Inside Man: Mystery Suspense

Movie Review: Inside Man (2006) on Netflix 👏

In this suspenseful bank-heist movie, Inside Man pits Denzel Washington as a skilled police detective against Clive Owen as a well-planned bank robber and Jodie Foster as a highly motivated negotiator for Christopher Plummer, the man with something to hide. Call it a high-stakes game of chess for everyone. (See the movie trailer below.)

    It seems like an ordinary day at this mid-city bank, when a van load of "painters" arrives. But all hell breaks loose when they exchange paint cans for machine guns and start yelling commands and firing shots. Everything goes into lockdown as bank employees and customers are ordered to strip down to their underwear and put on matching painter outfits, caps, and masks. They become hostages, herded into small groups and sequestered on the floor in separate rooms. Anyone who doesn't follow orders is slapped around, beaten, and threatened within an inch of their lives. 

    Police get a hint there's a problem and arrive. Communications is set up with the robbers, but nothing is quite as it seems. It's up to police to figure out who the robbers are, what they want, and how to shut down the steal. But the robbers aren't playing by the usual rules.

    The founder of the bank steps in to offer police any help, but he's shoved aside. He contacts a high-power broker he's used before to speak with the robbers. There's a certain box in the bank he doesn't want anyone to see, which otherwise could be ruinous to his business. She must see to its security at all costs. A high-dollar payoff to the thieves is considered.

    Things seem to be going just as the thieves planned, but the police detective just can't let it go. Does it matter? The movie title matters. You'll have to watch it to get it—but careful, it's not what you think.

    Inside Man movie trailer via YouTube:

Words and Pictures: Good writing, good cast

Movie Review: Words and Pictures (2013) on HBO Max

I've forgotten what really good writing can do to drive a good film. Recently, I was reminded watching Words and Pictures.

The whole gist of this film is a washed up old writer turned English teacher (Clive Owen) and a struggling artist (Juliette Binoche) forced to teach fine arts at a prep school battle out which is more meaningful, words or pictures. Caught in the middle are their bright, impressionable high school students. The two teachers are at first caught up in their own misery and failure to achieve insights in their individual arts and fight it out in a battle of wits highlighted by the sexual tension between them and the devotion of their brightest students. But over time, they come to circle one another until they tangle in a competition in which their honors programs will decide on a supreme art: words or pictures, and the outcome may surprise you.

This is written with great wit and conversation around language arts, with quotes from the great authors of time--in essence, Words and Pictures becomes a piece of literary art in itself. 

At the same time, we see fine art explored visually as Binoche struggles to paint as the master painter her character is known to be yet struggles because of a disabling disease. We see her grasping brushes intricately small and industrially huge in painting masterpieces, yet not able to articulate her vision and anguishing over every stroke. Her studio is awash in art and anger. 

Meanwhile, required to write new manuscripts of prose and poetry, Owen can't muster the thoughts that once came so easily to him, now absorbed in debilitating alcoholism.

Both are spiraling out of control, before our eyes. And here they are, trying to guide students as they try to apply for college entrance!

So, what the writing does for the "words" part of the film, the staging, cinematography, and acting do for the "pictures" part of Words and Pictures, and it's a brilliant choreography. Binoche, a wonderfully natural actor, flows across the screen. Owen is hefty in most of his roles, and his passion in this role comes across with vigor and life.

Words and Pictures is a thinking film but also a feeling film. And I'd rate it A^ for Above Average on all Counts! Loved it.

Gemini Man: Spot-on Special Effects and Stunt Work Make it a Winner

Movie Review: Gemini Man (2019)
Version: Library borrow

Oh, man, Gemini Man is a mind bender. Well, sort of. It's not going to alter your life. But the special effects of Will Smith playing a young clone of himself just might make your synapses melt. And the story line is pretty good, too.

The whole premise is that Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is a fantastic sniper for the government. But he sees that his skills and his persona are wearing down from all the killing, so he decides to retire. Only, the government still needs someone with his skill set. They have hired a private firm run by Brogan's old mentor, Clay Verris (Clive Owen), to develop a replacement, and Verris has unleashed that guy to knock off Brogan. Turns out, that guy is a much younger clone called Junior (also Will Smith) raised without Brogan's foibles, ready and willing to do what Brogan now finds harder and harder to do. Working with Brogan to help him find Verris and Junior is an agent caught in the middle, Danny (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a student with exceptional spy and organization skills. Also turns out Verris has been working on an even leaner model of Junior with even fewer inhibitions for use in the battlefield, and he might just need him when everyone comes together at the end of the film.

Gemini Man is a pithy action film as much as it is a steely sci-fi pic. Will Smith handles the dual roles of Brogan and Junior easily and moves through the demanding stunt scenes effortlessly in a seamless rough 'n' tumble chase scene through busy city streets. There are some other complex fight scenes where the two fight, too. Obviously, he's using stunt doubles, but the special effects work is spot on and the magic works great!

I'd say, sit back and enjoy. Don't work too hard to pick the plot apart. The opening scene sniper shot is a bit hard to take seriously, but if you can get beyond that, the movie is fun and the ending makes it worth suspending your disbelief to the end. Gemini Man is worth investing the time to be entertained.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets: A Wild Ride Appropriate for Most Ages

Movie Review: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Version: Library borrow

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a wild ride. The vast number of alien species represented in this amazing science fiction film is just ... wow! I doubt film makers reach a thousand, but the creativity in this film just boggles the imagination, so you quickly lose count.

The story line takes place in the 28th century and involves humanity's outreach to the abundance of alien species at our doorstep, welcoming them to space station Alpha as it makes its way outward from the Solar System. But everything isn't peace and happiness, as interaction between humans and aliens sometimes involves conflict. And in one instance, an innocent race of peaceful aliens is sacrificed to save the human mission.

Major Valerian (played by Dane DeHaan) and his partner Sergeant Laureline (played by Cara Delevingne) are sent on a dangerous mission to retrieve the last member of a species of gem converters from a devastated planet. When they return successfully, they must save their commander (played by Clive Owen), who has been abducted on Alpha in a suspiciously infected area. What they discover hiding in the infected area changes everyone's understanding of one of Alpha's past missions and its future relations with the thousands of species it has encountered to date. Getting from beginning to end of this tale is an incredible journey!

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a majestic panoramic view of humankind's future in space while making a metaphoric statement about advanced civilizations' cruel treatment of those who are far less advanced. It uses sweeping vistas, imposing set designs, and daunting visual effects to take viewers on a fantastic trip through time and space, introducing us to amazing species and colorful (literal and figurative) characters. You won't leave watching this film unimpressed.

This film also doesn't take itself especially serious. There is plenty of humor in the story to lighten the atmosphere.

As a fan of science fiction and fantasy, I highly recommend Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets for teens and older audiences. Younger audiences may also appreciate it with adult supervision.