2000, Crime, Detective, Direct to Video, Imperfect, Mediocre, Mystery Film, Plot Twist, Psychic Phenomena, Serial Killer, Suspense

Eye of the Killer (2000)

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From NetFlix:

After a blow to the head, haggard Det. Mickey Hayden (Kiefer Sutherland) acquires an extraordinary new ability: He can visualize the owner of anything he touches. This homicide-solving talent comes in handy when Hayden gets assigned to the hardest case of his life. A serial killer named Jabberwocky has resurfaced, pinning a note to his most recent victim challenging Hayden to stalk the murderer again in this direct-to-video thriller.

Despite being a mediocre film about psychic phenomena, the plot has some good surprises (including the very end). Alcoholic, depressed detectives are now such a cliche. And why do they often hang out in gay bars when they are really straight ? The fact that this film is a direct-to-video should be enough of a warning.

Is this damning with faint praise ?

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

Solitary Man (2009)

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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 ?

2005, Political Suspense, Redemption, Revenge, Suspense, Terrorist Attack, Violent

The Interpreter (2005)

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From NetFlix:

Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is a linguist whose job is to translate for her assigned delegate the complex issues facing the United Nations. But her daily challenge turns perilous when she overhears a plot to assassinate a high-ranking government official. Suddenly in the crosshairs of the conspirators, Silvia — with help from a Secret Service agent (Sean Penn) — must unravel an intricate web of intrigue to save herself.

Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman parry well (and thank goodness they don’t fall into the cliche of becoming lovers. Oops! did I give something away? But romance is not the point of this film at all!). Each has his or her own sorrow which eventually comes forth. Actually the theme is whether to forgive or avenge a wrong.

Details might be hard to follow at times. There is, of course, violence. In a way this is a mystery story: what’s really happening?

I was amused to see quite a few “Law and Order” participants. But then who hasn’t been on “Law and Order”?

Although the film is nothing special, I stayed glued to see the conclusion.

2006, Fantasy, Occasional gore, Suspense, TV Series

The Lost Room (2006)

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From NetFlix:

After Detective Joe Miller (Peter Krause) finds a key that opens a mysterious motel room, he discovers it’s a portal to an alternate universe when his young daughter Anna (Elle Fanning) disappears inside. Desperate to retrieve the key and save her, Miller comes up against a host of bizarre characters who also want access to the room. Julianna Margulies, Kevin Pollak, Dennis Christopher and Margaret Cho co-star in this eerie fantasy

My son Mike recommended that I watch a wonderful TV fantasy miniseries called The Room. As it turns out, Mike made a small mistake. “The Room” is now a cult film that plays often at the Coolidge Corner cinema. “The Room” is billed as the worst film ever made. Unfortunately “The Room” arrived from NetFlix and I started to watch it. Believe me, “The Room” might possibly be the worst film ever made. Whatever you do, do NOT watch “The Room”.

What Mike should have recommended was a two-disk TV miniseries called “The Lost Room”. If you liked “Lost” and other such fantasy series, you will love “The Lost Room”. Peter Krause is perfect. And lately I keep finding films in which Julianna Margulies (“Canterbury’s Law”, “The Good Wife”, The Man From Elysian Fields (2001)) plays.

Just sit back, suspend all disbelief, and enjoy the ride!

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.

2009, Acceptable for children, Biographical, Drama, Sports, Underdogs win

Invictus (2009)

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From NetFlix:

In this drama based on real-life events, director Clint Eastwood tells the story of what happened after the end of apartheid when newly elected president Nelson Mandela used the 1995 World Cup rugby matches to unite his people in South Africa. Based on John Carlin’s book, the film stars Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon (both Oscar nominated) as Francois Pienaar, the captain of the scrappy South African team that makes a run for the championship

Invictus is a short Victorian poem by the English poet William Ernest Henley. The text is as follows:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gait,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Nelson Mandela used this poem as a personal prayer to see him through 30 years of imprisonment. “Invictus” means “unconquered”.

As a piece of art, the film is mediocre. There may be at least 5 scrums too many. It would help if you understood the game of rugby. Matt Damon is adequate. Morgan Freeman is perfect as Mandela. See Wikipedia for critical reviews.

When the plane flies low over the stadium, you are supposed to read something written on its lower side: “Good luck, Bokke!”

Despite all these comments, I found the film to be inspiring and meaningful.

2008, Drama, Explicit sex, Nudity, Terrorist Attack

Incendiary (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Director Sharon Maguire’s powerful drama stars Michelle Williams as an adulterous young housewife struggling to come to terms with the deaths of her husband and infant son after they’re killed in a terrorist bombing at a London soccer game. Crippled by grief, the widow seeks comfort through affairs with two men (Ewan McGregor and Matthew Macfadyen), inadvertently putting herself in the midst of a dangerous love triangle

Michelle Williams is the center and most of this film. Tangentially her orbit is touched by her husband, by Ewan McGregor, by Matthew Macfadyen, by the son of a terrorist, and most of all by her little boy. Here is an imperfect young woman victimized by an imperfect world inhabited by terrorists. Her story, her reactions, and her final “solution” are a creative set of imagined circumstances that are more or less plausible.

Toward the end of the film her non-acceptance fantasies continued, for me, a bit too long. Don’t expect a perfect ending.

2008, Crime, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Lawyers, Suspense, TV Series

Canterbury’s Law (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Julianna Margulies stars in this prime-time Fox drama as spirited attorney Elizabeth Canterbury, a woman who balances her desire to help others seek justice with her own ongoing struggle to deal with her son’s unsolved disappearance. Though Elizabeth’s professional life is decidedly driven, her personal life with her law professor husband, Matt (Aidan Quinn), is haunted by their shared grief over losing their only child.

Because of her success in the TV-series “The Good Wife” Kathy and I are enthusiastic fans of Julianna Margulies. In that series she is a quiet but determined woman lawyer who has been wounded by her well-known husband’s public adultery.

In this earlier series “Canterbury’s Law” she again plays a lawyer with an entirely different personality. Here she is aggressive, more-or-less honest, with a “seek justice at any cost” attitude.

From what I have seen so far of the series, the plots are involving, well-written, and at the level of the “Law and Order” TV series.

Addendum: Having watched more of the series, I am now even more excited about the series. Don’t miss it!

There are only two DVDs for the series. We watched it with subtitles.

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”).

2010, Horror, Mystery Film, Plot Twist, Suspense, Violent

Shutter Island (2010)

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From NetFlix:

World War II soldier-turned-U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by his own troubling visions and by Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley). Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer and Max von Sydow co-star in director Martin Scorsese’s plot twist-filled psychological thriller set on a Massachusetts island in 1954.

Only for a while did this film seem messy and possibly just an ordinary “seeing ghosts” film. Stick with it! If you ever guess what is really going on, please email me (I probably won’t believe you). I can only imagine that Denis Lehane’s book might be even better than this film recreation. Probably Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow are the standouts in this not-really-a-horror film.

I was glued to my seat.