The Silence of the Lambs, 1991

The Silence of the Lambs, 1991
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Scott Glenn


Stage: Home TV selection on a Sunday night. A dozenth time to see this :)


Silence in short: Young FBI agent Clarice Starling is assigned to help find a missing woman to save her from a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Clarice attempts to gain a better insight into the twisted mind of the killer by talking to another psychopath Hannibal Lecter, who used to be a respected psychiatrist. FBI agent Jack Crawford believes that Lecter who is also a very powerful and clever mind manipulator have the answers to their questions to help locate the killer. Clarice must first try and gain Lecter's confidence before he is to give away any information.
Preps: None in perticular. I have seen this at the movies as well as home several times. I know it serves to my needs this evening.


Reality: This piece is one of the greater achievements in this genre. A brilliant act of two main protagonists, Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, makes this one an inspiring and thrilling experience. It is a simple crime story, however it takes a deep dive into psychological sphere, with the viewer not knowing what the devil has in mind (Hopkins), even though under bars. It's unimaginable, what imagination can do to you - even though the scenes are smartly hidden, you cannot wait to feel what hasn't been revealed. Quite an opposite from that kind, being filmed these days (a good example in the Saw).

Until the very end, you cannot tell, whether the girl is going to be found alive or not. Or where does the psycho under bars takes his wits (intelligence) and knowing where to seek and what to expect. And how to get under Jodie Foster's skin for that matter. Every time she tries to speak with him, you feel they are connected and that he's stripping her in front of the audience. A masterpiece, for sure. Worth seeing in any dimension possible. You will adore her and you will hate and love him at the same time. And be eager to save the young lady they are seeking for.

The idea of having a dress made out of skin was outrageous at that time. Now it's not really, we have seen this already repeatebly. However, at that point it was brilliant, unique and made sure the sits were full.

My personal rate: 9,0 (in my opinion, the beginner of several originals that followed, worth seeing and reconsidered from viewer's perspective)


The Silence of the Lambs on IMDB

The killer inside me, 2010

The killer inside me, 2010
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Ned Beatty


The killer in short: A West Texas deputy sheriff is slowly unmasked as a psychotic killer. Sadism and masochism beneath a veneer of revenge. Lou Ford is a mild-mannered sheriff's deputy in an Oklahoma oil town in the late 1940s. His boss sends him to roust a prostitute living in a rural house. She slaps him; he hits her, then, after daily sex for the next few weeks, he decides it's love. She's devoted to him and becomes his pawn in a revenge plot she thinks is to shakedown the son of Chester Conway, the town's wealthy king of construction. Lou has a different plan, and bodies pile up as murder leads to murder. The district attorney suspects Lou, and Conway may have an inkling, but Lou stays cool. Is love, or at least peace, in the cards?

Stage: Home theatre
Preps: I don't know the movie, just have the recommendation. So I decide to catch a windy Sunday and make it better with this one.
Reality: The movie has a specific energy and addresses people who can stand to see violence on TV or on screen, to be exact. It is so that in the society we live in, apathy shows for certain genres (like war movies, killing and torturing), so in this sense, this movie falls into a special category, addressing masohism and sadism in its sexual sense.

The feelings that the viewer might have while watching the piece can be mixed, from deep sadness to real admiration, it depends on the niche the viewer belongs to. To me, it was a deep insight into a life, where you pretty much do as you please and try to please yourself and in the mean time please also other (masohists) that enjoy you doing it and admiring you for doing it. To my knowledge, such niche players exist in the world and in my opinion, would enjoy seeing this onscreen. For the other, I presume, the movie is filled with something that is hard to understand, embrace and even cope with. How can the women dwell on receiving punches and use this as sexual arrowsement, a lot of people cannot understand. And is also deeply neglected in the movie genres (or avoided when it comes to this). This group seems to be so marginal, yet in my opinion it isn't. So in this movie, the murders occur to satisfy purely sexual desire and in subconscious of the murderer, also the lack of love and respect. A psychological drama, if I conclude, definitely worth seeing. Showing respect for the roots someone derives from and unfortunately, not giving enough background to the spectator to fully evaluate the reasons behind the murders. Besides the obvious, of course - sadism and sexual pleasing.



