The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2010)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is the first in the trilogy of crime novels written by Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson. Larsson wrote them during his spare time, as a form of amusement. However, the novels were not published until after Larsson's untimely death in Nov 2004. The author never had the opportunity to enjoy the critical and the commercial success his books eventually earned. In 2008 Larssen became the second best selling author on the planet.

Now, on to the story:

Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist, convicted, unjustly he believes, of libel against a powerful industrialist. As Blomkvist awaits the commencement of his sentence, he is hired by a scion of a wealthy family to investigate the disappearance of the man's bellowed niece 40 years earlier. Everyone, initially including Blomkvist, believes the case is hopeless. Unexpectedly though, help comes in form of "the girl with the dragon tattoo", Lisbeth Salander. The mysterious woman clearly has a severe past: despite being 24 years old, her person and finances are being managed by a court appointed guardian. She does however, have a brilliant mind and, as we are about to learn, a powerful will... She quickly becomes the driving force of the investigation. We watch transfixed, as the past reaches into the presence, and touches the lives of Blomkvist, Salander, her guardian, the industrialist and the wealthy scion.

The story, as written by Larsson, is extremely brutal (consider that the original, and the very apt, Swedish title is "Men Who Hate Women"). However, I am inclined to believe the violence serves as another character in the story and as such is necessary. I am therefore glad that the filmmakers did not seek to tamper it, thus neutering the punch the story delivers. Though this Swedish adaptation is scripted and directed to the highest standard, the focus must be on the performance of the actress Noomi Rapace. Her portrayal of Lisbeth is shockingly faithful to the text and the actress manages to take over the film with her very appearance.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is one of the best adaptations I have seen, ever. I encourage you not to miss it; though do see it with friends, as you will afterwards feel strongly compelled to discuss the various explosive plot twists. I hope Hollywood never touches this gem. I am anxiously waiting for the next two installments to hit US screens.

PS: Keep in mind, this film is NOT for the underaged.

I'm a fervent and early fan of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. I would have flown to another city to watch this film if I had to. Luckily, I live in one of the country's best cities for art house cinema: Dallas. Yes, contrary to the expected stereotypes I always have to bat down when I tell out-of-town friends this fact: Dallas has a tremendous art house cinema culture. And, as testament to that, we got "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" very early. What a thrill for us.

I am not going to claim that the movie is better than the book. What makes the books so compelling are the monster-deep dives Larsson takes into varied areas like investigative journalism, corruption, hacking, mafia, governmental affairs, mafia-government connections, intelligence agencies, detectives..and a host of others. What makes the first book spin is its dual axes of investigative journalism and hacking, personified respectively by Larsson's two protagonists, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. In the movie, something's gotta give: there's just no earthly way director Niels Arden Oplev is going to be able to fit all of Larsson's work into a film of slightly less than three hours.

So what Oplev does is strip the story down to its core: the hunt for Harriet Vanger. It's this case that serendipitously brings Blomkvist and Salander together. In the process of the focus, we lose some of the flavor that is the hallmark of the book, most notably much of the investigative journalism as practiced inside the walls of Millennium magazine. Millennium's editor, Erika Berger, is but a footnote in the movie but a big part of the book. Likewise, little attention is given to the so-called "Wennerström Affair," the personal and professional downfall that befalls Mikael at the book's outset. Indeed, the first third of the book focuses mainly on these two elements of the tale.

Similarly, we lose out on some other aspects of Mikael's character. Mainly, his babe-magnetism. In the movie, he and Salander develop a sexual relationship. [Indeed, it's undertones of the memories of this relationship that drives much of books two and three.] But the movie has removed the sexual aspects from two of the other relationships Mikael has with female characters.

Despite all that, this movie lives and dies on one turn: it's ability to 'get it right' with its casting of Lisbeth. Over and over I would to my wife "Lisbeth better be good." And she'd tell me the same thing repeatedly. And others I know have the same mantra: don't mess with my ideal vision of Lisbeth. In that light, Noomi Rapace represents deliverance. She scored the essence of the character: we want Lisbeth to have that mix of smarts, hardened exterior, quirky beauty, ferocity and manic energy that drives the book. Ms. Rapace delivers all that in spades. She's maybe a little less elfin than the character described by Larsson, but other than that, she's the Lisbeth from my head.

I urge all fans of the book to see this enjoyable adaptation. [Oplev made all three movies at once, so the other two are headed this way.] Embrace the subtitles. This is a Swedish story through and through. It deserves to be seen in Swedish. It's distressing to see US box office totals stalling at less than $10M. All that is going to do is fuel the drive to complete an insipid US version with some disheartening casting like Brad Pitt as Mikael and god knows who as Lisbeth. Whoever steps into that role, Noomi Rapace has already left her well behind at the starting line.

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Over 2.5 million people in Scandinavia have seen this film, making it the first film in Scandinavian history ever to break the $100 million mark for European ticket sales, and US fans of Stieg Larsson's bestseller of the same name may propel the film to similar records here. The R-rated film tells the story of Mikael Blomqvist, a disgraced journalist for Sweden's Millenium magazine who accepts an invitation from an elderly businessman to investigate the disappearance of his niece Harriet, thirty-seven years ago. No trace of her has ever turned up, and the old man fears that a member of his family may have murdered her. While Blomquist is gathering information and storing it on his computer, he realizes that someone is hacking into his files. That person is Lizbeth Salander, a disturbed young woman living under the guardianship of the state, having spent time in a mental institution. Working together, they discover information about the Vanger family's Nazi connections and their association with extreme religious groups.

Danish director Niels Arden Oplev's dark and atmospheric cinematography establishes an ice-cold mood from the outset, with the action taking place in winter on an isolated island where the sun never seems to shine. Outdoor scenes are mostly black, white, and gray; interior scenes are full of clutter and of dark wood of almost claustrophobic heaviness. Michael Nyqvist (as Mikael Blomqvist) conveys the sense of loss, even betrayal, that his character feels after losing a libel case in a miscarriage of justice, and his vulnerability makes him the perfect foil for Noomi Rapace (as Lizbeth Salander). Rapace conveys not only the toughness and emotional dissociation resulting from abuse Lizbeth has faced, but also, in two memorable scenes, the feeling that behind the seemingly ironclad façade, there beats a real heart. Her role in the film is bigger than it is in the novel, and when she is on screen, it is impossible to look at anyone else. Nyqvist seems to recognize this, conveying Blomqvist's support for her through body language, gesture, and facial expressions, and remaining more in the background. The supporting actors, though their parts are far less developed, are equally committed to the film as a whole.

Brilliant pacing keeps the action and its shocks continuing throughout the film, and not a single "dead spot" appears, an extraordinary feat for a film that is more than two-and-a-half hours long and depends upon subtitles for dialogue. Even people familiar with the book will be jolted by the sudden visual shocks as they hit. Horrifying scenes of physical and sexual violence often make the film very difficult to watch, the sounds of the violence making the visual effects even stronger. There are some scenes of nudity.

Every aspect of this film is integrated into the whole, however, and it is difficult to imagine any adult fan of the book being disappointed in this production. The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the remaining two books in the trilogy, have already been filmed and released to huge audiences in Europe, and both of these films are projected for release in the US (with subtitles) in the fall of 2010. Mary Whipple

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage)

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This movie has brutally graphic scenes of forcible rape and solomy that are not in the trailer or discription that can cause severe reactions in survivors of such who are not prepared for it and should not be unknown to those who do not want to be subjected to them. NOT going to be "enjoyable" for those who are sensitive to such, during or after.

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To the point, DO NOT MISS THIS "EXTENDED EDITION" if you are interested in the Swedish film/TV production of Steig Larson's novel of the same name (or either of the other two productions in the series). WHETHER OR NOT you have already seen the seriously truncated (shortened, mangled) version which was earlier released on DVD, BD, and streaming, THIS IS NOT TO BE MISSED. Unlike the previously released version, this "extended edition" provides a coherent presentation. Being one of the inexplicably over the top fans of anything connected with the three Larsen novels (or associated biographies, etc), I read all three novels early this year and then waited with bated breath for the "movie" versions. I was seriously disappointed with all three earlier, shortened movie releases, and particularly the last two of the three in the series. This was because new characters suddenly showed up on the screen without either sufficient introduction, or even identification. Or there were very significant holes in the story line (in addition to those already extant in the novels!).

As many of you will know, the three novels were filmed for Swedish television, with one film for each of the three novels. This disc presents one of the three films as originally formed and appearing on Swedish television each film, including this one, was broken into two segments of approximately 90 minutes in length, for a movie lasting a total of 180 minutes. When the Swedish TV version was presented in American theaters (and DVDs and BDs, the latter which I own), it was re-edited, and seriously shortened. As far as I am concerned, this ruined all three original "movie" presentations.

Despite the fact that the productions were evidently produced for first showing on Swedish TV, the production values (both sight and sound) are certainly comparable to those of first rate American movies. This reviewer does not know but strongly suspects that the producers had ultimate theater showing in mind when the films were made.

And finally, the Amazon's streamed version of the Extended Edition is free of notable artifacts on this reviewer's 109 inch Stewart Screen in the streamed version the color balance and brightness are good the black levels, interfered with by encoding and transmission noise, do not equal that of the BluRay disc, but are certainly acceptable. Needless to say, I was grateful and quite thrilled that the original version finally made it to market in Amazon's streamed version with Amazon's typical quality!

