There was really no science to how I picked the film for today other than the fact that Encore was playing it and it featured Sally Field (Forrest Gump) and Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys). The name of the film that I chose for today is the crime drama Eye For An Eye. For Karen McCann (Field) everything in life is as normal as can be with a loving and devoted husband (Ed Harris) and some great kids. Her life is torn upside down when repeat felon Robert Doob (Sutherland) rapes and murders her daughter Julie (Olivia Burnette) and he gets away with scot-free by a technicality. To cope with the pain and the fact that he is a free man, she will will resort to taking self defense lessons and gun training to get some vengeance, but can she go through with it. The film also stars Alexandra Kyle (A Time To Kill) as Megan McCann, Joe Mantegna (Baby’s Day Out) as Det. Sgt. Denillo, Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s Vacation) as Dolly Green, Charlayne Woodard (The Crucible) as Angel Kosinsky, Philip Baker Hall (Bruce Almighty) as Sidney Hughes, Keith David (Men At Work) as Martin, Wanda Acuna (Encino Man) as Hispanic Housewife, and the film was directed by John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy).
The MVP of the film, without a shadow of a doubt, was the performance from Kiefer Sutherland who made a career of playing different types of roles. He was so amazing in this film that he had me really believe that he was some twisted whack job that gets off on raping and killing his victims. The only thing that kind of bothered me is that his character seemed real out of place like he belonged more in the south then where ever the heck they were from. Sally Field also does a tremendous job of playing the mother with so much guilt that it plagues her very existence. The film has some very weird moments in it that are just creepy like Kiefer’s character talking to the youngest daughter at her school or when he spies on his victims. I can’t believe that the film is already twenty years old as it came out in January of 1996. The film I believe was advertised as a vigilante film, but it’s really not that. It’s more of a thriller where you left wondering if he’ll catch her, etc. I think that is why the film had such negative reviews back in the day and why it holds an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the film a lot just because of the two performances and such as I described above. I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.
A couple of weeks ago, they celebrated 25 years since the invention and launch of the internet which was the day society went forwards and backwards. The film I chose for today deals with computers, but in the form of Hackers. Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) plays Dade Williams, a kid who was arrested as a child for creating the biggest computer crash in history. He was banned from using computers until he hit the age of 18. Unfortunately, he gets pulled back into the world of hacking when a friend (Jesse Bradford) uncovers a sinister plot to steal money and blame hackers for the crime. So, Dade and his friends, will get together to try and stop an evil hacker before they are all arrested and put away for good. The film also stars Angelina Jolie (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) as Kate, Matthew Lillard (She’s All That) as Cereal, Laurence Mason (The Crow) as Nikon, Renoly Santiago (Con Air) as Phreak, Fisher Stevens (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Plague, Lorraine Bracco (Goodfellas) as Margo, Wendell Pierce (The Gift) as Agent Dick Gill, Marc Anthony (Carlito’s Way) as Agent Ray, Darren Lee (Chicago) as Razor, Peter Y. Kim (Louie) as Blade, and the film was directed by Iain Softley (K-Pax).
This was such a typical 90’s film with all the aesthetics from the soundtrack, the shots, the montages with non related computer language going across the screen, etc. The computers they used in the film are so lame looking. Some of them looked like the small portable DVD players you can buy in the stores and others like bigger screened Gameboys. Artistically and stylistically it’s such a 90’s film, but it’s cool because we got some great movies from the 90’s and this is obviously one of them. It’s crazy to see Angelina Jolie in this movie with short hair (she looks sexy), but she was amazing along with her husband at the time (or after the film) Jonny Lee Miller. They definitely played a great onscreen duo because there was chemistry. I usually have a hard time taking Fisher Stevens seriously as a villain, but I feel that this film was tailor made for him. He was the perfect villain for the hacker heroes of the time. You also have to look at the people that starred in this film like Matthew Lillard (who would go on to star in Scream) and Jesse Bradford (who would go on to star in Romeo + Juliet) who was one of my favorite characters because he’s so desperate to belong among the hackers that he causes the dilemma in the first place. If you’re into checking out the 90’s scene which included outrageous attire that I wouldn’t dare touch then check out Hackers. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
The film I chose for today was one that for some odd and strange reason, I had avoided watching back when it was released. What motivated me to finally watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is tat the fact that Netflix released the sequel to the film this year and so I chose the original for today’s film. Chow Yun Fat (The Killer) stars as Li Mu Bai, a storied master and warrior in China who is trying to give up the lifestyle by relinquishing his famous and most storied sword The Green Destiny. After the sword is stolen, he is sent on a mission with another warrior in Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) to try and track down the notorious fugitive that they believe stole the sword. What they don’t bargain for is a young adolescent teenager who is the nobleman’s daughter that is highly skilled standing in there way because she is at a crossroads in her life. The film also stars Ziyi Zhang (Rush Hour 2) as Jen Yu, Chen Chang (The Assassin) as Lo “Dark Cloud”, Pei-Pei Cheng (They Wait) as Jade Fox, Sihung Lung (The Wedding Banquet) as Sir Te, Xian Gao (The Legend) as Bo, and the film was directed by Ang Lee (Life Of Pi).
I can certainly tell you that I am definitely happy that I checked out this film because it was definitely different than you average martial arts films. I say that because the martial arts was really only a part of the film and not the main focus. At least that’s how I feel in my opinion because it was more of a love story. Of course, the martial arts was a big part of the film, but it was much more poetic. Ziyi Zhang’s character is at a crossroads because she wants to follow her family’s wishes of getting married to who they arranged to her, but she is in love with someone else. It’s also kind of a coming of age story for her because she feels tat with the sword, she has great power, but she soon earns from Li Mu Bai that it’s much more than that and that she wasn’t really worthy of the sword. Of course the action scenes in the film are phenomenal and excellent to watch with all of the sword fighting, martial arts action. The flying through the air bits can be a little much to watch at times because it’s pure fantasy, but at the same time it was cool to see on the screen. It does add to the imagination and the beauty of their art by seeing that. The other great part about the film is the cinematography and the shots of the scenery are just beautiful to watch. The film is in Chinese, but never fear because there is subtitles. It’s available to watch on Encore Play and Encore. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade because I really enjoyed the film.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 