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The Boy (2016)
Who Doesn't Like a Good Creepy Doll Flick?
Cohen stars as Greta, an American nanny hired by a wealthy English couple to watch their young boy Brahms while they are away on vacation. Things immediately take a turn when Greta arrives at the enormous, rural estate occupied only by an elderly couple and a super creepy porcelain doll they treat as if it were their son.
Staying true to horror movie clichés, Brahms is dressed to the nines, has a wry smile and has a habit of wandering off when no one is looking. The elderly couple insist their son is alive and well as they hurry out the door and leave Greta alone in the house with strict rules not to leave Brahms alone and to always kiss him goodnight.
The Walking Dead star Cohen carries the film, as she is the only character on screen for most of it. Despite her natural English accent and familiar Southern accent from Dead, she opts for a more Midwestern inflection. Cohen's Greta is the only American character in the film alongside Rupert Evans' Malcolm and the (mostly) silent Brahms.
Bell has made a career out of directing horror. His flair for creating unsettling tension before action sequences have been apparent in his past films Stay Alive and The Devil Inside. Similarly, The Boy builds gradually throughout before the final reveal of what or who Brahms really is. If you've ever looked into a doll's gleaming porcelain eye and felt disquieted, then there is at least a few scares in this one for you.
Oldeuboi (2003)
Feel Good Movie of 2003
Sometimes a film leaves you with that warm, fuzzy feeling inside. It's a feeling of fulfillment and completion. A feeling that everything will work out and everyone is okay
Oldboy is NOT one of those films.
Drunken buffoon Dae-su (Choi) is mysteriously kidnapped and inexplicably held prisoner for fifteen years by men he never sees. He is left only to watch the same television and eat the same dumplings every day. When he is just as inexplicably released back into a world that is now completely alien to him, his only mission becomes finding the man who imprisoned him, by any means necessary.
The twists and turns Dae-su's journey takes him down are jaw- droppingly outside the box, leaving the audience only to wonder whether Park is a thematic genius or completely insane nihilist. Based on an equally messed up graphic novel by Nobuaki Minegishi, Oldboy has become one of the best thrillers of all time, capped by one of the best blindsides that has ever been thrown at unsuspecting viewers.
Spike Lee attempted an American remake in 2013 starring Josh Brolin, which isn't entirely terrible in and of itself, but it's hard to match the intensity put forward by Park. If you haven't seen this film, don't ruin it by reading into it too much. Just turn the lights down, turn the flick on and begin to feel incredibly uncomfortable by the fact that at any moment someone out there could be plotting to absolutely destroy your life for no reason.
Boy (2010)
More Similar Than We Know
Recently, New Zealand native Waititi has made a splash with What We Do in the Shadows, his mockumentary about the private lives of vampires, and has even been tabbed by Marvel Studios to direct the next Thor blockbuster, but his earlier film Boy is what first got him noticed.
His look at native life in rural New Zealand during the mid- eighties captures the fleeting innocence of childhood. Boy (Rolleston), a scrawny twelve-year-old with an affinity for Michael Jackson, is tasked with watching his younger brother Rocky and a slew of cousins while his grandmother is away, but things get wild when Boy's estranged, criminal father (Waititi) reappears.
Waititi shows the lives of average natives in New Zealand, instead of the war paint wearing behemoths we have come to associate with the Mauri people here in America. In fact, Boy depicts native New Zealander life very similarly to what we see on reservations in America.
It's very interesting to see Boy and his family and friends interact on a daily basis. They run free across the town, where everybody know everybody, without a care. But as the film continues, you see that all of them are only a few years away from joining their fathers in jail or activities that could send them to jail.
Boy manages to remain an upbeat and energetic film, even while dealing with tough issues like broken families, drug use and death. Waititi's creative take on Boy and his father's rough relationship is both light and poignant, making the film an entertaining watch for anyone who is a fan of Waititi
or Michael Jackson.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Bigger Cars, Bigger Guns and Bigger Explosions
George Miller continues the post-apocalyptic saga of Max Rockatansky (Hardy replaces Mel Gibson) after a thirty year absence from the screen. The historically violent series, which includes Mad Max, The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome, picks up Max's legacy with faster cars, crazier villains and a bigger budget.