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Spartacus: Blood and Sand / Gods of the Arena (2011)

After receiving this "box" set and opening the first season package I noticed that the disks were put in between two solid folds of paper(cardboard idk) instead of the plastic holds that disks usually clip into. This made me wonder if I would scratch the disks just taking them out. Soon as I saw this I knew I wouldn't be using this to hold my disks after viewing. Sure enough after putting the first disk in, after a while I found that the each episode would pause and skip at certain spots. I pull the disk out and notice some odd circular scratch around the center (light scratch) and kinda an odd pattern round it as well. Pull out all other disks and see the same issue. So since then returned this to Amazon hassle free (Amazon always does a great job with all forms of shipping). The show itself from the first disk I sat through (trying to ignore the skips until I found it happening to frequently) seemed pretty great. Plenty of action and seemed less predictable then I thought it would be, from the four episodes I viewed anyway. The packaging and disk damage is why this gets 3 stars over 5.

some of the discs skip at certain points of the movie. I have not finnished all of them,for now though it gets a 2 star

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I'm on my second set of these Bluray discs and the 2nd episode of both have scenes that have stuttered, pixelated, froze, and fast forwarded. These have come with the yellow stripe on the plastic sleeve.

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Good show for a great price. I hope to see more prices like this in the future. I do not mind buying used blue rays just as long as they play.

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I would have spent over $60 in the store for both sets of movies but paid wwwaayyyy less, and Im very happy with this product. A truly great value!!

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True Legend (2010)

I watched this movie a few months ago while I was on deployment. A buddy in my shop had a bootleg copy and at the time I had no idea what the movie was called. After googling the plot and some quotes I finally figured out it was True Legend.

Anyway I really enjoyed the movie as a whole. Great fight scenes and interesting story (although the story itself is pretty depressing). The background scenery and cinematography were amazing.

If you're a Yuen Woo-ping fan (The Matrix trilogy, Kill Bill Volumes I and II, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero, Iron Monkey, Drunken Master) or just like martial arts movies in general then I'd recommend checking out this movie.

I've got this pre-ordered now and I'm really looking forward to watching a legit copy on blu-ray.

I don't know how much of TRUE LEGEND is either `true' or which is more `legend', but I found the end result of Director Yuen Woo Ping's work to present the story as an incomplete parable one where perhaps the viewer can draw inspiration from to seek out answers to questions regarding martial arts history but certainly not a `definitive work.' Or, at least, I wouldn't hope so. I can only suspect that, if this is based on true events, there may be more story here than what made it to the screen this time around. While TRUE LEGEND has moments of great entertainment, it felt only half-baked to me, a somewhat mixed bag of effective acting, tremendous fighting, and excellent choreography. And I couldn't help from wondering what a more accomplished director may've been able to do with the material.

The biggest detraction to TRUE LEGEND is that the end result actually feels more like one, big, sprawling combination of two smaller, incomplete halves. By the conclusion, I found myself wondering if the project had originally started out as two films a first flick with a planned sequel that, for budgetary considerations, were merged together. The first half runs about one hour and ten minutes, and it deals with Su Can's conflict with a vengeful brother, Yuan; the second half runs about forty minutes, and it explores Su Can's nearly-accidental "discovery" of fighting which prompts him to modify his Wushu style combat into `the Drunken Fist' style. I say "nearly-accidental" because that's how, narratively, it's structured, with Su Can happening across a demonstration of this new style.)

On reflection, it's easy to see that the first half has plenty of meat-and-bones, though I'm not entirely certain as to how the film could've been expanded despite the fact that the lovely Michelle Yeoh was tremendously under-used here. Perhaps much of her character was left on the cutting room floor? There's no way to tell. Comparatively, the second half is spent almost entirely with fighting as Su Can finds himself battling (to the death!) China's invaders in scenes vaguely reminiscent of territory already explored spectacularly in IP MAN. Of course, the fight choreography is incredible TRUE LEGEND arguably contains some of the best hand-to-hand contact put to film but the story suffers as a consequence. These two halves are introduced and bridged by graphics which serve to `fill in the gaps' between Su Can's filmed adventures; it's a serviceable technique ... it just isn't all that interesting.

It's worth mentioning that one of the greatest strengths of the film aside from the martial arts, of course is the talent of the actors. As the Su Can, leading man Man Cheuk Chiu brings not only tremendous physical prowess to the role but also he almost exudes a classic `leading man' charisma; when he's onscreen, he owns the screen, and everything accompanying him bends to his obvious charm. As the nefarious Yuan Lie, Andy On snarls his way through scene after scene, doing his best to match Su Can's graciousness with equal parts venom; these two men are brilliantly paired for the respective roles of `good' versus `evil', and the film benefits greatly from their opposing chemistry. Xun Zhou is suitably lovely and demure as Su Can's wife and sister to Yuan Lie; she's photographed beautifully and is clearly seen as the inspiration to these two opposing forces. Like Helen of Troy, it's not hard to see how her loveliness brought these two men into conflict. The remainder of the players all perform suitably, though some feel underused (as was the aforementioned Michelle Yeoh), but they're most inconsequential to the film's narrative focus.

All in all, TRUE LEGEND is entertaining. Throughout, it's smartly photographed, well-staged, and flows gracefully like a martial arts routine from start to finish. It just felt more than a bit incomplete to me. I would rather have enjoyed a greater exploration of these characters perhaps a handful more of the subtle moments explored between husband and wife Su Can and Yuen Ying which may've ended up on the cutting room floor or were deemed unnecessary to the fight pace set by the film. A few other scenes could've pushed the creative envelope, and they could've gone a long way toward honoring the `truth' and `legend' implied by the film's title.

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This is a pretty strange flick. Part of it is very now and wow while other parts read like director Hark Tsui's "Zu Warrior" or "Once Upon a Time in China."

Here's the scoop. Su Can is a great warrior. He and his brother in law, Yuan Lie, finish a particularly grueling battle and Su wants to hang it up and start a school teaching the Wushu style of fighting. He takes his wife and son and heads off to the big city. Yuan, in the meantime, is starting to fume. He has always felt like a second fiddle to Su so he loads up on venom from various creatures and perfects a way to deliver it via the Five Fingers of Death. He now goes after Su and it leads to a really big mess.

This is a pretty wild ride. The opening battle uses a lot of CGI and looks as though it came from a poor man's version of "The Lord of the Rings." It then shifts to something more like "Zu Warrior" with the over exaggerated wire work, the white haired mystical dude and the "God" who will put Su through the paces to get him back up to speed after losing a fight with Yuan. I don't know where this genre is these days. I don't see enough of these to tell, but seeing a guy kick a big rock into pebbles isn't anything I've seen in "Hero" or "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."

The story is pretty good but it takes an odd turn. It's two hours long but the first part ends in 90 minutes then veers off to an entirely different chapter where Su becomes an alcoholic and, through a changing socio-political condition in China, begins to develop the "drunken fist" method of fighting. It caught me way off guard.

I liked this movie enough. Good story and direction. Good sets and costumes with a decent score. Michelle Yeow is on hand but has a woefully small, underwritten part. Some of what is portrayed is supposed to be based on fact but the viewer can tell that great liberties were taken in the telling.

It's a fun watch, but if you're not a fan of the genre, you might end up going WTF?!

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I'm a big martial arts and HK cinema fan, but man was this depressing!! Visually, it looked good and action was good, and the initial bad guy was ok.

SPOILER ALERT!!! ENTIRE PLOT SUMMARIZED HERE please skip if you don't want to spoil the story! Continue on if you want to know specifically why I felt this film was depressing...

Bascially this is the fictional story of Su Can, aka "Beggar Su," who invented drunken boxing. Of course this was preceded by his brother-in-law killing his father and later his wife, the loss of his life as a teacher, his descent into madness (as in "A Beautiful Mind"), and finally his becoming a drunk and homeless father. What a downer!!!

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If you like martial arts movies with lots of action, including wrestling, this is a great movie to watch. It is a legend of the martial art warrior who is forced to abandon his peaceful life of a devoted husband and a father when his evil and vindictive stepbrother decides to destroy him. Michelle Yeoh and David Carradine make guest appearances in this film, but amazingly enough, they have roles that require not fighting. I liked their quiet presence on screen.

In any case, movie goes over the top with fighting scenes. One almost wishes for good old times when Bruce Lee movies were in fashion. I liked wonderful costumes and gentle and graceful depiction of female characters. Great spectacle and entertainment. Do not expect more than that.

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Puncture (2011)

"Sometimes the brightest light comes from the darkest places" This is the true story about Mike Weiss (Evans) a personal injury lawyer who takes on a huge health supply company after one of his clients is infected with a dirty needle. The client is a nurse in a hospital that uses plastic needles that are re-used over and over. Mike wants to make it so every hospital only uses the one time use only needles that his other client manufactures. The only problem is that Mike is a drug addicted mess. This movie is deceiving. The first half hour to me was a little slow and wasn't sure if I could make it through. When it picked up, it really picked up and sucked me in. By the end of the movie you are very engrossed and are pulling for someone you normally wouldn't. A movie much like "Runaway Jury" mixed with "The Lincoln Lawyer", not quite as good as "Lincoln Lawyer" though. Overall, a very good law movie that will make you think. I give it a B+.

*Also try Lincoln Lawyer & Runaway Jury

I was lucky enough to see this film when it opened and I was not disappointed. While it may have some subjective flaws, the message of the film is important. And those that see it should remember is it based on a real story; and those rarely satisfy the Hollywood-addicted among us. Real life takes turns we often don't want or expect.

I just hear about the DVD being released and I am going to preorder it when I finish this review. If you don't get distracted by what could be flaws and details that are not part of the main storyline, I think you will like this movie. I also think you will have some greater measure of your opinion of Chris Evans' acting ability. I know I do.

