Non-Stop (2014)

JohnnyTwoToes reviews this tense airborne thriller

After seeing a string of rather disappointing films, FINALLY Non-Stop lifted my spirits. It is cliched but enjoyable garbage in a good way in all the ways Pompeii and I, Frankenstein were not. 

Liam Neeson plays a US air marshall named Bill Marks and he has seen better days. A borderline alcoholic, a failed marriage and all of the necessary disappointments that are required of this character. Neeson wears it well, too. While on a transatlantic non-stop flight from New York to London, Marks receives texts to his phone that state the other passengers will start meeting the grim reaper if $150 million dollars is not deposited into an account of the terrorists choosing. The rest of the film is how Marks finds out who it is.

Non-Stop is a different take on Neeson's Taken action persona and although this film is ludicrous it is never the less fun to watch. Juame Collet-Serra, who directed Neeson in the 2011 film Unknown, directs again here and they both keep the tension palpable and Neeson's performance is convincing. 

There is an attention to detail in Non-Stop which was kind of neat. Whenever, Neeson and the terrorist send texts back and forth, the viewer sees them type but they have tweaked it by showing they both have spell check. It brought a chuckle from me. They might be crazy but at least they don't need to worry about how to spell. Logically, this makes sense and might not seem like a big deal, but it is this attention to the smaller details that made this film work for me. 

Clearly, Neeson carries Non-Stop, but the script and story written by John W. Richardson, Christopher Roach and Ryan Engle, bristles with a series of twists and turns that I never saw coming. The plane is populated with your standard characters but the acting is solid from even the smallest of parts so that the story sells and I believed the dire situation. Julianne Moore is Jen, the female interest who does not seem to know what she believes. Is Marks crazy? Is the situation out of his control? She is dubious of Marks and Moore's performance is convincingly effective.

John Ottman's score is an amalgamation of electronics, percussion and orchestral arrangements, keeps the pressure on and is well worth the purchase. All in all, Non-Stop is enjoyable thanks largely to Neeson's focused performance, a fine supporting cast, decent script, solid direction and a great score. NOT coming soon to a plane near you, is Non-Stop. It is available on DVD and ON DEMAND. The soundtrack is available on CD and download. Non-Stop-***1/2 out of 4

The Best Films of 2013

JohnnyTwoToes compiles the Best Movies of 2013 

2013 did end a month and a half back but there is still time for the lists. In this case, the Best Movies of 2013! Since I have not seen ALL of the big films I will give my own lists of the 5 best and the 5 worst films that I HAVE seen in 2013. So get your cards and there will be a quiz on this tomorrow. Actually, no but read'em and weep. First the 5 best films of 2013.  

5. CAPTAIN PHILIPS - At number 5 is Paul Greengrass's Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks. I have to pen a review for it, but suffice is to say that Tom Hanks shows why he is one of Hollywood's finest actors and director Greengrass has yet to disappoint me with one of his films. Captain Phillips is a riveting and effective thriller based on the true story of a cargo ship taken over by a band of Somali pirates (Maersk Alabama hijacking). The script, direction and Hanks propel this film which pulsates humanity and intelligence in Billy Rays' script based on Captain Richard Phillips' own book of the 2009 incident with Stephan Talty "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea"

4. DESPICABLE ME - At number 4 is the Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud directed Despicable Me 2, a 3D computer animated sequel but every bit as endearing and charming as its blockbuster predecessor. This time Gru, the girls and his minions battle a new super villain that is planning to turn Gru's minions into blue eating machines that devour anything in their path as they are unleashed on the world. Kristen Wiig voices Gru's girlfriend, and she is a total delight. Steve Carell, Russell Brand, and Miranda Cosgrove reprise their voice roles too. Rarely do sequels work as well as the original, but Despicable Me 2 is an exception; clever, sweet and wholesome fun for the whole family. 

3. STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - At number 3 is the twelfth installment in the Star Trek film franchise - Star Trek Into Darkness, a bold and boisterously fun film that pits Chris Pine's Captain Kirk against Benedict Cumberbatch's Kahn as Kahn enacts his revenge against Starfleet. Star Trek Into Darkness proves (as does Despicable Me 2) that you can do good sequels if the script is well written and it is here, indeed. Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof have written a crisp and engaging film, with a perfect cast and director J.J. Abrams takes us on a wild ride that is fun and exciting with some nice twists. Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood and  Leonard Nimoy add to the fun!

2. PRISONERS - At number 2 is Prisoners, Denis Villineuve's masterfully heartbreaking film about the abduction of two little girls in Pennsylvania and the tragic and intense investigation that follows. Hugh Jackman as a father of one of the girls, is terrific as he goes on his own mission to find them. Feeling helpless and with hope waning Jackman dances from enraged to devastated in an Oscar worthy performance. Jake Gyllenhaal as the investigating officer will keep viewers on their toes as a cop who is battling his own demons, as well. A stellar supporting cast including Maria Bello, Terrence Howard and Melissa Leo provide solid support! If you have kids and watch this film, you will  probably never let them out of your sight ever after. It is truly a tough film to watch in its subject matter but worth viewing. It is not for kids, though as there is a lot of bad language. 

1. GRAVITY - And number 1 is Alfonso Cuaron's marvelous thriller Gravity which stars Sandra Bullock as a stranded astronaut just trying to stay alive after their space shuttle is destroyed by flying debris from a Russian satellite. Told in real time at 90 minutes this film is as realistic as any film I have ever seen about space (it tookl apparently 3 years to finish the special effects alone). It is a superbly crafted thriller that had me wincing, mouth open in awe of what a true battle for survival can be. Bullock (Oscar worthy, no doubt)and George Clooney are terrific together and the father and son script by Alfonso Cuaron and Jonas Cuaron is smartly written. Alfonso Cuaron's direction is top notch and Oscar worthy as well. Film score composer, Steven Price should also be considered for Oscar contention for his tremendous score for Gravity as well. Incidentally, for those curious, Gravity has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Cuarón and Best Actress for Bullock. 

