Movie A Day Review: The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Release Date: October 24th, 1962
United Artists
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh
Where: DVR (HBO)

Note: Not one of my better reviews but to be honest I am going to be out for a while and I wanted to make sure I got this up at least before tomorrow evening, I might polish it up a bit.

In 2004 a remake of a 1962 political thriller came out called The Manchurian Candidate starring Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep.  I liked the movie, probably more than I really should have at the time.  I’ll be the first to admit it’s sort of a guilty pleasure movie and I always make a point to catch it when it happens to be on TV or if I’m bored I’ll pop in the DVD.  For the longest time I had no idea that it was a remake, or I guess new adaptation of a famous book but whatever, silly me? (For the record this is definitely not something I am proud of.)  A few years ago I found out that the original version starred an all star cast and was directed by none other than one of my all time favorite action directors, John Frakenheimer.  Being a huge fan of movies like Grand Prix and Ronin I had to check it out and see if it’s really as good as everyone says it is.  Unfortunately the timing was never right and it took me until yesterday to see this supposed political thriller masterpiece.  How right you all were.

Movie A Day Review: P2

I love movies. Any of you who know me personally know that I love movies with every fiber of my being. Chances are if you have ever met me I talked to you about movies. I own a mini blockbuster in my room and have seen so many movies in 2010 that some of my favorites aren't even going to make my top 25. I am an insane individual with a sickness, an addiction to movies.

For a while now I have been regularly watching at least one movie per day. This can come from Netflix, Netflix Instant Watch, Hulu, my own collection, going to the theater, catching something on TV, or watching the backlog of things I have recorded on my DVR. Regardless of the medium, I make a concerted effort to watch at least one movie per day. I've done it so long that in fact I no longer need to think about it.

I figured it's time to share with the world my views. If you don't like the idea don't read the blog. I have no illusions of grandeur, no real goals to extend any farther than what than the core concept and realize I am mostly writing for myself. The goal is simply to give a brief review on at least one movie per day. Since I watch at least one, this should not be a problem. You may even get lucky and I might write two reviews.

By day I am a technical support consultant at a travel software company. By night I am an aspiring film writer/director. I am working on some projects which I may or may not discuss here. At first the thoughts will be random and the writing may not be what you would call "good" and I can only hope as time goes by I get better and stick with it. In the meantime I present my first Movie A Day Review.

Seriously could I have picked a dumber movie to start with?



P2
Release Date: November 9th, 2007
Summit Entertainment
Directed by Franck Khalfoun
Starring: Rachel Nichols, Wes Bentley
Where: Netflix Instant Watch

You might be asking yourself "why the fuck would he pick this movie to start with?".  That's a great question and one I'm not sure exactly how to answer except that it's Halloween and I happened to be looking for a slightly creepy or scary movie to watch that I hadn't seen yet.  I've had P2 on my Netflix Instant Watch queue for some time now so I decided this would at least be serviceable and possibly even entertaining considering the talent involved here. What possibly intrigued me the most about the movie was the re-teaming of the crew that brought us The Hills Have Eyes and High Tension.  I have huge soft spot for both movies and honestly can’t wait to see the new Piranha movie with or without 3D.  P2 was written by Alexandre Aja , Greg Levasseur, and Franck Khalfoun with Khalfoun making his debut in the director’s chair.

My decision was further helped because it was due to be removed from the Instant Watch Queue on November 1st.  At the very least I wanted some cool, ultra-violent kills in a setting which is largely unknown to the horror/thriller spectrum, the parking garage.