90s Movie Review - Miller's Crossing

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Genre: Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 115 minutes
Year: 1990
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Albert Finney, John Turturro, Steve Buscemi

Description: Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss (Albert Finney), tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2025 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 34: A FILM FROM 1990
 
Review: This is the third film by the Coen brother, Joel and Ethan. In “Miller’s Crossing” they firmly established their signature visual flair, which they would continue in films such as “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski”.

In this film noir, gangster Leo is asked to eliminate Bernie, but he is the brother of the woman he is in love with. Meanwhile, she is already involved with Leo’s right-hand man Tom.

The theme is good and evil: even the gangsters want to do good, act “ethically”, and be friends with everyone. But their selfishness, distrust, and corruption inevitably gets them killed.

The film feels somewhere between “The Godfather” and “Sin City”, with the gangster and film noir elements, and it’s an intelligent and witty film. Really good, overlooked filmd b the Coen Brothers.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

90s Movie Review - The Usual Suspects

Director: Bryan Singer
Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 102 minutes
Year: 1995
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite, Dan Hedaya, Giancarlo Esposito

Description: A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which begin when five criminals meet at a seemingly random police lineup.

Review: There is one scene in “The Usual Suspects” that was considered failed by director Brian Singer. The actors couldn’t concentrate and constantly laughed. Eventually Singer decided to use the footage, the scene could be more interesting because of it. And he was right: one of the most characteristic scenes from the movie was born.

Off course we’re talking about that famous line-up. This ‘failed’ scene managed to give us an impression of the five different criminals. We see their frigid, defiant and anarchistic attitude.
Any form of identification is important in a movie like this, where the characters are criminals and their activities and social environment are so different from ours. All the characters have their quirks.
Kevin Spacey is the one that catches our eye, this was the movie that put him on the map. His insecure portrayal of Verbal Kint is completely credible and he is the one that connects the audience with the story.     

The cunning script by Christopher McQuarrie is the main reason you keep watching. We want to know what’s going on and who Keyser Söze is. This villain is so on point, like a devil, who is mainly in the background but a constant threat.

“The Usual Suspects” needs your attention at all times, but it’s inevitable that you eventually get on the wrong track. It’s a great crime story, with beautiful music, good acting and film noir like camerawork. And that amazing twist at the end makes it to the classic it is.

Rating: 5/ 5

Movie Review - Lost Girls

Director: Liz Garbus
Genre: Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 95 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Amy Ryan, Gabriel Byrne, Thomasin McKenzie, Oona Laurence

Description: When Mari Gilbert’s (Amy Ryan) daughter disappears, police inaction drives her own investigation into the gated Long Island community where Shannan was last seen. Her search brings attention to over a dozen murdered sex workers.

Review: The case of the Long Island serial killer has occupied the minds for almost a decade. Most of the victims were prostitutes and some of them were dead for years when they were found. The estimated number of murders is between ten and sixteen. Some of the women were hard to identify, since only parts of them were found. But the case of Shannan Gilbert has always been a doubtful one.
Especially the police and FBI have their doubts if the 24-year-old woman was one of the victims of the not yet to be caught murderer. Her mother Mari and experts are sure Shannan’s case is one of them. This Netflix film keeps close to the truth, since it’s based on the book by Robert Kolker. Director Liz Garbus is known for her documentary work, but a drama film is something else. A thing she hasn’t quite mastered yet.
Until the conclusion of the film, you are watching a dragging film that sometimes causes frustration. Not only because of the attitude of the authorities, but also because of Amy Ryan’s character. Of course you can understand the anger, grief and desperation the mother feels, but did they really have to make her a manipulative and black-mailing bitch? There are many moments you just want to push her away, so that the police can do their work, since she is interfering and threatening constantly.
The stronger moments in the film is were you see the ‘mother’ Mari, who works hard to keep the lights on, her moments with her daughters, even though she knows she is not the best mom Mari tries to make it work.
I didn’t like this film, it was a bit boring and the characters frustrated me. Sad that a tragic story like this didn’t get a better film.

Rating: 2 / 5

10s Movie Review - Hereditary

Director: Ari Aster
Genre: Horror/ Drama
Runtime: 126 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Milly Shapiro, Alex Wolff, Ann Dowd

Description: A grieving family is a hunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.

Review: The horror films that get under your skin are the once that provide you with a story where the drama is just as important as the shock effects, scares and gore. Look at “The Exorcist” or more recent “The Conjuring” “Get Out” or “It Follows’. The drama surrounding these stories make the characters more vulnerable and the story eventually more disturbing and scary.
“Hereditary” is the directorial debut by Ari Aster and is carried by the unprecedented Toni Collette. The film has the so-called slow burn, where Aster takes his time to build the story and its characters. And with that you can conclude that the first hour goes by, being gripping and filled with tension, without even one jump scare. Then you’re a great horror director.
You know something is wrong. Aster plays with the empathy and sentiment of the viewer and he also plays with their expectations of the horror genre. A dead grandmother, a big old house, an eccentric child. Lots of clichés, but Aster has other plans with them than you would expect. Mother of the family, Annie, decides to join a support group to deal with her dead mother. Or actually the fact that she feels relieved and she feels guilty about it. Because her mother wasn’t really someone she bonded with. Annie also has a daughter, Charlie, who seems to have autistic tendencies and had a special connection with her grandmother. Charlie starts seeing things after her death.
Aster changes paths when Charlie is taken to a party alongside her older brother Peter. That’s when you realize that every plot element and each character trade has been chosen carefully. Not only visually does Ari Aster proof he is one to watch, but his screenplay is extraordinary. Everything works, everything is right. Annie’s husband Steve is hard to communicate with, so she does it through her self-made miniatures. And this vague relationship Annie has with her husband, makes for her to go deeper into isolation. And her connection with son Peter is also not healthy. However, the most important trump of “Hereditary” is the ominous atmosphere. The film isn’t about effects or jump scares, but nestles in the human mind and gets under your skin.
Toni Collette is extremely good in “Hereditary”. It’s the best performance I have seen in a horror movie for quite some time. Her portrayal of a woman who is going through several stages of grief and eventually becomes entangles in a web of fear, disbelief and misunderstanding. The last twenty minutes of the film might not please everyone, but I think this film is perfect. “Hereditary” does what a good horror movie has to do: it scares, gets under your skin and will haunt you for a while. I think it’s an instant classic.

Rating: 5 / 5

In the Picture: The Characters from "The Usual Suspects"

"The Usual Suspects" is one of the best films made in the 90's. Amazing, the ending, oh my god. Here are the characters.

Dean Keaton
Played by: Gabriel Byrne
Keaton is a womanizer and a bit narcissistic, but he also wants to keep positive view on things. He’s the leader of the group.

Michael McManus
Played by: Stephen Baldwin
McManus doesn’t have an emotional connection with other people and some call him ‘crazy guy’. He laughs when it isn’t appropriate or when nobody else laughs.

Todd Hockney
Played by: Kevin Pollak
Hockney is full of anger and resentment. He can’t control his emotions, especially not his anger.

Verbal Kint
Played by: Kevin Spacey
Kint has a melancholic sad face and doesn’t look too smart. He walks funny and when he starts talking it’s hard to shut him up.

Fred Fenster
Played by: Benicio del Toro
Fenster has a flashy appearance and can’t sit still. Verbally he wants to impress people, he has a special way of talking.

David Kujan
Played by: Chazz Palminteri
Kujan is the officer who’s leading the investigation. He thinks he’s smarter then all of them, is impatient and the only way he can get to the truth is by using people.

Favorite Character: Tod Hockney