Thief is the story of a Thief - Frank, his buddy, mentor; love of his life, and his journey through crime. One day an associate of his dies, he meets a shady character who offers him a big job. He takes it. He gets in trouble. He fights his way through.

If you've seen or read Parker then you know the type of movie. It's not the shoot-them-up style of action, but rather the plan-ahead-drive-sneak-and-kill type. The props are all very professional, and you get the feeling that you're actually breaking into a vault when they do. The technicalities; thug talk is all perfect. They throw around furniture like any normal criminal would (though I hope crooks don't get impressions from this movie specifically - and decide it's 'professional' to destroy property while they6're doing their thing - rather than simply efficient). James Caan plays Frank, and he's a surprisingly rare appearance in the list of movies I've watched, it seems, even though he's been around a long time and taken parts in such legendary classics like The Godfather (which I have seen - btw).

To sum I'd up I'd say it's one surprisingly professional and clean movie, with surprisingly little cops. It's not cops and robbers. It's robbers and robbers. The cops are trying to get in, digging around above the realms of the underworld, but they're not quite there yet. When there's a fight to fight out, they fight it out amongst themselves, and Frank is one tough main character, touch, charismatic and kind in his own way. Or maybe I should say: honest. He's done his time. He works for himself. He doesn't bullshit. I enjoyed this movie. Rated 4.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

It's yet another plane hi-jacking! But this time there's a twist. The hero's the mirror villain. He kills his partner. The partner carries a kilo coke in his briefcase. The pilot dies of poisoning. The true antagonist keeps sending annoying text messages threatening to kill another person every 20 minutes, and our main character (who we never doubt is the good guy - even when everybody else does - being as we get to see much more than the people on the plane do) does what he can to stop them. Even though he actually kills the first victim himself. He's a federal marshal, played by Liam Nelson, and this all takes place aboard a non-stop flight from London to New York.

I wasn't expecting this to be another one of these terrorists on a plane movies, I thought it'd be more of a non-stop-action kind of movie, but it turned out better than expected despite the limited setting, and might just be the best movie that takes place aboard a plane I've seen thus for. Con-Air didn't really take place only on a plane... so that one doesn't count.

Script and filmography are equally professional, as is the acting, as is the secrecy with which the whole thing is carried out. Usually in movies like this the terrorists jump up and take people hostage, and you're just waiting for the hero to somehow outmaneuver them - the methods of which vary in creativity and variation, but in this movie it's the other way around. The main character is the one at a disadvantage, and the villains are nowhere to be found. Or are they? Who is who? It's like an air-bound game of clue. Great movie.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

He who fights with monsters
should look to it that he himself
does not become a monster.

With that quote the movie begins. Capt. John Boyd, played by Guy Pearce, is the main character in what I consider one of the most disturbing movies I've ever watched. It may not be overly bloody and gruesome to the point of modern movies, but it deals with the subject of cannibalism, soldiers stationed out in the wild, eating each other to gain strength, and along with the soundtrack and desolate woodscapes the characters act a tale of macabre meals, despair,

It's not really a horror movie - it's not scary, it's a thriller, a killer thriller, the thriller of thrillers, one that'll leave you not disgusted and queasy (well, not if you've seen some of the considerably more brutal movies out there) but with a sense of darkness and despair. Chancery Stone sums up the 'point' of the movi pretty well in that: "It's about the horror of war, conquest, taking things which don't belong to you with the sole justification that that's how you get ahead in life." It's masterfully filmed, with great atmosphere, great acting, and very truthful and savage violence, but not a very pleasant watch. Seeing it again though, I don't get as fearful an impression as last time... maybe I've been dulled a bit since then.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Clint Eastwood plays Wes Block, a detective in charge of a case on raped and murdered girls. It starts getting personal after a while, when the psycho starts going after girls he's had a personal relationship with, and eventually the feud's taken all the way to his family. But who is this mad man, and what does he have to do with Wes? He thinks they are the same. How similar are they, really?

Speaking of Wes; family. He's divorced, but he has two beautiful daughters that provide plenty of comical relief and eventually also further drama. He lives an alternative life at nights, getting closer to the killer in more ways than simply through the victims, and as another character says - just in passing - "there's an element of darkness within all of us, and most people walk the tightrope between the good and bad" (probably not those words exactly). He eventually meets another women, a lady in charge of a rape center self-defense type of thing, starts abandoning his alternative life, fights off that nearing darkness... and nears the murderer at the same time.

It's a dark and gritty movie, well-made, with a little chase, a little fight; plenty of stylishly filmed encounters and crime scenes, with some family life on the side. I originally thought this was one of the Dirty Harry movies, and didn't know the name of it until now. It's good! Good everything: actors, filming, symbolism, message, dialog... a few nude people in it too, subtle sex scenes and tricky relations. Not much concrete action, but it's efficiently captivating; tense.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Akshay Kumar is the Boss! He's a boss raised by Big Boss. He has a father who refuses to acknowledge him, a somewhat tragic history growing up, a catchphrase about not caring, just 'getting the water' which has a larger significance than you may at first think, sweat that makes plants grow, and a brother that gets into trouble. He gets both a contract to save him (from his dad - still unwilling to acknowledge him but all the same with no one else to turn to) and to kill him, from the antagonist in the movie.

In difference from all other Bollywood Supercop movies (like Singham or Rowdy Rathore), the Boss is not a cop. There is a corrupt supercop involved though, and the final fight between these two is the real highlight of the movie. There's plenty of action, there's plenty of fun, there's craze and dance and relationship drama mixed in with the intrigue. You know the deal. And the main character is Akshay Kumar so... Great movie!

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Now this is what a martial arts movie should be about! I can't believe Drona was ranked higher than this on the 'best Bollywood martial art movies ever', but I'm glad it was there at least. Apart from Akshay Kumar (main character and super martial-artist in future training), there are a bunch of Asian actors mixed in, such as Chia-Hui Liu and Roger Yuan, which I feel somehow contributes to making this movie much more authentic in its fights. Maybe because they really know their martial arts? Maybe because they're not all that concerned with looking flashy when they fight?

I don't mind the occasional special effects (though the one with the boat, towards the end, was a bit over the top), or the music that seems to kick in every time they're about to have a fight on life and death (very unlike 'traditional' martial art movies, where the fight itself is the soundtrack of each scene) because the fights are brewing with technique and intensity. Akshay Kumar is probably one of few Bollywood action hero celebrities who actually has a martial arts training, and in the latter scenes it really shows.

Before the latter part of the movie, he's the main source of comedy, a regular guy with not-the-best of luck, who somehow gets mixed up in a village feud and taken to China where he's supposed to Kill Hojo as the reincarnation of Liu Shengh that the villagers think he is. It doesn't turn out as planned, but he does get involved with this certain lady, and with another family drama, and eventually gets a chance to practice Kung-Fu with a real master.

Since the movie takes place in CHina (does it actually take place there? I wonder) it's rather different from the regular BOllywood movie, in scenery as well as in characters, and not least in the fights and some of the rigorous (but greatly sped-up) training it takes to get there. The continents clash well! Good movie.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle