SAM NEILL, NICOLE KIDMAN & BILLY ZANE STORMING 'DEAD CALM'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeYQ1ek-nfdTPnHyoap3IQSiyfg97kdqcWwUwoeYgwh285qDMIb3anFzJYYPOCUnKbedKqe_piOYxj6FOEVy7LUjtgz0dEsxROYte6lexhXe7NeVcwTPLA3ZJ7zDuy9slB3ELwKqRyjaM8lO7oaPHmILcPU_KZgT5D-pcniE_wzliexzw3sKzJA6VWVdD/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202026-07-18%20at%2011.46.49%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="946" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeYQ1ek-nfdTPnHyoap3IQSiyfg97kdqcWwUwoeYgwh285qDMIb3anFzJYYPOCUnKbedKqe_piOYxj6FOEVy7LUjtgz0dEsxROYte6lexhXe7NeVcwTPLA3ZJ7zDuy9slB3ELwKqRyjaM8lO7oaPHmILcPU_KZgT5D-pcniE_wzliexzw3sKzJA6VWVdD/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202026-07-18%20at%2011.46.49%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sam Neill in DEAD CALM Year: 1989 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Something about the deep ocean makes Billy Zane quite a villain: as DEAD CALM was a decade before being more antagonistic than the iceberg in TITANIC... but he has a lot more menacing fun here in what's basically an oceanic home-invasion thriller following a rather rushed, melodramatic (and somewhat disconnected) set-up where Navy lifer Sam Neill returns home, only to find his wife in the hospital after a car accident killed their child, and his reactions are surprisingly aloof... </p><p>Even when Billy Zane eventually rows over to the couple's literal dream-boat... but Sam has his very own separated Jack London-esque survival tale (directed by producer George Miller instead of Philip Noyce) on the slowly sinking, corpse-filled ghost ship that Zane had abandoned... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

billy zane, eighties, george miller, horror, nicole kidman, philip noyce, sam neill, thriller

SAM NEILL, NICOLE KIDMAN & BILLY ZANE STORMING 'DEAD CALM'

Sam Neill in DEAD CALM Year: 1989 Rating: ***1/2 Something about the deep ocean makes Billy Zane quite a villain: as DEAD CALM was a decade ...

STANLEY KUBRICK'S PARANOIAC FILM NOIR OF 'EYES WIDE SHUT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggKbgavRlx8RIsE4_bzFwb1l0stWYK0261BW1EUz6g5W4_CxtQnQ7h5ko6p1bgTvyWSpkEke1EGkz3L3HxnB_Qbmu-dpkIuZWv8SBswpCSdaTfXaDbmDFHf-3F7j-PXN5AwrMR2axWt0fwAXgH7BvvJ0MBPGLSlV9o0ur9vlFU2iBp3xSzirvRR4Vp2w=s1043" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="1043" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggKbgavRlx8RIsE4_bzFwb1l0stWYK0261BW1EUz6g5W4_CxtQnQ7h5ko6p1bgTvyWSpkEke1EGkz3L3HxnB_Qbmu-dpkIuZWv8SBswpCSdaTfXaDbmDFHf-3F7j-PXN5AwrMR2axWt0fwAXgH7BvvJ0MBPGLSlV9o0ur9vlFU2iBp3xSzirvRR4Vp2w=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT Year: 1999 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Some films seem created to be despised and misunderstood... <i>Misunderspised</i> is not a word but fits the subliminally insane, intensely mellow and tortuously strange EYES WIDE SHUT that, too slow for a thriller and too tame for sheer outright sexual exploitation, is the final feature of legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and stars Tom Cruise as a seemingly perfect Manhattan doctor with a seemingly contented wife in Nicole Kidman...<br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> Beginning with a plush (yet secretly lush) party thrown by Cruise's millionaire "house calls" patient Sydney Pollock, who later partakes in a terrific finale monologue, both men playing a game of fancy red-velvet pool while discussing an earlier upscale, mansion-set, masquerade orgy that Cruise's Dr. William Harford character should <i>not</i> have attended...</p><span></span>

christmas, epic, marie richardson, melodrama, neo noir, nicole kidman, nineties, stanley kubrick, sydney pollock, todd field, tom cruise

STANLEY KUBRICK'S PARANOIAC FILM NOIR OF 'EYES WIDE SHUT'

Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT Year: 1999 Rating: ***1/2 Some films seem created to be despised and misunderstood... Mis...