This time around, Max finds himself taken prisoner by a band of engine worshiping raiders known as the War Boys. They are led by the sadistic Immortal Joe, who hoards water and imprisons young women in order bare his twisted children. When one of his top in command Furiosa (Theron) breaks the women out of captivity, Joe sends all of his forces in pursuit to get them back by any means necessary.
The War Boys are incredibly fun to watch. They cover themselves in a white powder and inhale chrome as they throw their sickly bodies at any obstacle in their way. Immortal Joe is their god and the V8 engine is his roar. Nicholas Holt's Hux shows the War Boys' determination to please Joe as he tries and fails time and time again to recapture Furiosa.
The action is out of this world entertaining. Every single character is beyond belief crazy, the explosions are eye-popping and the chase sequences are incredibly well choreographed. There is not a minute of the film that isn't action packed, from the opening scene of Max being captured to its eventual bloody conclusion. Plot and structure have no place in a world where how loud your car is and how big your gun is rule the day.
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Blood & Snow
The newest installment in Tarantino's quick-witted and extremely bloody cinematic universe takes place just after the Civil War has ended during an exceptionally deadly blizzard. Bounty hunter 'Hangman' John Ruth (Russell) is transporting the deadly outlaw Daisy Domergue (Jason Leigh) to be hanged for her crimes. When the approaching storm forces them to take cover at Minnie's Haberdashery a slew of colorful characters are introduced that may threaten Ruth's mission.
Tarantino is no stranger to outrageous violence and all three hours and seven minutes of The Hateful Eight are full of it. Gun battles, poisonings and a few good old fashion punches to the nose are had by just about every ill-begotten character holed up at Minnie's. Not a single character can escape Tarantino's twisted view on reality, which makes for an extremely entertaining and fast paced three hour film.
The outstanding cast includes Tarantino regulars such as Jackson, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen along with Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir and Oscar nominee Bruce Dern. Even with all this acting firepower on screen at the same time, the standout is Jason Leigh as the insanely sadistic, yet likable Domergue who is the only woman with a major role throughout the film.
Tarantino created added interest in this film by also filming it in 70mm Panavision film stock and releasing two versions to cinemas. The Hateful Eight became the first movie to be fully filmed in Super Panavision 70 since the 1970's and joined a list which includes classics such as Lawrence of Arabia and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The violence is outrageous yet stylistic, nothing that viewers have not become accustomed to from a filmmaker that has spilled blood across the silver screen since Reservoir Dogs debuted over twenty years ago. Fans have also become accustomed to the faced-paced, expletive laden dialogue spouted by Tarantino's beloved characters. The Hateful Eight is an entertaining film for anyone who is not bothered by the content, but is even more so for anyone who is a fan of film history as Tarantino himself is.
The Verdict (1982)
A Leap of Faith
After a brush with disbarment, attorney Frank Galvin (Newman) now resorts to chasing ambulances and attending funerals to feed his booze habit. A meager law office, an aging mentor (Jack Warden) and the pinball machine at the local bar are all he has when he decides to make a lifestyle change. With his client in a coma and little hope of ever recovering, Galvin decides to reject a sizable payout from the Catholic Hospital that put her there and takes them to court in a high profile malpractice case.
The 57-year-old Newman looks a far cry from his typical on screen self. His ratty suit and near constant stubble fit the hard-drinking Galvin, who frequently stumbles to the bar before lunch for a quick hangover cure. While his actions spiral him deeper and deeper out of control, the actor's steely blue eyes pierce through the character's rough exterior giving the audience hope for his redemption.
As Galvin turns from the bottle and throws himself into the case, he begins to see the client as a person instead of a payday. Even as every tactic he throws at the jury is shot down by the Hospital's high powered attorney (Mason), he never loses hope. While the Catholic Church is at times depicted as the villain or at least a corporate entity, faith becomes the overwhelming theme of the film.
The Verdict garnered five Oscar nominations, including only the second in Newman's long career. Though he would again lose out on the award, he would reinvent himself by proving he could still step out of his comfort zone as an actor.
There is no real hero in this courtroom drama that relies more on emotional draw than actual evidence. Even though sometimes the leaps of the faith the plot takes are a little hard to believe, any fan of Newman will be a fan of The Verdict.