Red Eye

Tags

2000's, Brian Cox, Cillian Murphy, Rachel McAdams, Red Eye, Thriller, Wes Craven

Film Title

Red Eye

Director

Wes Craven

Starring

• Rachel McAdams as Lisa Reisert
• Cillian Murphy as Jackson Ripper
• Brian Cox as Joe Reisert

Wes Craven takes to the air for this suspenseful little thriller that is lean, mean and nail-biting stuff. Red Eye, with many a Hitchcockian element to it, doesn’t aspire to be something brand spanking new; its main objective is to thrill and that’s what it does.

Lisa Reisert is a hotel manager whose life is all about dealing with tough customers and complaints. We pick up with her in Dallas, where she has just attended the funeral of her Grandmother. She’s not the biggest fan of flying, but is going to catch the red-eye flight back to Miami. Unfortunately, her flight is delayed and she has to wait around for a little while. It’s here that she meets the polite and handsome Jackson Ripper, who engages in friendly talk with her. When the flight is ready, they are happy and bemused to see that they are sitting next to each other on the plane. Though he keeps Lisa calm, there’s something not quite right about Jackson which becomes abundantly clear to us and her. What started as flirting and charming conversation soon turns to something very sinister as the plane takes off. Jackson admits to being part of a terrorist organisation that needs Lisa’s expertise in a deadly plan. You see the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security is staying in the hotel Lisa works in and the people Jackson works for are planning an elaborate assassination for him. They just need Lisa to switch his room for it to be successful. As leverage to ensure she takes part, Jackson informs the terrified Lisa that her father will be killed if his demands aren’t met. Faced with precious time that is ticking away, Lisa digs into her resolve in order to not buckle under the shock that befalls her. But just how long can she hold the evil and ruthless Jackson off before death begins to occur?

Red Eye benefits from the sure hand of Wes Craven in the directing chair. Having been one of the kings of the horror genre, his skills at inducing tension and terror are utilized here in this tightly compact suspense thriller. He gets over a real claustrophobia and paranoia that seeps into every frame, especially the main chunk that is airborne and the most unnerving. Red Eye isn’t aiming for immense originality or to be a game changing suspense movie; its most concerned with offering up something nail-biting and with more than a couple of jolts of unpredictability. economical running time makes sure that we are on the edge of our seats and no flab is seen leaking in Red Eye. The last half hour goes a bit overboard, but the build up and the tightness of most of it makes it easy to ignore and still a well constructed thriller with excitement and a whole lot of tension. The pacing is mainly where the movie is at, cleverly getting to the point after a short but bracing warm up before a white-knuckle intensity covers it splendidly. The mid-air game of sinister cat and mouse is sustained through effectively up close camerawork and  Marco Beltrami, who previously scored the haunting music for Craven’s Scream, is ace at filtering an electronic pulse into Red Eye. He starts with little drops of suspense, before cranking up the action and drama for something quickening and growing in volume.

Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy are the main players in this movie and they are talented performers. McAdams is a kind of actress who keeps things grounded and her part sympathetic and resourceful. She’s no screaming victim and though under duress, she makes her part one of both believable smarts and vulnerability. Cillian Murphy, with his intense stare and icy blue eyes, is superbly cast as the seemingly charming man who is anything but. Nastiness is his middle name but you can also sense some form of desperation to get his job done no matter what from the always watchable Murphy. Together, both are engaged in a deadly hunter and prey routine that is extremely entertaining. Although his appearance is rather sporadic, it’s always good to see Brian Cox in a movie and he is worth the watch no matter how small the role.

A tense and efficient thriller, Red Eye shows Wes Craven directing with great economy and style to give us a cracking suspense thriller.

