned the task of doing a fluff piece on the flavor-of-the-week Sienna Miller's self-involved actress Katya.
Buscemi's direction is to tap into the truth of the relationship between Pierre and Katya, and this does come off as caustic at times, but the actors always seem like real people.The look of the flick is well-matched to its themes.
This is a two-hander and Buscemi and Miller carry the entire feature, and the dynamic that ignites between the two is memorable and will leave you thinking through much of what the characters say and do as the screen fades.The film at times may feel a little too much like theatre.
This movies was written, directed and stars Steve Buscemi.
The performances by Buscemi and his co-star Sienna Miller as well as a good part of the dialogue satisfied my expectations but I don't think there was sufficient material in the script for the length of the movie.
Sienna Miller character was excellent writing and she was a pleasant surprise by the time the movie ended.
Steve Buscemi directs, acts, and co-writes a small Indiewood movie with Sienna Miller about a political journalist who ends up interviewing a Hollywood star he knows next to nothing about.
Sienna Miller was all over the board.Except for a rough and unnecessary twist-form of ending, it makes a nice little dramatic comedy, a great exercise in acting, and a fun Indie-mentality small film.
Pierre, An over-the-hill (formerly successful) political journalist is forced to interview the 'actress' Katja, whose more famous for who she sleeps with than for her 'films'.
This is basically a 2 character play, with a prologue that while being well done (actually more interesting than what follows) This however has next to nothing to do with what follows.Steve Buscemi wrote, directed & stars in this version of a 2003 Dutch film by Theo Van Gogh.
That film HAD to be better than this.Now to this movie,Steve cant do wrong as an actor,he makes all the right moves.
INTERVIEW (2007) ** ½ Steve Buscemi adapted and directed this remake of slain European filmmaker Theodor Holman's absorbing yet constrained character study about a once hotshot political journalist (Buscemi) forced into taking a fluff piece assigned by his editor on a superficial actress best known for her lascivious lifestyle (Miller, in another strong performance, proving she's more than a pretty face) than for her questionable work. |
tt0228685 | Oriundi | Brazilian director Ricardo Bravo has fashioned a rare kind of film, a heart-tugger that completely immerses the viewer and moves you to tears. ORIUNDI is an utterly charming love story that is funny, poignant and tragic at the same time. The film is also marked by strong familial undercurrents that are handled with extraordinary delicacy and never feel contrived.
Anthony Quinn gives a brilliant performance as a 93-year-old patriarch Giuseppe Padovani, and Italian immigrant, who, nearing the end of his life, suddenly finds himself longing for his one true love, Caterina, the woman he married and then suddenly lost in a tragic airplane accident more than 60 years ago. When Caterina suddenly and inexplicably appears to him in the guise of a beautiful young relative, Sofia D'Angelo (Leticia Spiller), Giuseppe begins to question both his reality and his sanity.
As he ponders the existence of his wife in reincarnated form, we get a glimpse of Giuseppe's world, a life that is delicately and intricately interwoven with those around him. It is a reality that is tenuous at best, because Giuseppe can do nothing to halt the deterioration of his family. Giuseppe's grandson Renato (Paulo Betti), a gourmet chef who has been entrusted with taking care of the pasta factory that Giuseppe and Caterina began, is forced to sell the family business in order to avoid bankruptcy. When Renato's son, Stefano (Tiago Real) comes home from business school full of grand ideas for saving the business, Renato dismisses him without a thought. For Renato, the painful decision to sell the business to a group of businessmen has been made at a huge price - the loss of respect from his family.
When Giuseppe begins to seriously believe that the beautiful Sofia is indeed Caterina reincarnated, he turns to his life-long friend and physician Dr. Enzo (Paulo Autran) for advice. His friend, however, can only offer philosophical platitudes with no assurances that he is not getting senile.
Faced with the impending sale of the family business, his own failing health and the unhappiness he sees in those around him, Giuseppe seems only to watch and wait in silent reflection and frustration as his world crumbles. Is this the reason Caterina has returned to him after so many years? Has she come to help him save those he loves? Is she the key to the family's happiness and their only hope for survival?
Award-winning screenwriter Marcos Bernstein (Central Station and Terra Estrangeira) has fashioned a heartwarming and touching screenplay that is filled with love, courage and sacrifice. It is a film that awakens in us the most basic of our emotions, even as it echoes the importance of preservation of family -- often at the expense of our past. This life-affirming drama is full of rich tradition and human tragedy.
ORIUNDI was filmed entirely on location in the picturesque city of Curitiba, a city of immigrants in the south of Brazil. Like the city itself, ORIUNDI is a film that not only celebrates the passion of its cultural history and the immigrant people who came from distant shores to make a better life, but it is also mindful of the future and its destiny.
ORIUNDI is a love story that finds beauty and passion even in suffering -- a small miracle in itself.
Produced by Laz Audiovisual Ltda., ORIUNDI runs 97 minutes. | romantic, horror | train | imdb | null |
tt0388973 | The Girl from Monday | In a future sterilized world, a city without a name is peopled by a population that are all bar-coded on their wrists and are monitored by MMM, the Multi-Media Monopoly a global corporation that runs the country like a business. Sex in this culture is for commercial reasons and those are tied to the continuance and thriving of Capitalism. Jack (Bill Sage) works at the MMM corporation and is conspiring with William (Leo Fitzpatrick) to sabotage the MMM corporation where Jack is an account manager with Cecile (Sabrina Lloyd). As Jack and Cecile make attempts at an office romance, William and some cohorts get caught in an act designed to bring down the MMM. When Jack and Cecile's affair stalls and Cecile goes to a bar for a drink, she accidentally connects with William and they spend the night together. Jack has another conspirator in the Medical industry who calls him about a girl that has been brought into the hospital and goes by the name Monday because she's from the planet of Monday. Monday (Tatiana Abracos) has come to this planet to communicate with Jack as he too is an escaped being from that planet. Jack it turns out has been here for quite some time and has experienced all the changes that have allowed him to adapt to the present society so that no one is aware of his origins. When the MMM discovers Jack and Cecile's romance she is sentenced to 3 years hard labor, teaching high school where she encounters William and decide to join forces with him to help overthrow the MMM. Jack and Monday come to an agreement about their origin on the planet Monday and Jack must make difficult decisions to insure his future and Monday's happiness. | romantic, avant garde, satire | train | imdb | Betaville.
In which Hartley continues his exploration of the Godard cookbook.
In this case, "Alphaville", with side orders of "The Man Who Fell to Earth" and various Chris Marker 'photoroman' movies.The voice-over is not a cover for the failure to tell the story so much as a yarn-spinning technique along the lines of early Peter Greenaway or late Werner Herzog.
There are some striking similarities with Herzog's recent "Wild Blue Yonder" (also billed as a science fiction fantasy).In some ways this seems as much an exercise as an attempt to entertain; as with Godard's work the film is shot on a shoestring, with the present made to stand in for the future - Hartley tries to see how much he can say with how little.Others have commented on the social satire; overlooked may have been the beautiful photography, the dreamlike atmosphere, the air of melancholy and loss, and the very effective music by Hartley himself (no longer trading under his "Ned Rifle" alias).I dare say many of us miss his "early, funny, films" but that's how it goes with New York filmmakers, I guess.
Where those movies were snappy prose, this is a poem..
The oddest Harley film yet.
Being a huge fan of the films that Hartley did in the 90's, I couldn't wait to see this movie at Sundance.
In fact it was one of the two movies I absolutely had to see (the other one was Mirrormask).I can't say that I got what I expected.
The movie proclaims itself to be a "Science fiction film by Hal Harley".
It is neither science fiction (unless you count Kurt Vonnegut as science fiction), nor a typical Harley film.
The special effects that you expect in a science fiction are nowhere to be found.
In fact, big chunks of the movie aren't even in technicolor.The whole movie is shot with very long exposure times and frame rates reaching down to 5-10 fps, leading to a totally dreamlike look.But enough about technicalities...
'As I said the movie was a surprise but a very pleasant one.
Harley uses his favorite themes of alienation (this time with actual aliens) and random, but very deep personal connections.
He paints a weird but very familiar world of people treating sex as a means to getting what they want -- but with a quite interesting twist.
Other current subjects, like civil liberties (ie: the lack thereof) and teenage crime are also treated to a round of deep black, dripping irony.All in all I would recommend the movie, but not as a mindless Friday-night excursion.
a meditation on sex and interpersonal distance at times of not-too-distant future advanced capitalism.
It is a typical Hal Hartley in terms of the mood he creates.
Long in-door shots, the disconcert between sound and sight.
As always he uses cheap material.
for instance one suspects that the black goggles that the cops wear -with the red light in the center- may be like a 10 dollar toy bought from Chinatown.
But this combined with the camera moves and lights allows him to create a different world that is often visually convincing.
Although I heard people in the audience murmur about the connection with the space being unconvincing, I totally disagree.It is a meditation on capitalism where the term 'flesh market' gets literal.
He weaves this theme in with reflections on the sense of the extremeness of the boundaries between individuals in modern capitalist society.
How one feeds the other, in fact makes the other possible.
I found it very successful although sometimes a bit didactic..
Not Hartley's best--by a long shot.
"Simple Men," "Amateur," and "Henry Fool" are among the films of Hal Hartley--one of the wittiest and most sophisticated independent directors working in America today.After seeing "Simple Men," I eagerly waited the release on video of each new Hartley film, and relentlessly hunted down his early work and short films as well.
Mostly, I found his movies to be totally and refreshingly offbeat, unpredictable, and irreverent--yet also very watchable--with great plots, likable characters, and a sense of humor that was wry and goofy by turns.His photographic style was crisp and painterly; and though it may it may have looked conventional, its flat lighting and muted colors, coupled with deadpan dialogue and the movement and ear of a good play, it was obvious to anyone that this was genuine "auteur" direction.But Hartley's more recent work"The Book of Life," "No Such Thing," and now "The Girl from Monday," has failed to stir in me even the slightest interest.
There are vestiges in these films of vintage Hartley; but the thrill is definitely gone.As he did in "The Book of Life," Hartley once again decides to offset the horizon in almost every scenea few degrees to the left, a few degrees to the rightand he indulges in other eccentricities as well, like cutting out frames to make the motion jagged, or moving the camera in and out of focusin short adding disruption after disruption--all to no purpose that I can discover.
Personally, I find nothing interesting and nothing functional in this new, crabbed style of his.The plot of "Girl" is jejune in the extremeyet another distopic look at a future of totalitarian rule, with a bit of alien intervention to muddy the mix still further.
(Someone on this list compared the sci-fi facet to "The Man Who Fell To Earth." Indeed, the theft is so blatant, Roeg should have been mentioned in the credits.) This movie has little to recommend iteven for a Hartley enthusiast like I (was)..
A bit too simplistic.
It has a promising plot line, and some quite interesting performances and direction, but overall I felt the film lacked substance.
Except for its unique idea of sex-for-points, it's filled with simple notions such as "advertising is bad" and "freedom is good." Both are valid beliefs, but neither are explored with much originality.It played out like a weak version of an excellent novel or short story.
Great soundtrack, though.(BTW, I believe the opening credits read "A Science Fiction by Hal Hartley," not "A Science Fiction Film by Hal Hartley," as the first reviewer wrote.
Not sure exactly what he means by that, but it is probably significant to Hartley.).
A social commentary against big business, big government ,and consumerism..
Shown at New York's Museum of Modern Art, January 2005.
Introduced by the Directer with the major cast in attendance.A satirical swipe at Big Government and Big Business.
Government and business are in a conspiracy to exploit the public.
The film also ridicules the situation in the schools where guns are checked at the door.
The main characters are rebelling against the big powers.Life is not good for the workers.
Everything is turned into a profit maker for the big company which is an arm of the government.
Sex, for example, cannot be enjoyed for pleasure but is used to earn purchasing credits.
Sex for pleasure is punishable.All students take Attention Deficit pills.
The school situation is so bad, that a criminal sentence is to teach high school for two years.The action takes place in the "future' but the very near future as the cars, streets, clothes, etc are all modern day.
The film was shot almost entirely in downtown Manhattan.
Some parts looks like a hand held camera was used but the resulting film is professional in look and color.The acting and action move the action along at a nice pace.
The Girl From Monday arrives from a planet(?)called Monday.
A space visitor is not really necessary to the story but it allows the "Monday" character to observe the local people with a fresh eye.The "bad" motives and actions of the government, corporation, and The Police are beaten to death with a fairly heavy hand but that is the point of the film which arose from a "rant" written by the Director who later decided to put his criticisms on film.Have not seen any of this director's previous films to compare but this film was an enjoyable look at what could happen if the "Military/Industrial Complex" of the 1950's becomes the Government/Industrial Complex of today..
I Don't Know the Man...but his movie is bad.
So hopefully this was just a blip on the screen of an otherwise good career.
Was the talk of the Sundance shuttle bus...but not in a good way.Too many amateurish techniques.
Voice over narration in an attempt to get a noir feeling but most of the time was actually for exposition because the story wasn't getting told on the screen.Bad camera technique that would be okay in small doses (ie: a dream sequence) but was tiring and distracting from the opening credits onward.
Kept waiting for the "real" movie to start.The girl from Monday doesn't make an appearance for quite awhile in the movie and then gets left in an apartment to learn to use her body (or course she swam out of the ocean quite well).Anyway...I had to leave about the time the boy was getting "raped" in the school bathroom.
Time is too precious at Sundance and I went to "Rory O'Shea was Here" and the contrast couldn't have been higher between the two.Is probably a waste of time to anyone but his fans.D..
American Godard.
Is this Hartley following Godard's footsteps and becoming "political"?
Political commentary is never interesting, unless it is executed in an interesting way.
Luckily, this is one of those cases.I'm amazed at the quality of the shots considering they used a DCR-VX2000 for this movie.
How many cameras did they use?
One I suspect.Hartley's World is that of an intelligent essayist, specially since he quit making movies like "Surviving Desire" and "Trust".
"Theory of Achievement" was heavily influenced by "La Chinoise", as much as the form of a "short" could take it.
Here we have the same intent, but turned into a fictional narrative.
It works, but only if you understand the reasoning behind it..
deep movie if you have the skill to look past production value.
I would like to suggest to those who comment on this film, of which there are many, that if one is to judge this movie as 'simplistic' or trite, then one has to answer a set of questions raised by the film - 1.
What is the relation between embodiment and desire?
Hartley raises this beautifully with the presentation of the girl, and intertwines it with the other themes (among many!) that I would like to point out.
2. What is the role of Christianity in this film?
The word become flesh, the girl reading a study bible, the interviewer asking Jack if he is religious, and the idea of sacrifice and martyrdom all raise this issue in interesting and provocative ways.
(this is especially interesting considering the film's conclusion and the question it raises about the possibility of a messiah in a capitalist context (i.e. where "value" only means monetary value))3.
What is the relation between desire and the structures of society?
Does desire resist that power structure, or is it rather created by that power structure?
The film raises the question of whether or not the resistance that is possible is also "good for business," and suggests that desire is fully malleable by the power structure.
BUT, it also opens the possibility for real resistance, without being overly optimistic about this.
There are many many other interesting questions raised by this wonderful and thoughtful film, but these are just a few that immediately strike me as central, and which do not seem to play a role in the criticism of the film voiced by many of its detractors.
It is important to develop the skill to enjoy many types of film - important insofar as it simply increases pleasure in watching film - and so it is best to be able to ignore problems with the low production value and bad acting and to enjoy it for its strengths, rather than focus on the negative and not enjoy one's time with the film.
P.S. Anyone else wondering about the references to Homer's Odyssey in the film?
So many questions .
a real stinker.
The dialogue is stilted, the acting is just awful, the back story is sketchy---especially frustrating in a film that hangs on its back story---and the "futuristic" props are so cheap as to be comical.
The social-scientific concept of the movie sounds rather intriguing when read in summary on Wikipedia, but it's not fleshed out in the film.
Worse yet, there's no connection established between that concept and the extra-terrestrial aspects of the story.
Overall, this movie lacks a coherent plot, on top of stunningly poor execution.
Indeed, the best thing about this film is the titles design.
So watch those and move on---don't waste the next 80 minutes of your life..
Quite Bad. Hal Hartley has always been an inconsistent filmmaker.
He made the terrific Trust and a lot of good movies like Henry Fool and The Unbelievable Truth, but he has also made a frightening number of movies that are really, really, bad.After the excellent Henry Fool, Hartley reached a sort of consistency, pumping out consistently terrible movies one after the other like Fay Grimm, No Such Thing, Book of Life, and the abysmal Girl from Monday.Girl from Monday is a few different sorts of bad.
It is a trite sci-fi story of the sort written by people who haven't read enough science fiction to know that their ideas are unoriginal.
It is convoluted storytelling poorly held together by an inescapable voice-over in lieu of using action to tell story.
It is filmed in a purposefully artsy style involving odd angles and breaks in action that does nothing to further the story and fails to create an interesting style.Hartley is always at his best exploring the lives of odd people who can't communicate.
But this movie has little of that classic Hartley approach to conversation outside of a short chat early on between the two leads.
Mainly it's either narration or two characters exchanging information in a straightforward but uninteresting way.Like No Such Thing and Fay Grimm, this is a genre movie from a director who is incapable of making genre movies.
It is admirable that Hartley likes to try new things, but it's remarkable how bad he is when he gets out of his groove.By the way, some people have suggested this is Hartley being Goddard.
I absolutely hate Goddard.
Just so you know where I'm coming from..
Indie Hartley.
I admire the delicious political cynicism of this film, but it's too bad a lot of 'art-house' critics inject profundity into films where no such profundity exists.
It always reminds me of James Joyce's remark after reading a particularly pontificating, over-analyzed-and-intellectualized critique of Ulysses: 'Sounds good to me; wish I'd thought of that'.
(I'm paraphrasing).Whoever said this is a 'Hartley film' is probably closest to the truth.
You either 'get' the guy or you don't.
Personally, I'm in the latter camp.
I keep watching Hartley's films and he doesn't make me swoon (regrettably, because I hate Hollywood crap and want indie makers to succeed).In 'The Girl From Monday,' I was confused from the get-go.
The voice-over and 'establishment' shots just didn't place me at all.
The acting was sub-par.
If you're going to throw satiric barbs at a juicy target like capitalism, you'd better have actors with more conviction and irony in their voices.
I wanted this film to register with me, but it didn't..
back to the future.
Kind of like an episode of X Files....
Girl from Monday has a basic outline of a plot, but we are given more questions than answers.
"Someone" from the future comes back looking for "someone else".
There's an underground gang of revolutionaries, which keeps almost getting caught.
And in the future, somehow sexual intercourse between people has monetary value...
but so many inconsistencies here.
When William and Cecile have unauthorized love, only she seems to be caught and punished.
Yet when Jack and Cecile ALMOST make love, only Jack is punished.
The cops of the future seem much more adept at catching people making love than bombing government buildings.
and Jack holds down a full time job that does...
what, exactly?
The basic premise is actually really good, but the script is pretty shaky.
Needed tightening up.
And the first five minutes employed strange edits, freeze frames, slow motion, and weird jumps.
Thankfully, that stopped after the first few minutes.
almost turned it off.
The only big name I recognized was Edie Falco, from Sopranos and Nurse Jackie.
Looks like the director uses her in a bunch of his films.
If you like futuristic films which are a little fuzzy, plot wise, and don't mind having many un-answered questions, you'll probably like this one.
From Hal Hartley, who has been writing and directing for years.
Currently showing on Fandor Channel. |
tt0024578 | Snow-White | At the beginning of the story, a queen sits sewing at an open window during a winter snowfall when she pricks her finger with her needle, causing three drops of red blood to drip onto the freshly fallen white snow on the black windowsill. Then, she says to herself, "How I wish that I had a daughter that had skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony." Some time later, the queen gives birth to a baby daughter whom she names Snow White, but dies shortly thereafter.
A year later, Snow White's father, the king, takes a new wife, who is very beautiful, but a wicked and vain woman. The new queen possesses a magic mirror, which she asks every morning, "Magic mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?" The mirror always replies: "My queen, you are the fairest in the land." The queen is always pleased with that, because the magic mirror never lies. But as Snow White grows up, she becomes more beautiful each day and even more beautiful than the queen, and when the queen asks her mirror, it tells her that Snow White is the fairest.
This gives the queen a great shock. She becomes envious, and from that moment on, her heart turns against Snow White, whom the queen grows to hate increasingly with time. Eventually, the angry queen orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the deepest woods to be killed. As proof that Snow White is dead, the queen demands that he returns with her lungs and liver. The huntsman takes Snow White into the forest. After raising his knife, he finds himself unable to kill her and he spares her life. Snow White is told that her stepmother wants her dead and to get far away from the kingdom as possible. He instead brings the queen the heart of a wild animal.
After wandering through the forest, Snow White discovers a tiny cottage belonging to a group of seven dwarfs. Since no one is at home, she eats some of the tiny meals, drinks some of their wine, and then tests all the beds. Finally, the last bed is comfortable enough for her and she falls asleep. When the dwarfs return home, they immediately become aware that someone snuck in secretly, because everything in their home is in disorder. During their loud discussion about who snuck in, they discover the sleeping Snow White. She wakes up and explains to them what happened, and the dwarfs take pity on her and let her stay with them in exchange for housekeeping. They warn her to be careful when alone at home and to let no one in when they are away delving in the mountains.
Meanwhile, the queen asks her mirror once again: "Magic mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?" The mirror replies: "My queen, you are the fairest here so true. But Snow White beyond the mountains at the Seven Dwarfs is a thousand times more beautiful than you". The queen is horrified to learn that the huntsman has betrayed her and that Snow White is still alive. Planning to kill Snow White, the queen disguises herself as an old peddler. The queen appears at the dwarfs' cottage and offers Snow White colorful, silky laced bodices and convinces Snow White to take the most beautiful laces as a present. Then the queen laces her up so tightly that Snow White faints, causing the queen to leave her for dead. But the dwarfs return just in time, and Snow White revives when the dwarfs loosen the laces.
The queen then consults her magic mirror again, and the mirror reveals Snow White's survival. The queen dresses as a comb seller and convinces Snow White to take a beautiful comb as a present. She brushes Snow White's hair with the poisoned comb and the girl faints again. She is again revived by the dwarfs when they remove the comb from her hair. When the mirror again indicates that Snow White still lives, the queen makes a third and final attempt on Snow White by disguising herself as a farmer's wife, an offering a poisoned apple to her. The girl is at first hesitant to accept it, so the queen cuts the apple in half, eating the white (harmless) half and giving the red poisoned half to Snow White. The girl eagerly takes a bite and falls into a state of suspended animation. This time, the dwarfs are unable to revive Snow White. Assuming that she is dead, they place her in a glass casket.
After a short period of time, a prince traveling through the land sees Snow White. He strides to her coffin. Enchanted by her beauty, he instantly falls in love with her. The seven dwarfs succumb to his entreaties to let him have Snow White. The moment he lifts the coffin to carry it away, the piece of poisoned apple falls from between her lips and Snow White awakens saying "Where am I?" The Prince then declares his love for her and soon a wedding is planned. Snow White and the prince invite everyone to come to their wedding party, including Snow White's stepmother.
Meanwhile, the queen, still believing that Snow White is dead, again asks her magic mirror who is the fairest in the land. The mirror says: "Thou, lady, art loveliest here, I ween; but lovelier far is the new-made queen", which enrages the queen. Not knowing that the Prince's bride is her stepdaughter, the queen arrives at the wedding and sees that the bride is Snow White, whom she thought dead. She chokes with rage, falls down, and dies. Snow White and the prince reign happily over the land for many, many years and sometimes traveling into the mountains and visiting the dwarfs, who had been so kind to Snow White. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | The Strangest Snow White You'l Ever See. This is another of those Betty Boop cartoons that feature two things: music and an insane storyline with wild visuals where crazy things happen one after the other.
I say that because this is not any Snow White story you've ever seen.
It's so strange, and it's almost hard to describe.In one fairly long scene, we hear the voice of the great Cab Calloway while some ghostly spirit-like figure dances through some Dante's Infero/hello underground.
It's really bizarre!Earlier, we get the ugly queen talking several times to her "looking glass" (mirror) with dialog such as, "Am I the fairest in the place?"The mirror answers, " If I was you, I'd hide my face!"I'm telling you; these guys MUST have been on acid who wrote and drew some of these early Betty Boop cartoons!
You can't do much better in terms of pure, clever cinematic fun, than revisit these Betty Boops, the ones that mix Cab Calloway, ghouls and sexy Betty cavorting with demons.
This is much more complex, mixing in Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, all of which would be mined by Disney later.What brought me back to this was seeing "Corpse Bride." It was brilliant, I thought, and drew heavily from the two "Skeleton Dance" cartoons and this little window into the underworld given to us by the Fleischers.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching..
This is a wonderful short humorous cartoon, predating the Disney feature inspired by the same folk-tale.The Wicked Witch/Queen is jealous of Betty Boop's beauty, and orders Boop's execution.
As in "Minnie The Moocher", the scene shifts to a spooky cave where we are serenaded by the voice of Cab Calloway.The music and action mesh beautifully, keeping the momentum strong throughout.
Watch carefully for a plethora of visual jokes to the sides and behind the action.Unfortunately, most copies of this cartoon on video were taken from 1950s television prints, which cut off part of the frame.This is perhaps as close to perfection as the Fleischer Studios achieved.
Most of this cartoon is top-notch Fleischer fare and definitely worth watching, but there's one part that makes it absolutely stand out: the darkly hypnotic scene where Koko the Clown sings an elegy in Cab Calloway's voice in the underworld while Betty Boop is marched down in her glass coffin by pallbearers.
The first time I saw it, it was literally breathtaking; all conversation in the room stopped as soon as Calloway started singing, and we watched, hypnotized, as Koko turns into a skeleton and dances with Calloway's moves in Hell while skeleton fish fly through the air and skeleton humans play poker deep in the background.
A great short and possibly the best Fleischer ever did!.
The music is perfect, the animation is superb and quite darkly creepy in spots, the story is excellent and everything fits together like a seamless jigsaw puzzle.
When Koko (voiced by Cab Calloway) sings "St. James Infirmary Blues", watch his movements.
The animators captured Cab Calloway's movements perfectly here.
The character is Koko, but the walk is Calloway and it works completely.
Anyone who is a fan of both Koko and Cab Calloway (I may be the only one, although I hope not) will see both characters in one place at one time, a perfect blend without either dominating.
I bow humbly to genius.
you can not get animation like this anymore, apparently it scares children, but how i do long for the sight of Betty Boop being carried in a frozen coffin by 7 dwarfs into a tunnel.
for many, the Fleischer's aren't their cup of tea (not making sense, not the best animation, creepy) but for me, the animation is fun and inventive and is far more intelligent than Disney's work which i find un-stimulating at times and can drag.
fair enough, they embellish the story a tad but, to be fair, they only had ten minutes and they still managed to produce innovations (the dancing, singing, transformed coco the clown has his dancemoves roto-scoped from Cab Calloway's dancing, roto-scoping was invented by them).But, what i believe sets this out as a true gem among gems is Cab Calloway.
the music is enthralling, the animation entertaining and the end product, magical.
This cartoon starring Betty Boop as Snow White, also with elements from 'Sleeping Beauty', is funny from start to finish.
It shows how the queen is no longer the fairest in the land, but Betty Boop.
They lift her up in her bed of ice and take her into a cave where the story gets the happy ending.The whole things is put on music that sounds very familiar.
Not only funny but with nice animation as well, this is one of the better cartoons I have seen..
Their visual style often stunning and some of the most imaginative and ahead of its time in animation.The character of Betty Boop, one of their most famous and prolific characters, may not be for all tastes and sadly not as popular now, but her sex appeal was quite daring for the time and to me there is an adorable sensual charm about her.
Koko is hilarious with some really imaginatively strange moments, while Cab Calloway's involvement proves to be a masterstroke.'Snow-White' is for me up there with Betty Boop's best cartoons, the story of 'Snow White' is told at its most wonderfully weird and a case of that done to great advantage.
It's so rich in imagination, never less than entertaining and is up there as one of Betty's boldest.Furthermore, the black and white animation is extremely good, smooth, meticulously detailed and well drawn with the black and white not looking too primitive.
A lot of it is actually very imaginative as well, some of the most inventive and eye-popping of the early Betty Boop cartoons to me.
Even better is the music, which is rousing, catchy and unquestionably accessible to anybody who loves or is familiar with the composition style.Overall, outstanding cartoon and up there among Betty Boop's best.
This is one of the great cartoons of all time..
Decent Betty Boop.
Trouble starts when the queen's magic mirror says Betty Boop is fairest.
Cab Calloway sings "St. James Infirmary Blues." The part of the cartoon with the Snow White story is pretty decent, though nothing really all that amazing, either.
It has the distinction, I believe, of beating Walt Disney to the story, though this film does not nearly do what Disney did.I love how when Cab Calloway appears in Betty Boop cartoons, it is always weird and sort of spooky.
There is another Cab Calloway cartoon, and I suspect he is every bit as weird in that..
An Evil Stepmother and a Magic Mirror--Must be Snow White.
Betty Boop was the signature of surrealism in her time.
Here she goes to visit her evil stepmother/queen, who is caught up in asking her mirror who the fairest is.
Then Betty Boop shows up.
Wonderfully bizarre and well animated version of Snow White.
When the Simpsons or other modern animations try to create the "old style" cartoons from the 20's or 30's they tend to do it by having black and white figures constantly bopping around in motion even when standing on the spot not doing anything.
That is the style that is here in this 1933 version of Snow White.
The plot is essentially an evil stepmother seeks to kill Snow White when her magic mirror turns its affections to the younger woman but from here we have some variety in the telling as the dwarfs are hardly in it and instead we spend a lot of time with a ghost singing a Cab Calloway song in some sort of hellish underground mine.As a version of the story is not where you want to go for the story, but as a cartoon it is very enjoyable because it is creative and fluid in what it does.
The first half is pretty good and I liked it for its old style animation and sense of character but the second half is much better when the song starts and we focus on this ghost character changing shape etc in time to the words and music.
The animation does have this great vision to it – as another IMDb writer here has said, if this was done in the 1960's we would have said the guy was stoned but that it was a real trip; it does say a lot that this cartoon from the 1930's fitted in so easily with the style in the 60's and 70's.It is worth seeing because although it not a hilarious cartoon it is creative with the animation and all has a very nice flow to it – and the addition of Cab Calloway singing just adds to the appeal..
SNOW-WHITE {Short} (Dave Fleischer, 1933) ***.
Another of the Fleischer Studios' "Betty Boop" cartoons, here putting their mark on a beloved fairy-tale 4 years before this was immortalized by the rival Walt Disney Productions, which would be chosen for the company's first feature-length venture.
Though we still get to hear Cab Calloway sing a tune (through the usually silent Koko!), thankfully, the idea that an animated short basically serve as a promo for the current musical hit was on its way out by this stage.
Here, Betty obviously fills the title role – arriving at the castle to visit her stepmother, the Evil Queen; when the latter's proverbial mirror states that the heroine is truly the fairest in the land, the older woman orders her beheading (taking a leaf out of "Alice In Wonderland"!).
Incidentally, the Seven Dwarfs barely figure into this at all: Snow-White turns up on their doorstep already encased in ice!
Snow White (1933) *** (out of 4)Very good telling of the famous story has the Wicked Witch getting upset when her mirror says that Betty Boop is better so it's off with her head.
Boop ends up with the seven dwarfs but the Wicked Witch comes looking for her.
This film certainly isn't in the same league as the Disney feature that would follow four years later but this is still fairly interesting and features a terrific closing song.
The nearly seven-minute running time goes by quite fast and we get some good visuals including the various ghosts and other dancing going on.
I think the highlight is towards the end when Koko the Clown sings a song but it's Cab Calloway doing the actual singing and it's very good.
I doubt anyone is going to watch this and throw away their Disney versions but this one here is certainly worth checking out..
This Betty Boop cartoon has a higher rating than Disney's SNOW WHITE?!?!?
In 1937, Disney produced the ground-breaking full-length cartoon, SNOW WHITE.
Four years earlier, Fleischer Studios made a short version of this classic tale and it starred, of all characters, Betty Boop.
Now, for the average Betty Boop cartoon, SNOW-WHITE is a pretty good cartoon--but I would never confuse Betty Boop with great art!
The animation, while decent for 1934, is incredibly poor compared to the Disney effort--yet miraculously the overall score for this short is higher than the great Disney film--even though SNOW WHITE is one of the best and most important films in animation history!
The very cartoony black and white artwork is passable but shows little artistic flair and,...well,...it's only Betty Boop!
About the only really interesting thing is a musical number performed by Koko the Clown and is actually sung by the great Cab Calloway.An oddity, of course...but NOT in the same league as the Disney classic..
Average cartoon overshadowed by Calloway.
This cartoon is about average- the storyline is somewhat contrived, some of the voices (the witch with the mirror) are terrible.
These shorts were definite precursors to some of the more imaginative 70's cartoons.There is one part of this film that definitely shines above the rest- when one of the Witch's guards breaks out into song.
The voice is Cab Calloway, singing "The St. James Infirmary Blues"- the song is absolutely amazing and fits right into the movie.
The way the animation flows through his song, and the transformations that the guard goes through as he sings are just amazing.Calloway and the animation make this average cartoon remarkable- 9/10.
A Delicious Feat of Genius!.
In today's Politically Correct world, something like this is an absolute treasure; the sort of thing even the best of today's cartoons don't even approach.
"St. James Infirmary Blues," what a great song; Cab Calloway, what a GREAT musician!
The collective imagination of the artists who created the breathtaking imagery of happy skeletons laughing and playing games during the Great Depression's darkest year -- what a treat!These cartoons were made for the general public and that included children.
Betty Boop's take on this classic fairy tale.
Mention Snow White and everybody will immediately think of the Disney masterpiece; this version made four years earlier is much more surreal though...
Betty Boop appears as the eponymous Snow White and her regular sidekicks Bimbo and Koko appear as a pair of Knights who are ordered to chop of her head when the queen's magic mirror says that Snow White is the fairest in the land.
After a series of mishaps the end up in a cave, Betty in what appears to be an 'ice coffin'; the evil queen turns up and uses the mirror to turn Koko into a strange apparition that sings 'St, James Infirmary Blues'.
Ultimately the mirror saves Betty and her friends and turns the queen into a hideous monster.This was a very imaginative take on the Snow White story; cramming the whole tale into just seven minutes; including a musical interlude featuring the voice of the great Cab Callaway as Koko.
and Betty's Snow White might not be as well known as Disney's but I don't recall the latter's doing a rather sensual dance while tied to a tree!
If you haven't seen this I'd definitely recommend checking it out; you might not think of Snow White in the same afterwards though!.
Funniest Snow White ever.
Only the Fleischer studios would be able to make a cartoon like this, showing all the magic and imaginativeness from the Golden Age of Animation.There always have been several condensed versions of fairy tales, and several parodies as well, but none of those condensed versions or parodies were so wonderfully crazy as this one.This short is funny, beautifully animated and incredibly strange and imaginative, taking a very well-know story from the perspective of the Fleischer Studios animations, being one of the fascinating animated shorts ever made.There aren't cartoons like this anymore, and that's a shame.10/10 (I would rate this with eleven stars if I could).
This is "Snow-White", the Betty Boop version.
However, I have to say this has nothing on the classic animated "Snow White" film that was done a couple years later.
But the best thing about this 7-minute black-and-white cartoon to me was Cab Calloway.
Great singing voice really, but not enough to make this film worth a watch in my opinion.
Betty Boop as Snow White.
This black & white cartoon appeared far before Disney released its version of "Snow White," and it shares little in common with it aside from the the witch with her mirror and the dwarfs.
Betty Boop is the eponymous character, and she is a sexy little thing in a black mini-skirt.
Everything gets off on the wrong foot when the Queen learns from her mirror (this is the same mirror that comes to life and shines her snout like a shoe-shine boy) that she is the fairest in the land--that is--until Betty arrives.
Interestingly enough, the mirror resembles an African-American singer Cab Calloway.
Narratively, Betty Boop visits the Queen's castle in search of her step-mama.
When she approaches the Queen, Her Highness sticks her face through her magic mirror as if it were a hoop and her head transforms into a skillet with two fried eyes as she ogles Betty.
The next scene shows Betty tied to a tree while KoKo sharpens his ax.
Betty's mournful song distracts KoKo enough that he grins his ax into powder.
The magic mirror doesn't tell the Queen what she wants to hear and she scoops the snow off the entrance to the hole and steps through her mirror, transforming herself into the witch.
She rides the mirror like a broom down to the end of the hole and KoKo and his canine pal follow her.
At this point, KoKo warbles a tune but it is really Cab Calloway singing "St. James Infirmary Blues." Truly, this cartoon qualifies as the most unusual rendition of Snow White ever seen!.
Marvel at the animation done to "St. James Infirmary" on Fleischer's Snow-White.
If there's a unique classic moment in a Fleischer cartoon, it has to be the "St. James Infirmary" number recorded by Cab Calloway as enacted by Koko the Clown who during this number has the evil Queen place her mirror through him and turns him into, I guess, some ghoul that does some great Calloway steps due to the rotoscoping that was done here.
Most of the other stuff involving Betty and Bimbo were pretty entertaining but nothing here compares to the sequence I just mentioned.
So on that note, Max Fleischer's Snow-White is definitely recommended..
There's an old- fashioned animated short for just about anything you could think of.
There's ones about Santa, living toys candy and musical instruments, gods and devils, good and evil, seasons of the year, animals, bugs...But this one, this is the fevered dream of a madman one!
Not so much any real kind of Snow White tale, more of a revolving freakshow of phantasmagorical imagery gone wild.
I'm not sure why, but the sight of Betty Boop's freakishly large, melon-like head bugged me.
It's awesome and disturbing all at once, and absolute nonsense from start to finish, but ever so much wicked fun to watch-a surreal triumph of early animation and a visual feast!!! |
tt0092563 | Angel Heart | Angel Heart (1987)An ominous street; midnight, a dark figure walks down an alley, past the sounds of anguish and moaning. A lone cat looks down from the fire escape, a street dog wanders the alley scrounging for food. The dog spots the cat and barks, giving chase only to stop briefly to lap up fresh blood pouring from the split chest of a homeless man.TitlesNew York, 1955, a man in a trench coach walks a street in Brooklyn, he smokes and greets various neighbours to the constant sound of a phone ringing.Harold Angel (Mickey Rourke), enters his office and answers the phone, he is a private investigator, and writes down details of the caller. An attorney, Mr. Winesap, introduces himself and sets up a meeting, with Luis Cyphre in Harlem.Angel arrives, and walks through an African-American neighbourhood, passing a group of mourners, and enters a building where an evangelist ceremony is being held in progress, the preacher motivates the congregation to donate generously, with the intention to upgrade his car. Harold watches cynically from the gallery above, and is joined by Herman Winesap, who introduces himself and leads him to meet the client. Angel follows him past a room where a maid is scrubbing a massive blood stain from the wall. "A suicide from one of their flock." Winesap introduces Angel to the client, Mr Luis Cyphre (Robert De Niro).Cyphre asks for identification. Fans spin. Cyphre takes his time checking the ID, but is satisfied. Angel inquires how they found him, Cyphre interrupts with a question "Do you know Johnny Favourite?" A singer.Angel explains he is a small timer on the job, Cyphre pays no attention, and continues to say Favourite's real name was Johnny Liebling. Winestead explains that Cyphre had a contract with him and that he had an accident and got amnesia. Cyphre cuts in and asks if Angel was in the war. Angel tells his story, yes he was, but came back prematurely a bit fucked up.Apparently Cyphre just wants to know if his client is alive or dead, and believes that they where deceived, and so they want Angel to "check it out". Cyphre thinks they have met before. Angel is certain they haven't.Angel drives away remembering the conversation points, whistling as he drives, he arrives at the hospital where the singer was supposed to have been. He presents an appropriate ID card, and enters to charm the receptionist, and despite her resistance she shows him the records regarding Jonathan Liebling. He chats casually with the receptionist, and discovers that he was transferred in 1943. He inspects the report, to notice that signature is in ball point, a Dr. Fouler. He observes that in 1943 they did not have ball point, and deducts it is a forgery. He asks about the doctor, only to be told that Dr. Fouler no longer works there.Angel leaves the hospital, drives to the city, and looks up the address of the doctor; goes to the house and breaks in through the back door. Inside the house he finds syringes, a revolver and a bible in a drawer, and drugs in the fridge. He waits in the dark, as the doctor arrives. The doc makes a bee-line for the fridge, and Angel interrupts him.They chat, and the doc does not call the police cause of the illegal substance in his house. Angel ask about Lieblin, and the doctor reveals very little, making excuses, and Angel exposes him. Angel gets rough. The doc says that some people took Leibler away. Angel get pissed off; he wants more details. He finds out that the people that took him went down south and paid him to maintain the pretense he was still at the hospital. Doc says his face was damaged and that he could not recognise him. Angel decides that cold turkey would refresh his memory. He locks him in his room.Angel leaves, passing a church as he walks through the snow. A strange voice calls out "Johnny" and he is lured into the church. Two nuns look up. He imagines a trellis elevator arriving and the doors opening. Angel spends his time in a diner smoking; the diner is empty. A piano plays an old song slowly and ominously. He finishes his coffee, returns to Dr. Fouler's apartment, and takes some morphine up to the doctor's room, unlocks the door to find the doctor violently murdered, shot in the eye. He lights a match on his shoe, sees the gun from the draw, and that the bible concealed bullets. He wipes the flat of prints, and leaves like a thief.The next day, Angel is in the hood and meets Ellie, leaving in a car. He flirts a little and goes to a restaurant to meet with Cyphre. The restaurant is empty. Cyphre does not look amused, he asks about Johnny, and he tells Cyphre that he walked out of the hospital with a girl named Kelly, and the rest of the story as related by the doctor. They chat as Cyphre eats an egg. Cyphre insists Angel find Johnny. Angel tells Cyphre about the doctor, and tries to leave the case, since now he is an accomplice to murder, he wants out. Cyphre ups the payment considerably, and Angel is interested.Cyphre eats the egg in an almost violent manner staring strangely at Angel, telling him in some cultures the egg is the symbol of the soul.Angel returns to the first church, and finds the blood smeared room clean, and also discovers a strange occult shrine. A street procession march, the preacher carried along surrounded by his congregation. Angel observes the shrine, concluding it is obviously occultic and deeply disturbing.When he leaves a single mourning woman dressed in black catches his attention, he approaches her, but is attacked from behind. He runs off and is chased into the back alley. He escapes by joining the street procession. The preacher is knocked from his suspended chair and crashes to the floor.Angel arrives at a bar to meet his secretary, who has some photos he needs to collect of Johnny. Later she tells him what she found. As they undress, she tells him where to find some key people: a rich woman, a jazz player and says that they were all involved in magic. The woman was known as the witch of Wellesley. Angel sarcastically summarises the case and has a flash memory of soldiers returning from war; a spiral staircase, and someone ascending; feet of a woman that sits down, and fans spinning.Angel, in his office, at night, listens to tape recorded facts, and adds more data about the doctor, and about how he tracked down Spider Simpson, and more info about the jazz player, Toots Sweet. Apparently Johnny had a black lover down south, that ran a magic store, and details about Madam Zorra, another person that he saw regularly.On the beach, a single man in a deck chair, Angel talks to this guy named Izzy, and asks after Madam Zorra, a friend of his wife; Angel asks about Johnny and is directed to his wife standing in the sea, but gives some more info about the crooner. Angel goes off to talk to the wife, more about Madam Zorra, she tells Angel that Johnny and she were very close, and that Margaret Krusemark was Madam Zorra, and that they went down south. She sings a tune of Favourites. Angel leaves her singing and thanks the man for the nose shield telling him he is headed for Louisiana.Angel arrives at the station, and is hot and sweaty. Street boys tap dance to a brass band, Angel has only a single suitcase, and in a hotel room, changes his shirt. The boys dance outside, as he walks around. Life is calm, and Angel takes a tram after spotting a woman board it. He watches her from behind, fascinated. She alights and he follows at a distance. He rings the bell to her apartment.Margaret Krusemark (Charlotte Rampling) greets him by name, he enters with an appointment. Her apartment is strangely decorated. She takes his details for a fortune reading, he plays with a curious artifact, a strange knife. When offered a drink he asks for tea, and the maid prepares it. Angel fiddles around as she questions him. He makes idle chitter chatter. The woman relieves the maid. He tries to smoke but she asks him not to. She asks for specific birth details. Angel gives her a birthdate, she notices that it is the same as a "friend" and he approaches the subject directly. He mentions Johnny Favourite, he tells her he is investigating, and she tells him he is dead, and tells him to leave. He persists. She throws him out. She reads his palm at the door, he notices her necklace, a pentacle.It is raining, when Angel arrives at a voodoo shop. He enters and it is full of strange shit. He asks about Evangeline Proudfoot (the other lover), he tries to get info about Proudfoot, and the store owner tells him where she lives. Angel buy some roots and leaves.Angel hires a car for a week, and drives through an outback landscape, this is the home of a poor community. Here he finds Proudfoot's grave. Behind the graveyard a baby cries, and a woman with a child arrives. Angel recedes into the shadows to watch the woman and changes offerings on the grave, then leaves with the her young son. Angel follows her home and watches from a distance. She washes her hair. She is a very beautiful young African-American woman.Angel approaches her, her child starts crying. Angel introduces himself, he wants to talk to the young woman's mother, the young woman's name being Epiphany Proudfoot (Lisa Bonet). She tells him her mother is dead. He asks about Favourite and she knows nothing. Some chickens approach, and Angel is disturbed by them. He then asks about the musician, and Epiphany doesn't say anything. As Angel is about to leave, he gives Epiphany his number. He compliments her. There is chemistry. Angel leaves.Johnny visits a jazz bar. The bar is packed, and the patrons are enjoying the act. Toots Sweets (Brownie McGhee) is the musician. Angel enjoys the gig and at the break follows the singer to the bar. He schmoozes with him, and asks about Favourite. Toots cuts to the chase, and leaves for the toilet. He is not engaged at all. Angel follows him to the loo. Toots is not impressed, another man leaves and Toots is shocked by a chicken foot left on the sink, Angel grabs the claw and harasses him until a bouncer enters, seeing Angel intimidating Toots and throws him out the back door of the bar, into the trash.Angel waits in his car until Toots leaves, at the end of the night, and follows him into the countryside. It is very late at night. He then watches Toots join ritual dancing, as Angel watches from the bushes. He sees Epiphany dance, slit a chickens throat, and pour blood over herself, she is in a trance, and even drinks its blood. Angel hurries off.A fan spins slowly in a dark stairwell, Toots ascends the stairs, and at his doorway Angel grabs him but Toots fights back with a razor, and cuts Angel's hand. It gets rough until Angel dominates the old man. He threatens him and tells him he saw the ritual, Toots tells him Epiphany is a priestess. Angel asks what the chicken foot meant. It means Toots has a big mouth. Angel relaxes as he writes his telephone number on paper, which he stuffs in Toot's mouth before he leaves. Angel drops the razor as he descends the stairs.Johnny enters a dark room at the foot of an elevator, the mourning woman sits on a church bench, her back to him. He sees the razor on the floor, his cut hand bleeds profusely, his shirt is covered in blood, he approaches the woman, and as he touches her shoulder he is woken up by two local cops.They search his stuff, ask him questions and give him a hand written note that they found on the body of Toots sweet. They tell him that his dick was cut off and stuffed in his mouth. They interrogate Angel. He lies about what he is doing, and tells them to call Winesap. They tell him not to go away until they talk to the lawyer. It is Wednesday, "Anything Can Happen Day."Angel goes to a bar. A musician finishes playing, and pass his hat for tips. Angel goes to a phone booth and calls Margaret Krusack. In the booth mirror he sees scenes of an elevator, a post war celebration, a block of flats, more celebrating, a fan in an apartment block, celebrating and just as a soldier is about to turn around the jazz man interrupts asking for a donation. There is no answer to the phone call, Angel hangs up.He returns to Margaret's house, kids tap dance outside, a piano repeats a familiar tune. The door is unlocked, he enters and she is on the floor, with her chest cut wide open. He is revolted, and finds the knife he was fingering earlier. He searches through her stuff, and finds a mummified hand in a cardboard box on the dresser amoungst other vials and strange jewelry. The kid outside tap dances. He leaves that room to continue his search.The kid dances. Angel finds her severed heart, he gags. The kid stops dancing.Angel walks past a church and into the bar. A fans spins slowly, a piano plays a familiar tune.Local hillbilly people rejoice in a river at a baptism, they look inbred. Overhead Angel drives across the river, behind him a pickup truck follows. He notices and stops his car on the side of the road, the truck stops too. He approaches some fishermen. The men in the truck follow and unleash a dog, it attacks his leg. He fights it off, the men then attack him with a baseball bat, and tell him to leave immediately.An old school bus stops on a dusty road, engross alit, one being Epiphany, she finds Angel sitting on a box by the roadside, she asks and he tells her that he got bitten. He tells her he watched her ritual, it doesn't phase her. He tells her about Toots, she knows. He thinks she set him up. Turns out it was her that sent the chicken foot. She denies the setup and murder. She asks about Favourite, Angel counter questions and discovers Johnny Favourite was her father. She talks to a neighbour about keeping her child, then returns to tell him that Johnny never returned from the war and that her mom died waiting. Angel flirts with her. She brushes him off.In a dark-arched court yard of a residential hotel, Angel arrives and is given a message by the concierge. He walks past a young girl to ascend the stairs.A church choir sings, an alter boy prepares the bible. Angel enters and walks throughout the church to the back, to meet with Cyphre. They chat. He asks about the progress. Angel tells him that he found loads of stuff but still no favourite, and 3 murders: the Doctor, Toots and Margaret. He is freaked out by the weird religiocity going around. He tells him that Favourite was not liked. and that the police are investigating him. Cyphre asks about the last murder. Angel tells him about Margaret, and that he is fed up with the case, and all of the vagueness. And that he is getting setup by Johnny, who he thinks is killing all the people he once knew. Cyphre just wants the debt settled, and Angel is not having it. Cyphre offers more money, but Angel refuses, the stakes are getting too high. He wants out.He goes back to his room. It is raining heavily. Epiphany is sitting outside waiting. They have a drink. The apartment is leaking badly. Angel tells her that he thinks that Johnny was a creep. he ask more about him, she tells him that her mother thought Favourite was true evil and that he was a great lover. She was 17, Angel asks about the father of her son. They laugh about the state of the leaky room, she talks about witch craft, and getting pregnant. Then Epiphany puts on some music, and invites him to dance. He declines, only to revoke. He picks her up and they dance. She kisses him. They lay down. The rain pours. She straddles him. The rain gets harder. They make passionate love. They rain is pouring in the room, and the water turns red. She screams and it turns to blood. It gets very violent and intercut with ritual, elevator, widow. A fabrication. They orgasm. Angel immediately gets up and punches a shaving mirror.The cops return knocking. He exits in a towel. They are tracing the new death of Margaret. They are racist and state that Krusmark, comes from white family of money. Angel brushes them off. They want to know who he is seeking. He insults them. They get pissed off. The cops leave.He returns to his room, she is now in the bath singing the words to the familiar piano piece. He asks after the tune, "a tune by Favourite". She continues. Angel looks at himself in the broken mirror.He walks down the street, and sees the pickup trunk from before, is watching him. He quickly approaches, attacks the seated driver. The passenger runs off, Angel gives chase. The driver recovers and follows after them. Angel is lead into a stable. The passenger starts shooting. The horses go frantic, the driver sets a dog free, the dogs attacks only to be kicked by the horse, which then gets shot and falls on Angel. He is trapped but struggles free, he escapes by running through a chicken coup.A group of hicks gather skinning animals and commence to cock fighting. A rough horse race starts, someone points Angel to an elderly man. The mans asks what he wants. Angel knows that the two geezers are his men. The man tries to pay him off to reveal who Angel is working for. Angel tells him the facts he knows concerning his part in the release of Johnny Favourite, he is Margaret Krusemark's father (Stocker Fontelieu). The man gets nervous, they go into a kitchen, and have a drink where is it private. He confesses it was him that paid the doctor. He tells Angel that him and his daughter dropped Johnny in a crowd of people on new years eve. Angel fidgets with ice. The man tells Angel about Margaret's voodoo stuff and that he witnessed Favourite summon up Satan, he is a devoted satanist, and that says that Favourite sold his sold his soul to Satan for fame. Angel gets really mad, and starts yelling, "Who was the boy?" He tells him that Toots and Johnny took an innocent man, and conjured complex stuff, and then he ate his heart, to deceive the devil, it worked but Johnny was drafted. Angel runs into the toilet to vomit. Then looking at the mirror, has a flashback. The toilet door slams closed, and when Angel exits he finds the man face first in a cauldron of boiling soup. Angel takes off.Angel hastens back to his apartment, rushes upstairs, and enters searching frantically for something her father had mentioned, a vase. He ransacks the drawers, breaking and smashing everything. Finally he finds the vase, it contains army dog tags. The tags read "Harold Angel" Angel screams in disbelief. Pleading "I know who I am".Cyphre sits behind him smiling, in the apartment. Luis Cyphre is Lucifer. Angel tells him that he is not scared of him, and that he knows he is being set up, a frame. He did not kill anyone, he names the dead people. And Cyphre addresses him as Johnny, and contradicts saying that he DID kill them, and that he has been living on borrowed time. Angel threatens to call the lawyer, Cyphre smirks saying Winesap is already dead, Cyphre continues to say only the soul is important, and that his belongs to him. Cyphre picks up a record and a gun. He plays the record, takes the dog tags and leaves Angel to recall the details of how he murdered each of the people. He refuse to accept the truth. The last person that flashes before him is Epiphany. He runs off through the rain.He arrives at his own hotel room. A widower sits by his door, it is a man. The police are inside. Epiphany is dead, bleeding from the groin on his bed. The detective asks who she is, and why his dog tags are around her neck. Angel says that she is his daughter. The cop does not believe it. The other cops bring out his grandson from the joining room and tell him "You're gonna burn for this, Angel". He replies, "I know... In hell". The babies eyes glow orange as he points at Angel.Credit rollAn elevator's doors close and it descends. Details of the descent are intercut by credits. Angel dressed in a smart suit is the passenger. It finally stops at the bottom, deep below. The trellis doors slide open. A heartbeat goes silent.The end. | dark, mystery, neo noir, murder, paranormal, cult, violence, flashback | train | imdb | This unmatched sense of place is a symptom of his stark imagery and sombre lighting which is played out through an amalgamation of film noir and the focal iconography of 50s and 60s French New Wave (the use of elevators, ceiling fans, staircases etc).For many of these reasons and more Angel Heart is a very influential film and its inspirations can be seen in many of the psychological thrillers/horrors released in the past 20 years, it is thought provoking and at times a lot more disturbing than any of its genre equivalents.
The multi-faceted love scene in the film is one such example, it plays very well as it is cleverly interspersed with a host demonic echelons which (given its style and narrative position) I believe to be unparallelled, even in contemporary cinema.Overall Angel Heart is a very well paced and well acted film although initially I felt that having Mickey Rourke in the lead role was a poor choice (based on his more recent work) but clearly he was at his acting best in his younger days almost Oscar-worthy, Robert De Niro is also on form as is the young Lisa Bonet but these performances combined with everything else make Angel Heart a film that will stick with you, not as much as Midnight Express or Mississippi Burning (dir.
He has a real sense of place and time that's a key component to making the terror of this movie real.Aside from Parker's talents, there are three performances without which the movie just wouldn't work.Robert de Niro gives the second best performance of his career here, right next to "Raging Bull", and even that's pretty close.
The direction is truly amazing, as Parker drives us deeply through a meticulously prepared dark atmosphere, full of allegories and secret hints.In "Angel Heart", we watch Mickey Rourke in his finest acting hour, who plays Harry Angel, a private investigator hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre, depicted by the great Robert De Niro.
The task is much harder than it first looks however, as Angel bumps into several murders in the process; and as if that were not enough, the quest makes him realize some very unpleasant truths about himself and Mr. Cyphre.As noted before, both Rourke and De Niro are excellent in their roles; a high mark goes for the rest of the cast as well, with Lisa Bonnet standing out as charming and apocryphal Epiphany Proudfoot.
The supporting cast deliver some of the most interesting and story driven performances which include Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet and Charlotte Rampling to name a few.You can feel 1955's New Orleans warm rain, hear the jazz, taste the grit of 1950's Brooklyn, Michael Seresin's cinematography is amazing.
I do not go much for that Parker kind of stuff("Midnight express" ,albeit technically breathtaking was a little racist,"Shoot the moon" was a big bore,and you've got to be into Pink Floyd to appreciate such a work as "the wall")"Angel Heart " is a different matter,because it deals with the horror and fantasy genre.Against all odds,for someone who had never tackled this difficult genre,Parker succeeded magnificently.The screenplay is first-rate,with a strong story,with an ending you'll never guess (and I will not reveal it of course!)Including drugs,voodoo,sabbath ,intense love scenes,featuring a wonderful cast:Rourke,who had never been better (and never would)and a frighteningly deadpan DeNiro cast as Louis Cipher,this movie takes us along in a meandering,labyrinthine investigation in which private detective Rourke will find so dreadful things he won't escape unharmed.
Viewers should also be cautioned when watching "Angel Heart" because it is extremely bloody and then of course there is that love scene between Mickey Rourke and Lisa Bonet which stirred up a little bit of controversy when it was first released back in 1987.
And, what a debut it was, as she and Rourke gave us a scene that had all the appearance of reality.The film also features Charlotte Rampling, who, while not giving us the show she did in The Night Porter, nevertheless provides a treat as she lies dead with her heart cut out.And, we wouldn't want to leave out Elizabeth Whitcraft (Goodfellas, Working Girl) who gave the most skintastic performance of her career.But, the real credit for the film goes to Robert De Niro, who plays a greasy looking character that hired Rourke, and provided the twisted ending that makes this film a horror classic..
So many fine reviews of this film and so good to see that the appreciation of what makes it great, runs so deep.It creates a fantastic atmosphere, I never lived in NY in the 50's but I did in this film.It generates intense visceral fear without the need for gratuitous violence or gore.It has great performances from De Niro, Rourke and Bonet.
If you enjoyed these movies, "Angel Heart" would be a favorite piece in your DVD collection.Set in 1955, it is an excellent period work, as are the settings and cinematography, especially shots of dark, seedy, and steamy backdrops in Louisiana.
Title: Angel Heart (1987)Rating: * * * * 1/2Version Reviewed: Lions Gate (NTSC Region 1) Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) Audio: English dd 5.1 Running Time: 1:52:50 Rating: RDirector: Alan Parker (Pink Floyd: The Wall / Fame) Writer: Alan Parker (Mississippi Burning / Evita / The Commitments) Music: Trevor Jones (From Hell / Dark City / Labyrinth) Photography: Michael Seresin (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban / Birdy) Editor: Gerry Hambling (Pink Floyd: The Wall / Fame)Starring: Mickey Rourke (Fade to Black / 9 ½ Weeks) Robert De Niro (Godsend / Jackie Brown / Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) Lisa Bonet (High Fidelity / Bank Robber / Enemy of the State) Charlotte Rampling (Swimming Pool / Orca) Stocker Fontelieu (Mandingo) Brownie McGhee (The Jerk)Synopsis: Harry Angel (Rourke) is a rather ragtag and rough and tumble private detective.
He has some great supporting actors with him, too; Lisa Bonet excels in a layered performance as the voodoo-practising Epiphany Proudfoot; Charlotte Rampling as a fortune teller; finally Robert De Niro, as great as ever as the sinister Louis Cyphre.The film is pretty slowly paced but laced with moments of action and violence that breathe life into it.
Mickey Rourke, in one of his very best performances, stars as Harry Angel, low rent NYC private eye hired by mysterious Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro, who's fantastic) to locate a vanished crooner named Johnny Favourite.
It's even got a very typical 'noir' set-up- gleefully typical in actuality- as private eye Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) is sent by Louis Cyphre (ho-ho, though not as such played by the totally dead-pan De Niro) to seek out a man who welshed on a contract signed with him.
It leads him through Harlem, then to New Orleans, into a whole web of black magic, voodoo, and sinister figures on his trail, and other skeletons in the closet to find.Parker's style is meant to ratchet up the questions raised in the viewer as the film progresses, and as any good twisty thriller goes it deepens these questions by the complexity of the protagonist, leading to the final twist that one may have seen done in quite a number of films since, but does retain its power as something of a dark catharsis for this character.
Considering how over the top his contemporaries- Nicholson and Pacinio- went with the role of the devil himself, this may be the most subdued of them all, which makes it all the more chilling (see the egg scene), with the Scorsese-esquire beard a good asset.Although the casting isn't altogether perfect- Rampling is given an all too brief role to work wit, the minor characters being reasonably well suited for the atmosphere, and Lisa Bonet being just about adequate, though not quite the same caliber as Rourke, in her role as a mysterious bayou teen who is the daughter of the suspect in question- having these two heavyweights under Parker's command is quite staggering for any movie fan to enjoy.
It is a classic, one of those films you can watch more than once, and with each watch always pick up on new things again and again in its fine content!As you know the film is set in 1955 and is about A New York private detective; Mickey Rourke's Harry Angel hired by a client, Mr Louis Cyphere (Robert De Niro) to track down a missing singer Johnny favourite.
His effective use of symbolism, hidden messages and dramatic irony is evident in his expressive camera work.One scene this can all be seen in is at the table where Harry Angel meets Louis Cyphere (Ingenious pun/play on words for us to think twice about Robert de Niro's character).
The texture of the red gives us a sense of danger, which is what Harry Angel is in and we are made to feel very, very uncomfortable and disturbed when viewing such images.I even remember wanting to turn away when I saw the sex scene with Harry Angel and Epiphane Proudfoot (Played by Lisa Bonet), where blood drips off the ceiling to cover them and we glimpse a scene of a group of people having an orgy surrounded by a bright red background with fire flames in a hell like place.Most 90's horror movies would instead tirelessly try to scare us poorly with such images, but Parker has instead ingeniously let such graphic images tell us through their look what is happening in the story; rather then just letting us just think 'Ok another boring dead body that popped out to try to scare me Sh**less'.
"Angel Heart" is a classy, dark and creepy horror movie by Alan Parker, with a scary Robert De Niro in the role of Lucifer and Mickey Rourke in the top of his career.
There's also a fair amount of black humour, and a wealth of sparkling cameo performances (Izzy and Wife) that add depth and quirkiness to the film - making the overall experience even more enjoyable.I get the impression that director Alan Parker was at a point in his career where he could choose the style of movie he wanted to make, and was willing to direct against "type" with this private eye/occult thriller.
"Angel heart" takes place in the 50ies revolving around a private eye from Brooklyn played too damn perfect by Mickey Rourke who gets a job by a man named Louis Cypher (played great like expected by Robert De Niro) to check out where one of his debtors hid.
once Mickey Rourke said : "Alan Parker wears that glasses to look like Oxford's graduates, but he's been raised in the streets indeed & that's why he's a great director"."Angel Heart" was the first shock.
Recently I re-watched Angel Heart and now I appreciate this absolute masterpiece more than ever.Rarely can a movie "scare you to your very soul" but this film is an exception.There's not a single bad actor and the story is quite intense and interesting.For this film alone Mickey Rourke should be considered one of the greatest actors of his generation because the performance he delivers here is outstanding.You can feel every line and every mimic he does.By the end of the film he already establishes himself as a professional who expertly portrays his character's torment and fear.Robert De Niro is of course superb as ever and with a chilling performance expertly portrays a man with a very dark secret.The plot is beyond interesting and the viewer is grabbed from the start and is sucked into the story almost becoming a part of it.As the film keeps going the questions become more and more till everything comes into place in the shocking and absolutely surprising finale which will surely shock and scare you to the extreme.Overall this is truly one of the greatest films I've ever had the pleasure of seeing and I absolutely advise everyone to watch it and experience the terror..
Having said that, there is enough in the earlier sections of the film to admire, and it would be unfair of me to dismiss the whole film simply because the final few minutes don't work in my opinion.In 1955, New York private eye Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) is hired by a mysterious client named Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro) to track down a missing man.
Gradually, Angel becomes more and more aware that he is involved in a very sinister mystery indeed, the solution to which may affect him more personally than he could ever imagine.The good points include strong performances by Rourke and De Niro, the former holding the film together with his edgy interpretation of the scruffy, moody hero; and the latter doing well in his handful of scenes as the creepy client.
Angel Heart features a stand out performance from Mickey Rourke; a man that made a few good movies in the 80's, and then somewhat and unfortunately disappeared from our screens (although he did have a great little part in 2003's best movie; Once Upon a Time in Mexico).
In the mid nineteen fifties, a mysterious and slightly sinister business man, Louis Cypher (Robert De Niro), hires Brooklyn gumshoe, Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke), for a missing person case.
Angel's investigation, for which he is being paid a princely sum for the time, takes him from Harlem to New Orleans, as he looks for a former crooner named Johnny Favorite, who sometime during the early nineteen forties apparently welched on a business deal with Louis Cypher and hasn't been heard from since.In my opinion this is very much a film which you will be able to enjoy on repeated viewings, to savour the art of the cinematographer as well as to get a better understanding of the complexity of the plot.
The general photography delivers a sense of dark eeriness and estrangement and the Sound Track (mostly Blues) works like "a charm".As a side note I would also like to mention the actor Pruitt Taylor Vince, who in this film acts as a sidekick for Det. Sterne; but the curious tidbit is that you also get to see him on "Jacob's Ladder" (1990), another Thriller/Noir Master Piece of eeriness (though a very different movie), and as memorable as Angel Heart..
Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) is a two-bit private detective who takes a job that requires him to find a mysterious and famous crooner from the past, named Johnny Favorite.The story, set in 1955 and mostly in New Orleans, is fairly convoluted, with important events taking place a dozen years before 1955.
Rourke, in still one of his best ever performances, plays small time PI, chicken phobic Harry Angel, who's offered a hefty fee by a mysterious and slightly menacing character, Louis Cyphre (a flawless memorable performance from Deniro) to track down a musician, Johnny Favourite, who was into a lot more than just music, and could already be six feet under.
This was one of the greatest films that i've ever seen.with great performances of everybody.the film goes with a very mystery type.& also horror with all the sequences.story of Harry Angel(Mickey Rourke),a detective that is hired by Louis Cyphre(Robert De Niro)to find Johnnie Faivorate who is a lost singer.& following the case Angel meets a lot of people to solve the case such as:Margaret Krusemark(Charlotte Rampling),Toots Sweet(Brownie McGhee),Ethan Krusemark(Stocker Fontelieu),these people do know Johnnie very good.& Epiphany Proudfoot(Lisa Bonet)who was very close to Johnnie & he falls in love her .all these people died after Angel met them.and after all he finds out that Louis Cyphre is Locifer the Satan.and he is Johnnie Faivirate and in order to be famous he sold his soul to evil.& he killed Harry Angel chosen by the people that he killed himself & lived by Angel's identity for a lot years.& Now he found out of his real identity.this was a great film & lots of mystery in it.and all the performances are excellent.& powerful direction by Allan Parker but the greatest performance among all these actors is for Mickey Rourke.e is as astonishing as it can be.he plays as Angel very good & skillfully.
Eventually, the movie begins to completely turn away from its noir roots and becomes surrealistic horror.In what can be called a virtuoso performance, Mickey Rourke gives Angel a perfect glibness that makes his journey all the more surprising.
(There are Spoilers) Voodoo and Satanic inspired film-noir detective story that at first starts out as a run of the mill missing person investigation by Brooklyn private dick Harry Angel, Mickey Rourke, that leads him to New Orleans and Algeries LA.
The actors are perfect too, Mickey Rourke Love him or hate him he steals the film in this battle of anticipation and suspense as private eye Herald Angel and with supporting cast like one of the best in the business Robert De Niro its got all the ingredients to be a classic for many years to come.I know I've mentioned him but, Mickey Rourke is one of the best actors ever and seeing him in his prime in the late 80's and how well he blends in with the almost bleak atmosphere is just a delight to watch..
"Angel heart" featuring Mickey O'Rourke and the as always godlike Robert De Niro is one of the more difficult movies from Parker.
Title: Angel Heart (1987)Director: Alan ParkerCast: Mickey Rourke,Robert Deniro, Lisa Bonet Review: I cant believe that I had let this movie pass me by!
It's a very straightforward story that ends up being more than meets the eye, mixing in horror and satanic elements to become a one-of-a-kind thriller.Private detective Harry Angel (Rourke) takes on a case to locate an old-time crooner named Johnny Favourite, who has been missing since WWII. |
tt0055452 | The Sinister Urge | The film revolves around a series of murders of young women. The opening scene features an unnamed blonde woman (Betty Boatner) running along a mountain road, wearing only her undergarments. She is clearly scared for her life. She enters a city park and manages to reach a telephone booth. Her attempt to escape her assailant ends in failure, when the man also reaches the booth. He quickly kills her and leaves her corpse next to a lake. The corpse is soon discovered by visitors of the park. The scene shifts to a police station, where Police Lieutenant Matt Carson (Kenne Duncan) receives a phone report on the latest murder. He instructs subordinate Officer Kline (Fred Mason) to gather information from the witnesses who called in the discovery of the body. Then he summons his associate Sergeant Randy Stone (Duke Moore) and they head out towards the crime scene. They take note of the youthful appearance of the victim and suspect a connection to the "smut picture racket".
The next scene takes place in the film studio of pornographic director Jaffe (Harry Keatan), an elderly man who is somewhat elfin in appearance. Jaffe is currently shooting a scene involving three women posing for the camera. He fusses over the details of the scene he is shooting, in a scene both depicting and mocking his artistic pretensions. His superior Johnny Ryde (Carl Anthony) interrupts him to bring orders from their boss, Gloria Henderson (Jean Fontaine). She wants their inventory moved to a safer location. Jaffe promises to do so after completing of his shooting. He never actually finishes, since Carson leads a police raid into the studio. All participants in the shooting are arrested, and the inventory of films passes into police custody.
Back at the police station, Carson and Stone are berated by their superior, who demands quicker action in exposing the racket. Afterwards the two officers are visited by local businessman Mr. Romaine (Harvey B. Dunn), who demands to know why are taxpayers' money wasted in persecuting harmless deviances such as pornography. In his view, they should be preoccupied with more serious crimes and with the gangs of young hoodlums roaming the streets. In response, Carson claims that the dirty picture racket is connected to major crimes. He then reveals images of the murder victims, and explains the connection between them working for the racket and their violent deaths. He then asks the shocked Romaine if he has a daughter. As he exits the door to leave, the visibly shaken Romaine explains that he has two daughters.
The next scene takes place in the suburban house of Gloria Henderson. Gloria is visited by Johnny Ryde, who informs her of the recent police raid. The conversation shifts to Shirley, a person permanently silenced by Dirk. This is the first time the name of the killer is revealed in the film. The conversation also reveals that Shirley had learned too much about the inside operations of Gloria's organization and was attempting to blackmail them. Johnny states that he is worried about Dirk himself, since he clearly enjoys using his knife. The conversation next moves to another operation of the pornography ring. They have been peddling bondage photos to high school kids, but these young customers have started demanding newer material.
The scene shifts to a hangout for the teenaged crowd, Jake's Pizza Joint. Teen customers are depicted happily dancing and eating. Then two young man approach each other, with switchblades in their hands. A fight begins, and Dirk Williams (Dino Fantini) is seen observing from afar. The fight is taken outside and evolves into a street fight attracting onlookers. Inside Jake, the owner, finds time to negotiate the purchase of more smut pictures from Janet, an agent of the pornography ring. He complains, however, about the inventory of photos he already has. Claiming that copies are already owned by everyone from ages 7 to 70, so finding new customers is hard. The fight outside attracts the attention of the police, so Jake and others are arrested. The two street fighters are revealed to be low-level smut peddlers, who were fighting over turf area.
Later, Janet leads three other women into attacking Clauson, a distributor of smutty pictures who was embezzling funds of the organization. The man ends up hospitalized. The scene shifts back to Gloria's house. Gloria and Johnny are watching 16 mm films, projected onto a screen, and conversing. Gloria points that the increasingly unstable Dirk is both aroused and triggered to kill by viewing pornography. Johnny claims that he can still keep the killer under control. Meanwhile, Dirk has returned to the park. He is flirting with a woman and the two kiss. But then his lust turns to murderous rage. He strips off her clothes and then stabs her to death.
In the police station, Carson and Stone start discussing the fates of the women victimized by pornography. 'Mary Smiths' from 'Everywhere, USA' who graduate at the top of their class, were once great in a school play, and come into Hollywood seeking stardom. The scene shifts to following the path of one 'Mary Smith' (Jeanne Willardson). The inexperienced actress is rejected by film studios and talent agents, before offered work by Johnny Ryde, who introduces himself as a director, without explaining the kind of films he directs. With childlike naivete, Mary agrees to work hard for him. She receives money for her expenses long before filming starts. She first becomes economically dependent on her employers, then she resigns into posing for revealing pictures.
The scene shifts from the fate of 'Mary Smith' to the exterior of Gloria's house, where Dirk is seen lurking. He breaks into the house and gets his hands into more smutty pictures. By this point, he is clearly addicted to both porn and killing. Later he returns to the park and finds another victim, a young woman who was feeding the ducks. This time the murder has repercussions for him. He leaves behind photos which he had touched with his bare hands. Through his fingerprints, the police discover the identity of the killer. The identity of the killer is leaked to the press, making the headline of the Hollywood Chronicle. Gloria's own overlords in "the Syndicate" then order her to remove Dirk permanently, as he is an unruly employee who is drawing negative attention for their organization.
Gloria and Johnny next argue over the best way to accomplish this. Johnny suggests an indirect way of killing Dirk, by sending on an errand in an old car with faulty brakes. In other words, arranging a fatal "accident" for him. As if aroused by the idea, the two partners then share a passionate embrace. Dirk survives his "accident" by leaping out of the car, then comes to Gloria's house seeking vengeance. He finds it empty and them manages to ambush an arriving Johnny. Johnny temporarily manages to convince his assailant that they could work together to topple Gloria off her leadership position. Dirk then murders Johnny, before being shot in the dark by Gloria, who assumed that she was shooting Johnny. The film ends with Gloria's disbelief that she shot the wrong man as the police arrest her. | cult, murder | train | wikipedia | The stuff of which legends are made.In 1995 in beautiful downtown Toronto, when Tim Burton's mighty biopic ED WOOD went into second-run, one of our rep cinemas had a never-to-be-forgotten quadruple bill of films by everyone's favourite cross-dressing auteur.
JAIL BAIT, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER, NIGHT OF THE GHOULS preceded this, the final programme of the evening, and perhaps Ed Wood's final masterpiece (well, for his "legit" non-porn movies anyway).
From the expected pimply nerdy geeks to one dignified old gentleman who said that they SHOULD have given Mr. Wood a star in front of Grauman's, this, the least seen of all of Wood's pictures from his "classical" period, was a real crowd pleaser.THE SINISTER URGE is a must for anyone with even a passing interest in the films of this precious Gonzo genius, or, like myself, who have a strange attraction to works made by people who eke out an existence way way way in the back alleys of Tinseltown.
My favourite bits include: 1) the long scene where the two hardworking cops out to bust the porn ring must explain to an anonymous taxpayer who comes to the station, and tell him exactly why they are spending his hard-earned tax dollars on such a seemingly trivial matter; this scene wouldn't even pass the green light in a pre-production meeting for an educational film, however with typically Woodian panache, the taxpayer leaves afterwards shaking his head in amazement over the great public service these man are performing.
The ever-critical writer-director is simultaneously praising and damning these intrepid cops for a seemingly superfluous service-- remember, only two years later the US government spent a huge wad of the taxpayers' money to decipher the lyrics to "Louie Louie" because the song was considered to be corrupting the minds of impressionable youngsters.2) the director's cameo appearance; since one of the main subplots concerns some knife-wielding loony who attacks women in the park (apparently looking at semi-clad girls in magazines drove him to his social deviance), the two cops talk about sending an undercover male officer in drag to the park and foil the psychotic pervert (right here, the audience knowingly began to applaud), and in the next scene, there is Mr. Wood in a dress and mop wig trying to ferret out the guy in the park.
Of course, this isn't shown so well and Ed delivers his usual bland scenes of dialogue where the characters are trying to further progress the story.
Well this all adds up to a movie that seems like a 10 hour skin grafting session.Is it bad?
After seeing Ed Wood's works, it looks like his actors are giving serious, genuine performances, but there's a sense that they're having fun with it (that is until Ed explained how he was going to pay them).
There's so much more like shooting on the smut set of scantily clad (?) actresses, abrupt jump cuts, a police raid (HA HA HA), the Syndicate
.oh man, some directors wish they could create movies with the flair Ed Wood had.
Not as the cop in drag with a tight womens wool sweater, which would have been more like it for Wood, but as a smut peddler having it out with his rival at a pizza joint that fronts for a porno distribution site.
Things get real bad for Gloria when the cops take into custody her top smut photographer Jaffe together with all the canisters of porno films, that he hid in his closet.
Dirk he goes bananas when he sees porno films and pictures that he's peddling supplied by Gloria's right-hand man in her business the former legit Hollywood film maker Johnny Ryde.
Director Ed Wood does the best he can to show the evils of pornography and how it effects naive and innocent young girls who come to Hollywood looking to make it big in the motion picture industry.
Only ending up getting talked into making porno films by the likes of Gloria and Johnny Ryde to just pay off their bills.
We see the tragic story of Mary Smith who ended up making smut films and photos for Gloria and finally fell victim to Dirks sinister urge.
We also see in the movie "The Sinister Urge" how difficult it is to arrest the likes of Gloria Henderson and make the charges of the crimes she committed stick.Admittedly a laughable venture, which of his movies aren't, of Wood's because of the cheap budget and in some cases non-actors in it.
The movie "The Sinister Urge"is still years ahead of it's time thanks to the foresight and vision of it's director Ed Wood Jr, in showing the evils and horrors of the then, in 1961, underground and illegal smut business in and out of Hollywood.
Some people believe that Ed Wood knew exactly what he was doing: that he *intended* to make "bad" movies in order to make people laugh.
There are plenty of good reasons not to buy into that theory, and THE SINISTER URGE is Exhibit A.PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, GLEN OR GLENDA, and BRIDE OF THE MONSTER are endearing in their goofy lunacy.
This one, though just as bad as the rest of Wood's oeuvre, is mostly just plodding and dull.Not that there isn't entertainment to be had here, at least for the bad movie connoisseur: my personal favorite is the obvious use of pre-existing (and completely unrelated) footage, shoehorned in on the waste-not want-not principle and "justified" through the use of atrocious dubbing and risible expository dialogue (which takes place *after* the inserted scene, making it even more ludicrous).
But that's not the sort of thing calculated to make a mainstream audience roar with laughter.I can imagine someone trying to make a movie like PLAN 9.
His legacy is now, well, being the ultimate in bad schlock kind of movie-making, where you can almost see the sets about the tear at the seams, the actors going through their lines like they know they won't get any pay for it, and camera-work (and perhaps editing too) that becomes jarring in the worst possible ways.
While the Sinister Urge, Wood's last 'real' film before diving deep into obscure porn directing (ironic considering the film's subject here), does not have a kind of classically bad way about it like Plan 9 From Outer Space.
The Sinister Urge in comparison doesn't have that impressive ambition to be something more than it can never be, as this film is nothing more than an under-cooked 'warning' film about porn movies, and the people who may kill to be apart of them.The Sinister Urge is 71 minutes long, which doesn't overstay its welcome (though one may try and define 'welcome' with an Ed Wood picture) as a film with many static camera angles and very few moments of ingenuity.
On top of the story not really being too coherent, anyway, the director's method of the 'cut, print, perfect' method can be seen quite often with some laughable mistakes abound.Now, does all of this make the Sinister Urge as astoundingly, amusingly bad as Plan 9?
Jean Fontaine in ridiculous clothing runs a "smut" photo and film industry, consisting of girls being photographed in bathingsuits (often one-piece!) or filmy dressing gowns.
You know that when Mr. Wood made a film he did put all of his heart and soul in each one of the films (ok the ones I saw and the 50's films that most people see) The problem being is that he was completely incompetent as a director.
Why this film is not on DVD like the rest of the Ed Wood collection I don't know.
- SMUT PICTURE RACKET BLAMED!" - The Hollywood Chronicler reports.1959's "The Sinister Urge" was the last movie Ed Wood Jr. would ever direct, so it serves as his directorial swan song and all I can say is, Ed went out in style!
The Sinister Urge - a quickly-made cheapy, clocks in at just over 70 minutes, so as you might expect there's little in the way of wasted time and things get interesting in a hurry.
Well unlike most of Ed Wood's work, The Sinister Urge actually has a very tight and cohesive plot, which for once seems to be rooted in reality....
And as the queen bee, Gloria Henderson herself said "I've got a tremendous busy going here and it's getting bigger every month." But before the dastardly duo of Henderson & Ryde can ascend to the ranks of pornographic super-stardom (in Smut Town and beyond), there's a formidable obstacle in their path: Lieutenant Matt Carson and his side-kick Randy.To make the movie something a bit more involving than the production and distribution of softcore smut, schlockmeister Wood wisely included something that actually is a crime: Murder (or more accurately - serial murder).
While I'm fond of all the great casting that's seen in this cheap n' trashy piece of schlock (but of course isn't that all that Ed Wood EVER made), but for me, in what was her one and only film appearance, it's the performance of Jean Fontaine who stands-out the most.
But in reality this woman seemed to be little more than an aging, sand-paper-voiced, cigarette-hag, who probably wasn't straying to far from her own personality.The films simply a riot and Ed Wood has some insanely crazy ideas about the affects of porn on society, which you'll hear in detail throughout the movie.
