Movie: The Guest

"The Guest" is a somewhat violent 80's style a psychological-action thriller.

A mysterious former soldier who appears at the house of the grieving Peterson family as a consoling combat-mate of their dead son.

Director:  Adam Wingard  Writer:  Simon Barrett (The two also teamed up for the horror-thriller “You're Next” in 2011.)

Stars:  Dan Stevens (best known for playing  Matthew Crawley in the TV Series Downton Abby), Sheila Kelley (known for playing Carol Rhodes in the TV Series “Gossip Girl”), Maika Monroe and Brendan Meyer.

The Good

1. British actor Dan Stevens with his rock-hard abs and old-fashioned congeniality is especially good in his role. Sometimes when a movie has a really-really good character, people will say the movie is worth watching just to see that character. This is one of those movies.

2. The movie is paced nicely - a combination of expected and unexpected twist and turns right up until the end is complemented by a good music score.

3. In a small amount of time there is a lot of good character development- (this primarily because of good acting). Other than Stevens, the two siblings performances stand out- Luke (Brendan Meyer) and Anna (Maika Monroe).

4. A subtle political message to think about-

A.A. Dowd reviewing at the web site the “AV Club” writes: " For a few fleeting moments, the film appears to be taking aim at a worthy target—the way the American people silently condone savage military aggression when it suits their best interests."

(The Guest expertly blends everything from The Terminator to Halloween to Drive, By A.A. Dowd  Sep 16, 2014

http://www.avclub.com/review/guest-expertly-blends-everything-terminator-hallow-209230

6.  Film has noticeable similarities to films by James Cameron and John Carpenter. So if you're fans of those directors, you should like this film.

The Bad

1. The characters in the main plot are well developed but the second major subplot is

underdeveloped, as are the characters involved in that plot strand. This underdevelopment causes the secondary plot to be a bit confusing.

2. Category confusion. This could be a positive or a negative. The movie incorporates thriller and horror (though not extreme horror). Some reviewers felt that this `cross-over' - doesn't work.

Mick LaSalle at the the San Francisco Gate writes: "Yet as the crimes escalate, “The Guest” becomes less effective. It loses its tentative toehold in reality and becomes the equivalent of a monster movie."  

Movie review: The one guest you shouldn’t let in

By Mick LaSalle Updated 10:00 am, Thursday, October 9, 2014 http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Movie-review-The-one-guest-you-shouldn-t-let-in-5810748.php.

3. At the end you may not know what’s what.

Verdict-

Worthwhile watch if you like twisted somewhat violent thrillers.



WATCH IT NOW THROUGH AMAZON INSTANT VIDEO - Click Picture below

Primal Fear: (1996) Richard Gere and Edward Norton

(trailer at end of review)

Summery:

Courtroom Drama: This 1996 movie stars Richard Gere as a flamboyant Chicago defense attorney who volunteers his services when a stray teenager from Kentucky (played by Edward Norton) who had become an altar boy in Chicago is charged with the murder of a Catholic archbishop.

Good:

1. Great acting, especially by Edward Norton. Norton was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award in the same category for his career-launching role.

2. Gere is good too.  And I also especially liked Frances McDormand (the actress that played the pregnant cop in Fargo) who played a psychiatrist in this movie.

3. Good pace. I thought in my recent viewing that it started out slow, and seemed dated. But as the main story emerged things started moving faster, and complexities to the story seemed reasonable: sleazy lawyer, sleazy characters who run city government and sleazy church leaders all playing with the life of an inncocent ( as all are until proven guilty) young man. As Gere's character telling says at one point: "Why gamble with money when you can gamble with people's lives? "

4. If you think about this movie, it really makes you think.

5. It takes place in Chicago. (Always a plus with this reviewer.)


BAD:

1. For me the relationship with the city attorney trying the case (played by Laura Linney) and Gere's character was cliche,  Linney didn't have the lines she needed to round out her character.

