Category Archives: Violent

2010, Based on true facts, Conspiracy, Feel Good Not For Children, Lawyers, Nudity, Police Story, Prison, Underdogs win, Violent

Conviction (2010)

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From NetFlix:

Convinced that her brother, Kenneth (Sam Rockwell), has been unjustly convicted of murder and incompetently defended by court-ordered attorneys, high school dropout Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) puts herself through law school in order to represent him in his appeal. Inspired by a true story, director Tony Goldwyn’s stirring drama also stars Melissa Leo, Minnie Driver, Peter Gallagher and Clea DuVall.

Miscarriages of justice, at least for me, are always compelling stories. Of course, you know that the film would not have been made if events had not turned out well for Kenneth Waters.

Read about about the history in the Wikipedia article. There you will also find mention of Martha Coakley, Attorney General of Massachusetts. In the film she comes off very badly. Hearing her name so often during the film was almost a shock. Read about her reaction to the film in the same Wikipedia article. Politicians always know the right thing to say.

Warning: Although the film is eventually a feel-good, getting to the end is a real roller-coaster of setbacks. At the very least, I can only admire the incredible and inspiring fortitude of Betty Anne Waters.

Do NOT miss the final frames which explain in text how things turned out after Kenneth got out of prison. Also the Wikipedia article has some follow through.

My biggest disappointment was that the corrupt woman Ayer police officer, Nancy Taylor, who framed Kenneth could not be prosecuted due to the Massachusetts statute of limitations.

2003, Car Chase, Military, PTSD, Serial Killer, Suspense, Violent, War

The Hunted (2003)

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From NetFlix:

Tommy Lee Jones is Agent Bonhan, an FBI deep-woods tracker who captures an assassin (Benicio Del Toro) with a weird proclivity — he makes a sport of killing deer hunters. When the killer escapes in the city, Bonham must team up with another Bureau agent (Connie Nielsen) to hunt down the thrill killer before he starts to hunt them. William Friedkin directs.

Many Tommy Lee Jones films have a thought provoking theme or sub-theme. Interestingly enough, both In the Valley of Elah (2006) and this film “The Hunted” deal with the effects of warfare on the combatants. In the former the message was that after experiencing the violence of Irag the young military personnel became emotionally numb and could kill even their own without feeling any remorse. In “The Hunted” Tommy Lee Jones taught Benicio Del Toro to be an expert killer for the military to such a point that eventually Del Toro could not “turn off” and continued to kill in civilian life. Both films in their way are anti-war films.

In the second half of this film we watch Jones using the skills he taught in order to locate and capture Del Toro. Both men are expert trackers, woodsmen, trappers, survivors, fighters and killers. If you enjoy bloody hand to hand combat, then stay tuned for an exciting adventure.

2010, Ancient Rome, Historical Fiction, Military, Revenge, Suspense, Torture, Violent, War

Centurion (2010)

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From NetFlix:

In 2nd-century Britain, Roman fighter Quintas Dias (Michael Fassbender) is the lone survivor of a Pictish attack on a Roman frontier post. Eager for revenge, he joins the Ninth Legion — under General Virilus (Dominic West) — and journeys north on a mission to destroy the Picts. Writer-director Neil Marshall’s rousing sword-and-sandals adventure also stars Olga Kurylenko as the beautiful Pict warrior Etain.

There is a point to this film, something like “ET Go Home”.

Traipsing (or actually running breathlessly to avoid being eaten by wolves or slaughtered by Picts) through beautiful forests, fields, and mountains, the only thing these poor survivors of the Roman Ninth Legion want to do is leave nasty northern Britain and go home.

As usual our wanderers are superb (dare I say, super-hero) fighters who, unfortunately, for the most part eventually die. In fact, the entire film is for the most part just watching their demise, one by one.

For me Olga Kurylenko was just plain silly: lady, get a better makeup artist! Michael Fassbender was Lieutenant Archie Hicox in Inglourious Basterds (2009).

No spoilers allowed: stick around for an ending that surprised me.

For what it is worth, I give you this quote from IMDB:

German archaeologists have found evidence of the Ninth legion on the banks of the River Rhine and carbon dated them long after these events took place suggesting that rather than them being wiped out, the reason that there is no evidence of them being in Scotland after these battles is that they moved to Germany.

2008, Acceptable Trash, Car Chase, Gangs, Kidnapping, Revenge, Super Hero, Suspense, Torture, Violent

Taken (2008)

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From NetFlix:

While vacationing with a friend in Paris, an American girl (Maggie Grace) is kidnapped by a gang of human traffickers intent on selling her into forced prostitution. Working against the clock, her ex-spy father (Liam Neeson) must pull out all the stops to save her. But with his best years possibly behind him, the job may be more than he can handle. Famke Janssen also stars in this relentless action-thriller from director Pierre Morel.

