Unknown (2011)

Welcome to the "Cutting Room" where once a month we'll go in depth with newer released DVDs that you might have missed in theaters. This week's movie choice is Unknown.

by Ann Marie


A complex and interesting movie, Unknown introduces us to Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson, The A-Team) and his wife Elizabeth (January Jones, Pirate Radio) as they arrive in Berlin for a Biotechnology Summit.  Dr. Harris realizes he forgot his briefcase at the airport, he jumps into a cab driven by Gina (Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds) they both end up in an accident, driving off a bridge into a river. Gina rescues Dr. Harris but flees the scene.  He then is taken to the hospital where he spends four days in a coma, and upon returning to his wife he finds there is someone else impersonating him (Adian Quinn). The intrigue gets deeper as Dr. Harris recovers more memories lost in the crash, and each step he takes puts him closer to remembering who he really is.

The actors did a great job, bringing their roles to life.  The all star cast was led by Neeson, who has been enjoying his new found fame as an action hero ever since Taken.  Along side Neeson and the other leads, the supporting cast included Frank Langella (The Ninth Gate) as a longtime collegue of Dr. Harris' and the legendary actor Bruno Ganz as a PI with a past. All of the actors and actresses all helped move the story along, making the audience continue to guess between what is real and fake.

The movie does have some good scenes. One interesting technique Unknown uses is color.  When Neeson has flashbacks about his wife, those scenes use the colors of red, blue, green and yellow adding a look of oddly developed film.  It's an interesting technique and really adds to the movie's visual palette. Also during the end fight scene, the whole scene is shot in blue color. It brings a cold feel to the movie, but also adds great depth to the scene.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

The DVD Dump Bin segment is back for its (slightly belated) August entry… is Wet Hot American Summer a good pick for the dog days of summer?

Reviewed by James Ryder

Wet Hot American Summer opens to an excellent title screen montage of camp counselors partying out by a campfire to Jefferson Starship’s “Jane” (which I originally mistook for Aldo Nova’s “Fantasy” due to the similar piano riff).  This brief segment perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the movie, and perhaps encapsulates the motif of “youths hanging out in the summer” better than anything that follows.  The art of the title sequence may be a lost one, but Wet Hot American Summer's simple but effective opening sequence (along with its clever end credits) make the case that it isn’t quite dead.

The move that is sandwiched between the two credits is a fairly broad parody of the “summer camp” genre.  The film follows an ensemble of camp counselors (played by Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Ian Black, Molly Shannon, Amy Poehler and the film’s co-writer Michael Showalter) as they finish up various camp activities on the last day of camp.  Many summer camp comedies feature: a sporting event against a superior rival camp, some sort of event that threatens to shut the camp down forever, or getting lost in the wilderness.  This film sends up all three at various points, though at times some of the scenes and sequences seemed like they would be better fit for a sketch comedy program rather than scenes in a feature film, true to Showalter and director David Wain’s roots.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

by Ann Marie. 

It all ends.

After a quick clip from the previous movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 starts right where Part 1 left off. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are looking for the remaining three Horcruxes, the magical items responsible for the Dark Lord's immortality. This starts the race against time as the mystical Deathly Hallows are uncovered and Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes, The Constant Gardener) hunts down Harry to kill him. Since Harry and Voldemort can't both live at the same time, this begins and epic battle to conclude the series.

In addition to the action, the audience also learns more about Harry's past and family.  In the end a great way to close the chapter to a long series which followed the lives of Harry, Ron and Hermione since 2001.  For fans of the novels as well as the movies, the movie follows the book right up to last chapter.  My only complaint with the film, a relatively minor one, what the awkward scene after the evil is completely vanquished, Harry returns to Hogwarts, but it seems as though no one is aware of the battle that has just transpired.