Bobby Hogg
New Member
Same story as the other thread, except films instead of albums. I know a few of these say 2004 on imdb, but they came out in 2005 over here.
The Jacket
The film centers on a wounded Gulf war veteran who returns to his native Vermont suffering from bouts of amnesia. He is hitching and gets picked up by a stranger, things go pear shaped when a cop pulls them over and is murdered by the stranger. The vet. is wrongly accused of killing the cop and lands up in an asylum. A quack doctor prescribes a course of experimental therapy, restraining him in a heavy duty straight jacket-like device, and locks him away in a body drawer of the basement morgue. During course of his treatment he gets flashbacks and visions of his future , where he can foresee he is to die in four days time. The catch is he doesn't know how. Thus commences the classic race against time.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366627/
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was my favourite film from 2004, and similarly this movie tells a story of the mind and of love, in a different way, but equally poignant in my opinion.
Great movie. I don't remember it getting great reviews, but I knew it would be my kind of film.
Not ashamed to admit I welled up a bit at the end.
Hotel Rwanda
Ten years ago some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda--and in an era of high-speed communication and round the clock news, the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, one million people were brutally murdered. In the face of these unspeakable actions, inspired by his love for his family, an ordinary man summons extraordinary courage to save the lives of over a thousand helpless refugees, by granting them shelter in the hotel he manages.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395169/
Don Cheadle is superb. The film doesn't go into a whole lot of political detail, it just filters down information which represents key plot points, the isolation felt by the people involved as the West eventually abandons them adding to the hopelessness of the situation.
I'm glad the film didn't get too graphic with the killing either, because I don't think I'd be able to watch it in the context, where the world sat by and let it happen. It was sickening enough to watch the film, and see the uselessness of the Western world as they debated between "genocide and "acts of genocide" while people were being massacred.
Not ashamed to admit I welled up a bit several times during this.
The Woodsman
After twelve years in prison, Walter arrives in an unnamed city, moves into a small apartment across the street from an elementary school, gets a job at a lumberyard, and mostly keeps to himself. A quiet, guarded man, Walter finds unexpected solace from Vickie, a tough-talking woman who promises not to judge him for his history. But Walter cannot escape his past. A convicted sex offender, Walter is warily eyed by his brother-in-law, shunned by his sister, lives in fear of being discovered at work, and is hounded by a suspicious local police officer, Detective Lucas. After befriending a young girl in a neighborhood park, Walter must also grapple with the terrible prospect of his own reawakened demons.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361127/
Kevin Bacon is incredible in this as Walter. It's an engrossing film. Many reviewers have said, and I agree, that the key part of this film is that Walter is not portrayed as a monster, as a predator, but as a troubled man full of regret and self-loathing. You are forced to challenge your mindset on whether a child sex offender should be allowed to make his way in society once again, having served his time. This is the definition of a difficult watch.
Oldboy
An average man is kidnapped and imprisoned in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. He then is released, equipped with money, a cellphone and expensive clothes. As he strives to explain his imprisonment and get his revenge, he soon finds out that not only his kidnapper has still plans for him, but that those plans will serve as the even worse finale to 15 years of imprisonment.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/
Yes, I know it was made in 2003, but it only arrived here at the beginning of this year.
Incredibly violent at times, but beautifully, stunningly shot. The corridor scene, a huge fight shot in one flowing take, is glorious to behold.
Crash
Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters, a black police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the distracted district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful black Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with racist cop, a Persian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets, and more.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375679/
At times it's too intricate and too conveniently tied up, but the performances are sensational all round. It pushes all the right emotional buttons.
A History of Violence
Based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, A History of Violence is the tale of Tom Stall. Tom is a loving family man and well-respected citizen of a small Indiana town. But when two savage criminals show up at his diner, Tom is forced to take action and thwart the robbery attempt. Suddenly heralded as a hero who took the courage to stand up to crime, people look up to Tom as a man of high moral regard. But all that media attention has the likes of mobsters showing up at his doorstep, charging that Tom is someone else they've been looking for. Is it a case of mistaken identity or does Tom have a history that no one knows about? Either way, someone's about to find out if there's a history of violence.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399146/
Splendidly gory, and again with strong performances from the entire cast. Cronenburg is typically "no holds barred" showing sucking face wounds and mashed up skulls, as well as explicit sex scenes. Fortunately, for once, he's placed them in amongst a curious story I think we can all enjoy.
Batman Begins
It's Batman.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/
The best of the blockbusters this year, beating out Sin City, for me. This is how Batman should be done really, but I still prefer Michael Keaton. Basically because Keaton is a legend. You should all go and watch Multiplicity. It's a fun-filled Keaton extravaganza. The gay Keaton is simply delightful.