With such ludicrous claims as "The dirty-picture racket can be directly connected to a good percentage of the major crimes in this city." or "The smut-picture racket is worse than kid-napping or dope peddling." Then a little latter on we have a scene where some of Gloria Henderson's models, posing in panties and bras, in a privately-owned photography studio mind you, are arrested by Lt. Carson and his goons, for what was essentially, nothing more than a series of glamour shots.
For the crime of: glamour shots.With all these wild claims one can easily conclude, that Ed Wood had some incredibly bloated (even downright errant) idea's on the corrupting influences of porn (or "smut" as they call it - their product, quit tame by today's standards).Released in 1959 The Sinister Urge came at the end of what was truly an awesome era for bad movies, the late-50's and from what I've seen over the years, the only era that was better at producing bad movies was the mid-80's.
I think this might be the worst movie Ed Wood ever made.
It seems like this was the one Ed Wood movie I hadn't heard of.
As expected from a B-movie, it moves very slowly and has had bad acting.
*. Forgotten Wood Film Predicts His Future Work.
Wood, Jr.'s hard-hitting look at the smut business has Lt. Carson (Kenne Duncan) and Sgt. Stone (Duke Moore) trying to solve a couple murders where the victims had just taken part in the pornography world.
THE SINISTER URGE is Wood's attempt to show how ugly and evil the porn business is so I guess it's kind of ironic that this would be his last directing job for ten years until he would start working in, you guessed it, the porn business.
As you'd expect, this here is a pretty poor film that like most of Wood's stuff has an interesting idea but the story is all over the place and in the end it just makes no sense.
"The Sinister Urge" is proof if any was ever needed that Ed Wood was a completely and utterly inept writer and director.
He does, of course, have a surprising number of fans who actually like some of his work ("Bride of the Monster", I have to admit, isn't really all that bad of a film), but "The Sinister Urge" is so chock-full of Ed Wood clichés (redundant dialogue, amazingly bad acting, and taking hypocritical preaching to a whole new level are but few of the features of this film).I've seen "The Sinister Urge" several times in its "Mystery Science Theater 3000" version, which features some of the funniest and most seemingly random riffs in the history of that show- one scene features Mike and the bots breaking into song...
Similarly, Wood is incapable of even a second of flair in his direction of the film.There are people in this world who will tell you with a straight face that this is a fine film, an indictment of the seedy world of pornography (oh let's face it, compared to what we have going now, the porn industry in 1960 was one big huge convent).
One only has too look at Wood's filmography to see that he had already written several smut films, including notorious early nudie Western "Revenge of the Virgins", prior to this film's release."The Sinister Urge" is one of the most boring, plodding, miserable excuses for a film in all of cinema.
Quite possibly Ed Wood's worst film.
The Sinister Urge did nothing for me though, and derails Night of the Ghouls as quite possibly Ed Wood's worst film.
Wood's films are not very well made, but The Sinister Urge manages to be one of his worst-looking and most amateurish films.
Don't get me wrong, porn is one of the last career moves I want to pursue, but I just wondered whether it really was as "evil" as The Sinister Urge painted it out to be.
2/10 Bethany Cox. Ed Wood's last attempt at 'serieus' movie making..
Especially also hilarious how Ed Wood tried to put in humor into this movie.
Ironicaly enough Wood himself would land into the world of soft-core porn movie making after this film as a director, writer and (unfortunatly also) actor.
So it's also really doubtful that Ed Wood actually did some research for his movie.Continuety is a big problem and the editing often doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Ed Wood always had a hard time finding financiers for his movies.
Wood Jr's last 'serious' film-making attempt is consistent with the movies he did prior to this movie.
So Mr. Wood ends in style with "The Sinister Urge".2/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
This Ed Wood film was not like Plan 9 From Outer Space or Glen and Glenda, this one is a bit less known.
The police are trying their best to not only solve the murders, but to destroy the adult film industry responsible for the crimes.
Pretty sure that would be just as effective using a camera.This made for a pretty funny episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 as most of the Ed Wood films do.
All in all a rather good episode of the show, but Ed Wood films give the gang a lot to work with!
So this film pretty much tries to stress to the viewer that porn is bad and that it is responsible for all crime in the known universe.
Ed Wood and his films are a bad lot, but for my money, Coleman Francis is a lot worse!.
Not as bad as Some Say. A flunky for a porno movie ring starts murdering the smut films' lead actresses.This film has made it on the "turkey list", has been made fun of by MST3K, and has been called he worst film Ed Wood ever made (which is a rather scathing insult).
The sets are cheap and the editing needs work, but this is clearly a film that was not just another rehash.
Why are Ed Wood's movies considered so bad?.
Accordingly, the first feature length pictures, in the silent time, were divided in scenes and acts like in theater pieces.
Theater pieces too, although they simulate scenes of everyday life, are dominated by text which have be written first - like the scenarios of the movies.
Is this one a bad director who changes day and night in a short cemetery scene like Ed Wood did?
I would like to look forward to seeing soon Ed Wood's work edited in a dignified looking package of carefully crafted DVD-collections..
After years of hearing how awful Ed Wood films are this example of his work really didn't seem so bad.I expected epic continuity errors, little to no plot and extremely low budget filming.
its true, this film is one of the worst i have seen yet that Ed Wood did.
i am beginning to realise that once you've seen one Ed Wood film, you have as good as seen the rest.
Even by Ed Wood's standards, The Sinister Urge is a miserable movie.
Everything you would expect to find in an Ed Wood film is here a ridiculous plot, bad acting, stilted dialogue, poor editing, and bad set design.
Ed Wood wasn't the most gifted filmmaker and he often worked in less than stellar conditions, but there's no denying his love of movies.
The best of Ed Wood's films-- his love song to Bela Lugosi, 'The Bride of the Monster' (1955), the amazing Wood-de-force, 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' (1959) and his masterpiece 'Glen or Glenda' (1953)--all contain the elements of his classic 'film making' style.
We finally do get a visual story: a mix of a serial killer (a well cast Dino Fantini) knifing models in the park after looking at their 'smut' photos; a small town girl, eager to make it in Hollywood, getting tricked into the porno racket, and the battles of the 'smut' merchants Johnny Ryde (Carl Anthony) and Gloria (the bizarrely dressed hoarse voiced Jean Fontaine) with the police, their customers and 'the syndicate'.This description makes the film sound better than it is.
This is why it's best to watch the 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' 1994 version (available on DVD) that not only glorifies the humorous high points ("You're filming your shirt!" etc.), but also helps us wade thru the tedious dead spots, of which there are many.We know why Ed Wood relied so much on explaining off stage action rather than showing it: it was a simple lack of budget and time (but also skill). |
tt0227445 | The Score | After nearly being caught on a routine burglary, master safe-cracker Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) decides the time has finally come to retire from his illegal activities and focus on running his jazz club. Nick's flight attendant girlfriend, Diane (Angela Bassett), encourages this decision, promising to fully commit to their relationship if he does indeed go straight. Nick, however, is lured into taking one final score by his fence Max (Marlon Brando). The job, worth a $4 million pay off to Nick, is to steal a valuable French scepter, which was being smuggled illegally into the United States through Canada but was accidentally discovered and kept at the Montréal Customs House.Max introduces Nick to Jack Teller (Edward Norton), an ambitious, albeit foolhardy, thief who has infiltrated the Customs House and gained access to information regarding the security by pretending to be an intellectually disabled janitor named Brian. Nick hires his associate Steven (Jamie Harrold) to hack into the Custom House's security system to obtain the bypass codes, allowing them to temporarily manipulate the alert protocols of the system during the heist. Steven is caught, however, by a systems administrator who extorts Nick for $50,000 for the information. More complications arise when they're forced to move up their time-table after the Customs House becomes aware of the true value of the scepter and adds extra CCTV cameras to monitor it while preparing to return it to its rightful owners.Nick uses a sewer tunnel to enter the Customs House basement as Jack uses the bypass codes to rig the cameras to shut off while Nick sneaks into the storage room. One of the janitors stumbles upon Jack as he is working and realizes that he is not really Brian, but Jack locks him in a closet. Meanwhile Nick fills the enormous in-floor safe containing the scepter with water before inserting and detonating a depth charge to blow off the door. He quickly packs up the scepter in a carrying case to depart, but Jack double crosses him and at gunpoint demands he hand over the scepter. Nick reluctantly gives up the carrying case and seconds later the alarm, rigged by Jack, alerts the entire security team to the heist. Nick darts for the sewer entrance he came in as Jack heads back upstairs, tucking the carrying case inside his janitor jumpsuit and slipping past the incoming police units responding to the burglary. Nick escapes the security guards chasing him through the sewer tunnels.After making it to a bus station to flee the city, Jack calls Nick to gloat but is shocked to discover that Nick has anticipated Jack's actions. He opens the carrying case Nick gave him and discovers it contains a steel rod weighed down with bushings. Brushing off Jack's threats of vengeance, Nick advises Jack to flee as "every cop in the city" will now be looking for him. Nick hangs up and boards a boat with the real scepter as a shocked Jack broods over his situation. Later, Max smiles as he watches a news broadcast reporting a massive manhunt being organized to find Jack, the prime suspect, and an unidentified accomplice. Nick then meets Diane at the airport as she returns from work, and she happily accepts a kiss and hug from him | suspenseful, comedy, neo noir, boring | train | imdb | null |
tt0303929 | Dracula III: Legacy | NOTE: Sequel to Dracula II: Ascensiion (2003). Dracula III: Legacy can be viewed alone, without having seen I & II, but it helps to know the history of how Uffizi, Luke, and Elizabeth got involved with the hunt for Dracula, to know that Uffizi was "tainted" at the end of Dracula II, and to know what Dracula is referring to when he says stuff like Luke made him suffer at the hands of the experimenters.It is five years after the events of "Dracula II". Dracula [Rutger Hauer] has
returned to Romania, taking Liz Blaine [Diane Neal] with him. Father Uffizi [Jason Scott Lee]
wishes to pursue, but the church has withdrawn its support. They are
worried that he has become "tainted" following his last encounter with
Dracula, and they want Uffizi to get out of the vampire business and take
a position as pastor at a church of his choice. Uffizi's choice is to hand
in his collar and pursue Dracula on his own. Armed with his weapons of
choice -- a scythe and a bullwhip -- Uffizi heads for Bucharest, Luke [Jason London] in
tow. Uffizi hopes to destroy and absolve Dracula; Luke hopes to find and
rescue Liz, with whom he is in love.Romania is in the throes of a civil war. TV news reporter Julia Hughes
[Alexandra Westcourt] announces that the list of demands submitted to the Geneva Council
by the rebels includes the curious requirement that all present and
prospective government officials make at least one public appearance
during the daylight. Because of the war, no one may pass outside Bucharest
without military approval. While Uffizi and Luke wait at a checkpoint to
obtain permission, a jeep drives up bearing two French soldiers and a
bloody body. The driver says that they were attacked 51 kilometers outside
the city, not by rebels but by people with big teeth.Finally out of the city, Uffizi and Luke drive all night. The next
morning, they run into some rebels who are taking people prisoner. Uffizi
learns that they are not rebels but "procurers" who kidnap people to sell
for food to the nosferatu. Luke won't have it and forces Uffizi to stop
the car. Luke succeeds in freeing the prisoners, but the procurers blow up
their car. Now, Uffizi and Luke have to proceed on foot. In the first town
they come to [filmed in Sigisoara], all the inhabitants are dead. Later
that evening, after they have burned all the bodies, they come across a
very scared man and woman near a downed helicopter. The woman turns out to
be reporter Julia Hughes, and the man is her cameraman Tommy [Gary J. Tunnicliffe]. Julia and
Tommy say they were attacked by rebels and shot some camera footage to
prove it, but when Tommy runs back the film, there is no one on it except
themselves. Suddenly, a vampire on stilts swoops down and carries off Tommy.
Uffizi tries to follow, while Luke and Julia head back to a church for
refuge. Uffizi finds the vampire sucking Tommy's blood and cracks one of
the stilts with his whip. The vampire tumbles to the ground and impales
himself on his own stilt. But now where is Tommy? Tommy has gone back to
the church. Julia opens the door to him, but it soon becomes apparent that
Tommy is now a vampire, so Luke shoots him with his speargun.The next morning, Luke and Julia are joined by Uffizi, who has
commandeered a military jeep. Now that they have transportation again,
they find a car for Julia. Before they part ways, however, Julia asks to
see Uffizi's eyes (he always wears sunglasses). It's obvious that Julia
and Uffizi are attracted to each other. She tilts down his glasses for a
last soulful look and notices that his irises are reddish.
Julia goes her way and Luke and Uffizi go theirs. After driving for a
while, Luke notices a woman on the side of the road holding a baby and
crying. Against Uffizi's better judgement, Luke stops to help. As he tries
to convince her that he is a friend, she suddenly tosses the "baby" into
his arms. It's a bomb. Uffizi grabs it and tosses it away just in time.
They have been captured by rebels and are taken to their headquarters in
an old army bunker. Uffizi tells leader Gabriel [Serban Celea] that they share the
same enemy - Dracula. Gabriel guffaws. "Dracula is a fiction, gypsy myth,
tourist prattle, bedtime story." He takes off Uffizi's glasses and sees
his red eyes. "I'm fighting the infection," Uffizi explains, referring to
the vampirism he caught from Dracula five years ago. Just then, more
rebels come in along with Julia, who seems to be friends with them.
Gabriel orders that Uffizi and Luke be put in the stockade. "You're either
a hero or a demon," he says to Uffizi, "but we can't take any chances.
Come dawn, you are free to go."During the night, the bunker is attacked by vampires. Julia lets
Uffizi and Luke out of the stockade, but Uffizi pushes them both back
inside, locks the door, gives them the key, and tells them to stay inside
until he finds the way out. They wait till morning then let themselves
out. Julia goes outside and finds Uffizi standing in the rising sun, his
shirt off and screaming in obvious pain, Uffizi's way of purging himself
of the infection. Julia covers his shoulders with his coat.
Luke notices the procurers driving their trucks down the road.
Uffizi, Luke, and Julia follow in their jeep until they come upon a
gruesome scene. About a dozen priests have been impaled on stakes along
the road. Uffizi orders Luke and Julia to go back, but they refuse, so
they all go on together, arriving at Dracula's castle. As they watch from
a safe distance, they are suddenly ambushed by the procurers. They
shoot Uffizi, knocking him over a cliff. Then they knock out Luke and
take Julia prisoner.
Luke is tossed into a large courtyard with a dozen or more prisoners,
all awaiting slaughter. Luke climbs up the wall and finds his way to a
room filled with at least a dozen televisions. He is greeted by an old,
unkempt, bored-looking Dracula who remembers him (from Dracula II) as the
coroner who stole his body and made him suffer at the hands of the
experimenters. When Luke asks to see Liz, Dracula tosses him into a
pit of bloody, writhing, half-naked vampiresses, all feeding off each
other. "Be careful," says Dracula. "They WILL bite."Meanwhile, Uffizi has climbed to the top of the cliff. He is in bad
shape and coughing up blood, but he is healing. He makes his way back to
the castle and goes looking for Julia.
Julia has awakened to find that she is clothed in the dress of Dracula's
favorite bride. Dracula recognizes Julia from the TV and seems excited to
have her in his chambers, but when Uffizi arrives, he finds Julia lying on
the floor, bleeding from a stake in her abdomen. He pulls out the stake as
Dracula shows up to taunt him. Just as Dracula is about to plunge a sword
through Uffizi's heart, Liz cries, "Enough!" and shoots a flaming
stake into Dracula's stomach. As Dracula looks at the stake in awe and
pulls it out, Uffizi jumps him from behind and viciously bites his neck.
He then takes the sword and beheads Dracula, who almost seems to be
offering his neck for the final blow. As he swings, Uffizi says, "Consider
yourself forgiven." Dracula destroyed, Liz silently takes the sword
and walks over to Luke. Uffizi asks a dying Julia whether there is
anything she wants to confess. "I've had impure thoughts about you," she
admits. "As I have about you," Uffizi replies.
"Please..." says Liz to Luke.
"...don't..." says Julia to Uffizi.
"...let me..." says Liz to Luke.
"...die." say Julia and Liz together.
Luke beheads Liz as Julia dies in Uffizi's arms.Epilogue: It is morning. Luke stumbles out of the castle and looks
back for Uffizi. He does not come. Back in the castle, Uffizi sits on
Dracula's throne, holding Julia in his arms. There is a bite on her neck,
and she is "alive" again. A postscript appears, saying THE KING IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE KING! [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl] | violence | train | imdb | Actually is quite easy to find catholic priests in these parts of Romania.Brasov, which is my city, has the Black Church, the biggest Gothic style Catholic Cathedral in Eastern Europe!You don't have to know history to check what you are saying at www.wikipedia.comAnyway, for those interested in the Dracula myth, you should read a bit more about the Medieval History of Transylvania...You would like more the myth of Dracula;and the castle is quite impressive;Personally, I would not dare to stay a night by myself in the Castle;not only because of Dracula;we have stronger demons in our culture that Dracula.
Myself I am more like a Werewolf type :-) In Transylvania we still have packs of wolves that attack at night the villages in long winter nights and we have the biggest population of bears in Europe; And a lot of old superstitions about demons that travel the country side at night, even nowadays;If you ever visit Romania, enjoy Transylvania!
Father Uffizi (Jason Scott Lee) and Luke (Jason London) travels through a Romania destroyed by the civil war and the vampires.
Luke is trying to save Elizabeth (Diane Neal) from the claws of Dracula, and Uffizi to terminate with the vampires.
Along their journey, they meet the British television journalist Julia Hughes (Alexandra Westcourt) covering the war, and the trio follow together facing dangerous situations with the rebels and the vampires."Dracula III: Legacy" is a reasonable sequel of "Dracula II: Ascension".
brilliant ending,plus Rutger Hauer as Dracula, elevate this movie.
this sequel to Dracula II:Ascension,which is sort of a sequel to Dracula 2000,has much more story than either of the other tow.almost too much,in fact.it moves at a pretty slow pace,then,just when you think you can bear no more,something interesting happens to keep you watching.Two of the main characters from Dracula II are more fleshed out,and there is a wee bit of humour to lighten things up on one or two rare occasions.near the end,when i thought it was over,i was thinking how anti climatic it all was.but i realized it wasn't quite over,and the actual ending is brilliant.it begs for a sequel,which is not likely to happen.and yet,it's also a perfect conclusion.the ending(well,that and Rutger Hauer as Dracula--a stroke of genius)is what elevated the move for me.otherwise,i would have given this 2 or 3 stars less.as it stands,i give Dracula III:Legacy a 6/10.
It wasn't a bad film by any means, but it wasn't nearly as good as it could have been considering it featured Dracula, the baddest vampire of all time.
Dracula III: LEGACY is more like what BLADE: TRINITY should have been: a fast-paced, rousing action flick full of well written character and fleshed out plot lines.
Like VAMPIRES, 'LEGACY' is filled with cool gory bits, well done special effects, and a kick-ass main character (played by Jason Scott Lee).
Jason Scott Lee is back as the weapon's master Father Uffizi in hopes to put a final end to the vampires once and for all.
The third installment of the Dracula 200 series, Dracula III: Legacy, is not as good as Dracula II: Ascension (which I liked the best of the series) but much better than other horror films I have seen in my time.This movie is not bad if you catch it one late night or on a boring afternoon.
I would not watch this movie with expectations of it being a bad or a good film...
Rutger plays like he drink-ed to much in the night clubs of Bucharest , the main actor is just another Blade , a vampire who is also a day walker.
I understand that the filming is more cheap in Ro but to play this bad and to mock the history and present of a country in a lousy movie?
No matter how weak and silly the movie seems at times, you'll still enjoy watching it.This is pretty much a direct sequel to "Dracula II: Ascension", even though its being set at different locations and follows a different story.
But oh well, you don't necessarily need to see "Dracula II: Ascension", in order to understand this movie.Like must cheap straight-to-video horror flicks made these days, it got shot in Romania.
For more than halve of the movie it still doesn't look like it's going to be a Dracula movie though, since the character gets introduced quite late into the story, as if they could not afford to have Rutger Hauer on the set for more than a week or so.But let me tell you that Rutger Hauer still really leaves a lasting impression with his role.
The two other big names of the movie are Jason Scott Lee and Roy Scheider, though none of them were of course quite the best or biggest names the movie industry had to offer.The story is of course nothing to special but it's all being still quite good and I liked its approach.
All the movies out of the series always have been a modern take on the Dracula legacy and it's perhaps in this movie that this approach works out the best and most refreshing.It's still a quite weakly directed, cheap looking B-horror flick, with some not to impressive actors but it's a good and entertaining little guilty pleasure to watch.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
Jason Scott Lee is as good as ever as Uffizi, Jason London is cool as hell as Luke, Rutger Hauer proves that Buffy The Vampire Slayer was not his best and is great as Dracula (although I still would have loved to see Gerard Butler return from Dracula 2000).
Patrick Lussier's direction was as great as ever, I'd love to see his take on The Crow mythology :) The additional characters were also great in this film, the two vampires during the opening and the two procurers in particular were awesomely performed!
the priest and his loyal partner (Jason London) kill vampires for a living just into they find Dracula (Now played by the underrated Rutger Hauer) & destroyed him...
once and for all.Directed by Patrick Lussier (Dracula 2000, Dracula 2:Ascension, My Bloody Valentine "2009") made an watchable but very flawed and disappointing sequel to the two previous movies, which the director was loyal enough to stay with the series.
Dracula III: Legacy starts immediately where Dracula II: Ascension left off, with Dracula and his new 'bride' Elizabeth (Diane Neal) fleeing the USA, Luke (Jason London) and Father Uffizi (Jason Scott Lee) in hot pursuit, their journey taking them to Romania for a final confrontation with the legendary vamp (now played by Rutger Hauer) in his castle lair.Filmed back-to-back with part II of the Craven/Lussier series, this chapter is naturally very similar in style and tone, a slick, contemporary blend of action, gore, and humour.
Luke and Uffizi's Romanian road-trip is perhaps not as loaded with vamp action as I would have liked (they seem to have just as many problems with the local humans as they do with bloodsuckers), and its a long while before we get to see Hauer as Drac, but there is enough fun throughout to make this a satisfying end to the series.The pairing of Lee and London works particularly well, the latter ably playing comedy sidekick to Lee's bad-ass priest/vampire killer with a troubled soul, and some welcome girl-power comes in the form of Alexandra Wescourt, who plays feisty news reporter Julia Hughes.
Rutger Hauer is always cool in my book (and he has previous experience at playing a vampire), but as much as I enjoyed his performance, he does look a bit too 'weathered' here to be playing Dracula (what's with the messy stubble?), especially considering that Stephen Billington and Gerard Butler played the character in the earlier films.For me, the best thing about the film is the gore, which includes a juicy 'spear in the eye' gag, a macabre display of impaled priests, a bit of face melting with holy water, Father Uffizi whipping off heads and limbs right, left and centre, and in my favourite moment—an attack by a pair of creepy circus vampires—the cutting in half of a female acrobat and the ingenious staking of a clown on stilts.6.5 out of 10 (rounded up to 7 for the cool ending, which I won't spoil by describing here)..
I've got to admit i wasn't sure if i was going to like this film because they had yet again changed the actor for Dracula.
I was though pleasantly surprised not only was it a good film but Dracula was amazing.I was glad to see that they had kept most of the same cast as they all are amazingly talented actors and actresses.I was glad to see DG (I cant spell his actual name) back and as brooding as ever, he is defiantly my favourite character in the film and has been ever since i saw ascension.
Throughout the whole movie, everybody is driveling about how almighty Dracula is, but when he finally makes an appearance (in the shape of B-movie veteran Rutger Hauer), he turns out to be a lame philosopher who prefers to plea instead of to kill.
Dracula III: Legacy, however, has the ace-in-the-hole asset of having legendary cult thespian Rutger Hauer in the titular vampire role, and that alone makes it noteworthy.
Still determined to rid the world of vampires, a banished priest and his assistant travel to Romania during the middle of a Civil War and when they meet with a reporter and reveal that they are tracking Dracula the three team up to stop him before he can unleash a new era of evil.This wasn't all that bad of a sequel.
However, the finale does feel a little rushed and a if it didn't need to play out as it does since there are about four or five different versions of the ending it could've gone with and it threw them all in order to pad out the running time, but otherwise the biggest issue is the lack of actual on-screen title character.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Nudity..
and providing that there was a real vampire called Dracula and he came to Romania as the one in the film did, he would have been dead long ago :) No more comments.
From there, Legacy fast forwards several years in the future where Luke and Father Uffizi attempt to track down Dracula, himself, by "interrogating" vampires.Jason Scott Lee and Jason London return in the lead roles to track down the infamous count across the Romanian country side in a buddy-cop meets Heart of Darkness sort of way.
Of course, I applaud the film's wisdom in choosing a more patient path over a 90 minute confrontation with Drac; however, at the same time I'm not entirely sure that Patrick Lussier and Joel Soisson chose the best route (especially since it might draw comparisons to a certain Coppola film.) The journey these characters take never piqued my interest very much, probably because the previous film lead up to a false climax with Dracula only to have him vanquish the heroes for now and escape.
Dracula, himself, is not only played by different actors in each film, but he also inexplicably takes on a completely new personality (not to mention new history) with each incarnation.
And to further spell out the obvious, it superimposes the words, "The king is dead; long live the king" over Jason Scott Lee's eyes.Like the other films in Lussier's Dracula Trilogy, Legacy has a number of positive (dare I say "great") elements and ideas that suffer due to overdose or outright mishandling.
The only reason I saw the entire movie, was because I wanted to make sure the film was bad until the end.
An excellent example of when film-makers get tired of a project half way through, and rather than create a quality project, simply go through the motions.Dracula's plot and motivations as a villain are nonsensical, as he turns from this God hating hedonist that we had become familiar with in the first movie (and was not contradicted during his non-role in the sequel) into some Dr. Doom-ish would be conquerer of Romania.I could forgive the stretching of Dracula's role from lusty blood sucker into world conquerer were the rest of the film's writing not so empty.
The movie diverges from the derivative plot once in a while just to throw the audience tidbits of gore or sexuality, all of which are pretty lack luster, and will fail to thrill experienced horror watchers.What is most bothersome of this film, like the one before it, is that continuity is thrown completely out the window.
But he did pretty well, he does a good villain.My favorite scenes are the "suckfest" at Dracula's place, the opening scene, and the end scene.This was a well done movie - the script, the directing, the acting.
They should have choose a younger and good-looking actor.I also love the fact that the three movies are different from one another.
The second movie was about humans discovering the concept of vampirism and the third was about vampires on lose in Romania.All in all, I am content with this "Dracula 2000" sequels..
Not to a lot of vampires like it was said in this movie...
Dracula III: Legacy starts as part Vampire, part man all Vampire hunter Father Uffizi (Jason Scott Lee) & his new sidekick Luke (Jason London) manage to learn that Dracula (Rutger Hauer) has returned to his homeland of Romania, Father Uffizi wants to destroy him once & for all while Luke wants to rescue Elizabeth (Diane Neal).
They arrive in Romania & quickly discover that Dracula is using rebels to collect victims for him & his Vampires & using the civil war as a cover, it's up to Father Uffizi & Luke to stop him once & for all...Co-written & directed by Patrick Lussier this is the straight-to-DVD sequel of Dracula 2000 (2000) & Dracula II: Ascension (2003) which this was shot back-to-back with.
For some reason the title character of Dracula is played by different actors in all three films, Gerard Butler in the first, Stephen Billington in the second & Rutger Hauer here in the third without any real explanation given for it.
The film moves along at a decent pace, there's a few good set-pieces & the like but I never felt particularly emotionally involved with anything or anyone, I was just sat there waiting for the next Vampire to show up rather than being enthralled by the story.
Dracula III: Legacy is a reasonable film, it passes the time harmlessly enough but I just felt it was a little bit too 'middle of the road' as it were & ultimately a bit forgettable.Director Lussier does a decent job, there's some nice camera angles & well lit scenes but apart from the occasion sporadic piece of stylish film-making it's pretty routine.
The acting is alright but no-one is going to win any awards, Roy Scheider turns up in a (very) small role.Dracula III: Legacy is a perfectly entertaining way to pass 90 odd minutes without ever really getting one worked up too much, I liked it but didn't love it & doubt I would ever want to see it again & I will probably have forgotten all about it by the end of the week..
And by the way Rutger Hauer was a very bad pick to play the role of Dracula for this movie..
I've watched all three of the Dracula trilogies movies going back to 2000 and actually Dracula II Ascension wasn't bad at all, Dracula III is not the worst vampire flick I've seen , there's actually some well thought scenes but the movie has many flaws.
Now perhaps the biggest con and letdown is that Dracula himself, now played by Rutger Hauer is in this film for about six to twelve minutes!!.
What a waste, some more screen time would have helped, although Rutger himself seems to old play this role just like Christopher Lee was during the last Dracula movies.Before the movie starts we , we get a barrage of clips from the last movie and I have to say that it's horribly edited to the point that I almost died laughing.
Jason Scott Lee is such a horrible actor that he made part of this film into a comedy not a horror movie.The plot says that Uffizi and Luke (Jason London) are still searching for Dracula and Luke's love Elizabeth but this time around they encounter some vampire along with the way, along with some different mutated vampires and a couple of stupid rebels.
Anyhow, Uffizi and Luke rescue some girl named Julia whose a reporter and from there let the vampire killings begin!!!The action/vampire kills in the movie, are pretty good actually, at least this part is watchable, there's some good setup of suspense and thrills just before every kill.The movie never gets dull at least, the characters never have too many long lines keeping the action going.The acting was average to good, Jason London as Luke is more likable than the priest, and he actually does some vampire killings of his own which are done alright, Rutger Hauer in the few minutes he has as Dracula does his best.
Then that is Dracula III The Legacy, it's watchable but just don't expect your socks to be knocked.It's not that horrible,I actually liked it but by no means is it a horror classic.
I've just sat through all three movies and I have to say that the Dracula 2000-series' best before date was...
The movie starts out with "flashback" scenes from Dracula 2: Ascension...
but if there is I can only hope it will be better than before.To basically sum up the movie it goes as this..The Priest and Luke travel to Romania to find Dracula and Elizabeth (Erzabet) along the way they get into trouble..
"Dracula III" is another in a long line of goofy vampire slayer movies that bite off more than they can chew.So a vampire slayer goes to Romania with his annoying sidekick. |
tt0093191 | Der Himmel über Berlin | Note: This film was shot in black/white and color. The Angels cannot see color. Therefore, when the shot is from the angels' point of view, the shot is black and white, and when the shot is from a human point of view, it is in color. There is much poetic language used in this film that simply cannot be properly conveyed.Damiel (Bruno Ganz) is writing on a paper, When the child was a child. He goes through a series of statements about when children were children: what they thought, how they acted, etc. Then, the opening credits appear. It fades to a scene of the sky, then a close-up of a human eye, then a bird's eye view of Berlin.Damiel is looking over the city from atop a large statue. He has wings, but they disappear only a few seconds into the scene. He can hear the people below, but only the children can see him. There is a quick shot of a flapping wing, and then we see one man walking with a baby. While we see this, Damiel speaks about wanting to see color and feel alive.We hear the thoughts of a woman on a bicycle. Damiel is on an airplane, passing through the aisle. He stops to see a little girl. Then, he focuses on Peter Falk (as himself). People's voices are heard.Peter talks to himself about the writer's block he is having over his script. Peter speaks in English. A shot of Berlin is shown from the airplane's view. We hear various radio stations as we see the radio tower over Berlin. The camera pans into an apartment, and we hear various people's thoughts. Many of the things we hear are typical thoughts, or people's problems.Again, Damiel starts to think, When the child was a child. This time he is wondering what children think about. We follow Damiel around his daily routine. First, we fly once more over the city, listening to an ambulance. Then we see the pregnant woman inside the ambulance. We hear the pregnant woman's thoughts. Then, we hear the thoughts of the people in the cars around the ambulance.Damiel sits in a car with Cassiel (Otto Sander). They discuss their log books for the day. As Cassiel speaks, Damiel focuses on a couple embracing each other on the sidewalk. Damiel tells his works of the day to Cassiel. He says how wonderful it is to live for eternity and to hear people's spiritual thoughts. But, he wishes that he could live day by day, be greeted by strangers, and be able to say now, instead of eternity, to do things in pretense. All the wonderful things of living, even things like a fever and black fingers from reading the newspaper, are things that Damiel wants to experience. Then, woman on the sidewalk tells her husband about how she would like to own the convertible in which Damiel and Cassiel are sitting.We move to the library, which is full of noise and full of people's thoughts. There are many other guardian angels there, looking over the shoulder of their selected people. The angels recognize each other and nod hello to one another. Damiel picks up a pencil in spirit, and carries it around with him. Cassiel watches Damiel from a distance. Damiel runs into an old man (Curt Bois). Even though he is old, he wants to tell his story again.Damiel gets on the subway. He scans the people while hearing their thoughts. He sits down next to a man in dire straits. The man feels like life is no longer worth living. Damiel sits down next to him and touches his shoulder. Suddenly, the man's attitude changes and he is ready to solve his problems. He watches two children use a magnet to dig for change in the drain, and then goes to visit the traveling circus.Marion (Solveig Dommartin) practices a new routine on the trapeze. The ringleader criticizes her, but Marion only complains about how difficult it is to perform with her feather wings on. She speaks French, but it is sometimes mingled with German.The film suddenly turns from black and white to color, and we know that we are now watching from Marion's instead of Damiel's perspective. Marion swings on the trapeze. The film transfers back to black and white and a man comes in to say that the circus is broke and must pack up for the season. We hear Marion's thought that tonight is a full moon, the last night of her old performance. She thinks that a trapeze artist always breaks her neck on the night of the full moon. We hear Marion's deep thoughts about her unhappy disposition. She sits outside with her thoughts. She wants someone to love, and to love her, someone to depend on. When she was little, she wanted to live alone on an island, gloriously alone. She doesnt have an identity, and no where to go like a small animal in the forest.She retires to her trailer and puts on a record. Marion sits on her bed as Damiel watches her. She asks herself what she should do now. She thinks about staying in Berlin. She thinks about her final night this evening. She thinks, I think as if I'm talking to someone else. Meanwhile, Damiel looks at the pictures on Marion's mirror. Marion starts to change her clothes. Damiel reaches over to touch her, but he can't because he is not human. Marion says she is looking for the will to love. The film turns to color as she puts on her robe. She juggles three apples, and laughs.Back in b/w film, Damiel comes across a bridge to a motorcycle/car accident. A man sitting on the sidewalk has suffered from a concussion. Damiel holds the man's head, and talks to him. The man starts repeating what he says. Damiel gets up and walks away, and the man is still talking in the background. We hear another man's voice taking over the words of the other man as Damiel walks away. Damiel gets on the train. The voice continues as we see Damiel sitting on a statue overlooking Berlin once again.Cassiel is standing over the old man in the library. The man is surrounded by globes, and he analyses the movement of the solar system. He talks about how the world is changing and fading into dusk. We see him look in a book and reminisce about the past. In the past, he looked up to the warriors and heroes, but now he just lives one day at a time. As the old man reminisces, we see real footage from after the war. Men and women are passing by the ruins in the street. Lots of pictures of dead people and babies on the street, all piled up one-by-one next to each other. Cassiel is looking over the old man's shoulder again. The old man wonders why we cannot just have peace but always war. If he gives up, mankind won't have a storyteller, and humans will forget their childhood.Meanwhile, Damiel sits atop the large guardian angel sculpture monument. The old man walks through a desolate place on the East side of the Berlin wall. He reminisces about what once stood in those places. He is in disbelief that Potsdamer Platz once stood there. Then, he points out where the café Josti used to stand. As he reminisces, we see historical footage of the area. The footage cross-cuts back to the old man and Cassiel. He talks about how the times changed. The flags started appearing, the people or the police were no longer friendly. He will not stop telling his story until the Potsdamer Platz is found again. He sits down in an old chair in the middle of the desolate field, and scratches his head. The old man asks where are the heroes and the children, where are the ones that listen to his stories? We hear helicopters overhead.The old man plays a little musical toy on a street corner. He smiles to himself, and is still reminiscing and looking back on what has happened to society. Cassiel is looking over a railroad and street from atop a building. He finds a young girl who is prostituting herself to escape from her family. She thinks to herself that she needs Klaus because he will take care of her. But, Klaus can't take care of her, she thinks, because he is dead.A car pulls out of a garage. The driver thinks about how there are still so many borders everywhere. He drives through the streets with Cassiel in the car. The German people have divided into as many states as there are individuals, the man thinks to himself. He poetically talks about borders. Again we see real footage of cleanup after the war, from the perspective of a passenger in a car driving by. The driver thinks a little more about the difficult border that the people face today. He pulls into a center.We hear Peter Falk talking from outside the car. He is telling a young boy about the new movie plot. They are making a movie about Hitler, and Peter asks the boy if the plot sounds plausible. A woman takes pictures, and Peter yells at her that they have enough pictures already. He complains to his assistant that he is wearing a dumb-looking hat. They go inside the old building where the movie is being filmed and dig through the hat bin to find the right look for him. He says that wants a hat that makes him look like an anonymous German. He tries on hats in front of a mirror on a movie set, while Cassiel is still watching him.Damiel is also there, but he is watching from the second floor. After Peter Falk finds the right hat, we see all the extras sitting around. Peter compares himself to Columbo. Then, he thinks about dinner, and wonders whether Germans make a certain food or not. The angels look around the room, listening to people's thoughts. Damiel focuses on a woman who is thinking about the past. The scene changes to a historical film, showing the work of the Rubble Women cleaning up all the bricks after the war. She thinks about a house that was half destroyed. We see Damiel again, coming out of the reminiscence.Peter comes up and asks the woman if he can draw her. She allows him. He sketches her, and thinks to himself about her face. He considers what the term "extra" implies; these people are extra people. The woman wonders if he will give her the picture. Peter focuses on his drawing once more.The movie starts filming. Two men are fighting. Cassiel observes as Peter asks the director if the latter has time for an interview with a Berlin television station. The director tells the interviewers that he can do the interview now. Cassiel and Damiel are both listening to Peter's thoughts as he walks away.Damiel says to Cassiel, "Come, I'll show you something else." They go to the traveling circus where Marion works. The audience is filled with children. A bunch of costumed people come out to entertain, and the little girl sitting next to Damiel keeps talking with him. Cassiel stands at the back of the tent observing. As the performance goes on, Damiel goes back to thinking, when the child was a child. He names several differences between what children do and what adults do.The circus show continues with a man throwing flaming knives at Marion dressed in a cat suit. Then, Marion crawls up a rope. She does a few tricks on the rope before crawling back down. Balloons fall from the ceiling, and the children all enter the ring and play with the performers.Damiel thinks about what it was like when time began, before the land was formed, and civilization began. We see several landscapes and beautiful nature scenes. For myriads of years only fish lived. Cassiel talks about the rest of creation. We see Damiel and Cassiel walking over a bridge next to the Wall. They talk about philosophical and spiritual things. They talk about the stories still continuing on.Damiel talks about how he wants to create his own story on earth. He and Cassiel go through the Berlin Wall. He thinks about the simple things in life that he wishes to discover for himself.Damiel and Cassiel walk down the street together. They come back to the movie set where Peter is. Peter is thinking about another drawing subject, and about his family and his career. There is a scene being shot in the background.The old man is standing in the open field again. He thinks about how all the roads in Rome lead somewhere, but not in Berlin. There are hidden roads for storytelling in Berlin. Why can't everyone see from childhood these secret places? If they could, there would be a history without war.Cassiel sits with a suicidal man atop the Mercedes building. He is contemplating jumping off, and the other people atop the building are trying to convince him to come down. He thinks about very random things such as what he is wearing and how the weather is. He also thinks about his love before jumping off of the skyscraper.The next scene is in color. Peter is watching his own interview on TV. He is talking about the story of the new movie that they are filming.Next we see the large angel sculpture, which then fades from color to black and white. Cassiel jumps off from atop the statues wings. The following sequences are fast-forward, blurry movements with the camera. Some of the shots have people in them. A couple is fighting in their apartment, and then we see a boy crying for his mother.Next we see a montage of historical footage: World War II planes flying in the sky, machine guns, people fleeing, a fire breaking out, and a entire quarter going up in flames. We hear sirens in the background. The fire department is trying to put the fires out. A man sits at a pay phone, passed out.Marion is in her trailer, getting ready for her last performance. She encourages herself as she looks into the mirror. Damiel is there watching her and listening to her thoughts. She thinks to herself, the trapeze artist always breaks her neck in a performance on the night of a full moon.The last circus performance is underway. A man is performing a magic trick in the ring, while Damiel watches. Marion is upon her trapeze. Damiel stands in the ring and puts his hand on the ringleader. She performs on the trapeze. Despite a few minor scares, the performance is successful. Damiel walks through the camp after the performance. All of the circus workers are gathered around the fire, drinking and singing in French. Marion thinks about how she wishes to be happy for once.Cassiel is sitting with a book in the library. The library is empty, except for the cleaning ladies and a few other angels.Meanwhile, Marion goes to a concert. Damiel is still watching her. Marion dances in the audience. The singer sings an emotionally charged rock song. Cassiel is also there, on stage with the singer. Damiel is still fascinated with Marion. We hear Marion's thoughts. Once Damiel touches her, she feels an inner sense of well-being.Cassiel looks into a laundromat where an immigrant woman is sitting, and thinking to herself in a foreign language. For a brief moment, the laundromat turns to color.Marion is in bed sleeping. We see her, and then a flash of wings, then her again. Then, we see Damiel reaching out from heaven with wings and his armor on. Marion, also in the clouds, looks toward him. She begins to say, When the child was a child. She asks the same questions that Damiel asked in the beginning. Damiel is sleeping atop of Marion's chest. Their hands touch in heaven. Damiel gets up, and Marion awakes.Cassiel is alone on a double-decker bus. Peter walks through a demolished muddy field. He is thinking about his Jewish grandmother. A group of young men walk by and ask each other if that is Columbo. Nah, they say, it couldn't be. Damiel meets Peter at a snack kiosk. Peter confronts Damiel, he says, I can't see you but I know you're here. The snack worker looks at Peter like he's crazy. Peter tells Damiel about the luxuries of living a mortal life.Cassiel walks across a street near the Wall. Damiel and Cassiel meet in between the two walls in a military-controlled area. They speak. Damiel has decided to become human. He talks about what he is going to do when he first becomes human. He starts off with normal things, such as taking a bath. Soon, his list becomes more unattainable, until he says that the mayor is going to invite him into his car, and they will go for a drive together. The last thing he says is that he will understand every language--and that will be his first day! Cassiel looks at him and says that none of it will come true. They laugh. We look intently at Damiel's face, and the film changes to color. Damiel looks behind him, and his footsteps are visible, but not Cassiel's. Cassiel realizes that his good friend has become human. They are still standing in between the two Germanys in a guarded territory. Cassiel takes Damiel away.Damiel wakes up on a street on the east side of the Wall. He is awoken by his bronze breastplate of armor falling on his head. He is very happy. Some little children stare at him and think he is drunk. They run away. Damiel gets up and walks away with his armor. He feels his head, and realizes that it is bleeding. He tastes it, and realizes it is blood. He is happy because now he begins to understand. He asks a passerby if that is red. They look at the wall and the stranger tells him the colors. He talks about the weather, and how he wants a coffee. The stranger gives him some change for a coffee. They go their separate ways.Damiel crosses the street and finds a snack kiosk. He orders a coffee. He rubs his hands together because he is cold. When the child was a child, he thinks to himself about the things that kids do still happen today. Damiel is walking down the street as he thinks. He still has his armor in hand. He sells his armor at an antique store. When he gets out of the store, a little boy asks Damiel for directions. Damiel gives him a lengthy set of directions, and the little boy walks away confused.Marion and the French circus are packing up. Damiel goes up to the gate where they are shooting Peter Falk's movie and is redirected to another gate. He is a little shocked that he couldn't just walk right in. He walks to the gate for the extras. They also deny his entrance, and he waits at the gate with the other fans. He yells to Peter, and Peter comes up to the gate to talk to him. Peter says he is glad to meet Damiel, but he expected a taller man. He tries to give Damiel money, and then tells him that he got ripped off on the price of the armor. Peter talks about how much he sold his armor for thirty years ago. Damiel is surprised to find that Falk is also a fallen angel. Peter gives Damiel a cigarette. Peter asks him what he is going to do, and Damiel tells him about Marion. Damiel wants to know more about life, but Peter encourages him to find every thing out for himself.The circus is leaving. They are saying goodbye to Marion. She is standing alone in the middle of the empty field when they all drive away.The film is back to black and white, and Cassiel is sleeping on the statue. He covers his ear and all the sounds of the city stop. Marion's thoughts chime in. She is confused about who she is and where she is taking her life. She is sitting in the middle of the ring. Cassiel is watching over her. The color comes back. She stands up and leaves.Damiel is jogging to find Marion. He arrives at the place where the circus was to find it empty.
He looks around, and is a disappointed. He sits down in the ring. A couple of kids ask Damiel what he is doing, and if he's okay. He ties one of the children's shoes, and tells them he's fine. They leave. Cassiel stands next to him. Through his thoughts he tells Cassiel that he will find her tonight, and something important is going to happen.The film returns to color as Marion runs across the street. Damiel is coming up from the subway. He eats an apple, and watches Peter Falk on a storefront television. Marion stands at a snack kiosk. Falk shows up next to her. She says that he must know how to find people. He asks her if she is looking for somebody. She says that she doesn't know. Meanwhile, Cassiel is looking over their conversation in black and white. Peter knows that she is looking for a man, but she doesn't know anything about him. She says goodnight, and leaves. Cassiel still watches. Peter gives him the same speech that he gave Damiel, but Cassiel doesn't take the bait.Marion walks down the street. Damiel walks down another street. He finds a poster of the band that Marion likes, and he goes to the concert. Marion is also at the concert. The performer is singing about the carnival leaving. Cassiel is standing next to the singer on stage. He is looking (in black and white) at Marion. Everyone claps. Cassiel listens to the thoughts of the singer. He thinks to himself that he is not going to tell the audience about the girl. As soon as he talks, though, he tells them about a girl.Damiel makes his way slowly through the crowd. He takes a seat at the bar in the next room from the concert. Marion is still watching the singer. She decides to leave for the bar. Cassiel walks off the stage. He simply stands in the back, closing his eyes. Then, he turns and puts his head and hands on the wall.Marion walks up next to Damiel at the bar. Damiel gets up and stands next to her. He hands her his drink. The song stops in the background. She sips the drink. He tries to get closer, and she stops him. It must finally become serious, she says. She talks about how she was often alone, but she never lived alone. Marion goes on a long monologue. Damiel gets closer.Marion speaks: Now it's serious, finally it's becoming serious. In loneliness one is made whole. Tonight will she finally be alone, she says. Tonight is a new moon, a new moon of decision. We are now the times. We are two, but we are representing the people now. The whole place is full of people dreaming the same dream. And we are deciding everyone's game. I am ready. You hold the game in your hand. Damiel smiles at her. You need me, she says. There is no greater story than ours: that of a man and a woman; a story of new ancestors. Look at my eye, they are pictures of necessity. The future of everyone in the place. Last night, I dreamt of a stranger. Only with him could I be alone, open for him. And welcome him wholly to me, and we could share in happiness. I know that it's you.They kiss.We see the statue guardian angel statue once more. Damiel spots Marion as she practices her routine on a rope. Cassiel sits in a cloud of black and white on the stairs behind them. Damiel talks about the oneness of him and Marion. He says, who was who: it was true then and it is true now. I was in her, and she was around me. Who can claim this? I am together. I learned astonishment. She took me home, and I found home. It has happened one time, and therefore forever. First, the amazement of the two of us, man and woman brought me to being.I know now... what no angel knowsCassiel sits atop the statue. He hears the thoughts of the old man once more. Men, women, and children will search for him, their storyteller, he thinks to himself, because they need him--they need a storyteller.The film ends with, "To be continued..." | mystery, boring, cult, atmospheric, flashback, psychedelic, philosophical, romantic | train | imdb | A poem continues throughout the movie and ties everything together, repeating "When the child was a child..." and we realize that humans are the children, the ones younger than angels, just learning and enjoying life.
A note to those of you who have only seen the bland, woefully wrong-hearted and half-assed "City of Angels", an unnecessary Americanization of this modern classic: this film leaves Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan in the dust.
He soon must choose whether or not it is worth sacrificing the endless grace of being an earth-bound angel to know what it is like to be human, to "see at eye level."After having seen this film eight times or so, I can safely say that it is my favorite movie of all time.
Wenders had done other Handke works in film - Alice in the Cities, The Lefthanded Woman, The Goalie's fear of the Penalty- but this one is very different.This movie is about giving up the ethereal life of the observer and actually living it.
It's the wonder of the child within discovering life in all it's beauty -- in even the most mundane and everyday things.************ PLOT SPOILER ALERT ***********The job the angels that nobody seems to have noted here is this: They can exist in all times flowing through one spot (Berlin) and must record instances of Humansexpressing "Spirit".A damned rare thing, it's true, but they must record it whenever they can.Hollywood chose to leave that notion completely out of that horrible Nicolas Cage/Meg Ryan "Vehicle" remake.(Worth it for the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Mick Harvey's Crime and the City Solution alone).
The story evolves when one angel Damiel (Bruno Ganz) wonders what it is like to be human, how it is like to be able to feel, to hold or to be seen.
Wings of Desire sways towards the latter.It has a great premise- angels (not winged creatures but men in cool black coats, similar to the portrayal of the dead in Orphee) watch over late eighties Berlin, observing the humans they see around them.
I was disappointed to find out that although it may not be a bad film, it is by no means a brilliant one.The cinematography is great, although the monochrome angels and technicolour humans had already been done 40 years previously.
And the sky over Berlin, with its angels, is the only thing that keeps together two painfully divided sides of the city, and the only perspective from which to see it as one.But handle with care: if you're looking for a movie with an enthralling plot, a clear language and a reasonable pace, you'll be disappointed.
This is clearly against all rules and all common sense.Despite all this the movie works and the reason is, the movie somehow manages to touch deep strings all the way through, because of its beautiful imagery (thanks to director of photography Henri Alekan), its eerie soundtrack, the disorderly collection of truly poetic dialogues/monologues, very inspired acting, and the impredictable combined effect of all this -- surely beyond what was planned by Wim Wenders himself.
Should I add that the movie has created its own language for making its point?The film has also become an incredible documentary on Berlin just before the fall of the wall..
Watching this movie makes one understand why some people dislike "art films." It is a series of unending scenes of streaming introspection.
They barely abated throughout the course of the film, and by the end of it I was choked-up, calling friends to share my experience.How often does that happen in a movie theater?I've never seen "City of Angels" either, and am in no hurry, as I fear it may dilute my original experience.
Only 3 years after the unforgettable "Paris, Texas" (1984), Wim Wenders presented us with another masterpiece: "Wings of Desire" (or "The Sky Above Berlin" in the original German title), a mesmerizing film about the joy of life, partially inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke's (1875-1926) poetry.The story of the angel Damiel (the excellent Bruno Ganz, who'd play Adolf Hitler 17 years later in the Oscar-nominated "Downfall"), who falls in love with a mortal circus acrobat, Marion (Solveig Dommartin, Wenders's then-girlfriend, who died last January) and wishes to become human is told by breathtaking images (cinematographer Henri Alekan's courtesy - he worked on Cocteau's "La Belle et la Bête") - the angels see in black and white, humans see in colors; philosophical, analytical observations about human life (and death); scenes of beauty in the simplest things in a masterful way that never becomes corny or boring.
If you think along these lines, then don't watch this movie, because it is going to deliver what it promises.But if you have no preconcepts, a heart and a brain, then you will love it.It is a movie that stirs thoughts and emotions, and you will find yourself thinking about what you saw for a long time.
On top of this, add superb acting, inspired photography, the city of Berlin, and a lot of children.It is a little sad that 17 years have passed since Wenders shot this masterpiece, and nothing that followed (from him or anybody else) came even close to it.It is not a movie that you want to watch every week, in fact one vision lasts for few years, the same way you don't need to read War and Peace more than once every ten years, and this is probably the best analogy: Der Himmel über Berlin is a classic.One more note: I enjoyed the remake (City of Angels), it was somewhat good, but it never actually crossed my mind that it was intended to be a remake of this one, so far are the two from each other.
I've had this film recommended to me by several people and I finally got around to watching it and like a few others on here I could only suffer about ninety minutes before I gave up and switched it off.The cinematography is excellent although the mixing of monochrome and colour was a cliché even in 1987 (only good use is in 'A Matter Of Life And Death') and it was for that alone that I gave the film the time that I did.
At best the film was making obvious points about life and at worst it was deliberately obscure and inaccessible.I get the impression that this piece has a touch of 'the emperor's new clothes' about it; that to say you think it's rubbish labels you as a philistine, but the truth is that it isn't very good and a classic example of style over content.
In West Berlin, still surrounded by the Berlin Wall, angels Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) spend their time observing human life and comforting those in need of it.
He and Cassiel have also taken a special interest in visiting actor Peter Falk (playing himself) who is in town to shoot a World War II movie.The opening half an hour of this film is simply one of the most beautiful openings to a film I've ever seen.
An absolutely wonderful film that is truly one of the most moving and beautiful I've ever seen, and a true and a honest depiction of the human spirit.
Deliberately slow, meticulous film from West German filmmaker Wim Wenders features Bruno Ganz in a wonderful performance as an angel in 1987 Berlin (before the fall of the Berlin Wall) who becomes enamored with a sensual and sad circus performer and wishes to be human.
Now imagine if one movie could make you believe that there are plenty of angels floating around us all the time just to commiserate with us, wouldn't it be just wonderful!?, hell yeah.In Wim Winder's '87 movie, "wings of desire", it does make you believe that way.
This is not true, if you watch it the clock may say that only 3 hours passed between beginning and end but this movie has the property to bend time so it feels that it lasted an eternity.No one dies, no guns, no rockets, no "I always thought you were left handed" "headshot is the only true stopper".Really, unless you like incredibly boring art-movies with no dialogue or action, only weirdos having really quasi-intellectual monologues in b/w and with post war berlin as background then you will hate this movie.
Colour, smell, taste, love, friendship, music are all such an integral part of human existence yet without films like this we could easily take them for granted and forget how they enrich our lives.I suppose the angels in this film could even be viewed as representing children slowly waking up to the joys of life.
With so many other postings available I don't feel any need to mention plot points, all I wanted to put across was if you prefer thought-provoking films (with marvellous cinematography, contemporary soundtracks and the ability to remind us of the gentle joys of life) as opposed to the more visceral and empty films that are currently mass-produced then "Wings of Desire" is well worth investing your time in..
I loved it so much, I didn't want to see the new one, but when I saw how different "City" is, I came to like them both.This is just a beautiful piece of filmmaking.The images are gorgeous, striking a nice balance between the ethereal and the gritty, as you'd want from a movie about humans and angels.The dialogue is based on the poetry of Rilke.
No doubt those of you who have seen Brad Silberling's City of Angels with Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage will want to go back and watch this original German version, directed with visceral style by Wim Wenders.
Bruno Ganz plays a wistful angel named Damiel who wanders Berlin attending to the spiritual needs of people whose souls need a lift, all the while wishing he was human himself.
I have yearned to watch Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire" since it made it to the top ten 'most important film of the past decade' (or two) by Premiere movie magazine.
The use of monochrome film for the point of view of the angels, and color for humans are done with such subtlety as to yield the perfect mood.
It starts out very slowly, and never really speeds up.Obviously, the American City of Angels is based on this film: an angel gets tired of not being a part of the world he's always watching and wants to become human to be with a woman he's in love with.
The way it uses black and white to show the angels' perspective and the change to color when Damiel (Ganz) becomes a man and realizes what the world really looks like, is the exact contrast needed to symbolize the transition between angel and man..
His slow, thought-provoking approach is not to everyone's liking, but he has real talent for inspiring us to question ourselves, question others, and question life.Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) are two long-term angels who drift through WWII Berlin observing and listening to the internal thoughts and meandering of citizens ...
Damiel finds himself drawn to a Marion (Solveig Dommartin), a circus trapeze artist whose line "Most of the time I'm too aware to be sad" could easily have been the words of the angels.There is an over-lapping subplot with Peter Falk playing himself as an actor in a German film.
It's this existence that makes Damiel's decision understandable.Famed cinematographer Henri Alekam's floating camera and dramatic contrast of black & white (angels view) and color (human view), add to the meditative effects of the film.
His spellbinding portrait of Berlin, past and present, is poetry in motion: a haunting, hypnotic masterpiece that lingers in the memory long after its final image fades from the screen.From the opening aerial shots to the last (admittedly long-winded) soliloquy, the film is a provocative look at a world that has long since lost its innocence, as witnessed by a pair of benevolent guardian angels invisibly cataloguing human daydreams and emotions, and occasionally offering mute comfort in moments of private spiritual crisis.
In the divided city of Berlin what they most often overhear are poetic expressions of longing and despair, but it isn't enough to stop one empathetic angel from trading in his wings for a chance to experience all the mundane, earthbound luxuries of mortal life, from something as simple as a cup of hot coffee to something as complicated as falling in love.In less sensitive hands the idea might never have gone beyond a simple romantic fantasy (as in the inevitable Hollywood remake, starring Nicholas Cage), but Wenders and co-writer Peter Handke are more interested in making the film a vicarious tour of the human condition, overheard in passing: an infant's first joyous observations; the final thoughts of an auto accident victim; the calm resignation of a man on the brink of suicide; and the recollections of an actor (Peter Falk, playing himself, but with a whimsical twist) on location during the making of a war movie.Wenders' typically moody soul searches aren't always easy to sit through, but the unexpected element of fantasy lifts the film completely out of the ordinary, and the soaring imagery (shot mostly in luminous black and white) goes a long way toward balancing the occasional clutter of repetitive prose-poetry during the sometimes protracted interior monologues.
In fact, a person with a good deal of sense could find this film (atleast the first part) trite and overly pretentious, if they were tointerpret the angels' dialogues and the people's thoughts as bitsof Wenders' philosophy that he wants to impart to us.
And after watching it, comes to mind that only a real angel could have put on earth a film like this; so, I'm pretty sure Wenders is one of them.
Wings of desire it´s such a marvelous love story, and one of the greatest films of all time..
A sensitive, graceful, thoughtful film about the human condition as seen from the point of view of two angels who watch over the city of Berlin.
The fact that the angels see everything in black and white, and humans see everything in color, is also a significant subtlety of this marvelous film..
When it comes to shooting a face of human, no one stands above Wim Wenders, and combined with the beautifully done soundtrack and Peter Handke's wonderful poetry, Wings of Desire is undoubtedly a masterpiece of the contemporary film scene..
Those are, in order the sequel, Far Way, So Close is very disappointing, and the fact that the American remake City of Angels (which I have not seen) exists.Many of Wim Wender's films are brilliant (Kings of the Road, The American Friend, Until the End of the World, to name a few...).
In Wim Wender's film, the angels are invisible walking through the divided city of Berlin.
Right when you think nothing will happen, the movie takes a turn and angel Damiel decides that he wants to be human.
Well, Wim Wenders probably spent too much time reading Thomas Mann or Sartre while taking in some Wagner because none of the philosophical meanderings makes much sense even to an elitist intellectual, but I digress.Bruno Ganz is a tall angel that wanders unseen amidst the citizens of Berlin.
The way the movie is filmed, how you can hear all people think when the angels walk by, and the how and why this angel falls in love with the girl and being human really made me feel the worth of human life myself.
Result was more than a brilliant work of Art, very unique and highly poetic modern masterpiece Wings of Desire (original title is Der Himmel über Berlin).It is following two angels Damiel (brilliantly played by Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) wandering through the streets of modern day Berlin and helping its citizens.
One day Damiel, aware of his detachment from the material world and in love with a mortal girl, decides to sacrifice his immortality.This film is a testimony to the little things we (humans) take for granted like a touch of a close friend or having a cup of coffee in a cold day.
It has my vote for the best cinematography ever in motion pictures (by then 78-year-old Henri Alekan!)Overall, Wings of Desire is a movie like no other lyrical, haunting, poetic.
And...it just made me appreciate all the more Wim Wender's perfect movie, "Wings of Desire".
Artsy foreign film about two angels that come to Earth and spend a lot of time walking around listening to people's thoughts.
I had the opportunity to visit the city several times in the first decade of 21st century and it is definitely not Berlin from Wings of Desire.With a comforting premise that angels are watching over us, we follow them during their usual day.
Wim Wender's "The Wings of Desire" may be the best film of the '80s, if not the later 20th century.
Never before has a movie so dull been so fascinating and full of life.Set, and filmed, in Germany before the collapse of the Berlin wall, "The Wings of Desire" follows two angels on Earth, sent to observe the details and events that come with being human.
Perhaps Wenders is an angel himself, or just a great film-maker who knows the effects of hope, humanity, and compassion in a fragile world..
You can feel something wrong is happening: you can see the Berlin Wall, a lot of people contemplating life, and the black and white makes everything look like it's happening elsewhere.
I don't believe in angels, but this film made me want to believe that there is always someone watching over you in your time of need.
Wim Wenders likes making slow movies - as "Paris, Texas" or the "Soul of a Man".
Did you ever think about why would an angel decide to give away his immortal life and start living like a human being? |
tt0967945 | The Merry Gentleman | A delicacy of tone transforms Michael Keatons The Merry Gentleman from what might have been a pedestrian tale into a beautifully romantic fable. Directed, photographed, and performed with a precision and style that mark a distinctive directorial debut, the film begins with a woman who leaves an abusive relationship to begin a new life in a new city, where she forms an unlikely and ironic relationship with a suicidal hit man (unbeknownst to her). Enter a worn, alcoholic detective to form the third party in a very unusual triangle, and this dark, soulful, sometimes-funny story begins to unfold.Walking a line between the conventional and the idiosyncratic, Keaton creates a highly original yarn that has a quiet, sometimes-even-meditative quality, and frames a more-straightforward story about a womans accidental involvement in a murder investigation. Wonderfully composed and enacted, The Merry Gentleman features Keaton in the lead role opposite a gifted leading lady, Kelly Macdonald, who is at once enigmatic and iconographic in her portrayal of a woman trying to find her way in a cold world. The cop, played by Tom Bastounes, is a disheveled embodiment of male cluelessness and relentless pursuit. Together they are lonely figures in an urban landscape, one that exemplifies the isolation and need for personal relationships that we all carry with us.Lonely guy Frank Logan (Michael Keaton) meets cute with his addled neighbor, Kate (Kelly MacDonald), under a fallen Christmas tree, and these two bruised souls gradually begin to approach something like redemption under each other's caring eye. Of course they have their problems: Frank is actually a suicidal hitman and he's being stalked by an alcoholic cop (Tom Bastounes) with romantic designs on Kate, who he suspects saw Frank commit the murder he's investigating. Frank begins to plan another hit, but just when, why, or who maybe not even he knows. It's a remarkably promising directorial debut for Keaton (BATMAN, BEETLEJUICE) who shows a generosity and wisdom in letting the amazing Macdonald (Josh Brolin's wife in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) keep her Scottish accent and voice most of the dialogue in the film. A captivating screen presence, MacDonald gamely embodies an array of conflicting but complementary tics and emotions, which--like Frank's--are caught between the need to conceal the truth and the just-as-pressing need to express it. Bobby Cannavale (THE TEN) is good in his big scene as Kate's abusive cop-husband, and the ending is almost as surprising as the breadth of artistry Keaton shows behind the camera, making it a surprise sleeper all the way. [D-Man2010] | murder | train | imdb | It makes me go all weak in the knees, sends my heart aflutter.She is the reason I went to see "The Merry Gentleman." I like Michael Keaton, too, and thought his performance in "Game 6" (2005) was exceptionally good.
I wasn't too sure how good a director he would be, but after watching "The Merry Gentleman," I can safely say that Keaton is a very good filmmaker.The story of "The Merry Gentleman" could very well point to all the trappings of a formula: An abused woman inadvertently sees a hit man and then he befriends her with obvious intent.Given filmmakers' penchant these days to turn this sort of subject matter into yet another Tarantino or Guy Ritchie clone, the calmness with which "The Merry Gentleman" unfolds comes as a wonderful surprise.I realize that film-goers who want to see every hit man movie turned into another fast-talking Tarantino imitation might be sorely disappointed or even bored by "The Merry Gentleman." This film takes its time.
This really is a splendid character study, paced deliberately so that we would get to know, understand, appreciate and grow to love these people.This film relies on its two main characters, Frank (Keaton) and Kate (Macdonald), to carry the film.
An unconventional love story as Frank and Kate, a depressed professional killer and the mousy abused woman, slowly work their way through each other lives, through the uncomfortable moments, trying to steal moments they can share.Keaton could very easily have played Frank for a chuckle or two, given him a frenetic edge, as he often has in films.
Keaton finds the fine edges to his character and realizes there's more to reveal in what Frank doesn't say than in what he does.
This is truly a finely-tuned and subtle performance by Keaton - one of his very best.Macdonald is completely charming as Kate.
Macdonald never disappoints.There are two fine supporting performances - from Bobby Cannavale as Kate's husband, and Tom Bastounes, as a cop investigating Frank's killings and also harboring a crush on Kate.
His dinner scenes with Kate contain terrific bits of acting.At a time when "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Terminator Salvation," "Public Enemies" and other Hollywood films gain all the attention, it is too bad that a film such as "The Merry Gentleman" seemingly just gets lost in the shuffle.This is a gem of a film.
But is for those seeking a tender, sweet, deeply moving, at times startling film about deeply damaged people and their attempts to find some sort of solace, happiness and meaning in this life.
Keaton doesn't rush anything in his story of a lonely young woman (Kelly McDonald) who is the locus of desire for several men, including her ex-husband (a great Bobby Cannavale), an alcoholic cop, and a suicidal hit-man (Keaton).
Taking place during two of the loneliest holidays (Christmas and Valentine's day), The Merry Gentleman is also a great religious film, movingly detailing McDonald's faith as she in turn becomes a figure of worship for men with a variety of intentions.
But in that half hour, if we're paying attention, we get more insight into the depths of a man's soul than if we had just read his 500-page autobiography.The Merry Gentleman is billed as a crime drama, but that label hardly does it justice.
And finally, we have the main character's ultimate secret which is so cryptically presented that it may take you a few days of introspection before you figure it out.This film is very much like a challenging poem whose meaning is elusive at first glance but whose mood & style sinks into your mind over time.
One of the characters says something like "Ghosts and angels are the same, except ghosts are haunted while angels are blessed." OK, it may not mean much at first, but by the end of the film the significance is absolutely beautiful.Which brings me to the cinematography: absolutely beautiful.
I can honestly say that I cannot think of a finer directoral debut than Michael Keaton in The Merry Gentleman.I won't even get into the first rate acting, the haunting musical score, or Katie's adorable accent.
The Merry Gentlemen has the makings, and perhaps even the trappings, of a predictable neo-noir involving a hit-man (Michael Keaton), a detective (Bastounes) and the woman that they're both eying (Kelly MacDonald), and the elements of crime floating all about.
But Keaton brings to the table as a first-time director an absolutely unbreakable grasp of what makes the scene(s) work from an actor's stand-point.
She's so vulnerable and adorable, so keen on how her character should be in every moment, as someone who's fragile, been messed with by her husband, but wants to have her space while at the same time being friendly to both the lonely hit-man and the desperate cop.
He, too, makes a mark playing off both MacDonald like at the restaurant or Keaton in a pivotal scene at the tailor.There's another actor I should also credit, though at the moment I forget his name: he plays MacDonald's character's husband, and he appears out of the darkness in a scene, a recovering abuser with a newfound Jesus addiction who tries to win back his wife's heart as she holds a knife to him.
Kelly MacDonald is especially effective, but so is Michael Keaton who manages to bring some convincing emotional reality to the hit man genre despite having directorial duties to perform as well.The pace is slow but it's rich with detail and nuance to the point you'll feel as if you're really there.
The Merry Gentleman marks Michael Keatons Directorial debut by chance due to the sudden illness of screenwriter Ron Lazzeretti who was originally slated to Direct.
Keaton also stars as Frank Logan, a depressed hit man, alongside Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) a woman who has just escaped from an abusive relationship.
As the plot unfolds, Frank and Kate end up mysteriously crossing paths, which spawns an unconventional, often uncomfortable and strained romance between these two mixed up individuals from different worlds.Keaton's first shot at direction does everything but fall into a "Hand It Over".
For me it took a good fifteen minutes after the picture ended before everything clicked and I was blindsided by the sheer brilliance of what I had seen; deep themes rich in symbolism of religion and redemption and the overall feeling that Keaton felt no responsibility as an artist to spell it out for us.Performances all around play it safe but are always believable and gratifying to watch.
Supporting cast gets the job done and Bobby Cannavale delivers a poignant, gripping and short-lived scene stealing performance as Kate's boyfriend.The question that will remain on many of our minds is, "what exactly is the fine line between complete obscurity and masterpiece, and did Keaton cross it?" That's for each of us to decide individually, but it is in the opinion of this reviewer that said line is imaginary.
Michael Keaton played a really good hit man, and the movie style I thought was a throwback to the 1950's era movies that were crime related.
I also thought Michael Keaton did an admirable job of directing himself in the movie, and providing his cast with opportunities to share the stage with him and also have a good performance.
unsatisfying ending"The Merry Gentleman" is a very strange film.
It also is a very unsatisfying one because I liked so much of it and the film's ending really did not deliver.The film is about an unlikely friendship that develops between a suicidal assassin (Michael Keaton) and a woman, Kate (Kelly MacDonald), who has been abused by her partner.
Frank Logan (Keaton) is a hit man and he suspects Kate (MacDonald) can place him at the scene of his last hit.
This is Michael Keaton's first attempt at directing and since I enjoyed the movie, I'd say he did a good job of it.
By the time I got half-way through the film, I still didn't have much of an idea of what the central motive of either character was, especially Michael Keaton, and after awhile, I began to stop caring.
Michael Keaton plays a professional hit-man, though we never know for who, or why, or even anything about his targets.
He is suicidal (the way his first attempt is foiled is practically out of a Buster Keaton comedy), but I would think that a character who was a professional hit-man would come up with far simpler and effective methods to off himself than the ones he attempts in the movie.
Even in a scene in a hospital scene that appears to be inserted into the film to try and give the audience some idea of who this character is, we still get nothing...and that nothing takes a whole lot of time to get to.
All I can say is that it involves yet another convenient coincidence involving a business card to a local hotel.Kelly McDonald, a fine actress, is really the lead of the film, but even here the writer didn't give her character much logic to work with.
Obviously not wanting to jump into any new relationships due to her abusive past, she rejects the advances of a few of her new co- workers, but then inexplicably falls for Michael Keaton's character after one brief run-in, who, in their first meeting, comes off as a bit, well....creepy.
In the end, it seems like the film really didn't know what it wanted to be; sometimes a gritty drama, sometimes a Billy Wilder comedy, sometimes a teary melodrama, and sometimes a Basic Instinct-type thriller.
You used a body double and that was a big let down.The other actors: Nice ensemble who all worked well and off one another.Okay, a woman sees a man on the top of a building after he's just made a hit.
2. The DVD cover photo.Watch this movie because Michael Keaton did many satisfying things creating and telling the story.
It is evident that Keaton is a sensitive director, and daring in the sense that he does not try to hide this fact.The characters of the movie have depth.
Where this movie stands out from the usual fare is that it does not try to build up a story or a narrative, instead the characters go with the flow with no attempt to explain any quirks along the way.
Which is how life actually is!Kudos to Keaton for bringing out such a wonderful film.
"I'd say we've been pretty good for one another," Kate (Kelly Macdonald)Well, not quite, but that statement is consistent with naïve young Brit Kate's cluelessness since she's talking to an accomplished assassin, Frank (Michael Keaton), whom she recently befriended and believes to be a good Samaritan.
But that sense of being just a bit out of it is characteristic of Michael Keaton's first directorial effort, The Merry Gentleman, as well.I could feel Keaton struggling to offer a thriller in the David Mamet tradition (without his caustic language) with minimalist dialogue and exposition and a concentration on character.
Without Mamet's poetic language, Keaton is left with spare dialogue that barely explains the motivations for abuse and murder involving more than one character.It is, however, mostly Kate I wanted to know, and I was not fulfilled because of her limited capacity to speak loud and clear.
Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) escapes from her abusive policeman husband Michael (Bobby Cannavale).
Professional assassin Frank Logan (Michael Keaton) is becoming suicidal.
She befriends Frank over a Christmas tree, not knowing his real job.It's a sad, slow march in the first half.
Combine it with an actor who apparently wants to make one of those films you can tell is specifically created for Oscar award nomination and ends up being cliché and simplistic and you get cliché, simplistic, and unrealistic.At times it did work.
Likewise, Michael Keaton the retired hit-man love interest out to do one last job is unengaging and wooden.
One character is a hit-man, played by director Michael Keaton.
The other is Kate, a woman fleeing a past of abuse, played by Kelly MacDonald.Unfortunately, there's nothing here to rejuvenate the classic elements such as the nice-guy- hit-man who is poorly socialized.
Everybody will root for poor Kate to get her life on track after a bad relationship, I couldn't help but feel it all tied up a little nicely for her.There's just nothing terribly interesting about this plot or the characters to make me care.
The Merry Gentleman is one of the most patient and subtle American films I've seen in some time.
This film is not about plot, suspense, mystery, but about two people and their relationship.Frank Logan is a hit man.
We know Frank Logan kills others during the film.
In this film his being a hired killer is only a device to meet the character Kate.
That we don't look at him as a hired killer, don't think of him like that, is the genius of him happening to be one.Kate Frazier starts the film leaving her husband.
Of course, Frank was on that roof to shoot a man that worked in the same building as Kate.
Frank and Kate actually meet when he helps her bring her Christmas tree into her apartment building – a scene that may have been a little forced.
Well, that can't be explained but it comes to a head when Kate's husband shows up.What is so enjoyable about the film is having way more knowledge than the two characters.
These are the questions that Keaton allows a very moody atmosphere to hide in the back of our heads while he tells and portrays half of the Frank and Kate friendship.It's always interesting when a long-time actor directs their first picture.
It's safe to say that Keaton was never in a film reminiscent of The Merry Gentleman.
His acting mimics the patience and mood of his filming, everything is allowed to happen in its own time.The film makes a point of showing Kate as looking like an angel when Frank looks down at her from the rooftop.
In the film, we'll question whether these characters are real at all, and what does it means if they're not.
I felt it in "The Girl in the Cafe," and I'll never forgive Javier Bardem for keeping his vow in "No Country for Old Men." "The Merry Gentleman" could be titled "Who will Protect Kelly?" Will it be the cop, the hit-man (Keaton) even her "born-again" husband?-they all want to protect her.
It was slow paced but I give it credit that it wasn't your ordinary Hollywood movie that would've had the characters jumping into bed, or massive explosions to buildings and cars.The ending was the worst.
Having Michael Keaton's character just walk off into the sunset left too many questions unanswered, which I hate in a movie that takes the cheap way out.
in fact, no, the second it was clear that she was having trouble with the tree, you had to know Frank was going to end up showing up to help her out.
A different role for Michael Keaton, as a contract hit man..
As the movie opens we see a brief scene of a man and woman in the bedroom, and it is clear that he has some anger issues, and at least this time, probably not the first, he has hit her.
He will eventually track her down, after a long time, and this plays into the overall thrust of the story.Kelly Macdonald is the young woman, Kate Frazier.
She doesn't think too much of it until the police come to talk to her, someone in her building had been shot about that time (we actually see the hit, he called the man's phone to get him at the right place for a clean shot) and they suspected it might have been the same man she saw (it was).Michael Keaton is Frank Logan, who works as a tailor in an upscale shop, but his main occupation is contract hit man.
His skill serves well when Kate's abusive husband finally tracks her down.This isn't a very savory topic, but overall Keaton and Macdonald make this a drama a cut above most.
There is a lot of irony to the title "The Merry Gentleman" about a hit man named Frank Logan.
It is also curious to think of this film as a "thriller." Instead, it is an insightful character study of two people who are apparently deeply in love but cannot connect, due to extenuating circumstances.Those circumstances have to do with the suicidal nature of the hitman Frank Logan.
Frank is "saved" by Kate (Kelly Macdonald) when he is about to jump off a building.
Some of the best scenes are the quiet ones, such as the initial meeting of Kate and Frank when she has fallen under the weight of the large Christmas tree she has purchased; a conversation in the hospital where Frank is recovering from pneumonia; and a meeting in church where neither character looks at the other for the entire sequence.The film's ending failed to resolve basic questions about the main relationship of Frank and Kate.
The screenplay was filled with interesting details about the characters, which makes "The Merry Gentleman" a film worth viewing on multiple occasions..
Fleeing an abusive relationship Kate Frazier heads to Chicago and gets a job as a receptionist; one day as she leaves work she looks up at the falling snow and sees a man, Frank Logan, standing on a rooftop about to jump; she screams and he falls backwards onto the roof.
This is far more a character study as we get to know Kate and Frank as they in turn get to know each other and their secrets.
Kelly Macdonald is delightful as Kate; nicely capturing her character's nervousness.
Michael Keaton is equally good as Frank the suicidal hit man
he also does a fine job directing; I wouldn't have guessed this was his first film in that role. |
tt0042994 | Stage Fright | Eve Gill (Jane Wyman), an aspiring actress studying at RADA, is interrupted in the middle of a rehearsal by her friend, actor Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd). The frantic Jonathan explains that he is the secret lover of flamboyant stage actress/singer, Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich). He claims that Charlotte visited him after killing her husband in an argument. She was wearing a bloodstained dress and Jonathan agreed to go back to her house and obtain another one. He found the body of Mr. Inwood at the residence, took a spare dress from the wardrobe and then tried to simulate a burglary gone wrong, only to be caught in the act by Charlotte's theatre maid and dresser, Nellie Goode (Kay Walsh). He is now on the run, wanted by the police.Eve has long had a crush on Jonathan, but accepts that he is not interested in her romantically. She takes him to hide in a house near the coast owned by her father, Commodore Gill (Alastair Sim). Persuaded to help, the Commodore then notices that the blood on Charlotte's dress has been smeared on deliberately, not by accident, and he and Eve suspect that Jonathan has been framed. He angrily rejects this, destroying the dress and thus the best evidence they have on Charlotte.Eve decides to investigate for herself. Posing as a reporter, she bribes Nellie Goode to pretend that she is ill and cannot work for Charlotte for a while. Eve then utilises her acting skills to affect the false identity and accent of a Cockney maid, claiming to be Nellie's cousin, "Doris Tinsdale", and takes the temporary job of replacing "her cousin" in order to infiltrate Charlotte's household.In the course of trying to clear Jonathan, Eve meets Detective Inspector Wilfred Smith (Michael Wilding). As Eve, she and Smith get quite friendly and she has to go to great lengths to cover the fact that she is also "Doris" the maid when Smith visits Charlotte to ask further questions. As Eve, she is not able to get much from him on the progress of the investigation.Out to court Eve, Smith visits her and her mother at their home in London. They are joined by the Commodore who drops subtle hints to Eve that Jonathan has left their house by the sea. Meanwhile, in spite of the tragedies that are surrounding her, Charlotte continues to perform at her West End musical show. She is secretly visited by Jonathan who wants her to accompany him abroad and tells her that he still has the dress with the bloodstain. Charlotte makes it clear that she will not give up her career for a hunted fugitive in any case she is secretly having an affair with her manager Freddie Williams (Hector MacGregor).Eve again helps Jonathan escape the police and he hides out at the Gill's London residence. He thanks Eve for her support, but she feels torn since she is starting to fall in love with Wilfred Smith.When Nellie Goode uncovers the deception that is going on, Eve manages to buy her off with blackmail money. With time running out, she persuades Smith to accompany her to a garden party where Charlotte is singing on stage in a large tent. During the performance, Commodore Gill gets a little boy to take a doll wearing a dress stained with blood, Gill's own, up to the stage. The sight causes Charlotte to collapse and Williams summons "Doris" for assistance. Seeing Eve attending to Charlotte and the stained doll's dress leads Smith to put two and two together.Smith confronts Eve and the Commodore over their "amateur meddling". They persuade him to set Charlotte up into making a confession. Once the theatre has closed for the evening, Eve comes out of character and confronts Charlotte near a hidden microphone Smith and his men listening in to the conversation from the loudspeakers. Charlotte admits her involvement in her husband's death (making her an accessory) but denies committing the murder itself, blaming Jonathan.Eve then sees that Jonathan has been brought to the theatre by the police, Smith having guessed that he was hiding in their house. She falls into hysterics, enabling Jonathan to get away. At this point Smith reveals to the Commodore that Jonathan really did kill Mr. Inwood and that he has actually killed before, though he got off on a plea of self-defence.Hiding below stage, Jonathan confesses to Eve that Charlotte goaded him into killing her husband but actually in order to make way for Freddie Williams. The story he told Eve when she agreed to hide him was all lies. He has a temper that makes him lash out when provoked. When he threatens to kill her as well, Eve escapes and in the confusion that follows Jonathan is decapitated by the stage's safety curtain. | insanity, plot twist, murder, romantic, flashback | train | imdb | black comedy that boasts great performances from Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Alistair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, Joyce Grenfell, Kay Walsh & Richard Todd.
The scene at the garden party when she switches from Dietrich's cockney maid to Smith's innocent date with every turn is delightful.It is the masterful presence of the great Alastair Sim, however, that makes Stage Fright one of Hitchock's most enjoyable to watch.
But compared to the whole lot of crappy facsimile suspense films made since 1950, Stage Fright is quicker to entertain than most.Be sure to check it out if you want to see Hitch cast his own daughter Patricia in the supporting role of "Chubby Banister." Is that some kind of sick joke or was that name flattering in the fifties?P.S.-- I can't watch Marlene Dietrich anymore and not be reminded of Madeline Kahn's Teutonic Titwillow.
And with Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Richard Todd and Michael Wilding how can you go wrong?Wyman convincingly plays a drama student who gets involved over her head in a purely Hitchcockian case of murder.
