An Exception

Though I am not a fan of Rap songs this one is an exception...

[Eric Turner]
Oh written in the stars
A million miles away
A message to the main
Ooooh
Seasons come and go
But I will never change
And I’m on my way

[Tinie Tempah - Verse 1]
Lets go…
Yeah
You’re listening now
They say they aint heard nothing like this in a while
Thats why they play my song on so many different dials
Cause I got more hits than a disciplined child
When they see me everybody brrrrrap’s, brrrrrraps
Man I’m like a young gun fully black Barrack
I cried tear drops over the massive attack
I only make hits like I work with a racket and bat
Look at my jacket and hat
So damn berserk
So down to earth
I’m bringing gravity back
Adopted by the major I want my family back
People work hard just to get all their salary taxed
Look Im just a writer from the ghetto like Malory blackman
Where the hells all the sanity at, damn
I used to be the kid that no one cared about
Thats why you have to keep screaming til they hear you out

[Chorus]
Oh Written In The Stars
A Million Miles Away

Crimson Rivers 2

Legendary criminologist Commissaire Pierre Niemans is back, this time he is investigating a murder in a secluded monastery in Lorraine. His forensic squad uncovers a corpse entombed inside the wall of room number 13. The murder could be a ritualistic human sacrifice, as the crucified body suggests. As Niemans begins his investigation the trail leads to more murders. The victims are named after Jesus’ disciples and their prompt deaths paralleling the deaths of the apostles.

Meanwhile, police captain Reda, after a tiring confrontation with a local drug dealer run into a mysterious and bewildered man who has a remarkable likeness of Jesus Christ! When an assassin clad in monk’s habit tried to kill the “Jesus Doe” in the hospital Reda is hot on the trail of something he cannot fathom.

Sooner Reda meets his former teacher, Niemans, who is the one always get the call whenever a strange case needs attention. Niemans and Reda team up, just like the Niemans-Kerkerian team in Crimson Rivers, and start investigating the mysterious murders together.

An expert in religion and revelation related topics, detective Marie is also assigned to the case and the investigative trio plunge into the mystery. Soon they enter the world of arcane theology, religious symbols, signs of the apocalypse and obvious danger. Crimson Rivers 2 is not written by Jean-Christophe Grangé, the author of Les Rivières pourpres ( Crimson Rivers), but renowned French film maker Luc Besson. His passion for action is evident throughout the film. As the maker of Léon the Professional and Taxi series riddle the movie with gravity defying super monks, machine gun turrets, and continuous action scenes. Commissar Niemans is morethan a brainy criminologist now he is a gun trotting super cop too. Add spice to the format with an ancient relic, dark atmosphere of impending doom, bleak prophecies, blood splattering murders and mutilated corpses…. voilà! You have the new Crimson Rivers movie.

Rivières pourpres II - Les anges de l'apocalypse, Les (2004)
Also known as Crimson Rivers 2 : Angels of the Apocalypse,
Fiumi di porpora II - Gli angeli dell'apocalisse, I (Italy)
Director : Olivier Dahan
Cast : Jean Reno, Benoît Magimel, Camille Natta, Christopher Lee
Augustin Legrand, Serge Riaboukine, André Penvern, Johnny Hallyday
Year : 2004
Country: France / Italy / UK
Language: French / German / Italian
Color: Color
Runtime: 100 min

