Harry Brown (2009)

3.5 / 5
Tagline:  One Man Will Stand Alone
Directed by:  Daniel Barber
Written by:  Gary Young
Actors include:  Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, David Bradley
Genre:  Action, Crime, Drama
Length:  103 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review: 

Every year must have a decent revenge flick, and for 2009 Harry Brown is where it's at.  Michael Caine plays the title character, a lonely man living in a dangerous neighborhood.  After his only friend and Wife are killed by the street toughs, he decides to take matters into his own hands (he's an ex-serviceman).  The Police of course are useless and they seem oblivious to Caine, but when it starts coming together they are willing to look the other way (lazy butts).  It's kinda missing the sentimentality that made Gran Torino so effective, and it's not quite as brutal or satisfying as the Death Wish.  Still it's highly entertaining and Caine does a good job, and the pacing is quite good despite the lack of originality.  I'm always a sucker for a good revenge film and this is a good one, just not in league with some of the classics!

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Lake Mungo (2008)

3 / 5 May '11
Tagline: If you've never seen a ghost... Look closer.
Directed by: Joel Anderson
Written by: Joel Anderson
Actors include: Rosie Traynor, David Pledger, Martin Sharpe
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Length: 87 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well points for creativity should be awarded here, though the dry spots in the story were a little too plentiful. The film is told in the style of a documentary about a family who's Daughter Alice has turned up drowned in the lake. They determine her death as accidental and her family tries to move on, they start seeing shadowy versions of Alice around. They contact some Supernatural specialists and exhume the body to try to determine what has happened. As things unravel we find out things aren't quite what we seem, and the more digging that happens the more the story contorts. Some of the imagery here is yes, somewhat creepy but beyond that I can't say much in the way of horror happens. It at least does try to build mystery and it did have me wondering exactly what was going similar to some of Peter Weir's flicks. I just think if they'd had a better cast and bothered to try to make it a bit more ominous things would have been so much better. Thanks so much to Happywax (http://doomgoryumshorroremporium.blogspot.com/) for this recommendation!

Availability:  On DVD

Creep (2004)

3.5 / 5 May '11
Tagline: Your journey terminates here.
Directed by: Christopher Smith
Written by: Christopher Smith
Actors include: Franka Potente, Sean Harris, Vas Blackwood
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 85 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I had no idea going into this film that it was basically a remake of Death Line [Raw Meat] complete with shots of Franka Potente running (ala Lola rennt [Run Lola Run]). Even so it was pretty amusing, especially the way they set the situation up. Kate (Franka Potente) is on her way home from a party when she falls asleep in the subway waiting for a train. She wakes up only to find herself locked in and under attack by a creepy co-worker and of course she seems to make the wrong choice with every turn. While trying to find a place to escape she ends up in the underground with the Homeless people. However in her attempt to escape she finds something far more sinister down below. So it does have some carnage in it, though it's mainly one of those building tension escape type scenarios which is just fine with me. It is relatively well made and the cast make it a little more appealing then it could have been with unknowns. Thanks to horror fiends Axemaster and Happywax for this recommend, definitely a fun little horror flick for most.

Availability:  On DVD

Eastern Promises (2007)

3.5 / 5 Jun '10
Tagline: Every sin leaves a mark.
Directed by: David Cronenberg
Written by: Steven Knight
Actors include: Josef Altin, Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortenssen
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Length: 100 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This wasn't at all what I had expected as a David Cronenberg fan but then again I've only really watched his older sci-fi stuff. This is very Hollywood big budget and trying to pull at the 'ole heartstrings I think (that didn't really work on me). It's about a kindly Nurse named Anna (Naomi Watts) who delivers a baby from a mother who dies giving child birth. Anna finds the dead young girl's diary which is written in Russian which she doesn't speak. Fortunately for her she has Russian people in her family to translate. Before they can help her a kindly but pushy older Fellow clearly related to some sort of Mafia offers to trade her the diary for the dead girl's address of family so the child could be put in the right place. He grabs the diary and of course doesn't offer Anna any help, though at least one of his henchmen seem to be helpful. Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) seems to be the kind one in the crime syndicate but will they be able to get the answers they need? I actually thought that this was really easy to follow and a very obvious film really. It didn't offer anything unexpected (except a bit of graphic violence) and it seemed to be more of a drama more than anything. It wasn't intense, it wasn't thrilling, it wasn't even shocking or very creative. I really don't get what the big frickin' deal was about this film although I don't exactly think it's bad either.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Hard Candy (2005)

