Category Archives: 2009

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

Warehouse 13 (2009)

Leave a comment

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!

2009, Could Be Hard To Watch, Drama, Gangs, Grim, Latino Culture, Rape, Revenge, Spanish, Violent

Sin Nombre (2009)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Fleeing retaliation from the violent Central American street gang he has deserted, young hood Casper (Édgar Flores) boards a northbound train, where he takes refuge on top of the moving freight cars and hopes for a fresh start in a new country. Dodging authorities and other dangers, he finds a new friend in Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), a Honduran girl also making a run for the American border. Cary Fukunaga directs this foreign-language thriller.

In Spanish with subtitles, this grim tale of the desperate desire to escape a hopeless life in the poor, gang-ruled parts of Mexico makes for some difficult watching. You can read about the plot in the
Wikipedia article. I had hoped that article would confirm that the film is an accurate portrayal of life in parts of Mexico. Unfortunately the only quote of note from this article was the following:

The film was shot in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico. Several of the extras used in the film were actual migrants. Fukunaga said of working with them, “I didn’t have to tell them anything – they know how to sit on top of a train.”

Someone once defined “morality” for me as “that which you must do to receive the approbation of those around you”. Keep this in mind while you watch the behavior of the gang members.

2009, British Mystery Series, Child Molestation, Conspiracy, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cynical, Dark, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Grim, Gritty, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Torture, TV Series, Violent

Red Riding Trilogy (2009)

1 Comment

Those of you with weak hearts or stomachs should not watch this three part British crime series. The three parts are:

  • Part 1: 1974

    • Loosely based on the facts surrounding Britain’s notorious Yorkshire Ripper case, this grim thriller, Part 1 in the television adaptation of David Peace’s novels, uncovers rampant police and civil corruption in mid-1970s Northern England. Girls are disappearing, the Yorkshire community is abuzz with gossip and fear, and a young reporter (Andrew Garfield) is suspicious when a mentally handicapped immigrant is fingered for the heinous crimes

  • Part 2: 1980

    • After six years of vicious unsolved murders, Manchester policeman Peter Hunter (Paddy Considine) arrives in West Yorkshire to supervise the Yorkshire Ripper investigation, along with a copycat killer case, in this second installment of the Red Riding trilogy. Meanwhile, he must also deal with local police corruption and his struggle to remain faithful to his wife while working closely with his ex, fellow investigator Helen Marshall (Maxine Peake).

  • Part 3: 1983

    • When the current case of a missing 10-year-old becomes linked to the abduction and murder of Clare Kemplay in 1974, investigators torture the man who found Clare’s body in an effort to learn more in this final installment of the Red Riding trilogy. Meanwhile, solicitor John Piggott’s (Mark Addy) conversations with the man found guilty of the old abduction points to a wrongful conviction and a search for the real murderer.

Each part is self-contained. Cynical in the extreme, these hopeless portraits deal with insurmountable official corruption at every level: police, journalists, politicians, businessmen, etc. At times the violence is difficult to watch.

Two items of interest: One reader has supplied an interesting bit of Yorkshire history that may explain the title. Also, because the plots are somewhat complicated, there is a Wikipedia article.

So why would you ever watch such a difficult theme ? Because these three gems are just about perfect in every way, provided you can stand to watch.

2009, Could Be Hard To Watch, Occasional gore, Psychological Drama, War

Triage (2009)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Colin Farrell stars in this psychological drama about a photojournalist who returns home from a harrowing news assignment without the colleague who’d accompanied him. Now, his girlfriend (Paz Vega) will not rest until she finds out what took place. Bosnian helmer Danis Tanovic, whose No Man’s Land won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film, directed this taut, dark drama shot on location in Ireland

Colin Farrell does an acceptable job portraying a grief-striken man in a state of denial. The war scenes in Kurdistan are grim. The title is perfect and refers in part to the beginning of the film in which a Kurdish battlefield doctor with almost no equipment routinely shoots all wounded men in horrible pain for whom he can do nothing. You must wait until the end of the film to learn why Colin Farrell is in such psychological pain.

Important topic but a somewhat mediocre film.

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)

Leave a comment

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.

2009, Drama, Gangs, Gay theme, Latino Culture, Love Story, Redemption, Sex Scenes, Violent

La Mission (2009)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Ultra-macho ex-con Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt) learns the true meaning of being a father when he discovers his son (Jeremy Ray Valdez) is gay. Rivera turns violent at first, but when a beautiful neighbor (Erika Alexander) helps him see through his anger, he begins to reconcile his long-held beliefs. Peter Bratt (Benjamin’s brother) writes and directs this compelling drama, while Max Rosenak and Talisa Soto co-star.

