Yo, this movie was all over the place. Frenetic and stylish, director Tony Scott (Man on Fire, Enemy of the State) brings us the real life (sort of) tale of Domino Harvey, a former model and bounty hunter. Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean) stars in the title role, accompanied by a hodgepodge of other actors ranging from Mickey Rourke (Sin City) as sidekick/mentor to Lucy Liu (Charlie's Angels) as an FBI interrogator.
The story begins at the end and is interspersed with flashbacks throughout. The basic plot is that Domino, Choco (Edgar Ramirez) and Ed (Rourke) must retrieve 10 million dollars that was stolen from the owner of the Stratosphere casino in Vegas. Everything else that happens in the movie varies from comic (a Jerry Springer clip) to violent (can we say missing limb?) to erotic (impromptu lap dance). Was Tony Scott on acid when he made this? The lighting is stark and there are a million flashbacks – some as far back as Domino's childhood – some as recent as two years ago. Domino has been soundly trashed by the critics, and I can see why. The story has some pretty absurd elements towards the end, but I also think the writing is very smart in other places. Domino can be described as all of the following: Action, Crime Drama, and Biopic. The movie was scattered and random as hell but I thought it was pretty kick ass and entertaining. It's a little sad that the real life Domino died about a month before the movie's release, but we do get to see her for a second at the very end. This movie was cool and different: violent, funny, provocative and a bit trashy. Knightley seemed to relish the role and it comes across on screen. The humanity of the character is never lost. Domino: sloppy mess but a fun ride.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Two For the Money
I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this one. It was not good. It wasn't bad either...it was just blah. That's right, I said it. Despite having the incomparable Al Pacino (most recently of The Recruit) and fine-as-hell Matthew McConaughey (Sahara), it was NOT good. Throw in Jeremy Piven (Entourage) and Rene Russo (The Thomas Crown Affair) and you have the ingredients for what should shape up to be a pretty good movie, right? Wrong.
I don't know who wrote this crap but it sucked. It was just boring, and I'm a person that watched The Constant Gardener and A History of Violence, so I know I don't have a short attention span. This movie gave you nothing to care about or root for, even McConaughey. I don't think Pacino could give a bad performanc if he tried, but I just don't think he had enough to work with. Although Pacino is a legend and I could eat McConaughey with a spoon, I need a little bit more from the movie than having the privilege of watching these two breathe on screen. Here's the plot: McConaughey is Brandon Lang, a former star college quarterback who suffered a career-ending injury. Pacino is Walter Abrams, a man who runs an agency that advises its clients on sports betting. He brings Brandon into the fold as his new star, and he excels making accurate picks that bring in loads of dough. Of course, Brandon's luck runs out and he starts to lose. That's the crux of the story. So what. I'm done talking about this one. It didn't blow totally, but it definitely sucked a little bit.
A better movie about lies and greed: Boiler Room. A better movie about gambling: Rounders. I know it's hard to pass on Pacino, but skip this one. The cast was wasted.
I don't know who wrote this crap but it sucked. It was just boring, and I'm a person that watched The Constant Gardener and A History of Violence, so I know I don't have a short attention span. This movie gave you nothing to care about or root for, even McConaughey. I don't think Pacino could give a bad performanc if he tried, but I just don't think he had enough to work with. Although Pacino is a legend and I could eat McConaughey with a spoon, I need a little bit more from the movie than having the privilege of watching these two breathe on screen. Here's the plot: McConaughey is Brandon Lang, a former star college quarterback who suffered a career-ending injury. Pacino is Walter Abrams, a man who runs an agency that advises its clients on sports betting. He brings Brandon into the fold as his new star, and he excels making accurate picks that bring in loads of dough. Of course, Brandon's luck runs out and he starts to lose. That's the crux of the story. So what. I'm done talking about this one. It didn't blow totally, but it definitely sucked a little bit.
A better movie about lies and greed: Boiler Room. A better movie about gambling: Rounders. I know it's hard to pass on Pacino, but skip this one. The cast was wasted.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Serenity
Sci-Fi movies are not really my thing...but this movie was pretty entertaining -- and not in a nerdy sort of way.
