Memories Of Murder (8)

21 (8)

I felt I was "due" a good film and at last, here it was! This story of geeks, gambling and double crossing hit many of the right notes; 8 - I really enjoyed it.

A maths teacher at MIT recognises a brilliant student and invites him to join a small team of similarly bright students to count cards, to win at black jack in Vegas. Their winnings are going well and they start to enter the rich lifestyle of big time gamblers, but they are also under watch by the guys who prevent card counting... usually by a beating. And when the student starts gambling instead of being smart, he loses everything - his graduation from MIT, the money he was saving he enter Harvard and he is out of the team. He convinces them all for one last big win.

This film has so many good elements in it, including good lighting (like the standing at the window silhouette) and filming (great close ups and fast speed motion in the casinos). I even liked the Fight Club style narration and the slightly over-the-top-retro look of Slevin, but maybe that is just Vegas. One big thing I really liked about was Kevin Spacey who I think is brilliant; he is opposite to me of the uselessness of Jack Back. Even the music was just right. And Laurence Fishburne as the casino thug was good as the older guy struggling to keep job his while being over taken by technology.

The double cross while not entirely predictable, was not really a surprise either, and the time twisting was a little weak but it was still enjoyable. And most of the other characters were just window dressing, even the students best friends. Anyway, this film still delighted the inner, and the outer, geek of me.

Capricorn One (8)

One of the coolest, best films I've seen for a while - definitely an 8. Conspiracy theorist will love it even more!

In the early 70's a mission to Mars must be aborted because the life support is faulty, but may jeopardise the government funding. So the crew are whisked to an old military base and coerced into acting the mission while the empty rocket makes the flight. But when the rocket crashed on its return to Earth, the three astronauts can no longer be returned as heroes - they must be eliminated! While they are on the run and being hunted the desert, a reporter and and wife of one the astronauts begins to have doubts that the mission is real. Another search, a rescue hopefully, is under way!

This movie has all the elements that make a great action movie - heroes, sci-fi, conspiracy, lies. But it has great dialogue - some of the small speeches made are extraordinarily well written, such as the one given by the mission control to initially convince the astronauts to put on the charade. The hunter helicopters that strangely ballet with each other is particularly haunting and memorable.

The very ending is a touch cliche and OJ Simpon is by far the worst actor of the cast, but apart from that, it is a work of art!

Death Sentance (8)

Death Sentence is a riveting and exciting decent into one man's hell as his safe, comfortable world crumbles. It's a common plot of a persons life being shattered and them then seeking revenge, but this is done cleverly and leading to frantic action scenes. It's an 8 (a gripping piece of entertainment that is superbly crafted).

Nick Humle is a a middle aged, middle management man who is a stickler for rules, but when a gang member kills his son his world starts to fall apart. It transpires that the murder was just an initiation for gang membership, and when he learns that the prison sentence is going to be short, Nick changes his testimony and the guy walks free. As Nick's anger and frustration builds, he goes to confront the killer and in a scuffle, kills him. The gang discover that Nick killed their member and target him for murder. But in a thrilling car park chases and fight, he kills another. The police are suspicious that he has started a gang war but he tells them nothing. The gang then attack his family and Nick finally knows what he must do - end the gang war by entering a world he knows nothing of - guns, drugs and ghettos.

Firstly, the filming is great! There are great wide angle lens shots, dark saturated blacks and some sort of sharpening process applied that gives it all gritty feel, and some neat angles too. The acting by Kevin Bacon (who I'm not really much of a fan) and the gang are just right. Even the gun running gang leaders father played by comedy man John Goodman is no comedy at all, but convincingly scary. The action action is exciting, particular the chase the car parking building which has been so many times before, but hardly with such shear panicked terror.

There are a few negatives, the plot is not very original, and everyone seems to be slightly super human except for the police, who are slightly inept. But there is one thing that is really bad. At the end, for those whose brain is just simply not there, one of the characters states the bleeding obvious of the plot to explain it all. Any hint of subtly is thrown out the window! I would like think that it shows how dumb the gang member who said it was, but I fear that it was directed at the viewer, and it really detracted from the film enjoyment.

Arsenic and Old Lace (8)

This 1944 film with Cary Grant was a great. It is obviously from a stage play (it all takes place in one room) but the comedy was brilliant! I smile even now just thinking about some of he scenes. It's a 8 (well worth digging up for a good laugh)

Mortimer Brewster takes his new wife to meet his two Aunts. The Aunts, who flounce about like only a turkey on a trampoline can flounce, seem to be the sweet doddering relatives, except that they've been killing people; of course, in their own sweet way.
When Mortimer discovers this, he goes manic trying to cover it up and thinks that their insane brother could be the answer to his problems. But then, Mortimer's long lost brother criminal brother comes back, complete with a botched plastic surgery job, a doctor on the run, and yet another body. More confusion, mix ups, cover up and some great slapstick begin.

