The Boondock Saints, Secuestro Express, Constantine’s Sword & Eagle Eye

The Boondock Saints -If you like vigilante films a la Death Wish, then this one’s one for you. Unlike good ol’ Charles Bronson, these fellas (Sean Patrick Flannery, Norman Reedus & Willem Dafoe) can act. Dafoe, who plays a gay FBI agent here, is a class actor. By the way, a sequel is said to be in the works.

Secuestro Express (Spanish) – Decent movie centering around the kidnapping of a wealthy young couple in Caracas. Mia Maestro, who plays the role of Carla, one of the kidnap victims, is a more than acceptable actress. Who knew that a small country like Venezuela made such nice movies. Mia Maestro is hot.

Eagle Eye – A fast-paced movie starring Michelle Monaghan, Shia LeBeouf and Billy Bob Thornton. By the time the two stars get to the docks after the wild car chase, we guessed who was pulling the strings. Still, worth a watch.

Constantine’s Sword – We were disappoined in this documentary that purports to establish a connection between the Christian right and the U.S. military. Perhaps we expected too much. To the ignoramuses, the historical background on anti-semitism in the Catholic Church can be a revelation but the link between the Christian right and the U.S. military seemed a little tenuous to us. But as they say in this documentary, Religion has not always been on the side of the good and virtue.

17 Responses to "The Boondock Saints, Secuestro Express, Constantine’s Sword & Eagle Eye"

  1. Skjoldbjærg   January 4, 2009 at 11:57 pm

    One of the review says this Did you re alize, for instance, that right now, in the US of A, gizmos make it possible to write a script while flicking from “Enemy of the State” to “North by Northwest” to “2001”?

    http://www.nypost.com/seven/09262008/entertainment/movies/thriller_a_stalled_eagle_130746.htm

    did you feel the same way (stolen shit?)?

    the critics have given it 43/100 (metacritics), while the users of the same site have given it 7.5.. i think i’ll trust the users on this.. i could use some mindless action on the blu-ray player.. Both boxofficemojo and imdb users also give it a pretty good rating.. sometimes critics can be too tight-assed. 😉

    i dropped the idea of viewing Mission Impossible again.. as many reviewers themselves seem confused about the movie’s plot.

    Death Race and Cloverfield are the other two movies in my first netflix queue. I love action!

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. Didn’t get the stolen shit feeling with Eagle Eye because we haven’t seen the three movies in your link (although we’ve read 2001 a gazillion years back, we can’t remember a thing).

    There is of course the deja vu feeling after all those chases and hectic running around.

    2. With critics, sometimes there’s a herd mentality.

    3. You write: Death Race and Cloverfield are the other two movies in my first netflix queue.

    If you haven’t seen Casablanca, now is the time to make amends. Another classic is On the Waterfront -Marlon Brando at his acme?

    BTW, the NYT has reviewed a new biography of Brando. Somebody – The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando By Stefan Kanfer. Here’s an excerpt from the NYT review:

    [I]t is the first serious biography to appear since Brando’s death in 2004, and therefore the first account to corral in one place the whole story of what Kanfer aptly calls “a life of ludicrous excess, outlandish triumphs and appalling sorrows.”

    Let’s get real – Indians (Bollywood or Kollywood) make more romances than action movies. Bollywood and its younger siblings are utterly hopeless in the action department. So a better comparison would be their romances (Hollywood) vs ours (Bollywood, Kollywood et al)

  2. the gora   January 5, 2009 at 3:47 am

    The only thing that could be worse than Boondock Saints… a sequel to Boondock Saints. One of the most OVERRATED movies of all time. Falls into the same category as that other “cool, hip, awesome” pile of crap, Donnie Darko.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write above: One of the most OVERRATED movies of all time

    Actually lot of critics slammed it but many movie buffs, or is it moviegoers, liked it.

    We think it showcases decent acting (Willem Dafoe et al) compared to the much hyped Deathwish.

