2011’s Colombiana is your typical B-movie revenge flick that is elevated by the casting of Zoe Saldana as Cataleya, an orphan from Bogotá whose live was laid out when her parents were murdered by a cartel in front of her at the age of nine. Managing to make it the United States, her drive for revenge is molded by an uncle (Cliff Curtis) in Chicago allowing her to become a top-tier assassin and lay the groundwork for her eventual revenge.
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Anyone who has spent time alone in a hotel room isolated and far from home, dealt with the uncertainties of your early 20s or a emotional barrage of a mid-life crisis, or spent time with a stranger who has somehow changed your life, can appreciate at least some of the various themes writer/director Sofia Coppola explores by putting Bill Murray in Japan. Bill Murray in Japan, that’s the premise that Coppola started with. And to it she blended in the talents of a young up-and-coming actress named Scarlett Johansson. The rest, as they say, is history.
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The Great Films – Lost in Translation Read More »
Sherlock Saturday takes us back to the first (and what is widely regarded as the best) of 14 films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The most adapted of any Holmes story, The Hound of the Baskervilles takes place mostly on the moors of Devonshire which has seen the death of Sir Charles Baskerville (Ian Maclaren) and may soon see a similar fate to his heir Sir Henry Baskerville (Richard Greene). Set during the Victorian Era, the film is notable for the look and tone of the foggy moors which provide the backdrop for the dastardly plan of murder.
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A bizarre German B-movie horror flick, The Head involves mad scientists and their crazy experiments taking organ transplants, which in 1959 were still new and experimental, to an entirely new level. We start with the sudden death of Prof. Dr. Abel (Michel Simon) and his crazed assistant (Horst Frank) who manages to remove Abel’s head and keep it alive separate from his body to keep the professor’s knowledge alive and continue his experiments against the professor’s wishes.
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Suffering from memory issues and panic attacks after an accident, former actress Chloe Temple (Alexys Gabrielle) enrolls herself in a tech company’s test program agreeing to say in an AI house created to assist her rehabilitation and recovery. Neither her sister (Anna Stranz) nor her boyfriend (Toussaint Morrison) are supportive of her decision, but after the initial awkwardness Chloe does find some comfort in the support and isolation AIDA (Emily Atack) provides. However, she becomes quickly concerned with her privacy and safety where AIDA is concerned.
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