21 Grams 2003  R, 125 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Cast: Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Benicio Del Toro, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Clea DuVall, Danny Huston, Melissa Leo, Marc Musso, Teresa Delgado, Carly Nahon, Claire Pakis, Stephen Bridgewater, Nick Nichols, John Rubinstein, Denis O'Hare
This story leaps forward and backward in time featuring short moments in the lives of three strangers–Paul Rivers (Sean Penn), Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro), and Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts)–whose lives are forever changed by one horrific accident. Naomi Watts was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress, and Benicio Del Toro was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
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 The Assassination of Richard Nixon 2004  R, 95 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Niels Mueller
Cast: Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Don Cheadle, Jack Thompson, Brad William Henke, Michael Wincott, Mykelti Williamson, April Grace, Jared Dorrance, Nick Searcy, Jenna Milton, Mariah Massa
Businessman Samuel Bicke (Sean Penn) believes that life in America is not fair. His solution: hijack a commercial airliner and crash it into the White House hoping to kill President Nixon–and make himself a martyr in the process. Based on history, this film involves the 1974 attempt by Samuel Byek to assassinate Nixon.
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Children of the Corn: The Gathering 1996  R, 85 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
aka: Children of the Corn IV
Director: Greg Spence
Cast: Naomi Watts, Karen Black, Brent Jennings, Samaria Graham, Jamie Renee Smith, Brandon Kleyla, William Windom, Mark Salling, Toni Marsh, Lewis Flamagan III, Salle Ellis, Marietta Marich, Jonathan Patterson, Joshua Patterson, Kay Bower
This sequel is not directly related to the others but is more of a restart. Grace (Naomi Watts) returns to Nebraska to help her mother (Karen Black) who has been experiencing nightmares. Then, the town's children become "weird," and the gore begins as adults die in horrific ways.
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The Christmas Wish 1998 G, 97 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Ian Barry
Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Debbie Reynolds, Naomi Watts, Alexandra Wilson, Beverly Archer, Ian Meltzer, Frank Birney, Adilah Barnes, Michael Fairman, Jan Hoag, Gary Bayer, Stacy Lynn Spierer, Ismael "East" Carlo, Stuart Mitchell, Alexander Zale
After his grandfather dies, Will (Neil Patrick Harris) and his grandmother Ruth (Debbie Reynolds) go through the grandfather's effects and find his diary that reveals a relationship with his mistress Lillian. Will searches for Lillian and, in the process, learns about forgiveness and love. By story's end, Will and Ruth have both recaptured the Christmas spirit. This made-for-TV film premiered on the "CBS Sunday Movie" and was the #1 show for the week in the Nielson Ratings.
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Dangerous Beauty 1998 R, 112 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Marshall Herskovitz
Cast: Catherine McCormack, Rufus Sewell, Jacqueline Bisset, Oliver Platt, Moira Kelly, Fred Ward, Naomi Watts, Jeroen Krabbe, Joanna Cassidy, Jake Weber
Set in 16th-century Venice, amidst the turmoil of the Inquisition, this is the story of a courtesan, Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack), who works her way into the aristocratic world by bedding members of the ruling class–even to the point of influencing King Henry's (Jake Weber) decision to supply ships to fend off the Turkish fleet.
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Eastern Promises 2007 R, 100 min.
