Reviews

I picked this one up at Blockbuster b/c the cover looked interesting and the reviews on the back caught my eye. The Acting is excellent and the storyline is quite entertaining. I cannot believe it has such a low score in here. Well, it just goes to show, not everyone likes indie films. Which leads me to my next point, that if you enjoy random indie films, you'll definitely be surprised by this one! - The main character is a kleptomaniac who's trying to come to terms with his own identity while struggling with the people in the world around him. A family takes him under their wing. I thought the mother did a particularly good job with her role in the picture. Very stimulating!!!

okay, i am not in the custom of writing bad reviews (for fear of sounding like an abhorrent movie snob), but in this case, i could not resist.

A History of Violence is what happens when you take great actors, and decent direction and put them to a bad script. i felt as though i'd seen this movie before. It has absolutely NO originality to it.

It's about a family man who's past catches up with him.. big deal!!! is that suppose to be suspenseful?? If you want suspense check out Capote or Good Night and Good Luck.

The fact that this movie got a 7.6 in here is seriously depressing.

thumbs down! pran

if you're in the mood for a flick with some substance to it, go rent 'the king is alive.' you will not be disappointed! this movie has excellent writing, superb acting, and has a unique video-like cinematography that adds to the grittiness of the picture.

when i saw this last month, i was expecting just another survival movie. and, i have to admit, in the first 10 minutes i was a bit put off by the low-budget "look" of it. if this happens to you, just give it 10 minutes, the writing and the characters will reel you in.

without spoiling it, this movie is about a group of perfect strangers who get stranded, out in the middle of the African desert. in order to keep their spirits up, they prepare to put on Shakespeares' King Lear.

this is an uplifting movie about the strength of the human spirit. I highly recommend it.

-pran

A whodunit movie with a twist

This is mainly an interrogation movie, where Roth, a rich, smart and incredibly manipulative trust-fund baby, is interrogated for the murder of a young woman.

He is made to undergo a series of questions and tests but manages to foil his interrogators at every turn. his degrees in psychology makes him a slippery person to question.

if you like taut suspense with great acting, go rent Deceiver tonight!! you will not be disappointed.

i give it a "9" (and i rarely give out 9s) enjoy

What a great movie! With Bacon and Firth, it's hard to go wrong. But the storyline is so good. It definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat.

cinematography is very good and the writing is excellent. it's easily one of the years favorites.

without spoiling it, it's about a pair of entertainers, partners, who are involved in the death of a female journalist. and the irony is that 15 yrs after the fact, when the movie takes place, a female journalist is inquiring about what had happened to the other girl. watching the parallel plots unravel is tremendously satisfying.

well directed, well thought-out, and well directed.

top shelf, indeed!! -pran

Okay, i'm not a huge fan of Craven. generally, i find his movies a bit superficial. he seems to specialize in "extra cheese." he has, practically, created his own genre of horror and, for this, i respect him as a film maker.

that having been said, Craven must have eaten his Wheaties the day he came up with this storyline. next to flightplan, it is my favorite post-911, highjacking movie. the plot line is airtight, the acting is convincing, and the cinematography is typical craven.

bottomline- rent Red Eye and Flightplan.

just don't watch them on an airplane! -pran

Jodie Foster knocks it out of the park in her new thriller Flightplan. She plays an airplane engineer who finds herself on an airplane with terrorists. so, what sets this movie apart from all the other terrorist/airplane movies? she can't find her daughter. what more? nobody on the flight recalls her ever having a kid with her onboard. i will not spoil the plot but you're in for a suspenseful ride with many twists.

Cinematography is good, acting is great, plot is fantastically well thought out. highly detailed account of the interior of a commercial airline---A for technical authenticity.

the only reason i didn't give this a 9 is because i'm stingy with my scoring. besides, i only give out one 9 per year. it's really an 8.5 though. if you liked red eye you'll love this movie (and visa versa) enjoy, pranayama

Predictably awesome performances by Nicholas Cage and Michael Caine. Good cinematography and great writing. So, why the 7? Because this movie lacked the "extra umph" in the storyline. Don't get me wrong, i love black comedy, but this movie had something missing...it dragged in a few parts. i found myself pausing it a lot to do things around the house. that having been said, it was refreshingly funny, with a touch of dry wit.

