The wife and mistress of a sadistic boarding school headmaster plot to kill him. They drown him in the bathtub and dump the body in the school's filthy swimming pool... but when the pool is drained, the body has disappeared - and subsequent reported sightings of the headmaster slowly drive his 'killers' (and the audience) up the wall with almost unbearable suspense...
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Review :
It does what a horror movie should do
Scare the crap out of you!
I don't hand out many 10s. Some movies don't really require much thought or analysis. In the end all that matters is what happened to you when you first saw it.
I remember when I first saw this. Nothing scary at first, but the nastiness of the place and the people is effortlessly shown. And then the bad stuff starts to happen.
I remember, though it must have been forty years ago, the climactic scenes with my neck hairs standing up, sweat on my face, clutching the theater armrests like I was in danger of falling, and finally realizing I was weeping- not tears of sadness, tears of helpless terror.
Network (1976)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 27 November 1976 Genre : Drama Stars : Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
In the 1970s, terrorist violence is the stuff of networks' nightly news programming and the corporate structure of the UBS Television Network is changing. Meanwhile, Howard Beale, the aging UBS news anchor, has lost his once strong ratings share and so the network fires him. Beale reacts in an unexpected way. We then see how this affects the fortunes of Beale, his coworkers (Max Schumacher and Diana Christensen), and the network.
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Review :
A Prophet known as Paddy Chayefsky
To think that this blackest of black comedies was made in 1976 could only means two things: 1) Nothing has changed or 2) Paddy Chayefsky was seeing the future with the most disturbing clarity. I endorse the later of the two because I believe things have changed since 1974 - I wasn't born yet, but I know because of my parents, the movies, literature, etc, etc, etc. Peter Finch as the mad prophet of the airwaves gives Chayefsky a riveting and powerful voice. The scenes between old chums Finch and William Holden are some of the best written scenes in any American movie until the Coen brothers emerged. Finch is superb, superb! and Holden, at the end of a legendary career, gives a performance of such ferocious sincerity that I rediscovered the man, the actor and felt the need to revisit some of his opus. From Golden Boy to Sunset Boulevard, Holden was a man who carried his own discomfort as a weapon. Extraordinary! However, the most alarming character in the whole thing is Faye Dunaway's. She is magnificent in her thin, nervous, bra-less attitude. She is a monster of commercial amorality. Everything in this incredible movie moves with the precision of an inspired clairvoyant's vision. Duvall's executive, Beatrice Straight's betrayed wife and Ned Beatty's god like big shot makes this one of the most frightening, entertaining, funniest, remarkable film from the 70's. Sidney Lumet proves once more that he's as good as his material. Here he is at his zenith.
Mexican Narcotics officer Ramon Miguel 'Mike' Vargas has to interrupt his honeymoon on the Mexican-US border when an American building contractor is killed after someone places a bomb in his car. He's killed on the US side of the border but it's clear that the bomb was planted on the Mexican side. As a result, Vargas delays his return to Mexico City where he has been mounting a case against the Grandi family crime and narcotics syndicate. Police Captain Hank Quinlan is in charge on the US side and he soon has a suspect, a Mexican named Manolo Sanchez. Vargas is soon onto Quinlan and his Sergeant, Pete Menzies, when he catches them planting evidence to convict Sanchez. With his new American wife, Susie, safely tucked away in a hotel on the US side of the border - or so he thinks - he starts to review Quinlan's earlier cases. While concentrating on the corrupt policeman however, the Grandis have their own plans for Vargas and they start with his wife Susie.
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Review :
Pure black and white magic.
Here is a film that wouldn't be made today because nobody makes 'B' movies anymore; and this is the greatest 'B' movie in the history of cinema. Here is the perfect example of why Orson Welles should be considered a genius. He has made this film look so effortlessly easy that it could almost be considered film making by numbers. From the famous opening sequence to the closing titles, this is the film students' reference book.
Welles portrayal of the bloated cop Hank Quinlan is only bettered by his Harry Lime in 'The Third Man'. He gets right inside the seedy, corrupt Quinlan; but still leaves room for just the lightest touch sympathy because we know that, after all, he's a fallible human like all of us. We almost feel sad at his fate especially when Marlene Dietrich gives her sad soliliquay about him.
This is another film that can only exist in black and white, and begs the question, why can't directors work effectively in this medium today? Some have tried but none have have really suceeded. David Lynch's Eraserhead is probably the best modern example of a black and white only film. Woody Allen's Manhattan tries hard but ends up looking too much like a documentary. I don't think that directors today use this medium enough, too many rely on colour and the efffects that can only work in colour to get them out of trouble.
So put A Touch Of Evil on your 'must see' list and enjoy a work of film making artistry.
Life of Brian (1979)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 8 November 1979 Genre : Comedy Stars : Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Irreverent satire of Biblical films and religious intolerance focuses on Brian, a Jew in Roman-occupied Judea. After joining up with an anti-Roman political organization, Brian is mistaken for a prophet, and becomes a reluctant Messiah.