  3. Skjoldbjærg   January 5, 2009 at 8:05 am

    I have watched both.. on VHS, I think… I think I liked Waterfront better than Casablanca.. I may change my opinion now.. I was young and dumb then.. I maybe a little smarter now.

  4. Skjoldbjærg   January 5, 2009 at 9:50 am

    Another movie that can be added to the buffs and goers debate
    30/100 – buffs ; 74/100 – goers

    http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/butterflyeffect?q=butterfly%20effect

    I agree that there were some gaping holes – why didn’t the mom and doc look at the 7 year olds precocious diaries.. we probably have to assume that they were morons and move on. And the butterfly effect has been extremely dumbed down (it only affects certain characters and the rest of the characters are not affected).. but still the movie was pretty watchable..
    I am thinking that the critics were too biased(or jealous because he got to nail Demi Moore? – I hate.. err.. dislike her and her fake boobies) against pretty boy Kutcher.

    SI, it is on netflix instant play.. it is worth a miss unless you are too obsessed with the buffs Vs. goers debate.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Netflix has Kannathil Mutthamittal in Instant Play.

    Perhaps the only Instant Tamil movie, although the title says Peck on the Cheek. Search for Madhavan and you’ll find it.

    We’ll probably watch Butterfly Effect.

  5. Skjoldbjærg   January 5, 2009 at 11:36 am

    Yeah, I did notice Peck on the Cheek.. have already watched it before..

    Netflix isn’t too good with sorting Indian movies, I guess
    http://www.netflix.com/WiGenre?sgid=2526&vt=tl&so=1&lnkctr=genDdTlrt&pgid=2621&st=rt
    doesn’t feature Peck on the Cheek.
    And they have got the release dates all wrong.

    Out of that, I’ll probably watch Abhimaan. I think I have watched it before.. not sure thought

    I noticed that there is no “Autograph” review here..
    http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Autograph/70076500?trkid=223716
    that’s a good one..
    http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Kadhal/70079309?trkid=223716
    one of my favorites.. you may like it too because it has Sandhya in it.
    http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Aasai/26213208?trkid=223716
    may help change your view of Ajith (from ultimate Korangu to Ultimate Homo habilis?) but that movie is actually a Prakashraj vehicle.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. You write above: Netflix isn’t too good with sorting Indian movies, I guess
    http://www.netflix.com/WiGenre?sgid=2526&vt=tl&so=1&lnkctr=genDdTlrt&pgid=2621&st=rt
    doesn’t feature Peck on the Cheek.

    No. A Peck on the Cheek is actually the first one in the list.

    2. You write above: Out of that, I’ll probably watch Abhimaan.

    Abhimaan has some lovely songs that we’ve often listened to so with much pleasure over the decades.

    Here are two:

    Loote Koi Man Ka Nagar

    Piya Bina Piya Bina

  6. StrYngLad74   January 5, 2009 at 12:35 pm

    @gora:

    “The only thing that could be worse than Boondock Saints… a sequel to Boondock Saints. One of the most OVERRATED movies of all time.”

    Truly, an overrated pile of crap, like you said. Though you have to admit it is a pretty big cult hit, despite the really bad acting (and the Irish accents) and a pretty weak storyline.

    Troy Duffy, the director, will be directing the sequel after 10 years. The last movie he directed was the original in 1999. The 10 year gap goes to show how “good” his “directing skills” are. Obviously, no one thinks he’s good enough for anything besides directing Boondock Saints.

    “Falls into the same category as that other “cool, hip, awesome” pile of crap, Donnie Darko.”

    I disagree somewhat here. I kinda liked it, despite its warped story. It was creepy during some parts and I kinda dig the “trippy” aspect of the movie, something you disliked.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: despite the really bad acting

    Who are you referring to?

    Willem Dafoe was good and the twins were fine as was Rocko. Who else is left.

  7. StrYngLad74   January 5, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    “Who are you referring to? Willem Dafoe was good and the twins were fine as was Rocko. Who else is left.”