I rented this DVD because i am a fan of Nicholas Cage. i loved Matchstick Men!!! great flick!!! but i have been a bit disappointed with his recent endeavors ie Weather Man & Lords of War. Maybe he should get a new agent, because his acting in these movies is top-drawer.

if you're at the video store, rent Red Eye or Flightplan...skip this one. it's depressing! -pran

I saw the original Saw, last year, and loved it. Cinematography, storyline, and acting were top shelf. I recommend it to anyone who likes suspense. the intensity of it was unreal!! This sequel focuses on the psychopath killer, jigsaw. He is the sick madman that likes to play games and torture people from a distance. Invariably, he manipulates them to kill themselves with his hand-made contraptions. I will not spoil the movie and go into this further.

The original Saw was more intense and real. it sucked you in and didn't let go. this second one was almost a parody of the first- gratuitously gory, with a storyline lacking direction. the only cool thing about the second one is that you get to see who jigsaw really is.

As far as the acting goes, the man who plays the detective and the boy who plays his son do a good job with their parts. i wish i could say the same for the other actors.

Bottomline: don't waste your money on this Hollywood fodder, but do check out the ORIGINAL SAW!!!! YOU WON"T BE DISAPPOINTED! for this movie, a 5 is kind pranayama

WOW, what a flick! Taking a common theme and making it new, this movie has great cinematography, writing, and acting. it was thoroughly entertaining.

it is about an adolescent boy who finds that his best friend had hung himself. his psychiatrist dad becomes quite concerned at his inability to show any feelings about this tragic act.

Glen Close plays the obsessively frantic mother of the dead boy, hopped up on pills, telling everyone that she doesn't blame them for her son's death. Did i mention that everyone in this movie is taking some form of medication, herbal supplements, or illegal drugs? This movie parodies the middle/upper-middle class. everyone in it is managing their feelings, worried about what others will think of them.

TOP NOTCH.

pranayama says, "hell yes!"

a 5 is very generous of me. this movie is a prime example of Hollywood taking a movie with a great premise and top notch actors, and turning it into a formulaic money making machine, completely devoid of any substance.

it's one of those movies that you wait half the movie to see what the title means, and then get disappointed. i have no idea how this movie got a 7.6 in here.

The movie is very slow, with small amount of anti-climatic action.

honestly, i hope this movie makes a lot of money, because it sure doesn't do much of anything else.

thumbs down!!!

Don Cheadle dominates this thriller!!! it is true storytelling at its best. Cheadle's acting is absolutely flawless, per usual. The writing is very realistic and the story is heart-wrenching.

it takes place in Rowanda during the Tutsi/ Hutu civil war. the Tutsi minority are discriminated against and victimized by the Hutu. the character Cheadle plays is normal, everyday hotel manager, who is put in an interesting position where he becomes able to help the Tutsi. i don't want to give it away but this movie is great and it sends a strong, anti-genocide message.

this movie was one of my favorites of 2004!

What a trip!!! great acting, excellent writing, and a superb premise. it doesn't get weirder than this.

2 guys hire "existential detectives" to follow them around and tell them what is real and what is just their perception. great fun!!! it keeps you guessing. very intelligent and extremely well thought out (which is rare these days). the characters in it are a riot!! i am not going to spoil the plot for you but it definitely has some interesting turns and twists. my favorite thing about this picture is that it deals with heavy, everyday human issues in a light hearted and fun way. movie going at it's best!!!

WOW!!! what a flick!!! i went into this expecting the usual humdrum, Hollywood, formulaic action film. it's anything but that! i will not spoil this movie for you, but if you like action and sci-fi, you will not be disappointed. unfortunately, this movie is promoted as a generic action movie when, in reality, it has way more substance than that. it deals with the issues of stem cell research and cloning, from a comedic and lighthearted standpoint.

the movie starts out as a comedy, turns into an intense drama, and has a great action finally.

definitely worth a $4 rental!!!!

I saw this movie a few weeks ago and found it very moving. the acting in it is superb and realistic. so realistic in fact, that it is painful at times. the plot is decent, the cinematography is good, and the writing is excellent. i identified with most of the themes in this movie (which is not a common movie-going experience for me).

it's about the very "real" lives of two people who meet and, consequently, begin to accept each others' imperfections. it is quite beautiful. the only reason i gave this movie a 7 and not an 8 or a 9 is that it drags in a few parts. but, i suppose that is more true to life.

definitely an indie worth writing home about!

although gory and definitely not for the faint of heart, this movie is simply unstoppable.

--quick cuts, great cinematography, and a snappy action plot make this movie hard to turn off. eat your heart out Tarantino!!! easily one of my favs of the year. these days it's hard to find a good action movie, with good writing and acting. this movie knocks it out of the park in both categories. it's bloody- very bloody. but by no means is this a horror picture.

--the story is about a sick, and sadistic family of murderer rapists. they ravage the (texas?) countryside with their evil mayham .