TOM CRUISE IN STANLEY KUBRICK'S FINALE OF 'EYES WIDE SHUT'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpd9tbQEjYzHOBE_Vd-6c9w3Cb904-azk8FjqpsXjN1XGNhDp6J2ebgW-UcxIe2I14hELl7ina6x5TOFFNntqlz1YVdRXsP1aJe6ENEASOpVcbfWifjLcJTBhEB7_y3vsDIS9jQ1taNFiaoXXkNDLz6Raj5MxWLrmc7oGx-2Ie7AKlMiAAS83Z_Sx5A/s1128/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-22%20at%2012.07.08%20AM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1016" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpd9tbQEjYzHOBE_Vd-6c9w3Cb904-azk8FjqpsXjN1XGNhDp6J2ebgW-UcxIe2I14hELl7ina6x5TOFFNntqlz1YVdRXsP1aJe6ENEASOpVcbfWifjLcJTBhEB7_y3vsDIS9jQ1taNFiaoXXkNDLz6Raj5MxWLrmc7oGx-2Ie7AKlMiAAS83Z_Sx5A/w360-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-22%20at%2012.07.08%20AM.jpeg" width="360" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Eyes Wide SHUT Year: 1999 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table>Some films seem created to be despised and misunderstood. <i>Misunderspised</i> is not a word but fits the subliminally insane, intensely mellow and tortuously strange EYES WIDE SHUT, the last vehicle of legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick: starring Tom Cruise as a seemingly perfect Manhattan doctor with a gorgeous wife in Nicole Kidman...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0URfeelOKn42ku_7x6JpXVmsXDC1BOLd82iOGxr7W5Hgsdrl9wyrDiqVuYb7fDBq1o9pTmoTCaKAuLkoE31UP9cbSFxpPR0bxKRWG5050txMUfMvbrnh4e4fEpOOnLh0_Bqfe6TMON9PnCvmEJyOiWNq5126iLtHJifG8BCHyEtTSvCVtPX2XHbRy6w/s320/3.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0URfeelOKn42ku_7x6JpXVmsXDC1BOLd82iOGxr7W5Hgsdrl9wyrDiqVuYb7fDBq1o9pTmoTCaKAuLkoE31UP9cbSFxpPR0bxKRWG5050txMUfMvbrnh4e4fEpOOnLh0_Bqfe6TMON9PnCvmEJyOiWNq5126iLtHJifG8BCHyEtTSvCVtPX2XHbRy6w/s16000/3.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nicole Kidman</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Beginning with a plush (but secretly lush) party thrown by a millionaire initially played by Harvey Keitel...<br /> <br /> After which, Tom Cruise called his FIRM director (originally an actor), Sydney Pollack who, at the very end of this extremely long theatrical experience, partakes in one of the greatest monologues ever filmed, both men playing a game of fancy red-velvet pool while discussing a place that Cruise's love-torn Dr. William Harford should not have gone; a sort of demonic, masked orgy with a reoccurring chant that might be one of the most intentionally annoying scenes of all time, saved only by that 11th hour Cruise/Pollock cool-to-hot conversation that still doesn't fully explain why the seemingly contented doctor ventured out in the first place: making SHUT a three-hour modern Noir having to do with a married man's reaction to a story his stoned wife, Kidman's Alice, tells about seeing (yet never actually meeting) the perfect man she would have left her family for...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7cFZ74YZ99DaCdGJGTz5wOzoodCshQJAGShdOhmV_g1X6L4xKck_CRWHG5f92Rc6-myOfx8o3rUhw-8mhrA9CX8AL7ZmpKqTpRk9M1uKbklVKeNfRAElpdyqc6E8tIOQYSWegk5hmm_-ou_lX_tZxmJRQKgT80vtyfLBeIqculVQogrETS_pSX8doA/s320/2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="195" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7cFZ74YZ99DaCdGJGTz5wOzoodCshQJAGShdOhmV_g1X6L4xKck_CRWHG5f92Rc6-myOfx8o3rUhw-8mhrA9CX8AL7ZmpKqTpRk9M1uKbklVKeNfRAElpdyqc6E8tIOQYSWegk5hmm_-ou_lX_tZxmJRQKgT80vtyfLBeIqculVQogrETS_pSX8doA/w244-h400/2.jpeg" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sydney Pollock </u></td></tr></tbody></table>Thus, throughout the night, as Tom Cruise wanders the streets, scored by what sounds like ominous carnival ferris wheel music, where Kubrick, in his working home of England, turned a giant studio into a replica of Manhattan (also including some actual footage), looking dreamlike and surreal as well as gritty and palpable as the best, breeziest moments occur between Cruise and his former med school buddy, Nick Nightingale, played by another director/actor...