American History X (1998)

Director: Tony Kaye

Writer: David McKenna

Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong and Beverly D'Angelo

My Review:

            American History X is one the best films I have ever seen. I would rate it the 2^nd best film of 1998 with only Roberto Benigini’s “Life is Beautiful above it of all the films that were released in that year. The film portrayed the life of Derek Vinyard, a racist and the leader of a gang of skinhead. Derek is arrested for murdering three men and is paroled after 3 years. Danny Vinyard, the younger brother of Derek is strongly influenced by his brother’s behavior. The life of Derek is brought to us through the words of Danny in his work called American History X.

            Edward Norton gave a great performance in the lead as Derek Vinyard. This performance fetched him an Oscar nomination for the Best Actor in the lead role. In this Oscar race, he was beaten by Roberto Benigini. I would rate this performance as the second best performance of the five that were nominated and the best was eventually crowned.  The role of Danny Vinyard was portrayed by Edward Furlong, who played the famous role of John Connor in The Terminator series. Furlong was the best pick for that role. The debutant director Tony Kaye directed only this feature film so far in his career apart from a number of documentaries. I personally believe the movie lovers have missed Tony Kaye for the past 12 years.

My Review: 8.8/10

Dark City (1998)

Director: Alex Proyas

Writers: Alex Proyas (story and screenplay)

Stars: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland and Jennifer Connelly

My Review:

    Dark City is one of the most original and imaginative script of the modern era. Alex Proyas wrote and directed this film. He directed 4 more feature films but wrote only this one. As this film came in a period where dramas dominated sci-fi completely in the awards, it was a blockbuster hit but not critically praised.

    The plot of the film is that John Murdoch(Rufus Sewell) struggles with amnesia such that he could not remember even his name and his family. He is sought for many murders by Inspector Bumstead. Then he eventually finds his identity and learns that the the world is run by strangers with telekinetic powers which he also posses. When the strangers learn that a human has their power, Murdoch is sought by them as well. From where did Murdoch come?? What happens to the strangers?? is the rest of the film. Dr. Schreber, played by Kiefer Sutherland is the puppet of the strangers. Jennifer Connelly played the role of Emma Murdoch, wife of John Murdoch.

    The story and screenplay of the film were excellent and the climax of the film was Top-notch. The acting in the film were decent.

My Rating: 7.3/10

Recommendation: Watch it!!