Reviews by Happy Vader

Mike Newell, the director of the greatest Harry Potter installment, directed this great, a little on the short, gangster-drama, or grama, movie. Al Pacino has done many memorable roles in his extensive career but none has been more funny or more sympathic than the animals-obsessed Lefty in this movie. Working alongside with Johnny Depp (Joseph Pistone a.k.a Donnie Brasco) & Michael Madsen (Sonny Black), It was clear that Al Pacino was the only one who knew his stuff and therefore, played his part flawlessly.

Unlike the other gangster/crime-drama movies like Goodfellas, Scarface or The Godfather Trilogy, this film is not shown in a gritty, nitty, dark or violent way. In fact, It's shown in a colourful, moving manner which really brings you in the underworld and you really learn alot. For example, the difference between "he is a friend of mine" & "he is a friend of ours". While most gangster movies start from as it is, Donnie Brasco literally starts from scratch with Al Pacino & Michael Madsen being the teachers while Johnny Depp and us, the audience, being the students! Even though the pairing of Depp & Pacino was a little shaky, it was truly engaging and Michael Madsen, forever the tough-ass baddie, has one of his best movie roles after Mr. Blonde.

In conclusion, this is an engaging movie with a great storyline and hardly any gore with one of the greatest performances by Al Pacino and just like his other movie, Dog Day Afternoon, is one of the realistic films I've seen. Watch this only after you have seen the above mentioned gangster movies, as this one is so unique.

You can expect this lot from a David Cronenberg film: Great cast, great performances, great storyline and great blood/gore scenes. Sadly, The Dead Zone had none of the latter (except for the part where Dodd pushes his mouth in the scissors). I haven't read the novel yet and now that I've seen this, I intend to.

The thing with Christopher Walken movies is that you cannot watch them enough. That's what happened with Batman Returns & The Deer Hunter. Anyways, Christopher Walken sure gave an amazing performance, as he always does, and even though I have mixed feelings whether he should've been nominated or not, I thinking more in the lines of "should've been". Apart from Walken, we have Martin Sheen in a small role amounting to a little more thn 5-6 mins (which includes a great anger scene, albeit a little funny) and Brooke Adams with Herbert Lom. A great performance by him too. Another thing I like about David Cronenberg is his endings. The ending reveals everything in a short time-span and leaves no room for follow-ups and doesn't have any of those cliche music or camera movements which can be found abundantly in other movies. This film's ending was exactly similar to The Fly and something which I like. As a serious Cronenberg fan, this film was also a little disappointment because It didn't have any of his signature gore scenes. Don't get me wrong, I don't like violence that much but It makes me happy that when director includes a thing he/she is most famous for but he made up for the 'dead zone' by collecting a great cast that it makes you wanna see them altogether in another movie.

In conclusion I would like to say that, despite the great directing and acting, this film ended rather too fast and should've gone for atleast another 45 mins at the most and was a little disappointment in some scenes (especially the opening). For Cronenberg & Walken fans, this film may, or may not, be included in their favourite movies lists but all I can tell is that it sure won't be included in their worst movies lists and as for Martin Sheen fans, his small appearance will put a smile on your face! A recommended watch only after you have read the novel as I found some scenes kinda confusing!

I love war movies. I love satirical-war movies even best! I think after Dr. Strangelove, this is the second best satirical-war movie although it had the bad luck of being released at the wrong time. Yes, you see it was released in 1970, the same year M.A.S.H (another, more successful satirical-war movie) and Patton (a realistic war movie) were released. Anyways, It has such lunatic characters that would put the Dr. Strangelove characters to shame and the cast are very impeccably chosen. We have Alan Arkin in the lead followed by Jon Voight, Martin Balsam, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Jack Gilford, Art Garfunkel (the Garfunkel half in Simon & Garfunkel) and a pre-Badlands, pre-Apocalypse Now Martin Sheen in a less screentime role! This film wasn't as bold as Dr. Strangelove but nevertheless, had 10 times the laughs and the whole "Turn left, you son-of-a-bitch, turn left" scene with Capt. Aadvark, Nately & Yossarian is one of the most funniest scenes I've ever seen in any movie! Overall, not a disappointing movie but If you are a fan of the above mentioned cast or satirical war movies, then give this film a try and although I won't promise that it will make you wanna give two-thumbs up, I will guarantee It will make you wanna rewind certain scenes many times and you will never forget the cool & calm Capt. Aadvark & and the freaked-out Yossarian! (Top left & middle, respectively)

On the last note, It also has one of the best take-off I've seen! No music, no dialogues, just a great background with 10-11 planes in the air! It also has Orson Welles in a small role!