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The creators of this movie had to make choices. For viewers who like a artistically well-rounded film, it may have disappointed. The larger "point" to Puncture was to recreate in a microcosm the protracted battle which politically and legally helped expose some of the rampant corruption in the medical supply industry. The actual event was defused by settlement in the early 2000's. The fact that it still strikes a nerve these days is testimony to the work we still need to do in containing the excesses of corruption in the area of commercial health care. It is a reminder of the need for constant vigilance in an arena that too many consumers naively trust.

It's a personal thing, I guess . . . I found it a stylish, well-paced movie with a gripping plot. Like another reviewer, I was more focused on the injustice of the stifling of the invention by corporate power and greed, than wanting a perfectly formed hero and plot resolution. Hey, that's life. It's not usually like a classic movie script. Some of the peripheral characters weren't fleshed out, and the lawyers for the defense were formula villains, but I felt the inventor's helpless rage, Danziger's frustration and fear, and Weiss's alternating disconnection and intensity. If the script was kind of jerky, well, that's the way that Weiss was probably seeing his life go by, and maybe not a bad directorial device.

4 stars for taking on a difficult story that's all too sadly been seen before, and trying it from a different angle.

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I remember seeing the preview for this during another movie.

I'll admit, I rented it for a rather shallow reason.

Captain America Chris Evan's with facial hair. :)

For that reason alone I had to see it.

That said I was treated to an absolutely awesome movie.

In a nutshell...

The movie opens with a nurse being stuck with a needle.

A man has invented a safe needle that won't stick the user or the medical professional but hospitals won't buy it.

Enter a small law firm who takes the case.

One lawyer is the ultimate drug addict/party boy "Evan's".

His partner is the straight laced type.

They take the case, sue the medical industry and...no spoilers...you'll just have to rent it.

I loved it.

Amazing acting.

Fast paced and interesting direction.

Everything was done well.

Excellent story from start to finish.

Highly recommended.

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This is a movie that definitely sneaks up on you and hits you from behind. It was compelling and surprisingly evocative. The acting was believable and the writing a cut above from the usual 'based on a true story' kind of movie. I highly recommend it.

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Daughters of Darkness (1971)

Since I've been watching a ton of Eurohorror classics lately, now is as good as a time as any to say a few words about "Daughters of Darkness." I made a vow some time ago to ignore vampire films as a general rule. It's not that I strongly dislike all vampire films, mind you, but I just feel like the genre has been done to death over the years. How many versions of Dracula can you watch before your eyes start rolling over the predictability of it all? The plots are all essentially the same, right? You've got the obligatory virgin, the dashing young lad, the wizened vampire hunter, and good old Drac himself ambling around in the dark tormenting the others. A bunch of people fall prey to the vampire, the hunter teams up with the young man in an effort to save the young girl, and a stake through the old ticker pretty much wraps the whole thing up. Well, a bit of experience reveals quite a few films that play around with this tried and true formula. One way to accomplish something different, if these European flicks are any indication, is to punch up the proceedings with a generous helping of bare flesh. There's nothing like a bunch of gals trooping around in revealing outfits, or no outfits at all, to perk up the dreary old Stoker legend. And if you can make the head vampire a woman, that certainly can't hurt either. Welcome to "Daughters of Darkness."

Something weird and wonderful is going on in this movie, but you have to wait awhile to see it. The picture starts out by showing us two freshly wedded lovebirds, Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) and Stefan (John Karlen), heading to the European coast on a train. Ostensibly, the two married in secret and are now going to head over to England to meet Stefan's domineering mother. Valerie worries whether the woman (ha!) will accept her since Stefan makes it abundantly clear that his beloved mother is quite picky about her son's girlfriends. Stefan assures Valerie all will go well, but it soon becomes apparent that he isn't hurrying to get to England. While waiting for the ship that will take them home, the two check into a massively creepy hotel on the coast. No other guests are staying in the building since it's out of season, so Valerie and Stefan have the beautiful building all to themselves. That is until Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her beautiful companion Ilona (Andrea Rau) arrive on the scene in a vintage automobile. Most of us are aware that Elizabeth Bathory was a notorious sixteenth century Hungarian noblewoman who supposedly kept herself eternally young by bathing in vats filled with the blood of young maidens. Unfortunately, Valerie and Stefan don't make the connection.

Still, the newlyweds grow increasingly aware that something isn't right with the beautiful countess. First, it's rather odd that the hotel manager claims that he remembers Countess Elizabeth showing up at the hotel nearly fifty years before looking exactly as she does now. Second, she's downright creepy. There's something hidden behind her horrific grin that makes you want to scream. Second, the Countess Elizabeth takes an incredible interest in the activities of the couple. She always seems to appear whenever Stefan and Valerie leave their room, grinning that horrible grin and cooing like a cat over the two newlyweds. Bathory seems to have an eye for the beautiful Valerie, too, which makes sense when we discover exactly why Ilona follows her around like a puppy. It turns out history made a mistake about the blood vats, not recognizing or refusing to record that Bathory was really a vampire with a penchant for young gals. She's roamed Europe for over three hundred years playing the same bloody game, a game that now threatens to rip apart forever this hapless couple. In no time at all, Elizabeth manages to drive a wedge between the Stefan and Valerie, recruit the latter to her thirsty cause, and wreak a whole heck of a lot of havoc in the hotel.

You just gotta love this film. "Daughters of Darkness" is one of the best vampire films I have ever seen for a multitude of reasons. The primary reason the picture succeeds is due to the amazing talents of Delphine Seyrig. Who is this enchanting woman and where has she been all my life? I love this lady! She manages to make her character insanely gorgeous and metaphysically eerie at the same time. She slinks around in shimmering outfits dropping suggestive comments, tells horribly gory stories, winks, and grins with the greatest of ease. And her fate at the end of the film is gruesome and disturbing. Just as good as Seyrig is the oppressive atmosphere of the hotel and the desolate surroundings. Characters move around outside under overcast skies and through pouring rain. Forests nearby are dense and spooky. Every set piece seems to telegraph a sense of impending doom for the film's participants. Finally, you simply won't believe your eyes when Stefan calls his mother on the phone. What was director Harry Kumel thinking here? What an incredibly bizarre scene to insert into the picture! Oh man, you just won't comprehend the insanity of it!

"Daughters of Darkness" deserves five stars for its amazing performances and over the top antics. I can't thank Blue Underground enough for releasing this treasure on DVD. While the print transfer occasionally suffers from some minor blemishes and fading colors, most of the movie looks great. Extras include two commentary tracks, radio spots, a trailer, stills, and an interview with Andrea Rau. Run, don't walk, to pick up a copy of this underrated gem.

The notion of "vampirism" has always had ties to dark and forbidden sides of human sexuality, and has served as metaphor for homosexuality, nymphomania, and maochism. The sexual revolution of late 60's and early 70's produced a bevy of erotic, "lesbian" vampire films, in which their creators were able to graphically exploit all manner of sexual taboos that had only been hinted at previously. DVDs have given us a wonderful cross-section of these forbidden fruits from Jess Franco's psychedelic Vampiros Lesbos to the surreal-dreamy trappings of Jean Rollin's Shiver Of The Vampires, but Daughter's of Darkness is for many (myself included) is the cream of the crop.

Daughter's is kind of a hybrid between Sheridan Fornau's often-filmed vampire story, Carmilla, and the many legends and exploits of real-life "vampire" Elizabeth Bathory. Brought into the present, the film begins with the arrival of two newlyweds, Stephan & Valerie (John Karlen & Danielle Quimet), to a gloomy and mostly deserted beachfront hotel in Belgium. From the onset we observe all is not right with this union, Stephan refuses to tell his "mother" of their marriage and is revealing an aloof and sadistic temperament, which Valerie mournfully tolerates. Out of the night arrives the Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her sultry companion/accomplice Ilona (Andrea Rau). The Countess takes an immediate, carnal interest in the young newlyweds, and especially in Valerie. Meanwhile there seems to be a rash of murders in the nearby villages in which the young female victims have been drained of all their blood. Before long the countess and her reluctant companion have seduced the troubled newlyweds, and this is where the fun begins.

Though many erotic vampire films of the time boast tantalizing visuals & copious nudity, director Harry Kummel clearly meant Daughters of Darkness to be more than a thinly veiled soft-core "art film". Not that it's minus these elements, Daughters' is quite explicit, but it's also a sophisticated and highly styled horror film laced with bewildering moments of black-comedy. In short, it's delightfully European.

As the ageless and decadent Elizabeth Bathory, Euro-star Delphine Seryig is without peer. More often than not, female erotic-vampires are portrayed as baleful, unwilling victims of their own desires, but not Elisabeth. The Countess takes great pride in her wickedness, and done-up like a thirties Marline Dietrich, Seyrig is believable and amusing, but never corny as she gleefully corrupts all that she touches.

Blue Underground's anamorphic transfer of Daughters is a vast improvement over the early Anchor Bay edition. Though utilizing the same source, Blue Undergrounds mastering is sharper, the colors are more stable and it's free of the bleeding and artifacts that plague the previous release. It still contains the commentary track with male lead John Karlen, but raises the stakes greatly with an additional commentary track with director Harry Kumel, an onscreen interview with actress Andrea Rau, an excellent theatrical trailer, radio spots, and a poster and still gallery. Priced at $20 (or less) this is an essential up-grade for Euro-horror fans and an excellent entry for the Euro-curious.

