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Layer Cake (2004)
Filmmaker(s): Matthew Vaughn

When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...

Taking the Drugs One narrative form is the con story. All of these folding tricks are there to engage the viewer, to trick him or her into investing in the story. The idea is that some important things you understand about the story, your platform...
Published February 23, 2024
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Dym (2007)
Filmmaker(s): Grzegorz Cisiecki

The story of the person who became the captive of surrealistic madness.

Full Young filmmakers send me films or point me to them, and it is always a matter of trepidation. Young talent needs to be both encouraged and challenged, but the internet is a poor medium for making the prerequisite human connections. The only way to...
Published February 23, 2024
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Unstoppable (2010)
1,000,000 Tons. 100,000 Lives. 100 Minutes.
Filmmaker(s): Tony Scott

A runaway train, transporting deadly, toxic chemicals, is barreling down on Stanton, Pennsylvania, and proves to be unstoppable until a veteran engineer and young conductor risk their lives to try and stop it with a switch engine.

Unmovable Tracks If we cannot get movies that matter, at least we can get movies that engage, and this one does. This one does, and I think there are three devices consciously used. One is plainly obvious, the cinematic energy that Scott knows how to...
Published February 23, 2024
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The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
An unsolved crime. A love story. An unwritten ending.
Filmmaker(s): Juan José Campanella

Hoping to put to rest years of unease concerning a past case, retired criminal investigator Benjamín begins writing a novel based on the unsolved mystery of a newlywed’s rape and murder. With the help of a former colleague, judge Irene, he attempts to make sense of the past.

You Eyes, Your Love, Your Passion This is a truly lovely film that has potential to change lives. I will consider it for my ‘list of fours,‘ when I report it. You may simply fall into the rather soft world it builds, one in which...
Published February 23, 2024
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Don’t Look Now (1973)
Pass the warning.
Filmmaker(s): Nicolas Roeg

While grieving a terrible loss, a married couple meet two mysterious sisters, one of whom gives them a message sent from the afterlife.

Red Riding Hood Restoration I just saw ‘Black Swan,‘ one of the most successful cinematic seductions of the inner worlds of madness. It prompted me to go to this rather than ‘Red Shoes‘ or ‘Nostalghia.‘ What makes this film — indeed this filmmaker — valuable...
Published February 23, 2024
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The Tourist (2010)
It all started when he met a woman.

American tourist Frank meets mysterious British woman Elsie on the train to Venice. Romance seems to bud, but there's more to her than meets the eye.

Charade This film is quite an achievement, because it attempts to reproduce a form from 40 – 50 years ago, without any adjustment. The form is simple, being a variety of a con movie but without announcing itself. It involves a couple and adventure; only...
Published February 23, 2024
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Black Angel (2002)
Filmmaker(s): Tinto Brass

Trapped in an unhappy marriage, the wife of a high ranking Fascist official starts a dangerous, self-destructive relationship with a duplicitous S.S. Officer.

Europa’s Butt Franco and Brass, even Argento matter to me. They have intuition that inspires. Yes, they make vulgar and sometimes nonsensical films. But that is just a matter of degree compared to Hollywood fare, right? What I like about Brass isn’t about the women...
Published February 23, 2024
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The Oxford Murders (2008)
There is no way of finding a single absolute truth
Filmmaker(s): Álex de la Iglesia

At Oxford University, a professor and a grad student work together to try and stop a potential series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols.

Talk Around Her It is simply a fact that no film can stand by itself. Even when you deeply lose yourself in the experience, the cognitive machinery you use is different than in daily life — more toward directed dreamstate. Added to that is the...
Published February 23, 2024
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Chloe (2009)
If the one you love was lying to you, how far would you go to find out the truth?
Filmmaker(s): Atom Egoyan

A doctor hires an escort to seduce her husband, whom she suspects of cheating, though unforeseen events put the family in danger.

The Son Thinking about film and how it works is made easier when you have two films that in some way are similar. Here we had an original French film that was really quite effective. It powerfully gave us the inner dance of two conflicting...
Published February 23, 2024
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A Film with Me in It (2008)
A black comedy about screenwriting and slightly fatal accidents
Filmmaker(s): Ian Fitzgibbon

A dissolute scriptwriter and a dejected actor become unwittingly drawn into a labyrinthine mess when several people experience bizarre accidental deaths in their flat. Though the men didn't deliberately cause any of the incidents, they fear that they will be unfairly pegged as murderers if they relay information to the cops, and promptly set about disposing of the corpses in gruesome ways.

Interesting and Uninteresting Muddles Once again, we have a script concept that is promising enough to matter. Once again, we have an inept film built on that idea, inept because the writer wanted to be in it. The overall shape is an ordinary, explicit fold:...
Published February 22, 2024
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