<br /> <br /> And perhaps this would fit more in the trivia section, but Todd Field also dropped out of med school after taking too many meds and listening to Mozart more than studying in the underrated GROSS ANATOMY, starring another Kubrick veteran, FULL METAL JACKET "Pvt. Joker" Matthew Modine.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKoIXb-7rgzsZ9Z85PZBYp6Fa8sYOH-qfoN2CAbOnQeoajZgZ42oUHzaUoY-YINFXYPO_X3IrtGAp0yuHQ0E5QbKu2ul5j17EC61MAVH-N-4P1wLL7z_5iJLfGJBgJpSxK1T-JMvS9rVV2zc3bcdluafx9r_2ykrqgoL8GNoiqfFe4XH1lecJ79dyfw/s320/4.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKoIXb-7rgzsZ9Z85PZBYp6Fa8sYOH-qfoN2CAbOnQeoajZgZ42oUHzaUoY-YINFXYPO_X3IrtGAp0yuHQ0E5QbKu2ul5j17EC61MAVH-N-4P1wLL7z_5iJLfGJBgJpSxK1T-JMvS9rVV2zc3bcdluafx9r_2ykrqgoL8GNoiqfFe4XH1lecJ79dyfw/s16000/4.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Todd Field in Kubrick mode</u></td></tr></tbody></table>Back on track... When Cruises' successful doctor and the opening party's piano-playing Nightingale connect, before their second more important meeting at a jazz club later on, there's an awkward silence followed by a burst of laughter that displays the fabulous ultra-realistic spontaneity of a Kubrick film: he doesn't make his actors go through over one-hundred takes for nothing. A Selector along with being a Director, within the long editing process, he'd want as many options as possible to choose from...<br /> <br /> Other scenes, though, fail to inhabit such keen, wry realism, perhaps on purpose, or maybe because some characters just aren't that intriguing compared to others, and there are plenty to choose from...<br /> <br /> But liken to Kubrick's best work, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, the main character basically survives throughout a yo-yo kind of experience as the eventual upswing has the same inhabitants cursed, from a fatal disease to death itself, providing a basic lesson of all Film Noir: don't stick your neck out too far where your head doesn't belong...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4f_nbqY33lAdc_6DsdrDZr-ZsoxNFibfWMdiTJF9krJvve_N-8LF22QgfFpA20uF_Na-X0imgQAPS1sGj_gOr4cIu2XqD8WNaPQaIprGSB8i8mqb-tQiP4GLbMPOpHoBEdnNm4H6vn6I/s1600/2354023-4db11.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4f_nbqY33lAdc_6DsdrDZr-ZsoxNFibfWMdiTJF9krJvve_N-8LF22QgfFpA20uF_Na-X0imgQAPS1sGj_gOr4cIu2XqD8WNaPQaIprGSB8i8mqb-tQiP4GLbMPOpHoBEdnNm4H6vn6I/s400/2354023-4db11.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Box Set DVD Cover</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Covering every aspect of the Sexual Experience without seeing much of anything, beyond various shots of nudity as realistic, everyday occurrences (of course, the orgy aside), what the haunted doctor imagines about his wife and her mysterious lover in EYES WIDE SHUT, and his failed attempts at sexual revenge is to fornication what CHINATOWN is to that particular city...<br /> <br /> So it's no surprise, with such a long run time and a subliminal feeling that Kubrick just might have been purposefully torturing both his fans who waited over a decade after FULL METAL JACKET for another movie, or the myriad of mainstream-movie Cruise/Kidman followers... in-between, trying to develop A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, which would be posthumously finished by colleague Steven Spielberg, whose JURASSIC PARK gave Kubrick the vision that A.I. could actually work using likewise computer-animation... these EYES are either despised or beloved, or somewhere lost within a convoluted, unexplained purgatory...