Donnie Darko

"Donnie Darko" is about a troubled teenager named Donnie Darko, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. He has been in trouble with the law and is seeing a psychiatrist. One day while sleeping he hears voices and goes outside to investigate when he comes across a 6 foot bunny named Frank who tells him the world will end in 28 days. While out talking to Frank an airplane engine falls onto his room and destroys his room. Because Donnie was not in his room he did not die. So now in a sense he owes his life to Frank the bunny so now whenever Frank asks him to do something for him he does.

The Darkos seem like a normal looking family on the outside, but they are far from it. Donnie seems to have mental problems and is seeing a psychiatrist, the parents do not know how to handle Donnie, the oldest daughter parties a lot but is pretty normal, and the youngest daughter is too pure and innocent. As I said, Donnie is quite out there; in the beginning of the movie he wakes up in the middle of the road sleeping. What is he doing you ask it will be answered in the movie later on. He goes home and acts like nothing, same with his parents. He attends school and what is very creative is how the scene is shot. The director uses slow motion to show the effect of time on everyone and time plays a huge role in the movie.

I know what you are thinking: Donnie must be a crazy movie but it is not that simple. When this movie ends you will definitely have questions that will not be answered. One of the biggest questions is who is Frank the bunny. Is he here to help or hurt Donnie? Is he a time traveler from another universe?

Frank starts to visit Donnie more frequently and tells Donnie to do things that are illegal but open a new world and exposes things that help and destroy people. What is very interesting whenever Frank visits there is some sort clear force field between them that they can not cross, a boundary of some sorts. It makes you wonder is Frank, is he from another universe traveling through time and trying to help Donnie or is he destroying the world himself. There are also a lot of time travel questions, when Donnie is watching t.v. there seems to be a life force that is coming out of his chest directing him to places. This is not only weird but makes you think again is this real or not.

This movie is definitely a movie for someone who wants to think and wonder about time travel and if there is another universe. As I said, most questions will be answered, everything will tie together very nicely but some questions will not be answered because I think the director wants people to talk about the film and create more hubbub about the movie. It is a very creative and good movie. I would give it a 8/10 and I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone.

I Am Legend

"I Am Legend" is a post apocalyptic movie about a man named Robert Neville, played by Will Smith. Robert Neville is a scientist for the army who is trying to find a cure for a virus that turns people into vampires. This virus was created by prevent cancer but when people took it it caused them to change into vampires. Neville is trying to work on a cure in New York City, ground zero, where the outbreak first started and hit the hardest. He is somehow immune to the disease and seems to be the last man in New York City and the world. He is trying to find a cure for the disease but experimenting on vampires in his basement. He has his trusty dog by his size named Sam who goes everywhere with him and is his only companion.

This movie is visual stunning, to see New York City deserted and animals rooming freely throughout the city is remarkable. To see Robert and Sam speeding through New York City in his Red Mustang GT 500 trying to find food is great. Through out the movie you will see flashbacks of the outbreak and what happened. This part does help explain the story but the one aspect I really want to know about is how this vaccination during people into vampires, that is the only real thing that is not explained clearly. Not only is this movie thoughtful and creative it has its elements of comedy whether it is when Robert is running on the tread mill to get exercise, Sam is on another tread mill running with him. Also when Robert goes to a store to rent a DVD he was talking to the manikins and noticed a woman manikin looking at the adult section and Sam looks at Robert and he says that he will talk to her the next day they come in. The movie provides some comic elements to it even though it is generally a depressing movie, which helps lift the spirit of the movie.

The director Francis Lawrence did a great job capturing the post apocalyptic world Robert lived in. Also capturing the mood surrounding Robert, that he really was the last man on earth and how is true living friend was his dog Sam. Let me say that the dog, Sam, did well and was very good in the movie, in a way stole the movie from Will Smith. Even though the movie is about 1 hour and 40 minutes all 100 minutes of it are captivating, it is faced paced and you will not be boring. The whole idea of a post apocalyptic world was great and captivating. Without a doubt Will Smith deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance of Colonel Robert Neville.

