Murder ‘Mystery’

As of this past week, I have officially finished viewing all of last years Oscar Best Picture nominees. The sole one that slipped through my grasp prior to the Academy Awards was Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s epic The Revenant. Snagging Best Achievement in Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Best Director (for Iñárritu), the filmmaker transports us to the year 1823, placing us in the heart of the wilderness – more specifically, a piece of pre-government structured territory in the United States located close to the Dakotas.

Dealing with the moral quandary of a drone strike, Eye in the Sky captures the complex nature of pulling the trigger when you’re thousands of miles away from your target. Written by Guy Hibbert and directed by Gavin Hood, the story demonstrates the interconnectedness of military decision making in the twenty-first century. Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) is running a complicated capture mission from a military base in England. She is attempting to seize high value targets from a terrorist group, including Susan Danford (Lex King) – a British citizen turned terrorist (on the top-ten most wanted list). After many long years, Colonel Powell finally has a bead on the elusive militants – who are making a stop in a safehouse in Nairobi.

Nestled in the heart of the Adirondacks, the cleverly named Trekonderoga is a highly unique comic convention. Located in Ticonderoga, New York, the event not only boasts celebrities, vendors, reminiscences, discussions and a perfect reincarnation of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise (built using the original blueprints from the series – which is celebrating its 50th year), but also features the rich history and striking natural surroundings at the heart of the small locale. Misty mountains, lush green forests, a rapidly flowing miniature waterfall, the impressive structure that is Fort Ticonderoga, historic buildings and other forms of beautiful nature are all found in the location that straddles both Lake George and Lake Champlain.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. . . The Trouble With Harry is, well, he’s dead. Alfred Hitchcock directs this cheeky black comedy about a number of villagers who discover the body of a deceased man out in the woods in picturesque New England. Though it was an American film, Hitchcock adapts a very British story (after all, it is usually Europeans who can find comedy in death) for the screen. A project he desperately wanted to get made, it finally came to fruition in 1955. The first to stumble upon the body is a little scamp of a child named Arnie Rogers (Jerry Mathers of Leave It to Beaver fame).

Much has been made of Fifty Shades of Grey. The phenomenon (be it the books or the film) has taken the world by storm, creating an ever-growing buzz around the subject of kinky sexual escapades. But, after watching the movie, I must say that it is a cold, clinical production that lacks nuance, emotion, heart, depth or eroticism. For a more engaging portrayal of the themes found in Fifty Shades, I would recommend turning to the 2002 motion picture Secretary. Following in the vein of other erotic flicks like 1972's Last Tango in Paris and 1986's 9½ Weeks (to name just two), director Steven Shainberg (who adapted Mary Gaitskill’s short story along with Erin Cressida Wilson) introduces us to our lead character: the shy, sensitive and socially uncomfortable Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Dealing with many psychological issues, she is first seen leaving an institution after being caught causing herself harm.