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The Ledge starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson & Terrence Howard

Posted on August 4, 2011 Written by ripitup

The Ledge Plot – No spoilers if you have seen the trailer

The Ledge starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson & Terrence Howard. Written & directed by Matthew Chapman. Image via daemonsmovies.com

Police detective Hollis (Terrence Howard) is having a very bad day: he has just learned that he is sterile, and now he has to talk a young man named Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) out of jumping from the top of a very high building. Unfortunately for Hollis, Gavin is not a suicidal guy having second thoughts. In fact, Gavin doesn’t want to die. But if he doesn’t jump in an hour, someone else will die. The movie progresses as Gavin tells him his story:

First, he falls in lust with the wife (Shana, played by Liv Tyler) of his extremely religious neighbor Joe (Patrick Wilson). His desire to bed Shana only increases after Joe tries to inflict his opinions on salvation upon him, and his gay roommate Chris (Christopher Gorham). It doesn’t help matters that he now sees Shana every day as she has started to work for Gavin.

Unfortunately for both Shana and Gavin, the lust turns into a deeper connection, and then into an affair.

But of course when Joe finds out, he doesn’t take it lightly. He gives Gavin two options: He’ll either jump from the ledge at the designated hour, or Shana will die.

So what will it be? Who will die? Or can we really get a Hollywood-style happy ending…?

Review: You Should See It!

The Ledge is one of the movies where you get everything the trailer promises. If you liked the trailer, there is a big chance you’ll like the movie.

The Ledge is a very well-done combination of drama, romance and thriller. We are always wondering whether Gavin will jump while we listen to his story in flashbacks. Writer/director Matthew Chapman gives us compelling and grey characters with Gavin and Shana, while we get more white with Hollis and more black with Joe. Patrick Wilson really has made a cool villain, and I really liked Charlie Hunnam and Liv Tyler together.

Whether you’d go for Charlie Hunnam or Patrick Wilson (lookswise) is besides the point. Whether cheating is bad is besides the point. The real question here is would you choose to give up your own life to save somebody you love? Would you take the cheated party’s word that your lover would survive if you sacrificed yourself?

The most compelling thing about the film is that Gavin is not really a hero. He is just a regular guy, with his own demons – demons that probably have a lot to why he chooses to be on the ledge, and not just his love for Shana.

All in all, it is a very entertaining movie with a good ending. I don’t approve all of the decisions that lead us to the ending, but I really loved the movie as a whole. It’s intriguing, passionate and provocative.

Highly Recommended. Currently rated at 7.3 on IMDB.

P.S. This movie will also go into my “When Adultery Is OK” movies list.

Other movies where I am OK with the cheating:

The Scarlet Letter starring Gary Oldman, Demi Moore & Robert Duvall

Revenge starring Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe & Anthony Quinn

The English Patient starring Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas & Colin Firth

Other Articles on the Cast

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Morning Glory starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton & Patrick Wilson

The A-Team starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Sharlto Copley & Quinton Rampage Jackson

Watchmen starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley and Patrick Wilson

Patrick Wilson Trivia

Liv Tyler

The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth & William Hurt: Updated

Terrence Howard

The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg

Christopher Gorham

Covert Affairs starring Piper Perabo, Christopher Gorham & Kari Matchett

Unknown starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones & Aidan Quinn

Posted on June 26, 2011 Written by ripitup

Unknown Movie Poster- starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones & Aidan Quinn — Unknown starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones & Aidan Quinn. Image via movienewz.com

American botanist Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) travels to Berlin with his wife (January Jones) for an important summit. When they arrive at their hotel, he realizes that he has forgotten his briefcase at the airport, so he jumps on another cab to go back, while his wife is left to check in. On his way to the airport, the cab gets into an accident, and the cab crashes down into the river. The cab driver Gina (Diane Kruger) manages to save Martin- who is unconscious due to bumping his head hard, and disappears from the scene when the paramedics arrive.

Martin wakes up 4 days later in a Berlin. He remembers who he is, and rushes out to the hotel to meet his wife. But he is shocked when his wife doesn’t have a clue who he is. Moreover, there is another guy (Aidan Quinn), claiming to be her husband. And she is agreeing with the other Martin. With his passport left in the briefcase he couldn’t get to, he has no means of proving who he is. Moreover, the other Martin has all kinds of IDs with his pictures, as well as his face on the website. This sends Martin into doubting who he is…until men start coming after him and kill whoever gets in their way. Martin enlists the help of the unwilling Gina, and the old German ex-spy (Bruno Ganz) to help him prove he is the real Martin Harris. While Gina and Martin try to survive assassins, the spy does his best to prove Martin right. And just when he gets some proof, things get even more complicated….

Why would anyone want to replace him? Why would his wife work with them? Can Liam’s Martin and Diane Kruger’s Gina survive long enough to learn the whole story?

