Clue (PG) 7.0

Clue (1985): Six guests are invited to a strange house and must cooperate with the staff to solve a murder mystery. (7.4)

Director: Jonathan Lynn
Writers: John Landis, Jonathan Lynn
Stars: Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn (1985)

In this black comedy, the setting and the actors are as you'd expect from the game and other similar movies. At times it has a very fast pace, slapstick comedy routines, and tricky dialog that keep you on your toes all the time. Even after following the story very closely, you still need a cheat-sheet to figure out what just happened and who's who. All the actors play their parts to perfection. The characters are over the top imitations of what they are supposed to be and that is part of the fun. They are not supposed to be genuine; they are not supposed to act in movie style but like in a play. If you don't get into the mood, you may not enjoy it; but then why are you watching it, otherwise? My Rating: 7.0

Dead Again (R) 6.5

Dead Again (1991): Mike Church is a Los Angeles private detective who specializes in finding missing persons. He takes on the case of a mystery woman who he calls Grace. She is suffering from amnesia and has no memories of her own. (7.0)

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writer: Scott Frank
Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Andy Garcia

Those who like this sort of stories seem to love this move. I grew up seeing this kind of, ahem, "coming back" stories in the newspapers more than once a year, so the idea is not all that novel to me. Having said that, this particular story contains quite a few twists; the acting is superb; the film noir style suites it very much. What is lacking is what should have been the front and center of the two storylines; strong romance between the leading characters. One critic points out that at the time this movie was made, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson were married to each other, so perhaps they didn't want to bring the personal side to the screen also. But by suppressing that a bit, the movie has lost that strong emotional ties with the audience. My Rating: 6.5

The Edge of Heaven (NR) 6.5

The Edge of Heaven (2007) "Auf der anderen Seite": A Turkish man travels to Istanbul to find the daughter of his father's former girlfriend. (7.8)

Director: Fatih Akin
Writer: Fatih Akin
Stars: Baki Davrak, Gürsoy Gemec, Gengiz Daner

The movie has clearly marked segments (for what reason are they delineated like that, I'm not sure) but the various characters are all connected in complicated and convoluted ways. The section headings give away too much of the story to follow, therefore, loses elements for discovery and surprise. In my view, the story tries to fight too many social norms. I'm sure someone could remake this story as a black comedy since the coincidences and chance-connections are that many. I kept waiting for a connection to the title of the movie, The Edge of Heaven, but I don't think I saw it, leaving me with the feeling "yeah, okay, so everyone has trials and tribulations and some people have it tough what with the fundamentalist Islam's militancy on the rise, but ... meh, whatever." For me, none of the stories touched the heart like it could have had it been a single story about the struggle of one or two characters. My Rating: 6.5

Blood Simple (R) 7.0

Blood Simple (1984): A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new man. But, when blood is involved, nothing is simple. (7.7)

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (uncredited)
Writers: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Stars: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya

A couple of years ago, I saw this movie's remake by the Chinese director Yimou Zhang, titled A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.  So, coming into this movie I knew a bit about what the plot might be and what sort of a black comedy it is supposed to be. Even though it was in Mandarin (therefore, I know I probably missed quite a few jokes) I found Zhang's remake funnier, and cinematographic-wise better. Still, as the original this one is quite nice; yet I found the situations a bit more perplexing initially and only to later realize the hilarity in it. Perhaps, there is a moral in the story, but it is just too absurd. :-)  Just checked to see that this is the first movie of the prolific duo Joel and Ethan Coen. My Rating: 7.0

The Lookout (R) 7.5

The Lookout (2007): Chris is a once promising high school athlete whose life is turned upside down following a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank, where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist. (7.1)

Director: Scott Frank
Writer: Scott Frank
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode

From the opening scenes, you'd think that you know what is going to happen and it is just another silly teenage soap opera. However, the real story begins after those initial sequences. It is about the trials, tribulations and frustrations of a young man with physical limitations. Throw in Jeff Daniels' character and you've got another one with different circumstances. Various members of the society at large treat them at different levels; and some decide to use these guys for their advantage. The two lead characters play their roles brilliantly and that makes for a very good storytelling. While the thrill of a bank heist is there, and that is very good also, this is more of a character drama with the supporting cast also giving a very good performance. My Rating: 7.5

Hwang Jin Yi (PG-13) 7.5

Hwang Jin Yi 황진이 (2007): The life of the famous gisaeng (female entertainer), Hwang Jin Yi, who lived in 16th century Korea. (6.7) 

Director: Youn-hyun Chang
Writer: Hyeon-jeong Kim
Stars: Young-doo Oh, Ryu Seung-Ryong, Hye-kyo Song
Language: Korean (w/ English subtitles)

I watched this movie without knowing the historical back-story or the Korean folk tales. As a period movie, the production is excellent. I liked the way the movie introduced the two main characters to the audience. Hye-Kyo Song playing Hwang Jin Yi is absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing. The period costumes and sets are quite stunning. The historical Hwang Jin Yi is said to be very good at dancing and singing, two things the movie could have made more use of. Yet, the movie did portray her as an intellectual, a poet and an equal of period aristocratic men; and an independent strong woman in a male dominated society. The love story between the two main characters could have been a bit stronger. As it is, her agonizing over her original love after having chosen the life of a gisaeng is somewhat perplexing. Nevertheless, a very good storytelling; a nicely done period drama. My Rating: 7.5

The Intouchables (R) 7.5

The Intouchables (2011): After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caretaker. (8.5)

Directors: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
Writers: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny
Language: French

The skeptical or the pessimistic version of the story is that a rich old white man gets a poor young black kid as a nurse; each one magically sees the other's point of view and they all live happily ever after. Yeah, ok, there's some of truth to it. But this movie has more than that. I think the dialog is the most powerful part of it. They each say things anyone else wouldn't be able to, and gets away with it, and that actually removes their apparent labels and shows us the real human sides. The story touches on many things in the contemporary French society, for instance, the projects with high unemployment, the drugs, the rich aristocratic society, the abuse of welfare system, etc. but it doesn't claim to find solutions or lay blame on anyone. Instead it shows them for what they are, complex issues with real people's lives in them. The jokes are quite funny, even through the English subtitles. The acting by the two leads is superb, and that's what makes this worth watching. My Rating: 7.5

Unknown (NR) 7.0

Unknown (2006): Five men wake up in a locked-down warehouse with no memory of who they are. They are forced to figure out who is good and who is bad to stay alive. (6.5)

Director: Simon Brand
Writer: Matthew Waynee
Stars: Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Bridget Moynahan

The initial premise of the plot takes a bit of getting used to, but it could happen, it could happen; so let's go with it. The genius of the story is not letting that one major premise die in the first five minutes after it has been revealed to the audience. Then it becomes a good storytelling sequence. Various characters had clearly defined roles to play and they all did that quite nicely. The plot could have probed a bit deeper into the human psyche to find who each person really was now that there were five blank slates, so to speak; but this is an action thriller, not a psychological drama so much. Then again, it did find the inner good/bad guys. The twists at the end are quite nice and I didn't expect them at all. While there are few other movies with similar themes, this one holds the audience in suspense right to the end. My Rating: 7.0