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Mr. Brooks, a review by Jon

Mr. Brooks
4 out of 5



Kevin Costner plays Earl Brooks, a successful business man who's just won a Man of the Year award, has a beautiful house, a great wife and a gorgeous daughter. Everything is perfect. Except Mr. Brooks has an addiction to killing and he's constantly fighting temptation to give in. Two years have passed since his last kill and Marshall (who the hell is Marshall, you say!) thinks they deserve a treat.

I took a risk here. Being a serial killer film, there was half a chance I'd have to exclude it from this horror marathon, but Thriller was born from Horror and it doesn't take much to count (e.g.: Silence of the Lambs, Seven). Luckily Mr. Brooks has enough perversions to join them.

It's a great film that unashamedly revels in it's subject and is darkly funny. It should easily appeal to Dexter fans being from the killers point of view and making the bastard likeable! But there's no cosy way out here. Brooks will kill anyone he takes a fancy to. It's Costner's best role for years, easily, and he seems to have a lot of fun with it, letting his guard down to show Earl is, like any addict, prone to obsessive emotions. Marshall both tempts and calms him luckily. His double-act with William Hurt is a joy.

Hold on... I've gotten ahead of myself. A double-act? Two killers? No. This is Fight Club style, embodied conscience territory and it's very well written. Marshall pops up at all sorts of awkward moments and Earl talks to him, though this is only for the viewers benefit as other characters don't even suspect Earl may be barking. Repeat viewings should reveal all sorts about the character that is easy to miss first time around. It's not so much a split personality as a partnership. They make independent decisions and congratulate each other, or argue. Marshall even comforts Earl in one moment and has a mardy fit in another! Of course, it's all Earl which just makes the sick depths of his mind all the more fascinating.

His killings are meticulous and perfect down to the last detail. Well, they should be. He's a little out of practice and a voyeur captures his endeavours on camera and blackmails him. But actually he just wants to join in. Marshall isn't happy, but Earl has a plan. To further complicate matters, millionaire Det. Atwood (Demi Moore, actually quite good. I know, it's just vulgar. "Demi Moore" and "good" in the same sentence) is getting closer to catching the notorious Thumbprint Killer (Brooks) through the same voyeur. Meanwhile an escaped convict is after her, while she's dealing with a messy divorce.

Complicated? Not really, but the film does rather have a lot of plates to keep spinning. And I haven't even mentioned the daughter, dropping out of school because of a secret. Marshall thinks she's lying... just how far does the secret go?

Towards the end all the threads crash together and annoyingly cripple the film for a good period of time. Thankfully the last act takes the threads and ties them up beautifully with much relish, so much so, you may find yourself cheering him on. Before you feel guilty, you'll also be cheering for Atwood, who gives the film a good kick up the arse a couple of times, just as it becomes too much about Earl and Marshall. She has two major action sequences and they are very well staged, especially a gunfight neat the end.

I sat watching the entire thing with a huge grin. Highly recommended. It isn't going to set the world on fire, but it has enough ideas to carve it's own niche in a busy genre.

The R1 DVD has a DTS sound mix and for the most part, being a drama, there's nothing to test your speakers. Except for the gunfight I mentioned which has incredible punch.




(From October Marathon: Horror! on October 11th, 2008)

The Grudge, a review by addicted2dvd

The Grudge (2004/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Takashi Shimizu Writing: Takashi Shimizu (Original Material By), Stephen Susco (Screenwriter) Length: 98 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD: 5.1, French: Dolby TrueHD: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, French

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Stars:
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Karen
Jason Behr as Doug
William Mapother as Matthew
Clea DuVall as Jennifer
Kadee Strickland as Susan

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• BD-Live
• Theatrical and Unrated Versions, Two Short Films

While this is a good ghost story, I have seen better. Don't get me wrong... it is well worth watching. It is always nice to see familiar faces from TV Series in movies. And this one has 3 people I knew from TV series. Of course Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)... but there is also Jason Behr from Roswell and KaDee Strickland from Private Practice. I do like the way they did the ghosts in this film.


(From Within My Lifetime Marathon on January 19th, 2015)

Sliders Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

11. THE YOUNG AND THE RELENTLESS
Quinn finds himself on the trail of his double's murderer when the Sliders land in a world where Wade and Quinn's counterparts are corporate executives up to their ears in a shady computer-software deal.

My Thoughts:
This is a good episode... though not quite as good as some episodes. In this one I enjoyed the side story of Rembrandt and Professor Arturo more then I did the main story.

My Rating:

12. INVASION
The Sliders land in the middle of an invasion. Acting in self defense, Quinn brings down one of the maurauding ships, only to find that the invaders are not what they seem.

My Thoughts:
This is the episode that introduces the Kromags. I have always been mixed on my feelings about the whole long Kromag storyline. While I am able to get into it... the storyline starts off as not so interesting to me.

My Rating:

13. AS TIME GOES BY
Quinn locates Daelin, a long lost love from home, on a roller coaster ride through three worlds--an America that lost the new world to the Spanish, an earth where time moves backwards and the Sliders are accused of Daelin's murder and a world which seems perfect for Quinn and Daelin to be reunited--but first Quinn must make a decision that could sever their ties forever.

My Thoughts:
This is the last episode of the second season. And completes the first boxset of DVDs. This episode I enjoyed quite a bit more then the previous several episodes. I liked that we actually got to see a few different demensions in this one episode... but with a story that interlinks through them all. Made for a different and interesting story.

My Rating:

(From Sliders Marathon on August 20th, 2009)