Case 39

Horror has never been my favorite genre. But as a reviewer, I strive to be open to all types of films.

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as a good and bad horror flick. Bad horror contains wanton scenes of violence but annoys more than it scares. Good horror contains wanton scenes of violence that scares more than it annoys. Case 39 is outstanding as the creepy, weird, bloody, often stupid genre known as horror goes.

See Renee in the picture? She's proven her mettle in Chicago, Bridget Jones's Diary, and many, many films. I consider her top-notch as an actress. But as an actress in a horror film? Even better! Do my esteemed readers recall that Renee got her start as the terrified victim in the 1994 classic Chainsaw Massacre flick? By the way, the dashing Matthew McConaughey was the saw-wielding maniac in that same work.

Okay, back to Case 39. What's it about? Did you ever see the truly scary film of 1956 called The Bad Seed? In that black and white spooker, a little girl turns out to be, well, not everything a sweet little girl should be! Is there anything scarier than thinking a kid could do evil? You get the gist of Case 39. It's sort of a remake of The Bad Seed.

No more on the plot, lest I give too much away. Suffice it to say that Renee Z, the kind-hearted, optimistic, caring, generous, loving social worker, might have made a slight mistake bringing home one of her young clients!

Ha ha! Just wait and see how big that mistake is!

Case 39 reminds us that horror films can have substance. Every once and a while, when you read about a young kid who has done something terrible, you will no doubt recall Renee Zellweger's performance and one nasty, devilish, little girl!

Bridesmaids

Our daughter, who abounds in wit and good taste for movies, suggested we see this cute chick flick. She was right! The film is frothy, sassy, daring, and at moments, gross....got your interest?

Can't say too much without doing what today's trailers do (give away everything!). Basically, two best friends, who have known each other since grade school, share everything about their personal lives...including the details of some of their amorous adventures. Great portrait of female best-buds who thrive on the closeness of their bond.

Enter a monster known as marriage! Soon, everything changes!

That's the setting. The fun is in the characterizations. Both of the friends are highly bright and neurotic, and they do not hesitate to speak the truth!

Acting: Great. Interestingly, the actors are little known compared to big names. Kristen Wiig, who is wonderful as the pissed-off blond, played some parts in Saturday Night Live. Her biggest claim to fame was being Gwyneth Paltrow's best friend as a kid (perhaps the kernel for the plot?). Maya Rudolph's best work was Away We Go, a tongue-in-cheek comedy about newyweds getting settled.

The rub: Comedy and tragedy are often two sides of the same coin. In this film, I found the main character more pathetic than funny. After all, the poor thing struggles to find a decent guy and undergoes many heartaches. My spouse found more pathos than humor throughout, so a female voice corroborates my opinion.

Grade of A. Top notch film work. Entertaining. Educational. Sad.

Jesse Stone: Night Passage

In 2006, Tom Selleck produced and acted in a marvelous mystery series, known commonly as the Jesse Stone made-for-TV movies. Viewers, this series is fantastic! Check out an earlier review from 2010 on Selleck's Jesse Stone: No Remorse. We lauded that piece of work. Now I must similarly laud the first in the series.

Night Passage tells the story of a burned out cop, Jesse Stone, who has just divorced, left L.A. where he was a homicide detective, and moved with a mangy dog to a small town in Massachusetts. He will be the new police chief there. Jesse figures the biggest crime in a small New England town will be a stolen bike. He does not count on murder.

There. The scene is set. No more details, lest I give away too much.

The beauty of this film is not in the plotting, however, so don't expect a very detailed whodunnit. The marvel is Jesse's characterization. He's a depressed alcoholic, who lives a solitary life and likes it that way. He's a man of few words. Thus the sparse, terse, magnificent dialog, which is the charm of the film.

Jesse may drink too much and say too little, but he's a man of integrity and strength. He is one tough SOB. Example: When he confronts a bad guy who claims to have "rights", our hero simply kicks the dude in the family jewels! Yeah, he's got some Dirty Harry in him.

The tone is somber but shaded. The acting is incredible. Check out Viola Davis as the subordinate cop, long before she landed her golden role in Doubt. Check out Tom, mature actor now, way better than the old days.

