Crime and Punishment- The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Usual Suspects (1995) and Road to Perdition (2002)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) is a classic thriller starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. Jodie Foster plays Clarice Starling, a young FBI cadet trying to work her way up in the investigative ranks, as it were, and she catches a big break when she is asked to work alongside a senior detective on the Buffalo Bill serial killer case. She is asked to get close to Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins), an incarcerated serial killer and psychiatrist, and learn everything she can in order to aid in the case. As they always do with psychopaths, however, things go awry.

Jonathan Demme directed this film, and I must say that it is extremely scary for a thriller. At all times, the viewer is made to feel, through the shot structure or the music or the scenery, extremely uneasy... Though the jumpscares are few in number, they do not lack in effectiveness. The real talking point on this film, however, has to be performances. Anthony Hopkins's performance as Lecter won him the Oscar for best leading actor, and Foster's as Starling won her best leading actress, and rightfully so. Foster's performance was all about forced emoting. Since her character was overcompensating for her stature and background and, frankly, her gender, she tended to keep her emotions in check. For Foster to play Clarice in a way that makes her stern and yet relatable and sympathetic took real talent. On the other hand, Hopkins's performance was all about terror, and making Lecter seem calm, yet terrifying and unpredictable at all times. Overall, great movie, 5 out of 5 pieces of skin that I need to finish my skin suit!

       

The Usual Suspects (1995) quickly made it on my all-time favorites list after I watched it. Starring yet another of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey, it tells the story of five former convicts, each from a different background, each with a unique set of skills, rounded up for a police lineup. Their respective framing and desire for money or vengeance throws them into an uneasy partnership, which proves troublesome, deadly, and, in the end, very twisty... (no spoilers).

The story is what makes this movie so good, for me anyway, but I can't talk about that without spoiling the entire thing. What I can talk about is Kevin Spacey's fantastic performance. The character he plays is the most important in the film for many reasons, primarily because the narration is him relaying the story to a couple of detectives. The part was tailored for Spacey's voice; his cadence, his pitch, the interesting things he says, all make for not only an interesting story being relayed, but an extremely interesting character being played. Great performance, great story, and very funny! 5 out of 5 members of the gang, each special in his own way.

     

Road to Perdition (2002) features the all-star lineup of Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law and Daniel Craig. This one is all about hitmen and mob bosses in 1931 Chicago, and there's really no way to explain the story without spoiling it.  All you need to know is, its a story of hitman vengeance and mob mentality, but also the story of the bond between father and son.

The big ticker for this film is the performances. All four of the aforementioned actors balance their performances in the simplest way: good versus evil. Each character has a different ratio. Hanks's is mostly good, with a MEAN streak or two to keep things interesting, while Craig and Law have characters of almost pure evil, Overall, decent film, 3.5 out of 5 bullets left in the tommy gun. I don't quite know how half a bullet works, but we'll find out I suppose.
                  

Sci-Fi Heavy Hitters- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Dark City (1998), The Matrix (1999), and Children of Men (2006)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) is a classic Sci-Fi flick that every self-proclaimed Sci-Fi fanatic needs to see. Starring the beautiful Dana Wynter and Kevin McCarthy's enormous chin, this pioneer of the popular sci-fi era is not to be missed. McCarthy plays Dr. Miles Bennell, an open-minded physician who begins to notice people acting strangely around him. People begin to complain that their friends and loved ones haven't simply changed, but that they are different people entirely. Investigating this phenomena alongside his former girlfriend and love interest Becky Driscoll, he discovers very soon that the paranoia is completely warranted; people all around Santa Mira, CA are being replaced by exact replicas of themselves, that are grown in large, plantlike pods. As usual, no spoilers, but the climactic ending of this flick will have you on the edge of your seat through the final seconds.