This superb film incredibly contains Marlene Dietrich and Alistair Sim among its great cast, in a blend of Hitchcock thrills and chills, humour and even musical interludes.
Talk about verisimilitude getting in the way of realism.We know that the stage will play a large role throughout, and Hitchcock loved to include the theatre in his films.
By Hitchcock's standards, it's average at best, but it is still an entertaining movie with an interesting story and a number of good sequences.Simply seeing the distinctive persona of Marlene Dietrich and the enjoyably unique style of Alastair Sim in an Alfred Hitchcock film would make for an interesting combination in itself.
I don't think it is as good as North By Northwest and Rebecca, but Stage Fright was a great film, and this is coming from a Hitchcock fan.
As for the acting, I had very little problem with it, Jane Wyman was perfectly alluring as Eve. Michael Wilding delights as "Ordinary Smith", and while he started off a tad wooden, Richard Todd was fine too.
Richard Todd's Jonathan Cooper is very good, and Michael Wilding, Sybil Thorndike and Kay Walsh are excellent as Ordinary Smith, Mrs. Gill and Nellie Goode, respectively.I won't discuss the plot, because I think that reveals too much and the suspense is a big part of the enjoyment of these films.
However, it's very entertaining and quite good, starring Marlene Dietrich, Jane Wyman, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Alistair Sim and Sybil Thorndike.
Without going into details, director Alfred Hitchcock's "Stage Fright" does something with a character's "point-of-view" that fatally flaws the film.
Kay Walsh (as Nellie Goode) leads the pack of smaller, delightful Hitchcock characters.****** Stage Fright (2/23/50) Alfred Hitchcock ~ Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Richard Todd, Michael Wilding.
STAGE FRIGHT does not ignore, among the supporting performers, the elderly couple (who are usually the parents of a protagonist) and so they are here: ALISTAIR SIM as calm and peaceful Mr Gill and SYBIL THORNDYKE as his rigid, demanding wife.As she is a strict mother of more or less Victorian style, he is a very sympathetic, hilarious (at moments) daddy who is afraid for his daughter knowing that 'in real life you have to face situations with all its bearings.' He is a very likable old gentleman, at the same time, resorting to more peaceful way of life and one of the most frank of all Hitchcock's supporting characters.
And the last aspect:HUMOR is ever-present from the lovely scene of Doris Tinsdale in glasses through Hitchcock's cameo presence, Mr and Mrs Gill's tense interactions, some of Ordinary Smith's lines to the dark wit (for the time) expressed in Charlotte's line "I hate rainy funerals." Many clever lines make the film witty in an intelligent manner.STAGE FRIGHT is undeniably a movie worth seeing, another of Hitchock's powerful productions though it might not look like one.
There is also no flab in the movie whatsoever; it kicks off with a murder and subsequently develops into a good old chase yarn.The principal parts are taken by Jane Wyman, cast against type and underplaying nicely, and Marlene Dietrich in one of her theatrical grande-dame roles, (in this one she sings 'The laziest gal in town').
Meanwhile Detective Wilfred Smith (Michael Wilding) that is in charge of the case befriends Eve and they fall in love for each."Stage Fright" is a delightfully naive film of Alfred Hitchcock and the last in his British phase.
This is especially jarring when we have MARLENE DIETRICH acting up a storm in her best WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION sort of mode, overly glamorized as a grand stage actress who is trying to pin a murder on a presumably innocent man.There are other compensations in the cast, notably ALASTAIR SIM as Wyman's father who gets to deliver one of the film's better performances and, of course, RICHARD TODD as the accused man around whom the plot spins.
Hitchcock is evidently having fun with the audience as he plays a trick that disguises the truth and leads to a conclusion best described as less than satisfactory.Hitch's loyal fans will no doubt find all of this quite acceptable as a movie to enjoy for whatever interest its mystery holds and whatever flaws the story has, but be warned that it certainly doesn't rank among his best works.
I also found the acting of ALL the principal players wanting; Jane Wyman's qualities are ones I have never really appreciated, I must admit, Richard Todd is hopeless after the very first scenes, even the divine Dietrich seems to be 'just going through the motions' and, saddest of all, even Alastair Sim, who could usually raise a piece of froth like 'The Green Man' into something like a minor film classic, just does not have the material or setting to make a mark either.
You either like it a lot or not at all, and while I see much to admire in isolation, I fall among those who don't.The story concerns London drama student Eve Gill (Jane Wyman), a young woman who is hopelessly in love with Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd)--who is too preoccupied with stage star Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich) to care much about Eve one way or another.
Hitchcock was a master at building tension through a juxtaposition of long takes and flash cuts, but something has gone astray in his work on this film, and STAGE FRIGHT seems slightly clunky and unduly slow; I kept wanting to tell the actors to "get on with it!" The DVD transfer is what you might call very good instead of excellent, and the DVD comes with a number of bells and whistles, mostly focusing on the "the director and camera lie to you!" issue--which is, as I've said, largely a non-issue from a modern point of view.
The fact that it was followed by the tremendous "Strangers on a Train" made things harder for this little overlooked gem.Despite this apparent bad luck, "Stage Fright" is a movie that displays the master's fine eye for film-making, and it even foresees the bright future Hitchcock had ahead at the beginning of the 50s.
Works like "North By Northwest", "Vertigo" or "Psycho" have an immediate precursor in these two often forgotten films.After a beautiful set of introductory credits that set the action in London, the movie starts quickly as we have Johnatan Cooper (Richard Todd) and Eve Gill (Jane Wyman) running away on her car.
Her performance as Eve must be one of the greatest (and sadly forgotten) in any Hitchcock film While Eve's investigation is filled with problems; she has the good aid of his witty and at times cynic father, played wonderfully by Alastair Sim. He is probably the defining character of the film, as he represents the classic Hitchcocknian mix complete with that famous British humor and his deep expressive eyes.
Eve Gill (Wyman) attempts to help her friend Jonathan Cooper (Todd) who has assisted his lover, high actress Charlotte Inwood (Dietrich), in covering up a brutal murder.This mystery drama from Alfred Hitchcock deceives audiences in true Hitchcock style as we see numerous characters all come together to see an unravelling of a brutal murder.Opening with Eve and Cooper in a car driving to escape Cooper recollects the events of his desperate escape in a flashback that adds extra drama to an already tense notion.Marlene Dietrich's protagonist, an echo of Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond, is desperately trying to resolve her frustration and sadness onto her lover in Cooper's apartment.
Case in point: there is a very clever dolly shot during the first few minutes where walls disappear as a character enters a house from the street, closes the door, and the camera just keeps on rolling as the sound of the street fade away and the character walks in, up the stairs and down a hall.But in it I discovered wonderful Richard Todd and fascinating Michael Wilding, I found a new and higher appreciation for Marlene Dietrich, I added another notch to my highest appraisal of the legendary Alistair Sim, and now I see Jane Wyman in a whole new light.
I enjoyed "Stage Fright," but I can see why it's not counted among Hitchcock's best.Jane Wyman is unconvincing as a stage actress who goes "undercover" to investigate a murder that the man she loves is being blamed for.
The best performance, and the most compelling reason for watching the film, comes from Alistair Sim, as Wyman's cheeky father, who doesn't much care who murdered whom or why, but simply enjoys the drama of the chase."Stage Fright" doesn't have any of those thrilling Hitchcock set pieces or those dazzling shots he's known for, but what it lacks in style it makes up for in sense of humor.
Sadly, that potential is never realized as the film just wanders about.For a basic plot summary, "Stage Fright" sees Eve Gill (Jane Wyman) drawn into a murderous situation surrounding her love interest Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd) & his controlling lover Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich).
This may be the film, in which, Hitchcock enlists the greatest number of brilliant performances from his actors - including a hypnotically powerful performance by Alisair Sim as Eve's father, and good work by Richard Todd, Sybil Thorndike and Michael Wilding.
Dietrich effortlessly delivers a convincing femme-fatale, and the wonderful Alastair Sim was perfect casting as a witty and charming (almost) rogue.The story itself is Hitchcock-by-numbers without any of the intensity and suspense that marked his best work, the plot twists were predictable and the pace somewhat lacking.The film will probably not be remembered as one of his best but thanks to some fine acting and casting and the fact that even bad Hitchcock is generally worth watching, this film probably warrants a 6..
It stars Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd and Alastair Sim. Plot sees Wyman as drama student Eve Gill, who is asked by friend Jonathan Cooper (Todd) for help because he is on the run for the alleged murder of Charlotte Inwood's (Dietrich) husband.
Alfred Hitchcock directed this mystery thriller that stars Jane Wyman as Eve Gill, who helps her friend Jonathan Cooper(played by Richard Todd) when he is accused of murdering his lover's husband.
The woman in question is actress Charlotte Winwood(played by Marlene Dietrich) who is being interrogated by the detective investigating the case, who also talks to Eve. Strangely, they find themselves falling in love, as the real murderer turns out to be an unpleasant surprise...
Marlene Dietrich playing another bad character and singing songs like "The laziest girl in town" and Jane Wyman with her innocent look and detective-instinct to investigate a murder-case, in which her secret-love is involved, are doing great in this movie.
near-classic Hitch with a fine (if maybe miscast) Wyman and awesome Dietrich & Sim. The first fifteen minutes of Hitchcock's Stage Fright feels so much like vintage work from this filmmaker - a set up that is so this director that even if you've only seen one or two of his movies it would feel like you're right at home in the fully realized world of Wrong Man Suspense he did so well - that one might almost take it for granted.
This time it's set in England, so it's easy to pair it up with the movies that Hitchcock made before he left for America (and after this he'd only return twice more), as it's in black and white and the rest of the story is loaded with sometimes quirky but memorable and realistic feeling characters.But this opening is electric, starting with a car ride where Todd explains to worried Jane Wyman in flashback about how he got mixed up with Marlene Dietrich's theater star Charlotte Inwood (Wyman's Eve is an aspiring actress but not there yet, which of course will work its way into the narrative), and the important piece to the puzzle is a blood-stained dress.
Not completely unusual of course for Hitchcock - what would a good spy movie be, which this isn't but you know what I mean, without Playing A Character as part of the entertainment of it all - though in the world of the theater as the backdrop it makes it all the more fitting.I think that the work on the script and of course Hitchcock's direction mark this as something superior to what it could've been, and having Dietrich as the nonplussed diva (she asks and states things in such a way that could sound demanding or bitchy, but her tone is more bemused than really ever agitated so people do what she says and asks, even down to a last request in her last scene for a chair to sit on), and Sim as I mentioned as the father.
And as a matter of fact, at the conclusion, it turns out that some, if not all of Todd's flashback has elements of truth in it.Hitchcock told Francois Truffaud that he saw STAGE FRIGHT as an opportunity to work with some great British character actors (Sim, Joyce Grenville, Sybil Thorndyke, Kay Walsh).
She actually looks younger seven years later in "Witness for the Prosecution." No matter.The acting is superb all around.The infamous "lying flashback" at the beginning seems far less troublesome to today's audiences than it did when the film was released, perhaps because we're more accustomed to films playing tricks with time, now.The character development is exceptional -- particularly the relationship between Jane Wyman and Michael Wilding.
As far as the male actors are concerned, strong performances are given by Richard Todd as the wrongly-accused boyfriend {for some reason or another, the Irish actor reminded me of Joaquin Phoenix}, Michael Wilding as the honest and romantic detective with whom Eve inevitably falls in love, and Alastair Sim is a lot of fun as our leading lady's loving and playful father.In comparing Alfred Hitchcock's films with those of his contemporaries, it's interesting to note how the director made stunning, dynamic use of the camera.
Drama student Eve Gill(Jane Wyman)pretends to be an aid to London theater star Charlotte Inwood(Marlene Dietrich) to prove that she murdered her husband.
The most famous thing about "Stage Fright" is without a doubt its final plot twist; having seen the film twice now, I can say that the twist almost holds up, but there is one scene, or more accurately one line, that cheats (Todd and Dietrich meet in her dressing room, alone, and she says the word "accident").
I have to say I am slightly puzzled as to why 'Stage Fright' is not generally considered one of Alfred Hitchcocks' finest works, as on every viewing I remain glued to the screen right the way from beginning to end.The film opens with a theatre curtain rising and we are immediately introduced to a postwar London still containing the ruins of World War Two. Eve (Jane Wyman), a Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts actress is driving Johnny (Richard Todd) who has run from away from the scene of the murder of the husband of Charlotte (Marlene Dietrich), a major star of the theatre.
The film makes good use of established English character actors like Alistair Sim as Wyman's father, who is given the most amusing lines.
In "Stage Fright", however, Hitchcock reverses this convention; at the end of the film it turns out that Jonathan is indeed guilty of the murder.
Early on he chides Eve about "transmuting melodrama into real life" and throughout the film acts the role of her tut-tutting stage manager, enabling her performance as best he can even if he knows she's better off going to the police.That's something a lot of Hitchcock experts can't forgive "Stage Fright" for, beyond the flashback question: It's the one time the police are not the fly in the ointment.
And its characters are interesting and well-developed.Musical-comedy star Charlotte Inwood's (Marlene Dietrich) husband has been murdered, and her lover Jonathan (Richard Todd) fears that she committed the crime and is trying to frame him for it.
It is about a stage actress and singer named Charlotte Inwood [Marlene Dietrich], who murders her husband and goes to her toy-boy Jonathan Cooper [Richard Todd] for help to destroy the evidence against her, notably a blood-stained dress.
Featuring a cast with Jane Wyman and Marlene Dietrich, largely playing herself, it also features actor Michael Wilding in his second (and last) straight collaboration, and disappointing film, with the director.Wyman plays an aspiring actress, Eve Gill, that thinks she's in love with Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd), who has told her that he's being pursued by the police because he's assisted Charlotte Inwood (Dietrich) in covering up a murder.
Robinson (Richard Todd) goes to Eve (Jane Wyman), a theater understudy in training, about his being trouble with the law due to trying to help his lover, a renowned stage actress, Mrs. Inwood (Marlene Dietrich) cover up the murder of her abusive husband. |
tt0414161 | Intermedio | In a small California town, Malik (Edward Furlong) along with his former girlfriend Gen (Cerina Vincent) her friend Barbie (Amber Benson), and another friend named Wes (Callard Harris) take a weekend getaway to an old ghost town where Malik and Gen played when they were younger.
They arrive at a long-abandoned prospecting settlement which is said to contain miles of underground tunnels, some of which lead to the Mexican border less than a mile away. The four friends climb down into the tunnels, and are observed by a mysterious old man (Steve Railsback) from a short distance away. He tugs on a mysterious amulet hanging from a chain around his neck and pours what appears to be blood on the ground.
In the tunnels, the teenagers stumble into two Mexican drug dealers, Jorge (Alejandro Samaniego) and Al, along with their teenaged sidekick Zee (Paul Cram), hauling packets of contraband across the border. The drug dealers force the four teenagers to tag along with them. Suddenly, mysterious ghost-like creatures appear and begin to attack them, forcing the teenagers and drug runners to join forces and run to the nearest hatch to try to escape. The mysterious old man is seen stroking his necklace, summoning the mysterious creatures. One of them throws a hook and chain at Al, impaling him to the wall.
Barbie is then sliced in half at the waist when she attempts to stand on Jorge's shoulders to open another hatch. Most of Jorge's fingers are severed as well. Zee seems to have disappeared, and the remaining survivors climb into a boarded up shack. One of the creatures stabs Wes through the neck. Jorge is also killed by the creatures.
Malik and Gen soon discover a room filled with dozens of bodies that have been killed over the years. Zee appears again and leads them to a path. Eventually the two safely escape the tunnels only to discover that they have lost the keys to their car, and they ask the owner of a nearby house for a ride. The owner turns out to be the mysterious old man, although neither of the survivors know he is the one behind the attacks.
As the old man drives the two away in his truck, he offers them some beer. Gen drinks it and soon passes out. The old man stabs Malik in the legs and then knocks him out with chloroform.
Malik and Gen wake up back in the room filled with dead bodies, and after they each painfully remove the barbed wire binding their wrists, Gen discovers a small, narrow tunnel. They crawl under it and end up in the house of the old man. In the house they find a bedroom covered with newspaper clippings about a teenager named Zee who was murdered years earlier in the tunnels; the old man was a suspect in the killing. Zee reappears and shows them a passage underneath a bed. The old man soon finds the open passage and follows them into it.
Once again, the old man summons the ghostly creatures to attack the two survivors as they flee. Soon, Malik and Gen cross paths with the old man, who attacks them. The old man is about to murder Gen by slowly stabbing her in the neck when the previously silent Zee tells him to stop. Gen attacks the old man. Gen gets hold of the necklace and destroys it, and the creatures show up and kill the old man.
Later, Gen cuts herself with a knife, dripping her blood onto a rock as she says her goodbyes to Wes. She meets up with Malik and they safely make it to the surface. At daybreak, they flag down another pickup truck and ask the driver for a ride.
In the final scene, Malik and Gen are safely in a motel room. Malik then muses over the old man's ability to control spirits, wondering whether they could then control them too, which Gen simply shrugs off. The movie ends showing Wes and Barbie's dead bodies staring at Malik and Gen through their motel room window. | violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0114436 | Showgirls | A young woman is hitchiking from what appears to be a truck stop; snow capped mountains are seen in the distance which sets it either in Colorado or an upstate U.S. state. A pickup truck pulls over for her, driven by a man who looks like a shady character. The young woman is unsure about whether she should accept the ride, but gets in cautiously when the man tells her he's going to Vegas. She tells him her name is Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley) and that she's going to Vegas to dance. When the man tries to hit on her, Nomi pulls out a switchblade. After the man freaks out and almost causes a collision with a tractor trailer, Nomi agrees to put the knife away. Once they get to Las Vegas, the man takes Nomi to a casino under the pretense of getting her a job; he convinces Nomi to leave her suitcase inside the truck. Inside the casino, he leaves her with ten dollars at a slot machine, then disappears; by the time Nomi realizes what has happened, she returns to the parking lot to find his truck gone, the man having abandoned her and stolen her suitcase. As Nomi is crying and banging her fists on the side of a nearby car, the car's owner, Molly (Gina Ravera), a seamstress, confronts her. The impulsive Nomi dashes out into traffic, but Molly pulls her back just in time. After talking and discovering Nomi does not have any family or place to go, Molly takes her into her trailer park home.Two months later. Nomi gets a job as a stripper at the sleazy Cheetah's Topless Club which is managed and run by the sleazy Al Torres (Robert Davi) who also appears as the club's MC. Nomi considers herself a dancer, and she apparently sees that the Cheetah is a place where she can do this and still make a living. While out dancing for fun at a nightclub called The Crave Club, Nomi meets a bouncer named James Smith (Glenn Plummer). James admires her dancing and Nomi is flattered until he dares to criticize what she's doing. In retaliation, Nomi kicks him between the legs and he falls into another patron, sparking a brawl. Nomi delights in what she's done, smiling to herself as all the men begin to throw punches, until someone recognizes her as the instigator and she's taken to jail. James bails her out the next morning, but Nomi still will not forgive him for his comments.One night Nomi accompanies Molly backstage at Goddess, the topless Vegas show at the Stardust Hotel where Molly works as the costume seamstress. Since it is Nomi's dream to be a showgirl, she is thrilled to watch the show and see the backstage area. Molly introduces her to Cristal Connors (Gina Gershon), the diva-like star of the show. Molly tells Cristal that Nomi is a dancer as well, but when Nomi tells her she dances at the Cheetah, Cristal derisively tells Nomi that what she does is akin to prostitution. Nomi becomes furious, and her reaction intrigues Cristal, who is bisexual and apparently attracted to Nomi.The next evening, Cristal and her cocaine-snorting boyfriend Zach Carey (Kyle MacLachlan), the entertainment director at the Stardust, visit the Cheetah and pay Nomi $500 for a lap dance. Nomi does not want to do the private dance, for fear it will prove her to be the prostitute Cristal made her out to be, but is forced to do so by Torres, much to her embarrassment. James, who lurks in the Cheetah and sees Nomi performing her private dance with Zack and Cristal, confronts Nomi at her home the next day. He feels that Nomi has too much talent to be performing as a stripper, not to mention that he, too, considers it to be something similar to prostitution. Nomi angrily rebuffs him once more.A few days later, Nomi discovers that Cristal has arranged for her to have an audition as an ensemble dancer in Goddess. At the audition, the callous director of Goddess, Tony Moss (Alan Rachins), refers to Nomi as "Pollyanna" because of her outfit. Nomi dashes backstage, removes her blouse and dances in her underwear, but she notices Cristal watching silently from the darkened theater. When Nomi is told by Moss to use ice to make her nipples hard for the second part of the audition, she gets upset and leaves. Cristal approaches her as she cries backstage, and Nomi tells Cristal that she hates her.Leaving the Stardust upset, Nomi finds James working as a bellhop and he takes her back to his apartment. They have an intimate moment as James demonstrates a dance number that he conceived in honor of Nomi and her career as a private dancer.Despite the audition, Nomi gets the job and immediately quits the Cheetah and mouths off to Al Torres one final time. She excitedly rushes over to tell James about her new job, but she finds him having an intimate moment with another woman; ironically the woman is Penny (Rena Riffel), one of her former co-dancers at the Cheetah.Meeting with the producers of Goddess, Nomi wears a brand new dress she bought at Versace. Here, Nomi inadvertently reveals her uneducated upbringing when she mispronounces her Versace dress design as "Vur-SAYSS" in front of everyone. Nobody corrects her on it except Zach, who tells her she looks beautiful and has great taste. Nomi makes her debut the next night at the Goddess show, and she gets many compliments from the cast members and stagehands alike for her talent at her dance moves.Afterwords, Cristal calls a truce and takes Nomi out for lunch at a fancy restaurant. While talking, they discover they have similar backgrounds; both have had troubled and unhappy childhoods and left home at a young age to make something of themselves. Cristal, however, calls Nomi a whore again, which Nomi angrily denies. The way Cristal sees it, they are all whores because they exchange sexual titillation for cash. Cristal also acknowledges that she is attracted to Nomi, as well as "plays for both teams", but Nomi does not consider herself bisexual. Nevertheless, she allows Cristal to engage her in an erotic dance when they are alone in the theater at the Stardust, allowing Cristal to pull down her top and caress her bare breasts. As she leans in for a kiss, Cristal sneers at Nomi and says: "See, darlin? You ARE a whore." Nomi storms out again in a fury.From this point on, the two are rivals once more. Cristal repeatedly takes malicious swipes at Nomi on and off stage in a never-ending attempt to portray Nomi as a cheap whore, including sending Nomi on a promotional appearance with Zach's assistant, Phil Newkirk (Greg Travis). Cristal knows from experience that Nomi will be approached to have sex for cash. Nomi furiously rejects Phil's proposition and she mistakenly thinks she has an ally in Zach, who pretends to bawl Phil out over the incident.One night, Nomi agrees to a car ride from Zach, and they end up at his large estate outside of the city. Nomi seduces Zach, and they have sex in his swimming pool. As Nomi leaves the next morning, Zack mentions that there is an audition for Cristal's understudy. (Earlier, a rivalry between two other showgirls has led to an onstage sabotage incident, where one of the rivals breaks her knee after the other dancer trips her on stage during a show.) Zach tells Nomi she should try out for the position.At the audition, Cristal senses a shift in the tide; Zach suggests Nomi as Cristal's understudy, and the choreographer agrees that Nomi has what it takes. Tony Moss disagrees but makes a remark about Cristal's age. Cristal also finds out that Zach slept with Nomi, and Zach gloats over it. When Nomi gets the position as understudy, Cristal is furious, and Nomi feels she finally has the upper hand. As a result, Cristal threatens to leave the show and sue the producers, so they feel they cannot do anything but reverse their decision. Nomi is, of course, furious; her clumsy grab for power has alienated most of the other dancers, and now Cristal seems to be in control.Nomi goes to see James perform his dance and music number at the Crave Club, where he and his co-dancers are booed off the stage. James takes the bad experience it fairly well, telling Nomi that he is giving up dancing to work in a grocery store now that his girlfriend, Penny, is now pregnant. Nomi bids him farewell.During the performance of Goddess that night, Cristal taunts on-stage Nomi about her disappointment. As the dancers leave the stage, Nomi impulsively pushes Cristal down a flight of stairs which leads to the dressing rooms, injuring her badly and sending her to the hospital. Molly knows Nomi pushed Cristal, but another dancer (the same one who injured the rival dancer earlier and whom Nomi covered for) backs up Nomi's story that it really was an accident and pretends that she saw the whole thing. With Cristal unable to perform, Nomi ends up getting Cristal's lead in the show, where she makes a dazzling debut and is suddenly the talk of the town. Molly has deduced that Nomi has actually pushed Cristal down, and confronts her with the truth. Molly storms out of the place, so Nomi tries to make amends: she includes her in the guest list of the premiere party.Things seem to be going well for Nomi; she has finally secured the fame and fortune she initially sought. However, at the opening night party, Molly is brutally raped and beaten by famous musician Andrew Carver (William Shockley) and his two security guards.Molly is taken to the hospital to treat her injuries. Zach tells Nomi that they will give Molly some money to keep her quiet; their primary interest is in protecting their high-profile celebrity client, not in seeking justice for Molly. When Nomi decides to make an anonymous phone call to the police, Zach then confronts her with the truth he has just discovered when he addresses Nomi as "Polly". Apparently, Zach made a background check on Nomi and became suspicious after learning that some of her references were false. After Zach also learned about Nomi's arrest several weeks earlier at the Crave Club, he acquired her fingerprints from her arrest and has a police file containing the truth: Nomi is actually a runaway and former prostitute named Polly Ann Costello from San Francisco. Back in 1989 at age 15, Polly's father murdered her mother and then killed himself in a drunken rage. Polly then ran away from a foster home in nearby Oakland the following year, and has drifted around the country ever since. She changed her name several times and has been arrested several times in several states for an assortment of crimes ranging from drug possession, to prostitution, and assault with a deadly weapon.Finally confronted with her seedy past being made public, and frightened at the selfish and greedy person she has become and what lies ahead, Nomi decides to flee Las Vegas, but not before she pays a visit to Andrew Carver. Because Carver has made propositions to her from the moment he met her, Nomi has no problem inviting herself up to his hotel room. Once they are alone, she strips for him, but then pulls out a switchblade and swears that she will kill him if he makes a sound. She then proceeds to kick him repeatedly with her boots until he is bloodied and unconscious. Nomi then slips out of the room and away from his bodyguards.Later, Nomi arrives at the hospital and bids goodbye to a semi-conscious Molly, informing her that she obtained some kind of vengeance for her by beating Andrew Carver up. Nomi also visits the hospital room of Cristal, who doesn't seem particularly bitter about Nomi's stunt that she pulled, as she has been granted a huge indemnity sum by her lawyers. Cristal tells Nomi that she, too, got ahead by similar means. "There's always someone younger and hungrier than you coming down the stairs behind you," Cristal says. Nomi says goodbye, but grants Cristal a passionate kiss before she leaves.The movie comes full circle when Nomi coincidentally hitches a ride to Los Angeles with the very same guy who robbed her in the beginning, and attacks him for what he did to her, and both drive in the direction of L.A. | cult, revenge, satire, boring | train | imdb | null |
tt0233142 | 3000 Miles to Graceland | The film opens outside of Las Vegas, in the scorching Nevada desert. Michael (Kurt Russell) stops at the Last Resort Hotel and Cafe, where he gets a room. As he is going back to his car, a little kid named Jesse (David Kaye) takes two of the custom skullhead valve caps off of Michael's car. Michael chases him, but Jesse kicks him in the shin. Jesse then runs into the arms of his young mother Cybil (Courteney Cox Arquette), who makes Jesse give back the caps. Michael is immediately attracted to her, and asks her to breakfast. He then has sex with her. Later, a car with four men dressed like Elvis pull up, Murphy (Kevin Costner), Hanson (Christian Slater), Gus (David Arquette), and Franklin (Bokeem Woodbine). Murphy picks up Michael from the motel, and the five of them venture out to an airplane hangar, where they meet yet another con, Jack (Howie Long), a helicopter pilot. Inside the hangar are five suit and guitar cases. Michael goes back to the motel, where he knocks on Cybil's door looking for his missing wallet, which her son took. She reaches into a crawlspace in the ceiling and finds Michael's wallet, and gives it back to him. He is about to leave, but Cybil yet again lures him back into bed.The next day, Michael drives back to Las Vegas. He joins the other four men, who are all dressed up as Elvis. It's International Elvis Week in Las Vegas, so everybody there is dressed as The King. Michael and Murphy's plan is to rob the Riviera Casino in broad daylight, dressed as Elvis, so no one can identify them. As the five are walking towards the money cages in the back, a previous acquaintance of Murphy's recognizes him and greets him. Murphy ends up knocking him out in order to keep his anonymity. As they get closer to the back, Michael breaks off, and gets into an elevator. The rest of them burst into the room, with machine guns, and grab the money. The security cameras watch all of this, and notify the hotel security and Vegas PD. The plan is not to walk out into the streets, but rather get to the roof, and be picked up by Jack in the helicopter. Murphy and the other three are almost at the elevators, where Michael is waiting, but Murphy sets off panic when he blows away a security guard. A huge gunfight occurs within the casino, with the security being mostly cut down to size. Michael opens the elevator door, and sees a security guy with his back to him. Michael is about to shoot him, but knocks him out instead. As the men enter the elevator, a Las Vegas police officer starts shooting into the elevator, hitting Franklin in the chest. Murphy sticks his gun through the crack in the doors and shoots the officer in the head. They make it to the roof, but Jack isn't there yet. They hold off the cops and security on the roof, until Jack arrives. Murphy tries to save Franklin, but Franklin finally dies from his wounds. Murphy then throws Franklin's dead body out of the helicopter.The group now go back to Michael's hotel, where Jesse is hiding and watching everything. Hanson counts the money, which comes out to $3.2 million. The four split up the money. Hanson also decides to split up Franklin's cut, but Murphy refuses, saying Franklin's cut should go to him. Hanson gets upset with Murphy and points his gun at him, but doesn't shoot him. After he puts his gun away and sits back down Murphy shoots Hanson under the table hitting him in the leg, then shoots him again in the chest killing him. Gus, Michael, and Murphy now have to dispose of the body, so Michael hides the money in the crawlspace, and the three drive out to the middle of the desert to bury Hanson. While there, Murphy shoots Gus and Michael as well. Murphy is driving back, in Michael's car, when several coyotes wander out onto the road, causing Murphy to hit one and swerve off the road into a ditch, where he is knocked unconscious. The news spreads about the robbery, making headlines, and sparking the interest of two federal marshals, Quigley (Thomas Haden Church) and Damitry (Kevin Pollak). They learn that Murphy is the mastermind, thanks to the man that Murphy knocked out in the casino. They also learn that Murphy thinks he's the son of Elvis. Michael, left for dead suddenly awakes, and hitchhikes back to his hotel room. He takes two bullets out of his bulletproof vest. He reaches into the crawlspace to get the money, but it's missing. Michael storms into Cybil's place and grabs Jesse. Cybil threatens to call the police, but Michael suddenly finds the money, causing Cybil to hang up. Michael decides to pay Cybil off with $100,000 for silence, but Cybil wants to go with him. Suddenly, the police knock at the door, responding to Cybil's emergency call. The police believe that Cybil dial 911 by accident and Michael leaves the hotel with Cybil and Jesse.The next morning, Murphy drives back to the hotel, but does not find the money. Michael explains to Cybil that the money is marked, but Murphy worked out a deal with a real estate man in Twin Falls, Idaho named J. Peterson (Jon Lovitz), who would exchange the money with them for 70 cents to the dollar, so they're on their way to meet him. However, Murphy is following them. Along the way, he kills almost everyone he meets. Meanwhile, Michael, Cybil and Jesse are eating at a restaurant, but Cybil cleverly sneaks away, and steals Michael's wallet and car. So now, Michael is stuck with Jesse, with no car or money. Jesse, however, is a clever thief, and steals money through pickpocketing and even steals a truck for Michael. Cybil calls J. Peterson and says the password, "Cleanliness is next to godliness." Peterson decides to wait for her, but Murphy suddenly appears, saying the same thing. Peterson explains that Cybil called first, so he must wait for her.Finally, Cybil arrives, and finds only Murphy, who she assumes is Peterson. Then, Michael and Jesse arrive, and find the place empty, except for Peterson's dead body in the bathroom, next to a dead woman. Jesse starts to cry, thinking it's his mother, but it's really Peterson's secretary. Murphy is driving Michael's car, so Michael calls the cops and reports his car stolen. Murphy is then arrested, but Michael is also arrested when it is learned that the truck he is driving is stolen as well. Murphy and Michael are put in neighboring jail cells, where Murphy explains how he thought Michael was dead. Michael asks where the girl is, but Murphy is very obscure about his answer. Suddenly, Michael makes bail, thanks to Jesse, who hired a lawyer, under the agreement that Jesse make him his partner. Michael is set free, however, with his one phone call, Murphy calls Jack and arranges to get out as well. Michael and Jesse get to Michael's car, and opens the trunk, and finds Cybil, tied up but still alive. Murphy is now out, and is hitchhiking. He is picked up by a college football fan, with team attire and face-paint. When they come to a roadblock, Murphy kills the fan, and puts on his clothes. He pretends to be a fan in front of the cops, and they let him go. Murphy sees Cybil and Jesse pass by in a car. He runs them off the road, and grabs Jesse, to hold as collateral so that Cybil will go get Michael and the money. Cybil finally finds Michael and he decides to go find Jesse.Murphy has met back up with Jack, who has enlisted the help of a one-man army by the name of Hamilton (Ice-T). Michael appears with the money, and puts a gun to Jack's head, and offers to exchange for Jesse. Murphy and Michael swap, but it is revealed that the bag with the money is actually filled with newspaper and a scorpion that stings Murphy's arm as he reaches into the bag. Suddenly, a SWAT team, led by Quigley and Damitry, surround the place. Murphy puts his hands up, but quickly grabs a shotgun and shoots Michael. Another huge gunfight ensues, with Jack and Murphy shooting their fair amount of cops. When some cops are about to shoot Murphy, Jack jumps in the way and is shot. As the police are surrounding him, Hamilton appears and shoots many cops. Quigley, however, shoots Hamilton. Murphy is now alone, getting weaker from the scorpion sting and the marshals realize that he's not giving up. Murphy is finally put down, after a barrage of bullets tear into him. Michael is rushed by ambulance to the nearest hospital. However, the ambulance is stolen by Cybil and Jesse. Michael, once again, wore a bulletproof vest, and is only injured in the shoulder. The last scene shows Michael, Cybil, and Jesse on Michael's boat, sailing away. The name on the side of the boat reads Graceland. Implying Michael was the other illegitimate son of Elvis, as 2 of the 75 alleged illegitimates were real. | murder | train | imdb | null |
tt0104036 | The Crying Game | British soldier Jody (Forest Whitaker) is lured by Jude while off duty in Ireland an taken captive by Fergus (Stephan Rea), Jude (Miranda Richardson), Maguire (Adrian Dunbar) and others in the IRA. He is held to be exchanged for a IRA prisoner the British are holding.
During the three days Jody is held, he and Fergus become friendly as they talk about their lives and Ferguson shows care by removing the canvass sack on his head. Jody tells Fergus about his girlfriend back in London named Dil. Jody says she is his type of woman. Jody tells Fergus he won't shoot him when it's time because it's not in Fergus' nature. He tells him a parable about the scorpion and the frog. The scorpion asks the frog to take him across the river because the scorpion can't swim. The frog says no because you'll sting me. The scorpion says trust me. Half way across, the frog feels a sharp sting and says to the scorpion as they sink, why did you sting me? Now we'll both drown. I couldn't help it, said the scorpion, it's in my nature. Jody has Ferguson take his wallet with Dil's picture and asks him to go to her place of work or local bar and tell her he was thinking of her at the end.
Finally, when it becomes time to shoot Jody, Fergus takes him out into the woods, takes off the hood, but can't shoot him. Jody breaks his bonds and runs away from Fergus. Jody runs onto a road and is hit by one and run over by a second British armored carrier. The carrier and assault troops are attacking the house where Jody was being held. Two IRA members are killed in the attack except Fergus, Jude and Macguire.
Fergus decides to disappear and go to London and find Dil. He arranges to get to London and begins working as a day laborer. He goes to the place where Dil works as a hair dresser, has his hair cut and then follows her to "The Metro," a corner bar.
Col (Jim Broadbent) is the bartender and he begins the discussion between Dil and Fergus, who is now using the name Jimmie. But soon the two of them are talking to one another. Another man comes up to Dil and drags her out and down the street. Fergus follows them as they go to Dil's apartment and he sits outside and watches them embrace in the window shadows in her flat.
Fergus goes to the bar a second time and again talks with Dil after she does a number on the stage and her boyfriend come up. The boyfriend grabs Dil and they go outside and down an alley. Fergus follows them and he defends Dil and knocks the other man down and asks Dil what she would like him to do with the boyfriend. They leave him and go back to Dil's flat. Later the boyfriend shows up outside Dil's flat and she throws all his clothes and possessions out the window.
Jimmie asks Dil about the man in a number of pictures in her flat. The man is Jody and Dil says he is a soldier and he is different from the others. Jimmie and Dil begin making out and Jimmie begins to run his hand up Dil's skirt, but she stops him and then performs oral sex on him. She says he can't stay over and they arrange a date for the next day.
They go for dinner and end up back at Dil's flat and lie down on the bed. Dil goes into the bathroom and changes into a robe. She returns and Jimmie opens the robe discovers that Dil is a male with a penis.
Jimmie is repulsed and hits Dil's as he gets up and heads into the bathroom and vomits in the sink. Dil realizes then that Jimmie was unaware she was a male. Jimmie leaves the flat while Dil pleads with him to stay.
After thinking about Dil That night, Jimmie realizes he still cares and writes a letter of apology to Dil and puts it in her mail box. Dil shows up at Jimmie's work site and they talk and reconcile and agre to meet later.
Upon his return to his flat, Fergus discovers Jude waiting for him. He thought she had been killed in the attack. She said they were going to kill him for messing up, but they were impressed he had disappeared and was a hidden resource. Fergus asks to be left alone but Jude reminds him there is no quitting the IRA. He is told he will be part of an assasination assignment on a man in London. Fergus realizes he has no choice and Jude makes it clear they are watching Dil, and if Fergus doesn't cooperate she will be harmed.
Ferguson goes to warn Dil's and finds Jude at the hair shop getting her hair done by Dil. Jude then follows the pair and they have a confrontation where Dil gets jealous and walks out. Jude and McGuire take Fergus to case the assignment and Dil follows and confronts Fergus.
Fergus talks her into cutting her hair and becoming a man and takes her to a hotel to hide. But when he leaves the next day to go to work and meet Jude. Dil leaves the hotel. Dil gets a bottle and heads back to her flat drunk. Fergus intercepts her and they go upstairs where Fergus comforts her. They fall asleep and when Dil awakes, she ties Fergus to the bed to prevent him from leaving after she finds a gun in his coat. Dil holds the gun and gets the truth about Jodie and what happened in Ireland.
Jude and Maguire are waiting for Fergus to show and when he doesn't, Maguire tries to do the mission himself and is killed. Jude drives off and heads for Dil's flat.
Jude bursts into the flat with her gun but Dil gets off the first shots and kills Jude. Fergus tells her to leave right now and he sits down to wait for the police and cleans the fingerprints off the gun and puts his own on the trigger.
The closing scene is in the prison where Fergus is doing time for the murder. Dil comes to visit him and has regrown her hair and they discuss how many days are left in his sentence and they can be together. She asks why he took the murder rap for her. He tells her Jodie's story about the scorpion and the frog. He ends by saying, it's in my nature (to do the right thing). | murder, plot twist, melodrama, tragedy, revenge, queer | train | imdb | null |
tt0088944 | Commando | Retired Delta Force operator Colonel John Matrix is informed by his former superior Major General Franklin Kirby that all the other members of his former unit have been killed by unknown mercenaries. The mercenaries, among them Bennett, an Australian ex-member of Matrix's team fired for excessive violence, attack Matrix's secluded mountain home and kidnap Matrix's young daughter Jenny. While trying to intercept them, Matrix is also overpowered and abducted by the mercenaries. He is taken before their leader, Arius, a South American former dictator who needs Matrix to carry out a political assassination in his home country of Val Verde, where Arius wishes to lead a military coup. Matrix previously led a United States-backed revolution that deposed Arius, who has chosen Matrix because the new US-puppet president trusts him implicitly. With Jenny's life on the line, Matrix reluctantly accepts the demand.
After boarding a plane to Val Verde, Matrix manages to kill his guard, Henriques, and jumps from the plane just as it is taking off. With approximately 11 hours, he sets out after another of Arius' men, Sully. He enlists the aid of an off-duty flight attendant, Cindy, and instructs her to follow Sully to a shopping mall. Cindy first assumes that Matrix is a maniac, but after she sees Sully pull a gun on Matrix in the ensuing fight, she has a change of heart and henceforth assists him in his endeavor. After a lengthy car chase, Matrix catches up with Sully and drops him off a cliff to his death. Taking a motel key from Sully's jacket, Matrix tracks down and confronts Cooke, a former Green Beret in Arius' employ. He kills Cooke after a lengthy fight and learns where Jenny is being held after searching Cooke's car.
Matrix breaks into a surplus store to equip himself with military weaponry, but is immediately arrested by the police. Cindy helps him escape with a rocket launcher and, after commandeering a seaplane from a nearby marina controlled by Arius, Matrix and Cindy land the plane off the coast of Arius' island hideout. Matrix instructs Cindy to contact General Kirby and then proceeds to Arius' villa, killing the leader as well as his men on the way. Jenny escapes her confinement to the villa's basement, but is captured by Bennett. Matrix tracks them and faces Bennett in a fierce struggle until Matrix fatally impales Bennett with a steam pipe, killing him. Kirby arrives with a military detachment and asks Matrix to rejoin the Special Forces Unit, but Matrix declines and departs the island aboard the seaplane with Jenny and Cindy. | suspenseful, realism, murder, cult, violence, good versus evil, action, revenge | train | wikipedia | And there is just about everything that should go into an action movie: car chases, explosions, drug-lords, sex, an invincible hero, sitting-duck-like enemies, humor, knife duels, fist fights, rocket launchers, blood, death, bullets, glass, pectorals, muscles, some more muscles, explosions and more explosions.
Lester, and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong.Released in 1985, 'Commando' starred action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger as a retired Delta Force operative who must rescue his daughter from the mercenaries who killed his entire team.
Arnold Schwarzenegger played Colonel John Matrix, a previous Delta Force operative who must rescue his daughter from the mercenaries who killed the other members of his unit.
Matrix, the former leader of a special commando strike force that always got the toughest jobs done, is forced back into action when his young daughter (Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped.
With the help of a feisty stewardess (Rae Dawn Chong) and an old friend, Matrix has only a few hours to overcome his greatest challenge: finding his daughter before she's killed.In the beginning, there was the masterpiece known as Commando.
And all did Arnold Schwarzenegger massacre hundreds of mercenaries in displays of awesome ultra-violence, and Alyssa Milano did rejoice.After the triple play of The Terminator and both Conan films, Arnold Schwarzenegger graduated to top billing with Commando; a classic '80s action movie which delivers tons of explosions, violence and guns, in addition to containing an assortment of evil villains, cheesy one-liners, big guns, bigger guns and enough dead bodies to keep a mortician's convention busy for days.
And the early scenes in which Mr. Schwarzenegger, as Col. John Matrix, a retired commando, is at home with his daughter (Alyssa Milano) have an underlying current of humor - it is clear the child would be as comfortable cuddling up to a polar bear.Great and very intelligent review/retrospective of one of the most badass action movie classics of all times!
But when Commando was released, one of my best friends said to me, " Hey Dan, I think this guy could take Rambo." After all Matrix says to Cook, " I eat green berets for breakfast and right now I'm very hungry!" I would maybe have to concur.
Whenever we think of the Austrian muscle-bound star's films; gun battles, fist fights, deadpan one-liners, a total lack of plot, and a ridiculously high body count come to mind.
Commando represents all this, directed with high energy flair and a great sense of fun.Schwarzenegger stars as John Matrix, a former commando who lives in the mountains with his young daughter (Alyssa Milano).
There are also plenty of noticeable continuity errors (ask yourself how a guy standing behind a railing atop a balcony could be hit with shotgun pellets without the railing taking the slightest bit of damage!), but that just adds to the movie's list of unique charms.But you don't watch Commando for plot or technical brilliance, you watch it to see Arnold acting as a one-man army, mowing down scores of enemy thugs and soldiers.
Unless you don't like Arnold or over-the-top action films, it's unlikely you'll find Commando boring.Schwarzenegger's charismatic and hugely likable screen presence is undeniable, and his delivery of those classic one-liners is perfect.
You know the movie's going to boil down to a one-on-one fight between the two, and it's one of those fight scenes where each one takes his turn beating the crud out of the other without one ever truly having the upper hand until the very end (when, obviously, one of them's got to be dead).For pure mindless mayhem, Commando is a perfect choice for Saturday night entertainment.
The lines and action in Commando makes it a great and fun film to watch.It's about a man, Matrix, played by Arnold, his daughter, played by a very young Alyssa Malono, is kidnapped by terrorists, in particular a dictator who Matrix managed to keep from destroying a country.
But she ends up wanting to help Matrix once she finds out that his daughter is kidnapped, together they work to get back to the dictator's house and save his daughter.The great thing about this film is that Arnold goes though at least 60 extras who are all shooting at him, they miss him and he kills them all.
The movie begins with John Matrix's (schwarzenegger) daughter (alyssa milano) getting kidnapped.
Schwarzenegger plays Matrix wonderfully, delivering his lines with the right amount of wit and sarcasm, and delivering his punches fairly realistically.See "Commando" if you like action movies.
Ridiculous but fun film with Arnold Schwarzenegger as a retired special agent being pulled back into action when his daughter (well played by Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped.
The retired Special Forces Colonel John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives a calm life with his beloved daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) in an isolated house in the woods of a mountain.
He convinces the flight attendant Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong) to help him to save his daughter."Commando" is another great action movie from the 80's, maybe the best decade in the cinema history for this genre.
Commando is in my mind the best action film out there to date, this movie was made 14 years ago and no other film can push it out of first position.The film got everything: a great looking Arnold, extremely fine music by James Horner and great settings for the action scenes.
And this girl that Arnold didn't even know until he basically kidnapped her was anxious to help Arnold even though she was at great risk of dying.But if your in the mood for a little brainless fun and just watching Arnold kick *** and kill people, this is the perfect movie for the occasion.
This is probably the best movie that Arnold Schwarzenegger has made (even surpassing T2), not because it has any plot development, realistic action sequences, or anything else that you would expect, but because it is HILARIOUS.
And Arnold, as John Matrix, was dodging bullets (and killing the population of a small country) long before that pussy Neo was even born.Commando also has one of the best baddies of all time in Bennett.
Arnold wipes his butt with such phrases.Arnie plays the retired commando of the title who is forced to wear his cammo's again when his daughter is kidnapped by the stereotypical bad guys as a blackmail - he must kill the U.S. president or they will kill his little girl.
Obviously Arnold isn't going to stand for this kind of nonsense so he escapes from the plane they put him on after killing the male chaperon and begins the hunt, gaining assistance from Rae Dawn Chong along the way.Although a complete testosterone-fest from start to finish this film has a comedic side (though nearly totally engulfed by the action), which gives it a certain (good ole 80s) charm, that means if you like the film you will watch it again and again, and perhaps a third time.It has many classic lines from the big man, for example; before the 'bads' put him on the plane, he retorts to one of them who makes sly comment about his daughter - "Your a funny guy Sully, I like you - that's why I'm gonna kill you last!".
After killing the baddie on the plane he says to a stewardess - "Don't disturb my friend, he's DEAD tired!"My favourite is when another baddie - Cooke (although his buddy in 'Predator') is brawling with Arnie and manages to pick up a large revolver, which he points at Arnie and says - "F*** you Ass****!", he pulls the trigger but the gun is empty so Arnie retorts - "F*** YOU Ass****!" and smacks him one!My review may be biased as I think Arnie is the man (before his decline into utterly abysmal movies that is), but still, if you want to see a one-man-army in action, then see Commando..
Arnold and Alyssa Milano petting a deer, the fact that John Matrix can throw off eight guys but still struggle against Bennett, an overweight loser in chain mail who fancies himself a rival for Arnold, Dan Hedaya's horrible accent, the pointless nudity during the motel fight, all of it contributes to a wonderful time.For sheer laugh out loud fun, Commando delivers the goods.
A former US Commando's (Arnie) old team decide to use him to assisinate some higher up in South America, they determine the best way to get him to do it is to kidnap his daughter(alyssa Milano) and hold her until completion of the assisnation.
Well in any other dumb action film the hero would probably try and think of a way to get his daughter back without tipping off the Bad guys, it would all lead to a last minute convoluted plan.
Schwarzenegger's John Matrix (a typical Austrian name, that) lives a life of mono parental bliss with daughter Jennie (or, as he calls Alyssa Milano, "Tchainee") until she is kidnapped and he is forced to throw all his retired killing machine skills into saving her.We can run through the ingredients, it's actually worth it for once: - Body fascination.
Commando is a great movie and an absolute must for Arnie fans or fans of the cheesy all action genre.
Its pretty much all out action right from the off, and almost every character has beautifully cheesy one-liners to cram in to their scenes.So switch on your infinite ammo, unplug your brain and enjoy 85 Minutes of non-stop car chases, punch ups, gun fights, explosions and some of the funniest and most pathetic bad guys ever; you simply have to love it.Go Arnie, you quite simply rock big time in this one.7/10.
I mean the story in this movie isn't worth a Oscar,but who cares who needs a good and realistic story when Arnold is kicking ass as never before with violence scenes every minute that make me feel butterflies in my stomach and keeps my mouth laughing during the whole movie.I don't know if there is one minute in the whole movie except in the beginning of the movie that doesn't have violent scenes.I don't know how many times I have seen this movie,but they are many.I once tried with a friend to count how many people Arnold kills in the whole movie.I don't really recall now,but it must have been way over 100 kills.And of course no one hurts Arnold as usual except one man that shoots him in his shoulder in the end.It is so over-exessive violence that it is funny.You can't take a movie like this as serious,I see it as a comedy.One of my absolute favourites movies..
Virtually all of Arnie's lines are instantly quotable, including my favourite, "We'll take Cook's car, he won't be needing it." If you're depressed at all, and need cheering up, then this is the film for you, and even if you don't have that long, then just watch the super cheesy beginning with Matrix and his daughter, and you'll be grinning for hours..
Imagine an excitable 12-year-old kid describing what an Arnold Schwarzenegger film was like.That's pretty much what Commando is, and it's all the better for it.
It's got the OTT action, the ridiculous one-liners, scenery-chewing villains, bad guys who miss with every bullet, one enormous pair of gratuitous breasts
The opening credits alone are hilarious, but like the rest of this film I honestly can't tell whether this is intentional or not.Incidentally, perhaps because it's such a naff film, it's the only thing I've seen in which James Horner's horrible soundtrack actually works.
It hasn't got any political, moral or whatever lesson to teach the audience, it has mindless action and unbelievably corny one-liners.There's one scene in the movie, when one of the bad guys explains the situation to Arnie: he must cooperate, because they have his daughter.
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a retired Black Ops commando who is forced out of retirement when his daughter(Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped by mercenaries(led by an old enemy) who try to blackmail him into assassinating a South American president, so that a rival can take over.
Of course, they underestimate Arnold, who promptly breaks from his captors on an airplane, then vows to track down the kidnappers, and free his daughter, before it is too late.Lots of action scenes involving gun battles and explosions, with plenty of humor provided by the never-ending one liners supplied by Arnold, but film is just dumb, and far too predictable to succeed, though if you're in the mood for such a flick, then this is perfect!
Crazy I know, but I just could not get enough of that action.For me the best part is when Arnie puts on the equipment before he goes to destroy a small army.And of course do not watch this movie with your brain on, you will laugh too much.IT IS JUST BRAINLESS FUN AT ITS BEST..
How can you get even slightly excited when from the very first scenes the good guy is shown to be indestructible?Ex green-beret John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives in an isolated mountain lodge with his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano).
or finally 4 - witnessed the hilarious acting qualities of Arnie and pretty much decided to dedicate a movie totally devoted to cheesy lines and unbelievable action which only Mr Schwarzenegger could deliver.You may consider my vote of 10 for this movie to be a bit high, i used to rate it as my favourite silly film but to be perfectly honest it is my favourite film.
Bill Duke should of got a much larger role in this movie because seeing him on film is just fantastic (considering he had such a small role) his fight with Matrix is cool and getting to see other peoples business is so funny.Rated R18+ for Aussies for Violence, Language and a little bit of Gore.
Lester's account.It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Col. John Matrix (where's Keanu Reeves?), an ex-commando who has retired from the Army to live a peaceful life with his annoying pest of a daughter, Jenny (Alyssa Milano, pre-babedom).
I think this is one of Arnold Schwarzenegger`s best movies besides "Predator" and "Terminator 1 + 2".In the last 3 or 4 years (since 1997), Arnie has become soft.
You know what you get when you watch Commando with the Governator in the old days: A bad manuscript, hilarious special effects, awful editing, a complete disregard for real physics, unbelievably badly portrayed characters, bad acting, incredibly predictable scheme, classic 80's action music and a whole bucket load of clichés.The stupid corny one liners makes you laugh though, because it doesn't get any better than this when it comes to corny one liners.However, you have to have the same standard criteria for reviewing every film.
Lester known for such classics in the genre as the Stephen King's adaptation "Firestarter","Showdown in little Tokyo" and much more, has done a great job , helping Arnie to show all of his potential in this blasting roller coaster .There aren't any known names in the cast, to draw your attention off from Arnold, like for example Sharon Stone does in "Total Recall".The Plot:The plot is far from original but this is not so important, simply because only a retard would expect deep character development and story narrowing like in the "Godfather".Arnold is John Matrix, a very tough badass (what do you expect) and retired elite Commando who lives a peaceful live in the forest until one day several pricks kidnap his little daughter in order to blackmail him to lead a revolution and to give the power back to an evil dictator.This is a Funny Action Movie because:From the first scene in which Arnold appears, you have to be impressed by his strength and the shape of his muscles.
–"Wrong" as is the answer of Arnold after shooting one poor bad guy in the stomach and he dies, being probably the 345th victim of the cold-blooded Commando.The grand finale of the movie can make you feel pain in the cheeks from laughing while you are questioning yourself "How one could make such a movie and meant it to be serious?!" John Matrix is shooting with a machine gun in the dictator's quarters and kills approximately a thousand of mercenaries without even a scratch on his body.Conclusion:You need to be ashamed if you love the Arnold flicks and you've missed this one.
This is one of those timeless classics from Arnold Schwarzenegger that you do not get tired of watching, despite knowing the storyline so well already.The movie is from 1985 and is definitely one of the defining movies in the early stages of Schwarzenegger's action movie career."Commando" has a heap of action, and actually has a good story and of course it is crammed with one-liners.Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong carry the movie quite nicely, while Vernon Wells in the role of the main bad guy was just laughable because of the way the character was written and the fact that he wore a chainmail shirt throughout the entire movie.There are lots of mistakes in the movie, with the obvious ones being Sully's yellow Porsche that alternates between having a severely damaged chassis to being in mint condition and then going back to being severely damaged.
In this film he plays John Matrix, a retired special forces commando who's daughter (Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped by South American despot, the great (and badly miscast), Dan Hedaya, so he can blackmail Arnold into working for him.
What you will get from this film is guns, one-liners, blood, muscles, and clichés.This movie is a pretty good action flick.
Don't get me wrong, there are some pretty good action scenes sprinkled here and there but I think they should have spent more time in the final battle which is really fun and the best part of the film.Another thing I cant help but notice in this film is that Vernon Wells (Bennet) looks an awful lot like Freddie Mercury with that facial hair..
COMMANDO is a dumb action movie that has toughman Arnold Schwarzenegger searching for his kidnapped daughter. |
tt0102587 | Omohide poro poro | The film opens in Tokyo, where 27-year-old office worker Taeko Okajima, is planning to take a 10-day vacation. Having previously visited her sister's husband's farm in Yamagata. She had a good time there before, and has decided to go back again.As she prepares for her trip, her mind drifts back to her youth, when she was 10-years-old. After school lets out, almost all of Taeko's classmates have interesting places they are going to go to, but Taeko does not. When she brings this up to her family, they suggest that Taeko go with the family's Grandmother to a hot springs resort.Taeko eagerly goes with her Grandmother, but finds herself bored when all her Grandmother wishes to do is relax in their room. Taeko goes exploring the myriad baths in the resort by herself, but due to either the overwhelming beauty of one bath (or the heat of the baths), she passes out.While packing, she receives a call from her older sister whose husband owns the farm, and they have a laugh over the past incident.On her way to the train to the farm, Taeko passes by a fruit stand, and is reminded of when the family received a pineapple.This also happened during her 10th year, and she recalls how almost noone knew how to properly cut it. Her father decreed that it would not be touched until it was found out, and a few days later, one of Taeko's sister finds out. There is much eagerness once it is sliced into pieces, but slowly, the family quickly discerns they do not like its taste. Taeko attempts to stomach the pieces she has, and her sisters give her their pieces. In the end, the family concluded that the banana is the "king of fruits."Making it to the train station, Taeko also recalls more about the year 1966, when she was 10-years-old. With the popularity of the Beatles in full-swing, her sisters became enamored with the trends of the time. Her sister Nanako was in art school, and kept up with trends, including wearing a mini-skirt. Her other sister Yaeko had a small crush on an actress in a female acting troupe. However, while her sisters remember these things fondly, Taeko recalls she was too young to really get into these trends like her older sisters.One day after showing her Mother her grades, her Mother finds leftovers from her lunch, and expresses her disappointment in her daughter being picky, and not finishing her food. The next day at lunch, she is sitting next to a boy who is fine with finishing the radish and onion portion of his meal, but dislikes finishing his milk (per school rules, a student can only leave one item to be thrown away from their meal). Taeko offers to give him her radish and onions, and she'll finish his milk. The two quickly make a trade, but Taeko quickly finds that though she has no problems drinking milk, there's a bit too much for her to enjoy a second bowl.Afterwards, Taeko and several of her friends take part in a classroom debate. The topics cover everything from running in the halls, to handling leftovers. Not much is done regarding the issues, and there is much bickering and yelling.After remembering these things, the adult Taeko boards her train for the farm.Once aboard, her memories shift back to an encounter, where three girls from another class gigglingly inform her that a boy in their class named Hirota likes her. Taeko has no idea who Hirota, and her friends show her some graffiti near the school, showing Taeko and Hirota's name under an umbrella-like drawing. Her friends do some research, and find out that Hirota is a good pitcher for his classroom's baseball team.One day, both Taeko and Hirota's classes are pitted against each other in a baseball game.Hirota's female classmates eagerly chant that Taeko is watching, and Taeko's friends cheer for their own homeroom team, in defiance of the other girls. During the game, the cold gets to Takeko, and she rushes for the girl's restroom 4 times. At the end, she isn't there to see when Hirota wins the game. Seeing the game over, she rushes off to head home.On her way home, she encounters Hirota in the street. Both are very quiet, until Hirota asks Taeko which type of weather she prefers: rainy, cloudy, or sunny. When she mentions she likes cloudy weather, Hirota's face brightens, claiming he likes cloudy weather too, proclaiming they are 'alike.' Hirota happily rushes off, and we also see Taeko do the same.Back on the train, Taeko recalls this incident, and starts laughing at the innocence of youthful romance. As the train continues onward, Taeko begins to ponder just why she is finding her memories preoccupied with her 10-year-old self. As she ponders this, the memories of her schoolfriends run through the train car, and disappear.She then recalls the day when the boys were sent to play baseball, and the girls were given a lecture about menstruation. Needless to say, the lecture leaves Taeko and her friends a little uneasy. One of their classmates tells a little about menstruation, as she is already going through this as well. There is also some unease in purchasing underwear from the school for "being prepared."At lunchtime, several of the boys shock the girls by asking about word that the girls are to purchase underwear from the school. It soon becomes apparent that one girl named Rie, told about this to a boy she has a crush on. However, the boy's inability to understand what the girls having their periods or the underwear is about, leads to them annoyingly trying to look up the girls skirts. | flashback | train | imdb | (1972) or the iconic My Neighbour Totoro (1988); creating a film that is based very much in reality, but abstracted by the more fantastical allusions to childhood and memory.Unlike the more widely regarded Ghibli films, the fantasy elements of Only Yesterday (1991) come from within the narrative; as our central character recalls elements of her life as a child as she finds herself at something of a difficult crossroads.
Although the subject matter might hint at melodrama, the presentation here is really very special indeed; using reality and imagination, past and present, and the appropriation of specific, pop-cultural reference points to create this sad and somewhat tragic character who finally finds an outlet for all of her hopes and dreams in this evocative, rural setting.If you're familiar with director Isao Takahata's earlier Ghibli film, the highly acclaimed Grave of the Fireflies (1987), then you'll be somewhat familiar with his personal approach to storytelling, which here, takes full advantage of a rural period setting, the complex relationship between the various characters, the ideas of time and memory, and a creation of a particular world that stresses realism and accuracy to almost the smallest detail.
With this is mind, I'd rate Takahata as not only one of the greatest animation directors of the last twenty-five years, but one of the greatest film directors of all time; easily on a par with the likes of Andrei Tarkovsky, Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Miklós Jancsó, Peter Watkins, Michael Powell and Akira Kurosawa, etc, with the keen eye for detail, impeccable performances (both spoken and animated) and the overall approach to the story (which is entirely personal, but still completely fascinating) enlivening the drama and taking it beyond the merely adequate conventions of animated cinema to the next conceivable level of greatness.Although I'm three years younger than the character of Taeko as presented in the film (and from a completely different background and generation) I could completely empathise with her situation and her dream of something much more rewarding than the bland office job and the continual expectations of family and friends.
Even if you fail to make a similar connection with Taeko, the film still works as a result of its memorable and entirely believable characters, the clever use of storytelling and that beautifully moving and somewhat magical finale.
I guess some viewers will perhaps find it slow or harder to relate to, especially if you judge it at the same level of films like Spirited Away (2000) and Howl's Moving Castle (2005), however, those in the right frame of mind and willing to give themselves up the characters - emotionally speaking - will be rewarded with one of the most beautiful and carefully realised films of the last 20 years.As much as I love those films of Hayao Miyazaki, Only Yesterday seems to affect me in a way that is entirely personal and unforgettable.
who knows), from the genius who brought us Grave of the Fireflies.The story's so simple: a young woman in her late 20s doesn't have any real problems, is kind of ready for the rest of her life to happen, but it's just not happening.
I would agree with many of the comments already expressed, especially the use of animation to express the exhilaration of childhood joy.The fact is, this film packs in so many genuinely clever, poignant and laugh out loud funny observations on adult and child life I am really surprised it is not more well known.
Takahata has such an eye for detail and subtlety; the characters' observations about life and coming to terms with who you were and are when combined with the beauty of the animation and scenery are poetic and elgiec.What could be a trite romantic tale instead blossoms into art due to the hyper-realism of Takahata's story-telling.This movie requires some work to understand, but the effort is rewarded generously.
This is a very gentle and beautiful film, which could have been done as a 'normal' film with live actors, but it wouldn't have worked one-tenth as well; somehow doing it as an animation allows us to explore the characters much better.It tells the story of Taeko, a 27 year old Tokyo office worker who goes to spend a few days in the countryside.
She is at a stage where she is starting to question her life, and is haunted by memories of her 10th year.One thing that stands out is that there is no great drama, the pace of the film is almost humdrum, the whole emphasis is on the development of the characters: this of course means that it will not be to everyone's taste..
We've all seen those "coming of age" movies that transition the protagonist from childhood into puberty, and there's heaps of "discover your inner child" movies to put some fun in your life or life in your fun or whatever -- Only Yesterday is a rarity: Unsure and a little lost in her urban complacency, Taeko finds she must step beyond her inner-child shadow before she can grow up and move on with her life.Only Yesterday isn't about grade-five, it's about being 27 by way of grade-five.
This is an exceptionally beautiful and engrossing film, it must be one of studio Ghibli's best.The artwork is meticulously done, often stunning, so that as with the characters, you fall in love with the Japanese countryside.
This is really a pastoral story, conveying a love of nature, wistful feelings for the past, a sweetness and gentle sadness which you feel through the memories of this apparently unexceptional young(ish) woman.Like many Ghibli films Only Yesterday has many deep resonances for most people - an exploration of what you might want from life, not from other's expectations, but through a remembrance and re-evaluation of your past life.A really unique film, that avoids sentimentality, but subtly enchants you from beginning to end.A must-see film!.
However, unlike with "Grave of the Fireflies" I fail to see any reason why Disney would be against this one.The story is about a woman named Taeko, who works in a city and during her holidays travels to the country to visit her childhood hometown.
It is a simple little film pointing out how the littlest things in life are the ones worth living: the first time you tasted an exotic fruit, went to a popular place, had your first crush to that cute boy/girl in your school, and other things.
It also shows how sometimes it is good to go back and revisit those events of your life.Technically the film offers once again the best of animations from Studio Ghibli and the brilliant voice acting (this only goes for Japanese audio, I have no idea what the English one sounds like).
Now, as a 10-year-old student in Tokyo, Taeko has to overcome embarrassing experiences, bad grades in mathematics, pubescent sisters and a strict parental home to go through the changes from a girl to a young woman and strike out in the new directions of life.The memories, pictured in terms of flashbacks, are increasingly interrupted with a slowly developing love story in the country (according to the motto: love is, when it is country love), which means, that "Only Yesterday" has not an 'inoperative' framework plot, but is constantly in upheavals resp.
But now, she is going through another recent change and that is the reason for the never-ending deluge of reminiscences.Director Isao Takahata, one of the founders of the Ghibli studios, tells Taeko's story by the means of detailed, lively, and close to reality drawings, which are simply masterful in their wealth of color and details.
From the director of Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday is an elegantly crafted, patiently narrated & wonderfully animated coming-of-age drama that provides a soothing experience with its countryside ambiance, beautifully covers the highs n lows of life while growing up & dares to go beyond the conventions of its genre for it is a realistic drama written for adults.The story of Only Yesterday follows Taeko Okajima; a 27-year old, unmarried woman who has lived her entire life in Tokyo but has always been fascinated by life in the countryside.
Deciding to take a break from city life, she travels to her relative's village but throughout her journey she keeps reminiscing about her childhood & the role it played in shaping her adult life.Written & directed by Isao Takahata, the plot keeps oscillating between the lead character's childhood & adult life from start to finish and takes us through many events that's easy to relate to, whether it's early life crush, puberty, the insufferable mathematics, stubbornness of parents while growing up or that dissatisfaction with both career & love many of us have felt in our twenties.Where Hayao Miyazaki likes to make extensive use of colours in his features, Isao Takahata aims for the minimal effect that provides his works a uniqueness of its own & here the hand- drawn animation is truly mesmerising.
The only issue that may arise is that if one is unable to relate to any of the characters in the picture then its 118 minutes of runtime is definitely not going to be a pleasant experience.On an overall scale, Only Yesterday is another stimulating work from Isao Takahata & Studio Ghibli as a whole that keeps its premise firmly grounded with its realistic story & believable characters, exquisitely captures the nature-friendly life of rural areas and brilliantly works as an intriguing coming-of-age drama from a woman's perspective, which is always a welcome tale considering how few examples actually exist in cinema..
Like many late 20 somethings she is looking for something more in life, but just isn't really sure what that is or is afraid to reach out for it.The woman in the film has flashbacks throughout the film remembering herself as a 10 year old in elementary school and at home.
This 37 year old man was moved enough to tear up a bit at the way it made you feel.I would highly recommend this film to anyone who likes good films not just good animated films.
Just be prepared that a younger child might turn around and ask what they are talking about.I believe the real world portion of this film is set in the early '80's as the 10-year old version of the lead is 10 at the time The Beattles first arrived in Japan, which would be about the mid 60's and is 27 at the time of the film.If you know a bit about Japanese family life circa 1960 and Japanese culture in general some of the societal things in the film will be easier to understand, but I don't think there was anything in the film that would make it necessary to know much about Japan to enjoy the story.Sadly this film does not appear to be available on DVD or VHS even from Japan-based companies, which is a terrible shame.
It takes the memories, discard what we consider important and conjures up an odd and sometimes humorous assortment of events that shows how much they matter and affect the female protagonist after so many years.Only Yesterday is unique in the sense of coming-of-age films that it does not offer us a heavily dramatized coming-of-age film, presenting us with a bland, plain-Jane main character, Taeko.
The ending was outstanding, it showed the romantic side of this story and it was so good and emotional it made me shed some tears, something I almost never do out of Drama.Miyazaki may be the most popular, with the more thrilling and adventurous anime films out there, making absolutely gorgeous and entertaining movies in my honest opinion, but with this movie, in my eyes, Takahata proved to be on par with (if not superior to) Miyazaki when it comes to directing a movie with a memorable story and realistic characters..
The film revolves around the life of a girl who is 27 years old and is finding solace in a countryside home and her childhood memories.
There is an extremely intelligent moment when her sister, when asked by Taeko to explain what dividing fractions means, is unable to answer coherently.The characters in this film are so bursting with life that the story becomes so involving that I don't want it to end.
As the film comes to a close, the adult Taeko is heard to say "I'll leave my ten-year-old self at home," but as the wonderful credits suggest, we must all face the reality before us that our past and future are, and will forever be, inseparable.This is a wonderful film, and Takahata-San is an incredible storyteller.9/10.
This is the 2nd film Isao Takahata did for Studio Ghibli.It's suppose to be based off of this actual manga that's only common in Japan.The movie is taken place in 2 different time periods.
Finally, in early 2016, an English-dubbed version of the film arrived in American theaters, in time for the 25th anniversary of its original release.Taeko Okajima (voiced in the American release by Daisy Ridley) is an unmarried 27-year-old office worker in Tokyo – the only city where she has ever lived.
The life of 5th grade Taeko feels unremarkable and virtually joyless (and the film spends more time on the challenging and frustrating parts of her story than the relatively pleasant ones).
Hayao Miyazaki is indeed a genius when it comes to making animated movies.However, his fellow director from Studio Ghibli, Isao Takahata is also commendable.Grave of the fireflies is Takahata's first movie that I was able to watch.And I was so amazed how the story was told considering that it was presented as an animated feature.This flick proves again that Director Takahata is unpredictable in his way of delivering a story.Only Yesterday is a film that makes you feel wrong for labeling flashback movies as nothing but dull and boring.I simply love how Taeko's story was told.Definitely, It is another splendid masterpiece by Director Takahata...A job well done indeed....
She is millennial-aged, while I am Gen-X.)Well, the movie Only Yesterday has its good merits, but, of course, it's rather slow- paced that makes it hard to be reasonably attentive.I found the ending strangely touching that is indescribable.Perhaps you might enjoy the movie more if you saw it in English dubbed version, rather than the subtitled version, because the dubbed version would keep the story moving at a reasonable pacing, without you struggling to understand some cultural notes that fly over our head.The best part, I think, is the pineapple scene, which is simultaneously fascinating (given cultural background as explained) and a little poignant.
On the surface it seemed simple but something about certain lines on the face gave each character a depth of emotion that was captivating.This type of anime is usually not my cup of tea, but I must admit, the story was so good and done so well that it makes me think that I should be more open minded if someone recommends another one like it to me..
The plot sees a woman in her late twenties heading out into the country to take her second vacation period to work on a farm while also thinking back to moments from when she was a 10-year old.Although the plot suggests that this will be a melancholic affair, it takes the film quite a while to starting being a film that is very much for adults because the telling of the tale isn't heavy-handed but is rather quite realistic in its ease of recollection and the connections it makes to the present.
The animation of the characters is just as important and I liked Taeko a great deal in both past and present.Overall I won't say I loved every bit of the film because I didn't, but it mostly worked for me and I was surprised by how effective and moving it could be at times.
In a genre that usually consisted of either very adult themed comic book adaptations or hyper-kinetic action cartoons for children, Only Yesterday's gentle tone and mature themes struck well with audiences back in 1991, and the film proved a surprise box-office success.Jumping back and forth in time, the film tells the story of Taeko, who in the modern-day, is a daydreaming office worker who travels back to her home town and falls in love with the peaceful agricultural trade ran by her cousin, and in the past, was a slightly spoilt, selfish child.
Whilst farming in Yagamata, and falling in love with the landscape, she wrestles with her childhood self, and begins to wonder if she has lived up to what the child in her expected.Directed by Isao Takahata, the second most prolific of the Ghibli directors (behind Hayao Miyazaki), the film has a beautifully nostalgic and melancholy tone.
The story follows a 27 year old office lady named Taeko Okajima who takes her first solo trip into the countryside to spend some time away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo's city life.
Overall, Only Yesterday presents a unique, mature and realistic look at a young woman's life, through family, friendship, childhood, adulthood, the good times, the bad times and uses some very inventive and unique techniques to display this through it's beautiful animation, but the pacing is unbearably slow and the story doesn't feel like it's in any different place by the end than where it was at the start.
It presents characters and drama so naturally and compelling that it not only leaves you with an utterly optimistic feeling, but the feeling that it actually made you appreciate life more, in all its charms and complexities.The film focuses on Taeko, a 27 year-old woman working in an office in Tokyo.
These scenes with Taeko getting adjusted to life on the countryside are mixed with flashbacks to her childhood which show the many experiences that shaped her personality.What's truly astonishing and daring is how 'normal' the story is.
The film sees 27 year old Taeko, an unmarried woman who has spent most of her life in Tokyo, journeying to the Japanese countryside in order to visit her relatives.
Only Yesterday is a beautifully animated film as one would expect from Studio Ghibli. |
tt0099348 | Dances with Wolves | During a US Civil War battle, Union Army Officer Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) learns that his injured leg is to be amputated. Seeing the plight of fellow soldiers with amputated legs, Dunbar refuses amputation and attempts suicide by riding a horse across the line of fire, between the opposing Union and Confederate positions. His action has the unexpected effect of rallying his comrades, who storm the distracted Confederates and win the battle. After the ensuing battle, an experienced general's surgeon saves Dunbar's leg. The commanding officer recognizes Dunbar as a hero and gives him Cisco, the horse who carried him in battle, and offers Dunbar his choice of posting.Dunbar, anxious to see the Western frontier before it ends, requests transfer west. After meeting with Major Fambrough (Maury Chaykin), who has slipped into delusions of grandeur (apparently believing he is a king and Dunbar a medieval knight), he is paired with a drayage teamster named Timmons (Robert Pastorelli), who conveys Dunbar to his post. After the departure of Timmons and Dunbar, Fambrough commits suicide with his own pistol.After a scenic journey, Dunbar and Timmons arrive with fresh supplies at the desolate Fort Sedgwick, finding it deserted except for a lone wolf that Dunbar later befriends and dubs Two Socks, because of the coloring of its front legs. Dunbar, while waiting for reinforcements to arrive, sets about bringing order the deserted post, left in complete disarray by its previous occupants. Meanwhile, Timmons, while returning to their point of departure, is ambushed by Pawnee Indians and scalped. Timmons' death and the suicide of the major who sent them there prevents Union officers from knowing of Dunbar's assignment to the post, effectively isolating Dunbar. Dunbar remains unaware of the full situation and its implications. He notes in his journal how strange it is that no more soldiers join him at the post.Dunbar initially encounters Sioux neighbors when the tribe's medicine man, Kicking Bird (Graham Greene), happens upon the fort while Dunbar bathes out of sight, and, assuming it abandoned, attempts to capture Cisco. After Dunbar scares off Kicking Bird, he is confronted by an aggressive warrior named Wind in His Hair (Rodney A. Grant), who declares that he is not scared of the white man. Eventually, Dunbar establishes a rapport with Kicking Bird, but the language barrier frustrates them. On his way to visit the tribe's camp, Dunbar interrupts the suicide attempt of Stands With A Fist (Mary McDonnell), a white woman captured by the tribe as a child and recently widowed, who recovers and acts as a translator. Dunbar finds himself drawn to the lifestyle and customs of the tribe, and becomes a hero among the Sioux and accepted as an honorary member of the tribe after he helps them locate a migrating herd of buffalo, which they depend upon as a source of food, material, and clothing.Dunbar further helps defend the settlement against a Pawnee raiding party, providing the Sioux warriors with surplus rifles and ammunition from the fort. He eventually is accepted as a full member of the tribe. After members of the tribe witness him playing with Two Socks, he is named ugmánitu Taka Ob'wahi ("Dances with Wolves"; ugmánitu Taka means large coyote, the Lakota word for wolf). Dunbar falls in love with Stands With A Fist, a relationship forbidden by the recent death of her husband in battle but consummated in secret. The two eventually win the approval of Kicking Bird, who takes on the role of her father, and marry. Dunbar subsequently spends more time living with the tribe than manning his post at Fort Sedgwick. Wind In His Hair, his last rival, acknowledges him as a friend.Dunbar's idyll ends when he tells Kicking Bird that white men will continue to invade their land in "numbers like the stars." They tell Chief Ten Bears (Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman), who decides it is time to move the village to its winter camp. As the packing finishes, Dunbar realizes that his journal, left behind at the deserted fort, is a blueprint for finding the tribe, revealing that he knows far too much about their ways. Wearing Indian clothing, he returns to Fort Sedgwick to retrieve the journal but finds it is has suddenly been occupied by newly arrived Army troops. They see Dunbar and initially assuming he is an Indian, kill his horse Cisco and capture Dunbar.When they recognize Dunbar as a white man, they treat him as a deserter, and beat him during an interrogation. Dunbar tells Lt. Elgin (Charles Rocket) (whom Dunbar met earlier in Maj. Fambrough's office) that he has a journal containing his orders for his posting to Fort Sedgwick. Spivey (Tony Pierce), one of the first soldiers to arrive at the fort, denies the existence of the journal, which he had found and has in his pocket. After further beating, Dunbar declares in the Lakota language that his name is Dances With Wolves. Army officers and a few troops set off to deliver Dunbar to Fort Hayes for execution. When they happen upon Two Socks, they shoot at the wolf, who refuses to leave Dunbar. Despite his attempts to intervene, Two Socks is fatally wounded, and the convoy moves off.Soon after, Wind In His Hair and other warriors from the tribe attack the column of men, rescuing Dunbar. Smiles A Lot (Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse) retrieves Dunbar's journal floating in a stream. After returning to the winter camp, Dunbar realizes that as a deserter and fugitive, he will continue to draw the unwelcome attention of the Army and endanger the welfare of the tribe if he stays with the Sioux. Under the protests of his Sioux friends, Dunbar decides that he must leave the tribe, saying he must speak to those who would listen. His wife decides to accompany him.As Dances With Wolves and Stands With A Fist leave the camp, Wind In His Hair cries out that Dances with Wolves will always be his friend, a remembrance of their first confrontation. Shortly afterward, a column of cavalry and Pawnee army scouts arrive to find their former camp site empty. | boring, murder, dramatic, violence, flashback, romantic, historical, storytelling, prank | train | imdb | null |
tt1628033 | Top Gear | Hammond travels to the Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500 race to explore the world of NASCAR racing. He's interviewing several NASCAR drivers and also rides along in a NASCAR stock car racer with Kyle Petty. Clarkson reviews the Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster. He concludes that is it a modern, flawed, crazed, X-factor German roadster much in the vein of 1960's and 70's-era American muscle cars --- fun because it's just like a wild horsethe challenge is taming it.The News includes discussion about how health and safety authorities are sticking their noses in and claiming driving is too difficult under any potentially distracting or unideal circumstances, in response to a new and illogical campaign statement about parking safety. They also talk about the new 2013 Dodge Viper and the announcement of Renault's new electric car.James and Jeremy head to Beijing to explore the emerging car industry in China, in response to the assertion that everyone will be driving Chinese cars in five years. National car production levels in China exceed that of all European output combined. However, they discover that there is not much to offer, even now, that seems a match for potential European competitors. The Stig's Chinese cousin appears, and he takes two of the more modern offerings around a track for a spin. May and Clarkson themselves drive the two cars around Beijing and conclude that these cars seem to be much closer to what they should be compared to previous offerings, but still not up to standards in developed markets. To end the show, 3 unknown Chinese presenters finish the show with the bit the boys usually do themselves in the UK. However, it is a chuckle to realize that "bombshell" does not quite translate into Mandarin.As the Star In A Reasonably Priced Car Matt LeBlanc appear and he sets the fastest celebrity lap time yet recorded. | humor, non fiction | train | imdb | Then there's the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment, where each week a guest celebrity will come on to do an interview and then race around the Top Gear test track in a budget priced sedan to see how they compare to other famous celebrities who have done the same.
Women will love him, because he's also the cutest.I'm not even going to mention their tamed racing driver who tests all of the high powered cars on the same track to see how they compare to one another, a mysterious creature dressed in white that is only known as "The Stig".
I'm not all that interested in cars, and my son doesn't even drive, but we both love the show, and watch it religiously.The balance of presenters: Jeremy, the loud-mouthed, cuttingly funny, over-bearing older guy; Richard, the young, cute, quirky, adolescent one; James, the sensitive, quiet, contemplative, intelligent one; is nothing short of genius!It seems that no expense is spared, either on the experiments and dares, or on filming, and this adds to the visual experience.
Most people I know who watch this show know almost less than nothing about cars, and I think that says a lot about how successfully this program reaches beyond the expected demographic of young male petrol-heads..
On one hand there is the SPEED Channel that is not available in every market, and on the other there is the "Powerblock" on Spike TV that offers little more than how to add a bit of power to your Grandmother's '81 Caprice.Even as an import, Top Gear simply blew my mind away during my first viewing of the show last year when The Discovery Channel ran a season of the show slightly altered for the US Market.For one, the personality of the show is unlike anything I have seen before.