So there you have it, folks. I just want to thank each and everyone one of you for reading and responding; good, bad or otherwise in 2013 at  the Websnacker Blog. Here's to a prosperous and safe 2014 with plenty of great films ready to come and plenty of stinkers to keep it real. Keep coming back for more film and film score reviews at the Websnacker Blog.

Prisoners (2013)

JohnnyTwoToes praises this dark, superbly acted crime thriller. 

Having worked in retail for the last eight years or so, I am always struck by how seemingly good parents and good people seem to lose sight of their children when they enter a store to do a little shopping. Sometimes the children wander off carelessly, yes, but I am amazed at how easily parents seem to get so entranced by the stuff on the shelves that they forget to keep their own children safe. Granted Prisoners (2013) tells the story differently than parents who shop.The idea is the same. Losing a child to an abductor, regardless of the situation is downright terrifying.

Prisoners is not for the squeamish and child abduction is not easy to handle. Trust me when I say this, you will want to hold your children close. Prisoners starts with the very first frame as a general sense of foreboding sets in as the camera slowly zooms in on a tree during a cold, rainy Thanksgiving day. 

The Dover family (Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello) and their children walk across the street for a nice Thanksgiving dinner with their dear friends, the Birches (Terence Howard and Viola Davis). After a filling meal the older children plant themselves in front of the television downstairs while the youngest two girls go look for one the girls lost whistle. After a period of time the two little girls have vanished without a trace. The only suspect is a young man (Paul Dano) who owns a camper the girls were seen playing on earlier until the older brother of one of the girls shoos them off. The cop investigating the disappearance of the two girls (one girl from the Dover family and one girl from the Birch family) is a Detective Loki (yes, Loki) played remarkably well by Jake Gyllenhaal. 

Loki is a determined man who has never failed on a case. Gyllenhaal plays Loki differently than others would have. He is a hero, no doubt but it is referenced in the film he has grown up as a ward of the state for a while in a boys home that was not to pleasant. He is smart but odd, sporting what seems to be prison tatts and facial tics that suggest he is a man dealing with his own pain in life. After, the suspect, Alex Jones (Dano) is released for lack of evidence, Keller Dover (Jackman) takes it upon himself to get Jones to tell him where the little girls are. 

I will not say anything more to ruin it, but let us just say that Dover will not rest until he gets what he needs out of Jones. I do not have kids, so I can't say I know how it would feel to have my child abducted. However, ANYBODY who has children who watches this film will never let their kids out of their sight. Jackman's Keller Dover is an accomplished man with his own contracting business, great family and tells his son, "Pray for the best. Prepare for the worst." Keller is a man who has his basement filled with supplies if the worst happens, except nothing he has could prepare him for what they endure. 

Jackman's performance is superb as a man who is usually in control of his destiny, but now teeters on the brink of despair, madness and of helplessness. He starts to drink, again and when he fills in Franklin to his plans for Jones, chaos seems to ensue. Hugh Jackman is now a established bonafide star, thanks to the X-men franchise, so it was only a matter of time before we saw him REALLY spread his acting chops and he shows it style with Prisoners. There is Oscar talk for him and deservedly so. 

Everyone has their own way of dealing with anguish is this film and the acting by everyone is fantastic. Nothing is oversold and the emotions of rage, anger and hopelessness ring true with each performance. Aaron Guzikowski's script is effectively simple. Mr. Guzikowski knows he does not need to push the material with pointless and gratuitous monologues. He is smart to keep the story as tangible to the viewer as possible, by simply implying this could happen to ANYBODY with children. 

Prisoners is also a very effective thriller as director Denis Villeneuve amps up the tension as the days go by without a single lead on the whereabouts of the girls. We know time is running out for them so for the viewer we too,feel the parents agony. Melissa Leo is chillingly effective as Alex's seemingly long suffering mother who has lost her own children and Johann Johannsson's score is quietly somber which adds to the sense of dread. 

This is a long film (about 2 and 35 minutes) but that will hardly matter, as you will be glued to the screen for every minute and you will be cemented to your seat even to the very last frame. Prisoners is a smart, atmospheric,and riveting film about appreciating who and what you have and how in the blink of an eye it can be taken from you. It does a good job of showing how it affects the relationships with your own family and friends and how it changes everything and everyone around you. It begs the question, "How far would go to get back someone you love?" Hopefully, none of us will ever have to ask that question.Prisoners-**** out of 4

The Killing Joke

An impressive 15 minute Short film experience!

The Killing Joke directed by the talented Sebastian Lopez and scored by the enigmatic Colin Devlin, the frontman of my fav band - the Devlins is a 15 minute suspense/fiction short film about a mysterious woman that finds a red balloon tied up to a curious little box on an eery derelict street. Using classic elements of suspense, awesome color tones and working within a seventies aesthetic, 'The Killing Joke' is an action packed film that pays homage to some of the horror movies from that era. Watch it now and share!

Phantom (2013)

JohnnyTwoToes recommends this first rate Submarine thriller!

The film Phantom (2013) tells the little known story about the Russian submarine, the k-129 that sank under mysterious circumstances in 1968. The film came and went pretty fast at the box office and was considered a flop since it cost about 18 million to make and made only a little above one million in box office receipts. 

I say little known because I had a helluva time finding any information about this story. Since most of it is still under wraps by both Russia and the United States governments I was lucky to read anything at all. What I did find was that this is an incident that could have very well started World War III between China and the United States without involving the culprit of Russia. 

