Fracture (2007)

Netflix Synopsis: Anthony Hopkins stars in this legal thriller as Ted Crawford, a man who allegedly attempted to murder his wife and is now locked in a battle of wits with an assistant district attorney, Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling). The D.A.’s convinced Crawford has blood on his hands, but Crawford is freed on a technicality, sending Beachum on an obsessive mission to prove Crawford’s guilt — even if he has to bend the law to make his case.

Review: Let me start by saying that the synopsis isn’t very well-done. I won’t go through the inaccuracies since discussion of them may lead me to give away too much of the plot, and this is a thriller. Suffice it to say that the studios and/or Netflix hire some pretty dim bulbs to write copy.

I’ve been a big fan of Ryan Gosling’s since last year’s Oscar-nominated performance in “Half Nelson,” and Anthony Hopkins almost always impresses. The well-chosen supporting cast includes such consistent talents as David Strathairn and Rosamond Pike, as well as B-actor Billy Burke in a surprisingly strong performance. The film is aptly, if not terribly originally, directed by Gregory Hoblit, a man very familiar with crime procedurals through his work in NYPD Blue, LA Law and Hill Street Blues. On paper, the only downside to this film is the fact that I have hated pretty much every film penned by screenwriter Daniel Pyne (Manchurian Candidate (2004), Sum of All Fears) in the last ten years.

Unfortunately, a thriller lives and dies by the script, and, at least for me, the script for Fracture could have used a lot of work. I’ve seen a lot of thrillers and watched too many police procedurals on television, so it may be unfair of me to judge a film by how quickly I correctly guess the “surprise” twist at the end. However, I had this one figured out 20 minutes into the film, so the rest of the film seemed really long waiting for the reveal. Even without me guessing the end early, however, this film would have been much better if it would have wrapped up 30 minutes sooner. The additional time gives Ryan Gosling’s character more time to develop, but it’s character development at the expense of of well timed and well crafted plot.

Finally, I have a hard time believing that some of the characters could behave so stupidly. I can’t really go into it without giving it away, but there is stupid and then there is STUPID.

Still, all in all, “Fracture” is a halfway decent film for DVD or cable. The acting really is excellent, and the film looks great. Just don’t make the mistake of paying to see it in the theater

Rating:

Submitted by: Lori 4/29/07

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)

Netflix Synopsis: How could one man persuade 900 people to commit mass suicide by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid in the jungles of Guyana? That man, of course, was Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones, and this film tries to answer that question by providing a portrait of the demented preacher. Using never-before-seen footage and audio accounts of two Jonestown survivors, documentarian Stanley Nelson paints a chilling picture of a social experiment gone horribly awry.

Review: This was a very interesting documentary. This was one of the first news stories I remember happening. I had just turned the exact day the news broke about this. Although I do remember this story and hearing about the 100s of dead by murder-suicide; I really didn’t know that much of the facts or the background. I still find it astonishing that so many people followed this guy, not only in life, but in death. The accounts of former Peoples Temple members, who escaped or were for some reason not at the compound that day, pretty much provide most of the background of what happened. The extras, which included deleted scenes and an interview by the documentarian are worth watching

Rating:

Submitted by: Kathryn 4/28/07

Color Me Kubrick (2005)

Netflix Synopsis: Based on a true story, this outlandish comedy stars John Malkovich as Alan Conway, a second-rate con man who successfully passed himself off as legendary director Stanley Kubrick in the late 1990s. Kubrick, a known recluse, was a perfect target for Conway, who used his persona to find fame and fortune. Directed by Brian W. Cook, this verité-style indie satirizes the allure of celebrity in the modern age.

Review: I love John Malkovich. I love quirky independent films and black comedies. I was really looking forward to this movie, and completely ignored the copious amount of one-star reviews on the Netflix site. This movie could have been great. The subject is funny and the cast is funny. It turned out to be, honestly, one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. There’s no substance, and Malkovich just moves through so slowly that you’d think he was on on vacation. The victims are so ridiculously dumb that you don’t even get the feeling that it takes much cunning at all to fool them. I was very disappointed in the movie and would not recommend it to anyone.

Rating:

Submitted by: Barbara 4/28/07

Police: Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out (2006)

Netflix Synopsis: In this absorbing documentary, drummer Stewart Copeland shares his Super-8 footage from his days with the Police — one of the world’s biggest bands in the 1980s — and muses about what it was like to be rock royalty. Highlights include early performances in London before the group found an international audience, plus vintage studio footage of the moment that Sting came up with the classic baseline for “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.”