<br /> <br /> It really all depends on how you look at it, what mood you're in while watching, and how much, after attempting, perhaps, several viewings, the realization that everything means nothing but the final blunt words uttered by Kidman: basically telling us that what supposedly makes the world go 'round is really no big deal at all, despite the fact we spent a very long time completely immersed around its dark, seedy, provocative outskirts.<br /> <br /> <u><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvMmwsPn8uVgtj8oFevnKZ5qHlSBgRnHzQzA58H4lBGtV8M8dfol9ejNBFLG4UjYtCgYr5YX4A3t5ppJAMLE-asPdMDgvZ3IF76Xp1DSoLFdbKTXnRZnh4mxvixiufW2kVcOslkVO0-Un0iuJSd-ohHJRGaXU0Djl6o40Kxbd1cqSGks3znSZdByUCw/s1678/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-22%20at%2012.20.28%20AM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="830" data-original-width="1678" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvMmwsPn8uVgtj8oFevnKZ5qHlSBgRnHzQzA58H4lBGtV8M8dfol9ejNBFLG4UjYtCgYr5YX4A3t5ppJAMLE-asPdMDgvZ3IF76Xp1DSoLFdbKTXnRZnh4mxvixiufW2kVcOslkVO0-Un0iuJSd-ohHJRGaXU0Djl6o40Kxbd1cqSGks3znSZdByUCw/w400-h198/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-22%20at%2012.20.28%20AM.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doctor and the ladies in this weird dream world flick</td></tr></tbody></table></u><u>RATING</u>: ***1/2<br /> <u>TRIVIA:</u> Heard yet not seen thanks to a mask, Leon Vitali, who was the young protagonist in another Kubrick epic, BARRY LYNDON... that, like EYES WIDE SHUT, has a love-hate relationship with both critics and audiences alike, and was Kubrick's assistant thereafter... plays the role of the "leader" at the chanting party where Cruise is found out, and asked, very grimly, to exit the premises. And just to note, upon leaving the theater after seeing this movie for the first time, it was utterly, thoroughly despised but slowly grew on this particular Kubrick Freak... although there is sporadic use of the fast-forward button either to avoid, or to get to, particular scenes.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04HvrkJJ64IJhu8L_zxw2Uv1ooWd9_BZ4wwyA0NSTJR3hmUH36Bp1X0bCtNpympk5ZZ3V2n_yWnsyHdkWrWdUzmdtQp7IZeqMXSGpWorfiz9kZil0g6WRgvPifh_4E9Dy-aNzHGogRQv0/s1600/21106320_366347237127792_3395211817946657677_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04HvrkJJ64IJhu8L_zxw2Uv1ooWd9_BZ4wwyA0NSTJR3hmUH36Bp1X0bCtNpympk5ZZ3V2n_yWnsyHdkWrWdUzmdtQp7IZeqMXSGpWorfiz9kZil0g6WRgvPifh_4E9Dy-aNzHGogRQv0/s1600/21106320_366347237127792_3395211817946657677_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Cruise with Domino played by "Ladybugs" teen starlet Vinessa Shaw another anti-conquests of the long night</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvE57Tj6bsJJxKgD39fbS8CbZph08f-UjZFxEy3dbzGt3x0BQ-qzHhRZdXrmeHw6A2_Ab0PT7ojrpm5eq4SBxJOgQKhFbSaxxPHsrA6KWD4IbABTH6ygi3D0C1yXHu8kArjjj7JyxeCu76/s1600/21150060_366371707125345_8877089482585418380_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvE57Tj6bsJJxKgD39fbS8CbZph08f-UjZFxEy3dbzGt3x0BQ-qzHhRZdXrmeHw6A2_Ab0PT7ojrpm5eq4SBxJOgQKhFbSaxxPHsrA6KWD4IbABTH6ygi3D0C1yXHu8kArjjj7JyxeCu76/s1600/21150060_366371707125345_8877089482585418380_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>EX-BEAUTY QUEEN IN HOTEL DRUGS OVERDOSE... Is Drugs a Verb or was this an intentional, subliminal error?</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br />

