Fatal Attraction

Michael Douglas (as Dan Gallagher) and Glen Close  (as Alex Forrest) star in this thriller from the late 1980’s.  The one with the “bunny boiler” in it!  This movie starts out like most with an innocent beginning when their paths cross at a party.  He is a lawyer with a wife and kid, she is a professional single woman.  Glen Close is not particularly attractive in my opinion but the two of them have a connection (they fancy each other) and before you know it they are having dinner together because his wife is away so they spend the night together (as you do?).  She changes herself from this person who is sexy and confident and who understands the rules to someone who is pathetic, attention seeking and psychopathic.  Glen Close certainly gives you value for your money.  She is actually extremely good at being evil. I’m sure she gave me nightmares back in the 80’s!  Michael Douglas is also on top form in this raunchy thriller.  The ending is not to be missed.
Fatal Attraction IMDB

Trailer

Rating:  7.4/10

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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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The Usual Suspects

Film was made in 1995.

This is actually a line up of Stephen Baldwin (Alec Baldwin’s brother), Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro (License to Kill, Bond film), Kevin Pollak and Kevin Spacey – see picture below.  These are the usual suspects because they are all hardened and notorious criminals except for Spacey who plays Roger “Verbal” Kint, a cripple who has defrauded people.  Fortunately by happy co-incidence in bringing these fellas together in a fairly bad mood means that they are ready for some pay back time on the police.  They plan and execute a crime from their shared cell while awaiting to be charged which sets the ball rolling for all of them to part-take in another crime but this one will be one of certain death with huge money stakes involved and they have no choice but to agree.   This tale is rather chilling in that the man behind everything is somebody akin to the devil.

To sum up, the actual hopping around from past to present disturbs your concentration of the facts from the very beginning.  I was always asking myself are we in the now?  The very first scene is the most important part of the film so pay attention to get a head start.  A clever plot and some extremely good acting, particularly Kevin Spacey who won an Oscar.  The mood was just right.  We enjoyed this film.
IMDB The Usual Suspects

Trailer

Rating 8.5/10

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Taken

17 year old Kim (Maggie Grace), daughter to a government security preventer Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), goes on holiday to Paris with a Friend to a cousins house.  With her Dad’s permission, he takes her to the airport and asks her to ring upon landing, ring each night and to let him know the address of where she is staying.  Upon landing in France, she and her friend meet a french boy, they share a taxi as it is cheaper and invites them to a party.  They inform him that they are own their own.  They get kidnapped.  The state starts looking for him after his destructive investigation.  He will “pull down the eiffel tower” if needs be.

The kidnapping is done as if it is presented on a plate.  After they get kidnapped, the pace of the film is fast, which is great it is 93 minutes long.  While the action is initially good in the first half, the climax action is too video gamey, walking into a room and take everyone out style.  It also becomes more of a hitman scenario as he kills on the way.  At one point he gets into the “house” where the Albanians are, finds him self with Marko and manages to take them all out.  Although cringeworthy, was done  like a cheesey Bond.

The best bit was when Liam Neeson is in the crime scene and he reconstructs the kidnapping.  It really hits home that she has been Taken.  Being a fan of Liam Neeson (from Schindler’s list) I am disappointed but there were moments.  Although the beginning is never engaging, you are meant to feel Liam Neeson as a boring Father.
IMDB Taken

Trailer

Rating 5.2/10

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The Machinist

Christian Bale works himself up into a frenzy in this psychological thriller/mystery. There is seriously something wrong with him, he cannot eat, he cannot sleep and he cannot remember. He has to resort to writing everything down on post-its in order to carry on a normal enough life to exist. He works in a factory with a bunch of guys and nobody likes him very much, lets just say he doesn’t have “friends”. As the movie progresses, he gets weirder, you will him out of his madness, but most shocking is the anorexic state that Bale has got himself into in order to make this film! There are a few red herrings but pay attention to detail it all adds up in the end. Summing up the film was dingy on the grey scale and dirgy like a day’s work in a lathe factory.

