Archive for the 'Thriller' Category

Eastern Promises

Published
by
Chalupa
on March 27, 2008
in Crime, Drama, England, Graphic Violence, Investigation, Mob, Mystery, Russian, Thriller and Twist
. 0 Comments

Eastern Promises is a follow-up of sorts to A History of Violence. Both are directed by David Cronenberg, Viggo Mortensen stars in both, and they are both stories about somebody involved in the mob. While Cronenberg’s first mob film takes place in the US, Eastern Promises involves Russian mobsters and takes place in London.

Viggo’s character, Nikolai, works for a very notorious crime family. He’s the driver and he does more than just drive the car from point A to point B. One night he encounters Anna, played by Naomi Watts, as she is looking for somebody at the restaurant owned by the Nikolai’s employers. Anna works at a hospital and a girl died recently giving birth to her daughter. The young girl had a diary which contained a business card for said restaurant. Even though Anna speaks little Russian herself, it is part of her heritage and her uncle, who claims to be ex-KGB, warns her to stay away from the situation. Anna soon finds herself in the midst of a complicated situation as I’m sure you can guess.

One very interesting aspect of this movie is tattoos. In this crime society, tattoos are given as badges and marks of honor. They essentially tell the story of your life. The tattoos are also standardized so anybody can recognize your past glories and exploits merely by noticing the tattoos you have. In the same respect, having tattoos you did not earn can be quite detrimental to ones wellbeing.

Viggo Mortensen is AMAZING in this film. He’s a bit of a method actor in that he heavily researches roles he has and becomes the characters he plays. I know that most people only know him from his exploits in a little trilogy called Lord of the Rings, but seriously guys, Mortensen is a great actor that has been around for a while. I think the first film I remember seeing him in was Crimson Tide. I’ve since seen him in Witness, Carlito’s Way, The Prophecy, Young Guns II, G.I. Jane, and Psycho. The only movie I’ve seen him in that I wasn’t a big fan of was Hidalgo. If you’ve seen any of these and enjoyed Mortensen’s acting skills you should definitely check out some of his other films.

Other noteworthy performances came from Armin Mueller-Stahl, Seymon, who plays the head of the crime family. You’ll probably also recognize Vincent Cassel from Ocean’s 12 and Ocean’s 13. I always remember him as the creepy brother from Brotherhood of the Wolf and the one movie I always throw out there for “wow factor”, Irreversible.

I really enjoyed this film and hope you do too. Let me know if you have any thoughts or comments.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Eastern Promises

Nightwatch

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 25, 2008
in Abortion, Action, Based on a book, Based on a novel, Comedy, Epic, Fantasy, Horror, Narrated, Russia, Sci-fi, Thriller, Trilogy, Vampires and War
. 2 Comments

Nightwatch is a vampire movie I heard about a few years ago from a buddy of mine. I’ve been meaning to watch it for quite some time and wouldn’t you know, it’s available on-demand from Netflix. Set in Russia, there’s an ongoing, epic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. In this context they are the Forces of Light and Forces of Darkness and they are called Others. At one point during this epic, immortal battle, a truce was formed. Humans now had to choose their own side. They could no longer be forced into serving the Light or the Dark.

There was an ancient prophecy about a virgin that would pretty much bring about the apocalypse. There was also an Other that would join the battle and have to choose which side they would fight for. This choice would turn the tide for whichever side he/she chose.

This brings us to modern-day Russia where the Others walk amongst the humans pretending to be mortal. The Light are called Nightwatchers and the Dark are called Daywatchers. Both sides monitor each other to ensure the truce is held. That truce is eventually broken and all hell, literally, is about to break loose. The apocalypse is upon them and both sides are trying to find “the one” in order to bring them to their side.

Based on a book, this story is being put into a trilogy. In fact, the second film, Daywatch is mentioned in the end credits. Unlike some vampire-esque movies this one isn’t filled with gore or pointless sex and nudity to cover up the slow and weaker parts of the plot and script. I’m really interested in seeing the second installment now. They’ve got me hooked. I’d definitely recommend this to any fan of the vampire genre.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 20, 2008
in Based on a novel, Crime, Drama, Narrated, Perfume, Prostitution and Thriller
. 0 Comments

Ever wonder what it would be like to have a super power? You know, like a superhero. Ever wanted super-human strength? The ability to fly? Laser beams shooting out of your eyes? Well how about a super sense of smell? In Perfume, Jean-Baptiste is born with an amazing sense of smell. I don’t even know how to describe it other than he’s like a human hound dog. He can smell you coming and going.

