Red Eye (Widescreen Edition)

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Veteran horror director Wes Craven lends his proven talent to the non-horror thriller Red-Eye, turning it into an above-average potboiler that makes the most of its 85 tension-packed minutes. That's a perfect running time for a movie like this, in which a resourceful heroine Lisa (Rachel McAdams, the breakout star of 2005) is trapped on a red-eye flight with creepy villain Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy, even more menacing than he was as the Scarecrow in Batman Begins) who's playing middle-man in the plot to assassinate a Homeland Security official. He's got her father pinned down by a would-be killer, using that advantage to coerce Lisa into phoning the luxury resort where she works and arranging to move the target into a pre-set position. It's a situation from which there is seemingly no escape, but of course Craven and screenwriter Carl Ellsworth find a way to milk the suspenseful dilemma for all it's worth, even managing to wedge in a few intriguing character details to enhance the fast-moving plot. It's still a B-movie, but it's tightly constructed and well-executed by Craven, whose previous films made him a perfect choice to maximize all that Red-Eye has to offer. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Potentially Intriguing Plot Crashes.......2007-09-12

`Red Eye' is an obvious attempt by director Wes Craven to break out of the horror genre. What else could explain his Meryl Streep musical `Music From the Heart.' Here he fails at Hitchcockian thriller.

The plot: Rachel McAdams is a hotel manager taking the red eye flight back to Florida when she is hit on by fellow passenger Cillian Murphy ('28 Days Later'). His interests seems to be romantic until he reveals what he does for a living. He is a terrorist hired to assassinate a hotel guest of hers, the director of Home Land Security. If McAdams does not alter the director's room number before the flight lands her father (Brian Cox) will be killed.

While this scenario is intriguing and clever for the first 20 minutes it very quickly degenerates into cliché Hollywood chase sequences. The film is only an hour and 15 long.

Why it fails:

Miscasting. By far the most annoying thing about this film is Rachel McAdams herself. She is unlikable and comes off as ditsy. Cillian Murphy is a fine actor but horribly miscast with a bad American accent. His villain is not frightening but instead comes across as a Yuppie or ivy leaguer.

I am amazed critics cite `Red Eye' as a "smart" thriller. The stupidity of the characters is also a major flaw. Thrillers and mysteries have always been thrilling because they involve an intelligent villain hatching an ingenious plan. The hero or heroine outsmarts the villain thus proving they are a worthy hero.

`Red Eye's carefully crafted plot falls apart very quickly as McAdams attempts the stereotypical passing of notes to another passengers, leaving a warning on the restroom mirror, exedra until she caves to Murphy's demands. She should know by complying with his demands will condemn her since she has seen Murphy's face.

Murphy likewise is equally incompetent in falling for her, "I have to use the bathroom." ploy. He also divulges that her father will NOT be killed unless he gives the kill order. Thus incapacitating Murphy will save her father's life.

After leaving the airplane their stupidity only increases. McAdams runs from Murphy through the airport never asking anyone for help. Instead of telling the police her father is in danger she drives to his house to single handedly take on the armed terrorists with a field hockey stick.

Wes Craven shouldn't be afraid of his achievements as a horror director. `The People Under The Stairs' proves he can direct a thriller.

Wes Craven's Best Since New Nightmare.......2007-09-05

I'm a big fan of thrillers. I especially love good thrillers and this is a good thriller. Wes Craven, the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street (Infinifilm Edition), The Last House on the Left, and The Serpent And The Rainbow, brings another exhilirating tale to the screen.

Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) is kidnapped on a plane by a man (Cillian Murphy) who wants something from her father.

This movie is one I do recommend. The DVD includes an audio commentary with Wes Craven, outtakes and bloopers, and few featurettes. THis is a true thriller and one that's actually good.

Recommended.

Cheap and cheerful thriller.......2007-08-10

I initially bought this because I thought Rachel McAdams was brilliant in Mean Girls and The Notebook, and I read on IMDB, that she's got the lead role in The Time Traveller's Wife (a book which I'm currently re-reading) opposite Eric Bana. Love the book, love her. Saw this for dead cheap, and although it sounds like a standard thriller movie, I thought I'll have that.

The thing about Rachel McAdams is she never plays the same character twice, unlike so many of her peers. Plus, her look changes with every film, and I barely recognised her, with the reddish brown hair.

