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.
Spoiler Alert: I just wanted to take the time to warn you that the article may contain some spoilers. Read on if you dare, but you’ve been warned. The purge is an annual event that was set up by the New Founding Fathers Of America to help the country every year on the same day for 12 hours. Anything you can imagine for those 12 hours is absolutely legal, but only for those 12 hours. The NFFA believe that it helps cleanse America of the unwanted members of society, while their are others that believe it lines up the pockets of the rich while eliminating the poor and under privileged. In The Purge: Election Year, there is one that dares to challenge this belief. Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) was a victim of the purge and she is daring to challenge the system by running for president. The only problem is that she is gaining ground and the NFFA are looking to eliminate her on the night of the purge to guarantee that she doesn’t win. Now it’ up to Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) to try and protect her before they get to her. The film also stars Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump) as Joe, Joseph Julian Soria (Max) as Marcos, Betty Gabriel (Experimenter) as Laney Rucker, Terry Serpico (Donnie Brasco) as Earl Danzinger, Edwin Hodge (The Purge) as Dante Bishop, Kyle Secor (Sleeping With The Enemy) as Minister Edwidge Owens, Ethan Phillips (Benson) as Chief Couper, and the film was directed by James DeMonaco (The Purge: Anarchy).
As far as all The Purge movies are concerned, this is definitely not the best in the series, but it continued what The Purge: Anarchy had did with the action. One of my biggest complaints is that I wanted to see more of the weird Purges that happen around the city because there looked like there was some cool ones like the guillotine. In the film, you get a bunch of close calls like the group is about to go through some hell, but someone is there to stop it. Now, I am not saying that there isn’t some bad ass action because there is that for sure in the film. One of my favorite scenes involves newcomer Brittany Mirabile (she’s the picture in this paragraph) who is proving to be a raging psycho who just wants to steal her candy bar. Things are looking bleak for our senator and co., but then out of nowhere they are hit by a van and they get shot up to hell. I definitely loved the last sequence with the minister inside the church with the NFFA as they are getting ready for the ultimate purge. The scene is perfect in my opinion because it exemplifies how crazy society has gotten with the idea of the purge (or tradition) and the lengths they are willing to go to protect it. It also shows how an ideal can turn people into monsters and how it easy it is to mask it as progress. They timed this film perfectly considering this is election year. Things are not going as well in this reality as they are not going so well in the film. People are clamoring for a change, but we have to be careful as to what kind of change. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade because the costumes are great, but the overall film isn’t better than the rest.
Ever since last year’s Academy Awards and The Golden Globes, this was definitely a film I wanted to see for all the buzz it caught. The film Foxcatcher was directed by Bennett Miller (Moneyball) and it starred Steve Carell (The Way Way Back), Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street), and Mark Ruffalo (Now You See Me). The film centers around two of America’s greatest wrestling brothers and a very rich man from an important American family. Mark Schultz (Tatum) is training for his ultimate goal which is to win the gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. One day he is contacted by John du Pont (Steve Carell) multimillionaire who wants Mark to train as his facility to legitimize his Team Foxcatcher. Mark is a very impressionable person and du Pont quickly creates a rift between the two brothers.The union ultimately leads the Schultz’s into tragedy as du Pont is quickly losing his mind. The film also stars Sienna Miller (American Sniper) as Nancy Schultz, Vanessa Redgrave (Howard’s End) as Jean du Pont, Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club) as Jack, Guy Boyd (Taking Chance) as Henry Beck, Brett Rice (Forrest Gump) as Fred Cole, and Lee Perkins (Wild Card) as Corporal.
The film didn’t win any of the big awards, but it definitely put up a fight against some of the heavy contenders at the time. The thing that amazed me the most about this film was the transformation Steve Carell went through because not only does he appear different, but his character is strange. He was a man with a lot of money to throw around and for a little while no one, but Mark could tell that there was something strange about him. He was definitely one of those guys who was socially awkward and sheltered from the dangers of the real world by his mother. Mark Ruffalo is as brilliant as he usually is as he went through a transformation of his own having to put on weight and muscle for the film. The film isn’t full of action, but it’s a slow decent into madness as you dive deeper into it like the characters are. The film is relatively dark in tone if you ask me as there is nothing happy about the film. It’s definitely a film about a match made in hell that turns out drastically bad by the end of the film. There are no spoilers to give here as the film is based on a true story so you can look it for yourself without having to watch the film.
There is a post online that questions what is true and what isn’t true about every film naturally as they are on “Based” on a true story. One of the facts that went into question was whether or not Mark had a sexual relationship with du Pont and Mark took to his Facebook page to explain the truth saying, “Leaving the audience with a feeling that somehow there could have been a sexual relationship between du Pont and I is a sickening and insulting lie. I told Bennett Miller to cut that scene out and he said it was to give the audience the feeling that du Pont was encroaching on your privacy and personal space. I wasn’t explicit so I didn’t have a problem with it. Then after reading 3 or 4 reviews interpreting it sexually, and jeopardizing my legacy, they need to have a press conference to clear the air, or I will.” There are a lot of details about the film that is wrong so if you want to read any if it, just visit this 
365moviesin365dayschallenge 