To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
A federal agent is dead. A killer is loose. And the City of Angels is about to explode.
Filmmaker(s): William Friedkin
A fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.
22 Feb To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
Two Women Making a story that connects is a balancing act that rarely succeeds. You have to use the machinery of storytelling to engage, taking advantage of the power of the devices you select. But at the same time, you have to conceal that machinery....
The Next Three Days (2010)
What if you had 72 hours to save everything you live for?
Filmmaker(s): Paul Haggis
A married couple's life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of murdering her boss. Her husband John would spend the next few years trying to get her released, but there's no evidence that negates the evidence against her. When the strain of being separated from her husband and son gets to her, John decides to find a way to break her out.
22 Feb The Next Three Days (2010)
Pregnant I don’t like Paul Haggis as a man. His work does nothing for me; I am not altered or improved by experiencing his shapes. But I have to admit that the man knows how to tell a story. He engages, and those working with...
22 Feb The Machine Girl (2008)
Borrowing There’s something disturbing about American filmmakers going to other cultures to borrow porn tropes. ‘Kill Bill‘ just never seemed right, like a traditional Jewish grandmother making Tacos for her goyim daughter-in-law‘s brownie troop because she thought that’s what it was all about. Today, when...
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009)
Where is Alice Creed?
Filmmaker(s): J Blakeson
A rich man's daughter is held captive in an abandoned apartment by two former convicts who abducted her and hold her ransom in exchange for her father's money.
19 Feb The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009)
Expectations No one can know, can they? But we always seek to. This small project explores that notion. It is highly abstract: there are four characters, three of whom we see. There is a literal and disturbing kidnapping, but this connects because the universal analogies...
Edge of Darkness (2010)
Some secrets take us to the edge.
Filmmaker(s): Martin Campbell
As a seasoned homicide detective, Thomas Craven has seen the bleakest side of humanity. But nothing prepares him for the toughest investigation of his life: the search for his only daughter Emma's killer. Now, he is on a personal mission to uncover the disturbing secrets surrounding her murder, including corporate corruption, government collusion and Emma's own mysterious life.
19 Feb Edge of Darkness (2010)
Knowledge Aforehand Careful, this contains not only spoilers for this film, but the original teleplay as well. I’ve had the opportunity to see this close to the extraordinary original. In a fascinating superposition, both are by the same director. The original is one of the...
Runaway Train (1985)
Desperate, And Determined To Survive.
Filmmaker(s): Andrei Konchalovsky
A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.
19 Feb Runaway Train (1985)
Movement Having seen ‘Unstoppable,‘ I had to see this. It is hard to know what influence Kurosawa had on this, but one can guess. He had been through his rejection in Japan, suicide attempt and film made and financed by the Soviets. He subsequently arranged...
The Book of Eli (2010)
Some will kill to have it. He will kill to protect it.
Filmmaker(s): Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
19 Feb The Book of Eli (2010)
Can’t Tickle Shucks. I thought for the first 45 minutes that I had found a Denzel Washington film that was right for him and worth watching in ways he helps. Mixing Kung Fu and Jesus is alarmingly common, but this seemed more pure, more cinematic...
Sanctum (2011)
The only way out is down.
Filmmaker(s): Alister Grierson
Master diver Frank McGuire has explored the South Pacific's Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank's team—including 17-year-old son Josh and financier Carl Hurley are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out.
17 Feb Sanctum (2011)
Enclosed We still have things to discover about 3D movies. It is not at all clear that market forces and corporate interests will drive us toward more powerful art. A basic problem is whether the brain will allow itself to be fooled. I suppose it...
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009)
Why would a man frame himself... for murder?
Filmmaker(s): Peter Hyams
Remake of a 1956 Fritz Lang film in which a novelist's investigation of a dirty district attorney leads to a setup within the courtroom.
