By the way, if you came here by Google search for the word “manhunt,” you might be a little disappointed. But don’t fret. You’ll find Mr. Right someday. In the meantime, why don’t you check out these seven great films?

With apologies to the movie Manhunt. Despite the title, it just wasn’t manhunty enough.

Zero Dark Thirty

“The story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man,” didn’t get that reputation by adapting Where’s Waldo? for the big screen. Based on historical events, the drama lifted the curtain to take audiences inside the real life hunt for Osama bin Laden. Jessica Chastain stars as the tenacious, young CIA officer who has spent her brief career trying to locate Public Enemy #1. It is due to her fight and resolve that the Al-Qaeda leader was tracked down and eventually killed. Director Kathryn Bigelow proved once again that she has the golden touch.

The Fugitive

The Fugitive is perhaps the most famous manhunt film. Based off the popular television series, Harrison Ford stars as a doctor on the run after being framed and convicted for the murder of his wife. Tommy Lee Jones also stars as the gruff US Marshal Sam Gerard, who is hired to track Ford’s Dr. Richard Kimble down. However, as Kimble alludes Gerard, he’s able to gather clues about the identity of his wife’s true killer and eventually team up with his pursuer to bring about justice. Jones all but steals the show and American audiences have loved his fleshy under eyes ever since.

Silence Of The Lambs

To catch a killer, you need to think like a killer. This is the reasoning that lead the FBI to accidentally release Dr. Hannibal Lecter from his cage. The former psychiatrist turned cannibal is the only one with the insight to track down a killer known as “Buffalo Bill.” When Bill kidnaps the daughter or a U.S. Senator for use in a “woman suit” he’s trying to fashion from the skin of his victims, Starling must not only track down the killer but also unlock the mind of Hannibal Lecter.

Seven

Let the games begin. Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman star as two detectives, one a new transfer and the other on the verge of retiring. The pair are assigned to bring in a killer who has meticulously planned his kills, each of which represents one of the seven deadly sins. With five victims accounted for, the detectives track down the killer only to find that it was all part of his plan. The final two victims are closer to home than either of the men imagine. The film cemented Kevin Spacey as an actor to watch. And we’ve also been loving his fleshy under eyes ever since.

The Bourne Supremacy

Former CIA assassin Jason Bourne is on the run once again. Framed for crimes he did not commit, the agent alludes his former bosses all while his mind continues clearing of psychogenic amnesia. Once again, Bourne proves that he’s too well-trained and remains several steps ahead of the agency. Using this advantage, Bourne races to figure out the details of who framed him while searching for details about his former life.

No Country for Old Men

Josh Brolin plays a good-ish man who makes a bad choice. After happening upon a drug deal gone wrong (the type where dogs are shot), he discovers a bag stuffed with $2 million. Problems arise when he returns to the scene to aid a dying man. After being spotted, Brolin’s Llewelyn Moss goes on the wrong with Javier Bardem‘s psychopathic hitman on his tail. Of course, any good manhunt movie worth its salt also includes Tommy Lee Jones (see: The Fugitive; U.S. Marshals; The Hunted) and his under eyes. Jones plays a sheriff trying to find Moss before the wrong people do, which is no easy feat since the film is filled with the wrong people.

Public Enemies

Michael Mann‘s crime film focuses on the last years of famed bank robber John Dillinger. Johnny Depp plays the charismatic gun man while Christian Bale stars as the FBI Agent on his heels. A series of gunfights, prison breaks, and more robberies lead to the eventual end of Dillinger, a infamous character brought to life by Depp’s underrated performance.

I find it very sad that media makes up bogus stories about women fighting in this industry. Filming The Help was the most amazing experience and yet, that is the film Im most asked about in regards to “fighting on set”. Why do we support the myth that women are competitive and cannot get along?

I think all of the actresses recognized this year have given incredible performances. But more important, they’ve all shown themselves to be filled with generosity and kindness. I’ve done two photo shoots with Jennifer Lawrence over the years and have found her to be utterly charming and a great talent. I’ve told her how beautiful her film work is.

Please don’t allow the media to perpetuate the myth that women arent supportive of each other. Everytime an actress is celebrated for her great work, I cheer. For the more brilliant their performance, the more the audience demands stories about women. With support and encouragement, we help to inspire this industry to create opportunities for women. And as we all know: a great year for women in film, is just a great year for film xxjes

Amy Adams, on the other hand, had better watch her back.

In John Hillcoat‘s Prohibition-era Western, the ladies star as Maggie, a sexy Moonshine cook, and Bertha Minnix, a mandolin player. Don’t underestimate the mandolin, you guys. It’s difficult to play and even harder to tune.

This just proves that Out for Justice really was a film ahead of its time.

A word from Jessica: “I was a difficult child because I wanted to be the mom.”