I would certainly recommend this movie to anyone, it is a great movie and will keep you in your seats for the whole 100 minutes. I would give a 8.5/10, so check out this movie!!

Rushmore

I do not know if anyone here is familiar with any movies directed by Wes Anderson such as "The Royal Tenenbaums" or "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". This film is definitely better that Life Aquatic and one of Wes Anderson's better films. It stars Bill Murray as Mr. Herman Blume, Jason Schwartzman as Max Fischer, and Olivia Williams as Rosemary Cross. It is the story of Max Fischer who is a 15 year old student at Rushmore Academy who one day falls in love with a teacher named Mrs. Cross but Mr. Blume a wealthy business man Max has become friendly with likes her too. And it is a fight to get Mrs. Cross.

Max is in charge of many clubs and does a lot of after school activities but is not good in school. One day Mr. Blume comes to talk to his school and Max likes the speech. He introduces himself to Mr. Blume and Mr. Blume likes him. They become friendly and they usually do things to help each other out. While in the library Max is reading a book about under water animals and noticed a quote and likes the quote. He finds out who has taken out the book and finds out it is a teacher named Mrs. Cross. When he goes to see her he falls in love. He tries to win her over by putting on one of his famous plays that he creates. One of the funny things is that Mrs. Cross brings a friend along with and the whole night Max antagonizes him. But the funny part is when Max asks him what he is wearing he replies O.R. scrubs and Max says o are they. It is just so predictable but funny.

When Mr. Blume sees her at this diner he likes her and tries to win her over. He tries to persuade Max that she is not for him so he can have her. When Max finds out about this he and Herman have a back and forthing of fighting and retaliation. They even go to the points of ruining each others lives, where they become obsessed with getting back at one another. I will not tell you the things they do because it is funny and good. The things they will do to get Mrs. Cross are funny and great. One funny thing that has nothing to do with the fighting is when Herman is talking to Max about Mrs. Cross he comoes across a few kids playing basketball, he tells Max to hold on and he runs over to the court and blocks a kid shooting the ball. It was very random but very funny.

The movie might be dry humor but it is funny and witting dry humor. It is a movie definitely worth watching. I would recommend to anyone who is the mood for a good laugh and a good movie. Overall I owuld give a 8/10.

Chunking Express

"Chunking Express" is directed by Wong Kar Wai and was made during Hong Kong's film movement, where Hong Kong films where being made left and right. But this one was not a good one. The movie was like "Crash" in the sense that everyone lives affect one another but it is poorly done.

The first story we come across is about Cop 223 who is not that good of a cop because he has not arrested someone in a while. He is trying to get back his old girlfriend who broke up with him on April Fools Day so he thinks she was kidding and he is waiting for him to come back. One day he comes a across a women in a blond wig and falls in love with him. What you learn about this women in a blond wig is that she is a dealer and looking for her drug mules that ran away. The one good thing is in the beginning of the film you see Cop 223 and the women in a blond wig running in slow motion, the whole screen is semi blurry while they run, which is "Matrix" like but that is the only good thing about this part.

Let me start off by saying the second part is much better than the first part. It is too about another Cop, Cop 663 who also broke up with his girlfriend and wants her back. He usually goes to this fast food restaurant to get food and one day comes across a girl named Faye. Faye always plays the song "California Dreaming" by the Mamas and the Papas, which is a good song but that movie made that song annoying fast. Faye and Cop 663 like each other but none of them take the first step to talk to each other. Until one day Cop 663 ex-girlfriend comes in to the restaurant to give Cop 663 a letter because he is always at the restaurant. He is not there and leaves the letter with Faye. Everyone reads the letter including Faye. When Cop 663 comes by for food he is told about the letter but does not want it. So he keeps it there. So one day Faye takes the key to Cop 663's apartment from the letter and goes to his apartment.

This is where story two gets bad. She starts stalking him in a sense. She basically breaks into his apartment and starts eating his food, lying in his bed, fixing the place up, and many other things. She is basically a weird person. He walks on her one day in his apartment and confronts her. They talk and plan to meet later for dinner but she leaves him to go to California, here is where "California Dreaming" comes into play. She becomes a flight attendant, like Cop 663 ex-girlfriend. A year later they meet up at the fast food joint that Cop 663 has now bought and they basically live happily ever after.

