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!!