My personal rating: 8,0 (an extreme for a change, making me anxious to see the rest. Worth seeing in many aspects. Also the roles are brilliantly played)

The killer on IMDB

Official pages

Speed, 1994

Speed, 1994
Director: Jan de Bont
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper


Speed in short: A young cop must save the passengers of a bus that has a bomb set to explode if the bus goes below 50 MPH.

Stage: Home TV selection


Preps: None in perticular. I have seen this in the local movies as a young girl and I adored the couple, the adventure, the idea that I could be as bold as she was and adopt a cute guy like I thought he was. Or be a brave police officer. Has to do a lot of childhood dreaming and interaction with movie characters.


Reality: I see this for the millionth time. Through this movie I became a deep fan of Sandra Bullock and am still now (although when I see her act in this case or for this time, I cannot tell why. Because it's simply said, horrible. It's not just the words or the scenario, it's the whole package). The same goes for Keanu Reeves. You can see in one of my critics (Top Gun), that I claim that to be one of the movies of my childhood. Well, the same goes for Speed. I have wanted to see this for million times and every now and then I saw it again. Now the gap between the last viewing and this one is more than 10 years and when I see it again, all the soft hystorical feeling is here, but from the critic point of view, the movie lacks energy, believability, or dare I say reality (you just don't jump over a gap with a bus and stay solid, you don't crash with a metro and survive (not like this).. it lacks true scenario and some energy between the actors. Although when seeing this as a young lady, I saw it straightforward (probably wanted to see it, anyway) - now I don't even though I try really hard.

Speed was a synonim for successful US cop forces at that point and in that time, did a great job. Looking it again from a whole different aspect and with a different approach, besides from memoirs what it was like seeing it as a child, nothing else remains. Pity.




My personal rating: 6,0 (for the sake of my memories as a child. As Top Gun, Ghost, Pretty Woman, etc, also Speed was one of my favourites and the one I could watch over and over again)


Speed on IMDB

Cop Out, 2010

Cop Out, 2010
Director: Kevin Smith
Cast: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Juan Carlos Hernandez



Cop Out in short: A comedy about a veteran NYPD cop whose rare baseball card is stolen. Since it's his only hope to pay for his daughter's upcoming wedding, he recruits his partner to track down the thief, a memorabilia-obsessed gangster.


Stage: home theatre

Preps: Hmmm, seeing Bruce again would be nice. I have seen not so impressive trailer on this piece, however, due to respect I have for Willis' work, I tend to see everything he produces. Hence, the decision is fallen. How bad can it be?


Reality: It can be worse than you expect afterall. Bruce Willis is out of his shape in the piece, striving to get at least some attention of the viewer. The script must have been written in five minutes, as it doesn't give anything besides some weird comedy scenes, that I don't find half that amusing as the actors did. The cast is awful and the story doesn't achieve my blood stream even a bit.

I always am suspicious about movies that have the smell of cheap, yet beneficial to the older actors that still want to be a part of the game. I am used having Willis in more adult roles, and less making fun of himself. I think he never wanted to participate in this movie - at least that's the energy his character shows in Cop Out. I am sorry to say this is one of more disastrous pieces that Willis showed his face in. I didn't watch it till the end, because I thought there might be a better way to spend my time. I don't recommend it, however, to the viewers that enjoyed light humour comedies and for non-demanding audience, this might bring some fun. Sure didn't do the trick for me.


There were several comical moments, this is one of them (the quote):

Paul Hodges: Why did you smack me?
Jimmy Monroe: I was in the moment and the moment said smack ya.



My personal rating: 1,0 (just for the sake that I saw Die Hard hero again, even though in one of the worst roles ever).


Cop out on IMDB

Cop out Home page

Big momma's house, 2000

Big momma's house, 2000
Director: Raja Gosnell
Cast: Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, Paul Giamatti



Momma's synopsis: An FBI agent Malcolm Turner is going deep undercover as he disguise himself as Sherry Pierce's long-lost grandmother named Hattie Mae Pierce, aka Big Momma. And his latest assignment sends him to small-town Cartersville Georgia, where he is assigned to trap a brutal bank robber who they suspect will be coming down to visit his ex-girlfriend and her son, Trent. Now, Malcolm must somehow find a way to nab his criminal and the lady.


Stage: home TV selection (a really lazy evening and I needed something that smells like a comedy)


Preps: Once I remember seeing this, and I wasn't that thrilled, however, I needed some funny stuff so I was ready to choak or settle on something not so thrilling just to get some other things out of my head.


Reality: Worse than I remember. I remember at the time when this piece was created, there was this fame around Eddie Murphy and his sit-com's, his movies when he dressed up and his cast was cast of 8 actors (the nutty professor for instance is an example, from 1996). Anyhow, I got the feeling every person that considered himself as one of black really funny actors and resembled Eddie Murphy, wanted to do a piece that played around this topic. And of course, make big money out of the old idea - just for the sake of the argument, that crowd needs and loves such humour. Big momma's house is something like that. It has an unbelievable story, however, the make up and the dressing, resembling of big mommy by Martin Lawrence, is cute and in some cases, hilarious, funny so you could tremble and fall down. However, this is just in some cases and in some minutes of this movie.

These directors (that make such movies) and actors that are presented in this way, need to know that an old idea doesn't make a movie. And of course, not every actor can be like Eddie. Martin Lawrence is also a great comedian - I have seen some of his better times, and I remember Momma's house to be a big hit in Slovenia at the screening time. But I don't think that it's the type that would suit me. I don't like comedies that underestimate the viewer and this one, unfortunately, does just that.



My personal rating: 3,5 (I have seen more of my flat or refrigerator than this piece when watching it. Plus, the TV version makes you use the breaks they need for their commercials. Seriously, you won't miss a lot if you don't see it. However, there areat least a few really funny situations and some of the sit-com is really enjoyable.

Momma on IMDB

The negotiator, 1998

The Negotiator, 1998
Director: F. Gary Gray
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse



Short synopsis: In a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, a skilled police negotiator accused of corruption and murder takes hostages in a government office to gain the time he needs to find the truth


Preps: I have seen this piece one or two times. As one of better movies I have set my eyes on in this genre (negotiations in perticular) - one of the better ones is for sure The phone booth, for instance, or Die Hard trilogy - well, I wanted to see this again.

Stage: Home TV, regular choice of a Friday evening :)

Reality: Again, I find new things about this movie I admire. Samuel L. Jackson is brilliant on his side - there is something that can make his facial expression violent and all seems he can act a true villain if he wants to. It is a masterpiece to create a violent person that the audience loves and this piece, the Negotiator, creates precisely that. We all understand that there was no option than violence in this perticular case, although I would bet that most of the viewers are pacifists by their personal claim.

On the other hand, Spacey act is remarkable, on his own side, a true reconstruction of what a negotiator should do, make, think, act, .. I just adore the dialogue these two have. Filled with black humour, participation from one side or the other, filled with trauma and subconscious thoughts. Also a vivid recreation of what a cop/governmental institution follows, and even though sometimes you believe it's the negotiator that runs the business in such cases, there are often political dilemmas involved and orders from above, that can solve such cases, but with some corps to go along.



My personal rating: 8,0 (A good piece, worth seeing. HIghly recommended. Also, you see the softer side of Jackson, which is also worth your time.)


Negotiator on IMDB

Edge of Darkness, 2010

Edge of Darkness, 2010
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic


Stage: Home theatre

Edge and the darkness in short: As homicide detective Thomas Craven investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.

Preps: It's running currently at our theatres, so I have seen the trailer. Seemed like one of the Bourne trilogy movies, or somehow connected to the genre I love usually; investigation of a homicide, cops running around, corrupted governmental issues, etc. Something seemed worth seeing. And I haven't seen something really good from Gibson in a long time.


Reality: The beginning is fascinating, powerful, gets your adrenalin down your veins. Discovery of a secret life a beloved daughter had, is intriguing, the thin red line of corruptness increases my heartbeat. But in the other half the movie lost me. I was actually bored and thought of leaving it at the first initial feeling, removing the thing from my disk and forget about it.

