Don't Kill It (2016) Dir. Mike Mendez The small town of Chickory Creek is disturbed by a trio of triple homicides in which a home invader first killed one or several members of a family before being killed by one of his victims, after which the surviving victim becomes the murderer at the next crime scene. An FBI agent is sent to the town to investigate, a woman who happens to have a rather unhappy past in the small community. Around the same time, the Sheriff gets a visit from an outsider who claims to be a demon hunter and who informs them both that the murders are the work of a demon which jumps from person to person upon the moment of its host being killed. It then transfers to the body of its killer. Surprisingly enjoyable low budget horror film (with a few moments of dark comedy thrown in there). Dolph Lundgren is effective in the lead role just by looking tough and weathered and Kristina Klebe makes an effective foil. The best sequences of the film are the cleverly edited murder sprees in which we follow the demon as it jumps from host to host. At just over 80 minutes of run time, this is over before any of it can get old.
Broken Flowers (2005) Soon after his girlfriend leaves him, Don Johnston gets an anonymous letter saying one of his previous loves (of which he has had many) gave birth to his son 19 years ago. Prompted by his neighbor (who can't resist a mystery) Don begins visiting each former partner in turn. A journey is its own reward, as the saying goes. Jarmusch seems to agree, as so many of his movies are about journeys. But it doesn't seem to fit this one. Don takes a trip he doesn't want to take to see people he doesn't want to see, and he gets pretty much nothing out of it. Each of the women he visits represents a different path his life could have taken, but it doesn't really inform him about himself. That's the weird thing about regret. Even if you can see where the roads not taken lead to and are happy you didn't end up there, it doesn't alleviate the emptiness you get thinking about your own situation. But Don's loss is the viewer's gain. The is a relaxed, subtle movie and far more captivating than the subject matter would suggest. And Bill Murray is amazing.
The Fate of the Furious (2017) The eighth installment of the Fast franchise. Based on the previews I wasn't expecting much, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. While honeymooning in Cuba Dom gets forced to work for Cipher. This means Dom has to turn his back on his "family". So his team and Hobbs, plus Deckard Shaw have to join forces to stop Dom and Cipher. Great mindless action film with some good spots of humor added into the mix. Definitely worth checking out.
Curse of the Undead (1959) Dir. Edward Dein A conflict for land between a wealthy rancher and his neighbor, the town doctor, seemingly escalates into violence. The local preacher, who is also the fiancée to said town doctor's daughter, is left with the unfortunate task of picking up the pieces. He starts to suspect that a gunslinger who showed up around town is both connected to the misfortune that has afflicted the doctor's family as well as a string of young women in the area who have fallen ill, sometimes fatally so, with the only outward sign of their illness being two small wounds on their necks. I really enjoyed this little B-western. As an early example of the western-horror sub-genre (a genre I greatly enjoy and which has more recent instances in movies like "Ravenous", "The Burrowers" and "Bone Tomahawk") it's a mystery to even myself how I hadn't seen this before. The ensemble cast is very good by B-movie standards, especially Michael Pate as the vampire. The audience knows something is off about his character from his first appearance on-screen, but most of what he does is very subtle.
Brimstone (2016) Dir. Martin Koolhoven After meeting the town's new preacher during a church service, the young mute wife to a sheep farmer is immediately terrified of the man. It is revealed, through several flashbacks, that the preacher and the young woman share a tragic and dark past. Where to begin? There are a lot of issues with this Dutch western, but most of them are the direct result of its main problem: It is a very serious feature, ridiculously so and the gravity with which everything is presented is inversely proportional to the quality of the material. Which in turn causes many of the scenes that were obviously meant to be interpreted seriously to be cringe-worthy or unintentionally hilarious. Two blatant examples of this are the scene in the barn in the first act of the movie and then the scene with the tongue. There were a few things I did like. Dakota Fanning did about as well as could be expected with the material at her disposal. Emilia Jones is something of a revelation and I am curious to see how she would fare in a better movie. She might also be the non-Dutch speaking actor who has done the most convincing bit of Dutch dialogue I have ever seen. So much so that I briefly thought she must have a Dutch-speaking parent (apparently she doesn't). And it was a very pleasant surprise to see Sam Louwyck in this, even if it was for just one scene.
