[9] Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star in this harrowing true story about a vacationing family torn violently apart by the 2004 tsunami that ravaged Thailand. The natural disaster is recreated in the opening act, seen through the eyes of Watts’ character as she desperately tries to grab hold of her eldest son as the tidal wave sweeps them both inland. She’s thrashed, cut, and …
[8] Dreams are a notoriously difficult thing on which to base a movie. In dreams there are no rules, no parameters — and in movies about dreams, writers and filmmakers are often all too eager to take advantage of our suspension of disbelief — because in dreams, hey? Who the hell’s to say what could or could not happen, especially if the contrivance pushes the …
[8] Before winning the Oscar for directing Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle gave us Sunshine, a riveting, futuristic sci-fi thriller about a crew of scientists’ desperate plight to rejuvenate the sun. Anything can and does go wrong during the mission, forcing the crew into some of the toughest life-and-death decision making they’ve ever faced. With humankind’s existence hanging in the balance, the stakes couldn’t be higher. …
[9] Martin Scorsese helms this dramatic thriller about an undercover cop (Leonardo DiCaprio) and a gang mole in the Boston police (Matt Damon) who race to uncover each other’s identities while a powerful mobster (Jack Nicholson) manipulates them both to his own, nefarious advantage. The Departed, inspired by the true story of Irish mobster Whitey Bulger, hits the ground running and never lets up on …
[9] Steven Spielberg remakes H.G. Wells’ sci-fi classic, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s easily his best movie in many, many years. Through the eyes of a single father (Tom Cruise) and his two children (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin), we experience the apocalypse — the end of the world — as towering alien tripods climb out of the Earth and begin destroying humanity …
[10] Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) adapts the Patricia Highsmith novel for the big screen, casts it perfectly, and delivers a superb character study and psychological thriller. Matt Damon anchors the film in the best performance of his career, playing the insecure but devious Tom Ripley, a lower-class New Yorker who serendipitously finds himself in Italy to locate a tycoon’s son and encourage him to return …
[9] It’d be easy to write off Ravenous as a bungled misfire, but if it is one, it sure is an interesting one. The end result is a pitch-black comedy about cannibalism set in 1847 at a remote outpost in the Sierra Nevadas. The tone of the film is hard for some to swallow (how punny), but from the opening quotation (“Eat me. – Anonymous”) …
[9] I don’t generally like heist/swindle movies, but this Quentin Tarantino flick (his third, because he’s counting) based on a novel by Elmore Leonard got under my skin with its rich characters and dialogue. Pam Grier plays a flight attendant who smuggles gun money from Mexico to the States for a bad motherfucker played by, who else? Samuel L. Jackson. But when ATF agents (Michael …
[9] Director David Fincher rebounded from Alien 3 with this seemingly innocuous serial killer flick penned by Andrew Kevin Walker. We’d seen buddy cop flicks and killers with gitchy modus operandis before, but characterization and style put Se7en over the edge. It’s a deeply creepy and unsettling movie centering around a seasoned detective (Morgan Freeman) and a rookie (Brad Pitt) who are paired in pursuit …
[10] Al Pacino is Vincent Hanna of the LAPD robbery/homicide division. Robert DeNiro is Neil McCauley, the leader of a successful bank robbing team that includes his protege Chris Shiherlis, played by Val Kilmer. After a fouled-up heist puts Hanna on McCauley’s trail, Heat becomes an elaborate cat and mouse chase between a driven police lieutenant and a seasoned criminal. Even though it’s grounded in …
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