    Willem Dafoe’s character was over-the-top and the TWINS (Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery) sucked primarily because of their BAD BAD BAD Irish accents. The best character in the movie was Il Duce, played by Billy Connelly. He kicked butt!

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    We disagree…Il Duce, played by Billy Connolly, had such a small role in the film.

  8. Skjoldbjærg   January 5, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    Oops, apparently Netflix removed it from the list because I watched 45 seconds of it last night.. Not a good idea, I think.. they can probably mark it as “Watched” instead of completely removing it from the list.

    Have heard a lot about Donnie Darko, but never got to watch it.. and not planning to.. But will watch Boondock, as it is on instant play.

    Searchindia.com Responds:

    It should still be in your Instant play queue, which is a separate queue.

  9. kurf   January 5, 2009 at 9:25 pm

    Hey SI,

    I was wondering when will you post the review of Usual suspects.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Soon.

  10. StrYngLad74   January 6, 2009 at 12:00 pm

    “We disagree…Il Duce, played by Billy Connolly, had such a small role in the film.”

    Small role, true, but totally worth it.

  11. sanewar   January 6, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    both eagle eye and boondock saints are shitty movies,
    recommending eagle eye is sin.,
    Try to watch “gomorra”, only good movie i ve seen in recent times.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Gomorra has not released in the U.S. yet.

    Limited release of the movie in the U.S. starts Feb 13. We’ll most likely watch the film & review it on SearchIndia.com.

    For quite some time, we’ve been reading about the book on which it is based in NYT.

    More info here.

  12. Skjoldbjærg   January 6, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    yo Sanewar, how do you watch your movies? I am assuming that you are in India and you go the Asha-route – through torrents (because google query yielded http://www.torrentsgalaxy.com/members/sanewar.html).. PC is obviously not the best way to watch a mindless action movie like Eagle Eye.

    Hope you are wrong about Eagle Eye.. It is going to be the first blu-ray movie I am going to watch on my blu-ray player. It better be better than shitty.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    PC is not a good route to watch any film. Tried it once or twice.

    PC is ideal for YouTube.

  13. Skjoldbjærg   January 6, 2009 at 4:15 pm

    Eagle Eye:
    Went it with low expectations.
    All I wanted was crashes and explosions and got tons of it.

    It helped that I have already had frontal lobotomy (to borrow from Berardinelli) watching plenty of indian movies.. so I didn’t care much about logic..

  14. sanewar   January 7, 2009 at 11:53 am

    @ skj…… whoever u are,

    i watched “Eagle eye” in a better screen than bluray, its called “cinestar”. The user in torrentgalaxy is not me.
    My opinion on Eagle eye still stands as shitty.., may be while i am drunk , i may enjoy the movie.When i go to an action movie , i always expect a fraction of die hard in it, may be that is wrong.

  15. Skjoldbjærg   January 7, 2009 at 4:26 pm

    @ sanewar

    If “Cinestar” is a movie theater, yes it would have hurt to spend the $ or dinars or whatever currency that you use..
    But at home with a couple of beers, it was fun.. letting the speakers and sub-woofer work overtime..

    Did you like “Live Free or Die Hard”.. it was easily my second favorite DH movie.

    Also watched “Death Race”.. was as bad/good as Eagle Eye.

    Cloverfield was easily the best of the 3. It was better than what I had expected.

    I am in a movie watching spree – have to watch as many movies on the 4 movies at a time free trial before I downgrade to the 9$ option in netflix.

  16. sanewar   January 8, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    @ skj….whoever you are,

    well if u are in such spree, u can better watch amores perros, city of gods, 13 tzameti and der untergang than watching eagle eye.

  17. Skjoldbjærg   January 8, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    @sanewar,
    thanks for the suggestions.. How do you watch these movies.. I don’t think you get them in theater, do you?

    13 tzameti is on instant play.. so it will finish it first.

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