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A History of Violence (2005)
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All reviews for A History of Violence
A Masterpiece of Cinema
by
edwa8698
in
edwa8698 Blog
loved it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
[What do you think?]
"I was utterly blown away by this film. The scope is small and the story may at first seem simple but there is so much more to the film. I thought Cronenberg's direction was beautiful and all of the performances where exceptional especially Mortensen's. This film asks the question can we truly leave our pasts behind or are there some things that we as individuals will never be free from and I think that it is looked at in a very compelling and disturbing way. David Cronenberg is one of my favorite film makers and I think A History of Violence has been his best film so far!! "
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10 Movies Remembered Primarily ...
by
SpoutBlog
in
SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
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"Due to the unsurprising popularity of our “10 Movies Sold on a Sex Scene” list a few weeks back, I’ve decided to unleash a sequel. However, catering to both Spoutblog’s traffic and the interests of ever-abundant sex-attracted internetters is only half my reason for this follow-up list. I was mainly motivated by the outcome of the release of Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a film that also initially inspired the first list. While Vicky was partly sold on the promise of a threesome between Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, it is now fortunately being celebrated, and it will likely be remembered, primarily for Cruz’s performance. Not for the threesome or for the lesbian kiss. Other movies sold on a sex scene, though, are not typically so blessed with accolades. And even some that are recognized with high praise at time of release are often later forgotten as anything but fodder for MrSkin and other followers of onscreen sex and nudity. Obviously this means t ... "
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'Mummy' Issues
by
usesoap
in
usesoap Blog
lost interest.
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"During a climactic battle scene in “The Mummy: Curse of the Tomb of the Something or Other,” Brender Fraser's charactrer, What's His Name, bellows: “I really hate mummies.”(At least, I'm pretty sure he said, “mummies,” as there was nothing prior to this that would suggest he said “mommies,” as there was no strained parental issues of his discussed in this film.) Regardless, I could not agree agree more, Brenden. “The Mummy” is not so much a film as it is a marathon for the senses, testing the threshold your eyes and ears can endure. When it's not busy reminding you of earlier, far better films, it's pounding your peepers and pummeling your drums into submission. It's difficult to look past its flaws, for the mere conception of this film is one – a story as lifeless and dry as an empty sarcophagus, this third “Mummy” can't even muster enough credibility to pass its non-computer-generated cast as be ... "
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Hancock twist is a lemon. WARNI ...
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SpoutBlog
in
SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
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"I get suspicious when a movie becomes famous for its twist. Sure there’s the kind of twist that makes you want to watch the whole thing over again right away (like in The Sixth Sense, Memento, and A History of Violence). But when the best running gag in a movie is the character doesn’t like to be called an “asshole,” you can’t rely on a twist to give the film more juice. Hancock hits a point where you can practically feel the filmmaker say, “Oh shit, this is going nowhere, so we better surprise them.” And then the twist comes with the subtlety of saying “Oh by the way, I forgot to mention…” M. Night Shyamalan has become the master of the BTW twist. “Oh by the way, Samuel L. Jackson’s a bad guy,” (“They called me Mr. Glass!” Scary.) “Oh by the way, this Village is in modern times.” And now Peter Berg pulls a Shyamalan: “Oh by the way, Will Smith and Charlize Theron have been married for 3,000 years.” (Any reason for 3,000? It’s longer than shit, but just shy of eternity?) So, the tw ... "
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A History of Violence
by
tjl30
in
tjl30 Blog
is neutral about it.
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"I liked the movie, it was not what I expected but over all it was good. The sex scene on the stairs was kind of odd though, I am not completely sure how that fit into the rest of the story. The movie is about a man who had a past life that no one knew about, and the story kind of picks up when he is on the news for stopping two armed robbers. Soon a few close to him discover some shocking things about this seemingly timid man. I thought although again it was not what I expected, it had a pretty good ending. "
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Dennis Kucinich & Viggo Mortens ...
by
Karina
in
Karina on SpoutBlog
loved it.
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"“Should Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck be determining the president of the United States? No, because if they do, then your policies are sure to be goofy.” That’s what passes as homerun humor coming from Dennis Kucinich. In this Debate Porridge clip from New Hampshire, the Democratic presidential candidate accuses ABC and parent company Disney of usurping the function of the election’s first primary by making the decision months in advance to exclude him from last weekend’s debates. He’s joined in the clip by recent Cronenberg muse Viggo Mortensen, who has been tirelessly campaigning for Kucinich in New Hampshi "
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Dennis Kucinich & Viggo Mortens ...
by
SpoutBlog
in
SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
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"“Should Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck be determining the president of the United States? No, because if they do, then your policies are sure to be goofy.” That’s what passes as homerun humor coming from Dennis Kucinich. In this Debate Porridge clip from New Hampshire, the Democratic presidential candidate accuses ABC and parent company Disney of usurping the function of the election’s first primary by making the decision months in advance to exclude him from last weekend’s debates. He’s joined in the clip by recent Cronenberg muse Viggo Mortensen, who has been tirelessly campaigning for Kucinich in New Hampshi "
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Cronenberg Crash Course. Clip o ...
by
SpoutBlog
in
SpoutBlog on spout.com
hasn't rated it.
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"“No filmmaker has more daringly and relentlessly explored what it means to be human than David Cronenberg,” writes Jim Emerson at Scanners. He’s put together a 12 minute highlight reel to prove that point. Written in the Flesh: A Crash Course in David Cronenberg incorporates images from nine Cronenberg classics, including Videodrome, The Fly and A History of Violence.?? It doesn’t seem to be embeddable, but you can watch it here. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog "
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Cronenberg Gets Kinda Dramatic
by
JakeStevens
in
JakeStevens Blog
liked it.
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"For the most part, I enjoyed this film. At times, the characters are a bit "cut-and-paste" (Ashton Holmes & William Hurt, for example), but the newscasters scrambling to get an interview with their "local hero" almost ruined the film for me. It's played as a bad stereotype - the media as unscrupulous, amoral vultures, which can be true, but it didn't play well for this film. Apart from those gripes, David Cronenberg is a master director (anyone else notice the "doorways" motif?) with a good sense of pacing, some great cinematography (see the continuous opening shot), and really nasty, gory effects (Cronenberg directed Scanners and the 1986 remake of The Fly). I absolutely loved the last two minutes of the film - perfect ending to a movie with a lot of subliminal text (violence in school, violence in sex, etc). Watch it twice! "
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An unusual crime flick
by
filmafic06
in
filmafic06 Blog
loved it.
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"There are plenty of movies about organized crime. Few could examine its impact on a single family with the depth like "History of Violence" does. Indeed, its focus on a small-town family which suddenly finds itself with "a history of violence" that makes this film a powerful psychological drama, rather than a heavily political or gorey action flick. (Warning: even with violence having considerably less screen time than your average B horror movie, the violence is quite intense.) Riveting direction, a compelling and refreshingly uncliched story, and superb acting make "A History of Violence" a deeply disturbing "thinker" drama coupled with jarring violence a la "A Clockwork Orange." However, I personally found this movie easier to stomach than "A Clockwork Orange." That is, while "Clockwork" was a one-time view for me, I would watch "A History of Violence" again. "
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