Get ready to have your face melted

Availability: Released to theaters on August 27^th, 2010.

The Skinny: Rev. Cotton Marcus is a preacher who has lost his faith.  Since childhood he’s thumped the bible and performed countless exorcisms in the name of his God.  When his own child is born with health issues, he finds his faith is placed more in the doctors than the almighty.  After this revelation he decides to retire from the pulpit, but he comes across an article that details the death of a young autistic boy during a botched exorcism.  He agrees to join a film crew and debunk exorcisms for the shams that they are in the hopes that it will save others and reveal the hypocrisy behind the practice. 

The Good: The documentary style narrative works really well with this film.  A lot of the scenes feel very immediate and raw, which makes for a more intense experience.  All of the characters play their parts wonderfully, giving special kudos to the older brother who is about as creepy as it gets.  The story is a good one and it rides the fence all the way to end, which brings us to…

The (maybe) Bad:  I still can’t decide whether that ending is genius or just plain stupid.  I see it for what it is and actually like it for what it attempted to do.  Unfortunately it all happens so fast that you don’t have time to process everything unt- ROLL CREDITS.  Most of the comments I heard coming out of the theater were about how terrible the ending is.

The Verdict:  If they gave the ending more time to play out, I think the abrupt turn of events would have gone over smoother.   I’ve decided that it is a good ending; I just wish we got thrown another bone or two and were granted some more footage.  The biggest flaw of this film was that it could not be considered “found footage” really, and if you see it you can guess why.   This kind of makes it an obvious movie and not a documentary in the end.  While it was certainly intense, I felt that it didn’t reach the level of tension created by “Paranormal Activity”, which is done in a similar vein.  It was worth seeing, but I probably would have felt better about paying a matinee price.

Availability: Released to theaters July 16^th, 2010

The Skinny: A couple of independent contractors who specialize in invading others dreams to retrieve information accept a seemingly impossible job.  Or, to quote Poe, “Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?”

The Good: The film is executed flawlessly from the directing to the editing to the performances to the effects, and so on.  It’s exactly what I was hoping for, yet completely different from what I expected.  It’s not a film for anyone who hates having to mix thinking with their cinema.  It treats the viewer with great respect in that we are able to figure out things for ourselves, connect the dots, fill-in-the-blanks, etc… In doing so it also makes one question any conclusions drawn.  It’s a bit like what David Fincher did with “Fight Club” in a certain respect.    What we’re being shown isn’t necessarily what we’re being shown, and I love it to death.  This is a wholly original film that doesn’t pretend to be anything it is not.  It’s a very beautiful thing and deserves to be watched multiple times for full effect. 

The Bad, or in this case, The Caveat: Someday I hope that some established filmmaker convinces the studio to release a trailer that is just a black screen with title cards announcing the film, a couple sentences describing what it’s about, and the release date.  This movie could have benefitted greatly from that, because some might say the trailers didn’t truly prepare someone for what they were about to experience.  This is not an action film, this is not a drama, this is not a science fiction film, this is something you can make your own and defies category. 

The Verdict: This is not a spoiler.  I attended a late show in a semi-packed theater of high school and college kids.  Everyone was talking on cell phones, texting, yelling across the theater to friends sitting on the other side, pretty much a typical young crowd that I was part of at some distant point in my past.  Anyway, I figured I might be in for a rough ride, but as the movie started I noticed everyone quieted down pretty quickly and for those of you who have seen it you know why.  At about the midway point I look around and I see slack jaws all around me.  I didn’t notice a single light from someone checking their phone through the whole thing.  Then at the end, when the screen cuts to black, a single voice goes “Wow”, then the music and credits roll.  He said it all.

Cover for Silent Hill: Restless Dreams

Availability: As this is a fanedit obtaining a copy can only be done through what some would consider illicit means.

The Skinny: Silent Hill: Restless Dreams is a fanedit of the 2006 Christophe Gans film Silent Hill. It is more focused than the original, exorcising the estranged husband subplot completely. There is only passing reference to him through an attempted phone call. The rest of the film follows Rose as she tries to find her missing daughter.

The Good: I’ve already touched on the husband subplot removal. The film has also restructured the opening. Instead of a linear story where we follow Rose and her daughter into Silent Hill we start there immediately when Rose comes to after an accident. It’s much more disturbing and we feel as lost as the protagonist.

The Bad: The film still isn’t very scary, but it flows much better and does a good job of moving the story along. We still have to suffer through five minutes of exposition explaining what happened in Silent Hill and why the crazy residents are stuck here. This all comes out of nowhere but, unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done with this even with a fanedit. This was sloppy writing and the filmmakers couldn’t find a better way of handling it. So we’re stuck with it. But it’s not enough to make the film not enjoyable. It’s still a far superior version over the original.

Availability: Released in theaters on July 9^th, 2010.  Set for release on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 19th, 2010.

The Skinny:  Eight strangers find themselves stranded in a strange jungle.  Almost all of them are skilled in some form of combat or general bloody mayhem.  They soon realize they are there for a reason and their survival skills are going to be put to the test.

