Skinwalkers

[Zhukov]

This is a PBS movie, so I'm not sure if many have even heard about it. I don't think it was even released in theatres. I suppose as a PBS movie it was made for PBS, and later released on video. At any rate here's the review....



Medicine men on a Navajo reservation near Phoenix are being picked off by a killer masquerading as an evil spirit. On the case are a Policeman/Medicine-man-in-training, a cycnical Detective from Phoenix, ignorant and uncaring of most things Navajo, and one mighty fine looking squaw.

It's a mystery suspense film, which I unfortunately (as I always do) figured out early on. (Hey, what can I say, I knew Brad Pitt's wife's head was in that box before I even saw the truck. I'm that good.)

It features Wes Studi (Mogua from The Last of the Mohicans, great one) as the cyncial big city detective. His acting is inconsistent. Sometimes his demeanor is nuanced and sometimes its wooden. But maybe that's a Navajo thing. (I don't think Studi is Navajo though). Everyone else does a consistent job.

It's an interesting movie. No nudity, very little violence, no language.

Not great, but certainly not bad.


EDIT:


You know, I think I pluralized the title when I shouln't have....but I can't remember, no matter.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Did you get The Sixth Sense before the Big Reveal? That thing blew me out of the water.

 

[Zhukov]

Yeah, but only just barely. Right before they revelead it completely I said aloud, "oh my god, he's dead isn't he?". I was watching it with people who had already seen it, and they just smiled. In retrospect it's so incredibly obvious I was ashamed I had missed it for most of the movie.

The Usual Suspects on the other hand, well watching it again I'm not sure if they really gave you any clues until the unraveling at the end, but that one I didn't see coming.

I began to get suspicious though when the cop was trying to tell verbal that Gabriel Burns was the real Kaiser Soyze. All I could of think of was, this guy is completely wrong. But by the time I worked it out they had already revealed it.

 

[Dan]

The Usual Suspects on the other hand, well watching it again I'm not sure if they really gave you any clues until the unraveling at the end, but that one I didn't see coming.

There were a few clues there, but they were very subtle. If you watch the DVD with the director's commentary, you pick up on a lot more.

Just an example, there's the scene in the interrogation room where Verbal, because of his "condition", can't light his lighter. If you watch closely, about ten minutes later, in the flashback, there's a quick shot where it pans around all of them and Verbal is lighting his cigarette with no trouble. Then again, everything in the flashbacks could very well be total lies, so who knows?

I gotta admit, even though it's getting to be a major cliche, I'm a fan of movies like this, where the end makes you completely rethink the entire movie. I think the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" utilizes this trick perfectly, if only because the final surprise is completely integral to the plot, not just a quick twist. Ditto for "Memento".

 

[rtwngAvngr]

How about No Way Out with kevin Kostner? Did you know he WAS Yuri? That also blew me away.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

I was just going to mention memento. What a piece of genius. I only saw it once. I could stand to see it again. I drove backwards all the way home from the theater.

 

[Zhukov]

I havent seen memento or eternal sunshine or no way out. So I can't comment.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Originally posted by Zhukov
I havent seen memento or eternal sunshine or no way out. So I can't comment.

Well, I just blew no way out for you. It's still excellent though.

 

[Zhukov]

Originally posted by rtwngAvngr
Well, I just blew no way out for you. It's still excellent though.

Don't worry I've already forgotten what you wrote, besides the mere mention of Kevin Costner gives me serious misgivings.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Originally posted by Zhukov
Don't worry I've already forgotten what you wrote,

You really know how to make a guy feel special!