christmas, exploitation, leon vitale, neo noir, nicole kidman, nineties, stanley kubrick, sydney pollock, thriller, todd field, tom cruise, vinessa shaw

TOM CRUISE IN STANLEY KUBRICK'S FINALE OF 'EYES WIDE SHUT'

Title: Eyes Wide SHUT Year: 1999 Rates: *** Some films seem created to be despised and misunderstood. Misunderspised is not a word but fits...

REVIEWS OF ROOM & SECRET IN THEIR EYES

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIeeNPTHSrsLB0XN0STyPadUSa-rj0DkbSU3KT1l1Z5WEk2W2aeTn4l_uVo-FRNXgIqSVgD6gMmZHUSHMdhlqVVfLvCfPpbX8gYAgIU137vpZc2t7-0y3Z3Ec10jiDLflPao06gRieESk/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIeeNPTHSrsLB0XN0STyPadUSa-rj0DkbSU3KT1l1Z5WEk2W2aeTn4l_uVo-FRNXgIqSVgD6gMmZHUSHMdhlqVVfLvCfPpbX8gYAgIU137vpZc2t7-0y3Z3Ec10jiDLflPao06gRieESk/s320/3.png" width="258"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>ROOM: </b>This is an intriguing indie film that really takes its time to figure things out, headlined by the intensity of a young girl simply called Ma, played by Brie Larson, raising her son, Jack... who looks very much like a long-haired little girl... in a "room" that has only a sun-roof window and other necessities, resembling a tiny white trash studio apartment.<br> <br> The harsh reality that slowly unveils means everything, and yet, what's really important is the kind of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL theme of a parent allowing her child to become fully accustomed to a nightmarish situation without a clue that anything is wrong. This is how half the movie plays out, and it's a neatly timed, often intense ride. And yet, since the kidnapper resembles a passive bearded accountant, mother and son never seem in that much danger whenever the suspense mounts. Perhaps this is intentional to make their situation feel mundane, and thus, even more creepy and ironic. And to mention too much about the last half would be a spoiler, but it involves our two main characters struggling to accustom themselves to something quite different than what they, and the audience, experienced, and in that aspect, ROOM, no matter where the location, keeps us closely in touch with the people that matter without too many distractions.<br>

2015, dean norris, julia roberts, nicole kidman, thriller

REVIEWS OF ROOM & SECRET IN THEIR EYES

year: 2015 ROOM: This is an intriguing indie film that really takes its time to figure things out, headlined by the intensity of a young...