Jean-Baptiste lived a hard life during the French Revolution. He was born in a fish market and soon ends up in an orphanage. If you didn’t know, those places weren’t all fun and games. I’d probably have to describe them as hell holes. Anyways, he eventually starts working in a tannery and one day gets to go into town for a delivery. There are all kinds of wonderful smells he’s never encountered before. He eventually smells the most wonderful scent he’s ever encountered, but tragically loses it.

Jean-Baptiste’s next line of work then becomes the perfume industry. He starts learning how to make perfumes in the effort to preserve smells. He wants to recreate that smell he found in town that one day. As you can probably tell from the title, Jean-Baptiste also happens to be a murderer. I don’t want to give the story away though, so I won’t get into that.

This film is a good watch. There is a slight, crazy twist at the end that kind of involves a mass orgy. Don’t really see that one coming. For this reason I won’t be recommending this to a lot of people. It’s not crazy or too revealing…especially after seeing John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus. If you’ve seen Perfume, we’d love to know what you thought of it. If you liked it, you might want to check out some of Tom Tykwer’s other movies such as Run, Lola, Run or The Princess and the Warrior .

Rating: ★★★½☆

Michael Clayton

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 5, 2008
in Audio Review, Conspiracy, Drama, Lawsuit and Thriller
. 3 Comments

In our quest to see all of the Best Picture nominees, Liz and I saw Michael Clayton. Truth be told, we weren’t exactly chomping at the bit to see this. We had actually gone to see No Country for Old Men, but the email we had gotten from the theater was incorrect. I’m glad to say we were pleasantly surprised.

Michael Clayton is about a few days in the life of…..you guessed it - Michael Clayton (George Clooney). He’s a lawyer that’s been working for a firm entirely too long to be holding the position he does. That’s because he’s on the cleanup crew. You might also refer to him as a “bag man” or “janitor.” He takes care of the messes rich clients create for themselves.

At this particular juncture in his life, one of Michael’s good friends from work, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), has completely lost it. He had been working on a defending a big company against a class action lawsuit for over a decade and suddenly couldn’t handle it anymore. Michael is called in to try and help calm Arthur down and in the process Michael gets involved in a few things almost too messy for him to clean up.

Tilda Swinton, nominated for Best Supporting Actress, plays the part of Karen Crowder, someone in middle management that has recently been given her position along with the lovely inheritance of dealing with this lawsuit. She’s desperately trying to take care of problems she’s only just beginning to find out about while also protecting her boss and mentor, who just got promoted from the job she currently holds. We also get to see Sydney Pollack playing the role of Marty Bach, another person in management at the firm.

One thing that really grabbed my attention in this film was some of the amazing acting by Clooney and Wilkinson. Lately I’ve been a little disappointed with George. It’s not that I don’t like him or the movies he’s been involved in; I just feel that he hasn’t been trying that hard in recent years. Movies I’m talking about would include the Ocean’s series, Spy Kids, Syriana, Intolerable Cruelty…you could even throw Batman and Robin in there. I haven’t seen The Good German or Good Night, and Good Luck yet, and some of the movies listed I really enjoyed, however, it just seemed like he hadn’t been trying that hard. In my opinion though, Clooney really came through in this role. He’s even been nominated for Best Actor.

I don’t think this is really deserving of Best Picture, but who knows what will happen. Just because I want something to win or not win doesn’t mean that always happens. Besides Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Picture, this has also been nominated for Directing, Music and Original Screen Play. If you weren’t keeping track, that’s seven nominations. Not too shabby.

This is still a very worthwhile movie to go watch. If you thought it was going to be pretty lame by the previews, you’ll probably be glad you saw it like we were. Oh, and if you aren’t too bored by all of that, here’s a 10min clip of Liz and I talking about the movie after we saw it.

Michael Clayton Audio Review

Rating: ★★★★☆

No Country for Old Men

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 5, 2008
in Based on a novel, Crime, Drama, Drugs, Graphic Violence, Neo Noir and Thriller
. 2 Comments

First off, I must apologize for not having a review of the latest Coen Brother film. We talked about this so much on the Lebowski Podcast, I just plain forgot to put anything over here. Secondly, if you haven’t seen it already I highly suggest you do. I thought it was going to be my favorite movie for 2007, but then I saw There Will Be Blood, which is probably bumping No Country to #2.