Review: This documentary is very entertaining giving us a very candid view of the band.While Copeland doesn’t delve that deeply into how they started or why they broke up, he does talk about the pressure the band felt when they were at the height of their popularity. I really liked because it really showed how the band changed over time from being just a small band trying to make it to playing in the biggest concerts. I could detect that there is some animosity between Copeland and Sting, Copeland really makes an effort not to blame anybody for the breakup but put an emphasis on what they had been through.

Rating:

Submitted by: Alex T. 4/27/07

Deja Vu (2006)

Netflix Synopsis: Déjà vu — that powerful but fleeting sense that you’ve been here, or met someone, before. ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) finds himself dogged by that feeling as he investigates a bombing on a New Orleans ferry. Should he shrug off the unsettling sensation, or can it help him unravel the clues he needs to save hundreds of innocent people from disaster? Directed by Tony Scott, this thriller also stars James Caviezel and Val Kilmer.

Review: I loved this movie. Refreshingly different. The ending is pretty predictable but all in all I think it was very well done. I will tell you that it may get a little confusing at parts. You may find yourself scratching your head trying to just wrap your mind around the idea of what is going on. But if you stick with it I promise you will definitely love it too. The terror and thrill of this movie is great, the script and story line very well maintained through out. And of course the acting… Denzel don’t let you down either…I sometimes think he could have been a cop in a past life or something. He’s really good at playing one. On a side note… Kilmer looks awful in this movie. Seems like he’s kinda let himself go a little bit in that last couple years, he doesn’t seem to be aging well… not trying to be mean but I hardly recognized him when he first came onto the screen.

Rating:

Submitted by: Lisa 4/27/07

The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Netflix Synopsis: Forest Whitaker stars in an Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning role as brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in this drama. During an African medical mission in the 1970s, Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) impresses Amin by acting swiftly in a crisis. Installed as the dictator’s personal physician soon thereafter, Garrigan enjoys the perks of his new position, until he begins to become aware of Amin’s inhumanity — and his own complicity.

Review: This powerful drama centers on Forest Whitaker’s amazingly nuanced performance as murderous Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Recent medical school graduate Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy’s fictional character), working in a Ugandan mission, meets Amin shortly after he takes power. Smitten by Amin’s gregarious personality and swept up in the buoyant optimism of the new regime, Garrigan agrees to become the new President’s personal physician. It’s not long before the wheels start to come off; Amin narrowly avoids an assassination attempt and lashes out at his closest advisors, including Garrigan, who is beginning to notice a military presence with increasing regularity. The drama plays out to its inevitable conclusion as Garrigan comes to the sinking realization that his trust and loyalty have been misplaced. Director Kevin MacDonald draws upon his experiences as a documentary filmmaker (”Touching the Void” and perhaps more significantly “One Day in September,” the true account of the terrorist killings of the 1972 Olympic Israeli athletes which served as the setting for Spielberg’s recent “Munich”) to add authenticity to scenes of barbaric atrocities as Garrigan finds himself confronted with Amin’s more violent side. Whitaker earns every bit of his Oscar with a performance that shows how men like Amin can be so companionable and yet cruel, often in the same breath. You may not want to own this, but you need to see it.

Rating:

Submitted by: Randy 4/26/07

The Naked City (1948)

Netflix Synopsis: When a model is found drowned in her bathtub, homicide detectives Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor) are on the case. Their investigation, the inner workings of the police department and some of the “eight million stories in the Naked City” are explored. Filmed on location in New York City, this classic thriller won Oscars for cinematography and editing and was nominated for a Best Writing Oscar.

Review: If you are a fan of cop shows, especially those from the 60’s and 70’s and Law and Order, you can probably trace them back to this film. It’s a straight ahead movie about cops investigating a murder. The film starts out with a murder and then show homicide detectives going about the routine of solving the case. This is one of the first films I have seen from the ‘40’s that shows you all the parts of a homicide investigation, the lab guys going over the crime scene, the detectives interviewing witnesses and going out into the streets to follow leads.

The film claims to be entirely filmed in New York City, and from an interview in the extras on the disc, it was the first film filmed entirely there since the early days of film. It gives a great view of 1948 NYC, bustling Manhattan, crowded subways, middle class Queens, and the density of the Lower East Side.

The cast if made up of many character actors, no real stars, but a lot of faces you would probably be familiar with if you have seen a lot of movies from the ‘40’s and ’50’s. The direction is solid, as it must have been tough going in the actual streets and buildings of NYC with the equipment that was available at the time.

The film probably seemed more original in 1948, but it is still a solid story, and is a fine example of Hollywood finally moving out of the backlot and trying to give a more realistic look to its films.