Genre: Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Sinead Cusack, Jerzy Skolimowski, Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse, Aleksander Mikic, Shannon-Fleur Roux, Raza Jaffrey, Josef Altin, Mina E. Mina, Lalita Ahmed
While serving as a midwife in London's Russian emigre section, Anna's (Naomi Watts) patient dies while giving birth. Anna determines to find the baby's family rather than put the baby in the foster-care system. Anna uses the girl's diary, and the clues, albeit in Russian, lead her to Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) who, unknown to Anna, heads a brutal crime family. Semyon wants to get his hands on the diary because of the secrets it holds, and he also wants the baby. But, the diary is not the only thing holding secrets. Semyon's son Dirill (Vincent Cassel) and underling Nickolai (Viggo Mortensen) have their own secrets–some of which are revealed in the diary–and will stop at nothing to get their hands on that diary. Mortensen received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
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Funny Games 2008  R, 110 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Michael Haneke
Cast: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart, Boyd Gaines, Siobhan Fallon, Robert LuPone, Susanne C. Hanke, Linda Moran
While vacationing at their lakeside home, Ann and George Farber (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth) and their young son Georgie (Devon Gearhart), Peter (Brady Corbet) appears at their door asking to borrow four eggs. Peter gets his foot inside the door, and it turns out that there is more to Peter than meets the eye. Peter and his cohort Paul (Michael Pitt) are actually serial killers moving through the neighborhood. The Farbers are their intended victims, and the tortures begin.
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 I Heart Huckabees 2004 R, 106 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Isabelle Huppert, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts, Angela Grillo, Ger Duany, Darlene Hunt, Kevin Dunn, Richard Appel
When environmentalist head of Open Spaces Coalition Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman) has conflicts with Huckabees superstores executive Brad Stand (Jude Law), Albert hires existential detectives Bernard (Dustin Hoffman) and Vivian (Lily Tomlin) to get to the bottom of some strange experiences. Brad also hires the same detectives–adding to this comedy involving philosophical meanderings.
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The International 2009 R, 118 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Tom Tykwer
Cast: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Brian F. O'Byrne, Ulrich Thomsen, Michel Voletti, Patrick Baladi, Jay Villiers, Fabrice Scott, Haluk Bilginer, Luca Barbareschi, Jack McGee, Allesandro Fabrizi, Felix Solis, Nilaja Sun
Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) teams up with Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) to investigate the International Bank of Business and Credit and its connection to an Italian arms dealer. Salinger and Whitman find their lives in peril as they travel through Berlin, Milan, New York, and Istanbul on the trail of the bank's paid assassin, The Consultant (Brian F. O'Byrne). They end up at New York's Guggenheim Museum where bullets fly and concrete shatters as they try to stop the bank's financing of war and terror.
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 King Kong 2005 PG-13, 187 min.
Genre: Adventure / Sci-Fi / Drama / Romance
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Colin Hanks, Andy Serkis, Evan Parke, Jamie Bell, Lobo Chan, Kyle Chandler, John Sumner, Joe Folau, Craig Hall, Bill Johnson, Mark Hadlow
In the 1930s, documentary filmmakers explore remote Skull Island in search of the legendary giant, King Kong. One filmmaker, Carl Denham (Jack Black), brings along beautiful actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) who is destined to be kidnapped by the natives and sacrificed to King Kong. But, Kong becomes intrigued with her, and Ann, in turn, finds true meaning in life through Kong. By story's end, Ann is rescued, Kong is captured, and they both arrive in NYC where the Empire State Building awaits. The film received 3 Academy Awards (Best Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects) and was nominated for one additional award.
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 Le Divorce 2003 PG-13, 115 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: James Ivory
Cast: Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Leslie Caron, Stockard Channing, Glenn Close, Stephen Fry, Thierry Lhermitte, Melvil Poupaud, Bebe Neuwirth, Sam Waterston, Samuel Labarthe
When Isabel (Kate Hudson) arrives in Paris to help her half-sister, Roxanne (Naomi Watts), she learns that Roxanne's husband (Melvil Poupaud) has walked out on her. So ends what should have been a peaceful visit as a complex comedy unfolds.
