Category: thriller
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The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse [1933] ★★★★
People always mention “Metropolis” and “M” when they talk about German filmmaker Fritz Lang. While they’re both terrific, I personally vouch for “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse”, one of the best movies of the early talkies. Made in 1933, at a time when Nazism was on the rise, “Dr. Mabuse” was banned in Germany by…
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Vengeance: A Love Story [2017] ★★
I approach every Nicolas Cage movie with the same level of enthusiasm. Will it be as bad as the previous one? Maybe worse? Having suffered through “Arsenal” just a couple of months ago, I expected the worse here. So here’s the good news: “Vengeance” is a watchable mess. It’s still trash, but the kind of trash…
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A Cure For Wellness [2017] ★★½
I approach every psychological movie with a combination of excitement and apprehension, and “A Cure for Wellness” is no exception: it’s a visual feast, courtesy of director Gore Verbinsky, featuring a superior performance from its leading man, Dane DeHaan. How to describe the story? I’d say it’s a cross between Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” and…
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The Belko Experiment [2017] ★★
It’s gory as hell, but the idea at the core of “The Belko Experiment” got my attention: a group of 80 Americans are locked in their offices in Bogota, Colombia and ordered by an unknown voice to kill 30 people in two hours. What happens if they don’t? They all die. Simple. Straight to the point. No…
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Nocturnal Animals [2016] ★★★
I’m ashamed to say that I’m a bit late coming to this movie, but having witnessed Amy Adams in one of the best performances of her career in Denis Villeneuve’s masterpiece “Arrival”, I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into “Nocturnal Animals”. And I wasn’t wrong: this is a scary, stylish, and terrifically twisted film…
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Arsenal [2017] ★
The first real bad movie of 2017 stars non other than the legendary Nicolas Cage and…wait for it… John Cusack! Though they’re both reduced to supporting roles, you still can’t help but feel sorry for them for starring in almost anything these days, just for the sake of a quick buck. “Arsenal” is a travesty,…
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Split [2017] ★★★
Maybe you’ve read articles about “Split” being director M. Night Shyamalan’s return in form. Maybe you’ll think so too if you’ve seen “The Happening”, “The Last Airbender” or the preposterous “After-Earth” starring Will Smith and his son Jaden. Here’s the deal: “Split” is Shyamalan’s best film since 2002’s “Signs”, and we owe it all to…
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Incarnate [2016] ★½
Aaron Eckhart plays a man haunted by his past. Is he haunted by how much his career has fallen since starring in Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight”? Na, nothing that interesting. He’s playing a scientist with the ability to heal possessed people by entering their subconscious mind. His latest subject? A young boy (David Mazouz from…
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Shut In [2016] ★★
Tagline says “a heart pounding thriller” but all I saw was a thriller made by people who have never seen a real thriller before. Naomi Watts plays a widowed child psychologist who lives with her bedridden son. When one of the boys she’s treating goes missing one night, she becomes convinced that some kind of ghost…
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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back [2016] ★★
It’s the curse of the sequels all over again. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” and “Independence Day: Resurgence” earlier this year, and now “Never Go Back”, the sequel to 2012’s “Jack Reacher also starring Tom Cruise. The first film wasn’t innovative in any way, but it was a highly entertaining action thriller and I…
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The Girl On The Train [2016] ★½
From the trailer and synopsis you would think this is a solid thriller, much like David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” in which Ben Affleck’s wife disappears without a trace. But from the opening scene, something was off. “The Girl On The Train” is a tedious film; badly scripted, awkwardly acted, and just downright ridiculous at times.…
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When The Bough Breaks [2016] ★½
I cringed so many times during “When the Bough Breaks”. Most times when Morris Chestnut and Jazz Sinclair had scenes together. He plays a married man who desperately wants a baby with his wife (Regina Hall). Problem is: they can’t conceive unless they hire a surrogate mother. That would be Anna (Sinclair) who turns out…
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The Manchurian Candidate [1962] ★★★★
Regarded as the quintessential political satire of the 1960’s, “The Manchurian Candidate” is also meant to provoke paranoia and fear as an American patrol is captured and brainwashed by Chinese communists during the Koran war. One soldier, Raymond Shaw (a terrific Laurence Harvey), has been programmed for a top secret mission: to murder a presidential…
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Blood Father [2016] ★★½
Mel Gibson’s return to the big screen (feels like forever) was well worth the wait. “Blood Father”, a straightforward B-action thriller about an ex convict (Gibson) who must protect his 17 year old daughter from the drug cartel, doesn’t reinvent the wheel. But Gibson, 60, certainly looks ripped and ready to kick ass. His comeback…
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Don’t Breathe [2016] ★★★
From the trailer and the poster you would think this is (God forbid) yet another slasher film. It’s not. Instead, it’s a cross between “Wait Until Dark” starring Audrey Hepburn and David Fincher’s underrated “Panic Room”. The result? A thriller that pumps out suspense from the word go. The premise is simple: three clumsy burglars decide…
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The Neon Demon [2016] ★★½
Nicholas Winding Refn makes movies like no other filmmaker. Sometimes that’s admirable (see “Bronson” and the mind-blowing “Drive” starring Ryan Gosling). Other times it’s a beautiful, incoherent mess (see “Only God Forgives”, also starring Ryan Gosling”). “The Neon Demon” falls somewhere in between. It’s stylish and visually mesmerizing from start to finish. It also features…
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The Shallows [2016] ★★½
Even when it feels awfully familiar, “The Shallows”- starring Blake Lively as a woman who finds herself attacked by a white shark while vacationing on a Mexican beach- immediately held me in its grip. What follows the attack is a gripping story of one woman’s resourcefulness and determination to stay alive. Since that woman is…
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Jason Bourne [2016] ★★★
I’ve waited 9 years for Jason Bourne to finally resurface following the hugely entertaining “Bourne Ultimatum”, and despite its ageing material, the new Bourne film delivers the goods from start to finish. It’s also one hell of a comeback for Paul Greengrass (who previously directed “Supremacy” and “Ultimatum”), who keeps the suspense alive as Bourne trots…
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Nerve [2016] ★★½
Up until the lousy final act, “Nerve”, starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, had my attention. The setting is simple: you play an online game where people dare you to do stuff. Harmless fun? You’d think. Vee (Roberts) is a high school student who finds herself caught up in the thrill of this game. But…
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The Purge: Election Year [2016] ★★½
As someone, who, didn’t care much for any of the previous”Purge” movies, I actually had a good time watching this third installment. Here, writer director James DeMonaco finally gives us a reason to care for all the characters involved in the annual purge, where, for 12 hours, the government allows robbery, rape and even murder.…
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