Rating:

Submitted by: Joel 4/26/07

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

Netflix Synopsis: Director-producer Davis Guggenheim (HBO’s “Deadwood”) captures former Vice President Al Gore in the midst of waging a passionate campaign — not for the White House, but for the environment. Laying out the facts of global warming without getting political, Gore makes a sobering impression on the audiences who hear his message, urging them to act “boldly, quickly and wisely” … before it’s too late to act at all.

Review: An Inconvenient Truth is basically a documentary of Al Gore speaking to a live audience about the topic of global warming, with a high-tech Power Point presentation to hammer his points home. So, how you feel about this movie is probably going to depend a lot upon how you feel about Al Gore and the topic of Global Warming/Climate Change.

Starting with the former, I think Al Gore is a pompous windbag. My dislike for the Gores began in the 1980s when he ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination and his wife Tipper grabbed headlines by forming the PMRC (Parents’ Music Resource Center) to combat explicit lyrics in rock and pop songs (the “Parental Advisory” sticker found on many music releases is commonly referred to as the “Tipper sticker”). Still, global warming is clearly a topic near and dear to Al’s heart — at many times during the 90 minute performance he appears almost lifelike. Don’t expect gripping drama — although the “slide show,” as Al calls it, is tailored for maximum effect, most of Al’s delivery is a dry monologue stuffed with scientific facts.

As for the topic of global warming, I find it troublesome at best. Having recently read Michael Crichton’s State of Fear and P. J. O’Rourke’s All the Trouble in the World (a counter-point to Gore’s Earth in the Balance) I watched Gore’s slide show with a more skeptic eye. Don’t get me wrong — I can hug trees with the best of them. I prefer that we limit pollution and look to renewable energy sources. But there is no scientific proof that elevated levels of Carbon Dioxide (we are talking about parts per millions in our atmosphere) have created a “climate crisis.” (There is some debate as to whether or not our planet is warming at all, and if so exactly what the cause is.) Gore at one point blames global warming for hurricanes, only to correct himself in the DVD additional update footage (30 minutes, if you’re interested) and admit that there is no scientific evidence for such a claim (although he then asserts that global warming makes hurricanes “stronger”). I would have preferred a more balanced exploration of the global warming topic instead of the one-sided rhetoric Gore and Guggenheim cram down our throat.

I generously give this documentary three stars mostly for its high production values. If you are interested in this topic you should see this documentary and decide for yourself what the facts are. Just pay careful attention — Gore and Guggenheim are masters of sleight-of-hand, and they pull out all the tricks in the book.

Rating:

Submitted by: Randy 4/24/07

Cape Fear (1962)

Netflix Synopsis: Released on parole after eight years in stir for rape and assault, Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) is hell-bent on vengeance. He heads straight for Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck), the ex-prosecutor responsible for Cady’s stint in the slammer. When Bowden learns that Cady’s payback plan includes the lawyer’s wife and daughter, he’s forced to go to extraordinary lengths to protect his family as Cady carries out a methodical crusade of terror.

Review: I found the black and white original more to my liking than Scorsese’s 1991 remake. The tension between Mitchum and Peck rises steadily throughout until it reaches a fever pitch near the climax. Like Hitchcock’s Psycho, Cape Fear is a progenitor of modern suspense films. Unlike its modern-day offspring, the plot never gets too convoluted and the antagonist doesn’t come back to life three or four times. Fans of classic suspense films will love this one. And if you have Watch Now you can, uh, watch it now.

Rating:

Submitted by: Randy 4/23/07

Downfall (2004)

Netflix Synopsis: In 2002, the gripping documentary Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary, introduced audiences to the German dictator’s stenographer, Traudl Junge, by letting her tell her own story. Now director Oliver Hirschbiegel brings Junge to life in the form of actress Alexandra Maria Lara, who stars in this Oscar-nominated drama. Painstakingly realistic, Downfall takes Junge’s point of view to recreate Hitler’s (Bruno Ganz) last days in his Berlin bunker.

Review: We have all seen lots of movies about the Holocaust from various views - but this one is new. It outlines the last days in Berlin before the fall of the Third Reich, from the view of Hitler’s secretary, Traudl Junge. From her hiring to Hitler’s suicide, she shows us what went on in the bunker before her escape. We see how various Hitler supporters handle his failure and eventual death - who remains loyal, and who doesn’t, and how Hitler reacts to that. The personality Eva Braun, Hitler’s mistress and eventaully his wife, is shown in great detail. For history buffs, I highly recommend this.

Rating:

Submitted by: Barbara 4/23/07