The Samoan Lawyer attempts to review

I have Mikey and Nicky on my watchlist, i remember you giving it a high rating i think.

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Yea you know it doesn't seem to be all that popular but I related to the situations and characters very well. I'm not sure what that says about me lol.

haha which character?

A Woman Under the Influence is indeed a great film with superb acting. Straw Dogs is also terrific.

Both, at different points in my life

Shock Corridor


Already known for his usually low-budget and controversial material, director Sam Fuller added his new project to this list in 1963. With his mystery-thriller Shock Corridor, he created an unsettling,disturbing and at times outrageous cult favourite. A film clearly well ahead of its time, it can be noted as being the inspiration behind several other psychological drama’s such as One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Shutter Island. Following a man feigning mental illness to get institutionalized in order to solve a murder, we look on as the closer he gets to cracking the case,the further away he detaches from his own mental disposition.



Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) is an ambitious journalist, hell-bent on winning the Pulitzer Prize, and he figures that uncovering the details of a murder in a mental hospital is his sure-fire way in achieving his goal. He masterminds a plan that will enable him to be admitted to the hospital as a patient, talk to the three witnesses to the murder, thus solving the crime and collecting his award. However, as Johnny’s greed and aggression gets the better of him, it soon becomes a race against time to accomplish his task before insanity catches up and results in much more than just a so called ‘act’of madness.



Despite essentially thought of as a B-movie, Shock Corridor is a visually brilliant and shocking expedition into a man’s willingness to achieve his dream at any cost.

I added this to my watchlist when you first watched and rated it. You've watched a few interesting movies recently; I'm going to watch at least one of them this week. Great review

Cheers cricket, i think you would enjoy Shock Corridor, it does have its wtf moments but overall its excellent.

Take Shelter


Many films involve the theme of a middle class family being jeopardized by crime or a mental illness of some sort. However few have such a powerful impact as 2011’s Take Shelter. A drama thriller directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain, this masterpiece chronicles how a man deciphers whether his frightening dreams of an approaching storm are real, or if this is just the beginning of a mental illness that he has dreaded his whole life.



The story takes place in Ohio, USA with Curtis (Shannon) a quiet, thoughtful, working-class husband and father, who experiences daunting illusions and nightmares of a near-apocalyptic storm hitting his hometown, effectively killing his family. As the resulting paranoia worsens, Curtis seeks professional help and attends a counsellor whilst starting to build a storm shelter in his back garden. With all of this being shielded from his wife loyal wife Sam (Chastain) and their hearing-impaired young daughter, Curtis spends all his money and time on the shelter, until he suffers a seizure, forcing him to explain the situation. However, despite being given the understanding and space from his family, it is not long before circumstances unravel and the powder keg is lit, sending Curtis spiralling uncontrollably in a crazed state of mind. In an emotional and thought-provoking finish, the impending doom catches up with our protagonist in a truly memorable and gripping performance.



Despite a low budget and being relatively little known, Take Shelter is a compelling and intelligent stroke of genius from a hugely talented and up and coming director. Jeff Nichols shows a man trying to protect himself and his family from what he anticipates is coming, whether or not anyone believes him. With no shortage of paranoia and deception, Take Shelter is a phenomenal character study that will ignite debate with its lucky viewers.

Just caught up on your reviews Shark oops Lawyer Thanks for your reviews

Some great movies there, a lot of my favourites The first time i saw repulsion was in the theatre, it was why i was learning psychiatry so i found it very interesting

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Great stuff! And I really love Take Shelter.

I'd love to hear more of your own thoughts, though! Those are more interesting to me (and others, I'd wager) than plot descriptions. The reviewer's opinion is always the one thing I can't get from anywhere else, so that's the most valuable part.

Cheers Nebbit. Yes, Repulsion is definately 'interesting', its one of my absolute favourites. To be honest the films I have listed here are all films I really like. As its all kinda new to me I have yet to think about how I would even go about reviewing a film i didnt like. That probably sounds a bit strange but hey.

Cheers again.

Thanks Yoda, I agree too. Like i said in my last post, ive only really started reviews in the last few months so its still new to me but i will start to make them a bit more personal.

Thanks for the input.

Well, you're off to a great start.

And yeah, I think it's common to mostly review films we like. A lot of the reviewers here do that. Reviewing films we hate is usually fun/easy, too. I think the toughest challenge is reviewing a film that's pretty good, but fails in important, subtle ways.

Well, i have Sharknado 2 coming up soon.....

Ha. Perfect.

Take Shelter is a very good movie; nice to see the notoriety it's been getting on this forum.

The Exterminating Angel


Directed by Spanish film master Luis Bunuel, The Exterminating Angel is a 1962 fantasy drama that is as baffling as it is humorous. Regarding a group of Bourgeois guests inexplicably finding they are unable to leave a dinner party, a surreal and claustrophobic atmosphere looms, as feelings of isolation and imprisonment overwhelm the diners.


After a night out at the opera, the party return to the extravagant mansion home of Edmundo Nobile for a dinner party catered by servants. Despite appearing to be the only people left in the building, bar the butler, the party move themselves into the music room, where one of the womenplays the piano. As morning approaches, the group mysteriously find it impossible to leave and now feel hostage to this plush but joyless estate. As time continues to pass, they become argumentative and hostile to each other,resorting to desperate measures in order to survive.


A delicious, surrealist fantasy, The Exterminating Angel is loaded with Bunuel’s distinct swipes at both the upper classes of society and indeed the church itself. I can admit that I have seen very little from this director but from those i have, I have nothing but adoration. For many, watching this film may become monotonous, for the premise of a group of upper-class citizens unable to leave a room may not appeal to everyone, however the real fascination lurks behind the movie's design. Certainly one of the best films from the sixties, The Exterminating Angel deserves to be watched with no prior skepticism.A film best summarised by Bunuel himself in, ‘the best explanation of this film is that, from the standpoint of pure reason, there is no explanation’.

I just watched this a couple days ago. I liked it and it kept me interested, but it did frustrate me a little. I have become a fan of the director.

Mary and Max

Written and directed by Adam Elliot, Mary and Max isa clay-animated dark comedy, based on an unlikely friendship between pen palsMary, an 8 year old girl in Australia and Max, an ageing 44 year old Jewish manliving in New York. Made almost entirely in different tones of brown and grey,this melancholic tale is a heart-breaking yet touching feature film, fullyequipped with excellent narration from Barry Humphries and a wonderfullyambitious soundtrack.

Set in the 70’s, we see Mary Dinkle, a lonely and depressed8 year old girl who is neglected by her parents Noel, her taxidermist fatherand Vera, her chain smoking alcoholic mother. After randomly selecting a namein the Manhattan phone book, she decides to send the man, named Max Horowitz, aletter. Rather surprisingly but to her delight, she receives one back, thusbeginning the start of a new and improbable friendship that is not without itscomplications. Issues such as disability, mental illness, suicide, obesity andsex all play their part in this bittersweet and ominous emotionalrollercoaster.

Sickeningly comical and adorably downcast, Mary and Maxis a heartfelt and compassionate animation that explores several topical issuesin fantastic fashion. With elements that are based on a true story this is anintelligent film that is an absolute joy to watch. It will amost certainly rank high on my animated list.