Dragon's Talk

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Domineering Philip Seymour Hoffman talks his weak willed younger brother into helping him rob their parents jewelry store to solve both their financial difficulties, but when the heist goes wrong, their lives start to unravel. Sidney Lumet has been making quality thrillers for 50 years, but in his latest effort, he takes a few cues from his younger pretenders. The plot themes have a lot in common with Fargo and A Simple Plan and the execution is reminiscent of Jackie Brown and its familiar disjointed timeline. In fact there is little here that hasn't been done before so don't expect much in the way of originality or surprises. But the quality cast all put in solid performances and Lumet certainly still knows how to pace a story and crank up the suspense. No gimmickry, no pointless frills; just an extremely well crafted and intelligent thriller.

Un Novio para Mi Mujer (A Boyfriend for My Wife)

This is a short, simple and funny Argentinian comedy about a married couple experiecing some regular problems.
Valeria Bertuccelli is absolutely great! On the other hand, Adrian Suar is a terrible actor, but he plays a perfect fool here, so he does it perfectly. The dialogues are very good.
I know most of you will not have the chance of watching it, but those who manage to find it somewhere, take a look at this movie. You'll probably not regret it.

Crime Spree

It suprises me that non of my friends have seen this yet.
In spite of not being a masterpiece, this film is a nice comedy that goes from stupid humour to witty turns of the screw.
Harvey Keitel is a very funny "godfather" and his "family" is just hilarious. Really, a great satire of the mob world.
I see the great majority is not even interested in it, and I cannot promise they will like it, but in my opinion it really deserves a chance.

Aliens

Ripley is awakened from stasis to find she has been gone for 57 years and being made a scapegoat for the loss of her ship. Until that is contact is lost with the colony on LV 426 when she is enlisted as an adviser to a combat unit sent to investigate. The vast majority of sequels are of course just cynical attempts to cash in on the popularity of the original film and rarely have much in the way of cinematic merit in their own right. Aliens is one of the few that not only expanded on the idea of the original but took it in a whole new direction. The production design is superb and every sci-fi movie made since that features military hardware gets its cues from here, and it still looks brilliant. The ensemble cast are all excellent, especially Sigourney Weaver who is far from the usual gung ho bonehead with a gun you find in most action movies. She is a believable character traumatized by her experiences of the first film, unwillingly facing her fears. The soldiers are also three dimensional characters, especially Bill Paxton's smart alec who loses his nerve and their camaraderie and funny banter make you care what happens to them. Other well written characters include "artificial person" Lance Henriksen whose cold fascination for the creatures echoes Ash from the first film and Paul Reiser's obsequious company man, each of whom seem to have agenda of their own. The first half of the film is an atmospheric and cleverly written set up for the second half, which can best be described as a white knuckle rollercoaster ride of breathless suspense and excitement. Their first encounter with the aliens is one of the all time great action sequences and the later scene when they await the second onslaught huddled in a darkened room listening to the sound of the motion detector is utterly gripping. Not to mention Ripley's first sight of the alien queen and their subsequent classic showdown. For me, this is an all but perfect film, and the best sequel ever made.

Araburu tamashii-tachi (Agitator) (The Outlaw Souls)

Takashi Miike's Agitator is a story set in the world of the Japanese Yakuza. A larger gang engineers the death of two of its smaller rivals leaders in an attempt to absorb them into their family, not counting on the fierce loyalty of one of their factions and their need for retribution. This film is ultimately about the difference between the needs of big business and the individual set in the brutal world of crime. Kunihiko is not shown as a hero exactly, just a man with an honest single-mindedness who cannot forget the loyalty to his "brothers" forged on the street for the sake of business interests; something that the slippery, money obsessed pseudo-bureaucrats at the top of the ladder cannot understand. It's a tough, uncompromising gangster story filled with graphic violence and has some interesting subtexts, as Kunihiko is shown almost as a samurai Ronin who has no purpose in life other than to avenge his master. Scenes involving a woman who I can only assume is Kunihiko's girlfriend pop up randomly and seem out of place mainly because she is never even mentioned when she is off screen, but otherwise its a cleverly plotted and visceral gangster film that I'd recommend to all fans of Takeshi Kitano and Martin Scorsese, or crime drama in general.