The Ring

Tags

2000's, Brian Cox, David Dorfman, Gore Verbinski, Horror, Jane Alexander, Martin Henderson, Naomi Watts, The Ring

Film Title

The Ring

Director

Gore Verbinski

Starring

• Naomi Watts as Rachel Keller
• Martin Henderson as Noah
• David Dorfman as Aidan Keller
• Brian Cox as Richard Morgan
• Jane Alexander as Dr. Grasnik

The Ring is a remake of a well-respected horror so I can understand the trepidation of some people about how successful it would be. They need not have worried because The Ring is an exceptionally well crafted and very unsettling horror with imaginative brush strokes.

The Ring centres around an unusual videotape that comes with a strange and unsettling story. Filled with bizarre images, it is said that anyone who views it will then receive a phone call, telling the viewer that they will die in seven days. A group of teenagers who viewed the tape while on a trip all turn up dead exactly a week later and at the exact same time. One of the victims was the teenage niece of Rachel Keller, an investigative journalist. While supporting her young son Aidan who was very close with his cousin and is very troubled by it, she becomes curious after she hears someone mention the sinister tape. Being a journalist, she is naturally drawn to delve into the mysterious case. Tracking the whereabouts of her niece she comes to the cabin she stayed at, and it is here that she encounters the mysterious tape. In an attempt to understand the events attributed to the tape, Rachel watches it and sure enough receives the ominous phone call of seven days left. Desperate to uncover what is going on and fearing for her life, she calls upon the services of her ex-boyfriend Noah, who is also the father to Aidan. He is an expert in video technology and is helpful to her cause, though he is very skeptical of the power of the tape. In her investigation, the images of the tape and strange visions lead her to link it with The Morgan family, in particular a strange young girl named Samara. Yet there is still more to unearth that could spell a different outcome for all party to the tape. Now terrified of whether she can save herself and those closest, Rachel has just seven days to discover the origins of the tape before it is too late for anything else.

Gore Verbinski handles the material with a stylistic yet still accomplished sense of direction. He has a clear eye for pacing and making events not what they seem, deepening the mystery with resplendent assurance and command. While he is very much a visual director, he also taps into the unpredictable and unraveling mystery of the piece rather well. As The Ring boasts a lot more thematic maters than the average horror film, this is something of a given. I loved seeing a horror film that wasn’t mindless but instead intelligent and gripping. Imagery throughout The Ring is pretty haunting and the way that it is explored deeply is another bonus in the supernatural horror of everything. And by the far the most creepy image is that of Samara, a pale young girl in white dress and flowing black tresses that cover the eyes emerging from a well on the tape. There are some stretches within The Ring that get a bit too drawn out for its own good. But the overall impact and atmosphere paper over these minor cracks in what is still an essentially frightening movie, that gladly has brains as well as a scare factor. The green-blue tint that pervades almost all of the film conjures a surreal aura to everything, which goes a long way in making the audience feel both drawn into the building set of events and cause deep anxiety. This use of a colour palette can’t be praised highly enough as it weaves a creative spell all through The Ring. Hans Zimmer is on music duties and structures a deepening dead that drips from every sonic tweak he infuses into the film.

Naomi Watts is very convincing in the terrified yet steadfast role of Rachel, who finds that the mystery with the tape may just cost her everything if she doesn’t decipher it all quickly. Watts brings out a purposefulness and a confusion that go in hand in hand in making us feel something for the character whose investigation turns deadly and more unsettling. Supporting her is the easy charm and growing nervousness of Martin Henderson as Noah, who scoffs at the idea of a tape having that power but then regretting it big time. It must be said that the level of fear that both Watts and Henderson project is excellently conveyed and pretty potent. David Dorfman plays the scared and unusual child of Rachel’s well, with the drawings and things that he sees becoming integral to the plot. Brian Cox and Jane Alexander add a lot to their roles as people from Samara’s past, who are terrified of the horror that occurred and seems to be spreading once more.

A downright eerie film with a compelling mystery throughout, The Ring is one hell of a spooky film that knows just the right way to have you creeped out as well as getting you to think.

