Tag: Crime

Halloween Horror Movie Review: Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

Title: Tigers Are Not Afraid
Release Date: November 2, 2017
Director: Issa López
Production Company:Peligrosa | Filmadora | Nacional Videocine
Main Cast:

  • Paola Lara as Estrella
  • Juan Ramón López as El Shine
  • Ianis Guerrero as Caco
  • Rodrigo Cortés as Pop
  • Hanssel Casillas as Tucsi
  • Nery Arredondo as Maxwell “Morrito” Vázquez
  • Tenoch Huerta as El Chino
  • Cuauhlti Jiménez as Jerry
  • Mauricio Osorio as Tio
  • Mónica del Carmen as Estrella’s teacher
  • Benny Emmanuel as Brayan
  • Viviana Amaya as Estrella’s mother

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

A dark fairy tale about a gang of five children trying to survive the horrific violence of the cartels and the ghosts created every day by the drug war.

My Thoughts:

This bleak film is set in Mexico where the drug wars and human trafficking have left orphaned children behind on the city streets.  Estrella, a girl around 12-years-old, comes home from school to find her mother missing.  Growing hungry she finds a group of boys, some of whom are very young, lead by Shine.  They are reluctant to admit a girl to their group but Estrella persists and proves her value.  Soon the children find that not only are they struggling to survive without protective adults, but that the local crime boss is after them.  Horrible violence and tragedy ensue.  The sensitive portrayal of children in extraordinary situations blended with horror and fantasy elements reminds me of Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro is a fan).  But the real horror is that children throughout the world live like this every day.

Rating: ****

Halloween Horror Movie Review: House of Wax (1953)

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

Title: House of Wax
Release Date: April 10, 1953
Director: Andre de Toth
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Main Cast:

  • Vincent Price as Professor Henry Jarrod
  • Phyllis Kirk as Sue Allen
  • Carolyn Jones as Cathy Gray
  • Paul Picerni as Scott Andrews
  • Frank Lovejoy as Detective Lieutenant Tom Brennan
  • Roy Roberts as Matthew Burke
  • Angela Clarke as Scott’s unnamed mother
  • Paul Cavanagh as Sidney Wallace
  • Dabbs Greer as Sergeant Jim Shane
  • Charles Bronson (credited as Charles Buchinsky) as Igor
  • Reggie Rymal as a paddle ball-utilizing barker for the grand opening of the House of Wax

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

A sculptor opens a wax museum to showcase the likenesses of famous historical figures, but quickly runs into trouble when his business partner demands the exhibits become more extreme in order to increase profit

My Thoughts:

I expected that House of Wax would be an entertaining but schlocky b-movie, especially since it was originally released in 3-D.  But it turns out that it’s also a compelling thriller and mystery (although more of a “howsolveit” than “whodunit”).  In New York City in the early 20th century, Professor Henry Jarrod is a talented if eccentric artist who creates waxworks of historical figures.  His business partner Matthew Burke burns down the museum in an insurance fraud scam.  But Jarrod survives disfigured by the fire, and murders Burke in revenge.  Jarrod uses Burke’s body and others he killed to make waxworks for a new museum.  But some of the guests find the faces look awfully familiar.  For added fun, the 3-D effects are tested in a fourth wall breaking seen by a barker with a paddle ball.  And there are early film appearances by Charles Bronson and Carolyn Jones (later Morticia on The Addams Family).

Rating: ***1/2

365 Movies in 365 Days: The Tell-Tale Heart (1953)

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: The Tell-Tale Heart
Release Date: December 17, 1953
Director: Ted Parmelee
Production Company:United Productions of America | Columbia Pictures
Main Cast:

  • James Mason – Narrator

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

One of the most discussed and imaginative cartoons of any era. It tells the famous Edgar Allan Poe story of the deranged boarder who had to kill his landlord, not for greed, but because he possessed an “evil eye.” The killer is never seen but his presence is felt by the use light-and-shadow to give the impression of impending disaster.

My Thoughts:

Edgar Allan Poe’s classic psychological thriller comes to life in stunning animation reminiscent of Salvador Dali’s art.  Appropriately it is narrated by James Mason in his always-creepy voice.  The only thing that felt off is that the resolution seemed rushed compared with how the tension builds in the written story.

Rating:  ****

Book Review: Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

Around the World for a Good Book selection for Ukraine.

