1) The Good Shepherd (2006), an overlong but engrossing fictionalization of the early years of the CIA, from WWII to the Kennedy era, as seen through the eyes of one man, played by Matt Damon. As is par for the course these days, the chronology is fractured for little reason; I think it would play out equally well in straight chronological order except for a bit that is dragged out over the entire film concerning the search for someone who whispered Bay of Pigs plans in a whore's ear during sex.
Damon is recruited out of college (in fact, right out of the secret Yale organization, Skull and Bones) for intelligence work with the newly established OSS (Office of Stretegic Services) which morphed into the CIA after the war. His success in his work right through the Cold War up to the disastrous attempted invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs is paralleled with his failures in his personal life--a shotgun marriage to rich girl Angelina Jolie, a broken relationship with his son, a lack of a sense of humor, and a growing inability to trust anyone (seen as a necessary trait for success in the spy business). The narrative seems influenced by The Godfathers I and II, though we don't get as solid a handle on Damon as we do on Pacino. The film, directed by Robert DeNiro, who also has a small but showy role, does move slowly but it always looks good, and most of the performances (especially by Michael Gambon, Lee Pace--now in "Pushing Daisies," Alec Baldwin, William Hurt, and Damon and Jolie) are excellent.
2) Hostel (2005), a horror film from director Eli Roth who is buddies with Quentin Tarentino--Quentin was an executive producer on this film, and Roth had a cameo in Grindhouse. I had never seen any films in the recent "torture porn" genre until now, and much as I like horror films, I really had no burning desire to sample these movies, but, sucker that I am for a pretty face, I was attracted to this one by the somewhat hunky hero, Jay Hernandez (pic at right). The plot has promise: a trio of incredibly obnoxious boy/men (two frat guys and one Icelandic husband and father who is still sowing his oates) are traveling across Europe looking for sex and drugs (there is very little rock & roll here). They get involved in a bizarre business in Bratislavia in which rich people pay lots of money to torture and murder innocent young people who are lured into the scheme. Of course, our trio are lured, tortured, and murdered, except for Hernadez who escapes and even manages to get some revenge in the end. The torture scenes are gross and depressing (I saw the unrated cut) but not especially "scary" (though the Bratislavian hostel has a nicely creepy vibe). All three guys are total assholes, so even though they may not deserve to have holes drilled into them, or have fingers sawed off, we have little empathy for them. A blicky little film with very little redeeming value. I thought Roth's first film, Cabin Fever, showed promise, but maybe not.
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