Occasionally the segments rival that of some of the best television shows or movies that I have seen, and although they are primarily focused on the car and the hosts themselves, the surrounding environment often plays a large role in the different reviews....But then you add the great soundtracks of the reviews, the quirky setups to the different tests (such as a Bugatti Veyron racing a plane from Italy to England), and the great test laps done by the Stig...
It all adds up to one of the greatest television programs, well, ever.It truly is a shame that the viewing of Top Gear is generally limited to the internet via You Tube or Google Video here in the US, but there was a pilot filmed for The Discovery Channel in the US for an American version of Top Gear, but thus far, nothing has happened.If you have the time, I highly suggest you take a look at the show, interested in automobiles or not..
Well firstly let me say that this show began in 1978and went on for 12 seasons and the one complaint about that show was that it was boring and Clarkson picked up on this and changed the show (in my view) for the better.What is it about the show that makes it so outrageously good?
When Clarkson was asked why is this show so great he gave FULL responsibility to the camera crews (who do absolutely stunning wok and should set a benchmark for cameramen around the world), the producers (who supposedly stay in work until 2am working) and all the back-room staff that organise everything.You have to remember that these people have a passion for cars.
Anyone who loves cars and has that inner child inside which allows for that bit of fun would realise that this truly is one of the best shows on modern TV and always will be.
For instance, the main presenter, Jeremy Clarkson is driving his beautiful Aston Martin DB9 through the French countryside and he begins to speak about the beauty of the car and how it is like no other driving experience.
Jeremy Clarkson (the older know it all), Richard Hammond (the young wild one), and James May (the conservative middle age guy) combine to bounce intelligent and very opinionated commentary off each other.
If you watch this show, likely you have some interest in cars (you don't have to...it's great entertainment).
They also once tested if you can run your diesel car off of Vegetable Oil (you can, although your exhaust smells like a bag of chips).Overall, this programme's great and a show you must fit into your weekly schedule, gets 10/10.
I hope this show tanks so I can watch reruns of the old Top Gear without having to change the channel when the new episodes are on.
While other TV car shows feature lots of boring junk, the Top Gear crew isn't afraid of anything.
He is a total phony, and he screams instead of talking, like he is trying to build excitement all the time.The BBC and the idiot producers at Top Gear UK should stand in a circle, and then take turns punching themselves in the balls!
Top Gear is like sitting around with your buddies and talking cars and having a good laugh all the while.
The 10 out of 10 was for when Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. The best trio in the world were funny and just really enjoyable to watch but when Chris Evans took over it just went from 10/10 to 1/10 in just 1 episode.
it rips my heart to see my favorite show ends in this way..such a tiny little matter turned into a big fuss..it wasn't necessary..but we know all good things should come to an end so thats it i guess.but top gear will be missed!!
I'm sitting on the floor writing this and all i can get i my head is the memories of the great seasons, quests, reviews and laughs i've got from the Clarkson, Hammond and May....then...this...(five to fifteen minute brake in writing cause i really don't know how much it passed)....IMDb is not the place to speak whats really on my mind cause it may contain some swearing, but this new format of the show and the head presenter (the ginger one) are the downfall of the TOP GEAR.never gonna watch it again...this does not include walking on the memory lane...i can always make a few years pause and watch the old seasons...
Add in James May and Richard Hammond and you have a marvelous team; Jeremy is the chief presenter, a man capable of, as the "Top Gear" website puts it "reducing car manufacturers to floods of tears with nothing more than a long pause and a few well considered words.", Richard and James, in addition to being at the receiving end of a number of Jeremy's barbs, are proper motoring writers in their own right.
Then there are the bits where each host will be given a certain amount of money each to buy cars and then compete in a series of bizarre challenges, or when Jeremy races the other two lads, Mr. Clarkson in some impeccable motor car, James and Richard on public transport.
As a glossy motoring magazine aimed at petrol-heads of all ages, the show pulverises any competition with its blend of beautiful photography, humorous scripts and highly watchable presenters.The living legend that is Jeremy Clarkson remains one of the funniest men on television and it will be a truly sad day when he decides to move on from motoring journalism.
The chemistry between these three men is comedy gold and I often watch with my jaw dropped in disbelief at just how good this show is.The famous races, where each presenter has to reach a certain far-off place using a variety of means, are truly gripping films for the series and raise the bar on what we now expect from a motoring television show.
The star in a reasonably priced car is great, most of the celebs act like they don't care what time they got, but when they are told they are usually elated!
Recently- discovered Top Gear (UK) shatters the image, with hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May providing narrative styles and tastes which contrast as much as their physical appearance.
From their regular features such as their unsparing reviews of the top models (without commercial influence), "Stars in Sensibly Prices Cars" and the "Cool Wall" to their adventures and challenges, the boldness and originality of the endeavors and cheeky humor of the hosts is reminiscent of Python at its absurdist best.
There is no compromise sometimes, if a particular presenter dislikes a car, boy do they like to express it, but in a funny way.The show is a fantastic combination of elements that make it compulsive viewing.
You have the varying and humorous personalities of the presenters, the controversial comments of Jeremy Clarkson (who tells it exactly how it is), the cars themselves, the music as mentioned before and its intelligent touch.
Writing this review after watching the first two episodes of season 24 which were really entertaining, the first episode with the high mileage cars and the second episode with the Porsche against the Lambo, imagine those episodes with a threesome who are totally in sync and have great chemistry as the former three had, in time I can see this with the current three.
The reason that Top Gear has been on the air since 1978 is because it is an outstanding show that brought about a new breed of motoring journalism, largely thanks to Jeremy Clarkson.
It surpasses all its rivals, and Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond are the best trio of presenters currently on TV.
The main reason is its on the BBC, so the presenters can say what they really think without worring about upsetting any sponsors or advertisers who might appear during the commercial breaks.The car reviews are both informative and entertaining.The stunts of racing across Europe, Jeremy in a car, the other two going my ship, train or plane is so good , what a fantastic idea.The winter Olympic special was the funniest thing I have seen on television in such a long time.
Its so good to see three people who love there job and this comes out on screen.I only wish I could afford some of the super cars they review..
The guys (and I really do feel like I know them) make the stuff about cars interesting and fill the gaps in between with fresh, uplifting comedy.
Even if cars & vehicles aren't your prime time fancy, it is still refreshing to witness the abuse of the long time serving Suzuki Liana getting driven as fast as possible around the test track by a different TV personality every week during the series, following guidance from the ever anonymous but talented Stig.Guaranteed weekly automotive fun for me.
Even if you don't give a toss about cars you've got to check out a few episodes of this show.A lot of people give the BBC a hard time for sacking Clarkson.
But as James May said they had no choice given the circumstances.But we got over 10 years worth of excellent TV from these guys already.If you're new to Top Gear maybe check out some of the road trip episodes, e.g., the relatively recent Burma one..
Of course coming from the UK it does have a certain British charm about it.Jeremy, James and Richard not only test cars from all over the world but they embark on a series of 'challenges'.
about two years ago, I accidentally switched it on, and started laughing out loud at it while watching it, and all the time while watching it, I was thinking "what is the name of this programme, it's brilliant!" The banter between presenters Jeremy Clarckson, James May and Richard Hammond is excellent , and challenges are very funny and exciting.
I started telling most of my mates (most of whom aren't all that interested in cars) about this amazingly funny exciting programme, and most of, them like me never miss it.
Without a doubt the best programme on TV, it's about the only thing on the BBC that is worth the Licence Fee. I can't wait for the new series in the autumn, I have just been watching the Polar Special, where Jeremy and James in a pick up truck, race Hamster on a dog sled, (with his white teeth) to the North Pole.
You need to watch the episode.Being a fan of top gear for many years, it is nice to see it at the top of the car program tree.During the late 90's and early 2000's, it was a bit of a damp squid........to which the BBC stepped in a cancelled it.
The show also tests them and show what cars has the best time.Top Gear is also a talk show and Jermery Clarkson is a good host, nothing taking himself too seriously.
The guests also have fun doing their lab around the Top Gear track.The hosts of the show, Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have good chemistry and comedic timing.
Top Gear isn't about motoring; it's the answer to the question "what would you really like to do?" when that question is directed to the 14-year old boy that we all have inside us (but not in that way, as Clarkson might say).And so we seem them blowing up caravans, driving the fastest car in the world (and then the car that was built to beat the fastest car in the world), taking on outlandish challenges against stunning backdrops around the globe, constantly messing with each other and enjoying themselves immensely throughout.
And while I don't agree with Jeremy Clarkson's politics or Richard Hammond's hair dye, for every episode of Top Gear I am the best of chums with these guys.
INTRO: I think it's fair to say that Top Gear has not suffered from the prototypical decline in quality over the years like most TV Programmes, instead they have substituted what once was a dream for petrol heads around the world into a 'questionably informative' hour long banter session.
The Challenges may be goofy but for the most part have an underlying purpose.THE BOYS: All 3 presenters whom share different views and different opinions ultimately gel to perfection due to there un-dying love for cars.Jeremy Clarkson for me is one of the funniest men in the country, he's not afraid of a controversial statement or joke, he speaks his mind which as a result leads to some hilarious lines and actions from him.
Sure, they drove fast cars which were fun to watch at first, but later on, the show gets rather boring.This then, is the ultimate in motoring shows.
The way that they review the cars, the tests they create, the races, everything it's an absolutely enjoy to watch!
Great cars tested, interesting locations and interesting tests, it's like good old days of Top Gear.
The three presenters (Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James may) have completely different personalities, which leads to fantastic humour and entertainment throughout.
Kudos to BBC.Each new season simply gets better with time and watching the one-hour show makes you want to end up mortgaging your house to go and buy a super car just to loose your mind for a day like these three nutters.10/10.
Even if you don't like cars or other vehicles it's very amusing to watch.Unfortunately Top Gear with the new presenter(s) is full of sh*t.
i don't know how many different people were interviewed to host the show, but it was nothing short of a miracle that Jezza, hamster and captain slow were teamed up..i have watched every single episode and i can't remember ever being bored..(well maybe for some of the stars in cars..
Top Gear is a British television program that deals with vehicles, especially cars, which is the most watched reality show in the world.
BBC's Top Gear was the #1 (aka Best aka Greatest aka Better than the rest) car show.
It is the highlight of my evening watching Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May - 3 middle aged men, sit there, and argue over who's car is the best.
The way Clarkson isn't afraid to laugh at people in the audience makes me chuckle too, so does the star in a reasonably priced car (Trinny and Susannah is my favourite), everything on this TV is genius.Quite possibly the best thing on any BBC channel, anywhere in the world....
If you are anything of a car nut like me then you will know that Top Gear is simply brilliant.
Its funny, even hilarious at times, and Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are the shows three irreplaceable presenters.
This is the only TV series i ever follow, I eagerly wait for the new season to release.If you like cars then this is the ultimate show for you,the three presenters Jeremy,Hammond & Richard.These there anchors are brilliant even though the series is scripted they make it such fun to watch together.The show is about 60min and you will feel happy at all moment.There is "humour ,laugh , friendship,bulling" and of course lots of cars.They have an excellent driver "stig".They do one or more episodes of off track racing which are the best to watch.Well this is highly recommended for all fans of Cars..
If you want to find out anything about motor cars you're better off watching something else.
Several people believe "top gear" to be funny.But if it is,why does it need an audience which acts like a laughing track?
Well,that's simply because "top gear"s humor isn't as funny at all as its fans talk themselves into believing.I would like to know,for example,what's so funny with James May saying "Hello,Herr Reichsmarschall Goering" always when Jeremy Clarkson pulls up with a Mercedes?
I like cars and stuff but definitely not an enthusiast and watch the show purely for the entertainment and what crazy bizarre challenge they are going to do. |
tt0325710 | The Last Samurai | In the summer of 1876, Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), is a disenchanted ex-United States Army captain and an alcoholic. He has been traumatized by his experience fighting in the Civil War and the Indian Wars. In the years following his army service, Algren makes his living by telling war stories to gun show audiences in San Francisco, an experience which further hampers his mental state and stimulates him to drink. Fed up with Algren's perpetual drunkenness, his employer fires him. Algren reluctantly accepts an invitation from his former commanding officer Colonel Bagley (Tony Goldwyn), whom Algren deeply hates and blames for his waking nightmares about his role in Indian massacres. On behalf of a Japanese businessman, Mr. Omura (Masato Harada), Bagley offers him a job helping the new Meiji Restoration government train its new Western-style Imperial Japanese Army. Japan is in the middle of drastic civil change and the new Western-style additions to society have not gone unopposed. The samurai are conducting an insurrection against the modernization campaign, which has motivated Omura to seek Bagley's assistance.Under the command of Bagley, Algren and his companions travel to Japan. They are assisted by Algren's former army colleague Sergeant Zebulon Gant (Billy Connolly) and Simon Graham (Timothy Spall), a British translator with a deep interest in the samurai. The newly-formed Japanese Army is formed of poorly-trained and equipped conscripts, peasants who completely lack combat experience. Algren does his best to remedy this, but before the men are trained to his satisfaction, the leader of the insurrection, Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), attacks a railroad outside his province. Bagley orders Algren to lead the inexperienced conscripts to engage Katsumoto. Algren protests and offers a demonstration of the army's inexperience and inadequate training. Bagley dismisses Algren's concerns and orders a regiment to track down and engage Katsumoto.When the regiment arrives at the battlefield, Bagley moves to the rear and orders Algren to do the same, since the Americans are technically non-combatants. Algren refuses and takes personal command of the regiment. Algren then orders Sergeant Gant to report to the rear as well, but Gant refuses out of personal loyalty to Algren. During the battle, despite Algren's best efforts to command and encourage them, the conscripted peasants panic.Samurai swarm the wholly unprepared army and the soldiers flee in disarray. Algren and Gant stand their ground and manage to kill several samurai, but Gant is killed by a red-masked samurai named Hirotaro and Algren is thrown from his horse. On foot, he desperately fends off several samurai with a broken spear embroidered with a flag depicting a white tiger. The flag on the spear reminds Katsumoto of a vision he had during meditation. Hirotaro, Katsumoto's brother-in-law, prepares to kill the wounded Algren, but Algren seizes a spear from the ground and stabs Hirotaro through the throat, killing him. Believing what he has witnessed to be an omen, Katsumoto stops his warriors finishing off Algren and takes him prisoner. His forces take Algren to their isolated village, where Algren gradually recovers in a house belonging to Hirotaro's family, including his widow Taka, her two sons, Higen and Magojiro, and Katsumoto's son, Nobutada (Shin Koyamada).Over time, Algren overcomes both his alcoholism and the nightmares of his traumatic past, and begins to assimilate to village life, although he does not adopt many Japanese customs. Eventually, he meets Katsumoto, who takes an interest in Algren and begins conversing regularly with him, each gaining a healthy respect for the other. Algren confides in his journal that he has never felt entirely at peace until he came to live among Katsumoto and his people. Despite lingering fidelity to her dead husband Hirotaro, Taka develops romantic feelings for Algren, particularly when she notices his fatherly relationship with her children. Algren studies swordsmanship under skilled swordmaster Ujio (Hiroyuki Sanada), gradually gaining skill and the rising respect of the village samurai, and becomes fluent in Japanese as he converses with the local residents, earning their admiration.One evening, during an open-air torchlight performance (Takigi Noh), Katsumoto parodies the comic role of a kygen actor. The villagers' carefree respite is interrupted by an attack by ninja assassins. Algren raises the alarm and then takes up a sword to help defend Taka, her children, and Katsumoto. He fights skilfully, killing a number of attackers, earning Katsumoto's respect. The samurai defeat the ninjas but with many losses. Though Katsumoto does not confirm it, Algren deduces that the attack was ordered by Omura.In spring, Algren joins Katsumoto in a trip to Tokyo that has been approved by the Emperor. Algren learns that the army under Bagley's command is now better organized and outfitted with howitzers and Gatling guns from the United States. Omura offers Algren a new contract to assume command of the army and crush the samurai rebellion, but Algren politely declines by agreeing. In private, Omura orders his men to kill Algren if he attempts to warn Katsumoto of their intentions. Katsumoto offers his counsel to the young Emperor, to whom he was once a teacher. He learns that the Emperor's hold upon the throne is much weaker than he thought, and that he is essentially a puppet of Omura. When Katsumoto refuses to observe a new law that forbids samurai to carry their sword in public, Omura orders him arrested and confined to his home in Tokyo. Anticipating an assassination attempt on Katsumoto, Algren attempts to warn him. On the street headed for Katsumoto's quarters, he is ambushed by several of Omura's men. Unarmed, Algren kills all of his attackers, narrowly escaping death by using the skills he learned while living among Katsumoto's people. With the assistance of Ujio, Nobutada, Nakao, the Silent Samurai, and Graham, Algren frees Katsumoto from custody. During their flight, Nobutada is mortally wounded and stays behind to aid his father's escape; Algren watches a mortally wounded Nobutada charge their foes, only to be cut down by gun fire.Katsumoto is still mourning the loss of his son when he receives word that two battalions totaling about 2000 Imperial Army soldiers, commanded by Omura and Bagley, are marching out to engage the samurai. A counter-force of samurai, numbering only 500, is rallied. Algren tells Katsumoto about the Battle of Thermopylae in which a small force of 300 Greeks held an opposing force of one million Persians to a standstill for three days by using the terrain and the enemy's overconfidence to their advantage. Algren suggests using a similar tactic in the current situation to reduce the effectiveness of the enemy's artillery. On the eve of battle, Katsumoto presents Algren with a katana. Taka also gives him her dead husband Hirotaro's armor and they kiss as Algren leaves.When the Imperial Army confronts the samurai's rebel forces, the samurai fall back to higher ground, preventing the Imperial soldiers from using their superior firepower. As expected, Omura immediately orders the infantry to advance. Bagley expresses misgivings and advises sending in scouting groups first to assess the area, but Omura overrules him and insists on a full attack, and the infantry marches straight into a trap. They set fires that cut the enemy's immediate fighting strength in half and the samurai then unleash volleys of arrows on the infantrymen. A wave of samurai swordsmen, Katsumoto and Algren among them, attack the disorganized body of soldiers before they can recover from the arrow attack. A second wave of Imperial infantry follows behind, only to be countered by samurai cavalry, and a savage mêlée ensues that leaves many dead on both sides before the remaining Imperial soldiers finally retreat.Realizing that fresh Imperial forces are coming and that defeat is inevitable when they arrive, the surviving samurai resolve to make a final, fate-charged mounted assault. During the battle, Bagley shoots Katsumoto in the shoulder, but before he can finish off the samurai, Algren hurls his sword at Bagley, killing him by spearing him through the chest. On approaching the Imperial rear line and progressing far enough to scare Omura, the samurai are finally cut down by Gatling gun fire. Moved by the sight of the dying samurai, who charged fearlessly despite the Imperial soldiers' superior firepower, the captain of the Imperial troops (who was originally trained by Algren) orders the Gatling guns to cease fire, against Omura's wishes. Katsumoto, observing Bushido, asks Algren to assist him in performing seppuku; Algren obeys, ending Katsumoto's life. Led by their captain, the Imperial soldiers show their still-lingering respect for the old order by kneeling and bowing before the fallen samurai.Later, as the American ambassador prepares to receive the Emperor's signature on a treaty that would give the U.S. exclusive rights to sell firearms to the Japanese government, a wounded Algren offers the Emperor Katsumoto's sword as a gift and remembrance of his former teacher's honor. The Emperor receives the sword and realizes that, while Japan must modernize, it also must never forget its own history, cultural identity, and traditions. The Emperor then tells the American ambassador that his treaty is not in the best interests of Japan. When Omura objects, the Emperor realizes that Omura is not acting in the best interests of the people, and he confiscates his estates and fortunes. When Omura tries to protest, the Emperor then offers him Katsumoto's sword, retorting that if the dishonor is too great to bear, he should commit seppuku. The cowardly but respectful Omura merely lowers his head and backs away.In a voice over, Simon Graham reveals that Algren was never heard from again, but he surmises that Algren likely returned to the samurai village and to Taka. Graham philosophically concludes that Algren has "found some small measure of peace that we all seek, and few of us ever find". | murder, violence, flashback, psychedelic, romantic, revenge, historical | train | imdb | It was a lot more like Braveheart meets Seven Samurai with elements of inculturation a bit reminiscent of Wolves and Seven Years.Rarely does a movie have excellent acting across the board, but all the Japanese actors were outstanding, and the Americans and Europeans were excellent ...
Even the requisite (American-made movie) romance with Take (Koyuki in this role was wonderful) furthered the cross-cultural elements of the plot in such a way that neither culture was violated - and above all the `chemistry' was discreet in Japanese fashion, taking a necessary backseat without overshadowing the main story line, actually adding richness to the process of "going native" for Captain Algren (Cruise).
This film deserves more credit however, it is truly Oscar worthy, for Watanabe's acting and battle scenes mainly.The story is basically about an American captain (Cruise) who is tormented by his gruesome past that is hired to train the army to kill the samurai which are raiding the country.
After a the long slow process of trying to find out information about his enemy, Algren (Cruise) simultaneously begins training in the way of the samurai and comes to love their way of life and develops a friendship with Katsumoto.
After a series and turn of events the story develops like a roller coaster ride and fight together for their survival.This film is honestly one of the best dramas/war dramas I have ever seen, combined with a superb story, and action of amazing creativity in the dialogue, setting and all the scenes!
A story of honour, integrity, tradition, courage and love entwined with great battle scenes, beautiful scenery and superb acting, especially in the lead roles of Cruise and Ken Watanabe.For me personally I have no faults with this film.
From the research of the historical Japanese Meiji period, the mannerisms, the way different classes of people dress, the settings, the battle weapons and armory, how the Samurai train and fight, to the study and appreciation of the Art of War - where men of honor and integrity in service to the Emperor is the thing to die for.
From the producer-lead actor Tom Cruise and Zwick's film-making partner Marshall Herskovitz, cinematography by John Toll and film score by Hans Zimmer, to the costuming details, diverse casting, location scouting all the way to New Zealand and training of the supporting cast - even the official Web site with extensive production notes - all provide enhanced appreciation of this remarkable film.
Amazing cinema.Top notch movie from Edward Zwick having high class drama & action.Great acting by Tom Cruise & Ken Watanabe.Wow,their conversations are riveting.Casting is superb.Dialogues are appreciative.Cinematography is perfect.This movie is all about the American Captain Nathen Algren (Tom Cruise) who captured by the samurai tribal leader Katsumoto(Watanabe) begins to differ on loyalties.Whether he is a samurai or a captain who was to suppress the rebel samurai.Brilliant movie to watch.You would love to watch it over again & again.I don't understand why its not in the top 250.Sure its in my top 250.Fantastic soundtrack.The ending is superb.For honor & for this movie i give it my personal best 10.Katsumoto said "The perfect blossom is a rare thing.
This film combined American history and Japanese history that practically no public school teaches as far as i know.In The Last Samurai we see a lot of betrayal Japanese vs Japanese and Americans vs American.Many battles are fought during this film not just against Beliefs but their inerselfs.Characters in the movie have to brake the law to do what is right for their country or to just become a symbol, a symbol of hope for other Japanese to not forget their culture.
It's grand and spectacular and it gives so much of it's self and of it's story the power that it releases is in small capsules that slowly but surely open one at a time releasing strong and bracing scenes from each of them.Tom Cruise deliverer's one of his finest performances of his career as the battered Civil War hero.
It's a little late to rehash the old "Searchers"/ "Emerald Forest"/"Dances With Wolves" tale of the white man being captured by enemies and siding with his captors -- unless it's aimed primarily at people who have never seen "The Searchers" or "The Emerald Forest" (Arthur Penn realized this thirty years ago, and made the hero and the journey of "Little Big Man" primarily comedic -- one of the main reasons the film works as well as it does).But in the post-Altman/Ashby/Penn era -- where nearly all films -- especially action/adventure films -- have returned to the grandiose seriousness of their 1950s counterparts (with little or none of the wit and satire that crept through in the 60s and 70s), it is therefore pretty much expected that we will get the typical grandiose, serious, high-gloss and overlong treatment all the way through, with very little humor.
Because a lighter touch could have gone a long way towards getting the audience more involved, and making Cruise's character more likable (indeed, the few humorous lines and scenes he has are among the film's most memorable moments; they humanize his character and endear us to him).And this is one reason "The Last Samurai," despite a bunch of probable Oscars, is going to miss its target of becoming a beloved classic, an action/adventure epic for the ages.
So by making a film like "The Last Samurai" in an old-fashioned, traditional way, it constantly invites comparison -- to great stars, to great directors, to the great age of studio filmmaking which, like the Samurai, is now gone -- never to return.The sad fact is that the great movie-makers are dying off, leaving us with imitators, not originators.
Is anyone really expecting to see some sort of masterpiece by a T.V. producer/director named Ed Zwick?!Still, "The Last Samurai" manages to succeed in a number of ways -- mainly in presenting nineteenth-century Japan in a remarkably realistic way, and in its brutal battle scenes, shot in gory "Braveheart"-style by the great cinematographer John Toll.
It is in these terrifying, agonizing moments of sword-versus-rifle battle that Zwick comes closest to emulating his obvious hero, Akira Kurosawa, and manages to comment on the tragedy and insanity of war.Flashbacks are used unnecessarily to try to enforce Cruise's sense of guilt in participating in the the slaughter of the Indians (so we will understand his desire to defend another endangered species, the Samurai).
What I wanted to shout out after watching this movie was, "Thank you Tom Cruise and Edward Zwick!!"From a Japanese viewer's point of view, it is evident that the story is all fiction, inspired by what actually happened.
However, these issues are never irritating, as we could always sense a very strong, pure and innocent message coming from Tom and Ed, which I felt as a message coming from certain caring and intelligent American individuals to the nation of Japan and the Bushido (Samurai) spirit which still continues to live and influence our Japanese culture and our Japanese way of life.It is no wonder American viewers have mixed feelings about this movie, partly unaware of (and lacking true interest in) the history of Japan and partly noticing the similarities between this movie with other movies made in the past.
From my perspective, however, being a Japanese national born and raised in Japan and knowing the dramatic history our country has gone through, I could not help but cry feeling the respect and sympathies coming from a very successful movie star (Tom) and movie director (Ed), bothering to spend a "Hollywood Budget" on what is a very "personal" story for the Japanese.
It is the fact that this film was made by Hollywood which makes this film all the more important for Japan, as it would have been just another corny self-appraisal film if created by the Japanese themselves.Again, we know this is all fiction inspired by a true story and can't escape its small flaws, but I love the film all the same, and would like to thank from the bottom of my heart, Tom, Ed and others who deserve credit for thinking of creating this film in the first place.I don't think a film of this nature would ever be able to receive an oscar (as I can imagine how difficult it may be for an average American viewer to appreciate the true and deep meaning of this film, not being Japanese), but I believe this is a film which should deserve some kind of a "Thank you" award from Japan.
Duelling advisers competed for his heart and mind in the film and in real life.Cruise's trained troops the first time they're in battle with the professional samurai turn and run.
The Last Samurai is a great story and Americans should see this story about a Japan they only know from World War II films, both good and bad.
Tom Cruise is Captain Nathan Algren,who in 1870 is hired by the Emperor of Japan to train the Japanese Army in modern warfare.The Emperor than hopes to bring about an end to the Samurai,who have remained with the old way of fighting.As events unfold,Algren is captured by the Samurai and while treated with indifference and disdain at first,he slowly becomes part of the community.he begins to learn the Samurai ways,and gains their trust and friendship.in turn,he develops a newfound respect for the samurai way,and in time,becomes a better man for it.
Even if you are not a Tom Cruise fan,you should still like this movie.Cruise plays Algren as a man who is at first,deeply flawed,with no hope.Then,as the movie progresses,Cruise convincingly portray's Algren's slow,but noticeable change into a humble man who regains his humanity and discovers what it means to be a man.This Movie is directed by Edward Zwick(Glory,Legends of the Fall.The screenplay was written by John Logan(Any Given Sunday,Gladiator).the action scenes are well done and look authentic.the dialogue is well written,leading to some very touching scenes.the movie is also visually stunning.
Set in 1870's Japan, `The Last Samurai' is most effective when it sticks to the harsh realities of its blood- soaked battle scenes and avoids the softening effects of its two-bit philosophizing.Tom Cruise is stoic and stolid as Nathan Algren, a former captain of the United States army who is having trouble coming to grips with the part he played in slaughtering a village of innocent American Indians.
The film, thus, becomes a study in redemption as this one man attempts to find his place in the scheme of things and to erase the life-crippling guilt of his past actions.Director Edward Zwick, who made one of the best war films of modern times (`Glory'), has had less success here, mainly because he stacks the deck so shamelessly in favor of the samurai that we can't help feeing manipulated all throughout the film.
Omura bars Katsumoto's way, standing unarmed before a master swordsman who could cut his head from his shoulders with one well-practiced motion, and says, `We are a nation of laws.' Omura stands in the shoes of many Japanese who stood up for law against Japan's feudal reactionaries, and happily he wins, instead of being defeated and murdered like many of the militarists' opponents in the 1920s and 1930s1.The message Zwick wants to get across is simple; the samurai lived for honor, therefore they were good.
This film should have been nominated for best picture, and Tom Cruise should have been nominated for best actor -- and, in my opinion, both should have won.The Last Samurai is everything one wants in a movie.
The film touches you on a personal level with the character development and it also gives you a nice history lesson about Japanese culture and politics.Tom Cruise's character begins the film a drunken mess, disillusioned with his experiences in battle with Native Americans.
Tom Cruise stars in (arguably) his finest role to date, as the American Captain Nathan Algren, who is captured by the samurai warriors he is training the Japanese army to defeat.
Throughout much of his time in the village Cruise says very little, but his silent wonderment at the samurai life gives off a dramatic effect unreachable by many effects-driven blockbusters, and it is this part of the film that Zwick shows off his talents as a director.
Here's a half dozen: 1 - bad guys shooting from close range and never hitting good guys; 2 - a final battle scene with thousands and thousands of bad guys dying and only 499 of the good guys dying; 3 - only survivor: the good guy Tom Cruise; 4 - he's let go by the enemy; 5 - Eastern religious gets full credibility while the hero is the one, of course, who turns his back on Christianity and the U.S. Military (two evils of American Liberals); 6 - Cruise learns to speak FLUENT Japanese in a matter of months or weeks!Too bad such a beautiful-looking film has to be so dumb and biased..
The music is horrible and adds to a terrible movie-experience.Highlights:* Tom Cruise becomes a GREAT samuraj (with everything that comes with that) in a couple of months...* Learns to speak japanese quite alright during a winter...* Tom realizes that alcohole is bad for him...* Tom finds love in a woman, which husband he has just killed...* The last words of the great samuraj kotamura is in ENGLISH...* It takes an american to teach japan's emperor to understand the way of the world (an emperor who, unfortunately, resembles Michael Jackson)...The worst movie of the year...
Yay again for this all American wonder of a hero.They've also thrown in some romance for good measure and a whole bunch of epic fight scenes you've seen so many times before and the obligatory moral conundrum to put some more weight behind the leading character self-righteousness.End of story.
In fairness, if you're gonna watch a movie by Edward 'Glory' Zwick starring Tom 'overdoing it' Cruise, you shouldn't be surprised of the result 'The Last Samurai' is: a powertrip by the last combining the over the top 'dying with honour' crap from the first.
The sweeping vistas, the way too serious actors and the very decidedly 21-first century feel of Cruise's acting choices led the viewer down a familiar path to an expected conclusion culminating in a Braveheart battle that's just dripping in Kurosawa lore.Tommy's character development is executed in hyper-reality from drunken lout to honorable Japanese-speaking samurai in 60 seconds.What are the Samurai rebelling against?History's door is slammed shut, locked, barricaded and rewritten.And if Master and Commander, arguably a better film, never reached the coveted number one spot -- why should this trite film.Furthermore it pointedly ignores romance to the shock of including a widow/ Tommy possibility.
Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is under orders to wipe out the Samurai, but is captured during battle and learns to live along side them and take spiritual fulfilment from their ancient way of life.Some fantastic battle scenes (a little braveheart like in their imagery), strong characters and brilliant direction, result in a thoroughly entertaining movie, that is not what i expected at all.(not even close)If you're looking for all out action, this isn't the right film for you.If you want a spiritually moving insight into what it may have been like to live as a Samurai, and how modern day Japan was born, then that is what you will receive.9/10.
If you like Tom Cruise and the cast mentioned above and want to see some great sword fighting action then I strongly recommended you watch The Last Samurai today!.
In The Last Samurai, Tom Cruise and Ken Wantanabe star in an original historical fiction film that takes place during the Meiji restoration period of Japan.
The film follows the story of Captain Nathan Alrgen (Tom Cruise) who is an American war veteran in the late 1800's and is hired to train Japanese soldiers how to use guns to quell a rebellion by a group of Samurai.
Zwick's film is slick, sweeping, beautifully shot and frequently involving, backed up by a strong performance by Tom Cruise in one of those roles that remind you just what a good actor he can be.In the role of Algren, Cruise begins a dejected man living out of a bottle, bereft of purpose & suffering post-Civil War nightmares of a man touted as a hero despite feeling the guilt of slaughtering Indians crushed under the might of a military machine; in that sense, The Last Samurai is very anti-war in its message, John Logan's story painting the Americans and specifically the Imperialist Japanese not in the greatest light.
Well directed by Edward Zwick and Tom Cruise is amazing in samurai!Its one of the best movies of all time.
I did read some other recommendations, and i cant understand some of the criticism.This film portrays an american soldier, Colonel Nathan Algren(played by Tom Cruise), who has both nightmares and moral issues with what he has seen of slaughter in the indian wars, and his demons makes him seek comfort in alcohol, like so many soldiers do when not coming to terms with their beliefs and the reality of having done horrible things in battle.So when the Director draws parallels from the native americans to the samurais, he actually shows us the last days of two dying cultures.Now the samurais in this movie are not evil, nor is the imperial army.
Tom Cruise said this movie was an ode to the Japanese Samurai culture.
American veteran Tom Cruise is asked by the new Japanese government to fight the remain samurai in Japan.
If people are interested in samurai-movies or the Japanese (old) culture, please watch Kurosawa instead of this Tom Cruise crap..
While there are a number of good actors, only two carry the story -- Ken Watanabe, superb as Katsumoto, the leader in a remote village of last remaining Samurai in 1876 Japan, and Tom Cruise, equally superb as Nathan Algren, a battle-scarred American soldier who is in Japan, along with others, to help them come into the modern world, and part of that is to develop an effective force of soldiers. |
tt0870204 | Boot Camp | This film is the story of a group of unruly teenagers whose parents send them to a rehabilitation boot camp to turn them around. The camp collects each child individually, then delivers them to the boot camp facility on a remote island in Fiji. There are no walls to stop the teenagers from leaving, but escape is impractical due to the surrounding sea. On arriving at the camp, the teenagers are forced to wear cuffs with sensors around their ankles if they attempt to escape, security will be alerted.Dr. Hail (Peter Stormare), who runs the camp, forces the teens to work constantly. He has them clean the camp, grow plants, and has them rebuild the camp after it was damaged in a storm. Campers are required to wear color coded t-shirts. First, new arrivals are given black t-shirts. They progress to yellow and then white. The teens earn a white shirt once they have been "corrected." They do not do work; they become staff members and abuse the other inmates and monitor their work. Among the staff is an ex-Marine recruit. He is very tough towards the inmates and makes deals with girls in exchange for sex.The main teenagers featured are Sophie (Mila Kunis), her boyfriend Ben (Gregory Smith who gets himself sent to the camp to rescue her), Danny (who arrives with Sophie) and Trina, Sophie's bunkmate. As time passes on the island, Sophie rebels more and more against Dr. Hail, and once Ben joins her, the two escape to a nearby island. However, they are recaptured, and Ben is told he will be sent home. One morning, whilst on a run, Logan, the former Army recruit, has the male teenagers go swimming. However, Danny, who can't swim, drowns, and Logan tries to get Ben to help cover it up by threatening him with solitary confinement, but Ben refuses.Meanwhile, Sophie discovers that Logan has raped Trina, and when Logan is put before the camp to admit responsibility for Danny's death, she reveals this to the rest of the teenagers, many of whom also were offered yellow shirts by Logan in exchange for sex. As the teenagers surround Logan, Sophie turns the attention onto Hail, at which point Ben announces to the shocked teenagers that this isn't the first death to occur on a camp run by Dr. Hail.The teenagers run amok, burning down the entire campsite, and then go after Logan, who dies when his jeep crashes into a burning building. At this point they turn their attention solely to Hail, who tries to shoot them in the hope that he can restore order. However, after finding out his gun wasn't loaded, he is thrown into solitary confinement, to be left for the police to arrest. As the film fades out we see images of the teenagers celebrating freedom swimming in the ocean. A message also appears on screen stating that since the 1970's, when these type of camps were introduced in real life, over 40 deaths have occurred. | romantic | train | imdb | The film makes you think about what kind of programs like "ASAP" exists today.
"Tough Love" Boot Camps are portrayed correctly in this movie, and in some cases, the real camps are much more difficult experiences.
Pulling no punches in exposing the cruelty that exists in these rehabilitation centers you frequently find yourself a little uneasy with this films content (especially upon remembering that this was based on true events).
After a serious incident with his guests at home, she is sent to the ASAP Advanced Serenity Achievement Program a correctional facility in Fiji Island leaded by Norman Hail (Peter Stormare), who self-entitles doctor, to be rehabilitated in a socially acceptable pattern of behavior.
Meanwhile her boyfriend Ben (Gregory Smith) forces a situation at home to be sent to the same boot camp and escape with Sophie."Boot Camp" explains in the very beginning that is based on a true event; therefore it seems that it really does exist places like the Serenity Camp in the world.
The story does not have the intention to discuss whether these boot camps are necessary or not, but to show a specific place directed by an unprepared man with psychological problems that uses torture techniques as if the end could justify the means.
The story is entertaining, but some of the teenagers (and parents) depicted in the movie really deserve to be sent to a correctional facility or to a shrink to resolve their issues.
It's shocking to see that camps like this exist, but I feel that this film has definitely raised awareness.
Plus the story is based on true events.Parents who think their children are out of control send them away to camp serenity where they think they are being looked after, little do they know its a torture camp with twisted, manipulated methods to get the kids to change.This is a great night in flick, I recommend it.
I liked the movie for its different approach and the questions it raises and forces us to ponder over the issue of such camps as ASAP.
I think all the actors did a pretty good job portraying the characters that the movie is about.
Her parents are worried about her odd and relentless behavior toward her new stepfather, so they send her to boot camp (I would have sent her to a Daddy-Daughter Dance, saves money).Boot Camp members basically brutally kidnap Sophie and take her to a remote island off of Fiji.
Instead of being a training camp like expected, it turns out to be an endless abuse and embarrassment school.People are locked in holes, thrown in mud, and beat with rods when refuse to do their work or just simply tired.
Unlike in Saw where a killer with lollipop circles on his face tries to lock you up in traps, this one is actually likable and realistic.The concept is stunning and meaningful and makes you feel as if you lived the story happening to these characters.
Perhaps not the excellent actor performance but the story behind the movie.I've finished watching it a few minutes ago and felt like I needed to do a short review on it.
First of, don't get fooled by the start, as I've heard people saying they wanted to stop watching after the first 15 minutes, ignore that if you're interested in seeing a good movie based on a true story.The action of the movie is excellent, perhaps a bit exaggerated but nevertheless close to the truth as it was then.
In order to really understand the movie you have to look beyond the actors and the location of the movie and think about the situation that's being presented.All in all an exceptional film that presents what could have happened in a 'tough love camp', the ignorance of some, the joy of others and the desperate need of freedom after such an experience..
I could name plenty high-budget high-return movies that were less thought-out and a lot more cheese and that were seemingly produced on autopilot by point-missing robots who are lucky enough to be able to afford headline-grabbing CGI effects.Also, it made me aware that such places exist as Cross Creek and Tranquility Bay. Although I can forgive a movie for dramatising something "based on a true story" I was left wanting to find out more and judge for myself.Anyway, this objectively deserves an 8, I think.
Supposedly based on real events, this is about teenagers being sent away to camps to be disciplined.
If I hadn't been through a brainwashing camp myself as a teenager I wouldn't think this movie was anything more than an interesting watch.
But, the reality is that I know this type of abuse (and worse) happens in boot camps, wilderness programs, therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, teen drug rehabs and many other programs in the United States and Canada.
I witnessed it and experienced it myself at age 14-16.Due to the reality that this movie portrays and the lack of attention given to this problem in our society, I applaud all who were part of the making of this movie.If anyone would like to know more about this very real issue of kids being brainwashed, tortured and killed in teen programs, Google FORNITS (a forum for those who were victims of these programs), Human Earth Animal Liberation (HEAL), International Survivors Action Committee (ISAC), Teen Advocates USA.Find the Youtube video of "Martin Lee Anderson" being killed by staff in a boot camp caught on surveillance video (the staff were not convicted of the murder but were all acquitted!).The movie itself is absolutely worth watching, although some parts are a little over the top, because the premise of the movie is based on actual events that have and do happen all across this country.
Plus many horrors that happen in these programs were not shown in this movie.I almost forgot to mention the bill in congress titled H.R.911 that is aimed at regulating these programs so kids are not abused and killed in them.
A 'boot camp', as shown in this film, makes a convenient place wealthy parents can send their out-of-control teenage children to.
I didn't know they existed in this form, but can imagine very well why.When it comes to the pictured camp-life, I don't see much difference with a regular army place.
Inevitably bringing in some crime & casualties.Although getting a little melodramatic at times, 'Boot Camp' makes a good watch.
But these people (especially the main character) are obnoxious creeps!The film's target audience of fourteen-year-olds might not realize it, but making sexual abuse allegations against someone simply because they "cramp your style" is a nasty, vicious thing to do.
After embarrassing him, he sends her away to fake doctor Hail (Peter Stormare)'s isolated boot camp Camp Serenity on Fiji island for a year.
It's a place of disturbing psychological torture and brutality enforced by security chief Logan.This is an useful movie for parents to see the waving red flags.
The problem for this movie is that it seems to be trying to make a point about all of the boot camps.
Sophie Bauer (Mila Kunis) is sent to this camp in Fiji, because she's spoiled and doesn't get along with her step father.
Overall, Boot Camp is a somewhat strange movie, but it has a terrific pair leading the way.
It's amusing to see that I've seen movies like Boot Camp before, from the hippie "Punishment Park" in the 70's to the Olivia Hussey "Turkey Shoot" which blended this genre, amusingly, with "The Most Dangerous Game" this type of material is not exactly original.
So the parents are made to look like fools and uncaring simpletons while the writer and director look to make you sympathize with these kids when they get to the island.
We all know that Hollywood always does amp things Basically the movie makes these kids out to be victims while in reality they are spoiled little brats who need a beating to straighten them out.
The one and only reason I finished watching it was because I was also hoping for some kind of "realization" by these kids at the end of the film that even though the camp leaders were wrong in what they did, but also that they themselves needed to grow up and be accountable.
this is a movie made to manipulate your thinking into that "If it feels good, do it, and to hell with any kind of rules and regulations".
I know that giving a film a bad review for being controversial will only make people want to watch it more.
But if you want to feel absolutely lousy about how people think things should be in this world (I'm speaking about the makers of this film and a few of the posters on this site) then by all means knock yourself out.
Peter Stormare, a/k/a "Scary guy from Fargo" doesn't convince as the Dr. Moreau of Teen Rehab, some of the acting is stiff, and in the end I just wished they would have filmed a documentary on real-life "tough love" camps instead -- I think that would have been far more interesting and emotional (and cost a heck of a lot less than $14 million).Not recommended, unless you're a die-hard "Family Guy" addict that just has to see each and every film starring the voice of Meg Griffin..
They may not have showed all that happens at these places, but they showed what needed to be showed and I am glad to know people are a little more knowledgeable now that they have seen this film..
Norman Hail ( Peter Stormare ) runs a camp where parents send there kids to him and he tries to steer them straight.
I Mainly loved the movie because of the two main characters Mila Kunis and Gregory Smith.
A lot of the characters were starting to believe in Norman Hails brainwashing method.There was no ridiculous stupid sex scenes so don't watch it if that's what you are looking for, it was the one of the most realistic psychological torture stories I have probably watched and that says a lot because I have seen tons of movies.If you are looking for a movie that makes you think about about sadistic stuff that happens in real life then watch this movie.
Christian Duguay has brought some good but not amazing movies in Art of War, Extreme ops and the mini series Human Trafficking but this is far far below his best.The story is average although the movies does not look like a cheap budget film with ropey sound, casting and cinematography.
There are no major action scenes, no dramatic story, no humour, no real suspense, in fact on reflection i am not sure what there was that made the movie very interesting.Your story is around an island where parents send their uncontrollable teens for a harsh lesson in life through a BOOT CAMP.
I was thinking all the way through right, abandoned island, rebellious kids, brutal guards....here comes the updated version of Ray Liottas No Escape but what i got was Survivor without the tribal councils and any of the trials !!!!.
Great movie for program vets to watch with friends and loved ones who want a better understanding, but probably little general appeal.
I can easily imagine someone watching Boot Camp then calling up a friend who may have been through something like this and saying "Holy s**t, was it like that?" So it's good, entertaining drama with real educational potential.
However, I would not recommend that anyone send any kid, however ill-behaved, to a boot camp.
The story is about a correctional youth camp located in the remote Fiji islands, where parents send troublesome kids in order to get their kids back on the right track.
"Boot Camp" features all the delicious ingredients to be a genuine piece of 70's exploitation trash: a tropical island location, naughty boys and wayward girls, a false but power-mad authority figure, perverted and corrupted guards, punishment pits and lots of cat fights in the mud!
Unfortunately, however, we live in the post-2000 years and true exploitation as we knew it is long dead and buried
Admittedly "Boot Camp" isn't a horrible film, but fact of the matter remains that director Christian Duguay and his crew didn't have the guts to include any actual violence, sleaze or shocking content.
The film allegedly criticizes the real-life rehabilitation camps and their working methods, but who cares?
If you've ever considered sending your kid to boot camp, please watch this movie first.
i don't like her, and i would support the decision to send her to boot camp.
How can anyone adjust to normal life after experiencing something like this?Boot Camp is shot in a very interesting way.
Sophie asks boyfriend something ,and he hesitates but after sometime he realizes what love is and...Mila Kunis is like always...You have minimum two reasons to watch this movie.
The story is about a behavior modification camp for teens whose parents don't know what else to do.
In addition, there are people at the camp abusing their power and taking advantage of kids who must behave submissively to gain privileges and eventually be released.I think if I wanted to know more about these behavior camps, I would watch a documentary instead of a work of fiction.
It does get you thinking a little bit about what kinds of treatment might be appropriate for out of control teens, but this film won't try to answer that.
Spoiled rich kids with drug and behavior problems are sent off to a rehab/boot camp in Fiji.
The camp abuses them and they eventually revolt.True exploitation film is a piece of trash morally.
While I think the film is correct to challenge the notions of "tough love" camps like this, many of which have done some good, the fact that the cathartic moment comes when the camp is set on fire and people are killed kind of defeats the purpose.
Then again I'm not the audience for this film, which is the age group of the kids sent off to camp itself.In its favor its well acted and beautiful to look at.
Mila Kunis is one of the many kids taken from their homes by two thugs hired by their parents for a tough love camp, yes, literally these guys are not suspiciously criminal at all.
But when it isn't following any kind of truth or reality the movie is scenes of teenagers on the island abusing each other typical stuff, rape, beatings with sticks, and pushing people in mud.
This movie isn't at all good, it bores me to tears, the only thing going for it is Peter Stormare and Mila Kunis.
And it is far from the truth on tough love camps, and keep in mind I don't even know, but I know it's probably most likely not like this movie at all..
The trouble is that Dr. Hill's methods don't always work and somethings leads to the people he's trying to cure to end up dead.It's when Ben, Gregory Smith, faked his way into Camp Serenity by posing as a heroin addict that things really started to get out of hand there.
Instead, all "Boot Camp" gives us is a boy-and-girl in love against the "bad guys" and parents who "just don't understand." The characters are very superficial and all the drama is romanticized.
If you DON'T think this movie has been manufactured by a bunch of Hollywood-types to pander to teen focus groups, think about the absolute absurdity of a teenage boy flying to Fiji with a pretend Heroin habit just so he can save his snotty and unappealing girlfriend who even HE doesn't appear to like in the first minutes of the film.
Although admittedly entertaining and mostly well acted, Boot Camp feels like a movie written by troubled teenagers who are unable to see beyond their angst and hopelessness.
The result is a "misunderstood kids" versus "evil authority figures" storyline that was disappointing in its singular focus and lack of meaning.The idea of the film is actually quite interesting, and it reminded me of another flick about a troubled teen made in 1989 called Lost Angels.
The difference between the two movies, however, is that the angry young man in Lost Angels actually learns something about himself and comes to understand how his actions got him into trouble in the first place.
In Boot Camp, Mila Kunis stars as a young woman who is actually not a very nice person and learns nothing about herself throughout the story.
Her boyfriend tries to rescue her by pretending to be a heroin addict, so that his parents will send him to the same boot camp.
His plan works and the film slips into a fairly routine "prison escape" flick.What's so disappointing in Boot Camp is the lost potential it had to show many different sides to the same story.
His plan of "saving" kids through these labor-intensive boot camps with extremely strict rules and consequences is not new and it has been proved to work in real life.
At first it looked like the tough love camp was just what these kids needed!
This movie is based upon true events and why shouldn't we all stand shouting hell yeah as a camp which served as a torture chamber for some innocent kids burn to the ground?
Her acting out was completely justified so yes she was a witch, yes she was a bratty girl but did she really deserve such torture as being placed in a camp like that?
It worked to create a whole series of horror movies.On a side note, I actually agree with a few of the reviewers who said that these bratty spoiled kids deserved it, but in reality no parents would send their kids to the Fiji Islands to learn anything.
This isn't a Basic Training Military Boot Camp movie.. |
tt0097239 | Driving Miss Daisy | It is about September of 1948. A wealthy, spunky, and independent 72 year old Jewish widow and former grade school teacher named Daisy Werthan accidentally backs her new Chrysler into her neighbors yard after having put her foot on the accelerator too far. The car is totaled and insurance company has declared her high risk. Her 35 year old son Boolie, a successful, third generation textile business owner, insists she hires a chauffeur, but she refuses to do so. For the time being, she either takes care of business herself or have one of her friends give her a ride.Oscar, an employee of Boolie's is stuck in the freight elevator at the textile mill. Hoke Coleburn, about 60 years of age, helps him get the elevator down to the floor. Boolie notices this and questions Hoke's identity, with him being revealed as a potential chauffeur. Boolie seems disinterested, but Hoke follows him to his office and interviews with him. Hoke is given the job after Boolie's questioning of his previous employment, but warns him of his mother's stubbornness and uptightness, but assured she can't fire him.Hoke is brought over to Daisy's house by Boolie. Daisy refuses to be formally introduced to him and doesn't want "some chauffeur" staying at her house and eating her food (a subtle hint of racism), despite the fact she's had the same black cook and housekeeper for over 20 years. A brand new 1949 Hudson sits in the garage.Hoke tries to stay busy and earn his pay around Daisy's house, but Daisy refuses to let him touch her things. After 6 days, he informs her of the low supply of coffee, Dutch Cleanser, and silver polish. Daisy insists on taking the streetcar to the Piggly Wiggly. Hoke will not let her do it and follows her. Daisy gives in and lets him give her the lift, but sets him straight on some rules.Afterwards, Hoke takes Daisy to the Reform Jewish temple she regularly attends. When the service is over, he's parked in the front of the church and wants to give her the VIP treatment, but she is embarrassed. He does not understand her modesty despite her wealth and reminds him of her poor upbringing. But she needs a chauffeur and he needs the job and should just leave it at that.A few weeks later on a cold and foggy morning, Daisy notices a can of salmon missing from her pantry. She calls Boolie over about the incident and that Hoke is not someone she can trust because "they all take things". Boolie tries to defend him, but she refuses and feels she's being invaded. Hoke and Idella, Daisy's maid, arrive for work soon afterwards. Boolie asks Hoke that they have a talk and he agrees. But before they talk, Hoke tells Daisy he ate a can of her salmon last night because the leftover pork chops were too stiff and that he bought a replacement can for her. The incident is immediately forgotten and it turns out Hoke is a man that can be trusted.It is the summer of 1951. Daisy and Hoke are at the cemetery with Daisy's husband's grave plot being tended. She asks Hoke to place flowers on a Leo Bauer grave and gives him the directions to it. He reveals to her that he can't read. Daisy does not understand this, but reassures him in a rather harsh manner that he can read if he knows his ABC's. She gives him the basics and he finds the grave.Christmas Day 1953. Daisy's daughter in law Florine is having a fit because there is no coconut for ambrosia, despite the lavish and generous potluck for the dinner guests. Her new cook Katie Bell did not write it down, but told her to buy it (another hint of illiteracy common among blacks). Boolie assures her it's okay. Daisy and Hoke are coming over to Boolie's house. Hoke is enjoying the Christmas lights in the neighborhood, but Daisy is somewhat appalled by the crass commercialism of Christmas, plus her overall disdain for her daughter in law's refusal to adhere to Jewish tradition. And by this time, Hoke can read well. Daisy hands him a book on calligraphy to help him practice on his writing, but assures it's not a Christmas present.Summer of 1955, Boolie and Hoke are over at the local Cadillac dealership to purchase a 1956 Cadillac Sedan DeVille for Daisy. Hoke made a deal with the car dealer to purchase Daisy's 1949 Hudson, with Boolie surprised about the purchase from the dealer instead of his mother. But Hoke assures Boolie it's okay and does not want to make car payments to her.A short time later, Daisy is prepared for a long journey to Mobile, Alabama to celebrate her brother Walter's 90th birthday. She's fretting that they will be late despite being well-prepared. Hoke pulls up to help her out, followed by Boolie in a nice black 1956 Cadillac Eldorado. Daisy is appalled that Boolie is leaving early for a convention in New York City, because Florine would rather see the play My Fair Lady before then, instead of attending Walter's birthday.Daisy and Hoke begin a 300+ mile journey, which was a long way to drive before interstate highways. Hoke reveals to her it is the first time he's ever left the state of Georgia. They stop to eat a lunch of sandwiches, deviled eggs, peaches, and Coca Cola on the side of the road near a pond. Daisy tells a story to Hoke about her trip there in 1888 when her brother got married and how timid she was when she saw an ocean for the first time. They are interrupted by two racist cops questioning Hoke's possession of the car. Daisy tells them it's her car, they see her registration and Hoke's driver's license. A stern reminder of how dangerous it was for minorities to travel back then. They move on, Daisy has given Hoke the wrong directions, and has held back their journey for a little while. Hoke tells Daisy he needs to use the bathroom on the side of the road, since coloreds cannot use filling station restrooms, but she refuses to let him do so. Hoke lays his foot down that he needs to go and that he's almost 70 years old and doesn't need to be treated like a nobody or a child. Daisy and Hoke make it to Walter's and celebrate the birthday.It is May of 1963. Hoke is paying a visit to Boolie's textile factory. As her walks through, the old textile weaving machines have been replaced by more efficient Saco-Lowell spool machines with fewer workers needing to tend to them. Hoke reveals a wife of Boolie's cousin is trying to hire him and to "name his own salary". Boolie catches on and realizes Hoke is really asking for a raise. He's offered $65 a week, but Hoke asks for $75 and Boolie agrees to it. Hoke is exceptionally pleased and thanks Boolie for it and having been fought for.Soon afterwards, Daisy's longtime cook and housekeeper Idealla dies in her kitchen of a heart attack while shelling peas. She, Hoke, Boolie, and Florine attend the funeral at Idella's Missionary Baptist Church to pay their respects.That night, Daisy is in the kitchen preparing a meal of fried chicken, biscuits, rice, and okra for her and Hoke. Hoke is now helping her out with the household tasks, including setting up a garden, which Daisy previously protested.Sometime in the winter of 1963 or 1964, a rare snow and ice storm is ravaging Atlanta. Daisy's electricity is out in her home, but Hoke comes to work that day anyway and with some coffee from the Krispy Kreme. Her son calls to check on her and surprised at her kind comments about Hoke coming over to help and insults her for it.*About January of 1965, Boolie is awarded Businessman of the Year by the Atlanta Business Council detailing of his grandfather Werthan starting the business on Decatur Rd. and where it is now.*Daisy's car is now a blue 1965 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. She and Hoke have been stuck in traffic. Daisy does not get to go to the Jewish Temple for worship and it's revealed to her the temple was bombed. She does not seem to understand why, but realizes after Hoke tells her a story of a boyhood friend of his whose father was hanged that she is almost as much a victim of racism and prejudice as he is.Boolie pays a visit to Daisy at her home revealing his reluctance to attend the speech of Martin Luther King, despite his admiration for him, because it might hurt his business clientele in the future. He suggests she asks Hoke to go, despite her reluctance.*On January 27, 1965, Daisy attends a speech by Martin Luther King at the Dinkier Plaza Hotel. On the way there, she indirectly offers Hoke to join her, but he is offended at her for doing it at the last minute and that times have not really changed all that much, despite her claim that they are. Instead, she attends the speech alone and Hoke sits in the car listening on the radio. Daisy realizes from the speech that she is probably more guilty of what's happened over the years than the overt racists that have said hateful things and incited violence.It is the fall of 1971. Hoke is now driving Daisy's 1965 Cadillac and her car is now a 1970 Cadillac Fleetwood. By this time, he is in his early 80's and she is 95 years old. He enters her home with his usual morning greeting, but she does not respond at first. Soon afterwards, she comes downstairs still in her nightgown and thinking she's a schoolteacher needing to find graded papers. Suffering from dementia, Hoke calls Boolie to come over to help. After having calmed down and with her mind back in place, Daisy declares Hoke as her best friend and that it's sincere. She takes his hand.Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1973. Hoke is now about 85 years old. His glasses are very thick. His granddaughter Michelle is dropping him off at Daisy's house, which has just been sold. Boolie is now about 60 years old and driving a 1973 Mercedes. He and Hoke have one last visit to the now empty house. Boolie takes him over to the retirement home Daisy is staying at. By this time, she is 97 years old and using a walker. She barely acknowledges their presence at fist, but later insists Hoke stay with her alone. Mostly small talk, but they are enjoying each others company. Hoke gently feeds her pumpkin pie she has not yet eaten and the screen fades to an old automobile of Daisy's driving away. This is possibly the last time they saw each other.*Boolie's award of 1966 Businessman of the year should have been 1965. The speech given by Martin Luther King was on January 27, 1965 at the Dinker Plaza Hotel, but in this movie, it's 1966, which was an error. Also, the Reformed Jewish Temple was bombed in Atlanta on October 12, 1958, but it happened in this movie in 1966, probably as a preceder to the Martin Luther King speech about racism. | dramatic, boring | train | imdb | Although it's really more of an extended pair of entwined character portraits--spanning a quarter of a century--it has all of the narrative focus and tightness of a more traditionally structured mystery plot.The character portraits are of Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy) and Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman).
At the beginning of the film, we see Miss Daisy, who is already around 60 years old or so, have a driving mishap--she has the car in the wrong gear and runs off of her driveway, almost completely backing over a 10 foot drop to the neighbor's driveway, at about 20 miles an hour.
He has said that that Driving Miss Daisy was semi-biographical about his grandmother and her driver.That fact probably helped create the remarkable depth of character shown in the film, although certainly director Bruce Beresford, Freeman, who also starred in the play, and Tandy do more than their share to build a charming, frequently funny and poignant portrayal of two very different humans learning to see eye to eye.It's significant that Driving Miss Daisy is set in the South and spans the period prior to and slightly after the civil rights movement in the US.
And of course, as a Jew in the South, she is well aware of discrimination and disadvantage, having experienced it first hand.One of the more touching scenes of the film features Hoke and Daisy driving to Alabama to attend her brother's 90th birthday party.
Somewhat simplistic to be considered a strong statement about race relations, the Best Picture/Best Screenpaly Oscar Winner makes a heartwarming effort to give witness to dignified aging.Freeman was never better, and the chemistry between the two leads is simply beautiful to watch.
This is definitely made clear at the end when Hoke is feeding Daisy her pumpkin pie, and she enjoys each bite fully.Another aspect of the movie which got to me was the great array of choices the director made with the filming.
Time is so important in Daisy's and Hoke's affection/friendship that this is a great way to show that.There are so many aspects of this film which I could go on and on about.
Winner of 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture of 1989, "Driving Miss Daisy" is about a black man who goes to work as a chauffeur for a stubborn old Jewish woman.
She very deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Miss Daisy, a person who at first is not happy about this man coming into her life but learns to accept it and forms a real special friendship.
Richard Zanuck, one of the producers of "Driving Miss Daisy", said something in March 1990 when accepting the Best Picture Oscar for this movie along with the other producer and real-life wife Lili Fini Zanuck that I completely agree with.
I think the main reason is that I shifted my focus off the irritable old woman (Jessica Tandy) to the long-suffering servant (Morgan Freeman).Once I looked at this story through "Hoke's" eyes, it became an inspiring story.
It's hard to imagine someone seeing "Driving Miss Daisy" without being moved somehow, yet few films suffer more in terms of reputation from winning a Best Picture Oscar.
"Driving Miss Daisy" is a syrupy feel-good exercise devoid of grit - While made in an artfully soft-focus and gentle style in keeping with the spirit we associate with the American South of recent bygone days, director Bruce Beresford and writer Alfred Uhry present us with a complicated and tricky story that challenges us right away.
"Driving Miss Daisy" was popular because it features a passive black man - Morgan Freeman as Hoke gives a haunting, multi-layered performance of someone who is anything but passive.
By film's end, long after race has been addressed, we are giving witness to the elusive pleasures of life in the face of Miss Daisy's mortality, a tough message for any movie to go out on, especially one as ultimately life-affirming as this.5.
You're in the right place."Driving Miss Daisy" charts the subtly-shifting relationship between "Miss Daisy," a very reluctantly aging Jewish lady who's no longer able to drive for herself, and her new (and, as you can expect, rather unwelcome!) driver -- a not-terribly-young-himself Black guy (or African-American guy, whichever you prefer) named Hoke.Bear in mind this is the Deep South of the 1950's and 60's we're talking about here, and the racial attitudes and prejudices of that time make for fascinating background -- as does the whole general culture, which I believe was well portrayed.The directors frankly took on some delicate racial subject matter here (and certainly the racial divide in those days was very deep indeed) -- but they handled it with remarkable skill.
This is not a movie of action, but it IS a movie of substance and beauty, mixed with some funny moments.The acting is great, the script and directing are beautifully done, and the substance, humor and beauty are such that overall, I consider "Driving Miss Daisy," one of the best movies I've ever seen..
The impression left by the film is that director Bruce Beresford had trouble filling out the screen.He does get nice performances from his actors, though, especially Jessica Tandy as the title character, a privileged white woman through whose unique perspective we see the gradual changes wrought by the civil rights movement.
And Dan Aykroyd takes an uncharacteristic stroll through more dramatic terrain as Miss Daisy's son."Driving Miss Daisy" is a pleasant enough movie, but the fact that it won the 1989 Academy Award for Best Picture, more than emphasizing the quality of this particular film, points out the lack of quality of everything else that year.Grade: B.
Maybe 'the Shawshank Redemption' (1994) (qv) is a bigger, better, more brazen film, with far more pretensions, and is, of course, an excellent film: but I cannot avoid thinking that it is in 'Driving Miss Daisy' that Morgan Freeman develops his best rôle, playing so well opposite the unrepeatable Jessica Landry.
While Driving Miss Daisy isn't what i call a best picture winner, since there were more deserving movies that came out that year, but the movie shouldn't get hate just for that.The movie is sweet, charming and heartwarming.
Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy were excellent in this movie, as both of them had great chemistry and very entertaining conversations between them.It dose get kind of dull at times and i do wish the films pasting was a bit better, but that's just me.
Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy give great performances along with Dan Aykroyd as a loving son to Miss Daisy.
Jessica Tandy saw in her life such colleagues as Rita Hayworth, Dana Andrews, and Edmond O'Brien among others lose their last few years and careers to the long lingering twilight of Alzheimer's, no doubt she drew from all of them and her own fears that it could happen to her to deliver this performance.Driving Miss Daisy is one of the best films of the last half of the last century and one that will be studied and revived for years to come.
Listening to Hoke relating the stories of growing up a black man in the south was very eye-opening.Daisy (Tandy) was very set in her ways and resisted any change.
If you think modern cars are boring, it is worth viewing this film merely for the pleasure of seeing Miss Daisy's succession of cars - beautiful classic models from the late 1940s to the early 1970s - a time when cars truly deserved the title 'automobile'..
The film deals with a 25-year friendship between a widowed Jewish woman (Jessica Tandy in her Oscar-winning performance) and the black man who drives her around (Morgan Freeman in an Oscar-nominated role).
There are no pat endings or oversentimentality here....it ends with a simple, beautiful scene that will linger in the memory for a long time.This is the type of film, if you truly love it, you can watch over and over, and its enjoyment will not diminish.Around this time, other great movies came out that left me stunned and inspired, like Goodfellas and Dances with Wolves.
This is a gentle portrayal based from the play by Alfred Uhry about twenty and some years friendship among a Jewish old lady (Jessica Tandy married to Hume Cronyn , though Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, and Angela Lansbury all were interested in playing her) and the sweet-natured African-American chauffeur (Morgan Freeman , studio executives also considered a Bette Midler/Eddie Murphy pairing) forced by her son (Dan Aykroyd) to take him .
Unlike some period films that confuse or mix styles and dates together (another Dan Aykroyd film, "My Girl", was a good example of that kind of error), Driving Miss Daisy was carefully constructed to show an accurate account of life in the Atlanta area from the 1940's through the early 1970's, though it would help viewers if they knew a bit about the city (a good example was Miss Daisy's reference to teaching Mayor Hartsfield (who had the airport named after him), or her comment about business along downtown Forsyth Street), and throughout, the film presents an historical aspect of the area that is accurate, but not overdone, in the post-World War II South.On the other hand, today's African-Americans (especially those much younger) might think the frequent "Yes'm" replies made by Hoke to be overdone or even insulting, but, though only 50 years ago, life for a man of his background at that time meant an existence not much more than being a freed slave, especially for those of Hoke's or Idella's generation.Here in Florida during the late 1960's and into the very early 1970's, life wasn't much different than up South, and it was still widely known at that time that a job for an older and uneducated black man or woman usually meant a life as a Gardner or maid - again, employment that often meant having to say "Yes Ma'am" to someone of wealth.If someone is looking for an action film, they will not find it in this story, but, boring, it is not - if they look at it from a human and historical standpoint.Florida2.
However I found this film immencely beautiful showing the growing affection between two people (Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy) coming from such different cultures.
The problem is that the characters are basically a bit one dimensional for us to see anything exciting: Jessica Tandy does irascible for half the movie and then irascible with a heart of gold for the second half, Dan Ackroyd pretty much does exasperated the whole time and Morgan Freeman is mostly reduced to saying `yes suh` to whatever anyone says to him (which is, needless to say, a huge waste of his talents) And the story...well there's nothing wrong with `They don't get on and then they do` type stories but they aren't exactly original and they'd had to be pretty special to be worth a best pic win.
(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)Take an intense and flawless performance by Jessica Tandy (80-years-old when the movie was released in 1989) and a charming and slyly witty performance by Morgan Freeman (closing in on his fifties)--she a rich Jewish lady of the South, high-toned, spoiled, stubborn to a fault, he a black illiterate chauffeur, wise, patient and in need of a job--and we have the basis for a profound character study.Adapted for the screen from his Pulitzer Prize winning stage play by Alfred Uhry and directed by Bruce Beresford, who previously gave us the remarkable Aussie classic, Breaker Morant (1980), Driving Miss Daisy is one of those films that is a work of art as well as a sociological discovery.
The dream and the reality are meshing but slowly, as all things do in the Old South, or, for that matter, most anywhere.See this above all for the captivating performances by Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman, two of the great actors of our time, and for the touching and bittersweet story by Alfred Uhry.
The genesis of Morgan Freeman, White People's Favourite Black Man. Looking back, it's kind of startling how successful Driving Miss Daisy was, both in terms of awards and public recognition.
It spans a period of time wherein a stubborn lady (Jessica Tandy), set in her ways, grows to depend upon and comes to love her chauffer (Morgan Freeman).
A nice gentle moving about a moving relationship built up between two people from completely different backgrounds in their declining years."Driving Miss Daisy" is a joy to watch with excellent performances (oscar nominations all around), nice soundtrack and excellent direction.Make no mistake.
Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy (in Oscar Winning performance) invoke grace and dignity in this sensitive treatment of race relations and old age.
Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy (in Oscar Winning performance) invoke grace and dignity in this sensitive treatment of race relations and old age.
Most people now enjoy the computer and highly graphic design movies but with Driving Miss Daisy you have just a simple story combined with everyday acting that produced a great movie and Oscar winner.
Great story that is portrayed in the south I believe Georgia with Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman) as a nice old gentlemen who makes his living as a chauffeur then he is one day hired by a wealthy southern man (Dan Aykroyd) to drive his old and extremely stubborn set in her ways mother Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy).
This is a quiet movie that unfolds over many years and chronicles the relationship between an elderly, well-to-do widow, Miss Daisy Werthen (Jessica Tandy), and Hoke (Morgan Freeman), who is hired to be her driver after she's deemed no longer capable of driving herself.
"Driving Miss Daisy" proves to be a beautifully-written and acted little film, based on the Pulitzer-winning play.
It tells of how a chauffeur (Morgan Freeman, in another great role) starts driving for Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy, Oscar-winner for this film) who will not drive anymore after an accident in her driveway.
Hoke helps Daisy come to terms with how the world is changing and how she may just need him around, considering that he is her only best friend in the world.Driving Miss Daisy, how could this film not be in the top 250?
All actors in this movie were great, especially Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman.
Morgan Freeman stars as a chauffeur for Jessica Tandy in this beautifully made film that documents their 25 year friendship.
An old Jewish woman (Jessica Tandy) and her African-American chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.This movie is pretty well known and does not really require a full review.
The movie is great technically, but Jessica Tandy (Oscar winner) and Morgan Freeman's performance were just brilliant.
Dan Aykroyd, as Boolie, often seen as a comedy actor, was just fine in this drama character as well.It's an inspirational story as we could see Daisy changing over the years to the point she states that Hoke was her best friend.
Daisy is played by the late great actress of stage, film, and television, Jessica Tandy who won an Academy Award for this performance and well-deserved even with a standing ovation from the audience in her 80s.
Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman are simply impeccable and Dan Aykroyd may have achieved the best performance of his career with this film.
An amazing film set in the suburbs of Atlanta from the early 1950's to 1970's, it is brilliantly acted with Jessica Tandy portraying the curmudgeonly Daisy and Morgan Freeman her long suffering chauffeur, Hoke.
Personally, I also love the Southern setting and the wonderful cinematography.The story focuses on the developing friendship between the wealthy Jewish, Miss Daisy, and her poor, African American chauffeur, Hoke.
Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy are brilliant actors, and their performance in this movie is truly astounding.
DRIVING MISS DAISY (1989) ***1/2 Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, Dan Aykroyd, Patti LuPone, Esther Rolle.
Superb adaptation of Alfred Ulhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play (Ulhry also snagged an Oscar for his screenplay) about a stubborn Jewish Southern widow (Tandy, Best Actress) whose age forces her to take in a chauffeur in the form of a black man whose manners only precede his goodness (Freeman), eventually forming a bond of friendship through the years of their unique relationship.
"Driving Miss Daisy" is a slice of life film about an elderly white lady and her relationship with her black servant.
With the talents of Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman and a lovely script, you can see why the film did so well and eventually went on to earn the Best Picture Oscar..
Jessica Tandy is Miss Daisy, an aging woman who can no longer drive on her own.
This movie has many wonderful scenes, but the most touching is when "Miss Daisy" finally admits to Hoke that he is her best friend.
Jessica Tandy plays a old Jewish who need a chauffeur, Morgan Freeman plays her black chauffeur and Dan Aykroyd plays her son in the movie.
Anyway, Driving Miss Daisy is a film centering on the relationship between an aging Jewish lady, played by Jessica Tandy, and her black driver, played by Morgan Freeman, appointed to her against her will when she can no longer drive herself.The movie is supposed to cover 25 years and the movie tries to be subtle about its time progression.
The movie really is about driving Miss Daisy and is perhaps a little too subtle for its own good.Now, having said that, Morgan Freeman is awesome as the old southern black man.
Tandy's character, although wants to be seen as progressive, is still an old lady with her own special ways.Driving Miss Daisy is a good well-acted film that can be taken seriously and leaves you with a good feeling, but one could desire that a little bit more happens with the relationships and events. |
tt0057413 | The Pink Panther | Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus narrates a flashback of a soccer match between France and China. French coach Yves Gluant enters the stadium, wearing the Pink Panther diamond ring, which is seen by his team as a symbol of pride and victory. He kisses his girlfriend, pop star Xania, and whispers something to her. After France wins the game in sudden death, Gluant is killed by a poison dart, with the Pink Panther nowhere to be found.
Eager to win the Medal of Honour, Dreyfus promotes a clumsy small-town policeman and "village idiot", Jacques Clouseau, to the rank of Inspector and assigns him to the Pink Panther case. Dreyfus simultaneously assembles a secret team of top investigators to crack the case, allowing Clouseau to serve as the public face of the investigation and draw all the media attention. Dreyfus assigns Gilbert Ponton to be Clouseau's assistant, instructing him to keep him informed of Clouseau's actions. Despite his orders, Ponton quickly becomes friends with Clouseau.
Bizu, a French soccer player who had an affair with Xania and therefore is the prime suspect in Gluant's murder, is shot in the head and killed in the team's locker room. While at a casino to gain information, Clouseau encounters British Agent 006, Nigel Boswell. Boswell foils a robbery at the casino by the "Gas-Mask Bandits", using Clouseau's trench coat to hide his identity. Clouseau mistakenly receives credit for the deed and is subsequently nominated for the Medal of Honour, much to Dreyfus' dismay.
Clouseau follows Xania to New York City, suspecting that she knows more than she is telling. However, despite Ponton's insistence that she is most likely a suspect because Gluant cheated on her, Clouseau decides Xania is innocent. While in New York, Clouseau and Ponton eat hamburgers, and Clouseau discovers his love for the sandwich, which he had assumed to be nothing more than "disgusting American food". Meanwhile, because the poison that killed Gluant was derived from Chinese herbs, Dreyfus concludes that the killer is a Chinese envoy named Dr. Pang.
Ready to take charge of the case and win the Medal of Honour, Dreyfus has one of his officers switch Clouseau's bag with one full of weapons at the airport. The bag sets off the metal detector at the security checkpoint, causing the guards to be suspicious of Clouseau who is eventually arrested because of his inability to pronounce "hamburger" correctly, as he tried to smuggle some for the trip back. Upon his return to France, the press vilifies him and Dreyfus strips him of his rank of Inspector. Dreyfus now plots to publicly arrest Dr. Pang at the Presidential Ball, where Xania will also be performing.
Clouseau returns home and happens to see an article about his arrest online. He deduces from the photograph in it that the assassin will target Xania next, and he contacts Ponton. The two rush to the Élysée Palace and sneak into the Presidential Ball. While Dreyfus publicly arrests Dr. Pang for Gluant's murder, Clouseau and Ponton save Xania's life by capturing her would-be assassin Yuri, the soccer team's trainer. Jealous of Gluant, Yuri used his knowledge of Chinese herbs, mandated by a soccer statute, to kill him.
After overhearing Yuri's rants, Bizu blackmailed him, so Yuri killed Bizu using Russian military tactics to target the latter's occipital lobe. Yuri targeted Xania because she ignored him while she dated Gluant. Clouseau reveals the Pink Panther was not stolen but instead sewn into the lining of Xania's purse. He discovered this after the photograph of his arrest also showed an X-ray of the purse going through airport security. Xania confessed that she received it from Gluant as an engagement ring — he had whispered his proposal to her prior to the match against China — but she hid it because she thought it could implicate her as the killer. Clouseau concludes that Xania is the ring's rightful owner, while Yuri is taken into custody.
For successfully solving the case, Clouseau wins the Medal of Honour. While leaving the ceremony with Ponton, Clouseau gets Dreyfus's suit caught in his car door; he remains oblivious to Dreyfus's screams as he drives away. Clouseau and Ponton later visit him in the hospital. After Clouseau wishes him well, he accidentally releases the brake on Dreyfus's bed; the bed races through the hospital and throws Dreyfus into the Seine, and he shouts Clouseau's name in anger as he takes the plunge into the river. | bleak | train | wikipedia | (Or should I say, every `Clouseau movie,' since I had even seen Adam Arkin's `Inspector Clouseau'?) I discovered tonight, however, that I had never seen the original 1963 classic, `The Pink Panther.' (Or, if I had, I was far too young to appreciate it and had forgotten all but a couple of scenes.)For those not familiar with the film, this, of course, launched the Clouseau character and the Pink Panther series.
Beyond the characters of Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) and Sir Charles Litton (David Niven) and the fabulous Pink Panther diamond, though, there is little resemblance between the series-launching film and later Panther comedies.
This is not necessarily bad, although fans of the fast-paced slapstick of the later entries will likely be a bit disappointed.Of course this was the precursor, and Sellers and director Blake Edwards were just beginning to explore the character and world of Clouseau, that most incompetent and clumsy of detectives, who nevertheless gets his man.The original Panther is a romantic comedy, with Sellers as merely part of a very good ensemble cast.
In the champagne scene with Litten and the Tiger rug, Cardinale is enticing enough to make a male viewer completely forget Sellers and his bumbling detective work!While Edwards and Sellers changed directions a bit in later films, the original Pink Panther is worth renting for more than just its historic value.
Nearly every review I have read condemning _The Pink Panther_ to second or third rate status in the "pantheon" of Clouseau movies comes from someone who either didn't know it existed or who was raised on the totally slapstick offerings that came later.
Sellers has more scenes than anyone except David Niven._The Pink Panther_ deserves to be considered on its own merits and not compared to movies of another genre that strove to capitalize on the popularity of the original..
The one that started it all and set `Clouseau' on the path to becoming Chief Inspector, `The Pink Panther,' directed by Blake Edwards, stars David Niven and Peter Sellers.
Watching Niven and Sellers together calls to mind the pairing of Michael Caine and Steve Martin some years later in `Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.' The supporting cast includes Robert Wagner (George Litton), Capucine (Simone), Brenda De Banzie (Angela), Colin Gordon (Tucker) Fran Jeffries (Greek `Cousin') and the lovely Claudia Cardinale as Princess Dala.
It is said correctly that the first two Pink Panther movies, this and "A Shot in the Dark," are more sophisticated and for adults, compared with the later series of films that began ten years later, which are more blatant slapstick and somewhat juvenile.
Still, I rate the original "Pink Panther" film very highly because of its own brand of entertainment and humor, and I put it above most of its successors ("Returns" and "Strikes Again" are at least as good, but I think most people would agree that with the end ones things go downhill).Clouseau is one of the five main characters in the film, but he is only the fourth most prominent.
It might be said that David Niven as the many-times-over thief Sir Charles Litton is the most prominent, followed by Claudia Cardinale as Central Asian Princess Dala, owner of the Pink Panther diamond that is the bait to be stolen, but I would argue that Clouseau's wife Simone (played by Capucine) is as at least equal to Sir Charles, if not more prominent.
Actually two, since the cartoon Pink Panther appears in the credits.There's no Cato or twitching Inspector Dreyfus (they come in the next Clouseau film, "A Shot in the Dark", one of the funniest movies ever made).
Peter Sellers is funny enough in every scene he's in (in fact, he does some of his best Clouseau work in this movie).
Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau is wonderful as always, but is neither the central character -- the jewel thief "The Phantom," played by David Niven, is the real protagonist -- or the source of the most laughs; Robert Wagner, the Phantom's nephew who shows up unexpected on the eve of a jewel binge, provides the movie with a force of sheer subversion.
That's not to say the greatest moments aren't Clouseau's; particularly during the bedroom scenes with Capucine, Sellers is in top form.An interesting note is the similarity of THE PINK PANTHER in many ways to Alfred Hitchcock's TO CATCH A THIEF, made in 1955.
The sets, the scenery, the costumes, the photography - everything looks elegant and expensive.2) For those of us who actually like the cultural atmosphere of the early sixties at least as much as that of the late sixties, this is a goldmine, ranking right up there with the early Bond films.3) For insecure actors fixated on billing (i.e., where their names go on the credits): just remember that Peter Sellers got third billing on this film, and yet he's the one everyone thinks of when they think of "The Pink Panther." And not just because of the sequels - this was the movie that made him an American movie star.
There are moments of witty dialogue, but not much to speak of, and while some scenes are mildly funny, even these scenes drag on so long that the comedy becomes stale and tedious.David Niven and Robert Wagner are both annoying more than anything else, and same with the actress who plays Sellers' wife.
This Pink Panther is starred by the great Peter Sellers as the inept and bungler Inspector of the French Surete but being the real starring David Niven as a glamorous thief nicknamed The Phantom .
This first installment is a passable and acceptable comedy , in which bumbling and conceited French police inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) tries to catch The Phantom (David Niven) , a daring jewel thief whose identity and features are unknown - and is acting right under his nose.
The Phantom attempts to steal a valuable jewel (The Pink Panther diamond is named not only for its color, but also for a tiny pink flaw shaped like a panther) whose owner results to be a gorgeous princess (Claudia Cardinale).¨The Pink Panther ¨ release was the first part of series of Inspector Clouseau from French Surete and being the last entry ¨Trail of the Pink Panther¨ by the late Peter Sellers though he would follow playing but with outtakes in other films .
However, Peter Sellers' portrayal of Inspector Clouseau was so loved by the crew , it became his character this film and the sequels focused on .
