The Usual Suspects

Photo source: http://imdb.com

Photo source: http://imdb.com

Genre: Thriller| Year: 1995 | Duration: 106 mins | Director: Bryan Singer | Medium: DVD (Sony Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating: 4.5*/5*

Favorite Dialogue: Verbal: Keaton always said, “I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of him.” Well, I believe in God…and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Söze.”

A group of five unlucky small time criminals, Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), a corrupt former police officer; Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin), a short-tempered professional thief; Fred Fenster (Benicio del Toro); Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollak), a hijacker; and Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey), a con artist with cerebral palsy, are brought to a police station for interrogation in regards to a mass murder on a ship by a semi-mythical Hungarian crime kingpin feared as ‘the devil himself’ and known by others as ‘Keyser Soze’. With the promise of $91 million and the opportunity to keep their lives, the enigmatic Keyser sends this group on a fool’s errand in San Pedro harbor to stop a competitor’s huge cocaine sale that would interfere with Keyser’s own drug operation, using Kobayashi. In the end, the director brilliantly reveals the identity of Keyser Soze.

This visually stunning thriller full of black comedy with intricate twists is my Movie of the Day.

The Astronaut’s Wife

wifeGenre: Sci Fi | Year: 1999 | Duration: 109 mins | Director: Rand Ravich | Medium: DVD (Sony Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating: 3.5*/5*

Fav Dialogue: Nan: “You know, men are like… like parking spaces. All the good ones are taken. All the available ones are handicapped.”

While space-walking, Commander Spencer Armacost (Johnny Depp), a NASA astronaut along with Alex Streck (Nick Cassavetes) encounters a communication glitch, and later return to earth as heroes. Upon return they turn hostile towards each other, and Alex dies bleeding at a conference and his wife commits suicide. Spencer retires from NASA and takes up an executive position in New York. His wife Jillian (Charlize Theron) becomes pregnant with a twin, and she continuously notices behavioral change in Spencer, which gets further suspicious after the account of Reese (Jow Morton) a former NASA employee. Spencer kills Reese and Jillian’s sister Nan after they get some video proof about Spencer being possessed by Extra Terrestrial being. Jillian tries to electrocute both Spencer and herself, to which the true energy alien form of her husband comes out and gets transferred into Jillian thus protecting herself from getting electrocuted. Jillian later re-marries a fighter pilot, and gives birth to the twin who seems to be aliens in human form  being concieved after the return of Spencer from Space.

This intriguingly creepy yet bland thriller lacking better direction and tightness in the plot is my ‘Movie of the Day’.

No Country for Old Men

countryGenre: Thriller/Crime | Year: 2007 | Duration: 122 mins | Director: Ethan & Joen Coen| Medium: VCD (BIG Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating:5*/5*

Fav Dialogue: “Nervous Accountant: Are you going to shoot me?
Anton: That depends. Do you see me?”

This movie is a pitch-perfect thriller that delivers the intended fear and suspense, and at the same time the directorial brilliance thrashes the conventions of the genre. No doubt it won four Oscars, including best film & best director! The film starts with Llewelyn (Josh Brolin) hunting in West Texas when he comes across a drug deal gone bad, a wounded mexican, dead dogs and men, and 2 million dollars in a black satchel bag. He’s throughout chased by Anton (Javier Bardem), a psychopath hitman hired to recover the money, who uses a captive bolt pistol as his choicest weaponry for killing. Sherrif Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is investigating the case of a string of murders by Anton, who plans to retire from active service as he feels over & outmatched. Anton kills Llewelyn, and visits Llewelyn’s wife for a pledge that he had.

This film, which is a faithful adaptation of McCarthy’s novel, and is full of pessimism, nihilism and nervous dark humor, is my “Movie of the Day.”

The Town

townGenre: Thriller| Year: 2010 | Duration: 125 mins | Director: Ben Affleck| Medium: VCD (BIG Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating: 4*/5*

Fav Dialogue: “Doug: We’re fucked if we see a helicopter. We’re fucked if we see SWAT. We see a cruiser, stop, take out the engine blocks, keep moving. No one needs to get hurt.
James: Now these guards like to test you though. They wanna get hurt for ten dollars an hour, don’t get in the way.”

Ben Affleck as both director & lead star of The Town has done a good job with making a crime thriller. The movie is based at Charlestown, MA, which is (in)famous for producing largest numbers of bank robbers per capita! The movie is around the lead robber Doug (Ben Affleck) and his hot headed best friend James (Jeremy Renner) who takes Claire (Rebecca Hall) as a hostage after a bank robbery. After she’s released, Doug pursues her to see that she doesn’t give them up and begins on a romantic journey with her. They are consistently pursued by FBI agent James (Jon Hamm) which eventually breaks up their relationship and kills James. Doug escapes with the loot which he distributes among Claire and Krista (Blake Lively) who’s a past love interest of Doug.

The fast-paced movie filled with excitement, drama and comedy is my ‘Movie of the Day’.

Red

RedGenre: Action/Thriller | Year: 2010 | Duration: 112 mins | Director: Robert Schwentke| Medium: VCD (SONY Music) | Trailer: HERE | My rating: 4*/5*

Fav dialogue: “Marvin: Can I kill her now?”

A powerhouse thriller with Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman, Red has good action sequences, comedy and is fast paced. I liked its postcard scene transitions with its humorous landscape portrayal. The story is gripping with twists and turns.

Red (Retired and Extremely Danngerous) is a story of former black-ops agent, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) a call centre operator dreaming of thrills. Their on-screen chemistry is sparkling. Morgan Freeman as Joe is total kick-ass in the movie, and so is John Malkovich as Marvin. Helen Mirren as Victoria is interesting. Together they wage a war against CIA and its operatives.

Red, my ‘Movie of the Day’ is worth watching if you enjoy good action flicks.