The Great Movie Review: The Lady Vanishes

For this category, mystery thrillers, I went to the Netflix recommendations within the mystery/thriller genre and selected two of the movies Netflix rated highest for me: "Shutter Island" and "The Lady Vanishes." Both were presented as options, but seeing as how both Kyle and Micah had already seen "Shutter Island," "The Lady Vanishes" it was!

It was nice to return to Hitchcock, the director whose movies were our first foray into this film journey. I love mysteries and I love movies that keep you guessing along the way, so this was a good pick for that.

Filmed in 1938, "The Lady Vanishes" was one of the last movies Hitchcock directed in the UK before taking his film work to America. The set up of the movie is simple: a young lady named Iris (Margaret Lockwood) strikes up a friendship with an older woman named Miss Froy (May Whitty) aboard a train. Iris takes a nap and when she wakes up, her friend is gone. Not only that, but everyone else on the train insists that there never was such a woman.

The first portion of the film keeps you guessing, wondering if Iris is crazy or if the older woman really did exist. Mysteries set in an enclosed place, like a train, are already more interesting because you know there are a limited number of suspects and a limited number of places for a missing person to be held.

I won't ruin the film by going into too much detail, but I will say that things get a little sillier after the initial shock of the disappearance of Miss Froy. The story begins to take a few wild turns, and some of the characters behave quite peculiarly (even those who are never suspects). The climax of the film includes a long, drawn-out gun battle that never makes you feel that the main characters are really in jeopardy. In addition, there are several guns that are fired for an incredible number of rounds- and remember, this is 1938.

I will say that the conclusion, despite having a twist I didn't see coming, didn't fully satisfy me, as I thought Hitchcock would have had something a little more spectacular up his sleeve. As it is, though, "The Lady Vanishes" is a fairly entertaining little film that any Hitchcock buff should be sure to see. It's not at the caliber of a "Rear Window" or even "Strangers on a Train," but it beats the likes of "The Man Who Know Too Much" and "To Catch a Thief" easily.

The Great Movie Review: Exam

So this is one of those rare movies that Netflix rated really high for me, and so I thought, "Ok, I'll check it out." About a week and a half later Val mentions in the car that she got in her new Netflix movie, Exam, and that it was really great. So I was really excited to see this movie, because, in general, Val has good taste, and Netflix rarely rates anything over a 3.5 for me.

So I rated this movie a 5. It's only 90 minutes long, and it is set in the same room for the entirety of the film. The idea is that there are 8 applicants for 1 job, and it's the job of a lifetime, with benefits that you don't fully understand until near the end of the movie. In this room there are only three rules: 1) If you spoil your paper you are disqualified, 2) If you leave the room for any reason you are disqualified and 3) If you try to communicate with the exam leader or the Guard you are disqualified. Did I mention they only have 80 minutes to answer one question, and they can't figure out what it is.

The opening sequences is full of great depth of field, cinematography and sound design. Even though the movie is set in the same room the whole time, it never feels like the shots stagnate. They probably must have shot that room from every angle possible. This little British Indy film may not have gotten wide release, but I bet it gains a much larger following over the next couple years. A 4.25 out of 5.

This is the first movie in our new theme: Thillers/Mysteries.

Exam (2008)

Group Rating (out of 5):

Stevox: 4
Val: 4
Kyle: 5
Micah: 4

That averages to 4.25 questions out of 5.

Shares this rating with The Sting.

The Great Movie Review: Minority Report

I'll be honest, Tom Cruise is not one of my favorite actors. But as of late he's been gaining points, however slow. I enjoyed The Last Samurai, and Rain Man was excellent, but somewhere in between I forgot about Minority Report. It's helpful that Spielberg directed, but for the life of me I don't know how I could see this movie, think to myself, that was pretty good and then forget about it until about three days ago.