The movie stars David Niven, but the man who stole it completely was Peter Sellers with his indelible character of that bumbling train wreck of a Surete detective Inspector Clouseau.Niven is the famous Sir Charles Lytton, playboy to the world, but really a legendary jewel thief known as the Phantom.
Peter Sellers made four succeeding Pink Panther movies and in the second one he got a good comic foil in the person of his frazzled supervisor Herbert Lom. But that comes later.The Pink Panther is an average caper film that has two distinguishing things.
One of the most enduring and familiar film scores in movie history by Henry Mancini and it's the start of a string of films like the Road picture series centered around Peter Sellers's most enduring character creation..
And still Blake Edwards' "The Pink Panther" failed to deliver enough satisfactory laughs in its decidedly clumsy storyline to make watching it at all worthwhile, in the long run.In spite of its big-name cast of international stars - 1964's "The Pink Panther" certainly fell mighty short of my expectations on all counts.It was especially actor Peter Sellers, as Inspector Clouseau, who completely let me down with his annoyingly predictable shtick as the ultimate bungler who (regardless of the odds against him) always got his man.Filled-to-overflowing with endless, 1960s, jet-setter crap - "The Pink Panther's" action took place in and around a posh, European, ski resort where a very tired game of cat & mouse gets underway between the clumsy CLouseau and the cunning criminal known as "The Phantom".Not only does it shock me (right to my socks) to find out that this simpleminded movie was, indeed, a big, smash-hit in its day - But that it spawned 3 very successful sequels (which I have absolutely no interest to see), as well..
And finally, the ending is fairly weak.Overall, "The Pink Panther" isn't a bad movie and certainly no worse than similar films of the era.
Not until "Victor, Victoria" does Blake Edwards even come close to this levea again.If you love classic films: If you love the sophisticated "caper movie": If you want to know how to be funny without being foolish: then watch "The Pink Panther," but remember, this one's for when you grown up..
The later ones for their genius slapstick, comic set pieces and one-liners and the first two, The Pink Panther and A Shot In The Dark, for their more subtle comedy and character development.
These early two films are both romantic comedies and work brilliantly as such (by the way, has anyone ever seen the 1968 film, Inspector Clouseau, starring Alan Arkin?).The real point about The Pink Panther is that the Inspector Clouseau character was supposed to be another in the line of Peter Sellers cameos in US films of the time.
First scene mentions the actual jewel then we are introduced to some horrible boring characters in David Niven's Sir Charles, his nephew, the detective Jack Clouseau (played well by Peter Sellers - the only good thing about this movie), and Jack Clouseau's wife...who is quite possibly the most horrible adulterous character in the movie with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Peter Sellers makes his debut as bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau, but he gets lost in a supporting role in an antic caper comedy that tries to be sophisticated and slapstick all at once, with minimal success.Something's off from the very beginning, where we see the familiar image of the Pink Panther toying with the opening credits, only instead of suavely making trouble for others, the cartoon cat becomes the butt of it.
Instead of Clouseau bumbling his way to win the day, he falls short at every turn.A friendlier, more mild-mannered character than he would become in later films, which makes the sadistic streak toward him here harder to take, Clouseau is largely a bystander in a story that focuses on the travails of jewel thief Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven), his ne'er-do-well nephew (Robert Wagner), the thief's lover (and Clouseau's wife, played by Capucine), and a princess who stands to lose her priceless diamond the Pink Panther to Sir Charles, not to mention her heart.You kind of want to give "The Pink Panther" every benefit of the doubt when the princess is played by the lovely Claudia Cardinale.
Only a few months later, Clouseau was back on screen in the classic "A Shot In The Dark," and the Pink Panther series began in earnest.Capucine is the weakest link, with her vinegary, put-upon face and unlikable role, yet she stars in the film's one brilliant sequence, where her character is wooed alternately by Lytton and his nephew sneaking into her hotel room, and then she has to protect both from discovery by a suspicious Clouseau.
First off do not get me wrong I greatly enjoyed this film, it was beautifully written (mostly) and directed and of course Peter Sellers is absolutely fantastic as Inspector Clouseau as are the rest of the cast in their respective roles.
The only thing funny in this movie is Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau.
The Pink Panther (1963)There are so many little hilarious slips and slights of hand by Peter Sellers, it's hard not to love this movie.
This is first movie about Inspector Jacques Clouseau and the first of Pink Panther series.
It is quite different from all other Pink Panther movies because in this one Blake Edwards doesn't turn all his attention to Peter Sellers character.
The Pink Panther was meant to be an ensemble comedy and closely resembles a French "bedroom farce." Note that there are five main characters and all of them are introduced in separate sequences at the film's start.
Although there is nothing wrong with this premise, & like these types of films like most people, it is not a Pink Panther film in the traditional sense.This version is based around David Niven's character, who is trying to steal the diamond from its owner, an Indian princess, with various other characters filling in the plot, one of whom is Peter Sellers as Clouseu.
Blake Edwards' famous "Pink Panther" series gets off to a bumbling start with Peter Sellers' universally-known Inspector Clouseau chasing down a jewel thief trying to get his (or her) hands on the "Pink Panther" diamond.Not many laughs, pretty poor comedy, I give it "2" of 5.
Besides i feel his form of humour and the kind of roles that he has played have far outlived his times.The score save for the legendary pink panther theme and one song was quite ordinary and again something that will not go down with modern audiences.The only 2 scenes that really shine are the one in the bedroom with 3 men and cupucine in the room, and the ending car chase with the confused man, these scenes were were hilarious and especially the first one had me laughing my guts out.Not a movie i would recommend for most viewers, a few reasons why one would watch this film are curiosity, research or nostalgia.
This is the original Pink Panther movie with actor Peter Sellers starring as the bumbling Inspector Clousseau, who is out to catch The Phantom, a jewel thief whose identity is unknown and is attempting to steal the Lugashi jewel called the Pink Panther.I thought that this was going to be a great laugh-out-loud comedy with Sellers being the main star.
It's more of a heads-up to those who (like me) expected this to be one of the classic "Pink Panther" films that we've all come to know & love.Clouseau barely has 5 scenes in the film.
I'm a HUGE Pink Panther fan and all the other movies in the series (with an exception to the Sellers-less films) are downright hilarious and fun to watch.
Blake Edwards' THE PINK PANTHER, which launches Peter Sellers' beloved character Inspector Jacques Clouseau onto the celluloid, is originally deemed a star vehicle for David Niven's Sir Charles Lytton, whose secret identity is a roué jewelry thief, aka, "The Phantom".
Indeed, the script insouciantly glosses over its criminal technicalities in favoring of a goofy comedy upstaged by Mr. Sellers' comic tics, Inspector Clouseau is a bungling caricature, unwittingly two-timed by his wife Simone (Capucine), and conscientious to catch The Phantom before he lay claims to the titular diamond in possession of an Indian princess Dala (Cardinale, whisked to Hollywood in a race-insensitive role trading on her gorgeousness and she is quite a delight in capturing a whiff of tipsy feline bewitchment).
While this Blake Edwards comedy introduced the immortal Peter Sellers character of Inspector Clouseau to the world, it is worth noting that he is only a supporting character in the proceedings here as the focus of 'The Pink Panther' is would-be jewel thieves David Niven and Robert Wagner.
The original 1963 Pink Panther, a potentially stand-alone caper comedy uniting slapstick, classy drollness, melancholia and social censure, coalesces, albeit not flawlessly, many constituents for a great evening at the movies: vivacious music, striking settings, ambitious comic set pieces, debonair men and gorgeous women, and odd-man-out Clouseau, played to precision by the inimitable Peter Sellers.
Since the later movies were acknowledged so personally with Clouseau, it's simple to overlook that he was just one in an ensemble at first, sharing screen time with David Niven, Capucine, Robert Wagner, and Claudia Cardinale.
Sellers steals the movie (which in fact makes its climax rather awkward), but the plot focuses on a jewel thief named Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven) who is after the Pink Panther diamond from a princess (Claudia Cardinale).
"The Pink Panther" is the first of Blake Edwards' films featuring bumbling French detective Jacques Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers.
Meanwhile, the Pink Panther, a priceless diamond belonging to a princess, is in imminent danger of being stolen.David Niven, as Sir Charles Lytton/The Phantom, was originally meant to be the star of the film but, through no fault of his own, he ended up being upstaged by Peter Sellers.
I enjoyed Peter Sellers as inspector Clouseau in the later films so I watched this movie to see how that character came into existence.
It's an uneven film with wonderful moments and a great cast which also includes Robert Wagner as Sir Charles' nephew and Brenda de Banzie.Clouseau ends up as the star of the Pink Panther series because apparently, the film A Shot in the Dark derailed, and Edwards was brought in to direct and made it an Inspector Clouseau film.
Little did anyone know when Sellers signed on to a costarring role in this jewel caper film starring Niven, that it would spawn a long-term series of films featuring his character, Inspector Jacques Clouseau.
Peter Sellers was at his best in this, making comedy not with the over-the-top antics of the later Panther capers but with the smaller, character-driven moments.
That and I got confuse because David Niven at times looks like Peter Sellers in this movie, making me guess which one was which.
Thank the heavens that Blake Edwards, long-time producer and director of the Clouseau series, realized the real success behind "The Pink Panther" and ran with it (although he ran a little too far near the end, foolishly making Clouseau movies even after Sellers' death in 1980).
Blake Edwards The Pink Panther turned out to be the first in a series of movies that focused on the inept police detective Jacques Clouseau.
Peter Sellers introduces one of the more memorable comic screen characters in history as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther. |
tt0064106 | Le boucher | "Le Boucher" (The Butcher) starts with a wedding ceremony in which Paul, a war veteran , encounters Helene, a school teacher. Paul has taken his father's business and owns a butchery in the village. As the ceremony progressed, both seemed to enjoy each other's company while they ate and chatted merrily. That was a happy beginning. Afterwards, the general atmosphere of the film changed. We could feel an eeriness, a sort of awkward silence and emptiness as they walked out of the celebrations. Paul accompanied Helene home and they got separated with a sense of sadness, as if they wanted to stay together. The next day, Paul visited Helene in her classroom and brought a piece of meat, well wrapped, like a flower bouquet. He promised to bring more. Helene enjoyed Popaul's company and could do anything for him. Their relationship deepened, until some unexplained murders started to occur in the village... | mystery | train | imdb | null |
tt0870111 | Frost/Nixon | For a quick background, the movie is based on a series of 1977 interviews between television personality David Frost (played by Michael Sheen) and former President Richard Nixon (played by Frank Langella). Frosts interview was the first granted by Nixon after he resigned the presidency. 45 million people watched, and it still holds the record today for the most-watched political program of all time.The movie opens with a series of real-life news reports from the 1970s, reviewing Nixons role in bugging the Democratic National Committees headquarters at the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C., in order to keep tabs on what the Democrats were doing leading up to the 1972 elections. Except, of course, the men hired to do the bugging were busted during the break-in, Nixon and his men conspired to cover up the break-in and then, whoops, did not erase the tapes recording their conversations. When the tapes were discovered in 1974, Nixon resigned.Frost finishes taping an episode of his talk show, Frost Across Australia. He and his producers then watch the live broadcast of Nixon waving goodbye (as in, his legendary double-peace-sign wave) from the steps of his helicopter. Frost asks his producer what the worldwide TV ratings would be for that moment, and is told bigger than we will ever see.A few weeks later, Frost is back in his native England, at the London Weekend Television office, the company that employs him. He brings up the possibility of interviewing Nixon, and everyone thinks hes crazy. It is important to note that Frost is sort of known as a fluff interviewer, as in he does not ask very hard-hitting questions. He also drinks. And parties. And sleeps with lots of pretty ladies. So his producers have a legitimate right to laugh because Richard Nixon would never agree to be interviewed by someone like himor would he?Cut to Nixon at his vacation home in California. His advisor, Swifty Lazar, mentions that Frost has made an offer to interview him, and is willing to pay him $600,000 for his time. Lazar says that CBS is only offering $350,000. Oh, and by the way, Lazar says, youll nail him to the wall. Hes a lightweight. And we get brief scenes of Lazar bullying Frost into offering the $600,000 his original offer was $500,000. So Nixon is sold. And now Frost has to pony up this massive amount of money from his own pocket, because initially, no U.S. television station is willing to carry the interviews being that they were outbid by a Brit and are mad about it.Frost sells all his shares in London Weekend Television and calls in favors from wealthy celebrities he had previously interviewed. He raises all the money, pays Nixon, hires two investigators named Zelnick and Reston to help him come up with questions, and the interviews begin. They are finally sold to a British TV station as four 90-minute specials covering four different topics Foreign policy, Domestic policy, Nixons personal life and Watergate.Nixon arrives with his former chief-of-staff, Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon), who warns Frost that any questions deemed not to his liking will be immediately cut off. The seconds tick down to when the cameras will first start rolling, and as the sound technician begins the count from 5 to 1, Nixon asks Frost if he had an enjoyable evening. Frost says he did. And right as the count reaches 1, Nixon asks, Did you do any fornicating? The cameras flip on and Frost is speechless. Nixon smiles, satisfied. And so goes the first three series of interviews Nixon using huge chunks of time to make long, winding, boring speeches about random things and Frost struggling to interrupt, to ask actual questions of him. It is obvious Nixon is in his element, and Frost is not.Zelnick and Reston who are American, it should be noted, and are angry with Nixon like all Americans were get angry with Frost for the fact that Nixon is using this time to pretty much exonerate himself of any wrongdoing. Frost decides that the crew should break for Easter, as they have spent weeks together doing these interviews. He will use this time to regroup.Four days before they are to begin the final interview on Watergate, Frost wakes up to a phone call in the middle of the night. He answers by saying, cheeseburgers, thinking it is the hotels room service, asking him if he wants anything to eat. Instead, it is Nixon a very drunk Nixon. Frost quickly wakes up and listens to Nixon moan about his life how he is just like Frost, how he began his political career as a man from the wrong side of the tracks and now everyone who is still on the wrong side of the tracks hates him for hitting it big. He also tells Frost that he knows the final interview will make ones career and break the others. He hangs up.Frost has an epiphany its not just about the viewers and the money. He has to get Nixon to confess to his involvement in Watergate. If he doesnt, not only will the interviews not be watched and he will go bankrupt, but the American people who were hoping for some closure to the scandal will lose faith in him and their government. He calls Zelnick and Reston and they get to work.When the group meets for the final interview, Frost mentions the phone call to Nixon. Like most drunk-dialers, however, Nixon asks, What phone call? Brennan overhears and warns Frost that he will break him if anything goes wrong during this final interview. The cameras flip on, and both Frost and Nixon are silent, Nixon waiting for a question and Frost weighing his options. Finally, Frost looks up and asks, Why didnt you just erase the tapes? The room pretty much explodes, as Nixon looks at him, stunned that he asked him an actual question, Brennan comes blasting in and breaks up the interview and the technicians, Zelnick and Reston get very excited at what is happening.Brennan tries to break it up, but Frost isnt having it. Nixon stutters something about not being involved, and then about the bugging being necessary, and Frost gets very angry and asks, So youre saying, just because youre the President, you can do something illegal? And Nixon finally yells back, No when the President does it, it is NOT illegal. The room goes silent. Frost sits back and says, Im sorry? He cant believe it. And the cameramen got it all on tape.Brennan pulls Nixon out into the hall and tells him he can call it off, right now. But Nixon has realized something. He is tired of lying, he says, and he let the American people down. He thanks Brennan for his help, but he did this on his own, and he needs to make up for it on his own. The interviews begin again, with Nixon admitting to the Watergate cover-up, and apologizing to the American people on camera for letting them down. When they are finally edited and shown on TV, the interviews are a massive success, and Frost earns 10% of the advertising profits from the broadcasts. This makes him a millionaire, and a hero in the eyes of many who were waiting for the apology Nixon just gave.The film ends with Frost visiting Nixon at his California home after the interviews air. Frost thanks him for his time. Just as he turns to go, Nixon asks him if they really had a conversation on the phone and, if they did, what they talked about. Frost pauses, and then says, Cheeseburgers, before walking away. | suspenseful, boring, historical, flashback | train | imdb | A remarkable performance by Frank Langella as Richard Nixon transforms this unexpected Ron Howard film into a gripping and unforgettable experience.
This is not a criticism at all, the film has moments of surprisingly real depth and intellectualism, but overall the nature of the script works in its favor, makes those scenes more interesting, more ultimately rewarding."Frost/Nixon" is an entertaining, exciting film, around as populist as I expected but in a very different way.
From the very first scene a carefully crafted and very credible 70s's atmosphere sets a solid stage for the superbly cast film and quickly transports the viewer into the political jungle that was "Tricky Dickey's" playground.The acting duo of Frank Langella & Micheal Sheen (Nixon & Frost) are set on a collision course that finds two deeply passionate personalities at the mercy of their insatiable desires.
Langella's marvelous performance as the bedazzled Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen's terrific portrayal of the rigorous David Frost combined with Ron Howard's magnificent direction make the movie a memorable one.
It didn't seem so in the run-up to the event, but British talk show host/interviewer David Frost's 1977 series of four on screen encounters with the disgraced ex-President Richard Nixon was great, historic television.
Nixon is dead, and though he may have won three rounds out of four in the Frost interviews, his legacy is tainted.The show belongs to Sheen and Langella, but Bacon is excellent as the stiff, loyal Col. Brennan, and Sam Rockwell strong in an unusually serious role for him.
Ron Howard's competent film adaptation of Peter Morgan's play (who also scripted and co-produced here) dramatizes the famous Frost/Nixon interviews from 1977.
Though it takes quite awhile to get where it's going, the final interview where Frost takes Nixon head-on about the Watergate cover-up is a payoff well worth the wait.Of course the most fascinating aspect of the film is Frank Langella's portrayal of a shamed and swollen Richard Nixon.
It is a testament to Peter Morgan's humility and skill as a writer and Ron Howard's ability to take a based on real events story to which the outcome is widely known and create a compelling "what will happen" drama (as he did with Apollo 13) that Frost/Nixon succeeds as a film.This is a film based on a play that neither felt trapped in staginess nor weakly expanded with just the stage dialogue delivered exactly but in a variety of outdoor locales.
It may best serve the story creating the sense of claustrophobia necessary to keep you gripped but it does feel like a film of two halves because of it and it noticeable.Frank Langella and Michael Sheen are superb, as they were on stage, and Langella will take a lot of beating for the Oscar this year.
There is an element of discernible manipulation of the audience, but mostly it works, and you don't long resist it.The (relatively) unsung hero of the film besides Howard, Frank Langella's tremendous Nixon, and Michael Sheen's excellent Frost is the screenwriter: once again Peter Morgan (of "The Last King of Scotland" and "The Queen") engages mind and heart, and doesn't let go.
Sam Rockwell's James Reston, Jr. and Oliver Platt's Bob Zelnick (Frost's two collaborators) are outstanding, and Kevin Bacon's Nixon-worshipping Jack Brennan is the actor's best work in a long time.Morgan and Howard manage to make the viewer think constantly of another criminal President without saying or showing anything overt - they just let history, past and present, speak.I had a strange, uncomfortable thought watching "Frost/Nixon": even if some future film "humanizes" (not excuses) Bush the way Nixon comes through this one, W.
As someone who grew up during the Watergate hearings, and who reviled Nixon as the embodiment not just of corruption but of the worst kind of interventionist, even genocidal, American politics, this film gives substance to a man who, in later years (especially the GW Bush years, which make Nixon look like a political and intellectual colossus), achieved something of a place in history beyond the scandal of Watergate.But what Frost/Nixon - and in particular Langella - does is give humanity to the man.
But, he was able to capture the man very well--and, provide a bit of insight into a very enigmatic man.As for Michael Sheen, who co-starred and played David Frost, he was excellent as well--but he did not dominate the movie like Langella and really couldn't due to his character.
Making Frost any different would have been unrealistic and the viewer is naturally drawn more to the Nixon character--even if they dislike him.As for the movie, it's a film that is probably going to appeal to you more if you know a lot about the Watergate affair.
Nixon (Frank Langella) advised by Swifty Lazar (Toby Jones) accepts the challenge, a TV show will reach the people quicker and simpler than a memoirs book.It all comes to this : either Nixon shows a new shining image three years after the Watergate and his disastrous resignation, the only one in History, or Frost confronts a man to his responsibilities and forces him to admit his guilt.
No holds barred indeed, the two men bet a lot in this interview, and it's like two destinies crossing one another.The remarkable thing about Ron Howard's movie is that we all know it ended with a heartfelt confession from Nixon, one of the most memorable and defining TV moments of the 70's.
Directed by Ron Howard and starring Michael Sheen as David Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon, it tells the behind-the-scenes story of the famous series of interviews.For all many of us who lived through the Nixon presidency and Watergate, this is not the stuff of nostalgia or happy reminiscence.
It's the feeling of being an outsider, of never being good enough, that led him to some atrocious decisions.It's Langella's performance and Michael Sheen's wonderful performance as David Frost -- playboy, comedian, talk show host, and party-giver turned investigative journalist -- that anchor "Frost/Nixon." They are given great support by Kevin Bacon as Nixon's protective assistant, Jack Brennan, Sam Rockwell as James Reston, determined that Nixon pay for Watergate, as well as Oliver Platt, Matthew Mcfadyen, and Toby Jones.I found the determination of Frost as he attempted to raise financing for the interviews and get networks interested -- with no luck -- very admirable and inspiring.
Ron Howard directs "Frost/Nixon" a thrilling story with the behind the scenes of one of the most famous broadcasts ever presented in television, and that is the meeting between Former President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) and English TV host David Frost (Michael Sheen) after the President's impeachment.
Behind these two fearless men there's a great team assisting, played by Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Matthew McFayden, Rebecca Hall, Oliver Platt and Toby Jones.Transforming a play of success into a film is a very difficult job but writer Peter Morgan adapted it perfectly, with wonderful dialogs exchange between Sheen and Langella and all the actors, balancing drama, comedy, heated discussions, and of course, using quotes of the real interview, one of the most successful events ever presented on TV, very historical.
Infused with sensational performances throughout, Howard has delivered what I think is his best film yet.Beginning with President Richard Nixon's (Frank Langella reprising his role from the play) resignation following the Watergate scandal, the movie jumps to a few years later where the ex-president has been demoted to giving talks at luncheons, and interviews for money.
From what I understand, certain liberties were taken with the facts surrounding the endlessly notorious interviews, but more often then not, Frost/Nixon is less of a political film, then it is a sword and shield bout to the death; an intense duel between these two intellectuals, and how their confidence and overconfidence sways the interviews in both their favours before the gripping final outcomeFrank Langella is sure to get an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the infamous president, but Michael Sheen should by no means be overlooked.
The Frost interviews becomes Nixon's witness stand, and the television his courtroom.The acting in this film is some of the finest of all the Oscar contenders of 2008, probably because Sheen and Langella re-prised their roles from the Broadway and London stage-play of the same name.
400 Million People Were Waiting For the Truth.Plot: A dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon.Frost/Nixon, directed by Ron Howard and with a gripping screenplay by Peter Morgan, and the film is based on his play, is a stunning and extremely sharp vision of the summer of 1977.
It wasn't exactly a meeting of minds, nor was it motivated by a need to get to the truth, but the set of interviews that brought disgraced President Richard Nixon into a room with David Frost, is a fascinating historical tit bit an act of opportunism on both sides that lead to one of the most sensational disclosures in the history of television political journalism.
But Howard's superb use of different camera techniques which allow both a sense of movement but do not distract from the stunning acting performances.Whilst Frank Langella is quite rightly getting a lot of attention for his remarkable performance (he manages to humanise Nixon, a feat I would have thought impossible), do not dismiss Michael Sheen's mesmerising effort as David Frost.
Although this film is the adaptation of a stage play (by Peter Morgan) about the making of a series of television interviews in 1977 between hotshot but lightweight British interviewer David Frost and Richard Milhous Nixon, disgraced ex-President of the United States, the stage origins do not show.
In "Frost/Nixon" (adapted from Peter Morgan's play of the same name), director Ron Howard delivers a brilliant account of the infamous interview between former United States President Richard Nixon and television host David Frost.
For that same reason, however, many viewers, especially the very frequent moviegoers, are likely to find the change of pace that "Frost/Nixon" brings quite welcome.The film, based on the 1976 interviews between President Richard M.
Frank Langhella and Martin Sheen are two actors of the absolute highest caliber and here under Ron Howard's direction they triumph.For my money this is an outstanding film of the 2008 awards season - not showy or full of effects it is simply what great cinema is all about: absolutely mesmerizing and very entertaining.Given that we know how the plot goes it's the fine detailing here - with some excellent political insights - that makes this even better.Frost/Nixon is just simply devastating - for those of us who remember the events this rings true (even in all the details like the ads and the planes etc;).
With Frost/Nixon, probably one of his best films (if perhaps by default due to the nature and power of the subject matter and original play), he re-tells in docu-drama form the interview with David Frost and his most challenging "opponent", Richard M.
It may not have seemed too much like it back in the spring of 1977, but the lengthy interview between British talk show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon from Nixon's San Clemente home base is now considered one of the defining moments where politics and the media came together for compelling and dramatic results.
Peter Morgan capitalized on the event in his play "Frost/Nixon"; and now, that play, expanded into a feature-length film by Morgan himself, has succeeded well on the big screen as well, under the aegis of director Ron Howard (BACKDRAFT; APOLLO 13).Michael Sheen and Frank Langella recreate the roles they created onstage (which was done at Howard's insistence) as, respectively, the erudite British talk show host and the brooding ex-president.
Howard's direction is as effective as it had been in APOLLO 13; and Sheen and Langella are incredible, as are supporting players like Kevin Bacon, Patty McCormack, Oliver Platt, and Sam Rockwell.In the end, I found FROST/NIXON to be an incredible piece.
In this case however, Michael Sheen and Frank Langella produce two of the best performances as real historical characters that I have ever seen on film.Langella's Nixon is brilliant - I had been concerned that he didn't look enough like him, or that he was too tall etc.
Playing the titular characters, the transition from stage to screen for Michael Sheen and Frank Langella is smooth and without a doubt, performing such intense work together for so long has benefited the film adaptation.
A strong supporting cast of Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt amongst others gives weight around the two leads and everybody is on top form.The decision to inter-cut after the fact reflections from those side players was a good move by Howard and it gives the whole thing more of a sense of an event - a historical one at that, and definitely adds to the cinematic feel Frost/Nixon has.
It was a little off putting the first couple of times but overall breaking up the flow of the story like this helped tell it and fittingly gives us the point of view of everybody involved as opposed to just our two prize fighters.In the end, the films exploration of the power of television in an era when a lot of people still probably didn't realize it the way Frost did, to Nixon's deflated arrogance towards the end when Frost lands his 'confession' and the close up - the one you can't hide from - showing a man full of self-loathing and that moment's potential impact on 45 million viewers, is drama at it's best.
It turns out that Ron Howard's film is the perfect film complement to the stage production as it moves to offices and locations the stage couldn't and as it gives more time to supporting roles.Most of all the close-ups are the distinguishing film contribution to this historical 1977 event in which unremarkable TV host David Frost gave former president Richard Nixon 4 interviews, the final one devoted to Watergate.
Thanks to the skilled direction of Ron Howard and the extraordinary acting of both Frank Langella and Michael Sheen, this is the best exploration of the workings and motivations of a U.S. President that I have ever seen.The story follows David Frost, a comedic television host whose career is on thin ice, as he attempts to setup a televised interview of then ex- President Richard Nixon.
"Frost/Nixon," which re-tells the story of one of the most memorable interviews in American history, plays like a cross between a boxing match and the best courtroom drama you have ever seen.
Michael Sheen as Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon-both reprising their stage roles-are very compelling as these real-life people.
Ron Howard adapts from the stage version with Peter Morgan writing the screenplay, so there's this authenticity that comes along with it, and of course the principal titular characters of Frost and Nixon played by their stage incarnations Michael Sheen and Frank Langella.This film though didn't manage to garner a theatrical release here, because distributors are probably of the opinion that nobody in Singapore would be interested to watch a dramatized piece of history involving an ex-President and a flamboyant presenter, but I suppose they had probably missed the point why this film was made, as Ron Howard had mentioned, bear some close resemblance to history repeating itself during the Bush Administration and the parallels of abuses of power.
This we see expertly delivered by the Nixon camp led by Kevin Bacon's Chief of Staff Jack Brennan, in advice such as rambling to time-waste, much to the frustration of the Frost camp, with Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell and Rebecca Hall all providing top notch performances as real life characters.Besides the obvious political jabs during the interviews, what's interesting is to note what goes on behind the making of a high risk show, without the confirmation of revenue streams since no networks want to touch it.
You could be forgiven for having been completely unaware of the interviews between talk- show host David Frost and disgraced ex-US President Richard Nixon before the publicity blitz of this film.
It seems at first that he may just be doing his Tony Blair again, the role that made him famous in both The Deal and The Queen, but so sleight is Sheen's hand that you won't notice as the cocky smile weakens and the shifty eyes deepen that he has turned the character completely inside-out.While the film is all about Frost and Nixon, however, with a cast featuring such heavyweight character actors as Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt, there is some great acting from the sidelines as well, and it all serves as a welcome distraction from the weight of Peter Morgan's screenplay, which is almost as self-aggrandizing as David Frost himself.
The film portrays the interviews between David Frost, a popular talk show host, and Richard Nixon, the only president ever to resign as the commander in chief.
Frost, of course (played by Michael Sheen) is the British journalist who scored a coup by being granted a series of interviews with former US President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) and it truly did remind me of boxing.
Anyway on the movie front however
.it was showed a good level of detail
Frost was also well played but Frank (Nixon) takes it to a totally different level of acting in the final moments of the interview.
Frost Nixon Frank Langella Michael Sheen I must confess that ordinarily this is not a film I would have watched.
Michael Sheen is brilliant as Frost, capturing just enough of his character ( as he did with Tony Blair in 'The Queen' ) to make it believable without being distracting, where as Frank Langella's performance as Nixon is more like something from Saturday Night Live or some other comedy show.
Adapted from Peter Morgan's screenplay it does such a good of retelling of the 1977 actual interviews between British Comic and newsman the liberal and sharp David Frost(Michael Sheen) and ex president Richard Nixon(Frank Langella). |
tt0340855 | Monster | Aileen Wuornos, an aging prostitute, meets Selby at a bar in Daytona Beach. Self-absorbed Selby likes Aileen almost immediately; she likes that 'Lee' wants to attend to her hand and foot and take care of her. At a roller rink, Aileen displays her ability to ascertain men's abnormal sexual proclivities at a glance. They have a passionate encounter skating together and quickly become committed to one another, then move into a motel together.Always needing money Aileen works the highways. A john drives her into the woods and beats her unconscious, then brutally sodomizes her awake. Facing certain murder, Aileen breaks free and kills the man with her own gun. Empowered, she decides to quit prostitution. Any money is partied away as Aileen tries to find legitimate work. This is not an easy task; she has no qualifications or experience, and has a very bad temper, which she often displays during job interviews. Selby demands money just to eat, but also wants a home and vacations. Aileen inevitably returns to her trade, though the worm has turned. Now she stalks the johns and kills them for their money and cars as she tries to justify her blood lust as a victim of rapists and murderers. Selby's eventual realization of the truth drives a wedge between the lovers.The lovers part and Aileen is arrested. She speaks to Selby one last time, while in prison. Selby reveals incriminating information over the telephone and she realizes Selby is with the police. To protect Selby, Aileen states she committed the murders alone. During Aileen's trial, Selby testifies against her, with Aileen's loving consent.Aileen Wuornos was convicted, sentenced to death and executed by the state of Florida. | dark, depressing, murder, dramatic, violence, tragedy, romantic | train | imdb | The movie itself is one of the most gripping and emotional stories I've ever seen in a film, and, true or not, its right up there with the other great indies depicting the sorry lives of Middle-Americans, such as Boys Don't Cry and, ironically, Monster's Ball.
Before I saw the film, I saw Charlize on The Daily Show, talking to John Stewart about how Aileen Wuornos' story (and I'm paraphrasing) forces one to re-examine how we might label someone "evil" for doing horrible things.
I thought Charlize Theron's performance as Aileen was extraordinary, not simply in the scenes with the men (especially the "last john", when she has to shut herself off from the humanity of the man she is about to kill) and in generally suggesting an increasingly out of control personality, but in the scenes with Shelby (Christina Ricci), right up to her near-breakdown when she is putting Shelby on the bus.
Okay, seriously, i needed a bit of comedy before reviewing this dark, serious movie about murder and human nature."Monster", as most of you know, is the story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, physically ugly; abused as a child, living as a prostitute, falling in love with another woman, and killing men.
Charlize Theron certainly deserved her best actress Oscar, her performance in this movie was moving, thought-provoking, and truly believable, something I find lacking in many currently released movies.
For those who may not know, MONSTER is the true story of Aileen Wuornos, a Florida prostitute who was executed a couple of years ago for killing men that picked her up on the highway.
Despite the insight into Wuornos' humanity, we still knew she was beyond help.Christina Ricci also delivered a terrific performance as Shelby, and was a perfect complement to Charlize-as-Aileen's abrasiveness.This was the best film of 2003, IMO..
Monster is the true story of Aileen Carol Wuornos, a prostitute in Florida who murdered seven men in the late eighties and early nineties.Based on the title of the movie, and knowing somewhat of what the movie was about, I watched this film expecting a rather brutal depiction of the actions committed by a serial killer.
It's mainly a love story, with a very depressing theme to it.Aileen (played by Charlize Theron, who did an AMAZING job) meets a younger girl, Selby (played by Christina Ricci, also a fantastic performance), and the two eventually fall in love.
I'm assuming that her personal history was a factor - I believe her mother killed her violent father in self-defence - correct me if i'm wrong - so she perhaps knows something of the life of Aileen Wournos.If you haven't already I suggest that you see Nick Broomfields two documentaries on the same subject to see how perfectly Theron nailed Aileens aggressive yet vulnerable persona and for further background.It's an incredibly sad film as well and though the film doesn't spread it on too thick how Aileens loveless childhood created the "monster" you can't help but agree in this case that Aileen was created and not born "evil" and hopefully feel as i did immense sympathy for her and the trail of almost accidental death that for a few brief moments allowed Aileen to avenge the despicable treatment in her life but then led to her own betrayal by her girlfriend and ultimate demise.Once again - an astonishing display by Theron..
of the true story.As my final comment, i would just like to say that i thought CHARLIZE THERON, as well as CHRISTINA RICCI were ABSOLUTLY BRILLIANT in the roles that they played, they were acted out excellently and full credit to those two ladies on a FANTASTIC ACTING JOB!!!!!.THIS IS A MUST SEE FILM FOR ANY ONE THAT ENJOYS THE MOVIES.
Based on the life of Aileen Wournos, Patty Jenkins and Charlize Theron have achieved not only a film of excellence and importance, but of a depth and darkness that takes your breath away.
Charlize Theron's brilliant, bravura performance, Christine Ricci's impressive supporting acting, Patty Jenkins's direction, and the structure and script, make Monster an impressive film.
Thelma and Louise were not portrayed as lesbians (although they still had to come to a sticky end because of their crimes), but since then there is a noticeable trend in Hollywood to recognise these lesbian themed movies by giving the leading actresses Oscars - Frances McDormand in Fargo, Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry, and now Charlize Theron in Monster.
The film world may pay lip-service to liberal tolerance of female homosexuality by recognising these actress performances, but the overall impression is that lesbians are not good people and I question that audiences will be encouraged to see lesbians as acceptable members of society, given the film examples in front of them.So, to me, this film was not so much a feminist polemic as a depressing, but gripping, story about alienation and isolation, told in a way which can't help but leave the viewer asking a lot of questions about a society which creates such 'monsters'.
This was not an easy movie to like but I was so enthralled at Charlize Theron's makeover and performance that it took center stage over the story.Theron's physical transformation from the incredibly beautiful woman she is to hard-and-rough looking serial killer Aileen Wournos was just amazing.
If you've seen Nick Broomfield's doc 'Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer' then you'll know how uncannily accurate Charlize Theron's performance is in Monster, as the alternately terrifying and sympathetic Aileen Wuornos.
As the plaudits showered upon Theron, I think Ricci was overlooked, as she also gives a terrific performance as the weak Selby, who is complicit in most of the crimes and thus just as much a Monster in many ways.Certainly the film takes liberties with the facts of the case, but so what?
The title suits the story very well -there are many possible interpretations, but I personally like to read it as the description of what Aileen Wuornos's life is: a monster.
The story is told by Aileen herself, in a very sarcastic and cynical tone, and she proves how adagios like "all you need is love and self-confidence" are just nice words, empty formulas with no real ground.The film offers a handful of good messages.
I find this one great achievement of the film, and one that makes a big difference between this film and many dramas that wallow in pity and justification of the character's deeds.Like many have said, both Charlize Theron's and Christina Ricci's performance are flawless.
Ricci is great too, and this should be even more of note since she isn't given a lot of space to develop the character of Selby, Aileen's lover.The film has its flaws, but it still is a rather impressive document, and one that certainly gives some food for thought..
I had trouble sleeping because the movie's scenes kept playing through my mind, and then I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep because I couldn't stop replaying the horrifically disturbing scenes of Aileen's life as a prostitute.I guess I'll comment briefly on Charlize Theron's performance--everybody else has.
Unfortunately the movie doesn't show Aileen's decline whilst in prison and I felt that there was an element missing from the story because of that.A lot has been written about Therone's performance but Christina Ricci is fantastic also..
Theron's character is based on a true life story (the subject of two separate film documentaries) - perhaps the emotional power lies in the sympathy the audience feels for her for quite a long time - a sort of, "if only something good could happen once in her miserable life, just one ray of light, surely she deserves a chance .
"And so I need to come clean, I need to tell the world that there is no self-defense in my cases." When picking up her Golden Globe for her performance, Theron thanked lots of people, but she never once mentioned the families of the murdered men."I don't think they cared about the victims' families," said Linda Yates.
Of course the film is carried by a massive performance from Theron who, looks, sounds and acts just like the Wuornos that I have seen on the documentaries.
This film is based on the true life story of highway prostitute turned serial-killer, Aileen Wuornos.
When I saw the Oscars I had only seen "Somethings Gotta Give" and not "Monsters" so I was like "How could Charlize win over Diane Keaton, one of the best actresses ever?" I didn´t think that a film about a prostitute killer could be so good and so touching that it would give the leading role an Oscar for best actress.
While watching this film I felt sorry for Aileen, who really wanted a good life for her and her new girlfriend, the only person in her whole life who liked her, thinking that maybe there was a plan for her too.
The story of Aileen Wuornos here is told here as more than just a serial killer film, it is instead a powerful film told with harrowing chills and tender humanity with Wuornos herself portrayed as more than just a monster without being glorified or over-humanised.An earth-shattering, career-best performance from Charlize Theron as Wuornos helps enormously, a performance that goes way beyond changing her appearance completely by gaining weight and using dental prosthetics to the point of being unrecognisable and is one of gentle compassion and frightening coldness.
Indeed, anyone who has seen the documentary films Nick Broomfield made about Aileen Wuornos during her time on Death Row will be struck by how precisely Charlize Theron has captured her voice, her physical presence, and quite a lot of her character, although she never quite manages to represent the full extent of Wournos' madness, which is perhaps slightly suppressed in order to allow the film to bear at least some resemblance to a more normal story.
i've seen this movie 2 months ago and it really touched me, i never thought i could feel sorry for a murderer and even cry for one but i did- i cried the very evening i saw the film, and the next day when i told my mum about it, and i still cry when i think about it - to me her life, and what she's been through and the ending have been so cruel and seemed to me so unjust, i saw her not as a criminal, as a monster - i saw her as a victim - being the victim of rapes in her childhood, the victim of poverty, the victim of reckless and ignorant minds, the victim of society, one of life's victims, and whenever i see cases like this one i wonder if our world has any chance left to salvation - i saw last night on discovery a documentary on another serial killer - he was called the night stalker - for that guy i didn't feel sorry - i would have beaten him to death myself if i could - he has been sentenced to death in the gas chamber - and since 1985 - i think - he is still waiting for his execution - he even has a fan club - incredible but true - what kind of sick stupid women would admire such a MONSTER - he is a monster-?
"Monster" comes at the story of notorious highway hooker and serial killer Aileen Carol Wuornos from a unique angle by developing a character who is so beat up by life, so failed by society, and so weakened by emotional pain that the only way she knows to sustain the shred of happiness she finds in an ill-wrought lesbian relationship is to seduce her victims by plying her trade and then killing them to get all of their money.
Theron's transformation into serial killer Aileen Wuornos is so complete and perfect that it will be impossible to discuss the all-time greatest acting jobs in the future without mentioning this one.
She's that good.The film is based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos, a lifelong hooker who killed seven of her patrons in the late 1980's.
She is not her usual sardonic, cynical self; her Selby is more innocent and naïve than the character she played in `Casper.'`Monster' is a frightening movie, but it is also filled with intensely dark moments of comedy as Wuornos struggles to relate to people like a normal human.
Monster is a film that is bleak to the heart, and the gimmick of seeing a gorgeous woman convincingly look ugly does not erase the fact that the thematic content of this movie is void of redeeming facet.Patty Jenkins supposedly does not want us to sympathize with this woman, but the film I saw cried out for us to sympathize with her.Even worse, the families of the victims of this serial killer have claimed to be upset that the film shows some of the murders as having been committed in self defense, something that there is no evidence of in real life.Great crime films are about the victims, and the great ones that are not about the victims do not attempt to make horrible people like martyrs.
To be fair, Charlize Theron gives a good performance as Wuornos, but after seeing Nick Broomfield's "The Selling of a Serial Killer" (1992) I realized just how biased and dishonest the film adaptation "Monster" is.Patty Jenkins does have a clear agenda to push which is this: Aileen wasn't a bad person, it was men that made her that way because she was abused by them.
It's true, yes, but that doesn't negate what she did -- she still murdered innocent people and "Monster" really tries to gloss over some of this.Second of all, my big problem with the film is that it spends so much unnecessary time on the relationship between Aileen and her lover, played by Christina Ricci.
Charlize Theron gives her best and very dark transformation work as real life convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos(in fact Charlize won a best actress Oscar for her portrayal).
This film is absolutely amazing, Charlize Theron certainly deserved her best actress Oscar, her performance in this movie was brilliant, Theron's physical transformation from the incredibly beautiful woman she is to hard-and-rough looking serial killer Aileen Wuornos was just amazingbut i didn't liked the music..
Excellent.This lovely movie was incredible to me.Why?To begin with Charlize Theron , I couldn't believe that Aileen was her when I saw her in the first scene.She was completely different than normally.Moreover, she acted her best performance in this amazing movie and deserved academy awards rightfully and better than anyone.When it comes to the Christina Ricci and her role as a Selby was nice enough for me to have been influenced.She was very attractive and friendly.
There's also a brief but moving appearance by Bruce Dern as Aileen's only real friend and his speech about survival is one of the great understated moments of the film.Plus, there's Christina Ricci as Selby who plays off against Theron admirably.
I don't know how much make up they had to put on her (or take off of her) to get her to look the way she did, but to complete the amazement, she also gained weight for the film.I watched the movie on T.V. and Theron not only went through great lengths to look the part, but she did a helluva job acting the part too.
The only other film I recall seeing her in was GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING in which she was quietly subdued, demure, and looked like a charming young woman who stepped out of a masterful painting--a work of art.Here she is as Aileen Wuornos, the serial killer who spent twelve years on Florida's death row convicted of three murders and guilty of how many others, I don't know.
It is an emotional ride through the eyes of a mentally tormented woman, and how she deals with the situations she is given in life.Charlize Theron, again was brilliant in this, and Christina Ricci was also profoundly well casted and her poignant moments in the piece as well.Definitely not a film for anyone under eighteen, but I would recommend it to anyone over that age.
Aileen Wuornos was a sad and pathetic creature whose past made her into what she became and Charlize Theron brings every complex dimension of her completely to life again in this film.
If you want to watch it, you really should take your time.They say that Charlize Theron did one of the greatest acting ever in this movie, and indeed I was impressed how completely and perfectly she became a very different person.
Charlize Theron's performance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos is the greatest acting job in the history of film.
It will be difficult to watch other films without comparing the performances of others to Charlize Theron's in Monster because she has accomplished what nobody else has in acting; both in movie history and current film.
Acting students will be studying this performance for many years and they will learn much from it.Monster is disturbing and upsetting, but Charlize Theron's part as Aileen Wuornos must be seen.
The hooker also has a tendency toward murdering her "johns" and you will see why early on in the film.This movie is supposed to be about a real life prostitute/serial killer Aileen Wournos portrayed by Charize Theron.
Patty Jenkins' "Monster" is the real life story of recently executed prostitute and serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who murdered a series of men between 1989 and 1990.
Mind blowing performance by Charlize Theron, as Aileen Wuornos - highway prostitute and serial killer.This film succeeds in inspiring sympathy for a woman who was vilified in the American press as a 'Monster', showing that there are two sides to every story. |
tt1748207 | Sound of My Voice | In Los Angeles, substitute schoolteacher Peter and aspiring writer Lorna are a couple in their twenties making a film documentary. Their subject is a secretive cult led by the mysterious Maggie (Brit Marling), whom they plan to expose as a fraud.
When the cult considers Peter and Lorna ready to meet Maggie, they are made to shower thoroughly and dress in white surgical gowns. Then they are driven blindfolded to a secret basement location and received by Klaus, with whom they exchange a distinctive, intricate handshake, which they have been practicing. Peter and Lorna then join eight other members and meet Maggie, who uses an oxygen tank and implies that the showering and clothing requirements are to avoid aggravating her illness.
Maggie claims to be a time-traveler from the year 2054. She describes the future as riddled with war, famine and struggle, and has come back to select a special band of chosen people to prepare for what lies ahead. She leads the group in a series of intense psychological exercises and tells them about herself and the future, never proving nor disproving her extraordinary claim. Maggie's charismatic manner is powerful, and both Lorna and Peter have moments in which they waver between skepticism and belief. Lorna is especially concerned when she notices that Peter, who was initially adamant that Maggie was a charlatan, seems to now be intrigued by and even attracted to Maggie.
After several group meetings, Maggie instructs Peter to bring her the eccentric eight-year-old Abigail Pritchett, one of his students. Maggie insists Abigail is her mother, and that Peter and Lorna will be banned from the group if he fails to comply. When Peter admits that he is considering following Maggie's orders, Lorna is outraged and accuses him of falling for Maggie's deception. After they argue, Lorna is privately approached by Carol, a woman who identifies herself as a Justice Department agent. Carol tells Lorna that Maggie is wanted for a variety of felonies. Lorna agrees to set Maggie up to be captured and to hide this plan from Peter.
With Lorna's help Peter arranges for Maggie to meet the student in public, at the LaBrea Tar Pits, during a class field trip. When Maggie meets the little girl, Peter is amazed to see them wordlessly perform the cult's intricate handshake. Abigail asks Maggie how she knew her secret handshake, and Maggie reverently responds: "You taught it to me." Men in police uniforms burst into the room and seize Maggie. As cult members angrily accuse Peter of betraying Maggie, he exchanges a glance with Lorna who smiles slightly, affirming her role in Maggie's capture. Abigail then asks Peter who Maggie was, and he responds, stricken, that he does not know. | cult, psychological, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0373690 | Arsène Lupin | As a boy in the 1880s, Arsène is being taught fencing by his father Théophraste Lupin. They live at the Château of his mother's family, the Dreux-Soubises. When the police tries to arrest Théophraste for thievery, he flees on horseback. Late at night, he returns to persuade Arsène to help him steal jewellery from his uncle, a collier that once belonged to Marie Antoinette.
When the theft is discovered, the uncle makes Arsène and his mother leave the house. On the roadside, they are horrified see a murdered man who wears Théophraste's ring.
15 years later, young Arsène is on a cruise ship from Africa to Le Havre, gallantly stealing jewellery from the ladies. Back in France, he visits his dying mother in the hospital. She tells him that his father's murder has visited her - then she dies.
At her funeral, Arsène meets again his cousin Clarisse. She invites him home and spends the night with him. But Arséne doesn't want to stay - he wants to find his father's murder. He feels that his uncle knows more than he admits, so he follows him to a secret meeting. A group of men around a descendant of the French royal family wants to end the Republic and reinstall monarchy in France. To complete this task, they are searching for a treasure that has been hidden by Marie Antoinette. They need several crosses from abbeys and cathedrals all over France to give them clues. Arsène witnesses Joséphine, la comtesse de Cagliostro, being brought in and condemned to death for sabotaging the group and hiding Marie Antoinette's jewellery. Arsène understands that this is the jewellery that he himself had stolen for his father. He saves Joséphine and becomes her lover.
A member of the group, Beaumagnan, tries to warn Arsène against Joséphine, but she in return warns Arsène against Beaumagnan. When Arséne breaks into the Louvre to discover another cross, he finds himself framed with the murder of the night guard. Still he has no idea who is framing him - Beaumagnan, Joséphine or someone else?
Things culminate at a ball, where Arsène, pretending to be a Russian Prince, dances with Clarisse. A hypnotized Beaumagnan steals another cross, Arsène confronts Joséphine, then saves Clarisse from an over-eager suitor. Arsène learns that she is pregnant with his child. Beaumagnan tells him that he is Arsène's father with a remodeled face, that he killed another to pretend his own death. Horrified by these news, Arsène manages to flee with the cross before the police arrives.
When Clarisse visits him at his lab, she tells him that her father's group wants to trade - he can have her if he gives up the three crosses he has managed to collect so far. Joséphine disrupts the meeting between Arsène and the group with a bomb. She saves Arsène and kidnaps Clarisse. They free themselves. Back in the lab, one of Arsènes accomplices shows them the body of Clarisse's father, who died in the explosion. They discover that he has a glass eye with the final clue to the treasure.
Arsène and Clarisse get married and have their son, Jean. At night, Arsène leaves the house to break into rich people's homes. In one of those nights, Joséphine enters his own home, shoots his wife and kidnaps his son.
Arsène starts a hollow life of clever thefts, using various disguises and wrong names.
In 1913, he has a new woman friend, and they attend a parade honoring Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian crown prince. Suddenly, Arsène sees Joséphine with a young man - his son, Jean, grown-up! When he realizes that she has hypnotized Jean to place a bomb in a suitcase, he confronts Jean and makes him give up the suitcase, throwing it into the air. Joséphine searches the hysteric crowd, but he has disappeared - all that's left on the sidewalk is a flower. A lupin. | revenge, murder, romantic | train | imdb | null |
tt0075261 | Squirm | On the early morning hours on September 29, 1975, in Fly Creek, a small town near the coast in Georgia, a powerful electrical storm rages one night. The high winds topple large high-voltage power lines, and the wires drag and snake along the wet, muddy ground.The next morning, Geri Sanders (Patricia Pearcy) awaits the arrival of her new beau, Mick (Don Scardino), a city boy she met at an antique show while vacationing in New York City. Mick arrives on a bus that is forced to turn back due to a large tree that the storm has knocked down across the road. Instead, Mick chooses to walk through the woods, where Geri is amused to find him sunken into a mud hole.Geri lives with her mother, Mrs. Sanders, and her younger sister, Alma. Alma is jealous of the attention Mick gives Geri, and tries her hardest to appear more cultured and stylish, since she thinks Mick will respond to this being from the city. Also jealous of Geri's relationship with Mick is Roger Grimes (R.A. Dow), a slightly backwards neighbor who adores Geri. Roger has loaned Geri his father's truck to go and fetch Mick, and there is an immediate problem: Roger's father is a "worm farmer", collecting thousands of worms to sell as bait. The crated worms, which were in the back of the truck, are now missing, the crates empty. Mr. Grimes blames Roger, but Roger knows he loaned the truck to Geri. Roger blames Mick, the interloper who has designs on Geri.The electricity is still out in the area; Mrs. Sanders asks Geri and Mick to fetch a large block of ice for the refrigerator, and while they are in town, Mick stops into a diner. When he orders an "egg cream", the waitress has no idea what he wants, but she does her best to prepare the drink the way he describes it. Mick is shocked when he finds a worm in the drink, spilling it all over the counter. The waitress is furious, and Mick scolds her for serving him a drink with a worm in it; however, the worm has disappeared. The local redneck Sheriff overhears the outburst and makes a thinly veiled threat to Mick for "being disruptive". The locals obviously distrust Mick because he is from the city.Back at home, Mrs. Sanders is clearly spooked by the storm and the subsequent damage. She remains aloof and seemingly in her own world, and Geri admits that she has been that way ever since Geri's father passed away months earlier. The water service has been interrupted, too, and the shower does not work.Geri takes Mick to visit the local antiques dealer, Mr. Beardsley, but he is nowhere to be found, his home mysteriously abandoned. Mick and Geri are shocked to find a skeleton in the flower garden behind his home. They run and fetch the Sheriff, but when they return with him, the skeleton is gone. The Sheriff is furious, thinking Mick is trying to make a fool out of him, and scolding Geri for being involved in a prank.Later, Mick and Geri go fishing with Roger, and while he is unaware, they discover the missing skeleton in the back of his truck. Mick and Geri don't say anything about it to him. While they are out on the boat, one of the large sandworms they use for bait bites Mick on the arm. Geri explains that the worms in the area bite with sharp, pincer-like jaws, but the wound on Mick's arm is quite bloody. Geri admits she's never seen a worm bite like that, but Roger says he has. He tells Mick and Geri that when he was a child, his father used Roger's electric train transformer in an experiment to see if they could jolt worms out of wet soil with electricity. The experiment worked, but the worms were extremely volatile when they emerged, biting half of Roger's thumb off.Mick has Roger take him back to shore and leaves Geri alone with him on the boat so that he can examine the skeleton. While he is in the truck, Alma appears and startles him. Together they remove the skull from the skeleton and take it to the local dentist's office, where they break in. Mick is convinced the skull belongs to Beardsley himself and that he has been murdered, and he confirms this through Beardsley's dental records. How he was reduced to a skeleton, however, remains a mystery, and furthermore why Roger had took the skeleton and hid it in the back of his truck.Meanwhile, back on the boat, Geri and Roger are alone and Roger makes a pass at Geri. When she rebuffs him, Roger is furious and they struggle. Geri knocks him over right onto the worms, which have overturned their small container and have slithered across the floor of the boat. Geri is horrified when Roger turns over, the worms attached to his face, and she sees them burrowing under his skin. They both fall out of the boat and into the water, where Roger runs off screaming into the woods, leaving Geri alone. Geri returns home in a panic and tries not to alert the fragile Mrs. Sanders that anything is wrong. In an attempt to shower off the dirt from the lake, Geri discovers that the water is still not working; as she fiddles with the knobs, she does not see that directly above her, worms have begun to emerge from the showerhead. They dangle from the large nozzle openings, then retreat mysteriously.Mick and Alma return home and Geri finds out that the skull belongs to Mr. Beardsley. Geri is horrified and upset; she also tells them what happened to Roger. The insane Mrs. Sanders appears suddenly and starts to realize something is wrong, but nobody will tell her anything out of fear of upsetting her.Mick goes to the Grimes farm to see what happened to Roger, and he finds the body of Mr. Grimes. Thinking the old man had a heart attack, Mick puts his ear to Grime's shirt and hears a strange sound. Pulling the shirt open, he is horrified to see thousands of worms eating Grimes from the inside out.When Mick returns to Geri, they deduce that Beardsley must have been killed by worms during the storm. They realize that Roger seems to have discovered the skeleton and taken it, mistaking it for one of Beardsley's antiques. They make one last attempt to convince the Sheriff, who is eating a spaghetti dinner with his girlfriend at a local restaurant. Skeptic, he angrily sends them away, threatening to arrest them.Mick and Geri return home for dinner, when a large tree suddenly topples, crashing through the ceiling of the dining room. Nobody is hurt, but the side of the house is now ripped open and exposed. Mick goes around to the base of the tree and finds the upended root covered in worms. When he goes to get gasoline to burn them, he returns to find them gone. He deduces that what is driving the worms back is the light; it is still daylight, and light seems to keep the worms at bay. With the damage to the house, Mick goes off to find plywood to board up the openings; he knows that once the sun goes down, the worms will be free to attack once again. Geri sends him in the direction of an old mill that was torn down, but when he goes there he is attacked by Roger, who is now demented and behaving like an animal. He hurls Mick into a ditch and knocks him unconscious, leaving him for the worms that he knows will come.Back at the house, Alma attempts to take a shower but also finds the water is still off. She does not realize the pipes are full of worms. Unlike Geri, she leaves the faucet open, and after she leaves, worms begin falling out of the showerhead. Eventually the showerhead breaks off completely, and a steady stream of worms gushes into the bathroom, which is now filling up with the things.Roger, still with worms in his face, lurks outside the house in the falling darkness, while Mrs. Sanders begins to behave strangely, indicating that she's losing her grip on reality. When she sends Geri into the kitchen for something, Roger appears and grabs her. Mrs. Sanders and Alma aren't aware that he's in the house, and Mrs. Sanders mentions that she hears water running in the bathroom. Alma remembers she left the faucet on, and goes upstairs. But when she opens the bathroom door, a sea of worms pours out of the room into the hallway.Other residents of Fly Creek are attacked by millions of worms. The Sheriff and his girlfriend, who are having sex in an empty jail cell, are consumed by a flood of worms, as are the patrons of the local bar.Mick regains consciousness and finds himself surrounded by pools of worms. He saves himself by making a torch out of his shirt and fending them off with the light. When he goes back to the house, he finds worms pouring all around the place, covering the floor. They shy away from Mick's torch, allowing him to enter the house, where he finds the body of what used to be Mrs. Sanders, covered in writhing worms. Going upstairs in search of Alma and Geri, Mick is attacked by Roger, who emerges from the attic. He has kidnapped Geri and tied her up, keeping her hostage in the attic room. Mick drops his torch in the struggle; no longer able to fend off the worms, he cannot go back downstairs, and by now the entire downstairs of the house is literally engulfed in a sea of worms that almost reach the ceiling. When Roger tries to push him into the worms, Mick manages to throw him in instead, and the worms pull Roger underneath of them.Mick unties Geri and they attempt to climb out of an upstairs window into a tree. Roger, however, has emerged from the sea of worms, crawling like a worm himself. He attacks Mick, who beats him to death with a flashlight. Mick and Geri escape into the tree.The next morning, they awaken in the tree branch to find the sun has risen and driven the worms away. A representative from the electric company tells them the power is back on and the towers have been repaired; he remarks that the town seems deserted. Inside the house, a large steamer trunk opens and Alma emerges, still alive; she apparently managed to get inside before the worms engulfed her. Mick and Geri are ecstatic that she has survived, and they run inside to greet her. | murder | train | imdb | The 1970's saw a number of nature-strikes-back horror films, like Frogs (1972), Grizzly (1976), Empire of the Ants (1977), Day of the Animals (1977), and Prophecy (1979), but none that were quite as well-made and effectively frightening as this low-budget horror masterpiece!Freak storm blows down power lines in a small Georgia town, and the resulting surge of voltage through the soil drives hordes of sand worms into a flesh-eating frenzy!The debut film of director Jeff Lieberman, who would go on to make other great B thrillers like Blue Sunshine (1977) and Just Before Dawn (1981), Squirm is still one of his best.
I've only seen one of director/writer Jeff Lieberman's other films so far--Blue Sunshine (1976)--and that also had points taken off for a less-than-satisfying ending.Squirm is at its best when it's wallowing in small redneck town weirdness.
When all of this stuff is combined with Squirm's initial slow-burning horror aspects--including a relatively subtle amount of worms and a well-placed (both literally and in terms of the script) skeleton--it is good, almost sublimely so.But things begin to go slightly awry when we get to the big extravaganza near the end.
That saps too much tension out of the ending, and instead we're primarily engaged by physical effects for their own sake, plus a wonderfully campy change in personality from Roger.Squirm is definitely worth seeing for anyone with a taste for lower-budget 1970s horror, and at times is quite a gem.
Against FOOD OF THE GODS, DOGS, KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS, the irrepressible SLUGS and other nature-gone-berserk flicks, SQUIRM stands tall.The worms are the thing here, but their existence does not short-change the film's acting, storyline and characterizations.
I saw this movie at the theater when it was first released, and watching it now on video, it still holds up today as a very well made film.The set locations were perfect for giving that "small town down south" feeling.
There are some pretty good, if disgusting, special effects (one VERY disturbing scene shows worms burrowing into a guys FACE) and seeing literally MOUNTAINS of worms squirming around is kind of queasy.It you take this film literally you're gonna hate it.
Which now Mick and his girlfriend's family are trying to stay alive until the next morning comes.Written and Directed by Jeff Lieberman (Blue Sunshine, Just Before Dawn, Remote Control) made an decent entertainment horror movie that is intentionally silly at times but it also has some good shock sequences.
Sure, the movie is actually much more sillier today but i think it's genuinely well made for its time and seeing the character of Roger (D.A. Grimes), who was attacked by worms twice is a bit too much.
But the worms are going to destroy the town and hopefully tone down the southern accents.Squirm isn't necessarily a bad movie, well, I think it's one of those movies that it's so bad that it's actually good.
Just the way the actors present a lot of the lines are a little distracting and get a good unintentional laugh like "Yer gonna be da worm face!" was said a little oddly.
This is a great Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode I would recommend, but as a film, it's worth a look if you're into a cheesy drive in flick type of movie, otherwise, don't expect too much.3/10.
Filmed on location in Georgia, this film was also too convincing in it's portrayal of the rural south: I kept waiting for the banjo music to start up, kept waiting for Roger or the sheriff to ask Mick to "squeal like a pig." I couldn't feel sorry for the people who ended up as worm food because they were all so icky.
A slow-moving but nonetheless atmospheric entry in the 1970s cycle of animal attack films.Don Scardino plays Mick,who finds himself in a small town where downed electric wires have energized the local earthworms into a writhing bunch of carnivorous killers.Director Jeff Lieberman of "Blue Sunshine" and "Just Before Dawn" manages to create some genuinely creepy images like people sinking into a disgusting mass of the crawly critters,worms clogging a shower head and more angry annelids tunneling into a man's face.The cast is solid and the blood-worms are absolutely horrific.Makeup maestro Rick Baker contributes some great worm-eating effects."Squirm" is surely a neglected classic of 70's US horror.8 out of 10..
It is a truly unique film and even though many people will not want to take a movie about killer worms seriously, they will be surprised at how effective some of the scenes are..
Well acted by it's unknown cast, it also features good photography that captured the scenery of Georgia extremely well not to mention tight direction and very good effects.The infamous "worm face" sequence is truly unsettling but it gets even worse at the film's climax.
Regardless of whether it was masses or worms or thick brown pasta, the effect is truly impressive.Squirm is chock full of little unusual touches like the foreshadowing of the falling tree, the really strange Mother of the two girls who is seemingly going crazy (and meets a gruesome end) and the fact that this is one of those rare films in which the action takes place in less than a 24 hour period.
This actually did both.It was a bit comical in the beginning with the bad acting, and the country cliché's, but if you got into it, it wasn't that bad.Sometimes the worms looked like spaghetti noodles, sometimes they looked like rope with ketchup on them but they managed to make them move so it was okay.There were some dumb moments too, like when the house breaks down and they don't run out of there right then and there, but you have to allow for that in low-budget horror.
If you close your eyes and imagine David Lynch directing a long-lost horror story scripted by Tennessee Williams, then you can begin to imagine Squirm.I'd like to start off by saying, "If you have not seen this film at a drive-in or in a theatre, you have not truly seen this film." The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode definitely does not count and reviews from that show should be stricken from record.
The director, Jeff Lieberman has commented a few times during interviews, "it looks like there has been a mistake in the editing."Squirm, seen in its entirety, is a seamless masterpiece that features great acting by the entire cast, a wonderfully demented musical score by Robert Prince and some of the creepiest cinematography ever committed to celluloid.
The director of this film has stated in his commentary on the DVD that this movie was meant to be a parody of movies that he grew up with, i.e., "The Birds." What the person above obviously did not realize is that movies at one time could be both entertaining, fun, and parody without being as in-your-face as, say, the 'Scary Movie' series--and still be enjoyed on its own terms like "Squirm" should be and is by this reviewer.This movie is one of my favorite Drive-In "creature features." Its pleasures are simple and fun.
Plot summaries are boring and let's face it if you're renting or purchasing 'Squirm' you're doing it for earth-worms attacking and eating people not for a cozy story.
From the moody opening with an eerie song sung by a child played over scenes of a violent thunder-storm, to the squishy close-ups of (real) blood-worms (screaming!) the director says the "screaming" is actually culled from the slaughter of the pigs scene in the movie 'Carrie'!?
When Seventies Elton John goes to visit his girl way down somewhere in Virginia, he's all expecting some passionate loving (wait, that doesn't sound like Elton John at all), but instead gets surrounded by pink, wriggling slimy things instead (that sounds more like Elton John).What's happened, right, is that there was some sort of storm and the some electricity hit the ground and then all these worms (who were residing in a worm farm) all went a bit mental and start chowing down on the locals, none of whom in the slightest belief Elton John's theories (or even like him in the least, especially that sheriff with the simply bizarre haircut.
Squirm is a low budget movie with bad actors, bad special effects, a boring story line, a ridiculous premise, and bad music.
I first saw this writhing,slithery little flick 20 years ago,and still enjoy it to this day.There are some graphic scenes of repulsive images,mixed with dark humor.The setting is outstanding,and the entire atmosphere makes you want to grab a can of insect repellent and start scratching your legs for chiggers.You can almost feel the humidity of the deep south.The worms themselves are indeed horrifying, and credit must be given to the Squirm Company as well as the entire cast and crew..
Other fun attacks include the nice brawl between the characters in the forest as well as the series of small attacks around town, from the couple in the jail- cell to the diner swarming which is all a prelude to the utter fun of the finale's house assault as there's a lot of fun to be had with the completely oblivious set-up of the worms arriving in various sections of the house and appearing without them realizing which is all where the different searches are all mixed together with the action and escapes all makes for a really exciting scene.
Of course, the city slicker is the protagonist, but that doesn't stop the locals from treating him like dirt (ironically, the thing worms live in).This film is fun and will at times make your skin crawl.
The year after Spielberg gave us his classic blockbuster Jaws, director Jeff Lieberman (Just Before Dawn, Satan's Little Helper) brought us a very different kind of killer animal/eco-horror movie—Squirm—which saw a small Southern community under attack from flesh-eating worms drawn to the surface by electricity surging from a fallen power line.Now worms aren't exactly renowned for being unpredictably violent, or indeed threatening in any way, shape, or form, meaning that Squirm is right up there with Slugs (1988) as far as silly killer invertebrate flicks are concerned.
And try as he might, Lieberman simply cannot make his slimy pink critters the least bit frightening; indeed, showing them in extreme close up and having them screech and growl like wild animals only makes them funnier.With a very gradual build up, the first half of the film is almost completely devoid of worm action, and matters prove rather tedious until the final act.
But unless you're seriously wormophobic (made up word), even the sight of thousands of the things wriggling in a heaving mass is unlikely to cause shivers of fear.The film's best moment comes when Fly Creek hick Roger Grimes (R.A. Dow) falls over whilst fishing, allowing a few of the ravenous worms to latch onto his face and burrow under the skin: the effects in this scene—by make-up legend Rick Baker—are actually rather nauseating.
If the film had featured a lot less Nancy Drew/Hardy boys amateur detective work from Geri and Mick, and much more people being munched on by worms, this could have been great.
Jeff Lieberman's debut film "Squirm" has a rural Georgia town inundated with flesh- eating worms who have been summoned by electrical currents from fallen power lines in the aftermath of a storm.
Down-home Southern girl Geri (Patricia Pearcy) is meanwhile being visited by her New Yorker boyfriend, Mick (Don Scardino), and needless to say, things in Fly Creek run amok.I've read multiple comments about this film essentially being a rendition of Hitchcock's "The Birds," rather with worms, and they couldn't be any more correct— Lieberman takes the template and runs with it by all means, but "Squirm" still retains so much charm and doses of wormy nastiness that I find it impossible not to love it.Admirable special effects on a shoestring budget are one noteworthy aspect of this film (early work by Rick Baker, who has went on to become a majorly successful makeup designer in Hollywood, is on display here), but perhaps its greatest achievement is the sense of unease that pervades even in spite of the inherent silliness of the plot.
By some unidentifiable stroke of genius (or perhaps accident), "Squirm" never works its way into any sort of cornball hysteria— despite the fact that the film's antagonists are thousands of worms (and a worm-infested redneck), it still never manages to fall into the "so bad it's good" category that one might expect it to.The innocuous exposition of the film may have a great part in this in that it builds a certain kind of dread, but no matter the cause, the film maintains a healthy level of self- awareness and seriousness that really elevate it from standard low-budget creature fare.
The film's finale has all the worms you could ask for, and the entire event is just plain fun.Despite what preconceptions you may about "Squirm" (I had many), it is definitely a film that is worth the time for anyone who is a fan of '70s horror or creature features in general.
Sure enough, a storm that night causes some power lines to break and touch the ground, drawing millions of man-eating worms out of the earth, and into town where they quickly start munching on the locals.Something about the idea of millions of flesh-eating worms taking over a small town just indicates that it must be a fun movie.
It has loads of atmosphere and a few really creepy scenes, like when the worms attack Roger's face while fishing in a rowboat with Geri.
Too bad he couldn't ultimately make more out of it.So, the bottom line is (and I DO enjoy saying 'Bottom') that if you have a STRONG affection for these old Monster Horror films, AND you have a very, VERY forgiving spirit, then you most likely will enjoy this movie at least a little bit....
Fran Higgins is a delight as Geri's tomboyish sister, Carl Dagenhart a total hoot as miserable worm farm operator Willie Grimes, and character actor William Newman, whose memorable mug you may have seen in one thing or another, makes his film debut as Mr. Quigley.
The first half of the movie drones on and on and since the characters are so poorly defined and uninteresting, Squirm leaves its audience begging for some worms to come along and swallow the cast up.
maybe "Frogs"?Anyway, Don Scardino plays some kid from "the city" who visits this trailer trash town in the South (supposedly Georgia) who is taken in by a girl, her incredibly ugly sister 'Alma' (or should I say, brother), and their psychotic catatonic mother who spends most of her time either white-faced, tight-lipped or murmuring incoherently about knitting shawls.Some power lines were downed in a thunder storm, sending volts of electricity in the ground, driving up hordes of flesh-eating blood worms.
The film provides two different villains - Roger (creepy in the latter stages, especially his worm-like crawl up the stairs and when his face appears at the window; also interesting is the shot where he shields his face from the light) and the Sheriff (something of a caricature but certainly adds to the fun, especially when Don Scardino mimics his movements as soon as his back is turned); the mother is also fairly hilarious, though one feels it was unintentional (and Lieberman himself seems to concur).
Geri please, you're too good for him.Still, Squirm is an interesting, little movie that's worth a look, if you like interesting little movies about killer worms..
New Yorker Mick (Don Scardino) is visiting his girl Geri (Patricia Pearcy) and soon the two of them are trying to survive.Director Jeff Lieberman's SQUIRM is pure Southern drive-in horror that manages to work even though it has a rather silly story and very little of what you'd call a budget.
Moreover, the worm attack set pieces are disgustingly convincing and thus quite jolting (the horrific highlight occurs when vile redneck degenerate R.A. Dow has his face feasted on by the grody flesh-eating buggers), the refreshingly unmacho, but still resourceful Don ("He Knows You're Alone") Scardino as the bright, bookish, hopelessly out-of-his-element college educated New York city boy hero and ravishing redhead Patricia ("Cockfighter") Pearcy as Scardino's sweet, smart, fetching Southern belle girlfriend give nicely appealing performances, Joseph Mangine's crisp, evocative cinematography vividly captures a tangibly grungy and uninviting shabby small stickville town gone to seed atmosphere, Rick Baker's stand-out, often startling special make-up effects are typically first-rate (a post chewed-up Dow, dubbed "Wormface," makes for a notably ghastly sight to behold), there's a beautifully eerie opening credits sequence (the odd, austere children's song played during the credits is positively haunting), and the all-around sound acting is up to snuff.
Add to all this the really nice low budget special effects, solid acting by a group of unknown actors (for many, this was their only screen credit), wonderfully authentic Georgia locations, good pacing, and a steady directorial hand and it's amazing it's taken me this long to appreciate Squirm.Once again, thank you MST3K for opening my eyes to this entertaining little movie..
Case in point: this little killer worm movie filmed in Georgia.
Discovering that it's the old man that he and human pencil girl had spent ten minutes calling earlier in the film, he goes back to the old man's place to look more closely into why the skeleton had had all the flesh stripped from its bones in such a short time.The movie finally kicks into high gear, as the worms begin their concerted attack on the townspeople.
A bad movie that features killer worms who kill rednecks, and hate electricity (Minor Spoiler coming up)..
I know this is a horror and you have to suspend your belief, but I am pretty sure a line going down in a way depicted in the film has occurred more than a couple of times and there have never been killer worms so they really needed to come up with a better means of turning the average worm into a flesh eating creature of death. |
tt0066249 | The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes | A dusty box is opened at a lawyers offices, fifty years after being sealed. The box contains Sherlock Holmes memorabilia, such as his cap, his pipe, his magnifying glass, a plaque with the number 221B, a hypodermic needle. Also in the box is a manuscript written by Dr. Watson. It records cases to be suppressed for fifty years because of their controversial [e.g. sexual] content or circumstances. The screen transitions back in time...Sherlock Holmes (Robert Stephens) and Dr. Watson (Colin Blakely) are in their rooms at 221B Baker Street. Holmes complains he is bored, as he has no cases to work on, saying he needs a shot of 5% cocaine. Watson says, "Seven per cent", Holmes says he knows Watson disapproves and has been covertly diluting the solution.Holmes, in a bad mood, complains that Watson's case histories, published in The Strand Magazine, exaggerate and embellish and are more lurid than reality. For example, he is barely six foot one, and Watson wrote that he is six foot four. Watson replies "Poetic license, Holmes!".Still in a foul mood, Holmes yells at landlady Mrs. Hudson (Irene Handl) for dusting stuff on his desk. Later he has the rooms thick with smoke from using a machine to artificially smoke various cigarettes, as part of his research on cigarette ashes.Watson suggests that he might consider investigating why six acrobatic midgets disappeared from their circus act, as a recent newspaper reports, but he is rebuffed. The next suggestion is that they go to a performance of a Russian ballet, since someone anonymously has sent them two expensive tickets.At the end of the ballet, the impresario (Clive Revill) invites Holmes, and reluctantly, Watson, to a staff party. Watson parties with the dancers, while Holmes is led to the dressing room of star ballerina Madame Petrova (Tamara Toumanova). Petrova, speaking Russian, offers Holmes a Stradivarius violin in exchange for sex leading to her conceiving a child that might inherit her beauty and his intellect. Petrova says she has read The Hound of the Baskervilles, and also that he was not her first choice, but Tolstoy was too old to function, and Tchaikowski turned out to be not interested in women.Holmes turns her down as delicately as he can, claiming that he and Watson are lovers who are not interested in women either. Petrova angrily throws him out.Meanwhile Watson has been drinking, dancing a riotous storm arm in arm in a circle of beautiful ballerinas. The impresario whispers to one girl that Watson is homosexual, the news is spread from ear to ear, and the girls in the dancing circle are replaced by male dancers one by one. Watson, drunk, wearing a flower behind his ear, finally asks, "What happened to the girls?" and is led off to Baker Street by Holmes.Watson berates Holmes for what he said, surmising that the rumour would never die off, particularly because Holmes is not known to have had any relations with women, whereas Watson has been married. Holmes says he wanted to spare Madame Petrova's feelings, doesn't care to have a reputation with women. Watson asked if he would be presumptious to presume Holmes had had affairs with women. Holmes says "You are being presumptuous" as he goes into his room.Soon after, a cabbie rings at the door and wants to be paid. He fished a nearly drowned woman (Geneviève Page) out of the river, in shock, clutching a card with the Baker street address on it. As the cabbie leaves, a mysterious looking older man has been watching from a carriage in the street.Watson convinces Holmes to take a look at her. She has received a blow on the head and is barely conscious. Holmes inspects her shoes and labels on her dress that indicate she is from Brussels. The card she was clutching is illegible from getting wet, but some ink has rubbed on her palm and Holmes reads the number 130 by looking at the mirror image. She is wearing a wedding ring with the names Gabrielle and Emil, but she appears too dazed to give information, although she speaks French. Watson volunteers his bed and sleeps on the couch, and Mrs. Hudson helps her to Watson's bedroom.Not long after, Gabrielle gets up from the bed (totally naked, of course, since Mrs. Hudson is drying her clothes) but still confused. She goes to Holmes talking to him as though he were her beloved husband Emil, whom she has found at last, holding onto him with passion. She retreats to Sherlock Holmes' bed where he sees on her beckoning hands the letters he could not read from the cardboard piece he had found in her hand when they first meet. He views the lettering, deduced from her baggage, on her palm, she in apparent alarm, viewed with a mirror.The next morning, Mrs. Hudson arrives with breakfast and is Victorianly horrified to see the naked woman on Holmes' bed. Holmes enters from the street carrying a trunk and a fancy parasol. He recognized the wet card as a possible check stub, and since she was Belgian she would have come on the boat train from the Continent and checked her things at Victoria Station. They break into her trunk and find her last name is Valladon.When Gabrielle wakes, she is better and tells her story. Her husband was working in London and wrote to her often and regularly until a few weeks ago. He is an engineer by profession and said his employer was Jonah. She wrote to him at an address she remembers. She begs Holmes to find her missing husband. Quick research shows there is no English company with that name, and that the address is an abandoned building. Holmes has her write a letter to the address, planning to go spy there the next day and see who picks up the letter. In between these comings and goings, the mysterious older man on a cab is again on the street, and sees Gabrielle's parasol open and close, whereupon he departs.The next day they break into the abandoned building, where they find a cage full of canaries and mysterious tracks but no footprints. They hide as a postman drops a letter in the slot, see an old lady in a wheelchair come feed the canaries from the alley, and porters who come pick up a load of canaries. The letter is left behind, and when they see it, it is addressed to Sherlock Holmes!The letter is from Mycroft [Sherlock's smarter older brother] who orders him to come to Diogenes Club at once, and Sherlock complies.At the meeting, Mycroft (Christopher Lee) orders Sherlock to drop the case, as he knows all about Valladon. Mycroft's insistence doesn't deter Holmes, as the Diogenes Club might be a front for a covert government operation. While they are arguing, Wiggins (Graham Armitage), the messenger at the Diogenes Club enters with an urgent message that requires a reply, and Sherlock hears it -- that the three boxes should be delivered to one location and the runner to another.Back in Baker Street, Holmes decides to disregard Mycroft's orders [after all, he is enjoying Gabrielle's company]. The three take the overnight train to Scotland, where the locations mentioned by Mycroft are, disguised as Mr. and Mrs. Ashdown and their valet. In the night in the bedroom compartment they share, Gabrielle and Holmes trade confidences. Gabrielle asks whether he was ever in love, and Holmes says that he was all set to be married once, his fiancée died of influenza. The way things turned out he considers women to be unreliable and not to be trusted, which is not the same as not liking them. Meantime, in the second class carriage, Watson sits next to a group of monks who do not talk, apparently Trappists. The leader, whom we recognize as the mysterious watcher in Baker Street, is reading a Bible open to the Book of Jonah.They check into a hotel at the shore of Loch Ness. The first location mentioned by Mycroft turns out to be a cemetery. The gravedigger (Sterling Holloway) mentions that one father and two children recently drowned in Loch Ness. He blames the monster.In the next sequences, the clues pile up. Three coffins, one large, two small, arrive, and are buried. Soon four children show up to put flowers on the graves, but as we see their faces, they are not children, but midgets. When Holmes and Watson later dig up the large coffin and open it, Gabrielle shrieks, as we see a youngish man there and two dead canaries that have turned white. The dead man has a copper wedding ring that has turned green, matching Gabrielle's. Watson thinks he saw the Monster on the misty lake. Two suspicious porters deliver large demijohns labeled "Sulfuric Acid " to Urquhart Castle. Watson sees the squad of mysterious monks walking around. The trio gets on a rowboat to try to chase the Monster, which is also seen through the mist by Holmes and Gabrielle. Holmes borrows Watson's stethoscope, which is always hidden inside his hat, and listens to the sound of a motor running under water. They gain on it but their boat is pushed from below so they all fall into the loch. At the hotel that evening, Holmes receives a magnum of champagne and the coachman insists he must get into the carriage with him. He is driven to Urquhart Castle and told to go up some exterior stairs that have been covered with a red velvet runner leading up to some tents.At the top of the stairs, Sherlock is met by his brother Mycroft, who first scolds him and then reveals the mystery. A submarine was being developed for the British Navy, with Mr. Valladon on the team. The project was called Jonah because the submarine was to be underwater for three days and three nights. Midgets were recruited as crewmen because they took up less space and needed less air. Sulfuric acid of the batteries accidentally got mixed with sea water, and the mixture released chlorine gas, which killed Valladon, two midgets and two canaries. It turned the canaries white and the copper ring green.However, Gabrielle is not Mrs. Valladon but rather a top German spy named Ilse Hoffmanstal, sent to England with a crew of German sailors, disguised as monks, whose mission is to learn the whereabouts of the submarine and try to steal it. She sent them messages in Morse Code by opening and shutting her pink parasol. They have tricked Sherlock into locating the submarine project, and he fell for it because he became enamored of Gabrielle and could not think properly. When taken out for testing, the submarine was disguised as a sea monster.Queen Victoria (Mollie Maureen) arrives for the christening of the craft with the champagne, but is "not amused" when she learns the details because it would kill people without warning from a concealed location, something unworthy of England, and she orders the project scrapped forthwith. Despite Mycroft's pleas that the Germans are developing their own terrible weapons, Zeppelins that could bomb London from the air, she repeats her orders and departs.Before arresting Ilse, it is arranged that the submarine be left unguarded. The squad of monks steals the submarine and sails it off underwater, but it has been rigged to explode.Meantime, Sherlock has returned to the hotel room, where Gabrielle is most fetchingly nude in bed, and we see her from the back as the Rokeby Venus. He is dejected, not only because he has been tricked and another woman and Mycroft have got the better of him, but because he had developed real affection for Gabrielle.Ilse von Hoffmanstal is arrested, but will not go to prison, as she will be exchanged for a British spy at the German-Swiss border. As she is driven off the hotel, she Morse Codes Sherlock back with her parasol, "Auf Wiedersehen".Some months later, Sherlock receives a letter from Mycroft, telling him that Ilse was arrested as a spy in Japan, tried and shot. She had been using the alias Mrs. Ashdown.Saddened, the detective retreats to his room to seek solace in cocaine and his violin. | psychedelic, humor, atmospheric, sci-fi | train | imdb | This is disappointing to many fans, but in fact is more than most of us have had for a long time, as the somewhat choppy film was often mercilessly cut for television broadcast.Holmes in this case is played by Robert Stephens, an unlikely Holmes in comparison to standards such as Rathbone, Brett, or Gillette, but still an interesting choice - quintessentially British, reserved but daring, brilliant yet flawed and faltering.
