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Tabbycat's Replies
And not in the shoulder.
Identity (2003)
The FBI didn’t “believe” any such thing. The two agents were under a supervisor in bed with B&W as a previous private security hire, which Bergman confronted his FBI contact over. The investigation was a farce.
Did you miss Hannah?
Helena was her sister.
As Bergman says, the free press is free for anyone who owns one.
Jeff Bezos’ current personal newspaper is The Washington Post.
= success.
At the time, there was this thing called home video.
No, they didn’t.
Watch it again and pay attention this time.
Tremendous.
This movie has three of the greatest shouting confrontations ever put on film, and this is one.
Just watched again yesterday after 21 years — same impact if not more.
Huh?
It was very released much here. I first heard of it from giant double-truck (two full pages) ads in the L.A. Times. Couldn’t see it cuz it was R and I was 11.
However, you are right that it was never released on home video. There are so many major films from the 70’s that you STILL can’t see in any quality that I may write a book: Two Hundred Films From the 70’s You Can’t See. This title would appear in Chapter One.
I will not get over it.
Not today, nor ever.
Exactly.
Pryor’s best performance. He played a real character, not himself.
Oscar caliber.
I’m sorry ... what did you say, Mr. Standard?
Not true at all.
Dawson carried out the order because he believed it was the right thing to do. As for avoiding prosecution, “I’ll accept whatever punishment they see fit” was his answer.
I did,
But only this last time watching.
Not bad.
Gets the matching socks line to pay off and brings around the dating line again.
Seriously, there should have been one. Jo pretends not to ask him on a date but Kaffee pushes back: “I’ve been asked out on dates. Sounded a lot like that.” Her arc goes from resenting his inexperienced cocky ass being picked over herself to recognizing his passion for the case, to realizing he is the right man for the job, to ... the rest. In real life, they’re in the sack.
Real world, there’s no murder here. That’s just movie BS to heighten the stakes. There’s no intent whatsoever to kill him, and no malice .... *unless* you believe the fence-line shooting incident created a conspiracy to silence Pvt. Santiago by death. Unless the accused are lying, that didn’t happen. And it’s clear they’re not lying. No conspiracy to commit murder either.
It’s manslaughter, and there’s no twenty-years for that, even in the military.
A few years, tops.
In some US cities, probation.
Everyone remembers the final courtroom shouting match but that’s not even his best scene.
There are two that are better:
Private talk with Markinson. “Don’t ever question my orders in front of another officer again.”
Chilling.
Lunch at Guantanamo Bay ducking Jo’s persistence. Laid back in his chair with that evil grin, between sworn conspirators, taunting her with sexual harassment punctuated with fat cigar draws — then demanding Kallee “stand there in that faggoty white uniform and ask me nicely.” Great passive-aggressive subtext covered with fake deference. He acts with his face, voice, and whole body.
Entire fine cast at its best, right down to the day players. Cruise is really good, especially the way he puts his whole body into softball while playing hardball with the prosecutor trying to make a deal. Even Demi Moore almost pulls it off — just a few notches short. But Jack was best of a very good lot here. Another well-deserved nomination added to his tall stack.
Solves a long-standing dilemma for on-screen revenge.
Because you want to maintain suspense by keeping how — or even if the bad guy gets his — a surprise, he only knows he’s going to die for a split second. That’s the time between when our hero is revealed to have him ready to kill and the villain knows. That’s too short to be satisfying, so filmmakers try to lengthen it various ways, none very realistic. Usually involves the hero pointing a gun on the villain in some remote warehouse, regaling how he trapped him and how stupid he was to fall for it, etc. Standard stuff with no real tension, plus we know the villain expects to somehow talk him out of it or escape.
No, what the audience wants is to see the villain securely locked in while seconds count down, facing certain violent death. An execution, set for a few seconds from now with no chance of a reprieve. A little pomp and ceremony for the audience to enjoy of the trapped animal’s last moves and cries of desperation followed by BOOM.
Not realistic at all, but cinematically perfect.
After nearly two hours of this psycho creep, the audience needs it.
Cutting edge sex in mainstream thriller ... check.
Bad 80’s music ... check. Awful.
Clarence Williams III as hilariously crazy (and scary) mo-fo ... check.
My favorite performance.
John Glover as one of the nastiest yet believable on-screen bad guys ever ... check.
I thought David Berkowitz was believable despite, as you say, hamming it up.
There are guys just like that, and what helped immensely there was ...
Great costume design — especially for Leo.
And Vanity. Great lingerie for one of the most beautiful and alluring women of the time.
RIP dark angel.