Day 174: The Bourne Identity (2002)

Jason Bourne comes out on July 29, 2016 and since I haven’t seen any of the Bourne films in the series, I figured I might as well start now. Also, since I do a weekly post called Ass Whoopin Wednesdays, I figured this would be the perfect place for it. So for almost every Wednesday, I will be reviewing every Bourne film in the series and I start with The Bourne Identity. Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) plays government assassin Jason Bourne, but the only problem is that he doesn’t know that. You see Jason was shot and left for dead in the Mediterranean Sea and since he has come to he doesn’t know who he is or why all of a sudden people are after him. With the help of a girl he just met named Marie (Franka Potente), he’ll try to put the pieces together before he becomes extinct. The film also stars Chris Cooper (The Town) as Conklin, Clive Owen (Inside Man) as The Professor, Brian Cox (Troy) as Ward Abbott, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Thor: The Dark World) as Wombosi, Gabriel Mann (Revenge) as Zorn, Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You) as Nicolette, Orso Maria Guerrini (The Conformist) as Giancarlo, and the film was directed by Doug Liman (Edge Of Tomorrow). To see the stats and read the rest of the review, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies.

Day 137: Zodiac (2007)

I was searching for a film to watch and I was going through a whole entire list before the film I chose caught my eye. I have always been a sucker for films that are based on true stories because real life can be scarier than fiction. The film I chose for today is called Zodiac and it stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners) as San Francisco Newspaper cartoonist Robert Graysmith. In the late 1960’s into the 70′, a killer appeared in Northern California calling himself the Zodiac killer. He would murder his victims and he would send letters to local newspapers. Robert Graysmith became so intrigued with the case that he followed it. Unfortunately, a suspect was never found and no one was ever arrested. When everyone else stopped looking, Graysmith took the reigns and decided to investigate himself coming close to identifying the actual killer. The film stars Mark Ruffalo (Avengers: Age Of Ultron) as Inspector David Toschi, Anthony Edwards (Top Gun) as Inspector William Armstrong, Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) as Paul Avery, Brian Cox (Troy) as Melvin Belli, John Caroll Lynch (Ted 2) as Arthur Leigh Allen, Chloë Sevigny (American Psycho) as Melanie, Elias Koteas (Shutter Island) as Sgt. Jack Mulanax, Donal Logue (Blade) as Captain Ken Narlow, Ione Skye (Say Anything…) as Kathleen Johns, and the film was directed by David Fincher (Fight Club). 

This is a long film, but it’s a film that is very intriguing especially when it’s a true crime story that has never been solved to this very day. I watched the film because it starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo because all three men are some of personal favs. At first, I kept wondering how they would close a movie that has no ending in real life. The killer has never been caught so how do you write an ending to that especially when there is none? Do I like the way they ended the film? Essentially, I kind of do and I kind of don’t, but it’s something that I am willing to accept (of course, you’ll have to watch it for yourself). Jake Gyllenhaal is brilliant in the film as this kind of neurotic obsessed guy that kind of reminds me of his role a little in Nightcrawler. The case they are all investigating and researching is kind of destroying there lives because they are way to attached to the idea of breaking it open and catching the guy. You see the characters literally falling apart right in front of your fac while the killer stays free. There are several theories and several accusations that have been made as to who the killer was, but the characters in this film believe in the guy they are after. I have to admit that I was a little creeped out watching this film in the wee hours of the night so it definitely gets bonus points for that reason. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade based on performances and just the pure creepiness of the film.