I have to tell you how these stories relate. Cop 223 also ate at the fast food restaurant where Cop 663 went. Cop 223 story ended when he bumped into Faye when she first started working there. That is how the stories switched, that is hands down the dumbest way to switch stories. I would not recommend it, it was an hour and forty minutes of my life I would certainly like back. I would give it a 4/10.

No Country For Old Men

This movie definitely lives up to the hype, the Coen Brothers who have done Fargo, the big Lebowski, and O' Brother Where Art Thou? make another great movie. The movie is about a man named Llewelyn Moss played by Josh Brolin who comes across a drug deal gone bad while hunting. He finds more than $2 million and is being hunted by a killer named Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem. Tommy Lee Jones plays Sheriff Ed Tom Bell who is trying to help Llewelyn and find out what is really going on.

The movie might be violent but is also well written, the dialogue is smart, especially bySheriff Ed Bell and the story is creative. Javier Bardem gives a great performance and deserves an Oscar for his portrayal of a cold blooded killer who will stop at nothing to get the money back. Like I said previously Llewelyn Moss was hunting in the Rio Grande and came across a drug dealer where everyone was killed and found a bag full of money a took it. He would have gotten away Scot free if he did not go back to the site to check on a man there he saw earlier who was alive. While there one of the groups involved in the trade showed up and found him. They chased him until they lost him.

The other group involved in the trade hired Anton to track down Llewelyn down. So he has two people on his tail but Anton in the more dangerous one. That is very interesting is Anton carries around a cattle-gun which uses compressed air to shot out this rod that kills cattle but Anton uses to kill people and break down doors. He also uses a shotgun with a silencer attached to it. These are the weapons he uses to conduct his violence. Anton is unstoppable, he is like a machine once he is on a mission he continues until the job is finished. He is also like a machine in the sense he can not be destroyed because he uses his wits to outsmart his enemy. But don't get me wrong he is still a crazy insane murderer and you want to see someone stop him on his bloody rampage.

I will not tell you the ending of the movie because it is worth seeing. I would definitely recommend this movies, it is one of the movies this year that is worth the ridiculous $10 a ticket. I would give it a 9.5/10, so go check out this movie.

Elephant

This movie is different from all others. It is a story about an thing you can not ignore, the so called elephant in the back of the room that needs to be talked about. It is school shootings. The movie takes this idea from the Columbine school shootings. The director Gus Van Sant who did "Good Will Hunting" takes a sad and eye opening approach. The story first of all is sad and he takes a cast of all high school students, making the movie seem more real and life like.

The tag line for the movie is, an ordinary high school day. Except that it's not. This is completely true. It is the story of two boys named Alex and Eric who after years of school bulling and little love from home want their revenge and decide to shoot up the school. This idea in and of itself is depressing and is hard to show but Gus Van Sant does this in a good way, opening our eyes and making it known that they exist and can happen, so try to prevent them.

How the film is shoot is very good. For periods of time the camera follows a certain character around the school and their day in school. Also there is one scene where he follows these group of girls into the cafeteria and in one continuous scene that lasts about 6-7 minutes showing everyone conversations and their day. This camera work is great and adds to the movie. The movie also does not follow just one character you see everyone the days before and the day of. Including the victims and the killers. This makes the movie more personal and makes it really hit home for people. Usually in movies action is mad to be cool and you want to see it because that is what makes the movie cool and exciting but Gus Van Sant shows the true nature of violence and how that it is really not that cool, it is just cold and destroys everything, family and friends.

Overall the movie is good but it is a depressing topic because it is hard to believe something like this happened and will continue to happen unless things do change. That is the message of the movie and should be followed through, the "elephant" in the back of the room should not be ignored it is there and real, it should be talked about and brought to people's attention. I would give a 8.5/10. I would recommend it because it is a good movie but due to the topic of the movie it is your call.

Groundhog Day

Let me start off by saying that "Groundhog Day" is a great film. It was made in 1993 and is still a great film. The idea of a movie going through the same day over and over again seems boring but Bill Murray cares the movie well. It is the story of weather man Phil Connors who is covering the Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania but he is stuck in the same day, it keeps repeating day after day.