IMDB The Machinist

Trailer

Rating: 6.3/10

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The Departed

Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon are freshly appointed State Police fighting organised crime not merely City cops.  One of them will be asked to become an undercover cop, the “rat” in the crime gang. The other works for the police but is tipping off the crime lord, the “mole” in the police force.  Although they are aware of each other the trouble is that they don’t know who they are after. Each has to blow the other’s cover to ensure their own cover is safe.   Jack Nicholson plays the crime lord extremely well this is a role that he probably spends a lot of time getting into character and stays like it for days and Vera Farmiga plays the love interest between the two cops nice choice.  Fast paced action movie high on emotion. There is no complicated plot however it is tense and well thought out.  So apart from the intro’s childish dialogue and the cringeworthy Mark Wahlberg‘s potty mouth this was an excellent maffiosa film from Scorsese and we enjoyed it!  One of my favourite films.

IMDB The Departed 

Trailer

Rating 8.6/10

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Shutter Island

This film gets you on the Island and seriously messes with your mind. A patient is missing from the mental institute on an island. Leonardo DiCaprio, a federal marshal, is sent to investigate and find the missing patient. As soon as he arrives you want DiCaprio to get off the Island….but there is a storm and the ferry will not be arriving.  Spine chilling, thrilling and gripping.  Solid performance from Leonardo DiCaprio as expected and good casting of Ben Kingsley as the Psychiatric doctor.  We felt it made an impact on us – need a shrink!

IMDB Shutter Island

Trailer

Theme music – Krzysztof Penderecki – Symphony No. 3 – Passacaglia – Allegro moderato

Rating: 8.6/10

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Black Swan

Natalie Portman is the young ballerina chosen to become the principle dancer in a production of Swan Lake.  Her beauty and innocence make her the perfect choice for the role of the white swan but the role is split into two and she will have to master the black swan part which is completely the opposite of innocence,”perfection is not only about control it is about letting go”.  The film explores the neuroses of a young female coming to terms with her sexual maturity and her role as a principle dancer and trying to break free of the psychology that holds her back.  It is a search for perfection, a struggle to truly believe in oneself.  Natalie Portman deserves the greatest respect, her ballet was annoyingly rather good and her acting was superb.  A psychological thriller then with moments of darkness and tension kept my heart beating all the way through.    Sexually explicit/pornographic in parts.

IMDB Black Swan

Trailer

Rating 8/10

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Limitless

Ever wondered what it was like to be a super-intelligent human and in a state of hyperawareness?  You can figure out what the title means.

A simple little pill does all of the above to Bradley Cooper who lives in disarray in his apartment writing his novel which never gets started.  One little bag of the stuff helps him pull his life together, he cleans up his act like Mary Poppins and achieves runaway business success!  However, all drugs have side effects and the demise of his secret success is just around every corner.  Anna Friel shows what the drug can do to your complexion and Robert De Niro appears over 2/3rds of the way through the film so don’t be hanging on the edge of your seat for him.  Bradley Cooper takes you on a journey through his drug addiction seeing patterns where there have never been before and using foresight that can dodge death or paying the rent to being a crippling addict waiting for his next fix.  To sum up; one edge of the seat moment, the one and only Bradley Cooper, and one witty one-liner at the end of the film which makes you want to punch the air, and then feel silly cos the rest of the film did not match that feeling at all hence the rating 6.5 due mostly to a weak story line.

IMDB Link: Limitless

Trailer

Rating 6.8/10

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Adjustment Bureau

Apparently lives are mapped out and follow a set path. If you believe that you can change your path you are mistaken as great care is taken by the powers that be (The Adjustment Bureau) to make sure you follow your set path through life. Matt Damon is the politician winging his way to the top of his game and he meets the girl of his dreams in a public toilet (inspirational) where she imparts some political advice before disappearing.  He is captivated by her charm and pursues her for the rest of the film believing her to be his destiny.  This involves getting one over on the Adjustment Bureau, not as easy as you might think and not really a political thriller – more a romantic sci-fi.  The science fiction is good and believable.  Matt Damon makes a good politician and his co-star dancer Emily Blunt fulfills her role adequately making you care about the characters which wins you over.

IMDB Link The Adjustment Bureau

Trailer

Rating 7.9/10

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