Genre: Thriller

Year: 2010

Country: Nigeria, UK

Rating:

Starring: Idris Elba, William Hope, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Richard Brake, Clarke Peters

Director: Thomas Ikimi

My Review: An extremely low budget (~ $500,000.00) movie with an excellent twisted story. Produced, written and directed by Thomas Ikimi, the film features Idris Elba in the main role. Idris plays Malcolm Gray - A black ops soldier who's escaped from a blown mission in Eastern Europe. Hiding out in a shabby Brooklyn apartment, Malcolm is tormented by the torture he underwent, the shame of his failure, and a strained personal relationship with his brother; a politician more concerned with his own career than anything else. This movie takes place primarily in this run down apartment. With flashbacks to the field, we're taken for quite a ride in this twisted roller coaster of a thriller. Extremely well scripted, well acted and well directed. The acting was pretty good, but the sound production terrible. Excellent political, psychological thriller, with a deep and thoughtful script. I was a bit put off by the level of violence, but realize that the violent scenes were necessary in the context of the film. Hopefully Mr. Ikimi will continue to make this sort of movie. Given the low budget, I was fairly impressed by the outcome. 3 out of 5.

Summary: Black Ops operative Malcolm Gray returns home after a botched mission in Eastern Europe. Holed up in a Brooklyn motel room, he is torn between retribution and personal salvation as he mentally unravels. When the walls close in, his story may be all he can leave behind.

Genre: Drama

Year: 1985

Country: USA, West Germany

Rating:

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, John Malkovich, Stephen Lang, Charles Durning

Director: Volker Schlöndorff

My Review: A Broadway play on film (Arthur Miller's play brought to film). Directed by Volker Schlondorff, there's no mistaking this for a hollywood production. It's Broadway on film, with all the visual queues and stage-like acting. What's truly impressive is the quality of this 'Made for TV' production. Dustin Hoffman plays Willy Loman, an aging salesman who sees the emptiness of the end approaching. The cast is fantastic (Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, John Malkovich, Stephen Lang, Charles Durning and others). The story is quite simple, it's the characters that are complex. The acting was outstanding. Captivating, entertaining, powerful and moving. One can't help but feel for Willy. Reaching the end of his working life, his memory is failing him, physically he can't keep up, and his family life is falling apart. While the title of the play reveals Willy's eventual demise, one can't help but thrill to the life and times which led to this sad state of affairs. A classic American play put to film with great craftsmanship and care. I hope to see this play some day. 4 out of 5.

Summary: Salesman Willy Loman is in a crisis. He's about to lose his job, he can't pay his bills, and his sons Biff and Happy don't respect him and can't seem to live up to their potential. He wonders what went wrong and how he can make things up to his family.

Genre: Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi

Year: 1954

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva

Director: Jack Arnold

My Review: A B-Movie masterpiece. The only thing that puts this movie in the B-Movie category is the poor acting and screenplay/dialog. The set designs, costumes, sound production and camera work were all exceptional. If only the dialog and character direction had been a little less staged. The most notable cast member was Kay Lawrence as the screaming sex pot in a one-piece. Her scientific accomplishments are absent but her looks were definitely noticed. Even the 'creature' an amphibious 'Gill-Man' noticed. What starts out as an archaeological expedition turns into a fight for survival when this team of scientists encounter a dangerous living fossil living deep in the jungles of the Amazon. Great B-Movie fare from the 50s. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Summary: A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discover a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon. The explorers capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay, fiancée of one of the expedition, with whom it has fallen in love.

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Year: 2010

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O'Hara, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine

Director: John Erick Dowdle

My Review: An M. Night Shyamalan story turned into a movie by Brian Nelson (screenplay) and John Erick Dowdle (direction). Surprisingly, I had rather low expectations for this movie, but I was quite pleased with the results. The story (without spoiling it too much) is this. Five people in an elevator; one of them isn't who they appear to be. As the Devil torments these hapless humans, we're caught in the grip of a tragic drama. Thankfully the names aren't so big as to cause a distraction from the story. The perfect mix of horror and tension. An extremely well done script/story and great direction. Taken as a bit of a whodunnit, I was quite pleased when I couldn't nail it down. I had my suspicions, but couldn't convince myself until the end game. Well produced in technical terms, excellent direction, editing, set work, camera work, and music. The only let down was the expository nature of the story. 4 out of 5.

Summary: A group of people are trapped in an elevator and the Devil is mysteriously amongst them.

Genre: Action, Adventure

Year: 2009

Country: Denmark, UK

Rating:

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Alexander Morton, Stewart Porter, Maarten Stevenson, Mathew Zajac

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

My Review: The year is 1000AD, Christianity is spreading like a plague across Europe. Invading, conquering, converting. It hasn't reached everywhere, yet. It hasn't quite wiped out the pagan practices of one particular group of Vikings. For the moment, they're free to practice their indigenous beliefs, their rituals, their slavery. One-Eye, the mute, one-eyed war thrall has escaped from his Norse masters, just in time to join up with a group of Crusade bound holy warriors. They take to the sea in a small longboat and suffer an endless calm before arriving in the 'Unholy Land'. This Norse hell is inhabited by invisible demons that methodically kill off all these strange invaders. The movie was very well produced, and the pacing was quite invigorating. The slow pace allowed plenty of time for one to contemplate the fine camera work and unorthodox story. I enjoyed many of the production aspects: Chaptered story segments, outstanding cinematography, fantastic use of color, great editing, great soundtrack, and excellent casting. What I didn't care for was the violence, the hole ridden plot, the less than satisfactory character motivations, and the ending. I give this movie a 3 out of 5.

Summary: 1000 AD, for years, One Eye, a mute warrior of supernatural strength, has been held prisoner by the Norse chieftain Barde. Aided by Are, a boy slave, One Eye slays his captor and together he and Are escape, beginning a journey into the heart of darkness. On their flight, One Eye and Are board a Viking vessel, but the ship is soon engulfed by an endless fog that clears only as the crew sights an unknown land. As the new world reveals its secrets and the Vikings confront their terrible and bloody fate, One Eye discovers his true self.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Musical, Romance

Year: 1961

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris

Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise

My Review: A modern tale of Romeo and Juliet. Set in the Bronx during the late 50s. Here is a classic tale of forbidden love, racial strife, class warfare, cultural identity, and American values. Two gangs stand in as feuding families. Two diversely different gangs - The Jets: Kids from white immigrant families, and the Sharks: Kids from Puerto Rican families, find common ground in their mutual desires. When the former leader of one gang falls for the sister of another, the sparks fly, the rivalry reaches a boiling point, and the drama explodes in this magnificent celebration of American cultural identity. The choreography, dance numbers, music, Drama! There's no denying the amazing acting, production and a terrific tale in West Side Story - This movie (adapted from the Broadway stage production) won 10 Academy Awards, and rightly so. It demands a 5 out of 5 and I for one most definitely agree.

Summary: Westside story is the award winning adaptation of the classic romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliette. The feuding families become two warring New York City gangs- the white Jets led by Riff and the Puerto Rican Sharks, led by Bernardo. Their hatred escalates to a point where neither can coexist with any form of understanding. But when Riff's best friend (and former Jet) Tony and Bernardo's younger sister Maria meet at a dance, no one can do anything to stop their love. Maria and Tony begin meeting in secret, planning to run away. Then the Skarks and Jets plan a rumble under the highway - whoever wins gains control of the streets. Maria sends Tony to stop it, hoping it can end the violence. It goes terribly wrong, and before the lovers know what's happened, tragedy strikes and doesn't stop until the climactic and heartbreaking ending.