Even though there might be very little story in the movie it is still funny and clever. Phil is a cold hearted jerk in the beginning of the film but as the film progresses you see a change in Phil's character. When Phil first starts the day he does not want to be covering the Groundhog fair because it was boring and he feels that he is better than this. When the day finally ends he wakes up in the same day and does not believe it. He does every day differently and every time it is funny. I will not tell you what he does because it is funny and good.

One of the funniest times is when Phil robs an armored car because he knows when everything will happen, it shows how long he has really been there and how Bill Murray says everthing is funny. When he is watching he says everthing that will happen like a dog bark and a gust of wind, it is done in such a clever way that it is funny. That is all I will say about the scenes because they are done so well that you should see it on your own.

I would give it a 8.5/10, so if you have not seen it yet go and see it but if you have seen it go and watch it again because it is a good movie.

American Gangster

In a previous blog from September I talked about a movie I could not wait for, it was "American Gangster" it finally came out and did not disappoint. Denzel Washington gave one of his best performances as drug kingpin Frank Lucas and definitely deserves an Oscar nomination minimum. Russell Crowe also played great as lawman Ritchie Roberts. The director Ridley Scott brings out the best in both actors and makes a great movie.

The movie is based on the true-story of Frank Lucas played by Denzel Washington who becomes a drug-kingpin in Harlem by selling heroin and imposing his violent will on people who got in his way. He would import heroin in coffins of dead soldiers from Vietnam and sell it in America. He made millions from these heroin trades. This heroin he was selling called Blue Magic was the most pure heroin on the market and was the cheapest. So he made big bucks. He was a big, powerful man who everyone feared but wanted to be like. By now everyone knows that he was arrested and sent to jail but co operated with the police and brought other people down with him. In all he spent 15 years in jail.

Frank took over the streets of Harlem after his boss Bumpy Johnson died. He established himself as a ruthless man who everyone feared but wanted to be like. Even though he was destroying Harlem with his heroin he would still give back by giving away turkeys during Thanksgiving. He claimed to been making $1 million a day from heroin trades. This heroin was coming straight from Vietnam and he was cutting out the middle man causing a lot of hate between him and rival gangs and mafias. Frank would only use his family members in his gang to help protect himself but even that did not help him.

Frank would do whatever it took to make sure he had control. In the movie another drug dealer owed him money and did not pay so he shot him at point blank range in daylight infront of everyone. He wanted people in Harlem who ruled the streets. Also when a group of corrupt cops from NYC tried to extort him he would not let them and sent them a message. He was a true gangster and ruthless one as well.

Even though the movie might have been 2 hours and 40 minutes it does not fell like that at all. The movie moves at a good speed and is definitely worth seeing if you have not already. I would give it a 9/10.

Saw IV

Well where do I begin. The first "Saw" movie was quite good and I would definitely recommend that one but from the next movie on it starts to decline. I had no expectation for this movie so it could have only gone up but this movie is better then Saw III. The story is the same the jigsaw killer who we now learn is finally dead still left some traps before he died so there is still more bloodshed.

Let me start by saying that even though the story is done well you do not go to Saw for the story plot, it is the bloodshed and the torture devices that jigsaw created. And if you can not handle bloodshed or violence this movie is not for you at all. The traps are new and different but overall still the same idea, someone is being tested because they do not cherish their life and blood will be shed. The story unfolds a lot more and you learn about how jigsaw first started to kill and tie everything together. One thing they do well besides the bloodshed is the tie story of all the movies together nicely.

The story is about SWAT commander Rigg who is trying to save two detectives who have been missing. Jigsaw tests him throughout the whole way with different people and you start to learn about jigsaw's past. I will not ruin the movie for you because there are some good twists and turns and some crazy devices that where created. Unless you are a die hard Saw fan or want to see it with friends, don't spend your money, it is no that great of a movie and overall I would give it a 6/10.

