90s Movie Review - Double Jeopardy

Director: Bruce Beresford
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 1999
Starring: Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Greenwood, Annabeth Gish, Bruce Campbell

Description: Libby (Ashley Judd) is framed for her husband’s murder, but suspects he (Bruce Greenwood) is still alive. As she has already been tried for the crime, she can’t be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.

Review: Libby Parsons is crazy about sailing and gets a sailboat from her husband Nick, which they go out on together. One day on the boat, Libby wakes up in the middle of the night covered in blood and Nick is nowhere to be found. Libby is accused of murdering her husband and she is sentenced to a lengthy prison term. Before she is locked up in jail, she asks her best friend Angela to adopt her young son Matty. Angela agrees and she promises to visit Libby regularly. However, Angela only shows up once and Libby never hears from her again. From prison, Libby finds out that Angela has moved to San Francisco and she manages to reach her on the phone. Libby also manages to talk to Matty and during that conversation she finds out that Nick is still alive. She can’t do anything because of being locked up. Her friends in prison encourage her and she learns that once she is released, she can kill her husband without mercy because she cannot be convicted of the same crime a second time. It's called a double jeopardy.
After six years, Libby is released and must behave impeccably for the next three years, without breaking her parole, or else she can be sent back to prison. She reports to her probation officer Travis Lehman, who warns her once again to behave properly. But Libby has just one goal in mind: to find her son at all costs.
“Double Jeopardy” has many similarities to such films as “The Fugitive” and “US Marshalls” in which Tommy Lee Jones likewise takes up the pursuit of a criminal who later turns out to be innocent. Although Jones’ role is not as weighty as in the aforementioned films, he plays the role of Travis convincingly. The same can be said by Ashley Judd. I have always liked her as an actress.
“Double Jeopardy” is an all-round enjoyable crime thriller. The fact is that the story itself is not new. The film is very similar to other films in the genre. But despite this fact, the film remains captivating from beginning to end, partly due to good acting. I enjoyed it.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Netflix Friday - Volume 73

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: The Revenant (2015)
A frontiersman (Leonardo DiCaprio) on a fir trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
 

Drama: Sully (2016)
The story of Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (Tom Hanks), an American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight’s passengers and crew.
 

Comedy: The Truman Show (1998)
An insurance salesman (Jim Carrey) discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.
 

Animation: Whisper of the Heart (1995)
A love story between a girl who loves reading books, and a boy who has previously checked out all of the library books she chooses.
 

Romance: Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)
A complete graduating class, consisting of beautiful girls, geeks and promising footballers, assemble at a rich classmate’s residence for a party. Interesting developments follow at the get-together.
 

Horror: Crawl (2019)
A young woman (Kaya Scodelario), while attempting to save her father (Barry Pepper) during a category 5 hurricane, finds herself trapped in a flooding house and must fight for her life against alligators.
 

Science Fiction: Jurassic Park 3 (2001)
A decidedly odd couple (Téa Leoni, William H. Macy) with ulterior motives convince Dr. Grant (Sam Neill) to go to Isla Sorna for a holiday, but their unexpected landing startles the island’s new inhabitants.
 

Crime: Man on Fire (2004)
In Mexico City, a former CIA operative (Denzel Washington) swears vengeance on those who committed an unspeakable act against the family he was hired to protect.
 

Thriller: Gone Girl (2014)
With his wife’s (Rosamund Pike) disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man (Ben Affleck) sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent.
 

Documentary: Schumacher (2021)
Through exclusive interviews and archival footage, this documentary traces an intimate portrait of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher.

Family: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
The gang is back, but the game has changed. As they return to rescue one of their own, the players will have to brave parts unknown from arid deserts to snowy mountains, to escape the world’s most dangerous game.

00s Movie Review - The Pianist

Director: Roman Polanski
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 150 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Ed Stoppard, Julia Rayner, Jessica Kate Meyer, Michael Zebrowski, Wanja Mues, Richard Ridings, Nomi Sharron, Anthony Milner, Lucy Skeaping, Roddy Skeaping

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 37: A PALM D’OR WINNING MOVIE
 
Description: A Polish Jewish musician (Adrien Brody) struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.

Review: In “The Pianist”, director Roman Polanski describes Wladyslav Szpilman’s hardship during the German occupation of Warsaw in World War II. When the Germans invade Poland and bomb Warsaw, Szpilman is playing a piece of Chopin for the Polish radio. The radio’s building receives a direct hit which abruptly makes Szpilman an unemployed pianist. The timing of the German invasion is particularly unfavorable, as the acquaintance with a beautiful cello player cannot develop into something beautiful due to the violence of the war.
From the moment German soldier march into Warsaw, the Jews’ lives are made increasingly unbearable. It begins with harassment and the obligation to wear an armband with the Star of David, and eventually 500,000 Jews are crammed together in a ghetto. Szpilman becomes a pianist in a diner in the ghetto. His fame drags him through numerous predicaments. When thousands of Jews, including Szpilman and his family, are about to be put on the train to the Treblinka extermination camp, a Jewish policeman saves his ass because he recognizes him. For Szpilman a life of forced labor and hiding then begins.
The arbitrariness and sadism of the Germans are chilling. For example, the Szpilman family witnesses how a family across the street is murdered. And old man, wheelchair and all, is thrown from the balcony. “The Pianist” contains numerous harsh scenes like this. The film also shows similarities with “Schindler’s List”. Director Polanski incorporated his own war experiences. He survived the Krakow Ghetto, like Szpilman, lost his entire family.
One of the most extraordinary scenes in “The Pianist” is, when Szpilman has to play a piece for a high-ranking German officer who discovers him by chance as he tries to open a can of pickles. Szpilman this he will die after it, which makes this scene extra intense.
“The Pianist” is a long film, but it’s worth your time, I promise.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Netflix Friday - Volume 72

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: Batman Begins (2005)
After training with his mentor (Liam Neeson), Batman (Christian Bale) begins his fight to free crime-ridden Gotham City from corruption.
 

Drama: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
Through the innocent eyes of Bruno (Asa Butterfield), the eight-year-old son of the commandant (David Thewlis) at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
 

Comedy: Ted 2 (2015)
Newlywed couple Ted (Seth MacFarlane) and Tami-Lynn want to have a baby, but in order to qualify to be a parent, Ted will have to prove he’s a person in a court of law.
 

Animation: Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.
 

Romance: He’s Just Not That Into You (2009)
This Baltimore-set movie of interconnecting story arcs deals with the challenges of reading or misreading human behavior.
 

Horror: Dead of Night (1945)
Architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality. The guests at the country house encourage him to stay as they take turns telling supernatural tales.
 

Science Fiction: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Fearing that the actions of Superman (Henry Cavill) are left unchecked, Batman (Ben Affleck) takes on the Man of Steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs.
 

Crime: Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster (Robert De Niro) returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
 

Thriller: Double Jeopardy (1999)
A woman (Ashley Judd) framed for her husband’s (Bruce Greenwood) murder suspects he is still alive; as she has already been tried for the crime, she can’t be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.
 

Documentary: Untold: Crime and Penalties (2021)
They were the bad boys of hockey – a team bought by a man with mob ties, run by his 17-year-old son, and with a rep for being as violent as they were good the story of the Danbury Trashers.
 

Family: Paddington (2014)
A young Peruvian bear (Ben Wishaw) travels to London in search for a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he meets the kindly Brown family, who offer him a temporary haven.

Netflix Friday - Volume 71

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: The Guns of Navarone (1961)
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2000 trapped British soldiers.
 

Drama: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors, not knowing that the allied forces are planning to destroy it.
 

Comedy: Last Action Hero (1993)
With the help of a magic ticket, a young movie fan (Austin O’Brien) is transported into the fictional world of his favorite action movie character (Arnold Schwarzenegger).
 

Animation: Storks (2016)
Storks have moved on from delivering babies to packaged. But when an order for a baby appears, the best delivery stork must scramble to fix the error by delivering the baby.
 

Romance: Cold Mountain (2003)
In the warning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier (Jude Law) embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart (Nicole Kidman)
 

Horror: The Final Girls (2015)
A young woman (Taissa Farmiga) grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s, finds herself pulled into the world of her mom’s most famous movie. Reunited the women must fight off the film’s maniacal killer.
 