The Jacket
The film centers on a wounded Gulf war veteran who returns to his native Vermont suffering from bouts of amnesia. He is hitching and gets picked up by a stranger, things go pear shaped when a cop pulls them over and is murdered by the stranger. The vet. is wrongly accused of killing the cop and lands up in an asylum. A quack doctor prescribes a course of experimental therapy, restraining him in a heavy duty straight jacket-like device, and locks him away in a body drawer of the basement morgue. During course of his treatment he gets flashbacks and visions of his future , where he can foresee he is to die in four days time. The catch is he doesn't know how. Thus commences the classic race against time.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366627/
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was my favourite film from 2004, and similarly this movie tells a story of the mind and of love, in a different way, but equally poignant in my opinion.
Great movie. I don't remember it getting great reviews, but I knew it would be my kind of film.
Not ashamed to admit I welled up a bit at the end.
Hotel Rwanda
Ten years ago some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda--and in an era of high-speed communication and round the clock news, the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, one million people were brutally murdered. In the face of these unspeakable actions, inspired by his love for his family, an ordinary man summons extraordinary courage to save the lives of over a thousand helpless refugees, by granting them shelter in the hotel he manages.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395169/
Don Cheadle is superb. The film doesn't go into a whole lot of political detail, it just filters down information which represents key plot points, the isolation felt by the people involved as the West eventually abandons them adding to the hopelessness of the situation.
I'm glad the film didn't get too graphic with the killing either, because I don't think I'd be able to watch it in the context, where the world sat by and let it happen. It was sickening enough to watch the film, and see the uselessness of the Western world as they debated between "genocide and "acts of genocide" while people were being massacred.
Not ashamed to admit I welled up a bit several times during this.
The Woodsman
After twelve years in prison, Walter arrives in an unnamed city, moves into a small apartment across the street from an elementary school, gets a job at a lumberyard, and mostly keeps to himself. A quiet, guarded man, Walter finds unexpected solace from Vickie, a tough-talking woman who promises not to judge him for his history. But Walter cannot escape his past. A convicted sex offender, Walter is warily eyed by his brother-in-law, shunned by his sister, lives in fear of being discovered at work, and is hounded by a suspicious local police officer, Detective Lucas. After befriending a young girl in a neighborhood park, Walter must also grapple with the terrible prospect of his own reawakened demons.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361127/
Kevin Bacon is incredible in this as Walter. It's an engrossing film. Many reviewers have said, and I agree, that the key part of this film is that Walter is not portrayed as a monster, as a predator, but as a troubled man full of regret and self-loathing. You are forced to challenge your mindset on whether a child sex offender should be allowed to make his way in society once again, having served his time. This is the definition of a difficult watch.
Oldboy
An average man is kidnapped and imprisoned in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. He then is released, equipped with money, a cellphone and expensive clothes. As he strives to explain his imprisonment and get his revenge, he soon finds out that not only his kidnapper has still plans for him, but that those plans will serve as the even worse finale to 15 years of imprisonment.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/
Yes, I know it was made in 2003, but it only arrived here at the beginning of this year.
Incredibly violent at times, but beautifully, stunningly shot. The corridor scene, a huge fight shot in one flowing take, is glorious to behold.
Crash
Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters, a black police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the distracted district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful black Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with racist cop, a Persian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets, and more.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375679/
At times it's too intricate and too conveniently tied up, but the performances are sensational all round. It pushes all the right emotional buttons.
A History of Violence
Based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, A History of Violence is the tale of Tom Stall. Tom is a loving family man and well-respected citizen of a small Indiana town. But when two savage criminals show up at his diner, Tom is forced to take action and thwart the robbery attempt. Suddenly heralded as a hero who took the courage to stand up to crime, people look up to Tom as a man of high moral regard. But all that media attention has the likes of mobsters showing up at his doorstep, charging that Tom is someone else they've been looking for. Is it a case of mistaken identity or does Tom have a history that no one knows about? Either way, someone's about to find out if there's a history of violence.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399146/
Splendidly gory, and again with strong performances from the entire cast. Cronenburg is typically "no holds barred" showing sucking face wounds and mashed up skulls, as well as explicit sex scenes. Fortunately, for once, he's placed them in amongst a curious story I think we can all enjoy.
Batman Begins
It's Batman.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/
The best of the blockbusters this year, beating out Sin City, for me. This is how Batman should be done really, but I still prefer Michael Keaton. Basically because Keaton is a legend. You should all go and watch Multiplicity. It's a fun-filled Keaton extravaganza. The gay Keaton is simply delightful.
