For his fourth directorial feature in the span of two years, Clint Eastwood tells the story of a grizzled Korean War vet’s reluctant friendship with a Hmong teenage boy and his immigrant family. Set in contemporary Detroit, GRAN TORINO tackles the shifting cultural and economic landscape of not only the Motor City, but America as well. Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski, an unabashed bigot who never heard a racial insult he didn’t love. Bitter, haunted, and full of pride, Walt refuses to abandon the neighborhood he’s lived in for decades despite its changing demographics as he clings desperately to a mindset long since out of step with the times. When his Hmong neighbor Thao tries to steal his prized muscle car as part of a gang initiation, Walt is forced to grapple with the world around him.
GRAN TORINO’s approach to the complicated issue of race relations is equal parts Archie Bunker and CRASH. That is to say, there is nothing subtle about Walt’s bigotry, yet his misanthropy knows no bounds, and Eastwood does a remarkable job of finding the humor in Walt’s equal opportunity racism. More than simply a racial morality tale, however, GRAN TORINO is about the unlikely bonds that people form to navigate the subtle complexities every day life. Like MILLION DOLLAR BABY, GRAN TORINO explores the challenging yet rich new world that can open up when individuals let down their guard, even if for just a moment. Estranged from his family and his church, and without any sense of personal peace, Walt offers all that he has to Thao and his family, namely wisdom and protection. When tragedy strikes the family, Eastwood allows a little classic Harry Callahan to poke through, but the surprising finale posits a hero that Dirty Harry would never have the guts to be. It’s a potent symbolic gesture to Eastwood’s own growth as a storyteller. (1 hr. 56 min.)
THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE superbly achieves what few other movies do: a successful blend of thrills, style, comedy, drama, suspense and action. It is the precursor for many thrillers of the 1990s, from indie hits like Quentin Tarantino’s RESERVOIR DOGS, and more popular, Hollywood vehicles like SPEED.
The story focuses on four criminals who hijack a subway car and demand one million dollars from the mayor of New York, threatening to kill one hostage per minute if their demands aren’t met. The hijackers are Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw), the crafty and efficient leader; Mr. Green (Martin Balsam), the train driver; Mr. Gray (Hector Elizondo), the hothead; and Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman), a nervous, stuttering man. New York City transit lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) goes above and beyond his call of duty to play negotiator with the hijackers. The camera grabs the viewer by taking him down into dark gritty hallows of the subway tunnels and into the midst of the harrowing situation on the hijacked car. Based on the book by John
Godey, TAKING OF PELHAM is a true classic that depicts the dark, crime-ridden climate of 1970s New York city. (1 hr. 44 min.)
Sarah Jessica Parker and Mykelti Williamson star in this racial drama set in the world of academia. Playing against type, a brunette Parker taps into her serious side as Sarah Daniels, the Dean of Students at distinguished Vermont college Belmont University, who must confront her own personal views about race after a black student (Paul James) becomes the victim of hate crimes on campus. But when the administration’s “politically correct” attempts to teach tolerance backfire, the campus runs rampant with prejudice once hidden but now revealed. As the student body and faculty clash, Sarah tries to bring a fresh perspective to the platform. In the process, she spends some time with a local African-American TV newsman (Williamson) who is covering the story. As the scandal unfolds, their conversation evolves, building to a breaking point in which Sarah confesses to feelings that go beyond her self-described liberal stance.
Director Mark Brokaw is ambitious in this small-scale feature, which is based on the play by Rebecca Gilman. Brokaw, who comes from a theater background, takes liberties with the script, at times veering off from Gilmans plot in surprising ways. The film tackles large themes despite its surface simplicity, and while it does not come close to answering the large questions it poses, it also reminds viewers that these questions may be unanswerable by their very nature. (1 hr. 26 min.)
Barkley Michaelson is in a deep life rut. He’s struggling to finish his PhD thesis when his father, the learned Eli Michaelson, wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Barkley and his mother, Sarah, a renowned forensic psychiatrist, now have the ill-fortune of living with a man-eating monster whose philandering ways have gotten less and less discrete. As if Barkley’s world is not bad enough, on the eve of his father receiving the Nobel, Barkley is kidnapped and the requested ransom is the $2,000,000 in Nobel prize money. Needless to say, Eli refuses to pay it and so starts a venomous tale of familial dysfunction, lust, betrayal and ultimately revenge. (1 hr. 50 min.)
No description available (90 hr.)
The film documents the reggae movement in the U.K. along with the idea of Rastifari. Tracks include Steel Pulse’s “Kukluxklan” and “Prodigal Son,” Jimmy Lindsay’s “It’s Not Our Wish That We Should Fight,” and “Easy,” 15,16,17’s “Black Skin Boy,” “Matumbi’s Rock” and Alton Ellis’ “Diverse Doctrine.”
Greed transforms into twisted desperation when a simple exchange goes awry, and the lives of amateur thieves, an obsessed hacker and ordinary people explode in a tumultuous night over a fortune in diamonds. When the haze finally clears, computers have been hacked, people have been whacked and lives have gone up in a cloud of smoke. Diego Luna (Y Tú Mamá Tambien, The Terminal) and Rafael Inclán star in this highly stylized caper about the addictive, intoxicating possibility of an easy life. Winner of six 2004 Mexican Ariel Awards and five MTV Mexico Movie Awards including “Favorite Movie and Actor - Diego Luna.” (1 hr. 33 min.)
No description available (1 hr. 35 min.)
Director Uwe Boll may be best known for directing video game adaptations such as ALONE IN THE DARK and BLOODRAYNE, but he goes into far more serious terrain with this Vietnam War action film. TUNNEL RATS follows a group of American soldiers as they venture into an underground tunnel that is inhabited by the Viet Cong. ALIENS star Michael Biehn plays a sergeant, while Nate Parker (THE GREAT DEBATERS) has a role as one of the young soldiers.
No description available (53 hr.)