Long story short - a antiquated Russian sub sets out for, what is supposed to be its final voyage before being mothballed to the Chinese. The captain is Demi (Ed Harris), a hard drinking but very efficient submariner who is ready to retire and he and his crew are just coming off of a 3 month tour, only to be sent back out. Demi does it reluctantly but has some slight suspicions that something is not right. This is still Communist Russia, so he keeps his concerns to himself and agrees. 

The mission is to test some "new technologies and maneuvers", but not much else is given. While readying his boat, Demi is introduced to a group of KGB officers led by Bruni (David Duchovny). "We will try not get in your way," Bruni smiles. "Good luck with that," responds an unimpressed first mate, Alex (William Fichtner). 

As the mission continues, it is clear that the KGB have other plans for this submarine and it is a wide spread conspiracy from the rogue elements of the Communist party. What was the objective? 

As the DVD extras explain, the Russians were going to simulate a Chinese submarine's movements to instigate an exchange of Nuclear weapons between China and the United States and leave Russia the last man standing for global domination. Not everyone on the k-129 was willing to go along with that, thus a "Crimson Tide" battle ensues on the ill-fated sub. 

(Phantom refers to the technology that was being tested by the k-129 that simulates the propeller and wake movements of American subs so the American subs would never hear an opposing subs movements). 

Phantom was written and directed by Todd Robinson in his first attempt as writer and director. So far he has done mostly documentaries with the exception of Peter Weir's classic White Squall and the less than impressive Lonely Hearts with John Travolta and James Gandolfini. 

Here, Robinson does a fine job, though of creating characters that are intelligent and complex. Demi's father was a legendary submariner and Demi has tried long and hard to create his own legacy as a fine captain and submariner which he has done, until Bruni starts to reveal a less than stellar career by Demi. This is something Demi has suffered long and hard with the demons in his closet and has turned to drink and pills, but has always been able to maintain control of his boat and his men. Harris plays Demi with a certain sadness but also with a tough streak that is interesting and with the right amount of power as only Harris can do. He is a fine actor. 

It was fun to see Duchovny play Bruni, a soul less ghoul with a sneer that will make you hiss whenever he is on screen. William Fichtner is great as Alex, Demi's First Mate. He is a loyal, smart and very well qualified man that will get his own sub when they return to port. He is the kind of friend you want backing you up in a tough situation. Jonathan Schaech is good, too as a sniveling communist part official, pretty standard on any Russian subs during the Communist rule. Rounding out the great cast is Jason Beghe as the ship's doctor who is good friends with Demi and knows all about Demi's ghosts but says nothing and supports him, nevertheless. 

Robinson's script presents a compelling story and his direction is solid and is paced well. There are a few action scenes, but the real selling point, for me was the dialogue between the characters. It is well written and extremely well acted, and although the cast speaks perfect English it is clear that they are Russians so speaking English did not bother me. Ed Harris spoke perfect English in Enemy At The Gates, as a deadly Nazi Sniper. In fact, the whole cast of that film spoke English and it did not bother me. 

Phantom is a first rate thriller, well crafted, written, directed, scored and acted about a battle for power and survival in the last place on earth there should; a sub with a nuclear warhead. Phantom may have bee  a modestly budgeted film that came and went but deserves a second look

The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Not your usual movie review

The 70s Horror Suspense Thriller Hyperdrama directed by the late Irvin Kershner, (the guy who also directed Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Never Say Never Again and Robocop 2)

Starring the premier and overfamous Hyper-dramatic (yeah) Actress of the 1970s - FAYE DUNAWAY "I'm (SIGH!) alright." MURDER, SUSPENSE and A 70s SOUNDTRACK FROM AN ACTUAL 70s MOVIE! RETRO-WOW! 

See perverted Raul Julia leaping on women, Tommy Lee Jones say: "I LOVE you. I LOVE you."too funny to be sexy but good try, Tommy! 

Retro Commercials in inopportune spots, "Plop Plop Fiz Fiz..." 

An over-long, misleading plot trail 70s style! "Gee, he's not the killer after all. No wonder the movie didn't end 15 minutes ago!" (can't believe John Carpenter wrote this)

And a bad case of shamelessly letting your girlfriend, Barbra Streisand, sing the tortured and irrelevant theme song. "WHAAAAAAAAT is it about You" You go, Jon Peters (the producer)! 

A MURDER SUSPENSE DRAMA WITH LOTS OF LAUGHS

JADED ARTIST THEMES and 

NO SEX SCENES, NO VIOLENCE

(I saw more violence from Bette Davis in Agatha Christie's Murder On The Nile) but please still watch it - its considered the first Hollywood (American) movie to try the Giallo genre and was also a big box office hit!

Sinister (2012)

JohnnyTwoToes highly recommends this superbly crafted horror chiller

Scott Derrickson seems to be carving out a career in horror films and if Sinister (2012) is any indication he will be an A list director very soon. With no less than four films and all belonging to the science fiction/horror genre and one of them being the retooling of Steven Spielberg's classic Poltergeist (slated for a release in 2016). A busy camper!

Sinister stars Ethan Hawke as a down and out crime book writer who has moved his family into a "inexplicably cheap house". Since he still has yet to sell his previous home they are on a strapped budget, so he works out of his home office. He specializes in real life crimes, some unsolved and some he helps to solve. He had a big hit with one of his books, but has failed to successfully repeat it. 

His wife (Juliet Rylance) is supportive but dubious of their present relocation. "Please just tell me we are not living two doors down from a suspected serial killer." " We're not", Elliston (Hawke) responds. They are living IN the house of a suspected former serial killer. So I guess he wasn't lying. 

We meet the family of Ellison and THANK GOD they don't dwell on the everyday happenings of the family like so many films do to an annoyance. We get it. They are a family and they love each other, thank you. Now can we start scaring the shit out of some people, now? 