2 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: Strangers shouldn't talk to little girls.
Directed by: David Slade
Written by: Brian Nelson
Actors include: Ellen Page, Patrick Wilson, Sandra Oh
Genre: Thriller
Length: 104 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I can see why people are rather split on this, I thought from reading the synopsis that this looked interesting but the execution proved how wrong I was. I even liked Ellen Page in Juno but found her to be an obnoxious little snot nosed brainiac kid in this. She plays Haley, a character who seduces a fellow who she perceives as an online pedophile. I'm dead against pedophilia but this girl is pretty much equally to blame with the shenanigans she's pulling. She meets Jeff (the pedo) in person before going to his house and causing problems. At first she's playing along but before long she ties him up while searching through his house for evidence of wrong doing. When she finds some pictures she decides she should castrate him and the game rolls on. It's incredibly slow moving and talky and irritating I'm afraid, not nearly as disturbing or graphic as I'd been led to believe at all, it could nearly have been a PG were it not for "adult discussion". Definitely a disappointment, it seems like they could have done so much more with this one.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Dead End (2003)

3.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: Read the signs.
Directed by: Jean-Baptiste Andrea, Fabrice Canepa
Written by: Jean-Baptiste Andrea, Fabrice Canepa
Actors include: Ray Wise, Lin Shay, Alexandra Holden
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 85 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Although I thought this was relatively enjoyable there were some extremely cheesy things that kept this from being great. The story is about a family driving out on Christmas Eve to go to a relative's house. The father decides to take a short cut which lands them in a world of trouble. They end up on a extremely long road, all signs of life have disappeared except for a ghost (badly acted by model Amber Smith) who appears every time they have to stop the car. It's kind of a hybrid of a Stephen King novel and Identity in a way, sort of the mystery of what the heck is going on (though it's obvious). It's definitely a situational horror thing and it's quite effective on that level, there is some gore and even a tiny bit of comedy (I love Mom's drawing) packed in there. It's not the most amazing film one is likely to come across, but the family is well acted and somewhat believable and the what if factor is what really makes it work.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Case 39 (2009)

1.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: Some cases should never be opened.
Directed by: Christian Alvart
Written by: Ray Wright
Actors include: Renée Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 109 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Yikes, well there aren't too many nice things to start out with here, I made it to the end of the movie and it had a budget. There, I'm done. The story revolves around child abuse case worker Emily Jenkins (Renée Zellweger looking rather shoddy) who is overworked, and then her boss dumps Case 39 on her. It involves a little girl who won't eat and looks gaunt and terribly abused. Emily is concerned enough that she gives the little girl her cell phone number, so when she receives a desperate call for help from the girl she rushes to her aid and saves her. Then the little girl convinces her that she should stay at Emily's until she has a new family found for her. While I won't tell you what the rest is about I will tell you that immediately it's obvious what is going on so if they are trying to play "mystery" it's a huge failure. It also fails entirely to scare in any possible way, it fails on a psychological level, heck it fails all around in big ways. At least it was laughably stupid so I got a slight bit of entertainment out of how cliche it was, but I can't find much of anything to recommend here.

Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD

Orphan (2009)

3.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: Can you keep a secret?
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
Written by: David Johnson
Actors include: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Length: 123 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well, having just seen the wretched film Case 39, I was expecting this to be basically the exact same idea. It was, however this one is far superior, it's not as predictable (though it's not exactly surprising) and they actually bothered to explain what was happening which I appreciated. At any rate, a couple who have a deaf little girl and a little boy are having a hard time after a stillborn comes there way. They decide to adopt, so they go to an Orphanage and find Esther, a particularly unusual and bright 9 year old girl sitting off by herself. They fall for her and take her home and adopt her, and at first everything seems perfect. From there it basically goes into a retread of The Bad Seed only there is something different about this tale. It's not the most horrific film ever, in fact yes it's more of a thriller but I have to give it credit, it's over 2 hours long but it held my attention. That being said, in no way did it need to be that long but just the same probably worth a viewing on a rainy day.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Trade (2007)

2 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: You'll pay for this.
Directed by: Marco Kreuzpaintner
Written by: Jose Rivera, Peter Landesman
Actors include: Kevin Kline, Kathleen Gati, Alicja Bachleda
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Length: 120 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
While this actually started well, at first I thought it would be similar in spirit to Hostel seeing as how it was very violent, surprising and dark initially. Soon something changed and it became one of the most stupid contrived ridiculous films ever made. It's about the sex trade industry in Mexico, we meet two young girls who were flown in to Mexico in hopes of modelling work. They are kidnapped from the airport upon arrival pretty much, and also we follow a 13 year old Mexican girl called Adriana who is kidnapped off of her bike. The purpose of kidnapping the girls is to rape them, then sell them to areas in the US for more sex. Her 17 year old brother Jorge goes on a mission to retrieve his sister. Where it gets beyond moronic is brother Jorge goes on this unlikely friendship/getting to know you venture with a Man he randomly meets Ray Sheridan (Kevin Kline). It's overly long, and the downtrodden mood is quickly ruined by this silly buddy nature of it. Yet for all of my complaining I can't even seem to convey how much it sank into the depths of blah and it took so long to do so (the movie is sadly 2 hrs long). Somewhere in here is a good movie, if it had been completely rearranged and huge portions omitted but as is it was really a waste of time.