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 Mulholland Drive 2001 R, 146 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller, Dan Hedaya, Mark Pellegrino, Robert Forster, Lee Grant, Michael J. Anderson, Kate Forster, Brent Briscoe, Justin Theroux, Katharine Towne, Scott Coffey, Chad Everett
Aspiring actress Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) arrives in L.A. and into her vacationing aunt's garden apartment. To her surprise, she discovers that the apartment is already being used by Rita (Laura Harring) who is suffering from amnesia following her involvement in a car accident the previous night. Betty and Rita set out to uncover Rita's identity. At the same time, movie director Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) experiences problems with his financial backers. By story's end, Betty's, Rita's, and Adam's lives affect each other in such mystifying scenes that the viewer is left to interpret the solutions. David Lynch received a Best Director Oscar nomination.
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 Ned Kelly 2003 R, 110 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Gregor Jordan
Cast: Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Naomi Watts, Joel Edgerton, Laurence Kinlan, Phil Barantini, Kerry Condon, Kris McQuade, Emily Browning, Rachel Griffiths, Kiri Paramore
In this film adaptation of Robert Drew's historical novel, the "iron outlaw" Ned Kelly (Heath Ledger) and his relatives rob banks and become heroes in late-19th-century Australia.
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The Painted Veil 2006 PG-13, 125 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: John Curran
Cast: Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Diana Rigg, Toby Jones, Anthony Wong, Marie-Laure Descoureaux, Xia Yu, Alan David, Catherine An, Juliet Howland, Maggie Steed
W. Somerset Maugham's novel is brought to the screen with Naomi Watts playing the frivolous, upper-class Kitty who marries the middle-class doctor, Walter Fane (Edward Norton). When the couple moves to Shanghai and Walter immerses himself in his cholera research, spoiled Kitty begins an affair with diplomat Charlie Townsend (Liev Schreiber). Walter discovers the affair and threatens Kitty with divorce if she doesn't move with him to a remote village in China that is ravaged by cholera. Kitty joins Walter on the expedition and, in the harsh environment, gains a social conscience and finds a purpose in their lives.
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Persons Unknown 1996 R, 99 min.
Genre: Action / Thriller
Director: George Hickenlooper
Cast: Joe Mantegna, Kelly Lynch, Naomi Watts, J.T. Walsh, Jon Favreau, Xander Berkeley, Don Blakely, George Hickenlooper
After ex-cop Jim Holland (Joe Mantegna) is charmed by Amanda (Kelly Lynch) as part of her ploy to get security codes to the Colombian coke house he guards, the double-crossing, sex, drugs, and robbery play their roles in this action thriller.
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Plots with a View 2002 R, 94 min.
Genre: Comedy / Romance
aka: Undertaking Betty
Director: Nick Hurran
Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Alfred Molina, Christopher Walken, Robert Pugh, Naomi Watts, Lee Evans, Jerry Springer, Miriam Margolyes, Menna Trussler, Robert Page
When they were young, Boris (Alfred Molina) and Betty (Brenda Blethyn) were in love, but Betty married Hugh (Robert Pugh) who is now the town mayor and is also carrying on an affair with his secretary, Meredith (Naomi Watts). When her mother-in-law dies, Betty deals with the local undertaker who just happens to be Boris. Past emotions rise to the fore resulting in a plot to fake Betty's death and allow her to run away with Boris.
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The Ring Two 2005 PG-13, 110 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Hideo Nakata
Cast: Naomi Watts, David Dorfman, Simon Baker, Elizabeth Perkins, Gary Cole, Sissy Spacek, Ryan Merriman, Emily VanCamp, Kelly Overton, James Lesure, Daveigh Chase, Kelly Stables
Six months after Seattle journalist Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) and her son, Aidan (David Dorfman), watched and then destroyed that creepy videotape in "The Ring" (2002), they find even more evil emanating from what can only be copies of the tape.
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 The Ring 2002 PG-13, 110 min.
