Blow Out (1981) John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow. Brian de Palma's thriller that builds from a mild evening out, recording sounds. Jack is a movie sound effects technician He is near a bridge over a stream and all of a sudden a car comes careening over that bridge, through the railing, into the stream. Jack runs to the edge and jumps in and is able to rescue a girl from the car. He gets her to a hospital, but she seems less than grateful. Later in running his tape of the scene, he realizes there is a shot just before the car goes through the rail. The rest of the film is him trying to save his life and the girl because some one is destroying everything in his studio looking for anything about the accident. Enjoyed revisiting dePalma's stylish film. The last act at the Philadelphia train station and the fireworks, as Jack frantically tries to find Sally, is hold your breath stuff. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082085/
Mercury Rising (1998) Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Miko Hughes. Hughes steals the film from Willis, as a 9 year old autistic boy who is a savant at solving puzzles. He just has to look at them and they are clear - to him. He is given a new puzzle book and solves the puzzle and calls the number to give the answer. It is a test the NSA is conducting of their new super code, thinking no one could possibly solve it. Now the head of the agency (Baldwin) sends assassins to kill the family, which they do - except for the boy, Simon. He is hiding and the FBI is called in by local police to take charge of a missing child case. Art Jeffries is assigned the case, not exactly a plum but he grudgingly goes to the house and he finds the kid. From that point on, it is how Art defends and manages to keep Simon alive. Miko is so good as this strange little guy, I really thought he WAS autistic. Bruce has real rapport with him and their adventures are believable. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120749/
Le Divorce (2003) Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Leslie Caron. Merchant/Ivory film about the marriage of a Frenchman and an American woman that is ending. Her half-sister comes to Paris to be with her and promptly finds guys to have sex with. I really disliked almost all the characters in this film. Usually, there is at least one person in a Ivory film that you can like and/or admire. Not so here. The cinematography of Paris and the country is pretty. 5/5 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0306734/
Doubt (2008) Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymore Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis. 1964 in a working class Catholic School, with a strict Head Nun and a relaxed Priest. The contention between them is modernization versus tradition. The catalyst is the first black student, Donald Miller, who is lonely and unhappy and who Father Flynn tries to help. Which is misunderstood by the young and naive Sister James. When she brings her concerns to Sister Aloysius attention, it soon becomes war. The scene between Sister.A and Mrs Miller is great acting. You feel the mothers fear and pain, and the sister's shock and single mindedness. A bleak and sombre look back. I am not a catholic so have no idea how much truth is in the film, but I was a young woman during that time and it reflects the control and guilt institutions were able to exert on people. Marvelous acting by the entire cast. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0918927/
Unstoppable (2010) Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson. Rewatch. The engineer and young conductor must find a way to stop a runaway train before it derails on a sharp curve in a city and causes a toxic spill. Nicely done action. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477080/
Unknown (2011) Liam Neeson, January Jones. Rewatch. A scientist and his wife arrive in Berlin for a conference where he is to deliver a research paper. Getting out of the cab he discovers his briefcase is missing and hops back in the cab to get it, letting his wife register at the hotel. There is an accident on the way on a bridge and the cab hurtles into the water. The driver is able to get hem out, but he is taken to a hospital where he is unconscious for 4 days. His trials getting his identity back and the mystery solved is interesting up to the last 15 minutes. Then it gets too far fetched. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1401152/
Monte Carlo (2011) Selena Gomez, Katie Cassidy, Leighton Meester, Andie MacDowell. Three girls go to Europe. Most beautiful shots of the Riviera I've seen since To Catch A Thief. Only reason to see this is the clothes and scenery. 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067774/
Horrible Bosses (2011) Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Dale Arbus, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston. Only laugh I got was in the outtakes with the end credits of Colin Farrell. Jen Aniston was good. I put this in The Hangover territory - stupid men doing ridiculous things. Oyvey! 5/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1499658/
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