June 17, 2008
· Filed under movie review · Tagged M. Night Shyamalan, movie review
The word unnecessary comes to mind when I think of this movie. Unnecessary plot twists, deaths, and when you get right down to it and unnecessary movie altogether due to the fact that the film The Last Winter already covered this hypothesis last year.
I have seen some of the worst of the gore, Ichi the Killer, Audition, B-Movie Bloody Movies, tons of zombie flicks and yet nothing had really prepared me for this movie. I will start off with the good points, the few ones that there were because had it not been such an obvious “let’s take advantage of the R rating!” plot it could have been a good movie.
I thought that Mark Walhberg did a good job playing the main character/leader. Zooey Deschanel character I think was meant to be portrayed as flakey in the beginning so that’s probably why the acting threw me a little off but she pulled it together towards the end with a strong finish to the film. I thought that John Leguizamo did a great job. In fact his last scene in the film moved me to tears & almost made me leave the theater at the same time.
Now for the bad… So much death and it was just so completely pointless. I guessed the plot as soon as someone mentioned a park and the twists and turns made no sense in the overall story. The ending was okay I guess, it ended the way you would expect in a M. Night film. Almost happy but then again, not.
In short I do NOT recommend this film for former cutters like myself; it will shake you up a lot. And those who have thought of suicide in the past might want to consider renting. It’s very disturbing and a bit overboard if you ask me. Enter at your own risk.
By the way, new layout. And please don’t text message me while I’m asleep to tell me you hate it…you know who you are. Thanks. I do work after all. And a facebook message would work just fine.
May 27, 2008
· Filed under movie review · Tagged go green, horror, movie review, thriller
This Memorial Day weekend I watched a few movies. The most memorable being The Last Winter directed by Larry Fessenden with Ron Perlman and James LeGros starring. I had read a good review about it in EW magazine and had waited a while for it to come out. It sucks how those independent films always take forever to come out on DVD after they leave theaters. And they aren’t ever in theaters long enough to see them either. A week tops where I live. Be Kind Rewind was only in theaters for a week; so sad and such a great movie too.
But anyways…so the movie starts out with a lot of artistic white-out shots of the tundra in Alaska; beautiful filming with little images here and there of the cast on snowmobiles. It slowly picks up with the cast filing into place in the plot, and I can’t say that the character dynamic isn’t predictable but still it manages to keep your attention with the slight sense of something being eerie about the setting and the characters being there. 
The general reasoning for these people being in the middle of nowhere is oil, and lots of it. The characters are divided by the “greenies” or the environmentalists hired by the oil company and the oil company employees. I wasn’t really expecting the plot to go the way that it did, it twists from being eerie to down right creepy with the simple matter of a home made video tape (that just so happens to have nudity - R- rated). From there things start to fall apart for everyone, and I mean everyone.
My only complaint about this great film was the villains (or their visual attributes at least). Seemingly to me a kid pencil drawing but then again were they even there to begin with or just the mind playing tricks? The movie never says for sure only that something caused the deaths. Gas from the ground? Creatures? Who knows…Crazy either way. It was a great movie with an original concept. Fresh and beautifully shot. I really liked it.
May 16, 2008
· Filed under movie review · Tagged guillermo del toro, horror, movie review
I have waited what seems like forever to finally see this movie. I read great review after review and sadly didn’t get it view it in theaters. When it finally came out on DVD I did what I normally don’t do, I bought it before seeing it. I almost never do that and I don’t recommend it but Buster’s didn’t have it the two times I went so I just gave into the pressure and bought the darn thing.
I was expecting a supernatural-thriller that would keep me covering my eyes and jumping out of my seat. The kind of movie that makes me embarrassed to watch in theaters because I hide behind my fingers during the really scary parts. I really thought this one would rival some of the Asian horror-flicks that I love so much when it comes to scares but I was not exactly disappointed as much as I was surprised that it was more of a drama than a thriller. I was afraid a few times but most of the “thrills” were a matter of suspense building to a not-so creepy end. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy this movie, because to the contrary I loved it. It just wasn’t what I had expected.
The story is basically about a Mother who after returning to her childhood home which just so happened to be a really creepy Orphanage, looses her son and spends the majority of the movie trying to find him. The bond between the mother and her son is very moving and you really feel for the Mother who is willing to do whatever it takes to find her son. The creepiness is overshadowed by the sadness and helplessness that the Mother feels for the loss of her son. The ghosts in the film which you see on the commercials are not so much scary as they are sad because they are children. There is one particularly moving scene when a paranormal investigator/medium visits the home in search of the son and she encounters the children and they are in such torment that I got chills.
The ending is very emotional and I admit to shedding a few tears. So if you are interested in a tear-jerker with a few spooks and thrills then this one is definitely for you. And if you enjoyed this film try seeing other Del-Toro haunts like The Devils Backbone.
May 15, 2008
· Filed under movie review · Tagged Action, Iron Man, movie review
I had really high hopes for this movie. With such a great cast, storyline and special effects I just knew it was going to be awesome and I wasn’t disappointed in the least bit when I saw it with my Dad a week or so ago. I was lucky enough to see it in the biggest theater of the Cinema I went to on a huge screen with very few distractions.
Probably the best part about the movie to me was the fact that it didn’t take itself too seriously. There was enough decent comedy in the film to make it fun and interesting. Tony Starks character played by Robert Downey Jr. had just the right combination of Movie Star and Hero qualities. Not to mention all the funny one liners Stark’s character gets in.
Another great part of the movie was Pepper Potts character played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Gwyneth was able to make a role that could have appeared completely sexist and dated seem more modern and liberated. I would have liked to have gotten more of a back-story to Potts character though, along with the other secondary characters but I’m sure we will learn more as the franchise goes along. I can’t wait to see the next one.