The only cast members I recognized were Chiwetel Ejiofor (Four Brothers) as the villain and that black girl that used to be on Alias -- Gina Torres. Anyhoo, the basic plot is that 500 years in the future Earth has been destroyed, leaving the mythical government/dictatorship, "The Alliance" to establish human life on various other planets. Human beings have been sanitized in the quest for a perfect, "sin-free" society. A young girl named River has psychic abilities, and The Alliance holds her captive, performing government-sanctioned experiments on her. She is trained to kill. Why, I don't know. Things like that aren't important in a movie like this. Soon, she is freed by her brother in a daring rescue. The rest of the movie centers on The Alliance's operative (Ejiofor) trying to get River back. She and her brother are passengers aboard the ship of Mal, some sort of intergalactic thief, and anti-hero (of course).
This movie was entertaining, containing all the basic elements of a watchable flick: action, mild violence (River single-handedly kicks the collective ass of an entire club full of people), and humor. There is enough of a plot to keep you mentally involved, and the cast is amusing and likeable. I don't really have any complaints...so check it out if you liked the following movies: Starship Troopers, any of the Star Wars movies (of course it's not as good). This movie has received very good reviews and is even ranked in the top 250 at imdb.com. Now it wasn't that damn good, but it was better than I expected.
The only cast members I recognized were Chiwetel Ejiofor (Four Brothers) as the villain and that black girl that used to be on Alias -- Gina Torres. Anyhoo, the basic plot is that 500 years in the future Earth has been destroyed, leaving the mythical government/dictatorship, "The Alliance" to establish human life on various other planets. Human beings have been sanitized in the quest for a perfect, "sin-free" society. A young girl named River has psychic abilities, and The Alliance holds her captive, performing government-sanctioned experiments on her. She is trained to kill. Why, I don't know. Things like that aren't important in a movie like this. Soon, she is freed by her brother in a daring rescue. The rest of the movie centers on The Alliance's operative (Ejiofor) trying to get River back. She and her brother are passengers aboard the ship of Mal, some sort of intergalactic thief, and anti-hero (of course).
This movie was entertaining, containing all the basic elements of a watchable flick: action, mild violence (River single-handedly kicks the collective ass of an entire club full of people), and humor. There is enough of a plot to keep you mentally involved, and the cast is amusing and likeable. I don't really have any complaints...so check it out if you liked the following movies: Starship Troopers, any of the Star Wars movies (of course it's not as good). This movie has received very good reviews and is even ranked in the top 250 at imdb.com. Now it wasn't that damn good, but it was better than I expected.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
A History of Violence
Whoa!……..When this movie was over I had a headache and I was speechless. Talk about a movie living up to its name! A History of Violence is R-A-W with a capital 'R.'
Viggo Mortensen (A Perfect Murder, Hidalgo) and Maria Bello (The Cooler, Coyote Ugly) are a happily married couple living in America's heartland. Their kids are cute and sweet as pie. Everyone knows everyone else by name in their sleepy town…a town that will be turned upside down in a random act of violence. Mortensen plays Tom Stall, the owner of a local diner bearing his name. One night, right before he is about to close up shop, two strangers enter. They request coffee…and then the horror begins. Events transpire that send our protagonist and anti-hero into a tailspin from which he and his adorable little family will never fully recover. I won't reveal any events that you cannot deduce from the commercials. Suffice to say that Tom saves his life and the lives of his customers from these monstrous drifters. He dispatches the villains with a ruthless, instinctive efficiency that belies a dark past and begs the question, Who is this guy? Former assassin? Ex-government hitman? It appears that Tom is not exactly who he claims to be. Enter Ed Harris (Radio) as a painful reminder from Tom's past who menaces his family and threatens to unravel the nice, neat little life that the Stalls have carved out for themselves. I think that's enough of a plot revelation to reel you in…
This movie was absolutely fascinating. It is NOT for the faint of heart. The violence is mind-blowing…never have I witnessed such a spectacle. The graphic footage never comes across as gratuitous or unnecessary, which is a testament to the quality of this movie. This is arguably the most violent movie I've ever seen, mainly because the violence is not stylized at all. Unlike the ultra-violent Kill Bill, or even Sin City, something about the brutality in A History of Violence seems all too real. It left me dumbfounded. I think a girl sitting a few seats down from me in the theater was actually crying.