Perhaps we should rate these kidnap-revenge films by body count. Either Man on Fire (2004) or this film might be clear winners. In fact both films share a common laughable trait: Denzel Washington in the former and Liam Neeson in this film are presented as outrageous superheros who never fail in each encounter with villainous bad guys. Liam Neeson never met a neck he couldn’t break. Only once is our hero trapped (in a Parisian underground auction house for kidnapped virgins to be purchased by shieks) and even then his chains pull miraculously from the ceiling.

Perhaps we should rate these films by stereotypes encountered. In “Man on Fire” Mexico was the cliché target. In this film consider:

  • Albanians are genetically inclined to kidnap well-off young female tourists in order to make them drug addicts and prostitutes.
  • French bureaucrats are mostly corrupt.
  • Wealthy sheiks purchase kidnapped virgins for their evil purposes
  • You really don’t love your daughter unless you give her a horse on one of her birthdays.
  • American spy operatives are in such incredible physical shape that they can outrun automobiles (and speeding bullets).
  • And the list goes on.

My big disappointment was that in the end our hero did not taunt his ex-wife with a really nasty “I told you so!”. And, by the way, the lead up to his agreeing to let his 17 year old daughter travel with a (really dizzy) girl friend to Paris is well done.

Despite all these objections, I was glued to the screen. But then I LOVE TRASH

2004, Crime, Drama, Gangs, Kidnapping, Redemption, Revenge, Suspense, Violent

Man on Fire (2004)

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From NetFlix:

Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Denzel Washington) reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl (Dakota Fanning) in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she’s kidnapped he’s consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life. Tony Scott directs this thriller about a demoralized soul whose sense of purpose is reawakened by a human connection. Christopher Walken and Mickey Rourke co-star.

Seeing one kidnapping film is almost tantamount to seeing all of them. Plot twists keep this kidnapping adventure alive. Also the secondary (primary ?) theme of John Creasy finding something worth living for helps to hold the plot together. Violent revenge takes over after the kidnapping which disappointed me because I thought Creasy was trying to rise above his life of killing. Assumedly the justification is that the action takes place in Mexico which is so corrupt that our American notion of law and justice has no meaning. Unfortunately that is a fairly accurate description of Mexico.

Dakota Fanning as the girl Pita is her usual cute self. I wonder what kind of actress she will eventually become. Denzel Washington plays Denzel Washington.

2006, Car Chase, Child Molestation, Complicated, Crime, Detective, Drama, Frame someone for a crime, French, Gangs, Kanopy streaming, Lawyers, Love Story, Suspense, Torture, Violent

Tell No One (2006)

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From NetFlix:

Eight years ago, pediatrician Alexandre Beck (François Cluzet) was the prime suspect in his wife’s murder. He’s put all that behind him, but now that two dead bodies have been found near his home, he’s suspected of wrongdoing once again. The case takes an unexpected turn when he receives an anonymous e-mail showing his wife alive — and eight years older — instructing him to “tell no one.” Kristin Scott Thomas co-stars.

Second Review – August 2021

NetFlix no longer offers this film. Instead you can stream this 2 hour 11 minute film from Kanopy (free from your local library).

Harlan Coben always writes wonderful suspense mystery stories. Many of his stories, including this one, have been made into films. In this particular adaptation it seemed to me that the final and very satisfying conclusion came a little too easily.

Somehow I have the impression that for the most part American films are noisy and French films are quiet. At least in this case, this excellent French intrigue film is fairly quiet, with the exception of some foot pursuit escape sequences and a highway pile-up.

What starts out as a simple murder mystery gets more and more complicated. Eventually one character especially tells us all the details in a way we can understand. But if you need a recap you could read the Wikipedia summary.

French with subtitles. Well worth the time spent watching.

2008, Crime, Detective, Drama, Serial Killer, Suspense, Violent

In the Electric Mist (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Detective Dave Robicheaux (Tommy Lee Jones) finds himself swimming in a murky sea of corruption, deception and lies when he probes the connection between a rash of murders and a notorious New Orleans mobster (John Goodman) — and discovers secrets that were better left untold. With Robicheaux’s family, and his life, in serious danger, can he stem the rising tide of blood and bring justice back to the bayou?

If it were not for some notable actors such as Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard, and Mary Steenburgen, this ordinary B-film would not be worth watching. The only unusual theme is that Robicheaux is a reformed alcoholic who wants to get Sarsgaard into Alcoholics Anonymous. Better to watch a Law and Order episode.

