Michael Clayton

Baader Meinhof Complex, The (2008)

IMDB rating: 7.40

Plot: Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation lead by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold. And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he’s only dealing with the tip of the iceberg.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)

IMDB rating: 7.30

Plot: Eddie’s friends are numerous, but the term friends is suspect. As a small time hood Eddie is about to go back to jail. In order to escape this fate he deals information on stolen guns to the feds. Simultaneously he is supplying arms to his bank robbing/kidnapping hoodlum chums. But who else is dealing with the feds? Who gets the blame for snitching on the bank robbers?

Fantasia/2000 (1999)

IMDB rating: 7.20

Plot: In this update of Disney’s masterpiece film mixture of animation and music, new interpretations of great works of music are presented. It begins with an abstract battle of light and darkness set to the music of Beethoveen’s Fifth Symphony. Then we see the adventures of a Humpback Whale calf and his pod set to “The Pines of Rome.” Next is the humourous story of several lives in 1930’s New York City, scored with “Rhapsody in Blue.” Following is a musical telling of the fairy tale, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” set to Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Then a goofy Flamingo causes havoc in his flock with his yo-yo to the tune of the finale of “Carnival of the Animals.” This is followed by the classic sequence from the original film, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” starring Mickey Mouse and followed by “Pomp and Circumstance” starring Donald Duck as a harried assistant to Noah on his Ark. Finally, we see the awesome tale of the life, death and renewal of a forest in a sequence featuring the composition, “The Firebird.”

Fire Down Below (1997)

IMDB rating: 4.30

Plot: EPA agent Jack Taggart is Stunned to hear from his boss Phil Pratt that his best friend and fellow agent Frank Elkins has been found dead in Kentucky after Frank’s truck plunged into a river. The Kentucky State Police believes that it was an accident, but the EPA believes it was no accident. It all began with an anonymous letter from the small town of Jackson, Kentucky. Frank was sent to Jackson to investigate what the letter described as some kind of pollution that is causing fish to die and causing people to get sick enough to die. Frank sent back water and soil samples that all tested off the charts for toxic substances. After Frank discovered that the Hanner Coal Company, owned by Orin Hanner Sr., is being paid to dump toxic waste into an abandoned coal mine shaft, Frank ended up dead. Jack is assigned to go to Jackson, where his contact will be Reverend Bob Goodall, who runs a church in Jackson. After arriving in Jackson, Jack finds out that he’ll be staying in a room in the church’s basement, and as Jack’s contact, of course Bob knows that Jack will be going undercover as a carpenter. Jack begins by repairing the roof at a house where he meets Henry Carr, his wife, and his kids Edie, Alberta, Christine, and Walter. Walter is sick because of the pollution. That night, Hanner’s son Orin Hanner Jr., also known as Junior, spies on the church along with corrupt Sheriff Lloyd, who is on Hanner’s payroll. On the next day, when Jack goes into downtown Jackson, he meets Betsy Hamill and her twin sister Patsy Hamill. Jack then walks down the street and introduces himself to Cotton Harry. Then Jack takes some water samples. At church on Sunday, Bob introduces Jack to everyone, and tells everyone that Jack is a carpenter. During lunchtime at the church, Jack introduces himself to Sarah Kellogg, a local outcast who is a beekeeper. Sarah has a brother named Earl. Jack goes to Sarah’s house and offers to repair the steps on her front porch. Over time, Jack comes to believe that something is bothering Sarah, and it’s something dark. Jack wants to save her from whatever it is, while trying to bring Hanner and his crew down.

Creating a World: Aeon Flux (2006)

IMDB rating: 5.30

Plot: The sci-fi actioner is set 400 years in the future, when disease has wiped out the majority of the earth’s population except for one walled, protected city-state, Bregna, ruled by a congress of scientists. The story centers on Aeon Flux(Theron), the top operative in the underground ‘Monican’ rebellion, led by The Handler(Frances McDormand). When Aeon is sent on a mission to kill a government leader, she uncovers a world of secrets…

The Yes Men Fix the World (2009)

IMDB rating: 7.60

Plot: Troublemaking duo Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, posing as their industrious alter-egos, expose the people profiting from Hurricane Katrina, the faces behind the environmental disaster in Bhopal, and other shocking events.

Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

IMDB rating: 7.10

Plot: John Marion Stryker is the ultimate Marine, a tough rifle squad leader who in 1943 is assigned a squad of new recruits saddled with three veterans and an old enemy of Stryker’s from previous duties in the Far East. One recruit in particlar is a source of friction with Stryker, Peter Conway, whose father was Stryker’s CO at Guadalcanal and who felt his son was too soft and cowardly to be a Marine. The squad grows more and more resentful at Stryker’s increasingly brutal training regimen and his lack of sympathy for the varied personal problems of the recruits, but his determination to mold them into fighting men helps save their lives when the squad is landed at Tarawa in November 1943 and Stryker risks his life to blow up a Japanese bunker that has slaughtered Marines trapped at a log wall. The now battle-tested squad becomes more closely-knit and Stryker’s relationship with the men warms as the squad eventually finds itself in the bloodiest island battle of the war, at Iwo Jima.

Baader Meinhof Complex, The (2008)

IMDB rating: 7.40

Plot: Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation lead by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold. And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he’s only dealing with the tip of the iceberg.

Streets of Blood (2009)

IMDB rating: 0.00

Plot: A police officer’s partner has died during Hurricane Katrina, but he later discovers that his partner may have been murdered. An investigation follows, taking the officer and his new partner into the depths of the criminal underworld.

Suddenly (1954)

IMDB rating: 7.00

Plot: The tranquility of a small town is marred only by sheriff Tod Shaw’s unsuccessful courtship of widow Ellen Benson, a pacifist who can’t abide guns and those who use them. But violence descends on Ellen’s household willy-nilly when the U.S. President passes through town… and slightly psycho hired assassin John Baron finds the Benson home ideal for an ambush.