Split (2016) Dir. M. Night Shyamalan Three girls are kidnapped after one of their father's is knocked out by a drug and his assailant steals his car with them still in it. They wake up in a closed room and find themselves visited by their captor, whose behavior increasingly scares and confuses them, as he seems to display a different personality and persona upon each visit. The different personalities all agree on one sinister detail: a supposed Beast is coming to get them all. This wasn't terrible, but it had enough issues to keep it from even approaching greatness. James McAvoy's performance got most of the attention. He is at times very impressive in jumping from character to character, but I find it a bit showy in its supposed virtuosity. Tatiana Maslany has been doing something similar on "Orphan Black" for several seasons now, only she uses a far more subtle style that is quietly significantly more impressive. The story itself is a bit silly and the climax is underwhelming. The cameo that tied this in with another film within M. Night Shyamalan's oeuvre was surprising and seems to hint at a possible sequel that properly connects the two films. Besides James McAvoy, I thought that Anya Taylor-Joy quietly gave a very good performance herself. A mixture of vulnerability, defiance and calculation where she sometimes switched between the three within the space of a single scene.
Maigret's Night at the Crossroads (2017) Dir. Sarah Harding A jeweler who travels from Antwerp to a small town to the North-West of Paris to sell some illegally obtained diamonds ends up murdered. The very next day, he is found on the property of a Danish immigrant who lives near the crime scene with his sister. There is much to incriminate the man beyond the body being in his garage, as he also has the murder weapon on him and attempted to flee after the body's discovery. In spite of the fact that it seems to be an open and shut case to Maigret's colleague, the Chief Inspector feels like something about the case is off. The third of the Maigret made-for-TV adaptations with Rowan Atkinson in the titular role. I think I enjoyed this one best out of the three they made so far. It's the most robust plot of the three adaptations and by this point, Rowan Atkinson has made the character his.
Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017) Dir. Sam Liu The Teen Titans attempt to take down an operation led by Brother Blood. As their investigation progresses, there are indications that an inside source is feeding their enemy information. Some of the suspicion falls upon their most recent member, whose behavior can be erratic and who seems to have a troubled past that none of the other team members seem to know a lot about. Another fun entry in the DC/WB animated universe. The last bunch of these have been good to great. This is more or less a direct follow-up to "Justice League vs. Teen Titans". It's a good blend of charm (the flirtatious banter between Nightwing and Starfire) and action, like the best of these animated originals. There are hints of a third film to complete the trilogy in the post-credits sequence.
The November Man (2014) A thinly veiled Putin clone is killing all his old underworld friends just as he is about to take control in Russia. The secret to why is being hunted by the the evil CIA and the evil FSB, and is being protected by ace evil former agent November Man. Sorry - Peter Devereaux. This movie is aggressively mediocre, which is a shame because it has a great location, high production values, and a Pierce Bronsan at his most epic. It repeatedly misses moments to be clever to instead be base. The dialogue is crude and aimed at a low grade level. And the source novel is too old, concerned with history instead of issues of the day.
Jurassic World 2 filming just started down the road from me. Signs put up everywhere, all Street lights disabled for 10 days. Much excitement from locals
The Institute (2017) Dir. James Franco & Pamela Romanowsky In late 19th century Baltimore, a young woman is struggling with anxiety and bad dreams after her parents suddenly die. At the suggestion of the family physician but against her brother's misgivings about the idea, she checks herself into a Rosewood institute, a place which specializes in helping young women with mental disorders. Her initial good impression of the place and its head doctor, Dr. Cairn, soon deteriorates as his methods go from unorthodox to strange to depraved as her stay within the institute progresses. I think the core idea upon which this film is based, setting a horror movie in a Victorian mental institution for young women, is a fine one. But the execution in this film is greatly lacking. The writing is at times laughably bad and some of the acting isn't much better. The production values are just cheap-looking enough to further add to the subpar experience.
The Man Who Never Was (1956) In 1943 the British and Americans controlled almost all of North Africa. Any invasion from there to Southern Europe would have to go through Sicily first, and the Germans knew it. But one British general had a plan - plant false documents describing an invasion through Greece on a dead body that would wash ashore in Spain. Hitler was convinced. But one German Intelligence officer isn't so sure. A dramatization and slight smoothing over of the very real Operation Mincemeat, an idea that very likely came from the mind of one Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming. The first half of the movie is a carefully plotted caper movie, the second a slow boiling spy thriller. Add in two stupendous monologues from an unlikely minor character and you get one of the best WWII spy movies I've seen. You do have to forgive the extreme Englishness and overexuberent music of the era. Seeing some Mosquitos certainly helps. What an airplane.
Dawn of the Dead (1978) Dir. George A. Romero With the epidemic of flesh-eating zombies spreading ever further, a traffic reporter, his producer girlfriend and two S.W.A.T. team members steal a helicopter to flee the city until they arrive at a seemingly abandoned shopping mall that they make their new, de facto home. For a while they live there in relative safety, until a biker gang descends on that location. Somehow it seemed like an apt time to revisit this horror classic. Especially in combination with coverage of the French elections. One is about hordes of mindless zombies trying to destroy the world, the other is the excellent American-Italian horror film made by George A. Romero. Paradoxically, this film now feels both dated and surprisingly fresh. It feels dated in its special effects make-up (we now live in a world where a TV show can manage super-realistic zombie make-up) and its acting style. But its tone is very much the tone that is still used in most zombie fiction nowadays. This movie, possibly even more than Romero's 1968 original, defined the zombie horror tropes that survive to this day.
The Lost City of Z - dir. James Gray A British officer, Percy Fawcett, is ordered into the Amazon in 1906 to map the border region between Bolivia and Brazil, leaving behind his pregnant wife and small son. What began as a thankless mission to improve his social standing among the British upper class becomes an obsession for Fawcett, as he finds evidence of what he believes is a lost civilization. Fawcett's quest to find "Z," as he calls the lost city, dominates the rest of his life and puts a strain on his family and his own wellbeing. I thought this was fantastic. A very old-fashioned kind of sweeping adventure movie. The Amazon in the early 20th-century is a topic I've studied a lot, and this film's depictions are quite accurate. For a film that focuses on a white man's journey into a proverbial "Heart of Darkness," I don't think Amazonian people are "othered" terribly here. The performances are all great, even Charlie Hunnam, who has apparently learned how to act in a dramatic role, finally. Robert Pattinson (he of Twilight fame) can actually act, turns out, and has all the best lines in this. Sienna Miller as the long-suffering wife is fantastic in a role that too often is just a cliche.
Imperium -2016 Daniel Radcliffe plays this role well. A young agent looks to prove himself while taking on a task well outside of his comfort zone. I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was given the massive typecast he is trying to overcome.
In Colossal Anne Hathaway's boyfriend kicks her out of his apartment because she's drunk to often. She goes back to her home town (Vancouver suburbs standing in for a very non-specific New Hampshire town) to regroup and figures out that a giant monster attacking Seoul is under her control. For the first hour it looks like it might be a sobriety story, but it's not…it's really not. Very clever and fun.
Just about to finish the book. I hope to see it because I'm curious as to how they adapted it (i.e., did they do ot pretty much the only way I can imagine it being done, or did they (I hope) come up with something better.
