If you have ever wondered what the life of a high-class Manhattan call girl is like, then The Girlfriend Experience might be just up your alley. Steven Soderbergh’s film puts you in the shoes of a two-thousand dollar an hour prostitute named Chelsea, who is played by actress Sasha Grey, a famous porn star. The film follows Chelsea through five days of work, as she visits many of her wealthy clientele during the October of 2008, and uses a loosely mixed up narrative structure to tell its story. The film claims to be “experimental” but I didn’t find it too difficult to follow or have it use too many self indulgent techniques that the term “experimental” seemed to indicate.
The film does a great job at focuses on the trials and tribulations of the call girl profession. Chelsea has to be there for all her clients. Not simply physically but also emotionally and intellectually. As the film progresses we see that Chelsea finds things lacking in her own life and relationship with her personal trainer boyfriend. The difficulty of maintainin a long term relationship with a prostitute is explored quite well and provides most of the conflict in the film as Chelsea contemplates breaking up with her boyfriend.
The Girlfriend Experience is extremely low budget, and aside from a couple of the main characters, it uses mainly inexperienced amateur actors in many of the roles. This makes some of the acting seem a bit weak in some scenes as the actors are clearly improvising a lot of their lines and seem almost overacting a bit to appear casual. It works very well in other scenes like when Chelsea is interrupted by one of her johns on a date with her boyfriend and awkwardness ensues. I thought the casting of a porn star in the lead role was a little too obvious of a choice, but Shasa Grey worked well in this role. She was very believable and seemed to be a bit of an airhead but was very vulnerable too.
One of my favorite aspects of The Girlfriend Experience is the constant references to the economy and the 2008 presidential election that are made throughout the film. From Wall Street big shots betting on how many electoral votes Obama will take, to a Hassidic Jew client urging Chelsea to vote for McCain in order to save the state of Israel, these exchanges really give the movie a sense of time and place, and will make the movie even more enjoyable to watch ten or twenty years in the future.
The Girlfriend Experience doesn’t really go anywhere, attempt to tackle anything really big, try something different. It is a slow, quiet movie, that is entertaining enough while it lasts but you won’t be thinking about it much after it finishes. Much like a real prostitute.
7/10
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Troll 2 (1990)
Troll 2 is what happens when you try to set out to make a silly horror comedy without any good jokes or a cast that lacks any degree of comedic timing or talent on a shoestring budget. You get a movie that does end up being humorous, but for all the wrong reasons.
First, viewers should know that Troll 2 engages in a deceptive bit of false advertising. If you are thinking that a movie called Troll 2 should feature a Troll or maybe two Trolls, then you will be in for a grave disappointment. Because I will let you know up front that Troll 2 is about Goblins. Yes, that is right... Goblins. I have no idea why Troll 2 features Goblins, but I can only imagine that the script for this movie was simply tacked onto this project when the studio decided to make a sequel, and nobody either bothered or cared enough to make the changes necessary.
Troll 2 begins as an innocent young family engages in a house switching program with a Amish family in the rural town of Nilbog. When they arrive at the community they soon discover that things are not normal in this community thanks in part to their psychic son Joshua. Joshua has a completely inexplicable ability to communicate with his dead grandpa Seth, who for some reason can appear to him through mirrors and warns Joshua that his family must leave the town of Nilbog as soon as possible.
Apparently Goblins have taken control of the small city and brainwashed its denizens by using a strange green vegetable slime implanted in their food. Joshua tries to warn his family of the Goblin danger by hilariously peeing on his families food before they can become poisoned. Of course, his family refuses to believe him and his claims about Goblins and contact with grandpa Seth. Most of the middle portion of the film consists of completely random scenes as the Waits family blindly stumbles into the goblins clutches while Joshua tries to warn them. Eventually, Joshua figures out that Nilbog is actually Goblin spelled backwards, but by then his family has been captured by goblins.
Troll 2 is simply a mess from start to finish. You can tell that director director Claudio Fargasso was trying to create a clever, but tense and creepy film somewhere along the line of a cross between Gremlins and the Ghoulies, but you can tell that the cast of this film is made almost completely of amateur actors, and the script feels almost unfinished as there is no internal logic to the film at all. Sometimes Granpa Seth can appear to Joshua and other times he can't. It is also never very clear what the Goblins goal is other than being Goblins and enslaving this family.
Which reminds me, the goblins and special effects for this movie look like complete shit. The goblins themselves are actually nothing more than guys in pajamas and cheap Halloween masks.
Troll 2 has become legendary for how bad it is, so keep this in mind when you are watching this and you might have a good time.
1/10
First, viewers should know that Troll 2 engages in a deceptive bit of false advertising. If you are thinking that a movie called Troll 2 should feature a Troll or maybe two Trolls, then you will be in for a grave disappointment. Because I will let you know up front that Troll 2 is about Goblins. Yes, that is right... Goblins. I have no idea why Troll 2 features Goblins, but I can only imagine that the script for this movie was simply tacked onto this project when the studio decided to make a sequel, and nobody either bothered or cared enough to make the changes necessary.
Troll 2 begins as an innocent young family engages in a house switching program with a Amish family in the rural town of Nilbog. When they arrive at the community they soon discover that things are not normal in this community thanks in part to their psychic son Joshua. Joshua has a completely inexplicable ability to communicate with his dead grandpa Seth, who for some reason can appear to him through mirrors and warns Joshua that his family must leave the town of Nilbog as soon as possible.
Apparently Goblins have taken control of the small city and brainwashed its denizens by using a strange green vegetable slime implanted in their food. Joshua tries to warn his family of the Goblin danger by hilariously peeing on his families food before they can become poisoned. Of course, his family refuses to believe him and his claims about Goblins and contact with grandpa Seth. Most of the middle portion of the film consists of completely random scenes as the Waits family blindly stumbles into the goblins clutches while Joshua tries to warn them. Eventually, Joshua figures out that Nilbog is actually Goblin spelled backwards, but by then his family has been captured by goblins.
