Category Archives: FilmReview

1985, Car Chase, Detective

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

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From NetFlix:

After ace counterfeiter Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe) murders the partner of Secret Service agent Richard Chance (William Petersen), the gumshoe will stop at nothing to even the score. Big problem, though: Masters is, well, a master at the game and outfoxes Chance at every turn. Can Chance outwit him? William Friedkin directs this suspenseful, violent thriller with the City of Angels (a misnomer in this case) as the alluring backdrop.

I have a special corner of my heart for movies with good car chases (is that an oxymoron ?). Some notes on the film:

o This movie was made 23 years ago and offers a car driving on the wrong side of a highway. I thought that gimmick was recent, hah!

o William Petersen of CSI fame is really young in this film.

o His sidekick John Pankow was the crazy brother in the TV series “Mad About You”.

o There are good plot surprises.

o This is only a B-movie.

Please send me names of really good car-chase movies.

2007, Acceptable Trash, Explicit sex, Suspense, Violent

Shoot ‘Em Up (2007)

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From NetFlix:

When a mysterious loner named Mr. Smith (Clive Owen, Children of Men) delivers a woman’s baby during an intense shoot-out, he inadvertently lands himself at odds with the ruthless Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti). Aided by the enigmatic DQ (Monica Bellucci), Mr. Smith is tasked with protecting the newborn from Hertz and his henchmen. Written and directed by Michael Davis, this bullet-riddled action thriller also stars Ramona Pringle and Chris Jericho.

“Antonio, you can’t be serious !!!” I make no apologies for having enjoyed thoroughly the wonderful escape offered by this violent, funny, outrageous, vulgar movie. This is a movie made for Clive Owen. And Paul Giamatti makes a great villain. Jackie Chan is quite an athlete and all the things he does are real. In “Shoot ‘Em Up”, on the other hand, nothing that Clive Owen does could possibly be real. During the movie he never misses a shot and kills possibly a hundred men. But the shooting sequences are works of cinematic art. The dialog and moments of sex are down and dirty. I loved this movie. But then, I LOVE TRASH !

2004, Suspense, TV Series, Violent

Lost (2004)

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From NetFlix:

Stranded on a tropical island after their plane crashes 1,000 miles off-course, a group of castaways must learn to survive in their new home — as well as avoid the gigantic something crashing through the trees and determine whether they really are alone. Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Terry O’Quinn, Dominic Monaghan and Naveen Andrews head up a diverse cast in creator J.J. Abrams’s Emmy winner for Best Drama.

“Lost” concerns the adventures of the survivors of a plane crash on a mysterious island. It is very imaginative. There is much violence. Plot twists are inventive. The fun never stops. If this kind of story appeals to you, once you get into “Lost”, you will be trapped. The above NetFlix description is just for Season 1. At the time I am writing this, the series is still going strong on TV.

2007, DO NOT MISS, Redemption, Violent

Eastern Promises (2007)

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From NetFlix:

Viggo Mortensen (in an Oscar-nominated role) reteams with director David Cronenberg in this intense thriller, starring as Nikolai Luzhin, a notorious London gangster. When Luzhin learns that a midwife named Anna (Naomi Watts) has discovered incriminating evidence against his “family,” he finds his normally steely resolve compromised. Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Sinéad Cusack co-star.

Naomi Watts is the midwife trying to find relatives for an infant orphan whose mother was a white slave of the Russian mob. Viggo Mortensen is a Russion mobster. Wonderful plot twists, excellent character development. It is also a redemption movie (often the case with violent movies). If you can stand the violence, this is Viggo Mortensen in one of his many amazing movies.

2006, Feel Good For All, Sports, Underdogs win

We Are Wallace (2006)

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From NetFlix:

After a plane crash takes the lives of most of Marshall
University’s football team, new coach Jack Lengyel
(Matthew McConaughey) must rally the surviving players and
a grieving community to victory. Based on true events, this
inspiring drama follows Lengyel and his assistant coach
(Matthew Fox) as they try to renew Marshall’s football
program and help the close-knit West Virginia town find
new hope. David Strathairn and Anthony Mackie co-star.

You’ve seen this movie before in many guises. Nonetheless
it is always a warm feeling seeing an underdog finally win.

2006, Could Be Sad, DO NOT MISS, Feel Good For All

Miss Potter (2006)

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From NetFlix:

Blending lush animation sequences with live-action drama, director Chris Noonan constructs this biopic about the personal life of beloved children’s author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. Featuring the Academy Award-winning Renee Zellweger as the title character and co-starring Emily Watson and Ewan McGregor, the film traces Potter’s private life as well as her contributions to literature such as the timeless “Tale of Peter Rabbit.”