Match Point

Tags

2000's, Brian Cox, Drama, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Match Point, Matthew Goode, Penelope Wilton, Scarlett Johansson, Thriller, Woody Allen

Film Title

Match Point

Director

Woody Allen

Starring

• Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Chris Wilton
• Scarlett Johansson as Nola Rice
• Emily Mortimer as Chloe Hewett Wilton
• Matthew Goode as Tom Hewett
• Brian Cox as Alec Hewett
• Penelope Wilton as Eleanor Hewett

A dramatic thriller that takes aim at the price of ambition, lust and luck, Match Point is gripping viewing and an excellent change of pace for Woody Allen.

Chris Wilton is a tennis instructor, who used to be a pro. As the film opens, he gets a job at a swanky club in London. While there, he strikes up a friendship with the wealthy Tom Hewett, who introduces Chris to his world of riches and his sweet sister Chloe. Chris is someone who wants to strive for something in life, mainly a sense of position, and slowly he integrates himself into Tom’s family and climbs the social ladder due to his charming nature. The family approves of the charming Chris and he soon becomes engaged to Chloe, who he really cares for. As he becomes a part of the wealthy life, he encounters Nola Rice, a struggling American actress who is engaged to marry Tom. A sexual spark is apparent from the first meeting and as Chris thinks more about Nola, the two eventually give into a passionate encounter. Afterwards, ambitious Chris marries Chloe, but can’t shake the thought of the bewitching Nola. Many months later, he encounters her again and as she has broken with Tom, he resumes his clandestine affair with her. Meanwhile, Chloe is desperate to have a child and becomes suspicious that Chris is straying from the marriage bed. Yet Chris, with all his ambition and want for his ideal life to stay well, is not prepared for when Nola becomes particularly temperamental and significantly obsessed with Chris and the idea of him leaving his wife for her. Chris is put into a tailspin as his actions to keep her quiet seem to have no affect on her and she starts to become a lot more unstable. Fearing that his perfect existence is going to crumble, he realises that he may have to take drastic action to keep his affair silent and carry on his charmed life that he has become very accustomed to.

Match Point represents Woody Allen at some of his most serious and passionate, tinged with more than a real hint of darkness. He has looked at themes of fate and luck before, but here it has a really philosophical edge that also examines the morality of ones actions with a real feeling of impending doom. Although it has traces of humour which is customary from Allen, he keeps it controlled and allows the complexity and drama to unfold without overloading it with humour. He injects a real sense of urgency into the proceedings that is felt throughout the entire film. Match Point also stands as one of Allen’s most sensual movies, filled with some really passionate love scenes between Chris and Nola that shows the sheer animal attraction and magnetism between them. Allen also dispenses with his usual jazz music, instead using opera that captures the undeniable passions and encroaching fears that envelope Chris. Even the visuals have a moody atmosphere fear to them which adds further impact to the tale of consequence and luck. I would suggest this film to people who don’t usually watch Allen’s stuff as it may just change your mind.

Where Match Point really soars is with the characters and the splendid acting on display. In the lead role of the social climber threatened by his actions, Jonathan Rhys Meyers excels at making Chris both a selfish and conflicted character. He could have been just a cold, unfeeling character, but Meyers lets us see both sides of a character whose near destruction is built from his own hands and his own ambitious nature. Equally as excellent is Scarlett Johansson, who turns in an exemplary performance. Playing Nola as something of a femme fatale, but injecting determination, capricious anger and obsession into the mix, Johansson succeeds at fleshing her out and making a deep impression with a bewitching and layered performance. And the chemistry shared between Meyers and Johansson is all sorts of sexy, electric and complicated. Emily Mortimer is very good as the privileged Chloe, who is won over by Chris yet senses that something is not quite right. Matthew Goode is impressive with the material he is given, as are Brian Cox and Penelope Wilton as the rich parents welcoming Chris into their world.

With great writing, a multitude of interesting themes and a genuinely serious maturity about it, Match Point stands as an accomplished film from the prolific Woody Allen.