Troll 2 is simply a mess from start to finish. You can tell that director director Claudio Fargasso was trying to create a clever, but tense and creepy film somewhere along the line of a cross between Gremlins and the Ghoulies, but you can tell that the cast of this film is made almost completely of amateur actors, and the script feels almost unfinished as there is no internal logic to the film at all. Sometimes Granpa Seth can appear to Joshua and other times he can't. It is also never very clear what the Goblins goal is other than being Goblins and enslaving this family.
Which reminds me, the goblins and special effects for this movie look like complete shit. The goblins themselves are actually nothing more than guys in pajamas and cheap Halloween masks.
Troll 2 has become legendary for how bad it is, so keep this in mind when you are watching this and you might have a good time.
1/10
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Hello, just checking in to wish everyone a happy holiday for december. Expect some new updates and reviews soon.
How can the back crawl?
How can the back crawl?
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Human Centipede: First Sequence (2009)
Ashylnn Yennie and Ashley C. Willams play two American tourists sightseeing in Germany when they get a flat tire on a rural highway. Seeking help, they approach a mysterious house inhabited by a reclusive German surgeon named Dr. Heiter. Heiter kidnaps the two girls and plans to use them to create his masterwork: a centipede made from three humans sowed together mouth to anus, and with their kneecaps removed to prevent them from standing straight up. It doesn’t ever really become evident why Heiter wants this centipede, other than the fact that he is completely insane, and seems to desire to keep his creation as a pet and enjoy watching it suffer.
Heiter is played in a brilliantly creepy fashion by actor Dieter Laser who does a great job playing a convincingly cold and calculating sociopath who would make Joseph Mengle look like Ronald Mcdonald. The two female leads of the movie are terrible actress, but you only have to put up with their ham handed delivery for the first twenty minutes or so until their faces are sewn onto a Japanese guys ass. From then on they deliver an excellent performance of muffled grunts, moans, and shrieks and giving wide eyed expressions of terror as they swallow feces, and are forced to be “trained” by the sadistic Heiter.
The concept of the Human Centipede is perhaps its greatest strength and weakness. Once the characters are finally fused together in the horrific creation, there is practically no hope for them to resist the wild machinations of their captor. This makes the last fifty minutes consist of watching a parade of pure abject suffering and human misery. This dehumanization of the main characters makes for great horror, and is really the central theme of the film, but also makes the film lack tension and drive as the characters are literally helpless passive actors in the films plot. This causes the climax of the movie to rely heavily on a series of somewhat goofy and very convenient plot coincidences. Despite this drawback, I found the final scene of the film to be pretty creative and actually pretty haunting and disturbing way to end the movie.
I’m hesitant to say I was entertained by The Human Centipede as I found parts of the film difficult to watch, and I think anyone who is too entertained by this movie probably needs some psychiatric help. However, the concept of the film is so bizarre and out there that I think anyone who can stomach horror films should at least check this movie out (as far as outright violence and gore goes it is actually fairly tame). It’s not something I will probably want to watch anytime soon, but I am glad I checked it out.
6/10
Heiter is played in a brilliantly creepy fashion by actor Dieter Laser who does a great job playing a convincingly cold and calculating sociopath who would make Joseph Mengle look like Ronald Mcdonald. The two female leads of the movie are terrible actress, but you only have to put up with their ham handed delivery for the first twenty minutes or so until their faces are sewn onto a Japanese guys ass. From then on they deliver an excellent performance of muffled grunts, moans, and shrieks and giving wide eyed expressions of terror as they swallow feces, and are forced to be “trained” by the sadistic Heiter.
The concept of the Human Centipede is perhaps its greatest strength and weakness. Once the characters are finally fused together in the horrific creation, there is practically no hope for them to resist the wild machinations of their captor. This makes the last fifty minutes consist of watching a parade of pure abject suffering and human misery. This dehumanization of the main characters makes for great horror, and is really the central theme of the film, but also makes the film lack tension and drive as the characters are literally helpless passive actors in the films plot. This causes the climax of the movie to rely heavily on a series of somewhat goofy and very convenient plot coincidences. Despite this drawback, I found the final scene of the film to be pretty creative and actually pretty haunting and disturbing way to end the movie.
I’m hesitant to say I was entertained by The Human Centipede as I found parts of the film difficult to watch, and I think anyone who is too entertained by this movie probably needs some psychiatric help. However, the concept of the film is so bizarre and out there that I think anyone who can stomach horror films should at least check this movie out (as far as outright violence and gore goes it is actually fairly tame). It’s not something I will probably want to watch anytime soon, but I am glad I checked it out.
6/10
Monday, October 18, 2010
October Movie Marathon Part 4: House of the Devil (2009)
House of the Devil is a movie that is completely unashamed of what it is. It is also uncompromisingly straightforward in its premise. In fact just knowing the title of this movie will give you a pretty good idea about what is going to happen in this film. However, despite this, or maybe because of it, House of the Devil is a fantastically frightening and fun film to watch.
Immediately one will notice when watching House of the Devil that director Tai West has made a conscious decision to set this film in the 80s in a homage to many of the classic horror and slasher flicks of the era. While some movies such as Machete or Planet Terror utilize the grind house aesthetic in a tongue and cheek manor, House of the Devil plays it much more straight by setting the movie in an era that evokes the feel of older horror movies without trying to engage in parody.
The film begins with a college student, Samantha, attempting to get a side job as a baby sitter so that she can move out into apartment and escape her obnoxious room mate. She lands a gig at an isolated mansion deep on the outskirts of town. Her job is to baby sit a mysterious man’s elder mother. The movie follows the events over the course of the night as Samantha finds more than she bargained for at the house.
This is a movie based on slow tension and anticipation on what will happen next. Samantha is a likely character played excellently by Jocelin Donahue. This great, since a large portion of this movie is nothing but long shots of her alone in the mansion, as she explores and begins to unravel what is going on in the house. As the movie progresses your really start to feel some apprehension for what is going to happen to this girl. However, when everything goes to hell at the end of this movie (literally), it is like a punch in the gut, all leading up to a masterfully executed abrupt ending that is classic horror.
