Monday, 22 May 2017
Supremacy (2014)
A just paroled white neo-nazi and his ruthless girlfriend kill a cop and takes an African American family hostage.
Well staged drama with a capable cast and simple anti-racist message, the narrative a bit marred by flashbacks filling in for some ellipses.
Saturday, 20 May 2017
Devil's Knot (2013)
The savage murders of three young children sparks a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a satanic ritual.
Well produced and well cast true crime story only hints undecidedly at the upsetting aspects of this case and somehow ends in mid-air.
Maltin**1/2: "Straightforward (if arguably unnecessary) dramatization...Witherspoon and Nivola are especially good as the heartbroken mother and aloof stepfather of a young victim. If you've seen the three PARADISE LOST documentaries or WEST OF MEMPHIS this will all be familiar, though it's only the first chapter of the saga. This film ends in 1994 and provides terse postscripts for all that's occurred since then."
Jaws (1975)
When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.
A brilliantly executed monster movie that launched the director's even more brilliant career.
On renewed viewing: it is remarkable how an old-hat exploitation story is surehandedly turned into an exciting and highly entertaining movie, perfectly balancing humor and shocks.
Halliwell**: "In the exploitation-hungry seventies this film took more money than any other. In itself, despite genuinely suspenseful and frightening sequences, it is a slackly narrated and sometimes flatly handled thriller with an over-abundance of dialogue and, when it finally appears, a pretty unconvincing monster."
Maltin****: "A rare case of a bubble-gum story...scoring as a terrific movie...Hold on to your seats!"
Friday, 19 May 2017
Deep Impact (1998)
Unless a comet can be destroyed before colliding with Earth, only those allowed into shelters will survive.
Mediocre and quite tedious doomsday movie that makes one long for the apocalypse - and disappoints in that aspect, too.
On renewed viewing: If you don't take it too seriously, the movie can be mildly entertaining.
Halliwell*: "Something of a feel-bad disaster movie, in which the world is almost destroyed, while the audience is slowly drowned in the sticky syrup of sentimentality. What is truly striking is the poverty of imagination: the end of all life is a theme worth more than the trivial psychodramas on display."
Maltin***: "Exciting yarn...Freeman is the rock-solid U.S. president, Duvall a veteran astronaut on a space mission to explode the comet; their authorative presence adds weight to this saga, while Leoni seems a bit of a flyweight as the ambitious TV newswoman who breaks the story."
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