It's a fact that any film near or 3+ hours is bound to be great and this film is no exception. Based on the fiendishly addictive novel of the same name by Stephen King, this film is directed by Frank Darabont, who, previously handled a Stephen King novel and made it one of the greatest films of our time and of all time. I was very excited to see The Green Mile because of the man behind the camera and the amazing cast in front. But I was scared too. You see, I have this tendency to get scared when a film is based on a novel as I don't really expect the silver-screen adaptation to be as good as the novel and therefore I have avoided such films numerous times. Anyways, the slow-pace and the almost too realistic setting of this film impressed me alot and what I liked even more was Michael Clarke Duncan's excellent performance. What Morgan Freeman was to Shawshank, Michael Clarke Duncan was to The Green Mile. His performance as the 'child stuck in a giant's body' was the real driving force. Another bona-fide performance was by Doug Hutchinson (Percy Wetmore). He correctly captured the sadistic & villainous character! Excellent performances by the lead & supporting cast but from Tom Hank's side, it was a little hammy. Not exactly in the novel but nevertheless, entertaining!

I like to think of this film as Shawshank Redemption in reverse. In Shawshank, It's all about life, while in The Green Mile, It's about death. While Shawshank showed us that hope can be a good thing, The Green Mile was more about miracles and how we judge too soon. I wish Frank Darabont handles another Stephen King novel like maybe The Black House!

Just as Johnny B. Goode, Walk & Money For Nothing are one of the greatest guitar-driven songs, Gladiator is one of the greatest music-and-acting driven film I've ever seen and is one of the few from the 21st Century that can be considered a masterpiece.

Well, Sir Ridley Scott, the mastermind behind Alien & Blade Runner and, to some extend, Matchstick Men, has convinced me that he can pull off an epic movie as brilliantly as his above two mentioned sci-fi movies. Now I'm gonna compare Gladiator with a few movies from the same genre.

It wasn't as beautiful as Titanic nor the romance was as romantic as in Braveheart. Unlike Pathfinder, this was unforgiving and more brutal and it was driven in the same cinematic manner as Ben-Hur and some of the scenes were almost like Spartacus. All the battle scenes in the Colosseum are nail-biting and I would rank this film somewhere along the lines of Apocalypto but a little better.

Another thing is his heroes & villains. They are always great, no matter how much pain they have gone through or how much pain they inflict upon others. Ellen Ripley, Rick Deckard and G.I. Jane being one of the best examples of heroes while Roy Batty and the relentless Aliens being the famous. In this one we have Russell Crowe in one of his few finest moments - apart from Cinderella Man & The Inside - playing the titular Gladiator, General Maximus Decimus Meridus with Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus, the antagonist. I've been a fan of Joaquin Phoenix ever since I saw him in Walk The Line but after watching his performance in this film, It was like as if I had never seen him before onscreen. The single scene he dominated was the one explaining the virtues to his father before smothering him to death. Whereas in other scenes, Oliver Reed was simply the best.

A must watch and very enjoyable movie and 85% of the fun comes from your knowledge. If you know about the ancient history, the Gods, the Romans or atleast the names, then the fun doubles. I frankly think there's no fun in watching a history-based movie if you don't know what's what but... give Gladiator a try!

A History Of Violence is like Mount Olympus. Instead of Gods gathering to argue, we have bad-asses pointing guns at each other. In this case we have Ed Harris (Fogarty) in the first half and William Hurt (Richie) in the ending with Viggo Mortensen (Joey/Tom) acting as the bridge. The latter is the younger brother of Richie and the enemy of Fogarty in this helluva movie about a once killer, Joey, who has assumed a new identity Tom Stalls and is married with 2 kids. His past catches up with him when he becomes a local hero by killing 2 psychopaths who also happen to open the film in a memorable way and attracts the attention of Fogarty. Every aspect, every detail is greatly shown and even though the violence is limited, is expertly described.

Now, this film is divided into 3 parts: Demanding, Discovering & Dominance. Don't get too excited, this is not 'official'. This is just how I saw the film.