Director: Terrence Malick

Cast: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain

Synopsis: The story centers around a family with three boys in the 1950s. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence.

Release Date: May 27, 2011

It’s a screen saver really. You see lots of water ripples, bird flocks, mountains, light wisps, volcanic smoke and even outer space. At least it’s totally out there. Malick portrays The Big Bang and the formation of the planet. And, of course, more trees. Always with the trees.

The CGI is amusing. A sort of dinosaur-seal on the beach looks like the third part of the Sharktopus trilogy. Dinosaurs have been done on film before. Malick could have asked to borrow Spielberg’s, or at least Peter Jackson’s. But bad CGI in an art film, I think that’s kinda funny. Either way, the more abstract segment was my favorite part of the movie.

Just In Time For Your Nap, ‘The Tree Of Life’ Trailer

It begins with a family receiving terrible news about the death of a young son in the ‘50s. Mom (Jessica Chastain) and dad (Brad Pitt) mope around wallowing in sadness. One of their surviving sons, Jack, grows up to be Sean Penn and mopes through his modern day corporate life. That’s the intro!

After that we get the nature trip. Then, the actual story kicks in and it moves forward more than any other Malick film. It’s about the cycle of abuse as the kids discover their father is abusive and the eldest learns to act out in different violent ways. Sounds obvious, but it’s portrayed in that nonlinear way.

You can do the impressionistic version of the cycle of violence story. I don’t think you get any more out of that than just narrative storytelling, but it’s another form of artistic expression. The scenes look like old family movies, only in HD. The way the camera sways and bobs makes it look more interesting, even when all the actors have their back to you. Sometimes Mom will float in midair for no reason, because it’s art, man.

S the tree of life is planted in violence, and gives way to more violence from our evolutionary origins (the dinosaurs). Even as a civil society, if Dad’s insecure about his failures at work, he’ll lash out and create violent youth. Then it wraps up with a little more screen saver and some inner child/spirit vision whatever. It’s also about letting go. I get that too.

Grown-up Jack is barely in it so Sean Penn fans will get ripped off. I also think it’s funny that Pitt is supposed to be a ‘50s dad. You can put glasses on him and grease up his hair, but he still looks like a movie star. Maybe that’s how all kids see their dads.

All the Malick fans can yell at me for oversimplifying it and missing the point, but I actually like this one. These are all positive endorsements. I know Malick makes movies designed to be interpretive. I went with him on this one, and this is MY tree of life.

Click the rapscallion to view the clip

This clip from Terrence Malick‘s Tree Of Life shows what happens when the story’s abused children get break from their a-hole dad. Without Brad Pitt around to handsomely abuse them, they have a pretty good time with their mom. They get to run around the house, yell their heads off, jump on the beds, and bring home lizards. They really need a good sock in the jaw, if you ask me and Brad Pitt.

Rules for my future children: Go to your rooms.

This montage is illustrative of Malick’s work. The sun pouring through the windows paints the scene with a serenity you rarely find outside of a lazy Saturday afternoon. Which means, in order to contrast, Brad Pitt is really going to have to lay the smack down something fierce when he gets back from his trip. These poor kids’ eyes are probably going to pop.

]]> http://www.screenjunkies.com/video/brad-pitts-kids-need-a-good-belting-in-tree-of-life-clip/feed/ 0 http://www.screenjunkies.com/video/sam-worthington-kidnaps-dr-mcnazi-in-new-the-debt-trailer/ http://www.screenjunkies.com/video/sam-worthington-kidnaps-dr-mcnazi-in-new-the-debt-trailer/#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 01:49:59 +0000 Geoffrey Golden http://www.screenjunkies.com/?post_type=Video&p=206573 For those of you who have never seen a movie where the villain is a Nazi – which I assume is all of you – then get ready for a treat.

Above is the trailer for The Debt, a Focus Features film directed by John Madden, starring Sam Worthington, Helen Mirren, Jessica “Young Helen Mirren” Chastain, and Tom Wilkinson. The film is about a Mossad mission in 1966 where three Israeli spies snuck into East Berlin to kidnap a horrible Nazi doctor. Surrounding that mission are dangers, secrets, and secret dangers. We follow the characters as they complete (?) the mission in the 60s, and thirty-some years later, when two of the now retired agents receive shocking news about their partner. *Duhn-duhn-duuuuuhn*

All goof-arounds aside, I can see this being an intriguing thriller. We see a lot of films about the Holocaust, but not as many about what happened afterward. Also, Israeli soldiers know how to kick some serious ass, and we saw a lot of Helen Mirren’s solid-looking boobs on a recent “SNL” episode I am intrigued.

The film stars Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain as parents who raise a son with anger issues. That’s all the info you need to guess who Sean Penn plays in this movie. Hey, pretty though.

The Tree of Life hits theaters May 27, 2011.