In essence she is a good character with a job that she tries to perform with integrity. Neither her boss or her opponent (her former boss and lover) show any integrity.She is being played by everyone - yet she comes out as looking like the real bad guy.

Other reviewers opinion:

Primal Fear garnered positive reviews from critics, earning a 72% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes

My Judgement 4/5
-------------------------

Rated R for brief grisly violence, pervasive strong language and a sex scene


Think about this after watching the movie:

How does the title relate to the film?

In the end does the boy get the correct sentence?

Trailer



Watch Primal Fear now on your computer through Amazon's Instant Video service for as low as $2.99

CLICK HERE

Elite Squad 2 (2010) review

~I am writing this on the night of the Academy Awards (Kings Speech wins best picture.)


I have just watched one of the best movies I have ever seen- Elite Squad 2 (2010).


I had refrained from watching this, though I thought Elite Squad (2007) was brilliant- because I find that most often the sequels are lacking the intensity of the original (think Matrix). This movie is better in my opinion than the excellent original (you need not see the first to fully appreciate this movie -this movie stands on it's own.)


I watch a lot of movies and review very few. Time is limited. To be a movie `critic' does not necessarily mean that you need to criticize a movie. I try to review movies that I like.


(The reason I watched this movie had everything to do with the reviews on the Internet Movie Data Base http://www.imdb.com/ .)


Brazil put the film "Lulu, the son of Brazil" - up to represent the country at the Academy Awards, and why not push for a positive depiction of your country with a rags to riches story? --" The true story of a working class boy who moves to the nation's financial capital at a young age and becomes one the most influential politician in Brazil's history." I have not seen that movie yet. the movie did not get selected as one of the five in consideration for the award. "In a Better World"  from Denmark won, which was a huge upset for critic favorite Biutiful, which hailed from Mexico


Elite Squad 2 is much more `intense' than it's predecessor ( by the same director). It, like its predecessor, is described as an "action, crime, drama, thriller". And it succeeds in all those areas.


The IMDB gave the movie "Kings Speech" (based on collected criteria) an 8.4. And this sequal " Elite Squad 2-   an 8.6. 


It might be possible to argue, that as an United States citizen that I cannot fully understand the psychological depth of this movie. I would have to agree. But for me, because of how well it was .. choreographed --the film transcended it's location - and simply was a great film.


However it for some was more than just a `movie'. There are references in other reviews that it was almost a `truthful' documentary about the state of affairs in Brazil. It definitely touched in the pulse of that country= "about 11.1 million paying viewers made Elite Squad 2  the most seen movie in Brazilian cinema history. It also became the highest-grossing film of all time in Brazil, beating Avatar(2009)'s record."


Consider this review: 

"I saw the film in its world premiere in Paulinia, São Paulo. 1,500 people in the audience. Perhaps, 1/3 industry members and 2/3 non-industry members. It was a collective catharsis, I only remember a group experience of the same intensity watching Crouching Tiger in its Cannes premiere. 

The audience applauded the film five times, the last a standing ovation." 

(Emphasis mine)

------


So what is it all about? No spoiler.


A man, who is the leader, of what we in the US would call SWAT, is involved in a prison uprising that gets out of control. He is the narrator of the film. He is divorced. He has a young son. His wife has remarried a very left wing professor . The two major social problems (the plot of the movie) that the government seeks, through its police to eradicate, are drug dealers and arms dealers. 


With that short scenario you can predict both violence and emotional conflicts, which the movie provides.


The director and writer of the film José Padilha has made several documentaries- thus there certainly, in my opinion- at times, a documentary feeling  within the film (though not boring). Padilha  studied business studies, politics and economics in Rio de Janeiro, followed by English literature and international politics in Oxford.


The star is Wagner Moura  who seems to me as an unlikely choice, but who he makes his role work (he is also the narrator of the movie) by his personal intensity.

--

How does it end? - Open, in my opinion, for further development, ( I hope so) but not necessarily. It is a full movie, and what I here consider a possible open ending, might actually be to let the future of the story be considered by the viewer.