Category Archives: Suspense

2010, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cynical, Dark, Drugs, Grim, Occasional gore, Redemption, Suspense, Violent

Repo Men (2010)

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From NetFlix:

In the world of this sci-fi thriller set in the not-too-distant future, artificial organs are readily available to anybody with a credit card. But what happens if a buyer falls delinquent on his payments? Jude Law stars as an organ repo man who’s now fleeing his ex-partner after failing to keep up the payments on his own recently installed ticker. Miguel Sapochnik directs; Forest Whitaker and Liev Schreiber co-star.

Do NOT watch this film with your family in front of a cozy fire near the Christmas tree because “Repo Men” is easily one of the more gory and disturbing films I have ever seen. It is based on the novel Repossession Mambo by Eric Garcia. Having warned you, I now encourage those of you with strong stomachs to see this film. Jude Law, newly beefed up, and his partner Forest Whitaker portray chillingly a pair of opportunist thugs whose job is indeed to retrieve transplanted body organs from clients who have fallen behind on their outrageously expensive loans at more than 19% interest. You must be able to watch Jude Law use a stun gun to paralyze a “deadbeat” and then rip the client’s body open and reach in and pull out a heart, liver, kidney, or whatever. Perhaps you might prefer a Disney movie.

As with so many post-apocalyptic stories, there are abandoned, gritty sections of the city where the castoffs live. It seems most castoffs are hunted for their bodies filled with transplanted organs. For a similar situation see the film “Blade Runner”. Also note the theme of organ transplants in films such as “Dirty Pretty Things” and “Never Let Me Go”.

Before you click away from this description, I have to say that in a certain way this is a story of redemption. There is a point here. Whereas Liev Schreiber does a superb job as an amoral salesman for body parts, and whereas Forest Whitaker seems unconcerned about the ugliness of it all (after all, “a job is just a job”), Jude Law starts to regret and eventually realizes the horror of what he does for a living.

Because the ending confused me, I found it helpful to read the Wikipedia article. Perhaps reading the original book might help.

You have been warned!

2007, Book Review, Conspiracy, Detective, FilmReview, Suspense, Violent

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (2007)

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Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Triology was published after his untimely death at the age of 50 from a heart attack. Wikipedia has a discussion of his death and whether it was related to the fact that he lived under death threats for his work against right-wing extremism. His biography in Wikipedia shows him to be a man of action.

“The Girl Who Kicked” is number three in the trilogy and seems to me to be the least interesting of the three. It is largely procedural. It ties up some but not all of the details from the second book “The Girl Who Played With Fire”, thus leaving room for more installments which Larsson had planned and partially written. I read number three in a paperback purchased in England.

So far the Swedish filming of the first two books was well worth watching. Needless to say, if Sweden films the third novel, yours truly will be eager to watch it.

2009, Conspiracy, Sci-Fi, Suspense, Violent

V (2009)

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From NetFlix:

Who are they, and what are they up to? These are the questions Earth inhabitants pose in their first encounter with an alien race called the Visitors in this ABC sci-fi drama based on the 1980s miniseries V. When Homeland Security agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) begins to find the answers, she joins a resistance movement to thwart the Visitors — even as they recruit her teenage son as their spy.

In 1983 I was enthralled with the original “V” series. It took many episodes before we got to see their female leader open her mouth to reveal a serpent’s tongue and fangs and to swallow whole a mouse. This latest version from 2009 is just as tense and has been greatly updated to the current sad state of our planet (which sad state has been created by the visitors). Much to my surprise we get to see the reptile skin under the human cloned covering in the first episode. And it doesn’t matter because the fun is just beginning.

Here is a film in which we can really appreciate the marvelous digital effects. The interior of the mother ship is not to be believed.

As of this writing (Nov 2010) only season 1 is available on DVD.

These damned reptiles even have sex with humans! Are you sure your partner isn’t one of the visitors ?

2009, Car Chase, Conspiracy, Dark, Detective, Explicit sex, Gay theme, Grim, Nudity, Rape, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Violent

The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009)

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From NetFlix:

Tech expert Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) becomes the prime suspect when two journalists, including Dag Svensson (Hans Christian Thulin), die after Millennium magazine publisher Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) launches an exposé of the Swedish sex trade. In Part 2 of the trilogy based on the action novels of Stieg Larsson, the vampiric Salander vanishes as Blomkvist digs deep into a possible conspiracy.

Here we discuss the Swedish version.

You should first (read and) see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009) which is the first book of the Millenium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. Actors from the first film continue into the second film which follows faithfully the book such that its ending will flow into the third book.

Fortunately the DVD from Netflix allowed me to have both English dubbing as well as SDH subtitles for the hard-of-hearing. The dubbing does not match exactly the subtitles, but that does not matter. Moreover, the dubbing is spoken with very clear diction. If your hearing ever suffers you may discover that American actors often mumble because diction lessons are not part of the American acting tradition.

This time around I appreciated the actor Michael Nyqvist better and found that he fit the part. He is somewhat inert, but perhaps that is the intent. In general it is revealing to first read the novel and then compare your mental pictures of the characters with the actors chosen.

There is an explicit Lesbian sex scene. There is a rape scene.

2009, Acceptable Trash, Fantasy, Funny at times, Sci-Fi, Suspense, TV Series

Warehouse 13 (2009)

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From NetFlix:

After saving the president’s life, Secret Service agents Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) receive orders to report to a top-secret location. They soon discover that their new jobs entail guarding mystical items contained in Warehouse 13. They also must monitor unusual events all over the country and track down additional mysterious articles for government safekeeping in this supernatural action series.

