Collection ID 1172
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright Penn, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard
Genre: Thriller
Studio: Touchstone Pictures   Release date: 2000   Rated: PG-13   
Language (Country): English, Spanish, French (USA)
Summary: A suspense thriller with supernatural overtones that revolves around a man who learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident.
My Rating:
My Review: Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Split, Glass). Starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright and others. I fell in love with M. Night Shyamalan's movies after seeing 'Sixth Sense'. Many of his other movies didn't fare as well commercially, but I liked them all the same. Here is another movie that hits all the spots. Bruce Willis plays his usual bitter, disgruntled character, but overall the casting was very well done. The story plays out (intentionally) like the comic book that it pays tribute to. Bruce Willis plays David Dunn, a married man working to support his wife and son. There's something unrevealed, unexplored and unexplained about his demeanor. A slightly injurious and mysterious past. It's something that affects his everyday life, but its completely out of focus, lurking in the back-ground. Something he can't or won't put to rest. His boring everyday life changes in a split second when he survives a devastating train wreck. He was on his way home from a job interview, the train derailed, and another train collided with the train that he was on… No one should have survived that tragic accident, but David walked away without a scratch. What just happened? Why did he survive? How could he have survived without sustaining any injuries at all? It's a suspense thriller with some supernatural overtones. Plenty of emotion, and plot twists. M. Night Shyamalan has done it again. The locations (set in Philadelphia) are great, the set work perfect, the costumes superb. The production is top notch. The casting was excellent and the musical score pulls us along on a train filled with twists and turns until the climactic ending. I give this movie a 5 out of 5.

Collection ID 424
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Starring: Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Monica Bellucci, Nydia Caro
Genre: Crime
Studio: Sony Pictures   Release date: 2000   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English (France)
Summary: A lawyer is asked to come to the police station to clear up a few loose ends in his witness report of a foul murder. This will only take ten minutes, they say, but it turns out to be one loose end after another, and the ten minutes he is away from his speech become longer and longer...
My Rating:
My Review: An intense character drama. This movie is based on a book (Brainwash), also made into a French movie called Garde à vue. The American version stars Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane and Monica Bellucci. Here's a character drama that puts Gene Hackman up against Morgan Freeman in an intense psychologically intense crime drama. Hackman's character is 'invited' to the police department (in San Juan Puerto Rico), in order to answer a few nagging questions regarding a recent murder investigation. Hackman plays a wealthy older man, married to an incredibly hot younger woman (much younger). When he 'discovers' the body of a child who's been raped and murdered, the investigation turns in his direction. What follows in an intense police interrogation where his old friend (Morgan Freeman) - the police inspector, his wife (Monica Bellucci), and an ambitious junior detective, all take turns tearing apart Hackman's 'character'. It's a psychologically torturous journey through the intimate thoughts of the characters involved. This is an excellent drama where the direction took great care with the rather unique, self narated, expository, flash-back scenes. This movie is all about the characters, the emotions, the relationships. It's not really about the murders. While the subject of the murders is sickening, it's only there to create a starting point for all the intense character interactions which we witness in the movie. This movie really stretches the acting abililties of the two main actors. Clearly, Hackman is a superior actor. This role demanded much in the way of his performance, and he never failed to perform. The performances by all were very good. The weapons in this movie are suspicion, innuendo, jealousy, envy, confidence, deceit and secrets. The ending is a true shocker. After seeing this movie a second time, I'm finally starting to see where the characters were taking us.