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Review :
One of the top 10 of all time
True, my tastes are eclectic. This movie is so incredibly clever and thought provoking that it's not surprising that it raised so many hackles. Plus, it's as fast paced and funny as a Marx Brothers movie without the musical breaks. You can watch it 20 times and you'll still sing at the end. Undoubtedly one of the top 10!!
Sin City (2005)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 1 April 2005 Genre : Crime, Thriller Stars : Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Four tales of crime adapted from Frank Miller's popular comics, focusing around a muscular brute who's looking for the person responsible for the death of his beloved Goldie, a man fed up with Sin City's corrupt law enforcement who takes the law into his own hands after a horrible mistake, a cop who risks his life to protect a girl from a deformed pedophile, and a hitman looking to make a little cash.
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Review :
Beautiful!
I'm only a marginal comics fan - I read a bunch of stuff over the course of a year or two in college and haven't read much at all since. Frank Miller was my favorite writer then and the I always loved the Sin City series. I didn't realize the movie was even being made until I saw the notice for the preview screening (if that's an indication of how much I follow comics these days).
This movie was as perfect an adaptation of those books as I could imagine. The look, cast, atmosphere, everything was just spot on. The stories were all gripping and intertwined with each other nicely and I thought the brief Josh Hartnett spots were great bookends to the movie. I was amazed the entire length of the screening.
If you're into comics at all you'll love this movie. You won't be disappointed. I'm not sure how to recommend it to others but you certainly don't need to be a comics fan to enjoy it. I loved it without reservation.
Mary and Max (2009)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 9 April 2009 Genre : Animation, Comedy, Drama Stars : Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
In the mid-1970's, a homely, friendless Australian girl of 8 picks a name out of a Manhattan phone book and writes to him; she includes a chocolate bar. She's Mary Dinkle, the only child of an alcoholic mother and a distracted father. He's Max Horowitz, an overweight man with Asperger's, living alone in New York. He writes back, with chocolate. Thus begins a 20-year correspondence, interrupted by a stay in an asylum and a few misunderstandings. Mary falls in love with a neighbor, saves money to have a birthmark removed and deals with loss. Max has a friendship with a neighbor, tries to control his weight, and finally gets the dream job. Will the two ever meet face to face?
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Review :
G r e a t.
Just finished watching this, And Loved it. Previously Wall-e was the only animation that I rated 10/10. And this is the second one.
If You have not seen this You have no idea about how good it is.Its very well written (A True Story) , well Directed, narrated and equally good Animation in all respects. You don't Find Much stuff like this.
Its would get a rating of Pg-13 because of sex related material but I think every Children of 10+ should see this because the sex related material is kept very implicit.
I hope It will get Nominated for best Animation for year 2011, Best screenplay and best picture as well.
I have much more to say but since I have to review lot more movies I will just tell ya: I just Love It.
9.5/10. (Better than all animations of 2009) Can't wait to see it in top 250.
Annie Hall (1977)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 20 April 1977 Genre : Comedy, Drama, Romance Stars : Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Romantic adventures of neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer and his equally neurotic girlfriend Annie Hall. The film traces the course of their relationship from their first meeting, and serves as an interesting historical document about love in the 1970s.
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Review :
Witty and Charming, one of Allen's greatest achievements.
Annie Hall is a movie about life. In recent films, there are fairly predictable endings. (i.e. guy gets girl after chase scene in Manhattan). Annie Hall goes against the grain of movies. There is definite chemistry between Allen and Keaton. That is one of the main reasons this movie is successful. Alvy and Annie do not have high wage jobs, they do not go clubbing, nor are they incredibly attractive. Why does a movie character relationship have to be so extreme it's unconvincing? These days movie producers create plots that are unbelievable. They don't have any depth and usually have shallow intentions. You can sense that the two leads care for each other. The situations in this movie resemble real life and that is why it is so critically acclaimed and remembered. Sure Woody talked into the camera, but that, in a sense is real life as well. It reminds me of my usual thought process and how when I think; I feel as though I'm presenting my thoughts to myself. Only he is, presenting it to us. This movie is clever and thought provoking. If you're looking for the opposite of a yearly run of the mill movie, this is for you.
Finding Nemo (2003)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 27 November 2003 Genre : Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family Stars : Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A clown fish named Marlin lives in the Great Barrier Reef loses his son, Nemo. After he ventures into the open sea, despite his father's constant warnings about many of the ocean's dangers. Nemo is abducted by a boat and netted up and sent to a dentist's office in Sydney. So, while Marlin ventures off to try to retrieve Nemo, Marlin meets a fish named Dory, a blue tang suffering from short-term memory loss. The companions travel a great distance, encountering various dangerous sea creatures such as sharks, anglerfish and jellyfish, in order to rescue Nemo from the dentist's office, which is situated by Sydney Harbor. While the two are doing this, Nemo and the other sea animals in the dentist's fish tank plot a way to return to Sydney Harbor to live their lives free again.
