Layer Cake (2004)

  This is going to be a short post because I am tired and my allergies are kicking my ass.

The unnamed hero of our story (Daniel Craig) is a middleman for drug dealer Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham).  He wants to retire but Price has two last requirements:  1) he must barter with The Duke (Jamie Foreman), an odious gangsta wannabe, over the acquisition of an exorbitant amount of ecstasy pills worth upwards of a million pounds sterling and 2) he must locate the crackhead daughter of an extremely wealthy man, Eddie Temple (Micheal Gambon).  This leads our hero into a veritable rabbit's warren of complications as the pills were stolen from Serbian war criminals and the daughter isn't so much being rescued as she is wanted as a hostage by Price.

This is probably the second or third time I've seen this film and I will tell you flat out, I did not get it the first time.  Even this time I was struggling to see where all the threads were going, mostly I think because I kept waiting for it to be funny.  I don't know what movie the guy on the poster saw but it wasn't the same one I did.  Sure, it had some funny moments but overall this is a straight-up violent film for violence's sake.  If you go in knowing that I think you'll have a better time with it.  It's damn sure stylish.  Jury's out on whether that's enough to make it good.

Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

  This is another very heavy story of morality and sacrificing individual needs for the greater good.  Even my leisure time is spent with things meant to make me smarter.  Which was not the reason I added this movie to my queue, by the way.  It's just bad timing to have come up to the top while I'm studying the effects of ideologies in culture.  I added it because it's William Powell and Myrna Loy and also because this was the last film John Dillinger ever saw.  The notorious bank robber was shot by the FBI after leaving the theater.  Now, having seen the movie, the irony is palpable.

Two East Side boys, orphaned after a tragic accident, are taken in by a kindly man (George Sidney) who also lost his son in the event.  Raised as brothers, the two diverge wildly in their career paths.  Blackie Gallagher (Clark Gable) is a racketeer and gambler, always on the move, always looking for the next score.  Jim Wade (William Powell) is the Assistant District Attorney, hellbent on cleaning up the city and maintaining his personal code of ethics.  Eleanor (Myrna Loy) was Blackie's girl but she left him for Jim, realizing that Blackie was never going to give up his gangster lifestyle.  Even that couldn't damage their friendship.  But when Blackie is accused of murder, Jim must decide whether to throw the book at his friend or break his code of honor to help him out.

This is a great movie for the issues it raises but it's so heavy-handed and syrupy in delivery it almost negates all its good qualities.  Dillinger must have liked it because he stayed til the end.  If he had gotten disgusted and walked out halfway, he might have escaped the ambush waiting for him.  But that's neither here nor there.

I've never been a big Clark Gable fan but he's the liveliest part of this film.  Powell and Loy are fantastic together, as always, but apart they get sucked into the melodrama.  Unless you are just really into Dillinger history or a huge fan of one of the principles, I would suggest giving this movie a miss.  Too much melodrama, not enough Manhattan.

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011)

  With everything that's been going on, I almost forgot I had watched this.  And that's horrible because this is a great documentary.  Yes, there are three of them and no, I didn't see the other two.  I was concerned that this would be a problem but I never felt like I was missing any information.

In 1993, three 8-year-old boys were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas.  The police quickly arrested three teenaged boys for the crime and they were convicted in court.  A team of documentarians were on hand and noticed a number of discrepancies so they created this video series to document the trial and aftermath.  The three teenagers maintained their innocence but it wasn't until new DNA evidence was introduced in 2011 that things really began moving in their quest for freedom.  By that time, the boys were adults who had spent 18 years - over half their lives - in prison.

I think this is a really important story.  We like to think we're civilized and logical and compassionate and so far removed from the days of summary judgments and witch hunts but this film shows that the need for answers and someone to blame still outweighs the truth sometimes.  The people of West Memphis had a terrible tragedy which was then compounded by the incarceration of three boys on almost no real evidence but a lot of speculation and fear mongering.

This documentary blends footage from 1993 all the way through to its airing in 2011 to bring the viewer as complete a picture as it can.  I absolutely encourage you to watch it.  Hell, watch all three.

The Last Station (2009)

I know, I know, it's another repost.  You guys know I wouldn't do this to you if I didn't have to, right?  I have high hopes of getting my homework done early enough to watch something new today.  It's mostly reading, so that should go by pretty quickly.

You don't care about my homework, nor should you.  You should care about The Last Station.  It really is a great film.  I didn't think it would stand up to a second viewing but I was wrong.  Originally posted 07 Jul 2013.    I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this film.  It doesn't sound like much, and by now you're all aware of my hatred for character dramas, but it was extremely compelling.

Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) is regarded by the Russian people as practically a living saint.  He has founded a movement to eschew physical property and ostentation, anchored by his friend and supporter Chertkov (Paul Giamatti).  This annoys his wife, Sofya (Helen Mirren) to no end, seeing as Tolstoy is a count of substantial standing.  She is concerned that Chertkov is exerting undue pressure on the aging writer to change his will, stipulating that his copyrights be placed in the public domain.  Both Chertkov and Sofya try to subvert Tolstoy's young secretary, Valentin (James McAvoy), to their respective cause. 

