The War Zone (1999)

 

Actor Tim Roth's dictatorial debut is also an exquisitely acted masterwork about the dark secrets surrounding a middle-class British family, with Lara Belmont stealing the show as the abused daughter. Teenager Tom (Freddie Cunliffe) is horrified but initially fails to intervene when he realizes his older sister (Belmont) is carrying on an incestuous relationship with their father (Ray Winstone.)

   Winstone, who is primarily known by the public for imposing-baddie-with-a-cockney-accent kind of roles, really sells it as a monster of a human being. You will hate this man so much you will want to vomit. Tilda Swinton plays Mum, who is pregnant at the start of the film, and later has a baby girl named Alice.

   The weird thing is, Tom doesn't immediately see his older sister as a victim, even as he looks on as she is raped by her father. In fact, Jess (the sister) doesn't always see herself as a victim either. I don't think she thinks she deserves to be saved. She occasionally fancies herself a Daddy's girl, and may very nearly likes the attention and the meager pleasures of the ever more frequent assaults.

   She teases Tom, coyly denies it. Tom seems to blame Jess for the impending disintegration of their family, rather than the piece of human excrement who sits at their table, eats their food, makes love to their mother like his interests aren't directed elsewhere. While 'Dad' is a monster, Tom isn't exactly sympathetic either, and Jess initially raises question of whether she likes Daddy's attentions, and, in fact, is complaint in the incest.

   This is not a movie for the weak of heart. I was disgusted, but in a good way if you know what I mean. This movie is a hundred times scarier than "The Shining" and a hundred times more grotesque than "The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence,)" if only because it is firmly rooted in reality. The only thing I can think to compare it to is "Tyrannosaur," another great movie who was also directed by a UK actor (Paddy Considine.)

   This movie is not about ghosts, devils, evil entities, or masked killers. It's about the evils people do, the atrocities that can take place in a more or less regular household. While the lack of sexual boundaries the family exhibits is off-putting, it doesn't seem to incorporate abuse at first. Oh, how wrong you are, filmgoer.

   I recommend this amazing movie to people with very strong stomachs. The acting is great all around and the script is nearly flawless. I'm still floored that Lara Belmont did no professional acting prior to this movie. Her acting will blow you away. One of the most underrated performances ever. I hope Tim Roth can find time to make another movie in addition to his acting career. Purely, and simply... great.
                                                                Rating-
                                                      9.0/10

Broken (2012)

Apparently "Broken" is 'inspired' by Harper Lee's much-loved classic "To Kill A Mockingbird," but I find "Broken" to be a better story with more well-developed characters (yes, you have found the one person in the world who isn't floored by "To Kill A Mockingbird"- don't stare, please, it makes me nervous.) It's certainly darker, as Lee's redemptive tone is replaced with unrepentant bleakness. The racial issues have been traded in, but the themes of injustice and the destruction of innocence remain.

   Spirited tween 'Skunk' (a powerful and expressive performance by newcomer Eloise Laurence) is stuck in that tricky transition between childhood and adulthood where matters of sexuality and maturity interest her, but are not quite within her grasp. Skunk's father, Archie (This generation's Atticus Finch,) (Tim Roth)  is an honorable man who loves his daughter with a fierce intensity but struggles to cope with her youthful antics.

   When Skunk's mentally challenged friend Rick (Robert Emms) is accused of rape and beaten by her redneck neighbor Mr. Oswald (Rory Kinnear,) Skunk is baffled just as much as Rick is- Rick has never laid a hand on Oswald's tramp of a daughter, and treats the situation with confusion and astonishment. He is portrayed in a very fine performance by Emms (who I saw just days before as a gay superhero in "Kick-Ass 2",) who resists the urge to overact and makes the character of Rick his own.

   Tim Roth is one of my favorite actors, and he does a good job here, but the entire cast is equally worth mentioning. Eloise Laurence is adorable and charming, but also shows real acting chops as compassionate Skunk. Cillian Murphy (known for films like "Batman Begins" and "28 Days Later) plays Archie's housekeeper's love interest, who soon becomes the target of Oswald's seething rage. He is flawed yet sympathetic, as are most of the characters.

   I did think the myriad disasters piling up for Skunk and Rick's families became a little bit melodramatic and hard to take. After a while it was like... really? Is there anything awful that's NOT going to happen to these people? There also could have been more build-up in the beginning scenes, instead of revealing everything immediately.

   I really liked the character of Skunk. I think the way she treats Rick says everything about her character. She acts totally like he's a normal person and talks to him accordingly, and never thinks it's weird that he's a grown man and they're friends. And her romance with local boy Dillon (George Sargeant) is appropriately chaste and really cute. She's a sweet, strong, and hearty girl, with a keen mind and a big heart. I liked the character of Rick too. He's a nice fellow, a little simple, and his fate saddens me.