House of the Devil is one of the best horror films I have seen from 2009. Some may criticize this film for being too uneventful or lacking substance, but this movie does everything it sets out to do, and does it with a slick retro style. It is definitely a movie worth seeking out and is great for Halloween.
9/10
Immediately one will notice when watching House of the Devil that director Tai West has made a conscious decision to set this film in the 80s in a homage to many of the classic horror and slasher flicks of the era. While some movies such as Machete or Planet Terror utilize the grind house aesthetic in a tongue and cheek manor, House of the Devil plays it much more straight by setting the movie in an era that evokes the feel of older horror movies without trying to engage in parody.
The film begins with a college student, Samantha, attempting to get a side job as a baby sitter so that she can move out into apartment and escape her obnoxious room mate. She lands a gig at an isolated mansion deep on the outskirts of town. Her job is to baby sit a mysterious man’s elder mother. The movie follows the events over the course of the night as Samantha finds more than she bargained for at the house.
This is a movie based on slow tension and anticipation on what will happen next. Samantha is a likely character played excellently by Jocelin Donahue. This great, since a large portion of this movie is nothing but long shots of her alone in the mansion, as she explores and begins to unravel what is going on in the house. As the movie progresses your really start to feel some apprehension for what is going to happen to this girl. However, when everything goes to hell at the end of this movie (literally), it is like a punch in the gut, all leading up to a masterfully executed abrupt ending that is classic horror.
House of the Devil is one of the best horror films I have seen from 2009. Some may criticize this film for being too uneventful or lacking substance, but this movie does everything it sets out to do, and does it with a slick retro style. It is definitely a movie worth seeking out and is great for Halloween.
9/10
October movie Marathon Part 3: Dead Snow (2009)
Nazi Germany was one of the most brutal and terrifying regimes of the 20th century. The Nazis have made for menacing foes in plenty of movies over the years, from Indiana Jones to Schindler’s List. So how do you make Nazis an even more dangerous threat? You make them into Zombies! The Norwegian horror film Dead Snow does just that.
The film is set in the mountains of Norway as a bunch of medical students head out to an isolated cabin for a fun weekend full of drinking and snowmobiling. However, once in the cabin, they encounter a mysterious hiker who recounts a tale of German soldiers who occupied the area during the war, and subjected to the local population to unspeakable atrocities. Apparently, as the war ended these soldiers were murdered by the local population who rebelled, when the soldiers attempted to steal their precious gold. The man claims an unspeakable evil lurks in the mountains, and pretty soon the students face a horde of undead zombies who are out to reclaim their lost gold.
Dead Snow plays almost like a remake of Evil Dead set in Norway, and the movie pays direct homage to other classic horror films like Dead-Alive. You can expect the same kind of horror action that straddles the line between goofy and gross that was found in those movies. I felt like the movie was maybe a little too aware of this by going to the lengths of including a nerdy film buff character who constantly references movies. At a point in the movie I started to feel “Yeah we get it, you like old horror movies.”
However, Dead Snow does have some great gore and action scenes toward the end of the movie as the characters engage in all out battle with the Nazi Zombies. There are plenty of decapitations, disembowelment, and characters being ripped limb from limb in this film, and a lot of this happens in broad daylight, so don’t expect too much suspense or scares in this movie. The characters decide not to run from the zombies, but face them head on. This leads to the movies best scenes, including a character mounting a German MG-42 machine gun to his snowmobile and mowing down dozens of Nazis. The movie tries to give the characters Bruce Campbell style one liners thought the film, but most of these fall kind of flat, partly because of the subtitles and partly because they are just plain bad.
Perhaps, the most surprising problem with Dead Snow, is just the lack of creativity. I never really felt that the movie took complete advantage of the excellent premise of having Nazi zombies. There is plenty of rich lore and stories about the Nazis associations with the occult and black magic, or their experiments with eugenics and fringe science. Either of these could have been exploited, and made for a rich and compelling plot. Instead the explanation for the zombies is vague and generic. The film seems too comfortable walking the same well trodden ground of other horror films, and I would have liked for it to try to be its on thing.
Dead Snow isn’t the best zombie film ever, and probably isn’t even the best Nazi zombie film ever. Check it out if you like the Evil Dead films, but keep in mind you won’t be seeing much new here.
5/10
The film is set in the mountains of Norway as a bunch of medical students head out to an isolated cabin for a fun weekend full of drinking and snowmobiling. However, once in the cabin, they encounter a mysterious hiker who recounts a tale of German soldiers who occupied the area during the war, and subjected to the local population to unspeakable atrocities. Apparently, as the war ended these soldiers were murdered by the local population who rebelled, when the soldiers attempted to steal their precious gold. The man claims an unspeakable evil lurks in the mountains, and pretty soon the students face a horde of undead zombies who are out to reclaim their lost gold.
Dead Snow plays almost like a remake of Evil Dead set in Norway, and the movie pays direct homage to other classic horror films like Dead-Alive. You can expect the same kind of horror action that straddles the line between goofy and gross that was found in those movies. I felt like the movie was maybe a little too aware of this by going to the lengths of including a nerdy film buff character who constantly references movies. At a point in the movie I started to feel “Yeah we get it, you like old horror movies.”
However, Dead Snow does have some great gore and action scenes toward the end of the movie as the characters engage in all out battle with the Nazi Zombies. There are plenty of decapitations, disembowelment, and characters being ripped limb from limb in this film, and a lot of this happens in broad daylight, so don’t expect too much suspense or scares in this movie. The characters decide not to run from the zombies, but face them head on. This leads to the movies best scenes, including a character mounting a German MG-42 machine gun to his snowmobile and mowing down dozens of Nazis. The movie tries to give the characters Bruce Campbell style one liners thought the film, but most of these fall kind of flat, partly because of the subtitles and partly because they are just plain bad.