SURPRISINGLY GREAT REVIEW OF PADDINGTON

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOeBbQemSkqc5WO4eEshfBBS3VlXTmL95dqEfD7yqb2VrvWsCaz6s7aXtlvnEzpOMnMnWhU2IbAkLdmPQ4PFuatMk5IWOzGGBGYFDFejVFoSphFOgp6tHMvNXIu-KmKW2co7i2pqaNAc/s1600/Paddington_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOeBbQemSkqc5WO4eEshfBBS3VlXTmL95dqEfD7yqb2VrvWsCaz6s7aXtlvnEzpOMnMnWhU2IbAkLdmPQ4PFuatMk5IWOzGGBGYFDFejVFoSphFOgp6tHMvNXIu-KmKW2co7i2pqaNAc/s1600/Paddington_4.jpg" width="102" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014 grade: A+</td></tr> </tbody></table> Items on the menu always look better than the real thing… And movie trailers are usually no different… But in this case, the commercials showing the red-hatted bear cleaning his ear with a toothbrush and flooding the house while riding the bathtub downstairs makes PADDINGTON seem banal and childish, when in fact it's an enjoyable, thoughtful and creative odyssey, and even more entertaining than, dare it be said, <i>anything</i> up for Best Picture this year… Take that, Academy snobs!<br /> <br /> Beneath those silly scenes and a few jokes that don't always hit the mark, there’s a sturdy plot about Paddington searching for an explorer who we met in the prologue – he discovered a trio of bears in their jungle home and promised safe harbor if ever visiting London, where our furry hero winds up alone on a permanent basis. Attached to a reluctant human family including a snobby father and two bitter children, he finds a true friend in the perky mom/wife till the others follow suit.  <br /> <br /> In the Cruella Devillish role is Nicole Kidman, out to kill the adventurous bear for… reasons that shouldn’t be spoiled. And what makes PADDINGTON visually sublime are the inserted shots either depicting the backstory or detailing fantasy sequences, sometimes bathed in a Noirish black & white: making this a children’s film equally engaging for adults and bonafide film buffs, paying stylish homage to classics ranging from AMELIE to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK to THE THIRD MAN, and beyond. <b>OVERALL RANK: <u>Jedi,</u> Rebel, Droid, Sith. </b>

2014, animation, kids, nicole kidman

SURPRISINGLY GREAT REVIEW OF PADDINGTON

2014 grade: A+ Items on the menu always look better than the real thing… And movie trailers are usually no different… But in this case, ...

BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP & DEAR WHITE PEOPLE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvw0tPohTEbnJgNloExQvWEHGmBKayXqL0dBZis_TdNbu5v0nacvy5_jABP9Pd7Obz5K524W9cFlpdVw_wdviZ4PJt9QFDoIfkupS9I-zVzcf6bGntgC5fnvIkwND3lZNEn0J6S9k5MkI/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvw0tPohTEbnJgNloExQvWEHGmBKayXqL0dBZis_TdNbu5v0nacvy5_jABP9Pd7Obz5K524W9cFlpdVw_wdviZ4PJt9QFDoIfkupS9I-zVzcf6bGntgC5fnvIkwND3lZNEn0J6S9k5MkI/s320/1.png" width="215" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <b>BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP: </b>If anyone thought 50 FIRST DATES would make a perfect thriller, you’re half right: The plot about a woman who loses her memory every morning is now a suspense film, but it’s far from perfect…<br /> <br /> Although Nicole Kidman, as Christine, who wakes up in a claustrophobic condo with a loving husband Mike, played by Colin Firth, makes a good clean slate ingenue for a daily amount of tension-building, nail-biting paranoia...<br /> <br /> Her expressions dramatically shift with every new piece of information she receives from a helpful doctor… But is he a good shrink or a quack? And is hubby a genuinely nice fella?<br /> <br /> Eventually, when one particular cast member starts getting shadier, we veer too quickly into a predictable twist followed by a sappy, tear-wrangling epilogue. It’s the cast, unaware of being part of a theatrical film more befitting cable or straight-to-DVD, who make this SLEEP somewhat worthwhile. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZmFwnkLHZd-ZDO0B6ud4wc9WAUdrAqKiwwYQv1uhn7Yl0yHQ4-g_kI9KtuwDkimQrzLQhdQxHucvt5Fjfi2-7Hxp-Q0BsS3NPJVJHuoqoavWOmotwXFc9xTyusJUR4pz1QOaL6AHPJU/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZmFwnkLHZd-ZDO0B6ud4wc9WAUdrAqKiwwYQv1uhn7Yl0yHQ4-g_kI9KtuwDkimQrzLQhdQxHucvt5Fjfi2-7Hxp-Q0BsS3NPJVJHuoqoavWOmotwXFc9xTyusJUR4pz1QOaL6AHPJU/s320/2.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: *</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>DEAR WHITE PEOPLE:</b> Within the first five minutes, the intentionally controversial title is questioned by an irritated Caucasian, asking "What about DEAR BLACK PEOPLE?" And the response takes aim at FOX NEWS, the poster child of modern media scapegoats.<br /> <br /> With the edgy trailer alone, DWP promises to stir up the class struggle and racial tension of what they call “The Obama Generation,” but turns out being a Talking Heads movie with too much dialogue… And that doesn’t refer to David Byrne's rock band...<br /> <br /> Like the worst of student films, framing people from the neck up to save money, this is a two-hour talkfest centering on a campus election between a race-baiting female student, running her own campus radio program the film’s named after, against a more cautiously-minded guy who fits neatly into the Ivy League backdrop. Their swing votes consist of a geeky journalist with a giant Afro and a passively moderate young lady (the most effective character) stuck in-between. <br /> <br /> An attempt to revive John Singleton’s HIGHER LEARNING, the dull buildup and contrived racist climax will most likely let down viewers either yearning to be stirred up or begging to be offended. In layman's terms, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE is a shot of morning caffeine that never kicks in.  