If you’re not already familiar with the Coens, they are a force of nature in the world of writing and directing. Ethan and Joel are brothers who have been working together since the 80s. They write their own scripts, storyboard every scene beforehand, make heavy use of wide-angle lenses and shots, favor melding Film Noir with other genres, reuse many actors in their films, often edit their own films under the fake name Roderick Jaynes, and happen to be my favorite directors.

The Coens usually only make movies from their own scripts. This is true in this film, but it is heavily based of the novel of same name by Cormac McCarthy. This film has both Noir and Western elements and is set in the state of Texas. It starts off with Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finding the gruesome remains of a drug deal gone wrong and takes off with a briefcase full of money. Naturally, somebody notices $2 million is missing and Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a psychopathic killer with a strange sense of morals and a strong commitment to standing by his word, is sent after Moss to retrieve the cash.

Trying to understand and discern all this is the local sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), along with his motor-mouthed and somewhat dimwitted Deputy, Wendell (Garret Dillahunt). Llewelyn’s wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), and other innocent and not-so-innocent people are also caught in the middle of all this as the story unfolds.

The character of Anton Chigurh is particularly interesting. He’s pretty much the ultimate badass. In fact, at one point two other characters are talking about him and one asks, “just how bad is this guy?” The other responds with, “Compared to what? The bubonic plague?” Anton pretty much kills everybody that bothers him or does something he considers worthy of death. We even find out he plans to kill Llewelyn no matter what. Even if the money is returned, Llewelyn wasted Anton’s time and that’s an offense that warrants death in Chigurh’s mind.

A buddy of mine sent me this link to a blog of sorts in which a couple of friends are discussing the movie. These two guys happen to be big Coen fans and they compare the movie to both The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona. One of them compares Anton to The Dude saying they are the exact opposites of each other. Something really interesting to think about.

I know I’ve been desensitized big time with all the movies I’ve seen. Yes, there is violence in the film, and no I didn’t find it in any way excessive. This may not be the case for some of you though. Something to keep in mind. I would say the swearing is minimal compared to some of the Coens’ other works and even though the story is quite dark, I still enjoyed it….excessively. This is a must-see for any Coen fan.

Rating: ★★★★★

I Am Legend

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 6, 2008
in Based on a novel, Drama, Horror, Neo Noir, Sci-fi and Thriller
. 1 Comment

This was part two of our double-header from the weekend. I had heard mixed reviews about this going into it. Most people were saying it was good, but others were saying they didn’t like the last third of it. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed, but I might put the ending into the cookie-cutter category for the zombie genre.

I Am Legend is about a soldier and scientist, Robert Neville, played by Will Smith who is trying to find a cure for the virus that cured cancer. Just like in Charlie Wilson’s War, the parable about the boy who gets a horse is lived out - good can lead to bad, which then leads to good. In an interview given by April Grace, you might recognize her from Magnolia, we find out a virus was “re-programmed”, as Emma Thompson states, to fight and eradicate cancer cells. They had 10,009 successful cases. I really wonder how long they had been doing these trials. Eventually this virus spread amongst the general population killing 90%. One percent was left immune while the other 9% turned into “dark seekers” and fed on the immune. Robert Neville, one of the immune, is trying to find a cure.

Most of this movie is just Will Smith doing his thing in an abandoned New York City. His only companion is his dog, Sam. He seems to have it together. He has a well protected home, several vehicles for both practical and recreational purposes, a good stock of food and plenty of weapons. It’s only when he goes to “rent” his daily movie that we really see what kind of fragile state he is in psychologically. I can’t really imagine what it would be like living that way. At least he had his dog to interact with.

Now we get to that ending people were complaining about. Eventually Neville catches a glimpse of hope. He might not be the only one left…for just second, then everything goes to hell in a hand basket with a lone-survivor making it in the end. This is very reminiscent of zombie movies, vampire movies, the Resident Evil series and even 28 Days Later. I think this is why people had complaints. Personally, I enjoyed it - every minute of it. I don’t think it would make my top 10 list for 2007, but this is definitely worth a watch. On a side note, you might be interested to know that Smith’s actual daughter, Willow Smith, plays his daughter in this movie. Seems like all of his kids are getting acting roles lately.

