movie review
Felony-focused film reviews; fictional movies and true crime documentaries depicting real-life stories or inspired by them.
A Filmmaker's Review: “The Innocent Man” (Netflix, 2018)
John Grisham is probably best known for his dramas of law and order in the world of literature. Films like “The Rainmaker” were based on his novels and his newest novel “Camino Island” is just as good as the others, I can assure you. As an incredible writer of fiction, there was one time when Grisham took a dip into the world of nonfiction, much like Truman Capote and others, he chose to cover the topic of true crime. The focus of his book being false confessions, coaxed interviews and wrongful imprisonment. The problems with the judicial system are probably Grisham’s forte in exploration but this took him far beyond anything he could imagine. He not only discovered a law enforcement team that were wrongfully imprisoning the ones they had coaxed to confess to crimes they didn’t commit, but he also discovered a law enforcement team that were corrupt as to ask for half of whatever the prisoner who had actually committed the crime was getting: whether it be drugs, money etc. In this incredible limited series, John Grisham not only explores what is wrong with the law enforcement in small towns, but also what people would do when given far too much power in a situation where they would have no requirement to give it up against their will.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Criminal
A Filmmaker’s Review: “Unabomber: In His Own Words” (Netflix, 2020)
I am pretty sure that anyone who hears the term ‘Unabomber’ has this weird chill that goes down them. You don’t really know why you have a certain chill but it’s there. It’s not really because of the man himself but more about the strangeness surrounding his situation - especially the odd three years he spent under the influence of a psychologist at Harvard University, apparently subjected to CIA style mind-altering torture techniques. Though the man himself maintains it did not change him, is it really that or is that just what he believes? This documentary investigates the years between 1978 and 1995 in which a Mathematics PhD killed three people and injured more than twenty by sending homemade bombs in the post to key locations, concentrating on the urgency for his capture and how ultimately - he was found. It is an incredible look into the life of a man who, since his capture, was shrouded in so much mystery that you practically could not learn anything about him apart from his stubbornly academic manifesto. In this documentary we also get to see his brother, his sister-in-law, a woman who interviewed him after he sent for her by name. We get to see that from the very start of his life there is a sense of withdrawal because of his vast intellect. This intellect that becomes used and abused by the wrong people for the wrong reasons.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Criminal
Review of 'Uncut Gems'
I realized years ago when I saw Milton Berle in a serious dramatic role -- I think in The Oscar in the 1960s -- that, contrary to what you might think, comedians can make excellent dramatic actors. Robin Williams confirmed this decades later, with a vengeance, in Insomnia.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Criminal
Review of 'Motherless Brooklyn'
The wife and I just saw Motherless Brooklyn on HBO. It's billed as an Edward Norton movie -- he also starred in it -- based on the Jonathan Lethem novel. I didn't read the novel (I was busy writing the sequel to The Silk Code when Lethem's novel was first published in 1999). But it's just as well. As readers of my reviews in Vocal may know, I like reviewing movies and TV series on their own terms, not on how they compare with the novels or short stories on which they may have been based. I will say that my wife mentioned that she saw that the Norton movie departed from the Lethem novel in many major ways.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Criminal
Knives Out
This case truly is a tragedy of errors. When this movie came out, I honestly didn’t think much of it. Another Agatha Christie level attempt to capitalize on the murder mystery genre which hasn’t had a decent example in the last 20 years in the film industry.
By Mae McCreery6 years ago in Criminal
Knives out: near events, distant eyes
Whodunnit! The term is mainly used for detective stories or crime thrillers. The word is not very old, the term was used to describe the type of detective fiction in the post-World War I era. Reading the word, it seems that the meaning of the word is same. A fiction or movie written about who actually committed a crime or murder is called by this name.
By The_unique_writer6 years ago in Criminal
Do You Want To Own A Casino One Day?
George Clooney (Danny Ocean in the movie) begins the movie by being paroled and immediately hatches a criminal plan to rob a three casinos in Vegas. The owner of the three casinos Bellagio, Mirage, and the MGM Grand, Terry Benedict was dating Danny Ocean’s wife, Julia Roberts (Tess in the movie).
By Eben Donkor6 years ago in Criminal
‘The Last Days Of American Crime’ Is a Joyless Ordeal
In a (slightly more) dystopian near-future, The USA is preparing to turn on the ‘American Peace Initiative’, a signal that acts as “a synaptic dampener making it impossible for a person to carry out an act they know to be unlawful.”
By MovieBabble6 years ago in Criminal
'Capone' Review—A Bloated Nightmare
Tom Hardy shits himself in this movie. Twice. And that's all you need to know. Capone is not your average gangster biopic. Josh Trank, the man behind films such as Chronicle and the critically maligned FANT4STIC, writes, directs, and edits this biographical drama based on the life of the notorious gangster Al Capone.
By Jonathan Sim6 years ago in Criminal
Vincent Vega - Worst Criminal Ever?
Recently a Quora user inquired if real-life criminals might hold intellectual interests similar to Vincent Vega's? As you may recall, Vega, the hitman played by John Travolta in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, certainly had some interesting conversations with his partner Jules (played by Samuel L. Jackson). But classifying feet tickling and cheeseburgers as intellectual interests? That seems like a stretch.
By Matt Cates6 years ago in Criminal
