The new trailer for Tower Heist is out and it actually looks somewhat decent, despite being directed by that fucking hack Brett Ratner.
Is it just me, or does Eddie Murphy look meaner now? A little older and a little thinner in the face.
Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Tea Leoni and Michael Peña also star. It’s due for release on November 4th 2011.
Title: A Bittersweet Life
Written and Directed by: Jee-woon Kim
Initial Flickchart position: #218 of 1403 overall. My #6 film, of 51, from the year 2005.
What It’s About:
Sunwoo is no ordinary hotel manager. Decisive and efficient, he’s also the right hand man of underworld boss Kang. But tough guy Kang has a weakness; his young girlfriend Heesoo. Suspecting she’s unfaithful, Kang orders Sunwoo to take care of the problem.
General Comments:
Yet another superbly great Korean crime drama. Everything about it is so beautiful, stylish and poetic. There really is nothing else to say.
Watch A Bittersweet Life because it it’s further proof that no-one does crime dramas like the Koreans. It’s a genre they’ve made all their own.
Rating: 7.5/10
Title: Secret Reunion
Directed by: Hun Jang
Written by: Joo-ho Kim and Kwang-young Choi and Hun Jang
Initial Flickchart position: #339 of 1400 overall. My #35 film, of 81, from the year 2010.
What It’s About:
A North Korean spy and a former South Korean agent form a tense partnership.
General Comments:
Another good Korean flick, this time a spy/action drama. Pretty much all aspects of the film were good, although I think the fight scenes were a little underwhelming. The gunplay was done well but the actual fist fights just weren’t that great. There’s not much more to say about the film really.
Watch Secret Reunion because it’s yet another good Korean film, and it’s one that doesn’t end on a downer.
Rating: 6.5/10
Title: King of New York
Directed by: Abel Ferrara
Written by: Nicholas St. John
Initial Flickchart position: #284 of 1398 overall. My #7 film, of 31, from the year 1990.
What It’s About:
A former drug lord (Christopher Walken) returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York’s poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.
General Comments:
A surprisingly good crime drama with a great rap/hip-hop soundtrack throughout the film. Walken is of course fantastic but I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of Laurence Fishburne as a young gangster working for Walken. David Caruso, a guy I absolutely hate, played his usual slimy, sleazy, annoying bloodnut role. I was so so happy when he got blown to shit with that shotgun at the funeral. It couldn’t of happened to a more deserving guy. One of the things I liked most about the film is the mood it conveyed. There was a clear and obvious ’90s NYC vibe throughout the whole film and it really did a brilliant job of immersing you into that whole environment.
Watch King of New York because it’s a very good crime drama that oozes that early ’90s mood and is set in the greatest city in the world.
Rating: 7/10
Title: The Chaser
Directed by: Hong-jin Na
Written by: Won-Chan Hong, Shinho Lee & Hong-jin Na
Initial Flickchart position: #294 of 1395 overall. My #17 film, of 63, from the year 2008 (but both rankings might be too high).
What It’s About:
Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by a same client whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.
General Comments:
There’s never a happy ending in Korean thrillers. Never. I should know this by now but I guess I’m just tuned to the Hollywood way and then I’m always surprised when a film doesn’t end on a positive note. Still, there’s no denying that the Koreans make really good crime/drama/thrillers, and this is another good entry. It’s not really a revenge flick so to compare it to Oldboy or I Saw The Devil may not to totally fair, but it has to be said that it’s nowhere near as good as those two films. Hell, The Man From Nowhere is better too.
Watch The Chaser because it’s a pretty decent crime thriller and it’s nice to take a break from the Korean revenge films, no matter how brilliant they are.
Rating: 6.5/10
Title: Public Enemies
Directed by: Michael Mann
Written by: Ronan Bennett and Michael Mann & Ann Biderman
Initial Flickchart position: #291 of 1378 overall. My #26 film, of 77, from the year 2009 (but this seems too low).
What It’s About:
The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.
General Comments:
There’s definitely a certain amount of poetic licence taken with the story, and I’m not convinced that Mann’s trademark shakycam fits with the 1930′s aesthetic, but aside from those two quibbles Public Enemies is a very enjoyable film. Depp oozes the style, confidence and charisma needed for the part, and Bale is able to convey the false sense of confidence that his character demands extremely well. I was also quite impressed by Marion Cotillard, who’s just as good here as she is in Inception. I’m actually really disappointed that it took me nearly two years to see this film.