Author: Andrey Kurkov
Title: Death and the Penguin
Translator: George Bird
Publication Info:  Melville House, 2011 [originally published in 1996, first English publication in 2001]
Summary/Review:

In post-Soviet Ukraine, aspiring writer Viktor Alekseyevich Zolotaryov takes a job writing extravagant obituaries – referred to as obelisks by the chief editor – for a local newspaper.  Viktor soon learns that his obituaries are for living people who end up dead shortly afterwards, and that he’s actually involved with a shady political/mafia organization carrying out his on rivals.

The title of the book refers to Misha, a king penguin that Viktor adopted when the local zoo could no longer care for its animals.  For the isolated Viktor, Misha is his deepest emotional connection.  Misha also becomes a source of income when Viktor brings him to the funerals of the people he’s writing obituaries for.

This is a strange and surreal book, and I’m not sure what I was supposed to take at face value.  Was Viktor really just an innocent writer or was this all his cover as an agent of the mob?  Are the woman and child who live him as a surrogate family his actual family?  Does he really have a pet penguin?  I’m pretty sure that he really has a penguin, but I’ll never be 100% sure.

Favorite Passages:

‘What do you mean for nothing?’ interrupted Misha-non-penguin. ‘You – like so many in the good old Soviet days – are writing for the drawer. With the difference that you sooner or later, are going to be published … That I guarantee.’ – p. 37

“Well, that’s it,’ said Sergey, reaching for his flass. ‘We all of us deserve better fish, but eat what we’ve got … So, here’s to friendship!’ – p. 43

All was well, or appeared so. To every time, it’s own normality.  The once terrible was now commonplace, meaning that people accepted it as the norm and went on living, instead of getting needlessly agitated. For them, as for Viktor, the main thing, after all, was to live, come what might. – p. 153

Recommended books:
Rating: ***

365 Movies in 365 Days: Dumb-Hounded (1943)

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36.5 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Dumb-Hounded
Release Date: March 20, 1943
Director: Tex Avery
Production Company:  MGM Cartoons
Main Cast:

  • Bill Thompson as Droopy
  • Frank Graham as the Killer (Big Bad Wolf), Mayor

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

The wolf escapes from prison but can’t get away from police dog Droopy no matter how hard he tries. This is the first cartoon starring Droopy.

My Thoughts:

Sometimes you can get away with just doing the same joke over and over for 8 minutes, if it’s a good joke.  Watching the Wolf go to extremes to escape the bloodhound only for Droopy to be there breaking the fourth wall in a deadpan style is endlessly hilarious.  Or at least, hilarious for 8 minutes.

Rating: ****

Movie Review: The Naked Gun (2025)

~ Liam ~ 4 Comments

Title: The Naked Gun 
Release Date: August 1, 2025
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Production Company: Fuzzy Door Productions
Main Cast:

  • Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr.
  • Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport
  • Paul Walter Hauser as Capt. Ed Hocken Jr.
  • Danny Huston as Richard Cane
  • CCH Pounder as Chief Davis
  • Kevin Durand as Sig Gustafson
  • Liza Koshy as Detective Barnes
  • Eddie Yu as Detective Park
  • Moses Jones as “Not Nordberg Jr.”
  • Cody Rhodes as Bartender
  • Busta Rhymes as Bank Robber

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Only one man has the particular set of skills… to lead Police Squad and save the world: Lt. Frank Drebin Jr.

My Thoughts:

I did not think that The Naked Gun needed a reboot but the reviews were good so I decided to see it.  While not as good as I had hoped, it is still a quite entertaining movie.  While remaining true to the spirit of the original, it is appropriately not too respectful to the past.  In fact the strengths of this movie is that it takes a contemporary approach to the ZAZ formula.  This means spoofing modern crime and action movies where the explosions are bigger and the fighting is constant.  Liam Neeson is far more violent than Leslie Nielson ever was.  The film also satirizes the real world with a theme of police violence and irresponsibility a constant target.  Meanwhile the villains of this film are the same type of libertarian techbros who have declared themselves the superior people of our world.  I’m honestly surprised that I haven’t seen any complaints from the usual sources that they made The Naked Gun “woke.”  Neeson embraces the role and does a decent job as Nielson’s heir, but the bigger success is Pamela Anderson who shows wonderful comic timing as the sister of a murder victim who becomes Frank Drebin, Jr.’s love interest.