The Bank Job

A London model is arrested for drugs trafficking by MI5 and blackmailed into arranging the robbery of a Bank vault to reclaim some embarrassing photographs used by a corrupt black activist to obtain immunity. The robbery is successful but the vault also contained incriminating ledgers owned by some serious villains identifying corrupt police officers and more photos that could embarrass high level members of Her Majesty's government leaving the robbers in a very sticky situation. I wish Statham whould stop trying to be the cockney Van-Damme because this is what he is really good at. One criticism you could instantly level at this film is that the plot is so far-fetched, but bizarrely, it's actually a true story. At the beginning, it appears to be a decent if slightly run-of-the-mill heist movie as the usual collection of lovable East End villains plan and execute their scam but it's actually after the event that this film gets really interesting. The tone darkens and as it gets more hard-boiled and grim, the better it gets. The plot is well written and intertwines the several sub plots cleverly and its constantly entertaining. Darker, grittier and above all better than all of the Ocean's films and a great, unpretentious, old-fashioned British crime drama that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of them.

In Bruges

Failed hitman Colin Farrell is sent to Bruges with fellow hitman and friend Brendan Gleeson to lay low after the botched murder of a priest results in the death of a small boy. Sounds like a barrel of laughs doesn't it? But this endlessly surprising film is just that. The dialogue is extremely smart and witty and it's full of very funny and politically incorrect humour as well as gangster related drama and surreal situations that's slightly reminiscent of a rather more cerebral and literary Guy Ritchie movie. Farrell is great as a culturally inept childish oaf who you can't help liking and despite the humourous approach and dubious morality of everyone involved you actually start to care about them all. I particularly liked the way that their moral "code" is shown as absurdly misplaced and hypocritical rather than honourable and the script is quirky but never resorts to self-conscious "I'm mad, me!" wackiness. It's refreshingly unpredictable right to the end and I really, really enjoyed it. People who don't like the "f" or "c" words should definitely steer clear though!

A Bittersweet Life (Dalkomhan insaeng)

A mob enforcer is made an example of when he shows mercy and fails to execute the mistress of the boss he has served with unquestioning loyalty for the previous seven years. Bloody vengeance ensues. Yes, this plot line isn't exactly the most original material you are ever going to see, but this film really is something special. Lee Byung-hun is an anti-hero following the classic examples of everything from Yojimbo through to Kill Bill; an intelligent, quiet and seemingly unflappable character who is the last person on Earth you'd want to piss off! It has the artistic visuals of Chan-wook Park, the gritty violence of Scorsese, the balletic, blood soaked action of old school John Woo films and a quirky credibility reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino. The result is everything I want from a crime drama or revenge story, and anyone who likes any of the above should take pains to track down a copy. Yet another bloody and bloody marvellous film from Korea.

12 Angry Men (Twelve Angry Men)

Sidney Lumet's classic courtroom drama is based upon a very simple premise; a jury is sent to deliberate on a capital murder case, and one lone juror stands alone against the other eleven arguing that there is reasonable doubt. Virtually the entire film takes place in the same room, and the characters are a deliberate cross section of different personalities from all walks of life. They even remain unnamed for the length of the film. It's basically a tribute to the American justice system and democracy in general; imagine a more high brow version of Frank Capra without the sentiment. Slightly reminiscent of Rashomon, it exposes the preconceptions and prejudices behind the attitudes of some of the jurors and their refusal to accept the possibility of a juvenile delinquent's innocence, and is fascinatingly told as a kind of detective story in reverse, Fonda gradually dismantling the prosecution's case piece by piece. The character's are all really well written, the dialogue taut and the director's skill is consummate as he creates tension and drama without ever leaving the jury room. It's very stagey and occasionally reminded me of a game of musical chairs for that reason, and it may be a little subdued for younger tastes used to fast cuts and gratuitous action, but for me this is still the best courtroom drama ever made.