Director David Cronenberg has painted a chilling and unnerving portrait of violence and a revealing look at the complexities of human nature in the face of psychological upheaval. Mortensen and Bello are nothing short of superb, particularly Mortensen as a man desperately trying to maintain his family-man façade. His character descends into darkness as bits and pieces of his former self are revealed. His once loving wife now wonders about the stranger sleeping next to her. We watch their marriage go from a passionate, vibrantly sexual union to a living hell, characterized by lies and mistrust. There is one scene between Bello and Mortensen that is too raw for words…think Monster's Ball (Berry and Thornton getting it on) or the 25th Hour when Monty asks Francis to "make him ugly" before he goes to jail. Get the idea now? Powerful shit, to say the least. If you can survive the following movies, you will be able to appreciate this one: American History X (cringe-provoking violence), Sleepers (uncomfortable themes involving children), Monster's Ball (raw but consensual sex). This movie was a real mind-f*ck. I needed a cigarette afterwards
Viggo Mortensen (A Perfect Murder, Hidalgo) and Maria Bello (The Cooler, Coyote Ugly) are a happily married couple living in America's heartland. Their kids are cute and sweet as pie. Everyone knows everyone else by name in their sleepy town…a town that will be turned upside down in a random act of violence. Mortensen plays Tom Stall, the owner of a local diner bearing his name. One night, right before he is about to close up shop, two strangers enter. They request coffee…and then the horror begins. Events transpire that send our protagonist and anti-hero into a tailspin from which he and his adorable little family will never fully recover. I won't reveal any events that you cannot deduce from the commercials. Suffice to say that Tom saves his life and the lives of his customers from these monstrous drifters. He dispatches the villains with a ruthless, instinctive efficiency that belies a dark past and begs the question, Who is this guy? Former assassin? Ex-government hitman? It appears that Tom is not exactly who he claims to be. Enter Ed Harris (Radio) as a painful reminder from Tom's past who menaces his family and threatens to unravel the nice, neat little life that the Stalls have carved out for themselves. I think that's enough of a plot revelation to reel you in…
This movie was absolutely fascinating. It is NOT for the faint of heart. The violence is mind-blowing…never have I witnessed such a spectacle. The graphic footage never comes across as gratuitous or unnecessary, which is a testament to the quality of this movie. This is arguably the most violent movie I've ever seen, mainly because the violence is not stylized at all. Unlike the ultra-violent Kill Bill, or even Sin City, something about the brutality in A History of Violence seems all too real. It left me dumbfounded. I think a girl sitting a few seats down from me in the theater was actually crying.
Director David Cronenberg has painted a chilling and unnerving portrait of violence and a revealing look at the complexities of human nature in the face of psychological upheaval. Mortensen and Bello are nothing short of superb, particularly Mortensen as a man desperately trying to maintain his family-man façade. His character descends into darkness as bits and pieces of his former self are revealed. His once loving wife now wonders about the stranger sleeping next to her. We watch their marriage go from a passionate, vibrantly sexual union to a living hell, characterized by lies and mistrust. There is one scene between Bello and Mortensen that is too raw for words…think Monster's Ball (Berry and Thornton getting it on) or the 25th Hour when Monty asks Francis to "make him ugly" before he goes to jail. Get the idea now? Powerful shit, to say the least. If you can survive the following movies, you will be able to appreciate this one: American History X (cringe-provoking violence), Sleepers (uncomfortable themes involving children), Monster's Ball (raw but consensual sex). This movie was a real mind-f*ck. I needed a cigarette afterwards
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