Every now and then you see a movie that fits its genre perfectly. “Miss Potter”, the life of Beatrix Potter, is such a film. Renee Zellweger is Beatrix and Ewan mcGregor fits the role of Norman Warne to a tee.

Warning: this movie is a tear-jerker at times.

This movie is for everyone, children invited. No violence, no sex. It is also the blooming of a Victorian protected daughter into an independent creative artist and environmentalist.

Don’t Miss It.

2003, Comedy, Feel Good For All, French, Old-Fashioned

Seducing Doctor Lewis (2003)

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From NetFlix:

This comedy follows a small fishing town in Quebec that’s facing tough times as the economy continues to take a hit. The townspeople are thrilled when a major company chooses their locale to build a factory; trouble is, the factory will be built only if the town can convince a full-time doctor to move there. So, a local man (Raymond Bouchard) organizes a no-holds-barred crusade to bring in a big city doctor (David Boutin).

This is “old fashioned” in the sense that it is simply made, presents a gentle reality with no superhuman or digital interference. And yes it is corny at times. But you can just relax and watch it without the feeling that something unpleasant is about to happen.

1977, Italian, Not Feel Good, Violent

1900 (1977)

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From NetFlix:

Bernardo Bertolucci’s epic tale follows the lives of two Italian men — a peasant (Gerard Depardieu) and a landowner (Robert De Niro) — both born on Jan. 1, 1900. Friends as children, the two become estranged as their differing social status pulls them apart. Their personal conflicts mirror the political events in Italy, as both fascism and socialism gain footholds in the country. Sterling Hayden, Donald Sutherland and Burt Lancaster co-star.

“1900” is the name of this two-disk film which traces the rise and fall of the Black Shirt Fascists in Italy. It was made in 1977 and gives you an opportunity to see amazingly young Robert De Niro padrone), Gerard Depardieu (peasant farmer), Dominique Sanda (playgirl), and Donald Sutherland (local Black Shirt leader). Burt Lancaster appears as the old grandfather of Robert De Niro.

Italian films do what American films often fail to do: tell it like it was. In the case of a largely peasant population you will see and hear crudity that could never appear in an American film. Even I, as trash acclimated as I am, was shocked.

On the superficial side who knew that Gerard Depardieu was ever handsome instead of being the bloated pig that he currently is. Depardieu acts well but De Niro comes off as not acting very well. The really scary character is Donald Sutherland who plays to perfection a creepy scociopathic homocidal Black Shirt. His violence is truly ugly.

On another superficial topic, the sex scenes are uniquely uninhibited. You get to see Dominique Sanda dancing around practically naked. De Niro and Depardieu share a prostitute in which the actors move about the room in complete frontal nudity. Not that you would be interested.

1000NYTimes, 1001BeforeDie, 1963, Italian, Not Feel Good

The Leopard (1963)

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From NetFlix:

In this war drama set in 1860s Sicily, Prince Don Fabrizio Salina (Burt Lancaster) attempts to hold onto the glory he once knew, while his nephew, Tancredi Falconeri (Alain Delon), has joined opposition forces and is being heralded as a war hero. As Falconeri begins to fall for Angelica (Claudia Cardinale), the daughter of the town’s new mayor, Don Calogero Sedara (Paolo Stoppa), Salina must learn to accept his changing political status.

Garibaldi landed in Sicily in 1860 (at the time of our civil war). Burt Lancaster (speaking Italian) is a Sicilian prince who can never adjust to the new egalitarian order. The film beautifully recreates the book. But the pace is very slow and you really might have to be motivated to watch this film. In my case I read “Il Gatopardo” in Italian.

2003, Italian, Not Feel Good, TV Series

The Best Of Youth (2003)

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From NetFlix:

This sprawling Italian drama sweeps from the ’60s to the 21st century,
tracking the journey of two brothers, Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio) and
Matteo (Alessio Boni). The two take different paths: After traveling,
Nicola becomes a successful psychiatrist, while Matteo becomes a policeman
intent on catching criminals. Their politics diverge as well, straining
the family bond. Originally aired as a miniseries on Italian television.

NetFlix offers this Italian TV miniseries on 2 disks. There are subtitles. You really do get the modern history of Italy in a memorable way by watching the series. You realize how much Italy has suffered (floods, Italian terrorists, etc). The characters are appealing. Warning: do not expect a happy ending. Life just goes on.