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The Wild Bunch (1969)
The ultimate "end of the road" movie
The Wild Bunch: genre - Western, sub-genre - Road Movie, Morality Tale, Anti-hero heroes.
Basic Plot: The Wild Bunch, a gang of outlaws around 1900, decide to go for one final large "score". They know that the days of the "Wild West" are rapidly coming to an end. They know that the alternative to retirement would ultimately be prison or death.
This is a movie that men tend to love and women hate. It is overtly sexist (all female characters are either prostitutes or would betray you in a second). The film is subtly racist, and extremely violent. This is a movie that Nora Ephron would despise. When it was released in 1969 the movie effectively redefined the acceptable level of violence in a film. The film has no dialog for the first 5-10 minutes then the first words are "If they move, kill 'em". At that point the violence explodes at a breathless pace.
However, a violent film doesn't make a great film, and this is a great film.
Three things make this film great.
First, like few films (e.g. Casablanca, The Third Man, Good, Band and Ugly) it is cast so perfectly it is hard to imagine that anyone else could have played the key roles. William Holden and Robert Ryan, their faces lined by years of alcohol abuse, look both worn down and tough at the same time. Edmond O'Brien in one of his last performances is superb. And, Warren Oates gives the best performance of his career. In the Wild Bunch the outlaws, as violent and callous as they are, are the good guys. The bad guys are 'egg sucking gutter trash' as Robert Ryan calls them.
Second, what makes the Wild Bunch different from the "gutter trash" chasing them is a strong moral code. The moral code is that the group is larger than the sum of its individual members. No individual in the group can put the group as a whole in jeopardy without the explicit consent of all others. If a member is wounded and can't keep up he is left behind. The loyalty of the members of the Wild Bunch to the group is absolute. They have no loyalties outside the group. There is no concept of patriotism. They would betray their home country without a second thought. Ernest Borgnine is the group philosopher and keeper/interpreter of the moral code. Borgnine's pronouncements and application of the moral code provides some of the few moments of levity in the film.
Third, the members of the Wild Bunch are extraordinarily brave and fully accept the consequences of their actions. Those characteristics, lacking in so many in real life, are what make The Wild Bunch admirable.
Session 9 (2001)
A fine psychological horror film where the 'building' is the star
Session 9: genre horror, sub-genre haunted house, psychopathic murder. This is one scary movie that should, over time, achieve cult status. My 11 year old watched it without our knowledge and was so troubled he slept on the floor in our room for a week.
Session 9 is the story of an asbestos removal crew working in the very real but abandoned Danvers State mental hospital in Mass. (since demolished). The hospital and surrounding grounds are very imposing, sort of Gothic looking. Like a few other great films such as The Haunting of Hill House the location is the real star of the movie. Like "Let's Scare Jessica To Death" (another under-rated classic) it is minimalist horror, more psychological than explicit. There is very little violence until the very end. Because there is so little violence, the ending is very effective.
The Danvers hospital is old, run down, moody, and an overall scary place. But this is more than a 'haunted house' movie. Its the story of the asbestos removal crew's interaction with the Danvers hospital and its ghosts (maybe not real ghosts but maybe left over negative energy or something). Each of the crew members have their own demons which seem to be exacerbated by the location itself.
All the main actors are very effective and I thought David Caruso and Josh Lucas did particularly good work.
The movie is not for younger children as it is very psychologically intense throughout. My son who was 11 when he saw it (he's 15 now) still avoids it like the plague when it is on cable.
Doom (2005)
holy molly
this movie was absolutely awesome ignore the other review , i almost cried it was so good , this movie was great the character of john grim was unbelievable in this movie and got you rooting for him since the beginning the sound effects are great , the picture is great and the movie is great , a must see for anyone , so you must absolutely see it ,I thought the story was a lot better , instead of a port way to hell they made it more believable and much better.
If your a doom fan you may like this story better , i liked the first person shooter scenes in the movie a lot , this movie is much better than resident evil 1&2 combined.
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
Scared me 30 years ago and scares me now. Very effective.
The scariest movie you will never see on TV. This movie should have been a hit. Since it wasn't, it should have 'cult' status. Why it doesn't, I don't know. Genre - horror. Sub-genre haunted house, return from the dead, psychopath, strange little town. Filmed on location in CT with that great "B" movie feel. The lack of special effects and gore make it all the more effective. Simple but amazingly good soundtrack. I saw this movie 30 years ago and it really haunted me. I found an import on DVD for which the quality is quite good. Many viewers see the movie as an enigma or riddle. Having seen it several times now I think the title says it all. Pay close attention to who either gets or almost gets killed. Why is the little town populated only by men? The actress playing Emily needs no makeup to look like just what she is playing in the movie. A few things about the movie don't hang together and the continuity might suffer a little. But have no doubt, it is one very scary and effective film.