Category Archives: 2007

2007, Car Chase, Conspiracy, Frenetic, Kidnapping, Mayhem, Suspense, Violent

Vantage Point (2007)

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From NetFlix:

Moments after he arrives in Spain for a landmark antiterrorism summit, U.S. President Ashton is shot. The 15 minutes leading up to the shooting are rehashed — Rashomon-style — from the perspective of various onlookers: two Secret Service agents (Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox), a TV reporter (Sigourney Weaver) and a tourist (Forest Whitaker). This nail-biting political thriller marks the feature directorial debut of Pete Travis.

Essentially a car chase film, this film examines an attempted assassination on the president of the U.S. from the viewpoints of Secret Service agents, news reporter, bystanders, and the assassins themselves. For each viewpoint the story starts over and you get to watch in that participant’s own eyes. Finally there is a long car chase ending in the usual collisions.

Don’t you wonder how they film those chases without anyone actually being hurt ? Here is an article that explains how it is done.

Nail-biters of the world, this film is for you!

2007, Acceptable for children, Comedy, Feel Good For All, German, Unusual

Vitus (2007)

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From NetFlix:

Pushed to succeed and live up to his parents’ ambitions at an early age, young Vitus (played by Fabrizio Borsani and Teo Gheorghiu) is a virtual genius and a prodigy at the piano. But as Vitus grows older, he decides on a different path: one that leads to an ordinary childhood. Julika Jenkins and Urs Jucker co-star in writer-director Fredi M. Murer’s heartfelt tale, which won the Swiss Film Prize for Best Film of 2007.

Grab this film soon because true feel-good (non-animated) films for adults and children are an endangered species. However, in order that this film be a feel-good for you, you must suspend disbelief during the entire story. That is because the boy Vitus is too good to be true. But that is the charm of this unusual film. Just watch as the young genius performs miracle after miracle. No, the plot is NOT cloying and is instead full of surprisingly original and fun ideas.

Robert Schumann’s piano concerto in A minor is the musical theme of the film and is the concerto that Vitus plays at the end of the film.

English subtitles are available for this Swiss film in which the actors speak Swiss German,
Hoch Deutsch, and English.

Of all the actors I recognized only one: the Swiss actor Bruno Ganz plays the free-spirited grandfather. If you haven’t seen him in the wonderful Italian comedy “Bread and Tulips” from 2000, don’t miss it!

In my humble opinion, “Vitus” is DON’T MISS !!!

2007, Car Chase, Crime, Disturbing Image, Drugs, Gangs, Mediocre, Mixed Martial Arts, Motorcycles, Prison, Revenge, Suspense, Violent

Bobby Z (2007)

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From NetFlix:

DEA agent Tad Gruzsa (Laurence Fishburne) offers jailed ex-Marine Tim Kearney (Paul Walker) a way out of his prison sentence: impersonate legendary surfer-dealer Bobby Z in a hostage switch with a Mexican drug lord. Kearney takes the bait, but the plan quickly goes awry. Soon, Kearney finds himself on the run — with Bobby’s 6-year-old son in tow. This fast-paced action thriller also stars Olivia Wilde and mixed martial arts champ Chuck Liddell.

One bag of popcorn is pretty much like every other bag of popcorn. Similarly, “Bobby Z” is chuck full of Mexican drug traffickers (Joaquim de Almeida, age 54 from Portugal, seems to be type-cast as the quintessential Mexican bad guy), nasty motorcycle gangs, crooked federal agents (Laurence Fishburne of current CSI television fame), mixed martial arts, beautiful women, and last but not least a young, handsome, male hero. Now, isn’t that a lot better than a bag of popcorn?

Paul Walker, our hero, IS the film. Former heroes of movies in the past were strong he-men completely sure of themselves. Lately the hero is a bit less confident. Walker (now a 38 year old Californian) doesn’t take himself too seriously, is willing to show a softer side, and has a sense of humor that makes the film a fun bag of popcorn. Does he really do all those action scenes, including fighting and mixed martial arts, on his own? In the films of today the fighting action is better and more realistic, which is to say that it fools me.

According to a Wikipedia entry: In an interview to the Portuguese channel SIC, Paul Walker called it a “bad movie”. Why not take a different point of view: You know in advance it is a B-film, so just sit back and watch the forgettable fun.

2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, British, Complicated, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Cynical, DO NOT MISS, Flirting, Love Story, Made For TV, Political Suspense, Suspense, Terrorist Attack, Torture, TV Series, Wonderful acting

MI-5

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From NetFlix:

This award-winning series dramatizes the professional exploits and personal lives of the “spooks” of MI-5, the British equivalent of the FBI. No-nonsense head officer Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) guides a band of dedicated spies who risk their lives every day. The team includes expert and junior members who must balance real life with the job’s requirement for complete secrecy, no matter the cost. Matthew Macfadyen and Richard Armitage co-star.