Helen Mirren is a spectacular creature.  She has all the best scenes in this movie.  All of them.  Christopher Plummer is excellent as Tolstoy, and McAvoy is at least watchable.  Paul Giamatti is unctuous and sleazy in the best way possible, but this is Dame Mirren's show and don't you forget it.

I know I don't usually talk about the orchestral score of a movie (because I usually don't notice it) but the music here was beautiful.  Sergei Yevtushenko is the man responsible for that, minus a piece from Puccini.

It was nominated for two Oscars in 2010:  Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer) and Best Lead Actress (Helen Mirren).  They lost to Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).  And now I'm all conflicted because I liked both of the winners in their roles as well.  Damn you, Academy!  Why do you make me feel?!

Snowpiercer (2013)

  I had intended to watch this weeks ago but the copy I had on the server was missing subtitles.  90% of the movie is in English but there are a couple of characters who only speak Korean.

In the near future, an attempt to correct global warming leads to a catastrophic event that freezes the planet.  Humanity's only survivors exist on a train that is in constant movement.  Onboard, there is a distinct gap between the head of the train and the tail section.  The wretched masses in the tail revolt under the leadership of Curtis (Chris Evans).  Other revolutions have been attempted but Curtis has something the others lacked:  a key.  Namgoong (Kang-ho Song) helped design the security locks on the train before being locked up for drug addiction.  Along the way, however, Curtis learns some very unpleasant truths regarding the nature of continued survival.  Everything has its price.

I liked this film.  I know there were a lot of detractors.  Honestly, though, I thought it was really solid.  Chris Evans did a great job and there were a lot of really neat imaginative touches throughout.  It had some shades of Oldboy but not enough to ever feel derivative.  It's worth a watch.

The Last Castle (2001)

I liked this one so much I bought it.  I really couldn't tell you why.  It's not my usual fare at all but something about it was extremely appealing to me.  I think it will be one of those comfortable movies that I can throw on while doing chores or homework where I can walk away and come back with it just playing in the background.  Originally posted 07 Jul 2013.    This was my 4th of July movie.  I felt it was appropriately patriotic.

General Eugene Irwin (Robert Redford) pleads guilty to disobeying a direct order and is sentenced to 10 years in the Castle, a military prison run by Colonel Winter (James Gandolfini).  Winter is initially obsequious at having such a distinguished war hero in his facility, albeit under reduced circumstances, but when Irwin unwittingly offends him, Winter reverts back to his original stance that prisoners are sub-human and best treated as living pawns.  After witnessing some of the abuses of power, Irwin starts pulling the men together and giving them back their fractured sense of self. 

This might be the youngest I've ever seen Mark Ruffalo in a movie.  I found that to be noteworthy, but his performance didn't shine for me as much as underrated character actor Clifton Collins, Jr.'s.  That guy has been amazing in every role I've seen him in, and I can all but guarantee you won't be able to picture his face when you read his name.  You will recognize Robin Wright in a very small role as Irwin's daughter.  Not sure why but actors take roles for reasons I don't understand all the time.

As most, if not all of you, are aware, James Gandolfini passed away recently.  I have to say, I am unfamiliar with most of his work.  I never watched The Sopranos and most of his other roles were indies or supporting bigger names.  He was a physically imposing man in real life, but the way he played COL Winter was as a small, petty individual, seeming to shrink in on himself.  Even the way he ate a sandwich made me think of a kid eating alone at lunch, shoulders hunched as though expecting bullies.  It was a compelling portrait of a character whose meanness and vindictiveness were better suited for a physically smaller, slighter man. 

The movie itself is pretty standard fare, Renaissance Man in Leavenworth if you will.  It's more entertaining than it has a right to be with plenty of action sequences and a thread of humor.  Definitely worth a watch.

Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock (1984)

  The Star Trek movie franchise really dealt with some interesting concepts but their execution could have used some work.  Granted, it was the 80's.  They didn't have the kind of wizardry we do now.

This begins immediately after The Wrath of Khan and really doesn't make sense without that context.

Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) has jettisoned the body of his science officer, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), onto the surface of the new planet Genesis and returned to Earth.  Soon, however, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) starts behaving very oddly.  Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard) believes that the dying Spock passed the sum total of his knowledge and memory to McCoy in a Vulcan ritual because he thought the crew would know to take his body back to his home planet so his knowledge could be shared amongst his people.  Kirk petitions for a ship to take McCoy to Vulcan but is denied so he steals the Enterprise and heads off back to Genesis to recover Spock's body.

Unfortunately, word has gotten around that the Federation has a terraforming device and a Klingon war leader (Christopher Lloyd) has laid siege to Genesis in order to steal the secret.  David (Merritt Butrick) and science officer Saavik (Robin Curtis) are the only two survivors from the Federation's exploratory crew because they were on the planet when the Klingons showed up.  They discover that the Genesis process is highly unstable and that the planet is probably going to implode pretty soon.  Also, Spock's body has regenerated into that of a child but without his memories or personality.  Kirk has to defeat the Klingons, save his people from a Frankenstein-ed planet, and reunite Spock's brain with his body without killing him or McCoy.  All in a day's work.

Like I said, there were some interesting ideas here about loyalty and reincarnation and the pitfalls of hubris but they were muddled through with some uninspiring villains, unnecessary interactions, and frenetic action sequences.  This was Leonard Nimoy's feature debut as a director so some leeway should be given in that respect.

Housebound (2014)

  I actually saw this a couple of weeks ago but I wasn't able to get a post written until now.  See, last weekend I was actually in Charleston, South Carolina visiting the one and only Christy so I used the handy-dandy schedule feature of this website to automatically post, since she doesn't have Internet yet.  I only had time to draft three posts before I left, which went out Saturday, Sunday and Monday but lacked my usual savoir faire, I think.

I said all that to tell you that I'm back now and playing catch-up.  I also want to forewarn you about next week.  School is back in session so my free time during the week to watch movies has dropped dramatically.  I will try to do my best but I need that degree, y'all.

Anyway, while you are pining my absence, you should go ahead and check out Housebound.

Kylie (Morgana O'Reilly) is a troubled young woman who is pissed about serving her house arrest in her mother's (Rima Te Wiata) house.  Especially since weird crap starts happening to her and more and more secrets are revealed.  Like that the house may be haunted.

This is a horror comedy from New Zealand but if I had to give it a percentage, I'd say it's 70% horror and 30% comedy.  The funny stuff doesn't really start happening until the last part of the movie.  But it is a very solid horror movie and absolutely worth checking out.

Last Action Hero (1993)

  I forgot how much I enjoyed this movie.  It really was ahead of its time as far as meta movies go.

Danny (Austin O'Brien) is a kid who really loves movies, especially the Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger) action series.  When he gets a chance to see a special midnight showing of Jack Slater IV from his buddy Frank (Art Carney), a projectionist at a run-down old theater, he jumps at the chance.  Frank presents him with a very special ticket, given to him by the legendary Harry Houdini, to mark the occasion.  The ticket magically transports Danny inside the movie, giving him a chance to actually hang out with his fictional hero.  But when the villain, Benedict (Charles Dance), gets a hold of the ticket and gets out into the real world, Danny and Slater must follow to keep him from killing the real Arnold Schwarzenegger.

If you have never seen this movie, I highly encourage you to seek it out.  Not just for the film-within-a-film aspect and the inherent comedy of applying action movie physics to the real world but for the sheer number of cameos.  I haven't managed to catch all of them but the ones I have are amazing.  It was even directed by John McTiernan, who directed Die Hard, Predator, and The Hunt for Red October, and the screenplay was co-written by Shane Black.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

  I was going to watch Snowpiercer but there were no subtitles so it had to go.  Then I was going to watch an anime called Solty Rei but there were only four episodes out of 26 on the server, so that had to go as well.  That left me looking down the barrel of the Star Trek films, from 1979 all the way to 2013.  So strap in, folks, because we are boldly going where -- well, where quite a few people have gone by now, really.

James Kirk (William Shatner) was promoted to Admiral but can't wait to get his hands on the Enterprise again.  When he hears that there's some sort of massive energy source headed for Earth, he immediately informs Enterprise's current captain, Decker (Stephen Collins), that Kirk will be taking over and Decker is getting a temporary reduction in rank to Executive Officer.  Naturally, that does not go over well with Decker, but he is slightly mollified by the return of an old flame, Ilia (Persis Khambatta), who has joined the ship's crew.  Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is able to use some Vulcan empathy to pick up the strange force's intentions for wanting to destroy Earth:  it's looking for its creator.

This is an interesting sci-fi film.  It's not the best sci-fi; hell, it's not even the best Star Trek, but it's interesting.  It was adapted from a pilot episode of a reboot that never got off the ground and that's exactly what it feels like --an extended episode.  It seems odd to consider now that this franchise has thirteen movies and counting that it very nearly did not get off the ground.  The TV show had been off the air for a decade before the movie premiered.  The lesson here is Never Give Up Hope.

Amour (2012)

  I have never liked any of Michael Haneke's films but I came closest with this one.

Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) have been happily married for many years but when Anne's health starts to fail, both of them truly learn the meaning of the vow "for better or for worse".

This got nominated for a bunch of Oscars but I would caution you.  This is one of the most real portrayals of aging and the burden of being a caregiver that I have ever seen.  It is depressing on the deepest of levels.  Do not go in expecting a happy ending.  Or to be happy for 90% of the run time.  It's not going to work out for you.  If you really need a reason to be depressed, though, toss this bad boy into the blu-ray and ponder your inevitable obsolescence.