When I see films like this I start to think about how The Bourne Identity and its sequels have ruined the espionage genre for many people, sometimes me included. Why I say this is because it created this want for people to Bourne out on everyone they come across, fighting for survival and being totally BA. [Read more...]
Film Review: The Debt
08/31/2011 by Leave a Comment
Review: The Conspirator
04/22/2011 by Leave a Comment
Robert Redford’s latest is a fine looking and produced telling of a fairly unknown story in American history that fails to really excel to anything more than a straight forward court room drama that serves as a parallel to our modern day travails with prosecuting through Guantanamo Bay.
Now you might ask how a movie about Lincoln’s assassins translates to an obvious condemnation of the way the U.S. is handling the prosecuting of modern terrorists. Redford clearly has something to say and the film’s, and real life, drama surrounds defendants being prosecuted without a jury and instead by a military tribunal. The ethics of this is something to seriously question as the officers sitting on the judging tribunal are neither unbiased nor uninfluenced by their superiors which will obviously tend to lead to unfair trials. That is what critics of the way the government is handling the modern day situation will attest to, especially when regarding defendants that really have very little relevance to the enemies cause, and that is where Redford’s film draws its focus.
Review: The Green Hornet
01/14/2011 by Leave a Comment
Michel Gondry with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s script has crafted a funny and action packed comic book/buddy picture that, while a bit long, is a fun start to 2011.
Britt Reid is an heir to a media empire that has always been a playboy running amuck around town. No responsibility and an endless stream of cash have allowed Britt to run around causing endless debauchery into his twenties. When his father suddenly dies, Britt is left with an empire at his finger tips and he decides to use his new media influence to propel his crime fighting career he spawns with his family’s mechanic, Kato. After an encounter with some ruffians one night, Britt and Kato armor up their muscle car and with the unknowing help of Britt’s bright secretary, Lenore, they begin to hunt down the city’s criminals as criminals. This is much to the chagrin of the city’s current crime boss, Chudnofsky, and the crime fighting duos path is bound to cross that of this vile overlord.
Review: Duplicity
04/10/2009 by Leave a Comment
The latest from Tony Gilroy is not quite as good as his previous effort, but it is still a fun and fairly unconventional con game/spy/thriller that will have you scratching your head here and there as the plot unravels to the end.
Ray Koval is former MI6, Claire Stenwick is former CIA, and after a not so chance encounter and later retribution for the original act on Ray’s end, the two decide to go into business and get in on the inside of two rival companies with hopes of beating them both to the coveted prize they are fighting over. Ray gets a position at Equikrom as a consultant on an espionage team the companies CEO, Dick Garsik, has assembled with hopes of stealing the next big thing from Burkett & Randle and their head Howard Tully. Claire has acquired a position at Burkett & Randle as a chief security advisor and the two plan on playing both companies from both sides hoping to get to the end game first and cash in on prize. Both companies are in pharmaceuticals, among other things, and Garsik’s team catches wind of Burkett & Randle getting ready to launch a new revolutionary product that will put them on top for good. The game for Ray and Claire begins when Garsik orders his team to find out what Tully is planning and steal it before he can go public. The two untrusting lovers begin to spin their web and hope to come out 40 million dollars richer on the other end. [Read more...]
Review: Valkyrie
01/06/2009 by Leave a Comment
Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer team up for a solid suspense thriller that surrounds the conspiring, attempt, and fallout of the final assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler during WWII.
Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) is a member of the Nazi army and after his stint in North Africa, in late 1944 Stauffenberg becomes more concerned about his soldiers lives then the mission of the Nazi party. He also quickly finds that he is not alone and that there is a bit of a underground resistance building in an attempt to try and figure out how they can help Germany to save face as well as they can after this the war. To do this, they plot to assassinate Hitler and the scheming and the attempts to recruit, stay secret, and hopefully finally succeed after their last failed attempt is what this film focuses on. Stauffenberg enters the resistance’s ranks as a recruiter of sorts but quickly ascends the ranks as his dedication is proven to be to the end. Stauffenberg lost his eye, two fingers, and a hand in Africa and is risking himself and his families lives by betraying Hitler and to some the country. [Read more...]
Review: RocknRolla
11/03/2008 by Leave a Comment
Guy Ritchie’s return to form in RocknRolla is a crazy, fun, and always cool look at crime in London, and while it might seem like re-tread territory to some, it is so damn entertaining that one should ask, why should we care?
To begin to explain this convoluted and twisting plot from the get go would be a bit of a pain, and Archie (Mark Strong) does a good job of keeping you in the loop as he narrates everyone’s comings and goings, but I will try my best to sum up here. Lenny (Tom Wilkinson) is a big wig crime boss in England that makes his money in property and twisting his connections into his favor. So when One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba) come to him with a lucrative property proposition, he gets in their way of a loan, and gets them to owe him money as well; all while he turns on the fast track to acquiring the property himself. To help fund this property, Lenny turns to Uri (Karel Roden) a Russian entrepreneur who is trying to get in on the property boom of London like many other “immigrants” are, and Lenny offers his contacts and connections at the cost of 7 million Euros. Uri eagerly agrees and offers his lucky painting as a sign of gratitude to Lenny and assures him that his (Uri) accountant (Thandie Newton) will be able to produce the money in little to no time. Well as you can imagine, things don’t go necessarily to plan and things become quite intertwined and a whole mess of trouble for everyone brews before the end. [Read more...]
Archival Review: Batman Begins
07/28/2008 by Leave a Comment
Christopher Nolan reboots and revitalizes a dying franchise that takes the source material seriously and creates one of the better comic book origin films to date.
Christian Bale stars as Bruce Wayne who has purposefully got himself thrown into prison and entered a life of crime to train and learn how to get back at evil and strike fear into their hearts. While in prison he is approached by Henri Ducard (Liam Nesson) speaking on the behalf of Ra’s al Ghul (Ken Watanabe), who leads an organization called the League of Shadows who wishes to, rid the world of the scum of the earth. The league trains Wayne into a skilled master of fighting, stealth, and combat tactics, before having to pass the final test of executing a proven criminal. Refusing to kill the man, Wayne is forced to defend himself, kills Ra’s al Ghul, and destroys the league’s hide out along with many of it’s members; with Wayne saving Henri Ducard before it’s all said and done, yet has to leave him behind.
Upon returning to Gotham, Wayne, along with the help of Alfred (Michael Caine) the family butler begins to re-establish his name in both Wayne Enterprises and the city. He begins to work secretly with Alfred creating Batman while also enlisting the help of Lucius Fox at Wayne Enterprises for the high tech gadgetry needed to become Batman. [Read more...]
Review: Cassandra's Dream
01/31/2008 by Leave a Comment
Woody Allen’s second endeavor into crime drama, after the excellent Match Point, is another solid effort with excellent work from the cast, but a story that doesn’t really surprise on many levels. [Read more...]
Review: Michael Clayton
10/14/2007 by Leave a Comment
This is the kind of movie we need more of, intelligent thrillers, that keeps you guessing, constantly engages you in the picture, and doesn’t take the audiences knowledge for granted.
Tony Gilroy, writer of the Bourne movies, makes his directorial debut here and does a fantastic job and he made his job a lot easier by getting an amazing cast. George Clooney leads the way and is absolutely fantastic as the title character. [Read more...]