Rating:  ***

2000s Movie Retrospective: Zodiac (2007)

~ Liam ~ 5 Comments

We’re a quarter of the way into the century so over the course of the year I’m going to watch 2 to 4 movies from each year 2000 to 2024.

Title: Zodiac
Release Date: February 28, 2007
Director: David Fincher
Production Company: Paramount Pictures | Warner Bros. Pictures | Phoenix Pictures
Main Cast:

  • Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith
  • Mark Ruffalo as Inspector Dave Toschi
  • Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery
  • Anthony Edwards as Inspector Bill Armstrong
  • Brian Cox as Melvin Belli
  • Charles Fleischer as Bob Vaughn
  • Zach Grenier as Mel Nicolai
  • Philip Baker Hall as Sherwood Morrill
  • Elias Koteas as Sergeant Jack Mulanax
  • James LeGros as Detective George Bawart
  • Donal Logue as Captain Ken Narlow
  • John Carroll Lynch as Arthur Leigh Allen
  • Dermot Mulroney as Captain Marty Lee
  • Chloë Sevigny as Melanie Graysmith
  • John Terry as Charles Thieriot
  • June Diane Raphael as Carol Toschi

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

The Zodiac murders cause the lives of Paul Avery, David Toschi and Robert Graysmith to intersect.

My Thoughts:

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the San Francisco Bay Area was transfixed by a serial killer.  The man who called himself Zodiac killed at least 5 people and tormented the police and newspapers with letters and phone calls.  This movie depicts the gruesomeness of some of those murders.  But this is not a movie about crime or a serial killer.

Instead it’s a story about people trying to solve this mystery and how it drives them to the point of obsession.  The investigative approach is reminiscent of a movie made around the same time this movie is set – All the President’s Men.  Among those investigating are Paul Avery, a loose cannon crime reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, who is ultimately driven to alcoholism when Zodiac singles him out with threats. Police inspectors Dave Toschi and Bill Armstrong dedicated years of their careers to catching Zodiac, with Bill retiring, but Dave determined to find his man. And the strangest obsession of all is Robert Graysmith, a straight-laced cartoonist for the Chronicle who is drawn into the mystery because of his fondness for puzzles.

It’s an interesting approach that sets this film apart from most True Crime movies.  The ensemble cast, which includes contributions from a lot of great actors beyond the main four, is excellent.  And the attention to detail of San Francisco in the 60s & 70s – the clothes, the cars, the music – is really strong.

Rating: ***1/2

2000s Movie Retrospective: No Country for Old Men (2007)

~ Liam ~ 5 Comments

We’re a quarter of the way into the century so over the course of the year I’m going to watch 2 to 4 movies from each year 2000 to 2024.

Title: No Country for Old Men
Release Date: November 9, 2007
Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Production Company: Paramount Vantage| Scott Rudin Productions | Mike Zoss Productions
Main Cast:

  • Tommy Lee Jones as Ed Tom Bell
  • Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh
  • Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss
  • Woody Harrelson as Carson Wells
  • Kelly Macdonald as Carla Jean Moss
  • Garret Dillahunt as Wendell
  • Tess Harper as Loretta Bell
  • Barry Corbin as Ellis
  • Stephen Root as Man who hires Wells
  • Rodger Boyce as El Paso Sheriff
  • Beth Grant as Carla Jean’s mother
  • Ana Reeder as Poolside Woman
  • Matt Geistler as Poolside Man
  • Josh Blaylock and Caleb Jones as Boys on Bikes
  • Gene Jones as Gas Station Proprietor
  • Kathy Lamkin as Desert Aire Manager

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.

My Thoughts:

No Country for Old Men is an exceptionally bleak movie. I find it hard to review this movie because as much as I can admire the craft of the filmmaking, scriptwriting, and acting within it, this movie is ultimately an unpleasant experience to watch.  Coen Brothers’ movies often have a streak of nihilism paired with grotesque violence, but it’s usually tempered by a sense of humor that’s absent from No Country for Old Men.  Ten minutes into this movie, I’d already lost track of the body count.

Llewelyn Moss is hunting in the West Texas desert in 1980, when he comes across the aftermath of a drug deal gone bad.  He takes a case with $2 million in it for his own.  He’s soon pursued by hitman Anton Chigurh, a merciless killer devoid of empathy.  Sheriff Ed Tom Bell investigates the case and tries to track both men down but is always a step behind, and he falls into despair over the violence.