Availability:  On DVD

Antichrist (2009)

3.5 / 5 Dec '10
Tagline: When nature turns evil, true terror awaits.
Directed by: Lars von Trier
Written by: Lars von Trier
Actors include: Willem DaFoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Horror
Length: 105 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
For me this was a rather hit and miss film, the ending I quite enjoyed...okay well maybe "enjoyed" isn't the word...it made me uncomfortable. The beginning I found to be rather dry and up it's own ass (although very well acted) it was rather boring. It begins with the death of a couple's infant while they are having sex (I was shocked at how much we see here honestly), from there it's a downward spiral of guilt, shame and despair. It's a depressing film, and some of the creepy imagery is quite well created (especially the woods and dead animals). The ending was surprisingly demented and entertaining though people watching this as an art film will be disappointed, I thought it had good payoff. It does "cross the line" a few times into silly territory...I mean a talking fox? What was up with that? Oh well it's a strange hybrid of art film, disturbing gross out fest and well acted drama....it was worth watching but not something I'd probably watch again.

Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD

Déjà Vu (2006)

3 / 5
Tagline:  If you think it's just a feeling, go back... and look again.
Directed by:  Tony Scott
Written by:  Bill Marsilii, Terry Rossio
Actors include:  Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, James Caviezel
Genre:  Thriller, Action
Length:  126 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:

My friend Lisa was desperate to see this one, so Kronz and I tagged along to the theatre.  I had no idea what to expect going in, I only knew it was a Denzel Washington film.  It turned out to be a time travel film wherein Denzel was trying to solve a murder by getting clues through a time scope that saw 4 days into the past.  Already you can probably see that it was far from realistic (but what time travel movies are?).  It did manage to be entertaining despite the fact that it had many eye rolling moments, and it was highly predictable.  I'm not one for action films usually but I was glad I saw this...although I'm sure to never want to see it again.

Availability:  On Blu-ray & DVD

X-Men (2000)

2.5 / 5
Tagline: The future is here.
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Written by: Bryan Singer, Tom DeSanto
Actors include: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Length: 104 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I have never read one of the comic books (I'm guessing this was based on one) nor did I know anything about this going into it. An ex-boyfriend actually put this on (why he couldn't have waited until I wasn't visiting to watch it is beyond me) and well it could have been worse I suppose. The idea is that these mutants (with useful battle abilities) are outcast by society so they have a special school thing they go to. They then are faced with a battle between mutant terrorists (I guess not all mutants get along). The furry wolfman rip-off guy is the lead mutant (how original), and really the costumes and their special powers were a little too ridiculous for me to enjoy. I think I disliked this for the same reason I dislike most Troma films, I'm not a 12 year old boy. It had a beginning, an end, special effects, and action so if you look for those things in a film then this might be entertaining for you. Maybe you had to read the comics or something to really get into this, who knows? If you like superhero stuff than you will probably like this, I knew going into it I probably wasn't going to enjoy and gosh darn it I was right.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Unbreakable (2000)

2 / 5
Tagline: Are You Ready For The Truth?
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Written by: M. Night Shyamalan
Actors include: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Drama
Length: 106 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I actually despised this 'un, in fact aside from The Sixth Sense Shyamalan really has nothing worth learning to spell his name for. In this case I actually like many of the cast members so I was entirely willing to watch it but unfortunately I kept waiting for something to happen. The story is about a Man who is physically damaged in a train accident but he learns something more important about himself. Anyhow who says they were shocked didn't bother to read the title. I really find this to be one of the most overrated movies of all time, I found basically nothing redeeming here but heck an awful lot of folks loved this so I think it's something you'll have to find out for yourself.