Genre: Horror / Mystery / Thriller
Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Brian Cox, Jane Alexander, Lindsay Frost, Amber Tamblyn, Rachael Bella, Daveigh Chase, Shannon Cochran, Sandra Thigpen, Richard Lineback, Sasha Barrese, Tess Hall, Adam Brody
This remake of the Japanese horror film, "Ringu" (1998), sticks to the original story of a cynical journalist. Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) investigates the mysterious death of her niece, Katie (Amber Tamblyn). Katie had told a friend that immediately after watching a certain video, her phone rang and a voice said, "Seven days." Exactly seven days later Katie died. Now, after Rachel and her young son (David Dorfman) watch the same video, she is faced with the fact that she has less than a week to solve the mystery or be doomed to Katie's fate.
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Stay 2005  R, 98 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Marc Forster
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ryan Gosling, Naomi Watts, Kate Burton, Elizabeth Reaser, Bob Hoskins, Janeane Garofalo, B.D. Wong, John Tormey, Jose Ramon Rosario, Becky Ann Baker, Jessica Hecht
A New York psychiatrist, Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor), strives to save a college student patient, Henry (Ryan Gosling), from committing suicide on his 21st birthday and, in the process, finds himself in a world beyond reality. 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | A very skilled, very deliberate presentation | 1fatts 03/07/2007 | Critics were divided on this one, and it seems to have come down to whether they "got it" or not. I got it. I frankly have trouble understanding how a professional movie reviewer could have missed it.
The construction is thoughtful and very well executed. People seem to be not exactly where they should be; time moves too quickly and then too slowly; voices are heard at the wrong time and the wrong place; the confusion encompasses not just the characters, but the camera, the weather, the flow of time.
It is all wonderfully arresting, and I think it all comes together beautifully just when it should.
Well worth watching. Make up your own mind. |
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Strange Planet 1999 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Emma-Kate Croghan
Cast: Claudia Karvan, Naomi Watts, Alice Garner, Tom Long, Aaron Jeffery, Felix Williamson, Hugo Weaving, Rebecca Frith, Marshall Napier, Leone Carmen
During the year leading up to 2000, this romantic comedy follows three women friends and three men friends living in Sydney, Australia. The women and men are destined to meet in this enjoyable effort.
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 Tank Girl 1995  R, 103 min.
Genre: Action
Director: Rachel Talalay
Cast: Lori Petty, Malcolm McDowell, Naomi Watts, Ann Cusack, Ice-T, Don Harvey, Iggy Pop, James Hong, Scott Coffey, Brian Wimmer
Rebecca Buck "Tank Girl" (Lori Petty) steps from her comic book pages onto the screen in this soft-core porn film about super-trials in the super-lives of superheroines. Tank Girl takes on the evil Water and Power Company in the year 2033. Maybe the Citizens Utility Board finally realized their futility!!
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 We Don't Live Here Anymore 2004 R, 104 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: John Curran
Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, Peter Krause, Naomi Watts, Sam Charles, Haili Page, Jennifer Bishop, Jennifer Mawhinney, Amber Rothwell, Jim Francis
In this negative view on marriage, two couples–Jack and Terry (Mark Ruffalo and Laura Dern) and Hank and Edith (Peter Krause and Naomi Watts)–are good friends, but their lifestyles are about to ruin their marriages and their children's security as well.
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1. 21 Grams (2003)
2. The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)
3. Children of the Corn: The Gathering (1996)
aka: Children of the Corn IV
4. The Christmas Wish (1998)
5. Dangerous Beauty (1998)
6. Eastern Promises (2007)
7. Funny Games (2008)
8. I Heart Huckabees (2004)
9. The International (2009)
10. King Kong (2005)
11. Le Divorce (2003)
12. Mulholland Drive (2001)
13. Ned Kelly (2003)
14. The Painted Veil (2006)
15. Persons Unknown (1996)
16. Plots with a View (2002)
aka: Undertaking Betty
17. The Ring Two (2005)
18. The Ring (2002)
19. Stay (2005)
20. Strange Planet (1999)
21. Tank Girl (1995)
22. We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)
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