Buy Daughters of Darkness (1971) Now

This is one of those movies from the days when local stations ran horror movies on Saturday afternoons, stations that -alas! -have since aligned with upstart networks and now run infomercials all day. Mostly they'd run the great films from Hammer Studios, the Japanese monster movies like "Godzilla," and, of course, the '50s B-movies like "Them." Every now and then, though, they'd show this truly creepy little gem. Now, of course, as an adult I recognize this as an 'Art Film' but then it was just eerie, creepy, and totally different -especially when compared to the typical vampire and other monster movies where the hero gets the girl and the monster gets killed/destroyed. A horror movie done as an art film, there's a lot going on that the viewer either has to guess, assume, or be left wondering about. In that sense, "Daughters of Darkness" foreshadows the modern Japanese horror films like "Ringu" or "Uzumaki" where you're left with unanswered questions, the kind that make you check to make sure the doors are locked. Blue Underground did a fantastic job with this DVD transfer, and it's great to be able to see this movie in its entirety instead of edited for TV. The only thing missing is Delphine Seyrig singing the title theme at the beginning of the movie ("...Don't let the sunlight find you, or you may fade and die."). Where'd that go?

Read Best Reviews of Daughters of Darkness (1971) Here

"Daughters of Darkness" crackles with repressed sexual energy and barely suppressed libidinous desire in a way uncommon for an early 1970's horror film. Eschewing the somewhat vulgar and obvious treatment of the same story by Hammer, made as "Countess Dracula", Belgian director Harry Kumel opts for an overly symbolic aesthetic that self consciously emulates European art cinema. The similarities to Alain Resnais' "Last Years in Marienbad" are notable in relation to casting, but also in the strangely isolated and ethereal hotel setting. Kumel also experiments with time and space in a non linear way. This is not to say that his film makes no narrative sense, in fact it easy to follow, but symbolic representations of time signified by the countess herself makes one question not only the films reality but also its temporality. Kumel also makes use of an intriguing colour scheme which privileges reds and greens as symbols of death, decay, but also regeneration. Perhaps the films most impressive aspect though is its almost total rejection of the iconography of the horror genre. For example we see no fangs, we so no drinking of blood, no familiars, in fact by the films conclusion we are not even 100% sure there has been any vampirism. This is a great film because Kumel takes exploitation material (lesbianism and vampirism) and places them in the background, preferring to privilege mood, ambience and an artistic formal strategy.

Blue Underground's DVD presents the film fully restored and uncut and in a sumptuous transfer. Also included in this edition is another treatment of the Countess Bathory story, the rather more exploitative "Blood Spattered Bride", this is a perfectly acceptable effort, but with a stronger emphasis on nudity and violence...But there is nothing wrong with that.

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This is a well-executed vampire film with a number of very good ingredients thrown in. The lead role of the seductive countess is well played by Delphine Seyrig, and she leads a small but attractive cast of actors who all perform convincingly and are also enjoyable to look at. The movie is set in a bleak European winter that offers little by way of great scenery. The plot centres around a young newlywed couple on their way to England who get sidetracked and find themselves staying at an empty seaside resort. Here the husband starts to reveal the first hints of his slightly sadistic and perverse nature. Shortly afterwards, a Hungarian countess with a mysterious past arrives with her female assistant and they immediately start taking an unnatural interest in the newlyweds. The Hungarian countess is actually a blood drinking vampire and when she decides to thrust herself upon the unwary couple in a quest for fresh blood she finds that the husband is somewhat more forthcoming than his beautiful wife. An accidental death follows and then things start going out of control.

Despite the inclusion of frontal nudity, lesbian erotic undertones and a certain amount of blood and gore, this is no exploitation movie. The production is polished and the acting accomplished. The movie is somewhat of a slow burn that builds and maintains a good amount of atmosphere. For lovers of the vampire genre there are enough touches of class in this to warrant multiple viewing.

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BluScenes: Scenic Aquarium 1080p HD Blu-ray Disc (2012)

Excellent Blu-ray disk, It looks and sounds like a very real aqaurium:)I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys watching aquariums without the cost and care of a real one:)

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The Big Heat (1953)

In spite of the low profile it got at its initial release in the 50's, in spite of the modest budget and production value, THE BIG HEAT, with his already highly acclaimed M, is Fritz Lang's greatest film, and one of the highest achievement of cinema. The stunning opening sequence, depicting a police officer's suicide and its aftermath, is a great example of efficiency cinematic narrative, so are the 85 minutes that follow. Lang fills this film with powerful shots and speedy editing, never afraid to show heightened violence when the story needs to. Many heated action sequences are handled with impressive masterly. Unlike in the movies in which Lang used famous Hollywood star (and the majority of them could not cope with the severeness of his direction), Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame show powerful, convincing performances fused with emotion. Also featured are Lee Marvin and Janet Nolan, as the "bad guys" and are equally great. But what makes THE BIG HEAT such a great film is the fact that it is a profoundly humanist and moral film. As many of Lang's American films does, THE BIG HEAT depicts the corruption of the modern society. In fact, he never been as good as this in showing the system of how our society functions: a newspaper headline, or even a telephone call may be more powerful than guns and bullets, punches and tortures. The sophisticated syndicate functions not with violence, but with the information of violence. At the same time, Lang chose the protagonist of the film to be a truly good human being, not a perfect super hero, but a cop who is convinced to do an honest job, and ready to fight for this cause in spite of all the corruptions that surround him. At one point of the story, he is almost convinced that he is set alone against the entire world which is corrupted. He comes very close to be obsessed by hatred towards other men. But then he finds out that he can believe in people, that in spite of the harsh reality of the world which obliges them to lie, to play D-and-D, to be corrupted to save their own neck and wealthy life, in most people there are also a desire to be a good human being. THE BIG HEAT marks the almost only occasion that Lang, the master of pessimistic visions of 20th century, is himself not at all a pessimist, but a believer in human kind.

"The Big Heat" is a good-cop-vs-city-corruption story based on a serial by William P. McGivern that ran in the "Saturday Evening Post". Police Sergeant David Bannion (Glenn Ford) becomes suspicious while investigating the suicide of a police officer when the dead man's girlfriend is murdered shortly after she speaks to him. But Bannion is ordered to lay off the dead cop's sinister widow, Bertha Duncan (Jeanette Nolan), and to leave the murder case to another jurisdiction. He pursues the case anyway, confronting a prominent businessman named Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) who built his fortune on crime and to whom all roads of corruption in this town lead. Lagana's violent reprisal further provokes Bannion into an obsessive campaign to bring down the entire corrupt network of criminals, politicians, and complicitous cops.

Glenn Ford and director Fritz Lang give us a complicated picture of David Bannion, a man who is kind and devoted to his family, but whose obsessive pursuit of justice leaves a trail of death and destruction. The crusading cop who risks his life to combat the violence and corruption that permeate his town is, at the same time, generally unconcerned with the human cost of his pique. Bannion's single-mindedness is understandable considering his circumstances, but this good guy with admirable ambitions has the flaws of a self-righteous crusader. And that's a lot more interesting than a man who's all good.

Gloria Grahame gives a memorable performance as Debby Marsh, the girlfriend of one of Lagana's goons. She is the antithesis of the smart, literate Laurel Gray, whom Grahame portrayed in "In a Lonely Place". Debby is an unsophisticated-but-savvy, happy-go-lucky woman who tries to enjoy life in spite of depending on sadistic gangsters for her livelihood. And she suffers for being caught between the conflicting obsessions of two men: her boyfriend Vince and David Bannion. Debby's childlike voice and chin-up demeanor in the midst of moral chaos really make an impression.

The DVD (The Columbia/ Tristar 2001 release): Bonus features are "Vintage Advertising", which is a slideshow of some posters for the film, and Theatrical Trailers for "The Big Heat", "The Lady from Shanghai", and "Suddenly, Last Summer". Subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai. Dubbing is available in French.

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Exciting, violent and downright wild for its time, Fritz Lang's THE BIG HEAT kicks off Twilight Time's releases for the month of May, and for film noir fans, this crackerjack thriller never ceases to disappoint.

Glenn Ford plays the dogged (and, at times, almost too determined) cop who, upon investigating the apparent suicide of a fellow police officer, finds out that corruption exists at nearly every level in his county, all of it stemming from a local crime boss named Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) calling the shots. Lagana's web extends down to Ford's own bosses, hindering an investigation that takes the family man down a dark path at a personal cost to his own wife (Jocelyn Brando) and the women who aid him in his pursuit of justice, including Gloria Grahame in a fine performance as one of the gangster's molls.

"The Big Heat" is sensationally entertaining for its genre, and also extremely, notably nasty to virtually all of the film's female leads. The ladies in Sydney Boehm's screenplay are burned, scarred, murdered and blown up a litany of body bags that accentuates the horror of the film's villain, who also uses a henchman played by a young Lee Marvin to carry out the unpleasantness. Ford's alternately earnest and tough delivery makes his detective sympathetic to a degree, though his almost fanatical desire to see justice carried out ends up making his misery something of his own personal doing.

Lang's visuals in particular his trademark use of shadows bring the punchy material to life in a film that deservedly ranks among the best of its genre, and it's certainly one of the more memorably violent pictures of the `50s as well.

Twilight Time's Blu-Ray boasts a crisp 1080p AVC encoded transfer layered with fine grain and detail. This is one of those titles you ought to drag out as a demo disc for any friends who don't think there's anything to be gained from watching old black-and-white movies in HD. The full-bodied DTS MA mono audio is effective as well sounding almost stereophonic at times while an isolated score track of Henry Mars' efficient underscoring (credited to Mischa Bakaleinikoff) and a re-issue trailer put the cap on a must-have disc for noir buffs.