I'm gonna watch ALL the Jesse Stone flicks. Can't wait!

Emmys 2011

Help! Someone tell me, please, what's worth watching on TV?

Just saw the Emmys last night, and the only part I could appreciate were the dazzling movie stars! But the evening was supposed to honor top shows, not slinky ladies, so I remain stupefied!

OK, let's be positive. TV has shown us some fine dramas, including Mad Men and Big Love. Comedies? Maybe Glee. But the rest of it just does not grab this viewer.

Not that I have not given some of the shows a chance. I've watched Modern Family and said to myself, ok, older man marries young bombshell, son is gay...so what? I've tried 30 Rock, and except for the brilliant Tina Fey, the humor is weak. I've looked at so many others....

So I seek some valued input. What should I watch? Please give me some direction!

As for the Emmys themselves, I can't be too enthusiastic. Jane Lynch was brassy and daring, but she sort of grates on the nerves. The show was rather slow and uninspiring....like the rest of TV.

I'll stick with the movies...with just a few exceptions.

Terribly Happy (Danish, 2008)

Foreign films entrance me. As I browsed DVDs, I could not help but notice a Danish police thriller. Danish? Is there any crime in that little country? Well, maybe, a few stolen bicycles...ok, enough teasing! In fact, Denmark has its share of bad guys just like everyone else. And their police carry guns for good reason.

Last night, we watched a police procedural that was truly fascinating. The story takes place in a small town in Denmark. Folks meet at the local bar and gossip. There's a code of silence, however, that goes with the malicious chit-chat.

Enter our hero, a cop from Copenhagen, who has been stationed in the small town as the lone law-enforcer. Why? He had a nervous breakdown in the big city and did something terribly wrong...which makes him terribly unhappy (check out the title).

Can't say much more, except to reveal that the one-man police force falls for a femme fatale in the small town...a woman who is at once reviled and pitied. Oh, I must add that a crime is committed. What kind of crime? Who dunnit? And what about the mysterious "bog", where bodies and cars seem to turn up?

Yes, it's a goodie, this little film from the Land of the Tivoli! You'll see how people live in a small village...and learn who and who not to trust!

Exam

My dear spouse and I were glued to the screen last night, watching a little-known (no, unknown) film called Exam. Made in England, the unusual flick is unlike anything I have seen.

Exam is a thinker. You join the protagonists in a search to unlock a puzzle.

No spoiler, but see those folks in the picture? They're the finalists for a very prestigious job in a big biochemical firm. They only have one task to complete: they have to answer one question posed by the proctor.

One question? How hard can that be?

Hard! Really hard. You see, there's some question about the question, and those who question the question find their careers in question! Sorry, could not resist...but just imagine what it would be like to have to figure out what a question is in order to answer it in order to obtain the job of your life!

Here's the rub: Will the finalists cooperate to solve the riddle? Or will they play dog-eat-dog. Or will they hurt each? Kill each other? So many options, and so little time to solve the enigma.

What fun!

I loved the film, but I would have to downgrade it to B+ only because of the "pill" introduced into the plot. What pill? Not a bitter one, readers...

Find out for yourselves!

Gone with the Wind

Please, readers, indulge me a minute! Of course you've seen Gone with the Wind...haven't we all? But I watched it last night, all four hours worth, and just wanted to remind viewers to go back and see it again!

This review, requiring no description of plot or characters, will be a hodge-podge of thoughts:

Costuming: Magnificent! Love those flowing gowns in the Antebellum old south.

Pre Civil War: What a flavor of the south. Men being gentlemen, everyone dancing, slaves smiling, an entire society set in its ways.

War brewing: Enjoyed being reminded how enthusiastic the young men were about going into battle.

Scarlet, Rhett, Ashley, and Melanie: Still fabulous, all of them! Great dialogues, dramatic tension, super acting. And what lookers they were!

Dated sexism: Rhett's aggression toward Scarlett bothers modern viewers...a reminder of what sexism there was way back when. EG: He says to her, "You need to be kissed and a lot!"

