Into the Blu

Lisbeth Salander has been returned from near death but, while recovering in hospital, she is charged with murder. She must rely on her former lover, reporter Mikael Blomkvist to help investigate and hopefully unravel the truth behind the enormous political cover up that has pinned Salander falsely. Continue Reading

Two reporters are murdered and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to none other than Lisbeth Salander, the literal “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” from the story that shares that name. Instead of Lisbeth becoming involved in the main story, she becomes the main story as we delve deeper into her personal secrets to reveal the truth behind her motivations, her past and her link to these murders. Continue Reading

The original Swedish title of this film is Man som hatar kvinnor, which literally translates to Men Who Hate Women. Indeed, there is a great deal of brutality and hate within this investigation/revenge plot. The pace can seem slow at points, but it may only seem that way when contrasted against other points that all-too suddenly become so insanely intense that you may not initially believe what is happening on the screen. The term “gripping” comes to mind when trying to express this films overall effect. Continue Reading

I had seen the trailer for Unknown and thought that it looked rather interesting. Clearly, Liam Neeson has become something of an action suspense stars what with his riveting performance in Wanted in a role that is rather similar to the one he has in Unknown. While I was intrigued by the story line for the film as revealed in the trailer, I was quite surprised by the film, which while keeping one’s attention for a time , is nothing more than a remake of another film, set in Berlin rather than on Mars. Continue Reading

A neo-noir film painted in amazingly bright and clear colours. A sordid romantic thriller presented by the same duo that made Volver. Continue Reading

There is an old saying in sports that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. It is used to describe a team that is better than the collective talents of the players would otherwise lead you to believe. The opposite is also true, as the team with the best talent doesn’t always win. This old sports cliche came to mind when thinking about the film that is the subject of this review, The Tourist. After all, it stars two of the biggest stars in film, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. It is set in two of the most romantic and glamorous cities in the world, Paris and Venice. It therefore has to be superb, right? Well, not quite. Continue Reading

When you hear about a film that takes place entirely within one location that may feel pretty intimate, you’re going to get to know everything about that location and everyone in it… how about when the whole film takes place within a coffin with one guy buried inside? Claustrophobic? Does the film hop the hurdles of making its audience uncomfortable with just the setting alone or does it lack the breathing room?

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Heist films are a dime a dozen or so it seems. However, every now and then a real good one comes along. The good ones, in addition to a fine cast and excellent performances, feature a tight and fasted paced script and a subplot, somewhat independent of the main plot, to keep you interested and involved in the fate of the characters. All this and more is found in the subject of this review, The Town. Continue Reading

Too much of the faire coming out of Hollywood these days is either low brow dreck or material that has been done before (and often better) that has been recycled yet again. That doesn’t even include the ever growing number of sequels. Even films that don’t exactly do well at the box office seem to get sequels, due in part to the dearth of new ideas floating around Hollywood. It is rare that a film is released that is so original and so compelling that is stands uniquely alone. Such a film is Christopher Nolan’s Inception, which is making its Blu-ray debut on December 7th. Continue Reading

During the various debates on the issue of torture and its effectiveness in eliciting useful information to prevent impending terrorist attacks, the question of the ticking time bomb was often raised. Would you torture to prevent the the use of a nuclear bomb in an American city? Well, that is the central issue raised in the film that is the subject of this review, the suspense thriller Unthinkable. Continue Reading

For my fourth movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected High Anxiety, Mr. Brooks’ loving spoof of Alfred Hitchcock movies.  Although I admire Mr. Hitchcock’s work, I can honestly admit it has been a few decades since I last saw one of his films (The Birds).

One challenge I anticipated with High Anxiety is that certain subjects like murder and suspense do not work well in comedy (like in Have you Heard About the Morgans).  Truly, the only way to make a thriller work with humour is to go way, way, way over the top, much like in the Police Squad series of movies.

However, my pleasant surprise at the quality of To Be Or Not To Be left me with some anticipation that this movie may also surprise me with its wit and charm. Continue Reading

There are some shall I call them “suspense thrillers” that are good for only one viewing. Once you know the ending and how the plot twists are resolved, the film is spoiled for subsequent viewing. There are other suspense thrillers that are great no matter how many times you view them as you are continually pulled into the narrative by superior film making, whether you know the ending or not. One of the latter types of suspense thrillers is the subject of this review, The Illusionist. Continue Reading