jaemskeray
William
tincolor
ThomasFiled under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2013, elizabeth olsen, josh brolin, michael imperioli, mystery, old boy, oldboy, Samuel L. Jackson, sharlto copley, spike lee, Thriller, Watchable
Josh Brolin is the titular old boy in this film about a man who is imprisoned in a mysterious room for 20 years, then inexplicably set free. In short, if you’ve seen the original Korean film, there really is no reason to see this remake. Performances range from decent (Brolin) to comically bad (Michael Imperioli) and if you were unsatisfied with the implausible ending of the Korean version, don’t go to this this one with the hope of discovering anything more satisfying. The setup remains as intriguing as ever, but that isn’t enough to make it anything more than simply watchable.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2000s, Candice Bergen, Comedy, donald petrie, michael caine, mystery, sandra bullock, William Shatner, Worth checking out
Sandra Bullock is a soon-to-be-good-looking FBI agent with a gnarly personality, and now she’s going in deep as a contestant in the Miss America. Everything thing about this movie is competent. There’s nothing offensively bad and some parts are actually pretty funny and clever. If you haven’t seen it, check it out!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2000s, gene hackman, monica bellucci, Morgan Freeman, mystery, stephen hopkins, Thriller, tom jane, Watchable
Gene Hackman is a pillar of the Puerto Rican community, which makes this nasty business of dead middle-school girls all the more awkward for police chief Morgan Freeman and his hot headed right-hand-goon Tom Jane. This is the kind of movie where the ending is everything, so if you don’t buy the ending, or in this case, understand what happened and have to google: “Under Suspicion ending WTF”, your movie is in trouble. The idea is interesting, but they just really didn’t pull it off. I blame the performances which are bland and uninspired. A low watchable.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 1990s, carl franklin, denzel washington, don cheadle, mystery, neo-noir, tom sizemore, Watchable
Denzel Washington is out of work in 1940s LA until one day Tom Sizemore pays him to find a girl and then before you know it a mystery is afoot! This is a neo-noir film in every respect and there is no attempt to break the mold. Competent overall, but lacking that special something to set it apart. Averagely paced film that requires you to think just because there are so many characters to keep track of. Watchable.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 1970s, Drama, Elliott Gould, mystery, noir, Robert altman, Worth checking out
After giving a friend a lift to Tijuana, Private dick Elliott Gould has more mobsters and femme fatales on his back than LA has wannabe stars. Robert Altman gives his signature touch to a pretty decent adaptation of a Raymond chandler novel. While there is a mystery at the heart of the movie, it seems like the focus is actually just on Gould and his unique personality and way of solving the crime. Worth checking out. 
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 1950s, alfred hitchcock, Drama, jimmy stewart, kim novak, mystery, Suspense, Worth watching
Alfred Hitchcock’s “best movie ever” is about James Stewart, a retired detective suffering from vertigo who is tailing Kim Novak, a blond chick who has a nasty habit of being possessed by the dead and trying to kill herself. The technical aspects of this movie are amazing, flawless! The way Hitchcock uses the camera to tell so much of the story is a truly amazing feat. Unfortunately, the plot does gets a little murky. Why do Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak fall in love with each other in the first place, and why does everyone put up with Jimmy Stewart even though he’s pretty much a total asshole? The movie definitely suggests answers these questions, and you don’t even really need answers to enjoy the film, but still the whole thing does come off feeling a little contrived. Worth watching.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2010s, Daniel Craig, david fincher, Drama, mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Watchable
Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara are Swedes on the trail of a murderer whose last crime was committed more than 50 years ago. My main complaint with this film is it has too much plot. The book is some 600 pages for God’s sake, trim it down! In the end there is just so much going on and so many characters to keep track of that it doesn’t feel like you’re following the investigation in real time, but instead just watching the summarized police report. Still, there’s enough here to entertain. Watchable.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2000s, catherine keener, mystery, nicole kidman, Sean Penn, sydney pollack, Thriller, Worth checking out
Nicole Kidman is an interpreter at the UN who overhears a plot to kill a visiting dignitary and Sean Penn is the CIA agent who is there to stop it from happening. As mystery/thrillers go, this movie does so many things right! There are plenty of tense scenes, a great Hitchcock-like setup where Sean Penn is watching over Nicole Kidman from a different building through binoculars, and a mostly solid commitment to showing things exclusively from Kidman and Penn’s perspective. Unfortunately, there are just some weird choices made, like randomly showing you the killer half-way through the movie right when you are wondering who it could possible be… and then this whole silly sequence at the end where way too many loose ends are tied up in about 30 seconds. Still, if you like thrillers, this is a solid worth checking out.
Val Kilmer is an FBI agent sent into an Indian reservation to solve a murder mystery. Every cliche about Native Americans manages to make its way into this movie, and how! The plot is also unnecessarily difficult to follow at some points, but that might be because this was on TV and some scenes may have been cut. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching it but only because it was free and on TV. Watchable.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Drama, mystery, tom cruise, Worth watching
Open Your Eyes (1997 film) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vanilla Sky – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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