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Review :
Another Disney/Pixar Classic
Those guys and girls at Disney/Pixar have done it again, they've created the perfect underwater world, full of fascinating Disney characters.
A truly enchanting story of a father (Marlon) who loses his son (Nemo), and with help of his new found friend (Dory) ventures out into the ocean to try to find him. On this epic voyage he gets to battle sharks, surf with some turtle dudes, dice with some jellyfish and survive an encounter in a whales stomach.
All the characters are vibrant with Disney charm, but my favourite is Dory, the comic relief, probably one of the funniest Disney characters ever written and superbly voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, pure genius.
All in all this is another success for Disney and Pixar, It brings out the child in all of us.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 10 October 2003 Genre : Action, Crime Stars : Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
The lead character, called 'The Bride,' was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, led by her lover 'Bill.' Upon realizing she was pregnant with Bill's child, 'The Bride' decided to escape her life as a killer. She fled to Texas, met a young man, who, on the day of their wedding rehearsal was gunned down by an angry and jealous Bill (with the assistance of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad). Four years later, 'The Bride' wakes from a coma, and discovers her baby is gone. She, then, decides to seek revenge upon the five people who destroyed her life and killed her baby. The saga of Kill Bill Volume I begins.
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Review :
Quentin's back---badder,bloodier,and better
Well,ladies and gentlemen,it's a new millennium and Quentin Tarantino has got a new movie for us. After changing the popular film landscape in the 1990's with the classics "Reservoir Dogs","Pulp Fiction",and to a much lesser extent,"Jackie Brown",Tarantino spent a half a decade in hibernation,accompanied by little more than a television set,a movie projector,and collection of Johnny Cash records and a bong. But now he is back after a six year hiatus with "Kill Bill",a thrill ride with the grand style of his earlier films and a brilliant tribute to those Shaw Brothers martial arts flicks of the 1970's and the action heroes of that same decade with includs Charles Bronson,Telly Savalas,Burt Reynolds,Clint Eastwood,Fred Williamson,Steve McQueen,Jim Brown and James Coburn. "Kill Bill" is also a chockablock of references to bygone movies like "Master Of The Flying Guillotine","The Wu",and the television shows like "Hattori Hanzo". This contains many of the elements that have made his earlier films so entertaining and he continues the tradition of that to.
You have the wicked wit,the funky score,the hip-retro cultural artifacts and lots of non-stop,brace in your face action that is not to be missed. Also once again,he has divided the action into chapters with voiceover narrattion to boot,plus he's even got a new trick up his sleeve in which the story is told with some fancy Japanese anime. Basically the film gives much of the screen time to actress Uma Therman and she carries the film with the assurance of a golden diva that she is. The film rises and falls with her,and Thurman pulls that off beautifully in one of the best performances of the year. Thurman plays a professional assassin,attached to a criminal group of bodacious martial arts-trained killers(Vivica A. Fox,Daryl Hannah,and Lucy Liu)who are lead by the unseen,shadowy Bill(unseen in the first installment played by David Carradine). Among the crew she was called Black Mamba,but otherwise simply known as The Bride because she was betrayed on her wedding day when they gunned her down and left her and her near-term child for dead. But she gets her revenge against the ones that tried to kill her and from there the story is a thrill ride of sorts leading up to the next so expect the unexpected. However,a lot of body parts get slashed here and some of it is very gruesome includes scenes of decapitation of heads and a half a head,a leg in severely cut off and a Achilles Tendon gets slashed,a eye and some fingers get chopped off too. This film also has brought back some really good Kung-Fu stars from the 1970's which includes Sonny Chiba,aka "The Street Fighter",and so many more....... I'm surprised that martial arts actress Michelle Yeoh is not in this one. And by the way,what Quentin Tarantino movie wouldn't be correct without his main man Samuel L. Jackson in the role as The Organ Man. Jackson,however was in two Tarantino films including the role he should have gotten the Oscar for in "Pulp Fiction",which also starred Thurman and opposite Pam Grier in "Jackie Brown".
However,the film ends in a cliffhanger so we will have to wait for the next installment which will be out in early 2004. Be forewarned,this not for the kiddies,so use caution when seeing it. In all,one hellva thrill ride.
Platoon (1986)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 6 February 1987 Genre : Action, Drama, War Stars : Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Chris Taylor is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat in Vietnam. Upon arrival, he quickly discovers that his presence is quite nonessential, and is considered insignificant to the other soldiers, as he has not fought for as long as the rest of them and felt the effects of combat. Chris has two non-commissioned officers, the ill-tempered and indestructible Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes and the more pleasant and cooperative Sergeant Elias Grodin. A line is drawn between the two NCOs and a number of men in the platoon when an illegal killing occurs during a village raid. As the war continues, Chris himself draws towards psychological meltdown. And as he struggles for survival, he soon realizes he is fighting two battles, the conflict with the enemy and the conflict between the men within his platoon.
