sharviel Reviews

Stolen (2009)

Absolutely worth a watch!

[9/10 · 19 March 2011]

I normally loath movies about the kidnapping of children but this one was fabulous! As always, Lucas performs perfectly - as does the rest of the cast.

The greatest thing about this movie is the subtlety. You know what's been done to these children but it never crosses that line and shows you or goes into any great detail about it, which I very much appreciated.

The characters were developed very well without long blocks of the movie taken up with boring development. The plot was easy to follow yet still intricate enough to hold your interest. I was taken aback somewhat by the revelation of the killer although I had a suspicion all along.

Only had one problem with the movie and that was the fact that a cop was allowed full access to a prisoner who was a suspect in the disappearance of the cops son. That would not have happened in "real life" and I found that to be a bit distracting.

Excellent movie, finely acted and written. I would highly recommend to anyone.

Monster's Ball (2001)

Really not worth your time....

[2/10 · 19 March 2011]

Before you attempt to watch this movie be warned that it contains a VERY EXPLICIT sex scene.

I was excited to see this movie. However, I had to struggle to sit through the entire movie. I am beyond stunned that Halle Berry won an Oscar for her role in it. I found the scene in the living room between her and Billy Bob to be disturbing, disgusting and practically a visual assault! I had not been aware that such an explicit sex scene was involved or I would not have watched it at all! It is a very dark movie that could have been good but to be honest that one scene ruined the entire movie for me.

Tell Tale (2009)

Great twists

[8/10 · 19 March 2011]

While not following Poe step by step...this movie was so refreshing from all the other "transplant possession" movies. Great twist! Loved it! As usual Lucas gives a stellar performance and the ending was truly the icing on the cake! I sure didn't see that coming!

His confusion and horror at his actions was palpable and I especially love that the writers didn't "talk down" to the audience and kept everything very subtle so as to force the audience to figure it out for ourselves.

I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes this type of movie but perhaps is tired of the usual "donor was murdered and possesses the donee (or whatever they're called) in order to find the murderer" type of movies. This one takes that and gives it several big twists all the way to the very last scene of the movie. Loved it!