Read Best Reviews of The Big Heat (1953) Here

"The Big Heat", Fritz Lang's concise, hard-hitting Noir drama, both defines the genre in it's 'mature' form (with the obligatory black and white, high contrast photography, a short running time, a hero, portrayed by Glenn Ford, who teeters between justice and vengeance, and villains, particularly Lee Marvin, every bit as shaded and complex as Ford), and tosses in, almost casually, a fascinating subtext, that the three central female characters of the film are, in fact, as essential as their male counterparts, and even more interesting! Portrayed by Jocelyn Brando (Marlon's older sister), Jeanette Nolan, and the fabulous Gloria Grahame, they are not only pivital to the plot, but actually become the characters you're most likely to leave the film talking about.

Beginning with the suicide of a cop 'on the take', who leaves a letter exposing the mob's connections with the police and local government, the film first introduces Nolan, as a less-than-grieving widow, who steals the letter, and uses it as leverage to enjoy 'the good life'. An underrated actress, usually cast in sweet-natured supporting 'grandmotherly' roles, Nolan here gets to cut loose, blackmailing the mob while tossing false 'leads' to cop Ford, and adjusting her 'image' to suit whatever situation she faces. Her portrayal, alone, would make this an extraordinary film!

Ford, the dedicated, honest homicide detective, has a history of ruffling official feathers to find the truth, and much of his strength comes from the love and support of wife Brando. Not your 'traditional' 50s wife, she 'samples' his drinks and food, hints at her satisfying sex life (remarkable, in itself!), and casually smokes while preparing dinner, sweetly bantering with her husband. In the smallest of the central female roles, it is easy to 'lose' her, between the flashier performances of Nolan and Grahame, but, in fact, she is the catalyst of the plot, whose untimely demise would set the chain of events in motion.

Then there is Gloria Grahame, the 'party girl' mistress of enforcer Lee Marvin...wisecracking, and blissfully ignorant of the risks she takes in verbally 'jabbing' her boyfriend's relationship to mob boss Alexander Scourby, she grabs the screen, each scene she's in, and makes Marvin's performance, as a genial yet psychopathic sadist, even better. When she warms up to Ford, she is rewarded with a pot of scalding coffee in the face, disfiguring her, and providing the hook to blow things wide-open...

Three powerhouse performances, by three terrific actresses!

Fritz Lang's American film work was always remarkable, and "The Big Heat" showcased him at the top of his form.

The film is, deservedly, a classic!

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Basically a tough and compelling police melodrama. Lang adds tension and some scenes have become little gems, but he doesn't capture the atmosphere and essence of 'Noir'. The plot about corruption and greed is very tame by today's standards and time has taken away much of the impact. This will always be remembered as the film where Lee Marvin threw boiling coffee on Gloria Graheme's face. Glenn Ford gives his best performance as the tough-as-nails Bannion. Lee Marvin is also superb as the sadistic Vince. But Gloria Graheme is the one who gives the most memorable performance as Vince's moll who gets horribly disfigured and ultimately saves the day but with tragic conclusions. The final shoot-out sequence is memorable and Graheme's last speech is touching. Works better as a police drama than a definitive 'noir'. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 7!

Bitch Slap (2009)

What if Charlie's Angels was raunchy, trashy and rated a hard-R a la Tarantino? Well, you'd probably get this funny, tasteless and breastacular exploitation film which walks a fine line between an erotic clothes-on video shoot and a slapstick crime caper that makes every effort to be bad in the spirit of fun.

Writer/director Rick Jacobson is no stranger to over-the-top, scantily clad tough girls and cleavage. He's directed many episodes of Hercules, Xena, Baywatch and two seasons of Spartacus, and he knows how to deliver. He can't aim a camera at one of his leading ladies without starting at her fun parts. As tasteless as that sounds, Jacobson has crafted a modern, clever throwback to exploitation classics, dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

These girls talk a big game, are way too tough to be credible (because credible is what they were after in making this film, right?), and give us a mix raunchy girl-on-girl humor with silly spy skills.

We have three female leads... The air-headed Trixie (Julia Voth), red-headed Hel (Erin Cummings; Dollhouse, Spartacus: War of the Damned) and the over-medicated hothead Camero (America Olivo; No One Lives, Maniac, Friday the 13th) are three breasty chicks with attitude who are in over their head for $200 million in diamonds. Clearly borrowing from Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994), the story jumps from present day to flashbacks, not presented in chronological order, which serve to explain some things in the wake of the confusion while slowly pulling the veil on what's really going on along with some red herrings. This approach is articulate, but it's hard to notice when the view of this cleverness is obscured by so many in-your-face, sweaty boobs.

This mix of female empowerment and exploitation features bullets to the balls, exit wound sprays from the head, threats of genital mutilation, stripper dance routines, comical drug use, a glowing vagina, very weirdly creative (or just drug-induced) analogies, crotch punches, death yo-yos, sopping wet catfights, women touching themselves, a pig-tailed lesbian Asian in a schoolgirl outfit, loads of heaving and fondling, chicks hogtying other chicks with chains, chicks lighting other chicks on fire, chicks exploding other chicks in cars, chicks choking other chicks out, REALLY BIG guns, a female crotch bite (first ever on film?), the longest and most ridiculous catfight ever, and so much more.

The highlight of this director's skills include a split screen girl-on-girl makeout session complete with trancy film-editing transitions. Jacobson also keeps things classy by showing us strikingly few bare nipples...however we do get insinuated lesbian oral sex and more wet breast shots than Piranha 3D (2010) and Piranha 3DD (2012) combined.

The level of crazy corny action, fake acrobatics, cartoonish green-screen work (very Sin City graphic novel-y), utterly tasteless voluptuan montages with sleazy scoring, catfights with metal-scoring, and D-quality slo-mo special effects should provoke uncontrollable laughter.

Kevin Sorbo (Hercules, Xena, Meet the Spartans) makes a cameo appearance as Mr. Phoenix and Lucy Lawless (Xena, Hercules, Spartacus, Battlestar Galactica) as Mother Superior. Sorbo gets the better cameo by far! You can find him in the worst action finale ever.

You should know based on the DVD cover whether or not this movie is for you. It may not be "my style," but it was certainly for me.

I had seen this on dvd first and decided I wanted to own it. Getting it on blu-ray format makes the eye-candy even better. It's a movie that's full of stereotypes/cliches, fun format, some creative dialog here and there, acceptable acting, and more-than-acceptable actresses. It doesn't take itself seriously and is meant to be fun. If you try to take it seriously... well, you can't really. FWIW this isn't a movie for family night. Unless you're a bad parent.

Buy Bitch Slap (2009) Now

I have not seen the blu-ray version but the movie is fun. If you enjoy Tarantino's and Rodriguez's films, you will probably enjoy this. I would love to see a sequel with a higher budget.

Read Best Reviews of Bitch Slap (2009) Here

Mars Attacks! (2010)

Hollywood has made movies from books, TV shows, even other movies. However, "Mars Attacks" may be the first time a movie was made from a trading card.

Back in the late 1960s, Topps Cards created a line of Mars Attacks trading cards. However, these cards were pulled off the shelves after only a few months because the aliens depicted on them were considered to be too gruesome. My, how times have changed.

Director Tim Burton has taken those old trading cards and recreated them into this Sci-Fi B-movie throwback. In the process, he has created a movie that is pure, guiltless fun.

"Mars Attacks" also benefits from an all-star cast, including Jack Nicholson (in a dual-role), Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Martin Short, Danny Devito, Glenn Close, Natalie Portman, Tom Jones, Annette Bening, Lukas Haas, Jim Brown, and many others. The fact that you get to watch the aliens disentegrate (and otherwise kill) many of these stars only adds to the fun. Unfortunately, Tom Jones wasn't one of those unlucky stars. Maybe someday a sequel will be made that will rectify that. :)

Oh yeah........ did I happen to mention that Congress gets vaporized? This proves that the Martians aren't all bad!

The DVD comes with many extras, including quite a few production notes that helps you to understand how the movie came to be. This is one movie that you will want to see over and over again (especially anytime that Congress is getting on your nerves).

Tim Burton outdoes himself with this silly, but funny, spoof of 1950s flying saucer/alien invasion movies. It is absolutely zany and quite funny. There is also nothing politically correct about it, as there are no sacred cows. The film is totally irreverent of American culture and icons. Everything and everyone is fair game.

Martians have come to Earth, and they do not come in peace. Diabolical and deadly, they are bent on wreaking havoc wherever they go with their death ray guns, which serve to incinerate living beings. These bulbous headed martians with their own brand of deadly humour are hell bent on destroying Earth, while laughing and cackling maniacally.

The special effects are meant to to be reminiscent of those found in 1950s UFO flicks and in this it certainly succeeds. The cast is stellar with Jack Nicholson playing dual roles, that of President James Dale and that of entrepreneur Art Dale. Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Rod Steiger, Jim Brown, Natalie Portman, Sylvia Sydney, Paul Winfield, Pam Grier, Lisa Marie, Christine Applegate, Lukas Haas, and Tom Jones round out the star studded cast. With tongue in cheek performances, the viewer is bound to get a good laugh out of this film.

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Having spent an hour or so reading every review of this movie on the site, I have come to the conclusion that most of the people who did not like it, were simply not bright enough to "get it". Most of the humor in this movie is sophisticated satire and irony. i.e. you need a brain to understand what the joke is. Unfortunately it seems that that leaves about 70% of the population out in the cold sort of speak.

