This is a bad joke without a punch line. The Killing is directed by Stanley Kubrick who co-adapts to screenplay with Jim Thompson from the novel Clean Break written by Lionel White. It stars Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen and Coleen Gray. Music is by Gerald Fried and cinematography by Lucien Ballard. Ex-con Johnny Clay (Hayden) has a plan to make a killing at the racetrack, with some special inside help he plots to nab $2 million in an intricate robbery. It looks a good thing, the right people are in place, but there's a potential spanner in the works in the shapely form of Sherry Peatty (Windsor), the unfaithful and devious wife of one of the robbers. Cheaply made by Kubrick and his producer partner James B. Harris, The Killing is a lean and mean mid 50's film noir. Poorly received at the box office and met with indifference by critics upon release, it's a film that has come to be noted as hugely influential - more so as Kubrick's reputation has grown over the passing years. Clocking in at under 85 minutes, film is told in a fractured narrative structure that at the time was viewed as an oddity. Story is constructed around crosscut flashbacks as the robbery is planned and then executed, with Kubrick's direction as meticulous as the actual robbery itself. It's not hard to understand why confusion was an issue back upon its release, but this is something that now comes off as something of a masterstroke, and this even if Kubrick was forced to tinker with the final product where it was decided to add in a voice-over to aid those troubled by the nonlinear narrative (which the director despised). In spite of some problems, such as the cheapo sets and some stiff performances from secondary characters, The Killing is quintessential film noir. Kubrick thrives on filming his characters in cramped surroundings, the use of angles very effective, and Ballard photographs superbly for the low-key interiors, thus the mood is perfectly set. Story is filled out with hapless characters, where destinies are defined by greed, betrayal and the devils trump card - that of bad luck. As is normally the case with the best film noir, it's a dame who holds the key to the misery here. Sherry Peatty (Windsor excellent) is cold and utterly bitch like. She has a hold over her cuckolded husband George (Cook Junior never better) that would be easy to detest, that is were it not for the fact George is so pitifully weak! From that coupling bursts a doom and bleakness that underpins the story, rendering the film with a fatalistic sheen. The Killing does have a dated feel to it, but only slightly (and not remotely irritatingly) so. While there's no denying that the budgetary restrictions - the voice-over and some less than good performances - stop this being the masterpiece of the crime genre some of us want it to be. However, it's a damn fine film, that's tense, exciting and very compelling, and it does deserve to warrant a place on a favourite list of any self respecting film noir fan. 8/10
A German-made film based on one of the most famous German novels by Theodor Fontane. Effi Briest is a socially ambitious, 17-year-old German girl who accepts a proposal of marriage from Baron Geert Von Instetten, a much older diplomat. Unfortunately, neither the Baron's family nor anyone in the secluded town she now calls home accept Effi as an equal. Starved for companionship, Effi begins an innocent friendship with a well-known womanizer that may jeopardize her position as the Baron's wife.
Movie Star Rating : 6.7 Read More
A newly-developed microchip designed by Zorin Industries for the British Government that can survive the electromagnetic radiation caused by a nuclear explosion has landed in the hands of the KGB. James Bond must find out how and why. His suspicions soon lead him to big industry leader Max Zorin who forms a plan to destroy his only competition in Silicon Valley by triggering a massive earthquake in the San Francisco Bay.
Movie Star Rating : 6.2 Read More
After capturing the notorious drug lord Franz Sanchez, Bond's close friend and former CIA agent Felix Leiter is left for dead and his wife is murdered. Bond goes rogue and seeks vengeance on those responsible, as he infiltrates Sanchez's organization from the inside.
Movie Star Rating : 6.3 Read More
After a long voyage from Scotland, pianist Ada McGrath and her young daughter, Flora, are left with all their belongings, including a piano, on a New Zealand beach. Ada, who has been mute since childhood, has been sold into marriage to a local man named Alisdair Stewart. Making little attempt to warm up to Alisdair, Ada soon becomes intrigued by his Maori-friendly acquaintance, George Baines, leading to tense, life-altering conflicts.
Movie Star Rating : 7.4 Read More
Following an unexpected tragedy, a child psychologist named Malcolm Crowe meets an nine year old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret.
Movie Star Rating : 7.9 Read More
A man orders a mail-order bride but receives instead a con woman.
Movie Star Rating : 6.6 Read More
Having spent the last 10 years fighting injustice and cruelty, Alejandro de la Vega is now facing his greatest challenge: his loving wife Elena has thrown him out of the house! Elena has filed for divorce and found comfort in the arms of Count Armand, a dashing French aristocrat. But Alejandro knows something she doesn't: Armand is the evil mastermind behind a terrorist plot to destroy the United States. And so, with his marriage and the county's future at stake, it's up to Zorro to save two unions before it's too late.
Movie Star Rating : 6.1 Read More
French secret service agent Josselin Beaumont is dispatched to take down African warlord N'Jala. But when his assignment is canceled, he's shocked to learn that his government is surrendering him to local authorities. He is given a mock trial and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor. But Beaumont escapes from prison and vows not only to avenge himself against his betrayers but also to finish his original assignment.
Movie Star Rating : 7.3 Read More
In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation…
Movie Star Rating : 7.1 Read More
The story of an idealist's rise to power in the world of Louisiana politics and the corruption that leads to his ultimate downfall. Based on the1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Robert Penn Warren, loosely based on the story of real-life politician Huey Long.
Movie Star Rating : 5.8 Read More
Middle-aged suburban husband Richard abruptly tells his wife, Maria, that he wants a divorce. As Richard takes up with a younger woman, Maria enjoys a night on the town with her friends and meets a younger man. As the couple and those around them confront a seemingly futile search for what they've lost - love, excitement, passion - this classic American independent film explores themes of aging and alienation.
Movie Star Rating : 7.2 Read More
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