FROM HELL (2001)

 

From Hell is based on the true life crime story of Jack the Ripper which took place in 1888 in East London. And it’s the screen adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell.

When the prostitutes on street are getting murdered in a brutal and violent manner, the investigation is given to a young Scotland Yard detective Fred Abberline. Abberline who is already a trouble gentleman with the loss of his wife and child sometime back tries to catch this ruthless killer but finds little luck. The ritualistic manner of the murders and the mutilations seems to be done by someone who is quite experienced in human anatomy.

In the mean time Abberline gets to know a set of prostitutes who are in the risk zone and particularly gets friendly with Mary Kelly who agrees to support him with his investigation. And soon he realizes that the murders are not just a work of a mad man but something more than he can personally bring down. As he and Mary starts to get emotionally involved he tries to keep her protected from the killer as she becomes the final prostitute left out of the target bunch. 

There is nothing new in this flick. It’s a mix of horror scenes with a matching score. Other than that it doesn’t offer much of a twists or mysteries to go along with. And it’s quite predictable. 

But for a crime and horror fan it is not so boring. The flow of the story is good. There are no lagging or unwanted scenes. And there is a serious work of set creation and representation of London which is perfectly noticeable from the very first scene. 

Johnny Depp is mundane and Heather Graham is pretty. Other than that the script does not offer any actor to be special or memorable. 

Genre: Horror, Crime, Thriller, Mystery,

Directors: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

Writers: Alan Moore (graphic novel), Eddie Campbell (graphic novel),  

Stars: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham and Ian Holm

UNKNOWN (2011)

My Score

In Berlin when Dr. Martin Harris wakes up after a car accident which caused him a 4 day coma, he starts to realize that something is not right. His wife doesn’t recognize him and someone else claim that he is Dr. Martin Harris. When no one believes who he really is Martin becomes a lost tourist in the Berlin city. And now he must find some connection to his real self and to prove himself. It’s not so easy at it seems as even he is confused over the reality and what could be unreal due to his accident injuries. But soon he realizes that there is a daring mystery behind his lost ID. 

Unknown is nothing equal to reality. But for the mere fact of thrill and mystery it is entertaining. Vaguely resembles Born Identity with a somewhat similar plot and action taking place in Europe. High speed car chases which stops at nothing and brutal hand to hand combat are big pluses in this thriller. 

The plot is indeed interesting. However looses the grip a bit after the first half becoming more unrealistic. It’s mysterious and makes the viewer to come to conclusions over small details yet prove them all wrong at the end. There are few good twists and some mundane moments as well.

Good performance by Liam Neeson portraying a confused intelligent man who is desperately trying to get back to his wife and his life. But this is not his best. Other than that the rest of actor credits are just the usual.

Unknown is satisfying if you do not dare to go in to details and plainly enjoy what the surface offers you. 

Genre: Action, Thriller, Mystery

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Writers: Oliver Butcher (screenplay), Stephen Cornwell (screenplay)

Stars: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger and January Jones

RABBIT HOLE (2010)

  Becca and Howie is not a happy couple any more. They have lost their young son Danny eight months ago and now the big house seems to have gone empty with the lives of the people who are still living in it. They struggle to recover, yet day by day engulfed by the grief doesn’t seem to find a connection to be happy as a couple. They try counseling, recovery groups yet within them every moment of their life is a painful step. Both Becca and Howie become distant and try to find their comfort in others. Becca starts to meet up with a teenager who apparently the driver of the car which killed Danny. And Howie finds comfort with a woman who attends to the group therapy. 

You may judge each move of these two people countless times. But the story thoughtfully lay down the decisions by itself by the time the end titles role. More than being just a mundane drama with a familiar plot Rabbit Hole delivers powerful performances and twists in the story which makes it special. 

Nicole Kidman is annoyingly yet wonderfully portrays Becca which is a very challenging role in her recent career. She deserves every award and the nominations for this role. And Aaron Eckhart delivers the best performance that I can recall of him. For him its pure rage and affection bundled in to one staggering movie. And the rest of the cast are well balanced and gives the maximum contribution on and off without making the story move any way further from the main subject. 

 There is so much beauty in this sad and depressing movie. You may find moments that shock you and moment that make you annoyed. And moments which absolutely make you helpless. That’s the power of Rabbit Hole.

Two thumbs up!!

