Recommend a movie

[Vultural]

Eye In The Sky - 2007 - 6/10
AKA - Gun Chung  //  跟蹤

Hong Kong caper film with Simon Yam and Tony Leung.
Tightly organized gang circumvents omnipresent surveillance cameras, staging several mid-tier heists.
Yam heads up the plain clothes surveillance team, who hone in on the hideout while the gang plans a final haul.
Nothing new here, though professionally executed.
This ain’t Johnnie To or John Woo at their prime.
Worth a look for HK fanboys.

[Vultural]

Big Eyes - 2014 - 7/10

Based on the true story of Margaret Keane who drew wildly popular “big eyed" children in the 50s and 60s.
Her husband claims credit, since womenfolk lack serious artistic talent.
Christopher Waltz steals more than credit, he steals every scene with his cringeworthy portrayal of the oily husband.
This is a Tim Burton film and I was concerned going in that it would be another excursion into repetitive weirdness.
Not to worry, this was a straight ahead drama / female empowerment journey with nice San Francisco locations.
Turns out Burton is an admirer and collector of her work.
Narrative never drags, though it is spare on the aftermath.
Terence Stamp delicious as sarcastic art critic.

Creepy, big eyed children would make perfect zombies.

[Vultural]

Sense And Sensibility - 1995 - 6/10

I have probably viewed this almost twenty times.
Over the years, I have grown more and more disenchanted with it, due to two headliners.
Alan Rickman’s Col Brandon is portrayed as rather weak and incompetent, not to mention he was way too old to be a proper suitor for ****e Winslet’s Marianne Dashwood (Rickman was 30 years older than Winslet).
A much bigger problem is with writer / star Emma Thompson who cast herself as 19 year old Elinor Dashwood.  Thompson was 36 when the film released, and matronly at that.
There is still a lot to appreciate in this version.  Scenery, outstanding support (though Hugh Grant sleepwalks his role), great score, costume design, even the direction - and I do not like Ang Lee.
This used to be such a favorite, I wish it were still so.

The 2008 adaptation has a lot more going for it, though the role of the dashing Willoughby was profoundly miscast, and that character seemed downright repellant.

[Vultural]

Miss Bala - 2012 - 6/10

Mexican film about aspiring beauty contestant getting embroiled with the drug cartel.
Narrative begins plausibly as two girls hurry to the cattle call, and line up for their big break.
That night, they go to a party thrown by police and federal drug agents.
Who in their right mind would attend a DEA shebang?
The main girl gradually gets sucked into a war between gangs and cops,
all the while showing up for her beauty contest appearances!
After awhile, realism gave way to allegory.
One of those “interesting” flicks;  worth seeing and recommending, but more arthouse than grindhouse.

[Vultural]

Sin City - A Dame To Kill For - 2014 - 6/10

Acceptable ratings score, but atrocious reviews.
What do critics know?
Maybe they didn't appreciate Noir.
Perhaps they don't like black n white.
Possibly they get turned off by florid dialogue.
Could be they wanted a more timely, more faithful sequel.
Five minutes in, I grasped I was watching an inferior clone of the original.
While not as bad as feared, this was flawed.  Writing was fruity and stilted, action was contrived, the characters were even more caricatures than before.  It reminded me of a parody and I decided to interpret it thus.
All the visual flourishes that punctuated the first film, done to death here.  Too bad.
Is this a decent Noir?  No.  This is a fifteen year old’s comic book mentality of that genre.
Acceptable time waster, also very much a downer.
Worse, resolutions on stories abrupt and poorly thought out.

[Vultural]

The Shadow Strikes! - 1994/2013 - 6/10

The 1994 pulp flick receives an overhaul, courtesy Fanedit.
Silliness and bad jokes are excised, and the movie is rendered black and white.
Instead of a lame imitation, the film is now dark homage to 30s action films.
Gowns and tuxedos resemble Nick & Nora Charles wardrobe, retro gizmos look cool, and the back lot passes for a foggy city.
The movie remains marred by poor script and bad direction, but Alec Baldwin is great, flashing more charisma than Zane (Phantom), Campbell (Rocketeer), and Beatty (Tracy), as studios tried to cash in on nostalgia during the mid 90s.
Definitely worth tracking down, especially if you have a weakness for vintage.