Secret in Their Eyes (2015) Shortly after the Sept 11 attacks, members of the Los Angeles anti-terrorism task force are shocked when someone close to them is murdered. Interleaved with the story of their reaction is another story set in the current day of the same people - former police investigator Ray, DA investigator Jessica, and assistant DA Claire - who have come together to finally close the case. A very monochome movie in terms of tone - it's never not tense and restrained, whether in a quiet scene or an action one. Critics don't think this film compares well to the Argentinian Academy-Award-winning original, but having only seen this version I was impressed. At first the terrorism angle just seemed like a way to configure the plot in a way that wouldn't have worked without its allowances, but by the end it takes on a much weightier meaning. The murder becomes a model version of the war on terror, questioning the all-encompassing attention we pay to it and suggesting ways we hurt ourselves in fighting it.
The Argentine movie is one of my favorites so I was skeptical of the re-make. What you say makes me want to check it out. The original film also has ways that the murder/investigation is a commentary on the historical context; but in that case it's the Argentine dictatorship/Dirty War era.
I read the book a couple of years ago, too, and quite liked it - recommended it to several people - but unlike some books which I really want to stay in my imagination, I will happily watch this one.
As I said in the book thread, this movie has to have been a blast for the make-up and SFX crew, what with all the diseases and the parasites that attack the team and the animals Magic in the Moonlight. A decent late Woody Allen movie. Most interesting to me is that Emma Stone plays a "psychic" who can sense vibrations as she tells people about their past. I wonder if she sensed vibrations about working with an actor whose character she falls in love with, but then she marries someone else... Esp. Since said actor in the respective movies seranades her while playing an instrument he learned for this movie. There was also a key scene that took place in an empty planetarium.
Cafe Society (2016) D. Woody Allen, a pretty decent movie with Jesse Eisenberg playing the character Woody Allen would've played in the 80s, and a special shout out to Bruce Willis, who apparently got himself fired from the movie. He was replaced by Steve Carrell, who was quite good at this.
Sunshine (2007) The Sun is dimming. The last attempt by humanity to save itself, the Icarus II, will send a bomb the size of Manhattan into the Sun's core. The massive spaceship is run by a super intelligent computer. For some reason they also sent along nine people. The premise is completely stupid. A bomb that size compared to the Sun is like (let me do the math) a bomb the size of a single water molecule compared to the Earth. And they don't realize the tremendous difficulty of sending anything towards the Sun. And the completely unnecessary human crew. But I knew all that before watching the movie. I wanted to see something stupid. But this movie doesn't know it's supposed to be stupid. It tries really hard to say something profound about... sun worship?... while playing out the standard slowly dwindling crew pattern. Outside a few nice visual images this is an utterly disappointing movie.
NEBRASKA (2013) D. Alexander Payne. Good movie. Had Woody Allen grown up in Dannebrog or Grand Island, this is the kind of movie he would've made. Would like to have seen it on the big screen. Thanks to the locations and the black and white film, it had the feel of a more meditative Route 66 episode (a series Bruce Dern made his debut appearance in, by the way. And he played the Mayor of my current town in 1982's That Championship Season wherein he was as convincing a Scrantonian as he is a Nebraskanin this movie)
36 Hours (1964) Dir. George Seaton Less than a week before D-Day, a U.S. Army intelligence Major who has detailed knowledge of Operation Overlord is drugged and kidnapped whilst on a routine assignment in Lisbon, Portugal. He awakens in a U.S. Army hospital in Germany, apparently having lost six years of memories due to anterograde amnesia. In reality, he is in being held within a German staged environment designed at making him reveal details of the allied invasion of Europe without realizing the implications of what he is doing. I had heard of this movie before but never got around to actually seeing it until now. I really enjoyed this. Perhaps the third act is not as great as what comes before, but the first 75 or so minutes are a brilliant little war thriller and a clash of minds between James Garner and Rod Taylor's characters. I very much enjoyed the little plot details, mentions a crucial plot detail (Move your mouse to reveal the content) mentions a crucial plot detail (open) mentions a crucial plot detail (close) e.g. the paper cut . Garner, Marie Saint and Taylor are all terrific, as is Werner Peters as the slimy, opportunistic SS officer. Some elements of the plot are based upon the Roald Dahl short story "Beware of the dog".