“Summer of Film #24 of 100”:http://www.devanshanu.com/things/2005/06/12/2005-summer-of-film/
The Jacket, starring Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley, suffers from two problems: First, it had a trailer that gave too much up. If you’ve seen the main trailer for this one then you know what happens well into the second act. For many films this may not be a problem, but for a deliberate movie like The Jacket that revels in its mysteries, it is fatal. There were no mysteries for me. Second, it is a movie in the category of already well-made, iconic films such as 12 Monkeys, Frequency and Dead Again, assuming you’ve seen those. And even if you haven’t seen them, I would recommend them before I would this one. And once you’ve seen them, The Jacket wouldn’t seem all that special anyways since it adds nothing new.

The story involves a Gulf War vet (Brody) who suffers from amnesia and is falsely accused of murder. He is pronounced insane and is placed in a asylum where Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson), who must be a close relative of “Dr. Crane of Arkham asylum”:http://www.devanshanu.com/things/2005/06/25/batman-begins-2005/ , conducts dubious research on inmates. Inexplicably, this experimentation (which involves the titular jacket) allows Brody to see his own future- of course, leaving out the parts that would render the rest of the film pointless. He meets a girl in his future who has a link to his past- and in the tradition of the great movies mentioned before, they solve a mystery of the past through the future, and yet making sure that the future remains inevitable.

Like I said before- 12 Monkeys, Frequency and Dead Again.

“Summer of Film #23 of 100”:http://www.devanshanu.com/things/2005/06/12/2005-summer-of-film/
If people in the future ask, “Who was Steven Spielberg?” the answer is this: He is the man who made Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List in the same year. And maybe after this year, you will be able to say he’s the guy who made The War of the Worlds and Vengeance (or the Untitled 1972 Munich Olympics Project) in the same year. But that remains to be seen. Continue reading →

“Summer of Film #22 of 100”:http://www.devanshanu.com/things/2005/06/12/2005-summer-of-film/
Alfred Hitchcock, like Spielberg in modern times, had the ability to take any material and change it into a ‘Hitchcock-movie’ with his craft. Many times the material was mediocre- where the movie was the “MacGuffin”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macguffin – but he would dazzle you with his craft so that if you weren’t paying attention you would think the craft was the movie. Continue reading →

“Summer of Film #21 of 100”:http://www.devanshanu.com/things/2005/06/12/2005-summer-of-film/
Was 48 Hrs original in its time? It is hard to say- it has not aged well. The pace, action and humor expected of a film like this has risen to a level so frenzied that while 48 Hrs doesn’t feel like a bad film, it feels incomplete. We feel there are many action sequences, many more jokes and a lot more of a climax still to come; which is probably while a sequel was made. Continue reading →

“Summer of Film #20 of 100”:http://www.devanshanu.com/things/2005/06/12/2005-summer-of-film/
I know, I know. I’m cheating. This is not a movie and it has no place among movie reviews, much less among the revered 100 for the summer of film. But consider this- I spent 13 hours watching what is better than 99% of all films and I believe two things because of that. One, I deserve credit for the time I spent. Two, for those of you hiding under a rock- yes, you under the rock there- who have never been recommended The Sopranos yet; this is for you. A recommendation. Continue reading →