Imagine Little Shop of Horrors without the singing mixed with a spoof of Frankenstein and film nior and you might start to go insane, but that's getting to what this film is about. It's a silly mix of unbelievably wacky characters who are doing their best to do what they think is right - be it kill lonely people, cover up murders, or have recursive plot telling stories (which was very funny!). The scene in almost pitch black when people are trying to sneak about with bodies was hilarious. The start was a little slow and some of the characters a little weak, but once the brother arrives, it all goes wonderfully berserk - Mortimer is the way that Basil Faulty would behave if he was confronted with such a situation.

The doctor with his Igor mannerisms is wonderful, just missing the lisp... "yeth mathter".

M (8)

Once you get past the ancient 1931 scratchy static poor quality and get into the German, this film begins to really shine. The story starts slow but builds up to suspenseful and moral tale of crime and justice. It would make for fantastic episode in any of today's great crime programs (bring back Prime Suspect!). This is an 8 (I was drawn in losing sense of time). Get over the quality, get into the era and get into this film.

In this film-noir a murder is snatching children off the city streets - his silhouette against the reward poster talking to girl starts the horror of another mother. The police clamp down on the city, searching illegal bars and disrupting the criminal underground who vow to hunt for the murder too. Eventually the murder is trapped in an office block by the criminals, who break in and snatch him away. The police capture one of the gang and through integration that could have come from any modern crime program today, they find where he has been taken. Meanwhile, the gang and the public are holding a mock court to decide the murder's fate. When doubt begin to creep in that perhaps he was not responsible, it raises the moral questions of mob justice, and who really should determine guilt, and the punishment.

Everything about the story would not be out of place in a film or program today - the police investigation with thorougher record checking and forensics, the public hysteria and fear accosting innocent people on the streets, and the underworld with the hide and seek in the building. Even the filming, as poor as the quality was, still was captivating with interesting shots and lighting, and drawn out suspenseful clips. The frightened, chest clutching fear of the trapped murder, to the methodical police and angry pubic were all portrayed and acted well.

Another aspect to enjoy is its age - see the Mickey "Rat" in the back of this confectionery store? And everyone smokes so much that sometimes the smoke completely obscures the people.

When is someone going to make a remake? They would have a hard time doing better than the original.

The Blue Planet, 8

Just simply stunning. This is one of the "must watch" documentaries that you, well, must watch! David Attenborough narrates an exploration of the world's oceans covering everything from poles to the equator and from the estuaries to the surf to the deep dark depths.

I missed this when it was broadcast on TV, but I can see why it was talked about in the office the next day. The eight episodes of one hour each cover a topic such as "Frozen Seas" (which showed life at the poles including polar bears, seals, penguins, birds, fish...) and "Coral Seas" (showing the vibrate, crowded, and shark infested warm waters of the tropics). I particularly enjoyed "The Deep" for the amazing and strange animals that lurk in in the almost unreachable depths. There are some extra episodes of "the making of" which are documentaries made the film crew about themselves and their gear, but as skillful as their diving and film abilities are, it doesn't compare to the main series.

It clearly dawns that life in the ocean is pretty much all about just two things - food and sex (same as all life really). Killer whales beaching themselves to snatch seal pubs, bait balls hunted from above and below, world wide migration for mating, poisons and camouflage, sea life is a constant struggle - though dolphins and few rare others seem to enjoy some playing too.

The filming is stunning, the science and facts presented are fascinating and the life in the oceans is more marvelling than imaginable. A brilliant 8 (I'll tell everyone that they must see it). It's not one to enjoy repeatedly, but the first time will astound anyone.

Disturbia (8)

I was worried that this might just be a same-old teen flick, and it does have those elements. Boy, Kale, falls for new neighbour, Ashley. But what a delight the story was.

Kale is under house arrest and so can not leave his property; out of chronic boredom, he watches the neighbours. Soon Kale and his friend, Ronnie, become suspicious of a neighbour, Robert, especially with the recent disappearance of a young woman. And thus begins a great remake of Rear Window. There's the suspense, the build up, the trying to prove dodgy goings on and chase scenes.

While other films make up silly reasons for cell phones to fail because they can't script around ubiquitous connectivity, this film seamlessly blends in current tech. There's phones used for tracking and photography, computers, internet used throughout, web cams and iPods and even hacking of a garage door!

Even with the slightly cheesy ending, and silly "basement discovery", I'll have to say I'm very impressed. It rates an 8 (seeing it again, I would still enjoy it). Teenagers would love it! As would fans of good Hitchcock remakes, which are rare.