So I saw three new movies this weekend -- two at the theatre, and one on the SciFi Channel. At the theatre, I saw Vin Diesel's The Pacifier, and the new thriller The Jacket, starring Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley. Despite all the negative comments from the movie critics (but what the hell do they know), I thought The Pacifier was a pretty cute movie. Obviously it wasn't Oscar material, but then again, it wasn't supposed to be, either. Personally I think the critics are just showing their snobbery again, and are being overly critical of Vin's performance just because he's an "action star" instead of a comic actor. While not as good as some action stars switching to comedy (The Rock, for example -- I'm curious to go see Be Cool just to see his performance as a gay bodyguard), I think he does a passable job in a fun, harmless family comedy. The movie has a couple of surprises (and, as is to be expected, a couple of "twists" that you can see coming a mile away), and all in all does a pretty good job of keeping you entertained for an hour and a half, which is really about all that should be required from this sort of film. And, unlike too many kid/family movies that have come out in recent years, this was actually one you could take the whole family to (unlike films like The Cat in the Hat and its ilk, which in my opinion have a lot of humor in them that have no business being in a kids' movie -- but maybe I'm just old-fashioned).
Then there was The Jacket. Marketed basically as a horror movie, trying to exploit the populariy of such recent films as The Grudge, White Noise, and Boogeyman, it is in reality much more of a sci-fi suspense thriller. There really isn't much horror movie element to it (interestingly enough, imdb's entertainment news for today has an article stating that the director of the film, John Maybury, is furious with the marketing of his movie because it's so off-base with what the movie's actually about -- and considering that it debuted this weekend in 10th place with only $2.7 million, I think he's got reason to be upset). I won't go into too many of the specific plot points (I don't want to spoil anything for people who haven't seen the film), but in essence this is a time travel movie about a man who's trying to learn the details of his own death. And of course, as with any time travel movie, you have to suspend A LOT of disbelief, because of the fact that there's almost no way to do a time travel movie without running into problems of paradox and simple lack of logic and realism. I have to agree with my buddy Cliff, though, in that this movie does a worse job with this than a lot of other movies do, and that a few minor changes to the story could have eliminated quite a few of these incongruities/logic faults.
When it's all said and done, though, if you can accept these incongruities and just kind of go with what the director/screenwriter are trying to do with the movie, I think it's a pretty enjoyable suspense thriller (if you're one of those sci-fi geeks who's really picky about the science and the logic of your movies, and has a problem with movies that are blatantly not logical at points or obviously scientifically invalid, then some of the things that happen in this movie are really, really going to bug you). There are certainly better suspense movies out there, but tihs one's not bad. The solid cast (who are all great in their roles) really helps. And, of course, as a heterosexual male, the brief Keira Knightley nude scenes go a long way to adding to the movie's overall enjoyment factor. :-)
And so from the theatre we head to one of my favorite TV stations, the SciFi Channel. Of course, when you're dealing with a "SciFi Original" movie, you know going in you've got a 50/50 chance of getting a fairly good movie, or getting complete dreck. When the title of the movie is Skeleton Man, those odds drop to about 70/30 that you're going to get dreck (but generally even the bad SciFi movies can be fun to watch, for their B-movie campiness if nothing else, so even with a title this bad, it's usually worth checking out). But in this case we get a movie so horribly, horribly bad, so completely without redeeming values as to be downright painful to watch. As I'm watching Michael Rooker deliver his painfully bad lines (and he's a good enough actor you know they've got to be as painful for him to say as they are for us to watch), I can't help but think back to one of Chris Rock's jokes from the Oscars, and the big thought going through my mind is, "Damn, I need to send Michael Rooker a check for $80!" (if you saw the intro to the Oscars, you'll know what I'm talking about).
So here's the basic plotline for this horrible trainwreck of a film: an Indian warrior killed his entire tribe years and years ago, and his spirit is cursed to forever haunt the area where their bodies are. Enter a group of special forces operatives on a mission to kill/destroy him (I was only about halfway watching the movie as I did other things, so I can't tell you exactly WHY they're sent to destroy him). So let's start with the first and most glaring thing wrong with this movie -- when we first see our "Indian spirit" do we get anything even remotely resembling a Native Americna? No, of course we don't! What we get instead is a Grim Reaper wannabe -- a skeleton wrapped in a black cape and big black hood (a reviewer on imdb very accurately compared it to Skeletor from Masters of the Universe). And what kind of weapons is our Indian spirit carrying -- why, a sword and an axe, of course; exactly what you'd expect him to be carrying (NOT!). And to make matters worse, it's not a tomahawk he's carrying, it's not even a European battle axe to match the sword; no, he's wielding a damned wood axe that the props guy picked up at some hardware store! I understand having a small budget, but that's just sad. Eventually he does end up with a spear and a bow and arrows that actually look Native American, but at this point I've so lost it with the horrid props and costume for this character that I just can't bring myself to care.