Nothing for these characters ends up as you might expect for a crime thriller, and that lack of  resolution adds to bleak realness of the film.  In fact, chance is a major theme of the film as demonstrated by Chigurh’s habit of flipping a coin to make decisions. Several of the key moments of the story come not through the actions of the characters, but are just random incidents. Anyhow, I don’t expect I’ll be watching this movie again anytime soon, but it was definitely worth watching once.

Rating: ****

Boston Movie Review: The Town (2010)

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

Title: The Town
Release Date: September 17, 2010
Director: Ben Affleck
Production Company: Legendary Pictures | GK Films | Thunder Road Film
Main Cast:

  • Ben Affleck as Douglas “Doug” MacRay
  • Rebecca Hall as Claire Keesey
  • Jon Hamm as Special Agent Adam Frawley
  • Jeremy Renner as James “Jem” Coughlin
  • Blake Lively as Krista “Kris” Coughlin
  • Chris Cooper as Stephen “Big Mac” MacRay
  • Pete Postlethwaite as Fergus “Fergie” Colm
  • Slaine as Albert “Gloansy” MacGloan
  • Owen Burke as Desmond “Dez” Elden
  • Titus Welliver as Det. Dino Ciampa
  • Dennis McLaughlin as Russell “Rusty”
  • Brian Scannell as Henry
  • Isaac Bordoy as Alex Colazzo
  • Jack Neary as Arnold Washton
  • Edward O’Keefe as Morton Previt
  • Victor Garber as David
  • Bryan Connolly as MCI Junction Corrections Officer Ward

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

Doug MacRay is a longtime thief, who, smarter than the rest of his crew, is looking for his chance to exit the game. When a bank job leads to the group kidnapping an attractive branch manager, he takes on the role of monitoring her – but their burgeoning relationship threatens to unveil the identities of Doug and his crew to the FBI Agent who is on their case.

My Thoughts:

With the Celtics once again in the playoffs defending their championship title, it’s a good time to watch The Town.  The movie is about a gang of 4 lifelong friends who rob banks and is set in the neighborhood of Charlestown, which the movie says is the “bank robbery capital of America,” an unbelievably absurd claim.  The movie is set around three major set pieces – an opening bank robbery in Harvard Square, an armored truck robbery in the North End (which leads to an outrageous car chase through the neighborhood’s narrow street), and a heist of Fenway Park.  There’s a lot of good action and intense violence that takes advantage of these very Boston settings.

The leader of the gang is Doug MacRay who wants to get out of the business before the risks get too great.  Doug is contrasted with Jem, a hothead whose rash decisions imperil the plans for their heists. In the first bank robbery,  Jem spontaneously decides to take the bank manager Claire Kessey as a hostage, releasing her after they get away.  When Doug learns that Claire lives in the gentrifying part of Charlestown, he starts observing her to make sure she’s not providing evidence to the FBI.  They ultimately meet and form a romance.

As I noted above the above, the action sequences are well-filmed and entertaining even if they can get implausibly over the top.  The movie as a whole doesn’t hold together as well.  The movie’s heart is supposed to be about Doug’s relationships with Claire and Jem and how they conflict.  But I don’t find the romance to be all that believable, especially from Claire’s point of view.  Meanwhile, the “smart” guy trying to get out of the mob and being held back by his “violent, dumb” friend is such an overplayed cliche of these types of movies.

Rating: ***

365 Movies in 365 Days: Too Many Cooks

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36-1/2 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films.

Title: Too Many Cooks
Release Date: October 28, 2014
Director: Casper Kelly
Production Company: Adult Swim | Williams Street
Main Cast:

  • Ken DeLozier
  • Tara Ochs
  • Katelyn Nacon
  • Linda Miller
  • William Tokarsky
  • Katie Adkins
  • …and many, many more

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

“Too Many Cooks” is a humorous parody of US sitcoms of the 1970s and the 1980s, meanwhile what seems like an interminable opening theme, a mysterious killer makes his way and kills (preparing a lunch with their limbs) various members of the Cook Family.

My Thoughts:

Dang!  That’s a catchy, toe-tapping theme song!

They synopsis for this 11-minute “film,” which is entirely the opening credits of a fictional TV show, only scratches the surface of the surreal, meta-fictional goings-on set to jaunty music.

Looks toward the camera and smiles…

Rating: ****