Perhaps, the most surprising problem with Dead Snow, is just the lack of creativity. I never really felt that the movie took complete advantage of the excellent premise of having Nazi zombies. There is plenty of rich lore and stories about the Nazis associations with the occult and black magic, or their experiments with eugenics and fringe science. Either of these could have been exploited, and made for a rich and compelling plot. Instead the explanation for the zombies is vague and generic. The film seems too comfortable walking the same well trodden ground of other horror films, and I would have liked for it to try to be its on thing.
Dead Snow isn’t the best zombie film ever, and probably isn’t even the best Nazi zombie film ever. Check it out if you like the Evil Dead films, but keep in mind you won’t be seeing much new here.
5/10
Thursday, October 14, 2010
October Movie Marathon Part 2: Frozen (2010)
On a weekend ski trip, three college students find themselves stranded on chairlift, and forgotten by the staff of the resort. With the resort closed for the next week and no hope of rescue the trio must figure a way out as a winter storm closes in.
Frozen may stretch the genre boundaries for my October movie marathon a bit. There are no supernatural elements, no monsters, and no serial killers. It might be considered more of a thriller than a horror film. However, I think the movie fits the bill of horror quite well if only for the sheer plausibility of concept. Like the film Open Water, Frozen excels at taking a common place experience, and attempting to show how it can quickly turn into a terrifying one. It is this juxtaposition that fills you with an intense feeling of dread and hopelessness, as the characters of this film are put in an increasingly more desperate position, and you find yourself imagining what you would do in that situation.
A good portion of the horror is psychological, as the characters movie must deal with their deteriorating physical condition and the deaths of their friends, and there is a surprisingly low body count and use of gore, but this only serves to heighten the visceral impact when violence does occur. This movie has plenty of cringe inducing moments. Director/writer Adam Greene does a great job setting up the characters and their relationships in the first twenty minutes, so that you really feel for them with things start falling apart, and they are thrust into life a life death situation. I don’t want to ruin the film, but I felt the climax of the film could have been a bit better thought out and constructed. You don’t really feel like the solution to the conflict in the film feels earned by the characters, but maybe that is just part of the realism that the movie tries to go for.
Frozen is a fun little film that is totally worth a watch. At just under 90 minutes, the length of the film is perfect, and although the concept is limited, the movie does not overstay its welcome. However, do the nature of the plot and action of the film I don’t see me rewatching it very often. If your looking for a horror movie that goes in a bit more realistic direction, then Frozen solid bet.
7/10
Frozen may stretch the genre boundaries for my October movie marathon a bit. There are no supernatural elements, no monsters, and no serial killers. It might be considered more of a thriller than a horror film. However, I think the movie fits the bill of horror quite well if only for the sheer plausibility of concept. Like the film Open Water, Frozen excels at taking a common place experience, and attempting to show how it can quickly turn into a terrifying one. It is this juxtaposition that fills you with an intense feeling of dread and hopelessness, as the characters of this film are put in an increasingly more desperate position, and you find yourself imagining what you would do in that situation.
A good portion of the horror is psychological, as the characters movie must deal with their deteriorating physical condition and the deaths of their friends, and there is a surprisingly low body count and use of gore, but this only serves to heighten the visceral impact when violence does occur. This movie has plenty of cringe inducing moments. Director/writer Adam Greene does a great job setting up the characters and their relationships in the first twenty minutes, so that you really feel for them with things start falling apart, and they are thrust into life a life death situation. I don’t want to ruin the film, but I felt the climax of the film could have been a bit better thought out and constructed. You don’t really feel like the solution to the conflict in the film feels earned by the characters, but maybe that is just part of the realism that the movie tries to go for.
Frozen is a fun little film that is totally worth a watch. At just under 90 minutes, the length of the film is perfect, and although the concept is limited, the movie does not overstay its welcome. However, do the nature of the plot and action of the film I don’t see me rewatching it very often. If your looking for a horror movie that goes in a bit more realistic direction, then Frozen solid bet.
7/10
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Horror Movie Review Marathon Part 1: Lets Scare Jessica To Death (1971)
1971’s Lets Scare Jessica to Death deals with a woman who is attempting against all odds to hold onto her sanity in the face of a supernatural horror.
The film begins with Jessica being released from an institution after suffering a mental breakdown. It seems that Jessica is plagued by strange voices and visions of a mysterious woman. In order to help rehabilitate her, her husband and a friend take her to a small backwater Connecticut town. There they purchase an isolated house, and apple orchard, and plan to work the land and hang out and play acoustic guitar. Oh, and they happen to drive a hearse… for some reason.
When they arrive at the house they are surprised to find Emily, a free spirited hippie squatter living on the grounds of the estate. The group inexplicably takes in Emily and allows her to stay on the farm, but soon strange things start to occur. Jessica’s strange voices start coming back in her head, and she gets a sneaking suspicion that Emily is having an affair with her husband. Jessica also discovers that things are not quite right in town, as the entire population seems to be comprised of middle aged men who are mysteriously bandaged. Then Jessica finds that a woman mysteriously drowned on the houses property decades earlier, and legend has it her spirit still haunts the area.
Due to the questionable psychological state of the main character, you never really have a lot of certainty as to what really happens in this movie. The movie has a strange dream like quality that is highlighted not only by the mysterious voices and visions that Jessica experiences, but also by the irrational and sometimes quite silly actions of the main characters. It seems like these characters take bizarre happenings in stride, and don’t seem to mind the series of inexplicable events that happen in the plot. This would be fine, but I wish that the film had taken some time to get to know the characters better.
We find out very little about the characters and their relationships in this movie behind the basic back story, and this makes it really hard to figure out what we are really supposed to take away from what is shown in this movie. If you don’t like ambiguity, then stay far away from this movie. Things are not helped here by what is also a very thin plot. There is basically an hour of slow build up followed by about 30 minutes of action, and to be quite honest I didn’t feel like the pay off of this movie justified the first hour.
I do have positive things to say about this movie. The music, directing, and cinematography add up to a very creepy experience. It is interesting to note, that I found most of the creepiest scenes were the ones that took place in broad daylight, such as when Jessica comes face to face with ghostly figure emerging from a lake. There is some great imagery in this film. Also, when things do pick up toward the end, the film is pretty well done and entertaining.