But it doesn't stop there! Oh no, it wouldn't be enough to completely screw up the lame waste of a villain. Because in comes the "special forces" team sent in to destroy him. Firstly (as seems to happen all too often in these low-budget military type movies), our team is half women. Now I appreciate political correctness and all that, but the bottom line truth of the matter is, you don't find women in elite combat units! You just don't!! But let's not forget that having women on the team isn't really about being politically correct and equal opportunity and all that; no, it's really all about the sex-appeal factor.What's a B-movie without sexy women, right? Which means that the women in question look a lot more like Sports Illustrated swimsuit models than they do combat soldiers. I mean, with characters like Vasquez in Aliens, or Michelle Rodriguez's characters in Resident Evil and S.W.A.T., you can at least say that these are women that can absolutely kick ass, and you have no problems believing they can hold their own against the guys in a combat situation. But with these pretty girl model types, about the only combat you'd ever imagine them being in would be fighting each other over a skirt at The Gap. And being a made-for-TV movie, you don't even get to see them naked, so what's the point of putting them in the damned movie?
It's not bad enough, though, to just have women on the team who obviously don't belong there. No, we've managed to put together the most incompentent group of "special forces" soldiers that have ever been committed to film! Let's start with the guy armed with the sniper rifle who, instead of shooting the spirit from a distance like any halfway competent marksman would do, feels the need to run right up to him -- close enough so that the spirit can stab him in the forehead with his spear! I still can't figure out how that would have been a fatal wound, seeing as how the guy obviously had no brains in his head of any sort whatsoever! I admit, being former military myself, and having a love of realistically done military/combat movies, I am really, really picky about how soldiers are presented in film. So little things that most people wouldn't notice (like the fact that these clueless losers are wearing TENNIS SHOES instead of combat boots) really bug the hell out of me. But even someone who's not a purist about these sorts of things has to just be stunned when the final two soldiers (Michael Rooker and one of the women) lose their bearings, and you actually hear the woman make the statement, "Moss grows on the north side of trees. We can use that to re-orient ourselves." It's called a compass, for Christ's sake! What the hell sort of soldier goes on a field mission without a damned compass!!
The list of things wrong with this movie just goes on and on (wow, looking back I can't believe how long my rant on this mess has gotten already). Repeatedly, I found myself thinking, "Who the hell thought THAT was a good idea?!" and "Someone actually agreed to spend money to film THAT?" Truly, truly a trainwreck of a movie. And like a trainwreck, you can't help but watch. I actually put a DVD on about a third of the way through this movie, but I kept putting off starting it to watch "just a few more minutes" of this, just out of morbid curiosity I guess to see what they'd do next. And once there was only 20 minutes or so left, I felt I had to see it through to the end just to see how the hell they were going to actually destroy this seemingly indestructable demon (who, of course, by this point has killed off all but two of the main characters, along with a couple of dozen bystanders). The creature ends up attacking a science lab/power plant type place of some sort (since I was on my computer at the same time and was only kind of watching the movie, I missed what exactly the place was, and how they lured the spirit into the place). They manage to get him locked in the "power core" room or whatever the hell it was, and zap him with huge amounts of electricity and blow him up (yeah, THERE'S an original concept!). And we all know that no lame B-movie like this would be complete without a brief shot during the end credits of the black-cloaked spirit riding off into the woods on his horse, completely whole again.
Generally I consider myself to be about as forgiving and easy-going a movie reviewer as you're likely to find, but I have to give this movie an absolute F, zero stars. If it wasn't for the fact that I was actually doing other things while I watched it, that would have been two hours of my life that I would have wanted back!! Whew! I feel better now! :-)
So that's it for today. In the coming weeks we've got Hostage, Robots, and The Ring Two (all of which look pretty good), so expect more reviews soon. And I may yet get down to the theatre to see Be Cool; we'll see what happens.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
Ned Kelly
Well, I was starting to wonder if I'd ever see the day (well, not including his brief appearance in Black Hawk Down, anyways), but I actually watched a movie the other night that featured Orlando Bloom in a role where he WASN'T wielding either a sword or a bow and arrows. The movie in question would be Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger as the title character, with Orlando Bloom starring as his best friend. Ned Kelly is basically an Australian western, and tells the story of a real Australian outlaw - pretty much Australia's equivalent to Jesse James. Like Jesse James, he robbed banks and fought the police because of the corrupt nature of the government at that time (among other things, his mother was jailed in his place for a shooting that he didn't even commit).
All in all it was a pretty good movie. Heath Ledger does a great job, and Orlando is really good as a charming womanizer who's seducing every woman he encounters (not too surprising a role considering his appeal with the ladies). There's a great scene in the movie where he seduces a bank manager's wife while the gang is robbing the bank, while the bank manager sits in the other room wondering what his wife is doing. It's pretty funny.
The best scene, though, is the big gunfight finale of the movie. The police have this pub surrounded, and inside are Ned Kelly and the three other members of his gang (along with a bunch of innocent bystanders). The gang goes outside to meet the cops, wearing thick, heavy steel armor! They've even got simple helmets that they've hammered together. The cops, naturally, are more than a little shocked as they empty their guns into the four men, only to see them still standing there. The gang then start blasting away at the cops. And interestingly enough, this wasn't some Hollywood idea, but an event that actually happened. In the special features of the DVD is a featurette about the real Ned Kelly, and I guess this gunfight did really take place, and the armor Ned Kelly wore (basically just steal plates on his chest and back, and a crude helmet) is on display at a museum in Australia.
So if you're a fan of Jesse James type movies, or just Westerns in general, then I highly recommend Ned Kelly.