 

Trailer:
http://vimeo.com/64226357

[Vultural]

Trip To Italy - 2014 - 6/10

Sequel to The Trip (2011) which I had looked forward to viewing, but ended up disliking.
So why I put this on ... more fool me.
Once again Coogan and Brydon tour a series of top restaurants, crack wise, bitch, and chase tail.
Well, not Coogan who seems more restrained in this film, subdued, as if he was not keen on the project.
Nor would most relish spending weeks with Rob Brydon who excels as an annoying prat.
Breathtaking scenery, mouthwatering food, with added bits with family back home.
At one point Coogan’s son visits - as played by an actor.
The journey is scripted.  Coogan and Brydon play themselves, yet they are reading lines.  OK - fake, not a doc.
If you go into this knowing both men play versions of themselves, in a story otherwise utterly fictitious, you will perhaps enjoy this more.

[Vultural]

A Night To Remember - 1958 - 7/10

Classic British film of the Titanic’s maiden, and last, voyage.
Well cast ensemble of upper and lower class, crews and captains.
Unlike later productions, rather reserved, displaying impeccable British understatement.
Far less dramas and emotional outbursts.

[Vultural]

Hidden Face - 2011 - 7/10

Quicksand thriller from Spain.
Insecure female decides to “test” her boyfriend.
Does he really love me?
Would he miss me if I left?
She disappears.
Big - big - big mistake.
After a couple of days, he gets drunk at a cafe and goes home with a new bang bunny.

Males, being creatures of limited depth, rarely recall ex-girlfriends once new the new face drains the mojo.
Slow to get going, but a nightmare for asthmatics, the claustrophobic, and the insecure.

[Vultural]

The Gatekeepers - 2012 - 7/10

Documentary interviewing six former heads of Israel’s Shin Bet, and the endless problems stemming from the Palestine occupation.
All calmly, matter of fact, discuss assassination, interrogation, torture.
Refreshing candor and bluntness.
Men express genuine surprise when peace accords were reached in Oslo, only to watch it all unravel.
None hold back on pin-pointing the chief instigators and enablers for war and terror:
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, religious West Bank settlers, gutless Prime Ministers.
Nominated for an Academy Award, lost to the feel-good, crowd pleaser, Sugarman.
Kinda says it all.

[Vultural]

Bothersome Man - 2006 - 7/10
AKA - Den Brysomme Mannen

Norwegian parable.
Office drone wakes up on bus roaring down oblivion highway.
He is dumped at a shack, then ferried to his new city, new apartment, new job.
Everyone is cheery, friendly, work duties are undemanding, and he lands a girlfriend who is agreeable and willing.
Sound like Paradise to you?  Yeah, well, some types are never happy with their lot.
The new man is dissatisfied.  He cannot pinpoint what his problem is with Eden, but he wants something else.
And he gradually makes everyone around him uncomfortable.
Well thought out visuals, maddening dialogue, and steady pace as the reveal unfolds.

[Vultural]

Ghost - 2012 - 7/10
AKA: Phantom

Korea’s Cyber Squad Unit investigates the suicide of sex scandal actress, and dives deep into the snake pit of blackmail, vengeance, murder.
Series is a hacker’s delight.  Identify theft, DDoS attacks, steganography, file manipulation, malware, falsified texts.  One episode involved crashing media outlets and traffic lights with a virus.  Afterward, citizens flocked to a rising computer security agency.  Its stock soared.  Three stars if you can guess who launched that virus.
Police procedural series is one cat and mouse contest, with villains and heroes getting outflanked, then outsmarting the other.  Evidence tampering, moles, bribery.
The main villain was well characterized and sympathetic.  One could identify with his drive for revenge.
Ghost was slick, fast paced, with more twists than a coiled sidewinder.  Also, no romance.  This series just cranks from start to end.

[Vultural]

Before I Go To Sleep - 2014 - 5/10

Woman (Nicole Kidman) wakes up next to “husband" (Colin Firth).
Only she has no idea who he is.  After an accident ten years earlier, she suffers from anterograde amnesia.
Each day is a blank, she cannot remember the previous day, only memories up to her late twenties remain.
Every night when she sleeps she forgets that day all over.
There are mysteries.
A psychiatrist is trying to help her - is he really a psychiatrist?
Is Colin Firth really her husband?
What happened ten years ago?  Who was she?
Less imaginative and creative than 50 First Dates, let alone Memento.
Slow, stagey, cheap looking.  Ill thought out script with numerous plot holes.
Waste of talent.