Afterwards, Liz was telling me that the book this was based from is supposed to give scientific evidence to vampires. This made so much sense to me after seeing the movie. In most vampire stories there are supernatural reasons as to why vampires exist. In this case the author of the novel, Richard Matheson, wanted to use science and did a pretty good job from what I can tell. If you like this movie, you might be interested to know it was directed by Francis Lawrence who also did Constantine and is also working on a new, modern adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves called Snow and the Seven.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Published
by
Chalupa
on December 24, 2007
in Based on a play, Crime, Drama, Musical and Thriller
. 0 Comments

The first time I was ever made aware of the Broadway play, I was sitting in a theater in Marion, IN, with my good friend Toll, watching Kevin Smith’s latest creation - Jersey Girl. In that movie a little girl is given the assignment to re-enact a play for the school talent show. Everybody chose Cats….except for this one particular girl. So all I knew was that there was this barber that killed people, the barber chair flipped down to allow the deceased to slide down, and there was a restaurant down below that cooked the victims and sold them in meat pies.

I was immediately interested in Sweeney Todd because Johnny Depp was on-board and Tim Burton was directing. Also acting was Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and the ever-funny Sacha Baron Cohen. I can’t really think of a single performance from Depp where I’ve been disappointed. He always finds new roles to push himself as an actor and do something new. I think it’s fair to say he’s never phoned-in a performance.

I was reading somewhere that this is one of the best Broadway plays adapted to the silver screen. I was pretty impressed with it. In some ways I think it resembled Edward Scissorhands, only darker and more menacing. Oh yeah, and lots of people were killed. Personally, I wasn’t bothered by any of it, but I’m sure the graphic nature of the throats being slit and bodies being dumped down a chute will bother some.

Afterwards we were all discussing parts of the movie and I said I thought Cohen’s pants were “interesting,” kind of like Bowie’s in Labyrinth. Rajeev, my brother-in-law, quickly stated anyone who’s seen Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan should know if that was fake or not.

I really enjoyed this movie and would suggest checking it out. Definitely not for kids though, or for people who can’t handle the content.

Lions for Lambs

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 13, 2007
in College, Drama, Government, Middle East, Politics, Thriller and War
. 0 Comments

Liz and I watched Lions for Lambs immediately after American Gangster and even though I liked it, this one wasn’t quite as awesome. In a way it kind of came of as political propaganda and wasn’t always sure what they were trying to make me believe. It also reminded me of Rules of Engagement in the sense that a side-story is two stranded marines but the movie is really people talking about that situation.

Directed by Robert Redford and written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom), you could definitely see similarities in style and theme from some of their previous work. Redford, who also acted in this, plays a college professor trying to inspire one of his slacker-students to greatness in California. At the same time Meryl Streep is interviewing Tom Cruise, an up-and-coming senator aspiring to the presidency, about a new military plan of action in Afghanistan. Thirdly, we are watching this new plan unfold as two marines, played by Michael Peña and Andrew Garfield, are pinned down by enemy gunfire and just happen to be former students of Professor Malley, Redford’s character. So as you can see, this is one of those movies where everything is connected in some way. One thing that was cool about this is everything is happening simultaneously around the world, which is reflected by the time differences between the different situations.

Liz pointed out that Tom Cruise, Sen. Jasper Irving, was really just a cleaned up Frank T.J. Mackey from Magnolia. He used the same tactics and cunning to bend his listener’s will toward wherever he wanted. He was very manipulative and never really said what he meant; all the while trying to control things around him like the Wizard of Oz.

Streep’s character, Janine Roth, represents the media. She sees through the senator’s manipulation, but her editor won’t allow her to write what she really wants because they have to worry about ratings. This is definitely trying to make a point about the media today with how they’ve covered the “wars on terror.” I also liked to see Streep acting again compared with her last performance I saw, The Devil Wears Prada, where she wasn’t really doing much at all. I realize she won awards for it, but I felt like the other nominees were much more deserving.

Redford’s professor seemed just a little bit too forceful to me. It was almost as if he was manipulating his student, but I’m not sure exactly to what. Trying to make him care more about his studies is definitely a positive. However, beyond that I’m not sure what the end goal was.