I can appreciate this films attempt at slow paced psychological horror, but I wish the film had a more unexpected pay off and better developed, interesting characters. It lacks both of these. If your’re looking for some eerie early 70s horror film making you might enjoy Lets Scare Jessica To Death, but I found myself wishing there was a bit more substance behind all the creepiness.
5/10
The film begins with Jessica being released from an institution after suffering a mental breakdown. It seems that Jessica is plagued by strange voices and visions of a mysterious woman. In order to help rehabilitate her, her husband and a friend take her to a small backwater Connecticut town. There they purchase an isolated house, and apple orchard, and plan to work the land and hang out and play acoustic guitar. Oh, and they happen to drive a hearse… for some reason.
When they arrive at the house they are surprised to find Emily, a free spirited hippie squatter living on the grounds of the estate. The group inexplicably takes in Emily and allows her to stay on the farm, but soon strange things start to occur. Jessica’s strange voices start coming back in her head, and she gets a sneaking suspicion that Emily is having an affair with her husband. Jessica also discovers that things are not quite right in town, as the entire population seems to be comprised of middle aged men who are mysteriously bandaged. Then Jessica finds that a woman mysteriously drowned on the houses property decades earlier, and legend has it her spirit still haunts the area.
Due to the questionable psychological state of the main character, you never really have a lot of certainty as to what really happens in this movie. The movie has a strange dream like quality that is highlighted not only by the mysterious voices and visions that Jessica experiences, but also by the irrational and sometimes quite silly actions of the main characters. It seems like these characters take bizarre happenings in stride, and don’t seem to mind the series of inexplicable events that happen in the plot. This would be fine, but I wish that the film had taken some time to get to know the characters better.
We find out very little about the characters and their relationships in this movie behind the basic back story, and this makes it really hard to figure out what we are really supposed to take away from what is shown in this movie. If you don’t like ambiguity, then stay far away from this movie. Things are not helped here by what is also a very thin plot. There is basically an hour of slow build up followed by about 30 minutes of action, and to be quite honest I didn’t feel like the pay off of this movie justified the first hour.
I do have positive things to say about this movie. The music, directing, and cinematography add up to a very creepy experience. It is interesting to note, that I found most of the creepiest scenes were the ones that took place in broad daylight, such as when Jessica comes face to face with ghostly figure emerging from a lake. There is some great imagery in this film. Also, when things do pick up toward the end, the film is pretty well done and entertaining.
I can appreciate this films attempt at slow paced psychological horror, but I wish the film had a more unexpected pay off and better developed, interesting characters. It lacks both of these. If your’re looking for some eerie early 70s horror film making you might enjoy Lets Scare Jessica To Death, but I found myself wishing there was a bit more substance behind all the creepiness.
5/10
Horror film review marathon
In order to celebrate the month of october and halloween I plan on watching and reviewing thirty one horror films. One for each day of the month. Stay tuned for the first installment coming soon...
The White Ribbon (2009)
After thoroughly, enjoying his 2007 shot for shot English remake of his own film, Funny Games. I found myself eager to check out some other films in director Michael Henneke’s filmography. And what better film to start with than his recent Oscar nominated film The White Ribbon?
The White Ribbon provides snapshot into a small agricultural village in 1913 Austria on the eve of the First World War I. At first things seem idyllic, and perfect, but a series of nefarious occurrences start to occur revealing a dark underbelly to the town, exposing profoundly flawed society. First, the town’s doctor is injured when his horse trips on a wire stretched across the entrance to the town, then there occurs a tragic accident at the town’s saw mill, and town Baron’s son is found beaten. As suspicion and paranoia grow in the town, the town school teacher believes he may know the answer to who is causing these events.
I was a bit worried that I would not enjoy The White Ribbon, as it is more of a period piece and lacks some of the horror and thriller genre elements of Funny Games. But I was totally drawn into the mystery of what was happening in this town of right from the beginning. Henneke’s direction shows a lot of restraint, with a lot of deliberate long takes, and the black and white style gives the film a very ominous tone. The plot is also very deliberately paced, with the viewer slowly learning more and more about the characters in the village and their relationships. Certain things you take for granted or assume at the beginning of the film will be turned upside down by the end, making the film ripe for multiple viewings.
In a way The White Ribbon does to turn of the century German society what a film like American Beauty does to turn of the century American suburbia. Check out the White Ribbon if you are looking for a good foreign film.
9/10
The White Ribbon provides snapshot into a small agricultural village in 1913 Austria on the eve of the First World War I. At first things seem idyllic, and perfect, but a series of nefarious occurrences start to occur revealing a dark underbelly to the town, exposing profoundly flawed society. First, the town’s doctor is injured when his horse trips on a wire stretched across the entrance to the town, then there occurs a tragic accident at the town’s saw mill, and town Baron’s son is found beaten. As suspicion and paranoia grow in the town, the town school teacher believes he may know the answer to who is causing these events.
I was a bit worried that I would not enjoy The White Ribbon, as it is more of a period piece and lacks some of the horror and thriller genre elements of Funny Games. But I was totally drawn into the mystery of what was happening in this town of right from the beginning. Henneke’s direction shows a lot of restraint, with a lot of deliberate long takes, and the black and white style gives the film a very ominous tone. The plot is also very deliberately paced, with the viewer slowly learning more and more about the characters in the village and their relationships. Certain things you take for granted or assume at the beginning of the film will be turned upside down by the end, making the film ripe for multiple viewings.
In a way The White Ribbon does to turn of the century German society what a film like American Beauty does to turn of the century American suburbia. Check out the White Ribbon if you are looking for a good foreign film.
