Category: Suspense Thriller

Wind River

After a 2 week hiatus because there hasn’t been anything good at the box office worth reviewing, I am BACK!!

“Wind River” is a well-executed Drama/Suspense thriller about the rape and murder of a young Native American Girl that occurs at the Wind River Native American Reservation.

The FBI teams up with the local law enforcement and a local game tracker to find out how this awful crime occurred, who did it and why.

The scenes are snowy with blizzard like conditions and sub-zero temperatures are the norm throughout the movie. Some of the events in the movie will have you shivering in your seat.

“Wind River” is gritty, will keep you entertained and on the edge of your seat. There is a mix of male posturing as well as a mix of soul searching displayed throughout the movie.

“Wind River” opened in limited-Release on Aug 4th. It recently opened wide to a broader audience around the country.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

The Wall

“The Wall” was not on my original “Watch List”, but I decided that it was a better choice this weekend than “Snatched”.

It’s 2007 and the end of the Iraq War. President Bush has declared victory and the rebuilding has started. “The Wall” is a suspenseful psychological thriller that follows two US soldiers who are pinned down by an Iraqi sniper. There is nothing between them but a crumbling wall. The fight becomes as much a game of wills and wits as it is about accuracy. The story unfolds from there…

“The Wall” is intense, nerve-racking and at times hard to look at right up to the end. There is so much dirt flying that you will feel like you are eating dirt right along with them. You are given a very realistic view of what the soldiers who protect us have to deal with. If you like military-themed movies, check out “The Wall”.

“The Wall” was directed by Doug Linman who also directed one of my favorite movies “The Bourne Ultimatum”. Other Doug Linman directorial credits include “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “Edge of Tomorrow”.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

The Accountant

If I have said this once, I’ve said it a thousand times…Ben Affleck is brilliant behind the camera, but not in front of it.

“The Accountant” is about a boy, Christian Wolff (Affleck) with autism who grows up to be a genius accountant, who also serves as an assassin for his clients. Wolff works as a free-lance accountant for some of the most dangerous people. As the Justice Department starts to close in, Wolff takes on a legitimate client, where there is an accounting discrepancy that has been uncovered by an in-house accounting clerk (Kendrick). Mysteriously as the accounting discrepancy comes to full light, the body count starts to rise. The story unfolds from there…

The movie has so many twists, turns and subplots that the main plot gets lost. This makes it difficult to tie all the pieces together, but at the end it’s all cleaned up.

There is so much going on in “The Accountant” that you will not be bored. This is truly a Drama, Suspense Thriller of epic proportion. The movie is better than Ben Affleck acting in it.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

Run All Night

I thought the weekend was going to slip by before I could see “Run All Night”. I have been severely under the weather with an Acute Sinus Infection and on Antibiotics. Heavily medicated I was NOT going to let a Liam Neeson movie pass by if I could help it. So off to the movies I went late this Sunday afternoon.

Liam Neeson plays Jimmy Conlon, a mob hit-man in this crime thriller. He and his estranged son Mike Conlon (Joel Kinnaman) are fleeing the wrath of a vengeful crime boss, Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) after Jimmy kills Shawn Maguire’s son in self defense to save his own son, Mike. The story unfolds from there…

There are lots of twists and turns and intrigue. It’s in your face violence. There are some interest stunts and moves, but nothing to far out of the way that it’s totally unbelievable.
The only strange element is actor Common playing a sort of “Cyborg” Hit Man. He is out of place here…Common is good looking and debonair. He should stick to the “Lover” type roles. He does not transcend to bad guy very well.

If you like Crime Suspense Thrillers and Liam Neeson, “Run All Night” is worth a look.

This is a 3 Star Movie!!

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Based on a comic book, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” is about a very secret Spy Organization that is in need of fresh recruits, so they can continue to stay ahead of the latest global threats. The organization recruits a kid off the streets, but he isn’t just any kid; his father was a member of “The Secret Service” and he gave his life years ago to save his fellow team members.

The recruitment process is ultra competitive and at times it’s questionable as to whether any of the 6 recruits will rise to the top, but some do just in time because there is a Tech Genius who is launching a threat. The story unfolds from there…

“Kingsman: The Secret Service” is entertaining, thrilling, action packed and suspenseful.

There are some interesting special effects and some cool cinematography.
The movie is diminished a bit by some intense killing sprees, but other than that it’s very good.

“Kingsman: The Secret Service” is worth a look.

This is a 4 Star Movie!!

The Gambler (2014)

I love Mark Wahlberg. I think he’s a good actor, but this remake of the 1974 “The Gambler” that starred James Caan doesn’t quite cut it.

The movie drags for the first hour and twenty minutes. The best part is the last 30 minutes. It’s almost worth seeing just for the last 30 minutes, but the key word in my sentence is ALMOST!!

