Eastern Promises...

[LetsMeetUpInParadise240]

Excellent, excellent film. I wasn't sure if I was going to see it because I was one of the few who didn't like A History of Violence. But the acting, script, and direction was close to perfection....as far as I was concerned anyway. Very disturbing in parts, but also very powerful and touching in others. If Viggo Mortensen doesn't get an Oscar nomination for his performance, then the Academy are absolute fools.

Highly recommended. See it when you can.

[Kazu]

Man, I want to see this film so badly. I'll probably head out and see it tonight.

[Kazu]

I finally got to see this today. Great film. Cronenberg and Mortensen are on a roll, and Steve Knight is proving to be one of the best screenwriters working today (Dirty Pretty Things is one of my all-time favorite films). While I have to admit that I was slightly (only slightly) disappointed with the ending, it didn't do anything to diminish the raw power of the inspired filmmaking that preceded it. Eastern Promises features some of the sharpest psychological character portraits I've ever seen, and is also one of the few times that I can honestly say that the violence is portrayed in such a way that it does not desensitize you to it.

Anyway, this is turning out to be one amazing year for movies, and we still have No Country For Old Men, 30 Days of Night, American Gangster, The Golden Compass, There Will Be Blood, I Am Legend, and Atonement coming up. I'm super excited.

[LetsMeetUpInParadise240]

Yeah, I kind of got that feeling that things weren't finished. But it didn't bother me that much because I was for the most part satisfied with how things were resolved towards the end anyway. Plus the relationship between Mortensen and Naomi Watts was very well done, not to mention tasteful considering that there was obviously an attraction with the both of them and the movie didn't go for obligatory romance.

the violence is portrayed in such a way that it does not desensitize you to it.

I'd say thats a bit of an understatement. *thinks of the curved blades and shudders*

Agreed. Lotsa great movies coming out. I'm keen on checking out The Darjeen Limited, Lust Caution, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Gone Baby Gone, and American Gangster as well.