Personal tidbits: Leslie Howard died only four years after making the film, shot down in a plane during WWII. Vivien Leigh only got the big role because of a chance meeting with David O Selznick while he was filming the Atlanta fire scenes. She won a second Oscar for playing Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. She was married for 21 years to Laurence Olivier, until he ran off with the younger Joan Plowright. Vivien fought TB most of her adult life. Olivia de Havilland, who played the angelic Melanie, is still alive and well at 95 in Paris! Hattie McDaniel, or Mamie, decided not to attend an award ceremony in Atlanta in 1939 because she was afraid of racial violence.

History: The film is still a great history lesson of the Civil War. From the pre-war years to the defeat of the South, viewers recall the bitter conflict.

Irony: The year GWTW came out, 1939, the world was on the verge of chaos, with war about to break out. The pre WWII world, a rather naive one like pre-Civil War America, was about to undergo an initiation into a harsher, crueler world.

More irony: In 1939, African Americans had no rights in the South...long after the Civil War had ended. So southerners who viewed the film went home after the movies to the Jim Crow ways. In other words, the film raised little consciousness in America.

Final thought: They don't make 'em like that any more! What fun it was to revisit this old favorite.

A Date with Tad Hamilton

Time to visit the world of fluff. Sometimes, when our brains are fried from a long day, it's fun to watch lightweight fare that does not make us think! When I'm in that kind of mood, I enjoy superficial romances, LMN-style, that feature pretty faces and mindless plots. As fluff goes, A Date with Tad Hamilton is right up there.

The threesome in the picture above present the story in a nutshell. Cute young girl is stuck between two guys. Girl likes guy, guy likes girl...you get the point. No plot spoiler, but simply one guy is a movie star and other other a grocery store manager. Which one will the girl end up with (neaswap....sorry, Valerie)?

The appeal? Those faces, of course! We guys can stare at Kate Bosworth in different outfits all day long and never tire of her great looks. And the girls get to ogle two dashingly handsome dudes, Josh Duhamel and Topher Grace. It's like a beauty pageant!

Interestingly, some romances can turn dour and sour quite quickly. After all, we're dealing with broken hearts and disappointments. But not this cute little flick. It's a frothy romp that never loses its delightfully airy, meaningless tone!

So for what the film is, an easy escape from a tough day, A Date with Tad Hamilton sparkles!

Grade of A-, believe it or not!

Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes

See the guy in ropes in the picture? He's in a heck of a jam! He enjoys bedding women who work at his insurance agency. No big deal, but the problem is that a few of them, like the lady above, are armed and dangerous!

Sleep Easy is an engaging thriller, with twists and turns that surprise at each moment. It is full of femmes fatales, wicked men, and unexpected villains. Example: Hutch Rimes, the protagonist who meets attractive office workers at the "Sleep Easy" motel, has a fairly easy life until one of his ladies asks, "Care to help me kill my husband?"

No more details, lest I spoil the story.

Flavored like a Hitchkock mystery, the film provides a bevy of talented actors who keep the suspense in high gear. Steven Weber, a little known actor, shines as the amoral, less-than-smart playboy who meets his Waterloo at the hands of a few vicious babes. Gail O'Grady, best known for her role as the blond secretary on Hill Street Blues, brilliantly plays the lusty, back-stabbing bitch who tries to get back at lover boy. Then there's Swoosie Kurtz, a fine character actor, who offers up some shocking and unexpected moves.

Who's gonna shoot whom? Who's gonna betray whom? Which baddie will bring down our poor, misdirected cad? Which women will turn to violence?

Not a well-known film, but a little diamond in the rough.

A- grade. Lots of fun...serious yet light in tone.

Hanna

Oh my, I seek words in my paltry vocabulary to describe the most original, tense, unusual, weird, gripping film to come out in years! Hats off to the writers of a script that is unlike any that precedes it!

I will never spoil a film for viewers, so I must describe this gem without giving anything away. Okay, probably safest to say that the girl in the picture above is a tough, deadly, wily teen who has been trained by her father to be a killer. She has been raised alone in the woods, where her days consist of living off the fat of the land and practicing martial arts, shooting, and other vicious activities. She must be good enough to face the baddies who are after her and her father.

Got your attention?

