Genre: Drama

Year: 1976

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Peter Boyle, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel

Director: Martin Scorsese

My Review: Taxi Driver is a powerful movie featuring Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, Cybill Shepherd as Betsy, 14 year old Jodie Foster as Iris, and many others. Robert De Niro was uncompromising as Travis Bickle, a war damaged cabbie. After returning from Vietnam, Bickle makes a living by working the night shift in a cab, cruising the grimy streets of New York City. Bickle takes the fares that others shun. Working to overcome his insomnia; something's driving Bickle as he cruises the streets of New York city. In a desperate attempt to make himself normal, he falls for a beautiful but untouchable campaign worker and things seem to go well; until Bickle's inability to relate under normal social conditions earns him a spurned lover and a split with the culture that once nurtured him. Reeling from the experience, Bickle acquires a gun and a plan. A plan that will make them all notice that he's a force of nature. On the way down, Bickle does his best to save some small part of his humanity by pulling Iris off the street. Iris is a 12 year old street prostitute, a symbol of corruption and innocence at the same time. Bickle befriends Iris, and does his best to pull her away from the corruption that's sure to ruin her life the way that war destroyed his. This movie contains a huge amount of social commentary that seems lost on today's audiences. We've forgotten what war can do to soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors returning home from the horrors of our Vietnam. Thousands of veterans suffer from PTSD earned in Iraq and Afghanistan. All the media can see is damaged goods. They're bent on labeling them murderer's and gun crazy lunatics because the sensationalism sells more advertisement than sympathy or solutions. Apparently we're doomed to repeat all the mistakes we made coming out of Vietnam. With Afghanistan nearing the end of more than two decades of war, this movie reminds me that society really isn't ready for the return of our troops. The acting in this movie (by De Niro, Foster, and Shepherd) is outstanding, the writing and direction sublime. It's an urban tale that forces the viewer to confront the horrors of war without knowing what they're seeing. The violence in this movie is brutal and uncompromising, but it isn't glamorous or disguised as choreographed cinematography. It's clumsy, slow, confusing and deadly. No one's dodging bullets or diving through windows. It's gritty, final and fatal. An uncompromising vision of society, culture and man's frailty in the face of war. This classic film is a masterpiece of cinema. I give it 5 out of 5.

Summary: A mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works as nighttime taxi driver in a city whose perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge to violently lash out.

Genre: Documentary, Biography, Music

Year: 2012

Country: Sweden, UK

Rating:

Starring: Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, Dennis Coffey, Mike Theodore, Dan DiMaggio, Jerome Ferretti

Director: Malik Bendjelloul

My Review: An excellent documentary; one that doesn't immediately spoil the story line by blabbing the 'answer' to it's title in the first five minutes. 'Searching for Sugar Man'. The music is exceptional, and I've added some to my eMusic 'must have' list. The story - The 70s rock era spawned numerous artists who appeared, then disappeared with little fan-fare. Without the digital medium and internet an artist could be ignored if not promoted properly, and no amount of talent could make up for the lack of a sufficiently motivated promoter or label. This documentary tells the tale of one such rock legend. A man of exceptional talent, a man with a deep connection to the strife of urban populations around the world. While the subject of this film escaped notice in America, he grew to legendary status in South Africa. Little did they know that their icon still lived. Here's the uplifting and inspirational story of amazing talent re-discovered and a mystery revealed. The story is well told, intertwining a mystery with legendary music and the social strife of the 70s. The documentary was extremely well done, and the subject deserves praise for his work - which helped spur a social revolution and healing in a country plagued by racism and social stigma. I give this documentary a 5 out of 5.

Summary: In the early 1970s, Sixto Rodriguez was a Detroit folksinger who had a short-lived recording career with only two well received but non-selling albums. Unknown to Rodriguez, his musical story continued in South Africa where he became a pop music icon and inspiration for generations. Long rumored there to be dead by suicide, a few fans in the 1990s decided to seek out the truth of their hero's fate. What follows is a bizarrely heartening story in which they found far more in their quest than they ever hoped, while a Detroit construction laborer discovered that his lost artistic dreams came true after all.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Year: 2012

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Ann Dowd, Matt Servitto, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Philip Ettinger

Director: Craig Zobel

My Review: Based upon a true incident/incidents - A single setting drama with powerful character work but a premise that goes too far. This low budget independent production asks some interesting questions regarding the will of the individual, the stigma of social ostracism and the power of a police state. The direction was well handled, and the technical aspects well managed. The editing was uninspiring and the lack of an adequate sound track hampered the escalation of tension in this drama. The acting and pacing could have been better. The story - An unknown individual calls a fast food restaurant - He claims to be a detective investigating a crime and insists that the manager interrogate and search a teenage suspect who works at the restaurant. The 'official' gives orders and the staff complies. It's either that or Sandra will have to go to jail! As the movie progresses, the demands become more authoritarian and the consequences more dire. While watching the movie, I actually became tied up in the drama of the film, and began to believe that the circumstances might actually be true. Afterwards, with a calmer detached examination, I doubt that any person could be convinced to subvert their will in such a banal manner. Surely no one would submit to this level of compliance! I give this movie a 3 out of 5.

