Tag Archives: Jessica Biel

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A quick review of “Total Recall” (2012)

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I am blogging some of my past movie reviews from Facebook; this was my take on the “Total Recall” remake.

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“Total Recall” (2012) was a fun, slick update of the 1990 classic; I’d give it an 8 out of 10. It can’t match the magic of the original (especially with the abandonment of one particular twist near the end), but it was still fun enough. Plus, any fast-paced, CGI-heavy, sci-fi action movie with both Jessica Biel and Kate Beckinsale really is just pure nerd fun.

Beckinsale grows on me. She’s a great actress, especially in roles that require her to be powerful or angry, and she does physical stunt-work superbly. She deserves to carry her own franchise, and I mean something better and more mainstream than the “Underworld” films.

Anyway … I’m pretty sure I have a good answer to this movie’s central mystery (as well as that of its predecessor). This is the question of whether or not everything Quaid witnesses is real. (Is he a secret agent, or is this all a fantasy generated by “Rekall?”)

It is real, and here’s why. In both movies, the viewer witnesses events that are outside of Quaid’s experience. For example, we see the police plotting to capture him and interviewing witnesses. Quaid is nowhere near these events when they occur, and does not see or hear them; therefore they cannot be part of his virtual reality fantasy. Yet you and I see them up on the screen. So they are real, within the story, and not imagined by Quaid. To me, it all seems pretty straightforward.

All in all, this was a fun ride. I recommend it.

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A review of “The Tall Man” (2012)

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I’m again blogging old movie reviews from Facebook.  In retrospect, I maybe should have given this clever, unexpected gem a 9 out of 10.  I am also a little confused about whether there was a sequel to this movie, entitled “The Regret.”  (Or was that an overseas title for this film?)

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I really liked “The Tall Man” (2012) though I can tell right away that many other viewers will not. And it’s hard to explain why, because this is a “twist movie” that’s difficult to discuss without spoilers. The film that you sit down to watch absolutely is not the same film that you wind up seeing.

The movie opens with Jessica Biel as an idealistic doctor in a gorgeous but very poor Washington State small town. The town’s children sporadically disappear, according to a creepy and wonderfully effective montage, and townsfolk blame the supernatural “Tall Man.” For a while, it’s a first-rate thriller. I jumped a few times.

Then there’s a twist.

Then, in the movie’s final 10 minutes, there’s another twist that affects the first. And there’s a hell of a lot of moral ambiguity. (Or maybe not – I, for one, disagreed with and would have hated the prevailing character.)

I thought the whole thing was smart, creative and frightening. Jessica Biel did a great job. The sweeping pans of the forest are fantastic – was it partly CGI? Did they use a helicopter?

It actually isn’t a perfect mystery. There are a few implausibilities. One character is far too well adjusted for his or her circumstances, one character conceals something for no reason, and the young mute girl’s decision makes no sense, if you consider what she does and does not know.

Still – good movie. I’d give it an 8 out of 10.

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