Posted on February 15th, 2010 by brunodante
South Korea | 2003 | Directed by Chan-wook Park
Logline: An ordinary man is kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, then suddenly released, confused and bewildered, only to be informed he must find his captor in five days.
“Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.”
Adapted for the screen from a Manga comic, Oldboy is a tour-de-force of cinematic storytelling, a stunning darkly poetic vision of (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Gangster & Noir, Movie Reviews, Movies
Posted on February 11th, 2010 by brunodante
USA/France | 2005 | Directed by Tommy Lee Jones
Logline: A ranch foreman honours the final Mexican burial wishes of his murdered best friend and makes sure the man responsible, an arrogant and reckless Border Patrolman, is held accountable.
It’s curious how a respected actor decides he needs to try his hand at directing, gets a feature made, and never makes another, even though his efforts are incredibly impressive. I can (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies, Western & War
Posted on February 3rd, 2010 by brunodante
Sweden/Denmark | 1998 | Directed by Lukas Moodysson
Logline: Two teenagers – an unhappy girl with a secret crush on the cute popular girl – find themselves the centre of attention, much of it very awkward.
Writer and director Lukas Moodysson had been writing serious poetry for years before finally turning his hand to telling stories for the screen, but his deft hand at inspired irony, lyrical imagery, wry nuances, (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies
Posted on January 28th, 2010 by brunodante
UK/USA/Australia/Japan | 2007 | Directed by Anton Corbijn
Logline: The story of Ian Curtis, the singer of seminal UK indie band Joy Division, whose personal and professional troubles lead to him committing suicide at age 23.
“When routine bites hard, and ambitions are low.
And resentment rides high, but emotions won’t grow.
And we’re changing our ways, taking different roads.”
It was inevitable that a biopic would be made on the short (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movie Music, Movie Reviews, Movies
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 by brunodante
New Zealand | 1981 | Directed by Mike Newell
Logline: The true story of Stanley Graham, a poor farmer, who shot dead seven men during a WWII arms surrender, then hid in the surrounding bush land, whilst a manhunt was launched.
Despite the B-movie title this is a highly competent production with a compelling narrative and excellent acting. The movie is based on the book Manhunt – The Story of Stanley Graham by (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies
Posted on October 27th, 2009 by brunodante
Brazil | 2005 | Directed by Andrucha Waddington
Logline: The plight of a woman, and her feisty daughter, over the span of nearly sixty years, as she tries in vain to adapt to a life in a desolate landscape of shifting sand dunes.
This is a stunningly realised character study of mother and daughter, juxtaposed against a harsh, unforgiving, yet beautiful geography that reflects and absorbs the personalities of the lead characters; (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movies
Posted on August 11th, 2009 by brunodante
USA | 2008 | Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Logline: A middle-aged professional wrestler struggling with drug addiction, thankless gigs, and being estranged from his daughter, is told to retire by his doctor, yet he’s reluctant to throw in the towel.
This was the comeback gig that touched Hollywood’s heart, but not quite enough to win Mickey Rourke the Oscar everyone thought he should get (although it must be said Sean Penn’s performance (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies
Posted on July 17th, 2009 by brunodante
Canada | 1995 | Directed by Patricia Rozema
Logline: An uptight and conservative woman, working as a Christian university professor and engaged to another of the college’s professors, finds herself strangely attracted to a free-spirited, liberal woman whom works at a local carnival which has come to town.
A deeply lush and exquisitely sensual drama streaked with a subtle, but resonating sense of humour, this romance continues to age like a (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Horror, Movies, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Posted on July 15th, 2009 by brunodante
France | 1986 | Directed Jean-Jacques Beineix
Logline: A carefree handyman begins a passionate relationship with a beautiful, but emotionally volatile young woman who wants desperately for him to succeed as a writer, and to have his child.
I love this movie with an aching in my melodic heart. A celebration of love and life inexorably entwined with melancholy and tragedy, so French you can hear it crunch like a crisp baguette. (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movies
Posted on July 9th, 2009 by brunodante
Belgium | 2007 | Directed by Koen Mortier
Logline: A manipulative and cynical writer joins a desperate punk band under the pretence he is as handicapped as the other three, when the reality is he simply wants to shake up his complacent existence and disturb theirs.
You want to upset your cinematic sensibilities, then leave it to the wayward Europeans to throw a spanner in the works, and they’ll twist the tool (more. . .)
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Filed under: Comedy, Drama & Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies
Posted on July 1st, 2009 by brunodante
USA | 1990 | directed by Phil Joanou
Logline: An undercover cop returns to his NYC stomping ground in order to bring an Irish-blooded criminal family and associates to justice, but finds the danger too close for comfort.
One of the best gangster flicks set in New York City, Phil Joanou’s blistering tale of corruption, deception and betrayal amidst the noise, squalor and filthy beauty of Hell’s Kitchen, the Irish core (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Gangster & Noir, Horror, Movie Reviews, Movies, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Posted on June 4th, 2009 by admin
Australia/USA | 1971 | Directed by Ted Korcheff
Logline: An English Outback teacher on route to Sydney finds himself trapped and out of his depth in a small township, caught up in the local pastime of drinking, gambling, and aggressive hospitality.
Based on a blistering first novel by Kenneth Cook written in 1961, with an excellent screenplay from Evan Jones, and helmed by the man who would direct the under-rated Rambo movie (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies
Posted on June 1st, 2009 by brunodante
West Germany/France/Poland/Yugoslavia | 1979 | Directed by Volker Schlöndorff
Logline: In Danzig, Germany, as WWII begins, a three year old boy with extraordinary intellect and a distorted morality decides to stop growing in defiance against the absurdity and contradiction of the adult world he sees around him.
Based on the best-selling novel by Günter Grass Die Blechtrummel is a saga of morality, deception and resignation. It is a tale that resonates with (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies
Posted on May 25th, 2009 by brunodante
Italy | 2006 | Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
Logline: A determined and troubled Ukrainian woman becomes the maid and nanny to a young, affluent Italian family, befriending the young impressionable daughter as part of her elaborate mission to uncover a sad and shocking truth.
Nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the 2008 Academy Awards and winner of numerous European awards Giuseppe Tornatore’s brilliant jigsaw puzzle thriller is his first movie in (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies
Posted on May 13th, 2009 by brunodante
Germany | 2008 | Directed by Dennis Gansel
Logline: When a high school teacher uses an unorthodox social experiment to demonstrate autocracy to his class, the students embrace the order of unity with a fervor that soon spirals out of control.
I remember reading the novel by Todd Strassers (written under the pseudonym Morton Rhue) when I was a teenager and found it utterly compelling. It was based on a true incident that (more. . .)
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Filed under: Drama & Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies
