Hitchcock

Who better to portray Alfred Hitchcock than the wonderful Anthony Hopkins?

The title of the movie may not reflect it, but this is not a biography. The story is only that of getting the film Psycho, arguably the best Hitchcock film, made.

I don't know how much of it is actually true but I can believe that Hitchcock in fact was obsessive enough to have his people by every copy of the book Psycho that they could get their hands on, so that nobody would know the ending. Also, I am sure that his struggle to sell the story to the studio bosses and get certain scenes through the censors are well documented. But I am also pretty sure, that the director did not actually imagine hanging out with Ed Gein.

Aside from some doubts about the accuracy, the film is as entertaining as a film about the making of a film can be. The cast is superb, including besides Hopkins the wonderful Helen Mirren, Toni Collette, Danny Huston, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Kurtwood Smith, James D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins (he is great) and The Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio.

Well worth watching.

7/10

Fracture

Ted Crawford shoots his wife. He knows she is cheating on him and she knows with whom. So, yes, it is pre-meditated. There is never any doubt that he did it. There are, however, several problems, not the least of them the fact that the arresting officer is Lt. Nunally, the guy the wife was having an affair with.

When Nunally comes to the scene he does not know who Crawford is, as he has only been meeting with his lover under the names 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'. Crawford lets him into the house under the condition that both men put their guns down. He confesses to Nunally then and there. When the policeman sees the victim, he goes off on Crawford (not proper conduct for a police officer). Crawford later repeats his confession and signs it at the police station - with Nunally in presence during interrogation.

The prosecutor of the case, Willy Beachum, does not know the connection between the victim (who is still alive, but in a coma that she has very little chance of ever coming out of) and the arresting officer. Beachum is very ambitious and has secured a new job at a prestigious law firm ('it's all about the money, money, money') and this is to be his very last case. Unfortunately, he grossly underestimates Crawford and isn't paying as much attention to the task at hand as he should be.

Crawford chooses to defend himself, offers to start trial right away, recants his confession and pleads not guilty. Beachum's underestimating him is not the biggest problem with the case. The gun they find at the Crawford house - the only gun they find, no matter how many times they turn the house upside down - is not the murder weapon. And then, when Beachum learns that Nunally was having an affair with the victim right when he is on the witness stand, the case falls apart.

Thanks to his failure, Beachum loses the new job he has not started yet and - despite his (old) boss having his back - he is done with being a prosecutor. But when he realizes that Crawford is about to pull the plug on his wife's life support, he begs for any help he can get to stop it. He does get the paperwork legally required but does not make it on time.

And then all the pieces fall into place and Beachum goes to see Crawford at his house. He explains his theory of where the murder weapon is - Nunally's gun that Crawford replaced while the officer attended to the victim. Crawford, thinking himself in the safe haven of 'double jeopardy', is as condescending as can be, owning up to everything because he is convinced nobody can touch him now. But the big mistake he made was taking his wife off life support. He beat the trial for attempted murder due to lack of physical evidence but will now be retried for murder in the first degree - with the murder weapon in evidence.

Justice is served.

A brilliant group of actors make this much more exciting than I made it sound.

7/10

Thor: The Dark World

A long, long time ago, the Dark Elfs (the evil to Asgard's good) lead by Malekith were defeated by Bor's (yep, Odin's father) army. Malekith was about to release the deadliest of weapons, known as Aether, which is only possible when all nine worlds align. After their victory, Bor has the Aether hidden...hopefully never to be found again. A handful of the bad guys escape and sleep in space until the weapon can be located again - this will only be possible the next time the worlds align.

Fast forward to today. Loki is thrown into prison by Odin, where he is to spend the rest of his existence. Meanwhile, Thor is cleaning up his brother's messes in all the worlds. His beloved Jane and her team are in London. Erik, however, is missing but quickly relocated as he made the news because he ran around naked in Stonehenge. While following weird info from their various instruments, Jane and her posse locate some sort of portal between different worlds. Jane is sucked into the one where the Aether is hidden and is taken over by the substance.

This awakes the resting Dark Elfs that attack Asgard, where Jane has been brought to by Thor. The battle is fierce and not only leaves considerable destruction in its wake but also costs Odin's wife's life. Thor's idea on how to solve the crisis differs wildly from Odin's. The son wants to take Jane back to earth to get the Dark Elfs out of hiding and defeat them right after the Aether has left Jane but before Malekith can use it. Odin wants to keep Jane locked to lure the Dark Elfs back to Asgard and defeat them there.

Thor, with a little help of his usual posse, springs his own plan into action. However, he needs the help of his brother Loki, who knows a secret passageway out of Asgard. When Thor, Loki and Jane meet with the Dark Elfs they stage a fight between the brothers to cause confusion as to where their loyalties lie. During the fight, the Aether cannot be destroyed how Thor had hoped and even though the bad guys suffer some losses, Loki dies in the fight (but fear not, Loki fans, he is not really dead - I repeat: Loki is not really dead!).

For the ultimate showdown, Thor, Jane and her group of scientist have to grow to Greenwich, the epicenter of the aligning worlds. Then, epic battle and - finally - victory for the good guys.

In the end, Thor asks Odin to not make him king so that he can return to Jane. He leaves with Odin's blessing but as soon as he is gone, Odin shapeshifts to become Loki (oh, witchery!).

6/10

The Remains of the Day

This is based on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro.

The story is set between the two world wars at Darlington Hall. Mr. Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) is the butler of the house, serving Lord Darlington (James Fox), who fancies himself a sort of mediator between his home country and Germany. Although a well-intentioned man, Lord Darlington will later be remembered as a friend of Nazi Germany.

The political discussions in the film, however, are merely the backdrop to the story of the servants and workers of the house, mainly Mr. Stevens and the housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson), and their relationship...which could have been more than professional, were it not for the distant air of Mr. Stevens, who values his duties and loyalty above all else. Eventually, Miss Kenton leaves the house to marry.

Years later, after receiving a letter from her and after his Lordship has passed away and the house sold to an American congressman (Christopher Reeve, only a few years before his disastrous accident), Mr. Stevens takes a trip to meet with her to possibly arrange for her to come back into service at Darlington Hall.

The cast is impressive, to say the least. Along with the before mentioned Hopkins, Thompson, Fox and Reeve, it also features Hugh Grant and - in minor roles - Ben Chaplin and a young Lena Headly as a shy maid (a far cry from her turn as the scheming Queen Cersei on Game of Thrones).

A wonderful, wonderful film.

9/10

Magic

Fact...
Before he was Hannibal Lecter, larger than life criminal mastermind, Anthony Hopkins was a much younger, worried criminal.

Fact...
Dummies are creepy. In any film involving ventriloquism, the dummy will take control over the ventriloquist and make him do evil, illegal things.

Fact...
Even if you have no idea who Ed Lauter is, you have probably seen him before. Many times.

Fact...
Richard Attenborough can tell a decent stories in a much, much smaller context than his later film, Gandhi.

Fact...
Anthony Hopkins has a hairy chest. Not sure I ever needed to know that.

4/10