Movies I've Seen-2007

David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen are two for two with their second collaboration after A History of Violence with this russian mob drama.Mortensen stars as a driver/cleanup man who's looking to advance in the mob and Naomi Watts is a midwife who wants to locate the family of a young prostitute who died during childbirth and who was connected to the mob.The acting is excellent,especially Mortensen as the wily Nikolai,this is my favorite role of his to date.Armin Mueller-Stahl and Vincent Cassel(does he ever play a normal guy?)are also very good as father and son gangsters who have some respect issues.And then there's Watts who is good as usual but in a kind of thankless role,she's basically supposed to be the eyes of the audience I guess,but every time the film focused on her,I wanted it to go back to Mortensen's character.The film doesn't have a ton of violence,but when it does it's pretty potent,particularly a wow of a fight scene in a bath house that makes you feel every blow and cut.But what else would you expect from good old Cronenberg,light and fluffy is not his thing.He's a true pro and it's great to see him on quite a roll with two terrific films in a row.One of the best films of 2007.

Disappointing Stephen King short story adaptation,about a supernatural debunker who stays in a haunted hotel room that plays with his mind.There isn't enough story here to support the running time and the ending feels like a copout.What's good about the film is John Cusack's performance.it's basically a one man show and he carries it as far as he can,he' s very good here.Samuel L Jackson turns up in a cameo as the hotel manager and sadly this small part is one of his best performances in years.Worth a look for Cusack fans,otherwise proceed with caution.

Highly entertaining film that attempts to recreate the grindhouse double bill experience.The first film,Planet Terror,is the best grade Z early '80s zombie outbreak movie you've never seen,it was a blast from start to finish,the most fun I've had during a film in a long time,I had a grin plastered on my face during the whole thing.The casting was great(great to see Michael Biehn on the big screen again),the gore was extremely over the top,I loved the John Carpenter-esque circa Escape From New York synth music score.Robert Rodriguez,who I was never a big fan of,has really impressed me lately with this and Sin City,I look forward to his next film.Ok moving on to the second film,Death Proof.I'm a huge Quentin Tarantino fan so any time he has a film out it's an event for me.This film I loved as well but it does have some slow patches to it.Now,Tarantino has talky scenes in all his films,but the characters in this were pretty normal people for the most part and that's a little different for Tarantino.QT's always worked with actors who really nail his dialogue and characters and these women,especially the second group,were a little weak(particularly Zoe Bell,who is a stuntwoman,not an actress).Kurt Russell,on the other hand is fantastic as the psychopathic Stuntman Mike.There's a brutal car wreck and a fantastic car chase sequence,those were also highlights.The fake trailers were terrific,I was especially fond of Machete,the only thing off was while Werewolf Women of the SS was funny,it just didn't look like a trailer,the other ones are spot on accurate.Oh yeah,and QT makes an unwelcome return to acting in both films.Dude,you're a brilliant writer/director but please don't act anymore,it's painful.

Very funny comedy about a drunken one night stand between an entertainment journalist and the biggest slacker on the planet that turns into a pregnancy.Writer/director Judd Apatow's followup to The 40 Year Old Virgin is more of the same,but I liked this even better than that film.Any reservations I had about Seth Rogen carrying a film as a lead were erased here,between his work in 40YOV,Superbad and this film,he's emerged as one of the funniest comic actors to come around in quite some time.

An intriguing storyline is wasted by an unfocused script and a bland approach in this thriller.Kevin Costner is suprisingly effective as Earl Brooks, a seemingly normal family and businessman who also happens to be a serial killer who goes to AA meetings as he's trying to quit killing.That's an interesting plot point as is his relationship with his sinister alter ego and partner in crime,played by William Hurt(who steals the movie).Their scenes together are the best in the film,they have good chemistry going here.Dane Cook plays an annoying douchebag who tries to blackmail Brooks into letting him tag along for a murder.Again, an interesting idea that's botched.There are two boring subplots that distract from the main plot,one involving Demi Moore's detective character who's going through a divorce(really,who cares?)and one with Brooks' daughter,which could have been very interesting,but nothing much is done with this.It's too bad really,the serial killer subgenre could use some fresh ideas.A waste of talent and a good story hook.

Fantastic film noir/thriller from the Coen Bros,who after a two film slump,are back with a vegeance with this viciously entertaining film.The plot is pretty straightforward:an average joe stumbles upon a drug deal gone bad, steals a bag of money and is pursued by a relentless killer.That simple premise is a springboard for a compelling game of cat and mouse between the two men with a world weary sheriff watching from the sidelines.The whole cast is great:between this,Grindhouse and American Gangster,Josh Brolin is having a hell of a year,he turns in a career best performance here as Moss,the man who finds the money who is more wily then he appears.Javier Bardem radiates menace as the psychopath on the trail of the money,he's truly frightening and I would rank him up there with Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs and Frank Booth in Blue Velvet.You're honestly afraid for the other characters when he's lurking around.Tommy Lee Jones does his best work in years as the sheriff,granted he could probably do this kind of role in his sleep,but when it's this well acted and written,who can complain.And Woody Harrelson has a small but memorable role as a cocky bounty hunter.The film is very suspenseful,there's a scene with a ringing telephone that's worthy of Hitchcock.This isn't for the faint hearted as there's violence aplenty in addition to the aformentioned nerve wracking,but there are dollops of the trademark Coens black comedy.The best film of 2007.

Very entertaining,insanely over the top action flick.Clive Owen is his usual kickass deadpan self as a mysterious man protecting a baby from some goons who want him dead.Owen happens to be a very,very good shot with any gun and uses them in several outrageous ways.The film is cartoonish,approaching parody almost,kind of like a less silly,more violent True Lies.Paul Giamatti is terrific as the villain who is increasingly frustrated by how good Owen is at killing his henchman.If you like your action somewhat grounded in reality,ala the Bourne films,then this is probably not for you.But if you can suspend you disbelief even more than usual,you'll have a real good time.And hey,you get not one,but two deaths by carrot.

Absolutely hilarious comedy,the funniest I've seen in ages.Never thought I'd say it about a comedy,but it also turned out to be one of the best films of 2007! A lot of comedies run out of steam but this one is non stop funny from start to finish with lots of great foul mouthed dialogue. The only thing missing:nudity. As this has a sort of 80's raunchy teen comedy vibe it felt strange not having any. The three leads all do a great job with their archetypal roles:Michael Cera as the awkward straight man, Jonah Hill as the obnoxious fat guy and newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the uber nerd Fogle AKA McLovin. And the two cops played by Bill Heder and co-writer Seth Rogen are quite funny as well. One of my new favorite comedies.

Excellent dramatization of the hunt for the Zodiac killer who terrorized San Francisco in the late 60's/70's.The film is directed by David Fincher of Fight Club and Seven fame and you may be a bit suprised by how unflashy and straight ahead the story is told.The cinematography is great,it has a sort of brownish/gold tint to it,it's very effective in getting the time period across.The acting is very solid across the board,with Jake Gyllenhaal doing some of his best work since Donnie Darko.Yes the film runs a little too long and the ending is a bit anticlimatic if you're not familiar with how the case turned out in real life,but these are minor quibbles when the film is this well made.One of the best films of 2007.