Tag: Thriller

REVIEW: There’s Nothing Memorable About ‘Unforgettable’

This movie’s Internet Movie Database page says that it’s a thriller, but as it was screening, “Unforgettable” seemed to be more of a comedy.

The film follows the character Julia (Rosario Dawson), who’s moving from San Francisco to a smaller community to live with her fiancé David (Geoff Stults) and his daughter. While it takes some time for to fit in, Julia does eventually start to get a bit used to living in her new home.

An immediate problem starts to come forward in the character Tessa (Katherine Heigl), though. Tessa is David’s ex and isn’t too much of a fan of Julia getting close with her former family and it doesn’t take long for the jealousy to turn into complete hatred. As time goes on, Tessa begins working to ruin Julia’s life.

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REVIEW: ‘Elle’ Is A Dark, Disturbing Piece Powered By Isabelle Huppert’s Performance

For the first time since 2012 Paul Verhoeven returns to the director’s chair with arguably his most twisted feature film to date.

“Elle” follows the title character who’s more commonly referred to as Michele. A CEO of a major video game development company, Michele is a wealthy and rather powerful business woman living in France.

Her life, already quite complicated, becomes shattered in the opening scene of the film, though, when she’s attacked and raped at her home. What follows is an exploration of how the character deals with such a disgusting act, how it influences her decisions and how it relates to her past.

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Halloween Horror Fest 2016: Honoring Jack Nicholson’s performance

When the subject of Jack Nicholson’s performance in “The Shining,” many think of the iconic scene of his character saying “Here’s Johnny.”

While it’s an iconic moment, though, it’s just a single part in one of the most thrilling pieces of acting to put to screen.

Similar to how I gave credit to Alfred Hitchcock when I did the write-up on Anthony Perkins’ performance in “Psycho,” I also have to give recognition to Director Stanley Kubrick.

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Halloween Horror Fest 2016: Honoring Anthony Perkins’ performance

Of all the horror/thriller performances I’m looking at this October, Anthony Perkins’ in “Psycho” is arguably the best.

Credit for the 1960 masterpiece also has to obviously go to the brilliant direction of Alfred Hitchcock as well as Janet Leigh who played Marion. However, it’s undeniable that Perkins’ acting was an integral part of making this a film for the ages.

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REVIEW: Lackluster Mystery, Dull Acting Sends ‘Girl On The Train’ Off The Rails

A complex murder mystery unravels in “The Girl on the Train,” a movie that starts off with a scene based on the title.

Emily Blunt plays a divorcee named Rachel, a woman struggling with alcoholism who rides a train through New York state on a daily basis in a sort of daze. On a day-to-day basis, Rachel passes by the home she used to share with her husband and reminisces while also watching another couple, Megan (Haley Bennett) and Scott (Luke Evans) with envy.

On one day in particular, Rachel happens to see something after getting off at a train stop, but because of her drunken state, she has trouble remembering.

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Halloween Horror Fest 2016: Honoring the performances of Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek

Just a warning to start, this post will have spoilers.

Like “The Exorcist,” “Carrie” was a 1970s horror flick that managed to snag some attention from the Oscars, something that’s become rare in today’s award season.

In this case, both lead actresses Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek were nominated for their performances in the 1976 adaptation of the Stephen King novel. Looking back at the picture, there’s no doubt that both women deserved the nominations.

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Halloween Horror Fest 2016: Honoring Lugosi and Lee

Hello movie fans and welcome to the first installment of Halloween Horror Fest, a month long special on Matthew Liedke on Film all about the genre that’s around to create chills and thrills.

For this year’s HHF, I’ll be looking back at horror movie performances and celebrating the best of the best. This will go over what makes them good, memorable and in some cases downright award worthy.

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REVIEW: Third ‘Purge’ Uses The Same Formula As The Second Film, But Doesn’t Deliver Same Results

If you enjoyed “The Purge: Anarchy” from 2014, you may not need to see “The Purge: Election Year,” since they are so similar.

Returning from the 2014 feature is former police sergeant Leo, played by Frank Grillo. After the events of the second film where he was involved with helping a group of individuals survive the Purge, Leo is now the lead security official for U.S. Sen. Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell).

Roan is a presidential candidate and is running on a platform of ending the Purge and moving the country in a different direction, making her a target for those in favor of the newest American holiday. For this reason, Roan and Leo are forced to go on the run on Purge night after an assassination attempt and they have few people to trust. However, they do get some help from others trying to survive the night.

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REVIEW: ‘The Shallows’ Is A Thrilling Story Of Survival

It might not make you afraid to go in the water, but it will entertain the hell out of you at the theater.

“The Shallows,” directed by Jaume Collet-Serra who previously helmed Liam Neeson thrillers “Unknown” and “Non-Stop” tells the story of Nancy. Played by Blake Lively, Nancy is a young woman who has taken time out of her pursuit of a medical degree to ride the waves at a secluded beach. The location the film takes place at is special to her, since her mother surfed at the same beach years ago.

After a full day of surfing, though, Nancy soon finds herself in a feeding ground of a great white shark and her only salvation away from the shore is a small rock formation. This means she is left to discover some way of getting to safety while being secluded.

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REVIEW: ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ Highlighted By Acting, Claustrophobic Atmosphere

Since it’s right in the title, I’ll address the elephant in the room first. For those thinking this might be a sequel to the 2008 giant monster movie “Cloverfield,” you’re out of luck. The J.J. Abrams produced “10 Cloverfield Lane” has nothing to do with the creature that attacked New York City and does not serve as a sequel.

Instead, this film acts as a sort of anthology successor, maintaining the same mysterious tone of other Abrams’ pictures while still being its own film.

The movie starts off with a quick introduction of the protagonist, Michelle, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who has decided to leave her fiance. On the way out of town, though, she is caught in a car accident on the highway.

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