Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 31st, 2007
Arriving at a small English town, backpacker Christina Ricci is promptly run over by a car. Despite the impressive impact, she seems unharmed, apart from a complete loss of memory. The woman who hit her takes her in, and Ricci promptly bonds with the children, especially the little boy, who, like her, sees scary things at night. Meanwhile, the kids’ father (Stephen Dillane) is investigating a long-buried 1st Century church nearby, whose crucifixion scene is disturbingly out of whack. Ominous hints gather.
When the mystery is revealed, it is accompanied by a twist unlikely to surprise anyone with even a passing familiarity with horror films. Fortunately, the film doesn’t stand or fall on that telegraphed twist, which furthermore sets up the climax, rather than BEING the climax. The film’s central idea, though, is an interesting one, and the execution is nicely understated. This isn’t a classic in the making, but as an atmospheric little horror tale, it acquits itself honourably.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 23rd, 2007
It�s hard to believe, but after six years and three movies, this fourth film proves the Scary Movie franchise is still good for a cheap laugh.
For those of you that have lived under a rock and aren�t familiar with the Scary Movie series, I will enlighten you. Some of the horror movies coming out these days are just begging to be parodied, and the comic brains of the Wayans brothers did so in 2000 with first instalment simply titled Scary Movie. This movie poked fun of then-recent movie... like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream, and as the movies went on they continued to make jokes of both new and old horrors alike. Scary Movie 4 doesn�t seem to add anything new to the mix in comparison to the previous three titles, but that�s just part of its charm � senseless humour poking fun at other movies. Finally, I must add that apart from re-rolling previous characters, none of the Wayans brothers had anything to do with the screenplay for Scary Movie 4, which ultimately left me unsure going into this movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2007
Having previously only seen the theatrical trailer for Derailed, I was pleased to finally get a chance to watch it. The movie seemed to be filled with a lot of suspense, but the redundancy of this type of affair movie sort of detoured me. Ultimately, I went into this with expectations of an impressive thriller.
Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is a well-off advertising executive married to a school teacher. Together, they have a teenage daughter. Due to complications with diabetes the couple has to be co...stantly on alert with their daughter, causing them continuous stress and leading to what is ultimately a deteriorating marriage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 16th, 2007
10 years ago, Clerks was released, appealing to the ever-growing population of the subculture of slackers. For a generation of grunge-music-listening, going-nowhere, fast-food-working young adults, Clerks became a cult favourite. With the release of Clerks II, I�m sure the very same people are attracted to this title, whether they have grown up and want to revisit that nostalgic feeling, or are still flipping burgers and living the slacker lifestyle. Whether you live in your parents� basement or ...ou�re an upstanding citizen, Clerks II appears to be a slapstick movie that everyone can enjoy.
Clerks II picks up just where the original left off. Randall (Brian Anderson) and Dante (Brain O�Halloran) are still working their dead-end jobs at the Quickie Mart. Their days consist of one sarcastic quip after another, and of course the barrage of insults for every customer that walks through the door. But one day their world is turned upside down when a fire demolishes the Quickie Mart, forcing them to find employment with Mooby�s, the local fast food joint. Life here continues much as it did back at their other job, with the exception of the new boss, Becky (Rosario Dawson), with whom Randall appears to be infatuated. Aside from documenting the daily tribulations of a burger flipper, Clerks II actually has a plot; Randall finally has a chance to grow up and make something of himself, as he is engaged and ready to move to Florida. Of course, this doesn�t sit well with best friend and man-child Dante, but more importantly Randall is ultimately unsure if it�s what he wants as well. As the movie plays out, some hilarious dialogue as well as some dismal humour is thrown our way. Our two protagonists have to make some important life decisions, such as, are they ready to turn their backs on their slacker lifestyles?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2007
Pulse is a remake of the 2001 Japanese film Kairo which was based on a novel of the same name. The movie opens with Josh entering a dark university library looking for someone named Zieglar, where he is instead met by some creepy old man and an entity that sucks life out of him. At this point everything seemed to be promising, although a bit out there. We soon find out that Josh was the boyfriend of Mattie (Kristen Bell) who is now worried as to where their relationship stands because Josh isn�t speaking with her anymore. She goes to his apartment where Josh is still alive but looking very pale and lifeless. Moments after he asks her to wait for him, he walks into another room and hangs himself using a wire, Mattie is left blaming herself. Shortly after his death Mattie and her friends begin getting messages from Josh online, believing it is a virus Mattie�s friend Stone goes to his apartment to turn off his computer, where he is in turn met by these entities. Basically the rest of the movie is Mattie and her new found friend Dex trying to figure out who these people are and how to stop them, while her friends are slowly being killed one by one.
The movie�s central theme is technology's negative impact on people; instead of connecting people together, it has in fact distanced us from personal and emotional relationships. But maybe that�s getting a little too deep, because that�s exactly the opposite of this movie�s intention. Instead, while keeping that as a core theme, the movie is essentially The Grudge combined with White Noise, The Ring, and Night of The Living Dead with the exception of digital zombies in the place of human-like ones. That�s right, two of the most overrated and weak horror movies, The Grudge and The Ring, essentially piled into one even crappier movie, Pulse. Referring to The Ring, as in Pulse a creature if you will comes from a television and kills people. With reference to The Grudge (another Japanese remake) you got someone wandering around trying to figure out some nonsense plot all the while leaving you to wonder when something scary is going to happen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2007
Written by Jason Smilovic, Lucky Number Slevin is an adaptation from the 1961 Japanesse film Yojimbo. Maybe a more referable title, 1964�s A Fistful of Dollars with Clint Eastwood which was also based on Yojimbo, or even another film starring Bruce Willis, Last Man Standing. Basically Lucky Number Slevin keeps the main plot elements, a protagonist playing off both sides of a gang rivalry, but retells the story in modern times along with a handful of notable actors. Among them...include; Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Stanley Tucci, Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman, and Ben Kingsley. I think it goes without saying that its rare that an action movie disappoints when its headlined by Bruce Willis, not to mention the ensemble of other great actors its backed by, so how does Lucky Number Slevin end up?
