Honesty is usually best. It saves time and one does not need to remember a fantasy narrative. However, some choose to master in manipulation for personal gain. This is the plot of the crime thriller movie, THE GOOD LIAR, starring Helen Mirren (Betty) and Ian McKellen (Roy). It is based on the novel of the same title written by Nicholas Searle.
Roy is a con artist. Betty is a widow with millions. Roy enters Betty's life with the intention of taking all her savings. Watching Roy play out his scam makes viewers feel sympathy for Betty.
The story takes an alternate route, providing unexpected circumstances. It is unpredictable and the audience observes Betty's courage. THE GOOD LIAR could serve as a cautionary tale. The movie is currently playing in theatres. The official Web site is https://www.goodliarmovie.com/.
HOTEL MUMBAI is an exceptional dramatic thriller that is based on a true story. Dev Patel plays Arjun, a waiter at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India. One night a group of terrorists raid the hotel and 11 other locations in Mumbai. Employees and guests are trapped in the hotel for several hours as they wait for special forces to arrive from New Delhi. The movie is intense and definitely keeps its audience on edge.
HOTEL MUMBAI also stars Armie Hammer as David, an American married to a Muslim Iranian-British heiress named Zahra (Nazanin Boniadi). The film ends by showing the actual people who endured the horrific events. They have reunited at the renovated Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
I saw HOTEL MUMBAI at a theatre in April. Now you may watch the movie on various Web sites, including YouTube, Amazon Prime, Vudu, and Google Play.
OPERATION FINALE provides an opportunity for viewers to observe some events that happened after the Jewish Holocaust (1933-1945). Ben Kingsley plays Adolf Eichmann, a former SS officer now residing in Argentina. Israeli spies from the Mossad--Israel's intelligence agency--discover his whereabouts and capture him in 1960. Their goal is to have Eichmann testify to his crimes in a court of law. This is significant because others like Eichmann, including Adolf Hitler, committed suicide and never received punishment for their wrongdoing.
It is gratifying seeing someone brought to justice after having caused and been responsible for the suffering of millions of people. Eichmann's capture by Holocaust survivors does not bring back the many individuals who lost their lives, but does offer a bit of closure for the families whose loved ones were unjustly tortured and exterminated. OPERATION FINALE features a talented cast and is successful in allowing the audience to feel relief that someone admitted his atrocities and will now endure the effect of them.
SICARIO is an excellent film; however, in 2015 I did not blog about it. Now I am grateful for the opportunity to write about the action thriller, SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO. Benicio del Toro returns as Alejandro Gillick, Josh Brolin returns as Matt Graver, and Jeffrey Donovan returns as Steve Forsing. Emily Blunt is not in this film, so her character, Kate Macer from SICARIO, is not part of the story. Instead Catherine Keener plays Cynthia Foards and fills the slot of a strong female presence.
The cast makes SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO a great movie. And, of course, Taylor Sheridan's screenplay is its strength. After watching both SICARIO movies and WIND RIVER, I am beginning to believe Sheridan is the contemporary Master of Suspense, which is a title given to the late filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. This point is debatable. At any rate, I will infer that Hitchcock would have enjoyed Sheridan's screenplays.
SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO is directed by Stefano Sollima. His movie is relevant because of real life current events about the U.S.-Mexico border. Watching what people go through to immigrate to America is intense. This is the feeling Sollima wants viewers to hold throughout the film and that is accomplished.
FIRST REFORMED is a drama thriller movie that stars Ethan Hawke as Reverend Ernst Toller. Rev. Toller is depressed. His church membership and attendance are low, he loses his son who served in the armed forces, his health is bad, etc. But it is not completely clear any of these are reasons for his depression. The journal he writes indicates something is not right with him. And after counseling a parishioner's (Mary, played by Amanda Seyfried) activist husband (Philip Ettinger), he slowly unravels.
Pastor Jeffers' (Cedric Kyles) community, Abundant Life Church, partners with Rev. Toller's First Reformed Church. For example, Abundant Life Church hires a technician to fix the organ at First Reformed Church and they organize a service for First Reformed Church together. Pastor Jeffers does not initially realize Rev. Toller is depressed, but eventually discovers his odd behavior.