Let's start with demanding and by demanding I mean Ed Harris - the modern Telly Savalas. From his introduction to his meeting with Sheriff Sam to his encounter with Edie in the mall to his death, Ed Harris gave a demanding performance, as he always does, and managed to upstage everyone sharing the screen with him. His absense only wants you to take another dose of the ol' syringe of bad-assery. A performance not to be missed!

Now we have discovering and that is Viggo Mortensen. Even though Viggo is the main actor in this, his performance skills are actually shown in great light when he re-discovers about Joey, the actual himself. His son, Jack, finds out who he is and the once calm Tom Stall disappears from their eyes and becomes Joey and he slaps him. Next, he almost strangles Edie to death but they start making love on the stairway. This was Viggo's, and his character, best moment.

The last we have is dominance and that is William Hurt. His mere 9-minute screen time is just about the time he needs to show off his bad-assery. He simply dominated the ending and even in his death, looked just about intimidating as he was when was alive and drinking! No wonder William Hurt was nominated.

In conclusion, this is solely for Cronenberg-fans or fans of bold, mature crime-drama movies or those who think that Ed Harris, William Hurt & Viggo Mortensen are one of the greatest actors on Earth. If you agree with the latter, then go ahead and watch this great - but not better than other Cronenberg films - movie and tell me what you think of it!

Expensive cars, sadistic acts of violence, stylish suits & superb acting is what makes David Cronenberg's Russian-mob movie, Eastern Promises, a modern-classic. Better than A History Of Violence, a film on the same vein but not better than his bizarre-cult Videodrome and the sci-fi great The Fly.

Anyways, this film reminded me of GTA: San Andreas in some areas and I swear, the whole movie looks like a typical mission from the game. Hey, this is Russian-Turkish mobs we're talking about, with lotsa killings.

We're quickly thrown into the ruff-and-tuff world of rats-and-gangsters with the opening slitting scene. From there, the violence just snowballs with Naomi Watts in the lead as a nurse with some issues at home and her life. In this sans-Hurt & sans-Harris movie, Viggo Mortensen really gave a top-notch acting as the soft spoken Nikolai, the driver and even though I haven't seen much of his material, Vincent Cassel gave a convincing performance too as Kirill. I will keep an eye out for him in other movies. The big, hulking Armin Mueller-Stahl has a ominous aura around him and his presence just scares the shit out of you. I mean, when a man of his size appears onscreen, you expect them to pick up the other guy and strangle them to death with just their bare hands. Also, like any other Cronenberg movie, this one also has a keen focus on details and things.

Overall, this has become one of my favourite movie at the moment and yes, a rewatch is required and I gotta tell you, If you are not a major fan of History Of Violence or are not exposed to Cronenberg much, you may find this boring and long. I found it entertaining and very realistic but this is a major fan talking here and to me this was better than History Of Violence. If you are not a fan of slitting or cutting scenes, then pass this one off as you won't be missing much but fans who have seen his other 'non-realistic' movies will find this one better. Well, whether you like or not, I'm including it in my greatest movies list!

SAW is undeniably the greatest horror franchise ever and this is the first, and the only greatest, entry followed by 6 sequels. SAW is a film which everyone loves to hate, despise, loathe and everything in between and I'm all with them. Wizard of Gore may have played a pivotal role in introducing the so-called torture-porn sub-genre to the masses but, more than 30 years after, SAW can be cited as the film which popularized it and made it a full genre of it's own.

This film bought us one of the best, most recognizable horror icon: Jigsaw. It's also pretty ironic that Jigsaw is shown in full light in the sequels and not this film. The thing separates Jigsaw from the other horror icons is that Jigsaw is more intelligent, smart and is a cancer-ridden patient with an inoperable brain tumor and is forced to be hooked up with multiple IV's. Also, another thing that makes him unique is that unlike the horror icons of the 70's, 80's & 90's, he is more human, at least in physical appearance. The character is well made and the storyline intricate, confusing even. It's solely for people who can stand endless screams and long shots of the victim going through pain and suffering. See, I'm a dedicated SAW fan myself and I pretty know my way in and out and hardly any thing has stumped me. But as for you, if you are a curious first-timer, ask yourself one question: Are you prepared? If you're not, then the first film won't answer any of your questions and you will be left confused and that will lead way to curiosity and, well you know, like they say "curiosity killed the cat". You don't want to end up that way right?