Christopher Lee, who himself plays Holmes in other productions, plays Holmes' smarter brother Mycroft here, to good effect.The story line does have some inspiration from the canonical stories (the Bruce-Partington Plans, for one), and from Gillette's play (the strange case of Miss Faulkner, introducing an ending that allowed for a love interest for Holmes in the end), but for the most part takes the characters from Conan Doyle and runs far afield.
Elsewhere, in the film, the music is taken from Rozsa's 1956 violin concerto which, unusually, was not written as film music but which partly inspired Wilder to produce the film.The acting is excellent, particularly by Stephens, slightly less so by Blakely although Watson is probably the most difficult Doylesian character to play.
As the title suggests, the film is rather more concerned with characterisation than plot, which although entertaining and original, is hardly an adequate stage to show off Holmes' exceptional talents.Instead, Wilder and Diamond start with the premise that "Watson's" stories for Strand Magazine were a little more lurid than the "reality" and use it to develop a more subtle characterisation than the "thinking machine" of the literary Holmes.
Stephens' performance leaves us with a slightly melancholy Holmes', a man who perhaps regrets that, unlike Watson, he has dedicated his life to pure reason and while the screenplay hints at Holmes' sexuality, Stephens deflects it masterfully, remaining ambivalent and gentile where a less accomplished actor would have been simply camp, and so uses the suggestion to wrap another layer of ambiguity about the character.All in all, Wilder and Stephens combine to make a refreshingly accessible Holmes and the entertainment comes from the interplay of characters rather than pace of plot..
When a bored Holmes (Robert Stephens who also played Holmes on the stage and in TV series 'The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes') eagerly takes the case of Gabrielle Valladon (Genevieve Page) after an attempt on her life , the search for her missing husband leads to Sherlock and Watson (Colin Blakely) towards Loch Ness and the legendary monster.
In the flick appears the usual of the Arthur Conan Doyle's novels : Mycroft (Sherlock's brother , well played by Christopher Lee) , Mistress Hudson (Irene Handl) , and as always Doctor Watson (Colin Blakely).
Production design by the expert Alexandre Trauner is of first rate , the movie is very atmospheric , 221 Baker Street home , the streets of London , castles are very well designed .Robert Stephens's interpretation is magnificent, he's one of the best Sherlock Holmes in the cinema , likeness to Peter Cushing and Jeremy Brett in television.
Originally, the scenes featuring the Loch Ness Monster were intended to be filmed in the actual Loch , a life-size prop was built which had several Nessie-like humps used to disguise flotation devices , the humps were removed, however, at Billy Wilder's request.
Presented as a case that loyal companion John Watson duly recorded but requested remain secret until long after his death, in which Holmes aids a Belgian woman find her missing husband, a mining engineer hired by an apparently non-existant English company, it makes clever use of the rulebook Conan Doyle set down while at the same time undermining it from within.
The title and the plot may seem misleading at first - the first half hour especially seems at odds with what comes afterwards - but in fact if you're a Holmes fan you'll quickly realise that this is as close to romance as the detective would ever allow, and Wilder tells it through a masterful accumulation of small touches that only someone as meticulous as the man himself would notice.
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Stephens) and Dr. Watson (Colin Blakely) get involved in a very weird case involving a mysterious French woman (Geneuieve Page), Sherlock's brother Mycroft (Christopher Lee), midgets, Scotland, the Queen and the Loch Ness Monster!
He's a very good actor--I'm surprised to see him so bad.The movie is very lavish (probably because Billy Wilder was involved)...a lot of money and attention was given to sets and costumes, and they actually went on location to shoot the end in Scotland.
The story, as we now find it, is comprised of two unequal portions: the first concerns Holmes' interactions with a glamorous ballet dancer (Tamara Toumanova), casting doubt on the famous detective's sexuality, while the second mystery demonstrates the efforts of Holmes and Watson to locate the husband of an beautiful woman (Geneviève Page) suffering from amnesia.When little-known British actor Robert Stephens first appeared on screen as Det. Sherlock Holmes, I wasn't certain that he was the suitable man for the job {Wilder had initially considered Peter O'Toole as Holmes, and Peter Sellers as Watson, before deciding to cast unknowns}.
One of fiction literature's most fascinating pairs of characters, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are depicted well here in this gem from Billy Wilder, which has a biting, clever and witty script, as well as superb production values.
But Dr. Watson made journals, and as Watson's private deposit box is opened some 50 years later, one such journal now sheds light on one particular tricky case, and one that also delved deep into the private life of the greatest of sleuths.Billy Wilder film's rarely need an introduction, with a CV that contains Stalag 17, The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, his output, it's safe to say, is mostly remembered and quite rightly is often praised.
Billy Wilder wasn't interested in making any old Sherlock Holmes movie, and this film, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, reflect that if only in the sum of the parts that were finally kept in.
And yet, for the concessions Wilder had to make- he intended it as a 'four-part suite' with a prologue and two segments not kept in the film (one or two of these is mostly complete on the deleted segments section of the DVD)- what remains, like Welles with The Magnificent Ambersons, shows more than enough artistic merit and invention of film-making and entertainment to suffice.In what remains of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes are two stories, pretty much complimentary to one another and almost making Holmes into a 'Pulp Fiction' kind of story arc.
Wilder also has the good mind to cast supporting players well, such as a near unrecognizable Christopher Lee (unlike his Hammer film "Big Dog" of the Baskervilles) as Mycroft, and Genevieve Page as the confused and sad and mysterious woman that leads Holmes and Watson on their story.If there are any bones to pick they're minor: the look of the picture has a kind of odd fog or shade to it, as if the director of photography was coming up with a technique that would suit Zigmond on McCabe & Mrs. Miller much better (either that or my DVD had a bad print).
It's an adult movie for Sherlock fans.It's also very funny thanks to Colin Blakely's Dr Watson and supporting characters - the Russian ballet scene for example - superb mock-Russian voices and misinterpretations such as "Ees not your glass of tea?" Watson's energetic womanising character contrasts nicely with Robert Steven's sombre Holmes.
They are all here in Wilder's most underrated movie.On the site,people complain about the editing,but you cannot put the blame on the director:his three-hour work was boiled down to a two-hour digest.What remains is splendid indeed:magnificence of the film sets -Trauner's work,he who elaborated those of Carné's "les enfants du paradis "(children of paradise)-,intelligence of the screenplay (not adapted from Conan Doyle,achieving the feat of paying a tribute to the great writer while kindly laughing at his hero:Sherlock is manipulated,cheated,sometimes it seems that he's no more in control of what's happening .His deductions are elephantine:at the opera,they use paper swans ,therefore (sic) the lake monster is a fake.It could be a fake lake too,mind you.Genevieve Page provides the love interest and her sunshade is a good stroke of inspiration.Sherlock certainly did love her,because ,when he reads about her tragic demise,he solaces himself with music and fairly disreputable methods.Let's hope ,that some day,we will be allowed to see the whole movie as Wilder had originally conceived it:a great director like him more than deserves it!.
Holmes (Robert Stephens) and Watson (Colin Blakely) take on the case of finding a Belgium woman's husband, against brother Mycroft's (Christopher Lee) wishes.
Despite the fact that Billy Wilders track record was far from shabby, a foolish "suit" decided that the only way to salvage this movie from total disaster was to cut out various key sequences and ruin the 'concerto' like structure of this, probably Wilders most personal film.Intended as a 'Roadshow' movie ,with intermission, the two hours we are left with not only hint at greatness, the picture often, in it's own arch way, achieves the level of masterpiece thru some great dialogue eg:"I'm English, you know what that means,the only thing worse than our food is our lovemaking".Some of the best widescreen photography ever seen ,and most importantly 2 fantastic performances by 2 criminally underused(at least by Hollywood)actors.Blakely was often to have said to possess the art of concealing art and his bumbling, outraged, but ultimately worthy Watson are a terrific foil for Stephens Definitive, sexy, Holmes.This is up there with O'toole's Lawrence or Connery's Bond as an Iconic performance.It often mentioned that this movie is a failure but to me this is, even truncated, Wilders most personal film and therefore , a masterpiece..
This really is a fun, well told story from the lost files of Dr John Watson, who, while narrating the movie from beyond the grave, (ahh a Billy Wilder touch after all!) tries to give the audience and himself some clue as to the real Sherlock Holmes.
In the 19th century Arthur Conan Doyle created detective Sherlock Holmes.After many movies made in the next century director Billy Wilder came up with his own version in 1970.That was a movie called The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.A beautiful woman is taken to the place of Sherlock Holmes and she says her husband has vanished.Soon Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson find themselves from Scotland trying to solve the mystery.Robert Stephens makes a fine Sherlock.And what a fine team he makes with Colin Blakely in the role of Watson.Geneviéve Page does excellent work as the woman seeking for help.The legendary Christopher Lee plays Mycroft Holmes and he's great as always.This is a less known movie of Billy Wilder's production and it's not my favorite.But don't get me wrong, I did like it.I had a few laughs watching it.And the mystery part works pretty good.I know this was something Wilder wanted to do being a Sherlock Holmes fan and I'm glad he did fulfill his dream.This movie is weird to say the least.It involves midgets and Loch Ness monster.But weird can be good.And that's what this is.Good weird..
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)Billy Wilder is one of Hollywood's greats, and I love his best movies with a kind of awe.
Beautifully shot (particularly the parts in Scotland), magnificently acted (especially by the two leads, but also kudos for Ms. Page and Holmes-veteran Christopher Lee) and a pretty nifty mystery make for a movie that qualifies as far more than just 'good', but I certainly wouldn't call it great.
In The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Billy Wilder gets access to a case that Doctor Watson did not want revealed.
In modern terms, the Star Trek phenomenon is the closest thing we have to it.Of course Arthur Conan Doyle created a man whose private life was only hinted at and he concentrated on the cases with which Holmes always solved with matchless deductive reasoning and an eye for detail that Adrian Monk would envy.Billy Wilder had a Holmes film in mind over a dozen years before this one came to fruition.
The prologue is an unnecessary intrusion (with references to another movie character that should have been veiled); "The Upside Down Room" is an interesting vignette that adds to Watson's character, but doesn't progress the story and should have been cut; the flashback of Holmes to his college days probably should have been included in the film; "The Naked Honeymooners", a fine vignette that is shown on film in subtitles, goes on too long, and good though it looks it's at right angles to the film because it makes Watson to be utterly stupid (he's a doctor who can't even tell if someone is dead!).
All of these segments might've made an interesting short feature added to the movie (like "The Crimson Permanent Insurance" in Monty Python's "Meaning of Life") but only the college flashback would have fit in the movie, or even been of importance to it.Colin Blakely makes a fine attempt at changing Watson's persona (the mold would not really be broken until the arrival of David Burke and Edward Hardwicke in the Jeremy Brett series), and Robert Stephens, a worthy actor, portrays Holmes both poignant and with a sense of humor.
However, this particular set of adventures play out much differently than Holmes feels Dr. Watson has famously recounted in the past.As one may expect, legendary auteur director Billy Wilder ('Double Indemnity' (1944), 'The Apartment' (1960)) crafts a marvelous film in 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.' Wilder had originally envisioned - and even shot - this film as a three-hour epic with intermissions, more story lines, etc.
Still, even in its lasting taught form, the viewer experiences beautiful photography, a brilliant Miklós Rózsa score and wonderful performances from Colin Blakely as Dr. Watson & Christopher Lee as Mycroft Holmes throughout.Robert Stephens, who had some practice playing the character on the stage before portraying the character in 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes,' is particularly fantastic in the lead role as Sherlock Holmes.
though i haven't seen every Sherlock Holmes movie ever made,i have seen a few,and this one is much different.i found it darker in tone,and with a very compelling story.it also delves deeper into the character of Holmes,in a personal light.i liked the story and i also liked the acting.i had not seen a Billy Wilder film before,and probably never would have,if it weren't for this being a Sherlock Holmes movie.but i thought his was a well done movie.there's a definite sadness to it that isn't in any of the other Holmes movies i have seen.there a few comic bits.actually more like dark humour.it's around 2 hours in length,but doesn't feel long at all.for me,The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is an 8/10.
This Sherlock Holmes (Robert Stephens, who along with Colin Blakely as Watson, does a good job under the circumstances) shows very little of the astounding deductive powers which have delighted readers for a hundred years.
Besides, I'm a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories, so I figured it would be enjoyable.When the opening credits came on, I realized why the title sounded familiar: the film was directed by the great Billy Wilder!
The performances are spot-on as well, particularly Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes, Colin Blakely as Watson, and Christopher Lee.I won't go into the plot, as this one is better enjoyed going in blind.
Also had the thought that a film directed by the legendary Billy Wilder (responsible for a fair share of masterpieces and even his lesser output is worth watching) and starring Robert Stephens and Christopher Lee has got to be at least worthwhile.Worthwhile 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' certainly is.
By all means, 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' would have been an even better film if it were released and available as Wilder intended, but it more than makes do.
The Humor, the Experimental Exploration of Holmes "Private" Life, and the overall Theme of the Enterprise is Charming, Witty, and Entertaining.The Films most Annoying, Over the Top, Fingers on the Blackboard Scenes are with Watson (Colin Blakely) Screeching at Holmes (Robert Stephens) and Running Amok at the Hint of a Homosexual Scandal and a Stiff Wooden Loch Ness Monster that a Child could Render a Fake (shades of Nigel Bruce).Wilder called this His most "elegant production" and it is Sumptuous.
There are pretty good performance from Stephens, Blakely, Page and Lee. The script by long-time collaborators Wilder and Diamond gets off to an intriguing start but kind of loses steam at the half-way point, with the plot becoming convoluted and somewhat silly as the action moves to Scotland.
Christopher Lee as Mycroft is inspired casting, and the portrayal of Sherlock Holmes is way more touching and sympathetic than one would expect from a movie that features the Loch Ness monster as a main storyline.Much has been made about the fact that the studio made Billy Wilder cut the movie down from its original version.
Billy Wilder's 'The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes' ( 1970 ) is without doubt my favourite film about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Baker Street sleuth.
Actually, if you think about it, it was Mycroft pulling the strings for a good part of this story.Surprisingly, Robert Stephens makes for an acceptable Holmes, looking the part better than his assistant Watson, portrayed by Colin Blakely.
THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES is a broad comic spoof of the famous detective's canon, directed by none other than Billy Wilder.
"Some Like It Hot" director Billy Wilder and long-time collaborator I.A.L. Diamond made the most outrageous, if not expensive, movie about Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes in 1970 when United Artists released "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes," with Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely portraying respectively Holmes and Dr. Watson. |
tt0283877 | American Psycho II: All American Girl | The film starts with a 12-year-old girl whose babysitter is on a date with serial killer Patrick Bateman. After Bateman kills and starts to dissect her babysitter, the girl stabs him with an ice pick. Fast forward to the present day and the girl, who is named Rachael Newman, is now a college student studying criminology under Professor Starkman, a former FBI agent. Rachael aspires to join the FBI and is determined to get the teaching assistant position under Starkman, which would make her a shoo-in for the FBI training program.
Tough competition for the position stands in her way, and Rachael proceeds to kill off classmates one by one. During her killing spree, she decides to see the school psychiatrist, Dr. Eric Daniels. Realizing that Rachael is a textbook sociopath, Daniels tries to warn Starkman, who mistakenly thinks the psycho student is Cassandra Blaire, with whom he had an extramarital affair. When Cassandra reveals that her affair with Professor Starkman has guaranteed her the TA position, Rachael decides to murder her as well. After she does so, Professor Starkman discovers Cassandra's body and calls Daniels to tell him that "she's dead". But he does not identify the victim, and Daniels assumes it must be Rachael. Distraught, Professor Starkman leaves his teaching position, which angers the obsessed Rachael. She reveals that she is not Rachael Newman; she killed the real Rachael at the beginning of the semester and assumed her identity.
During spring break, Rachael stays on campus and confronts Starkman, who had taken Valium and alcohol, and tries to seduce him to get the job. However, Starkman sees she is wearing a dress and necklace he had given to Cassandra. She then confesses her crimes to him, her "crush" on him, and that she knew about his affairs with various women (which included her former babysitter, whom he indirectly killed, since he had told her about Bateman and she decided to track him down), as he backs up towards the window in a state of confusion and fear. Rachael blows him a kiss, and he falls out the window to his death. As she leaves, Rachael realizes a janitor has witnessed Starkman's death, and she murders the janitor, too. Driving away from campus with Starkman in her car, Rachael is stopped by campus security, whom she stabs to death with an ice pick.
As the film reaches its conclusion, Daniels and two cops pursue Rachael in a car chase, started when she sped by the cops who had Daniels in the car. It ends with Rachael driving off a cliff, resulting in the car exploding. At this point, she is presumed to be dead by the cops who witnessed the event and the media.
Two years later, Dr. Daniels is giving a lecture on Rachael's mind and how he wrote a book about her. When he looks up from speaking with a student, he sees Rachael, who has not died after all; she indirectly reveals that she killed Starkman's last assistant, Elizabeth McGuire, and stole her identity to get into Quantico. She allows Dr. Daniels to know because she believes there is no point in committing the perfect crime if no one knows about it and that she is proud of his success. The body that was in the car was the real Rachael. As she walks out of his class, Dr. Daniels is obviously disturbed and rattled. | comedy, psychological, murder, violence, flashback, plot twist | train | wikipedia | But this doesn't stop other massive plot holes like the police not checking for DNA when the victim of a car crash is found at the end of the movie AP2:AAG is yet another cynical attempt to sell a stupid movie as a " Black comedy " but this is done in an even more cynical manner since it's a serial killer screenplay marketed as the sequel to a totally unrelated movie .
What it is not is a true "sequel" - except in name only - to the ultra-violent "American Psycho." In fact, aside from the fact that the main character is supposedly a survivor of Patrick Bateman, this could be a stand alone film.
It probably should not have been set up as a sequel since I'm sure it ended up attracting (and disappointing) the audience who liked the first film and kept people away who would have liked it but who thought it might be another graphically violent film.This one features Mila Kunis (Jackie of "That 70s Show") as a girl who wants to become the teaching assistant of a professor who teaches a course on crime (specifically, serial killers).
Rumor has it that Lions Gate Films took an old, un-used script and tweaked it just a little bit to make it a sequel to Universal's 2000 controversial hit "American Psycho." It's easy to see why this went straight to video.
Overall, it plays more like a made-for-TV movie and a very cheesy, bad attempt at dark comedy.
"American Psycho 2" is a terrible desecration of Bret Easton Ellis's novel and the original film.
Humor, satire, and violence here exist on a very elementary level--the "plot" (college girl kills to become a teacher's assistant) has no link, in tone or character, to anything established in the first film or book.
It was also based on an actual book, by Brat Easton Ellis, which means that it was much better written than your average teen horror schlock.I feel sorry for 19 year old (at the time) Mila Kunis.
From the beginning the story makes no sense, supposed serial killer Patrick Bateman kills again, leaving a small girl to finish what he started.
I advise you to avoid this film and check out the original "American Psycho" instead..
The makes of this film must not have needed BEE permission to make this sequel because I don't know how BEE could have let Hollywood trash the concept of his great book, American Psycho.
This sequel was nothing but some B slasher movie with a bad story and really weak killings because no gore or blood is shown.
To tie it in so they could use the title American Psycho, they make up the way Patrick Bateman died by saying a young girl was there and killed him as he killed her babysitter.
One black mark though, I couldn't help but feel that this film was somewhat tacked onto the original when it really didn't need to be, it could have and maybe should have- stood on its own two feet without the `American psycho' label..
I am biased because long before the films were about i was a huge fan of Easten-Ellis' book and so probably saw the first movie through rose-tinted glasses.however, i found the lead in this curiously cute/deadly (did anyone else think she looked a lot like ex-Sunset Beach babe Susan Ward??) and well cast.
it seems to me that someone had a great movie idea but was only able to pitch it as a sequel to something else, so they called it American Psycho II and tweaked the exposition.
Still, I wasn't adequately prepared for the complete travesty that is American Psycho: All American Girl.With only the most tenuous of links to the Christian Bale movie (adapted from Bret Easton Ellis's controversial novel), American Psycho 2, from Morgan Freeman (NOT the actor), is a laugh-free, gore-free, and nudity-free piece of crap aimed at a teen audience, that never once attempts to push the boundaries, totally eschews the original's biting satire in favour of lame parody, has a dreadful soundtrack (consisting of a throughly annoying comedic score and a selection of crap pop/rock songs—as opposed to the retro-cool 80s hits of the original), and even features an ageing William Shatner (sans girdle) as the object of affection for two very hot teenage girls.
Now that's pushing it!Gorgeous star Mila Kunis is admittedly very easy on the eye, bringing to mind a genetic splice of Katie Holmes and Angelina Jolie, but she's dreadfully miscast as the psycho (for starters, she's way too tiny) and her oh-so-devious character is thoroughly irritating, providing a continuously grating voice-over as she goes about killing the people who might prevent her from achieving her ultimate goal: to become an FBI agent so that she can catch serial killers (oh, how ironic).If you're a fan of the original film, either avoid this embarrassing follow-up like the plague, or be prepared for a massive disappointment..
American Psycho 2: All American Girl(2002) Starring: Mila Kunis, William Shatner, Geraint Wyn Davies, Robin Dunne, Lindy Booth, Kim Poirier, Kim Schraner, Kate Keleton, Charles Officer, Kay Hawtrey, Boyd Banks, Neil Crone, and Lynne Deragon Written By: Bret Easton Ellis Directed By: Morgan J.
As a video film it was not really bad.After I had seen the first part,(maybe this happened in 2005,or in 2006)I did not know that film was made from a cult book,but there was a cultural TV-show in the Hungarian television,with an interview with the writer.It was hard to recognize the first Mary Harron adaptation was just interesting ,but only for first time.This second part is a comedy,with an interesting message.But as I sad this film a comedy.The twists are looks good in a not too serious film,(I mean this film is far better with this smart screenplay).Mila Kunis is very average.Don't forget this film was not a theatrical release.Maybe the character played by Mila is just OK,but theatrical releases has the same quality most of time..
Having (through some strange, unexplained sequence of events) killed Patrick Bateman from the original film, a teenage girl (Mila Kunis) makes it her life's ambition to track serial killers and bring them to justice.
Although the plot is shallow and ridiculous, the film is amusing in parts with some witty one-liners and a fair performance from Geraint Wyn Davies as the killer's psychiatrist.One to watch on TV to pass the time, but not worth paying to see..
I'm still watching it now and to be honest I didn't care much for the original American Psycho (albeit it's been a few years since I've seen it) but I just saw this on demand, by chance, and figured "what the hell, let's give it a shot." 23 minutes into the film and I'm hooked.
American psycho 2 was a good movie, but it didn't go along with the the original.
I don't expect everyone to like, or even understand, the original American Psycho, but reading these comments has ruined my faith in humanity.
OK, it wasn't really a sequel to American psycho, it was a movie on it's own.
I never thought I would actually find a movie so blatantly terrible that I cannot stand even a single scene of it.Firstly: I am a big fan of the original American Psycho - an aspect that makes just how bad this movie is even worse, like a good sequel should of course.It is clear this movie has no idea what it is trying to be.Within the first 2 minutes it manages to portrays a complete disregard for the very point of the previous film - denouncing the psychological concept entirely and opting out of the yuppie satire for poorly exaggerated college melodrama alongside of course a charismatic, mysteriously nonsensical protagonist for an infuriatingly nonsensical protagonist.Attempting to disassociate this film in order to see how it stands alone from the prior would at the very best result in being deemed hilariously bad - or perhaps a very bad attempt at being quirky.
The music in American Psycho 2 seems to do the Teen dramedy thing in which it blatantly portrays the characters feelings - in this case however much like the characters, script and direction makes no sense whatsoever.I cannot think of any constructive criticism whatsoever aside from renaming it to not tarnish the name of the original.For those of you who have seen the film: - Imagine the perpetual inner monologue/narrations was cut out entirely.
Well when I first heard that American Psycho 2 was not going to have Christian Bale in the starring role I was very annoyed as I, as many of you probably thought he did an amazing job in the first film.
I just finished watching American Psycho 2, and I'm happy to say that I don't feel like I've wasted 90 minutes of my life.
With just the BAREST of threads (a girl 'admires' the work of the first film's anti-hero), the creators of this straight-to-video shlockfest felt justified in calling this a sequel; those seeking something similar to the original are going to be in for a rude awakening: "American Psycho" was NOT a particularly well-made movie but it DID have one saving grace: the performance of Christian Bale, who easily displayed his character's sexiness, determination, fear and desperation.
She is an attractive young actress, indeed, but AMAZINGLY miscast, something that becomes apparent as soon as she opens her mouth, for Kunis is either blessed or cursed, depending on your viewpoint, with a distinctive voice that is unmistakably nasal and comical on its own; worse still, she simply isn't right for a role in which she is, at the very least, supposed to inspire even the slightest sense of fear (she IS, after all, portraying a character who is willing to kill all those who get in her way), and despite what other reviews would have you believe, while the makers of this mess may have had their tongues planted firmly in cheek, whatever humorous elements there are (and there aren't many, believe me) are strictly unintentional mostly due to Mila's wretched miscasting (her narration is instantly annoying) and truly, deeply rotten writing that NO amount of talent could overcome.
Whoever first thought American Psycho 2 would be a good idea either never read the book nor saw the first movie, or didn't get either, and no matter which it is, they deserve to have Patrick Bateman loosed on them.
Patrick Bateman wasn't killed by a little girl, he was killed in a pier fire in Lunar Park, and they seemed to miss the bit at the end of the American Psycho book/movie in which it's revealed that Bateman never really killed anyone, or it's at least left ambiguous.
Mila quite frankly impressed me as she did so well in a horror movie, being a very different genre to comedy, which she usually performs in with her role as Jackie in 'That 70's Show'.The rest of the cast also acted their parts very professionally, e.g. William Shatner as Bobby Starkman and Geraint Wyn Davies as Doctor Daniels.I also think that the plot was set out very well, and that the storyline was excellent.
I liked this one better than the original American Psycho.
I actually liked this more than the original American Psycho.
First things first: If you like the first American Psycho, do NOT see this movie.
This movie is so much better than that piece of trash called American Psycho.
And whatever was going on in the first movie that was supposed to make me think Bateman was imagining himself killing people is nothing compared to this mind twister.
It's only tie to the original is the little girl (Mila Kunis) who witnesses the death of Patrick Bateman.
This isn't the most suspensful flick ever made, and it's way different from the original Psycho movie- it's a lighter plot, it's less about the hip and rich kids.
Some of the killing scenes are which you mostly see in movies, but Mila Kunis I thought gave a good performance.
American Psycho II (2002) BOMB (out of 4) In name only sequel to the cult film has Mila Kunis playing Rachel, a young woman who as a child killed the serial killer Patrick Bateman.
The thought of Mila Kunis killing people and acting psychotic was enough to make me watch this film.
If this movie had been made as just another crime/thriller movie and not as a sequel to American Psycho, I honestly think it would have been slightly more successful; the reason being is that those who have seen the first movie will have high expectations of this one (unless they have viewed this IMDb page) and be making comparisons throughout the 90 minute duration.
One of the biggest problems I had with the film is that nobody noticed when someone was killed, there was no police investigation, no panic from the community and this is where the movie again tries to use the same elements that made the first one so successful but in this setting I think it leaves the audience questioning why and adding to the incredulous story.
Really the only positives I can say about this film is the performances from Mila Kunis and William Shatner were brilliant; I think they have done well to breathe life into a dull script and really carried the movie.
As a movie in its own right, I enjoyed this, but I can't say it felt anything like the first "American Psycho".
So if you're looking for a movie that seems to -deserve- the title "American Psycho II", don't bother with this one, it will be a disappointment.Even so, while it's not what I'd call "juicy" or truly "great", it is watchable.
I don't know why so many people hate this movie; oh wait, yes, I think I do: people expected it to be just like the first American Psycho, and were surprised when what they got was a satirical dark comedy that's also halfway a parody of slasher movies.
I guess the reason so many people hate it is that it has so little to do with American Psycho(both the book and the original film), yet still carries the name in the title.
I don't really recommend it to fans of the first American Psycho, as it has virtually nothing to do with the first, and there is hardly any connection to the first, apart from the opening sequence which features a fairly doubtful version of Patrick Bateman, which I think was more or less made to poke fun at the character from the first film(which is why fans of the first should probably avoid this).
If you did enjoy the first film, and you are going to watch this no matter what, I urge you to see it with an open mind; it's not as bad as many people think.
The starting of the movie shows the main character as a girl watching her baby sitter about to get killed by Patrick Bateman.
It was based on a book that galvanized opinions and it starred one of the best actors, Christian Bale, who personified Patrick Bateman as the ultimate slave to fashion.But in AMERICAN PSYCHO 2, kewpie doll, Mila Kunis is supposedly the girl who *killed* Patrick Bateman and has herself become a serial killer.
I did like the twist at the end but it wasn't that clever and maybe it was just the surprise to have something interest me that made me think it was better than it was.The immediate problem with the cast for me was that every time I glanced away from the screen all I could hear was Meg from Family Guy. Apart from this handicap, Kunis fails to do anything with Rachel and just comes across as a rather vacuous valley girl type.
Unnecessary, stupid movie of a girl who was "inspired" by Patrick Bateman (from the first film) to become a serial killer.I'm no fan of the first film although I do think it was very well done and Bale was superb in the lead role.
It didn't need a sequel but...The plot is stupid and the film has a jokey feel to it--they play sort of humorous music all the way through it...including the killings.
The sequel has none of the the qualities that made the original so great and if it weren't for the title and a poor attempt to include Bateman in the story, you would think that it was a low rate made for TV slasher flick.
"American Psycho 2" is a bland dark comedy about a female college Freshman majoring in sociopathology (eg: serial killers) who is determined to get a position as a teaching assistant with her professor as a stepping stone to a career with the FBI and will kill anyone who gets in her way.
I haven't seen original American Psycho so maybe that is the "problem", why I liked it so much.
I like the way things happened in movie and even the ending :) Yes, as I said everyone expect that but - it's good anyway...
The one saving grace of this movie is the fact that you get to hear William Shatner say the f-word on multiple occasions.The rest of it is taken up in misinterpreting and losing the ideas and themes of the first film, and instead having a good looking girl kill people with funny music in the background.Hey, ever heard any Danny Elfman music?
Though it's a good film, I've never been the biggest fan of the original "American Psycho" (starring Christian Bale and based on the bestseller by Brett Easton Ellis).
Compare to the first one, it's nothing like it.This movie it's OK to watch but it should not be called American Psycho 2.
The girl is nothing like Patrick Bateman; this movie is just funny nothing to be anxious about.
I over all liked the film, it is by no means a bad movie, but as far as sequels go, it's pretty lame.4/10.
American Psycho 2 is your standard direct to video film. |
tt0848228 | The Avengers | Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division), arrives at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, during an evacuation. The Tesseract, an energy source of unknown potential, has activated. It opens a portal through space and the exiled Norse god Loki (Tom Hiddleston) steps through, carrying a strange spear with a blue glowing tip. Loki takes the Tesseract and uses the spear to take control of the minds of several SHIELD personnel, including Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) , and Agent Clint "Hawkeye" Barton (Jeremy Renner), to aid him in his getaway. SHIELD personnel pull out of their base when an energy surge from the Tesseract causes the ground beneath the base to collapse and destroying it. A short pursuit of Loki fails to capture him.In response to the attack, Nick Fury issues a state of emergency, telling his top agents Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), that they are completely out of options. Fury pulls Romanoff and Coulson out of their respective assignments and sends them to find the heroes he needs to oppose Loki. Romanoff is found in Eastern Europe interrogating suspects, and Coulson pulls her off the assignment and sends her to find "the big guy": Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), aka The Incredible Hulk. Banner has been living in exile in India working for a hospital in Calcutta helping sick people, and has found inner peace doing so. Romanoff tells Banner about the Tesseract and its' destructive capabilities. As the world's expert on gamma rays, Banner is their best chance to find the cube's location.During a video chat with the World Security Council, the superiors who run S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury is grilled about his plan to bring about the Avengers Initiative. The WSC are furious, saying that it's the wrong thing to do and these people will never work together as a group. Fury says they have no other option and this is their only hope of defeating Loki. The superiors reluctantly agree.Steve Rogers, (Chris Evans) on the other hand, is relatively easy to find. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been keeping tabs on him since he was found in the ice and still alive. Fury goes to greet Rogers at his gymnasium where he finds he doesn't sleep. Fury tells Rogers that he will find a briefing packet about what's going on back at his apartment. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is seen in a new Iron Man armor that has underwater capabilities. He is installing a new electrical connection that will take his office building completely off the electrical grid allowing it to become self sustaining. He's greeted at his office by Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) who tells him that it's date night. Tony wants Pepper to know how it feels to be a genius and after an argument about how much credit she should get for coming up with the Stark Tower idea, date night is off. Coulson arrives, and Tony quickly and repeatedly tries to cut him off. Coulson hands Tony a laptop with all the data on it about everything that's going on. Pepper decides instead to go to Washington DC to get the zoning permits for the next two buildings for Stark Tower as it seems Tony has homework to do, and a lot of it.On the airplane to the secured location - an aircraft carrier that can convert to a flying aircraft carrier, Coulson is telling Rogers about how it's such an honor that they found him and tells him about his Captain America trading card collection. They then head to the helicarrier and Rogers is introduced to Dr. Bruce Banner. The two then wonder what kind of ride they're in for. Rogers thinks it's a submarine but the last thing Dr. Banner should be riding in is a submerged, pressurized metal container. The carrier takes off. On board, they are briefed that Dr. Selvig and Loki have been traced to Stuttgart, Germany.Rogers' first assignment is to go to Stuttgart to arrest Loki and bring him on board the helicarrier. Loki is at a formal black tie gala at an art museum where he is kidnapping a doctor who harbors the element they need to make the Tesseract work. While Dr. Selvig creates a distraction and Hawkeye kills the men guarding the building, Loki carries out his plan. Outside, he is instructing the civilians present that they need to kneel before him - or else, and that freedom is life's great lie. He's then confronted by Rogers in Captain America regalia, and later Tony makes his entrance to the tune of AC/DC's "Shoot To Kill" with full Iron Man weapons drawn and daring Loki to make a move.Loki quickly surrenders when the two heroes arrive, and while being flown to the high tech prison on board the helicarrier, the plane encounters a lighting storm. Rogers asks Loki if he's afraid of lighting but Loki tells him it's not the lightning that he's afraid of. It's what follows. Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki's half-brother and the Norse God of thunder, arrives and attempts to capture Loki so Loki can face Asguardian justice for his crimes (which will be more effective than Earth's), but Thor gets into a fight with Rogers and Tony. The fight ends in a stalemate. Eventually, Loki is taken to the helicarrier and placed in a glass cell designed to hold the Hulk. Fury explains that if Loki attempts to escape, even by merely cracking the glass, a shaft will open below him and he'll plummet to Earth and possibly be killed.On board the aircraft carrier, the fully assembled Avengers squad is being briefed by Fury about what they think will possibly happen next. Loki is in prison and is interrogated by Agent Romanoff. Tony Stark arrives and it seems the only one of the group he really gets along with is Bruce Banner. While conducting experiments on Loki's scepter, Stark tries to get a rise out of Banner so he can witness Banner's famous party trick (read: turning into the Incredible Hulk). Banner flinches and then begins telling about how he's been unable to fully harness his abilities and that he suffered depression after the accident. That's why he moved to Calcutta, as helping people is what gives his life meaning.The Avengers, now brought together, argue and deliberate over how to approach Loki and the revelation that SHIELD plans to harness the Tesseract's power to develop weapons, a discovery made by Rogers. Fury admits that the events in New Mexico a year before (recounted in Thor) made SHIELD aware of other races on other worlds, some of whom may see Earth as an easy target. Thor is seen asking agent Coulson about what happened to Jane Foster. Coulson tells him that S.H.I.E.L.D. has placed her in their witness protection program and that she's in a safe zone in London.The decision was made to produce weapons with the Tesseract as a means of deterrence. As the group argues, Clint Barton and Loki's possessed agents attack the helicarrier, disabling one of its engines in flight. While Stark and Rogers attempt to restart the damaged engine, Romanoff tries to prevent Dr. Banner from turning into the Hulk and destroying the ship from inside. Her attempt fails and she's chased through the ship until Thor takes up the battle to pacify the beast and manages to fell him briefly with a hit from his hammer, Mjolnir. While fighting Barton, Romanoff slams him into a guard rail, and the blow to the head breaks Loki's mind control. After the Hulk falls from the ship, Thor is tricked into Loki's holding cell by Loki himself, who has recovered his scepter and releases the cell and allows Thor to plummet. Loki is held at bay briefly by Agent Coulson but is also tricked by one of Loki's holographic projections - Coulson is stabbed in the back by the real Loki. Coulson later shoots Loki with a blast from an unidentified weapon, one that harnesses the power of the Destroyer. Coulson dies while Fury tries to save his life. Thor escapes from the cell a split second before it hits the ground. Banner wakes up in his human form after crashing into an abandoned factory.Fury uses Coulson's apparent death to motivate the Avengers to work as a team. Stark and Rogers realize that simply defeating them will not be enough for Loki. He needs to overpower them in a very public way so as to validate himself as ruler of Earth. Using a device built by Dr. Selvig, Loki opens a portal to the Chitauri home world over Manhattan, summoning a Chitauri invasion. Once again the group's petty differences overshadow their ability to communicate as a team, especially with Banner now missing. While in an argument with Rogers, Tony finally figures out that Loki is a full tilt diva, and that he's obviously set up shop at the top of Stark's office.Natasha, unfortunately arrives too late just as Dr. Selvig has opened the portal. This unleashes Loki's army and all hell breaks loose. The army is massive and they can't all fight them off as much as they are entering the earth's atmosphere. Tony Stark thankfully shows up, as does Bruce Banner. While fighting, Rogers dispatches NYPD cops to direct citizens into the underground tunnels and sewers. Meanwhile, the Hulk smashes, and Tony arrives at Stark Tower where he attempts to stall Loki with a drink which is used to threaten and intimidate him. As that's going on, Tony has JARVIS prepare an under development version of Iron Man called MK18 which is contained in a giant box coded specifically for Tony and has advanced weapons capabilities. Loki refuses to cooperate, saying the destruction will continue as long as the citizens of earth don't get that they need to be ruled by him. Loki attempts to take control of Stark by using his scepter on his heart to control his mind, but it fails thanks to Tony's somewhat trusty Arc Reactor that keeps him alive.The Avengers rally in defense of New York, but quickly come to the conclusion that they will be overwhelmed as wave after wave of Chitauri descend upon Earth. With help from the reformed Barton, Rogers and Thor evacuate civilians while Dr. Banner transforms into the Hulk and goes after Loki, beating him into submission in Tony Stark's penthouse. Romanoff makes her way, with a little help from the Chitauri, to the device that holds the portal open (conveniently located on the roof of the Stark Building) and hits Dr. Selvig over the head, freeing him of Loki's control. Dr. Selvig reveals that Loki's staff can be used to close the portal.As that's happening, Hulk confronts Loki, who refuses to be intimidated by such a beast. As Rogers instructed, Hulk smashes Loki into near oblivion. That allows Romanoff to grab the scepter and head to the roof to shut down the portal. While Romanoff is securing the portal, Stark is securing the perimeter. Meanwhile, with Fury on a conference call to the council, Fury berates the council's decision to launch a nuclear missile at Manhattan. Fury tries everything possible to stop the council from launching nukes, even destroying two jets that are taking off from the helicarrier. Unfortunately as he's about to fire on a third, it gets away and launches a nuclear weapon.Tony intercepts the missile and he knows exactly where to put it - he flies it into the portal. While in the portal, Stark instructs JARVIS to try Pepper one last time. Unfortunately the call fails as Pepper is on a plane and glued to the TV with other Stark Industries executives. Tony launches the nuke at the Chitauri mothership, completely destroying the invasion. All the invading aliens collapse and are rendered useless. Stark sees the nuke go just as he runs out of oxygen and falls to what appears to be certain doom. Thankfully he manages to escape the portal just as Romanoff is able to successfully close it. Once back in the atmosphere it looks like Tony isn't going to make it, but is saved by the Hulk thanks to incredible timing. A dazed Stark, awakened by the Hulk's roar, offers to take the team out for shawarma, but they decide to apprehend Loki first. The Avengers go their separate ways. Romanoff, Rogers, and Hawkeye return to working for S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony and Pepper are seen rebuilding Stark Tower and are working on the next phase of the project. Thor escorts Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard where Loki will stand multiple trials for war crimes from both Asgard and the Chitauri. Meanwhile, multiple TV news reports recap the events surrounding the Avengers, and while they've become worldwide heroes for to some for their efforts in New York, others are fearful and want to know who will take responsibility for the devastation.On another video conference call with the World Security Council, Fury is being congratulated, but they also grill him that now their secret's out, this group is too dangerous for the world to handle. And Fury is glad - what happened in New York is a warning. A warning to all galaxies that if they try to attack earth, S.H.I.E.L.D. is there to defend it. And they have just the team. Fury also tells the S.H.I.E.L.D. board that the Avengers' whereabouts are no longer being tracked. They've earned a leave of absence, but will be called back when needed. He also tells the council that the Tesseract is where no one on earth will ever be able to find it.In a mid-credits scene, the Chitauri leader the Other tells his master that it is futile to attack Earth, as fighting the Avengers is like courting death. His master turns, revealing himself to be Thanos.After further credits, the Avengers are shown eating together in a shawarma joint; the team looks worn out and no one speaks. | comedy, boring, flashback, good versus evil, humor, action, revenge, entertaining | train | imdb | null |
tt1130988 | JCVD | The film establishes Jean-Claude Van Damme playing himself as an out-of-luck actor. He is out of money; his agent cannot find him a decent production; and the judge in a custody battle is inclined to give custody of his daughter over to his ex-wife. His own daughter rejects him as a father, much to his chagrin. He returns to his childhood home of Schaarbeek in the Brussels capital region, Belgium, where he is still considered a national icon.
After posing for pictures with clerks outside a video store, Van Damme goes into the post office across the street. A shot is fired inside the post office, and a police officer responds but is waved off by Van Damme at the window, which is then blocked. He calls for backup.
The narrative then shifts to Van Damme's point of view. He goes into the post office to receive a badly needed wire transfer but finds that the bank is being robbed. He is taken hostage along with the others. The police mistakenly identify Van Damme as the robber when he is forced to move a cabinet to block the window. Van Damme finds himself acting as a hero to protect the hostages by engaging with the robbers about his career, as well as both a negotiator and presumed perpetrator. While speaking by phone as the ringleader of the robbers, Van Damme even goes so far as to demand $465,000 for the law firm handling his custody case. It is not clear if Van Damme demands the $465, 000 out of self-interest or out of a desire to appear as a genuine bank-robber to the police as he insists to the thieves or perhaps both.
The narrative continues to shift to show Van Damme's troubles getting roles and money, and the media circus that develops around the post office and video store, which the police use as a base of operations.
In a notable scene, Van Damme and the camera are lifted above the set, and he performs a six-minute single-take monologue, where he breaks the fourth wall addressing the audience directly with an emotional (but characteristically cryptic) monologue about his career, his multiple marriages, and his drug abuse.
Van Damme then persuades one of the bank robbers to release the hostages. After this happens, a scuffle ensues and in the resulting conflict, the head robber is shot. The police, after hearing a gunshot, storm the building. The police shoot another one of the thieves, and Van Damme is held at gunpoint by the final one. Van Damme briefly imagines a scenario in which he takes the robber out by elbowing him and kicking him in the face and everyone including the police and crowd cheering for him, but in reality, he just elbows him in the stomach, and the police take him into custody.
Van Damme is arrested for extortion over the $465,000 and sentenced to 1 year in prison. The final scenes show him teaching karate to other inmates, then being visited by his mother and daughter. | comedy, violence, alternate reality, satire, murder | train | wikipedia | It's a kind of dramatic comedy where Jean-Claude Van Damme plays with great conviction his own role in life.
Interesting concept from french director Mabrouk el Mechri: real action star Jean Claude Van Damme is engaged into a bitter legal battle for his daughter's custody.
Yet, remarkable as it may seem, the Muscles from Brussels turns in a truly career turning performance in JCVD.Directed and co-written by Mabrouk El Mechri, JCVD manages to capably straddle art house, action and comedy genres as it captivates the viewer by laying bare the soul of the star of such DVD fare as Bloodsport, Streetfighter, and Universal Soldier, to name only a few.Largely based on his real life troubles, JCVD unfolds as Van Damme retreats to his native Belgium in the wake of a losing child custody battle in a Los Angeles court.Mounting financial troubles have left our hero with over-maxed plastic and debit cards that no longer yield ATM withdrawals.
Forced to tap into his savings reserves, he makes a pit stop at a post office/bank to arrange a money wire transfer to pay his lawyer, only to discover that the bank is in the process of being robbed and he's stuck in the midst of the drama.To make matters worse, the manner in which things have unfolded has caused authorities and media alike to believe that Van Damme is the mastermind, orchestrating the heist and hostage taking to pay his legal bills.Segmented into chapters and shown out of sequence, similar to Pulp Fiction, El Mechri manages to deftly juggle laughs and tension to deliver a film that uniquely straddles several genres, including breaking the "fourth wall" with an eight-minute long monologue in the film's third act that sees the muscle-bound Belgian recap, with painful tear-inducing pain, his life of cheesy movies, women and drugs.Think of Dog Day Afternoon in which Pacino gets to speak to the audience and lay his soul bare and you've got an idea of what's in store with JCVD, which, if there's any justice, will do for Van Damme's career what Tarantino did for Travolta's.
And boy oh boy, his first attempt seems promising.Jean-Claude van Damme showed the world he can actually act and he made sure that everyone watching this film understands why he was involved.
Going to the theatre, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, after all it's Jean Claude Van Damme and you see his movies for the action and his high kicks not for his acting.
The relation between a daughter watching her "normal" dad in his Hollywood life/career is not easy.Van Damme is really back on track.JCVD The Movie : 10/10 Jean-Claude Van Varenberg, the most human-actor in Hollywood.
I don't want to spoil the film, but to me it's great one in his career, very mature, well written, many private jokes for us, well directed, well played (Jean-Claude is simply awesome like you never saw him before), many many fresh things, scenes, and moments.
"He'd still be shooting pigeons in Hong Kong," says one of the players In JCVD about director John Woo's debt to action star Jean-Claude Van Damme for their 1993 collaboration, Hard Target.
Making that film may have been JCVD's greatest contribution to modern cinema although the current film with his initials in the title is more interesting than any previous kick-butt martial arts flick of his I can remember.The story's framing device is Van Damme's fictional character of the same name unwittingly becoming a hostage in a bank robbery where his inability to extricate himself and the other hostages is a commentary on the impotence in real life of the mythical hero on the screen.
It's not bad given how bad Stallone could be in the same situation.Van Damme has had real-life difficulties getting custody of his daughter and righting his tax problems, so JCVD is an apt imagining of his troubles.
Jean-Claude Van Damme in a post-modern meta-movie (at least that's what I think they call this kind of thing) in which he plays himself with brutal honesty as an ageing action star caught up in a real-life hostage situation.
And who would have thought that it could possibly be this good?Not me, that's for sure, but here it is, JCVD, a brilliantly original film starring the Muscles from Brussels as we've never seen him before—as a believable human being—one with real-life problems and a troubled past who has absolutely no desire to get himself killed when confronted by desperate gun-toting criminals.With the Belgian superstar playing Van Damme the man rather than Van Damme the action hero, making this film is a gamble, one that risks alienating the star's existing fan-base due to a lack of slam-bang Van Damage, but hopefully it will earn him their respect—and the respect of movie-goers in general—as a bold performer willing to try something a little out of the ordinary.Told in a non-linear fashion by director Mabrouk El Mechri, this tense, funny and dramatic movie is filmed in French with subtitles, with improvised scenes of dialogue and an amazing monologue by the star that proves he can really act, all of which may even have cinema-snobs sitting up and taking note.In taking such a daring role in such a unique movie, by portraying himself as a man with flaws and weaknesses, and by acknowledging his mistakes, Jean-Claude has certainly become an even greater hero than ever before in the eyes of this particular fan..
It features an action sequence where Van Damme is out of breath and sloppily taking out soldiers while the stunt men and actors alike exhibit their heartless effort for a pay check in the film industry while the director throws darts at a picture of Hollywood.
It features an action sequence where Van Damme is out of breath and sloppily taking out soldiers while the stunt men and actors alike exhibit their heartless effort for a pay check in the film industry while the director throws darts at a picture of Hollywood.
JCVD (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a struggling B-movie action actor trying to maintain some artistic integrity despite everyone around him.
However at the same time I must not be careful to the point that I do not admit that I found this film fascinating, engaging, thrilling and creative words that rarely appear individually anymore in reviews of a Van Damme film, let alone appearing together in one, but all of which apply here.I temper this by saying that here and there JCVD is very close to being self-indulgent and artsy for artsy's sake and I can totally understand why many people will dislike this film.
We see him in this "real" world making films like he has recently (Oriental director, low budget, low effort) but mainly it is played for "real", only to then at one point have Van Damme literally rise out of this "real" world into another, realer world and talk to the audience.
This is one example but it is a good one of what the film is like as it gives Van Damme the chance to be honest and personal within this "reality".At times this is funny and I particularly enjoyed the discussions on John Woo, the attitude of the "director" at the start of the film and the references to Seagal.
Writer-Director Mabrouk EL Mechri's innovative film-making punch of inserting the aging actor Van-Damme in a real life situation similar to the actor's past movie plot lines is the real kicker of "JCVD".
During the film's third act, Van-Damme's gives out an emotional speech on his past fast lifestyle and present faded movie stardom which is by far the best acting scene of his career, or was he really acting?
I expected a lot from this film and it did not disappoint me.I've always been a big Jean Claude Van Damme fan.
some can say that he is playing himself and the performance of the Belgian is nothing special, but in my opinion on this film the actor, the man, jean Claude van Varenberg( real name of Van Dame) plays the myth, the star, jean Claude van Damme...the famous scene of the speech is so emotive and well played by Jean Claude that almost made me cry...the rest of the cast is amazing.
I have to confess that I have never been a fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme.I have generally regarded his films as meaningless wastes of time.This film,however,reeled me in with it's very unique story idea.Van Damme,in fact,plays himself here.He is knee deep in personal problems and finds himself in a real life predicament that no Hollywood script can help him out of.This film is a very imaginative,and very well carried out change of pace for the low budget action star that both long time fans and people who have never cottoned to Van Damme's style of film should enjoy.Congratulations,Mr. Van Damme.This one is a keeper..
Its interesting to note that in 2008 there are two critically successful vehicles of two old actors who are looking for a second chance in the film industry- The Wrestler with Mikey Rourke, and JCVD with Jean Claude Van Damme.
A wildly over-the-top action scene with much typical Van Damme ass-kicking (and accompanied by a Curtis Mayfield tune) is followed by Jean-Claude walking off the set, heading straight for the director, a young, talentless hack, to complain about the filming.
The next step after these establishing scenes is, naturally, to put the 'real' Van Damme in a situation right out of a movie he might have starred in- he gets stuck in the midst of a hostage situation at a bank, while attempting to make a withdrawal to pay his lawyer.
well, at least he made 'Face/Off'"), several scenes are genuinely suspenseful, but most surprising of all is that the film features one of the greatest scenes in years: just past the hour mark Van Damme faces the camera and delivers a lengthy soliloquy on why he made the movie, why he decided to take up karate, and expresses his feelings on celebrity, his own image, women, drugs, and Hollywood.
Van Damme plays himself in a flashback cross-cutting fictional narrative about his "real" personal life complicated by a post office heist-gone-wrong that Van Damme stumbles into.Not an action movie per se, but a semi-comic drama with action elements, JCVD is mainly a showcase for the serious acting chops of Van Damme -- and (surprise) Van Damme gives a performance that is -- yes, believe it -- Oscar-worthy.Even if you've zero interest in action films, or zero interest in Van Damme, JCVD will surprise you and possibly move you emotionally.
It would seem likely to see JCVD appearing in more dramatic roles in the future, for as much as we've got to know him throwing kicks and punches over the last 20 years, this movie will make you fall in love with the flawed, sad character wearing the movie star mask.In one of the most touching moments, Van Damme worries that despite being an action star, he will die in a post office having contributed nothing to the world.
This is the movie we've all been waiting for.Here he finally makes a stand , against all who mock him.Here he shows how violent movies , can inspire good in people.The violence doesn't matter , as long as you represent good.I love the whole convicting him in the end thing, brilliant.Shows that even if you do the wright thing , you still pay the price , and he endures it in the end.Marvelous ending.A big hand to the director , who was spectacular in filming this movie.I just say that i'm now looking forward to his next film , which he wrote.I can only say that , i never lost faith in him as a character , and he redeemed himself to the public , to me.Thank you Jean-Claude Van Varenberg..
"JCVD" is a Crime - Drama movie in which we watch Jean-Claude Van Damme returning to Belgium, the country of his birth, to seek peace since he cannot live any longer in the United States.
A Jean-Claude Van Damme movie unlike any of his other films.
The leading character is performed by Jean-Claude Van Damme a Belgian actor and karate champion in a movie where he represents himself in a fiction plot (supposedly autobiographic?) that involves a post office bank assault with hostage retention where he gets caught on while trying to raise money.
"JCVD" gives homage to the actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, who's career kicked off in 1988 with an action movie called "Bloodsport".
So everything whats left of an indecisively directed wanna-be art-house film is the performance of Jean-Claude Van Damme, who uses the loosely connected scenes to show some personal character insides beyond the usual physical action..
Aged action star Jean Claude Van Damme finds himself a hostage in a Belgian Post Office heist.
That's how I like my movies to end: realistically.But best of all: Jean-Claude Van Damme!
In an unusual career move, the Belgian action star Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself in a comedic action-drama about the actor's return to his home country.
The scene, all done in one take, sounds very sincere and Van Damme gets to demonstrate his acting ability a lot more than average action movies normally allow.
But in real life, or at least a film that's set in this alternative reality that cut quite close to home, things aren't always that easy, especially when he's in his forties and admits early on that he has to pant his way through any film set with an action scene that requires one continuous take.JCVD is, well in case you're now aware, made up of the initials of the has-been action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme, hero from films like Blood Sport and Universal Soldier, and as he's associated in this movie, the man credited for introducing John Woo to Hollywood as they made Hard Target.
Hollywood's action heroes of yesteryears have been fading from the limelight, and it's no wonder that some are finding second life through direct-to-video films, and in JCVD's experience here, he's not gaining any respect from new filmmaker hacks who couldn't care less about his glorious past.What makes this film intriguing is to witness how ordinary Van Damme is, being just another regular joe who faces problems that aren't as far fetched as saving the world singlehandedly, and juggling his visibility with fan boys when in public, and can't actually step up to be that hero he's idolized for.
The Van Damme here gets caught up in an armed robbery in a post office, and contrary to what we would assume he would do, he has to play ball, listen to instructions, and just about making sure that he himself also survives the ordeal.But of course when one of the robbers happen to be a fan, then this allows for some comedy especially in a scene where he requests his action hero to demonstrate some of his famed moves, which in my opinion, shows that Jean Claude still has what it takes.
The other action sequence that will impress will be the one in the beginning, which packs everything from gunfights to fisticuffs, and is just about the time that you'll experience much action in the film, bar delusional moments of "What If"s that Van Damme dreams up, which adds to the fun and plays on his action hero persona.Which gets shelved aside for JCVD the man, even though this reality is an alternative one.
He covers in earnestness the ups and downs of his life, his success and failures, and frankly, if the Muscles from Brussels had bragged at one point that amongst the Hollywood action heroes he had the most credible acting skills, then this dramatic moment is that justified, with JCVD exhibiting plenty of genuine emotion.Presented in a non linear narrative with view points changing from the likes of the cab driver, to the video store guys, to the cops and of course from JCVD's own, director Mabrouk El Mechri managed to build up suspense and allow us to wonder just what and how things are related with one another, with the crux of the story taking place in and around a single location isolated by the police from curious passers by and fans of Van Damme.
The writer- director Mabrouk El Merchi has made a movie with the, by now standard, narrative framework of Tarantino about a bank robbery scenario where he puts way too much focus on the uninteresting robbers and doesn't bring the rabbit out of the box enough many times; Jean-Claude Van Damme is one of the hostages.
If you are a fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme, then you should watch this movie.
In what was certainly one of the most original and overlooked films from 2008, "JCVD" signals the return of one of action cinema's biggest stars: Belgian martial artist and "actor" Jean-Claude Van Damme.
"JCVD" is also the first major film of Van Damme's where he is seen speaking mostly in his native French, which also adds to the authenticity of his great acting here.
He has one scene that is an artsy monologue given directly to the camera that a lot of critics have complained about, but it is one of the best shots of the year, one of the most unflinchingly honest performances I've ever seen from an action movie star, and by far the single best piece of acting that Van Damme has ever done in his career.I don't know how much of this is real about Van Damme's real life, but I love the way he pokes fun at himself and his genre, particularly his relationship with Seagal.
But it is well worth a watch if you are a fan of Van Damme.The movie has just the right amount of action, comedy and drama to make it all work well.
The first thing that came to mind after watching JCVD was: " Jean-Claude Van Damme can act ?? |
tt0091777 | Police Academy 3: Back in Training | The film begins in a large garage structure, where Lt. Proctor (Lance Kinsey) and Commandant Mauser (Art Metrano) meet up with former cadets, (now Sgts.) Chad Copeland (Scott Thomson) and Kyle Blankes (Brant van Hoffman). It seems one of the two police academies is getting the axe due to the state government's unwillingness to continue financing two academies, and Mauser wants Copeland and Blankes to make sure Lassard screws up. The men agree to the plan, knowing this may be their only chance at revenge at Lassard for (somewhat deservingly) graduating them at the bottom of their class. Afterwards, Mauser and Proctor find themselves and their car stuck inside the garage (as they were forewarned it was closing soon), but when they both get out to try to forcibly open the gate arm, the car falls out of park and starts rolling backwards down the ramp, while Proctor tries futilely to stop it.
After the governor's speech in which he will appoint a committee to evaluate which of the two academies should remain open, Mauser starts getting an edge by kissing up to the governor (offering the committee an escort, showing governor pages of useful tactics, etc.). However, Sgt. Jones (Michael Winslow) quickly and discreetly humiliates Mauser with his unintelligible moaning and noises that sound like belching, prompting Chief Hurst to reprimand him for his behavior. Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes) gets an idea on how to win: along with now Sgt. Jones and Lt. Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook), he calls back Sgt. Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), Sgt. Hooks (Marion Ramsey), Sgt. Hightower (Bubba Smith), and Sgt. Tackleberry (David Graf) to help train the new recruits. Among the new recruits are Sgt. Fackler's wife (Debralee Scott), whom Sgt. Fackler is against being trained to be a police officer (mirroring her feelings and actions from the first movie), Sweetchuck (Tim Kazurinsky) and Zed (Bobcat Goldthwait) (who have history from the second movie as a meek small business owner being harassed by a gang, led by Zed, who ran the block his business was on), Karen Adams (Shawn Weatherly), and Tackleberry's brother-in-law Bud Kirkland (Andrew Paris). Tomoko Nogata (Brian Tochi) is at first a recruit of Mauser's academy, but Mauser transfers him in with Lassard's academy instead in hopes of sabotaging the latters' academy further.
After a few weeks of training, Nogata is lovestruck over Callahan, and Sweetchuck contemplates quitting after Zed, whom he was forced to room with, drives him crazy (but Tackleberry talks him out of it and takes him under his wing). Copeland and Blankes make the recruits do things that would make the committee think they are incompetent. Mauser wants them out on the field soon, knowing the committee will be there. The recruits fail and are teased by Mauser and Proctor. However, Mahoney gets back at them by taping Mauser's eyes closed while doing a taste test. Proctor succeeds in removing the tape, but the tape pulls off Mauser's eyebrows.
Both Lassard and Mahoney give a pep talk to each of the cadets before training resumes. At the policepersons' ball, Mahoney meets up with his hooker friend from the first film (Georgina Spelvin), and has her do a favor on Proctor after the latter insults Mahoney and Adams. The hooker tricks Proctor into removing all his clothes and then locking him out of the hotel room (much to the dismay of onlookers). He goes out and steals a car and drives to the academy. The car runs out of gas, however, and Proctor enters a building, which to his horror turns out to be the Blue Oyster Bar. Meanwhile, Mauser insults Lassard in front of the recruits by telling him that he is winning (after he pestered Hurst so much that Hurst made him believe he was winning), so Mahoney gets him back by giving a speech at the ball and then putting the microphone in a pitcher of water. When Mauser grabs it, the microphone shocks him.
On the final day of the cadet training/evaluation competition, one recruit from each academy attends the governor's ball (Proctor misunderstands and sends in two, one of whom is portrayed by David James Elliott). Copeland and Blankes play with the computer system and send cars to the wrong locations, but are quickly caught by Hooks, who punches them out cold. At the governor's party, a gang of thieves dressed as busboys start robbing the guests and take the governor hostage. The most effective academy is proven when Mauser's cadets promptly faint upon being threatened by the thieves. Lassard's cadet Hedges (David Huband) manages to sound the alarm, prompting Mahoney and the gang to rescue the governor. Mauser and Proctor prove to be too overconfident and ineffective to react to the emergency, but Lassard's squad arrives just in time to fight off the thieves and rescue the governor.
As a result of the governor's final judgment, Lassard's academy stays open, and the epilogue shows Lassard delivering a speech on how the academy is grateful for the "many, many" recruits. The graduating class salutes the camera as the film ends. | comedy, prank | train | wikipedia | Yes, combine the first two movies take away most of the cussing and raunchy jokes and you have the start of the very stale Police Academy sequels.
While still suffering from the humor limitations of being rated PG, "Police Academy 3" has sight gags enough to make it worth watching a few times (at least more often than "Part II").The gang's all here and trying to train a new line of cadets in their own image (poor cadets) while Lassard (Gaynes) tends to his goldfish and tools about in his modified golf cart.Even Bobcat Goldthwait returns as Zed, this time training to be a force of good.
Even Georgina Spelvin is back from the original and, bless her, she makes good, too (though not as hilarious as in the original).This is about as good as the sequels get, so look no further for laughs than "Police Academy 3: Back in Training".
Police Academy 3 (1986) ** 1/2 (out of 4) The gang is back and this time they must train some new recruits and if they fail the academy might be shut down for good.
The best moments of the movie happen as we get a semi-remake of the original film as we see the new recruits going through their training.
The second is a discipline factory run by the nemesis of the graduates from the second Police Academy movie, Sergeant Mauser, played with relish by Art Metrano now a commandant of that Academy.So a contest is to be held to see which one stays open and our regulars, Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, Michael Winslow, Marion Ramsey, David Graf, and Leslie Esterbrook go back to help the captain they made life hell for as cadets.When you think about it, are the Police Academy movies any different than the classic Keystone Kops?
It's not quite as funny as the first two POLICE ACADEMY movies, but is pretty close.
It's kind of like the first POLICE ACADEMY except with a different set of people being trained to be cops.
While stagnation is never a good thing, a franchise like Police Academy should be encouraged at every turn to do what works best.The title also sums up the entire plot, although a little effort also goes into the setup.
"Police Academy 3: Back in Training", the third movie in the comedy series, is a funny second sequel to "Police Academy".
Even though I have been warned that these sequels are not any good, I'm still curious, I just finished Police Academy 3: Back in Training last night and even though it's not as funny as the first Police Academy film, it still has a few decent laughs.
I liked having the gang back together, even good old obnoxious Zed, and they've added a few new characters to the story that are so much fun to watch.Due to money shortage, the governor has to cut one of the two police academies in the city.
So the class of 1984 is back to help their academy out and help train new recruits, including our villain from the second Police Academy, Zed, has decided to clean up his act while picking on a poor little nerd, Sweetchuck, but end up being quite the funny pair together.
I know he is getting little obnoxious, but Michael Winslow with the voices, I loved when he was training a student and making noises like she was a bad driver, then he stopped and said "ok, if I hear any of those noises, you fail".
It is difficult to pinpoint any highlights of this movie because there are so many, but if you like Police Academy, you will adore "Back in Training".
And I don't like to call this a good comedy - it's still okay.It's the same type tough - falling into boxes, the chief's goldfish almost dies, Callahan kicks a bad-guys ass while flirting with her boobies, Mahoney makes jokes about Lassard and Jones makes sounds.
Regardless, the vast majority of the comedy has not dated well, but they are still an amusing romp through the hilarious clothing and comedy styles of the 80s!This time around, Commandant Lassard finds himself in a bit of a moment of crisis as the governor decides that it is no longer financially reasonable to maintain two police academies (the other one headed by the beloved Lieutenant Mauser from part 2), and so one of them will have to be closed.
In order to save Lassard's academy, and their own beloved alma mater, from being closed, all of our favorite Police Academy cast members have been brought back from Their First Assignment to become instructors at the academy and ensure that the place looks good.So there you have the setup and the basic plot, and other than that it's essentially exactly the same movie as the first two.
The characters are the same, the music's the same, the good guys and bad guys are the same, just the skits are different and this time we have the addition of a few negligible characters, the token geek (Sweetchuck), the token Japanese guy (who really serves no other purpose than to grin like an imbecile and become mesmerized by Callahan's prodigious bosoms), and also the ridiculous additions to the force of Fackler's nutty wife and Tackleberry's nutty brother-in-law.
Of course, the whole series is a bunch of goofy jokes, but I think that the second sequel is the first time when the characters that we know are used to throw in some moronic sight gags in order to get a cheap laugh, like when Tackleberry pulls out his gun and shoots a payphone because the operator refuses to relinquish her quarter, or Proctor getting locked out in the hallway ass-naked by a prostitute.
On the other hand, my beer count was getting up there by this point, so I found both scenes to be pretty funny.It is important to realize that director Jerry Paris developed most of his directing experience on television comedy series, which may have something to do with the, ah, conspicuous lack of subtlety in a lot of the sight gags in Police Academy 2 and 3.
Ad now it seems that Steve Guttenberg is attempting to put a Police Academy 8 in motion, in which case I can only hope that he doesn't try to reinvent the series, although I have a feeling that it would take nothing less than a total reinvention to make yet another sequel worthwhile.
This, the third film in the series, marks the point at which the sequels began their rapid descent into insipid kid's fare; references to the original simply come across as lazy re-hashes (which, let's face it, they are), and the new characters lack any real bite.
I didn't like the megaknockers-meets-Chinaman affair between lieutenant Callahan and cadet Nogata, and the denouement (academy staff and cadets prove their worth by riding around on speedboats) is total hogwash.This third part got a lot of exposure, and many people assume that, because it's somewhat bit shoddy, the previous episodes must have been just as lacklustre or even worse, which really isn't the case.It still works as brainless fun, especially if you fast-forward through that final marina chase segment..
But from all of the Police Academy movies, this one had more laughs than the original and the rest of the sequels.
The whole premise of Police Academy 3 is that Lazard's squad is being challange by former Academy member Mouser for best cadet school, its up to Lazard and his gang of misfits from Mahoney, Hooks, Jones, Hightower and Tackleberry along with Zed and Sweetchuck and that Japanese guy from Revenge of the Nerds to win the game and proved that they are better than Mouser's school.
And there's absolutely nothing you can do about it whatsoever.Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg) is back with his band of dim-witted officers of the law in this second (*gulp*) sequel in the "Police Academy" series.
This time the half-baked, half-mixed plot involves Commandant Lassard's (George Gaynes) Police Academy being threatended to shut down when the city announces one of its academies must close due to funding.
I watched it on a truly lazy Sunday afternoon -- which may be why, in my original, older IMDb review, I said it was the type of comedy for people too lazy to mow their lawns on Sundays (something I usually do but had put aside on this particular day for...this...)Surprisingly, the film was directed by Jerry Paris, the man who helmed Part II in the neverending series.
Nobody ever said anything about missing him.The tagline for "Police Academy 3: Back in Training" is "Run for Cover!" Out of the thousands of films I have seen, this tagline is one of the most fitting of all time."Run for Cover!"I couldn't agree more.1/5 stars.John Ulmer.
Michael Winslow is still hilarious when he is making sound effects, Lance Kinsey is great as the dim-witted Lt. Proctor and it is crazy to see Bobcat Goldthwait playing Zed and all his antics going through training to become a cop.Here one of the academies must close so it is between Comdt.
The third installment of the Police Academy series falls a little short compared to the first two movies, but it is still quite entertaining!
The best of the 'Police Academy' films will always be the original by quite some way.
George Gaynes is always watchable and is here too even with his material not being as meaty or as funny.Robert Folk's score is robust and infectious and there is a bit with a scooter and a car that is quite amusing and the best timed of all the gags.Unfortunately, too much of the cast have little to do or have lost what made their characters work before.
Steve Guttenberg has lost his spark and enthusiasm, while Marion Ramsey does little with a character that has nothing to her and, while a high-point in the second film, Bob Goldthwait is even more unsubtle and tries far too hard here that it's irritating.Sadly there are nowhere near enough laughs, maybe a couple of minor parts work but there are no real highlight scenes really (which the first two had) and the rest of the gags are poorly timed, feeling laboured and with some abrupt shifts from one to another, parts that are more grossly crude than anything remotely amusing and too much of it has a style of humour that feels far too toned down, which makes the film feel leaden and bland.Production values look rushed, like there were severe time and budget constraints, while what little there is of the story (most of it close to non-existent rather than thin) is an incredibly lazy-feeling replay.
No doubt with both being fairly popular among its fans, the third film in the series would revolve around the same kind of antics.In Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986), the plot deals with returning characters from the last two films becoming the trainers to the next incoming class of cadets.
The alumni to return are Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), Hightower (Bubba Smith), Tackleberry (David Graf), Jones (Michael Winslow), Hooks (Marion Ramsey), Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook) and Fackler (Bruce Mahler).
Some really great and unique actors from the second movie, as the rebellious punk Zed and the shy and rather conservative Sweetchuck, come back and play the new cadets of the police academy to save the honour and future of it because one out of two police academies must close its doors do to too elevated costs.
Of course, Mahoney, Tackleberry, Hightower and all the other are also starring in this very funny and entertaining flick, this time as instructors instead of cadets as in the first movie.
Ive been a fan of the series for some time [except for Police academy 7 ARRRG] bobcat and sweetchuck are definetly crowd pleasers!
POLICE ACADEMY 3: BACK IN TRAINING was where the series all started to go downhill for me.
Apparently the state can only afford one police academy so Lassard's cadets must compete with another academy, run by Mauser (Art Metrano) from the last film.
This time the cadets (Guttenberg,Smith,Winslow,Ramsey, Maher and Graf etc) go back to school to mold new recruits in their own image and help Lassard (Gaynes) keep his academy which Mauser (Metrano) is aiming to steal in this good natured but ultimately mediocre sequel.
all in all police academy 3 is a fun movie!
Police academy 2 is a better movie.
As a result, Mauser recruits Sgt. Blanks (Brant von Hoffmanand) and Sgt. Copeland (Scott Thomson) and instructs them sabotage Lassard's cadets, while Sergeants Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), Hightower (Bubba Smith), Jones (Michael Winslow), Tackleberry (David Graf) and Hooks (Marion Ramsey) try to train the new cadets to hopefully save their academy.The acting continues to be pretty good with this film and I thought the entire cast did a good job in their roles, each one giving a unique and humorous personality, like Jones' funny sound effects, Hooks' shy voice, Tackleberry's forceful weapon tactics and Hightower's giant, intimidating stance.
The addition of Cadets Zed (Bobcat Goldthwait), Sweetchuck (Tim Kazurinsky) and Cadet Nogata (Brian Tochi) added more humor and charm to the story.This movie goes at a more quicker pace than the previous two films and the plot seems to be more intact and intriguing, from the sergeants training the cadets to all the running gags at Mauser's and Proctor's expense.
Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), Hightower (Bubba Smith), Tackleberry (David Graf), Jones (Michael Winslow), Hooks (Marion Ramsey), and Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook) return to the academy to help Lassard (George Gaynes) train the new recruits and fend off Mauser (Art Metrano) who runs the other academy.The good thing this time around is that they've returned to the academy.
Commandant Lassard's Police Academy is in jeopardy to be closed.That must be prevented.There are some new recruits, including the old gang member Zed.Police Academy 3: Back in Training is from 1986.It's the second and the last of these movies directed by Jerry Paris, who died that year.There is pretty much the old cast there with Steve Guttenberg playing Mahoney.And Bubba Smith playing Hightower (also seen in drag).David Graf is Tackleberry.Michael Winslow is Jones.Marion Ramsey plays Hooks.Leslie Easterbrook plays Debbie Callahan.George Gaynes is there with his gold wish playing Eric Lassard.Art Metrano reprises his role as Mauser.As does Lance Kinsey as Proctor.As does Tim Kazurinsky playing the geeky Sweetchuck.And Bobcat Goldthwait, who was seen in the previous part as the hyperactive Zed, reprises his role.Shawn Weatherly plays Cadet Karen Adams.Bruce Mahler is Douglas Fackler and Debralee Scott his wife, who wants to be a cop too.Ed Nelson plays Governor Neilson.Brian Tochi is Elvis Nogata.Andrew Paris is Bud Kirkland and Arthur Batanides his father, and their beating up each other again.George S.
The 'Police Academy' series is going strong with its eighth installment coming out in 2006.Mao points: 5/10.
Like all other Police Academy movies, this one is just silly and not very intellectual.
The state decides that it cannot finance two academy's so a competition is declared between Eric Lassard's academy and Commandant Mauser's academy.All the favourites such as Mahoney, Jones, Hooks, Hightower and Tackleberry are back to help train the new recruits which include Zed (the punk from the second film)and Sweetchuck (the little wimp from the second film).
My favourite scenes were the sneaky Sergeant Proctor ending up nude on the streets, Mauser losing his eyebrows and the ending where the new recruits chase the bad guys on speedboats.All in all, Police Academy 3 is a damn good film..
Then they added some new characters and brought over some of the second film characters including the incredibly annoying Bobcat Goldthwait as Zed. This guy is not funny in any capacity and he made an alright villain but the idea of bringing him on as a regular cast member was not a good decision and the attempt at making him an odd couple partner to Sweetchuck was a disaster and didn't work.
However the character Sweetchuck was the one redeemable new character as he had a slapstick, funny physical character who was annoyingly cute at times.I won't say there is NOTHING redeemable about Police Academy 3.
Proctor (from Police Academy 2) were still fun to watch screw up and see the cadets get the better of them.
The first police academy is headed by "Commandant Lassard" (George Gaynes) while the other is run by the villain in the previous movie, "Commandant Mauser" (Art Metrano).
Third times a charm as we head back to the Police Academy for more training with yet more new recruits.
The Police Academy films are simply the worst thing I've seen in my life.Of course, this movie sin't the exception, being another unnecessary addition to a lame franchise that was bad from the beginning.
Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, Michael Winslow, David Graf, Marion Ramsay, Leslie Easterbrook, Bruce Mahler, Brian Tochi, Tim Kazurinsky, Bobcat Goldthwait, Art Metrano, Lance Kinsey and George Gaynes star in this 1986 comedy sequel.
In this entry, Commandant Lassard (Gaynes) learns that his police academy is failing and seeks help from new instructors, Mahoney (Guttenberg), Hightower (Smith), Jones (Winslow), Tackleberry (Graf), Hooks (Ramsay), Callahan (Easterbrook), and Fackler (Mahler).
Kinsey returns as Mauser's assistant, Proctor, Kazurinsky as Sweetchuck, Goldthwait as ex-gang leader, Zed and Tochi plays Nogata, a new recruit who falls for Callahan.
Returning to the same theme as number one, "Police Academy III" finds us "Back in Training" with a new bunch of recruits who look sure to foul up big time.Most of the familiar gang return, including Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, David Graf and Michael Winslow, though this doesn't help a wit.
Eric Lassard (George Gaynes) brings back past graduates Sgt. Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), Sgt. Moses Hightower (Bubba Smith), Sgt. Eugene Tackleberry (David Graf), Sgt. Larvelle Jones (Michael Winslow), Sgt. Laverne Hooks (Marion Ramsey) and Lt. Debbie Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook) both to help win against their rival academy run by Cmndt. |
tt1784670 | The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines | The story begins with a mysterious man writing about the history of an old Malay kingdom so that people would not forget the history of the early Malay heroes. In 120 AD, the powerful Roman Empire, under the reign of Hadrian, had expanded its rule to the Central Asian countries. During their time of expanding, the great Roman Empire agreed to create an alliance with the Han Dynasty by marrying their two prince and princess, thus uniting the two powers of East and West. However, the Roman prince, Marcus Carprenius (Gavin Stenhouse), did not agree with the decision. Instead, he wants to be free and not be controlled by politics. The Han princess, Meng Li Hua (Jing Lusi), also wants to be free instead being a pawn in a political game.
The Roman fleet sails off from the coast of Arabia to the mysterious peninsula dividing the two great kingdoms. The Roman fleet are struck by a powerful storm, which causes the Romans to lose much of their fleet. They go instead to the coast of Goa. They are greeted by a local Goan dealer, (Mano Maniam), and later introduced to Merong Mahawangsa (Stephen Rahman-Hughes), said to be the descendant of Alexander the Great himself. Merong is preparing to duel against Sunder (Ravi Sunderlingam), a Goan nobleman who challenged him after finding out about Merong's illicit relationship with the nobleman's sister, Yasodharā (Deborah Henry). Merong defeats Sunder and Marcus is impressed by Merong's fighting skill. Subsequently, Merong agrees to escort Marcus to the peninsula while Lycius (Eric Karl Henrik Norman), the Roman fleet admiral returns to Rome and promises to return to Goa with a brand new fleet, carrying the payment in gold for the passage of the prince to the "Golden Chersonese". Merong is also promised a ship large enough for him to explore the known world.
Merong escorts Marcus to the peninsula and is greeted by the Chinese Admiral Liu Yun (Craig Robert Fong). Merong tells Marcus and Liu Yun that this peninsula was where he grew up and it is owned by several tribes. The night before the marriage, Meng Li Hua and her handmaiden, Ying Ying (Nell Ng) agrees to run away and begin a new life in the peninsula. However, Marcus follows Meng, resulting in their first meeting. The royal couple then grows closer to each other as they discover how they both have a common wish of being free from palace life. In the morning, The Chinese and the Romans are attacked by the pirate nation, Garuda. The Garuda leader, Taji (Wan Hanafi Su) uses black magic and sorcery before attacking to weaken their enemies. Meng and Ying Ying is kidnapped by Kamawas (Khir Rahman). Marcus tries to stop Kamawas but is stabbed and falls into the sea. Heavily outnumbered, the Chinese and the Romans are defeated. Merong, enraged by Marcus' apparent death, kills most of the Garuda fighters but is heavily injured and passes out.
Merong wakes up as he is getting treated by a tribe leader named Kesum (Rahim Razali). Kesum and Embok (Ummi Nazeera), one of the village's nurses treat Merong until he is well enough to fight again. Merong learns that Kesum and Taji were students to a once great magician and a brave warrior. Taji, wanting the great magician's amulet of immortality, kills the great magician during his sleep and led a small band of fighters to terrorise the villages. It was revealed that Merong's mother Lang (Umie Aida) was implied to be killed in the onslaught, which has since haunted Merong's dreams; while Embok was once raped by Kamawas during one of these raids. Consequently, Merong swore revenge to Kamawas. Kesum tells Merong of a prophecy that a great warrior will come and unite all the tribe into one kingdom and defeat the enemy. Kesum believes that Merong is the one. After hearing the prophecy, Merong becomes Kesum's student and begins uniting the tribes.
In the island of Garuda, Meng and Ying Ying are held captives for ransoms by Taji and Kamawas. Meng and Ying Ying manages to steal Kamawas a piece of the amulet of immortality. After Merong manages to unite all the tribes, they became one kingdom known as Langkasuka and began a new civilisation. Merong is then suddenly met by Liu Yen, Marcus (who was saved by Liu Yun and gets treated) and a small group of Chinese soldiers. Liu Yun tells Merong that they have to save the princess before she is killed. Merong is then given a ship full of mirrors by Liu Yun. As Merong prepares his fighters to invade the island of Garuda, Embok confessed her love to Merong.