Starring opposite Cillian Murphy, a truly creepy guy (I think it's the eyes), the two stars bounce well off each other, when they're the ones really holding the film up, as it's mostly about them. Rachel is playing a hotel manager, who is travelling back from a funeral. She's smart, she's tough, and she takes no nonsense. Cillian plays the appropriately named Jackson Rippner, a nice guy with a dark side. He befriends Rachel's character, buys a drink, and then reveals his Ace on the plane - he wants an important VIP, currently staying at her hotel, moved rooms, so he can be killed. And he also knows her father. And there's someone waiting outside his house, to kill him, if Jackson doesn't phone them at such and such a time.

The third act is where it really lets the film down, when Wes Craven turns it into a Scream-chase-the-pretty-girl-around-the-house standard movie. It falls flat on its face here, but not so bad to ruin the rest of the movie.

It's a truly claustrophobic movie, which is probably why I love these kind of movies. Makes me never want to set foot on a plane ever again. I'm glad I never travel alone either, because I can barely handle being in a pub (I always swap a ring onto my engagement finger), it's the whole thing that I can't handle being approached by someone in that kind of situation. The way Jackson approaches Rachel's character is just way too creepy for my liking. It's definitely worthwhile seeing. Plus the guys won't grumble too much at Rachel McAdams. I can't wait to see her in The Time Traveller's Wife.

Very well executed thriller that will leave you very satisfied..........2007-07-06

`Red Eye' was a real surprise for me. It's one of those thrillers that keeps you tense until the very end and even manages to live up to the task again upon repeat viewings. I think the short run time really helps this movie for it never lags long enough for you to forget why your frightened or lose interest in what your about to see. The movie spends a few minutes in the beginning establishing our heroine Lisa, giving her a personality, a career and a dilemma. We are also introduced to Jackson Rippner, a mysterious man who charms her, buys her a drink and then coincidentally lands himself next to her on the plane. He's affectionate, compassionate and has the odd good looks of a man who knows he can woo any woman he desires. This takes all but a few minutes, but their minutes well spent.

Soon after the plane is off the runway though, Jackson's charm fades away and his true intentions are made manifest. He's here to persuade Lisa to make a phone call, a life altering phone call into the hotel where she works, having a very important man moved into a room that will ultimately cost him his life. If she refuses to play along her dear old dad will be murdered. Lisa seems to have no choice, but she's a strong willed woman, and a smart one at that, and so you know she finds a way out. The section of the film taking place aboard the plane is nicely paced and edited well, adding layers of claustrophobia to the already tense atmosphere, and once they leave the airport and make their way to Lisa's home things get even more intense and Jackson becomes even more tyrannical.

The script is tight and enjoyable, intense and smart and the direction is great at the hands of Wes Craven considering that he's had a long line of flops recently. It's the chemistry between the two leads though that really makes this movie as great as it is. Rachel McAdams actually delivers a well thought out and mature performance here. She's never out of her league, never out of her comfort zone. She's completely authentic and a natural talent. Cillian Murphy is even better. He's proven that he can play the villainous character before but here he ups the ante and delivers a stone cold killer in every sense of the word. Props to Carl Ellsworth for writing a superb script, and to everyone involved for making `Red Eye' one of the better suspense thrillers to hit the big screen in a long time.

Great Suspense Film.......2007-06-20

Red Eye is one of my favorite films, truly something you can watch over and over again. Very original, kudos to Wes Craven. After seeing this film, combined with her other work, Rachel mcAdams has become one of my favorite actresses.

Average customer rating:

Potentially Intriguing Plot Crashes
Wes Craven's Best Since New Nightmare
Cheap and cheerful thriller
Very well executed thriller that will leave you very satisfied...
Great Suspense Film

Red Eye (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Tina Anderson , Brian Cox , Carl Gilliard , Mary Kathleen Gordon , and Laura Johnson
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000BVM1SC
Release Date: 2006-01-10

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Customer Reviews:

Potentially Intriguing Plot Crashes.......2007-09-12

Wes Craven's Best Since New Nightmare.......2007-09-05

Cheap and cheerful thriller.......2007-08-10

Very well executed thriller that will leave you very satisfied..........2007-07-06

Great Suspense Film.......2007-06-20

Average customer rating:

Rachel McAdams gets seated next to the passenger from Hell

Red Eye (UMD Mini For PSP)
Starring: Jack Scalia , Brian Cox , Cillian Murphy , Rachel McAdams , and Colby Donaldson
Director: Wes Craven
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: UMD for PSP