Availability:  On DVD

Inglorious Basterds (2009)

4.5 / 5
Tagline:  "We're in the Nazi killin' business and cousin, business is a-boomin'."
Directed by:  Quentin Tarantino
Written by:  Quentin Tarantino
Actors include:  Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth
Genre:  Drama, War, Action
Length:  153 minutes
Banned:  Nope
Country:  USA/Germany

Review: 

To be honest I wasn't too sure about watching this as I have barely any interest towards new movies and well Brad Pitt isn't my favorite.  Still seeing as how this is a Quentin Tarantino venture I gave it a try, and I actually thought it was very good.  Consider the fact that this is over two and a half hours long it's very exciting and crams a lot in so it doesn't feel very long at all.  It's segmented into chapters, the first being about  "The Jew Hunter" coming to find a family of missing jews at the home of a diary farmer.  The second chapter being about the group of Nazi killers called the Inglourious Basterds which is led by Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt).  Now this part is extremely bloody and gratuitous which I liked but it may but some weaker stomached folks off.  The third chapter is about a young woman who runs a cinema in Paris who is asked to hold a Nazi film premiere.  The fourth chapter has all sorts of drama leading up to the film festival including the Besterds plotting to attack the premiere.  Lastly of course is everything coming to a-head during the Premiere.  Now of course I've left out many important details and everything winds together in a neat little blood soaked manner.  It's such a well put together picture and every detail counts, it's no wonder so many hail this to be one of the best!  I guess it all depends on what you are looking for, but if you want an interesting war time revenge epic this should have everything one could hope to find.  It even has many nods to various famous filmmakers that film buffs should enjoy.  If you are looking for typical predictable Hollywood fare, then you will probably want to look elsewhere.  I'm very curious how much of the plot of this film is taken from the original but hopefully I'll watch that very soon.  Definitely a really fun venture that I liked, perhaps there is hope in modern cinema afterall?

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Spiral (2007)

2 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Adam Green, Joel Moore
Written by: Jeremy Danial Boreing, Joel Moore
Actors include: Joel Moore, Amber Tamblyn, Zachary Levi
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 90 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Ouch, I really thought this would have been a whole lot better than it is due to it's reputation. This was an Anchor Bay original release, and it does appear as though they had a reasonable budget for this. The plot is about a telemarketer named Mason (Joel Moore) who is reclusive, obnoxious and weird (not in a cute way, just in a handicapped sort of way). He stinks at his job and he has only one friend until he meets Amber (Amber Tamblyn). Mason happens to be a good painter which attracts Amber (who is seriously so annoying...think Six from Blossom only way less likeable). Amber is attracted to Mason's art, and she becomes his muse. After a long time of their awkward and unbelievable romance (and nothing else happening) we are given a tiny thriller plot. See Amber finds a whole bunch of sketch books with girl's names and each one has the last sketch missing and he won't show her his last sketch for her either. I won't ruin it but it's so beyond moronic, I truly feel like my time was completely wasted. Not to mention the terrible songs (the ones with words anyhow, the rest of the time it's jazz) and lack of reason and background information on Mason that would have made this a better film. Oh it's easy to understand and follow but it's also rather obvious and pointless. If you want an art related horror film I'd recommend Color Me Blood Red instead.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

El Maquinista (2004) aka The Machinist

4 / 5 Feb '11
Tagline: Trevor Reznick is four letters away from the truth.
Directed by: Brad Anderson
Written by: Scott Kosar
Actors include: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Genre: Thriller
Length: 101 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
The ultimate work safety video...or is it. It's one heck of a dark and fascinating character study, and Christian Bale really earned some respect from me here. He looks like a concentration camp victim he's so skinny, but that is sort of the point here. Bale plays Trevor Reznik, an insomniac who works as a machinist in a factory. He looks terrible and barely functions, and things go from bad to worse when he inadvertently causes an accident to happen at work. The story flips back and forth through time so it's a bit tough to follow at first, but it's not too difficult and well worth the effort. It's gloomy, somewhat disturbing and rather gripping as well. Quite the psychological thriller that I didn't even know existed until Kronz mentioned it to me. I certainly think numerous other films took influence from this one after and I'd definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a dark film.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Rambo (2008)

3.5 / 5 Mar '11
Tagline: Heroes never die.... They just reload.
Directed by: Sylvester Stallone
Written by: Sylvester Stallone, Art Monterastelli
Actors include: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden
Genre: Action, Thriller
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
If you want to see a movie with an insanely high body count and little else, then this is your film. I applaud it for being fast paced, and for jumping right in to the cruelty and violence. The thing is, one doesn't watch a Rambo movie for plot (I'd hope), so most who came to this expecting an action killathon will be satisfied. The plot has Rambo working as a snake capturer when he is recruited to drive a boat to war torn Burma by some religious do-gooders. He reluctantly agrees, but 10 days later when nobody has heard from the religious folks he meets some mercenaries assigned to bring back the missing folks. He wants to help, they don't want to let him help so he helps anyways. Big "plot" huh....but any how there are so many exploded people and carnage that any action lover should be pleased. At least Rambo hasn't gone soft after all these years...in fact this has to be one of the bloodiest movies ever!

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray