Eagle Eye

2008 Action/Suspense/Mystery by director D.J. Caruso

Description: When a high tech, top secret classified, super smart computer decides that it knows what is better for the American people than the American people do, things get complicated.  The computer starts enlisting the assistance of unwilling everyday citizens to help complete its objective through blackmail. Now it’s up to Jerry and Rachel to save the people of America from this computer, while being chased by law enforcement, the military and 3 letter agencies.  Will they be successful in protecting the American way of life or will the super computer take over?

Review: A very well done “what if” story.  Granted, this idea has been done is various ways before; the idea of computers taking over is always a very real chance.  But I really liked the direction that Eagle Eye went and I like the character’s solutions. There is lots of action and suspense with a few comic relief moments. Well written, directed and acted.

My ratings:
Storyline & Plot – 7.5
Acting – 7.5
Action – 8
Suspense – 8

My favorite quotes:

ü  “Jerry Shaw you have been activated. Your compliance is vital.”

ü  “Well on behalf of all that fucking bomb equipment in junior pinhead’s apartment, no, you’re not.”

ü  “You’re all going to be demoted into something that’s gonna require touching shit with your hands.”

ü  “You couldn’t have picked a worse time to be of some use.”

Lead cast: Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Billy Bob Thornton
Supporting cast: Michael Chiklis, Anthony Mackie, Ethan Embry, William Saddler

The Amityville Horror (2005)

2005 – Horror/Mystery/Suspense by director Andrew Douglas

Description: Newlywed couple, George and Kathy Lutz, find and buy their dream home.  After moving their family in, strange things start to happen.  Maybe the history in this house plays a bigger part in their story than they think could be possible.  Will the Lutz family survive and if so for how long?  And will they ever get to the bottom of the riddle that is their house?

Review: If you have never read the book or seen any of the dozen previous versions of this movie, then I would tell you that it is a great movie!  It has a little more gore, suspense and more back story on the DeFao family and house pre-DeFao.  Ryan Reynolds does an amazing job with the character of George Lutz, makes him 5 times scarier.

BUT –I do have a few gripes: the real children that lived in this house were Danny, Chris and Missy.  These are Kathy’s children from a previous marriage that George adopted.  Later after the Amityville house George and Kathy had Chelsea.  In the original 1979 movie they changed the children’s names to Matt, Greg & Amy.  In the 2005 movie they changed the names again to Billy, Michael and Chelsea.  Why would they not use the boys but then put the wrong girl in?  Also, they changed the girl’s imaginary friend Jody.  In real life, the book and the original movie Jody is like a demon pig thing and in the 2005 they made Jody into a little girl who supposedly was a member of the DeFao family.

My ratings:
Acting – 8.5
Horror – 7
Suspense – 7
Violence – 6

My favorite quotes:
F   “Your house frightens me, Mrs. Lutz.”
F   “Hi, Lisa. Look what Ronnie did.”
F   “Do I look nuts to you?”
F   “When the body suffers... the spirit flowers.”

Lead cast: Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, Jesse James, Jimmy Bennett, Chloe Grace Moretz
Supporting cast: Philip Baker Hall, Rachel Nichols

The Amityville Horror (1979)

1979 – Horror by director Stuart Rosenberg

Description: Newlywed couple, George and Kathy Lutz, find and buy their dream home.  After moving their family in, strange things start to happen.  Maybe the history in this house plays a bigger part in their story than they think could be possible.  Will the Lutz family survive and if so for how long?  And will they ever get to the bottom of the riddle that is their house?

Review: Classic story of when your house attacks!  The writers stayed pretty close to the book.  You would get the most out of this movie by watching it after nightfall.  Typical overacting of the 70’s and 80’s drenches this movie.  Overall I think that I love this movie for the nostalgia factor, it used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid!

My ratings:
Storyline & plot – 6.5
Acting - 4
Horror – 6
Suspense – 6.5

My favorite quotes:
F   “I went into that house… And what I saw there was real, what I felt
       there was real and what I heard there WAS real!”
F   “Jody doesn’t like George.”
F   “Goddamn it, this is MY house!!”

Lead cast: James Brolin, Margot Kidder
Supporting cast: Ron Steiger, Don Stroud, Murray Hamilton