Overall, I’d say this movie is definitely worth seeing before Oscar time rolls around. It might even get nominated for something.

American Gangster

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 13, 2007
in Based on a true story, Corruption, Crime, Drama, Drugs, Dysfunctional, Family, Investigation, Mob, Racism and Thriller
. 0 Comments

Starring Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas, a real-life American gangster, I feeling like I was watching Training Day, only this movie was much cooler, much classier, and just better all around. According to the film, which was based on claims by Frank Lucas, Frank Lucas was the driver/bodyguard that stepped in after his boss died of a heart attack. What’s different about this mob story is that Frank Lucas is black; he’s not Italian, Sicilian or Russian. He brings in his brothers to help run the business and runs shop like the Italians. He makes sure the public and everyone around him loves him. People even love him when Frank beats the crap out of them for making mistakes.

On one hand, Lucas was kind of like Robin Hood. He took from the rich and gave to the poor. Frank also cut out all the middle-men and worked for himself. He dealt in narcotics and got his good directly from Southeast Asia. He bribed a lot of people to make his operations work and brought a lot of them down with him.

This movie is definite Oscar material. Denzel has been nominated several times for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. He has won two Oscars already and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won again for this film. Some other talented performances would include Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Jon Polito.

I really enjoyed the cinematography. Lately in films we’ve been seeing the wild camera shots and angles. The Bourne series would be an example of this, even though I like it there, and it just wouldn’t work in this film. I didn’t really pay attention to the ASL (average shot length), but it was very easy to follow and the timing and flow of the film went very well.

I think Ridley Scott did quite well directing. You might recognize that name from his previous works such as Alien, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men and who could forget Blade Runner? He’s also produced a long list of movies. One that I’ve been wanting to see in particular would be The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Even though this is a mob/gangster movie, it also shows a peek into the lives of these people. It’s not just extortion, lies, decent and people getting knocked off in casinos and dark alleys. Definitely a good drama as well as a crime and thriller. I highly recommend this one.

Eastern Promises

Published
by
Neville
on November 6, 2007
in Crime, Drama, England, Graphic Violence, Investigation, Mob, Murder, Mystery, Russian, Thriller and Twist
. 1 Comment

I have a confession to make: director David Cronenburg is one of those critically acclaimed directors I just don’t get.

However, his last film “A History of Violence” was the first one I watched and felt its power. I felt there was something there, even if I wasn’t fully understanding just how complex it was.

Similar to “A History of Violence,” “Eastern Promises” stars the talented Viggo Mortensen and the underrated Naomi Watts in a crime drama revolving around babies, body parts and a sect of the Russian Mafia in London. Written by Stephen Knight, the screenwriter that gave us “Dirty Pretty Things,” another story more specifically about black market body parts, “Eastern Promises” begins with a jolt. True to Cronenburg’s form it seems, the violence in his films is often drawn out–shot without music or edited with stylized style–and it’s also visceral. So are the scenes in “Eastern Promises.” They touch on delicate subjects (underage prostitutes, abortion, homosexuality, pure human deception) and everything seems to be marked by the sins of these Mafia characters (similar to their iconic-like tatoos). The tagline for the film reads: “every sin leaves a mark.” And this is really what the movie is all about. It unpacks this idea through its visuals and asks its audience to be subjected to its darkness (make no mistake about it, it is dark). But can we bear it? Can we endure through it?

I think the film could’ve been more effective (or at least more accessible to mass audiences) if more music was in the film, but I’m quickly learning that this is not Cronenburg’s style. He seems to like revealing things, not as if it’s cinema but as if it’s real life, and this tension is felt continually throughout the film. Do I believe things like this go on? Absolutely. But can I ever see myself as one of them? Probably not.

It wasn’t until the film’s end until I sensed any kind of humanity in the “villian” characters of the film. What distinquishes people as people and people as monsters? This is another question the film asks.

Mortensen and Watts are both strong here and both give convincing performances with convincing accents. But so much darkness is here I wonder if Cronenburg would’ve been wise to have let a little more light in (into the scenes, into the colors, in the images/icons of the film). I know this is neo-film noir from a very experienced and artistic filmmaker but I still can wonder, right?

All in all, worth a rental, not quite worth the $10 cinema ticket price (unless you want to really really feel the violence–then maybe you should go to the cinema and watch it).