Since you find this out in the first 10 minutes of the film I have ruined nothing. Upon placing some boxes up in the attic, Ellison sees a box lying in the middle of the floor, in an otherwise EMPTY attic, that has a several reels of Super 8 films and a projector. After setting up the projector, he delves into the films. What he finds on each reel I will not describe so you will have to watch. 

Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill have crafted a superb horror film with no nudity, hardly that much cursing and virtually no gore. It is a PG-13 film that relies on the old adage that less is more and it does this extremely well. The use of lighting (or lack thereof) and the reliance of Hawke's performance propels this film and never lets if get bogged down in procedures. 

Sinister is Scott Derrickson's first big hit and a very effective supernatural horror thriller. Unlike his previous hit The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Sinister is not based on any facts but is one of the creepiest films I have ever seen and, for me it ranks up there with The Exorcist. Yeah, the read it right!

Sinister is a potboiler that builds and builds and it does so quietly and without flashy visuals and CGI nonsense. It relies on Hawke's superb performance as he starts to unravel the mystery which he learns is MUCH more than he originally thought. He pursues the truth further much to the chagrin of the local Sheriff played by a much slimmer looking Fred Thompson. One of the sheriff's deputies that is a little star struck does help Ellison but between the two of them they uncover far more than they bargained for. 

Sinister will not be liked by everyone, as it does take its time but, for me it was very effective in building the suspense and Derrickson knows how and where to place the cameras for maximum creepiness. His use of shadows and ambient sounds ratchet up the tension and Hawke's decent into drink and obsessiveness really pulls the viewers in. 

Christopher Young's score is mix of orchestral chords with bumps and thuds of percussion with some vocal strains thrown in for good measure, suggesting something otherworldly is at hand. There is also a quiet piano that tinkles in the background with a Hammond organ and Theremin that will send shivers down your spine. There are two versions of the score. One is the release that is available from Amazon but there is a longer version that is a promotional copy, if you can find it. It is worth it but just don't listen to it at night by yourself. It will freak you out. 

I would compare this film to an equally efficient Insidious only Sinister is hair creepier. Finally Hollywood is getting back to real horror films and with Scott Derrickson directing, he could be to horror like Wes Craven was back in the 80's. Sinister-***1/2

Side Effects (2013)

JohnnyTwoToes is in love with this intriguing thriller

Steven Soderbergh is about the only filmmaker I have ever seen to direct no less than six films in less than two years and most of them, good films that warrant a watch. The list you ask? Okay real quick: The Last Time I Saw Michael Gregg, Contagion, Haywire, Magic Mike, Side Effects and Behind The Candelabra. I have seen all of'em except the first film (The Last Time I Saw Michael Gregg), which honestly I have never even heard of, (apparently it is out of Australia). 

Of all the films above, Side Effects stands out and for good reason. It is a slowly effective pot boiler about a mentally disturbed woman named Emily Taylor under psychiatric care whose mental state seems to unravel with the release of her imprisoned husband Martin (Channing Tatum in an unusual casting - seen also in Magic Mike). It's not that he is a bad sort. He has been in prison for insider trading and before incarceration they were living the high life. Now that he has been in, Emily has been reduced to a modest apartment with a little money but nothing more. She works for an ad agency but her mind is starting to buckle under all of the strain from life itself. 

After a failed suicide attempt, she is admitted to a psychiatrist, Dr. Jonathan Banks (a fantastic Jude Law). He starts her on some prescription meds that he has a sample of named Ablixa. Emily starts to sleepwalk and do some VERY strange things. When she lands in trouble with the law for a crime she may or may not have committed while under the influence of Ablixa, suspicion falls to Dr. Banks for his prescribing Ablixa to start with. That is all I can say without spoiling Side Effects. 

Side Effects is an effective urban drama, not flashy or abrasive - taking the science of mental instability, diagnosis and treatment with respect without becoming cheap or tawdry. Soderbergh does not feel the need to assault the viewer with odd or strange camera effects so common in a lot of films these days. He has a great script by Scott Burns to work with and these characters are all smart and well written. They behave out of natural instincts not forced storytelling and what happens to them is believable. 

Let's say, I cared what happened to all of them; even Emily's arrogantly bitchy former psychiatrist played with icy coolness that you could store meat in by Catherine Zeta Jones. Law's Dr. Banks is a good doctor, who cares about his patients even to the detriment of his marriage. What happens in Dr, Banks' life after Emily's crimes is handled effectively and subtlety and not overdone. 

Soderbergh is a masterful director who knows how to construct an delicate subject as in Side Effects. He takes his time and lets this film build and build until the true intentions of all involved remedy the situation; believably and with dire consequences for some - the final act you will have to pay attention to because you will not see it coming. Side Effects will not appeal to all of you as it does take its sweet time in unfolding, but if you have the patience and time, you'll love the finale.

Thomas Newman provides another stand out score with his music also being quiet but it pulsates enough to keep the film moving. His use of an orchestra, electronics and his choice of an eclectic array of odd instruments make Side Effects creepy and interesting. This composer is in my top five of all time and he has never disappointed me. If you have the means, get the soundtrack. 

Steven Soderbergh has stated that he wants to retire and after his busy schedule I don't blame him. Hopefully, this is just the exhaustion talking and after a rest with NO ABLIXA he will return. This is a director that keeps getting better with each film, takes chances and usually comes out on top. Not many directors can make that claim so , my plea to Mr. Soderbergh, PLEASE DO NOT RETIRE. Side Effects-***1/2 out of 4

Red Lights (2012)

JohnnyTwoToes asks how much do you want to believe?

In spite of a head lining Sundance Film Festival premiere in January and the presence of top-billed stars, Red Lights (2012) is a largely unheard of film that came and went earlier this year and that too, fairly quickly. Ignore the bad press, it is too bad because you may have missed a real treat, until now. 

