Director Ayer has a real eye for capturing LA’s less glamorous streets, and with a story and screenplay by James Ellroy, another storyteller who knows his way around the turf, Street Kings has the makings of a classic cop drama. But somewhere along the line the dialogue and story took a turn down a dark alley lined with film clichés and Hollywood melodrama and didn’t emerge unscathed.

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“The deeper you look…the more you will find.”

I was fooled - I’ll admit that upfront. I believed the advance hype I read about the film and thought there was a supernatural element involved. Half an hour into the film I realized my mistake. There wasn’t anything supernatural about “Angel Eyes,” clearly it was more of a science fiction story. Jim Caviezel’s character, Catch, was obviously sent to Earth from a distant planet. He was a pod person, here to infiltrate the Chicago Police Department by corrupting the intelligent, independent Sergeant Sharon Pogue (Jennifer Lopez aka J-Lo). What other explanation could there be for an otherwise responsible, logical person to fall in love so quickly with a man who wouldn’t disclose his name, his past, or why he chooses to always dress in a trench coat and t-shirts? Why would a perfectly normal, healthy woman - who also happens to be a cop - throw caution to the wind and overlook even the basic disclosure of a real name? It had to be some form of mind-control practiced by aliens bent on mating with earthlings. Or, as it turns out, it had to be love. A concept that upon listening to these two, seems as strange as alien possession.

Sgt. Sharon Pogue is a tough beat cop. We learn early on that her family life is nothing to smile about. Seems the men in her family like to abuse their women, a trait that has created an estrangement between Sharon and her dad, and eventually from her only brother. Her co-workers treat her like one of the guys and she seems content with that. She’s lacking a personal life, though not from trying. She hates having to answer all the standard date questions about her work. Her dates never ask her what it’s like to help someone in need; all they ever want to know about is whether she’s had to use her gun. She’d much rather be on the job than making small talk.

Through flashbacks, and a series of shots of Catch helping people throughout the city, we’re told that Catch is a strange dude who walks the city alone, keeping an eye on Sharon and doing good deeds for complete strangers. We also learn that Sharon has vivid memories of helping a car accident victim. How the two go together isn’t explained at first, but you just know from the importance placed on the flashbacks that there is some significant connection.

While catching a quick bite at a local eatery, Sharon and a group of her fellow officers are targets of a driveby shooting. Officers are wounded and it’s up to Sharon and her partner, Robby (Terrence Howard), to bring down the perps. No slouch in the fighting and chasing department, Sharon pursues one of the assailants as her partner stops to handcuff the other. Taking off without her partner isn’t a wise move. She’s left to pursue the armed suspect into an area with lots of hiding spaces. Sharon chases him down but ends up on the losing end of a physical altercation, shot twice in the chest but saved by her bulletproof vest. Pinned to the ground, looking into the barrel of a gun, Sharon is all but dead until Catch appears out of nowhere. He attacks the gunmen, knocking the gun away, and holding him down until Sharon’s partner is able to take over.

Catch is dark, mysterious, and apparently, Sharon’s guardian angel. How else to explain his appearance at that exact moment, at that location? As a thank you, Sharon invites Catch to meet her for a drink after work. He shows up, quiet, somber and with a smile that could melt the coldest heart. Sharon can’t get much info from him other than the name Catch, and that he helped her because he appreciates officers and their work at making the streets safe. Catch’s first conversations with Sharon come off as strained, awkward, and reserved. He doesn’t want to disclose anything personal, preferring to start from scratch - as though he had no life up until the moment they met. Catch acts almost as though he’s never spoken to another human being, or had much personal contact with members of the opposite sex (their conversations are so surface level and stilted that the assumption that he’s an alien isn’t really that bizarre). The two have an instant connection, an almost tangible bond that takes Sharon by surprise. Catch has saved her life, and beyond being grateful, she’s attracted both emotionally and physically to her savior.

