Tag Archives: Violence

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The Experiment (2010)

The human psyche is an interesting thing, how does it work? Are we really as civilised as we think we are? How much time is necessary before we forget about our manners and treat other badly? Those are interesting questions that might be hard to give a good answer to.
The Experiment is based (although very different) on the Stanford prison experiment where student were randomly assigned roles of either prisoner or prison guard. The assignment for the guards was to run a prison. The experiment was supposed to run for 2 weeks, but had to be aborted because the guards were not treating the prisoners very well. Ethically they could no longer continue.
The setup for this movie is almost the same, but instead of students the subjects are people that have responded to an ad in the paper. Continue reading →

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Baseline (2010)

Danny (Freddie Connor) is a bouncer at a club. He likes his work, but is making plans to move up and start his own club. Despite chances to make a quick buck he managed not to follow the darker roads to his goal. When he saves the life of a local ganster it means a change to his own life.
His best friend Paul (Gordon Alexander) is not doing as well. He’s gambling a lot and has a lot of debt. Although he manages to delay payments, he doesn’t have the money to pay up. Danny and Paul both end up in a situation where their friendship, relationship and their own moral values are put to the test. It forces them to make some very difficult decisions Continue reading →

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Operation: Endgame (2010)

Operation Endgame is a very strange movie. I didn’t know a lot about it and when you start watching it, it seems to be a thriller about espionage, but it quickly becomes clear that it’s a very violent movie in which the members of the two opposing teams (shown above) attack each other with any “weapon” they can find arround the office (there are no guns as they are not allowed). So think about staple removers or paper cutters. This results in some very bloody scenes. Continue reading →

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Solomon Kane (2009)

Sometimes I watch movie which I know nothing about. I hadn’t heard anything about Solomon Kane and had only seen one picture, which made it look like a western, so I was curious to see it. The movie turned out to be a movie set in England during the middle ages, so it was a far cry from my expectations.
Solomon Kane is a warrior who meets one of the devil’s helpers who tells him he is there to take him to hell. Kane doesn’t surrender and fights him in order to escape. Continue reading →

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On the waterfront (1954)

Marlon Brando, a very impressive actor. Whether you know him from the Godfather (of course his most famous role) or Apocalypse now, the way he acted isn’t comparable to other actors. He was very different in his mannerisms and the way he talked. In “On the waterfront”, based on the story of a dockworker and his struggle with organised crime, we see the story of Terry Malloy. He’s a former boxer who helps the mob by doing small jobs for them. Continue reading →

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My IMDB tens (movie 6): Goodfellas (1990)

“As far back as i can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” Goodfellas by Scorsese, a movie with one hell of a cast. Robert de Niro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta play some of their best roles in their career. The movie shows the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) who grows up doing little jobs for the local mafia and grows in the organisation as the years progress. Of course this can’t happen without a lot of violence. Continue reading →

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Armored (2009)

Armored is a movie which I knew nothing about. The IMDB scores weren’t very high, so I decided to watch the trailer to check out if it might be worth watching. The trailer starts with a spectacular robbery of a money transport truck which has been filmed very well. So I stopped the trailer and decided to watch the movie. It looked like the perfect movie for a friday night. There are quite a few famous actors in it (Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburn), so surely it’s must be an ok movie? Continue reading →

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Un prophète (2009)

This French movie tells the story about a criminal called Malik. He has to go to jail where he experiences the tensions between the various groups (Corsicans/Muslims). Very soon he gets mixed up in the politics of it all.

The movie reminded me a lot of Scarface. Not that there are many similarities with it (although this movie also contains it’s fair share of crime and violence), but this story is also about a nobody who slowly grows in the environment he ends up in. In this movie you feel like you are under the skin of Malik. You feel the effects of prison life on him (pay attention on the airport scene, where it’s clear how much the prison system has had an effect on him). You are there when he has to struggle with some dilemmas. The length of the movie is 2 and half hours, but doesn’t feel too long at all. It’s a movie which I could immediately watch a second time. The last scene of the movie seems to be a tribute to a scene from the Godfather. You’ll have to watch it to see if you recognise it.

Score: 9

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Smokin’ aces 2: Assasins’ ball (2010)

This movie should be a prequel to the original Smokin Aces. There really aren’t any connections to that movie, except that someone needs to be killed. It’s better to skip this straight to dvd release. The acting and story are both very weak. At the end the movie tries it’s hand at a “Usual Suspects” type twist, but by the time this happens you already will have lost interest. You simply don’t care anymore what happens to any of the characters. Part 1 was interesting because of the various assassins and tension during the attack. That movie received a 6 when i saw it. This movie doesn’t even come close to that score, not even with Vinnie Jones. Simply put, it’s a disappointment.

Score: 3

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Ninja assasin (2009)

Ninja assassin is a movie which, in theory should have been a great action movie, is very disappointing when put to the test of seeing it. The movie has, despite the special effect, the feeling of a B-movie (in both story and execution).
A fight scene near the end of the movie looks like it has been copied straight out of 300 (including slow motion). The fight scenes have been edited so fast that there is no tension at all and the added effects make them a mess to watch. If you are looking for a movie with a story that is not very special, but does have breath-taking fight scenes, then it’s better to watch a Tony Jaa film like Ong Bak or Tom yum goong.

Score: 3