Six Degrees of Helter Skelter: 2009 documentary directed
by Michael Dorsey, about the Manson Family murders. It’s basically a low-budget filmed tour of
the crime scenes. It’s a little poppish
and anecdotal, with a mildly kitschy tourist feel. I suppose it would be interesting if you want
to see the sights without making the trip to Los Angeles, but it couldn’t keep
my attention. Read the book instead.
Strangers on a Train: 1951 psychological crime thriller directed by
Alfred Hitchcock and starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker, and Patricia
Hitchcock. Tennis star Guy Hains
(Granger) is riding on a train from D.C. to New York to visit his girlfriend,
when a stranger approaches him in the lounge car. Bruno (Walker) is an unpleasantly assertive
trust fund brat who wants to hear just everything about what he’s read in the
gossip columns – is it true that the great Guy Hains is trying to divorce his
awful cheating wife? Did you know that
my dad’s a pain in the neck, too? Gee,
wouldn’t it be swell if we could pull off some kind of criss-cross murder? I kill your wife, you kill my father, and
there’s nothing to connect us because we’re total strangers. Oh, what a lark!
Guy thinks
Bruno’s pulling his leg until his wife is murdered and he’s being blackmailed
into holding up his end of the bargain.
The police are closing in, his girlfriend’s aristocratic family is
starting to ask questions, and Bruno gets more deranged by the hour.
It’s so
brilliant. An excellent thriller,
definitely a must-see. The acting is
phenomenal, especially Robert Walker – the scene where he stalks Guy’s wife
through an amusement park and follows her into the Tunnel of Love is
amazing. And Patricia Hitchcock –
Alfred’s daughter – is delightful as the girlfriend’s kicky, morbid little
sister.
Despicable Me 2: 2013 computer animated action comedy directed
by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, and starring Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig,
Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Kristen Schaal, and Steve
Coogan. Spoilers ahead for those of you
who haven’t seen the first (you should, it’s totes adorbs). Former super villain Gru (Carell) has happily
settled into fatherhood after adopting three young sisters, and is trying to
make a living as a jam and jelly maker since he’s no longer doing the whole
world-domination thing. He’s pulled back
into the life as a spy for the good guys, the Anti-Villain League, when a
secret laboratory is stolen by a mysterious evildoer. He’s paired up with undercover agent Lucy
Wilde (Wiig), and must find the bad guy, keep his crush on Lucy under wraps,
and deal with his oldest daughter’s sudden interest in boys.
It’s
super duper cute. It’s silly and funny
and light but not pandering. I liked the
first movie more, but it’s definitely worth watching.
The Avengers: 2012 Marvel superhero action movie directed
by Joss Whedon and starring Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America
(Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow
(Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Rennder), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and Nick
Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).
Before I
start with the plot summary, let me just say that it helps tremendously if you
have a basic knowledge of at least some of the aforementioned characters. Otherwise this may be lost on you. I’ll keep it basic: when an alien race
threatens Earth with total human enslavement, a government agency known as
S.H.I.E.L.D. gathers together a group of superheroes to stop them. The Avengers, as they’re being called, are a
band with disparate personalities and motives: a god with a magical hammer, a
doctor with some serious anger management issues, a femme fatale assassin, an
arrogant rich dude with a weaponized suit of armor, and a clean-cut Strong Man
adjusting to life in the modern era after being frozen for 70 years. They have to figure out how to work together
and trust each other and S.H.I.E.L.D., or the human race is doomed.
I really,
really liked it. The tension between the
characters kept things interesting, it never dragged, it was funny with some
semi-cheesy action movie banter, and I love pretty much everyone involved with
it. If you liked any of the associated
movies then definitely see it, it brings all the threads together nicely. And if you haven’t seen those movies this
could be an interesting place to start.
Lawless:
2012 crime drama directed by John Hillcoat and starring Shia LaBeouf,
Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, and Mia
Wasikowska. The Bondurant brothers are
successful moonshiners in 1930s Virginia, and big changes are afoot: a foxy
young woman with a murky past wants a job at their gas station, the youngest
Bondurant, Jack, wants a more prominent role in the family business, and a
slick, sleazy politician named Rakes wants a cut of their profits. What’s a family to do but fight the
government, fight each other, and fight for survival? Or whatever.
I really
wanted to like this more. It seemed like
a slam-dunk to me. With the exception of
La-Boof, I like all the actors. And
1930s moonshiners – does that not sound badass?
I did enjoy some things: Tom
Hardy could not be more virile if he tried, Chastain does a great job with what
she’s been given, Wasikowska is adorable, the costumes are drool-worthy. But the things I liked were outweighed by the
things that annoyed me: Shia’s accent was almost too thick to understand at
times and not even remotely accurate, the sound editing was terrible, the
character Banner came and went nonsensically, and Pearce was just way too over
the top.
It’s fine.
It’s okay. It’s
entertaining. If you keep your
expectations low, you may enjoy it.
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