Too much more info and I’d be giving away the entire story. Suffice it to say that Catch and Sharon are two lonely, complicated people in need of what the other has to offer. “Angel Eyes” turned out to be different than I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. The love story is central to the entire movie without being too cloying or sappy. Two different actors may have taken this movie to other levels, but I felt Jennifer Lopez has never been better cast in a film. Jim Caviezel’s performance is understated, perfectly capturing Catch’s obvious pain and longing. Lopez and Caviezel have a wonderful on-screen chemistry that was surprising in its intensity. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is a must-see for romance fans, however it never disappointed me and it kept my interest for the entire film.

About The Production

After a year in development, screenwriter Gerald DiPego (30 films including “Message in a Bottle,” “Phenomenon,” “Instinct,” “Sharkey’s Machine”), director Luis Mandoki (”White Palace,” “Born Yesterday,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “Message in a Bottle“), and producer Mark Canton learned that none other than Jennifer Lopez was interested in the film. Chairman and CEO of Franchise Pictures, Elie Samaha, entered the picture and gave the go-ahead to make the film. Recalls Samaha, “When Mark told me of Jennifer Lopez’s commitment to this film and her passion for the story, my response was, ‘Let’s do it’.”

The idea behind the film was to explore a reality-based story of ordinary human beings who personify qualities that might be considered angelic. Producer Mark Canton recalls, “We considered a number of ideas but this is the one I was most excited about. It was very original from the inception. I especially liked the inner-city police beat as our setting and the way the two leading characters were developed as brave but damaged souls.”

Director Luis Mandoki credits his stars for conveying the depth of emotion in their characters with the right subtlety. “Both Jennifer and Jim understood immediately…Their chemistry is phenomenal.” It was Lopez herself who suggested Jim Caviezel for the role of Catch. She was impressed with his ability to convey emotions through his intense gaze and expressive eyes. Caviezel was about to start another film but met with Mandoki and there was no question that he wanted to do “Angel Eyes.” “Angel Eyes” is Caviezel’s first love story. Caviezel states, “Truth is, I just look for great material and this was great material. There’s a wonderful mood to this film that’s very unusual. It’s kind of an old-fashioned story in a contemporary setting.”

Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide

If it weren’t for the brilliant job done by Mortensen as a ruthless Russian mobster and by Naomi Watts as a concerned midwife, Eastern Promises could be considered a real step down from A History of Violence. However, Mortensen and Watts lift Eastern Promises up and it’s because of their performances this movie works reasonably well as a character-driven drama, rather than a straight-up thriller.

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Nick Hume is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by grief, Hume eventually comes to the disturbing conclusion that no length is too great when protecting his family. Written by 20th Century Fox

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The Story

Josh Hartnett stars as Eben Oleson, Barrow, Alaska’s hard-working and dedicated sheriff. While most of Barrow’s citizens take off right before the sun disappears from their town for 30 days, Eben stays put – ready to take care of the remaining townsfolk no matter what the emergency. But even Sheriff Oleson can’t protect the people of Barrow from a pack of vampires who figure out a town pitched into darkness by 30 days without the sun is the perfect feeding ground.

Only a handful of Barrow folks survive the initial attack by the vampires who invade the town only after a crazy man longing to be a vampire (played by Ben Foster who is so good at playing loony) does all the dirty work. ‘The Stranger’ steals and then burns everyone’s cell phones making communication with the outside world difficult. He also kills off all the dogs so that they can’t alert their owners about the oncoming invasion of vampires.

Those lucky enough to elude the vampires first attack include Eben’s estranged wife Stella (Melissa George), Eben’s younger brother Jake (Mark Rendall) and a few other assorted Barrowians (or maybe it’s Barrowers). The ragtag collection of survivors must use all their skill and cunning to escape from being made into vampire chow.

The Cast

Danny Huston makes one of the creepiest vampires in film history as Marlow, the leader of the vampire pack. Huston’s just recognizable beneath the jagged vampire teeth and scary vampire makeup. Delivering choppy bits of dialogue in a strange, made-up vampire language, Huston is pure evil. When he tells one afternoon snack there’s no God, Huston cements his place in movie vampire history.

Josh Hartnett’s very convincing in the role of sheriff, carrying the majority of the scenes involving the Barrow survivors on his shoulders with no problem at all. George and Hartnett work well as a couple experiencing major marriage problems, and the rest of the cast do more than just scream and run around like chickens with their heads cut off. There’s a little more meat on these horror movie characters than is normal for the genre – and particularly for vampire movies – so that’s a refreshing change of pace.

