Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

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"The whole point about irrational behavior is that it IS irrational!"
The life and death of English playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) as told in retrospect by his friend and agent Peggy Ramsay (Vanessa Redgrave) to Orton's biographer John Lahr (Wallace Shawn).

Also appearing ar Alfred Molina as Orton's jealous long-term lover Kenneth Halliwell; Frances Barber as Orton's mother; Julie Walters as Orton's sister; and Janet Dale as the landlady.

Directed by Stephen Frears.

Run time: 1 hour, 51 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B-

The Dark Knight (2008)

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"I believe that whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you stranger."

This is not my genre. I repeat: This is not my genre. That said, I loved this movie! I guess I'm going to have to reconsider my opinion of superhero films since, in the last six weeks, I've loved Iron Man and Hancock -- and now The Dark Knight.

The mob king (Eric Roberts) is after Batman (Christian Bale). So is the police commissioner (Gary Oldman) who wants that vigilante Batman stopped. And then there's the Joker (Heath Ledger). He's after Batman, too. And while Batman is ready to quit and revert to the quiet life of Bruce Wayne, billionaire, the district attorney (Aaron Eckhart) tells Batman, "You can't give in. You can't quit."

Maggie Gyllenhaal is the love interest, Michael Caine is Bruce Wayne's man Alfred Pennyworth, Morgan Freeman is a director at Wayne Enterprises. Others appearing are Anthony Michael Hall, William Fichtner, and Nicky Katt.

A favorite line:

Thug: "What's the difference between you and me?"
Batman: "I'm not wearing hockey pads."

Directed by Christopher Nolan, who cowrote the script with his brother Jonathan Nolan.

Run time: 2 hours, 32 minutes

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace.

My personal rating: A-

The Contender (2000)

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"...principles only mean something if you stick by them when they're inconvenient."

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When the Vice-President dies, Democratic President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) must appoint a replacement. Approaching the end of his second term, he wants to leave an important legacy and therefore nominates Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen), D-OH, a former Republican.

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But Congressman Sheldon "Shelly" Runyon, R-IL, (Gary Oldman), a major Republican opponent of the President, leads a McCarthy-esque witch hunt guised as the Congressional confirmation hearing. Runyon is set to discredit Senator Hanson on the basis of reports of her sexual indiscretion when she was in college. Fact of the matter is, the very conservative and disingenuous Runyon is opposed to all of Senator Hanson's positions on the abortion issue and religion, and his obvious disdain for powerful women. He seeks to humiliate her in whatever way he can.

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Some very interesting twists that made it a real keep-watching political thriller. Interesting, too, in the comparisons to President Clinton's indiscretions, references to Chappaquiddick. and a certain prophetic tone that hit home in terms of the 2008 presidential campaigns, the election of a fresh new attitude in Washington in 2009, and the national embarrassment of the gubernatorial scandal in Illinois.

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Also appearing are Christian Slater as the young senator and rising Democratic star from Delaware, Sam Elliott as a President's Chief of Staff, William Petersen as the Virginia governor who had been the preferred vice-presidential contender but was by-passed by the President, Saul Rubinek as the President's press secretary, Mike Binder as Senator Hanson's legal counsel, Philip Baker Hall as Senator Hanson's father and former Republican Governor of Ohio, Robin Thomas as Senator Hanson's husband and former campaign manager, Mariel Hemingway as Senator Hanson's former college chum and ex-wife of Hanson's current husband, Kathryn Morris as the FBI agent who thoroughly investigates the Virginia governor and Senator Hanson, Noah Fryrear as the Hanson's six-year-old son.

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Jeff Bridges and Kim Carnes sing the opening song -- "Ring of Fire" -- which all just seems so right!

Some of my favorite quotes from the film:

President Jackson Evans: "It pains my soul to tell you that you have brought blood and shame under this great dome. Your leadership has raised the stakes of hate to a new level where we can no longer separate the demagogue from the truly inspired. And believe this, there are traitors among us."

Senator Laine Hanson's closing statement at her confirmation hearing: "...and, Mr. Chairman, I stand for the separation of Church and State, and the reason that I stand for that is the same reason that I believe our forefathers did. It is not there to protect religion from the grasp of government but to protect our government from the grasp of religious fanaticism. Now, I may be an atheist, but that does not mean I do not go to church. I do go to church. The church I go to is the one that emancipated the slaves, that gave women the right to vote, that gave us every freedom that we hold dear. My church is this very Chapel of Democracy that we sit in together, and I do not need God to tell me what are my moral absolutes. I need my heart, my brain, and this church."

Written and directed by Rod Lurie.

Run time: 2 hours, 7 minutes

Rated R for strong sexual content and language.

My personal rating: A

Murder in the FIrst (1995)

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James Stamphill: "Did you kill Rufus McCain?"
Henri Young: "I was the weapon, but I ain't no killer."
When 17-year-old Henri Young (Kevin Bacon) robs a small grocery store of $5 so he and his little sister can eat, little does he know that the petty robbery was a federal crime because the store also served as a U.S. Post Office. With his sister sent ot an orphanage, Henri is sent off to serve his term at the federal prison in Leavenworth and is later transfered to Alcatraz.

Henri quickly becomes involved in an escape plot but is betrayed by a fellow prisoner. As punishement, Henri is sent to solitary confinement but instead of serving the standard 19 days, he spend three years alone in a dark, dank, tiny dungeon with no real human contact. The isolation drives Henri insane. Upon release from solitary, he attacks and kills the snitch by stabbing him repeatedly with a spoon.

Young attorney James Stamphill (Christian Slater) is assigned to defend Henri. While it's clear that Henri killed the betrayer, Stamphill's tactic is to convince the jury that the brutality Henri endured in solitary caused him to become a murderer.

Others in the cast include Gary Oldman, Embeth Davidtz, William H. Macy, Kyra Sedgwick.

Kevin Bacon is, once again, brilliant.

Directed by Marc Rocco.

Run time: 2 hours, 2 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: A-