Goldfinger

One of the first James Bond movies made was "Goldfinger". It was made in 1964 and was not that bad. It starts Sean Connery as James Bond, who in my opinion is the best Bond ever. The story is James bond is on other one of his missions but this time he is after gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger who is planning on taking over Fort Knox and destroying all the gold. It is up to James Bond to stop the bad guy and save the world, which is like every other bond film.

James Bond is a secret agent for the British and goes on missions to save the world if you did not know. James Bond starts following Goldfinger and his henchmen Oddjob. Oddjob is unlike any other henchmen, a he is strong and what appears to be, indestructible, also he has a hat that he can throw that can kill you. This hat is quite unique and cool. Goldfinger has a plan called Grand Slam which I stated before will destroy all the gold in Fort Knox and making his gold very expensive and worth a lot.

Bond meets a few women on the way Jill and Tilly Masterson. Tilly Bond met in Florida and while he was getting friendly with her she gets killed by being painted gold all over her body. So her sister Jill wants revenge against Goldfinger and the two meet while Bond is staking out Goldfinger at his base. The two watch him until an alarm is tripped and the two are chased by Goldfinger's henchmen. While on the run Oddjob kills Jill with his hat and captures Bond. One of the more famous Bond movies scene is how Goldfinger is going to kill Bond. He has Bond tied down to a table and will use a laser to kill him. But using his wit Bond gets out and lives for another day.


Goldfinger brings Bond to Kentucky so he can see his plan work out perfectly. While there Bond meets, get this Pussy Galore, quite the name. She is working with Goldfinger in operation grand slam. I will tell you what happens at the end but it is really not ruining the movie because you know what will happen anyways because it is a Bond movie. Bond converts Pussy into not helping Goldfinger and she calls the FBI and has Goldfinger's plans stopped. There is a final fight scene between Oddjob and Bond. Oddjob is completely beating Bond but Bond uses his wits and kills Oddjob by electrocuting him. But Goldfinger gets away. While Bond is flying to meet the President Goldfinger shows up and the two have a final duel on the plane. While fighting a bullet is shot and Goldfinger gets sucked out of the plane through the window. It is probably one of the funniest scene you can ever seen.

Another thing that makes this Bond movie good is the Aston Martin he drives, it is a thing of beauty. The car itself is amazing but the gadgets such as a machine gun in the front of the car, oil slick that shoots out, but the best is a ejector seat in the front of the car. Bond movies are fantasy movies and that is what makes them good but they still have an element of truth. Overall it is a decent movie and one of the better Bond movies. I would give it a 7.5/10.

Spirited Away

When I first heard about this movie, it had just the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002. It is an anime film but do not let that discourage you. It is directed by Hayao Miyazaki who is regarded as a great film maker in the animated world. That is definitely true, he is a visionary in every sense of the word. The world he created is weird but amazing. The story is of a girl named Chihiro who is moving to a new town and on the way her family and Chihiro get stuck in a mysterious world and she has to find her way out.

While on the way to their new house Chihiro and her parents stumble across what appears to be an abandoned amusement park but it is taken over at night by spirits and Chihiro and her family get stuck in this world. Her parents eat all of the food meant for the spirits and get tunred into pigs. The ironic part is while her parents are eating the food Chihiro is telling her parents that they should not do this that it is bad and not right. But the parents say it is alright and come join. The positions have been reversed, the child is acting like the parent and the parent like a child.

So Chihiro has to help save her parents. She gets help from Haku, a boy who is the henchmen for Yubaba who runs the bath house in the spirit world. Haku tells Chichiro to get a job at the bath house so she can stay in the spirit world. So Chihiro visits Yubaba, but she is a mean women who wants Chihiro to fell but gives her a hard job just to make sure. Chihrio gets a job at the bath house as a working girl who has to clean up and help customers in the bath house. She works with Lin who does the same job. Lin during the film helps out Chihiro in her quest to help out her parents.

While Chihiro is working at the bath house a stink spirit comes to the bath house to get clean and Yubaba puts Chihiro in charge of helping out this customer. Chihiro puts the spirit in the biggest tube and gives him the best water to help clean him off. While she is poring the water she notices something sticking out of the spirit and tries to pull it out. She can not and everyone working in the bath house tries to pull out the object it turns out to be a bicycle and other pollution. It turns out the stink spirit is a river spirit that was covered in pollution. Chihiro helps the river spirit and is liked more by everyone in the bath house.