Merong launches an attack toward Garuda in the morning. The Garuda prepared their ships and outnumbered Merong's fighters at least five to one. Merong revealed that he used the ship full of mirrors to create a similar weapon to the Archimedes Heat Ray and uses it to set all the Geruda ships and boats on fire (along with some of the men). Taji then uses sorcery to make storms and cover the sun with black clouds, rendering the weapon useless. After a heroic speech, Merong and his fighters launch an attack and land on the beaches. After a brief fight, Merong's fighters manage to take control the beach but another wave of Garuda fighters led by Taji came in to destroy the fighters. Merong's fighters fight to their death while Marcus confronts Kamawas, but Kamawas defeats Marcus easily. Before Kamawas could finish Marcus off, Liu Yen came in to stop Kamawas but is killed in the process. Most of Merong's fighters were killed. However, shortly after, A large fleet of the Romans and the Chinese, led by Admiral Lycius arrives on the scene and attacks Garuda, changing the tide of the battle. Merong arrives to save Marcus and confronts Kamawas. After a brief duel, Kamawas is finally defeated. Merong tries to kill Taji but is stabbed. Merong makes a sacrifice by taking the amulet off and pushing the sword forward, thus killing them both. Right after Merong dies, the Romans and the Chinese attack and finish off the last of the Garuda, ending the battle.
Many years after the great battle, it is revealed that the mysterious narrator is Sultan Mudzafar Shah, the first Sultan of Kedah writing about the history of Merong Mahawangsa in the Kedah Annals. The Sultan tells that Langkasuka was known as a great and proud Kingdom. The film ends with a flashback to Merong being pronounced a hero and the first king of Langkasuka. | dark | train | wikipedia | Reviewer Raoul Hostettler thinks his local kindergarten could make a better movie that Clash of Empires and so I would like to please book a seat for the opening night.
But then, if Hostettler's local kindy is as good at making movies as he is at writing English, I fear that might be a wasted evening!Yet again (if you've read some of my other reviews), we have illiterate people writing desultory reviews about low-budget movies as though they expected them to be block-busters.
Yes, I have written a few pretty scathing reviews myself but you've got to admit, those were for the absolute pits of the film industry.
This movie is NOT the pits!
That isn't to say it's a blockbuster either but come on people, how many blockbuster movies are released each year?
It's most likely too complicated for you!)Let me ask you negative reviewers (and those readers who are contemplating watching Clash of Empires but check the reviews first), why do you watch movies?
Is it to be entertained or is to avidly look for bloopers like trees not waving in the background?
When it isn't, by the way - as in the case of the narrator in this movie who speaks absolutely beautiful English with just the right timbre for the role - the whiners complain about THAT too!
There seems to be no pleasing some folk!OK, I've got my frustration at negative-thinkers off my chest - now to the movie.
Firstly, it was made in Malaysia by a Malaysin production company so one would assume that the prime target audience was Malays.
However, if it had been all made in the Malay language, the box office would probably never have covered costs (because it definitely wouldn't have been cheap to make).
So, very cleverly, the main language used was English which some of the Malaysian actors spoke with a slight accent.
Nothing wrong with that (they weren't wearing Saville Row suits!!) I though it a nicely integrated touch for Mandarin and Malay languages to be used with subtitles where appropriate as this preserved the international flavour of the film.
The princess's handmaid added a little comedic interlude a few times and was well-played.
Stephen Rahman Hughes as the lead was quite good (I'd like to know what the ladies thought of him).
Pity there is no info about him on IMDb. I suspect that, if he ventured to Hollywood and had some good direction, he could become a big star.I was entertained (which is why I watched the movie).
I probably won't watch it again (but then I can think of some much larger-budget movies I won't watch again either!) So, if you're one of those picky twits who loves to look for things to complain about, watch Clash Of Empires.
You will be rewarded - but PLEASE don't write a review because everyone else doesn't want to know how clever you are!
On the other hand, if you enjoy a bit of action entertainment for what it is, then watch it too - and write a review (preferably in coherent English) telling everyone what you enjoyed!
A Nutshell Review: Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa.
Other than the horror and comedy films that get churned out on a regular basis by Malaysia's mainstream film industry (who is going into 3D too by the way), KRU Studios showed that it had ambitious plans to make a big budgeted action spectacle that have some legs to travel the world, crafting a tale from centuries past loosely based on The Malay Chronicles involving a melting pot of Roman soldiers, Chinese warriors of the Han Dynasty, and natives of the land of Langkasuka in a joint battle against pirates of the maurading Geruda tribe.
It's noisy, it's epic looking, and it features characters and a cast that would make the United Nations proud, speaking in English, Bahasa and Mandarin as well to highlight its multi-culturalism.The story is told in simple terms, with a Roman Prince Marcus Carprenius (Gavin Stenhouse) set to wed the Chinese Princess Meng Li Hua (Jing Lusi) in a deal to seal two separate empires into an alliance.
The wedding is to take place at the mid point between the east-west sea routes of the empires, which would be where modern day Peninsular Malaysia is but of course.
But the Geruda tribe is to gatecrash the wedding day with plans of their own for riches by capturing and holding the Princess hostage, and it's up to our heroes to train, form an armada of brave men to take the enemy down within two moons, or risk having the Princess violated then killed.While it's a film that features an ensemble cast of heroic characters such as the Chinese Admiral Liu Yun (Craig Robert Fong) and the Roman Prince Marcus, the main protagonist is that of Merong Mahawangsa (Stephen Rahman-Hughes), whom you can picture as a Captain Jack Sparrow equivalent, minus the comedic banter and attitude, with stronger physique and better fighting skills to boot.
A wandering soul himself, his amorous exploits in various lands allowed an opportunity to meet Prince Marcus and his entourage in Goa, where the Prince saves his life from the mob and having Merong promising to take him back to his homeland in Langkasuka where the wedding will be, being late meaning an insult shown to the Chinese emperor.
And it becomes a prophecy (as always) fulfilled when Merong makes land, being the chosen one to unite and lead his people to battle against their joint enemy, falling in love in the process and with an added objective to restore the honours of loved ones.This is an action adventure, so what mattered are the big fight sequences, filled with plenty of swords and sorcery, CG blood spewing all over the place, and what I thought to be admirable fight choreography to rival some of the best available out there, despite having some cringe- inducing acting from faceless extras who had to be various goons to fall in battle.
The story doesn't waste time in presenting Merong Mahawangsa as a battle-weary individual, and launches into huge beachfront assaults that got repeated again as the finale battle, albeit on a different side with slightly different players.
One thing's for sure though, that Malaysia has got the know how and capability to stage rather convincingly fights that combine choreography and CG (albeit some aspects of it requiring some polish), no longer having to play catch up with the more established film industries.What I would have enjoyed a lot more would be stronger opponents, who possess some degree of sorcery to control the weather, though nothing else which blunted their supposedly mean and ruthless reputation of continuous victory.
With bomohs and warlocks, it could have been more of a fantastical action flick with magical amulets, a mean looking kris and an Archimedes inspired device that looked a little bit puny due to a lack of budget.
I do not have issues with the many languages used in the film since the country of origin of the film is multi-cultural, at least characters speak to each other in the same set of language rather than a mishmash of sorts, although you do have to stretch that believability a little in having almost all the characters in the film educated in more than one tongue for narrative convenience.It may not be a classic, but it sure is quite a fun ride from the film industry of a neighbour that I'm recommending as worthy of your time during the weekend even.
A Malaysian Epic Movie of the Century.
I guess it is the most awaited Malaysian movie by far.
Help by various source of publicity due to the story line filled with international taste, the movie The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines or 'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa' in Malay does not disappoint.Script: The English script looks to be a bit modernize but it does not hurt the movie as the Malays, Chinese and the Roman do not use English at that time.
The Roman at the time is using the ancient Latins which is not practical to be used.
For those of you who love history and ancient language, the use of 'Malay Purbakala' or some might say a dead language show the efforts of the script writer.
Even the Malaysian audiences are having hard time to understand the language.Story line: The story lines are quite fast and do not make you sleep, I promise.
It is understand that the Director wanted to limit the duration under 2 hours, so that the audience do not feel uncomfortable.Cast: Most of the major actors and actress are doing a great job by portraying their character.
Stephen as Merong, Jing Lusi as Princess, Khir Rahman as Kemawas has play their part greatly.
Although, most critic in here, agree that Gavin as Marcus and Henrik as Lycius can do a little bit more.Fighting Scene: I guess the fighting scene are amazing knowing the limited resource that the production's have, the end result is still above average.
Help by a group of experience fighting scene choreographer from Hong Kong and Merong masculinity, it is safe to say that it will blow your mind.History: For those of you who argue that the movie filled with history inaccuracies, please do your study.
It is well known that 'Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa' is verbally told from generation to generation added with mystical elements which are not logical.
In the 'Hikayat' or book it is told that the Geruda is not pirates but a big man eating bird known as 'Geruda'.
In the book it also stated that Merong comes from Rom and in other source says he is a demigod.
There are also a tale about Merong meeting Prophet Solomon.All in all, I've got to say that the movie will not disappoint you.
Reminder: If you see any problem with the CGI, well do not expect the movie will be as good as Gladiator or Alexandre or 300.
Pity the production who works with only 13 graphic designers (add amateur after 13) and limited budget..
Time to watch history channel again.
I tried to watch this movie to see if it is worth the positive coverage that the Malaysian media have given during its preview.
The acting, the props, the CGI was not to the standard where we can say that it is an epic story.
The narrator tried so hard trying not to choke on his on voice to make that 'old man' sound.
At one scene during the battle, there was a fierce storm and the fight scene was intense, but I was surprised to see that the coconut trees at the background were not even moving.
If the Malay warriors were still alive they will certainly not approve the efforts the film makers trying to portray about their lives.
but this movie is quite bad..
but this movie is quite bad.The broken English really make the movie less enjoyable, just make them even look more like amateur actors.Quite a lot of scenes and dialogs were very corny, hard to endure.
I walked away from this movie..
leaving in the background.I can see they tried very hard to make this movie work, if they made it less corny.
And if they just remove most of the English dialogs, it would be more enjoyable.Was impressed that in a few scenes they actually did a very good job compared to the rest, but too bad most of it, wasn't..
Not perfect, but pretty good.
I gave this movie a 10, it probably deserved a 5 or 6, but with the overwhelmingly poor ratings given to it I thought it could use a boost.
This was by no means a perfect movie, but I still enjoyed it.
If more care had been given to the script to tighten it up and improve the dialog it could have been much better.
But, though jumpy, the battle scenes were well done and the overall pace and tone of the film were good.
The theme of ancient Romans and Chinese fighting together in South Asia was too good to pass up, so I decided to give it a chance despite the poor reviews.
Even though it lagged in spots it kept my attention and I'm glad I spent the time to watch it.
Clash of Empires is not an irredeemable movie in any way, the scenery was quite nice, a couple of the fight sequences are edge-of-your-seat quality, there is a good lead performance and the princess is simply beautiful.
For those redeeming qualities however there are a lot of things that Clash of Empires doesn't do well.
The movie can have a frenzied look to it, and the rushed and underexplained story(just where did the romance come from?) is a further indication of Clash of Empires being done in haste.
There are no characters to root for, they are almost comic-book-like in quality, the music is generic, the direction is of the kind that has heart and passion at least but not the skill and the acting apart from the lead is vapid and going-through-the-motions feeling.All in all, Clash of Empires is very poorly done stuff but it definitely could have been much worse.
3/10 Bethany Cox. A surprisingly good movie..
A Malaysian action film based on real history about Langkasuka, sounds great.
It's been a while now since the last Malaysian high budget movie (Puteri Gunung Ledang) came out, and to my surprise, this movie was executed really well.
The fighting was very intense and the movement is comparable to some Thailand martial art movie.
There are also some funny moment between the Chinese Admiral, Marcus and Merong.
Of everything the movie had to offer, the music is the best, as it was really good and did a lot to make the already intense scene much more impressive.
The CGI in this movie is also very good, but for some reason had a huge quality drop in last part when depicting Sultan Mudzaffar Shah walking towards the harbour.Also, the story was a bit rush.
IMHO, this should be make into a trilogy to explain the full story thoroughly.And what is wrong with speaking proper English?
Why is there so many broken English in this movie?
You see, games like God of War depicted ancient Greece, but with characters speaking proper English, and I didn't see any problem with it, so I really don't understand why should the actor use broken English instead of proper English.At last, I give this movie a 7 out of 10, because the production value was high and some of the scene is really good, but sadly it also has some serious flaw that made the movie incomplete..
Honestly I wasted my 109 mins of my life watching this movie.
It's worse then a kindergarten play, the kids would have done a better job in acting then they did.
I don't know how someone could created such a bad movie.
It's Amateur movie a shame for the money they wasted.I don't understand what other people like about the movie and I usually have an open mind for different types of movies but this was certainly one of the worse movies I ever seen.Do not waste your time on this movie 1 star is even overrated in my opinion but if you do not believe me see for yourself..
This film is trying to be big, but ended up being nowhere.It is promoted as a CGI film, but can't even put a computer generated 'Garuda' in the film.
What good is the CGI, if the crucial mythical element like this is ignored?
If 'Malay originality' is the word, then certainly this film lack much of it.
Old Malay language plus modern-sounding English..
In the end, it's like watching unfinished '300' or 'Troy' parody film with Malay dubbing..
Half an hour into the film, i just didn't care about the CGI anymore, and hopeful for something else.
Honesty and pure spirit of Malay film.
Sadly it's not there.I give 4 out of 10 because i know this disastrous film will be a good stepping stone for the producer to produce a decent one, later..
Good fairy tale, good acting, good action, nice scenery, occ.
It started out pretty good, then they got to India, and then the pretty boy prince met the charming savage I still clung to hope, and when they got to the spoiled rich princess wanted to run away to be a music teacher, I still clung to hope, but when the Roman prince started to whine about marrying for love, I couldn't watch anymore.I've been to south Asian countries where poverty is everywhere.
Many times woman seek to marry for any man with a job, even if its a farm worker.
Doctors and lawyers can barely make a living because hardly anyone can afford their services, an Asian princess would know this.In both Asia and Europe, it was common to marry for economics or duty.
The concept of marrying for love came into existence around the 19th industrialized century.
Good for people who want a Disney-type fairy tale with no basis in reality or history or facts or human nature..
I don't care how low the budget is...
if you like that sort of thing.
Some battle scenes that feel more like video game sequences, much tedious talk which accomplishes nothing for the audience or the plot, and a finale which is almost poetic in it's stupidity.Tell me: If you're the leader of two armies, and you've just won the last battle with your troops closing in an the last stragglers on the enemy side...
Fool.Of course, this film doesn't have the smarts to see that...
in fact, If it was a person, they'd need help getting dressed in the morning and remembering their own name (So, which is it: The Malay Chronicles or Clash Of Empires?) Basically, I LIKE watching movies I've never heard of.
ya know what I mean? |
tt0974554 | Elegy | David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley) is an aging although quite virile cultural critic and professor, in a state of 'emancipated manhood.' Previously married, he has a son who has never forgiven him for leaving his mother. His relationships with women are usually casual, brief and sexual in nature. His Pulitzer Prize-winning friend, George O'Hearn (Dennis Hopper), suggests that he 'bifurcate' his life: have conversations and enjoy art with a wife, and 'keep the sex just for sex.'Believing himself to be an independent and self-actualized individual, he encounters Consuela Castillo (Penélope Cruz), a beautiful and confident grad student who takes one of his courses. She captures his attention like no other woman, and they fall in love. David is also in a casual yet carnal 20-year relationship with Caroline (Patricia Clarkson), another former student.Through voiceover narration and further conversations with George, David reveals his increasing desire for Consuela, and his insecure suspicion that she may be seeing other, younger men. He even follows her to a party one night and she catches him spying on her. When she tells him he must trust her, he assumes she wants to end their romance.Soon thereafter, he is surprised that she calls him for dinner, where she asks him, "What am I for you?' She wonders about their potential future, and he admits that the 30-odd-year age difference between them scares him. Meanwhile, his relationship with Caroline appears to end after she finds one of Consuela's tampons in David's bathroom.David explains in voiceover that he and Consuela were involved for another year, but, 'Like all roller coaster rides, it had to end.' One night over dinner, Consuela invites David to her graduation party, pleading with him to meet her parents. He is reluctant but agrees to attend, only on the day of the event, David phones Consuela and claims he is stuck in bad traffic. In reality, he is sitting in his car, anxious about meeting Consuela's family. Heartbroken and annoyed, Consuela calls back and tearfully acknowledges the end of their relationship.His son Kenny (Peter Sarsgaard) happens to show up that evening and tells David that he is cheating on his wife. Kenny is very conflicted, because he does not want to break up his family like David did, but the father has little sympathy for him. Kenny leaves in disgust.David thereafter sinks into a depression which George tries to help him through. George tells him that he's actually become closer to his wife lately, despite cheating on her before. Soon thereafter though, George collapses and, after kissing both his wife and David, he abruptly dies.Caroline comes back to visit David, and he eventually admits that he had a misguided affair with Conseula. They share a comfortable moment together, wondering if they are at last talking to each other after 20 years of sex.In another voiceover, David tells us that two years went by in which Consuela never called him again, and he tried to get over the death of George, but he admits to his ongoing pain.Suddenly on New Year's Eve, David receives a voice message from Consuela. She mentions that she needs to tell him something before he finds out from someone else. He worries that she will tell him she has found another man, or worse yet, ask for his blessing. When he calls her, she turns out to be just outside his building, eager to meet.Consuela tells David that she has breast cancer and will need an operation. Grief-stricken, David cries and asks her why she didn't tell him sooner. Consuela tells David that he loved her body like no one else, and asks him to take photos of her topless, before the doctors 'ruin' her breasts in the surgery. David agrees.David goes to see Kenny, who happens to be a doctor at the hospital where Consuela is having her operation, and asks for him to make an inquiry about her. Kenny suggests that her condition is quite serious.David visits Consuela later when she is recovering from her surgery. Consuela says, 'I will miss you.' David responds, 'I am here,' then he climbs into the hospital bed and gently kisses her face.In a flashback, we see the couple walking on the beach where Consuela told David she loves him. | flashback | train | imdb | That is until he meets Penelope Cruz's Consuela Castillo, with whom he begins a pretty standard affair and, against all expectations, and much to his dismay, falls in love with her."Elegy" has some seriously good, sure footed performances.
Patrica Clarkson, as Kapesh's long standing mistress, defines hurt and betrayal, Penelope Cruz completely puts word to the lie of one daft critic who said that she simply cannot act in the English language, but the surprise here is Dennis Hopper: His performance as Kapesh's best friend is light years away from the eye rolling villain that he normally portrays to make a crust."Elegy" is erotic, touching and beautiful.
Peter Sarsgaard is also pretty good as Kingsley's son, and although Cruz doesn't shine as much as in "Non Ti Muovere", "Volver" or "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", she fits the role and makes you believe any man would be easily infatuated and obsessed with her.The ending might seem a little melodramatic at first, but it's both poignant and adequate.
David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley, in a performance of tremendous power and sensitivity) is an aging author, teacher and art critic, a man who has not learned the secret of lasting relationships but who retains his animal sex drive despite his passing years: he survives time's passing by a patterned assignation with Carolyn (Patricia Clarkson), an aging successful traveling business woman who drops in for sensual gratification when in town.
Kingsley is brilliant in this probing examination of the aging man's psyche, Cruz SHOULD have received her Oscar for this performance rather than the film that honored her, Clarkson continues to be one of our best actresses on the screen, Peter Sarsgaard makes a brief but important appearance, and David Hopper manages to step out of his predictable past roles and offer a character of true compassion and finesse.
"Elegy" was directed by Isabel Coixet though, who I really only know from the short film "Bastille", one of a group of films that can be found in the all-around beautiful love letter to Paris film, "Paris J'Taime." She seems well-suited for this love story, as do Kingsley and Penelope Cruz.
It's all material that has been worked over before in countless romances and the ending relies on that old romantic cliché of throwing in a fatal disease that threatens the life of one of the characters but in general director Isabel Coixet creates a moving, heartfelt love story complete with sensual sex scenes, beautiful piano-background music and some really nice (and tasteful) shots of Penelope Cruz's boobs and ass.There is also some really excellent acting going on in this movie.
Focusing on a relationship between a well-respected college professor (Ben Kingsley) and his former student (Penelope Cruz), 'Elegy' shows the audience a multi-faceted, complex man whose past experiences with women and his own family have dampered his ability to participate in a healthy relationship with a woman he is truly infatuated with.The film was carried by a masterful performance by Kingsley, who successfully portrayed Kepesh as a complex man with complex relationships.
Kingsley was able to spark empathy with the audience as a victim of numerous losses in his life: his wife, family, son, best friend, love interest (Cruz), and most importantly, it was his loss of youth that made Kepesh the man he is when we first meet him.I truly believed his internal struggles with adapting to life as a man romantically involved with a much younger woman (30 years his junior)..
David Kepesh (Kingsley), a college professor, falls head over heels in love with one of his students, Consuela (Cruz) who is 30-years his junior.
See where the movie title and book title are at odds?Yes, someone died, but not one of the major characters, David or Consuela, and the story was not about the one who died.We do not know why a beautiful woman, Consuela, would fall in love with David, who is 30-years older than she is.
Ben Kingsley's performance as a still-sexed sexagenarian professor, David Kepesh, who dates his students only after grades have been submitted, is a gem of understated accuracy for those of us who, as is my case, have done that seldom but memorably.More than capturing the ripe world of higher education dedicated to advancement of the mind and spirit (few professions can match that lofty goal), Elegy poetically portrays an aging Lothario facing his loss of time and independence: He falls for voluptuous student Consuela (Penelope Cruz), more than thirty years his junior, and proceeds to act like a teenager in love with all the jealousies and diffidence of inexperience.
It's very rare to find a movie that possesses such a quality.Even the best script in the world makes for a lousy film without the actors to sell it, besides Cruz being a tad old for the role the casting is inspired, Patricia Clarkson also leaves an impression as Kingsley's ever-giving yet never-demanding lover, perhaps the only woman who ever understood him, it's a beautiful character and Clarkson portrays here with grace and dignity.
Another brilliant acting turn by Ben Kingsley in this beautifully photographed film set in New York with a superb cast of Patricia Clarkson, Penelope Cruz, Dennis Hopper and Peter Sarsgaard, in a story which deals with human emotions and the pain of losing out on the true meaning of commitment and love.
Roth is best known literarily for "Portnoy's Complaint", and cinematically for "Goodbye Columbus" (both movies having featured Richard Benjamin), but this story deserves its place among his uvre.Director Isabel Coixet, probably better known for her French films, wore many hats, even acting as camera operator and music supervisor.
The ubiquitous Ben Kingsley plays the professor and "cultural critic," David Kepesh, the latest of Roth's recurrent alter egos--he was the protagonist of two of Roth's other recent novels.Words like "joyless" and "hushed" are used about this movie.
Isabel Coixet (who is indeed from Barcelona) has allowed her two lead actors, Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, to burrow into their roles and produce an entirely credible story of a May and December relationship which seems doomed from the start, yet plays out in an unexpected fashion.
Based on the novel by Philip Roth and directed by Isabel Coixet, this film stars Ben Kingsley as culture critic and lecturer David Kepesh, and snapshots his life during the twilight years, where physical deterioration doesn't mean a proportionate deterioration in sex drive.Or at least that's what the character's first impression to the audience was.
While aware of the 30 odd years age gap separating them, that doesn't mean that he's going to give up his game of skirting around the sexual harassment decorum of the school.In fact, his physical relationship with his student form the crux of the film, about perceived societal pressure and disdain for cradle snatchers, of how one's initial motive of a short fling could turn out to be something more serious and emotional, and relationship insecurities on both sides - with one understandably jealous of some unseen, young strapping hunk there to take his lady love away, and of the other worried that there might be commitment issues with a man so advanced in his age.But what lifted this movie into a different emotional stratosphere, are the supporting cast and characters that surround David's life, either providing counsel, or problems and issues to deal with altogether.
A visibly aged Dennis Hopper plays David's best friend and poet George O'Hearn, who while on one hand goads him to do the right thing (or ending it all off), he too might seem a little hypocritical, and brings about a fleeting notion of infidelity to the table too.And it seems that dysfunctional characters in the relationship sense permeates through the film at every corner.
We have David's F*-buddy Carolyn (Patricia Clarkson) who's an alpha-female type character with all the luck at the professional level, but none whatsoever on the personal front, and David's estranged son Kenneth, played by the excellent and terribly under-rated actor Peter Sarsgaard, who shares some of the most poignant and memorable scenes in the movie opposite Ben Kingsley, trading some very quick witted barbs.Just as when you thought the film might seem to have reached is plateau, it surprises one with a startling development that would on one hand seem to satisfy the voyeur in the audience (given the rating, and consistent audible yawns during the non-sexual moments), but on the other push through that sense of regret that makes you feel for the characters.Excellent acting from the ensemble cast, and with relationship themes that many could identify with, would make Elegy earn that recommended status from me..
But on an emotional level, it feels made for an older, may-or-maybe not wiser audience that knows this kind of character of David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley) who's accomplished a lot as far as his career goes as a professor and author but is older (early 60s) and without a real significant love until 30-something Consuela (Penelope Cruz).
It's very much in tune with that fear of aging, fear of not having really loved (if maybe, consequently, lots of loss), and it's actually much more recommendable for that older audience than those of a younger crowd who are tuning in, more or less, for a glimpse of Cruz's mammaries.As far as these older-professor-in-love-with-younger-woman tales go, Husbands and Wives had a better grasp of it in just the scope of a sub-plot, and if it feels slightly like a retread (or that you'd rather just read the original Philip Roth story), it's not without reason.
Yet it's also enjoyable for the intimate atmosphere from director Coixet and seeing people like Kingsley and Cruz and Hopper and Sarsgaard in smaller roles doing work in a real "film", not a movie, and fulfilling their characters quite succinctly.
I liked director Isabel Coixet's two previous film.My Life Without Me and The Secret Life of Words had been quite solid and deep movies.And even though I would consider Elegy inferior to those ones, I also found it interesting.This movie is far from being great,but it avoids many problems from her previous movies,at the same time it was an interesting experience to me,something completely different to My Life Without Me and The Secret Life of Words.I usually do not praise the title of a movie but,in this case,I have to do it.An elegy is a poetic lament which announces the lost of something...or somebody.And I think that word perfectly summarizes the message and content from this movie.If you see this film,you will understand what I am talking about.The main character from Elegy uses a dug intellectualism to seduce Consuela (the other main character),and on some way,I think the movie uses the same trick with the spectator.Elegy has many solemn dialogs and reflexive ideas but,beyond their surface,I found them as a methodical trick the movie uses to make the spectator feel impressed with its apparent intelligence.In other words,I think this movie thinks it is more intelligent than what it really is,and I think that's the worst fail from it.Another negative element is that some moments felt a little bit boring.The character of Professor Kepesh is very interesting because of his emotional complexity.I think that character was perfectly developed by the screenplay,although I must add that it also helps it was performed by Ben Kingsley,who brings a phenomenal performance.He is so involved with his character that he never seems to be acting at all.An extraordinary achievement from Kingsley which was unfortunately ignored.Penélope Cruz is an excellent actress but,for some reason,she did not convince me too much with her performance on this movie.I think she could not completely become into her character.Patricia Clarkson is brilliant as always and,although her appearance is not too long,she shows credibility and conviction.And I also appreciated the performance from the great Dennis Hopper,which is serious and honest,although it has a touch of irreverent humor.Coixet's sparing direction works well because it lets the story to be developed with sobriety and elegance,but without loosing the emotional impact from certain scenes.Elegy is far from being a great movie but I had an interesting experience watching it.I think that a little bit less of pretentiousness on the screenplay would have worked better but this movie deserves a recommendation in spite of its fails..
Film Review: "Elegy" (2007)Writer Nicholas Meyer, also know for directing two of the most accomplished Star Trek movies with the original crew from 1966 - "The Wrath of Khan" (1982) and "The Undiscovered Country" (1991) respectively - prepared an adaptation of a Philip Roth novel from 2001 with the original title "The Dying Animal"; yet did not dare to direct for second time after also-arranging the screenplay for "The Human Stain" (2003) starring Nicole Kidman and Sir Anthony Hopkins based on another Roth's novel out of the year 2000, where the direction went to Hollywood veteran Robert Benton (born 1932).The direction for "Elegy" had been given to female director Isabel Coixet by producers Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi, who fairly prepares her leading actors Sir Ben Kingsley as the teaching Professor David Kepesh and actress Penélope Cruz as his student Consuelo Castillo to ongoing screen chemistry; nevertheless at no time get them to get out of the comfort zone to make a daring step towards heart-breaking melodrama with a thrilling touch.
Instead writer Nicholas Meyer and the director decide to change the novel's ending to an lesser effect of dramatic mediocrity under further at times high-tension build-ups cinematography with a long dolly-push-in take within a Manhattan apartment's living room onto the character of Kepesh reminiscencing on an all to present death allegory in modern life.But then again the direction of Isabel Coixet denies itself consequence in jumping between relieving suspense-blocking scenes with David Kepesh's best friend George O'Hearn, portrayed by welcoming final screen appearances of deceased actor Dennis Hopper (1936-2010) and actress Patricia Clarkson as the character of Carolyn, who saves the leading man any time, when some on-screen conflicts might start to hurt to break open a darker passage towards thriller elements instead given chances away for considerably unnecessary - due to the initial novel subject matter - happy ends.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC).
A distinguished, divorced, 60-something professor and cultural critic, David Karesh (Ben Kinsgley), who seems to have all his ducks in a row, does something dangerous; he falls in love with a beautiful student 35-years his junior.I didn't know what to expect from this film but there are twists here, which eventually touch deep truths.
I must admit "Elegy" had me on the edge of my seat as Ben Kingsley's David Karesh mismanages his affair with the stunning Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz), believing it too good to be true and that it won't last; almost unconsciously doing things to make sure it doesn't.
All this as she demonstrates her love for him, even wanting him to meet the parents.Ben Kingsley's David Karesh is polished and confident, his celebrity as a critic combined with a cultivated style and a passion for art adds to his charisma.At one point in his seduction of Consuela he shows her a picture of Goya's "The Clothed Maja" (La maja vestida) telling her it looks like her, Of course Goya also did a nude version (La maja desnuda) and by the end of the film Consuela mimics that pose for Karesh in circumstances you don't see coming.Karesh is also having a long running affair with another woman who avoids commitment as much as he does.
His friend, George (Dennis Hopper), who he turns to for advice is definitely of the do as I say, not as I do school, and he is estranged from his tightly-buttoned son, Kenneth (Peter Sarsgaard).By the end though, the student becomes the teacher as Consuela imparts important life lessons to the professor, mainly about himself.David Karesh's narration throughout the film is full of painfully gained insights and wisdom, especially on what it means to get old "Old age sneaks up on you, and the next thing you know you are asking yourself why can't an old man act his real age?
Ben Kingsley plays the part of 60ish (in two different respects) author, social critic, and professor David Kepesh convincingly enough, and Penelope Cruz truly shines as Consuela Castillo, a student from Cuba who becomes his lover immediately after grades have been posted.
The love story between the deeply-cultured, charming although ageing professor who seduces, through art, literature and theatre lessons, the young and, of course, comely student, sounds a little dejà vu, and above all it develops through banal dialogues and too much affected, unrealistic situations (the girl lying naked wearing high heels shoes, while David is playing the piano makes really one think if these sorts of things happen only in Manhattan!).The characters themselves appear too fictitious, even pathetic, mainly the oldish Kingsley, who has embarrassing exchanges with his oldish friend, talking about having adventures or serious stories, and really cutting the very poor figure of a very cultured, and experienced man, but showing the emotional maturity of a teenager.
In addition to Kingsley and Cruz, they include Patricia Clarkson as Carolyn, Kepesh's long-time lover who is closer to his age than Consuela, and Dennis Hopper as George O'Hearn, a friend with whom Kepesh talks about women.
"Elegy" is Director Isabel Coixet's film adaptation of Phillip Roth's best seller of the senior-aged college professor David Kepesh and his passionate romance with the stunning college student Consuelo.
In this film, Ben Kingsley, giving a good performance but saddled with a glum character, plays the intellectual, and Penelope Cruz plays the young woman.
This movie, taken from Philip Roth's book The Dying Animal, stars Ben Kingsley (64) as David and Peneolope Cruz (34) as Consuela .
However, in Elegy Kingsley plays David, a narcissistic, horny aging professor who regularly seduces his young students --Stop spoiler alert -- including Consuela, a Mexican beauty, thirty years younger than he.
Ben Kingsley's character falls in love/lust with his much-younger student, played by Penelope Cruz. |
tt0421974 | Les chevaliers du ciel | This is the French "Top Gun" circa 2005, and the title would be better translated "The Knights of the Sky"."Walk'n" Marchelli (Benoît Magimel) and "Fahrenheit" Vallois (Clovis Cornillac) are given an assignment to shoot down a rogue Mirage 2000 that has been hijacked by a secret French agency to test preparedness in a post-9/11 France during a Farnborough Air Show. Walk'n shoots down the plane after it locks onto his wing-man, and they are promptly side-lined and ostracised by the French air Force authorities and 'forced' to train two female pilots from the USA. Stopped from flying with a commercial airline, 'Walk'n" and "Fahrenheit" sign on to that "Special Missions" organisation, that then gets them into a series of situations in which their expertise and moral fibre are tested further.Notably, they fly a race against a flight of F-16s. The flight of three Mirage in which they are flying is forced to the ground and taken captive by mercenaries after an air-to-air refuelling plane is hijacked. They watch one of their fellow pilots be killed, and a female pilot is carried off. They escape: while Walk'n is giving a lesson to a renegade pilot, he disables that man and then activates the ejection seat, lands and picks up Fahrenheit. They straff and destroy one of the other planes before escaping. Meanwhile, one aircraft is disassembled and returned to the Paris region. It then takes off from a disused airfield to join a fly-over of Bastille Day celebrations at which there is also a major European meeting of heads of state.The two heroes work out what is happening, return to the flight line, and join the fly-past to find the rogue aircraft. The 'lost' female pilot is in it, now revealed as a terror sympathiser all along. She ejects, and Walk'n shoots down the plane after waiting for it to leave the built-up area and go over an area of forest within the Paris metropolitan area.Walk'n gets the girl: the "Special Missions" operative.The pace is 'fast', and the characters and the air-to-air photography is 'authentic'. | murder | train | imdb | null |
tt4319114 | The Last Schnitzel | In not too distant future, Earth is dying.The UN calls for an immediate evacuation to Mars. But while leaders of states launch mass evacuations, the President of the Grand Turkish Republic has his own agenda. He demands to eat a chicken schnitzel for once before leaving Earth or else, no one is going anywhere. Kamil, the Chief aid to the President, is charged with the task to find the last schnitzel.Kamil, unsure what to do, first turns to the Minister of Nutrition for help. But all that the Minister can offer Kamil is a bottle of chicken-flavored pills. Kamil then contacts the Worlds Museum of Live Food in Copenhagen upon the suggestion of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Unfortunately, Danish Minister of Museums Skov Jensen tells him that the exhibition was never real. But the simultaneous broadcast of the US Presidents speech exposes Jensens dishonesty. As it turns out, Jensen and other EU States has eaten the whole museums exhibits, which outrages the US President, as he was not invited to the party. In retaliation, he responds by launching all of nuclear warheads, which will hit Europe in one hour.Pressed with time, Kamil takes matters in his own hands making one of the hardest decisions in his life. But his personal sacrifice pays off. He serves the last schnitzel to the President in the nick of time, and to his surprise, the President loves every bit of it.With grand relief, the Grand Turkish Republic shuttles leave for Mars as Earth explodes behind them. | satire | train | imdb | null |
tt0103110 | Tous les matins du monde | The film begins with a long plan-sequence lasting six minutes on the old, decrepit face of Marin Marais (Gérard Depardieu) who is conducting a master class. As he asks for a viol and starts playing, with tears in his eyes he recalls his old teacher, Monsieur de Sainte Colombe (Jean-Pierre Marielle), and his apparent own failure as a musician in his shallow life: I am an impostor, and I am worth nothing. This hint of fraud focuses the viewer toward a possible secret to be discovered, recalling the rivalry between Salieri and Mozart in the film Amadeus (1984). Because the story is presented as a flashback, it is tinged with sadness and culpable nostalgia.Following the death of his beloved wife (Caroline Sihol), Sainte Colombe retires to his country estate, into a life of austerity and isolation. He dedicates his life to the upbringing of his two young daughters, Madeleine (Violaine Lacroix) and Toinette (Nadège Teron), and personally conducts their musical education. He has a small wooden hut built in his garden, where he withdraws to play his viol and wallows in the souvenirs of his dead wife. From time to time, when his playing is particularly good, she appears to him. As the daughters reach their teens, Madeleine and Toinette (now interpreted by Anne Brochet and Carole Richert, respectively) have become accomplished viol players themselves, and performances by the Sainte Colombe trio are heavily in demand. Following his attendance at one of these performances, Monsieur de Caignet (Yves Gasc), a member of King Louis XIVs inner circle, recommends Sainte Colombe to the King, but the artist, in harsh words, declines the royal privilege to the dismay of the Kings envoy.One day, nineteenyear-old Marin Marais (Guillaume Depardieu) shows up at Sainte Colombes door, requesting that he be accepted as a pupil. In spite of an impressive audition, the Master rejects him, to the great disappointment of both Madeleine and Toinette. In a short but cold and biting pronouncement, Sainte Colombe tells him to go to play at the Court, where his undeniable talent will be most appreciated, but he, Marais, will never know what real music is all about, and what it means to be a musician: You make music, Monsieur, you are not a musician. Nevertheless, Sainte Colombe tells Marais to come back in one month. After that time, Marais returns and he becomes Sainte Colombes pupil, for at least a short while, until the Masters next temper tantrum, following which he is told to leave and never return.Madeleine helps Marais by secretly teaching him all that her father has taught her, and in the process, becomes his mistress. Although Marais has returned to Versailles, with Madeleines help, he is able to hide beneath the wooden shack to which Sainte Colombe retreats at night to play and reminisce about his beloved wife. He listens to the Masters improvisations and learns his technique. Eventually, Sainte Colombe discovers the pair under the hut listening, and this time Marais is banished for good.Madeleine is pregnant, but Marais, increasingly addicted to the glamour of the Court, soon forgets the Sainte Colombe family. Madeleine delivers a still-born baby, following which, overwhelmed with grief at being abandoned, she falls ill. Sainte Colombe sends for Marais to come to his dying daughters bedside. Marais obliges, but he is cold and distant, even cruel in his remarks. After his departure, Madeleine hangs herself.Marais realizes that Sainte Colombe was correct in asserting that, in spite of the virtuosity, Marais music is simply empty. He becomes so obsessed with his failing that he again sneaks back at night under the wooden shack to hear Sainte Colombe play, hoping to finally uncover his Masters secrets. However, the Master is so despondent over the loss of his daughter that he no longer plays. Marais waits for three years, spending countless nights in vain under the shack, until one night Sainte Colombe finally plays. Marais reveals himself and Sainte Colombe invites him into his intimacy: Monsieur, could I ask you for a last lesson? to which Sainte Colombe answers, Monsieur, can I attempt a first lesson? Finally, Monsieur de Sainte Colombe will allow himself to enter posterity, as he is now ready to teach Marais and to pass on all his musical knowledge to a next generation.They play together, and the music acts as a bridge to the present, as Marais is finishing his story to a mesmerized audience. The ghostly image of the now deceased Monsieur de Sainte Colombe appears to him. He tells his pupil, who had become his equal, if not surpassed him, I feel pride in having taught you. | romantic | train | imdb | This film knows, but if you don't have some inkling of the answer, you may come away from this film with nothing more than an interesting story set in the music world of 17th century France.
Interrelated, indivisible, and necessary to each other for the severe lessons they teach us as a result of the strength of their inseparable unity.This primary point was driven home time after time in Les Matins to the point where even the most abject hardheart would soon feel the story's full impact, that the shallow and mediocre fluff of life, no matter how rich, no matter how acclaimed, cannot provide an offset to the bitter agony of lost perfect love, sublime adoration that is well understood in this particular case never to come again to Sainte-Columbe and would surely be less welcome to him in his suffering than would tortured death, no matter how sweet that new love might be to another person less soul-stricken.
His would be a death that ended our collective hope in the discovery of more elegiac beauty in any future music he could have written, but it served to force us to appreciate more fully the few soulful and heart rending pieces he painfully but adoringly accomplished while writing at his personal creative zenith, his apogee in, and as a result of, paramount human suffering.
This is a common theme told in many stories through the years, yes, but it is as real and stunning in this film as was ever done in any medium.Les Matins is the best film story of an artist I have ever seen due to the honesty in which it understands and conveys to the audience the inescapable agony felt by a fatally tortured, artistic genius, and how that agony moved him to write his greatest music..
The brainchild of director Alain Corneau, writer Pascal Quignard, and musician Jordi Savall this film integrates the visual with the historicodramatic and the music that created the idea and bathes it in the most sensuously beautiful cinematography of a period (the 17th century) by Yves Angelo who is given the sets and design and costumes by Bernard Vézat and Corinne Jorry that create image after image of masterful still life.
The total integration of the work of these masters is the plinth on which the actors offer the memory of two famous composers in French classical music history.Saint-Colombe (Jean-Pierre Marielle) is a viol player and composer whose wife (Caroline Sihol) dies young leaving him to raise his two daughters young Madeleine (Violaine Lacroix) and young Toinette (Nadège Teron)whom he teaches his art of viol de gamba performance while sequestering himself and his girls in the countryside.
Into their garden comes the young handsome son of a shoemaker, Marin Marais (Guillaume Depardieu, the son of Gerard Depardieu) who commits to learning the viol and eventually becomes a court musician only to fall in love with Saint-Colombe's elder daughter Madeleine (Anne Brochet) whom he eventually leaves for the glories of the court.
As an adult (Gérard Depardieu pere) he realizes his error and returns to the Saint-Colombe sanctuary where he learns the true meaning of music as being something beyond words and thus something beyond human.In the course of this quiet little film and in the dramatic lighting of the production design we hear the music of Couperin, Lully, as well as compositions by Marais and Saint-Colombe.
Then listen to the soundtrack and weep along to beautifully-reproduced baroque chamber music.The story is slow-paced and lovingly-shot, and deals with love, talent and labour being lost on the road to fame and fortune in the big city.
(Not to mention one dramatically smashed viol, a suicide and a lot of crushed peaches.)Though the film's big-name stars are the Depardieus pere et fils, the musical director, Jordi Savall, and the Concert des Nations should be given an equal billing!.
This shot, about as minimalist as you can get, manages to suggest so much: the actual scene itself (Depardieu as Marais giving a music lesson in Royal Chambers to a number of inept students), his own life and sense of failure, aging, dissipation of talent and emotional paralysis despite the signs of status and wealth, the intimations of a past and a place so alien to the modern and showy Court as to be on a different plane of time and space altogether.
First of all, it is a biopic; not really of Marais at all, but his one time teacher, Sainte-Colombe, solitary genius of the viol, and possibly the first Romantic artist, someone who composed not for Royalty or riches, but fore himself, from his own soul, alone.
Depardieu's narration has the unadorned, measured simplicity of fairy tales, and the unmarked accumulation of events gives a timeless feel, one seperate from the historically verifiable Court.Further, the film doesn't try to cram in the whole of Sainte-Colombe's life.
It is very good about the marginalisation of equally talented women in this world of obsessive male art, where the only useful female is a dead one; and the brief, comical treatment of arbitrary monarchy is as pointed as anything in 'Ridicule'.The other genre the film belongs to is the dreaded costume drama, that puffed up fashion parade of bourgeois aspiration, where the allusion to people who used their brains is enough to satisfy audiences who refuse to use theirs; where cufflinks and frills are creamily fetishised, and everything else - plot, character, ideas, subtext - is a mere mannequin.
A strict disciplinarian, he forces his daughters to follow the example he has set them, and perhaps this is the reason for Madeleine's later sadness.All in all, I felt that the film was a touching tribute to the sadness and grief that make true love so beautiful..
Poignant, bittersweet biography, told via flashback by French Royal Court composer, Marin Marais (portrayed by Gerard Depardieu); of his legendary musical mentor, Sainte Colombe (Jean-Pierre Marielle).
The story unravels in a process like the blooming of a flower -- consistent, organic, and fascinating, albeit a shade slow.Secondly, any renaissance/baroque music fans should see this film merely for its delightful scoring.
Though early European music may be an acquired taste, "Tous les matins" presents the viola de gamba in all its expressive glory, foreshadowing works like Bach's well-known cello suites.
If the quasi-deep attempts to address the definition of music bother you (as they occasionally bothered me), the complementation of the music and the film's pacing will captivate you nonetheless.And offhand, fans of Julian Sands (especially in 'Impromptu')will get a kick out of comparing him to Guillaume Depardieu as the young Marin Marais...;).
Little known 17th Century viol player and composer Monsieur de Sainte Colombe regarded public performance as an act that corrupted the purity of music.
Since his wife's death, he had lived in isolation with his two daughters Madeleine and Toinette until a young musician, Marin Marais, convinces him to teach him viol.
The acting, as one would expect of French films in the the 1980s and 1990s, is consummate, and the characterization is totally convincing: the first five minutes of 'Tous les Matins du Monde'are memorable, the very best of Gerard Depardieu and French cinematography and music.
Possession of ineffable, love like ladder between two different worlds, mystery of touching, forms of freedom and meekness, ambition of young man for who the victory is a deep exploration of life's taste, for who the price is more little in perspective of luxurious victory against the others are elements of subtle tale in which illusion is the heart of every existence.Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe is not only historical character or legendary viola's master, but he is European image of a Zen teacher in a century of flavors, lights and pleasure, sophisticated hypocrisy and Roi-Soleil.
Tous Les matins Du Monde is extremely delightful,satisfying and fulfilled not only as colors, frames, photography, music, calligraphy ,but also as script,dialogs,acting.Corneau's proficiency of the plastic is amazing.The calming images are not a less important "character" in this movie than the music.Some colors are delightfully warm;others are cold.
Its Callophily and calmness of mind is that of the Dutch painters.(Some of the frames are direct,explicit quotations and do homage to their pictorial sources.)Still,the "substance" is meaningful and as rich as the "style" (if this dichotomy could be acceptable).Tous Les matins Du Monde is not at all empty formalism,but an inquiry into the heart's depths.This depth is not fake;its secret warmth touches the heart;the things said about music are not conventional.The plastic is Dutch.Ste. Colombe is sullen,Dumpish,brutal,peeved and surly,but his daughters (Manon and the younger Toinette) are sunny and sweet-tempered.Madeleine/Manon's eyes are piercing.Marais is a vulgarian;ambitious,cruel,in-satiate,he has,at first,no far-sightedness,but is greedy and trivial;hot-blooded,but superficial.Little by little,through music,through life,he humanizes.The final,touching "Marais",played by THE Depardieu,is humble;truly humble.Now,he tastes,he sips the essential.(It is very relevant that both Marielle and G.
Depardieu have sensual,earthly faces.)He gives his mind to music.This Marais is the one called by the very ill Manon who wants to pay him out.Ste. Colombe puts confidence in Marais,after he gave it him hot several times.Who would have thought that Marais and Ste. Colombe will come to be,now,two of a kind?The contemplation,the deepening gets the concreteness of an act of feeding.Marais meets two exceptional human beings:Monsieur De Ste. Colombe,and his elder daughter,"Manon" (Mrs. Anne Brochet).Marais' misfortune is to be unable to love people.Manon's misfortune is to be too able to love.
Ste. Colombe's happiness is to love (his wife,played by Mrs. Caroline Sihol).It is obvious that Tous Les matins Du Monde is a movie about the human heart,about the hidden coherence of the life,about the secret roundness of history when life is lived in search of objective and firm values.Tous Les matins Du Monde is one of the very few movies successful in expressing a highly developed interior life.Horrid things are narrated in a suave,heart-rending way.The music we listen to,the plastic quality of the frames we see,the acting we watch,the dialogs we hear--The movie's meanings are shown,and don't need to be explained here.Mrs. Anne Brochet acted in Cyrano De Bergerac as well.Mistake not.
First you should go for the entire movie, so you know the story, and the second time you should close your eyes and turn up the volume in order to fully enjoy the fragile, but oh so beautiful music.
Still, the movie has more to offer than just the music, the story and the acting are nice as well and that's something I know more to tell about.This movie starts with an old Marin Marais who is listening to his orchestra that is rehearsing a composition by Monsieur de Sainte Colombe at the royal court in Versailles.
When he starts playing, all his memories about his time with the family de Sainte Colombe return and he starts telling everything: How he first met his master at the age of seventeen, how he fell in love with one of his daughters, how he became appointed to the court of Louis XIV, but never was seen as a real musician by his master...
He also tells them that Monsieur de Sainte Colombe had a special way of working and that his music had a special reason of existence for the man.
But he refused because his music wasn't intended for people who didn't understand the real meaning of it: remembering his beloved wife who died too soon.Despite the fact that in my opinion the Baroque period is probably the worst period in history when it comes to clothing and architecture - it's all much too pompous and over the top to my taste - I must say that it didn't bother me all that much in this movie.
The story is narrated by the opportunist now old himself as a confession, to a room full of his sycophantic music students at the court of Louis XIV (the character, Marin Marais was an actual composer of the time, as was the older man, M.
He tells them of a life spent in self-aware mediocrity next to an artist who possesses a purity and passion that can't be learned.This man is Marais's teacher – a fictionalized version of 17th-century musician Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, who wrote great music for the viola.
In the end, which is the film's beginning, Marais is left with a life spent in pursuit of easy applause, asking his master's ghost for forgiveness.Tous les Matins du Monde is a rare film – capable of drawing us into a different consciousness, and helping us understand and appreciate something we had never contemplated before.
He lays in the wet, cold mud for a very long time, realizing that, accomplished musician that he is, he will never be able to come close to achieving the level of beauty, the level of excellence that is eminating from the cello of Monsieur de Sainte Columbe.I highly recommend this movie..
Nevertheless, the film is far less pleasure for the hearing impaired as the music is the real hot shot of this movie.
I think at that point, the camera threw up in its mouth."Tout les Matins du Monde" is little more than a rehash of "Amadeus" (made 6 years earlier), right down to the contrite voice-over by the hack who stole the glory of the *real* musical genius, the uneasy relationship between court musician and king, the contrived romance and so on.
Later, we see that, in maturity, after having lost his own true love (St. Colombe's daughter) Marin Marais has become a truly great musician.
This is a brilliant film about the life of Marin Marais and Ste Colombe.
de Saint Colombe, who outcasts himself from the Court and society, refuses to play in public and teach anybody who is not his daughters, and lives simply with his three daughters in their countryside manor, devoted to a simple strict and almost ascetic life.The script is very good as analyzes the opposition between fame-quality in Art and in the personal life of an artist, and between music as a bunch of sounds and music as a piece of art.
If you believe, as I do, that music surpasses all form of human expression, let yourself be seduced by the magnificent sounds of Marais and St. Colombe which permeate this film..
In his grief he builds a small house in his garden into which he moves to dedicate his life to music and his two young daughters Madeleine and Toinette, avoiding the outside world.The first thing that struck me about this film was the title.
A reclusive, enigmatic French musician rejects invitations to play at the court of Louis VIII, preferring a life of solitude and study after the death of his wife, emerging only to teach (reluctantly) the pursuit of pure music to a brash, ambitious pupil.
Most of the film, exploring the conviction, dedication, and loneliness of his mentor, unfolds in flashback, with Depardieu's character played by the actor's son Guillaume, making his big-screen debut.Of course few things are likely to be more pretentious than an art film about Art, but there's enough plot here to suggest an austere 17th century soap opera (a seduction, a suicide), plus an integrity altogether lacking from other, similar costume dramas (most of it was shot using only natural sound and available light, often only candlelight).
I also thought the storyline was irksome and sexist: Madeleine and Toinette are talented musicians, but the idea that they might want to do anything with their music is never mentioned, although a few real-life female composers from the time period exist.
This film consists of the memories of the famous musician, Marin Marais (Gerard Depardieu), reminiscing about an even greater musician, Monsieur de Sainte Colombe.
Now understand, these were real French musicians from the 17th and 18th century, but apparently very, very little is known about Colombe and the story is from a novel consisting of lots of conjecture by Pascal Quignard...so don't accept this as the gospel!Monsieur de Sainte Colombe (Jean-Pierre Marielle) is a very strange man--an angry weirdo, certainly.
Into this very mundane world comes a young Marin Marais (played here by Gerard's real life son, Guillaume).
The film relates the real story of Monsieur de Sainte Colombe, one of the most renowned viol players of the 17th Century, with a few fictitious anecdotes added to make it more interesting.The dialogue is simple, using our contemporary vocabulary, but the turn of the phrases are typical of 17th Century parlance, whose style recalls the writings of the French dramatists of that epoch, like Pierre Corneille or Jean Racine.
Savall was careful in his choices of the pieces to be played by the two characters in order to illustrate their different approaches to music.Gerard Depardieu's son, Guillaume, just starting in his acting career, interprets Marin Marais as a young man.
This requires the outstanding acting of the two actor-musicians, especially during their music-playing scenes.The film is an ode to the inner beauty and the meaning of music, and its main theme is the love of music.
However, Savall chose "Le tombeau des regrets," the piece Sainte Colombe composed for his dead wife, for Marais' "last/first" lesson from his Master, which they play together in a mutual understanding.
For Marais it takes a long time to understand what music is about, but at the end of the film he realizes what Sainte-Colombe has been trying to teach him.
Tous les matins du monde is the story of two musicians, Marin Marais (played by the noted actor, Gérard Depardieu) and his mentor, Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, during the time of King Louis IV in the 17th century.
Tous les matins du monde is an extremely elegant film which features some great baroque music.
The young man is more interested in revenge than music, in getting to where he needs to go than the hearts he has to break along the way.Writers Pascal Quignard and Alain Corneau (the film is directed by Corneau) thrust de Saint Colombe on viewers out of the apparent belief that a great artist must be cruel, oafish, unknown and unhappy. |
tt0072271 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | The film opens on the date of August 18, 1973 by revealing that a cemetery in rural Texas has been vandalized; several gravesites have been desecrated, the bodies dug up and arranged into bizarre "sculptures". Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) and her invalid, wheelchair-bound brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain), are concerned that their grandfather's grave may have been vandalized, so they travel to the site with three of their friends, Sally's boyfriend Jerry (Allen Danziger), her best friend Pam (Teri McMinn), and Pam's boyfriend Kirk (William Vail). When they discover that the grave is intact, they decide to visit the old family homestead which is now abandoned.Along the way, they pass a slaughterhouse and Franklin describes how cattle used to be killed with a sledgehammer, and now they use an air gun. Shortly afterwards, they pick up a skinny, strange-looking hitch hiker (Edwin Neal) who exhibits bizarre behavior. After inviting the group back to his house for dinner, an invitation they all decline, the hitchhiker takes a photo of Franklin with an instant polarid camara, and demands a two-dollar payment for it. When Franklin refuses, the man angrily crumples the photo, sets it on fire, and cuts his own hand with Franklin's pocket knife. The guys manage to throw him out of the van, but not before he cuts Franklin with the knife, too. Before they can drive away, he smears blood on their van.Running low on fuel, they stop at a rural Gulf filling station, only to have the strange-looking old man who runs it (Jim Siedow) tell them that the tanks are empty and that he's waiting for the gas tanker to show up. When the old man learns that their destination is the old Hardesty home, he advises the young people against going there by saying that the people who live around that area are not receptive to strangers. They buy some barbeque sandwiches from the old man and depart for the family home which they finaly arrive a short while later.While Sally and Pam go off to look through the abandoned house, Franklin finds it hard to get around the old place due to his wheelchair, and he is frustrated by the fun that the two couples seem to be having.Franklin gives Pam and Kirk directions to an old swimming hole that used to be nearby, but they find it completely dried up. Kirk hears the sound of a gas generator nearby and gets the idea to find out where it is and barter for some gasoline. Following the sound, they discover a large farm house surrounded by numerous abandonded vehicles, partially hidden by a large tarp. Kirk finds a human tooth on the front porch and frightens Pam with it. He gets no answer to a knock at the door, and he is lured inside by strange animal sounds. He goes into the house and in the space of a few moments, an enormous heavyset man in a weird mask (Gunnar Hansen) appears and murders him with a blow to the head via sledgehammer. The man, known as "Leatherface" due to his mask made out of a human face, drags the body into a back room.Pam becomes restless when Kirk does not return, and she goes into the house to look for him. She stumbles into a room that is filled with human and animal bones. A live chicken dangles in a small bird cage. Weird sculptures made out of human skulls hang from the ceiling. Furniture is adorned with human bones and skulls. The floor is covered with bits of bones and feathers. Pam begins to retch and starts screaming, when Leatherface appears and lunges for her. She runs out onto the porch but he catches her, carrying her kicking and screaming back into the house, where he savagely hangs her on a meat hook through her back. While she hangs there, she can see Leatherface dismembering the dead body of Kirk with a chainsaw.Back at the Hardesty house, Sally and the others start to wonder why Pam and Kirk have not returned. As the sun begins to set, Jerry sets out in the general direction and also comes upon the house after he is lured to the area by the sound of the house's gas generator. He is alerted by the blanket that Kirk left hanging on the front porch, and he goes into the house. After Jerry walks into the kitchen, he discovers Pam locked inside a large freezer, still alive but convulsing and near death. She lunges out of the freezer just as Leatherface appears and kills Jerry with the sledgehammer. He forces Pam's body back into the freezer and locks it again. Leatherface is clearly distraught, apparently upset because strangers keep coming to his house.At nightfall, Sally and Franklin are forced to go after Jerry when he does not return; Jerry took the keys to the van with him when he left. Franklin refuses to wait at the van and insists that Sally push his wheelchair along the unpaved path through the woods. Before they get to the house, they are attacked by Leatherface, who murders Franklin by ramming him in the chest with a chainsaw. Sally flees in terror with Leatherface directly behind her. She gets cut on the thorny brush as she runs, eventually reaching the house; she is unaware that the house belongs to her pursuer. Sally runs upstairs as Leatherface saws through the front door to get at her. In an upstairs bedroom, she finds two dessicated figures, an old man and old woman. The woman is long dead, but the old man is still barely alive, hideously withered. Leatherface corners her on the second floor, so she leaps out a window and runs from the house again with him right behind her.Sally reaches the gas station and Leatherface disappears. The old man says he's going to take Sally to get help, and while he's gone Sally notices the smoke pit where the barbeque is made. She stares at it in fascination. The old man returns and suddenly attacks Sally, who tries to defend herself with a kitchen knife. But the old man knocks the knife out of Sally's hand with a broom. The old man beats Sally unconcious with the broom, uses the knife to cut some twine to tie her up, he then puts a gunny sack over her head and forcing her into his pickup truck. He drives her back to the dreaded house, and along the way picks up the hitch hiker from earlier in the day. They all live there, along with Leatherface. They tie Sally to a chair inside the house and remove the bag from her
head. She and the hitch hiker recognize one another and Sally screams in horror.The family torments her for the rest of the night, forcing her to sit at their table while they eat a meal that is obviously made up of human flesh. They bring "Grandpa" down from upstairs, the dessicated old man, and slice Sally's finger open, sticking it in the old man's mouth while he sucks her blood. They tell Sally that "Grandpa" used to work in the
slaughterhouse and was the best with a sledgehammer there was. They decide to let Grandpa kill Sally and untie her, forcing her onto her knees and holding her head over a bucket while Grandpa makes several feeble attempts to hit her head with a hammer. The hitch hiker gets frustrated and makes a grab for the hammer to finish her off, and suddenly Sally breaks free. She hurls herself out a window again and lands outside just as dawn begins to break.The hitchhiker and Leatherface emerge from the house and chase Sally up to the road, the hitch hiker brandishing a knife and Leatherface waving the chainsaw. The hitchhiker very nearly catches her, grabbing for her and catching her hair over and over. A large semi drives by and the hitch hiker is caught off guard; the truck drives over him, killing him. The truck driver slows down and gets out of the rig to see what happened, only to be confronted by a screaming, bloodied Sally with Leatherface close behind, the chainsaw buzzing. He chases Sally and the truck driver to the other side of the cab, when the driver hurls a wrench at him and hits him in the side of the head. Leatherface drops the saw and falls, wounded in the leg by the saw blade. The truck driver flees down the road, but the wounded Sally cannot catch up. Then a pickup truck drives by and Sally abandons the scene by jumping in the back of the truck. Leatherface still gives chase, but the pickup driver pulls away. Sally laughs crazily at Leatherface as she escapes, giggling at him as he swings his chainsaw around in frustration and rage in the middle of the road in the full light of dawn. | dark, avant garde, grindhouse film, gothic, murder, comedy, violence, cult, horror, atmospheric, insanity, tragedy, suspenseful, sadist | train | imdb | With the recent box-office success achieved by the latest remake of 1974's `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' it's worth looking back at Tobe Hooper's original horror classic.
Tobe Hopper's 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' is a landmark low budget horror movie which must be considered a modern classic.
In this day and age of cynically conceived and marketed MTV-friendly teen slashers it's a revelation to see old school horror classics like this, Romero's 'Night Of The Living Dead' and Craven's 'Last House On The Left'.
Terrifying.Despite the complete lack of gore or extreme physical violence, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre continues to horrify and holds up the countless, shot-on-video, slasher clones of subsequent years for the puerile crap that they truly are.
The scares come from the absolutely brutal and bizarre scenarios that befall poor Sally Hardesty.In closing, I'd also like to go out on a limb and make the following grandiose statement: TCM is the greatest horror film of all time!
The chase scene where Leatherface hunts down Marilyn Burns, scared out of her wits and howling like a wounded animal, is shot through branches of trees, as if the landscape is conspiring to ensnare the victim and so hunter and hunted run in the fields and inside a house and then back outside while the titular chainsaw is buzzing away in a constant reminder of gruesome death.
The (original) Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is without a doubt in my mind, the most impressive horror film to date.
The locations are macabre beyond belief, in particular a room with hanging animal bones and bone constructed furniture, and the whole film has a hot, musty orange glow about it that almost makes you smell the dead human meat in the cannibal house.The performances are relatively functionary from the cast, although Marilyn Burns puts in a good turn as the tortured 'final girl', making us feel that her life is truly at risk.
The family holds her over a bucket as the old man raises the hammer to strike her, but he is barely able to hold it, let alone hit her with it.Chain Saw is full of images that will horrify and disturb, but unlike many other films that do the same, Chain Saw will leave you breathless with its unrelenting assault on the senses; from the images on display to the ear-shattering sound design that allows Leatherface's saw to intrude your living room and slice at your nerves.
In fact, you never really have time to think about what you are seeing until after the film has ended, which leaves an indelible image of a skin-masked madman waving a chain saw around his head in anger.So, if you watched Chain Saw a good few years ago and remember it being a standard slasher flick with lots of gore, revisit it and see just how effective suggestion can be.
His performance is so unbelievably believable that I wonder: was he even acting?Another great thing about THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is how it captures the feel and attitude of its time.
Sally running away from the Sawyer house is like the cow that got away from the slaughterhouse.All in all, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is so good that it's one of those rare gems that can be truly appreciated as a straight horror movie, as a black comedy and even as an art film.
OK, so this is one of the most talked about movies that i missed all these years as a horror movie fan, i finally saw it by DVD rental, i am not going into detail about the film because it has already been reviewed countless times, i have already watched many recent slasher, horror, films with blood and gore but this one was the master of them all, why ?
The motion picture was well directed by Tobe Hooper.The film is based on real events about the secluded farmhouse of Plainfield (Wisconsin)handyman Ed Gein ,( Leatherface character) who admitted today he disembowelled and butchered the body of old widow, authorities found the decapitated boy hanging in Gein's woodshed, gutted out and strung up by the heels.
Intelectuals or pseudo-intelectuals will probably tend to regard it as a low budget groundbreaking, avant-garde movie, although deep down inside, it's unlikely that there is any part in them capable of feeling something other than disgust by its essence.I could go on for hours.Then, there are others, whose irrational morbid fascination for the ORIGINAL Texas Chainsaw Massacre lacks a proper explanation.
At six-years-old, I watched "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and I'm still allured back into watching this film every once in a while.Sally with three of her friends, and her wheelchair bound brother Franklin, travel to her grandfather's grave, but along the way they meet an insane hitchhiker.
Leatherface running through the woods with the chainsaw over his head while Sally screamed and screamed and ran, and went on way too long (much like the action films that would come 30 years later) all of went to prove that without a doorway to pop out of, Leatherface is a pansy who can't shut up one girl.
I still feel that Texas Chainsaw Massacre is living breathing proof that shock-fest exploitation films lose their power to truly and rightly be considered classics.
This is the first(and maybe last)movie that invites you to join in there,be a part of the movie,feel the intensity,be a part of the massacre.Words are meaningless here,but at least I can try making some comments on this masterpiece.First of all,it's a movie made on the 80's(i.e. 1974), and that means that it was made before Halloween, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs and most of the 'known' horror-thrillers out there.Tobe Hopper's originality is majestic!The guy really introduces some really original ideas here:the chainsaw(as a weapon), the raw and merciless murders, the sick introduction of the 'family' and their house(chicken feathers and bones decorating the house),the family portrait(sick brothers and 'Grandpa'),the creepy paranoid music sounds,the moody and freaky atmosphere and the way they murder their victims-plain and simple..just as that..nothing more-nothing less.No special cgi-effects-everything here is original and true as hell!The killers here are really hunters..you will not see any of the victims trying to hurt-or attack the killer(in comparison to all these Halloween and Friday the 13th crap-where the killer is slashed-hacked-drowned-electrified...BUT STILL ALIVE!)No..no...forget about that..the victims just run for their lives..
On the other hands, me and a bunch of friends had a GREAT time watching this movie, laughing at the ridiculous acting and pointing out the never-ending list of completely stupid behaviour by the main characters.
Much like Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre changed the horror genre and inspired many slasher films thereafter.
Don't mean you have to like it."In proper context, that quote is much more sinister than it may appear......and that's because this "proper context" I speak of happens to be one of the most grotesque sequences from "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", a nightmarish thrill ride that is often considered to be one of the scariest films ever made.
And, speaking about "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" - I certainly can't imagine how anyone (in their right mind) could actually make it a steady diet of watching films from this one's horrific sub-genre.
I really can't.Sick, twisted, deranged, cruel and sadistic - Even though this 1974 horror film (which is now 42 years old) still manages to pack quite a wallop when it comes to delivering plenty of heart-pounding terror - I understand that (by today's standards of brutal slasher films) "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is actually fairly tame by comparison.
If you feel like taking a break from the modern gore-dependent slasher horror films being spat out by Hollywood then take a trip back to the early dawn of the low-budget slasher genre with Texas Chainsaw Massacre..
I now see it as a truly great horror film with a sense of humor, rather than a spoof.I had intended to rent this movie again for the past few months, before the new The Texas Chain Saw Massacre came out, and I am so glad I was able to get the DVD this time.The remastered DVD --especially the soundtrack-- was so good that I will probably buy a copy for myself.10 out of 10..
From the fallacy of it being based on actual events (though it may loosely be based on Ed Gein, Gein never used a chainsaw and worked alone) to the terrible acting (the jolting closeups of Sally screaming towards the end...which lasted way too long, mind you); it wasn't scary at all.I'm not particularly fond of horror movies.
Print out my picture, fire up that old chainsaw and go to town, but it's just my honest opinion.I have seen a lot of the horror classics, it's not like I only watch new movies.
Highly intense, feverish low budget horror classic is simply one of the most nightmarish films of American cinema!!Young travelers in rural Texas keep having run-ins with weirdos that have a very strange taste for certain kinds of barbecue.Director Tobe Hooper is one of the best horror filmmakers of all time and it was this scary, influential masterpiece that brought him to horror fame.
I saw this film for the very first time recently after having been too scared to watch it for years.While the film did not scare me as much as i was expecting there is no doubt it is a truly remarkable piece of horror cinema.The story is pretty much the run of the mill stalk n slash movie so there isn't really any need to go into it.
The lack of over the top music leaves you with the terrified screams of the main characters as they confront their antagonists, as does the grainy looking film which makes it appear to be more of a home-movie gone wrong than a film at all.The appearance of Leatherface for the first time, for example is handled as casually as the appearance of any other lead character, but then of course we know the result of his appearance and cannot help but be shocked by what follows within the space of about 20 seconds afterwards.Make no mistake this film is a test in psychological strength and questions us what we would do in the situations as poor Marilyn Burns.While the film may look dated in this age of extreme gore and "jump scares" their is no denying the craft that has gone into this.
It almost makes me sick to see comments such as "more funny than anything" for a horror classic like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Just because nowadays we have stupid blood soaked THRILLERS/comedies such as "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" doesn't lessen the power of this all-time great.Ok, so the movie isn't as controversial as it was in the 70s (you couldn't possibly expect it to be!!) It is however, one of the most influencial horror films ever made.10 out of 10 on this onePS: Stop making fun of true classic horror, kids and throw away your entire Friday The 13th series.
Tobe Hooper created one of the most terrifying,disturbing and realistic films in horror genre history.There's a very little visible violence in this film,but the atmosphere of sheer dread and terror is simply overwhelming."The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is loosely based on activities of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein.Gein,a necrophiliac serial killer and devotee of the wartime Nazi concentration camp medical experimentalists is thought to have inspired the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "Psycho"(1960)and two low-budget horror movies "Deranged"(1974)and "Three on a Meathook"(1972)by his macabre deeds in the late 50's.On one occasion he plundered a Wisconsin graveyard by night for edible body parts,and flayed one corpse to fashion a waistcoat souvenir.Some time later,when police called at his house to question Gein about a missing elderly woman,they discovered the gutted torso of one of his earlier female victims hanging from the beams.In the basement of his house parts of human bodies hung from hooks on the walls,in the kitchen the refrigerator contained frozen body parts.Oh,and there was an armchair...with real arms.So it's really obvious that Leatherface brilliantly played by Gunnar Hansen was influenced by Ed Gein.The cinematography is grainy,even ugly-looking at times,the music composed by Tobe Hooper is genuinely creepy and the acting is brilliant."The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is a REAL horror,and also an overwhelming assault on the viewer's senses.10 out of 10-surely they don't make them like this anymore.Along with "Last House on the Left"(1972)and "Cannibal Holocaust"(1979)this is one of my favourite horror movies from the 70's..
None of it's sequels can compare to the First tcm and, i heard there making a remake it will be nothing like the original.This was a very good movie and, i recommend it to anyone who's in for a real scare.
This a raw film-making brilliance, Tobe Hopers seminal horror work that was a part of the 1970's horror revolution that was being waged by horror greats George Romero, David Cronenberg, Wes Craven (somewhat), and John Carpenter.I saw another post that said this film has no meaning or message, it's tasteless was the sum of their review, I however disagree with all my heart.This is a movie that puts a mirror to the post-Vietnam era and challenges the status of our society in terms of its social and family values.
Let me list a few reasons:1) The gritty documentary feel the film has.2) The excellent performances by Edwin Neil (the Hitch-Hiker), Jim Seidow (The Old Man), and Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface) as the psychos (in a film this low budget and grainy, performances this real feel all the more scary) and Marilyn Burns (Sally) and Paul A.
Let me list a few reasons:1) The gritty documentary feel the film has.2) The excellent performances by Edwin Neil (the Hitch-Hiker), Jim Seidow (The Old Man), and Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface) as the psychos (in a film this low budget and grainy, performances this real feel all the more scary) and Marilyn Burns (Sally) and Paul A.
even the way the sun sets in this film is spooky along with the sound of the farmhouse generator).4)Relentless Horror (Leatherface RUNS not speedwalks after his victims with a live chainsaw...
even the way the sun sets in this film is spooky along with the sound of the farmhouse generator).4)Relentless Horror (Leatherface RUNS not speedwalks after his victims with a live chainsaw...
I beg to differ, in my opinion this movie is just awful, everything about it was bad, people need to start thinking with their own head, not only shout - ''wow', that's a classic, way better than new horror movies'' etc.The whole setup is bad, five incredibly annoying hipster kids you hate from minute 1, an incredibly predictable plot, irrational actions and the list goes on and on.
Like Friedkin's Exorcist, Tobe Hooper's gift and intelligence with his film, and what elevates it as grungy, awfully brutal art, is that he doesn't back away from showing us these 'things' – the house where Leatherface and his meat-eating freak-show of a family live at under the guise of a dad that serves BBQ a town over, is filled with decay and rot and weird skeletons.There's one sequence in fact that just has a girl falling into a room in this house where she and a boy wander to – cause it's one of 'those' horror films after all, with supposedly dumb kids wandering where they shouldn't, only these are at least moderately smarter and nicer, if no less fatalistic, than the kids in 80's slashers – and Hooper just shows us this room, almost for a good five minutes of screen time.
He trusts that his audience won't like everything they see, and that's the kicker: this is the perpetually "feel-bad" horror film, yet unlike a latter-day movie like Saw, this is one where we do care about what will happen to this girl, her wheelchair-bound brother (annoying as he may be), and there's even a sliver, just a hint, at some social satire with this van of Texas hippies coming upon the backwoods: the deep-fried Texas cannibal holocaust version of Deliverance..
Director Tobe Hooper deconstructs a road movie into a non stopping horror thriller and an absolutely must-see classic, taking the film experience to the next level.
His craft makes TCM (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) one of the most brilliant and atmospheric films of any genre, never mind horror.The title pretty much sums up what to expect in the ensuing 80 minutes.
TCM(short for Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is without a doubt one of the greatest and (together with "The LastHouse on the left" and "Halloween") influential horror films of all time.
Watching it now I can honestly say its one of the best movies ever made, and as such deserves to be a cult classic as long as movies play a part of our lives.From start to finish I was gripping my seat, near misses and everything else you could want in a horror film, and not that bad of a story line either.10 out of 10..
This guy could have existed, could exist NOW, that's what makes it so d*mn freaky!Horror films these days (as with other genres) rely way too heavily on CGI to enhance the effects or "scariness" factor...but CGI effects date VERY quickly and VERY poorly...so there's NO WAY they'll ever stand the test of time the way TCM has...what i mean is, Tobe Hooper et al could never have taken a "soft option" and chosen CGI effects...they had to come up with ways to scare the beejesus out of people with just camera effects, performances and make up...hard to do...John Carpenter did it with Halloween, Hooper did it here.Thoroughly freaky movie...not "omg thats gross" but "omg that's the creepiest damn thing I ever saw!".
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in my book is a film that is a total classic, the movie will scare you all to death,,lol, no pun intended.
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" uses your imagination like no other film.
You may have felt self disgust for doing so but that`s the whole point about TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE - It`s not a horror film , it`s a black comedy. |
tt0163978 | The Beach | Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio), a backpacker in Thailand, goes to Southeast Asia with the intention of experiencing something radically different from his familiar life. He meets Daffy (Robert Carlyle), who is crazy and rants on about a beach paradise on a secret island and the parasites of civilization. Daffy later commits suicide but leaves Richard a map to the island, convincing him that it exists.Richard meets Françoise (Virginie Ledoyen) and her boyfriend, Étienne (Guillaume Canet), and convinces them to accompany him to the island, partly out of an infatuation for Françoise. They travel from Bangkok to the shores of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand, where Richard befriends a pair of American surfers. They talk excitedly about the myth of the beach and how it has an almost unlimited supply of marijuana. Richard does not admit his knowledge, but copies his map and slides it under their door the next morning.To finally reach the island, Richard, Françoise, and Étienne must swim across to it. When they first arrive on the island, they come across an enormous marijuana plantation guarded by local farmers armed with AK-47 assault rifles, where they barely manage to evade detection. After jumping off cliff and landing in a lake below, they are seen by Keaty (Paterson Joseph), who takes them to the beach community. They are cautiously interrogated by the island's leader Sal (Tilda Swinton) regarding their knowledge of the island, but are accepted. The trio are introduced to everybody and over the next few days go on to become integrated into the community.One night while Richard and Françoise are walking down the beach, she tells him that she is falling in love with him. They swim out into the ocean to look at a swarm of bioluminescent plankton, where Françoise kisses Richard and has sex with him on the beach. Despite their attempts to keep the romance a secret, the whole island finds out about it, including Étienne. Although devastated, Étienne says he will not stand in their way if Francoise is happier with Richard.At first the island and its community seem to live up to their reputation. Richard swims out into the ocean to catch fish with a harpoon and is attacked by a young mako shark, but he stabs it to death, which gains him much admiration. Events take a turn for the worse when Richard is chosen to accompany Sal to the mainland to acquire supplies, where Richard is inadvertently reunited with the American surfers who are preparing to go to the beach with two girls. Sal overhears their conversation about the copy of the map and confronts Richard, who admits his "guilt". In exchange for Sal's silence and Richard's return to the island, Sal blackmails Richard into having sex with her that night.When they return to the island, everything returns to normal until the Swedes are attacked by a shark while fishing. Sten dies almost instantly and Christo is severely injured. The only options for Christo are to go to the mainland to get medical help or stay on the island and take his chances, as Sal refuses to allow a doctor to come to the island. Christo chooses to stay, not wanting to go near the water after his encounter with the shark. Christo's condition worsens, consistently lowering the morale of the whole community, so they take him out into the middle of the jungle and leave him to die. However, Étienne, disgusted by the group's decision, vows to stay with Christo.Later, Sal observes the American surfers on the neighboring island and charges Richard with the task of watching them so he can obtain the map and destroy it. While he's waiting for the surfers to arrive, Françoise shows up, furious and heartbroken, saying that Sal has told everybody about her affair with Richard at Koh Phangan. Richard cannot cope with his task and retreats into the forest, where he becomes temporarily insane, believing that he is communing with the long-dead Daffy. He evades the other islanders and sets lethal traps in an attempt to keep them at bay, at times hallucinating that he is a character in a video game.Meanwhile, the surfers reach the island but are discovered and killed by the marijuana farmers before they can get to the beach. Richard witnesses their executions and retreats to the community to convince Étienne and Françoise to leave the island, believing that all their lives are now in danger. Étienne refuses, not wanting to leave the emaciated Christo, whose leg has become gangrenous. When the other two briefly leave the tent, Richard tearfully smothers Christo to death in a mercy killing. When he leaves the tent, however, he is struck across the face by a farmer and knocked unconscious.He wakes up in a tent in pain, surrounded by the community and the farmers. The farmers approach Sal, with whom they had an agreement, and give her a gun loaded with a single bullet and an ultimatum: shoot Richard dead and be allowed to stay, or leave the island forever. Sal approaches Richard and fires an empty chamber, throwing the crowd into chaos. The lead farmer smiles as the community instantly disintegrates. Sal collapses in a flood of tears, as the crowd, now in hysterics, flees in droves to get away from the island. Together, they swim back to the mainland and go their separate ways.The film ends with Richard stopping by an Internet cafe to check his mail. He receives a letter from Françoise titled "beach life" containing a photograph of the beach community and an animated handwritten inscription over the image: 'Parallel Universe. Love, Françoise x'. THIS FILM OKE | murder, cult, flashback, insanity, romantic, prank | train | imdb | Taking with him 2 French travellers, Richard sets out to reach the island and finds it inhabited by a mix of people living as a small ideallic community.
However internal conflicts rise up with their arrival and a copy of the map that he gave to some friends threaten to expose the paradise community for it's darker roots.While I know that the critics were a little hard on this film when it came out, my main reason for not going to see it was a feeling of total apathy towards it.
Director Boyle's direction is visually good too whether it be drawing style from scenes or contrasting the city with the island or doing imaginative things like computer game style images, he does work well.The plot is good on paper but isn't as well brought through.
The film clearly is building into a teenage Hearts of Darkness type story where the DIY civilisation leads to cruelty and madness this aim can be seen in an early scene where tourists sit watching Apocalypse Now in a waiting area.
It all happens to quickly and, although with brutal consequences, it really needed to be seen to be more of a gradual distancing from the norm rather than a sudden leap into an abyss.DiCaprio is not an actor that I particularly like or enjoy to watch but he is pretty good here.
The mix of multinational unknowns in the support roles are all good even if, with so many good looking young people, it does feel a little like a music video shoot at times.Overall I enjoyed the film even if it never got as involving as I hoped it would.
The whole thing looks great and DiCaprio's star power and charisma helps keep the audience with him, it's just that the actual story doesn't quite have the rich feeling or depth that the tourist-film location does..
Amidst all that foreign intrigue, you are truly alone - an opportunity to be truthful to your instincts.When you are young and you travel, recklessness and the need to experience drive almost all your decision, well other than budgetary constraints.It is therefore quite truthful at times to relate to the character who is in search of this ultimate freedom, a place where all your worldly obligations are suspended and irrelevant.The movie is an irony.
Not only externally, that though it depicts the end purity of nature when fox's being sued for environmental damage, but also that any man-found paradise is not free, but with a price and in this case, could be the ultimate price.I truly enjoyed the movie especially at times the sparks of life's insight and moments of traveller's consciousness that when you are there, in that destination, IT becomes reality and no longer are you foreign and problems arise regardless.Though the romance is distracting, Etienne, Canet's portrayal is quite the eye candy.Definitely a watch, but may not appeal to all tastes..
Here is another of those films that got panned by critics all over the place, but I liked the movie and thought it was unfairly criticized.Two things are not up for debate: the film is entertaining and the cinematography is gorgeous.Leonardo DiCaprio's lead character is not particularly likable, but that's nothing new for him.
He asks two strangers, Françoise (Virginie Ledoyen who was really great in her first big American Film and good looking too by the way) and Etienne (Guillaume Canet) to come and join them.After they have found the island they meet an alternative group who lives there and they join them, but after a while problems evolve and a minor 'hell' breaks loose.This is the plain story-line of the movie, but there is so much more to it, it has a message and that really is what fascinated me a lot in the beginning and at the end.
There also is a bit gore, but it fits good in the movie and is not unnecessary.Yet this film is not flawless, it was good entertainment over all, yes and it was very good in the beginning and in the end, but in the middle when Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) loses it, so does the film and that is a shame.
On a rating scale of 0 to 100; I gave The Beach a score of 72.Many people have stopped themselves from seeing The Beach because of bad reviews from critics and the story of the crew wrecking an entire island to make the movie.