28 Days Later

28 Days Later
Just watched a post-apocalypse movie called '28 Days Later...’ and enjoyed it. It's a disturbing movie, the world is ravaged, don’t guess! it is not by nuclear fallout but by a lethal virus released from a British research facility by a group of animals' rights activists. The virus is so lethal that those who affected change into a permanent state of homicidal rage. Yes, the same old zombies lurking for victims. Within 28 days the virus is spreading across the seas. England, Paris and New York all fell into the rampage of the virus, turning its denizens to zombies. When a patient named Jim wakes up from a coma in a London hospital he find the hospital and London deserted! Seems like the whole world abandoned him into an empty world! When he finds some people, it was not a pleasant experience. The murderous zombies are on to him; thankfully he was saved by the unaffected. According to a radio broadcast, which promised the answer to the virus plague, their only chance of survival is to go to a military encampment in Manchester.
But there waits the real horror...
The movie is dark and vivid, with a pale glimpse on human psyche and a trial of spirit in the survival game. 28 Days Later is an amalgamation of Lord of the Flies, On The Beach (1959), The Omega Man (1971) but it is neither another Resident Evil nor Living Dead clone. It is supposed to be a study of human character in extreme situations.
Considering it as a British film competing to the special effects galore of Hollywood, the film is the tour de force of British film maker Danny Boyle (Trainspotting). Yes, I mean it; remember from the surreal aerial scene of the meadow with words HELL like a vision and how it turns out. Give credit to Danny Boyle, he deserve it.
Novelist writer Alex Garland’s (The Beach) story is guaranteed to haunt you for days. The zombies are more “authentic” in this film (think of the priest zombie in the Church and the chained zombie soldier in the camp). However, the film is not a mere zombie shocker, it’s more than that it’s the study in human character in extreme situations and I had this feeling that the film is also inspired from William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Cillian Murphy and Naomi Harris are excellent as Jim and Selena, the characters Leonardo DiCaprio and Tilda Swinton both turned down and Robert Carlyle was offered the role of Major Henry West which was played by Christopher Eccleston. Brendan Gleeson and Megan Burns are giving exceptional performance as father and daughter survivors, Frank and Hannah.
Overall, the movie is excellent, one of the best post apocalyptic movies I have seen. Unlike Resident Evil series, the movie is devoid of any superhuman hero stuff or computer game style. The people are more realistic and the zombies scarier, 28 Days Later is an exhilarating ride into terror.
28 Days Later…
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomi Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, Christopher Eccleston
Genere: Sci-fi/Horror/Drama
Year 2002
Language English
Country UK
Colour: Technicolor
Running Time: 113 minutes
Cyril's Rating: Good

Crimson Rivers

Crimson Rivers
This is one of my favourite film of all times.
Commissaire Pierre Niémans, a legendary police detective and criminology teacher from Paris is sent to Guernon to investigate a sadistic murder. The badly mutilated body found in a mountain high in the French Alps could be the work of serial killer. The autopsy reveals that the victim was alive during the torture and each cut was placed with great care to augment the pain. As Niémans begins his investigation 150 kilometers away in Sarzac, Lieutenant Max Kerkerian investigates the desecration of a tomb belonging to a young girl killed in an accident and a theft in a local school. The seemingly unrelated cases eventually converge and the investigators forced to work together to unravel the maze of mystery.
As the legendary criminologist and the former car thief (in Jean-Christophe Grangé's novel, Les Rivières pourpres, the police man is former car thief Karim Abdouf, who was transferred from Paris to the provincial Sarzac, get it?) huddled together, there are some uneasiness in their relationship. Niémans is a loner and Kerkerian is hot blooded yet the clues made them forget their differences and they relies heavily on each other to find the missing pieces of this great big puzzle. Everyone is a suspect even the exclusive University of Guernon which hopes to create superior human beings through eugenics.
Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, Crimson Rivers is a classic whodunit and a pleasant return to police thrillers. Shut up, it's not Bullitt and Jean Reno is not Steve McQueen.
I would say it reminds me a lot of Derrick, my favourite German detective series and Jean Reno's character is similar to that of Horst Tappert's Chief Inspector and you might think the character is a bit similar to Brother William of Baskerville, the investigator monk of Umberto Eco's brilliant novel Name of the Rose.
I have heard a lot of comments that Crimson Rivers is a Se7en clone but that is so unlike, as both are outstanding criminological thrillers in its own kind. As I was saying, Jean-Christophe Grangé's book was safe in Kassovitz's hands as he adapted it to the silver screen with great care and precision.
Jean Reno is born to play Commissaire Niémans, those who remember him in Léon, the Professional; his superb performance as the cynophobic criminologist Niémans is no surprise. Vincent Cassel and Nadia Fares are terrific in their respective roles too.
There are some grisly visceral scenes in the movie like mutilated corpses and autopsy dissection but don't worry you won't puke as these scenes are necessary parts of the story. What more, when you think of Crimson Rivers, you will be thinking of the beautiful Guernon and Sarzac countryside and the spectacular French Alps. The scenic beauty of the Southern France is mesmerizing.
Unlike most reviewers, I like the ending too, where Niémans telling Kerkerian about the reason of his dog phobia as the camera panning away. After watching the movie more than 50 times, I wish to see it again and I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone, irrespective of their tastes, this one movie has something to offer to everyone. Okay, now you know - I am biased about the movie Crimson Rivers, I won't find any fault in this particular movie.
Vincent Cassel broke his nose while filming the fight scene at the neo-nazi club and the ophthalmologist
Dr. Bernard Chernezé in the movie is none other than Vincent Cassel's father Jean-Pierre Cassel.
See Also Blood Red Rivers, Crimson Rivers 2

The Crimson Rivers (US title)
Les Rivières pourpres (French title)
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Cast: Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel, Nadia Farès, Jean-Pierre Cassel
Year: 2000
Genere: Mystery/Thriller
Runtime: 106 min
Country: France
Language: French (Dubbed to English)
Cyril's Rating: Excellent

Shaolin Soccer

Yuppy yup, Shaolin soccer surprised me not because of its slapstick advantages but of its creativity.Stephen Chow is amazing, it's a comedy making the Kung fu movies as its target. A surprisingly funny movie with comdey, action and romance.