Being gay in the macho latino culture is especially difficult. Peter Bratt’s story brings to life a part of that latino culture in Los Angeles which was for me a revelation. For example, a weekend ritual of Che and his friends is a slow parade of restored and exuberantely decorated automobiles which ends with a large outdoor gathering of friends for dancing and talking. Che is especially adept at restoring cars and has been working on a special auto for years as a way of encouraging his bright son to work hard in school. This son is the most important thing in the life of his widowed dad. To suddenly discover that this boy is gay (especially in a macho culture) might well destroy the father’s world.

Actually the real theme of the film is the prevalence of violence in this culture: husbands commonly beat their wives, men fight alot, teenagers are drawn to gang violence and guns, etc.

Benjamin Bratt is perhaps better known to us in 95 episodes of “Law and Order” as Detective Rey Curtis. He does an excellent job in this film.

2009, Black and White Film, Child Molestation, Dark, Explicit sex, German, Gloomy

The White Ribbon (2009)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

At a rural school in northern Germany in 1913, a form of ritual punishment has major consequences for students and faculty. But the practice may have bigger repercussions on the German school system — and maybe even on the growth of fascism. Celebrated Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke helms this Golden Globe-winning, sumptuously photographed black-and-white drama that stars Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Tukur and Theo Trebs.

Quite possibly the gloomiest, most depressing, hopeless, and exasperating film I have ever seen. The gloom is aided and abetted by the fact that it is filmed in black and white with an emphasis on black. In fact, the houses in this pre-electric period were probably quite dark.

If you believe this film, pre-WWI rural Germans were beasts. What a wonderful collection of men who commit incest, men who treat their sex partners like dirt, undiscovered villagers that maim horses, torture retarded children, kill house pets, burn down buildings, etc. The pastor is such a strict disciplinarian that he canes his children, forces them to wear white ribbons (which mean that they are bad people who need to reform), and ties his son’s hands each night to the bed lest the boy masturbate. Need I continue ?

If you can stand this atmosphere, then as an art film it is excellent. Assumedly you really get a feeling for life in that era. I just hope it is historically accurate.

2009, Atom Egoyan, Drama, Erotic Thriller, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Mostly About Sex, Nudity, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Vulgar

Chloe (2009)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Suspecting her husband, David (Liam Neeson), of infidelity, doctor Catherine (Julianne Moore) hires sexy escort Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) to seduce him and test his faithfulness. But as Catherine checks in on Chloe’s encounters with David, Chloe’s reports become increasingly lurid. Soon, the relationships between all three intensify in unexpected ways. Renowned filmmaker Atom Egoyan directs this psychological drama

Not until the middle of this erotic thriller did I begin to suspect the truth. In fact for much of the beginning I almost dismissed the film as a mediocre excuse for “talking dirty”. But I stayed the course thinking that Julianne Moore just does not do cheap films. Up to the very last seconds this film remains sexually ambivalent.

Amada Seyfried is deviously beautiful as the “other woman”. Every now and then I could almost mistake her for Scarlett Johanssen (which can also be spelled “Johansson”). In this film she is certainly not the wonderful girlfriend in Dear John (2010)

Worthy film or not ? I am not sure. Opinions welcome.

2009, Crime, Detective, Drugs, Explicit sex, Gangs, Nudity, Police Story, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Violent

Brooklyn’s Finest (2009)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Antoine Fuqua directs this tense drama about three wildly different New York cops whose paths collide in a Brooklyn housing project, where each must make a decision that will change the course of their lives forever. Cynical, washed-up Eddie (Richard Gere) no longer cares about the job or the rules; cash-strapped Sal (Ethan Hawke) sees a shortcut to solvency; and Tango (Don Cheadle) is torn between conflicting loyalties. Ellen Barkin co-stars.

Grim is the word that comes to mind, in addition to violent, bloody, despairing, cynical, etc. The scenes switch rapidly and constantly among the three separate stories. Only one officer reaches anything resembling positive closure and I’m not telling. Instead of watching this film, why not go and hug someone you love ?

2009, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Not Feel Good, Sex Scenes

Solitary Man (2009)

1 Comment

From NetFlix:

Michael Douglas stars as a former car dealership owner who sees his personal and professional lives take a nosedive when the repercussions of years of shady business dealings and chronic womanizing finally catch up with him. Susan Sarandon, Mary-Louise Parker, Danny DeVito and Jenna Fischer co-star in this comedic drama written and co-directed by Brian Koppelman.

Michael Douglas playing Michael Douglas is pitch perfect for this role as a man whose behavior makes me cringe with sadness. Despite the NetFlix description, this film is NOT a comedy.

Towards the end of the film his first wife, Susan Sarandon, asks him about his behavior. His explanation, if I understood correctly, attributes his attitude to a single event in the past. Even if I understood correctly his intended answer, I just don’t buy it. Any comments ?

All the acting is good, especially the really young Harvard students who eventually see through the protagonist.

For me the ending was perfect. Any wild disagreements ?