Funny Games

Funny Games
(1997) [Trailer]
Director: Michael Haneke (IMDB)

Synopsis: A family weekend at the lake house is rudely interrupted by to psychopaths.

Michael Haneke recently remade an English version of this film as well, so if you're not a fan of subtitles I guess he has got you covered on both ends. I can read, so it doesn't matter to me.

Funny Games is big win for me, I really enjoyed it and it's unlike any thriller I've seen in recent memory. I knew I was in for a treat when the opening title popped up on screen. There's a lot of interesting things that are foreshadowed throughout the first half of the movie... the neighbors, the knife, the golf clubs and so on. What really impressed me was how unconventional Funny Games is. I'm gonna say if you're not interested in having the movie spoiled, stop here and watch it, it rules. It's available on Netflix streaming.

SPOILER START: Haneke does a masterful job at toying with the audience in this film.
Three examples that I loved:
1. The scene where the wife is forced to strip in front of the family. A normal film would have exploited that and showed the nudity, instead Haneke filmed a close up of the mothers face.
2. The rewind scene, when you finally think the mother has revenge, it's striped away from you.
3. The boat scene at the end... you know the knife is there, but it's quickly tossed off the boat and the mother follows right behind it.

It's like Haneke knows you're a sick fuck... you want nudity...you want violence and revenge... nope. He gives it to you his way. The bad guys win. SPOILER END.

From Dusk Till Dawn

From Dusk Till Dawn
(1996) [Trailer]
Director: Robert Rodriquez (IMDB)

Synopsis: Two brothers are on the run from the law and end up having the night of their lives in Mexico, but not the kinda of night one would expect.

This was one of my favorite movies as a teenager growing up in the late 90's. I've seen it many times but never on blu-ray, I must say it looks glorious. It's a tremendous example of genre mixing: it's part outlaw crime spree flick meets part vampire flick.There is something so easy about watching this movie, it's a smooth pleasing experience for me from beginning to end. Some might take issue with the way it switches gears an hour in but I think it's brilliant. Robert Rodriguez (director) is known for making films on the cheap, but you wouldn't be able to tell with this film... it feels huge. A definite must see if you've never experienced it. If you have, go here and do yourself a favor.

Love, your pal.
Curtis.

Crimson Tide

Crimson Tide
(1995) [Trailer]
Director: Tony Scott (IMDB)

I picked this up on blu-ray because I remember loving it back when I saw it before. I starting watching it last night and realized I'd never seen this film. I think I'm losing it.

Synopsis: A submarine Captain (Gene Hackman) has to break in a new X.O. (Denzel Washington) while they are in route to stop a possible nuclear war with mother Russia.

Tony Scott is hit or miss for me... for example: I liked True Romance, but hated Domino. I would say "I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this" but I would be lying... as I told you earlier that I thought I had seen and loved this. That being said, I enjoyed Crimson Tide and felt Scott's direction was pretty solid. Denzel and Hackman bumped heads in a believable fashion and the rest of the cast were effective. I felt like the story was okay, but I had some believability issues with the way things panned out as the plot started to unfold. The film is highly successful at building suspense but I felt like I knew where it was headed the whole time. If you're in the mood for a decent military thriller give this a shot, it would also be a solid double bill with Das Boot or The Hunt for Red October.

The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element
(1997) [Trailer]
Director: Luc Besson (IMDB)

You know how all the rich famous people summer in The Hamptons, well so do the staff here at the Williams Film Review. I recently spent a week there and while I was getting some R&R The Fifth Element popped up on the tube. I was in the middle of an intense game of Scattergories so I really couldn't concentrate on it. I remember thinking "I love this movie, but I don't want to be anti-social and go sit in the corner and watch it while everyone plays Scattergories... fuck it, I just buy the blu-ray when I get back home and re-watch then." So I did and this is what I thought.

Synopsis: The destruction of the Earth balances in the hands of Mila Jovovich and Bruce Willis.

I really enjoyed watching this film again and the blu-ray transfer is something to behold. It's a fun sci-fi flick that balances action and humor nicely. It's special effects are incredible, and still really hold up. It's not a prefect film, but there's also not a lot to hate here either. I would imagine if anything people would dislike Chris Tucker or Mila Jovovich, but both were effective in my opinion and they seemed to fit their characters. I loved Gary Oldman, he never disappoints me and makes a fantastic villain with a creepy southern accent in this.

Give this a try if you're up for some sci-fi good times you little jerk.

Danny Boyle Double Feature - "Shallow Grave" & "Trainspotting"

Kurt Powers is one of my best and oldest friends. He is also an avid blu-ray collector and movie watcher like myself. Recently we decided to sit down and spend our Saturday afternoon watching some Danny Boyle films, quality bro time.