Mark Wahlberg plays Jim Bennett who is both a high Stakes Gambler and a Literary Professor at a local college. He borrows from a gangster (Michael K. Williams) and puts his own life up for collateral. Jim then pits the gangster against the operator of a gambling ring (Alvin Ing). The story unfolds from there…

I do have to say that the dialog for the gangsters was awesome. Their gift for gab was a lot more than I expected.

The 1974 version of “The Gambler” is available via Netflix. I believe that you will find more enjoyment watching that version.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Gone Girl

“Oh My Gosh!!”, “Gone Girl” is jaw dropping good!! The mystery of it all is insane!! The plot and story are out of this world crazy!! The movie is based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn.

“Gone Girl” is about the ups and downs of a modern marriage. On their fifth wedding anniversary Nick Dunne (Affleck) finds himself contacting the police because he comes home and finds what appears to look like a struggle of some kind took place in his home and his wife is missing…The story unfolds from there…

Straight away it looks like “Been there done that”, but WAIT!! It’s like a made bed that you decide to unmake. As you remove pieces of the bedding the picture starts to come together and oh what a picture it makes.

“Gone Girl” is excellently executed, a slow churning suspense mystery with plenty of intrigue. You will be on the edge of your seat. The performances of the actors are superb.

This has to be the best Suspense/Mystery/Thriller I have seen in a while…

If you like Suspense/Mystery/Thrillers, “Gone Girl” is your movie.

“Gone Girl” is definitely a must see!!

This is a 4 1/2 Star Movie!!

The Equalizer (2014)

The last time Director Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington hooked-up to make a movie, Denzel picked up one of the gold statues (An Oscar).

That most likely will not happen this time, but that doesn’t mean that “The Equalizer” isn’t good!!

Denzel Washington brings “The Equalizer’s” Robert McCall to the big screen. McCall believes he has put his strange past behind him and is trying to live a quiet normal life in Boston. McCall goes to work every day at a Home Depot type store. McCall frequents a Diner in his neighbor and it’s there that he meets a young girl named Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz). Teri is under the influence of a roguish Russian Mobster.

McCall witnesses the mobster violently slapping Teri. He can’t stand by and allow this to continue. McCall devises a plan and uses skills no one knows he has to get Teri away from the Russian Mobster. The story unfolds from there…

“The Equalizer” is a “Slow Burn Suspense Thriller”. There is no rush with this movie, but it doesn’t drag either. The suspense and intrigue are at an all time high. There is plenty of action and at times it’s rather bloody.

Watching Denzel in action as Robert McCall is awesome!! You can’t wait to see what happens next!
If you like Suspense Thrillers, you will find “The Equalizer” entertaining and satisfying.

This is a former TV Drama brought to the big screen with a big time actor. I expect this to become a franchise. We will undoubtedly see Denzel as Robert McCall again in the future.

This is a 3 Star Movie!

A Walk Among the Tombstones

“A Walk Among the Tombstones” is a good movie, but not for the faint at heart!
Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) a Private Investigator is hired by a drug kingpin to find the people who kidnapped and murdered his wife. Along the way to arriving at the awful truth, Matt must also deal with his own demons as he has flashbacks to a time long past.

As Matt digs into the gruesome details of this particular kidnapping/murder he finds a pattern that leads to other kidnapping/murders of woman who are somehow related to drug kingpins. The story unfolds from there…
As “A Walk Among the Tombstones” progresses it gets more and more suspenseful. There is plenty of drama, intrigue and tension to go around.

I mentioned earlier that this is not for the faint at heart. There are some very grizzly scenes and at times it’s a bit bloody.
Liam Neeson is awesome as Matt Scudder. If you like Suspense Thrillers this is a MUST SEE!

Actor Danny Devito is one of the producers of “A Walk Among the Tombstones”. The movie is based on the best-selling novel by Lawrence Block.

This is a 3 1/2 Star Movie!

A Most Wanted Man

Earlier this year when it was announced that Academy Award winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman had died, I thought it was a terrible joke. His death is another in a long line of famous people gone too soon…

In one of his last performances, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Gunter Bachmann a counterterrorist expert based in Hamburg Germany who operates as a rogue agent independently of the GSG-9.

A half-Chechen, half Russian named Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin), brutally tortured immigrant shows up in Hamburg’s Islamic community claiming his father’s ill-gotten fortune, both the US and German Security agencies take notice and start an all out investigation and surveillance. There is an immediate need to establish this most wanted man’s true identity. Is he an extremist or oppressed victim?

The phrase “Oh what a web we weave when trying to deceive” rings very true in “A Most Wanted Man”.

This is a Spy Suspense Thriller about surveillance, plain and simple!!
The movie has a slow churn to it that doesn’t come together until the last 20 minutes, but you will want to know what happens. There are a few surprises with twists and turns. You have to be patient!

I have seen Philip Seymour Hoffman look better. His dialog is minimal, but his presence and authority in the film speaks volumes.

“A Most Wanted Man” is based on the John Le Carre’s 2008 Spy Novel.
If you are a Philip Seymour Hoffman fan and you like Spy Thriller’s, “A Most Wanted Man” should not be missed.

This is a 4 Star Movie