The film opens up in an undetermined airport terminal where an old man in a wheel chair referring to himself as Smith (Bruce Willis) tells the story of a fix on a horse race back in 1979 leading to the deaths of an entire family. The sole listener of the story is enthralled, thus becoming distracted at which point Smith stands up and snaps his neck, killing him instantly. At this point in the movie this has no relevance to the audience, other than introducing Bruce Willis� character, the world famous assassin Mr. Goodkat.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2007
Wolf Creek is an Australian horror film that is based on true events; with no certain event in specific it combines a few elements from some missing people�s cases in Australia. The actions of some of the characters mirror that of famous serial killers, most notably that of Ivan Milat who most have speculated is whom the movie is based on. According to Quentin Tarantino Wolf Creek is ��One of the great horror film heavies of the last 25 years� so it seems to be really promising.
Liz Hunter (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy Earl (Kestie Morassi) are friends from England who are travelling Australia for a holiday. Here they meet up with Ben Mitchell (Nathan Phillips) with whom they plan to take a trip to Wolf Creek, a desolate area of Australia where a large crater formed by a meteorite lays. The Wolf Creek of the movie is based upon the real life Wolfe Creek in Australia, which you can see during the aerial shots of the crater in the movie. After driving to Wolf Creek and exploring it the group happily returns to the car ready for their next adventure. But fait would have it, or maybe someone else would have it, their car won�t start. Waiting in the car for hours finally they see headlights off in a distance approaching them. Out comes Mick, a Crocodile Dundee looking fellow who offers to tow their vehicle to his camp and will fix it free of charge. Although a bit hesitant the group decides to accept the offer due to their lack of money. After driving for quite some time they arrive at Mick�s camp, an abandoned mining site that he calls home. Here they all sit down and exchange stories, where Mick�s behaviour becomes a bit suspicious, but somehow he manages to woe them into a false sense of security. Before we know it everyone passes out and we skip ahead to day break where Liz, Kristy, and Ben wake up.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 5th, 2007
Pierce Brosnan as a hit man, something were all used to with the James Bond franchise, but this time he�s not killing for the good guys. Instead he is a freelance assassin traveling the globe killing whoever he�s told and for good money too. But comparing Pierce�s role in this film to James Bond isn�t exactly fair, although the characters share some similarities; you really have to watch this one to appreciate the uniqueness of the character.
Pierce Brosnan stars as Julian Noble, a jaded assassin visiting Mexico on business, don�t expect the same Pierce you�ve seen as James Bond as of late. Instead he plays a much deeper and more troubled assassin, which makes this movie both funny and dramatic. Greg Kinnear plays Danny Wright an edgy salesman on his last whim hoping to land an account with a big client whilst in Mexico. The moment these two meet in the hotel bar the humor, dark at times, begins. They exchange awkward conversation, which ultimately results in Danny taking off in a huff because of an offensive comment made by Julian. The next morning the two meet again, Danny not wanting anything to do with this mysterious stranger, but Julian is sincerely sorry and offers up tickets to see a local bull fight. This is where the real fun begins as Julian reveals his profession, and even feels he has to somehow prove he is telling the truth. The two form an awkward yet undeniable bond and part ways from Mexico. Things really take a turn for the worst beyond there, Julian is undergoing a mid life crisis, causing him to rethink his profession and ultimately resulting a hit put out on him. Apparently this guy has no other friends, so guess whose door he goes knocking on?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 15th, 2006
There’s a bunch of people stuck in a bar in the middle of nowhere. Monsters want to eat them. What will they do? That about sums up Feast, a film that’s part comedy, part horror, and all around over the top. This is the winning project from season three of Project Greenlight, a contest and documentary series founded by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck back in 2000. What does that mean? Feast is a low-budget film helmed by a rookie director, based on an amateur script.
Rookie and amateur are often words associated with low quality, but this gore-fest is actually pretty good. This is obviously a film made by big fans of horror movies, as it embraces many of the conventions and clichés of the genre, sometimes twisting them around or turning them upside down. The result is a decent amount of uncertainty for the audience, which helps suck us into the tense and scary moments.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 31st, 2006
Johnny Depp continues to work hard in both good films and bad. While I didn’t care for this outing, I’m not sure I would call it a bad film… just one that didn’t connect with any of my tastes. Fans of Mr. 21 Jump Street will delight in yet another strong performance. He has the skill and talent to be remembered as one of the true greats. His performance in The Libertine does nothing to diminish that. But at the same time, there’s something dreadfully boring about films like these. Something not even Depp’s un...istakable craft can overcome.
Who the hell told writers and actors that films about them are so enthralling people will want to see them play the same characters in the same situations over and over again? It seems artsy folk are much more fascinated with themselves than John Q. Public, or any other moviegoer, could, or should, be. The weaknesses of The Libertine aspire to present them selves as the film’s strengths, and I, for one, am not buying. The plot is the same eccentricity finding redemption “on his own terms” theme that plays out in a lot of these films. Nothing much to say except that Depp plays an eccentric playwright, who insults King Charles II (John Malkovich) with a bawdy play that humiliates him in front of a group of French aristocrats. The stunt gets the playwright exiled, a punishment which seems more befitting than death to such a man, as he can no longer connect with his audience. Boredom ensues. The end.
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