Acting: Wow! The girl who stars is Soirse Ronan. Who? Go back to the year 2007 and check out a little-known kid nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Atonement. That's her. What a talent. Now take Eric Bana, of Munich fame, and Cate Blanchett, of, well, everything fame, and you've got a whopping cast. By the way, Cate is normally not cast as an evil bitch, but she sure fills the bill here!

Can't say much more, except to laud this piece of work. My dear spouse and I were held captive by the flick for two hours. We wanted to take food and potty breaks, but the story would not let us go!

A+ film making. Viewers, this one goes to the top of the list. See it before anything else!

Contagion

I loved Outbreak, the classic "microbe-danger" thriller with Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo. So I figured that Contagion, with a great cast and lots of hype, was a natural sequel...but it never quite got its act together.

OK, to be positive, there were lots of good "getting sick" scenes...folks hacking, coughing, breaking out in rashes, dying on the spot. The acting was strong, with talent galore. The film offered a good view of social unrest that could follow a major contagion. And there were some good references to historical markers, such as the Great Flu of 1918 and Ebola.

But in general the film did not work. It tried to do too much. Each of the actors shown above had an individual story, and so did about ten others, so there was not enough time to give all the plot lines the depth they deserved. The story attempted to do a linear time progression, showing how the "plague" spreads, but the day by day, week by week account was confusing and a bit illogical.

No spoiler, so no further details. Suffice it say that this viewer was not nearly as moved as he expected to be. Although, in truth, I did take a long shower when I got home...lots of germs and cooties all around us!

Beware the microbes! Beware the hype about Contagion! Beware a film that just tries too hard.

Grade: B- Sometimes engaging, mostly slow.

The Debt

Did you enjoy Munich? This viewer thought it was great. The Debt is equally as powerful. But it's actually about two women who do the work of warriors. Helen Mirren as the older agent, and Jessica Chastain as the agent in her prime, steal the show from all the other performers.

The story? Much like Munich, it's about Israelis who strive to bring perpetrators of murder to justice. Sadly, in real life, only a handful of Holocaust sadists were captured and tried for their crimes, fifteen or so at Nurenburg and most notably, Adolph Eichman. In spite of Simon Weisenthal and other determined Nazi hunters, the vast majority got away with their crimes.

With these facts in mind, it's inspiring to watch a movie where Israelis hunt down a war criminal. No spoiler, as usual, but the plot is really quite simple: three agents stalk the Butcher of Treblinka, a doctor who did ghastly experiments on prisoners. Do they succeed? If so, at what cost? Does the truth matter more than the success of the mission?

Jessica Chastain, a little-known model who miraculously landed this role, shines as the beautiful young Israeli Mossad agent who, until now, has worked at desk jobs. She must prove herself in the field to two more jaded, experienced Nazi hunters. Fast-forward to the present, where Helen Mirren (who looks somewhat like the younger Jessica), is the old gramma being feted for her past deeds. But is she worthy of the praise? What must she do now to prove her mettle? Is she too old to go back out in the field?

What a great film! For those viewers like me who really admire empowered women, the flick grabs and holds on. Prepare to sit on the edge of your seat for the entire movie.

Grade of A. An outstanding work, bold in design, lofty of purpose, and full of fine acting and a gripping plot.

I really enjoy going back in time and watching today's stars, particularly the talented ones, at the outset of their careers. Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh were in top form in this taut, engaging thriller.

Never a spoiler, I will strive to offer the broadest description of the film: Alec is a real baddie, who has a prison history and revels in hurting people. Of course, he steals to live and has no conscience at all. He meets Jennifer, who plays a dingbat college student dabbling in prostitution. She's gullible, caring, charming...and with her exquisite deep south accent, wins our hearts.

OK, the scene is set.

Now consider the actors. Alec has been a bad dude in so many films....remember him in The Cooler? Recall how he broke his best friend's leg without breaking a sweat? Then he was evil incarnated in The Juror. Creepy how he bullied Demi Moore! He does comedy, of course, but I've always thought he was better as a badass.