Chihrio starts to take a liking to Haku and wants to help him. When Haku goes on a mission to steal the golden seal of Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister, for Yubaba he gets seriously hurt. She runs all the way to the top of the bath house to help Haku and stop the bleeding. When she finds out he stole the golden seal, she goes off to see Zeniba to remove the curse put on Haku by Zeniba. She returns the seal and helps Haku. When she leaves she remembers who Haku really is and tells him. When she tells him is breaks the spell Yubaba had on Haku and frees him.

When Haku and Chihiro return from Zeniba's house Yubaba has one more test for Chihiro before she can take her parents and go. She accomplishes that task and is set free. She leaves the spirit world and goes back to her own. When she gets back she is a different person. She is not a whinny person like she used to be, she has become a more mature person and a better person.

For anyone who likes anime movies should definetly see this movie but even if you are not an anime fan you should still see this movie because it is a pretty good film. I would give it a 9/10.

Do The Right Thing

"Do The Right Thing" is a very good movie. If you have not seen this movie you are certainly missing out. The movie is directed by Spike Lee and was made in 1989. When the movie first came out it was very controversial because it depicts racial conflicts which eventually turns into a riot. The cats consist of Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, John Turturro, Ossie Davis, Rosie Perez, a young Martin Lawrence, and many other stars.

The story takes place in Brooklyn on a hot summers day. The story follows everyone in this neighborhood. The central character Mookie (Spike Lee) works as a pizza delivery boy for Sal's Famous Pizzeria run by Sal (Danny Aiello) and his sons Pino (John Turturro) and Vito (Richard Edson). Sal's Famous has been around for 25 years and everyone in the neighborhood grew up his pizza. But when Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) wants Sal to put up black people on his wall of fame instead of all white Italian people. Conflict arises. Buggin Out wants to start a boycott of Sal's Famous and that starts trouble.

Pino one of Sal's sons does not like African American people at all and wants to move to his neighborhood where other whites are but Sal does not want. This racism by Pino adds to the conflict of race in the movie. Also when a white comes back from a bike ride he is walking back to his apartments when he accidently runs over Buggin Outs shoes and messes up his shoes. Buggin Out gets upset and gets right in his face about what he did. He brings the race card by saying what are you doing in my neighborhood anyways, this shows that everyone wants everyone to stay where they belong and that race plays a big role in everything about this neighborhood. The way Spike Lee captures the rising tension between races is incredible. Especially when the temperature rises so does the racial conflict.

The biggest example of how African American people are rebelling is Radio Raheem who plays on his huge radio "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy. For anyone who does not know the song or the group, Public Enemy is a rap group who raps about fighting the power of the white man in the song. Radio Raheem only plays this song and plays it throughout the movie. This also shows the rising conflict between races because one of the main characters wants to fight the power and is a rebel.

If you have seen the movie skip this part entirely because it contains a spoiler of the movie. In the end Buggin Out recruits Radio Raheem to boycott Sal's Famous. When Sal lets in a few people from the neighborhood to get a few slices, Radio and Buggin Out come in blasting "Fight the Power" and start demanding the Sal put black people on the wall of fame. Everyone starts yelling, cursing, and saying racial remarks until takes out his baseball bat and destroys Radio Raheem's radio. This starts a fight and eventually the police come and break it up but in the process Radio Raheem resists and gets strangled to death by New York's Finest, NYPD. When the police finally leave all the people in the neighborhood start getting together and demand answers. While this happens Mookie grabs a garbage can and throws it into the window of the pizzeria breaking the window. Causing a riot and they all burn down the pizzeria. The police and firefighters come back and fight the riot.

In the end Sal's gets burned down and Radio Raheem is dead. The racial conflict is showed in the riot. While the riot is going on the crowd is chanting "Howard Beach, Howard Beach" this was a similar event in which Spike Lee based an aspect of his movie on. When the movie first came out in 1989 people thought that when Mookie through the garbage can into the window strating the riot that it will start a real uprising in America and that it went overboard. But like Spike Lee said and I totally agree, that people over look the murder of Radio Raheem, the man was strangled to death by the police. Which in my opinion is a big deal and should not be overlooked.

