THE ONES BELOW [2015]

Hanna & The Night Manager screenwriter David Farr makes his directorial debut with his 90's inspired thriller The Ones Below.
Two pregnant couples move into an English flat, one couple sickeningly happy in life and the other weird, weird and more weird...so naturally things get intense ala The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Pacific Heights, The Crush, The Temp...well, you get it.
It's a light piece of fluff that misses all it's marks to be anything remotely suspenseful, thrilling or unpredictable.  There's far too many far-fetched plot-points and character bits to make it the least bit believable.  However Harry Potter vet Clémence Poésy gives in a pretty wonderful performance that will make it a fine film to catch in the middle of the afternoon on The Woman's Network.

2 darned cats out of 5

127 HOURS [2010]

Danny Boyle directs James Franco in the biographical thriller 127 Hours, based on canyoneer Aron Ralston's struggle to free his hand being stuck by a boulder.
Reminiscent of the way Darren Aronofsky portrayed an incredibly flawed Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, the film gets even more intimate and personal in some truly thoughtful and disturbing ways.  Franco does a fantastic job as a reckless near sociopath that is twisted into a reflective thankful soul.  With the story taking place 90% in a hole in the ground, it's a challenge to hold your attention for the entirety of the film but Boyle & Franco do a damn fine job attempting it.

3½ ghosts of Scooby-Doo out of 5

IN BRUGES [2008]

Writer/director Martin McDonagh's feature length debut, In Bruges, is a wonderfully dark and humorous crime drama that slowly unravels Hell into Heaven.

Some brilliantly comical and tragically human performances compliment the wonderfully executed script and pacing.  It starts off a little slow but all can be forgiven as the situation cleverly snowballs into something far more complicated than what we're initially led to believe.  

3½ fucking cunt kids out of 5