Shallow Grave

(1994) [Trailer]
Director: Danny Boyle (IMDB)

Synopsis: A group of flatmates in Scotland bring in a new roomie who has some baggage.... filled with money. He dies suddenly and the money starts to make everyone do stupid shit. 

This is Danny Boyle's first feature full length that made it to the big screen. It shows a lot of his style and is a smooth ride from beginning to end. The performances are all believable, with Ewan McGregor's being the standout for me. 

Shallow Grave incorporates the same theme as films like Fargo, A Simple Plan, and more recently Killer Joe. Basically people making stupid decisions over greed and money. I love films like these, they're train wrecks that are so entertaining to watch unfold.

Trainspotting

(1996) [Trailer]
Director: Danny Boyle (IMDB)

Synopsis: Heroin is a hell of a drug.

The first time I saw this movie was actually at Kurt's house back in the  90's. I remember at the time feeling like I was glad I never made the choice to get involved with hard drugs. After my re-watch the other day, I stand firm in that decision. All the characters in this film are so good, I loved Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle especially. The story is pretty screwed up and there are lots of funny and sad moments spread throughout. Two of the highlights of Trainspotting for me would be the toilet bowl scene and the withdrawal scene in Ewan's bedroom. This and movies like Pulp Fiction really got me into film and I'd absolutely recommend this as a must see if you're not acquainted with it.

A Dangerous Method

A Dangerous Method
(2011) [Trailer]
Director: David Cronenberg (IMDB)

I've been sleeping on this movie, I planned on seeing it last year when it was in the theater, but I never got around to it. I'm a pretty huge David Cronenberg fan and I'm also a fan of all the players involved (Michael Fassbender, Kiera Knightley, and Viggo Mortensen.)

Synopsis: This film tells the real life story of the relationship between Carl Jung and Sabina Spielrein, also the strained friendship of Carl and Sigmund Freud.

I enjoyed this but didn't love it. It's very un-Cronenberg and I kind of anticipated that going in, but I was still hoping to get a little of his style in there. I think all the performances were good. I know Kiera got a lot hate on her role in this film, which I don't get. I think she may have been a bit over the top, but I think that's probably what Cronenberg wanted and what the character initially called for. There's a lot to digest with this script and story; I'm not sure how accurate things are but I'm not really versed in the matter so maybe that's why I give it a pass. Check this out if you're into psychological thrillers.

William Friedkin Double Feature - "The French Connection" and "Cruising"

William Friedkin has slowly been creeping his way into my favorite directors list for awhile now. With my stance that The Exorcist is one of the greatest horror films ever made and my recent love affair with To Live and Die in LA and Killer Joe, this man is proving to me that he can do no wrong. I decided to sit down with two of his classics and check them out.

The French Connection
(1971) [Trailer]
Director: William Friedkin (IMDB)

Synopsis: Two cops, Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, track down a drug ring.

This film is extremely straight to the point. I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. It's a police procedural and that's it. There's no real deep character development, no sub plot, and not much exposition. These guys are cops, they found a possible drug ring, they're gonna fuck the criminals up and that's it. It goes right for the jugular. The film is realistic and gritty, New York in the early 70's looked brutal, way more tough than by today's standards.

I'm just gonna talk about one thing real quick then I'm done here. There's a chase scene involving a subway train and Hackman driving a car. It's awesome. It, as well as the chase scene from To Live and Die in LA, are singlehandedly the two best chase scenes filmed in modern cinema. If there is a book to be written called "How to Film a Chase Scene", William Friedkin should be the author.

Cruising
(1980) [Trailer]
Director: William Friedkin (IMDB)

Synopsis: Al Pacino goes deep undercover to infiltrate the gay S&M night club scene in order to find a killer who's been hacking up his dates.

Growing up and watching stuff like THIS painted my perception of gay bars in a certain light... they looked scary. Now that I'm older and not a retard anymore, I realize gay bars are just normal bars. However, I think in the 80's it was a bit different. You probably had your regular gay bars and then you had your S&M subculture hang outs (no pun intended), like the places pictured in Cruising. These clubs, I would imagine, would be shocking to both straight and gays alike. I'm sure sites like these still exist, but I don't think they are as common anymore. I love this film because it shows you a side of New York, in a certain time, that couldn't really be recreated the same way ever again. Everything in this film is so raw, unsettling, and rough.... Central Park has never looked so ominous. Al Pacino is great in his role... some stand out moments for me would be: the dance scene and the end scene where he's staring at himself in the mirror. This film is highly recommend by me, especially if you're in the mood for something shocking.