Run Lola Run (1998)

Original Title

Lola rennt

Genre

Action | Crime | Thriller

Director

Tom Tykwer

Country

Germany

Cast

Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri, Armin Rohde, Joachim Król, Ludger Pistor, Suzanne von Borsody, Sebastian Schipper, Julia Lindig, Lars Rudolph, Ute Lubosch, Monica Bleibtreu, Heino Ferch, Hans Paetsch

Plot

The film begins with Lola (Franka Potente) receiving a phone call from her boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu). During an important job, Manni collected 100,000 marks, but since Lola didn't shown up, Manni is forced to travel by subway but accidentally leaves the bad of money on the train.
Calling from a phone booth, Manni explains he has 20 minutes to gather 100,000 marks before Ronnie (Heino Ferch), his boss, arrives and kills him for not having the cash.
Planning to rob a nearby supermarket, Manni is urged to wait by Lola, who promises to find the money. She decides to ask her father (Herbert Knaup), who is a bank manager.
The main part of the film is divided in three runs. Each run starts from the same situation but develops differently and has a different outcome.

Opinion

Run Lola Run is one of the films symbol of the Post-Wall German cinema. The film fascinates from the very beginning. I was not expecting to see a 20 minutes story repeated 3 times with some differences but I didn't mind, it was never boring: I actually really liked it.
Frank Griebe deserves a special mention because what impressed me the most was the photography. The techno soundtrack, by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil, blends perfectly with the film.
There is one thing I asked myself throughout the film: why does Lola run? Franka Potente totally proved she can run well, but couldn't she just take a taxi?

Quotes

"We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." - T. S. Eliot's Little Gidding

Rating

8.0/10

American History X (1998)

Genre

Crime | Drama

Director

Tony Kaye

Country

United States

Cast
Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien, Ethan Suplee, Fairuza Balk, Elliott Gould, Avery Brooks, Stacey Keach, William Russ, Guy Torry, Joe Cortese, Antonio David Lyons, David Basulto

Plot
Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton), a skinhead belonging to a sect financed by Cameron Alexander (Stacy Keach), is released from prison after serving three years for voluntary manslaughter of two black guys. The same day, his younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong), submits to his history teacher Murray (Elliott Gould) - which is Jewish - a paper on Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, believing to follow his brother Derek's belief; what Danny is still not aware of is that in prison Derek totally changed his mind, due to sexual violence coming by a component of his neo-Nazi group, and also because the only people that were close to him were both black: a young inmate, Lamont (Guy Torry), and his old school teacher, Sweeney (Avery Brooks).

Sweeney, which is also the principal of Danny's school, will give to the young boy a new assignment: he has to prepare a paper on his brother called "American History X".

Opinion
Marvelous film, perhaps my favorite. American History X is moving and definitely remains in the viewer's memory. Despite what tons of people think, this film is not about racism or anti-semitism, but about hate. The film ends with the last words of Danny's essay and lets hope. 

Well directed by a debutante Tony Kaye,  this film is embellished by the incredible performance of Edward Norton, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. 

Quotes
Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it.

Rating
9.5/10

The Negotiator (1998)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

F. Gary Gray

Country

United States

Cast

Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Paul Guilfoyle, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, J.T. Walsh, Siobhan Fallon, Paul Giamatti, Regina Taylor, Bruce Beatty, Michael Cudlitz, Carlos Gómez, Tim Kelleher, Dean Norris, Nestor Serrano, Stephen Lee, Leonard Thomas, Robert David Hall

Plot

Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson), a top Chicago Police Department hostage negotiator, is the victim of a conspiracy: he is charged with his partner's murder and with embezzlement from the department's disability fund.
To prove his innocence, Danny goes into the headquarter of the Department of Internal Affairs and takes as hostages several people including Terence Niebaum (J.T. Walsh), suspected by Roman to be part of the conspiracy.
He shifts from negotiator to abductor's shoes and he finds himself face to face with Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), another brilliant negotiator, called by Roman himself. Now it's up to Chris to save the hostages and bring Danny out alive.

Opinion

The Negotiator is a good action thriller film and spectacular in a couple of scenes; the duo Jackson-Spacey works fine, and they prove, once again, to be the best actors of their generation. It's nice seeing Spacey as the good guy. Great performance also by J.T. Walsh, who died several months before the film's release. 

Quotes

Chris Sabian: When your friends betray you, sometimes the only people you can trust are strangers.

Rating

8.0/10