On to the film, this is the only great entry in the franchise like I've said before. Two men are trapped in a bathroom chained to the pipes by their ankles and one has to kill the other before 6:00 or otherwise his family will die. There's a seemingly dead body in-between them and that is Jigsaw. We don't get to know him until the last 5-6 minutes of the movie. The film is mostly run on flashbacks describing his past victims and also has subplots which are very critical to this movie and the whole franchise in general. Cary Elwes as Dr. Lawrence Gordon gives one of the best performances of that year and plays his part very convincingly. Joining him in the bathroom is Leigh Whannell as Adam, the guy who needs to be killed. In the supporting we have Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young and despite her small screen time in this film, would go on to become the most important character in the franchise. An excellent setting, great performances and starts off chillingly to it's blood-stopping last moment. As a stand-alone film, SAW would've been great but would've had lead to too many questions and it's a good thing they came up with rather slightly disappointing sequels but that's all right, they managed to answer many questions.

All in all, watch this only if you're prepared and make sure all the lights in your room are working okay. You don't want them to go out while watching Lawrence cut off his.... ooops!

Bubba Ho-Tep was the most surreal and surprisingly pleasing movie I've ever seen in a quite a-long time. Bruce Campbell goes from fighting Shemps to fighting Cancer and an undead mummy which he Christians, Bubba Ho-Tep. But there's another thing: You see, Campbell is Elvis Presley. Or should I say, the Cancer-ridden Elvis Presley in one of his most best screen roles. Joining him in the fight is Ossie Davis who thinks he is JFK "dyed black all over".

The film balances entirely on the narration of Bruce Campbell and his virtues on life and how he regrets not paying attention to his family and why the hell did he sign the contract and give away everything to Sebastian Haff. This film uses the main two lead as stencils to etch the theme and tone of old-cannot-survive-in-the-world-of-young and how they are forgotten. It's quite a touching movie as you see two men, one hopelessly thinks he's another, being terrorized by the titular character and embark on a journey to repel evil which robs them of their lives. It's also occasionally funny and it actually has smart dialogues and a great cinematography.

All in all, now I know why Bubba Ho-Tep is the most celebrated Bruce Campbell movie ever and I heart-fully concur. His, and Ossie Davis's performances were Oscar-worthy but the Academy usually passes these movies off! Anyways, this is like seeing The Essence Of Time painting. At first viewing you take it all in, review it in your head, and see it again to fully understand the meaning behind it!

Could probably be one of the best films released in the first quarter of the 21st Century!

You can never get tired of Quentin Tarantino's movies. Well, maybe the Kill Bill Volumes but certainly not Reservoir Dogs. With such extreme focus on blood, violence, characters & pop-culture laden dialogue, there was little wonder why Reservoir Dogs became such a big hit and is still a favourite among movie appreciaters today.

Arguably the best dis-organized crime movie I've seen which delivers all goods and keeps you fixed onto the screen. This film ain't Titanic or Forrest Gump in which haters can view their opinions or dislikes. This film doesn't leave room for arguments or debates or any of that sort of nonsense. This film does nothing but command respect and just like wine and Meryl Streep, is getting better with time. Maybe it's because of the lack of Reservoir Dogs-esque movies we're getting? Maybe no-one has come up with a better torture scene? Whatever the reason might be, Reservoir Dogs is always fun to visit and the memorable scenes & dialogues just won't leave the head.

In this film there are 2 plots running at the same time: The robbery-gone-wrong-and-we-must-find-the-rat plot and the Mr. Orange-and-Mr. White subplot. These two people, out of the whole six, are shown in a father-son relationship and if you look it from their points of view, both acted as heroes, or at least anti-heroes, in their own rights. Their progress throughout the film is expertly shown from Mr. White taking care of Mr. Orange, even to the point of pointing a gun at Joe's face, his long-time friend but ends up shooting Mr. Orange himself after when the latter admits his is a cop. Truly an excellent moment there as Mr. White hesistants and realizes his mistake he had been covering 'the rat' all the time... and they both wind up dead anyhow!

From the great ensemble cast, I frankly think that Tim Roth, the rat-cop Mr. Orange, should've been nominated for Best Supporting Actor as he gave one of his best performances - alongside Rob Roy. Everyone was perfect in their own way but there was something about Tim Roth's performance that dominated the screen whenever he opened his mouth and his bloody passed-out body, a position which he remains for literally the whole movie, only makes his character more great. If you're questioning this, I suggest you watch the part in the car after when he is shot or the part with the commode story.

In conclusion, this is a must see movie but be warned: When Mr. Blonde starts dancing, close your eyes and lower the volume... Or skip all that!