Summary: At a fast food restaurant, the manager, Sandra, is having a bad day. Suddenly, she gets a phone call from a man claiming to be a police officer who has a complaint that one of her young female employees has stolen from a customer. At the orders of this authoritative sounding stranger, Sandra takes the apparent accused, Becky, to a back room to search her before she is picked up. Once there, the phone scammer manipulates the gullible personnel into participating in Becky's sexual humiliation that grows more twisted with every new sucker on the phone. Only when one final person has the conscience to revolt do they realize the crime they were tricked into, which the real police are hard pressed to solve.

Genre: Comedy

Year: 1999

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Adam Sandler, Joey Lauren Adams, Jon Stewart, Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse

Director: Dennis Dugan

My Review: Adam Sandler is… Not bad at the niche he's been pigeonholed into. His characters are spoiled, petulant, privileged, lacking in manners, simplistic and helpless. We all want him to straighten out, pull himself up, take responsibility and get the girl. Here's another Adam Sandler vehicle specifically designed to address his typecast characters. In this movie he plays (Sonny Koufax) another overgrown adolescent. A law school graduate who settled for a comfortable life where he simply lounges about and works just hard enough to get by. When his girlfriend walks out on him he finally realizes he might have to change his ways. By 'accident' he becomes the guardian of a 5 year old boy. Initially he uses the child as a crutch to satisfy his lack of responsibility and amuse himself. As the film progresses he realizes that being an adult requires responsibility and some amount of maturity. Can this 5 year old boy actually teach Sonny something about responsibility? The acting is typical for an Adam Sandler movie. Dumbed down to the level of a 5 year old (seriously under utilizing Steve Buscemi and Rob Schneider). The story works on a certain level, and there's plenty of Adam Sandler signature stunts, but the Hooters jokes get a bit stale after a while. This movie barely reaches the 'I liked it level'. How does Adam Sandler manage to make people feel sympathy for his character while laughing at the predicament of a five year old orphan? I give it a 3 out of 5.

Summary: Adam Sandler plays a 30 year old who, after his friend gets married and leaves him alone, begins looking for fulfillment. He decides to adopt a five year old boy, but ends up with a lot more than he bargained for.

Genre: Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year: 2012

Country: UK, USA, India, South Africa

Rating:

Starring: Karl Urban, Andile Mngadi, Porteus Xandau, Jason Cope, Emma Breschi

Director: Pete Travis

My Review: I've been a fan of Judge Dredd (the 2000AD comics) for a long time, and I loved the Sylvester Stallone version of Judge Dredd. This particular version actually improves on the genre. Eschewing the 'Comical' approach, here we're presented with a visceral, post apocalyptic America that looks 'Believable'. Here is urban blight, the result of a continuous struggle to maintain societies core values. A battle that mankind is losing. On the verge of collapse the only thing keeping civilization in check is the power of the Judges. The men and women endowed with all the power of the American Justice system. Judge, Jury and Executioner - The law enforcement power is manifest in these larger than life figures. The movie doesn't waste huge amounts of time or exposition on the background or needless backstory. We can see the future in the grimy mega-city, it's inhabitants, the corruption, the crime the desperation and the hope. The acting was excellent. The characters huge. I loved the Karl Urban Dredd. He did an excellent job portraying the stoic, heartless, bad ass that is Dredd. Enforcer of 'The Law'. Olivia Thirlby as the Psi-Judge was just the right person to play a rookie Judge. The plot is excellent if simplistic, wasting no time with intricate twists, yet remaining tense enough to keep you guessiong. The cgi and visual effects were truly spectacular. The direction, editing and camera work were outstanding. The super slow-motion segments beautiful, mesmerizing and deadly. I'm adding this feature to my list of must own movies. I give this movie a 5 out of 5.

Summary: The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One - a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called "Judges" who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge - a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of "Slo-Mo" experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed. During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson, a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture - a 200 storey vertical slum controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma and her ruthless clan. When they capture one of the clan's inner circle, Ma-Ma overtakes the compound's ...