Also, a lot of the reviewers here trash the acting and imply that the big name actors were "only in it for the money", yet are unaware of the fact that most of those "big stars" clamored to be in this movie at lower pay scales than they are used to. Then they go on about how 2 dimensional or "broad" the acting is. Well, ..Duhhh! It's a cartoonish satirical comedy based on a series of bubblegum cards. It's *meant* to be that way.

Finaly, a lot of those who hate this movie compare it unfavorably to (their favorites), ID4 or Armageddon or some such trash as that.

Nuff said.

Read Best Reviews of Mars Attacks! (2010) Here

There is nothing serious about this film. It is satire all the way and it is very good satire which takes potshots at all sorts of institutions.

The story is as simple as an old B/W science fiction movie. Earth is being invaded by Martians with superior techology and little reguard for eathlings. Instead of being an "end of the world" type picture, however, it is comedy. It is comdedic because there is a grain of truth in the elements used for the comedy:

The President is worried more about poll numbers on reactions to the Martians than about invasion.

The first lady is worried more about interior decorating than advancing ray guns.

The egghead professor manages to be wrong about just about everything he speaks of.

Reporters are shallow and vain.

The military just wants to play with its toys.

Bad music can be a deadly influence.

New Age people haven't a clue as to the real world.

Teenagers often have a better handle on things than the grownups.

It's enough to make you root for the Martians. This one is fun, irreverant and a feast of oddball ideas. What else could be expected from Tim Burton?

Want Mars Attacks! (2010) Discount?

The first time I saw this movie, I thought it was a big dissappointment. Then I started to think about it. Usually, when I dislike something for no reason that I can really put my finger on, it is because it has challenged my expectations in some way. For this reason, I like to re-examine my feelings about those things. And often, after reflection, I realize what it is that disturbs me, and I realize why the thing that I hate addresses that, and often it makes me enjoy the thing I "Hated" more.

This movie is like that. One of the things that bothered me so much was the lack of reason for the alien attack, and their resulting brutality. A little after I watched the movie, I found out why this is so, while reading a book "Lies My Teacher Told Me," which related the following tale concerning Columbus:

In 1492, Colomubus landed in what is now the Dominican Republic. He got off of the boat, and read a short proclimation that said (essentially,) "I am taking this place over, you must now immediatly renounce your pagan gods, convert to Christianity, claim Isabella of Spain as your ruler, or I will make you slaves, and you will work until you die, and I will not be held responsible for your souls." Columbus read this proclimation in Spanish, which of course, none of the native people of the Dominican Republic could understand. They greeted him with a huge party, and Columbus proceeded to decimate the natives. The Spaniards forced the Indians to work, and rode on their backs rather than walk from place to place. Does this not strike you as ridiculous? The same kind of mindless destruction for the sake of destruction that the movie portrays?

What disturbed me about the movie was it's quiet censure of our society, our modern world, our own arrogance. In this movie we get our comeuppance, and it is delivered with the same heartless passion that our uncivilized ancestors imposed on the indigenous populations. There is no why or how, there is only the relentless onslaught of a technologically superior race that finds glee in our destruction, who no doubt, intend to usurp our world.

In the War of the Worlds, we are saved by Influenza, in real life, Influenza and small pox, brought by Euroopeans, decimated indigenous populations. Wells original parallel was intended to be a subtle irony, a tribute to our tiniest, and most unobtrusive weapon.

Here we are saved by Slim Whitman's "Indian Love Call," an outrageous twist, but not one without it's irony. Whitman wrote the song as an appeal to the romanticization of the American Indian that occurred in the late 50's. It bears no real ties to native american lore or tradition, other than it's name. It is a romantic view of a past that never happened, our "plasticization" of the very people we've killed. Isn't it odd that we would be saved by a cheesy lounge song written about a people we killed with smallpox and war, while we are being decimated with no hope of survival, in much the same manner? Its doubly ironic that something so insidious, both in sound, and concept, should turn out to be invariably fatal to our invaders. Our bad taste killed them.

I might suggest to those that are easily angered when their expectations of an "Independance Day" style romp are foiled, that they examine their dissappointment and ask themselves, "why did this bother me so much?" When you do, you'll often find that you are being challenged to think or look at a thing in another light by your brain, which is often smarter than you might think.

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Bullitt (2007)

Arguably the best crime film of 1968, and certainly one of the most influential films of the genre...."Bullitt" established new directions in the mood and style of crime thrillers, and firmly established McQueen as one of the key anti-hero stars of the 60's. Based on the gritty novel "Mute Witness" by Robert L. Pike, this was the first, and only, time McQueen portrayed a police officer (albeit a maverick one) in his movie career. In 1968 Steve was then riding high on the success of his previous heist film, "The Thomas Crown Affair", and "Bullitt" just propelled his star even higher into the cinematic heavens !

The plot is tight, economical and well crafted....taciturn, moody Detective Frank Bullitt (McQueen) is charged with the protection of a key witness vital to an upcoming trial involving Mafia connections. Whilst hidden away in a supposed secure location, the witness and his police guard are brutally gunned down by unknown assailants. The heat is turned up on Bullitt by his tough Captain (Simon Oakland) and the manipulative, opportunistic politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) to come up with the right answers fast ! Between the draining investigation, Bullitt struggles to maintain his relationship with his cultured, sensitive girlfriend, Cathy (Jacqueline Bisset)

Primarily coming from a TV series background, Englishman Peter Yates (directing his fourth movie) did a commendable job as director on "Bullitt"...producing a complex, intense crime thriller with a unique style that would ultimately influence many other films. Yates would later to go onto direct tough guy Robert Mitchum in the excellent 1973 "sleeper" crime film "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" !

And of course "Bullitt" is reknowned for it's now legendary car chase between Frank Bullitt's 390 GT Mustang and the two hitmen in their black, Dodge Charger 440 Magnum barrelling through the city streets and highways of San Francisco....just don't pay too much attention to how many times they pass that slow-moving, green VW Beetle !!

The DVD transfer is excellent in both sound and picture quality, and the Limited Edition Collectors Set with the additional goodies (Single sheet poster, shooting draft, lobby cards etc.) is a real bonus for keen film fans !!

One of my favourite cop thrillers....McQueen sizzles on screen !!

I have read GQ and other men's fashion magazines for the last 20 years. No single person is mentioned as a men's style icon more often than Steve McQueen, and this movie defines his style most clearly. What I think that is not often understood, is why his style is so beloved. It is minimalist, yes, but also, this is someone not playing the middle class America game.

1) He lives in a small apartment. The furniture is ordinary, with a few hip 60's touches. (Watch for the picture over his bed, his paisley bathrobe, the cool paper hanging lampshade, and a couple of hippie style items on the walls). You get the impression he owns about six pairs of clothes at most. He eats cheap frozen dinners (except for the occasional date at the cool San Fran Restaurant). He is not wasting this time and life keeping up with the Jones's.

2.) He is not climbing the career ladder. On this case, he doesn't give a thought to politics. He is not chasing the American ideal of success.

3.) Look closely and you will see his car, the most famous in any movie ever, is a olive drab color. Not candy apple bright red. It is a Mustang, a symbol of blue collar America. It is dusty, and he parks it in the street, not a garage. He does not inspect it for door dings every time he goes out to it. It has dents in it. You get the impression he doesn't spend his free time polishing and waxing it.

4.) He doesn't spend his time chasing money. He spends it on his job, trying to do what he thinks is right, not what is good for office politics and promotion.

5.) His clothes are 60's pre-hippie fashion perfection (look for the extremely tapered legs, the suede loafers, and of course the famous tweed blazer and blue turtleneck).

In summary, I think it is funny that people idolize McQueen's personal style in this movie and yet they don't realize why. It is not just the stoicism, or minimalism. It is the old fashion American values (think Old West). Just something to think about as you watch one of my favorite movies of all time.

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Few people who see this movie for the first time understand the profound impact it had when it came out. While modern day crime dramas are filled with gratuitous, numbing violence, the reality of this movie was a real breakthrough. The famous car chase may be the thiing that brings people back to "Bullitt" but the gritty realism is what makes this a classic. The only movie of that time which matched it for realism may have been "The Detectives". This movie really changed filmmaking. When I saw this movie in 1968, five people fainted in the theatre during the scene where the killers broke into the hotel room to murder the potential witness. There is also the fine performance of Robert Vaughn as a politician whose murdered star witness was his mealticket. Vaughn is noted as the consummate Hollywood liberal, and his portrayal of this self-serving scumbag is perfect.

Read Best Reviews of Bullitt (2007) Here

Better view than the DVD. But only worth renting, or if it can be purchased used or on mark down at $5 or less.

A great film with very problematic picture and sound quality on Blu-Ray. The source transfer for "Bullit" has obviously not been re-done for Blu-Ray, and appears to be the same source transfer used for the older DVD edition of this film. Although the superior medium and capabilities of a 1080p Blu-Ray disc make this an upgraded way to view this material, the limitations of an aging source transfer abound and call attention to themselves. Detail is OK in well lit scenes, much less so on indirectly lit surfaces and shadows. Blacks are unstable and milky, and there is motion judder and blur of in motion detail in shadows. Skin tone and texture show the waxy effect of DNR (digital noise reduction). Surface detail is mediocre at best. Sharpening is obvious and annoying. All in all a better view than the DVD version. But only worth renting, or if it can be purchased used or on mark down at $5 or less.