Still, the bad reviews from the critics I disagree with, I found this quite a little gem, and if you agree with some of my other reviews, I recommend you don't hesitate when you see The Beach sitting on the drama shelf of your video store.The wonders of modern technology, like computers, video games, cell phones, pagers and the internet, were designed to make our lives more enjoyable and facilitate communications.
Danny Boyle's direction is solid and he paces the film nicely, and the script is adapted well from Alex Garland's better-than-movie book.
I didn't want to watch 'The Beach' because of the bad reviews, but when I accidentally came across it while surfing through the channels, I couldn't stop watching.If you're young and have a thing for interesting stories, you'll love this one.10/10.
Most of the movie is extremely depressing and generally uncomfortable to watch, but then the movie ends on a gleefully happy note as if nothing bad even happened.The best way I can explain The Beach is that it is a confused, hyper mess of a film that tackles a social commentary so blatantly obvious that it comes off grossly pretentious.
It's just a matter of more humans in one place than another.And who would figure on a story in which armed drug dealers actually turn out to be the good guys, probably because they know the truth about human nature better than their nirvana seeking neighbors.
It's slow scenes, extremely bad computer animations and the horribly outdated brit-pop soundtrack makes it an equally painful experience to watch.The movies ending is nothing but Richard being nostalgic about his beach adventures in his normal-life setting, not having learned any lesson or gained any emotional strength.
I was really tempted to sneak out of that stupid movie and go see THE TIGGER STORY!Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young dope-addicted traveler who is trying to forget his past, meets a psycho named Daffy (Robert Carlyle) who gives him a map to a beautiful island/beach paradise before committing suicide.
:Trust Me, Its Paradise'The Beach' is a kinda of movie the feel of which surrounds you slowly and completely.I'd say Danny Boyle has done complete justification to the book.
It's based on a well regarded novel by Alex Garland , features Leonardo Dicaprio a megastar after his role in TITANIC and is directed by Danny Boyle one of Britain's greatest living directors and yet it's a film that is difficult to enjoy and it's easy to explain why - characterisation Take one American pretty boy , send him in Thailand , stick him on an island with a bunch of selfish , unsympathetic people and watch a potentially good film fall apart .
When you watch a movie and the most likable character is a mad mental foul mouthed dope smoking Scotsman then you know the producers have got a problem Another thing I had problems with is the way Leonardo Dicaprio's character Richard suddenly turns from inquisitive backpacker into Colonel Kurtz .
Anyone who finds a bunch of dope smoking hippies on an idyllic beach entertaining enough to watch for 2 hours has definitely been smoking rolled up copies of Amazing Thailand Travel Brochures or worse still the excruciatingly pretentious book the movie is based on .
Since the cast of characters is so youthful to begin with, the film is able to dispense with or, at the most, treat obliquely one of the major themes that runs through `Lost Horizon,' that of the universal lure of Eternal Youth.Di Caprio stars as Richard, a young man so bored with the mundane rituals of modern civilized life that he journeys alone to Bangkok to partake of the exotic experiences a more primitive life has to offer.
Leo DiCaprio is a great actor when he's given a chance (What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Aviator, Catch Me If You Can) but here he's really just doing the whole boy-toy routine -- targeting the younger crowds of females rather than really trying to get into character.The plot isn't the greatest and the metaphors aren't deep -- the movie seems rather pretentious at times and tries to be heavier and more meaningful than it actually is.Of interesting note is that Danny Boyle (director of "Trainspotting") had a falling-out with star Ewan McGregor over this.
He brings a good deal of likability to the role, something of a relief among the Islanders, and I wish the whole story had revolved around his much more interesting and human character.In the end,we are left with unanswered questions and a great feeling of dissatisfaction..
My subsequent viewings over the years would see me lament about an arcade game sequence and bemoaning that Robert Carlyle wasn't given a more extended role, yet it has become a film that sees me totally on board with director Danny Boyle's production and it's now that I think it puts the story together with poignant precision.Leonardo DiCaprio is Richard, a backpacker searching for a bit more in life, after a meeting with pot smoking loony Daffy (the wonderful Robert Carlyle), he learns of an island paradise that is everything he has yearned for in his life.
Getting there will give him the adventure and danger he craves, because once there it apparently will be the thing of dreams, the perfect paradise cut off from civilisation...The film is very much split in two, the first half introduces us to Richard and the people he would convince to travel with him to this island paradise, we then follow their journey that is perfect in fleshing out the characters, they come up against obstacles and learn about each other on the way.
The second half is well worth waiting for because it's here that the story kicks in to make the viewer think, it's idyllic, it's gorgeous, it's near perfect, but wherever there is a community, there will be personal hang ups, jealousies, power seekers and etc, in short, the surroundings may be perfect but the human condition is far from flawless.I love this film now, I love DiCaprio's performance, a cocky smart- arse thrill seeker about to get a wake up call is tailor made for him, and he delivers it with a skillful array of emotions.
The film suffers with the inevitable comparisons to Lord Of The Flies & Hearts Of Darkness, and yes these are fair comparisons, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it's a fine film for the modern generation in its own right, with the core point of the story relevant to all and sundry.Fans of the novel would prove to be very ambivalent towards this filmic adaptation, but in my book it gets better on repeat viewings.
Who told Danny Boyle that it would be a good movie if you put Leonardo di Caprio on a tropical island and let him do a little bit of fishing?
Flaccid adaptation of Alex Garland's novel about a young American abroad in Thailand (Di Caprio) who comes across a map to a desolate island paradise and embarks for the promised land with his befriended French couple where they discover less than idyllic offerings in an all too good to be true hideaway from civilization.Comes across as a hybrid of 'The Blue Lagoon' and 'Lord of The Flies' as envisioned by a group of stoned hippies with a lot of laughable sequences and a surprisingly uninteresting plot (man becoming more uncivilized and the disharmony after madness approaches one's being).
I can't believe after watching this film that Garland signed away a beautiful, gripping and thought-provoking novel, which operated on so many levels, to this dumbed-down Hollywood trash movie.
Richard gets acquainted with a couple of stunning-looking French models (I mean, tourists
) and they travel searching for paradise on earth.What they find is a sort of hippie community, living on a hidden beach, next door to a marijuana plantation guarded by armed thugs.
As for the cult movie potential, I think the next generations must judge it, but it has a great deal of bitterness to it and if two years later the film isn't a "word of mouth" phenomenon, maybe it won't have such a cult afterall.
For a movie directed by Danny Boyle (Sunshine, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting,etc.) that stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tilda Swinton...
It starts off pretty good with a shady guy coming up to Leo's character (Richard) and saying that he knows of a "perfect paradise".
After having read the great book, I wanted to watch the film despite a lot of the bad word of mouth it had gotten.
I may want to have sex again in the morning." That's practically the only interesting line from THE BEACH, an incredibly unconvincing and suspense-less film about a bunch of rich backpackers who stumble onto the "perfect" beach in Thailand.Leonardo DiCaprio is supposed to be the boy who goes wild in the jungle -- kind of like casting Hugh Grant to play Rambo.
I think I basically watched this movie because at the time, I was interested in finding out more about Virginie Ledoyen, the french actress who stars in this movie alongside DiCaprio and the rest of a relatively no-name cast.There were some action-like scenes, but nothing to really make a fuss about.
A 180 for Leo. Leonardo DiCaprio, in a good portrayal of today's youth, does a 180 degree turn from 'Titanic' in this film which has a communal look, dives into the true aspects of human nature and has a tense climax.
The Beach is a prime example of when a good book turned into a movie goes bad...The Beach tells the story of an American traveller in Bangkok - looking for the ultimate experience.
He befriends a Scottish traveller who, after suiciding, gives the American a map to a secret beach - the most beautiful beach in the world (or so the story goes)...The Beach feels like a bit of a train-wreck of a movie.
Leonard De Caprio - although a talented actor - feels so uncomfortable as the lead.Danny Boyle (most famous for the film Trainspotting) gives a bit of visual flair to this movie (as well as a pretty good soundtrack) - but with no soul.The action feels forced and un-thrilling.
The actors on the whole feel way too hammy.You don't really get to feel for Richard (the main character) and his transition over to the "dark side" probably because Leonard couldn't act his way out of a paper bag in this movie.And what is with that video game dream sequence - it probably rates as one of the most embarrassing scenes ever committed on film....
What it has going against it is a cast of sniveling little teenagers who think that acting like hippies and smoking reefer on a beach that never ends is the equivalent to living a free-spirited life away from the concerns of a terrifying modern world.
The Beach (2000)You want to like this movie, for sure.
It's about a dream come true, if if you've ever travelled even a little in this backpacker Gringo trail kind of way, you'll feel like you're there.But then, it's also just a movie, and it shows an indulgence now and then, an implausibility not in the big idea (which is absurd--and digitally invented, by the way, the beach part), but in certain interactions.
Watching the Beach is like looking at a postcard from a tropical island: it is a pretty picture, but it is also paper thin, and nothing happens in it.
When Richard (DiCaprio) and his friends find this island, that movie/book was the first thing I thought of.
"The Beach" has excellent photography, but provides nothing new it terms of story or acting talent.While the novel may be of high quality, the film seems like an expensive and take-off version of "Lord of the Flies" as there is a society, secret from other adults and nobody else can come in, least they'd be killed.
The Beach is based on a book of the same name and has some stunning picturesque locations(Thailand) but there are no redeeming qualities among any of the characters and the film just sort of...trudges along.
The Beach is based on a book of the same name and has some stunning picturesque locations(Thailand) but there are no redeeming qualities among any of the characters and the film just sort of...trudges along.
Many people call The Beach Danny Boyle's weakest and most disappointing films.
they can't all be perfect." The Beach stars Leonardo DiCaprio, infamously snatching the role from Boyle favorite Ewan McGregor causing a dramatic fallout between the two, as Richard, a young guy who, while visiting Thailand, gets his hands on a map that leads to a mysterious island rumored to be a paradise.
See that the only thing that the film retains from the book is the names of the characters and, of course, The Beach.
This, even though several of the people in the photograph died gruesome deaths, he killed one of them, was shunned by his mates, and had a gun pointed at his head by another (a disgusting character played by Tilda Swinton).I really can't stop thinking of enough bad things to say about this film, so I'll be generous and stop there.Danny Boyle, why did you not retire after making this atrocity?.
I think that a lot of the negative feeling must arise from people hoping that Leonardo DiCaprio would make a bad movie because of his success with Titanic. |
tt1928337 | Mine Games | A group of friends is on vacation. Michael (Joseph Cross) and Lyla (Briana Evigan) are a couple, as are TJ (Alex Meraz) and Claire (Julianna Guill). Guy (Ethan Peck) and Rose (Rebecca Da Costa) appear to be unattached and just friends. TJ's cousin Lex (Rafi Gavron) is along for the ride because Lex's dad killed himself. Rose is a "medium, and a damn good one". They are expected at their friends' cabin at 6:00, according to early dialog, but that is potentially a script issue because it is long after 6PM when things go sideways given the summer attire and darkness of night.They stop at a gas station to get food. Here we see a "newspaper headline" declaring that a couple was found murdered in their RV (ref 0).While driving to the cabin in the dark (about three miles from it), they see someone in the middle of the road (ref 1); they swerve off the road to avoid this person, but apparently rupture their radiator. The van sputters to a stop about a "mile" down the road. The friends see the liquid streaming out of the van's engine and take off on foot towards the cabin.After some amount of walking we learn that Michael is taking meds (anti-psychotics as we later learn he is schizophrenic) and left them in the van. While walking they see something like the Aurora Borealis (ref 2) although they say they are too far south for the actual northern lights display.The group sees a house with lights on. Two of the friends (TJ and Rose) go up to the front door, knock, and try the handles, which are locked (ref 3). They decide to go around back. While going around they hear a noise (ref 4). They find the back door open, and go inside. There they find a note telling TJ, Lex, and Clair to sty here; they will be back soon (ref 5). They assume this was from Matt and Sarah even though only addressed to half of the group, and so head into the house to stay.TJ and Michael go out to fix a failing generator by adding more gasoline (ref 6). The group drinks but Guy hears something outside, which is followed by a loud thump (ref 7). The group posits it might have been a racoon, then goes outside to check it out. Michael finds another half-full gasoline tank and decides to put it in the generator as well; we next see him confused next to the generator as someone is running off (ref 8). Michael heads off to bed.We next catch up with Matt (Michael Guillod) and Sarah (Lindsay Lamb), who are in their RV in the woods "lost". They say the group might miss them, but won't be able to find the driveway in the dark. So, sex.Afterwards, someone appraoches the RV from the darkness, stabs Matt, then heads inside and we hear Sarah screaming (ref 9) (see ref 0).Michael dreams of his friends in a mine (ref 10), throwing a body down stairs (ref 11), and being taunted by his friends in a mine some more. He wakes up with Lyla next to him.The next morning, Rose asks Michael where he went wandering off to in the middle of the night (ref 12). Lex finds a bunch of mining gear in a closet. TJ comes across the mine entrance while out walking.Lex and Rose take mushrooms on the way to the mine.The mine entrance has "Break the cycle" scrawled alongside it (ref 13).Rose has strange feeling before going in.Inside the mine they see an Oroboris drawn on the wall (ref 14).Lex and Rose separate from the group presumably to scare them later on; Lex claims that the shaft they are in just comes around in a big circle, proving he's never seen a layout of an actual mine.While the larger group is crossing a wooden bridge they come across a rotted-out broken section (ref 15) and decide to turn back. They hear some noises in the area.Lex and Rose hit a dead end and decide to go back. Rose hears something at the dead end. Michael, TJ, and Guy come across a small closet with a metal door. Michael goes in and sees "This is the first time" written in red crayon on the wall (ref 16). His friends shut the door behind him as a joke, but the door jams shut. Eventually they open it again.Rose sees fresh blood on the floor of the mine and runs. She sees something in a section of the mine (ref 17), but while investigating something which she somehow identifies as a girl (we learn later) grabs her leg (ref 18). Her screams reunite the group.Back at the cabin, Rose sees large scrapes on her leg that no one else does.Michael heads back to the van, with Lyla in tow. Michael asks Lyla if she thinks anyone would hurt him, then if Lyla would stop them if they did. Back at the van, they see the van door left open (ref 19). The van still doesn't start, but they notice a large blood spatter and broken headlight on the passenger side front (ref 20).The group decides they should stick it out for a little more waiting for Matt and Sarah to come back.Lex says he dropped his wallet in the mine, so they Lex and TJ head back to find it. Lex and TJ play with the mine carts.Rose, Lyla and Claire research the Oroboris (ref 21) (see ref 14). Rose heads outside with a bad feeling. She sees the scrapes on her leg looking infected. She sees visions of people running, then sees someone (Guy? See ref 31) running at her from the woods. She runs inside as her imagined stalker slams against the door leaving a bloody handprint (that disappears). She says seeing spirits doesn't usually affect her like this (ref 22).Michael sends the others (Lyla, Claire, Guy) off swimming while he stays with Rose (ref 23).Back at the mine Lex and TJ drink beer while looking for his wallet. They find a closet with a metal door and key (ref 24).Michael tells Rose he is going to take care of her.TJ and Lex go down some stairs and see a bunch of old TNT; they wisely do not kick the boxes. Lex sees some burlap and nudges it. An arm falls out from under the sheet, with his tatoo. He pulls the burlap away to see his own dead body underneath (ref 25). TJ pulls a different burlap sheet away to find his own dead body, then they find Guy's (ref 26). The two run away back to the house.While Claire, Lyla, and Guy are returning to the house, Rose screams. They ask Michael what he did, and Rose is inconsolable. At this time TJ and Lex come back saying they saw their own bodies in the mine.Guy, Lex, and TJ head back to the mine. Michael and Claire follow along, leaving Lyla at the house to tend to Rose. Rose has visions of Michael moving mine carts and bodies being dragged. Rose says that the mine is not "our world".The group sees the bodies in the mine.Rose sees Lyla with wounds all over her body; from now on she sees everyone in this way. Rose says "Break the cycle" repeatedly.It is night again. The lights flicker as the group looks over Rose (ref 27). The group discusses the possibilities, including a number of cliche'd movie plots. TJ and Lex decide to go back to the mine again. Michael asks them what they are planning, but does not appear to be included in their plans.Someone (presumably Michael) makes tea and squirts something into it from under the kitchen sink. We see Michael bouncing a ball in his room, then he discovers a red crayon (see ref 16).In the mine, TJ and Lex hear muffled sobbing coming from behind yet another metal door. They open the door and find Claire huddled with a knife of some sort. She says she saw TJ dying. She says they can't help Michael. Lex calls TJ out, while Claire pleads with them to not leave her there. Lex says the Clair TJ loves is back in the house, convincing TJ to leave the other one in the mine.At the house, Lyla wakes Rose up to feed her something. Claire comes in and asks how Rose is. Rose sees them both as dead. Rose says "stop Michael", then passes back out.Michael drops a bag out his window.TJ and Lex return. TJ, Lex, Claire, Lyla, and Guy discuss Claire #2 in the mine. Claire is glad they left her there. Lex reveals what Claire #2 said.When TJ and Lex come up with rope to deal with Michael he says this is how is happens. The group is all upset that Michael seems to know more about what is happening than the rest. With his wrists bound, the grop votes to confine him in the mine. Along the way they see the Aurora Borealis in the sky again (ref 28) (see ref 2). Michael says "this is the second time" (ref 29). Lyla reveals to Claire that Michael had expected the group to turn on him. They take him to the room with the key (see ref 24) and lock him in (ref 30).Rose walks into the room horrified to see everyone's "dead" bodies. She says Michael has escaped.Back at the mine, Michael walks along the wooden bridge. There is no broken section in the bridge, just a spongy rotted area (see ref 15).Claire, TJ, and Lex head off to the mine to check on Michael.Lyla and Guy stay at the house with Rose. Guy wants to leave, but Lyla won't leave Rose. Rose, however, has a convulsion and dies.Claire, TJ, and Lex discover the locked closet open and no Michael to be found. They then see Michael down the shaft and give chase (see ref 10). Michael leads them across the wooden bridge, being careful to stay along the outside edge of the rotted area. Lex follows without that level of care, breaks through the floor, and falls to his death (see ref 15). TJ and Claire keep looking for Michael in the cave. Michael drops something heavy on TJ, apparently killing him. Claire wanders into a room, and Michael closes the door behind her; we see this is the same room where Claire #2 had been found.With Rose dead, Lyla and Guy choose to leave (see ref 3). They decide to leave a note to TJ, Lex, and Claire telling them they will be back, which Guy writes (note he hadn't seen the note originally so didn't recognize his own handwriting). (See ref 5) Lyla and Guy head down the road. Guy sees the van heading towards them on the road and tells Lyla to stay off to the side while he waves his hands in the middle of the street. The van swerves to miss him and runs over Lyla before continuing on (see ref 20). Lyla is still alive but appears to be in very bad shape. Guy says he thinks he can warn the van and break the cycle, apologizes to Lyla, and leaves her by the side of the road.Back at the mine, Michael gathers the bodies together to hide them under burlap (see ref 25). He writes "This is the first time" in the cell where he had been held the first time (note that the writing was not there at this time). He heads back to the house, replaces the crayon in the drawer, then finds Rose's body. Hearing TJ and Rose outside, he bundles Rose up and dumps her into the basement (see ref 4 and ref 11).Guy runs along the road back to where the van had been left. He opens the front door (see ref ref 19) and drinks from a bottle of water. He makes it back to the house (ref 31), and just before or while knocking is knocked out (see ref 7 for noise) by Michael. The new group comes out to investigate. Michael slices Guy's throat then drags him down to the mine entrance. Guy scrawls "Break the cycle" using his own blood (see ref 13).Michael gets back to the house and confronts Michael from the next group. He tells him he can not trust Lex, TJ, Guy, and Claire. He says they are going to lock him up in an abandoned mine twice (see ref 16), and that the second time (see ref 29) they have no intention of letting him out alive. He says to defend himself or he will be killed. He hands him the key to the door in which he will be locked (see ref 30). Michael from the next group watches our Michael leave, confused (see ref 8).Michael tidies up Guy's body by dragging him into the mine along with the others (see ref 26).Lyla sees the Aurora Borealis while laying on the road.Michael comes up to the RV in the woods. Seeing Matt outside, he sneaks up and then stabs him. He goes inside with a bloody cleaver to finish off Sarah (see refs 9 and 0).Rose from the next group wakes up and looks outside and sees Michael walking through the yard (see ref 12). Next we see Michael at a campfire in the woods with another version of himself (real or imagined?). He burns his anti-psychotics.The next morning a third group is at the gas station when a bloody Lyla stumbles up to the van and slams against it, which might finally break the cycle. | paranormal, murder | train | imdb | A bunch of friends on vacation in the country discover a disused mine and find something most strange down in its depths.It starts off in conventional fashion, pretty looking youngsters head off to a large cabin in the woods and after nearly running someone down in the road, they arrive at their destination but nothing is as it seems.
The story then spins into another dimension, cribbing from better movies like Triangle and Identity, only the screenplay isn't strong enough to make a success of it, even confusing itself in the process.Things aren't helped by director and co-writer Richard Gray padding out the movie to meet the required run time to call it a feature length production.
There's a modicum of interest value here for those who like the films already mentioned above, but it's not a comfortable recommendation at all.
Seven friends on vacation stumble upon an abandoned mine shaft in the middle of a remote forest and live to regret going in.
The film takes a while to get to the action which is a positive as you get to know the characters.
The production values for a relatively small film are of an impressive standard.There is a nice air of panic and mystery built up as some of the group slowly to begin see things that they wish they hadn't.
This is a small film that punches above it's weight and is well worth watching..
'Mine Games' tells the tale of seven (typically good-looking American) teens who, while on vacation, stumble upon a mine.
They just return to their nearby house to 'think things over.' Then, rather than deciding to leave, they return to the mine where the visions get even more nasty and intense.Guess what happens next?
This continues for the best part of the film, i.e. every time they go to the mine, they simply go home again, despite the obvious thing to do being to get the hell out of here.In fact, I was on the brink of switching it off.
In the last ten minutes or so the film does explain all the little things you might have wondered during its ninety minutes runtime (besides the fact that no one thought to leg it!), so I can see the 'point' the film-makers were trying to make.You may already tell by now that I didn't think much of the film.
There are definitely a million better horror films out there.
Unlike the seven protagonists in Mine Games, for they would – no doubt – turn a bad film off, sit there for a moment, then watch it all over again.
Love mind bending movies that make you think, and I must say this is one of the better ones I have seen lately and I am glad that I did.The writing and story was top notch, kept us guessing, and intriguing.
I never had any issue with the acting and it drew me in very well.This starts off looking like it will be a traditional horror movie.
At least not anything like any films I have seen.Kudos and props for originality, and also being able to tell a well told story.
I do hope that this team makes more films, and they have more stories up their sleeves to tell.It has also love the kinds of movies that show young people and how they behave, including how men act around each other.
Oh yeah, and on the way to the cabin in the woods (so cliché) their van breaks down.
The oddities began with the main character, Michael (Joseph Cross), and they only ramped up from there after the gang explored an abandoned mine.The exposition and build up phase of this movie was dreadfully slow.
Not all questions will be answered, as is typical with this type of movie, but enough to at least make you feel like you were invited to the party..
As the van breaks down, it's a horror film as they always do, the troupe hoofs it to the nearby cabin to rest up.
This film actually seems promising early on before you realize that that there was no vision, no actual plot, and no way to make sense of it without writing your own replacement screenplay.
The acting, cinematography, and direction were good, particularly on a low budget, but wasted on on a terrible screenplay.
Don't bother watching this movie - break the cycle..
Boom, this movie comes up right behind you and clocks you in the back of your knees, then forces you to watch it so you don't stay up at night thinking "But what about that thing", even though you will end up staying up at night wondering why the hell you still watched this terrible excuse for a film anyway.90% of the film is underlit and the only reason you can see anything in dark scenes is because of the extreme amount of film grain in it.This movie relies on bad stereotypes to give the watcher a sense of depth to the characters, but the director might as well have told the actors to all talk in a monotone because it would have given the movie a reason to be watched..
Like Cabin in the Woods, it's not a horror film!
Cabin in the Woods and Mine Games both prove this by leading you on a merry journey expecting one type of film when in fact you're watching something completely different.
Cabin isn't a horror film
it's a sci-fi fantasy.
Mine Games isn't a horror film
it is a survival adventure.
And with a clever premise, immersive sets, and a soundtrack and sound effects that seem to take the movie seriously, I unfortunately must join every other reviewer and ask the question: Who above a 3rd grade education spends an entire mountain vacation exploring spooky abandoned mines?
We could have built the same plot turns in the setting of the beautiful cabin and surrounding woods.
Like Time Lapse and Parallels, I walked away from the movie with the simultaneous need to watch it again and the wish that the movie could have been more.
I hope future filmmakers feel the same way and continue to think outside the box like Mine Games but with better results..
There are just so many things wrong with Mine Games from the beginning to the very last second.
The script is weak and bland, every cliché you could possibly think of was present, the decisions the characters made were not just "typical horror movie bad decisions that people make when they're scared and not thinking straight" kind of decisions, they were just decisions that would specifically keep the movie from stopping in its own tracks.
I haven't seen a movie with this amount of carelessness and large quantity of plot holes in a while.
If you look at my other reviews, you'll see that I'm extremely generous when it comes to rating films, probably TOO generous.
I would not go as far to say this is a terrible movie because you can tell that director Richard Gray tried to get creative and have some fun with this so I do respect that he tried to create something unique in such a repetitive world of film.
It upsets me that someone didn't tell this guy about all these silly and avoidable mistakes that he was making throughout the course of the pre-production and production of this film.
I do not recommend you watch this if you cringe at plot holes, clichés, and absent resolutions..
Good little movie for mind bender alternate reality fans.
I happen to love this type of premise, which is somewhat mind bending and converges alternate realities.If you liked Triangle or Coherence, you would like this.
I think it's right on par with Triangle, but not as good as Coherence, but that is my opinion.
If you are a time traveling or alternate reality mind bender junkie, you will absolutely enjoy this ride.
Just watched this on Sky Movies - nothing else to do on a Saturday morning ;) I went in to it expecting another flashy slasher pic set in a dark place so was pleasantly surprised to see a different take on a normally standard horror film scenario.Yes it is another cabin in the woods with another bunch of young beautiful holiday makers on a drug and drink fueled break in the middle of nowhere.
Yet, it does work a little bit better than others, it just needed to have a more solid storyline in terms of the cycle.As the second half kicked in, most people would begin to realize that the things you've seen are things that are about to happen.
It's tight but not tight enough to make me say wow; It is however well worked out and everything has its place.And then I saw the budget - $1.5m - you can hardly make a TV episode on that nowadays so the overall finished product is very good.
The directing is pretty good, the acting is as you would expect.
The standouts for me were the lighting within the mines themselves and the music is above average for this type of movie.One thing that really annoyed me though was the character of Rose, I couldn't really put a finger on it save to say that she made no sense whatsoever!
I don't understand why she needed to be in the film and the reason for her visions apart from being on drugs is never explained.I revert back to 'Triangle' again where the ending of the film is a perfect nod to the start of the next sequence but the ending of 'Mine Games' is pretty terrible and in terms of the cycle make no sense.
I like films to ask questions and I like to see something different from the usual clobber we get.
'Mine Games' doesn't really stand out and there are far superior films of this niche out there.However for the budget and the production quality, the filmmakers have done a good job and for a Saturday morning when it's a choice between this and 'Muppets from Space', I'd go for this.And it isn't the first time I said that...
A different 'cabin in the woods' type of movie.
This has a group seeing pieces of the future, and so, by it's nature, leaves the story untold, as the present turns into the future.
It's nice to say it has few of those 'dumb blond' moves typically seen in horror films.
The low IMDb rating of 4.7 is probably because it's a weird approach to the 'cabin in the woods' story line.
There is no lag in the time span from when the film starts to when the action begins.
The film isn't an all out high production thrill ride but it maintains a steady, entertaining pace filled with creepiness, and excitement.
The style is pretty standard as far as horror direction and character definition but the unique blended nature, adding time/space situation on top of mythology, keeps the "cabin in the woods" set-up from being cliché or boring.
The cast deliver pretty believable characters, they are stereotypes scene in horror, however Gray and the writers give enough material to allow the characters feel authentic, convincing, and relatable.
A lot of horror films either play up the clichés until they look clownish or create characters that not even fiction could make believable as friends.
There isn't an exploitative nature to the gore or deaths, but what is scene on film comes across realistic looking.
The shadowy nature and fact that almost all of the scenes are in nearly dark areas, or at night, gives the film most of it's spooky quality.
With all the gimmicky, modern methods of handhelds, shaky cam shots, or first person view points, it is nice to see some aspects of classic horror story telling style still used.
Not that I have a problem with fresh, innovative filming techniques like first person POV or found-footage.
It will not appeal to all horror fans, and there is plenty to get the intellectuals stirred up, with the whole time/space-Ouroboros aspects of the story.
Personally I spent a lot of the film wondering what exactly was the real deal happening- was it a "Soul Survivors" situation or was it a take similar to "Triangle".
Not much though, and the time until the ending-when it all becomes clear- isn't all that long, so "Mine Games" works pretty much from start to finish..
Bunch of young people out for a good time go where they're not supposed to.
Engaging psychological horror thriller mystery about a group of young people who get caught in a "loop of time" in a remote area in the woods.
So they meet the future condition of themselves in a nearby mine but don't understand it; don't realize they are in a loop ahead of, and behind themselves in time.
The loop begins (and ends) with an accident as they near their vacation destination: an elaborate cabin in the woods.
Possibly this looping of time could have been a harmless anomaly and meeting yourself of the future or the past (again, depending on perspective) might have been a weirdly pleasant and innocuous experience except that one of the members of the group (4 guys, 3 women) has mental problems and is taking medication for it.
A group of friends stumble across an abandoned mine, while on vacation.
There's something eerily peculiar about said mine though and it wastes no time getting the group all discombobulated with it's timey-wimey shenanigans Highly reminiscent of "Triangle", but not as nearly accomplished as that film.
The insipid number has a group of unlikable characters and a script struggling too hard to be clever that it falls over it's own feet several times.
A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."Mine Games" (NR - 2012 - US)Sub-Genre: Paranormal/PsychoMy Score: 5.8Cast=6 Acting=5 Plot=4 Ending=7 Story=6 Scare=6 Jump=5 F/X=5 Creep=7 Psycho=7A group of young friends make an incomprehensible discovery in an abandoned mine, but the more they try to change the future, the more they seal their fate.
The deeper you go, the darker it gets reads the tagline for a movie that tries to be two separate stories.
You start with the whole cabin in the woods concept...but then you get an almost sci-fi element with the mine and the visuals within.
This is a horror movie fan's idea of 'fast food'...yeah normally you want a steak, but sometimes you just grab a cheeseburger and chow down.
If one could look pass the horrid clichés, basic acting, and boobs, this movie would be quite enjoyable.
MINE GAMES has something going for it, I'll admit that: it's a film that at least tries to do something different from the usual low budget American B-movie horror flick.
Instead this has much in common with the likes of TRIANGLE and the (excellent) Spanish film TIMECRIMES in that it deals with characters who find themselves trapped in a time loop, forced to repeat the same actions over and over again.Unfortunately it's much worse than either of those films mentioned, thanks in part to a muddled story which doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you think about it closely.
A group of unappealing characters head off into the wilderness for a break, only to visit a creepy abandoned mine which messes with their heads.
One bizarre event after another makes them realise that something REALLY odd is going on.The execution of this film is very poor, particularly in terms of the cinematography.
Much of it is too dark so you end up squinting at the screen trying to figure out what's going on.
The director is too obsessed with shooting this like a slasher film - bumping off his cast members one at a time - when instead he should be focusing on the novel stuff, not the predictable..
Richard Gray is director, co-writer and co-producer of this cabin in the woods film.
A group of friends set out on a little trip to a mutual friend's cabin in the woods.
Now lost in the dark, Lyla, Claire, Lex, Rose, TJ and Guy on foot reaches their destination...a nicely furnished cabin deep in the woods.
And what is found turns this movie a little creepy, well...a lot creepy.
Now comes paranoia and psychotic reactions to some time travel.What started out as ho-hum turns into entertaining.
Filmed in Seattle, Washington with minor special effects and acting.
After reading the movies summary,I thought it had a potentially good chance at being a good flick.Even considering it wasn't a title I'd heard of before,I did consider this to be(& I still do,After watching it),more of the "B- Movie",but noticed it had a decent amount for the budget,which I figured given the genres(Horror,Sci- Fi,Thriller)might make for a decently made movie even w/havin actors I'd really not heard of.When it came to after watching the actual movie,is another story.It wasn't necessarily bad,I would rate it more between 6to7 Stars,to be fair yet alil generous.I say this because at times,even when I watch a movie,depending on my mood(kinda like taste buds/cravings)it can influence how well I liked it,&what I did or didn't like about it,overall.I know that there's only so much that's already expected when you do movies that are horror in some way,that most people can expect the movie will have happen.Not to give spoilers away,but I will say that ya,like in the summary,strange if not creep you out &/or scary things happened.Some of it is"repetitive"I guess is the closest word that I can think of,but does lead you to more of what happens,all through the film to the ending.I will say that given the roughly $1.5M budget,I feel like it was money they could've done more to have made the movie better with all of the resources they might've taken advantage of.That is IMHO,anyways.Otherwise w/all that said,I hope you give this movie a try(I know as of current,¬iced for awhile too,this is also avail. |
tt1112736 | A Patriot Act | In this off-shoot of George Orwell's 1984, set in modern-day USA in a small Florida town, Tony is a young waiter who is going through life not doing anything out of the ordinary. The War on Terrorism has been going on for a few years now. A little curious of current events concerning terrorists, he goes to a few Internet websites and checks out their Jihadest agenda, political views, Aljazera web TV broadcasts, and on-line beheadings.Tony goes through life as usual, once in a while covering a shift for a friend at work, once in a while hooking up with Kaleam, an Arab co-worker with a great connection to hash that Tony likes to smoke once in a while. Problem is that Kaleam is on the terrorist watch list. His cell is tapped and since Tony has been talking to Kaleam for a while, he is watched as well by unseen Homeland Security agents.One night, Kaleam phones Tony with something special, something that will take him to paradise. Some of the best hash & some killer X for he and his girlfriend to have a great long weekend together. Listening in on this phone conversation, this sets off the alarms. Later that night as Tony sleeps, the TTF (Terrorist Task Force) does a sneak and snatch of his apartment.It's a long holiday weekend. The apartment is raided and Tony and his girlfriend, Jessica, are bagged and swept, drugged and taken away by Homeland Security soldiers. Tony and Jessica are seperated and they go through CIA style questioning from threats of drug charges to the edge and what some would consider torture of beatings since Tony visited Internet sites supporting terrorists and because of his association with Kaleam. Days pass as the interogations continue.The TTF (terrorist task force) realize that Tony is just someone in the wrong place at the wrong time and indeed has no connections to terrorists. The couple are drugged, "programmed" and placed back at home.Tony wakes up the next day, knowing something is wrong but his girlfriend is convinced that they did too much partying. Still thinking something is wrong, he goes to the bathroom to shower and knock the webs out of his head. While shaving, he notices a small needle mark on his neck. He leans into the mirror for a better look. We spin around looking back at Tony through the mirror following a cable up the wall to a blinking box with an antenna attached to a hidden camera on the other side of the mirror.Cut to a plain white van sitting on the side of the road. Going through the blocked out window, we see a man sitting in a surveillance van watching a monitor showing Tony looking at himself in the bathroom mirror. Pulling back, we see the man watching Tony as well as many other people also on surveillence video screens.US Library of Congress register / WGA register 2005 | violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0298845 | In America | The movie opens to a family of 4 nervously trying to cross the border from US into Canada. The father, Johnny (Paddy Considine) tells his two young daughters to remember to say 'we are on holiday'. The INS officials are suspicious, so Christy (Sarah Bolger), the oldest daughter prays to her deceased brother, Frankie. Apparently he will grant her 3 wishes and this situation calls for a favor. So she asks him to get them across the border. Then the officials wave them through.Soon they are driving through New York excited about the lights and seeing Times Square. Christy is filming everything on her little red camcorder. (A constant companion through the film). The family pulls up to an apartment which is filled with druggies and junkies. They are on the top floor and there is no elevator, so they have to take stairs. The apartment is run down and there are a lot of pigeons which they let out through a skylight. The apartment is large and they fix it up with paint and new furniture. The family has fun as the girls skate on rollerblades throughout the apartment.Meanwhile, there is another apartment that says 'keep away' on the door. Inside is a large African man in a rage. He is an artist surrounded by canvas and paintings. In his fury he starts slashing one of his paintings with a knife. The screen shows dripping blood and we see a hand making a bloody handprint on a canvas.Soon it is summer and the family is very hot; they are not used to the New York heat. Johnny goes to get an air conditioner but he is pulling it on a little set of wheels and can't get it up the curb. So he angrily pulls it down the middle of the street in opposing traffic. He finally gets it home, carries it up all the stairs, slams it down on the window ledge and then screams in frustration to see that it has a three pronged plug and the outlet only has two prongs.He goes to a convenience store to try to buy a plug. He is 25 cents short. The guy won't cut him a break so he returns some bottles to get 25 cents and then buys the plug. He grafts the new plug on the air conditioner and the family is extremely relieved as the cool air starts flowing. After 2 minutes of cool, the power in the entire building blows.All the people in the building start yelling at them and the family decides to run out and find refuge in the air conditioning of the movie theater. In the theater they see ET and the youngest daughter Ariel, (Emma Bolger) is especially moved by the scene where ET is flying across the moon and 'going home'. (Important later).On the way home the family walks through a carnival and pass a ball throwing game that awards ET dolls as prizes. Ariel asks her father to win her one. The attendant explains that to win the doll you need to get 7 balls in the bucket. Plus if you double your money every time you buy balls, you win all your money back too. Johnny thinks this sounds easy and plunks down 2 dollars to get 3 balls. He gets 2 in. Then the next 3 balls cost 4 dollars. He gets one in. Then next 3 balls cost 8 dollars and so forth. Finally he needs to get two more balls in and the cost is now $128. The family is getting nervous and the daughter says 'forget it'. A big crowd is gathering and Johnny is getting nervous. He gets one in but otherwise keeps missing. They finally put all their rent money on the table and he only has one more shot. (Very tense!).In desperation Christy prays to Frankie to make the ball go in. The balls makes it in the basket and the family is elated.The family goes home and the parents are so excited that they send the kids to the ice cream shop. Then Johnny and Sarah (the mom, Samantha Morton) have passionate sex. At the same time there is a severe thunderstorm. A narrator tells us that a baby is conceived.In the fall the kids go to catholic school. To support themselves the Sarah works in an ice cream shop and Johnny drives a taxi. Johnny goes to a lot of auditions as he is trying to strike is big as an actor. He can get the accents perfect, but the director says his acting needs to come from his gut; it's missing feeling.Soon it is Halloween and Sarah is making homemade costumes for the kid. Ariel is an angel, and Christy is dressed up to represent Autumn. Their parents escort them to the school costume party and as they walk in everyone stops and stares at them. The family is puzzled why everyone is staring and Christy says it's because their costumes are homemade. The kids know they are different (and poor) and Christy hates it.The kids demand to be able to go trick or treating. But the parents don't really understand what it is so they tell the girls they can trick or treat in their building only. The kids bang on door after door and no one answers. Finally, in desperation they start yelling and banging at the door that says 'Keep Away'. We see the occupant in his darkroom developing pictures and he yells angrily 'GO AWAY'. But the kids are excited that someone is there so they and pound even harder. He finally yanks the door open in anger.He lets them in and it very nice to the little girls. He looks around for something to give them and opens his fridge. We get a brief glimpse of lots of medicine bottles in the fridge. He finally gives them a glass bottle filled with change. To reciprocate for his kindness, the parents invite him over for dinner. We learn that his name is Mateo (Djimon Hounsou).Mateo becomes a family friend and starts hanging out the mom and 2 kids. He helps them paint a mural of angels in the girls bedroom. Sarah visits Mateo in his apartment and looks at some pictures. In the pictures, Mateo is with family in a wealthy setting and Sarah says with surprise 'Oh, you are rich!'. Meanwhile, Johnny is getting jealous at all the time Mateo is spending with his family.Johnny and Sarah go to the doctor about her pregnancy and he says they shouldn't proceed with the pregnancy; there are some serious health risks involved. Sarah is adamant that she is going to have her baby.Sarah wants to reassure the girls so she pretends to feel the baby kicking and asks Johnny 'can't you feel the baby kicking'. After putting his hand on her stomach he says 'I can't feel anything.' Sarah chews him out saying he should have lied for the kids sake, after all he is an actor. And he can't feel anything - that's why he doesn't get any acting jobs. They start blaming each other for Frankie's death. Sarah says Johnny shut his feelings off when Frankie died and hasn't even been able to cry since.Johnny angrily goes downstairs to confront Mateo about why he is spending so much time with his family. He accuses him of being in love with his wife. Mateo says 'I love all of you, even the unborn child, I love everything that is alive'. Johnny realizes that Mateo is dying of AIDS.Time progresses and as Sarah gets more pregnant, Mateo gets sicker. The children go to visit Mateo one last time as he is very sick and Ariel makes Mateo promise he will say goodbye to her before he goes.Finally it's time for Sarah to go to the hospital and we see Mateo go to the same hospital. Sarah has her baby but it's premature and needs a lot of medical help. Sarah is delusional and starts yelling, asking about Frankie. She starts blaming Johnny for his death saying 'it's your fault he died because you put the gate at the top of the stairs and he climbed the gate!'. She has to be sedated.The hospital asks Johnny for a $5000 check. Johnny gives them a check but it bounces. The Doctor informs the family that the baby needs a blood transfusion. However, Johnny is not a match and Sarah is too sick so Christy bravely donates the blood and the baby gets better.The nurse pulls a sheet over Mateo's head; he's dead. The baby gets better and the family can leave the hospital and take the baby home. As they check out of the hospital, they are nervous as the cashier prints out the bill and announces the total is $33,000. However, they become very surprised when the cashier informs them the bill has been paid in full by Mateo.Ariel is upset because Mateo never said good-bye to her and he promised he would.Finally they go outside and there's a full moon. Johnny and Christy decides to lie for the sake of Ariel . They pretend to see Mateo flying by the moon (like ET) and waving goodbye. They ask Ariel 'do you see him?'. And she keeps insisting she can't see anything, but finally she says 'I see him'! And waves good bye. Then Christy asks for her 3rd wish from Frankie. She asks him to help their Dad say goodbye. She tells Johnny to say goodbye to Frankie. He waves and says goodbye and starts crying for the first time since Frankie died. | sentimental | train | imdb | null |
tt0119942 | Primary Colors | Well acted drama, adapted from a novel by Joe Klein; has a terrific first half and then falters horribly in the final half hour- almost completely killing the entire movie. Travolta is dead-on as southern Governor Jack Stanton (a thinly veiled charicature of Bill Clinton), who is running for President. The film is shown from the perspective of a young, African-American man named Henry Burton, who is Stantons campaign manager. Through his eyes we spend intimate moments with the candidate, his wife and family and the various people working on his campaign. We also meet the other contenders for the office and get a rare inside glimpse of politics at work, which can be a ruthless and conniving game. Its fascinating material and the film hits the ground running, using a mostly good natured, humorous approach. The campaign must deal with the various and not unusual attacks by the opponents and must constantly dream up new strategies and schemes. Billy Bob Thornton is the man in charge of that department and he is all aces as Richard Jemmons, a ruthless, foul mouthed PR man. When even he cant refute some of the attacks on Stantons character (like an alleged affair with a hairdresser), Mrs. Stanton turns to Libby Holden (a terrific Kathy Bates). Libbys a quirky and unstable (shes been recently released from a mental hospital) defender of the Governor; whos reckless tactics actually get results. But she has a strict moral code that none of the others operate by. She will only go so far- and while she will defend attacks from other candidates she refuses to dig up dirt to attack another candidate first. It turns out that Governor Stanton is a genius player of the political game but also a tremendous philanderer who just may have had an affair with a 17 year old African-American girl and gotten her pregnant. Through some slick manipulation, he is able to disprove this. Then one of his opponents suffers a paralyzing series of heart attacks and is out of the race only to be replaced by a seemingly impeccable do-gooder. It turns out that he has a past history of drug abuse and homosexuality. The breaking of this news could seal the deal for Stanton but Libby is adament that he not go through with it. This is where the film breaks down, in a show of heavy handed moralizing and then a melodrmatic suicide that throws everything off course. The film has an open ending, never telling us flat out that Stanton wins and goes on to become President of the United States but the answer isnt difficult to surmise. This really is a good movie, enriched with great performances from a terrific cast and plenty of inspired moments of wit and outrageousness. It also has some heartening moments, as well and these are a constant reminder of how and why Bill Clinton got elected in the first place. Nichols does a fine job of directing and Elaine May does a pretty faithful adaptation of Kleins novel. Though his story is fictional, it is really a thinly disguised look at the 1992 Presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. Klein worked for Newsweek as a reporter and columnist during the 1992 Presidential election and also followed Clinton on the road and got to see a lot of things first hand. Youll see them in the movie and although most of it isnt that shocking, if you think about it, some of it really is- or at least, should be. This film does make you think and it raises some pretty frightening conclusions. After all that we do see going on, imagine what we dont see behind the scenes and probably never will. All of the wheeling and dealing and manipulation that is politics, as usual. Fascinating, even though not entirely successful. | satire, atmospheric | train | imdb | "Primary Colors" was definitely better than I thought it would be.First, there was Elaine May's script: Funny, well-written, lean, tender at moments, never taking things to the camp level, like so many modern Hollywood movies do when it doesn't work.
Bates was riveting and harrowing as the faded liberal clinging to her ideals.But in addition to the "name actors" there were others who were fantastic: Adrian Lester, as the tortured campaign aide, wants to believe but feels unsure of Stanton's worth as a candidate.
I was not surprised to learn that the Michael Ballhaus, the cinematographer, also filmed the sumptuous "Age of Innocence." Quality tells.Mike Nichols's directing was also effective: in one especially harrowing scene, Emma Thompson's tormented face fills up the foreground, while Bates's character (in the background) rips into the Stantons' morals.
I don't think "Primary Colors" will change anyone's opinion of the Clintons (in the final analysis, it isn't about them at all) -- but it is a very funny as well as thought-provoking look at modern American politics..
The much under-rated Primary Colors represents the zenith of its genre: a consistently excellent political satire armed with a stellar cast, an involving, intricate plot, and some of the finest direction in recent times from the sporadic (yet always reliable) Mike Nichols.
John Travolta's portrayal of a Clinton-esquire Southern governor with a weakness for women and doughnuts is note perfect, encapsulating the flawed yet undoubtedly brilliant Jack Stanton with effortless flair and charisma.
Travolta is ably supported by English character actors Emma Thompson and big screen debutant Adrian Lester, as well as an Oscar nominated Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton and a resurgent Larry Hagman.The film is, in essence, a chronology of Stanton's rise of the political ladder and the struggles encountered by his vibrant team in keeping their man in the race, despite numerous setbacks and tragedies along the way.
Also, the scandals Travolta suffers in the film, such as adulterous affairs and having children out of wedlock, also plagued Clinton during his presidency.Whoever you believe, Primary Colors is a very enjoyable film, even if you don't like political movies.
This film, based on Clinton's 1990 campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination, is a fictionalized, not factual, view of the man and his character and ideals, and quite simply one of the best films ever made about the confusing maze that is American politics.Just as the American media, spurred on by the Republican witch-hunters, rubbed our noses in the dirt surrounding Clinton's indiscretions, the movie doesn't spare Jack Stanton for his moral weaknesses and poor personal judgements, but makes the point that the dirt grubbing and trivializing media are equally immoral in seeking to denigrate a man's political ideals because of his sexual peccadillos.
The point made here, from the testimony of the battle-scarred "true Believers", from the idealistic young party aides, from the would-be President's wife (an uncanny portrayal of Hillary by a dynamic Emma Thompson) and Stanton himself (although physically unlike Bill Clinton, John Travolta gives a very believable performance), is that the President needs to be a man of the people, to be able to understand the people, and to be able to communicate with the people, despite the lies of his opponents and the mud slinging of the media.
I think Kathy Bates also deserves all the praise she's been getting, and Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, and Maura Tierney are also good.Travolta was a problem.
John Travolta gives a great performance as Jack Stanton, a character in which the parallels between him and former US president, Bill Clinton are obvious and almost certainly deliberate, which explains the sex scandal element of the movie.
The campaign is seen through the eyes of a young campaign manager; Henry Burton, a man with ideals and a man that believes Jack Stanton is the 'real thing', and America's best presidential candidate since John F.
The film is a satire on the world of politics from the director of The Graduate; Mike Nichols, and it works very well.One of the best things about this movie is its script.
The script does, however, become a little over the top at times, and it feels like extra bits are being added in to make the it seem like more is going on, and I feel that the movie would be more efficient if the script has been trimmed a little; but it's a small criticism, and the movie runs smoothly enough.Aside from John Travolta, who gives one of the best performances of his career in this movie, the rest of the cast is good too, and includes performances from Emma Thompson, who makes a great leading lady as Susan Stanton, Kathy Bates; who is gratuitously over the top in her usual electric style, as well as Adrian Lester, an English man that is without doubt the most 'American' character in the movie, and finally; Maura Tierney, who was in the background for a lot of the film but still managed to make an impression as one of the campaign helpers.
She's not bad looking either, which is a bonus.Overall, Primary Colours is as good as political satires get; it has everything, from the parallels to real life, to a sharp script, to a great cast and the whole piece comes together nicely as a biting satire on the USA's electoral system..
Story of this movie is about Governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta), who is running for president.
Everything that happens in the movie is seen through the eyes of each character and specially through the eyes of young Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), a grandson of a black civil rights leader and Stanton's campaign leader.
With Henry in Stanton's team there are also his wife Susan (Emma Thompson), Richard Jemmons (Billy Bob Thornton), Daisy Green (Maura Tierney) and Libby Holden (Kathy Bates), who defends president candidates by stopping the attacks from all comers and also digging out the past of major opponents.
Travolta is great with that accent, Kathy Bates is always superb, just like Emma Thompson and Billy Bob Thornton.
Such was the case with "Primary Colors." Based on the 1996 novel written by Joe Klein that fictionalized the growing pains of Bill Clinton's run for the Democratic presidential nomination four years before, the movie stars John Travolta as Gov. Jack Stanton, a compulsive eater and sleeper-around, and his long-suffering, highly ambitious wife, Susan, played by Emma Thompson.As seen through the eyes of idealistic campaign worker Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), Stanton falls from one boiling pot to another, from taped conversations with a bimbo who is clearly based on Gennifer Flowers to other scandals with less obvious a Clintonesque parallel, especially one involving the underage daughter of Stanton's favorite barbecue chef.
For Stanton, winning the nomination is everything, and Burton finds himself struggling to keep his head up over the sludge.While the performances range from pretty good (Lester, Thompson, Kathy Bates as a "dustbusting" lesbian working damage control on Stanton's character miscues) to fair (Travolta imitating Phil Hartman imitating Clinton, though giving good presence) to flat-out lost in the editing room (Maura Tierney and Billy Bob Thornton, solid as campaign officials until suddenly pulling Houdinis in the final third), the real problem is the script.
If I were to define cinematic idempotency- a movie that makes absolutely no impression on the viewer- I guess I would use "Primary Colors" to do so.The film's meant to be a satire of presidential politics and yet it so closely shadows actual events that what happens is never exciting, arousing, or new.
I thought this film suffered from a lack of direction- it just seemed to wander along from scene to scene right from the beginning, where there was no apparent introduction to any of the characters.I thought Travolta would have given a better performance if he hadn't tried so much to do a blatant impression of Clinton, and had instead just got on with acting.
John Travolta plays the Clinton-like Gov. Jack Stanton.Then arises the problem.
A group of sympathetic, feeling, three-dimensional, dynamic, snappy, damn intelligent people, yet all the same weak and vulnerable, portrayed by some of the finest character actors working today, form teams in the presidential campaign, and politics in America, as the film qickly shows, are naturally based on tearing flesh when it comes to elections.
As the face of the audience, he is very subtle and wholly convincing as Travolta's campaign manager.Kathy Bates and Larry Hagman turn in the 2 most interesting performances in this film, especially Mr. Hagman.This is not a comedy, which I think some people believe it might be.
But with a first 30 minutes like that to keep looking back on, I don't think I'll ever sum up the stamina to see the whole film through.From what I saw here is what I think of the main points of the movie:JOHN TRAVOLTA - OK EMMA THOMSON - sorry, couldn't stop thinking of period dramas (especially Pride and Prejudice) OTHER CHARACTERS - pretty boring STORY - what?
The movie contained some great performances, particularly Kathy Bates and Emma Thompson's - and if it wasn't about Bill Clinton, then John Travolta's characterisation was the most amazing coincidence.
This is a really brilliantly written political story, with some awesome performances from actors at the top of their game: Thornton, Travolta, Thompson, Bates, and who the hell would have expected this -- Larry Hagman does a superb job as the reluctant sudden-death replacement for the opponent to the Dem hero candidate of the film, Jack Stanton (Travolta.) However, I just saw an interview with Steven Spielberg in which he said something brilliant: if you want to get a sense of the nuts and bolts of great filmmaking, turn the sound off.
John Travolta is excellent (in one of his best roles to date) as Jack Stanton, a Southern senator who has a eye for the ladies but is also a man of the people (kinda like a man in the executive office we all have known since 1992).
We see his odyssey in becoming president, along with his advisors (Billy Bob Thornton, Maura Tierny and Adrian Lester), his wife (Emma Thompson who is also like a woman who is the wife of this man in the executive office and now running for senate) and his confidence (Kathy Bates who is brilliant in this role).
Still, Travolta, Thornton, Bates, and Thompson, do pretty good jobs in acting out their respective roles, but nothing worthy of Oscar nominations.
But, as the indictments, depositions and trials drag on, 'Primary Colors' provides welcome relief, revealing itself to be that rare thing, a contemporary drama that takes politics seriously.(It's more of a tragicomedy, actually, a portrait of what people will do for power and victory, and how deeply flawed and full of promise the election process, and politics in general, can be.)The cast is uniformly fine; Kathy Bates and Billy Bob Thornton do the most with the juiciest roles in the script.
Emma Thompson is convincing, if somewhat underutilized, and Travolta does a credible Clinton- though I think the movie would have been even stronger had the Stanton character been a little more skewed from its oh-so-obvious model, and had more glimpses of Stanton the man, not only the politician, been shown.
Over 20 years before a film like Primary Colors could even be conceived, a young Italian heart-throb was breaking box office records with a film which defined the Disco era: the film was Saturday Night Fever, and the movie star was John Travolta.
Travolta went from movie star to actor, and Primary Colors is no question Travolta's best effort.Rather than playing a New York street-smart and club hustler, Travolta dons the garb of a cheeky Midwestern politician, Jack Stanton, a Midwest governor who rings a helluva lot like Bill Clinton.
Travolta is an actor who seems constantly to be re-inventing himself, particularly since "Pulp Fiction" took his career in a new direction, and Stanton is one of his best performances, clearly based upon Clinton but different enough to emerge as a character in his own right.
Special mentions must also go to Emma Thompson's long-suffering Susan, Billy Bob Thornton's Jemmons, a hard-bitten, cynical practitioner of Realpolitik, and, above all, Kathy Bates as Libby, another Stanton aide.
Just don't do anything rash to yourimage!!That's the moral lesson Gov. Jack Stanton (John Travolta, in aClintonesque tailor-made role) should have learned in thepolitical satire flick, "Primary Colors." Stanton, along withhis wife, Susan (Emma Thompson) and his associates Henry andRichard (Adrian Lester and Billy Bob Thornton) try their verybest to put Jack on the finish line of the presidential race.Along the way, Jack falls prey to different image-damagingincidents, such as sex scandals.
This is a very good political film, I learned a bit about the Election process in America, but more importantly the film kept me interested throughout, and John Travolta is cool, Kathy Bates was a nice surprise because I didn't know she was in it, her performance was excellent.
travolta is really good,thompson is good,bates is good,thornton is good,and funny,but adrian lester had the best performance to me.
Stanton and his team of loyal campaign workers must confront several difficulties including a sex scandal, tough opponents, and gaining the trust of the people.Primary Colors is a funny and interesting film, and it is also a very good one.
John Travolta and Emma Thompson make a very believable "Bill" and "Hillary" and Kathy Bates and Billy Bob Thornton are excellent as well.
John Travolta, Billy Bob Thornton and Emma Thompson are all really good at depicting this guy running for president.
Talent abounds in this movie, Travolta, Thompson, Thornton, Bates all work expertly in this very frightening political satire.
Seeing this film reminds me that I'm living in a country, where politics are still a matter of opinion, rather than a question of who's the 'cleaner' person.Travolta is a fine Clinton-look-a-like while Emma Thompsons role leaves too many questions unanswered.
I haven't met anyone in a long time who did not believe that Primary Colors, the book written by Joe Klein and published anonymously, is about William Clinton, so I won't even broach the subject of comparison between Clinton and Stanton, the presidential candidate whose campaign provides the backdrop to the story.
I also enjoyed Billy Bob Thornton as a raunchy, immature political advisor, but the best performance in the movie goes to Kathy Bates, as a private investigator hired by the Stantons to dig up their past before the press can..
This is a terrific film, full of outstanding performances (especially Kathy Bates, who should get an Oscar nomination if there's any justice).But unquestionably, the best part of the movie is to see that Mike Nichols, one of my favorite directors, has still got it.
Surprisingly superb performances by John Travolta, Emma Thompson, and Billy Bob Thorton lend a sort of concrete surrealism to the allegedly true story, but the real strength of this film is its ability to show us how and why leaders make any sacrifices necessary to rise to the top.This film is rather weak when viewed as a comedy, but is shockingly strong as a drama, raising questions that will make you think long and hard after Ry Cooder and Carly Simon's haunting score plays through the credits.I cannot recommend this film highly enough.
It can feel at times like a TV movie about the presidential campaign with them playing very recognizable characters.
So it might boost the publicity then, but 15 years later, when our memories fade, the film actually has weathered pretty good, narrating from a Black young novice Henry (Lester)'s eyes, who assists Governor Jack Stanton (Travolta)'s presidential campaign for the democrats, initially Henry thinks Jack is different from other politicians because he viscerally cares about adult literacy and dyslexia, but when he gets closer to him, the stain of Jack's personal life is far more reprehensible and the conniving political game is far too scurvy for an idealist like him.
"John Travolta leads an all-star cast (including Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, and Billy Bob Thornton) on a wild race to the presidency in this savagely funny comedy.
Nichols makes every small role count (immediately obvious with Allison Janney and Mykelti Williamson).******** Primary Colors (3/20/98) Mike Nichols ~ John Travolta, Adrian Lester, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates.
As soon as I discovered that Emma played in Primary Colors and that the movies was loosely based on the Clintons I wanted to watch it.
Emma Thompson, as Jack's wife Susan, also bears a strong resemblance to Mrs Clinton.Aside from this, Primary Colors is a sharp, witty look at American politics.
What on paper sounds like the ingredients of a smart, snappy political satire instead makes for an over-long and lifeless dud of a movie.Mike Nichols directs John Travolta and Emma Thompson as a political couple clearly modeled on Bill and Hillary Clinton as they make their bid for President and First Lady of the U.S. But the movie has no spark at all, and it drifts aimlessly and lethargically to its conclusion.The only person who is able to breathe some life into the proceedings is Kathy Bates as a firecracker of a political consultant.
John Travolta has always reminded me of Clinton since the early 90s when he became President, and so it's only fitting that he play a similar-looking (and sounding!) character in this story about a United States presidential candidate and his campaign.Kathy Bates is a scene-stealer; the rest of the film is quite basic and only "smile material"--no large laughs, especially not when you're watching it alone.For its fine plot and few good/funny moments I rate it a "3" of five, plus I've wanted to see Travolta doing his Clinton imitation for some time..
At times in this movie, I forgot that Travolta was playing "Governor Stanton" and almost thought I was watching Clinton.
John Travolta and Emma Thompson are Bill and Hillary Clinton to the life -- both good and bad. |
tt0055256 | One, Two, Three | C.R. "Mac" MacNamara is a high-ranking executive in the Coca-Cola Company, assigned to West Berlin after a business fiasco a few years earlier in the Middle East (about which he is still bitter). While based in West Germany for now, Mac is angling to become head of Western European Coca-Cola Operations, based in London. After working on an arrangement to introduce Coke into the Soviet Union, Mac receives a call from his boss, W.P. Hazeltine, in Atlanta. Scarlett Hazeltine, the boss's hot-blooded but slightly dim 17-year-old socialite daughter, is coming to West Berlin. Mac is assigned the unenviable task of taking care of this young whirlwind.
An expected two-week stay develops into two months, and Mac discovers just why Scarlett is enamored of West Berlin: she surprises him by announcing that she's married to Otto Piffl, a young East German Communist with ardent anti-capitalistic views. When the southern belle is confronted about her foolishness in the matter of helping him blow up anti-American "Yankee Go Home" balloons (how the couple met) she simply replies with, "Why, that ain't anti-american, it's anti-yankee... And where I come from, everybody's against the yankees..." Mac tries to come to terms with the fact that he let his boss's daughter marry a communist and learns the horrible truth: The couple are bound for Moscow to make a new life for themselves ("They've assigned us a magnificent apartment, just a short walk from the bathroom!"). Since Hazeltine and his wife are coming to Berlin to collect their daughter the very next day, this is obviously a disaster of monumental proportions, and Mac deals with it as any good capitalist would — by framing the young Communist firebrand and having him picked up by the East German police, using all his wiles, as well as his sexy secretary Fraulein Ingeborg, to get his way. After Otto is forced to listen endlessly to the song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" during interrogation, he cracks and signs a confession that he's an American spy.
Under pressure from his stern and disapproving wife Phyllis (who wants to take her family back to live in the U.S.), and with the revelation that Scarlett is pregnant, Mac sets out to bring Otto back with the help of his new Soviet business associates. With the boss on the way, he finds that his only chance is to turn Otto into a son-in-law in good standing — which means, among other things, making him a capitalist with an aristocratic pedigree (albeit contrived by adoption). In the end, the Hazeltines approve of their new son-in-law, upon which Mac learns from Hazeltine that Otto will be named the new head of Western European Operations, with Mac getting a promotion to VP of Procurement back in Atlanta. Mac reconciles with his family at the airport and to celebrate his promotion, offers to buy them Cokes. Ironically, after handing out the bottles to his family, he discovers that the Coke machine actually has been stocked with Pepsi-Cola. | comedy, entertaining | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0043014 | Sunset Blvd. | The film opens with the camera tracking down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California as police cars begin racing down it. The lifeless body of a young man, Joe Gillis (Holden) floats in the swimming pool of a palatial mansion. As the police begin converging on the house Joe's voice narrates, in flashback style, the events leading up to his own murder.Six months earlier, Joe was down on his luck, unable to find work as a screenwriter, having only made a few undistinguished films in his short career. Broke and on the verge of having his car repossessed, with no other options except a low-paying newspaper job in Ohio, Joe tries to persuade Paramount Pictures producer Sheldrake (Clark) to buy his most recent script, but fails after script reader Betty Schaefer (Olson) gives Sheldrake a harsh critique of the script in her summation. Joe then tries unsuccessfully to borrow money from his friends. Fleeing from repossession men in his car, one of Joe's tires blows out in front of a large and seemingly deserted mansion on Sunset. Hiding the car in the garage, he sets out to explore the decaying house, when a woman inside calls to him. Mistaken for the undertaker to a recently deceased pet chimpanzee, he is ushered in by the mysterious butler, Max Von Mayerling (Von Stroheim). Meeting the woman who owns the house, he recognizes her as long-forgotten silent-film star Norma Desmond (Swanson). When she learns that he is a writer, she invites him in and asks for his opinion on an immense script she has written for a film about Salome that she hopes will revive her faded acting career. Although Joe finds the script awful, he flatters Norma into hiring him as an editor.Joe is put up in her guest room. The next morning he objects when he sees that Max has moved his belongings to the mansion on Norma's orders, and that she has paid his overdue rent. Though he hates being dependent on her, he accepts the situation and begins living at the mansion, first in a room over the garage, then in the mansion itself. As he works on Norma's script, he comes to see how unaware she is of how her fame has died. She refuses to hear any criticism of her work, and makes him watch her old films in the evenings. Although she still receives fan mail, Joe later learns that Max feeds into Norma's fantasy by sending the letters himself. He explains that Norma's state of mind is fragile, and she has attempted suicide in the past.Over the next few weeks, Norma lavishes attention on Joe and buys him expensive clothing, including a tuxedo for a private New Year's Eve party attended only by the two of them. Horrified to learn that she has fallen in love with him, he tries to let her down gently, but she slaps him and retreats to her room. Joe, thinking his time with her is over, escapes to a party at his friend, assistant director Artie Green's (Webb) house, where he meets Betty Schaefer again. While still unimpressed with most of his work, she believes a scene in one of his scripts has potential. Joe half-agrees to work on it with her, and calls the house on Sunset to tell Max he is leaving. However, when Max informs him that Norma has attempted suicide with Joe's razor blade, Joe leaves the party and returns to the mansion, where he apologizes to Norma and makes love to her.After a while, Norma considers her script complete, and sends it to Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount and waits for his answer. Not long afterwards, calls from Paramount asking for Norma begin to arrive. They come from an executive named Gordon Cole, and Norma petulantly refuses to speak to anyone other than DeMille himself. Eventually, she has Max drive her and Joe to the studio in her 1929 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A, a rare vintage luxury car. While DeMille entertains Norma, many of the older guards, technicians and extras on the set recognize her and welcome her back. Joe and Max, meanwhile, learn that Cole had called because the studio wants to rent her car and has no interest in her script (DeMille tells an assistant in private that the script is awful). Max insists that they hide these facts from her. He later confesses to Joe that he was once a respected film director who discovered Norma as a girl, and was also her first husband, and that he now remains as her servant because he cannot bear to leave her.While Norma undergoes a rigorous series of beauty treatments to prepare for her comeback, Joe has secretly begun to work with Betty on a screenplay. Though she is now engaged to Artie, she falls in love with him. Although he likes her, Joe is dismayed at the triangle in which he is now caught. When Norma discovers the script with Betty's name on it, she phones Betty and insinuates what sort of man Joe really is. Joe, hearing her, invites Betty to the mansion to see for herself. When she arrives, he coldly terminates their relationship by letting her believe that he is a gigolo and prefers to live off Norma. After Betty leaves the mansion in tears, Joe begins packing, having decided to return to Ohio. He bluntly informs Norma of the truththat there will be no comeback, her fan letters come from Max, and she is forgotten. He ignores Norma's threats to shoot herself, and in a fit of passion she shoots him as he leaves, leaving him dead in the pool.The scene returns to the opening. Still narrating, Joe expresses fear over how Norma will be unable to cope with the disgrace, and the discovery of how forgotten she truly is. By the time the police arrive, however, she has completely broken with reality and slipped into a delusional state of mind, thinking the news cameras are set up for a film shoot. To help the police coax her down the stairs, Max plays along with her hallucination that she is on the set of her new film. He verbally sets up the scene for her, and yells "Action!"; Norma dramatically descends her grand staircase. Joe, in voiceover, remarks that life has decided to spare her the pain of that discovery, and that "The dream she had clung to so desperately had enfolded her." Norma makes a short speech at how happy she is to be back making a film, and delivers the film's most famous line: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." | dark, boring, comedy, murder, atmospheric, flashback, satire, melodrama, tragedy | train | imdb | Hack screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) accidentally falls in with faded screen legend Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson).
"Norma Desmond" and "Joe Gillis" are at opposite ends of this warped Hollywood mindset, with Gillis, played by that most cynical of actors, William Holden trying to pay the rent and Norma (Gloria Swanson) living a lie as a silent queen whose star burned "10,000 midnights ago".
SUNSET BLVD is the father of all socially oriented pictures regarding the movies and is by far the best.The images of this beautiful black and white powerhouse are fascinating and unforgettable: the dead writer floating in a pool, eyes wide open, looking right at us at the beginning; the eerie pipe organ that plays by the breeze in the middle of one of the most deep and dustiest sets ever; the funeral ceremony of the dead monkey in Norma's courtyard ("That must have been one important chimp.
I wonder if they knew what they were creating while making this gem.Scenes are shot right on the lot of Paramount Studios (even the front gate), and Norma's mansion is an unforgettable piece of history and gloom with a floor that "Valentino once danced on." There is so much to discuss, but little to enlighten you on how great SUNSET BLVD is without you seeing it.
Now, in my late 20's and early 30's I found it to have a different impact on me I was saddened by Desmond's mental illness, and when she makes her final descent down her staircase and utters her famous line as the camera pans the faces of the people around her, so full of pity, and the care her butler/ex-husband takes to make sure she's happy for maybe the last time in her life made more of an impact on me than any other time in the 20-odd times I've seen this film.
It is so beautifully shot (in that stark black/white that only nitrate negative could achieve), has a witty, clever and extremely well-written script, features some of the best acting in film's history, acrobatically balances the main plot/subplots with expert precision, contains some of the best characters on celluloid, has many true-to-life parallels (Swanson's career/real life cameos/DeMille's involvement/etc) and is peppered with such great dialogue/narration that today's film writers should take note.
It can give you the idea of the dream land's transformation into a nightmare.The film is about a troubled script writer 'Joe Gillis and a forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond's weird relationship and the madness that surrounds them and the people around them.
He meets the owner and former silent-movie star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), who lives alone wit her butler and driver Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim).
When Joe falls in love for the young aspirant writer Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson), Norma becomes jealous and completely insane and her madness leads to a tragic end."Sunset Boulevard" is a bitter and tragic masterpiece of the genius Billy Wilder that exposes how Hollywood uses people and forgets them when they get old and are considered decadent by the industry.
Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich von Stroheim star in this Billy Wilder cinematic masterpiece about an aging essentially forgotten silent film star who has delusions about returning to pictures.
It so happens that as I was watching Sunset Boulevard, I was chewing gum, and Gloria Swanson's clipped, derisive tone felt more like it was directed not at William Holden's washed up Joe Gillis in 1950, but at me, sitting on my couch in 2008.
In BOULEVARD, Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond is to some extent already dead by the time the film starts, locked away in a haunted house, coming out only for the funeral of her pet monkey.
Her life, like her career, is based on illusions of life.The prevailing interpretation of SUNSET BOULEVARD assumes that Norma is one of Hollywood's victims; that the town and the industry turned its back on her when she was no longer a star, her career sabotaged by the coming of sound in motion pictures.
The people in it are unsympathetic, as the leading male character is a hack screenwriter turned gigolo; and the woman he lives with is a mad former silent movie star who pins all her hopes on this third-rate writer's ability to write her 'comeback' picture.
As Norma Desmond, Gloria Swanson is magnificent, larger than life, and every inch the former silent movie queen she plays in the picture.
Sunset Boulevard does not in the end tell us more about Hollywood than the Selznick-Wellman A Star Is Born, but it does its job better, with pungent dialogue, brilliant acting and a sense of style rare in movies of the time and unheard of today..
All we know is that Joe was at the run-down mansion of deluded former silent-film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson).
Wilder takes a truly original concept, bending Film Noir, satire, comedy, and pathos in the telling of Joe Gillis (William Holden), a down-on-his-luck screenwriter (the repo men are threatening to take his car, for Pete's sake!), who winds up all but imprisoned in the lonely, secluded mansion of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), a washed-up silent-film starlet harboring delusions of a comeback.
Magnificent performances from William Holden as out-of-work gigolo-screenwriter who inextricably attaches himself to a faded possessive screen star ; Swanson is brilliant as the tragically deluded actress and realizes a real tour-de-force and of course superb Erich Von Stroheim as Norma Desmond's devotedly watchable butler .
One of those movies stars, Norma Desmond, lives in the past as she never adapted to the new reality, which is evident in the way she stays out of the scene dwelling in her antiquated castle on Sunset Boulevard.Enter Joe Gillis, the man who never made it into the industry.
Norma falls for the young Gillis in ways she never expected, but as a desperate woman she wants to possess what she can't otherwise buy, even a man going through financial bad times the way Joe Gillis is.Billy Wilder got magnificent performances out of the three principals.
William Holden had one of the best opportunities of his film career with Joe Gillis, a character he wasn't even scheduled to play, but which Montgomery Cliff handed to him in a silver platter when he refused to appear in the picture!
He winds up in the house of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), an aging silent film star who is working on her comeback screenplay.
Gloria Swanson as the insane Norma Desmond, a mad silent movie star languishing in her old mansion surrounded by reminders of her glory days, and William Holden as a bitingly cynical screenwriter playing gigolo to Swanson while carrying on an affair with nice reader Nancy Olson is great.
Well, Sunset Boulevard (aka Sunset Blvd.) was just such a film for me.William Holden – who also narrates the film – plays Joe Gillis, a small-time screen writer, down on both money and luck; as we find out right at the beginning of the film, Gillis won't be alive by the end of it.
The fact that viewers are informed by Joe's voice-over right at the start of the film, that he will not survive to the end, fills the ensuing scenes with a bitter sense of doom, and the contrast between Joe the narrator, who knows his fate, and Joe the character who we see on camera, who is unaware of what will befall him, is very effective (A similar idea was used years later in American Beauty, also with excellent results, although Sunset Boulevard was, for me, a much better film.)Gloria Swanson was excellent as Norma Desmond, and at times was difficult to watch.
He imbues his character with passion, tenderness, ruthlessness, and resignation – oh, and he's darkly funny too.Eric von Stroheim is perfectly cast as Norma's taciturn and mysterious butler – this role could easily have been a caricature in different hands, but he plays the part brilliantly.The main cast is rounded out by Nancy Olsen as Betty Schaefer, a young writer who wants Joe's help on a script; she is perfectly cast as a feisty but tender young woman who is dragged into Joe's nightmare world.In short, my opinion for what it's worth, is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this film.
With the spotlight on Norma Desmond, one of the greatest movie characters of all time, played majestically by Gloria Swanson, "Sunset Blvd." oozes Hollywood Gothic, in a story that is as bleak as it is timeless.Although the script's protagonist is Joe Gillis (William Holden), unsuccessful screenwriter and opportunist, the heart and soul of the film resides in the character of older woman Norma Desmond, a reclusive movie star of years gone by, living in the past, vain, egocentric, yearning for a return to the camera.What makes Norma so memorable is her singular strangeness ...
It's Norma Desmond that I want to see and listen to.These quibbles aside, "Sunset Blvd." is one of the great classic films of all time, a noir drama, wonderfully dreary and grim, yet funny, too.
Aside from a couple of relatively slow stretches, it is crafted with great skill, and it's a film-noir worth watching and re-watching.Holden's restrained, gently cynical performance is an ideal way to look at the unusual world where Swanson's character, an aging former silent movie star, lives.
It all works so well because it comes across as true-to-life not just as a portrayal of Hollywood but as a generalized picture of living in a bygone era.When you have interesting characters, an unusual situation, a good cast, and a director like Billy Wilder to tell you the story, you have rather high expectations.
Arguably his finest script Sunset also gets career highs from pantheon cinematographer Joseph Seitz and composer Franz Waxman whose score not content to just provide background intricately attaches itself to the action, accenting one powerful scene after the next.Aspiring screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) is trying to stay one step ahead of the finance company out to repossess his car when takes shelter in an old movie star's run down mansion.
When he connects with another writer as collaborator and romantic interest he decides to make a final break from the unstable Desmond.Holden's sardonic narration and Gloria Swanson's delusional Norma deliver Wilder and Leigh Bracket's biting script with emphasis in every word as morbid humor mixes with tragedy within the suffocating stage of the oppressive mansion along with the dour butler (perfectly played by Erich Von Stroheim) and the few visitors, actual former silent stars playing themselves, referred to by Gillis as "the waxworks."Also playing themselves are a sensitive but forceful Cecil B.
The acting is fantastic, and Gloria Swanson seems to have been born for this part-perhaps her creation of Norma was inspired by her own experience, being a silent film star herself.The intelligent plot and character development brings both Desmond and Gillis to self-destruct, and bury each other further in delusions, while staying entirely convincing throughout.
The players are all playing themselves in many well documented ways: Willam Holden, a career dip into mediocrity (failed writer), Erich on Stroheim (discarded director serving his past) and, of course, Gloria Swanson (faded silent movie star) whose reality diminishes down the famed, framed and fated staircase spiral into the bright lights of madness.Director Billy Wilder understood what he was doing in cinematically putting this all together in every aspect the film offers and yet it is the overly dramatic "Norma Desmond" that haunts afterwards.
Without a doubt - This picture is, indeed, an oddity in itself, being a story-of-the-grotesque that is told by, none other than, a corpse.Yes. Perhaps the most revealing movie that Hollywood ever made about its own decline - "Sunset Boulevard" was, very much, all about the movie industry's rise to great power, its fabricated imagery, as well as its total worship of youth and its own dark past.And, of course - Irony of ironies - Only director Billy Wilder could imagine Tinseltown as a place where the dead go on speaking - Talking about their lives as if nothing had changed..
Joe Gillis is floating face down in a pool and tells his story.That story tells how he met Norma Desmond, a big star from the silent era who now is forgotten by the people.She's planning a major comeback with a script of Salome.She wants Joe to help her with the movie.The movie's no good, everybody can see that, but Joe still stays around to help her.Soon he realizes that it was a big mistake.Sunset Blvd.
(1950) is a masterpiece from the master called Billy Wilder.The actors are really unique.William Holden is superb as Joe Gillis and Gloria Swanson, an actual silent film star, is absolutely brilliant as Norma.Erich von Stroheim does a wonderful job as Max von Mayerling and so does the beautiful Nancy Olson as Betty Schaefer.In cameos you can see people like Cecil B.DeMille and Buster Keaton.The movie is something really special from the beginning till the end.You can't see movies like this these days.Now we don't have directors like Billy Wilder to make them.In his movies everything usually worked.Especially the dialog was something you don't have so often in modern movies.What happened to the great writers?
What I think really holds this picture together is the well-down over-the-top portrayal of silent film star Norma Desmond by Gloria Swanson.
Joe Gillis(William Holden)is a Hollywood writer who gets himself caught up revising a script for the comeback of a silent film star named Norma Desmond(Gloria Swanson), who is obsessed with her past and suicidal.Forget the chemistry in Casablanca, this movie has the best on screen chemistry of all time!
And the screenplay by Billy Wilder provides plenty of other cynical and observant wise cracks that give his character of Joe Gillis such depth, conviction and truth.And, of course, GLORIA SWANSON, as Norma Desmond, in what has to be regarded as her film swansong (she did very little thereafter), is every inch the faded silent screen star who lives inside her rich imagination, inflating her ego with self-important phrases like: "It's the pictures that got small." With her cat-like eyes and claw-like hand gestures, she gets every nuance out of a role that is theatrical and larger than life, right up to the fantastic ending.
mansion and exposes the sordid truth of his relationship with Swanson.As the man servant who is Swanson's loyal protector and was once Swanson's first husband and director of her early films, ERICH VON STROHEIM easily matches Holden and Swanson with a fine characterization of the patiently devoted butler.Swanson plays the demented star like a more glamorous version of Miss Havisham in GREAT EXPECTATIONS, the woman who lived among the cobwebs because of a bitter disappointment when a lover jilted her on her wedding day.
There was the man floating dead in the pool, but telling me this story, the mysterious funeral for the dead monkey, the old people sitting around playing bridge, von Stroheim flitting in and out, menacing to a boy my age, and bug-eyed Norma descending the stairs.It is a movie obsessed with death, but aren't most of our great films?
This story of a down on his luck Hollywood screenwriter and his peril fraught associations with a fading silent film star plotting her return to the big screen has all the things a noir fan loves; dark mysterious places, a near constant sense of looming danger, rapid and smart dialog and great narration by William Holden.
Gloria Swanson plays Norma Desmond who is a lonely insecure once famous silent film star living in isolation with her servant in a lavish, but neglected Hollywood mansion from the 1920's.
William Holden plays the role of Joe Gillis, a down on his luck B film Hollywood writer who accidentally discovers her mansion.
Erich Von Stroheim plays the loyal house servant Max Von Mayerling to Norma Desmond.A combination film noir, satire with dark, cynical humor, "Sunset Boulevard" excels.
Gloria Swanson in the best role of her career plays Norma Desmond, the silent screen star who is in the process of writing a script for a film to be directed by Cecil B DeMille, or at least she believes so.
Norma entails the help of a younger man named Joe Gillis (played by William Holden), who in a bit of desparation of his own, decides to alter her script for her in return for money and a place to live.The haunting mansion that Desmond lives in with only her butler Max (Erich von Stronheim) shows only pictures of her, has a screen onto which her films are shown to her weekly and plays host to other former silent film stars (notably Buster Keaton in a surprise cameo), is a reminder of how time passed Norma by.
The lighting, the camera angles, the sets, the screenplay all add to the noir atmosphere but it is all topped by wonderful Direction which is really flawless.Also, realistic acting performances by both William Holden and Gloria Swanson are 10/10.You can't really chose which one has done his/her part better.I never put spoilers in my reviews so I would highly recommend to watch this movie.Even if you are a Noir fan,you will love it.If you want to start watching this genre,start with the best,the crown jewel of film noir and that's undoubtedly 'Sunset Blvd' ..
Gloria Swanson, the star of the film, plays a woman who is a star still in her old mind, Norma Desmond.
One can maybe guess what might happen as this goes on, but like with Wilder's other great films, the unexpected moments and keen revelations/coincidences are the best parts; Erich von Stroheim as Max, Norma's 'butler', is surprisingly good.I've seen Sunset Blvd.
Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) is a faded movie star in a relationship with reporter Joe Gillis (William Holden).
Joe Gillis (William Holden) is a faded screen writer whom is at rock bottom when he fortuitously falls upon faded silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) after his car gets a blow-out outside her house after he is being chased by a couple of dudes from the finance company. |
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