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North Country (2005) --> If you like movies on the general subject of woman's rights and particularly on sexual harassment in the workplace, then North Country might be a movie you would enjoy. Starring Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson, North Country is based on the true story of Jose Aimes,. Aimes is a single mother of two who gains employment in a mine worked at by her father when she returns to her parents to live. She brings her employer to court on charges of allowing the female miners to be harassed while on the job. The film, directed by Niki Caro, has its moments (especially at the finish) but takes on a subject already well documented in film.


Full Spectrum Staff

Unbreakable (2000) --> Before M. Night Shyamalan ran out of steam at the time Lady in the Water was released (it had mixed reviews) there was a time when his new movies were waited for anticipatorily. Altough Unbreakable is not his best, it does have his sense of the mysterious and supernatural that attracted many movie goers. Lady in the Water has this theme also but it now seems passe. If Shyamalan is to stay relevant he must re-invent himself.

Bruce Willis stars in Unbreakable as David Dunn, a man who discovers he has superhuman gifts and can't be killed except by drowning. Samuel L. Jackson plays a man who has bones so fragile, he spends most of his life in and out of hospitals. These polar opposites eventually meet and become arch enemies not unlike the storyline of your favourite superhero comic. In fact, the whole movie is an homage to the art form and the film is very enjoyable on that level. With all of the straight to film transfers of all the most famous superhero comics, it nice to see an original story from a mind that is less simplistic.


Scott D. Brown

Irréversible (2002) --> Watching films such as Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange or Jonathan Kaplan's The Accused does not prepare you for what Gaspar Noé envisions on the subject of film rape scenes. In Irréversible rape is brutal, grotesque and very difficult to watch. Monica Bellucci is convincing enough to turn your stomach. In order to see a film as hard to get through you would have to find a copy of Wes Craven's Last House on the Left.

Noé reverses the order of the film beginning with two men in a sleazy gay bar killing what they believe to be the rapist of one of the men's girlfriend. Later you witness the act itself which caused the chain of events to occur in the first place. Using hand held cameras for some scenes as a way to increase the nauseating effects the violence and depravity portrayed on screen, Noé shows he doesn't want his audience ever to feel truly comfortable watching his film. This film is not recommended for the constitutionally weak.


Scott D. Brown

Cool Hand Luke (1967) --> Based on the novel by Donn Pearce and directed by Stuart Rosenberg Cool Hand Luke stars Paul Newman in his greatest role. The non-conformist bad ass "Cool Hand" Luke out shines Eddie Felson or Butch Cassidy (other famous roles by Newman) as the most memorable. What also makes this film great, other than Newman's acting, is that it questions the limits, or lack there of, of authority. If a person is a hard case with a strong will, does he deserve whatever is given to him when he flouts authority?

Rosenberg presents a scenario where a man who cuts the heads off of a town's parking meters eventually receives a death sentence. Some will say the theme of this movie is a man's unrelenting fight against adversity; his struggle to assert his individuality, but it is actually a film about where authority should draw the line when dealing with a strong willed individual. Rosenberg leaves his audience to ponder where that line should be drawn as with the death of Luke we don't see the proverbial stick in the sand. A must see for both Newman's performance and George Kennedy's (who won the best supporting Oscar as inmate “Dragline”), Cool Hand Luke is one of the best films of the 60s.


Full Spectrum Staff

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