Unknown is an incredibly entertaining action/mystery with touches of drama. Watchers of the Bourne series and Liam Neeson’s Taken complain that Unknown is not an original movie. Never mind that the screenplay which was based on the novel by a French writer who might not even have seen Bourne movies, it is 2011. Millions of scripts were written. And I don’t really think Bourne movies were all %100 original when they came out. I mean come on. What you can do as a writer is to take an idea, and tell it in your own unique way. And Unknown is refreshing in the way that the man who has a head trauma remembers who he is, but his wife refuses it. I quite like how they explained this. And there is no point in getting upset if you guessed the twist. It doesn’t mean the movie is bad. It just means you watch many movies:D But this is not a horror film where the twist is the whole point. It is how we get to the twist, and what happens after it that really matter.

As to why this movie is being compared to Taken, Neeson is once again playing an American who kicks butt in a foreign country. But in Taken, he was an ex-CIA agent, forced to travel to France to save his daughter from her kidnappers. Here, Liam Neeson is more trying to save his butt than trying to kick others’. And apart from the American getting involved in action on foreign soil, the two movies vary a lot in story.

Yes, I enjoyed the movie. Frankly, I was so in love with Taken that I was looking forward to Liam being in another action film. And while I found the Unknown trailer unimpressive, the movie doesn’t fail to entertain.

And “the potential plot holes” can be explained very easily. And as to the complaints on how January Jones and Diane Kruger are too young for Neeson, come on! Never mind that Zeta Jones married Michael Douglas in real life, being 6 years younger than January and 8 than Kruger, I have to confess I really think Liam Neeson got more attractive when he got older. Plus, a 25 year-old kicking butt is not that interesting. And we know guys can become action stars in their 40s. And an actor kicking butt at 59 is just way more fun.

Fun notes:

– Diane Kruger’s character Gina is an illegal Bosnian alien in Germany. In real life, she is actually German.

– American Martin Harris – Liam Neeson- is actually Irish.

Other Posts feat. Liam Nesson

The A-Team starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Sharlto Copley & Quinton Rampage Jackson

Chloe starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried

Seraphim Falls starring Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan

The Other Man starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney

Other Posts feat. Diane Kruger

The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg feat. Kruger

Fringe Trivia: 13 Facts About Fringe Cast, Crew, Plot Feat. Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, Mark Valley…

Wicker Park starring Diane Kruger, Rose Byrne & Josh Hartnett

Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris & Diane Kruger

Other Posts feat. January Jones

The Awesome X-Men: First Class with James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon & Rose Byrne

Other Posts feat. Aidan Quinn

Blink starring Madeleine Stowe & Aidan Quinn

Benny & Joon starring Aidan Quinn, Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson & Julianne Moore

Evelyn starring Pierce Brosnan. Feat. Aidan Quinn

3 Movie Tristans starring feat. Legends of The Fall starring Aidan Quinn & Brad Pitt

Red Riding Hood starring Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Gary Oldman & Billy Burke

Posted on June 13, 2011 Written by ripitup

Red Riding Hood starring Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Gary Oldman & Billy Burke

Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) is a beautiful young woman living in a medieval village by a forrest. The most common fear among the people is the wolf that keeps attacking the village. While they managed to keep the wolf from attacking the humans by presenting it with animals, the wolf starts killing with Valerie’s sister. This infuriates them all,and the town priest (Lukas Haas) calls for the expert werewolf-hunter priest, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman). However many of the villagers don’t want to wait and kill the wolf themselves. Among these brave men are Henry and Peter, the two men who make Valerie’s lives highly complicated:

Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) is Valerie’s childhood friend and the love of her life. He is a loner without much money. Henry (Max Irons), on the other hand, is well-off, and Valerie’s mother (Virginia Madsen) is adamant? that her daughter marries Henry to get a better life.

As the villagers come back with the head of the wolf, and minus Henry’s father, they are certain they don’t need Father Solomon. However Solomon arrives with bad news. He informs the villagers that what they hunted is a simple wolf, whereas they are being hunted by a werewolf. He closes the village doors and tells everyone to be suspicious of each other, as the werewolf has a human form and could be any one of them. When the werewolf attacks, he doesn’t harm Valerie. Instead he talks to her, and apparently only she can hear it. It asks Valerie to come with it, and if she doesn’t, it just won’t leave the villagers alone. This sends the villagers into suspecting that she is a witch, and she starts suspecting everyone. Can the werewolf be Henry or Peter? Or her own grandmother (Julie Christie). And whoever it is, why does it want Valerie?

Red Riding Hood takes the basic elements from the fair tale, plays around a little, puts in a werewolf instead of wolf, puts in a love triangle and serves it with a good cast. We get a mystery thriller, which is more of a gothic romance than a thriller.