Overall like I previously said this movie is good and I recommend this movie to anyone who has not seen this movie. I give it a 9/10.

"M"

"M" was made in 1931 and is not a good movie. It is in German and directed by Fritz Lang and stars Peter Lorre. It is about Hanz Beckert a child murderer who was based on the true story of serial killer Peter Kurten dubbed "The Vampire of Dusseldorf" who murdered around 30 men, women, and children.

Hans Beckert played by Peter Lorre terrorizes the town of Dusseldorf by taking little girls and then murdering them. These murderers cause the town to go into chaos trying to look for the killer. This peaceful town starts blaming anyone who looks suspicious. They want there streets to be safe and are willing to do anything to accomplish that. When the first murder of Elise Beckmann occurs you see Beckert taking her around buying her candy and balloons to try to easy her into trusting him. While all of this is going on he is whistling a song which is his tell tale sign later on in the movie. But when he kills her you see her ball roll away and her balloon he bought for her go into the sky. During this time you hear nothing but the sound of Elise's mother calling for her daughter. This is one of the few good parts of the film, the sound going in and out at different points, it adds a nice different element to the movie.

When the police can do nothing to catch the killer so the people start taking things into there own hands. Like I previously stated anyone who looks suspicious gets attacked and accused. One other thing, singular, that I like about the film is that criminal underworld headed by Schranker, who is a man of mystery and everyone fears comes together to catch the murderer. They come together because people thing that the murder is one of them and they want to prove other wise to help business go back to what it used to be. When all of the heads of the criminal underworld, pick pockets, thieves, and others meet the police are doing the same thing and it goes back and forth between the two showing that even though one might be bad and good you can not tell the difference, they are now one in the same with a common goal, trying to get the murderer.

Then the criminal underworld gets help from the beggars union, which is pretty funny, to watch any suspicious men with little girls. Like I said before, the whistle when Beckert was in his trance gave himself away. When he gets another little girl and starts whistling he walks by the balloon man who he bought the balloon for Elise and the balloon man recognizes his whistle. The balloon man tells the other people and they track him. To make sure they do not lose him they put a chalk "M" on his back and track him. They find him in a building a bring him to their court. This the last thing I like about the movie which is these criminals create a court to try this killer in. It is ironic that thieves and murderers think that they can condemn a man. But the police show up and arrest Beckert.

Overall it is not a good movie but is not bad. I would give it a 6/10. There are certain things about it that is good but overall not so much. If you want to watch the movie go right ahead but I do warn in advance. If you disagree with me post a blog on and tell me why you liked it. Below this is a clip from the movie where they catch the murder and you see who Beckert really is.

Witness

Even though "Witness" is an old movie, 1985, it is still a good movie. It is the story of an Amish boy who with his mother where going to Maryland but where delayed at the train station. There the Amish boy, Samuel witness the murder of a cop. He gets questioned by Detective John Book (Harrison Ford) and tells John Book that the murderer is a decorated narcotics cop. Here John Book enters a world of corruption and greed and has to protect the kid. But he gets shot by one of the corrupt cops and stays in Amish country to get healed and hide. He now has to live by the ways of the Amish.

Harrison Ford gives one of his best performances as John Book. How he goes from city life to Amish life. He has to get adjusted to this new way of life until he figures something out. In the beginning he struggles getting adjusted whether it is doing chores for the Lapps who are sheltering him or their way of life in general. There are two cases where there is a clash between the Amish ways and his. When they all sit down at the table John makes a reference to a commercial at the table but nobody gets it because they have no t.v. Also when the Amish go into town a bunch a teenagers hassle the Amish and John goes to stand up to them and Eli Lapp tells him that it is not the Amish way but he says that it is his way. After a while though he gets accustomed to their way of life. He helps build a barn for newly weds. In Amish culture when someone is just married the whole community builds them a barn.