This B-grade escapee from the SyFy channel is just mindless fun. Pete and Myka spend their time flirting and searching for dangerous artifacts. Some episodes are better than others, but for the most part I get hooked once the plot gets moving.

As of this writing, only season 1 is available on DVD.

OK for kids.

Call it acceptable escape or whatever, just tune out and enjoy.

I LOVE TRASH!

2008, Acceptable Trash, Explicit sex, Gay theme, Love Story, Made For TV, Nudity, Occasional gore, Psychic Phenomena, Serial Killer, Suspense, Vampire, Violent

True Blood (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Mind-reading waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin, in a Golden Globe-winning role) dives into a complicated relationship when she falls for vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) in a world where the undead live openly and drink synthetic blood. Trying to improve their image and legitimize their finances, the out-of-the-coffin bloodsuckers hire PR firms and contribute to influential Republican politicians, among other tactics.

Get ready for two seasons of sex, violence, vampires in a well-made TV series of pure unadulterated fun and trash. From episode to episode the writers just get it right. A very young cast does a superb acting job. After watching for awhile I find myself thinking in a southern drawl. This is not gorn (gory porn). For a series on vampires, the writing is thoughtful and metaphorical. By metaphorical I mean that the premise of the series is that the United States is now in an epoch in which vampires are asserting their constitutional rights as is also the gay population. People now get addicted to the new drug of choice: vampire blood (known as “V”). Eventually characters get unwittingly involved with far-right groups out to attack vampires (and gays). Other oddities appear such as shape shifters. The sex is quite explicit and plentiful.

I LOVE TRASH !

2007, British Mystery Series, Gay theme, Gritty, Suspense, Torture, Violent

George Gently (2007)

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From NetFlix:

After the hit-and-run murder of his wife, London police officer George (Martin Shaw) moves to England’s North Country to find the killer. Feared by criminals and corrupt cops, George works closely with his partner, John (Lee Ingleby), to stop lawbreakers of all types. Set in 1960s Britain, this drama is based on Alan Hunter’s novels and features guest stars such as Richard Armitage, Phillip Davis and John Kavanagh.

After watching , Waking The Dead (2000) we yearned for a British detective series that offered attractive and memorable personalities. Red Riding Trilogy (2009) was grim in the extreme. The “George Gently” stories (series 1 offers 3 CDs, series 2 offers 4 CDs) are a good compromise. Martin Shaw’s character is mature, thoughtful, and great at sarcasm. His foil Lee Ingleby is perfect as a brash and impetuous young policeman who is usually nonplussed at George’s retorts. Be aware, however, that there are some ugly spots. For example, the very first CD does have instances (NOT explicit) of torture.

2009, Child Molestation, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark, Detective, Explicit sex, Nudity, Occasional gore, Rape, Revenge, Sadism, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Swedish, Violent

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009)

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From NetFlix:

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) team up to investigate the unsolved disappearance of wealthy Henrik Vanger’s (Sven-Bertil Taube) teen niece (Ewa Fröling), only to uncover dark secrets about Vanger’s powerful family. Niels Arden Oplev directs this Swedish thriller based on the first novel from Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy.

Note: This 2009 version is the Swedish version.

Currently (2010) Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy is very popular. After having read the first of the trilogy, namely The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2005), I preferred the book to the film. Although there were many moments of good acting, in general there was also an awful lot of thoughtful staring (which in today’s films seems often like a substitute for more active acting). To control length the film omits many details from the novel. While not necessary, these details connect the books of the trilogy to one another.

Lisbeth Salander is striking. What was a surprise for me that the actor playing Mikael Blomkvist is a somewhat paunchy, not at all handsome, and often hesitant man. To his credit he shows fear when he should. To say it another way, he is NOT a macho character.

Needless to say, the film does preserve in explicit detail the famous scene in which Lisbeth’s lawyer guardian rapes her, together with her ingenious revenge.

2008, Conspiracy, Drama, Mystery Film, Plot Twist, Sex Scenes, Suspense

Passengers (2008)

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From NetFlix:

When therapist Claire Summers (Anne Hathaway) starts working with the surviving passengers of a plane crash, she discovers that their individual accounts of the tragedy differ significantly from the airline’s official version. As Claire digs deeper for the truth, beyond the airline’s sanitized statements, the survivors suddenly begin to vanish, leaving her swimming in a dark abyss of intrigue and conspiracy.

Give this somewhat mediocre mystery suspense film a “B”. Patrick Wilson (best seen in Little Children (2006)) has fun flirting with Anne Hathaway while she expends a fair amount of energy resisting.

Basically the entire film drives to an ending that had a big enough surprise to catch me unawares (although I had some suspicions).

2008, Bullying, Crime, Drama, Revenge, Suspense, Violent

Lakeview Terrace (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Director Neil LaBute’s taut thriller follows the Mattsons — Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa (Kerry Washington) — as they settle into their Los Angeles dream house, only to be hassled by their off-kilter neighbor, police officer Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson). It seems Turner disapproves of the couple’s interracial marriage and is determined to drive them away, but as the harassment turns violent, the newlyweds are forced fight back.

Talk about a difficult neighbor! Because the sequence of events is so realistic and possible, the constant sense of “what bad thing is about to happen” is especially palpable. While hoping that the next door policeman will see the error of his ways, I was glued to my seat. Have fun!