All in all it was a pretty good movie. Heath Ledger does a great job, and Orlando is really good as a charming womanizer who's seducing every woman he encounters (not too surprising a role considering his appeal with the ladies). There's a great scene in the movie where he seduces a bank manager's wife while the gang is robbing the bank, while the bank manager sits in the other room wondering what his wife is doing. It's pretty funny.
The best scene, though, is the big gunfight finale of the movie. The police have this pub surrounded, and inside are Ned Kelly and the three other members of his gang (along with a bunch of innocent bystanders). The gang goes outside to meet the cops, wearing thick, heavy steel armor! They've even got simple helmets that they've hammered together. The cops, naturally, are more than a little shocked as they empty their guns into the four men, only to see them still standing there. The gang then start blasting away at the cops. And interestingly enough, this wasn't some Hollywood idea, but an event that actually happened. In the special features of the DVD is a featurette about the real Ned Kelly, and I guess this gunfight did really take place, and the armor Ned Kelly wore (basically just steal plates on his chest and back, and a crude helmet) is on display at a museum in Australia.
So if you're a fan of Jesse James type movies, or just Westerns in general, then I highly recommend Ned Kelly.
Monday, February 28, 2005
77th Annual Academy Awards
So I made a last-minute decision to catch an early matinee showing of Cursed on Sunday (had to see it early so I could be home in time for the red carpet pre-show at the Oscars), but it was such an unimpressive, mediocre, middle-of-the-road sort of movie that I'm not even going to bother doing a write-up on it. Instead, I'm going to focus on the real event of the weekend -- The Oscars!!
I seem to get worse and worse every year as I get more and more into movies and Hollywood. I used to not really pay any attention to the Oscars. Two years ago I actually watched the whole thing. Then last year I also watched the red carpet pre-show, flipping back and forth between shows on different channels (have to maximize the viewing of the hotties in their sexy dresses). This year I did all of that, AND watched the after-awards show, recorded the late-night post-Oscar shows (which went into the wee hours, but I had to get to bed so I could get up and go to work in the morning), AND recorded Good Morning America this morning to catch their Oscar interviews!! It's becoming a scary, obsessive/compulsive sort of thing, I tell you. But what can I say, movies are my life! :)
So on to the event. I have to say, there were so many lovelies this year it's hard to know where to begin. Hilary Swank looked very fine in that backless gown of hers, Drew Barrymore was looking lovely as ever, Halle Berry was a treat for the eyes, Salma Hayek was all kinds of fine. I think my favorites for the evening, though, would have to be Natalie Portman, Zhang Ziyi (whose see-through top offered the evening's requisite nipple shot), and Catalina Sandino Moreno, who was just all-the-way-around beautiful. There were a lot of strapless gowns this year, which is something you'll certainly never hear me complain about.
So despite the fact that the critics had nothing but bad things to say about him, I think Chris Rock did a great job as host this year. And considering that almost 3/4 of the viewers polled by ABC gave him an A or B rating, and only 10% gave him a D or F, I don't think I'm in the minority in that view. As one of the commentators after the show noted, he didn't really crack on any of the people in the audience, but instead focused on people who weren't attending this year, but if you think about it, there's a good reason for that. Unlike past hosts like Billy Crystal or Steve Martin who've been in the business long enough to be friends and co-workers with many of the attendees, Chris Rock is a relative newcomer, and still more stand-up comic than movie actor. Which means it's a lot harder for him to make jabs at the people in the audience and get away with it, since he doesn't know them nearly as well as Steve Martin does. But the jabs he did make were pretty funny, and he was good enough to make jabs at himself along with everyone else, which I think says a lot.
Was his intro as good as Billy Crystal's movie montage intro last year? No, probably not, but he still did a pretty good job, IMHO. His comparison's between G. W. Bush and working at the Gap were great (when he started talking about invading Banana Republic I was laughing my ass off). But he was equal-opportunity in his political bashing, teasing Tim Robbins about "boring us with his politics". And I couldn't help but smile when he introduced Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz as "four" presenters (and they were four very nice presenters at that, especially the two that Salma was showing off so nicely in that dress of hers).
Of course, Robin Williams did his best to outshine the host when he introduced the Best Animated Feature award (I can see why they won't let him host the show, considering how much trouble he can get himself into in just a 5-minute award intro). His comments about gay cartoon characters was a riot. The funniest part of the show by far, though, was when Pierce Brosnan was joined by the animated Edna Mode from The Incredibles to announce the award for Best Costume Design. She was funny as hell!! I love the fact that they're recognizing the popularity of animated features, and taking advantage of the constantly evolving computer animation technology to start bringing animated characters into the awards presentation. This is a trend I hope to see continue in the future.
Nothing really exciting this year as far as acceptance speeches go, and nothing at all really surprising as far as the winners. Of course, there weren't exactly any big, exciting films to root for this year, either. As was to be expected, The Aviator nabbed pretty much all the technical awards it was nominated for, then it basically crashed and burned when it came to the big awards, most all of which went to Million Dollar Baby. Let's face it, for whatever reason, the Academy just doesn't really like Martin Scorsese. That poor guy's going to get a Lifetime Achievement award one of this years just because he's never won an actual directing award. The most important moment of the night, though, had to be Jamie Foxx taking the Best Actor Oscar over the much-overrated (in my opinion) Leonardo DiCaprio (if for no other reason than I had twenty bucks riding on whether or not Jamie Foxx won an Oscar -- thanks for the beer money, Cliff!).