   "Broken" is a powerful film and I'm not ashamed to say I liked it better than "To Kill A Mockingbird." So, it's a classic. Sue me. I hope Eloise Laurence has a big career ahead of her, but she's not the only rising star in this movie. Not many people can play the 'mentally handicapped' role without resorting to theatrics, and Rick is a profoundly sad and likable character. I recommend this film to drama lovers and people to like a sad, touching story.
                                             Rating-
                                                  8.0/10

The Hit (1984)

Death, power, deception. They're all the subjects of Stephen Frears' "The Hit," and they all have their time in the spotlight. From the opening scene, "The Hit" seems to have all the workings of a great movie. So why is it merely a good one?

   Surely not the actors, who have talent written all over them: Terrance Stamp, John Hurt, Tim Roth in his pre-"Reservoir Dogs" days. Surely not the setting of steamy Spain, which has the feel and intensity of a wild, dangerous place.

   Maybe the problem lies in the lack of immediacy in the story. Nothing happens in much of a hurry, and the pace has the feel of a window shopper, just there to browse, for as long as it takes. Even the Salsa-flavored score of the film doesn't scream danger.

   Willie Parker (Terence Stamp) is a former gangster who has settled down in a Spanish village after serving as an informant to the coppers. His relaxed life screeches to a halt when two hit-men, vicious Mitch (John Hurt) and wet-behind-the-ears trainee Myron (Tim Roth) take him captive, with the intent of driving over to France and then, you know, wasting his ass.

"I Think You're Crazy, But I Admire Your Attitude" -- The Hit (1984)

The Hit (1984)

Directed By: Stephen Frears

Written By: Peter Prince

Why I Saw It: Sarah's Pick

My Verdict: Not a favorite but definitely worth seeing. With the talent in this cast, how could it be a total miss? ;-)

Ex-gangster Willie Parker (Terence Stamp) turned on his partners in crime in court and fled to Spain. Ten years later, two hitmen -- Braddock (John Hurt) and Myron (Tim Roth) -- show up to kidnap him. They head for Paris, picking up a hostage (Laura del Sol) along the way; they plan to execute Willie when they arrive. This launches one of the oddest road trip movies ever.

"I Don't Honestly Think I Can Keep the Peace While I'm Incarcerated in This Shit House" (Made In Britain)

Made in Britain (1982)  

Written By: David Leland

 Directed By: Alan Clarke  

Why I Saw It: My daughter received it for her birthday.

Many years ago, I was employed, by one of our local mental health centers, as a substance abuse and violence prevention specialist. "Prevention" was a bit of a misnomer, since the students referred to us by the local school system were already painfully damaged and had been in all sorts of trouble. I went into my meetings with violent kids proudly armed with strategies for alternative ways of handling potentially volatile situations. There was only one small problem with this approach. These kids had no interest in my dumb strategies. After all, in any conceivable situation, why wouldn't they want to kick someone's ass?

Arbitrage (2012)

Billionaire Robert Miller (Richard Gere) has built a successful trading company and watched it flourish. He has his brilliant daughter Brooke (Brit Marling) working beside him and his lovely wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) handling the company's philanthropic work. Now Robert is in danger of having fraudulent business practices exposed and is anxious to sell his corporation before that happens. Then a tragic turn in his personal life puts him at the center of a criminal investigation.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

"Reservoir Dogs," Quentin Tarantino's second film after the little known low-budgeter "My Best Friend's Birthday," is a good and polished early effort from a brilliant and controversial filmmaker.

 A lot of Tarantino's trademarks are present here: extreme violence, black humor, brilliant dialogue, and an unflinching portrayal of racism, but a little more emotion is present than with Tarantino's other works, including a rather touching relationship between two of the main characters, Mr. White and Mr. Orange.

   The color-coordinated characters, Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), Mr. Blue (Edward Bunker), and Mr. Brown (Director Tarantino) are a group of criminals cornered by the police during a diamond heist.

Four Rooms (1995)

For reasons I cannot fully explain, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and laughed throughout. Blame it on my crazy sense of humor. Blame it on my love of gratuitous film violence and insanity. But mostly, blame it on Tim Roth. Roth's manic, inspired portrayal of swishy, spasticated, neurotic bellhop "Ted" resulted in one of the most entertaining characters I've seen in a while.

    Here's the deal- "Four Rooms" is a pseudo-anthology film featuring four segments written and directed by four filmmakers. Each segment follows Ted (Roth) through one insane New Year spent at a hotel and punctuated by violence, weird sexuality, and mutilation. Three of the segments are directed by filmmakers I'm not really familiar with, and the fourth is done by Tarantino.

   I liked all of the stories in the film, but in different ways. I didn't really know what to make of the first one. A coven of witches staying at the hotel, played by prominent '90s icons such as Madonna and Lili Taylor, discover they need sperm to complete their witchy potion to bring the goddess Diana to life. And who else for the job but twitchy hotel bellboy Roth?