Rev. Toller is a friend to Mary, and able to be present when she calls on him. In their scenes, Rev. Toller appears stable. Ethan Hawke's performance is flawless and Amanda Seyfried is equally engaging. The Abundant Life Church choir is also very good. However, the movie's ending is ambiguous.
THE FOREIGNER stars Jackie Chan as Ngoc Minh Quan, a former Vietnam War special forces operator who now owns a restaurant in London, England and seeks vengeance after his daughter dies in an explosion. The movie is based on the novel The Chinaman by Stephen Leather. Ngoc challenges Liam Hennessy (played by Pierce Brosnan), an Irish government official he believes has knowledge of and is responsible for the bombing.
Jackie Chan is superb and THE FOREIGNER is an excellent action film. The official Web site is http://theforeignermovie.com/. The movie is currently playing in theatres.
AMERICAN ASSASSIN is a non-stop action movie. Viewers may want a break, but this film keeps on moving. So while watching, hang on!
Dylan O'Brien is effective as Mitch Rapp, a young man who is disheartened after his girlfriend's murder by terrorists. The experience puts him into fight mode, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) takes advantage of that. Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (played by Sanaa Lathan) is the one who recognizes his skills. Lathan is excellent in her role; she should be cast in more parts like this.
In addition, Michael Keaton plays Stan Hurley, a former U.S. Navy SEAL who trains Mitch, along with Victor (played by Scott Adkins), and other recruits. Keaton applies great wit to his performance. After completing Hurley's training, Mitch and Victor join him in intercepting the sale of nuclear material, plutonium. The mission does not go as planned, and there are casualties.
The action thriller is directed by Michael Cuesta. The screenplay is written by Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Edward Zwick, and Marshall Herskovitz. The movie is based on the novel American Assassin by Vince Flynn.
WIND RIVER is a thriller movie written and directed by Taylor Sheridan. The entire film is highly suspenseful and provides an uneasy feeling. The circumstances make this possible: the location is a small town in what seems like the middle of no where, snow is on the ground, it is cold, wild animals are present, and the local wildlife officer Cory Lambert (played by Jeremy Renner) finds a woman's dead body.
Since the body is found on a Native American reservation, the sole tribal officer Ben (played by Graham Greene) is put in charge and swiftly contacts the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Jane Banner (played by Elizabeth Olsen) arrives. Because murder is not the cause of death, the FBI does not send Banner any back up, and it is up to her to solve the mystery of why the woman had run for so many miles in the snow.
I am teaching Creative Writing: The Mystery, Suspense, Crime Story on the Udemy Web site. The course is intended for beginning mystery-suspense-crime writers, literature students, and writers interested in writing thrillers. In the class I show the creative writing process (plot structure) and how to maintain awareness of the genres of mystery, suspense, and/or crime.
I teach students how to get started by planning the story with an outline and a treatment. During the course, students will write either a novel, teleplay, or screenplay. Since I have written all three, I include instruction for the different formats: novel, teleplay, and screenplay.
When writing a story, research is important and I share the research process I utilized for my crime-drama screenplay, THE TWO SISTERS, which is an independent film I also produced and directed, receiving Best Screenplay award nominations from film festivals. Overall, the course is for people who enjoy mystery, suspense and crime, and individuals who want to learn the story writing process. For more information and to enroll visit https://www.udemy.com/creative-writing-the-mystery-suspense-crime-story/.
Reinhard Heydrich was a high-ranking German Nazi official during World War II and one of the SS leaders responsible for constructing the Holocaust (Final Solution). The movie ANTHROPOID shows how two agents (played by Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan) from the Czechoslovak government go to Prague on a mission called Operation Anthropoid to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich. They receive help from more agents that are parachuted to Prague, along with some resistance fighters.
It is good when movies like ANTHROPOID are made, because this is a segment of history not often discussed. It is surprising, especially since Heydrich was the only successful government-organized assassination of a top-ranking Nazi during World War II. As a result, this film is an educational period piece.
Unfortunately, a resistance fighter turned on the agents and they were pursued at their place of refuge, Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Hundreds of Nazi soldiers annihilated the cathedral and a vicious battle took place in which all the agents were killed.
Director Sean Ellis, who also co-wrote the screenplay, does a fine job of capturing the time period and the principal photography actually took place in Prague at locations where Operation Anthropoid was executed. The cast is remarkable, as the audience is able to get a full sense of how each person portrayed was affected by the arduous task of evading the Nazis.
