Author: Crossfire

Universal Pictures
www.publicenemies.net

I was a little apprehensive regarding the plot of Public Enemies at first, as the tale of a bank robber in the 1930’s on the run doesn’t really seem to flicker on my movie radar. However, as the movie goes into depth and looks at people being caught in extreme circumstances, J. Edgar Hoover exploiting outlaws and capturing them to elevate his need to make the Bureau of Investigation Federal and making John Dillinger American’s Number one public enemy, it actually gets much more interesting.

This is Michael Mann’s most ambitions and timely project to date. Within the fast and dangerous life of John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), we experience fast moving cars, gunfire, escaping prison as well as being a bank robber in love. Mann has been able to create a believable 1930s, taking into consideration how men and women acted as well as courted and the law of the time. Even though this is based on the true-life events, I have to say I was a little disappointed in regards to the ending. Dillinger had an adventurous life, bank robberies, in and out of prison, falling in love, yet the way he made his depart from the world just seemed inadequate and disappointing, but who am I to mess with a film depicting true life events.

Johnny Depp is definitely the life and soul of the movie and the main reason for watching it. He has admitted that has he has had an interest with John Dillinger since childhood, so he was obviously perfect for the role. We have seen this gifted actor use his charm and magnetism to create many character personalities from Edward Scissorhands and Jack Sparrow to Willie Wonka and Sweeney Todd, he has pulled off roles from either end of the spectrum and earned both critical and popular acclaim for such roles. With the persona of Dillinger, possibly Americans most well known bank robber and a criminal that was able to outsmart authorities on numerous occasions, he was able to immersing himself into the role, put his heart and soul into creating a man with a tough exterior and an inner romantic and honest side. When bringing John Dillinger to the 21st century, Depp does so with a little bit of humour; cocky and confidant comments as well as an attitude to match. If you are not a Depp admirer, then still be excited by great performances by Christian Bale as F.B.I agent Melvin Purvis, Channing Tatum as Pretty Boy Floyd, Giovanni Ribisi as Alvin Karpis and Stephen Dorff as Homer Van Meter to but a few in a long line of exceptional actors.

Whether you are looking for action, adventure or comedy, you cannot go wrong with ‘Public Enemies’ as it has a fabulous cast, setting and director. With death of a hero came the birth of a legend, Depp brings John Dillinger back from the 1930’s.

Michelle Moore

Momentum Pictures

With an all star golf cart full of hip-hop artists, ‘Who’s Your Caddy?‘ is going to be the comedy to watch out for on DVD this summer.

When rap mogul C-Note (Big Boi) gets his membership rejected from joining and exclusive Gentlemen’s golf and polo club, he uses his own methods and knowledge to get himself in. With a wise cracking entourage at his beck and call, he proves the golf course can be a place for anyone, no matter how aristocratic you are. The golf course then sets the scene for a playful and disruptive set of events. There is more to this story than its comedy though. At times there are some real moving moments about making your father proud, following in his footsteps and achieving things he was unable to.

If I were to describe ‘Who’s Your Caddy?’ in two words, “Absolutely hilarious” are the only two I can think of at the minute. Featuring OutKast’s Big Boi, Faizon Love (Idlewild), Terry Crews (Everybody Loves Chris) and Tony Cox (Bad Santa) to name but a few of the famous faces you’ll see, the cast work together incredibly well, playing off each others comments and actions to create some hysterical scenes, mostly in the case of Faizon Love. I wont give too much away about but two particular side splitting scenes include one in the bathroom and another on the golf course when a vital shot is being taken towards the end.

There is a difference in what lies in this comedy in comparison to other films labelled comedies. In other films it is easily visible that the funny lines have been carefully thought up and placed delicately in certain areas to create as many laughs as possible. With ‘Who’s Your Caddy?’ the entire movie is a laugh. It would be quite easily believable that you could be watching a reality TV programme, some strange version of Big Brother or some other American reality TV show. The comedy is that real and tied in so well with the story it rolls off the tongue.

I wasn’t sure what to except at first. Musicians taking a turn at acting can be difficult to predict and like wise, actors singing is usually a bad idea. There must be something in the air however as these Hip-Hop musicians are incredibly good actors as well as musicians. If you thought that hip-hop musicians were only good at making comical music videos, you were wrong. They are just as talented at giving one heck if a hilarious performance in the flicks as well as the music. If you thought OutKast’s ‘Roses’ or ‘Miss Jackson’ video’s were funny, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Michelle Moore

Revolver Entertainment

Following on from the huge success of horror flick Shrooms back in 2007, director Paddy Breathnach has another disturbing success about to explode onto movie screens called Red Mist.

Red Mist begins when Kenneth (Andrew Lee Potts), a dissolute and recluse hospital janitor with a passion for taking voyeuristic mobile phone photographs and video, catches a group of medical students drinking and taking drugs. When he confronts the students, they drug him and when he goes into an epileptic fit do nothing to save his life. While in a coma, one particular medical student, Catherine (Arielle Kebbel), gets a fit of guilt and conjures up a cocktail of drugs hoping to bring him out of the coma. Instead, he has various out of body episodes where he can possess individuals to take revenge on his tormentors.

Following in the footsteps of Pathology with the notion of medical students experimenting with drink and drugs, I am beginning to wonder if medical students in reality are in any ways similar to those on screen or have they actually been studying and know the effects such narcotics could have on a person. I dread the thought of being admitted to hospital and finding out the truth.

Red Mist is the seventh film from director Paddy Breathnach and he has done remarkably well in his use of cinematography. Some scenes have overexposure lighting; others are extremely bright, while some are practically darkened with only the main character in their current position in view, like silhouettes in a darkened frame. There are certainly the occasional jumps that wait in store for viewers. There are also the odd bloody and violent images, but not as much as you may expect for a classicised horror flick. The murder scenes are not very graphic and I was hoping for much more of a gore fest than I was given.

This is an American film with a majority American cast, filmed in Ireland and has an Irish director. The majority of sets involved are inside, a hospital, a bar, university campus and dorm rooms with the only real outdoor set being a wood. What I cannot make out is although these are generic sets which could have been filmed anywhere, why film in Ireland and pretend its in American rather than just film in America? At least with Shrooms a viewer knew the American students were vacationing in Ireland and not falsely given a wrong setting. Even so, since the locations are generic, the sets are plausible and if you hadn’t had known could easily be fooled into thinking the scenes were filmed in the USA.

Red Mist is an interesting film with a fascinating narrative with the unconscious becoming alive and possessing others to take revenge from the deathbed. It concludes with an open ending, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a sequel in the works over the next year…and who knows where this one will be filmed.

Michelle Moore