Coriolanus

Tags

2010's, Brian Cox, Coriolanus, Gerard Butler, James Nesbitt, Jessica Chastain, Paul Jesson, Ralph Fiennes, Tragedy, Vanessa Redgrave, William Shakespeare

Film Title

Coriolanus

Director

Ralph Fiennes

Starring

• Ralph Fiennes as Caius Martius Coriolanus
• Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius
• Vanessa Redgrave as Volumnia
• Brian Cox as Menenius
• Jessica Chastain as Virgilia
• James Nesbitt as Sicinius
• Paul Jesson as Brutus

A visceral, blood-soaked modern-day adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy which marks the directorial debut of Ralph Fiennes, Coriolanus proves that Shakespeare is just as relevant today as he has ever been with themes of political manipulation and war.

In a battle ravaged version of Rome, riots are taking place on the streets due to a shortage of food and a brutal war is raging against the neighbouring Volscians. The brilliant Roman general Caius Martius is a vicious and brutal warrior  just returning from combat with his old enemy Tullus Aufidius. Upon arrival, he is bestowed with the powerful title of Coriolanus. His ambitious mother Volumnia and influential Senator Menenius persuade him to run for political office, but this doesn’t fair well with Coriolanus as he looks down at the common people and sees them as contemptible. He does however obey his mother and strive for power within the political sphere. Other members of the senate have different ideas about this and begin to incur the wrath of the people who detest his arrogance and slander towards them. This causes them to rise up against the general and he is subsequently banished from Rome as a traitor. Once banished, Coriolanus wanders through the war-torn countryside and comes across his sworn enemy Aufidius. Betrayed by his people and filled with deep rage, Coriolanus forms an unlikely alliance with his old opponent and they plan to take revenge on Rome.

With his directorial debut, Ralph Fiennes brings a gritty realism to the scenes of war and utilises close-ups and dizzying tracking shots to get to the heart of emotion. Updating Shakespeare into a modern context must have provided a challenge, but Fiennes pull it off admirably and shows that the Bard’s work can be applied to modern events just as it is classic events from centuries ago. Admittedly, at first hearing the classical dialogue of Shakespeare spoken in a modern setting can be hard to understand and get used to, but once you become attuned to the words and style the benefits of Coriolanus are deeply rewarding. The score is laced with a militant precision as Coriolanus begins his encroaching plans for revenge with the aid of his old enemy and the impending notion of tragedy.

What really gives Coriolanus its power is the astonishing cast assembled. In the title role, Ralph Fiennes is fierce, arrogant and raging as he changes from ‘man to dragon’ and declares vengeance on Rome. Fiennes gives the role his all and really gets to the heart of this complex character with his powerful delivery and barely contained intensity that radiates from his eyes. Gerard Butler is impressively tough and suspecting as his sworn enemy who becomes an ally. Vanessa Redgrave is brilliant as Volumnia, the autocratic mother of Coriolanus. Ambitious, influential and  overly supportive, Redgrave brings a whole range of emotions to the part of this matriarch and speaks her lines with authority and confidence. Her scenes are electrifying with Ralph Fiennes as she attempts to reason with him, whilst also issuing her powerful and domineering hold over her son. Brian Cox is effectively used as a powerful Senator who is firmly on the side of Coriolanus, whilst Jessica Chastain exudes vulnerability and tenderness as Virgilia, the wife of Coriolanus. James Nesbitt and Paul Jesson relish their roles as politicians who succeed in manipulating events so that Coriolanus is banished.

Dramatic, violent and gripping, Coriolanus is Shakespeare updated in visceral and powerful fashion, boasting fantastic performances and assured direction.