2002, Biographical, Conspiracy, Crime, Documentary, Military, Violent, War

The Trials of Henry Kissinger (2002)

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From NetFlix:

This riveting documentary depicts former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as a warmonger responsible for military cover-ups in Vietnam, Cambodia and East Timor, as well as the assassination of a Chilean leader in 1970. Based on a book by journalist Christopher Hitchens, the film includes interviews with historians, political analysts and such journalists as New York Times writer William Safire, a former Nixon speechwriter.

What did Lincoln say? “You can fool some of the people some of the time …”.

So many details appear in this well-crafted documentary that I fear to cite any facts for fear of being inaccurate. Please therefore view the film critically. Granted the makers hated our clever war monger, but judge for yourself whether or not the accusations are well founded.

Kissinger is accused of at least the following:

  • He hijacked a Paris peace accord that could have ended the Vietnam war so that by prolonging the war he could get Tricky Dick Nixon re-elected.
  • He promoted the bombing of Cambodia.
  • As a result of this bombing, the almost total destruction of Cambodia paved the way for the Khmer Rouge.
  • He is responsible for the overthrow of Allende in Chile and the installation of Pinochet.

Ironically our Henry was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Vietnam war. But he received this award two years before the war ended. Vietnamese officials boycotted the award because the members of the Nobel committee were such fools.

One facet of history that has always bothered me is that evil men often go to their graves convinced that they “did the right thing”. For example consider: Pinochet (Chile) or Emilio Massara (Argentina’s “dirty war”) both of whom claimed to their dying day that they had acted for the good of their country. Several Nazi war criminals never understood what all the fuss was about. (Note that the documentary calls Kissinger a war criminal.) What will be the deathbed experience of such notables as Cardinal Law (“The Church of the Holy Pedophile”) or Henry the Swinger ?

Not a pretty picture!

1986, Dark, Drama, Explicit sex, Gloomy, Grim, Mystery Film, Nudity, Religious Theme, Suspense, Torture, Violent

The Name of the Rose (1986)

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From NetFlix:

In this adaptation of Umberto Eco’s best-selling novel, 14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and his young novice (Christian Slater) arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church’s authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence — which is considerable

Umberto Eco wrote his first novel The Name of the Rose in 1980. Eco is a well-known modern scholar.

Jean-Jaques Annaud, the director, has assembled a cast of the most unusual, distorted, exaggerated, cretinous faces I have ever seen. These faces are perfectly in tune with the dark, forbidding atmosphere of the Benedictine monastery in northern Italy. To keep all the characters straight, try reading the Wikipedia article on the film. Besides Sean Connery and Christian Slater, Ron Perlman as Salvatore is particularly memorable. Salvatore is the retarded hunchback whose garbled speech is a mixture of several languages. Whoever restructured and tonsured all those heads was a genius in the art of actor makeup.

Thanks to my Italian teacher ,Vincenzo Santone, for recommending this film. Of course, Vincenzo would like me to read the original Italian version, which is a challenge. Because I have not read the book, I do not know if it is so condemning of the Catholic church of the early 14th century as is the film. Certainly the film makes the church hierarchy into a pack of sadistic, ignorant, self-indulgent, greedy, superstitious cretins. Naturally, the Inquisition is cast as the fundamentalist, intolerant Taliban of the 14th century.

Here is one film that I could not stop watching.

2009, Child Molestation, Conspiracy, Crime, Detective, Drama, Rape, Revenge, Suspense, Swedish, Violent

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (2009)

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From NetFlix:

Third in a trio of films inspired by Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium Trilogy,” this thriller follows feisty computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) as she finds herself hospitalized, suspected of murder and targeted for death by thugs. Meanwhile, Lisbeth’s journalist pal, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), crusades to prove her innocence. Daniel Alfredson directs this film that also stars Lena Endre and Jacob Ericksson

My NetFlix version offered not only English subtitles but also English dubbing.

Although the third book in Larsson’s trilogy seemed procedural and not as exciting as the first two books, the third film was not boring. Probably for me what kept the tension going was the need to see Salander vindicated. In a certain sense it all seemed to work out too easily. At the very least, seeing Dr. Teleborian get his comeuppance was very satisfying.

For the most part the film was faithful to the book while omitting certain unimportant details. For example, her wounded father, Zalachenko, does not roam the hospital hall trying to get at Salander. Nor could the treatment of her clandestine use of technology in her hospital room be so elaborate.

Only in one instance do I object: without giving anything away, in the last part of the film Niedermann is given a different solution from that planned by Larsson in order to continue the series.

If you’ve seen the first two installments, how can you not watch the conclusion ?