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ASIN: B000CCW2TI
Release Date: 2006-01-10

Customer Reviews:

Rachel McAdams gets seated next to the passenger from Hell.......2006-05-14

"Red Eye" is a movie that puts most of its cards on the table. At the start we see a wallet with a pair of initials on it being stolen. We also see a large metal container being smuggled into the United States. Two points determine the pathof a line and we know that these two events are connected. Actually if you assume that everything you see and hear in this 2005 thriller has something to do with what is going on. If Carl Ellsworth (who wrote the "Halloween" episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") has somebody on the airplane suddenly talk about a missing pen, then that would be a CLUE, and attention must be paid. That does not mean that director Wes Craven ("Scream/2/3") will not play with your expectations in an effort to keep things honest, but for the most part you can see how everything is set up and red herrings are pretty nonexistent. The result is more a question of anticipation than predictability and it was not until the big finish that I actually got to the point where I was saying (out loud in fact) that this could not be the "end" because "X" had not happened yet, which is pretty good for a thriller.

The genesis for this film was apparently the simple idea of what happens if you get on an airplane and end up being seated next to the passenger from Hell. At this point many of you will be thinking back to "Planes, Trains & Automobiles," but this film is something quite different because it takes place in a world where apparently nothing is coincidence. Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams, who suddenly appears to be in every other movie being made) is a hotel desk manager for a swank hotel in Miami, who is heading home from Dallas after attending her grandmother's funeral. Her flight is delayed and she has occasion to meet Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) more than once before she gets on the flight and discovers they are seatmates. He wants to know if she is stalking him and what proves to be a deadly game begins in earnest.

I have to admit that when I watched this DVD I had managed to forget anything I might have heard or read about "Red Eye." Obviously Lisa is the heroine and Jackson is the villain (after this and "Batman Begins," Murphy is going to have to make an earnest effort to avoid being typecast in such roles). But since all the dots connect in this film it has to have something to do with Charles Keefe (Jack Scalia), the new head of Homeland Security who said some rather stupid things on television for someone whose position has to do with defense and not offense when it comes to terrorists. Before she gets on the plane Lisa is juggling cell phone calls from her father (Brian Cox) and her nervous assistant, Cynthia (Jayma Mays), and the film puts more of its cards in position on the table. But there is a hole card, which is revealed when Lisa has to change her blouse (talk about bait and switch).

The best thing this film has going for it is Rachel McAdams. In case you did not notice, 2005 was a very good year for the actress. After being the blonde Queen Bee in "Mean Girls" back in 2004, she went back to dark hair and did "The Notebook." Then in 2005 she made "Red Eye" in between "Wedding Crashers" and "The Family Stone." She may well be the best thing in all three of those films, but this is the one where she has to do the most heavy lifting. Her character is smart, which only makes her more attractive as far as I am concerned, and despite her vulnerability we do not believe that she will be a victim. There are some moments where both the heroine and the villain are conveniently stupid (when you get somebody down, go all in and finish them off: everybody in my family knows this), but there are enough smart moments and we are rooting for Lisa, so such slights can be easily forgiven.

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Conviction
Truly excellent on many levels.
Quiet Tone Poem in Muskogee

Convicted
Starring: Tim Daly , Connie Nelson , Connie Nielsen , Kelly Preston , and Aidan Quinn
Director: Bille August
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000B6H1YG
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Description

Charlotte Cory (Connie Nielsen) is a convicted murderer spending her final days on Death Row. Her hopes and dreams are as lifeless as the grey walls that imprison her, until the letters of a stranger, Frank Nitzche (Aiden Quinn), awakens passion in her she thought had died long ago. While her attorney (Kelly Preston) desperately tries to appeal the verdict, Frank realizes he has fallen in love with Charlotte, and discovers that there are untold secrets behind the tragic circumstances of her imprisonment. Her life is in his hands as Frank races to find the truth that can save Charlotte before it's too late.

Customer Reviews:

Conviction.......2007-09-07

Aidan Quinn is great as a washed out attorney that now sells death row inmate letters to the media. He corresponds with inmates to get their last letter to sell for a great deal of money. When he meets a woman on death row, played by Connie Nielsen, his attitude changes and we see there is more to him than first thought. This has a good cast and excellent acting. The drama becomes a thriller as the clock ticks down till her execution. When Quinn finds evidence that she in fact is not guilty of kidnapping or murdering a little girl. It may not have lots of scenery but it makes up for it in drama. I highly recommend you at least rent it. I think there is a good chance you will want to buy it. Not appropriate for young children. If you enjoy this be sure to catch "Perfect Witness".

