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Skyfall (2012)
Think on your sins.
Filmmaker(s): Sam Mendes

When Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong, agents around the world are exposed and MI6 headquarters is attacked. While M faces challenges to her authority and position from Gareth Mallory, the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, it's up to Bond, aided only by field agent Eve, to locate the mastermind behind the attack.

Hacked Screens Gosh, what a difference it makes when you bring in real artists! Here we have essentially the same formula as always, produced by the same Broccoli thick heads as usual. Also, as usual, the production was ‘troubled,’ with fundamental changes occurring well into...
Published February 6, 2024
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Gravity (2013)
Don't let go.
Filmmaker(s): Alfonso Cuarón

Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

The Other Red Shoe One use of science fiction is to purify the threads of a story by displacing them from the distracting familiar. This gives more than clarity; it often frees the narrative to rest in our souls rather than our eyes, rather like...
Published February 6, 2024
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World War Z (2013)
There will come a day when the world we know will end.
Filmmaker(s): Marc Forster

Life for former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family seems content. Suddenly, the world is plagued by a mysterious infection turning whole human populations into rampaging mindless zombies. After barely escaping the chaos, Lane is persuaded to go on a mission to investigate this disease. What follows is a perilous trek around the world where Lane must brave horrific dangers and long odds to find answers before human civilization falls.

Angry Water I understand that the development of this was a mess. What mattered to me were three things done well: The transition from normal life to the human waves was jarringly effective. What I expect is a traditional zombie story. Some explanation and setup...
Published February 5, 2024
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Phantom of Chinatown (1940)
A Slight Case Of Murder... Solved by Jimmy Wong!
Filmmaker(s): Phil Rosen

In the middle of a pictorial lecture on his recent expedition to the Mongolian Desert, Dr. John Benton,the famous explorer, drinks from the water bottle on his lecture table, collapses and dies. His last words "Eternal Fire" are the only clue Chinese detective Jimmy Wong and Captain Street of the police department have to work on.

Conspiratorial Filmmaking I maintain that some very important conventions were worked out in 30s mysteries. The Charlie Chan series was instrumental in some of these, and this is the last of them. It incidentally has Charlie‘s son as the detective, the first Asian playing the...
Published February 5, 2024
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The House of Fear (1939)
Filmmaker(s): Joe May

A detective goes undercover as a producer to investigate an actor's murder, which occurred during the performance of a play...

Triple Staged I watch these old mysteries not because I expect to find a good one. They rarely are, but often you can see a free art experimenting with different cinematic tricks while no one yet had a settled cinematic vocabulary. And here is a...
Published February 5, 2024
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The House of the Yellow Carpet (1983)
Filmmaker(s): Carlo Lizzani

Franca and her husband Antonio decide to sell a yellow rug which was a gift of Franca's stepfather. One day, while Antonio is out, a strange man rings saying he wishes to buy the rug. But the man's visit begins a twisted a nightmare.

Encounters with Others in One Body For the first 4/5s, this is a cheaply done version of a few similar films, where a husband concocts a drama to fool his wife. In this case, it is validate a perceived infatuation with another (albeit deceased) man....
Published February 5, 2024
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I, Frankenstein (2014)
In the battle between good and evil, an immortal holds the key
Filmmaker(s): Stuart Beattie

200 years after his shocking creation, Dr. Frankenstein's creature, Adam, still walks the earth. But when he finds himself in the middle of a war over the fate of humanity, Adam discovers he holds the key that could destroy humankind.

Evil Residents We are awash in kiddie films that have the battle between good and evil made explicit in armies on each side. We will have to endure this for a while because such embodiment means we can have cinematic combat and reduction of good...
Published February 5, 2024
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Murder by Decree (1979)
The Jack the Ripper Murders. Sherlock Holmes lifts the veil of secrecy, corruption and terror at the heart of the throne of England itself. Clue by clue... Murder by murder...
Filmmaker(s): Bob Clark

Sherlock Holmes is drawn into the case of Jack the Ripper who is killing prostitutes in London's East End. Assisted by Dr. Watson, and using information provided by a renowned psychic, Robert Lees, Holmes finds that the murders may have its roots in a Royal indiscretion and that a cover-up is being managed by politicians at the highest level, all of whom happen to be Masons.

Environmental Agency The detective film is an essential component in how movies work. I‘m trying to abstract the components that work, what doesn‘t and why. And that is taking me through many detective films, and every Holmes film is a must. Putting Holmes in perspective:...
Published February 4, 2024
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The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014)
Filmmaker(s): Tsui Hark

Yang Zirong disguises himself as a bandit to infiltrate and destroy a bandit group. He joins hands with a hostage, and together, they fight against the warlord, Hawk.

The Japanese Win? About a 2D viewing. This is very clearly produced under Party sponsorship to celebrate the soldiers who won the country. The contrast with US WWII films is striking. We require tough heroes, where here there is something more noble. Two remarkable things…...
Published February 4, 2024
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NH 10 (2015)
No Turning Back
Filmmaker(s): Navdeep Singh

Meera and Arjun are professionals living in Gurgaon. On their way to a luxurious desert holiday they stop on a Highway dhaba for dinner, where they witness a young girl being picked up by a bunch of hoodlums. Arjun chooses to step in, unmindful of the danger ahead.

The Nation’s Road When I write about folding, rarely do I mention this sort. There are two threads here, designed to reinforce each other. One thread is a story about a modern Indian woman, someone who might fit into an American movie well enough. In...
Published February 4, 2024
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