A Piece of the Action

Manny Durrell (Sidney Poitier) and Dave Anderson (Bill Cosby) are two old hand thieves with many feats of burglaries on their sleeves. They are so confident that they haven’t been caught by the police until a retiring cop Joshua Burke (James Earl Jones) show them enough evidence to send them to the pen for a long time if they don’t obey him. The cop’s bargain for his silence is simple, the crooks should change their lives and work at a youth center for delinquents and irritated kids from poor neighborhoods. They prefer an appointment with the dentist than accepting this assignment. Yup! They don’t have any choice and reluctantly take the job. The indisposed teachers and negligent students…both parties are contemptuous to each other but as time goes by the cocoon turns to a butterfly.
A Piece of the Action is one of the movies that makes you feel energized and optimistic about the world and makes you forget its share of failings and injustices. The movie delves in to the virtues in human character and compassion. Like Porfiry Petrovich, the policeman of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Detective Joshua Burk emphasis the goodness in all human beings rather than punishing it ruthlessly. The crooked duo also realizes the underlying goodness in the bratty children and vice versa. A nice film to recommend.

A Piece of the Action
Director: Sidney Poitier
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, James Earl Jones
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Year: 1977
Language: English
Country: USA
Colour: Metrocolor
Running Time: 135 min
Cyril's Rating: Good

Se7en

Se7en is an interesting and ingenious movie. It’s the story of missionary type serial killer, who forces each of his victims to die by acting out one of the seven deadly sins. The Catholic Church’s seven deadly sins are Gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, pride, and lust.

When retiring homicide detective Somerset investigates a unique murder of an obese man brutally murdered in his home, ( Script writer Andrew Kevin Walker plays as the corpse) the seasoned investigator in him tells that it is only the beginning. It proved true when mysterious John Doe start killing his victims in a strange religious fashion with extreme cruelty.

Detective Somerset is almost burned out by seeing the senseless violence around him and retiring voluntarily from his profession. He instantly knew that the new murder investigation is going to be a problem to his retirement plans. Still he reluctantly involved in the investigation primarily because of his superior’s insistence, who thinks the replacing detective Mills is too young to handle a case like this. Another reason could be Somerset may also fascinate with the enigmatic killer’s unconventional methods.

Mills, the young detective is energetic and enthusiastic contrary to the calm and wise approach of Somerset. They don’t appreciate each other in the beginning but after the initial animosity they became rather close friends thanks to Mills wife Tracy.

As the methodical murders continue, Mills learns a lot from the seasoned detective Somerset. Together they try to confront the murderer and understand his motivation. Yet something is still elusive, until one day the mysterious murderer surrender himself to the investigating duo with a peculiar demand. Mills and Somerset are about to get involved in something they are not prepared or imagined even in their wildest dreams!

In many qualities this film surpasses the acclaimed hits like Silence of the Lambs and many of the so called serial killer movies. Andrew Kevin Walker’s screenplay is the backbone of this bleak thriller. His script alone made this film a modern classic and a study in deviant psychology.

David Fincher made Se7en with remarkable panache while vividly provoking undulating emotions from poignant scenes. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are giving their best performance as Somerset and Mills. You will see a different Brad Pitt in Se7en, not the usual chocolate hero. Kevin Spacey is brilliantly cast as the diabolically mysterious John Doe. His portrayal of the elusive and exceptional serial killer win a lot of accolade to him and many consider the role is his tour de force. Gwyneth Paltrow provides serenity to the scenes as the supportive wife to Brad Pitt’s character Mills. A nihilistic film-noir for the filmophiles and a must for mystery buffs.
SE7EN
Also known as : Seven, The Seven Deadly Sins
Year 1995
Director : David Fincher
Script : Andrew Kevin Walker
Cast: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey
Genre : Crime, Mystery, Drama, Film-Noir, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Language: English
Colour: Colour - DeLuxe
Runtime: 127 min
Cyril's Rating: Excellent