MARKED MOVIES

Director: Sam Raimi.
Screenplay: Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Epperson.
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank, Katie Holmes, Gary Cole, J.K. Simmons, Michael Jeter, Kim Dickens, Rosemary Harris, Chelcie Ross, John Beasley, Danny Elfman.

Anytime director Sam Raimi is mentioned in connection with the occult, the “Evil Dead” springs to mind. This however, is not quite the hilarious gore fest he’d produced earlier but a more character driven mystery.

Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) is recently widowed and now a struggling single mother. She has psychic abilities and it’s in this that she tries to make ends meet by helping a few of the locals with her fortune telling abilities. Despite the skepticism of some of her neighbours and the local law enforcement she is asked to help in the investigation of a recent murder when all other leads come to nothing. But by becoming involved in the investigation, she puts herself and her children in danger with some people preferring that their secrets are left alone.

More similiar in structure to Raimi’s
“A Simple Plan” with Billy Bob Thornton (who co-writes this) rather than his horrors or blockbusters like “Spiderman”. It’s a well crafted supernatural thriller that keeps the tension high and the mystery elusive long enough to hold your interest. It also helps to have an impressive cast, which this certainly has. Surprisingly though, it’s not the Oscar winning/nominated actors like Blanchett, Hilary Swank or Greg Kinnear or even the excellent supporting actors like Gary Cole, J.K. Simmons or Giovanni Ribisi that shine in this film but it’s Keanu Reeves who steals the show in this impressive ensemble. He is entirely convincing as a menacing and abusive wife-beating redneck husband. Complete with skip-hat and beard. It’s probably his best performance to date and he should definitely play more unsavoury characters in future.

A tightly constructed little who-done-it? and worth checking out, even if it’s just for Reeves’ excellent powerhouse performance.

Mark Walker

Director: Jon Avnet.
Screenplay: Gary Scott Thompson.
Starring: Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, Amy Brenneman, William Forsythe, Ben McKenzie, Deborah Kara Unger, Neal McDonogh, Stephen Moyer, Victoria Tennant.

Director Jon Avnet released this film with Al Pacino just before “Righteous Kill” in 2007, where he reteamed Al with Robert DeNiro. If you have seen the disaster that that film turned out to be, then you pretty much get the idea where this one is headed. In fact, if I were DeNiro I’d be pretty peeved that Al never mentioned a word about working with Avnet – a director of such stinking magnitude.

Dr. Jack Gramm (Pacino) is a professor of criminal psychology who has also helped the police with the conviction of a serial killer, awaiting execution. It transpires though, that the good Doctor may have got things wrong in his findings and it’s also at this time that he recieves an anonymous phone call informing him that he has 88 minutes to live.

Some feeble attempts at tension and plotting then ensue, with Al probably spending more than 88 minutes to blow-dry his ever increasing hairstyle.
I can’t believe I am wasting my time even commenting on this film. It has already stolen more than enough from me. I do this as a warning to all. This is unequivocally the worst Pacino film I have ever seen – and his worst performance. He spends a lot of the film on the phone and on second thoughts, he could have probably phoned in a better performance rather than wasting his (and our) time turning up.

Never mind minutes, 88 Seconds is too long for this piece of garbage.

Mark Walker

Director: Mark Pellington.
Screenplay: Richard Hatem.
Starring: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Debra Messing, Will Paton, Alan Bates, Lucinda Jenney, David Eigenberg, Ann McDonough.

As soon as I see Richard Gere’s name in the credits of a film, I’m instantly put off. The man has made an absolute fortune without having any real ability and in this he, yet again, proves he has a very limited range. Thankfully though, there is more to this film than Gere and his usual dull repetitive approach.

John Klein (Gere) is a Washington journalist, who after the death of his wife in a car accident, is somehow drawn to Point Pleasant, a small town in West Virginia, where strange and unusual events are happening to the locals. They are all living in fear, having premonitions and reporting sightings of a large black winged figure around the area. This is also the same dark figure that Klein’s late wife claimed to have seen before her death, causing further obvious interest from the journalist and also putting his own life in danger.