Beginning in 2002 and continuing at least to 2010, this British TV-series is “utterly smashing”. Intense, sometimes hard to watch, but incredibly exciting in just about every episode. What makes some episodes difficult to watch is that the members of MI-5 are forced at times to make hard decisions that involve “collateral damage” (meaning some poor soul dies), so much so that those members are often damaged themselves and actually leave MI-5 (i.e. leave the show). In fact, be prepared for many, sometimes disappointing cast changes. For example Rupert William Penry-Jones (the character Adam Carter) started the show and then disappeared for awhile to be replaced by Matthew Macfadyen (the character Tom Quinn) who then leaves the show and is replaced by Rupert William Penry-Jones.

There are too many wonderful characters to even mention them. You can find them all listed in IMDB.

In addition to spook plots, there are also many romances. But any romance for a member of MI-5 is next to impossible because even their significant others cannot know what these spooks do for a living.

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.

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.

2007, Complicated, Detective, Mediocre, Occasional gore, Revenge, Serial Killer, Suspense, Violent

88 Minutes (2007)

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From NetFlix:

Jack Gramm (Al Pacino) — a college professor and occasional forensic psychologist for the FBI — finds himself in a race against time when he receives a mysterious phone call telling him he has exactly 88 minutes left to live. Can he track down his would-be killer before the clock runs out? Amy Brenneman, Leelee Sobieski, Deborah Unger and William Forsythe co-star in this real-time thriller from director Jon Avnet.

As usual Al Pacino plays Al Pacino in this somewhat mediocre serial-killer drama. There are probably too many complicated details. A better plot would have made Al Pacino look guilty and would have made it more difficult for him to convince others of his innocence. He was too all-knowing and always knew what to look for next. I have seen much better “Law and Order” episodes.

2007, Complicated, Drama, Imperfect, Love Story, Mediocre, Suspense

Premonition (2007)

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From NetFlix:

Housewife Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) is devastated when her husband (Julian McMahon) dies suddenly in a car crash. But when he reappears the next day as if nothing had ever happened, she realizes the tragedy might have just been a premonition. The question now is, can Linda prevent the horrible event from happening again, or is she powerless to redirect fate? Amber Valletta and Nia Long also star.

Most Sandra Bullock films have been date films. They are light hearted films that make Kathy and me laugh and have a good time. In The Blind Side (2009) she gets a little more serious. As far as I can recall “Premonition” is one of her few serious films. Although Rotten Tomatoes
gives a really low rating, the story itself kept me interested.

For me Julian McMahon will always be the womanizing plastic surgeon from “Nip/Tuck” (whose first few years were outrageous fun to watch).

Probably the story kept me challenged because it was a bit difficult to understand the time sequencing. Call me a romantic but I just wanted to see love triumph.

Sadly, the writers saw fit to have this poor depressed housewife visit a Catholic priest to hear a lot of maudlin nonsense. This part was high on the “Yuck”-o-meter.

If you think about it, who caused the husband’s death ?

All is all, a B-movie that is not horrible.

2007, Crime, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Mystery Film, Nudity, Plot Twist, Suspense

Perfect Stranger (2007)

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From NetFlix:

This thriller directed by James Foley stars Halle Berry as Ro, a woman who risks her life to discover the identity of a stranger lurking on the Internet who might hold the answers to her friend’s murder. As Ro digs deeper, she discovers a murky world of online deception peopled by the likes of Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis), a mysterious figure who could either be a friend or a foe. Giovanni Ribisi, Leigh Spofford and Jason Antoon also star

If you look up Giovanni Ribisi in IMDB you will find he has appeared in at least 80 productions. For me he stands out in this film as the most interesting character. He often plays a dark role.

Bruce Willis, I am happy to say, in this case succeeds by playing Bruce Willis. His collisions with Halle Berry are clever and tense.

Tell me if you guessed the surprise ending. Also pay attention to the last few seconds of the film and tell me what is going on (hint: “look through the window”).

2007, Crime, Detective, Mediocre, Plot Twist, Suspense, Violent

Cleaner (2007)

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From NetFlix:

After years as a detective, Tom Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) runs a business specializing in cleaning up crime scenes. But when he realizes his latest gig at a ritzy suburban house might have been a cover-up for a homicide, he must clean up the injustice. Our hygienic hero gets far more than he bargained for in director Renny Harlin’s twisty crime thriller, co-starring Ed Harris as Carver’s old partner and Eva Mendes as a grieving wife.

There’s nothing wrong with this fairly mediocre police who-done-it. It would have made a nice one-hour TV show. Samuel Jackson and Ed Harris make a good pair. Keke Palmer as Jackson’s daughter does a fine job. Amazing how often Luis Guzmán shows up in films (and I always assume he is the bad guy). See how long it takes before you predict the plot twist.