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

At Close Range (1986)

Director: James Foley

Writers: Elliott Lewitt (story), Nicholas Kazan (story)

Stars: Sean Penn, Christopher Walken and Mary Stuart Masterson

My Review:

                At close range is a film based on the real life incidents of a Pennsylvanian crime family which existed in 1960s and 1970s. Aliases were used in the film for real life Characters by Nicholas Kazan and the film was released in the year 1986. Brad Whitewood, Sr. is the leader of a organised crime family consisting of his Brothers and friends. Brad Whitewood, Jr., who was brought up by his mother, with his friends seeks to join the mid-atlantic gang of his estranged father, unaware of his character that he has no concerns for his family . Sean Penn and Christopher Walken played the roles of Brad Whitewood, Jr. and Brad Whitewood, Sr. respectively.

                Nicholas Kazan has beautifully edited the real life incidents into a movie.  The flow of story from scene to scene was excellent. James Foley has directed the film well such that the impact of the movie never leaves from the mind of the viewer.  Sean Penn's performance was at its best at all occasions. At that very young age, Penn was gifted enough to give a riveting performance in this role. Millie Perkins who played the role of Julie, lover of Penn was also good.

                The best scenes of the film comes at the end, one of the most unexpected ends in a real life, where Whitewood, Jr. confronts a situation that no man in this earth would have suffered. The touching climax of the film is the one that makes the film worth remembering even after years of watching the movie. So be a witness to a great performance from one of the best working actors in the industry even before he got recognized in the industry.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Recommendation: Watch it to see one of best real life incidents which is not an Inspirational one...

A Time to Kill (1996)

Director: Joel Schumacher

Writers: John Grisham (novel), Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)

Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock and Samuel L. Jackson

My Review:

                This film is an adaptation of a novel of the same name written John Grisham in the same name. The major part of the film is court room drama. Carl-Lee Hailey(Samuel L. Jackson) is arrested and tried for the case of brutally shooting and murdering two white american citizens who viciously raped his 10 year old daughter Tonya Hailey. A young rookie lawyer, Jake Brigance(Matthew McConaughey) represents Hailey on the case (Hailey Vs The State) where the defense is led by the D.A Rufus Buckley(Kevin Spacey).

                The film is pure drama well directed by Joel Schumacher. Sandra Bullock plays the role of researcher and assistant for Jake Brigance. The scenes inside the court room were excellent. Although the film is a slow paced drama, the emotional scenes and expressions of the actors were at top-notch. The match up between Mcconaughry and Spacey in the trial were good. Samuel L. Jacson and Sandra Bullock gave riveting performances.

My Rating: 7.2/10

Recommendation: Watch it!!!

Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writer: Ben Hecht

Stars: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains

My Review:

            The film Notorious released in the year 1946 is one best films of Alfred Hitchcock. Although its not a typical Hitchcock film, the movie was well written and directed. Alfred Hitchcock was one of the legendary directors of Hollywood whose mastery was directing Crime-suspense-drama films. This film starred Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in the leads which was another pl;us point for the film as they were at the peak of their career. Thus the deadly combo of Hitchcock with Grant and Bergman turned out to be a blockbuster. The presence of Claude Rains in the villain role gave a meteoric boost to the success of the film.

            The film was well written by Ben Hecht. The story of the film happens right after the world war II where Cary Grant plays the role of T.R.Devlin, a detective whose assignment is to bring down a group of German Expatiates living in Rio-de-Janerio. The group was suspected to have smuggled huge amounts of raw Uranium. Ingrid Bergman plays the role of Alicia Huberman, a beautiful young woman who is a daughter of a convicted German expatriate. Her father was found to be a German spy and hence he was convicted. Devlin uses Miss Huberman as a spy to bring down the group of German Expatriates led by Alexander Sebastian(Claude Rains).

            The film has a wonderful chemistry between Bergman and Grant. As the film was taken in 1946, the romantic scenes don't go beyond a close-up scene of kissing. But still it was very effectively utilised by Hitchcock. The film has many great scenes which stood as pillars of success for the film.

            As for as the acting considered, Both Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman gave their best. They had their own best scenes in the film. Claude Rains who played the role of the complex character Alexander Sebastian, was the pick of the pick of the actors to have performed at best. Sebastian was a man with  evil intentions and a Heart to love someone. The role was perfectly executed by Rains. Claude Rains was nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Ben Hecht was also nominated for Oscars. So overall, this is one of the best films of that decade, please don't miss it.

My Rating: 8.4/10

Recommendation: Must Watch it and I bet you will become either Hitchcock fan or Claude Rains fan or both.