Supposedly based on actual events, this is a surprisingly tight and engaging little super-natural thriller. As mentioned earlier, Richard Gere is a plank of wood but the support from the always excellent Laura Linney and the wild eyed Will Patton are very welcome indeed. There is brilliant use of atmosphere and low-key music that raise this film above a particular standard and has many genuinely creepy moments. It doesn’t try to be too fancy but wisely and effectively leaves a lot to the imagination and just gets on with telling an unsettling story. Which it does, to good and chilling effect.

Like a feature length espisode of “The X-Files”, this is a gripping little mystery.

Mark Walker

Director: Bryan Singer.
Screenplay: Bryan Singer, Christopher McQuarrie, Michael Feit Dougan.
Starring: Ron Marquette, Burt Williams, Leigh Hunt, John Renshaw, Brandon Boyce.

In 1995, director Bryan Singer delivered one of the finest crime films – not too mention one of cinema’s killer twists – in “The Usual Suspects”. Before that, he cut his teeth on this low-budget, independant suspense tale.

Whiley Pritcher (Ron Marquette) is an enigmatic stranger who arrives in the small American town of ‘Brewster’ and starts up a public television show asking the local residents “what’s wrong with Brewster?” Not before long, the residents are all calling in, revealing secrets about their neighbours and causing dark fueds, in this once idyllic town.

Although this film was done in the early 90’s it has a very dated 80’s look to it. Despite this, you can still see the early promise from Bryan Singer. It’s competantly shot and achieves quite an eerie feel to the whole thing. This little tale would have made a great Twilight Zone episode but as a feature length film, it doesn’t quite have enough in the tank for it to hold your interest over a short but somehow protracted 87mins running time. Amature acting is a major letdown also but it’s always interesting to see where a career began and Singer certainly shows flourishes of his crime classic to come.

It builds slowly and assuredly and it’s intriguing premise draws you in, but it ultimately loses it’s way and ends with a wimper.

Mark Walker

Director: David Fincher.
Screenplay: John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris.
Starring: Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, Deborah Kara Unger, James Rebhorn, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Peter Donat, Carroll Baker, Anna Katarina, Mark Boone Junior, Jack Kehoe, Tommy Flanagan, Spike Jonze.

Following up the magnificent, visceral serial killer thriller “Se7en” was always going to be a hard task for director David Fincher but with this, he opts for an equally dark, yet more playful, mind-fuck thriller.

Egotistical, successful businessman Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) gets an unusual birthday present from his brother Conrad (Sean Penn) – a gift certificate for a sophisticated recreational company that stages a ‘game,’ the nature of which is never revealed. Before long, Nicholas’ entire existence is torn apart as he desperately clings to his life and his sanity.

First off, this film has got plot holes aplenty but if you give yourself over to it and suspend your disbelief, this is a very enjoyable edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller. Fincher knows what he doing and wrings out the suspense at every turn. The twists and turns of the plot are so relentless that it’s easy to identify with the desperation of Douglas’ character.
Admittedly, I’m not his biggest fan but Douglas is absolutely superb in this. He captures the arrogance and egotistical nature he portrayed before, from his Oscar winning signature role ‘Gordon Gekko’ in “Wall Street” and couples it with a fragile vulnerability. The unravelling of his character is masterful and he delivers a very entertaining performance that just about manages to take your mind of the sheer implausability of the story. Like “Se7en”, Fincher’s ability to craft an environment that’s dark and depressing is once again captured, helped by subtly excellent cinematographer Harris Savides. There is a gloomy air of dread throughout and nothing ever seems natural, adding to the sense of unease as ‘the game’ unfolds. By the time the end credits roll and the final revelation is delivered, you’ll feel as exhausted as Douglas looks.

It doesn’t take much to realise the whole thing simply doesn’t hold up but if looked at as entertainment, then it’s a winner. Farfetched and unlikely, but highly imaginative.

Mark Walker