We start in a utopian future, localized around DC. We get introduced to the experimental Pre-Crime Unit, who arrest people for murders they commit in the future. Cruise plays the main character, John Anderton, who is "framed" for a murder he will commit in the future. Just watch it, it'll all make sense. Maybe. If your lucky and you pay attention.

I don't think i could handle living in DC with this going on. Sure murder is nonexistent, but in the back of my mind i would be paranoid the entire time that i will be arrested at any moment. It'd be terrible. Don't talk to anyone, don't interact, don't even look at people! Just yell you're sorry and that no one is going to get hurt! Or is that the opposite of what you should do?

Anyhow, the acting is solid. Cruise and Colin Farrell (hereafter referred to as Bullseye) both give very good performances. I also enjoyed the performance by Peter Stormare as the eye doctor. Your not sure if he's good or bad. And Lois Smith was great as the creepy plant lady.

The special effects haven't aged too badly. The jet packs needed work from the start though. They achieved flight through the magic of the camera. Which means it wobbled around they yanked people around on wires. Bleech.

Story telling. This was the best part of the film. The movie itself was based on a short story by Philip K. Dick. From the intro of the pre-crime unit, the explanation of the tech, to the unveiling of the murder that Anderson is being framed for, the chase and through the solving of the mystery, it grips you and moves you forward.

In the movie they discuss the ethics of arresting people for future crimes they have yet to commit. Obviously there is a great big Jabba the Hut sized problem with that. They haven't actually killed anyone. The justification is that even though it happens in the future, and they haven't done it, it would happen anyways. But by them stopping that chain of events that time line no longer exists. Meaning that the future crime they are supposed to commit no longer even happens. It's like getting arrested for nothing. But on the other hand, were they allowed to continue they would in fact murder said person. But they didn't, soooooo ... yeah the movie didn't do a good job defending this point of view either.

There's not a ton of funny in this movie. It's definitely a mystery/thriller. Even if you aren't into Sci-Fi, you should see this movie.

This movie is a Watch. Watch is good.

Spoiler alert!




Bullseye dies! How did i forget that!

Children of Men

There are very few movies in this world that I will even consider watching more than once. There are even fewer movies in which I recommend, and even fewer that I, yes, cry in. Children of Men breaks all three of those barriers.

It is a movie of “what if?” Set in the year 2027, all women have ceased to give birth. The world is plunged into a state of chaos leaving all governments in ruin along with any glimmer of hope for the future. The British Isles stand alone as the only remaining intact government. With everyone in the world attempting to find a safe place, Britain is forced to forcibly remove any immigrants for fear of losing control to overpopulation.

In all of this, we see Clive Owen trying to live his life with machine gun police lining the streets and terrorist bombings an everyday occurrence. While attempting to live out his seemingly meaningless life, he gets caught up in the discovery of the first birth in 18 years and attempts to aid her in her journey to a boat safe haven in the Atlantic.

I love this movie. Indeed I love What If? films, and yes, I love Clive Owen, but what I love about this film is its willingness to not parade the future around you nor leave you asking questions about technology or history. It simply leaves you with humanity, people and their actions. We see people acting out of fear for their lives; we see people wallowing in the demise of their nationalities and even see a young spoiled generation who simply don’t care. The horror of all these people and their choices is what stuns viewers and makes them question themselves and their own priorities.

Not only were the performances of the film chilling, art direction and cinematography were worth study. Kyle noticed that there were cats in safe places while Jesse was annoyed at all the barking dogs. The most noticeable element of the film was the long takes, there were several. At one point there is a powerful war scene in which there was a six and a half minute take. You don’t even notice as you can’t take your eyes off Clive and the horror of his surroundings.

The club’s reception to this movie was warm, granted, as warm as a grotesque societal looking glass can be. Jesse was worried before watching the movie because he had read the book and found it even more horrifying and hopeless. Valerie spent the last five minutes of the movie and into the credits with her hand over her mouth.

All in all, this movie is fantastic, just one possible picture of a world without hope. Glad I don’t have to worry about that. Ten out of ten stars for me.