The Bottom Line

The night feeders in 30 Days of Night are ugly, monstrous creatures who care nothing about those of us running around with beating hearts, other than how quickly they can kill us. These vampires are a far cry from the romanticized versions which populate TV shows. Their kills aren’t clean and neat and they aren’t accompanied by witty quips. This is a vampire story for those ready for a whole lot of gore, and for those able to accept without analyzing the rest of the plot. Puzzling over how the humans survive without heat or electricity in the freezing cold - or how they get by when they never seem to eat – is pointless. Ignore the gaping plot holes. It’s just a vampire movie, albeit one that’s a fresh, gruesomely fun take on the bloodsucking creatures.

Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide

Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda are dead. Now, upon the news of Detective Kerry’s murder, two seasoned FBI profilers, Agent Strahm and Agent Perez, arrive in the terrified community to assist the veteran Detective Hoffman in sifting through Jigsaw’s latest grisly remains and piecing together the puzzle. However, when SWAT Commander Rigg is abducted and thrust into a game, the last officer untouched by Jigsaw has but ninety minutes to overcome a series of demented traps and save an old friend or face the deadly consequences. Written by Lionsgate

Five men wake up in a locked-down warehouse with no memory of who they are. They are forced to figure out who is good and who is bad to stay alive.

If asked to sum up “The Ice Harvest” in just one word it would have to be ‘pointless’. Of course if all I was asked to give was a simple one-word summary, there would be no reason to write a full-length review. So to pad out the ‘pointless’ description, I’m adding mean-spirited, nonsensical, and a waste of time and talent.

There’s absolutely nothing appealing about “The Ice Harvest.” I realize this is a movie about a couple of bad apples surrounded by a basket-load of rotten fruit, however at the core of “The Ice Harvest” is a blackened pit that’s sure to leave an ugly aftertaste in your mouth. (Sometimes these descriptions just pop into my head and they won’t leaf…er, leave.)

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Tom Hardy, an ex-Army Ranger turned DEA agent, is drawn into an ever-widening mystery surrounding the disappearance of the feared and often hated Sgt. Nathan West, as well as several of his elite Special Forces trainees on what appears, at first, to have been a routine training exercise during a hurricane in the jungles of Panama. Only two survivors are found, Dunbar, and a badly wounded Kendall, the son of a high-profile Joint Chiefs of Staff official. Neither is willing to cooperate with Capt. Julia Osborne’s investigation. So base commander Col. Bill Styles calls in ex-Ranger Hardy, an old friend and a persuasive interrogator. Osborne disapproves of Hardy who is on leave from the D.E.A. after having come under suspicion of accepting bribes from local drug traffickers. She is also uneasy when she learns that Hardy once trained under West and hates him almost as passionately as his current recruits. With time running out, Hardy and Osborne call a temporary, if uneasy, truce. Hardy cajoles a confession out of Dunbar, who claims that Sgt. West and the missing Rangers have been murdered and their bodies blown away by the hurricane. When they later interview Kendall, he confirms that the other Rangers and West are dead. But, in almost every other way, his story contradicts Dunbar’s. What happened to West and his Ranger team? And what were they really doing out there in the jungle? As each layer reveals more lies and greater deceptions, Hardy and Osborne inch towards the horrible truth about the fate of the missing Rangers. Written by Sujit R. Varma

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After twelve years in prison, Walter arrives in an unnamed city, moves into a small apartment across the street from an elementary school, gets a job at a lumberyard, and mostly keeps to himself. A quiet, guarded man, Walter finds unexpected solace from Vickie, a tough-talking woman who promises not to judge him for his history. But Walter cannot escape his past. A convicted sex offender, Walter is warily eyed by his brother-in-law, shunned by his sister, lives in fear of being discovered at work, and is hounded by a suspicious local police officer, Detective Lucas. After befriending a young girl in a neighborhood park, Walter must also grapple with the terrible prospect of his own reawakened demons. Written by Sujit R. Varma

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