Category Archives: FilmReview

2011, Based on true facts, Biographical, British, Could Be Sad, Drama, Political statement, Psychological Drama, True Story, Violent, War

The Iron Lady (2011)

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From NetFlix:

Meryl Streep provides a subtle and nuanced portrait of Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of Britain, whose political career and determination changed the rules that had limited women’s opportunities for leadership.

Sometimes I criticize Meryl Streep for some annoying and often used facial smirks. However, in this film she is the best I have seen. If nothing else she portrays the sadness of aging and the accompanying changes in personality, memory, and looks. My own mother (who died at the age of 97 on March 1, 2012) went through the same changes during the last 5 years of her life. Streep gets it right. And speaking of “looks”, whoever did Streep’s makeup did a remarkable job. No matter the age portrayed, you knew it was the same person and the makeup artist had captured that stage in Thatcher’s life perfectly.

It would be helpful to hear from a Brit who had seen this film in order to know how well Streep captured Thatcher’s manner of speaking.

Do not be put off by the main theme of Thatcher’s late life decline. You get to learn the history of her career from political neophyte to her success as prime minister. There are actual film clips that show some horrible violence during the riots as well some ugly Falkland Islands war clips. If the film is accurate, it was sad to see her career end owing to an arrogant hubris (sound familiar?).

Most touching of all was her relationship with her beloved husband Denis Thatcher (played by the wonderful Jim Broadbent).

Many British actors appear in the film (Iain Glen, Nicholas Farrell, Anthony Head) , most of whom are familiar from British TV.

Ignore any naysaying critics. This film is well worth seeing.

2011, Based on true facts, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Imperfect, Mostly About Sex, Psychological Drama, Sex Scenes

A Dangerous Method (2011)

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From NetFlix:

In this David Cronenberg-helmed biopic, Viggo Mortensen stars as Sigmund Freud, whose relationship with fellow psychology luminary Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) is tested when Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), one of the first female psychoanalysts, enters their lives. This World War I-set drama also stars Vincent Cassel as Otto Gross, a disciple of Freud, and Sarah Gadon, who plays Jung’s psychoanalyst wife.

Although the story is interesting (and let’s hope somewhat historically accurate), the dialog is at times rather stiff. At a few points in the film I was a bit bored (but that is very subjective).

Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein starts out exaggeratedly hysterical only to suddenly appear as a cured patient about to become a famous psychoanalyst. Whatever happened to believable transitions?

You will hear quite a bit of academic psychological discussion that at times seems almost didactic.

Do you suppose Carl Jung actually engaged in S&M sexual practices with his patients?

Personally I found this film to be not terrible but still somehow imperfect. Sorry.

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!

2011, Acceptable Trash, Documentary, Motorcycles, Nudity, True Story

Corman’s World (2011)

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From NetFlix:

B-movie maestro Roger Corman is celebrated in this star-packed documentary. While trafficking in movies featuring lots of blood, violence and nudity, Corman nonetheless managed to tackle issues like race and sexism with his independent features. Luminaries including Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Robert De Niro and Jonathan Demme offer their reflections on the legacy of this purveyor of thrills and chills.

Roger Corman managed to make about 300 films, most of which were horrible schlockfests. But that is the beauty of camp films, they are so horrible that they are just plan fun. In one film the monster from outer space is a great big paper bag with a painted face and an open mouth through which someone now and then squirts red juice.

Real film history is involved here. We think of Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and William Shatner as established stars. But they got their start and continued help from Roger Corman.

Corman did make some notable films: “Easy Rider” and “Jaws” to name just two.

Part of the film is a tribute to Corman, who somehow never got the respect he deserved.

At one point Corman was making a film a month. He had no money and made these movies as cheaply as possible. But he made money on all his films except for one: he naively went down south when desegregation was just starting and made a film about a lynching.

If for no other reason, you can watch this documentary just to see the outrageously stupid and funny clips from his films.

2011, Drama, Not Feel Good, Polish, Political Suspense, Sex Scenes

The Mole (2011)

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A father and son run a business importing used clothes from France to Poland. When the son discovers his father’s photo in a tabloid newspaper with the accusation that he was a secret informer – instead of the Solidarity hero he always looked up to – the son begins to have doubts.

Life in Poland under the Communists meant living in an atmosphere of fear. Solidarity members had the courage to stand up to the regime and sometimes lost their lives or freedom as a result. In this film we see a father and son very close to one another only to have that love threatened by revelations from the past. Well-made with fine acting, the portrayal of doubt creeping into the life of the family is very well done. Even the potentially mundane daily activities (coaxing a child to eat) are never boring and possibly add to the underlying tension of wanting everything to be alright even though something is amiss.

We saw this Polish film (with English subtitles) at a neighborhood film festival. Unfortunately NetFlix does not currently offer the film. But if you get a chance to see this film, the viewing is well worth the time.

2011, Bullying, Comedy, Drama, Medical Theme, Slapstick

Carnage (2011)

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From NetFlix:

In this comic drama from director Roman Polanski, two sets of parents meet in the aftermath of an incident in which one of their children bullied the other. As the evening progresses, the adults confront each other in increasingly hostile ways.

Kathy, my wife, saw “Carnage” as a play at the Huntington in Boston.