Although I had serious reservations about the format change this year (having all of the nominees onstage for some awards, presenting some awards in the audience), I have to admit they actually did a pretty good job of it. It had sounded like people getting more minor awards were going to be glossed over because they weren't going to be going to the stage to accept their award, but in the end I think it just saved them the long walk down to the stage. When it was all said and done, I think they did a good job with the new format. It will be interesting to see what next year holds for us.
And I think that's about it. I'm sure there are plenty of moments I'm forgetting about now that are worth commenting on, and plenty more discussion I could go into about the event, but I think I've said plenty for one day, so we'll call this one good.
I seem to get worse and worse every year as I get more and more into movies and Hollywood. I used to not really pay any attention to the Oscars. Two years ago I actually watched the whole thing. Then last year I also watched the red carpet pre-show, flipping back and forth between shows on different channels (have to maximize the viewing of the hotties in their sexy dresses). This year I did all of that, AND watched the after-awards show, recorded the late-night post-Oscar shows (which went into the wee hours, but I had to get to bed so I could get up and go to work in the morning), AND recorded Good Morning America this morning to catch their Oscar interviews!! It's becoming a scary, obsessive/compulsive sort of thing, I tell you. But what can I say, movies are my life! :)
So on to the event. I have to say, there were so many lovelies this year it's hard to know where to begin. Hilary Swank looked very fine in that backless gown of hers, Drew Barrymore was looking lovely as ever, Halle Berry was a treat for the eyes, Salma Hayek was all kinds of fine. I think my favorites for the evening, though, would have to be Natalie Portman, Zhang Ziyi (whose see-through top offered the evening's requisite nipple shot), and Catalina Sandino Moreno, who was just all-the-way-around beautiful. There were a lot of strapless gowns this year, which is something you'll certainly never hear me complain about.
So despite the fact that the critics had nothing but bad things to say about him, I think Chris Rock did a great job as host this year. And considering that almost 3/4 of the viewers polled by ABC gave him an A or B rating, and only 10% gave him a D or F, I don't think I'm in the minority in that view. As one of the commentators after the show noted, he didn't really crack on any of the people in the audience, but instead focused on people who weren't attending this year, but if you think about it, there's a good reason for that. Unlike past hosts like Billy Crystal or Steve Martin who've been in the business long enough to be friends and co-workers with many of the attendees, Chris Rock is a relative newcomer, and still more stand-up comic than movie actor. Which means it's a lot harder for him to make jabs at the people in the audience and get away with it, since he doesn't know them nearly as well as Steve Martin does. But the jabs he did make were pretty funny, and he was good enough to make jabs at himself along with everyone else, which I think says a lot.
Was his intro as good as Billy Crystal's movie montage intro last year? No, probably not, but he still did a pretty good job, IMHO. His comparison's between G. W. Bush and working at the Gap were great (when he started talking about invading Banana Republic I was laughing my ass off). But he was equal-opportunity in his political bashing, teasing Tim Robbins about "boring us with his politics". And I couldn't help but smile when he introduced Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz as "four" presenters (and they were four very nice presenters at that, especially the two that Salma was showing off so nicely in that dress of hers).
Of course, Robin Williams did his best to outshine the host when he introduced the Best Animated Feature award (I can see why they won't let him host the show, considering how much trouble he can get himself into in just a 5-minute award intro). His comments about gay cartoon characters was a riot. The funniest part of the show by far, though, was when Pierce Brosnan was joined by the animated Edna Mode from The Incredibles to announce the award for Best Costume Design. She was funny as hell!! I love the fact that they're recognizing the popularity of animated features, and taking advantage of the constantly evolving computer animation technology to start bringing animated characters into the awards presentation. This is a trend I hope to see continue in the future.
Nothing really exciting this year as far as acceptance speeches go, and nothing at all really surprising as far as the winners. Of course, there weren't exactly any big, exciting films to root for this year, either. As was to be expected, The Aviator nabbed pretty much all the technical awards it was nominated for, then it basically crashed and burned when it came to the big awards, most all of which went to Million Dollar Baby. Let's face it, for whatever reason, the Academy just doesn't really like Martin Scorsese. That poor guy's going to get a Lifetime Achievement award one of this years just because he's never won an actual directing award. The most important moment of the night, though, had to be Jamie Foxx taking the Best Actor Oscar over the much-overrated (in my opinion) Leonardo DiCaprio (if for no other reason than I had twenty bucks riding on whether or not Jamie Foxx won an Oscar -- thanks for the beer money, Cliff!).
Although I had serious reservations about the format change this year (having all of the nominees onstage for some awards, presenting some awards in the audience), I have to admit they actually did a pretty good job of it. It had sounded like people getting more minor awards were going to be glossed over because they weren't going to be going to the stage to accept their award, but in the end I think it just saved them the long walk down to the stage. When it was all said and done, I think they did a good job with the new format. It will be interesting to see what next year holds for us.
