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‘Unspeakable’ (2002)

unspeakable2003.jpgIt could have used a better editor.

This is one of those films that I caught about 15 min. late on late-night cable. That I missed those 15 min. made all the difference in the world, making a clunky thriller into something much more compelling. The dorktastic  titles reading ‘Tonight’, ’3 Days Earlier’, etc., etc. – played no part in my first impression, and the film played as a straight jailhouse drama that way, with LESS ludicrous pseudo-science and fewer superhuman feats perpetrated by the arch-villain.

I was so intrigued by this insomnia-tinged drama that I programmed my Tivo to catch the West Coast feed of the movie, and that was the good-bad mistake. This film would have been far more effective if they had eliminated the backstories at the beginning of the film and the wannabe ‘Another Heaven‘ (2000) aspects of the Jesse Mowatt character. The director and the editor overplayed their hands there. [Read more →]

Tags: Action, Film, Horror, Sci-Fi by Victor Sparrow
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‘Ronin’ (1998)

‘Ronin’ (1998)When I first heard about ‘Ronin‘, and it’s premise, back in 1998, I was excited.

Here was the director of two of my favorite films, ‘The French Connection II‘ (1975) and ‘The Manchurian Canditate‘ (1962) making a comeback, in a gritty espionage thriller, set in France. Many reviewers heralded ‘Ronin’ as John Frankenheimer’s return-to-form after such clunkers as 1996′s ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau‘ (remake) and limp would-bes such as ‘The Holcroft Covenant’ (1985).

‘Ronin’ was good, but it wasn’t great. When I saw it the first time, 6 years ago, I had a couple of nagging problems with the film, but now I can only boil it down to one-and-a-half. [Read more →]

Tags: Action, Drama, Film by Victor Sparrow
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