While it is not a bad experience overall, I just had one big annoyance: the werewolf. Directed by Twilight’s director Catherine Hardwicke, the werewolf- very much like the wolves in Twilight– big and very badly structured on the computer. When you have a laughable villain, It really takes a lot from the movie, a movie that is supposed to be a thriller.
But the ridiculousness of the villain aside, it is a fun film. You get to guess who the wolf might be, who Valerie will end up with and when she just might have sex with one of them…
I did mention good cast, right? You have Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Virginia Madsen & Julie Christie.
It is not great, but it is not bad (apart from the wolf’s appearance). It also has a decent soundtrack. It is watchable if you are in the mood for a romance with supernatural elements lurking around.

Fun notes:

– Many watchers inevitably compared this to Twilight, where there the series are based on the love triangle. Here, the love triangle consists from 3 humans- although we suspect there is a werewolf among them.

– Twilight’s Chief Swan (Billy Burke), a.k.a. Bella’s father again gets to play the female protagonist’s father. Although Valerie’s dad could learn a thing or two from Swan when it comes to parenting.

– You might be bothered that a medieval village is dominated by modern English and American accents. But if I can accept a werewolf exists (for a movie), I can accept the accents.

Currently Rated 4.9 on IMDB. I suspect it could have earned higher votes, had the wolf looked menacing and not fake.

Also on Amanda Seyfried:

Chloe starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried

Veronica Mars starring Kristen Bell, Teddy Dunn, Jason Dohring & Enrico Colantoni

Also on Gary Oldman:

GARY OLDMAN: Talk about diversity!

Air Force One starring Harrison Ford, Glenn Close and Gary Oldman

When adultery is okay, part 3: The Scarlet Letter

Lestat, Dracula and Other Vampires featuring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Gerard Butler, Stuart Townsend and More

Looking Forward to: Straw Dogs starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth & Alexander Skarsgard

Posted on May 28, 2011 Written by ripitup

Straw Dogs 2011 - starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth & Alexander Skarsgard. The remake of the 70s's Straw Dogs is coming to the theaters in September, 2011 - hence the lack of a proper poster. Image via fragman.web.tr

Hollywood loves the idea of a city couple/family to move to the country, only to have something terrible happen to them because of their house. It has been the theme of many movies (and this will be a whole other post), and this time we have (the remake of) Straw Dogs.

What makes Straw Dogs attractive to me is (apart from the cast), is that this time the house isn’t haunted. There are no *Supernatural (see below the movie still for the related Supernatural episode) elements here. The villains are very much human. From what it seems, these villains are not even scary convicts or threatening strangers. They were born and bred in that town – a town Amy Summer (Kate Bosworth) boasts of being so safe that “they don’t even lock the doors”. It is with that great, safe town in mind that they move there, and hire the locals (led by True Blood’s Alex Skarsgard) to repair their roof. But the locals turn out to be bullies, and they decide that they want to play by their own rules, and not their employers’. Of course David Summer (James Marsden) tries to fire them, but guess what? They really don’t take no for an answer, and turn the Summers’ lives into a living hell. So who do you think will win?

I always find that human villains make for creepier, more thrilling movies. And if the story isn’t that far-fetched – if you feel like this could be you- then you are in for a treat.

I don’t know if Straw Dogs will deliver, but the trailer looks really promising. And it is better when James Marsden doesn’t just play the cute romantic lead, because he has a knack for playing darker, or at least, grayer characters. Check out 24th Day to see what I mean.

Adapted and directed by Rod Lurie. The problem? Straw Dogs has got to live up to the original Straw Dogs, a 1971 movie starring Dustin Hoffman. Straw Dogs is based on the novel The Siege of Trencher’s Farm, and the 1971 movie script written by Sam Peckinpah & David Zelag Goodman.

Coming to the theaters in mid-September. Link to the youtube trailer:

Still from the 2011 movie Straw Dogs- James Marsden & Kate Bosworth. Image via usmoviereviews.com

* Supernatural: Ofcourse the TV show Supernatural has a “haunted” episode where a family relocates to the country to solve their problems, and it is not long before the kids get to meet the “ghost”. But is she acutally a ghost, or can the non-supernatural be much more terrifying than any supernatural element?

Also on Kate Bosworth:

21 starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey: It’s Vegas, baby!!!

Also on James Marsden:

Enchanted starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey & James Marsden

24th Hour starring James Marsden & Scott Speedman

James Marsden Trivia

Gossip starring James Marsden, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, Kate Hudson & Joshua Jackson

Stardust, The Air I Breathe, Playing by Heart, The Good Shepherd, Hairspray & He’s Just Not That Into You: 6 Good Movies with Brilliant Casts– feat. Hairspray with James Marsden