And I think that's about it. I'm sure there are plenty of moments I'm forgetting about now that are worth commenting on, and plenty more discussion I could go into about the event, but I think I've said plenty for one day, so we'll call this one good.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
John Constantine, Hellblazer
After a brief hiatus, I'm back! Sadly Valentine's Day almost always means cheesy date movies at the cinemas, and so I was forced to skip my weekly trip to the theatre (Hitch looked kinda cute, but just didn't strike me as something I wanted to spend money to go see). Not that I necessarily have anything against romantic comedies, mind you, but they're just as funny at home as they are in the theatre, and they're a lot cheaper to rent. But thankfully the Hallmark-sponsored holiday is behind us, and we can return to having good movies coming out.
And speaking of good movies (and in this case, surprisingly good movies), on Sunday I went and saw Constantine. This is based on the DC comic Hellblazer, but it's hardly what you'd call a "comic book movie". Of course, this is because the original comic is more of a horror comic, and not a superhero comic, and so we've got no one running around in tights and a cape. It really doesn't compare to any other movies based on comic books, not even Hellboy (there are some similarities, but Hellboy is still much more obviously a comic book based film). The closest movie to it that comes to mind would be The Prophecy, starring Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas, and Eric Stoltz (a fantastic film -- this is the first time I remember seeing Viggo Mortensen, and his portrayal of Lucifer is so incredibly memorable. If you're a fan of his at all, this is a must-see movie, even though he only has a fairly small part in it).
If you're a fan of religious, angels and devils types of movies like The Prophecy, you'll probably enjoy this movie (this is a big reason why I liked it). The story is well done, and the acting is very well done. Keanu Reeves does a surprisingly good job. Not that I have anything against him as an actor (unlike a number of people, movie critics especially). I think he's done a pretty good job in most of the movies I've seen him in. I just didn't think he'd be able to pull off the burnt-out, bitter, cynical character that is John Constantine. But to my surprise he did a passable job of it. The rest of the cast were just as good. Rachel Weisz was solid like always, and Shia LaBeouf was great as Constantine's apprentice. One of my favorite characters was Papa Midnite, played to perfection by Djimon Hounsou. Also noteworthy was Gavin Rossdale (lead singer of the band Bush) playing the demon Balthazar.
So all in all, I'd probably give this movie 4 out of 5 stars. Not nesarrily a movie I'd rush out and see again, but definitely worth seeing at the theatre (and I'll probably buy it when it comes out on DVD). I'm also excited to note that the movie did really well at the theatres, and Warner Bros. is already greenlighting a sequel to it! But this excites me not so much for the sequel itself, but because this should hopefully pave the way for other movies of this type to finally get to the theatres. At the top of this list would be Garth Ennis' Preacher (he also wrote on Hellblazer), and Neil Gaiman's Death: The High Cost of Living. Both have been in development hell for a while now, so it would be great if the success of Constantine motivates the studios to starting pushing forward with them.
And that's about it for this installment. Coming up this weekend we have Wes Craven's new movie Cursed (starring the lovely and talented Christina Ricci - so going to have to see this one!), and the Tommy Lee Jones comedy Man of the House (which I'm still undecided about). And of course next weekend we get The Jacket, starring Adrien Brody and the current love of my life (I wish!), Keira Knightley! Definitely looking forward to that (it looks so creepy). I have to say it again -- it is so cool that creepy horror movies (as opposed to gory, overly-violent horror movies) are seeing a sudden popularity. I just can't get enough of these types of movies!
And speaking of good movies (and in this case, surprisingly good movies), on Sunday I went and saw Constantine. This is based on the DC comic Hellblazer, but it's hardly what you'd call a "comic book movie". Of course, this is because the original comic is more of a horror comic, and not a superhero comic, and so we've got no one running around in tights and a cape. It really doesn't compare to any other movies based on comic books, not even Hellboy (there are some similarities, but Hellboy is still much more obviously a comic book based film). The closest movie to it that comes to mind would be The Prophecy, starring Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas, and Eric Stoltz (a fantastic film -- this is the first time I remember seeing Viggo Mortensen, and his portrayal of Lucifer is so incredibly memorable. If you're a fan of his at all, this is a must-see movie, even though he only has a fairly small part in it).
If you're a fan of religious, angels and devils types of movies like The Prophecy, you'll probably enjoy this movie (this is a big reason why I liked it). The story is well done, and the acting is very well done. Keanu Reeves does a surprisingly good job. Not that I have anything against him as an actor (unlike a number of people, movie critics especially). I think he's done a pretty good job in most of the movies I've seen him in. I just didn't think he'd be able to pull off the burnt-out, bitter, cynical character that is John Constantine. But to my surprise he did a passable job of it. The rest of the cast were just as good. Rachel Weisz was solid like always, and Shia LaBeouf was great as Constantine's apprentice. One of my favorite characters was Papa Midnite, played to perfection by Djimon Hounsou. Also noteworthy was Gavin Rossdale (lead singer of the band Bush) playing the demon Balthazar.
So all in all, I'd probably give this movie 4 out of 5 stars. Not nesarrily a movie I'd rush out and see again, but definitely worth seeing at the theatre (and I'll probably buy it when it comes out on DVD). I'm also excited to note that the movie did really well at the theatres, and Warner Bros. is already greenlighting a sequel to it! But this excites me not so much for the sequel itself, but because this should hopefully pave the way for other movies of this type to finally get to the theatres. At the top of this list would be Garth Ennis' Preacher (he also wrote on Hellblazer), and Neil Gaiman's Death: The High Cost of Living. Both have been in development hell for a while now, so it would be great if the success of Constantine motivates the studios to starting pushing forward with them.