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The car chase in Bullitt may seem a bit less impressive than it once did because filmmakers have been trying to top it for the best part of four decades. More of a cat-and-mouse game than a demolition derby, its overshadowed by the film's other action setpieces a murder in a safe house, a tense chase in a hospital and a great airport finale that Michael Mann ripped off wholesale in Heat. A beautifully constructed star vehicle for Steve McQueen at his best, it's pretty much the prototype for every Hollywood cop movie that followed, but benefits from good casting (Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon, Simon Oakland, Robert Duvall), better characterisation than the norm and a low key approach from director Peter Yates that makes the highs seem a lot more effective than they should. The plot's not bad either, with Lalo Schifrin contributing a cool score and Pablo Ferra a terrific main title sequence.

The 2-disc set certainly boasts an improved transfer over the original single-disc release, but aside from Yates audio commentary, a vintage making of featurette and the trailer, the extras aren't that film specific a good feature-length documentary on film editing and another on McQueen.

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Mona Lisa (1986)

"Mona Lisa" remains one of Neil Jordan's best movies. Bob Hoskins plays George a small time thug who took went to prison to protect his boss Mortwell (Michael Caine). To reward George for his sacrifice he gives him a job chaffeuring around Simone (Cathy Tyson)a high priced call girl that Mortwell wants to keep track of. Despite her initial chilly reception, George falls in love with her. Ultimately she asks him to make a major sacrifice so she can be free of Mortwell and his world. It's a price that leads to tragedy and violence.

A brilliant film noir, Hoskins earned an Oscar nomination for his performance and really he deserved it. His portrayal of George is complex. While he's a criminal, he's also surprisingly naive and innocent in his own way and the code of conduct he follows in his life reflects much more solid values than that of a petty crook. Michael Caine shines in a pivotal but small role as Mortwell. Caine has never given a performance as nasty and chillingly evil as he does here. Cathy Tyson ("The Serpent and the Rainbow", "Priest") also deserves kudos for her performance as Simone. Although the surface of her character is chilly she hints at the depths of emotion raging beneath the surface of this sophisticated and sad woman.

The Criterion edition of this looks exceptionally good with nice color reproduction and a crisp, sharp picture. It appears that the same master that was used for the 1996 laserdisc was used here, though, and it probably should have been remastered from a new digital transfer. While presented in its original format this isn't an anamorphic transfer that I can tell which is, again, another reason to update this and create a high definition DVD.

Neil Jordan and Bob Hoskins commentary track provide a surprising amount of interesting detail about the making of the movie. Usually commentary tracks with an actor and director devolves into a lovefest with little actually uncovered but that's not the case here. We learn about the difficulty that Jordan had initially interesting backers in the project and how pivotal the casting of Michael Caine was to making this project viable.

I still would have liked to have more in the way of extras for this classic film. Like the recent re-release of "The Crying Game", there has to be some alternate scenes that survived or outtakes that might have been of interest to fans. Additionally, why not do a retrospective documentary or a glimpse back at Jordan's career as a featurette? Hopefully Criterion (or whomever picks up the license on this film for DVD release in the US) will remaster this and add the extras that this classic film calls for.

Fresh out of jail and trying to reconnect with his daughter, Hoskins is a working stiff/street thug who gets a job from crime boss Michael Caine chauffering a "high-class black tart" played by Cathy Tyson. The Hoskins character is remarkably naive, falls in love with the prostitute and tries to protect her, and disaster ensues.

There's an unforgettable moment, when they're both in tears, hiding behind silly plastic eyeglasses in a garish carnival setting, and, trying to explain her odd situation that he's just beginning to understand, she says, "Haven't you ever needed someone?" and he squeezes out the reply: "All the time."

It's a remarkably tender story in a chokingly ugly environment. Caine is gruesomely sleazy.

I remember seeing this when it first came out, about the time of "Blue Velvet" and "Brazil"; what an amazing era that was! All three movies even had ironically sweet or upbeat theme songs from a few decades before.

Director Neil Jordan later moved on to the weirder pastures of "The Crying Game," and then the glossy jobs "Interview with the Vampire" and now "The End of the Affair," but I still consider this his best -not to mention Bob Hoskins's most incredible acting work.

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I believe Neil Jordan put together a work of perfection here. I deeply cared for the two main characters (played brilliantly by Hoskins and Tyson). The portrayal of the pain of isolation and the hopelessness of not being able to connect with their desires touched me at a level only great works can do. All the details of a film are done with perfection.(Don't forget the fine little performance of Robbie Coltrane who later became the main charater in "Cracker".) But given the individual stengths of the fascinating plot, the extraordinary performances and the effective filming and music, it is the whole, the gestalt of this work, that reaches the highest level of art.

Read Best Reviews of Mona Lisa (1986) Here

Firstly I would say that if you have in your library John Mackenzie's THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY, also available in the Criterion collection, and Neil Jordan's MONA LISA, you already have a good specimen of what the British cinema was able to offer in the eighties. A fabulous actor, Bob Hoskins, is present in both movies; he won the best actor prize at the 1986 Cannes Festival for MONA LISA.

Neil Jordan began his career as a writer and is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting film directors nowadays. It's always challenging for the common viewer to watch a movie directed by a former writer. One often wonders why the director has left his books for the cinema. Some of these ex-writers use the camera as if they were handling a pen and the result is dreadful. Or too intellectual. Fortunately, with MONA LISA, Neil Jordan has created a stunning visual world and George and Simone's night wanderings through the London underworld an unforgettable cinematographic journey.

MONA LISA develops a lot of themes that will touch you in a way or in another. The different levels of the movie are so well mingled in the story that you will be able to watch MONA LISA several times and still discover little pearls hidden by the brilliant director. At the end of the movie, I just wanted to check the sound quality of the commentary track recorded in 1996 by Neil Jordan and Bob Hoskins and I found myself trapped into MONA LISA for an immediate second screening.

Apart from the commentary, this Criterion DVD offers the theatrical trailer and a one page written Neil Jordan commentary.

A DVD for your library.

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Upon its 1986 release, "Mona Lisa" was proclaimed a masterpiece of the British crime film drama; it brought the Irish-born Neil Jordan, who'd both written and directed it, to the forefront of working British film directors. Reminded everyone of Nat King Cole's great song. Won its star Bob Hoskins an Academy Award nomination, as well as the Cannes Film Festival and British Academy Awards. It's since been recognized as one of the big three of British noir crime dramas: Michael Caine made "Get Carter," Hoskins made "The Long Good Friday;" together, they made "Mona Lisa."

The movie has frequently been compared to Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," for many reasons. Hoskins stars as George, typical, low-wattage East End thug, just getting out of jail after doing seven years for crime boss Mortwell (Caine). George thinks he's owed; Caine gives him a job chauffeuring high priced hooker Simone (Cathy Tyson). Hoskins is expert, as ever, in conveying the controlled violence in George's soul; he also conveys as well as possible the character's surprising naivete. Caine is the cool, even-tempered, joking, fierce villain we saw in "Get Carter;" there's a ten-second bit where he allows Mortwell's mask to slip; we see him with bared teeth, closing in for the kill. Tyson, on her way to a television career, does a good job as Simone, with her own problems. The young Sammi Davis, best known for "Hope and Glory,' stands out as an exploited young drug-addicted prostitute. And the economy-sized Scots comic Robbie Coltrane, before his television success as "Cracker," seems wasted in a pointless subplot, as George's best friend.

Still, to me, the most apt comparison to this movie is actually the movie of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." We have Coltrane, as Hoskin's friend, often asking him to "Tell me a story, George." That's a direct quote from Lenny (Lon Chaney Jr.)'s frequent request to his George, Burgess Meredith. And we have cockney George buying a rabbit for Mortwell, we're never told why, but Lenny had a pet rabbit in "Of Mice and Men." However, on a first viewing after several years, what was most striking to me about this film was how mannered the script is, how careful to alternate dramatic highs and lows. And how unlikely it is that Hoskins' character could be quite so naive, after an adult life spent the shady side of the law, and a seven-year jail stint.

The seamy London underworld of homelessness, drugs, and kinky sex is well-captured in this movie; the powerful photography gives us the feel of some of the city's meanest inhabitants and streets.

Otherwise, this movie builds upon another of Jordan's signature themes: the love of a man for an inappropriate woman. George is evidently greatly mistaken in believing that a character as damaged as Simone can be talked into a future of love, marriage, and a baby carriage. The same theme pops immediately to mind in at least the eight other feature films, that Jordan wrote, and/or directed, that I've seen. Many viewers will be familiar with the recent "Breakfast on Pluto." Liam Neeson, an Irish parish priest, fathers a child upon his housekeeper, whom he actually loves. In "The End of the Affair," Ralph Fiennes tries to continue seeing Julianne Moore, but she's sworn off him, in a prayer to God to save his life during the London blitz. In "Interview with the Vampire," the seven-year old vampire played by Kirsten Dunst, will never, in all eternity, be mature enough for Tom Cruise's undead character. In "The Crying Game,"well, the transvestite Dil will never be the woman Fergus thought she was. Then there's "The Good Thief:" Nick Nolte's old enough to be a grandfather to that movie's teenage prostitute. In "We're No Angels," Robert De Niro, masquerading as a priest, is flummoxed by Demi Moore's Molly. And "The Miracle," an adopted Irish teenager unknowingly falls in love with his biological, and fully-aware, mother. And then there's "High Spirits," Peter O'Toole at his least disciplined, a silly little haunted castle movie. Poor Steve Guttenberg finds himself in love with a ghost in that one. So what's a feller to do?