Red Lights is the story of a two academic doctors, Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and Tom Buckley(Cillian Murphy) who travel the country debunking and exposing fraudulent mediums, psychics and other paranormal charlatans. Matheson is especially cynical due to personal tragedies, whereas, Tom is cynical but has more of an open mind. He WANTS to believe, but so far he has not seen anything that makes him a convert to the para-psychological phenomenon. 

As Red Lights opens the two are investigating a home where it was claimed the ghost of a family member still haunts. After it is explained this place and it inhabitants are frauds, the two doctors hear of the great Simon Silver (Robert DeNiro) coming out of retirement. 

Simon Silver is world renowned psychic whose last performance ended in tragedy when one of his most ardent critics died of a heart attack. Somehow, Silver is all about show and has used the tragedy to celebrate his return, in a matter of speaking. Tom is adamant about investigating Silver, but Matheson is unwilling and would rather spar with her fellow alumni Paul Shackleton (Toby Jones) over funding for their college departments. Tom begins an affair with an attractive student Sally Owen (Elizabeth Olsen) who later becomes an intern for Tom and Matheson. Later, Tom begins his own investigation of Silver with dire consequences. 

Red Lights was written and directed by relative newcomer Rodrigo Cortes as this is only his third feature length film. His previous 2 releases include the similarly themed paranormal mystery Apartment 143 (2011) which he wrote and the Ryan Reynolds claustrophobic starrer - Buried (2010) which he directed but with Red Lights he thrusts himself to the top with an excellent and superbly crafted thriller. This film intrigued me from start to finish where nothing is as it seems and the adage 'be careful what you wish for', you might just get it; even the truth. 

Cortes has indeed done his homework for this film (apparently, he spent 18 months just researching the subject and writing the screenplay). He seems to know a lot of the ins and outs of how the the con-men are able to get a leg up on their subjects. Also, how susceptible we all are if we give in too easily to hope and answers that we look for to ease our own pain and anguish for our own personal tragedies. 

Red Lights is brilliantly acted by its four main stars. Each character seems to be involved for their own reasons but it is the tension between Murphy and DeNiro are at loggerheads. Is Silver a fake or can he do what he says he can? Is he an enigma? Or is he just like all the rest of the flim-flam artists? Olsen is sweetly naive and has no idea what she is in for when Tom and Simon go at it. 

Weaver is given top billing just after Cillian Murphy, but this is really Murphy and DeNiro tearing up the screen. Red Lights is a smart, intelligent and entertaining thriller and thankfully, it is now available on DVD. Red Lights - ***1/2 out of 4.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Recalling the Original 'Found Footage' Horror Pioneer

"In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found." Those are the opening words of the independent Horror cult hit of 1999 The Blair Witch Project. A horror film is probably the easiest type of film to make, and the hardest to make right. This one belongs to the latter!

For all the horror films I've seen (and on occasion enjoyed) only a few live in my nightmares, and those are the ones I respect. The Exorcist, with its suggestions of the babbling, malignant chaos slithering under the surface of human personality, comes to me sometimes when I'm trying to sleep. Day of the Dead, and to a different degree, Dawn of the Dead invades a disproportionate number of my nightmares, with the stink and rot encroaching, approaching, and unstoppable. 

Those films were joined by The Blair Witch Project, an experience - not just a film - of ever -tightening, suffocating dread and terror. The film shot primarily on video, with some black and white 16mm footage, is ostensibly the footage that was recovered a year after the disappearance of the three student filmmakers, director Heather Donahue, her cinematographer Josh, and her sound guy Mike. 

They are heading into the woods to explore the myth of the so-called Blair Witch, whose legend has been linked to several horrible killings and other sorts of weirdness. Soon enough, the three find themselves lost in the woods, with personality conflicts mounting, and with ever-stranger terrors coming to visit them late at night. The tension that builds is almost unbearable, as we, like they, come to dread the approaching nightfall and what it may bring. 

The fear these fine young actors display is very authentic, helped along no doubt by the improvisational guerrilla style of the shoot (directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez basically sent the actors out in the woods with minimal instructions, few provisions, and then came around at night to set up scares for them). 

If I have anything negative to say about the film, it might be that the three seem at times a little too intrepid. There wouldn't be a way in hell you could have gotten me out of my tent after that first night. But that's a small complaint in comparison to what you usually get in the genre, and besides, when a film's this good, I'll forgive a lot more than that. 

When I say "now", I'm going to talk a little about the film's progression to its ending, and the ending itself. I'll be very general, so you should be safe to read it, but if you STILL haven't seen the movie, and you're a viewer like me who doesn't want the slightest hint of a clue, you might want to stop reading NOW. 

The dilemma for the filmmakers with the way this picture is structured is that there are only so many ways it can end. Eventually, the cameras have to stop rolling. Does that mean provide some sort of big bang for the end, which would almost certainly be a disappointment considering the buildup, or else handle it more honestly, in which case it would sort of peter out? 

But this problem is solved ingeniously, with a final shot that's a brilliantly subtle shocker - so subtle, actually, that most of the post-movie conversation I heard was people explaining the last shot to their friends and dates. The Blair Witch Project was a reminder that there are still some great things going on in American cinema. It's indeed scary as hell. Kerry Douglas Dye

The Raven (2012)

JohnnyTwoToes finds this tell tale thriller disappointing!

If you have ever read any of Edgar Allan Poe's writings, you would agree that he was a gifted writer of the morose and the macabre. I have found only H.P. Lovecraft's writings to be more darkly demonic that Poe's. Poe at least enjoyed some of what life had to offer; the love of a woman and booze. Plenty and plenty of booze. 

As the film, The Raven opens we are told that Poe's last three days alive were sketchy at best and no one seems to know how his death came about on October 7, 1849. All we are told is that he was something of a sleuth assisting the local police in finding a serial killer using Poe's own writing to commit murder. This movie expands on that premise!

John Cusack plays Poe and for the most part he does the best he can. But I could not help to wonder if maybe he was miscast. He certainly LOOKS like Poe, but there seemed to be something missing for me to really buy Cusack as the tortured writer. John Cusack is a fine actor and one of my favorites. I think the script written by Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare is so scatter-shot that after a while I began to piece together the mystery and had figured out who the killer was about halfway into the film. 

There is a strong cast to support Cusack though. They include the awesome Brendan Gleeson as the father of Poe's fiance, Emily who is taken by the killer. Alice Eve plays Emily and she is decent enough but, again it seems that the script is underwritten in its character so that everyone seems to be trying too hard to sell the story. 

I found myself wanting to go back and watch Murder By Decree. A great film about Jack The Ripper and Sherlock Holmes with Christopher Plummer as Holmes. The Raven only made me want to watch other films that were better. 

Is then The Raven a bad film? No but it is a lifeless one as uninteresting characters plod through a muddled serial killer plot we have seen done before and better. Director James McTeigue has some moments where the film works particularly when Luke Evans as Detective Fields is on screen. Fields seems to like Poe, regardless of Poe's nonsense. Poe spends most of the film broke and blathering about, yet Fields seems to understand Poe's problems and sympathizes with him. But, overall I was disappointed with The Raven. At the film's end we know nothing more about Poe and his brilliance other than what we have been spoon fed in literature class. The Raven-** out of 4.

Memento (2000)

Decrypting Christopher Nolan's Breakthrough Thriller

Watching Memento is like doing a particularly tough Sunday Times crossword puzzle. It offers an elegantly structured mystery that’s meaty enough to keep you chewing on it for most of its running time. It’s unpredictable, sleek, and gives its characters some nice, punchy lines to throw at each other. But it’s also a relatively heartless film, so caught up in its plot details that its final resolution doesn’t leave much of a mark. It’s a film that leaves you saying “Wow” and “So what?” at the same time. 

Memento is built around Guy Pearce’s alert performance as Leonard Shelby, an insurance investigator whose wife was raped and murdered in the couple’s house one night. Leonard received a brutal head injury in the attack, and it’s robbed him of his short-term memory, leaving him incapable of forming a memory of anything that’s happened since the moment of his wife’s death. Unable to understand what he’s doing for more than a few minutes at a time, he’s built his life around the one image that still has any meaning for him: his wife’s lifeless expression. 

He’s determined to find her killer and avenge her murder, but he has to keep in mind all the myriad clues he’s uncovered—a tough nut for someone stuck in the present tense. Nor does it help that he’s surrounded by people whose loyalties keep shifting from moment to moment: the shady and sarcastic Teddy (Joe Pantoliano); Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss), a jaded bartender whose drug-dealing boyfriend has gone missing; and Burt (Mark Boone, Jr.), the raffish manager of the motel where Leonard lives. Leonard keeps his facts straight the only way he can. He snaps pictures of everyone he has dealings with, and gives each photo a caption indicating the level of trust he should feel for each person. (These captions are subject to heavy revision.) A chronic note-taker, his motel room is strewn with written reminders of everything he must bear in mind. And the most important facts in his life—the things he believes to be certainties about his wife’s assailant—he tattoos onto his body so that he can reacquaint himself with the case on a moment to moment basis. 

Mysteries by nature have a poison pill built into them. The very things that make a good mystery interesting—the inexplicable events, the incongruous clues—have a surrealistic hit that’s almost always undercut when the humdrum explanation comes out. Usually we’re told in a few breathless lines of dialogue near the end that the physical laws of nature have been turned upside down, and the rules of human behavior inverted, all because some money grubber was trying to run a con. 

It’s a letdown when the mysteries of the universe are so easily explained away by a shabby inheritance, a roll of microfilm, a kilo of uncut heroin. How do you satisfactorily explain vanishing footprints, or a body that has India ink in its veins? How do you keep escapist whimsy from falling apart in its last fifteen minutes? 

Nolan knows all this, and he’s done what he can to mitigate the problem. Memento’s kicker is that it reveals Leonard’s story to us in reverse, beginning with the death of a major character and working backwards in time, scene by scene, towards the attack on Leonard and his wife. At the same time, running against the grain of the main narrative, is a flashback told in linear fashion about the target of one of Leonard’s old insurance fraud investigations. This man (Stephen Tobolowsky, who’s making a career of popping up in surprising places) suffers from the same malady as Leonard, and his story revolves around the grief felt by his wife (Harriet Harris, in the film’s best performance) over losing the man she once loved. As Memento moves towards its conclusion, this sub-narrative casts an increasingly longer shadow over Leonard Shelby’s dilemma, until the two stories converge on an unexpected plane. 

Using the reverse narrative displaces the focus from Leonard’s banal quest for vengeance, so that the pedestrian concern of “Who killed Mrs. Shelby?” never overwhelms the movie. It makes room for such commonsensical paradoxes as Natalie’s observation “Even if you get revenge…you’re not even going to know that it happened,” and adds a melancholy, transitory flavor to Leonard’s relationships. (Even the people who don’t like him are distressed when he keeps forgetting who they are.) It also forces us to view the movie’s events through Leonard’s eyes: when a scene opens with him sitting on a toilet with a bottle of booze in his hand, we have no more idea than he does how he came to be there. We’re constantly waiting for the end of the next scene to understand the one that we’re watching, and the movie’s novelty—seeing how Leonard Shelby came by the scars, clothes, and even the haircut that he first appears in—lies in its graphic demonstration of the (reversed) axiom: “If a gun is fired in the first act, then it must appear in the third act.” 