Truly excellent on many levels........2006-08-14

The performances are outstanding and the chemistry does sizzle -- but also wonderful are the scenes with the blind. There were haunting moments, poetic moments. The story itself is rather beside the point, but still interesting. This film is all about the visuals, the acting, the mood. An unexpected delight that I saw on Lifetime, of all places, this weekend. Now I want to buy it for friends.

Quiet Tone Poem in Muskogee.......2005-11-09

Back in 1984, the hit at the Canne Film Festival was another quiet and cerebral film called Paris, Texas - directed by the German director Wim Wenders (but that was then, and this is now). Here, we get the Danish director Billy August creating a hypnotic imaging of desolate Oklahoma small towns, an innocent woman on death row, and the various players around her story in the last days leading up to her execution. As always, Aidan Quinn is just right for his part as a complex lawyer turned tabloid huckster and alcoholic, who finally finds redemption in the last motel on the rain slick streets. But the real standout here is the always underrated Connie Nielsen, who smolders in this performance and the chemistry between her and Quinn is what great movies (and their moments) are made of. I guess in this age of mindless reality TV, films of this quiet beauty, intelligence, and grace are just too slow, pondering, and challenging for today's audiences. Too bad - this film is a keeper and a real gem!

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Time Stranger
Starring: Mami Koyama , Hirotaka Suzuoki , Hideyuki Tanaka , Kaneto Shiozawa , and Daisuke Gôri
Director: Kunihiko Yuyama
Manufacturer: Us Manga Corps Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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A Wind Named Amnesia

ASIN: B0000C52G2
Release Date: 2003-10-14

Average customer rating:

You Failed Again

The Man Behind the Scissors
Starring: Etsushi Toyokawa , and Kumiko Aso
Manufacturer: Tokyo Shock
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000ASATN0
Release Date: 2005-11-29

Customer Reviews:

You Failed Again.......2006-02-11

There are many types of people in the world. Some make you feel comfortable while others make your skin crawl. Some fill you with energy while others suck it from you like a vampire. In Hasami Otoko, Toyokawa Etsushi's character Yasunaga denotes pure terror.

A cool collected killer, Yasunaga hones the blades of pairs of scissors until they are razor sharp. He desires to make the perfect kill. To kill with one clean pierce with no mess and to leave his victim a pristine corpse. Yasunaga is not a rapist or a mutilator; he is only a killer searching for the perfect kill. However, he will not just kill any girl. The girls he kills must be not only attractive, but strong in their studies as well. With such high criteria, it is obvious that finding appropriate victims is not that easy, so Yasunaga enlists the help of Chika, a pretty, but downtrodden woman who not only searches for Yasunaga's victims at her job, but who also accompanies Yasunaga when he kills. Although she thinks it is horrific, Chika is so subservient to Yasunaga that she would probably kill herself if he asked her to. In fact it seems she is a bit jealous of the murdered girls because Yasunaga seems to deem them worthy of being killed while he lets her live.

One night, after a day of scouting out Yasunaga's next victim, Yasunaga and Chika attempt to learn more about the area in which the intended victim lives. However, instead of garnering new information, they find her dead with a pair of scissors protruding from her throat. It seems someone else wanted to murder the girl and pass it off as if the Scissor Man had done it instead. With this knowledge, Yasunaga and Chika begin their own search for their intended murder victim's killer.

Filmed by the same director who created Evil Dead Trap and Angel Guts, Scissor Man is a relatively bloodless film for one about a serial murderer. Also, the film is a bit campy. The dialogues between the detectives will almost make one cringe with their Scooby Doo-esque findings of clues and summarizations of who perpetrated the crime. However, despite this, there are some parts that shine. While Toyokawa Etsushi's acting is quite wooden, his character gives the semblance of a man who although calm and collected could burst into violence at any moment. Some scenes are almost painful to watch because one can almost feel the violence emanating from his being. Also Aso Kumiko does a good job portraying a woman so broken by hardships that she is willing to do anything for a man because there is some chance that he might show some affection for her. Obsessed with death and dieing, Chika attempts suicide several times in the film by doing such things as self-asphyxiation and poisoning herself only to be reminded by Yasunaga that she failed again. Quite strong moments for a relatively weak film, but they are really not enough to make one watch this film again.

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