9/10
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Devil (2010)
After a series of critical failures such as Lady in the Water, The Happening, and The Last Airbender, writer/director M Night Shyamylan returns with his latest film, Devil. It is the first installment in a trilogy of films which are being called the “Night Chronicles.” This series of films will feature films and ideas coming from Shyamylan himself, but will be directed by someone else. Perhaps it is a good idea to reign in Shyamylan, by having a different person direct his screenplays. After all, I don’t think anyone could accuse Shyamylan of being uncreative, but some have definitely criticized his directorial style over the years. But if Devil is any indication, I don’t think Shyamylan will be bouncing back into good favor with critics anytime soon.
The concept behind Devil is simple. Five strangers are trapped in a stalled office building elevator. As rescuers race to open the elevator, they soon realize that one of the people trapped amongst them could be the Devil themselves. This is not the most original idea ever, but the concept of most of the film taking place in an elevator, could lead to some interesting possibilities. But the film doesn’t make use of this concept as well as it could have, and much of the film feels padded to meet the required running time. For instance, a good chunk of the film focuses on a detective character trying to figure out what is going on in the elevator as he tries to coordinate rescue efforts. He starts going through their backgrounds trying to figure out which one of them could be the murderer. However, by this time the audience pretty much knows that it is the devil that is killing people, and the detective’s efforts pretty much amount to red herring filler.
Devil’s problem lies in the fact that the film is simply not very scary or suspenseful. Left to the confines of the elevator, there is not much our characters can do except argue with each other (with some pretty unrealistic dialogue). Occasionally the lights go out, and some character will meet with a horrific fate at the hands of the devil. This happens so many times, that it becomes pretty banal by the time it happens to the third character. You will start to wonder why if this devil is so evil he just doesn’t break the elevator cable and return to Hades.
Which is another problem with Devil: the Devil doesn’t seem very devilish. Sure he murders several people throughout the film, and makes people’s toast fall jelly side down (I am not joking, this is used as evidence of the devil in the film), but he also seems to spare people who are willing to confess their sins to him. I’m not religious, but isn’t that more of God’s job? I’m sure Shyamylan was trying to incorporate a feel good redemptive aspect to the story similar to what he did in Signs, but while the ending of that movie came across as being genuinely touching, the ending of Devil just feels far too convenient and sloppy, as if Shyaymlan had to force things together in the last ten minutes to get the theme he wanted in the ending across.
Devil is the first of Shyamylan’s films that I just found boring. Sure, The Happening and Lady in the Water had huge flaws, but I can’t say I didn’t find them entertaining. Devil lacks the original concept of The Happening, the thrills and heart of Signs, or even the interesting twist of The Sixth Sense.
4/10
The concept behind Devil is simple. Five strangers are trapped in a stalled office building elevator. As rescuers race to open the elevator, they soon realize that one of the people trapped amongst them could be the Devil themselves. This is not the most original idea ever, but the concept of most of the film taking place in an elevator, could lead to some interesting possibilities. But the film doesn’t make use of this concept as well as it could have, and much of the film feels padded to meet the required running time. For instance, a good chunk of the film focuses on a detective character trying to figure out what is going on in the elevator as he tries to coordinate rescue efforts. He starts going through their backgrounds trying to figure out which one of them could be the murderer. However, by this time the audience pretty much knows that it is the devil that is killing people, and the detective’s efforts pretty much amount to red herring filler.
Devil’s problem lies in the fact that the film is simply not very scary or suspenseful. Left to the confines of the elevator, there is not much our characters can do except argue with each other (with some pretty unrealistic dialogue). Occasionally the lights go out, and some character will meet with a horrific fate at the hands of the devil. This happens so many times, that it becomes pretty banal by the time it happens to the third character. You will start to wonder why if this devil is so evil he just doesn’t break the elevator cable and return to Hades.
Which is another problem with Devil: the Devil doesn’t seem very devilish. Sure he murders several people throughout the film, and makes people’s toast fall jelly side down (I am not joking, this is used as evidence of the devil in the film), but he also seems to spare people who are willing to confess their sins to him. I’m not religious, but isn’t that more of God’s job? I’m sure Shyamylan was trying to incorporate a feel good redemptive aspect to the story similar to what he did in Signs, but while the ending of that movie came across as being genuinely touching, the ending of Devil just feels far too convenient and sloppy, as if Shyaymlan had to force things together in the last ten minutes to get the theme he wanted in the ending across.
Devil is the first of Shyamylan’s films that I just found boring. Sure, The Happening and Lady in the Water had huge flaws, but I can’t say I didn’t find them entertaining. Devil lacks the original concept of The Happening, the thrills and heart of Signs, or even the interesting twist of The Sixth Sense.
4/10
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Alan Wake (2010) VG Review
After encountering a severe case of writers block while working on his upcoming novel, famous author Alan Wake travels with his wife to the Pacific Northwest in order to get away. However, it soon becomes clear that a dark malevolent force is following Alan Wake, and after his wife goes missing he must uncover the dark secret surrounding the town of Bright Falls, Washington.
The game pays direct homage to television shows such as Twin Peaks, and the Twilight Zone with its mysterious twisting narrative. Conceptually, the story of Alan Wake is very strong, and deals with the idea of how a writer “creates” a narrative and how the real world and fiction can intertwine. The developers even went as far as breaking up the game into “episodes” complete with title and ending credits as well as a “previously on Alan Wake” segment.
Unfortunately, while it is great to see a game attempt to recreate TV style episodic story telling, the game suffers from weak voicing acting and some truly cheesy dialogue. Alan Wake’s character in particularly suffers from some lame pseudo-intellectual voice overs throughout the games cutscenes and gameplay. The cut scenes themselves are also distracting as character’s facial animations and voices never sync up quite right. These factors unfortunately took me out of what was otherwise a pretty successful narrative.
Above all, Alan Wake succeeds at creating truly creepy and suspenseful atmosphere. Most of the game’s environments are heavily forested areas, abandoned mines, and deserted buildings. The forest environments are detailed with swaying pine trees, and underbrush, and the game has extremely eerie lighting and environmental effects. It doesn’t help, that often enemies can materialize instantly from almost any direction, and often times the player turn around only to see an enemy about to stab him in the back.
At its core Alan Wake is primarily a third person shooter with an interesting gameplay twist. The player must use light sources to weaken the demonically possessed enemies known as the taken and make them vulnerable to conventional attack. Enemies are numerous, and often attack in large swarms. Completing the game successfully means using your flashlight, flares, and other environmental light sources to keep the enemy swarms at bay, and whittle away their health with your firearms. A distinct lack of enemy and weapon variety can lead to the combat becoming a bit formulaic as the game goes on, but the level design and atmosphere (including some excellent scripted sequences such as poltergeist attacks) serve to help keep the gameplay fresh.
The game attempts to integrate more character based elements and interactions with day time levels taking place in Bright Falls. However these non combat sections consist of mainly listening to exposition from certain characters, and running through a certain location to the end. If Remedy had taken more time to make these segments a little more involving and interesting, it would have added a bit more depth and variety to the game.
While Alan Wake is a great experience for horror fans, it never truly rises above the box’s bold claim of being “A Psychological Action Thriller,” and is instead content with being a competent third person shooter with great atmosphere and an ambitious but clumsily told story. It is disappointing that after five years of development, Remedy did not make something really new or unique but for those who looking for a creepy shooter, Alan Wake is a good time.
7/10
The game pays direct homage to television shows such as Twin Peaks, and the Twilight Zone with its mysterious twisting narrative. Conceptually, the story of Alan Wake is very strong, and deals with the idea of how a writer “creates” a narrative and how the real world and fiction can intertwine. The developers even went as far as breaking up the game into “episodes” complete with title and ending credits as well as a “previously on Alan Wake” segment.
Unfortunately, while it is great to see a game attempt to recreate TV style episodic story telling, the game suffers from weak voicing acting and some truly cheesy dialogue. Alan Wake’s character in particularly suffers from some lame pseudo-intellectual voice overs throughout the games cutscenes and gameplay. The cut scenes themselves are also distracting as character’s facial animations and voices never sync up quite right. These factors unfortunately took me out of what was otherwise a pretty successful narrative.
Above all, Alan Wake succeeds at creating truly creepy and suspenseful atmosphere. Most of the game’s environments are heavily forested areas, abandoned mines, and deserted buildings. The forest environments are detailed with swaying pine trees, and underbrush, and the game has extremely eerie lighting and environmental effects. It doesn’t help, that often enemies can materialize instantly from almost any direction, and often times the player turn around only to see an enemy about to stab him in the back.
At its core Alan Wake is primarily a third person shooter with an interesting gameplay twist. The player must use light sources to weaken the demonically possessed enemies known as the taken and make them vulnerable to conventional attack. Enemies are numerous, and often attack in large swarms. Completing the game successfully means using your flashlight, flares, and other environmental light sources to keep the enemy swarms at bay, and whittle away their health with your firearms. A distinct lack of enemy and weapon variety can lead to the combat becoming a bit formulaic as the game goes on, but the level design and atmosphere (including some excellent scripted sequences such as poltergeist attacks) serve to help keep the gameplay fresh.
The game attempts to integrate more character based elements and interactions with day time levels taking place in Bright Falls. However these non combat sections consist of mainly listening to exposition from certain characters, and running through a certain location to the end. If Remedy had taken more time to make these segments a little more involving and interesting, it would have added a bit more depth and variety to the game.
While Alan Wake is a great experience for horror fans, it never truly rises above the box’s bold claim of being “A Psychological Action Thriller,” and is instead content with being a competent third person shooter with great atmosphere and an ambitious but clumsily told story. It is disappointing that after five years of development, Remedy did not make something really new or unique but for those who looking for a creepy shooter, Alan Wake is a good time.
7/10
Greenberg (2010)
In Greenburg, the titular character (Stiller) is facing a mid life crisis, when he heads to LA to housesit for his brother and figure out where his life is heading.
When I started Greenberg I was expecting a quirky comedy about an oddball slacker. But the film is more of a dark character piece about a very bitter man who has a lot of regrets about his life. Greenberg himself is a funny but unlikable character, who often neurotically criticizes people and has a constant habit of writing complaint letters to companies. Most of the humor comes from these scenes. There is also a romantic subplot with his there is also a bit of a romantic plot between Greenberg and his brothers 20 something assistant, Florence.
The film reminded me a bit Lost in Translation both because of the relationship between Florence and Greenberg, and also because the film itself is almost completely plot less. It is simply a snapshot into a couple weeks while Greenberg house sits for his brother. Because of this, the movie feels a little too uneventful and meandering. It is not helped much by an ending that is both sudden and unfulfilling, but works well as a metaphor for the psychological issues Stiller’s character is dealing with.
For those looking for big laughs or a more traditional plot based story Greenberg will surely disappoint, but for those looking for a more character based drama, Greenberg may be what you are looking for.
6/10
When I started Greenberg I was expecting a quirky comedy about an oddball slacker. But the film is more of a dark character piece about a very bitter man who has a lot of regrets about his life. Greenberg himself is a funny but unlikable character, who often neurotically criticizes people and has a constant habit of writing complaint letters to companies. Most of the humor comes from these scenes. There is also a romantic subplot with his there is also a bit of a romantic plot between Greenberg and his brothers 20 something assistant, Florence.
The film reminded me a bit Lost in Translation both because of the relationship between Florence and Greenberg, and also because the film itself is almost completely plot less. It is simply a snapshot into a couple weeks while Greenberg house sits for his brother. Because of this, the movie feels a little too uneventful and meandering. It is not helped much by an ending that is both sudden and unfulfilling, but works well as a metaphor for the psychological issues Stiller’s character is dealing with.
For those looking for big laughs or a more traditional plot based story Greenberg will surely disappoint, but for those looking for a more character based drama, Greenberg may be what you are looking for.
6/10
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Scott Pilgrim is a 22 year old loser dating a high school girl, and playing in his nerdy garage band “Sex Bob-bomb” when he suddenly meets his mysterious dream girl Norma Flowers. Scott quickly strikes up a relationship, only to realize that in order to date Norma, he must defeat seven of her evil exes in battle.
