Hostile Waters (1997)

Following the principle of "compensating rushed blog entries with movies quality" (Gosh, that sounds so anti-commercial ...) I stopped this time to a probably obscure production, made for TV, long ago, By HBO in collaboration with BBC. If you like submarine thrillers, or at least the context of US vs USSR during the Cold War, then what we have here is a must see. Despite the low budget, "Hostile Waters" has its place besides much more known names like "U-571", "Crimson Tide", "K19: The Widowmaker" or "Hunt for Red October".

The movie is based on a real incident, and as obscure as it might seem it did create some controversy at the date of its release relatively to the trigger cause of the incident (spoiler: the collision between two submarines, which apparently is not that sure it happened). As "K19" from the list above, the movie tends more towards disaster films than to thrillers, but unlike the "classic" type = "2012", "Volcano", "Gravity", etc - this is different ... Maybe is just my impression, but the setting of a submarine posing a nuclear catastrophe threat gives a specific feeling. Maybe it's because through the history this situation was a real assumed risk taken many, many times considering how many reactor-powered vessels were launched. Anyway, moving back to the movie, besides the action we have a nice cast: Rutger Hauer, Martin Sheen, Max von Sydow, Colm Feore and others.

There's only one minus that's a bit more consistent and gets noticed. I don't know why but the state of spirit on the Soviet submarine seemed a bit too American, reaching the climax at the end of the movie (which, well, it's not anymore on the submarine). Besides that, leaving the true facts aside and considering only the level of cinema realism, what we have here is probably more credible and more carefully scripted than many box-office hits in the "underwater" list enumerated earlier. Probably "Hostile Waters" might not be as engaging though as "Hunt for Red October", but in any case is very far from boring :) ...

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Unknown Known (2013)

It's strange how from time to time I'm picking "the right" movie to say so ... Meaning exactly something that fits either with my psychical state, either with the daily issues, or actually with both. Maybe it's just my unhealthy subconscious which makes weird connections. Anyway ... this never happened before with a documentary. I actually don't remember in all my blogging years how many documentaries I've had among my entries ... I guess there was one, but I'm not even sure about that. What we have heir is a modern approach, very nicely shot and edited, and very engaging. I won't express opinions on the subject (the period while Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense in U.S. = the last Irak war), because I don't really have enough knowledge on all aspects. In any case, leaving the context aside, what we're allowed to see is extremely interesting as a psychological analysis of a person placed in a leading position. The possible combinations between "knowns" and "unknowns" are referenced several times .. therefore the source of the title. And in the end, making again (of course, probably unhealthy) connections with your everyday life decisions you end up asking yourself if you're not in an "unknown known" area = what you know that you know, maybe actually you don't know ... Now, in the film it's clear that's not a really good thing, the question is how much can you trust yourself in practice ... Late night philosophy :) Let's stop it until it doesn't derail completely ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Thale (2012)

Guess what .. again no time :) I've picked "Thale" on length criteria, because it did seem a good option at less than 90 minutes (despite the IMDb rating which seems more and more irrelevant as time goes by).

The setting: Two guys, one weirder than the other, employed by a cleaning firm have the task to clear out a cabin in the middle of the woods after the owner died. Surprise, there's still something lurking there. Or somebody ...

"Thale" is not a horror as it's labeled and the way the trailer might suggest. Yeah, well .. it might have some scenes that are more tense, but it's far from my scary movie definition ... As a reference is as much as horror as "Dreamcatcher". Only that here as aliens we have the "hulders". If you're not an expert in Scandinavian folklore check-out Wikipedia (it's the way I did).

The Norwegian movies are cold. "Trollhunter", "Hodejegerne", "Pioneer", I don't remember watching anything made in Norway that didn't have a specific coldness. It's interesting that the Swedish films are not the same. And it's not the snow. Complicated to describe. "Thale" is not an exception ... And still, this time the so cold "horror" has a key moment. When we find out why the guy weirder than the other guy is so weird. I don't know why but somehow from this results in the end the warmest cold movie I've seen shot in that country ... still a weird one :)

Rating: 3 out of 5

The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009)

"The Disappearance of Alice Creed" = the kidnapping of Alice Creed. Who is Alice Creed? The 20-something years old daughter of a wealthy guy willing to pay for her life. Even though the girl doesn't seem to get along well with her father. Oops, spoiler ... Let's change lanes. Who's the kidnapper? The kidnapper is two kidnappers. One cold and meticulous, the other more emphatic to the victim. Oops, another spoiler ... (almost). Everything goes sharp. The plan is ready and carried on flawlessly. At least until ... Until ... How should I continue without spoilers?

I assume that's a characteristic of an intelligent script. You can't really say more without stumbling fast into a potential spoiler. And as a sort of supra-spoiler, this can be very clearly explained: lots of twists; more or less predictable. If the movie would've had a bigger budget (= a bit better on the technical side), or some scenes would've been less rough (not that it's extreme but I wasn't in the mood for violence), then I guess I would've also had a better opinion on it. In any case, the overall result is quite good for just a 3 member band = the kidnappers and the victim, of whom we don't know who survives up to the end ... Oops, this was also a spoiler :) ...

Rating: 3+ out of 5

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

When I've heard about a remake for "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." I've been very skeptical. I considered it just a trend movie in the endless row of genre flicks released this year: "Kingsman", "Spy", "Mission Impossible" and even the next Bond. Something along the lines "spy movies summer; it will sell". Besides that, loooooong long ago I've watched a couple episodes of the original series starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, and finding out that the leads for the Solo/Kuryakin couple are Superman and The Lone Ranger (= Henry Cavill + Armie Hammer) I said niet, it's a no go ... Oh, was I wrong or what? ...

The story ... well, a spy story in the '60s - something "classic" - a neo-nazi secret organization with a nuclear bomb and world domination on the agenda. Details are not important. They'll be when you'll watch the movie, not now. The way this thing is presented is important, or how to serve a bottle of aged Bond, aged in an oak barrel and just taken out of the wine cellar. Like I said, it's been ages since I've seen some of the original series. I vaguely remember the comic nuance that was present there. The new American-Russian spy couple keeps that but it still seems quite different. The character differences between the two are much more emphasized, e.g., the American charm vs. the Russian rigor. And it works. It works very well, and the two leads do their job perfectly.

The movie itself: what we have here is a jewel. It's without question the best I've seen this year as a cinematographic composition meaning the mix between the camera work, soundtrack and editing (yes, better than Mad Max). I can say that I'm impressed to notice that there are still cases of mainstream cinema, of 100% entertainment when you can catch a frame shot in style. Yeah, I know .. It's a clear reference to the '60s cinematography meant to impress through that, reversed perspectives, zoom out, editing with visual splits on the same frame with parallel action, etc. Doesn't matter ... The point is that the result looks very good. The sound - think on Tarantino movies. Enough said.

So, the answer for the start question is yes ... I was wrong. I forgot that the movie is directed by Guy Ritchie. Or, to be specific, I didn't notice that from all the movies he did there wasn't any that on my scale wasn't at least medium above average (even "Swept Away" got on the floating level - no pun intended - was ok for me). Probably the biggest plus in this whole production is given by the directing + script, and it's simply that at no time this wants to be another Bond, but just a fun movie, no constraints attached :) ...

Rating: 5 out of 5