X2: X-Men United

Tags

2000's, Aaron Stanford, Action, Alan Cumming, Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Bryan Singer, Famke Janssen, Fantasy, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Kelly Hu, Patrick Stewart, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Shawn Ashmore, X2: X-Men United

Film Title

X2: X-Men United

Director

Bryan Singer

Starring

• Patrick Stewart as Professor X
• Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
• Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
• Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm
• Famke Janssen as Jean Grey
• James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops
• Anna Paquin as Marie/Rogue
• Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique
• Brian Cox as Colonel William Stryker
• Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler
• Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce/Pyro
• Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake/Iceman
• Kelly Hu as Lady Deathstrike

Following on from the groundwork of the first movie, X2: X-Men United is to many including me, a better film than the first. We get more action, character development and an exciting storyline. The first one is a great movie, but for me X2 is a film I hold in higher regard because of its breathless action, special effects and high calibre cast.

After an attempt on the president’s life by a mutant, the prejudice between humans and mutants continues to grow. Professor X initially wonders whether his old friend and now adversary Magneto had anything to do with it. Meanwhile, Wolverine is trying to piece together the pieces of his past but finding it increasingly hard to find answers. Professor X and Cyclops visit Magneto in his prison to find out what he knows, while Jean Grey and Storm track down the mutant who made an attempt on the president’s life. Wolverine is left to watch over the students whilst all of this is going on. The intelligent Professor X soon discovers that it wasn’t Magneto who orchestrated the attack, but the mysterious and sadistic Colonel Stryker, who later captures the Professor and Cyclops and holds the key to Wolverine’s past. Stryker plans to use him to locate the powerful Cerebro, which will enable him to find every mutant in the world and kill them. He sends his forces to Xavier’s academy where they capture several students, many of the others including Rogue, her new boyfriend Bobby/Iceman and John/Pyro manage to escape with Wolverine. After discovering the mutant who attempted to kill the president, his name is Nightcrawler and he can teleport, Storm and Jean realise he was brainwashed to do it by Stryker. The X-Men reluctantly team up with Magneto and his partner the shapeshifter Mystique to bring down Stryker’s plan of mutant extermination.

Whereas in the first movie, Bryan Singer established the characters, certain ones were not given enough screen time. He more than makes up for this with X2, by expanding character arcs and introducing new characters. One thing that is enjoyable about the film is the way it manages to keep our interest by cross-cutting between the different factions of the team as they discover Stryker’s nefarious plan. This clearly shows the breathless scope of Singer’s film as he manages to balance this character development with stunning set pieces and revelations. The script is excellent again, this time focusing on the theme of mutant acceptance into the world and how Professor X peacefully yet forcefully tries to push this idea. It is also interesting to watch Magneto and his band of mutants join forces with the X-Men, as the goals for both are different but in this time of uncertainty they are very much united in bringing the sadistic Stryker down.

The cast of the film is high calibre to say the least. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen both shine as the strong adversary’s with wit and intelligence. Hugh Jackman continues his role of Wolverine with charm and aggression.  Halle Berry is given a lot more to do as Storm and nails the role with a determination and sexy kick ass attitude. Famke Janssen grows in power as Jean, making her a character you really don’t want to mess with. Unfortunately, James Marsden is given little to do as Cyclops in this movie. On the other hand, Anna Paquin continues to impress as Rogue, portraying her angst and frustration as she begins a relationship but can’t physically connect. Brian Cox is a splendidly evil villain in this and is relishes the despicable nature of his character with glee. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos continues to slink across the screen with a sexy yet dangerous appeal as Mystique. Alan Cumming manages to elicit sympathy for the character of Nightcrawler, showing how he isn’t as bad as people have made him out to be and how he is a god-fearing person. New to the X-Men universe are Aaron Stanford as the fire controlling Pyro and Shawn Ashmore as the Iceman. The two are excellently cast, with Iceman’s revelation to his parents that he is a mutant a particularly moving moment and Pyro considering defecting Magneto’s band of mutants an interesting choice.  Rounding out the cast is Kelly Hu, who provides silent but lethal menace as the claw wielding Lady Deathstrike. Her battle with Wolverine is an action-packed set piece that barely pauses for breath.

Directed with precision by Bryan Singer, X2 emerges as an action-packed follow-up to X-Men that more than capably stands on its own two feet as a great movie.