Burn After Reading

I like it when I go to the cinema to see a comedy and there are only few of us laughing. In my opinion, that indicates that the humour is good. Otherwise people would laugh exaggeratedly and I hate that!
This movie was just the kind of comedy I like, a Coen's comedy; with that weird humour that comes from bizarre situations.
I never thought that there was a funny actor in Brad Pitt. His performance is great here! And just in case you're thinking about watching this film because you think he's cute... this will probably not work for you.
The cast is great and non of them fails to add that special thing to their character.
So, "what have we learned from all this?" Women always win! lol

The Thing

A scientific research station in the Antarctic is seemingly attacked by researchers from a nearby settlement, but things are not quite as they seem...The Thing is one of the rarest of all breeds. A cinematic remake that is actually BETTER than the original. Easily John Carpenter's finest moment, he cranks up the suspense mercilessly as the small group of characters are cut off from the outside world, using plot elements from both the original The Thing From Another World and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Clearly influenced by Alien, and clearly influencing Aliens, the sense of paranoia is palpable as no-one knows who they can trust, and Carpenter skilfully and subtly misdirects you as to who is infected rather than using the usual clunky and ham fisted red herrings that are the staple of the genre. The ensemble cast of paranoid burn outs are all great, especially Wilford Brimley as the only one to understand the true implications of their situation and even the dog puts in a convincing performance (I know how that sounds but watch it and you'll see what I mean!) Featuring another magnificent score by Ennio Moriccone, some wonderful fire and ice coloured cinematography and brilliant animatronic effects that hark from the days before the glorified cartoons that are CGI, this is one of my absolute Halloween favourites.

Chinatown

Jack Nicholson stars as J.J. Gittes, a private detective hired to investigate an alleged marital indiscretion but uncovers more than he bargained for including deceit, corruption and murder. Right from the self consciously retro titles, Polanski sets out his stall; to recreate the classic noirs of the 40s and 50s, and a damn fine job he does too. Even to the point of casting legendary director John "The Maltese Falcon" Huston. Nicholson is at the height of his powers as the world weary ex detective and is complimented perfectly by Faye Dunaway with a possibly career best performance as the glamorous yet vulnerable femme fatale. The intelligent script constantly wrong foots you, playing with your assumptions and Polanski's direction is suitably hard boiled, shadowing Gittes as he uncovers the grim truth behind these unsavoury events. A fine homage and addition to one of my favourite genres and essential viewing for fans of crime drama.

Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton is an ex-ADA who now works as a fixer for a corporate law firm. When his old friend and mentor seemingly has a psychological break while defending another corporate giant he is called in to "handle" the situation. I must admit that this film had me hooked right from the incredibly intense monologue from Tom Wilkinson that opens the film. It plays out like a corporate Cold War film; the fact is that the plot will be very familiar to anyone who has seen a few legal dramas and the conclusion has a definite air of inevitability about it. But it's the journey there that makes it so worthwhile. Wilkinson is superb as the corporate slave who has a life changing catharsis, as is Clooney as the complex and morally ambiguous Clayton and Tilda Swinton as the immoral but anxiety riddled executive. It has no pointless action sequences and no gimmicks or twists; it's simply an extremely well written, extremely well acted and attractively and intelligently directed film full of interesting characters and excellent dialogue. Even the portrayal of Clayton's homelife, which is usually cinematic poison, is realistic and unsentimental. Very much in the tradition of the likes of All The President's Men, Michael Clayton is the best straightforward and unpretentious low-key thriller I've seen in years.