Unthinkable(2010)

Director: Gregor Jordan

Writer:Peter Woodward

Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Carrie-Anne Moss and Michael Sheen

My Review:

         This Thriller from Gregor Jordan is an appeal to the audience  "Should the Human Torture be legalised?". Henry 'H' Humphries(Samuel L. Jackson) is an Black Ops interrogator and an extortionist. Helen Brody(Ann-Moss) is an FBI Agent who works in the Anti-Terrorist Dept. The film starts with a video being sent to the FBI saying that a man named Steven Arthur Younger(A muslim convert from U.S) has kept 3 Nuclear Bombs in the country. Younger, from an Islamic origin is a citizen of USA and an ex-military operative. He is arrested and in order to make him elicit the locations of the bombs from him, H and Agent Brody are appointed and are taken to a High security secret base of U.S military. Now in order to get the information about the bombs, Should H do the Unthinkable? Will Agent Brody stop him from doing so? is the film.

      The film has been beautifully potrayed with the viewers look into the film from eyes of Agent Brody. Gregor Jordan has finally delivered a quality film at the big screen. Samuel L. Jacksom as H has dominated the film and has given a powerpacked performance. Matin sheen(Younger) and Ann-Moss have also delivered to the mark. The screenplay adapted in the film was excellent and the climax was good.

My Rating: 7.5/10

 Recommendation: Watch it...

The Social Network(2010)

Director: David Fincher

Writers: Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Ben Mezrich (book)

Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake

My Review:

        This film is a Biography of Mark Zuckerberg, creator of the social networking site called Facebook. Zuckerberg who is an undergrad at the Harvard University is a computer genius gets a revolutionary idea to begin a social networking website in 2003. He along with Dustin Moskovitz began this project which after six years has earned him 500 million friends and the title "The youngest Billionaire". As the caption on the poster of this film says "YOU DONT GET 500 MILLION FRIENDS WITHOUT MAKING A FEW ENEMIES, this film focusses on the development of Facebook and the lawsuits filed against Zuckerberg by the Winklevoss brothers and also his friend Moskovitz.

         At Harvard, Zuckerberg is recruited by Winklevoss brothers to develop a social networking websie but  Zuckerberg fails. Facebook which started as a website to socialize Harvard students, was taken to public by Zuckerberg with the help of Sean Parker, Co-founder of Napster. Parker and Zuckerberg moved Facebook to the next level but Moskovitz who did not like the partnership of Parker in Facebook was left behind. Thus he files the suit against Zuckerberg. With the development of Facebook, Winklevoss brothers file a suit against Zuckerberg for Intelectual Property theft. The films potrays what happens to Zuckerberg and Moskovitz.

         The film has been nominated for 8 oscars this year.Mark Zuckerberg role was played by Jesse Eisenberg, who acted in films like Beyond all boundaries, Zombieland etc, has given a stand out performance. His performance as Zuckerberg has earned him the OSCAR Nomination and Globes Nomination. David Fincher who has directed famous films like Fight Club, The Game, Se7en has also won the OSCAR nomination for Best Director(a favourite to win the award) and has won the Globes for The Social Network.

My Rating: 8.6/10 

Recommendation: Must Watch!!

Animal Kingdom(2010)

Director:David Michôd

Writer: David Michôd (screenplay)

Stars: James Frecheville, Guy Pearce and Joel Edgerton

Plot:

Tells the story of seventeen year-old J (Josh) as he navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.

My Review:

This is a crime-drama centered around Josh Cody(James Frecheville) who after the loss of his mother, has to live with his mother's family whom he had not seen for many years. His uncles who are well known Armed Robbers are being surveilled by the cops. How drastically does the life of a young boy changes due to his relatives is beautifully explained in this film. Det. Leckie(Guy Pierce) who is a veteran in solving armed robbery is brought into the case who targets the weaklink in the Animal Kingdom to capture the Lions. What happens to Josh?? What happens to his uncles?? is the film. Frecheville has given an extra-ordinary performance though he is a novice in Hollywood. I also liked the roles of Leckie and Barry. The film moves very slowly and has a good climax in the end. The screenplay was good for such a well written plot.

My Rating: 8.7/10 Recommendation: Must Watch it to understand how a single unforseen event could change your life completely.

The Town(2010)

Director:

Ben Affleck

Writers:

Peter Craig (screenplay), Ben Affleck (screenplay)

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall and Jon Hamm

Plot:
As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.

My Review:
The long time thirst for a quality bank heist film has been quenched. Ben Affleck has given his best after a long journey of flops.The film is a balanced slow paced action/thriller movie. The story happens at charlestown which has the highest number of bank heists and robberies in the country.DOUG MCRAY(Ben Afleck) is a part of a heist gang. The intelligent MCRAY falls for woman(Rebecca Hall) who is the manager of the bank that he heisted before. He hides his identity to her and her's to his crew. Then comes the FBI Agent Frawley(John Hamm), a Heist cracker who looks into d case of Mcray's heists. The cat-mouse chase between Hamm and Affleck adds flavour to the film and the last 30 minutes of the film is where the film reaches its best. Ben Affeleck has given a good performance along with Hamm and Hall. The screenplay and the direction was awesome.

My Rating: 8.2/10

Recommendations: Must Watch it!!!