Science Fiction: Spider-Man (2002)
When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student (Tobey Maguire) gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family.
 

Crime: Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 (2009)
A rookie Yorkshire journalist (Andrew Garfield) sets out to solve the case of a child murderer)
 

Thriller: A Cure for Wellness (2016)
An ambitious young executive (Dane DeHaan) is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious ‘wellness center’ at a remote location in the Swiss Alps, but soon suspects that the spa’s treatments are not what they seem.
 

Documentary: Untold: Malice at the Palace (2021)
A brawl broke out near the end of a game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons on November 19, 2004. Nearly 17 years later, we re-examine that night and all the consequences that came from it.
 

Family: Annie (1982)
A spunky young orphan (Aileen Quinn) is taken in by a rich eccentric, much to the chagrin of the cantankerous woman who runs the orphanage.

00s Movie Review - The Secret Life of Bees

Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2008
Starring: Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo, Paul Bettany, Hilarie Burton

Description: In 1964, a teenage girl (Dakota Fanning) in search of the truth about her mother runs away to a small town in South Carolina and finds a family of independent women who can connect her to her past.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 36: A MOVIE WITH A MAINLY FEMALE CAST
 
Review: In “The Secret Life of Bees” we follow teenager Lily, who lives with her abusive father after her mother died. The only good thing in her life is housekeeper Rosaleen, who has to deal with her own fair share of abuse, given she is a black woman who wants to register to vote in 1960s Southern US. When Rosaleen ends up in the hospital after being beat up, Lily helps her and they both run away.
They end up in Tilburon, the town name she find in one of her mother’s belongings. She also found the label of a honey jar, which brings Lily and Rosaleen to August. She is a beekeeper who lives together with her sisters May and June. August welcomes both with open arms and they van stay with her for as long as they need.
The story share many events with us. Like Lily’s personal quest to come to terms with herself and to find out more about her mother. But also the issues like developments in the race issue.
Dakota Fanning plays Lily and does that very well. She is one of those child actors that we still here of frequently, which is good, because Fanning is a very talented actress. She is surrounded by a strong cast: Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Paul Bettany, Sophie Okonedo and Hilarie Burton. There is no weak link, but most of the praise goes to Queen Latifah and Sophie Okonedo.
What we see in “The Secret Life of Bees” is not completely credible. The Boatwright sisters’ home seems like a paradise in race-born hotbed America. This makes the movie less realistic. The colorful, warm cinematography and matching music also contribute to that magical, dreamlike setting. But believability or reality is not what this is about. “The Secret Life of Bees” is above all an enchanting story about hope and love in difficult times.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

00s Movie Review - He's Just Not That Into You

Director: Ken Kwapis
Genre: Comedy/ Romance/ Drama
Runtime: 130 minutes
Year: 2008
Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Bradley Cooper, Kevin Connolly, Ben Affleck

Description: The Baltimore-set movie of interconnecting story arcs deals with the challenges of reading or misreading human behavior.

Review: “He’s Just Not That Into You” proofs again that a bunch of big movie stars are not a guarantee for a great film. The film is based on a book written by Liz Tuccillo and Greg Behrendt. “He’s Just Not That Into You” is cliché, sexist and bland. It sounds dramatic when I put it like this, because it’s still an enjoyable watch. But it’s definitely not a must-see.
The film opens with a little girl that is bullied by a boy her age. Her mother tells her that boys do that, because they like the girl. Twenty something years later, her relationship with men hasn’t become any clearer. Gigi, as we meet her, is a naïve girl that still has no clue what all the codes of dating are. She asks her friends for advice, but they don’t always know either.
Based on some existential questions (if he’s not calling you, if she’s not sleeping with you, if he’s not marrying you) we meet several characters in their twenties and thirties that deal and struggle with relationships. Their paths cross, there is laughter, there are tears, there is adultery, there is marriage. It’s all pretty predictable and not very original. Some of the characters are worth your attention though. But most of them are cliché. And none of the actors really seem to enjoy their role or give them any depth. 
Towards the end it gets more interesting. The stories are a bit stronger and get a bit more depth. “He’s Just Not That Into You” is okay, but it’s simply not funny, dramatic or grabbing enough to stand out.

Rating: 2,5/ 5