And that's about it for this installment. Coming up this weekend we have Wes Craven's new movie Cursed (starring the lovely and talented Christina Ricci - so going to have to see this one!), and the Tommy Lee Jones comedy Man of the House (which I'm still undecided about). And of course next weekend we get The Jacket, starring Adrien Brody and the current love of my life (I wish!), Keira Knightley! Definitely looking forward to that (it looks so creepy). I have to say it again -- it is so cool that creepy horror movies (as opposed to gory, overly-violent horror movies) are seeing a sudden popularity. I just can't get enough of these types of movies!
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Scary Movie Weekend
Firstly, I have to say that I just love scary movies. I'm not talking about violent, gruesome horror movies, or campy, goofy Friday the 13th style movies (not that the Friday the 13th series doesn't make for a fun marathon, mind you, but they're not exactly what I'd call "scary" movies). I'm talking about spooky, suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat ghost stories; movies like The Others, Thir13en Ghosts, and The Ring. So it goes without saying that I've pretty much been in hog heaven with the recent resurgence of spooky horror movies that have been hitting the theatres in recent months (and it looks to continue at least for a little while -- I can't wait to see The Ring Two, and Christina Ricci in Cursed!).
So I decided to spend last Friday night and Saturday doing a scary movie marathon (Sunday, of course, being set aside for the Super Bowl). First on my list was a trip down to the theatre to see Boogeyman. All in all, not a bad movie. It was pretty formulaic and didn't stray far from your standard spooky ghost story film, but I don't know that this is necessarily a bad thing. It knew what type of movie it was, and didn't try to be anything else. It had a couple of nice surprises, and was just creepy/spooky enough to make for a fun matinee movie. If you like scary movies, it's definitely worth seeing.
On the DVD front, I just acquired a trio of Asian horror movies -- Dark Water, The Eye, and Into The Mirror (one from Japan, one from Hong Kong, and one from Korea, so you've got a little something from all over Asia). Add in Juon: The Grudge (which I'd been sitting on for a while and finally got around to watching), and you've got the makings of a fun-filled movie weekend. I'll start with Juon. While still a good movie, after seeing the American remake, the original is a little disappointing (and it has nothing to do with Sarah Michelle Gellar -- the Japanese women in the original are much cuter). Partly this is becuase the American version had a much bigger budget, so the effects in the original look pretty cheesy by comparison. The other problem is that Juon: The Grudge is actually the THIRD movie in a series. Director Takashi Shimizu did two direct-to-video films before that (this one was the first in the series to get a theatrical release), so a lot of the back story that is explained in the American version is left out of the Japanese version, because this was information presented in the previous movies. I also wasn't jumping out of my seat as much as I was when I saw The Grudge at the theatre. But that little kid is still as creepy as ever, and all in all the movie is a very enjoyable, very spooky film.
Next we have Dark Water, directed by Hideo Nakata, the director of Ringu (the original Japanese version of The Ring). This is probably the slowest paced of all the movies I watched last weekend. Initially it feels almost more like a drama, as we see a woman going through an ugly divorce and struggling to keep custody of her young daughter. But the suspense slowly starts to build after mother and daughter move into a new apartment. A child's red backpack keeps mysteriously showing up (after repeatedly being thrown away), and a leak in their apartment's ceiling gets worse and worse (which I realize sounds pretty tame and unexciting, but the movie does a great job of making it suspenseful and freaky). The tension builds right up until the end, and both the suspense and the drama keep you glued to the screen. And the surprise twist ending was fantastic! I absolutely loved this movie. There's an American remake coming out some time soon starring Jennifer Connelly, and I'm really curious to see how it's going to compare to the original (unlike The Grudge and The Ring Two, it isn't being directed by the original Japanese director, so we'll see how good a job they do with it).
The Eye is a Hong Kong horror film about a young woman who's been blind since she was two, and is able to get replacement corneas to return her sight. However, as she adjusts to seeing again, she soon discovers that she's seeing things that nobody else is seeing -- most notably, ghosts (yes, I was immediately thinking of Haley Joel Osmet going "I see dead people," but this movie deals with it in a much more suspenseful and scary fashion). I don't think there were any scenes that had me jumping out of my seat in this one, but I definitely had my blanket pulled up tight around me through most of the movie. Some of the scenes were just really, really creepy. Add to that a pretty compelling mystery as the woman tries to discover the meaning and origin of her visions, and you've got a very enjoyable movie.
Finally, we have Into the Mirror, a film from Korea. This has to be one of the scariest, creepiest horror movies I've ever seen. It doesn't have the frights that The Grudge has, where every few scenes something is jumping out at you and making you scream and jump in your seat. Instead, it lets the tension and suspense build and build so that the audience just gets more and more freaked out. In some ways I think this is a better technique to keep people scared. Whenever a movie has a sudden fright in it that has you jumping or screaming, that reaction relieves the tension that's been building up; you immediately laugh at yourself for being startled, and the tension then starts building up all over again. With Into the Mirror, you don't really get that release, and so the tension builds through the whole movie. You'll also never look at your reflection the same way again after watching this!
