Tigerland (2000)

Genre


Director


Country


Cast

Colin Farrell, Matthew Davis, Clifton Collins Jr., Shea Whigham, Cole Hauser, Tom Guiry, Neil Brown, Tory Kittles, Nick Searcy, Afemo Omilami, Matt Gerald, Michael Shannon

Plot

In 1971, Roland Bozz (Colin Farrell) is a draftee who has been sent to the Advanced Infantry Training Facility in Fort Polk, LA, where with hundreds of other new soldiers he's to be taught a final course in combat skills before being shipped out to Vietnam. 

Opinion

Tigerland is not exactly a war film, it is more like the first half of Full Metal Jacket, but more dramatic and intense than any other anti-war film. The hand-held camera, the grainy film stock and the mostly natural lighting give the look and feel of a documentary.
Using a minuscule budget, director Joel Schumacher managed to make a great film, which is, in my opinion, one of the best Vietnam films along with Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket.
The acting is good; unknown at the time, Colin Farrell is terrific as Bozz, the rebellious and anti-war soldier. 

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Quotes

Staff Sgt. Thomas: Any questions?
Bozz: I got a question, Sergeant. If I'm dead, how come I can ask you a question?

Bozz: Courage is when you're the only guy who knows how shit-scared you really are.

Rating

8.5/10
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Memento (2000)

Genre

Neo-noir | Thriller

Director

Christopher Nolan

Country

United States

Cast

Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Sansom Harris, Callum Keith Rennie, Larry Holden, Jorja Fox, Thomas Lennon

Plot

Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) is a man who is struggling to put his life back together after the brutal rape and murder of his wife. But Leonard's problems are different from those of most people in his situation; he was beaten severely by the same man who killed his wife and his short-term memory has been destroyed.
Incapable of retaining any new information, Leonard resort to copious note-taking and Polaroid photographs in order to keep track of what happens to him over the course of a day (he's even tattooed himself with a few crucial bits of information he can't get along without): he wants to find and kill the man who raped and murdered his wife.

Opinion

The complicated, twisted and involving plot makes of Memento a really interesting film. Director Christopher Nolan did a great job, although the ending was kinda rushed. 
The film editing is a mix of genius and spectacularity: the reverse chronological order makes us, viewers, feel lost as Leonard, since  we have no idea of what happened before. The main topic - the need of having a purpose in life - is common to almost all men, and, as seen on the film, often happiness is not in achieving it but in the steps you take to achieve the purpose.
Guy Pearce gives a brilliant and incredible performance, indelible as much as the tattoo ink covering his body.

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Quotes

Leonard Shelby: I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still there. Do I believe the world's still there? Is it still out there?... Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different.

Leonard Shelby: Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.

Leonard Shelby: We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different.

Leonard Shelby: We all lie to ourselves to be happy.

Rating

9.5/10
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Brother (2000)


Cast

Takeshi Kitano, Omar Epps, Tetsuya Watari, Claude Maki, Masaya Kato, Susumu Terajima, Royale Watkins, Lombardo Boyar, Ren Osugi, Ryo Ishibashi, James Shigeta, Tatyana Ali, Makoto Otake, Kouen Okumura, Naomasa Musaka, Rino Katase, Joy Nakagawa, Amaury Nolasco, Tuesday Knight

Plot

Yamamoto (Takeshi Kitano), also referred to as Aniki (meaning elder brother) is a lone yakuza officer.
Defeated in a war with a rival family, his boss killed and betrayed by his loyal "brother" (Ren Ôsugi), he heads to Los Angeles, California.
As time passes, Yamamoto and his new gang emerge as a powerful force, gradually expanding their turf to an extent that they must confront the Mafia. The Mafia's attacks are ruthless, and soon Yamamoto and his gang are driven into a disastrous situation of no return.

Opinion

Kitano wants to show how Yakuza's blood pacts are, in a way, stronger and deeper than bonds between real brothers. Each member of the family is willing to take his own life for the boss. The members of Yakuza do not think twice before cutting one of their fingers just to show their loyalty. The director also shows crudely the huge number of violence committed in the film. 
Brother is, in my opinion, a must-watch. Kitano has done a good job from all points of view. Outstanding is his acting: a motionless, sad, impenetrable and ironic face dressed in black who barely speaks.
Joe Hisaishi's music is sublime. The photography is astonishing.


Quotes

Denny: I love you Aniki! Wherever you at, man!

Rating

8.5/10
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American Psycho (2000)

Genre

Director

Country

Cast
Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, Jared Leto, Bill Sage, Josh Lucas, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis, Matt Ross, Cara Seymour, Guinevere Turner, Stephen Bogaert, Monika Meier, Reg E. Cathey

Plot
Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a wealthy investment banker living in Manhattan in the late 1980s.
In his private life, Patrick is a meticulous person who devotes much time to daily exercises and beautification.
By day, his life is based on business lunches, cool clubs and meetings with friends. At night, along with drug use, his frustrations explode, bringing out the envy towards colleagues, the affective dryness towards women and his insanity, turning him into a serial killer, killing whoever bothers him and keeping parts or entire bodies hidden in his apartment.

Opinion
Handsome and sick are the proper words for Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman. This film describes in detail emotional and cognitive processes of a psychopath, with a good attempt at psychological introspection of the character, highlighting the characteristics of this disease: envy, omnipotence and affective dryness. I disagree with those who think American Psycho is vulgar and almost pornographic (Ed. moralists). Christian Bale's acting skills are sublime.


Quotes
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust.

Rating
8.0/10
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