12 January 2007
Must-See DVD: A History of Violence
Starring:
Viggo Mortensen
Maria Bello
Ed Harris
William Hurt
This is another movie I'd wanted to see and didn't get a chance to. It had a limited release in theaters back in September 2005. It came on one of the movie channels last month and we recorded it.
Tom Stall (Mortensen) is the owner of a diner in small town Indiana. He's married to a local lawyer (Bello) and has two kids, a son and a daughter. One night, two robbers attempt to rob his diner and he thwarts the assault, thereby saving his customers. The town calls him a hero and the incident garners media coverage. Thanks to the coverage, his past shows up on his doorstep--a couple of times--and not only the local sheriff, but his wife, starts to wonder if Tom is really who he says he is.Two words: Ho-ly. Shit.
The best part about this movie is the build-up. From the get-go, we're led to believe that this man has been living the small town life like he'd been born to it. He is known and liked by everyone and in turn knows everyone else. And then two men attempt to rob his diner--with the intent to kill everyone in it because they've done it before--and he handles himself in a way that no smalltown owner of a diner would know how to do.
When his past comes back to bite him in the ass and his identity is called into question, you're convinced that he's telling the truth. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm Tom Stall. I'm not this man you're looking for. You must have me confused with someone else," he says. I believed him. Hell, even his wife believed him, too. But then everything starts to unravel--with a quickness--and you start to think, "So, they're really not in the Witness Protection Program?"
The action scenes are so in-your-face, they leave you stunned...and saying those two words listed above. And the two very graphic love scenes are pretty intense, too. One is straight out of the romance books I read and the 2nd is more like an "Ow, that would really hurt my back."
As much as I enjoyed the LOTR trilogy and Hidalgo, I must say I was really diggin' Viggo in this movie.
Go. Check it out.
Review: 5 Snaps Up
Labels: Must-See DVD
11 January 2007
Must-See DVD*: Domino
Starring:
Keira Knightley
Mickey Rourke
Delroy Lindo
This movie came out in theaters in October 2005 and I never got a chance to see it. A couple of weeks ago, it finally came on one of the movie channels and we recorded it.
Based on a true story it follows the life of Domino Harvey, a woman who left behind a career as a fashion model to become a bounty hunter. You wanna talk about a female that kicks ass and takes names? This woman could've given Sidney Bristow a few pointers. It starts at the end, where Domino (Knightley) is being questioned by a CSI (played by Lucy Liu) and she's retelling the story of a job gone wrong.
If you haven't seen this movie, go down to your local Blockbuster (or put it on your NetFlix list) and check it out. Fans of a certain show will enjoy the Funny Bonus (see below) and I'm sure the guys will enjoy all the action. And the lap dance.
Star Bonus: Mo'nique, Macy Gray, LaFawnda from Napolean Dynamite (y'know, Kip's online girlfrien'?), Christopher Walken, Mena Suvari, Jacqueline Bisset.
Funny Bonus: Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green (yes, the dudes from 90210) playing themselves as hosts of a reality T.V. called "Bounty Squad". It's funny. Truly it is.
Review: 3 1/2 Snaps Up
*Must-See DVD is a new segment I'm creating for movies that I normally wouldn't see but ended up liking--and worth a tooting of the movie horn--or movies I didn't get a chance to see, but finally did. And are worth a tooting of the movie horn.
Labels: Must-See DVD