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Review :
Still my favorite film
Every once in a while I will watch this film again and see if maybe I have grown tired of it. Surely after "Saving Private Ryan," "Titanic," "Crimes and Misdemeanors," or "Schindler's List" I have seen a better film. Well, after every viewing there is something about Oliver Stone's masterpiece that keeps me saying that I have never seen anything better.
I am a sucker for Vietnam pictures. "Apocalypse Now" and "The Deer Hunter" also rank in my top ten of all time. Stories about Vietnam can run the entire gambit of human emotions. "Platoon" is not only a documentation of America's sordid involvement in a foreign civil war, it is also a dramatic story of human response. A life developing in the most horrible of places.
There have been films put together better. There have been films with more detailed and interesting plots. But none have ever told a more touching story of human development set in the backdrop of bloody violence and inhuman suffering.
Le salaire de la peur (1953)iMDB Rating: 8.3 Date Released : 22 April 1953 Genre : Adventure, Drama, Thriller Stars : Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Folco Lulli Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
In the South American jungle supplies of nitroglycerin are needed at a remote oil field. The oil company pays four men to deliver the supplies in two trucks. A tense rivalry develops between the two sets of drivers and on the rough remote roads the slightest jolt can result in death.
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Review :
The kind of film that instantly announces that it's the best of its kind
This is richer, tenser, more atmospheric, and in all ways a better film than Clouzot's next one, "Les Diabolique" - which is saying a lot. I've never understood why Clouzot isn't more highly regarded. Indeed, for a long time I simply couldn't believe that he wasn't.
One charge that hangs over his head is misogyny. With regards to "Les Diabolique" this is simply ridiculous; with regards to "The Wages of Fear", I can see how one could harbour the uncomfortable feeling that there is, perhaps, something in it. But what, really, does the evidence amount to? The fact that one of the heroes is inexcusably cruel to his girlfriend? It's not as if the film endorses this, or invites us to take pleasure in it, or even, for that matter, allows us to. The characters are all flawed, and the film doesn't seek to deny it. It does, however, make an attempt to explain it. That town in the middle of nowhere is, we feel, really in the MIDDLE of nowhere; it must be the dustiest and most demoralising place on Earth. After a while we feel as if we could start kicking someone, just to break the monotony.
There's no doubt that the initial monotony gives the rest of the film half its strength. William Wyler once said that if you want to surprise or shock an audience the best thing you can do is bore them half to death beforehand
and although I can think of absolutely no reason why this should be so,
allowing for a little exaggeration, it's true. The seemingly aimless opening sequences help make every single frame, from the moment the nitro-glycerin is mentioned, electric.
So much is, in retrospect, amazing. There's the way Clouzot manages to show us the humanity in these seemingly squalid people. (Even the oil magnate, just when we think he's the world's most heartless capitalist, reveals he has a heart with an unexpected remark, and yet the remark doesn't feel at all out of character - it's the kind of masterful characterisation film-goers live for.) Then there's the obstacles these drivers must face. All are memorable; most are so perfectly realised they deserve to be called mythic.
Dial M for Murder (1954)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 29 May 1954 Genre : Crime, Thriller Stars : Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
In London, wealthy Margot Mary Wendice had a brief love affair with the American writer Mark Halliday while her husband and professional tennis player Tony Wendice was on a tennis tour. Tony quits playing to dedicate to his wife and finds a regular job. She decides to give him a second chance for their marriage. When Mark arrives from America to visit the couple, Margot tells him that she had destroyed all his letters but one that was stolen. Subsequently she was blackmailed, but she had never retrieved the stolen letter. Tony arrives home, claims that he needs to work and asks Margot to go with Mark to the theater. Meanwhile Tony calls Captain Lesgate (aka Charles Alexander Swann who studied with him at college) and blackmails him to murder his wife, so that he can inherit her fortune. But there is no perfect crime, and things do not work as planned.
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Review :
Excellent Hitchcock thriller
Surprisingly this is a lesser-known Hitchcock film but still stands up today as an exciting thriller full of twists and turns.
Ray Milland is excellent as ex-tennis pro Tony Wendice who decides to commit the perfect murder of his wife (Grace Kelly) when he learns of her affair with Robert Cummings (who isn't given much to do). In fact, Milland's subtle performance has you wanting the murder plot to work! Though it has to be said, Kelly's helpless female turn does not help in this regard either.
Hitchcock's skill here is to totally involve the viewer in the labyrinthine plot involving keys, telephone calls and stockings so that at the end of the film you haven't even noticed that virtually all the scenes are in one room.
If you like clever, wordy films with a touch of humour then I recommend `Dial M For Murder'. 8/10
The Thing (1982)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 25 June 1982 Genre : Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller Stars : Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
An American scientific expedition to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic is interrupted by a group of seemingly mad Norwegians pursuing and shooting a dog. The helicopter pursuing the dog explodes, eventually leaving no explanation for the chase. During the night, the dog mutates and attacks other dogs in the cage and members of the team that investigate. The team soon realizes that an alien life-form with the ability to take over other bodies is on the loose and they don't know who may already have been taken over.
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Review :
Today it's still one of the best horror films
Antarctica, winter 1982. The team on an American research base get surprised by a couple of mad Norwegians who is chasing a dog with a helicopter, trying to kill it. All the Norwegians are killed and the Americans are left with nothing, but a dog, a couple of bodies and questions. That's the beginning of the greatest horror/thriller film I've ever seen.
From the very beginning all to the end you feel the tense, paranoid mood. Helpless and alone out in no-mans land. Ennio Morricone was nominated for a Razzie Award for his score. Why I don't know 'cause as far as I can see his score is simple, creepy and very good. It really gets you in the right mood.
The acting is great! The best performance is probably given by the dog who's just amazing. As for Russell and the others on two legs I can say nothing less.
You may think 1982 and special effects are not the most impressive? Well, think again! You haven't seen it all until you've seen this. Bodyparts falling off and creatures changing forms... Rob Bottin has done a great job witch today stands as a milestone is special effects makeup.
The movie didn't get a big response when it first hit the big screen due to other alien films at the time and so it's not very well known. In fact you can almost consider it an unknown movie. Nobody I've asked have heard of it. However the movie has managed to survive for over twenty years as a cult film on video and DVD. Twenty years is a long time and except for the haircut the movie is still pretty much up to date. This movie is to be considered a classic.
The movie is without doubt one of my, if not my favorite. I've seen it several times, but it's just as good as the first time I saw it. As a Norwegian the only thing I don't like about this movie is that MacReady keeps calling the Norwegians swedes!
A Beautiful Mind (2001)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 4 January 2002 Genre : Biography, Drama Stars : Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
A biopic of the meteoric rise of John Forbes Nash Jr., a math prodigy able to solve problems that baffled the greatest of minds. And how he overcame years of suffering through schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.
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Review :
Powerful, quiet, effortless Crowe
A Beautiful Mind
Director Ron Howard has experience in playing with his audience's heartstrings. Remember in Apollo 13, when the fate of the astronauts was uncertain? (Ok, so if you remember your recent history, you knew.... but still!) Or remember in Parenthood, when Steve Martin's kid was about to make the crucial catch? Ol Opie can still pluck those strings with the best of them. (And you know, he'll never stop being called Opie, even by those of us who never saw The Andy Griffith Show during its initial run.) And plucking heartstrings is not a bad thing at all, not when you can do it in such a sincere, noncloying way as the masterful Beautiful Mind presents to its viewers.
John Nash is a mathematics prodigy who has a decided knack at solving previously unsolvable problems. He's socially dysfunctional, rarely looking anyone in the eye, but pours all of his energy - and soul - into producing one original idea, an idea that will distinguish him from all of the other mathemathical minds at Princeton University.
But John, like most who have had movies made about them, had his ups and downs. He meets and falls for a beautiful student of his named Alicia (Jennifer Connelly), and they produce a baby. But John also suffers from tremendous delusions and is diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia's a tough disease, folks - it's still not fully understood, and Nash was diagnosed with it in the middle of last century. He spends time in a sanitarium, as doctors struggle to find a cure.
Russell Crowe is absolutely powerful as the confused and confusing Nash. Although the marquee says "Russell Crowe", you'll immediately forget this is the hunky guy from Gladiator. I mean after all, he's playing some nerdy scientist dude! But Crowe completely disappears in the role, and he's unforgettable. Actors kill for roles like this one, because it gives them a chance to show off their acting chops. For many actors, this is the kiss of death, because then they're exposed as poor thespians. But not for Crowe; if anything, this proves once and for all that he's a grand master of acting. I realize that sounds like overkill for him, but I think that when actors are labeled as a "hunk" - their skills as actors aren't seen as very substantial. Hey, looking darn good worked against Tom Selleck, and to a degree it has worked against Crowe as well.
And he ages well, too. The movie takes place over a fairly extended period of time, ending with Nash's acceptance of the Nobel Prize in 1994. The makeup on Nash is neither garish nor schmaltzy; he looks completely genuine. And that's the essence of Crowe's performance. It's sincere, never trying to win over the audience with a sly wink here or a toss of the hair there. Crowe shows remarkable poise, elegance, and is utterly astounding in the role.
His supporting cast is more than able. Jennifer Connelly is better than I thought she would be; in most roles, she's the eye candy. But this role had meat to it, and she held her own. It wasn't an easy role to play, and she pulled it off. And her scenes with Crowe do have that movie magic that each of us looks for when we go to movies, that one moment, that compatible chemistry that leaves audiences mesmerized.
And yes, this does have some very, very touching moments. The final scene, while predictable (even if you don't know the outcome in real life), will bring more than one tear to the eye. Yes, I'll admit it, it got me right here. But it's okay; I did that old 'guy-crying-in-movie-theater' trick. If you feel the brime falling from the lid, you make a motion toward your cheek and then you scratch vigorously; people might think you have a skin infection and move away slowly, but at least they won't think you're a girly man.
At any rate, it's certainly one of the best movies of the year. Everything's in place: the direction, the photography, and especially the acting.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 29 January 1970 Genre : Adventure, Biography, Crime, Western Stars : Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Butch and Sundance are the two leaders of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Butch is all ideas, Sundance is all action and skill. The west is becoming civilized and when Butch and Sundance rob a train once too often, a special posse begins trailing them no matter where they run. Over rock, through towns, across rivers, the group is always just behind them. When they finally escape through sheer luck, Butch has another idea, "Let's go to Bolivia". Based on the exploits of the historical characters.
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Review :
A One of a Kind
This has got to be one of my favorite westerns. It has everything you could possibly want for every movie fan. They're so many great aspect and I will attempt to display some of them.
The acting, what can I say about it. It was a perfect fit for Redford and Newman who are both friends in the movie and real life. They deliver exhilarating, funny and electrifying performance. It is so great I can't even put it into words. These two actors were robbed of an at least an Oscar nomination. It has to be the biggest Oscar snub ever. Watching this movie my only wish is that Redford and Newman would have done more movies together.
The writing was great and creative. I have never witnessed a movie that was so serious and yet so funny. The writing totally propelled this movie forward. The fact that Butch and Sundance went to Bolivia trying to outrun the law was hilarious. This has got to be some of the best writing ever.
The directing by George Roy Hill was as well amazing displaying the chase scenes and just sitting back and letting the writing and directing take over. But most of all he let Robert Redford and Paul Newman do their thing. You could see that they were both feeding off each other and George Roy Hill never seemed to interrupt their chemistry.
I would advise anyone and everyone to watch this. They are just so many laughs, many fun action scenes and of course Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
The Sixth Sense (1999)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 6 August 1999 Genre : Drama, Mystery, Thriller Stars : Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Malcom Crowe is a child psychologist who receives an award on the same night that he is visited by a very unhappy ex-patient. After this encounter, Crowe takes on the task of curing a young boy with the same ills as the ex-patient. This boy "sees dead people". Crowe spends a lot of time with the boy (Cole) much to the dismay of his wife. Cole's mom is at her wit's end with what to do about her son's increasing problems. Crowe is the boy's only hope.
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Review :
An appropriate spoiler-free review
The surprise ending to "The Sixth Sense" has gotten so much attention that it threatens to overshadow the film. I occasionally hear people say things like the following: "The 'twist' was so obvious that I figured it out in the first five minutes!" Some of those people may even be telling the truth. There's no way to know. But there's a lot of condescension in such remarks, an implication that anyone who didn't figure it out must be a really dumb sucker. At least in my case I have an excuse. When I first saw this film back in early 2000, I knew nothing about it other than that it was about the relationship between a psychiatrist played by Bruce Willis and a child with some sort of psychic power. I didn't even know what that psychic power was, and an early scene led me to think it was telepathy. In short, I had no idea even what the movie's subject was until about the middle of the film, so I was completely adrift as to solving the movie's mystery.
Still, to anyone who did figure the secret out quickly, I have this to say: you may be smarter than I am, but that does not make this a bad movie. Hitchcock went to great lengths to keep the ending to "Psycho" from leaking out. Many people who watch that film today figure the twist out (probably because it has been imitated in countless thrillers since then), but the film is still a classic that holds up well today. Surprise endings are, ultimately, just clever contrivances, extra layerings on the cake. They do not constitute the difference between a good movie and a bad movie. A movie must work on its own terms before springing a surprise.
Nevertheless, there can be no denying that the twist in "The Sixth Sense" is particularly clever. It's no virtue if a twist is impossible to predict. It is just as important that the twist be logical as that it be surprising. Plenty of thrillers feature twists that are arbitrary, where the plot fails to provide enough hints. Even a clever thriller like "Fight Club" requires a bit of a stretch to accept the ending. What makes "The Sixth Sense" impressive is that it never cheats by suggesting that earlier scenes were imaginary. Everything we see is real, and only our assumptions fool us. If, however, you weren't fooled, all the better: just because you figure out the magician's trick does not make it a bad trick.
Consider what appears to be happening in the film. Willis plays a psychiatrist who has received accolades for helping children with problems. We see a romantic evening with him and his wife at home. Then he gets into an ugly, violent confrontation with a former patient. Willis believes he has failed, and he wants to make amends by helping a new child (Haley Joel Osment) who appears to be having the same problems (and perhaps the same abilities) that his former patient once displayed. But just as he thinks he's making progress with Osment, his marriage seems to be falling apart. His wife isn't talking to him, and is beginning to see another man.
However these events may be reinterpreted by what is revealed later, the movie is effective because it works on this basic level. In a key scene, Willis asks Osment what he wants most, and Osment answers, "I don't want to be scared anymore." It is not always clear that Osment is really facing a mortal threat. But because the movie establishes that he is undergoing a scary experience, by the time the movie reveals what it is that is frightening him, we have our emotions invested in the character, and the terror is very real to us. This is a step that most horror films neglect, the recognition that the most powerful fear may be the fear of fear itself.
When I was a teenager, I assumed that all good horror films had to have an R rating. Even as an adult, I was surprised that a movie as frightening as "The Sixth Sense" received only a PG-13. In hindsight, however, most of my favorite horror films, whatever their rating, have relatively little violence. Like all good horror films, "The Sixth Sense" allows the suspense to build and does not rely on either excessive violence or cheap scares. The ending adds an additional level of intrigue, but it is not necessary to one's enjoyment during the first viewing. Still, if you have not seen the film by now and remain woefully ignorant of the surprise lurking in its plot, I urge you, before someone ruins it for you, go and watch the movie!
Oordeel te Neurenberg (1961)iMDB Rating: 8.3 Date Released : 21 December 1961 Genre : Drama, History, War Stars : Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
It has been three years since the most important Nazi leaders had already been tried. This trial is about 4 judges who used their offices to conduct Nazi sterilization and cleansing policies. Retired American judge, Dan Haywood has a daunting task ahead of him. The Cold War is heating up and no one wants any more trials as Germany, and Allied governments, want to forget the past. But is that the right thing to do is the question that the tribunal must decide.
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Review :
~One of the most Powerful Films ever made.~
Judgement At Nurmeberg is a 1961 film about four Nazi Judges are in trial for crimes against humanity. Well let me just start out by saying that this is a very sad, powerful film. I was expecting it to be very boring and I guess I underestimated it. The film is also very well written, so well written that actually it makes you really think. I'm happy that it won an Oscar for writing.
The best quality about the film HAS to be the acting. Judy Garland, I think should of won a Supporting Actress. This is her finest performance ever, and I'm sad she didn't win one. Maximilian Schell gives the performance of a lifetime in his role as the defense attorney for the judges. He truly deserved his Oscar because he was very powerful. Spencer Tracy also gave a quite exceptional performance as he always had. (He isn't a Two-Time Oscar Winner for nothing. As for Montgomery Clift he deserved his Oscar Nomination. I am kind of ticked off that Marlene didn't get an Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actress. I always feel she is underrated.
As for Stanley Kramer (The Director) he had real talent and this film shows it. The 9-Time Oscar nominated Director should've of won an Oscar for Best Director for Judgement at Nuremberg. I hope his talent though will be remembered for many years to come.
My Overall Consensus is that the movie definitely succeeds due to the Extraordinary Performances and the Quite Exceptional Writing.
Hotel Rwanda (2004)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 17 March 2005 Genre : Biography, Drama, History, War Stars : Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Xolani Mali Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Ten years ago some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda--and in an era of high-speed communication and round the clock news, the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, one million people were brutally murdered. In the face of these unspeakable actions, inspired by his love for his family, an ordinary man summons extraordinary courage to save the lives of over a thousand helpless refugees, by granting them shelter in the hotel he manages.
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Review :
This year's Schindler's List
I was fortunate to see it at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Hotel Rwanda starred Don Cheadle and was directed by Terry George. It's based on a true event, about Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu who worked at four star hotel in Kigali. When the war broke out he thought of only saving his immediate family but as he saw what was happening he opened the hotel to Tutsi and Hutus seeking refuge from the killing. He used all the favours he had stored as manager of the hotel and basically saved over a thousand lives. This will be the next Schindler's list. When the film was over, there was a standing ovation. Don Cheadle was excellent as an ordinary man forced to do extra-ordinary things. Paul Rusesabagina and his family attended the screening and he received a five minute standing ovation. Even Michael Moore came to see this movie. I highly recommend it. 9/10.
No Country for Old Men (2007)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 21 November 2007 Genre : Crime, Drama, Thriller Stars : Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss discovers the remains of several drug runners who have all killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong. Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the two million dollars present for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. As Moss desperately attempts to keep one step ahead, the blood from this hunt begins to flow behind him with relentlessly growing intensity as Chigurh closes in. Meanwhile, the laconic Sherrif Ed Tom Bell blithely oversees the investigation even as he struggles to face the sheer enormity of the crimes he is attempting to thwart.
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Review :
The Coen Brothers' masterful achievement
It was not very long before I watched 'No Country for Old Men' that I watched the other remarkable film of 2007, 'There Will Be Blood.' Back then I thought that Paul Thomas Anderson has delivered the Best Picture of the year with his oil epic, but after watching the Coen brothers chilling and violent adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel, I knew right away that here was a film destined to be even a greater film than any I've seen this past year.
It's not easy to watch 'No Country for Old Men.' The first time I saw it, I found myself dazed enough to not be able to stand-up immediately even after the whole end credits have finished. And yet, mixed with the feeling of shock is the profound sense of wonder and awe with what I have just witnessed on the screen. It took me another viewing to fully appreciate the meaning and intention of the film, and while the experience from watching the film is not one everybody will enjoy and understand, it certainly is one of the most moving and thought-provoking movies I have ever watched. This is the kind of movie that will make you think, the kind that stays with you even after a long time has passed since you've last watched it. On the literal level, it is a simple cat-and-mouse chase thriller movie, but from within its roots lie a very profound philosophical and penetrating analysis not only of the characters and the situations involved in the story, but also of the kind of world we are living in today and the more monstrous sides of it we often choose to ignore.
The story revolves around the chase between a guy named Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin,) who stumbles upon a stash of money in a drug deal gone wrong in the middle of the desert and a psychopathic but surprisingly "principled" assassin named Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). The third party and the moral center of the story is the guy trying to find both the hunter and the hunted, Ed Tom Bell, the old sheriff of a peaceful, but increasingly becoming violent locality in West Texas.
The movie features the perfect mix thrill and excitement that would be expected out of a movie in this genre. The Coen brothers' direction of the particularly intense chase scenes between Chigurh and Moss are masterful, evoking emotions of suspense to the highest level and pushing the audience to the very edge of their seats. This is achieved by very careful editing and sound direction that perfectly recreates the tense atmosphere whenever a particular scene is being played out. Also remarkable is the photography (done by Roger Deakins) of vast scenes in the desert where even what the ordinary moviegoer would consider as "empty scenes", where no action is played out, tells a story in a visual manner, where even when there is no dialogue or action on screen, the sweeping images speak out for themselves.
'No Country for Old Men' is rich in such bravura kind of film-making. The particular camera move, position and choice of background and other trivial details such as time of day, cloud cover or positioning of the props and point-of-view perspective offer the best experience for the audience, and the most effective means of story-telling for the Coen brothers. Just watch the scenes of Tommy Lee Jones as the tormented old sheriff being burdened by the challenge of something that is greater a force than himself, something that he "does not understand," and you will realize what I mean. The environment and tone created by the filmmakers perfectly accentuates the performance of Jones and more importantly, the core messages of the film. This style is present throughout the film and one of the particular points that makes it more than just a chase movie.
I must say that I can't help but agree to most people when they say the Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh is the most disturbing character (and yet mesmerizing) to grace the screen since Anthony Hopkins introduced us to Hannibal Lecter in 'Silence of the Lambs.' Chigurh effectively radiates evil and embodies violence in a very intelligent and forceful manner that touches the fear in all of us. Like Lecter, he personifies evil not in the conventional and simple sense, but in way that somehow presents to us the whole magnitude and complexity of its nature. In the dialogue he speaks, a kind of thinking revealed is one that is calculating and deeply philosophical but essentially ruthless and sinister.
The film's monumental achievement is in its ability to remarkably transport us into a world where the places, emotions, fears, anxieties, choices, morals and realities of life are strikingly brought to life and presented to us in a manner where we, after the whole experience, can reflect upon and look back with careful consideration. In the end, the moviegoer is left to marvel at the beauty (and madness) of it all. Here the theme of innocence lost as it is corrupted by evil and violence is explored in the most cinematic fashion, delivered perfectly with richness of emotion and the greatest impact possible. The violence and bleakness of it all is not there to simply evoke reaction or engage the audience, it is there to tell a story and impart an experience of great magnitude and intention, to which the Coen brothers have brilliantly succeeded. All at the same time the movie is a character study on the effects of evil and innocence lost, an exploration on the themes of fate and chance, an analysis of the freedom to choose and its consequences, a reflection on evil and good as forces of society and the investigation of basic human emotions such as hope, fear, love, violence and aspiration in the face of a variety of situations.
Into the Wild (2007)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 19 October 2007 Genre : Adventure, Biography, Drama Stars : Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Based on a true story. After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters who shape his life.
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Review :
Sneaks Up On You
INTO THE WILD definitely works as a film - I had read the book so I certainly knew the tragic story of this young man's life but I was blown away by the performances. In fact, to have this young talent Emile Hirsch working with the old, legendary Hal Holbrook makes the film a must see - in fact, their scene near the end in the truck is one of the best pieces of acting I have ever seen on film - Holbrook is amazing there. He deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination (but probably won't get it). The film is by no means perfect - there are pacing problems but Penn does use the flashbacks incredibly well and the film builds power as it goes along. Hirsch is so real - I remember noticing how talented he was in the indie flick Dangerous Life Of Altar Boys and I also thought he was very good in the so-so Alpha Dog film. But Penn gets a terrific performance out of him as well as Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Wm. Hurt, Kirsten Stewart, jena Malone and everyone else for that matter. I can see how this film might not be for every one, but I was very moved by it and days later - certain images and moments stayed with me. Penn is getting better as a filmmaker with each movie he makes.
Diabolique (1955)iMDB Rating: 8.2