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Harry Potter Blu-Ray Double Feature Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and

I love The Harry Potter movies & wanted them all in Blu-Ray...the only thing about these doubles...it will go to hearing impaired for no reasona an then cannot get it off of it...Plus there are no previews..the movie just starts...if stop it, does not save your place.....so I am disappointed in this version..

Fracture (2009)

First of all, the movie starts off with a murder and you know who the murderer is. So it isn't a suspense story as much as a psychological thriller, the type that pits two very strong personalities against one another (played by Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling).

Each is a control freak and each is ambitious. The whole thrill of this movie is watching the characters, seeing how they develop and change and wondering how this will all play out.

Looking at the reviews that others have written for this movie, it is clear that people tended to love or hate this movie -and I think I understand why. For one thing, you KNOW what happened -and why -almost from the start. But I happen to like character-driven movies and this one is definitely in that vein. Yes, Hopkins does seem to recreate his Hannibel Lechter personalty (or hints of it) but that worked out fine in this instance.

Fracture is a great psychological drama that stars Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. Fracture is a film with qualities reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock era that really left me guessing until the very end. Gosling's performance as a young smitten lawyer named Willie Beachum is something to applaud. I was not impressed when he was cast in a crime thriller called "Murder by Numbers" with Sandra Bullock a few years ago, but those thoughts are now erased from my memory. Beachum takes on the case of a successful engineer named Ted Crawford, who is accused of attempted murder. As the clues become less and less presentable, Beachum suddenly realizes that Crawford is playing some sort of game, and it is a game of chance and elaborate mind games that Beachum just might win.

Fracture did not douse me with puzzles, in fact it really held back in that area and yet the continual drama that played out between the two main characters was more than enough to keep me not just guessing, but simply interested in the film's story as a whole.

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If you like courtroom dramas, appreciate excellent acting and an expertly-filmed movie this is for you. Only once, I think, have I ever proclaimed something "best movie of the year" and all that, because it's all too subjective and also a cliché but that's how I feel about this movie unless something better comes along the last few months of 2007.

This is just a fabulous movie with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling playing characters who engage in a battle of wits. Hopkins plays a husband who discovers his wife having an affair, shoots her, confesses the same night and then has things cleverly arranged where it's almost impossible to convict him. Gosling plays a young, hotshot prosecuting attorney on his way to bigger and better things with a change of scenery to corporate law but gets stuck with this open-and-shut case right before he switches firms. The trouble is, it's a lot more than he figured and he isn't used to losing. Hopkins knows this, of course, and plays on his vanity.

Gosling evolves from a me-only lawyer to someone who really wants justice, even if it costs him. Both characters are cocky and smart and the twists and turns just add to the fun.

I enjoyed watching all the actors performances and was very impressed. The camera-work by Director Of Photography Kramer Morgenthau should also be recognized, along with director Gregory Hoblit, who seems to direct very entertaining films ("Frequency," "Fallen," etc.)

I could have watched this story unfold for another two hours and would have been happy to do so, am I'm not one to sit still for long periods these days. That's how good this was....just Grade A film-making and storytelling.

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Let there be no doubt, Anthony Hopkins plays a very good "bad guy". Obviously, his best role was in "Silence of the Lambs" where he was evil personified. However, in "Fracture", he is also excellent as the alleged killer of his philandering wife.

In brief, "Fracture" is a court room drama. Hopkins plays the part of Ted Crawford who has chosen to murder his wife in cold blood. The crime is to be prosecuted by Ryan Gosling playing the role of Willy Beachum. To Beachum, the case is a "slam dunk". Apparently, there is a signed confession, a murder weapon and a motive. However, as we soon learn, the case is far more complicated than it appears to be a first glance. Ted Crawford is a clever man who has left no tracks. Indeed, he is acquitted. But hubris then takes hold. If only he had chosen not to continue to press the envelope.

On small criticism I have of the movie is that the gun was never traced by its serial number. When you see the movie, this point will make sense. It's a clear weakness in the plot. If not, the police department involved was monumentally incompetent.

In spite of my criticism, the movie is worth seeing. Not great, but certainly good.

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"Fracture", the new film from director Gregory Hoblit ("Primal Fear", TV's "L.A. Law", "NYPD Blue"), is a pretty routine legal thriller with four attributes that help it stand out from the rest of the pack.

Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins), an aerospace tycoon, sits at his desk working on a new Rube Goldberg contraption when he suddenly realizes he should leave the office. He shows up at a local hotel and finds his wife, Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) having an affair with Rob (Billy Burke, "Ladder 49", TV's "24"), a detective with the Los Angeles police force. When Jennifer returns home, Ted confronts her and shoots her. Later, Rob is the detective called to the scene. When he realizes his girlfriend has been killed, he attacks Ted. At trial, Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson), a deputy DA with one foot out the door for a private practice job, is reluctant to take the case until he learns there is a signed confession. He convinces the district attorney (David Strathairn) that he can close the case in the two weeks he has left, keeping his conviction rate and new job intact. Willie, a man with a lot of debt, anxious to get going on his new high salary position, takes the case and soon meets his new boss, Nikki Gardner (Rosamunde Pike, "Pride and Prejudice", "Die Another Day"), who seems to be attracted to her new Junior Associate. But Willie is cocky and assumes this is a slam-dunk until he starts to learn Ted's strategies to win the trial.

"Fracture" is a pretty routine legal thriller centered on a `brilliant mind' who will manipulate everyone around him in an effort to go free. The one person standing in his way? A younger `brilliant mind'.

There are four factors that set "Fracture" apart from the rest of the pack. The first, and least significant of the four, are Hoblit's efforts to shoot this film in a very lush style, making it an almost beautiful film to watch. Hoblit worked on many of Steven Bocho's television series and the style is similar to "L.A. Law" or "Murder One". All of the surfaces gleam with polish, shadows are heavy and dark, and figures are frequently seen from behind screens or in shadow. Sunlight also seems to play a major influence on all of the cinematography. Often, characters are walking through hallways and we see the glow of early afternoon light trying to break through the dusty passageways or reflecting off marble surfaces. This technique helps to give the film a rich look, even beyond the general lifestyle of Hopkin's character, who is rich and lives in a nice, modern house. This technique helps to give Gosling's office at the District Attorney's office a rich look, even though the office is cramped, unglamorous and very different from Ted's lifestyle.

The other three factors are the talent of three actors involved in the film. First and foremost is Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins has played this type of role before, the brilliant mastermind, but he does it so well. There are and will be inevitable comparisons between this role and Hannibal Lecter (both are brilliant, both are deadly, both play mind games with a young `protégé') and Ted Crawford is Hannibal light. But it is always interesting to watch a master like Hopkins, even when he is lobbed a softball like this role. Crawford, an aeronautical engineer, likes to create elaborate rube Goldberg contraptions, with long metal chutes, allowing Crawford to place a metal ball at the top and watch it move through a series of passages, all connected, much like a large version of the game "Mousetrap". When he realizes his wife is cheating on him, he decides to shoot her and comes up with a way to get through all of the legal challenges and hurdles. Presumably, studying these contraptions helps him work through all of the possible variations.

As the story progresses, Hopkins manages to add some nice touches to the role, making him seem even more devious and menacing. During a character's testimony, Crawford, who has chosen to represent himself, doodles on a yellow legal pad, periodically ripping the pages from the pad. Each time he tears off a sheet, the sound reverberates through the quiet courtroom, causing Beachum to turn his attention to the defendant.

Ryan Gosling does a great job as Willie Beachum, the Assistant District Attorney who gladly accepts a high paying job at one of the most respected law firms in Los Angeles. Beachum is cocky and trying to move beyond his roots; he grew up poor in Oklahoma and now has a load of debt from law school. He clearly always saw the District Attorney's office as a stepping-stone and is now glad to be leaving it. When he meets with his boss (played by David Strathairn), a comment is made about Willie's high conviction rate and the lengths he would go to get it. Willie is a complicated guy and not beyond inflating the truth or maneuvering things to benefit his goals.

When he meets his new boss, Nikki Gardner (Rosamunde Pike), he is instantly attracted to her and they flirt. This is yet another example of his cockiness, because he knows he is good looking and doesn't care if he flirts with his new boss. The fact that this leads to the film's biggest plot hole is beyond the point. because he is so brazen about it, this adds significantly to his character.

He strides into the courtroom and decides to prosecute Ted's case, despite his impending new job, because he considers it a slam-dunk. Ted signed a confession, there was no one else in the house, and how could he lose? Then, Ted begins to pull the strings and manipulate everything and everyone.

To a lesser extent, David Strathairn adds significance as District Attorney Lobruto, Willie's boss. From the moment Lobruto walks into Beachum's office to confront him, we see that Lobruto has world-weariness to him. As an elected public official, he is aware of what little he can accomplish and accepts everything else with ease. He has been beaten down by the system and takes his young Assistant DA's defection with the slightest disgruntlement. But he understands. If he had the same chance, he would probably take it.

Embeth Davidtz, Rosamunde Pike, Billy Burke, Bob Gunton and Fiona Shaw all play supporting characters, some with greater success and greater impact, but they all add to the texture of the story, making it interesting to watch.

"Fracture" is not a great film, but it is fun to watch all of the twists and turns, the machinations Hopkins' character puts everyone through. For it to be a great film, Hopkins would have to add something different to his character. Is it just me or does it seem odd that Crawford is playing mind games with a poor guy from the South, who came from a questionable background? Does Beachum's background sound familiar to anyone else? Did they ask Jodie Foster to take the role before she refused it because it was too similar to Clarice Starling? Gosling does a good job with the role, but Hopkins is such a great actor and this role is not a stretch that it seems like a disappointment.

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