Genre: Drama

Director: John Cameron Mitchell

Writers: David Lindsay-Abaire (screenplay), David Lindsay-Abaire (play)

Stars: Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart and Dianne Wiest

A SINGLE MAN (2009)

 

My Score

 The first interest of this movie for me was the appearance of Collin Firth. (As he won the 2010 Oscar best actor award for kings Speech I wanted to go back a little and check out some of his best was as per critics)

Taking place in 60s the movie is about a gay English professor who is based on Los Angeles. As the story starts it has being a year after he lost his partner in a car accident. And at present he finds it difficult to cope up with is grief. Thus decides to suicide. While trying to finish up his last deeds before his departure he is approached by a young male student from his class. They find a connection. 

A Single Man is not the typical romantic movie or the drama. It speaks of a social reality which many of us may try to avoid or turn the blind eye. And the exquisite quality in the dramatic movie making just cannot get better than this. And the plot delivers more than just sex and a total different perspective of love and attraction. 

The movie is filled with brief cutaways, insightful dialogues and minor details which pack the screen with subtle beauty. The cinematography is elegant and creates a whole mood for the plot and its flow. The weight of loneliness and grief combined with the uncertainty totally engulfs the audience. 

Collin Firth delivers a totally mesmerizing performance no doubt. Each scene and each line is dramatically perfect. His character speaks of emotion, survival, intelligent and ego. 

If your taste is for dramas and dramas that makes a different then ‘A Single Man’ will not fail you. 

Genre: Drama, Romance

Director: Tom Ford

Writers:  Tom Ford (written for the screen by), David Scearce (written for the screen by),

Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode

TRUE GRIT (2011)

My Score

True Grit is the story of a man hunt which takes place in the back of the day in western US country side. When the stubborn 14 year old Mattie Ross is desperate to find her father’s killer and bring him to justice, she decides to hire the best Marshall in town. After a brief recommendation she puts her dime on the ‘old’ Rooster Cogburn. She forcefully tags alone in to the hostile Indian Territory with Cogburn and another lawman LeBoeuf who is also tracking down the same man for different reasons. Soon the two man hunter’s starts to find their differences and quarrel over stuff like children and the 14 year old finds it difficult to keep them both in the objective. 

The strength of True Grit comes from two angles. The awesomely witty yet solemn script and the acting. The script and acting is so well knitted that you might actually wonder if it’s really humor you’re listen to or serious manly conversation. Some of the conversations happen between the men are downright funny but the actors pull it off with their most serious faces. Even the little girls get confused at time though she is well educated and brave for her age. 

The wonderful cast includes Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld and Matt Damon. Jeff plays the veteran one eyed man hunter Cogburn  who is partially a drunk. Hailee plays the stubborn 14 year old and hard headed Mattie. Born in 1996 and coming from California with 9 movie/tv titles under her belt she was nominated for Oscars for this role. And no wonder about that because her acting makes the whole flick a novel experience. Then comes LeBoeuf who’s played by the good Matt Damon. He has one big serious face throughout the movie and seems like he has forgotten to smile. At one point he bites his own tongue and gets shot by Cogburn. And then hit hard by a rock on the head. Quite a serious character but hilarious at the same time played very well. 

The story has a good flow and a neat ending. Worth watching!

Genre: Drama, Western, Adventure

Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Writers: Joel Coen (screenplay), Ethan Coen (screenplay

Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Hailee Steinfeld

JUST GO WITH IT (2011)

My Score

 Honestly speaking I expected much more than what this movie actually delivered for the simple reason of the wonderful cast. Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman in one movie? And how can it be this bad I ponder. It’s not the worst romantic comedy ever but all you can gain is some simple laughs after a long 117 minutes. It’s like it just sucked 2 hours of my life time for nothing. 

Danny is a past middle aged plastic surgeon who just met a 23 year old girl. For some reasons (which ‘cannot ‘be explained in a short review) he ends up convincing to her that he is about to get divorced. And he gets his assistant Katherine to pose as her soon to be X wife and her children as his children. The stunt goes uber crazy when everyone decides to go to Hawaii for a vacation. And Danny and Katherine start to realize their emotional side in the middle of all this.

What are good about ‘Just go with it’ are the little funny moments. Some jokes are quite rude to be frank but can give you a good laugh. The two kids do a pretty fantastic job than the adults somewhat. 

And there is plenty to talk about what’s bad about this flick. The plot itself is a failure. It’s vague and doesn’t really build any heat as it should be. And the phase of the movie is quite boring. It drags in some scenes unnecessarily and where it should slow it quickly cuts to the next scene. And as I mentioned before it’s too long. Then the acting is bad. It’s nothing like Sandler and nothing like Jennifer. Don’t know what really went wrong but it’s just not right. 

This movie doesn’t cut the deal even by showing some hot babes in bikinis.After some time all I can think about is was when this will end so that I can release myself from this burden. 

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Director: Dennis Dugan

Writers: Allan Loeb (screenplay), Timothy Dowling

Stars: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston and Brooklyn Decker