2014, colin firth, college, nicole kidman, suspense

BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP & DEAR WHITE PEOPLE

2014 rating: **1/2 BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP: If anyone thought 50 FIRST DATES would make a perfect thriller, you’re half right: The plot a...

COLIN FIRTH STARS IN THE RAILWAY MAN

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xuwztkBFhX0SI7cFQR5eseMJE-wTZx9kmA2gb_ey_VvTn2dplvKE_XXCbLWUbhcybx1yUvCsfo-ZVIAFBeLbM2MpsxRsZkUdwGLS_U9-iVNnWxBkrJUvJbWw5eIVp6QFmKsIGhPCSck/s1600/Film_Review_The_Railway_Man-0a12e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xuwztkBFhX0SI7cFQR5eseMJE-wTZx9kmA2gb_ey_VvTn2dplvKE_XXCbLWUbhcybx1yUvCsfo-ZVIAFBeLbM2MpsxRsZkUdwGLS_U9-iVNnWxBkrJUvJbWw5eIVp6QFmKsIGhPCSck/s1600/Film_Review_The_Railway_Man-0a12e.jpg" width="152" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">2014 rating: **</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;">If there were an Oscar for movie trailers, THE RAILWAY MAN would be nominated since it has everything for a prisoner of war drama, neatly "captured" within a three minute time-frame… </span><br /> <br /> And yet, while thematically resembling an Oscar frontrunner, RAILWAY the motion picture, starring Colin Firth as Eric, a mild-mannered train enthusiast in England who meets the woman of his dreams (on a train, no less) and mentally goes back to his harrowing World War II experience as a POW in the Pacific, has way more style than substance.<br /> <br /> The flashbacks center on a troop of British soldiers forced to build an impossible set of train tracks across a thick Asian jungle, taking us out of the troubled present-time romance of Eric and Kidman’s Patti, the latter getting advice from Stellan Skarsgård as Finlay, formerly in charge of Eric’s imprisoned troop...<br /> <br /> The backstory has an intriguing BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI aura, yet there are surprisingly few scenes about the men and their plight, a true life tale loaded with gritty potential.  <br /> <br /> Once young Eric, played by a perfectly-cast Jeremy Irving, lands in trouble for putting together a radio, the film narrows down into beatings and torture by the prison’s young Japanese ringleader, Takeshi… That is, until the main plot is unveiled as the adult Eric ventures to Japan, seeking revenge on his former captor.  <br /> <br /> For a two hour movie, RAILWAY ultimately feels like a short film… Not that it should have been any longer, but despite the dramatic score reminiscent of a SCHINDER’S LIST style epic, and the talent on board, we’re never given enough depth in either story, past or present, to make this a cathartic journey worth taking.

2014, colin firth, drama, nicole kidman, stellan skarsgard, war

COLIN FIRTH STARS IN THE RAILWAY MAN

2014 rating: ** If there were an Oscar for movie trailers, THE RAILWAY MAN would be nominated since it has everything for a prisoner of ...