Memento probably merits neither the scorn it’s sure to receive from people turned off by its hype or paper-thin characters, nor the wild praise it’s already receiving for its unconventional narrative. It’s not close to being a Chinatown or The Third Man, but it’s good enough to help tide us over until the next great mystery comes along. That said, if it offers all the pleasures of a tough crossword puzzle, its rewards run not that much deeper. Near the end of its run, “Seinfeld” broadcast a episode that told its story in reverse chronology, and in 23 brilliant minutes seemed to exhaust the device as it (unlike Memento) moved from obscurity to clarity. Absent the bloodletting, and with only George Costanza’s sexual pride at stake, the show revealed the idea for what it is: a lark. Tom Block

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A Simple Plan (1998)

Sometimes Good People indeed do very bad things !

Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" based on the novel of the same name by Scott Smith (who also wrote the screenplay) is not a heartwarming movie. It's tragedy, plain and simple - a antidote for sickly-sweet films from the 90s like the highly unlikely "You've Got Mail," which tend to hopelessly romanticize the world we live in. Sure, folks may be nice on the surface; they may even be genuinely good people at heart. But given enough temptation, few of them will fare any better than Eve or Pandora. 

They say that money is the root of all evil, and that's the starting point for this tale of two brothers, Hank and Jacob Mitchell, and Jake's pal Lou. The three men discover over four million dollars in cash in a duffel bag aboard a downed plane. The pilot is dead, the plane is buried under the snow, and apparently no one knows it's there. Jacob and Lou, who are both a little dim, want to keep the money, but Hank, the more reasonable and thoughtful one, thinks it should go to the police. The compromise: Hank keeps the money until the plane is discovered and if there's no mention of it at that point, they split it up and leave town. If someone comes looking for it, he burns it all. It's the only deal he'll agree to, and it is, apparently, a simple plan. 

The film's title is, of course, ironic, in that as things go progressively wrong, each new plan Hank devises (with the help of his increasingly greed-blinded wife) only leads to escalating disaster. The money, which everyone had seen as the key to happiness, brings nothing but grief, and if there's any moral to the film, it's the age-old "money can't buy happiness/love/etc." But, while the concept isn't new, the way the plot develops is an excellent take on the classic suspense flick, with a firm nod to Hitchcock and a debt to more mature works like "Fargo." 

Both as a thriller, and as an exploration into human nature, "A Simple Plan" is a captivating success. The oft-maligned Billy Bob Thornton is not only tolerable as Jacob Mitchell, he's positively endearing. Although he's far from an angel, his innocence and naivete; bring the audience to his side, leaving him as the most sympathetic, and ultimately, most tragic character of the lot. Bill Paxton, as Hank, turns in a surprisingly riveting performance as well, proving his ability to be the focus of a film, as opposed to the usual accessory. In the end, it's through Hank that we see the price people can pay for their folly. 

In one of the most interesting parallels, Hank and his wife (Bridgette Fonda), become the modern-day equivalent of Shakespeare's tragic couple, the Macbeths. Hank's wife is increasingly obsessed with the idea of the money, driving her husband to worse and worse deeds as the stakes get higher. Hank follows her instructions, even when his better side advises him against it. Ultimately, there is just as much blood on her hands as his. Perhaps Lady Mitchell will be trying to scrub herself clean, like her classic counterpart, in the aftermath of "A Simple Plan." 

It's not much of a stretch. What's truly clear in the aftermath is that it really is the simple things in life that matter -love, friendship, trust, compassion - and no amount of wealth is worth throwing them away for. Then again, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Maybe this will make you think twice. Doug Levy

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The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

A Stellar Waste of a Talented Cast

There are so many problems with the Talented Mr Ripley - it is hard to know where to begin. Everything that director Anthony Minghella did right in The English Patient (1996) he managed to undo in this film.The running time of the English Patient was just around three hours and, in that time, Minghella wove a tapestry of complex characters doomed by circumstance. In Ripley he never gets to the point. 

What drives Tom Ripley? is he just a sociopath for any reason? is Minghella trying to show us how a simple lie can force the hand of the purveyor? All are interesting questions that receive nary an explanation, but by far the most interesting question is why waste an incredibly talented cast in such a disjointed film? 

With the exception of Jude Law’s performance, the cast is utterly wasted in totally undeveloped characters who just pass time on the screen - pass time indeed at a running time of just about two and a half hours. The poor pacing of the film caused it to drag more and more, making it seem as though the film would never end... and when it did there was no real resolution and, for lack of a better phrase, no point. 

Mr. Ripley was, without a doubt, the largest waste of a cast I have ever seen, squandering the abilities of such wonderful actors as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchet, Gwyneth Paltrow, James Rebhorn and Philip Baker Hall, but the largest contribution to the worthlessness of the film was Matt Damon’s performance as Ripley. With no character development he had nothing to do at all except look senseless. 

The subplot of the characters homosexuality was largely untouched (with the exception of a few fleeting glances) and the character’s inability to make decisions about what is affecting his life is totally ignored. It is unfortunate that the film does not live up to the spectacular source material (novel by Patricia Highsmith) or the first film version (1964’s plein soleil or purple noon), but more than anything else, the true tragedy is the time and energy wasted on such a mediocre, untalented and pointless film. Anderson TW

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Donnie Brasco (1997)

A First-rate Undercover Gangster Gem with a Heart! 

Two of my least favorite cinema genres are the romance weepies and the Mafiosi gangster types. Agreed there have been numerous classics in these genres but dig deeper and you’ll find both far too formulaic and devoid of authentic human interests to excite me. Besides, their blueprints are quite alike, especially the mobster types - A very unsurprising (and mostly) boring plot that serves only to set up episodic scenes of betrayal, lust, brutal violence and usually gory deaths in the finale. One generally rates these films by the originality of the script, the suave protagonist, the scheming villain or the acute shock and abhorrence of the killings. I think Horror films do a much better job here! 