The basic premise of the movie is that a shopping mall is getting ready to open after being ravaged by a fire. But in the days leading up to its opening, employees of the mall begin dying violently and mysteriously. The police are called in to discover what is going on. Of course, while the police don't know what's going on, the audience does (sort of), because we get to see the murders happen. The kicker, though, is that the people are being killed by their reflections. And that's what makes this movie so scary -- the scenes involving the mirrors. In one instance, a man is in an elevator that has mirrored walls. The camera shows him standing with his back towards the wall, so his reflection shows the back of his head. But then his reflection turns around and is looking at him! In the opening scene, one of the employees is in the mall late, and decides to steal a few items, including a pizza cutter (WHY she steals a pizza cutter isn't ever really explained, but it's necessary for the next scene, so you kind of have to just go with it). A security guard finds her and she quickly tells him she's just looking for the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, she pulls out the pizza cutter (again, odd behavior that isn't really explained; but hey, that's the movies for you). She's looking at herself in the mirror when the ID badge around her neck breaks and drops to the floor. She bends down to pick it up, but her reflection stays standing up, and even tilts its head down to look at her. She sees this as she's standing back up. While she's staring in shock at the mirror, her reflection raises the pizza cutter to its neck, and begins cutting open its throat. At the same time, the woman's throat just opens up as if it were being cut (but the woman is holding the real pizza cutter at her side). The blood/gore level is actually kept at a minimum, even in this scene, which is something I like. It's nice to see movies that are scary without resorting to blood and gore.
Scenes like this continue throughout the movie (and are all done really, really well), which turns into a murder mystery involving an employee of the mall who supposedly died in the big fire. However, the people being killed off are the ones who had identified her body (which, naturally, had been burned beyond recognition). The police discover that she has an identical twin sister (and this of course works really well with the mirror tricks, since you never know if her reflection is just her reflection, or if it's actually her dead sister), and one of the policeman works with her to discover what really happened to her twin. The director does an incredible job with the filming of the movie, filming scenes in mirrors then panning over to the real people, for example, which does a great job of keeping the audience off balance. You also see a ghostly spectre show up in the mirrors here and there, but it's almost always in the background where you almost miss it if you're not paying attention. This is one of those movies that I think you could watch several times and find things you'd missed every time you watched it.
I have to give this movie 5 stars. It's creepy, spooky, edge of your seat thrills, plus it actually has a really well-done murder mystery in it. Sadly for most folks out there, though, the only version of it I could find was a Region 3 version out of Korea, so unless you've got a region-free DVD player (I so LOVE mine!!) you're not going to find a version you can actually watch. Which is a shame, since this is such a fantastic film. With any luck it will make its way to the US eventually.
And thus ends the review of my marathon of scary movies. I can't wait to see more and more of these types of movies coming to the theatres (I plan on enjoying them while I can, since we all know that these trends last only so long, and then people get tired of them). There are also a few more Asian horror movies I need to pick up on DVD (once I can afford to buy them). For anyone who might be interested in the movies I reviewed above (or other Asian films), here are a couple of great Internet sites for buying Asian DVDs --AznFilms.com, and HKFlix.com (which also sells region-free DVD players, which is great since a lot of the DVDs on both sites are either Region 2 or Region 3). For anyone who's never watched much in the way of Asian cinema, I can't recommend it highly enough. There are some great films coming out of Asia (as seen by the number of them being remade by Hollywood), and they're a wonderful change from standard Hollywood fare.
So I decided to spend last Friday night and Saturday doing a scary movie marathon (Sunday, of course, being set aside for the Super Bowl). First on my list was a trip down to the theatre to see Boogeyman. All in all, not a bad movie. It was pretty formulaic and didn't stray far from your standard spooky ghost story film, but I don't know that this is necessarily a bad thing. It knew what type of movie it was, and didn't try to be anything else. It had a couple of nice surprises, and was just creepy/spooky enough to make for a fun matinee movie. If you like scary movies, it's definitely worth seeing.
On the DVD front, I just acquired a trio of Asian horror movies -- Dark Water, The Eye, and Into The Mirror (one from Japan, one from Hong Kong, and one from Korea, so you've got a little something from all over Asia). Add in Juon: The Grudge (which I'd been sitting on for a while and finally got around to watching), and you've got the makings of a fun-filled movie weekend. I'll start with Juon. While still a good movie, after seeing the American remake, the original is a little disappointing (and it has nothing to do with Sarah Michelle Gellar -- the Japanese women in the original are much cuter). Partly this is becuase the American version had a much bigger budget, so the effects in the original look pretty cheesy by comparison. The other problem is that Juon: The Grudge is actually the THIRD movie in a series. Director Takashi Shimizu did two direct-to-video films before that (this one was the first in the series to get a theatrical release), so a lot of the back story that is explained in the American version is left out of the Japanese version, because this was information presented in the previous movies. I also wasn't jumping out of my seat as much as I was when I saw The Grudge at the theatre. But that little kid is still as creepy as ever, and all in all the movie is a very enjoyable, very spooky film.