I cannot overstate the importance of this movie in regards to its status as a forerunner of the sci-fi genre. Its absurdity inspired a generation of filmmakers to be more and more outrageous with their art, and really gave rise to the films we know and love today. Kevin McCarthy's performance as a man who grows more tense, more paranoid, more outnumbered, and more TIRED is very well done. Cinematically, everything was spot-on, and I enjoyed this film very much. Overall, I give it 4 out of 5 hours of sleep, because "If I could only close my eyes for just a second..."
         
Dark City (1998) is not typically thought of as a great movie, but it is a cult classic and stands as a perfect example of modern sci-fi. Directed by sci-fi legend Alex Proyas, and starring Rufus Sewell and Kiefer Sutherland, this movie tells the story of John Murdoch, a man who wakes up in a bathtub adjacent to a murdered hooker with no memory of his entire existence. He meets some pale guys with a REALLY creepy baby, a lady who is apparently his wife, a maniacal psychiatrist who takes a breath between every word he says, and a hardened detective, who is just along for the ride.

This movie punches WAY above its weight in many ways. The performances from Sewell and Sutherland are top notch, Sutherland especially. His character, Dr. Daniel Schreber, is a timid, shrewd, eccentric, crippled genius, a very uncharacteristic role for an actor usually cast as a confident, strong man. That said, he plays it beautifully. The greatest thing about this film, however, is the feeling it creates with its setting. With its tall buildings and constant scenery manipulation, the atmosphere seems HUGE and imposing, but at the same time, the viewer becomes aware that the world in which the film takes place is no more than a single city, existing as its own entity without a planet or neighbors. In this way, Proyas makes the viewer feel overwhelmed and "out in the open", but at the same time, constricted and isolated. Fantastic directing, and overall the film receives a solid 4 out of 5 failed injection attempts, because these guys just can't seem to seal the deal.

           

The Matrix (1999) holds a special place in my heart, because not only was it the first science fiction film I saw, but it was also my first exposure to Larry Fishburne's unnaturally round face. Starring the aforementioned Fishburne, Keanu Reeves, and two of my FAVORITE actors, Hugo Weaving and Joe Pantoliano, The Matrix does more to shatter your perception of reality and ultimately destroy your mind than even a woman could. Following the story of Neo, a hacker searching for the meaning of life and reality, The Matrix introduces us to the concept of a digital reality which we are all living in. Neo meets the man who holds his answers, Morpheus, but as the secrets of the matrix and all who live inside and outside of it unfold, a tale of deceit, greed, jealousy and vengeance rears its ugly head.

Cinematically, this movie is unparalleled. Assuming you've seen the movie, you know all about the "bullet time" scene, but you may not know that the scene was filmed using 24 DIFFERENT CAMERAS arranged in a spiral pattern around Reeves, and the shot was arranged frame-by-frame from the resulting film. This movie is filled with semi-practical effects like that, from the infamous bending spoon to the gravity drops off of skyscrapers OH MAN THIS MOVIE IS COOL! But I digress. The effects are fantastic, the performances are phenomenal, everything about it is good. 5 out of 5 women in red dresses, because really, that has to be the greatest training module.

      

Children of Men (2006) is on my list of favorite movies of all time. Seriously, it is fantastic in every way. Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, and Clare-Hope Ashitey, it tells the story of Theo, a hardened man in 2027 Britain, who's world faces the greatest threat of annihilation ever known: the species has become infertile. No babies have been born since 2009. Facing the inevitable destruction of life, the world has fallen into chaos, and "Only Britain Soldiers On" (relatively speaking). Theo is contacted by his ex-wife Julian (Moore) to get transit papers for a refugee girl named Kee (Ashitey). To say anything else would spoil it, and I would dare spoil such a fantastic film.

What really gets me about this movie (aside from some incredible performances from the stars, including Caine as a long-haired, weed-growing hippie) is the cinematography. The director of photography on the film is Emmanuel Lubezki, arguably the finest to ever live. His trademark is seen in the movie's impossibly long shots, one of which runs for over a half an hour! Each shot is both beautiful and gritty at the same time, which makes for a unique feel and an unequaled experience. Overall, 5 out of 5 different kinds of weed... before I saw this movie, I thought there was just the one...