There are some brilliant exceptions though!! A very few indeed and the Oscar nominated Donnie Brasco (1997) tops my personal list. Based on the true story of a FBI agent - Joseph D. Pistone, who infiltrated the organized crime Bonanno family in New York in the late 1970s, it stars Johnny Depp playing the title character Donnie Brasco, aka, 'The Jewel Man' and a terrific Al Pacino as Lefty, a small-time hood, the guy with the right connections who takes on Donnie as his protégé and opens doors into his crime union.

Well-told cinematic stories of undercover cops and FBI agents have been surefire suspense rides over the years, from the film noir days of T-Men and White Heat to later examples like Miami Vice, Rush, Hard Boiled – actually there are too many to mention. Although the ever present likelihood of Donnie's cover being broken sustains an underlying tension through the film, the great script (adapted from Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, Pistone’s Book with Richard Woodley) astutely, is far more concerned with the human drama of Donnie's convoluted relationship with his gangster mentor. 

Pacino tones down some of the overacting he can be sometimes prone to and gives a stirring performance who Donnie comes to see as just a working stiff really, with his own unhappy life and his many problems and his disgruntled dreams. For Al Pacino’s Lefty, Donnie Brasco becomes a solid friend and surrogate son. Only when he's in too deep, does Donnie realize how he has endangered Lefty's life by exploiting him for a risky undercover sting, and this leaves him struggling with divided loyalties. 

In addition to this absorbing drama of Donnie’s dilemma, the movie also gives us a thoroughly believable peep into the secret environment of the underworld, emphasizing the daily realities over the violence. Surprisingly, there is only one scene of graphic violence in the film. 

Spinning a different note, Donnie Brasco is not set in the likes of the Godfather films, which showed life among the big bosses. This is about the lower rung – the street-level hoods and hsutlers who stoop to the pettiest of crimes (stealing from parking meters for instance ) to deliver the mandatory "take" each month to a higher boss, for fear of far deadly consequences. 

The diverse cast of Donnie Brasco including Michael Madsen, Anne Heche, James Russo and Bruno Kirby is uniformly first-rate, and other praiseworthy contributions are the realistic 1970s production design and the melancholic mood-setting theme and vintage soundtrack by composer Patrick Doyle. 

Director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and screenwriter Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show) create a bleak dirty mobworld of nastiness and perennial suspicion, and I think its a far more evocative depiction than the false romanticism of Coppola's The Godfather triology or the high-spirited blood-riddled tone of Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas. Perhaps Donnie Brasco is one of the few gangster movies that bravely flout the mobster formula and opt for emotional human drama over needless bloodshed. Strongly recommended!

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Mr Brooks (2007) Soundtrack - Ramin Djawadi

A Mesmeric Soundtrack Worthy of Any OST Collection

My favorite Kevin Costner film has to be undoubtedly 2007’s Mr. Brooks – a suave suspenseful thriller in an unusual Jekyll and Hyde setting that cleverly reinvents the serial killer genre.

Though blessed with an exceptionally creative script and top notch supporting show by the likes of Demi Moore, William Hurt, Lindsay Crouse and Dane Cook (in a superior negative role); what makes Mr. Brooks truly stand out is its enthralling hypnotic score by Ramin Djawadi, the award winning German composer of Prison Break (2005-09) and Ironman (2008), most recently heard on Colin Farrell’s horror comedy reboot Fright Night (2011) and Sam Worthington’s 2010 fantasy remake – Clash Of the Titans.

Mr. Brooks’ electronic textured score is a restrained kinetic tour de force with an eerie atmospheric undertone that blends perfectly with the movie's dark subject matter and intricate screenplay. A best seller, this soundtrack received rave reviews fetching Ramin Djawadi a ‘Discovery of the Year’ nomination at the World Soundtrack Awards in 2007.

Watch out for “Hallway Burial”. “Thumbprint Killer”, “Graveyard Standoff”, the mesmerizing “Mr. Brooks” and the magnetic surprise vocal track “Vicious Traditions” by the indie alternative NZ/UK band – The Veils. Mr. Brooks’ is an immensely satisfying soundtrack worth many listens. Download now and take the pleasure in!

16 tracks in playlist, average track length: 2:57

Playlist length: 47 minutes 19 seconds

1. Ramin Djawadi - One Last Question (0:43)

2. The Veils - Vicious Traditions (4:46)

3. Ramin Djawadi - Regrets Of An Artist (2:08)

4. Ramin Djawadi - The Thumbprint Killer (4:44)

5. Ramin Djawadi - Addiction (2:43)

6. Ramin Djawadi - Hallway Burial (2:03)

7. Ramin Djawadi - Detective Atwood (2:24)

8. Ramin Djawadi - Unwelcome Partner (3:16)

9. Ramin Djawadi - Suicide Note (3:05)

10. Ramin Djawadi - Decision (5:01)

11. Ramin Djawadi - Her Story (2:24)

12. Ramin Djawadi - Are We Alone (1:38)

13. Ramin Djawadi - Realization (1:42)

14. Ramin Djawadi - A Clue (3:35)

15. Ramin Djawadi - Mr. Brooks (3:31)

16. Ramin Djawadi - Graveyard Standoff (3:36)

Free Mp3 Download - 62.26 MB Single Zipped Folder –Megaupload Link

THIS IS A NON-COMMERCIAL DOWNLOAD. IF YOU LIKE RAMIN DJAWADI, PLEASE BUY HIS ORIGINAL MUSIC. You can buy original CDS/DVDs & Mp3s on his website, amazon, itunes, other online stores or your nearest music retailer.

If you have not seen Mr. Brooks yet - here's a free VEEHD movie download/streaming link!