Word: plotting
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...Just hearing the setup of this crime-movie storyline has audiences jittery with anticipation. It's rare that a plot gets people into theaters, but this one already has, and will again. Four years ago it was the scenario for Infernal Affairs, a terrific Hong Kong movie directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, and written by Mak and Felix Chong, which became one of the all-time top grossers in the ex-colony. Now it has been remade by Martin Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan as The Departed. Chances are that, with Leonardo DiCaprio as the good cop, Matt...
...with any gnarly crime plot, this one dares to strain credulity. Once or twice, a skeptical viewer may ask, What are the odds? The odds that Billy would commit all manner of crimes, to prove his underworld bona fides, and never get so much as an interested glance, let alone a collar, from the cops who don't know he's one of them. The odds that Colin would rise so quickly in the force, and be deemed so trustworthy that he'd be assigned to sleuth out the rat on the team - himself. The Departed adds one coincidence even...
...rescue. Instead of unwinding, as Scorsese's movies tend to, this one keeps coiling, a python of a plot that puts the what-happens-next? element of standard, superior storytelling at the forefront of the audience's mind. Viewers are alerted to trust no one; immediately or ultimately, five of the characters will reveal that they are not what they seem. The anticipation of trickery keeps a movie crowd on its toes. And because the story is so strong, Scorsese can elaborate on it without looking self-indulgent. One visual strategy: he plants X's everywhere, on the walls...
...advent of terrorism carried out in Islam's name - in Madrid, London and elsewhere - has deepened the rancor in the debate. Days after the most recent plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic was uncovered by British intelligence, Muslim leaders used the renewed focus on their communities to call for further measures to make them feel at home. An open letter to the Prime Minister signed by 38 Muslim groups in Britain and six politicians even demanded that the government "change our foreign policy to show the world that we value the lives of civilians wherever they live...
...Jennifer Decker (known primarily for roles on French television). Is this yet another “Pearl Harbor,” where war is eclipsed by the tearful tale of a pretty boy military man and his gal? The bittersweet romance is definitely there, but rather than commandeering the plot, it is one of several distinct elements that subtly blend into the background of an intense and commendable portrayal of World War I combat. The film is based on the true stories of Americans who joined the Lafayette Escadrille in the French military to train as pilots, before America officially...