Tag Archives: Thora Birch

Train-2008

Train-2008

Director Gideon Raff

Starring Thora Birch

Scott’s Review #140

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Reviewed July 28, 2014

Grade: C-

Train (2008) is a horror, torture film that has very similar elements to Hostel (Americans alone in an eastern country- in this case, northern Russia) and plotted films that were all the rage at this time.

The premise is fairly interesting- the college wrestling team misses a train in northern Russia due to late-night partying and has to take another one where they are systematically accosted, tortured, and dismembered by a strange Russian gang and have their body parts implanted in needy people who are passengers on said train.

However, the film fails on many levels. The bottom line is the film is not very compelling. It is purely plot-centered and has no character development.

Who are the athletes? What do they care about?

In the horror genre, one can make the argument that who cares about the characters, but it would have been nice to have a little background on them.

Also with horror, suspension of disbelief is mandatory, and I can almost buy the villains legitimately doing the surgical transplants for money (one bad guy’s claims that they are torturing the athletes to help save people is silly), but why they rape and torture the athletes before removing their body parts is never explained.

The film has an incredible amount of plot holes- why is the wrestling team male and female? Why do they perform the transplants on a train? How can an eye transplant recipient need no recovery time before he can inexplicably walk around with perfect eyes?

The list goes on and on.

I will give props to the torture scenes, which are cringe-worthy in their gross-out aspect. I didn’t think Thora Birch was successful as the lead actress in the film- a shame since she had so much career promise in American Beauty in 1999.

Train (2008) is a pale retread of the Hostel franchise, but nowhere near as interesting.

American Beauty-1999

American Beauty-1999

Director Sam Mendes

Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening

Top 100 Films #65

Scott’s Review #70

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Reviewed June 25, 2014

Grade: A

American Beauty is a film that holds up magnificently well and packs the same punch as it did when I originally saw it premiered in 1999.

The film won the Best Picture Oscar in 1999, surprisingly so, as it is not a mainstream film and is edgy, artistic, and poetic.

The film is a thought-provoking story of the American Dream gone wrong and how most people live ordinary, humdrum, on the surface, happy lives, but ultimately are unhappy, damaged, or otherwise unfulfilled.

It is a truthful film and reminds me quite a bit of The Ice Storm, a film from 1997.

American Beauty is not a downer but rather is witty, dark-humored, and filled with dry sarcasm.

Kevin Spacey is tremendous as the central character going through a mid-life crisis and Annette Bening is frighteningly good as his neurotic, controlling wife.

Their daughter, played by Thora Birch, has her teenage angst and falls in love with a neighborhood misfit. Every character, even small and supporting, is troubled in some way.

American Beauty (1999) is a film that was loved or hated at the time of its release; some did not get it or did not want to invest in the thought it requires, but, to me, it’s a work of art, which has achieved a timeless quality.

Oscar Nominations: 5 wins-Best Picture (won), Best Director-Sam Mendes (won), Best Actor-Kevin Spacey (won), Best Actress-Annette Bening, Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (won), Best Original Score, Best Cinematography (won), Best Film Editing