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Showing posts with the label kevin spacey

THE REF - REVIEW

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Another lesser known Christmas comedy, The Ref  (aka Hostile Hostages) was released in 1994 and it starred Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey as a bickering couple on the verge of a divorce who are taken hostage by a petty thief on Christmas Eve. We first meet the couple as they attend a marriage counselling session which quickly goes off the rails. Meanwhile, criminal Gus (Denis Leary) is in the process of robbing jewelry from a nearby home but that also backfires and the thief is forced to get a ride from someone so he kidnaps Lloyd and Caroline (Spacey and Davis) and gets them to drive him back to their house where he ties them up. Gus' plan to wait for his bumbling partner to come up with an escape plan proves more difficult than anticipated when Lloyd and Caroline's incessant disputes prove to be more than distracting. Then there's the couple's rebellious son who comes home unexpectedly and the rest of the dysfunctional family, led by Lloyd's cold, possessive mot

K-PAX - VIDEO REVIEW

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Here's the video version of my K-PAX review.

AMERICAN BEAUTY - REVIEW

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To say that American Beauty was a hit back in 1999 would be an understatement. Not only did it kill at the box-office but it swept all the big Oscars including Best Director, Best Actor and Best Picture thereby putting director Sam Mendes on the map. The film's plot was pretty simple: a married man goes through some kind of mid-life crisis and develops a crush on his daughter's school friend (played by Mena Suvari). But the combination of Alan Ball's sharp script, the slick cinematography, rose petal motif and Thomas Newman's stand-out score elevated the film to something more visually striking and deeper than expected. The whole thing was a satire of American middle-class values and suburban life, with the idea of beauty being contested and erratic family dynamics explored. Kevin Spacey is Lester Burnham, the loser-turned-liberated (and pervy) father and husband who one day decides to get out of the rut he's in and change his life around with the ultimate g

K-PAX - REVIEW

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Here's a forgotten little thing that happened back in 2001: Kevin Spacey starred as Prot, a man claiming to be from a distant planet called K-PAX in a movie called just that. Prot is found early on wandering around a train station and is soon taken to a mental institution where Jeff Bridges' psychiatrist meets him and tries to figure out whether Prot is really from K-PAX or whether he's just a very troubled fellow and, if so, what could have prompted creating such a fantastical and convincing persona. The film is kind of a cross between Starman and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest as the very off-beat Prot meets all the colourful characters living in the institution and has an impact of some sort on their lives. Kevin Spacey finally lives up to his last name and delivers a decidedly "spacey" performance, his Prot being a complex character to say the least: on the surface he's a wise, friendly, if eccentric, alien with cool Bono-style sunglasses but t

THE USUAL SUSPECTS - REVIEW

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Only two movies in and Bryan Singer already had us in the palm of his hands. The Usual Suspects was a big deal when it came out, mostly because of its cleverly crafted twist, that iconic line-up scene and Kevin Spacey, who really confirmed himself as an actor to look out for. With a strong cast, a slow-burning film noir plot and careful, detailed direction, this was a refreshing thriller in that it didn't go for full-blown action instead sticking to something a bit more cerebral and mysterious, introducing a new type of whodunit. Armed with a razor sharp script by Christopher McQuarrie, The Usual Suspects strives to always be one step ahead of the audience and, unless you know an M. Night Shyamalan-style twist is coming, it does just that very well. Gabriel Byrne plays an ex-criminal who is soon lured back into the game by, ironically, the police and the other "suspects" brought in for a line-up with him. Stephen Baldwin is actually fun as the most energetic and kee

SUPERMAN RETURNS - REVIEW

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Here's the thing about Superman Returns : It's not THAT bad. I wouldn't even call it "bad", it's just... misguided, really. Instead of reinventing Superman for a new generation, here's a film which decides to pay homage to those old Christopher Reeve movies, the only Superman movies we've ever seen. Was that really necessary? No. That was a bad idea to begin with: not original, not ground-breaking, not different. As a slick retread and as a sort-of sequel to Superman II , however, it just about works. You've got Kevin Spacey taking on Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor role and doing a really good job, though he's only a tad more threatening than Hackman was back in the day. The film looks good, the classic Superman theme is still there, the action sequences (all TWO of them), as rare and far between as they may be, are really well done and Bryan Singer's direction is slick and stylish. That said, there's a serious problem when