[Vultural]

The Guest - 2014 - 5/10

Recently discharged soldier shows up at doorstep of family of his combat buddy.  Recently deceased.
Politely gains their trust with -
“He wanted to me tell you he loved all of you.”  and  “I would have been here earlier only I was in the hospital.”
Red flag alert for any family other than a movie family!  What kind of hospital?
Aarrgghh, they never catch on.  Instead they confide and reveal themselves.
Straight off the audience sees Dan Stevens is wound tighter than a rabbit trap.
First half of the film actually pretty good, before the plot bounds into the Land of the Preposterous.
Experimentation - civilian contractors - mercenaries - don’t wonder.
Not that I have to have explanations, in fact I enjoy ambiguous narratives.  Yet the script laid down miles of plot rail and left numerous questions suspended.
Better for non-demanding action buffs.

[Vultural]

Sleep Tight - 2011 - 6/10
AKA - Mientras Duerme

Suspenseful thriller about the creeper.
Barcelona concierge uses his pass key to unlock guest rooms in the middle of the night.
Chloroform ensures no one wakes up.
While tenants slumber, he explores, or pulls down bed sheets.
One habit he does is brush his teeth with their toothbrush, then wipe it dry.
That pales next to other actions which I won't spoil here.
Disturbing mix of home invasion and peeping.
Nice one for late night.

[Vultural]

Spring Breakers - 2012 - 6/10

Diverting trash.
Four hotties roll down to St Pete for sun, sand, booze, drugs, parties, adventure.
They hook up with a low level gangsta (James Franco effective as sleaze) and strut into dark territory.
First half of film binge drinking, bare breasts, layered disjointed dialogue. Daylight.
Second half much gloomier.
Overall, not a fun ride, but a bad acid trip.
Pink ski masks glow great under blacklight.
Confession, I was the only one in the room who liked this one.

[Vultural]

Hackney’s Finest - 2014 - 6/10

Acceptable crime spoof that launches interesting, stumbles at the end.
Rogue copper tries to bust drug courier network.
After a savage interrogation of a suspect, he gets what he thinks is his first break.
He enlists a Russian crew for the dirty work, the courier has a Jamaican connection.
Accents = Cockney, Pakistani, Russian, Chechen, Jamaican, Oxford, dunno what else.
Brace for a degree of incomprehension unless you are a UK local.
Fun ride for much of the film, but budget limitations apparent by the end.
Ran out of energy, laughs, twists.
Caveat emptor - overdose of drug use in this, lot of free basing.

[Vultural]

Inherent Vice - 2014 -  6/10

I disliked the book, my bride dislikes Joaquin Phoenix, so what was I thinking?
I was hoping-hoping-hoping for an echo of Boogie Nights.
Paul Thomas Anderson directs, and location setting marks a return to the Los Angeles of the 70s.
Not to be.  Boogie Nights was almost epic in its structure and grandeur.
Inherent Vice is the incoherent ramble of a blitzed stoner.  That is fully in keeping with the novel, though.
Seemingly important characters surface, only to disappear.  Many story threads wither unresolved.
Overlong, and not especially funny, though it had its moments.
Think shaggy dog yarn.  Almost like Big Lebowski - only straight and grim faced.
Good Noirish acting from Phoenix and Brolin not enough.

[Vultural]

Girl Model - 2011 - 7/10

Documentary about the modeling meat market.
The girls in this film come from Siberia and are 13 - 14 years old.  Most are rejected for being too old (say 15) or overweight (not starved enough).  Those “fortunate” enough to get signed will travel to Japan for work.
Narrative tracks two stories.  Young girl who optimistically chases the dream, only to spiral down.  The other is of the “talent agent” who used to be a girl model, totally hated it, but is now an active exploiter.
Models struggle in squalid rooms, agents live posh.  Surprise, surprise.
Disturbing, unpleasant.

[Vultural]

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - 2012 - 6/10

Yer riding high in April, shot down in May.
Financial whiz, Changez, fresh outta college, nabs a highly lucrative job in a Wall Street capitalization firm. He is mentored by Keef Sutherland, and starts banging the boss's niece. He is on the jet express to the corner suite.
After 9/11, everything changes.  As a Pakistani, he is perceived as another terrorist.
Great character study of pawn in no-win situation, who successfully reinvents himself, and attracts the beady eye of government ops.  
Great acting all around, with gray area plot (as in, you find your sympathies shifting around).