Watch Public Enemies because Johnny Depp is awesome, the story, style and mood of the film is fantastic, and because absolutely everyone in it does a great job.
Rating: 7/10
Title: High Life
Directed by: Gary Yates
Written by: Lee MacDougall and Gary Yates
Initial Flickchart position: #635 of 1376 overall. My #45 film, of 76, from the year 2009.
What It’s About:
It’s 1983, and hopeless junkie Dick (Timothy Olyphant) gets an unwelcome visit from the past – his seriously sleazy former cellmate, Bug (Stephen Eric McIntyre). Bug requires a crash course in the 80s: different music, different drugs, and machines in walls that dispense money. The latter development gives Dick an idea.
General Comments:
I’ve been a huge fan of Timothy Olyphant since I first saw him in Scream 2 way back in 1997. He’s done a couple of good movies since then but the highlight of his career is clearly Deadwood. And because of Deadwood I’m gonna love Olyphant for as long as he continues acting. High Life really is another vehicle for Olyphant that shows just how charming he is, even as a robbery planning morphine addict. The three other main actors are also very good. I got a real Trainspotting vibe from this film, which is never a bad thing.
Watch High Life because it’s got Timothy Olyphant in it and it’s fairly decent.
Rating: 6/10
Title: Strange Days
Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Written by: James Cameron & Jay Cocks
Current Flickchart position: #323 of 1361 overall. My #14 film, of 57, from the year 1995.
What It’s About:
A former cop turned street-hustler (Ralph Fiennes) accidentally uncovers a police conspiracy in 1999 Los Angeles.
General Comments:
After a slight hiccup yesterday I’m back onto the noir films I’d intended to watch all week. I think Kathryn Bigelow is supremely overrated with the only good things she’s done being Point Break and The Hurt Locker, and I’d even go so far to say that The Hurt Locker is overrated. But what I think of The Hurt Locker isn’t important right now. The point I’m getting it at is no-one should think that Bigelow is going to add anything or achieve something that another marginally talented director couldn’t do from the same material. Strange Days is average. Pure and simple. And this is coming from a guy who loves everything James Cameron has done. It’s certainly a darker story than anything else Cameron has been involved with, but it’s just not that good.
I’m not a fan of Ralph Fiennes or Angela Bassett, and whilst I really like Juliette Lewis and Tom Sizemore, those two alone aren’t really enough to lift the film particularly high. Of course it’s obvious that Sizemore is gonna be the bad guy, he always is, but I would of liked to have seen him get a bit more screen time. Lewis too, considering a good chunk of her performance consisted of her lipsyncing songs.
Watch Strange Days to see James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow work together and to see how they envisioned a futuristic 1999 in 1995.
Rating: 5.5/10
Title: The Limey
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Written by: Lem Dobbs
Current Flickchart position: #614 of 1360 overall. My #28 film, of 60, from the year 1999.
What It’s About:
An extremely volatile and dangerous Englishman (Terence Stamp) goes to Los Angeles to find the man he considers responsible for his daughter’s death.
General Comments:
Day 3 of my noir week and after all I’d heard about The Limey since it came out in 1999 I have to say I’m once again really disappointed with what I’ve seen. It’s not bad, it’s just completely average. Soderbergh creates a nice mood for the film but the story and acting leave a lot to be desired.
Watch The Limey to see a really great house up in the Hollywood hills and some awesome music used in the soundtrack.
Rating: 5/10
Title: Kalifornia
Directed by: Dominic Sena
Written by: Tim Metcalfe & Stephen Levy
Current Flickchart position: #330 of 1359 overall. My #8 film, of 46, from the year 1993.
What It’s About:
A journalist (David Duchovny) and his photographer girlfriend (Michelle Forbes) go on a tour of serial killer murder sites with two companions (Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis), unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.
General Comments:
After watching Romeo Is Bleeding yesterday I decided to make this weeks movies all neo-noir films. Kalifornia is fairly good but it just doesn’t reach the heights I was hoping for. Juliette Lewis is good as the naive and slightly dumb Adele, and Brad Pitt is awesome as Early, but Duchovny and Forbes are both kinda underwhelming. I did enjoy the fact that Kalifornia is a weird combination of thriller, crime, serial killer, road movie, and is infused with a dream like quality, all of which makes it sort of unique.
Watch Kalifornia to see Brad Pitt play a real bad guy really well.
Rating: 6/10