Next we have Dark Water, directed by Hideo Nakata, the director of Ringu (the original Japanese version of The Ring). This is probably the slowest paced of all the movies I watched last weekend. Initially it feels almost more like a drama, as we see a woman going through an ugly divorce and struggling to keep custody of her young daughter. But the suspense slowly starts to build after mother and daughter move into a new apartment. A child's red backpack keeps mysteriously showing up (after repeatedly being thrown away), and a leak in their apartment's ceiling gets worse and worse (which I realize sounds pretty tame and unexciting, but the movie does a great job of making it suspenseful and freaky). The tension builds right up until the end, and both the suspense and the drama keep you glued to the screen. And the surprise twist ending was fantastic! I absolutely loved this movie. There's an American remake coming out some time soon starring Jennifer Connelly, and I'm really curious to see how it's going to compare to the original (unlike The Grudge and The Ring Two, it isn't being directed by the original Japanese director, so we'll see how good a job they do with it).
The Eye is a Hong Kong horror film about a young woman who's been blind since she was two, and is able to get replacement corneas to return her sight. However, as she adjusts to seeing again, she soon discovers that she's seeing things that nobody else is seeing -- most notably, ghosts (yes, I was immediately thinking of Haley Joel Osmet going "I see dead people," but this movie deals with it in a much more suspenseful and scary fashion). I don't think there were any scenes that had me jumping out of my seat in this one, but I definitely had my blanket pulled up tight around me through most of the movie. Some of the scenes were just really, really creepy. Add to that a pretty compelling mystery as the woman tries to discover the meaning and origin of her visions, and you've got a very enjoyable movie.
Finally, we have Into the Mirror, a film from Korea. This has to be one of the scariest, creepiest horror movies I've ever seen. It doesn't have the frights that The Grudge has, where every few scenes something is jumping out at you and making you scream and jump in your seat. Instead, it lets the tension and suspense build and build so that the audience just gets more and more freaked out. In some ways I think this is a better technique to keep people scared. Whenever a movie has a sudden fright in it that has you jumping or screaming, that reaction relieves the tension that's been building up; you immediately laugh at yourself for being startled, and the tension then starts building up all over again. With Into the Mirror, you don't really get that release, and so the tension builds through the whole movie. You'll also never look at your reflection the same way again after watching this!
The basic premise of the movie is that a shopping mall is getting ready to open after being ravaged by a fire. But in the days leading up to its opening, employees of the mall begin dying violently and mysteriously. The police are called in to discover what is going on. Of course, while the police don't know what's going on, the audience does (sort of), because we get to see the murders happen. The kicker, though, is that the people are being killed by their reflections. And that's what makes this movie so scary -- the scenes involving the mirrors. In one instance, a man is in an elevator that has mirrored walls. The camera shows him standing with his back towards the wall, so his reflection shows the back of his head. But then his reflection turns around and is looking at him! In the opening scene, one of the employees is in the mall late, and decides to steal a few items, including a pizza cutter (WHY she steals a pizza cutter isn't ever really explained, but it's necessary for the next scene, so you kind of have to just go with it). A security guard finds her and she quickly tells him she's just looking for the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, she pulls out the pizza cutter (again, odd behavior that isn't really explained; but hey, that's the movies for you). She's looking at herself in the mirror when the ID badge around her neck breaks and drops to the floor. She bends down to pick it up, but her reflection stays standing up, and even tilts its head down to look at her. She sees this as she's standing back up. While she's staring in shock at the mirror, her reflection raises the pizza cutter to its neck, and begins cutting open its throat. At the same time, the woman's throat just opens up as if it were being cut (but the woman is holding the real pizza cutter at her side). The blood/gore level is actually kept at a minimum, even in this scene, which is something I like. It's nice to see movies that are scary without resorting to blood and gore.
Scenes like this continue throughout the movie (and are all done really, really well), which turns into a murder mystery involving an employee of the mall who supposedly died in the big fire. However, the people being killed off are the ones who had identified her body (which, naturally, had been burned beyond recognition). The police discover that she has an identical twin sister (and this of course works really well with the mirror tricks, since you never know if her reflection is just her reflection, or if it's actually her dead sister), and one of the policeman works with her to discover what really happened to her twin. The director does an incredible job with the filming of the movie, filming scenes in mirrors then panning over to the real people, for example, which does a great job of keeping the audience off balance. You also see a ghostly spectre show up in the mirrors here and there, but it's almost always in the background where you almost miss it if you're not paying attention. This is one of those movies that I think you could watch several times and find things you'd missed every time you watched it.
I have to give this movie 5 stars. It's creepy, spooky, edge of your seat thrills, plus it actually has a really well-done murder mystery in it. Sadly for most folks out there, though, the only version of it I could find was a Region 3 version out of Korea, so unless you've got a region-free DVD player (I so LOVE mine!!) you're not going to find a version you can actually watch. Which is a shame, since this is such a fantastic film. With any luck it will make its way to the US eventually.
And thus ends the review of my marathon of scary movies. I can't wait to see more and more of these types of movies coming to the theatres (I plan on enjoying them while I can, since we all know that these trends last only so long, and then people get tired of them). There are also a few more Asian horror movies I need to pick up on DVD (once I can afford to buy them). For anyone who might be interested in the movies I reviewed above (or other Asian films), here are a couple of great Internet sites for buying Asian DVDs --AznFilms.com, and HKFlix.com (which also sells region-free DVD players, which is great since a lot of the DVDs on both sites are either Region 2 or Region 3). For anyone who's never watched much in the way of Asian cinema, I can't recommend it highly enough. There are some great films coming out of Asia (as seen by the number of them being remade by Hollywood), and they're a wonderful change from standard Hollywood fare.
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