Collection ID 1143
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Starring: Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Monica Bellucci, Nydia Caro
Genre: Crime
Studio: Sony Pictures   Release date: 2000   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English (France)
Summary: A lawyer is asked to come to the police station to clear up a few loose ends in his witness report of a foul murder. This will only take ten minutes, they say, but it turns out to be one loose end after another, and the ten minutes he is away from his speech become longer and longer...
My Rating:
My Review: An intense character drama. This movie is based on a book (Brainwash), also made into a French movie called Garde à vue. The American version stars Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane and Monica Bellucci. Here's a character drama that puts Gene Hackman up against Morgan Freeman in an intense psychologically intense crime drama. Hackman's character is 'invited' to the police department (in San Juan Puerto Rico), in order to answer a few nagging questions regarding a recent murder investigation. Hackman plays a wealthy older man, married to an incredibly hot younger woman (much younger). When he 'discovers' the body of a child who's been raped and murdered, the investigation turns in his direction. What follows in an intense police interrogation where his old friend (Morgan Freeman) - the police inspector, his wife (Monica Bellucci), and an ambitious junior detective, all take turns tearing apart Hackman's 'character'. It's a psychologically torturous journey through the intimate thoughts of the characters involved. This is an excellent drama where the direction took great care with the rather unique, self narated, expository, flash-back scenes. This movie is all about the characters, the emotions, the relationships. It's not really about the murders. While the subject of the murders is sickening, it's only there to create a starting point for all the intense character interactions which we witness in the movie. This movie really stretches the acting abililties of the two main actors. Clearly, Hackman is a superior actor. This role demanded much in the way of his performance, and he never failed to perform. The performances by all were very good. The weapons in this movie are suspicion, innuendo, jealousy, envy, confidence, deceit and secrets. The ending is a true shocker. After seeing this movie a second time, I'm finally starting to see where the characters were taking us.

Collection ID 783
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay, Dougie McConnell, Kevin McAlinden
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Studio: Film4   Release date: 2013   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English (UK, USA, Switzerland, Poland)
Summary: An alien entity inhabits the earthly form of a young woman who combs the roads and streets of Scotland in search of the human prey she came to plunder. She seduces her isolated and forsaken male victims into an otherworldly dimension where they are stripped and consumed. However, existence in all its complexity begin to change the alien visitor. She begins to discover herself as human with tragic and terrifying consequences.
My Rating:
My Review: Under the Skin - 2014 (Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi) Directed by Jonathan Glazer (also directed Sexy Beast as well as numerous music videos) and starring Scarlett Johansson as an alien being stalking the night in Scottland's cities and villages. Preying upon man's strongest emotions, her beauty belies the terror of her alien intentions. Extremely dark cinematography and a foreboding sense of dread follow you throughout the movie. The movie is slow at times and that can make for a challenging experience. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Collection ID 1448
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay, Dougie McConnell, Kevin McAlinden
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Studio: Film4   Release date: 2013   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English (UK, USA, Switzerland, Poland)
Summary: An alien entity inhabits the earthly form of a young woman who combs the roads and streets of Scotland in search of the human prey she came to plunder. She seduces her isolated and forsaken male victims into an otherworldly dimension where they are stripped and consumed. However, existence in all its complexity begin to change the alien visitor. She begins to discover herself as human with tragic and terrifying consequences.
My Rating:
My Review: Under the Skin - 2014 (Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi) Directed by Jonathan Glazer (also directed Sexy Beast as well as numerous music videos) and starring Scarlett Johansson as an alien being stalking the night in Scottland's cities and villages. Preying upon man's strongest emotions, her beauty belies the terror of her alien intentions. Extremely dark cinematography and a foreboding sense of dread follow you throughout the movie. The movie is slow at times and that can make for a challenging experience.

Collection ID 529
Director: Len Wiseman
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Michael Sheen, Shane Brolly, Bill Nighy
Genre: Action
Studio: Lakeshore Entertainment   Release date: 2003   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English, Spanish (USA)
Summary: Selene (Beckinsale), a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael (Speedman), a werewolf who longs for the war to end.
My Rating:
My Review: A movie that was on my watch list, I decided to buy a copy because of its visual characteristics. Visually, it was a combination of Matrix and Blade. The surprise was the love story aspect. Billed as a gothic Romeo & Juliet, where the characters are supernatural creatures, it was too short to develop any sort of serious romance angle. The movie ended with some obvious sequel narration dialog. A war between Vampires and Werewolves, that's been waging for over a thousand years. The movie moved very quickly, and the plot was tightly wound. Groovy special effects, and fearsome fight sequences didn't detract from the character based drama. This movie would have been better if the pacing had been slowed down some, with a little more attention to character development/interaction. This movie gets a 5 out of 7.

