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last night watched "Some Guy Who Kills People". We weren't expecting much, but it turned out to be a good time. Starred Barry Bostwick,as the goofy sheriff, Karen Black as the mean mother. Kevin Carrigan as the main character. A little comedy,suspense, horror and twist ending.
Just came back from watching The Intouchables. Much better than I was expecting, and you can see why it was a big hit in France.
I agree. It was excellent. I'm generally not all that big on foreign films since I find having to read subtitles to be distracting, but this movie was worth the trouble.
Get Him to the Greek with Russell Brand, was simply awful. I turned it off after 45-min & an attempt to FF to find the good parts. There were no clever jokes, the characters weren't interesting or very likable, the spliced cinematography was dizzying, the music was bloody awful & Jonah Hill, of whom I'd never heard, tossed lunch 1/2-dozen times in the 1st 45-min, which just turned my stomach. Jonah certainly doesn't have a face (or body) for the screen, let alone the big screen & I don't understand his sudden, overnight appeal. Further, I'm unsure why upclose vomiting onscreen isn't banned. Russell is a more than decent actor, but aside from two 1/2-smiles, there were no jokes or good material for Brand to showcase. I absolutely hated this clunker. 0 * out of 5.
Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston is a documentary about the designer. I wish the film focused more on his early life & reasons for wanting to design (like the great documentary on Karl Lagerfeld), but instead the oddly-styled, left-of-center, eccentric lad who fancies himself a Halston-like character is featured too much along with the odd turns he allows with the story. Basically, it's HIS story via Halston rather than THE story of Halston.
The interviews focus more on those around Halston (former models, lovers & friends), all who fancy themselves famous & interesting by association with the designer, as if the docu is about them. These people are freaks in the way Janice Dickinson is, often featured drawing attention to themselves in order to remain a subject line in any press story & not fade into obscurity, which would surely kill them. The line 'being a legend in their own minds' could relate to most featured here. To give an idea, Liza Minelli is the most normal, well adjusted, least annoying person in the film.
Pat Cleveland, a narcississtic former Halston feature model, should seek therapy in a long-term, lock-down facility for the silly Marilyn-esque way she presents herself, breathy voice with contrived accent & fake grandiose gesturing in filmy dresses, talking about herself & her afterthought, Halston. These people are reprehensible. The film is interesting in a voyeuristic way into the tiny minds of this reprehensible lot. Some designers' clothes remain ageless. I was surprised at how dated all of Halston's designs are now... they scream 80s, disco drag to the hilt. 1-1/2 * out of 5.
Firstly, I wanted to say thanks to Frank Lombard who began this post in May 2009 then disappeared. It was his one & only post. That story might make a great documentary... the mystery of people who post once on forums, then skedaddle. Anyway, hopefully Frank is healthy & well & simply forgot he was a member. If he only knew how much fun we're still having with his solitary post!
I saw Takedown last night & it was a fascinating movie! It's based on the true story of Kevin Mitnick, the hacker whose first hack was at age 12 & who was sent to prison for 5-yrs after 2-1/2 yrs on the run from the FBI. Bucket loads, heaps & oddles & boodles of suspense. Skeet Ulrich & Donal Logue are great onscreen together & give the movie the oomph it needs to keep it going at breakneck speed 'til he's caught, just barely, in the end. So many near misses, on-foot chase scenes & sharp cinematography propel one adreneline pumping scene into another.
Skeet is excellent in how he conveys so much with his eyes in the many closeups of his brain churning a mile a minute whilst he's typing away. Another actor might have made it seem like too many scenes of a lad typing, but so much is done with his portrayal of Kevin that Skeet must be credited with fine facial acting & pupil dilation acting chops. Is there an Oscar for either?
It's for the audience to decide the severity of Mitnick's crimes. Controversy abounds in that 5-yrs for hacking is eggregious in a system which often incarcerates murderers, rapists & child molesters for the same amount of time & sometimes less. Many believe he was made an example of, but the reality now is since his 2000 release, he owns & operates a successful computer security consulting company, writes books & gives lectures.
I've heard Kevin speak in person & heard radio interviews with him 1/2-dozen times. He's ferociously intelligent, incredibly interesting to listen to, has a great sense of humor & a lot to offer companies in the way of security & perhaps law enforcement in new, better methods of tracking criminals. Even if you're not interested in Mitnick-world, you may still enjoy the movie.
Note: For some odd reason, the movie has several names, Takedown, Take Down, Track Down & Trackdown. If you're searching for it, it's the 2000 movie directed by Joe Chappelle because there are other movies with the same names to further confuse us all.
A further note is Mitnick claims the movie is hugely inaccurate. Nonetheless, it is a very good movie which may be based more on fiction than fact in the same way Mothman Prophecies with Richard Gere was a very good movie, but nothing like the book by John Keel on whose life & book the story was based. Keel once blew a liver screaming about the inaccuracies of the Gere movie on the Art Bell radio show. For old Art listeners, he sounded quite like his infrequent caller, JC.
Hard Boiled Sweets a 2012 UK crime drama is a mixed bag. The story revolves around a number of hoodlums, mobsters & ne'er-do-wells after £1-million stored in a briefcase. The name is silly in that all characters are initially introduced via candy analogy, hence the title. It's not done in the clever way colors were used to identify villans in Tarantino's 'Reservoir Dogs', but like Dogs it is violence beyond excess. Someone getting shot is graphic enough... I don't need spatter patterns & gorey, upclose CSI views to get the message. A number of scenes were clear rip-offs of Tarantino & Chinese action films, perhaps as homage, but my feeling is that if one wishes to honor a film, the imitated scenes should be done as well as, or better. That was a bit of a fail, but that's my opinion. Others may find them clever.
The story is unusual & has twist upon twist inside twists which twist twice more before scenes end. The ending will be a surprise for everyone, even though you'll think you have it after changing your mind 3 times before the ending scene. For that, I'll give it a high thumbs up. I wish it used humor in the way Guy Ritchie's films infuse it throughout, but it's not that kind of movie. A few attempts at humor, & far too few, fell flat.
Top notch acting & great, albeit gritty, cinematography along with thrill after suspenseful thrill will keep you holding your breath. It's graphically sexual (more implication & overtly, misogynistically vulgar language), as well as violent, so not for the faint of heart. None of the characters garner much sympathy & with the twists & turns, some likeable qualities are soon lead to reveal otherwise & vice versa. It really has far too many twists in plot, thoughts, character's POV & behavior than can be explained without very careful afterthought... the mark of a well toned script, directing & editing. Ultimately, one realizes the smartest & strongest of mind survive, which might be one of the film's points.
I still like it even though I'd have to be in the mood to watch it again, like any war film. On a lazy weekend, test it out, but with a backup DVD just in case this rendition of the crude London underworld reveals to be far too tawdry.
3.75 to 4 * out of 5, mainly for a completely different & unique plot.
Saw the Hulk (2003, directed by Ang Lee) last night on cable, dear gawd what an awful mess of a movie. Nick Nolte was a ridiculous ham and Eric Bana looked vaguely intimidated by him every scene they played together. My 13 year old loved it.
Just watched "Whisper of The Heart". Plenty of sappy moments, but overall I liked it quite a bit.
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then disappeared. 
It was his one & only post. That story might make a great documentary... the mystery of people who post once on forums, then skedaddle. Anyway, hopefully Frank is healthy & well & simply forgot he was a member. If he only knew how much fun we're still having with his solitary post!