Jennifer Jason Leigh proved her true worth in her best work, The Vicious Circle. When she played Dorothy Parker at the Algonquin, mingling with other intellectuals, she was fantastic. She was awesome too in The Machinist, Road to Perdition, and The Hudsucker Proxy. Oh, have I forgotten her masterpiece, Single White Female? What a crazy roommate she was!

Wanna have fun? Go back and watch this thriller made in 1990. Check out how dashing the young actors were. Try to ignore the role Fred Ward plays: the writers never quite got his detective thing right.

White Lightning (2009)

Portraits of the criminally insane are jarring: most viewers will recall Helter Skelter as a good example of such a film. Here's a better one: White Lightning. It's gritty, disturbing, scary, but incredibly real. If you've got the stomach for it, this film is a pure, unadulterated masterpiece.

Gotta travel to the backwoods, the poverty-stricken pockets of the Appalachian mountains, to get the feel for why a young boy goes astray.

Played brilliantly by an unknown teen actor, Owen Campbell, the kid is mentally unbalanced from the start: he sniffs glue, paint thinner, whatever he can get his hands on for a high. He goes in and out of the juvenile punishment system, getting crazier and wilder with each negative turn.

Leap forward to the boy turned man: he's now a handsome, dashing misfit (witness: my dear spouse muttering, wow, he's so cute!). Another unknown, Edward Hogg, plays the unhinged protagonist masterfully. Problem is, the young man's good looks can't save him from himself. He teeters on the verge of insanity, hitting booze and drugs when he seeks solace from his inner demons.

No spoiler, but violence lurks at every turn! Up in them-thar-hills, folks isn't too big on the crazy kid, so they's turnin' to shotguns 'n all to take care o' things....get the picture? If you think Deliverance packed a backwoods wallop, you ain't seen nothin' yet! (The language sort of grabs you...sorry, English teacher.)

Kafka is alive and well in them thar sticks. So is Faust.

Grade of A: White Lightning is as good as grit gets. By the way, lots of fascinating symbolism for those who seek it.

Psycho (1998)

Check out the pictures above. Which of our bathers seems more scared? Janet Leigh's scream will forever live in the annals of great scenes. Anne Heche's shower looks like a holiday!

Get the point? Sometimes remakes are better than the original. Not in this case. The remake is also a fairly complete re-write. No spoiler, of course, but Mama bates and our crazy man himself play distinctly different roles in the '98 version.

Vince Vaughn is always a good creep. See Clay Pigeons for his creepiest and best performance. Yet even sneering Vince could not really get a good scare going. And Anne Heche was just too laid back to be a good scaree.

Thus: Stick with the original. Don't bother with the remake.

Grade of C for the re-do.....stale and tired and not even a tad spooky.

The Conspirator

This reviewer recently panned a film that everyone loves (Midnight in Paris), but today he will laud a film that other reviewers have panned. Is David out of step with the world?

I had the great pleasure of viewing Robert Redford's masterpiece, The Conspirator. As a Lincoln and Civil War buff (I have read many books on Honest Abe and visited most Civil War sites), I must admire the historical accuracy of this film. Redford did his homework.

The story is well-known by even the I-hate-history folks: Mary Surratt was the owner of the boarding house in which John Wilkes Booth and others gathered to plan their vicious plot. Did Mary know about it? Was she involved? Did she deserve to be the first woman to die on the gallows back in 1865? These are just some of the questions addressed in the film.

But there's a greater theme that persists: Do suspects have rights even when the country is furious and seeking vengeance? The question is still not resolved: The military today seeks to try terrorists rather than have them judged by a jury of peers in a civil court.

OK, those are the overall themes. But what really counts in the film is the fine acting: James McAvoy, a little known character actor, shines as the brave young lawyer who defends Mary Surratt. There could be an Oscar nomination forthcoming for him. Tom Wilkinson, always wonderful, again proves his mettle as the lawyer's mentor. Robin Wright is excellent as Mary Surratt, sometimes arrogant, sometimes docile, sometimes guilty, sometimes innocent, always fascinating as The Conspirator.

Go back in time to another era. The film makes you feel as if you are in 1865. It's about as authentic as period pieces can get.

I assign a grade of A. A must-see. Leave it to Redford to teach such an awesome history lesson.