Two couples begin a “civilized” discussion over their sons’ playground behavior. Over the course of this meeting, the talk becomes more and more combative. Husbands join forces. Kate Winslet vomits dramatically. Christopher Waltz spends much of the time on his cellphone defending a sleazy company from big Pharma. And eventually everyone gets drunk on 18-year-old Scotch.

Does this sound like fun? At first I thought it was going to be harsh and difficult to watch. But it turned into Sid Cesar and Imogene Coca (two 50’s TV comedians specializing in this type of vaudeville humor). At times there was too much yelling, which is sometimes a sign of bad writing.

Finally I was laughing out loud. No telling how you will react.

2000, British Mystery Series, Could Be Hard To Watch, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Grim, Gritty, Occasional gore, Police Story, Serial Killer, Suspense, TV Series, Violent, Wonderful acting

Without Motive (2000)

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From NetFlix:

Jack Mowbray is a dedicated police officer and a devoted family man. When a vicious serial killer terrorizes Bristol, England, Jack’s obsessive attitude toward the case may nab the culprit while also tearing apart his personal life.

This British TV series comes in 4 discs. Each disc contains 2 episodes. Discs 1 and 2 are one complete story. Discs 3 and 4 are another complete story.

Watching the first story is a bit harrowing. But in fact my experience in general is that British mystery, or suspense, or MI-5 adventures are all tough to watch. Characters get killed. Marriages run into difficulties because of the obsessive attention to crime solving by one of the marriage partners. Some scenes are especially gory. Some characters are really nasty.

Acting in general is almost always professional and wonderful, so much so that British TV of this nature often makes its American counterparts seem weak and tepid.

One example of cringe-worthy acting in story one is the scene in which a Welsh police official is “retired”. You see a tired, stressed, overweight, but not very capable man who has made a muddle of things and mislead the investigation. When he is in an office with two of his superiors and his boss tells him he is off the force, the stream of self-excusing babble that comes out of the poor man’s mouth would embarrass anyone.

Officers come off as crude bullies. In contrast Jack Mowbray is a decent fellow obsessed with finding the serial killer who has moved his killing operations to the very area where Jack lives. Jack’s wife is terrified. Jack’s stressed-out behavior is ugly to watch.

First rate watching if you can stand the tension.

2011, Acceptable Science, Grim, Sci-Fi, Suspense

Apollo 18 (2011)

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From NetFlix:

If you buy in to official statements, Apollo 17 was NASA’s last manned mission to the moon. But what if found footage of a secret Apollo mission that had taken place the following year could prove otherwise — and explain why we haven’t gone back?

Awhile back I reviewed the somewhat claustrophobic film Buried (2010) starring Ryan Reynolds. In some ways this film “Apollo 18” is similar: not only is the interior of the lunar module a bit small but the inhabitants suffer at the hands of their superiors (although you have to watch the film to see what I mean).

Owing to the fact that the film is shot like a very shaky home video, you should not expect clean visuals. Some pieces of the puzzle you will never see clearly.

Good acting enhances this realistic story. However, it is science fiction so you will eventually have to suspend disbelief.

Nothing really special, but it captured my attention.

2011, Dark, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Kidnapping, Medical Theme, Mostly About Sex, Not Recommended, Nudity, Plot Twist, Rape, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Spanish, Unusual, Violent

The Skin I Live In (2011)

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From NetFlix:

Brilliant plastic surgeon Robert Ledgard seeks to overcome the grief of his late wife’s disfigurement in a fiery car crash by inventing skin that’s impervious to injury. But his experiments on a living woman hasten his descent into madness.

Only Almodóvar could dream up such a weird film. Of course, sexual ambiguity is his specialty. An aging Antonio Banderas plays a somewhat expressionless jack-of-all-trades surgeon who does creepy things with his scalpel. Half way through the story there is a plot twist that I did not expect. This twist (a bit tough to experience) changes whatever you thought you understood. For me the ending was like a METRO bus that just came to the end of the line, i.e. it just stopped.

Expect to see two rapes, much nudity, and a story that is not for everyone.

2011, Crime, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Feel Good Not For Children, French, Love Story, Optimistic, Wonderful acting

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (2011)

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From NetFlix:

Not to be confused with the tale by Ernest Hemingway, this unsettling drama recounts the violent criminal assault and robbery committed against a middle-aged couple, and their discovery that a person they knew orchestrated the attack.

Ignore the NetFlix description. This French film set in Marseille is ultimately a feel-good story in which optimism and kindness triumph. You can find the full plot in the Wikipedia article. If anything the film dramatizes the difficulty of life in Marseille, but actually in any area beset with unemployment, for the younger generation.

As a short version: the husband in the older couple is a loyal unionist who loses his job during a layoff which also effect a certain young employee. Whereas for the older man this layoff is not a tragedy (he owns his house, his wife works), the younger man has an irresponsible young mother (you will be shocked) and two school age younger brothers for whom he is responsible. Out of desperation that younger man robs and assaults the older man, his wife, and another older couple. Accidentally the older man discovers who the culprit is. As the film progresses the older man comes to understand the young man’s difficulties. Finally I will tell you that the culprit is sentenced to 15 years (which will mean 2 or 3 years). Beyond that you have to discover for yourself the heartwarming developments.

French with English subtitles. DO NOT MISS!