The story is sad, but not so powerful. The action is like my biorhythm - increasing and falling again, the scenes don't have the power to keep me in front of the TV. Thank god I didn't watch this in the cinema.

However, you will find it good to see that some people (that we aren't aware of) are actually investigating cases we never get to see or hear about. The story around father and daughter (the past deeds) could have been separately shown and go even deeper, in this case I would feel more connected to all of this. And the understanding of the movie story -- hmmm, you need to be alert all time. Because if you aren't, you lose it.


My personal rating: 5,0 (I did have a hunch this was to be a good one, but it lost me in the second half. Not one of the best Gibson casts anyway. And he's become a bit old :)


Darkness on IMDB

Law abiding citizen, 2009

Law abiding citizen, 2009
Director:F. Gary Gray
Cast: Jamie Fox, Gerard Butler,



Law abiding citizen in short: A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.

Stage: home theatre, lovely Saturday morning

Preps: Some of the friends claim it's one of the best movies lately. It's also running in the movies in this moment. But if I have it home, why not take the luxury? And Gerard Butler, the yummy man. I need to see it. However, I don't have a clue what it's about.


Reality: My friends were right. The movie is somewhere between a cop adventure, cop drama, prisoner thriller, psychological masterpiece and Butler is the king of the castle. The scene for beginning is astounding - it tears up my heart and amazes me afterwards. Why wait ten years to get the vengeance?

The movie points out some important true facts. The law system has holes as big as the emental cheese. The judges can do anything they wish. The man can be helpless when watching it happen. And finally.. vengeance doesn't bring you pleasure or forgiveness. It just brings more anger and bitterness.

I admire the brilliance that Butler uses to lead the system puppets. I adore the way the governmental people are left with their hands tied up and helpless. I adore that one man can predict everything and the last piece of my brain cells is working to resolve the puzzle he's putting together. And in the end my ironic soul is satisfied. The ending fits the movie as a whole.

Right in the middle I wonder, oh, no, it's another Saw. We are going to watch someone being slayered bit by bit and it's going to last until the end of the movie. Respectfully, I am happy to realize I am wrong and even more happier that I saw it until the end. In my opinion, very much worth seeing. And Butler, one of his better acts ever.


My personal rating: 8,0 (very good one.. worth the time and effort)



Law and Gerard on IMDB
Official site
Yummy Butler pictures

100 Feet, 2008

100 feet, 2008
Director:Eric Red
Cast: Famke Jennsen, Bobby Cannavale, Ed Westwick




Stage: Home theatre
Genre: Drama/pop thriller/mystery/cop action

Short synopsis: After Marnie Watson kills her abusive husband in self-defense, she is condemned to house arrest... only to discover that the house is possessed by the enraged and violent spirit of her dead husband

Preps: none whatsoever. I find it on the disk, seems I must have got it one way or another, I don't do the IMDB checking, just watch it. Right after the Book of Eli. Cannot be that disastrous, my mind is telling me.


Reality: The beginning is promising. It takes me about 20 minutes to resolve the weird attitude the girl that is held prisoner at her own home and the cop that brings her there, have. I realize he's her husbend (who she killed in self defence) ex work partner. And she lives in a cop neighbourhood. How convenient and cruel to bring her home, give her a toe bracelet to keep her within 100 feet of her home and leave her there.

The weird things start to happen in the house that imply that the husband is still there. The director doesn't pay much attention to what the viewer might think it is still believable. Somehow the movie loses me at the half where I just wait how it will end, will the ghost kill her or not.

The relationship between the ex husband's partner and her doesn't evolve in any way, neither isn't the thing between the neighbour young man and her believable, or worth seeing.

You do get some useful tips for extorting the devil or the ghost out of your house. The movie does imply the greatest problem within police force - inner coverage and possible victioms of this (in this case the wife, when noone believes her and also the killing might have been prevented). There are some spooky scenes that catch the attention, but nothing more. Comparing to the book of Eli that I tried to see two hours before that, the movie is a jewel. But it's just something average, nothing above that.

My personal rate: 5,0 (if you have nothing else to do, truly :) or if you like cop drama movies regardless of the story).






100 Feet on IMDB