The film is designed to be lighthearted and fun, and at its best moments it does succeed at this. However, the film’s plot is so sparse and disjointed it is difficult to have a lot of emotional investment in the characters or story. It all is just blur of ridiculous fights, goofy pop culture references, and video game humor. If this is all your looking for, you will be in for a good time, but I was constantly wondering why Scott found Norma so special that he had to fight an army of exes. Michael Cera as Pilgrim is his usual awkward bumbling self. He has been playing this angle since Arrested Development, but he is the king of this type of character and he works in the film.
What makes Scott Pilgrim bearable is its fast moving stylized visuals that play that reference old school arcade video games and comics. Scott defeats each of his adversaries and turns them into coins and points, and comic style sound effect words are constantly appearing on screen. This visual style gives the movie a lot of style and makes it reminiscent of a living cartoon in much the same way as 2008’s magnificent Speed Racer. Without these fun gimmicks, this movie would be little more than another Nick and Norah’s Infinite Play List.
Scott Pilgrim is a interesting watch, and fans of the comics and of quirky comedies may enjoy this film quite a bit. However, I found the movie ultimately unfunny and by the halfway point I was growing tired of the constant pop culture and video game references, followed by repetitive fights that seemed to be motivated by little else than the movies own silly premise of a guy fighting his girlfriends exes like they were a video game boss. By the end credits I wasn’t wishing for a bonus stage
5/10
The film is designed to be lighthearted and fun, and at its best moments it does succeed at this. However, the film’s plot is so sparse and disjointed it is difficult to have a lot of emotional investment in the characters or story. It all is just blur of ridiculous fights, goofy pop culture references, and video game humor. If this is all your looking for, you will be in for a good time, but I was constantly wondering why Scott found Norma so special that he had to fight an army of exes. Michael Cera as Pilgrim is his usual awkward bumbling self. He has been playing this angle since Arrested Development, but he is the king of this type of character and he works in the film.
What makes Scott Pilgrim bearable is its fast moving stylized visuals that play that reference old school arcade video games and comics. Scott defeats each of his adversaries and turns them into coins and points, and comic style sound effect words are constantly appearing on screen. This visual style gives the movie a lot of style and makes it reminiscent of a living cartoon in much the same way as 2008’s magnificent Speed Racer. Without these fun gimmicks, this movie would be little more than another Nick and Norah’s Infinite Play List.
Scott Pilgrim is a interesting watch, and fans of the comics and of quirky comedies may enjoy this film quite a bit. However, I found the movie ultimately unfunny and by the halfway point I was growing tired of the constant pop culture and video game references, followed by repetitive fights that seemed to be motivated by little else than the movies own silly premise of a guy fighting his girlfriends exes like they were a video game boss. By the end credits I wasn’t wishing for a bonus stage
5/10
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Ted Nugent - Full Bluntal Nugity
1. "KLSTRPHK" [instrumental] (3:59)
2. "Paralyzed" (4:28)
3. "Snakeskin Cowboys" (5:58)
4. "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" (6:44)
5. "Free For All" (4:10)
6. "Yank Me Crank Me" (2:44)
7. "Hey Baby" (4:13)
8. "Fred Bear" [acoustic] (8:12)
9. "Cat Scratch Fever" (5:27)
10. "Stranglehold" (9:48)
11. "Great White Buffalo" (5:20)
12. "Motorcity Madhouse" (6:59)
Full Bluntal Nugity is an excellent live offering from the Motor City Madman himself, Ted Nugent. From a pretty young age I have dabbled in the Nuge's music, becoming a huge fan of some of hits such a Stranglehold, The Great White Buffalo, and of course Cat Scratch Fever. Despite some silly lyrics, the man is phenomenal guitar player and his music is really raw and heavy in a live setting. There is plenty of guitar shredding, and crazy antics from uncle ted on this album. Makes me really want to check out some of his studio stuff one of these days. If you are fan of 70s rock this album is for you
4/5
Monday, February 1, 2010
(500) Days of Summer
Romantic comedies are a genre of film that I have neglected to take seriously for a long time. I find a lot of these films rely on trite sentimentality or raunchy sex jokes. (500) Days of Summer sets itself apart from the pack with a interesting story telling and strong characters. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Tom Hansen, an idealistic greeting card writer who believes there is such a thing as true love. He ends of falling for the free spirited summer (Zoey Deschanel) who is not interested in a relationship and eventually ends up dumping him for another guy.
The film jumps around to different points in his relationship with summer, from his first introduction, to first date, to after the break up. This narrative technique allows for an often times humorous contrast of the main characters feelings at different points of the relationship The film makes clear in its opening narrative that it is a story of boy meet girl, but definitely not a love story. This is certainly true, and the movie is not really a story of love between two people but an exploration of this guy's attempt to get over this girl.
While not laugh out loud funny, the movie has its share of amusing moments. The dialog is great, and parts of this film really ring true. The movie subverts many of the expectations of the romantic comedy genre, with an actually realistic but inspirational ending. If you have a friend who has recently been dumped, I think this is the movie for them. All in all this was a surprisingly entertaining and worthwhile film, and I really think it puts novice director Marc Webb on the map. I look forward to seeing what he does with the recently announced Spider-man reboot
Score: 5/5
The film jumps around to different points in his relationship with summer, from his first introduction, to first date, to after the break up. This narrative technique allows for an often times humorous contrast of the main characters feelings at different points of the relationship The film makes clear in its opening narrative that it is a story of boy meet girl, but definitely not a love story. This is certainly true, and the movie is not really a story of love between two people but an exploration of this guy's attempt to get over this girl.
While not laugh out loud funny, the movie has its share of amusing moments. The dialog is great, and parts of this film really ring true. The movie subverts many of the expectations of the romantic comedy genre, with an actually realistic but inspirational ending. If you have a friend who has recently been dumped, I think this is the movie for them. All in all this was a surprisingly entertaining and worthwhile film, and I really think it puts novice director Marc Webb on the map. I look forward to seeing what he does with the recently announced Spider-man reboot
Score: 5/5
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