Basic Instinct

Psychological murder mystery thriller set in San Francisco, California.  Basic Instinct crosses sexual boundaries in film making in that it is extremely explicit.  Michael Douglas plays Nick Curran, the Detective who is investigating the murder of a rock star with an ice pick.  Sharon Stone is Catherine Tramell, she is a murder mystery writer who has written about a murder with an ice pick and therefore she has given herself the perfect alibi – “I’d have to be pretty stupid to write a book about killing and then kill him the way I described in my book. I’d be announcing myself as the killer. I’m not stupid. “.  However, she was the last person known to be in contact with the victim.    Jeanne Tripplehorn also stars as the Psychologist who is helping Nick to overcome his alcoholism and itchy trigger finger.

The music is haunting and the winding roads round the coast to Catherine’s beach house make your spine go all tingly.  The chemistry between Douglas and Stone in this movie is electric and charged with sexual tension.  It is gripping in suspense and the script is exceptionally strong.  Every time Stone appears on the set you fall for her charm.  You get sucked in.  You will try to find the clues but the movie is too clever for you!
IMDB Basic Instinct

Trailer

Rating 8.6/10

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Casino

Mobsters set up gambling casinos in Los Vegas in the 1980’s so they could cream of the money.  Very closely based on truth, a 1983 newspaper headline story.  The Tangiers Hotel is one of these  greedy scams run by Robert De Niro (Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein) for the mob.  The fab opening scene sees a car bomb go off and you know this is going to be a violent film from the start.  Mobster friend and ally Joe Pesci (Nicky Santoro) is a hitman who loses his temper easily and tries to make a killing on the casinos by cheating until he is banned from every casino.    Sam does not have a license for his casino, to avoid detection he changes his job title regularly and sooner or later the trail of felony leads to his door curtesy of Nicky.   Sharon Stone (Ginger McKenna plays the girlfriend who becomes Mrs Rothstein.   Robert De Niro wears incredible pink suits.  The film does not have tension running through it and the narrative is long and laboured and it could easily have been cut down to 2 hours from a whopping 3!.  However, Sharon Stone puts in a good performance as the girlfriend and their relationship is believable.

IMDB Casino

Trailer

Rating: 7.5/10

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