Collection ID 1234
Director: Len Wiseman
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Michael Sheen, Shane Brolly, Bill Nighy
Genre: Action
Studio: Lakeshore Entertainment   Release date: 2003   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English, Spanish (USA)
Summary: Selene (Beckinsale), a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael (Speedman), a werewolf who longs for the war to end.
My Rating:
My Review: A movie that was on my watch list, I decided to buy a copy because of its visual characteristics. Visually, it was a combination of Matrix and Blade. The surprise was the love story aspect. Billed as a gothic Romeo & Juliet, where the characters are supernatural creatures, it was too short to develop any sort of serious romance angle. The movie ended with some obvious sequel narration dialog. A war between Vampires and Werewolves, that's been waging for over a thousand years. The movie moved very quickly, and the plot was tightly wound. Groovy special effects, and fearsome fight sequences didn't detract from the character based drama. This movie would have been better if the pacing had been slowed down some, with a little more attention to character development/interaction. This movie gets a 5 out of 7.

Collection ID 232
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett
Genre: Western
Studio: Warner Bros.   Release date: 1992   Rated: R   
Language (Country): German (Unforgiven Side A), Spanish (Unforgiven Side B), English (all three movies), Spanish (USA)
Summary: Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man.
My Rating:
My Review: Directed by Clint Eastwood, this is a great movie that one numerous Academy Award honors. It's a movie about the twilight of the gunslinger. Two retired gunslingers (Played by Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman) team up with a green behind the ears assassin for one last job. The Sherrif (played by Gene Hackman) is bound and determined to 'disarm' these good-for-nothing murderous low-life scum. Great casting, acting, and character depth. Fantastic sets, locations and costumes. Pretty good soundtrack, and a great story. Who's the hero in this story? I'm glad that the story wasn't a rehash of your usual black and white white hat black hat western. A movie about changing values and progress in America.

Collection ID 949
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett
Genre: Western
Studio: Warner Bros.   Release date: 1992   Rated: R   
Language (Country): German (Unforgiven Side A), Spanish (Unforgiven Side B), English (all three movies), Spanish (USA)
Summary: Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man.
My Rating:
My Review: Directed by Clint Eastwood, this is a great movie that one numerous Academy Award honors. It's a movie about the twilight of the gunslinger. Two retired gunslingers (Played by Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman) team up with a green behind the ears assassin for one last job. The Sherrif (played by Gene Hackman) is bound and determined to 'disarm' these good-for-nothing murderous low-life scum. Great casting, acting, and character depth. Fantastic sets, locations and costumes. Pretty good soundtrack, and a great story. Who's the hero in this story? I'm glad that the story wasn't a rehash of your usual black and white white hat black hat western. A movie about changing values and progress in America.

Collection ID 1471
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, Frank Langella, Sebastian Koch, Olivier Schneider, Stipe Erceg
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures   Release date: 2011   Rated: PG-13   
Language (Country): English, German, Turkish, Arabic (UK | Germany | France | Canada | Japan | USA)
Summary: A biochemist and his dishy wife arrive in Berlin for a conference at which a scientist and his controversial Arab funder will announce breakthrough research. While his wife checks into the hotel, he grabs a cab to return to the airport for his briefcase, left at the curb. En route, an auto accident puts him in a coma, from which he awakes four days later without identification and with gaps in his memory. He goes to the hotel: his wife refuses to recognize him and another man has claimed his identity. With help from a nurse, the cab driver, a retired Stasi agent, and an academic friend, he tries to unravel what's going on. Is the answer in the briefcase?
My Rating:
My Review: Liam Neeson and January Jones (eye candy) star in this action packed thriller featuring amnesia, terrorists and a secretive group of assassins. Liam Neeson plays Dr. Martin Harris - an esteemed biochemist visiting Berlin to lecture at a big agribusiness conference. When he misplaces his briefcase, things start to unravel. A short cab trip produces tragedy. Instead of retrieving his briefcase, he ends up with a rather strange case of amnesia - He knows exactly who he is, but no one else can remember him, including his wife and closest friends. The writing is quite tight, but there's too many cliched plot points and similarities with other movies to make it remarkable. If the writers had focused on the 'corporate espionage' angle, the movie would have been much better. Instead the movie quickly devolves in to a frenetically paced terrorist driven action plot. Liam Neeson performs adequately, and January Jones is smoking hot if not a bit unbelievable in her role. The characters are colorful but lacking in depth. An entertaining summer blockbuster. 4 out of 5.