The boy Samuel (Lukas Haas) and his mother, Rachel (Kelly McGillis) play their parts very well. The director Peter Weir is amazing at cinematography. The establishing shot in the movie of the grass waving in the wind is amazing. He also does a good job showing the conflicts of John Book City views vs. Amish views, the good vs. evil, or the conflict with Rachel's Amish views vs. John Books way of life. He knows what to show and just how to show it. Also I liked how he had Harrison Ford doing carpenter work around the house and with the barn because in real life while Harrison Ford was starting up as an actor he would be a carpenter when he was not acting.

I will not ruin the ending for anyone but the end is very good and keeps the movie running smoothly and well. If you have not already seen the movie go rent it from blockbuster or netflix, it is definitely a movie you should see.

Eastern Promises

I recently saw "Eastern Promises" and it was an amazing movie. It is a very good gangster movie that depicts organized crime very well. It stars Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. If most people still remember Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn from "Lord of the Rings" he breaks away from Aragorn very well. He plays a gangster very well and is very believable. He puts had a Russian accent which he does very well. He has found is calling as a mobster. He and the director David Cronenburg worked together in "History of Violence" where he played a mobster there too. It seems like these two are becoming like Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Dicaprio, one directs and the other stars. If you liked "History of Violence" you will certainly like "Eastern Promises" it is not a let down in any way.

It is the story of a gangster Nikoilai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) who is a driver for the Vory V Zakone mob family in London. He is friendly with the bosses son and is trying to work his way up in the family. He meets a midwife (Naomi Watts) who is trying to find out about a girl who died while giving birth to a baby. She discovered a diary the girl kept and searches to find out more about the girl and it takes her to a Siberian restaurant where the Vory V Zakone family operates out of. She discovers the underground world of the mob this girl was involved in and gets in over her head with the mob.

If you have heard anything about this movie it is that is bloody and brutal, and it certainly is. There is a good deal of bloodshed and violence, so if you are queasy and can not held the site of blood this is not the movie for you. Right in the opening scene there is a murder of a gangster and it is nothing short of bloody. Unlike other movies that try to be tough and violent, "Eastern Promises" is not one of those, it is a gritty film and that what makes it great. It makes the movie believable and more realist.

One of the biggest scenes which most people have probably heard of, is the scene in the steam room where Viggo Mortensen fights off two gang members who are trying to kill him. It is a very graphic scene and Viggo Mortensen is fully nude. The scene is a big deal because of the nudity and violence and it certainly does not let it down at all. Also the Vory V Zakone have tattoos all over there body as a way of telling there life story. This tradition is very important to these people and the more tattoos you have the more of a person you are. To signify your a gang members they have tattoos of a star above their heart and on their knees. The knees is to say that no Vory V Zakone gets on their knees for no one.

"Eastern Promises" is a very good movie and I encourage anyone who likes good movie or gangster movies to go out and see this movie. The acting and directing is great, both go all out to make this movie believable and good. I would give it a 9/10 and in my opinion is a little bit better than "A History of Violence". So go check out this movie!

American Gangster

One of the films I am looking forward to this year is "American Gangster". It stars Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington who team up again after "Virtuosity". It is directed by Ridley Scott who did Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, Blade Runner, and Alien. Also it is produced by Nicholas Pileggi who wrote "Casino" & "Goodfellas", two very good gangster movies by Martin Scorsese. So just from the cast and crew it already sounds like a great movie.

It is based on the true-story of Frank Lucas played by Denzel Washington who becomes a drug-kingpin in Harlem by selling heroin and imposing his violent will on people who got in his way. He would import heroin in coffins of dead soldiers from Vietnam and sell it in America. He made millions from these heroin trades. He was a big, powerful man who everyone feared but wanted to be like. So the government gets involved and tries to bring him down. So they assemble a team to surveillance Frank and build a case against him. Russell Crowe plays lawman Richie Roberts who is trying to bring him to justice.

This movie sounds like it will be great. I can not wait until November 2 comes out to see this movie. If you like the gangster type of movies or just like the actors you should without a doubt check out this movie.

Up And Running

Welcome to All You Need To Know About Movies, here you can post movie reviews and movie previews. You can post anything else besides movies. I look foward to your reviews and reviews of my reviews!!