Arlington Road

CAUTION! This is a cautionary tale, not a "feel-good" movie
This one kept me riveted throughout; I swear I didn't exhale until the last five minutes. No, I didn't see the ending coming, but it makes absolute sense given the ficton created therein (Roger Ebert is full of PRUNES when he says that it "flies apart in the last 30 minutes;" it not only works, it's the only way the film CAN end and maintain its integrity). The performances are spot-on (including Joan Cusack; hello? The woman is allowed to do something other than "zany" roles-- especially when she does so damned well with a role like this one), the plot is complex and yes, far-fetched, but pulls you in and keeps you in a stranglehold. But as I titled my review, do NOT watch this movie if you have to see good conquer evil/hope springs eternal etc.-- you WON'T LIKE IT. It is good drama, an excellent thriller, and while the nods to Ruby Ridge (NOT Waco,as has been suggested) and Oklahoma City made it timely when it was released, the events of 9-11-01 make it even more...

Ace of all thrillers!
This movie single handedly made me a huge Jeff Bridges fan. I have always loved the quirky Tim Robbins movies, so this was a double pleasure!

This is a suspencful, yet not pure eye candy thriller. There are a lot of reali life comaprisons to resistance groups spread all over the US ready to overthrow and show their disconent for the government while they end up punishing innocent people.

Bridges plays a College professor, who teaches a class on Terrorism, and little does he know that his own life is starting to follow the down spiral of the very bad things he teaches.

He becomes fast firends with the neighbours across the street as he saves their son one day. As he is enjoying the new friendship weird things keep occuring. There are suspicious things that they dont want him to see in the house, and when he tries to do his own spying to see what is going on, he finds out more than he can handle.

THis movie is really easy to spoil so I wont...

The scariest movie ever made in broad daylight
Noon. A suburb of Washington, DC, a street dotted with houses just a shade too small to be McMansions. No one is around.

Wait --- here comes someone. A boy. White, of course. About 9 years old. Dressed in jeans and high-top sneakers. Walking unsteadily in the middle of the street. Lurching, really.

And now we see why: blood dots his sneakers, makes a trail on the pavement.

Luckily, a resident comes along --- Michael Faraday (yes, he has the same name as the great scientist who experimented with electricity and magnetism). He scoops the boy up, rushes him to the hospital. Eventually, the boy's parents show up, grateful beyond measure that the rocket their son set off wasn't more powerful --- and that they have such a good neighbor.

And now we see the opening credits: distorted photos of suburban life. They look anything but peaceful. Clever movie lovers will recall shots like this in David Lynch's "Blue Velvet." Clearly, something evil...

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