Personal History: I saw the original “Predator” in the theater in 1987 at the age of 14. At the time it was the coolest thing ever.  I loved it so much I read the novelization.  But it was like that with a lot of films of that era.  I was probably still riding the high of “Aliens” from a year earlier.  Maybe it was just that age, but it seems like all of those action films from the mid-eighties had something special that has just not been replicated since. 

The Good:  This is the sequel I’ve been waiting for and it only took 23 years for it to be done.  Forget all of those other films that featured the Predator creature in them after the first, this is the good shit.  I envy the crap out of any 14 year old kid who gets to see this film as their introduction to this series.  Or even better yet, having watched the original and then watched this immediately after.  That would be the ultimate badass way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  I thought the references to the first film and the music score carried everything over nicely, it just felt like a natural continuation of a flipside of the coin to the original movie.  When the cast was originally announced I know I did a double-take at some of the names, but everyone pulled off their parts beautifully.  The dialogue was just that right mixture of nonsensical awesome that I expect from an action film.  I was especially impressed by how much restraint was actually shown so that although it came close, nothing really went over the top.  If nothing else, the ending was exactly what I wanted. 

The Bad:  As much as I did enjoy the film, it wasn’t perfect by any means.  The major issue I had is something that almost all modern actions films rely on too heavily, and that’s the super-kinetic action sequences.  The ones where everything is happening so fast and furious that if you were to slow it down frame-by-frame you’d actually see the actors just having a silly slap fight, but sped up to the nth degree it looks like some kind of human-creature blender.  About three-quarters of the way in, things got a bit sloppy.  Up until that point everything was pretty believable in the scope of how these movies are shown to work.  This is the point where I had to just suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride.  If I sat there and overanalyzed everything, the simple fact I would arrive at is that the whole concept of the movie is flawed by the very same rules that it abides by. 

The Verdict: I’d go back to see this again tomorrow and it’s rare that I feel that way about a movie these days.  Maybe it’s because it was just a fun action flick, but I think it’s more because my 14-year-old self is giddy as can be and needs to live it again.

Tonight ABC premiered their new series Happy Town with an episode entitled “In This Home of Ice”. I’ve previously given my thoughts (see this thread) on the first 14 minutes when ABC posted it on Hulu earlier this month. Now that I’ve seen the episode in its entirety I thought I’d expand those comments.

Since ABC is clearly trying to mimic CBS’s Harper’s Island from last year I will briefly state that I think Happy Town works better (so far). Where some of the violence and situations in Harper’s Island felt forced Happy Town feels a bit more natural. But Happy Town does have its faults.

I still think the prologue was unnecessary. I understand they are trying to set the mood of the series but it is completely unnecessary.

Rose Perkins, who runs the home Henley stays at, is a strange character. I don’t know if there is something going on with her or if the filmmakers want us to THINK there’s something going on with her. It’s odd and I don’t know if it works. I personally don’t like these types of characters because generally it’s the filmmakers trying to be smart and throw the audience off. Guess what? It doesn’t work. The same goes for the character Merritt Grieves: they are trying to make him overtly mysterious. I’ve never met an every day person who acts dark and mysterious. And do you know why people say that the neighbor who turned out to be a serial killer looked “normal”? Because they don’t want to draw attention to themselves. When you have characters acting mysterious they draw unbelievable attention to themselves.

There was a weird scene in a bread factory that is clearly intended to fan the flames of John Haplin, a man who’s daughter disappeared years earlier. I get that these cops aren’t used to dealing with murders, but I can’t believe they would walk in to the next of kins place of work and shout out for said person and loudly declare that their loved one has been murdered. Don’t buy it.

Emma Conroy is a child whose father claims is “the smartest kid in the first grade”. Well, if she’s so damned smart why is she saying “killeded”? That’s not a word sweetie, so the next time your father tells you that you’re the smartest kid in the class take that the mean the most “retardeded.”*

While I am intrigued by what’s going on (who the hell is Chloe and why is the sheriff wigging out over her?) I think the biggest travesty is that we are told about an old German movie called The Blue Door. Merritt Grieves uses this movie as an analogy while talking to Henley who is new in town. After his analogy I immediately went in search of it because it sounded so intriguing. Unfortunately no such movie exists. When you introduce a fake movie that sounds more interesting than the show you’re watching there might be a problem.

But even with all these glaring problems I can’t help but be drawn back for the next episode. I’m intrigued and curious about the people in the small town in Minnesota called Happy Town. I think I’m more interested in the characters than the actual murder mystery. And that’s probably a good thing.

(*To give credit where credits due, the “retardeded” joke was text to me by Tony, so I can’t take full credit for it.)

Availability: Released to Standard DVD on 4/27/2010

The Skinny: A direct sequel to Neil Marshall’s “The Descent” that takes place immediately following the events of the first film.  After failing to check in with the park rangers after their ill-fated spelunking trip, an emergency rescue effort has been put into effect to locate the girls from the first film. 

The Good:  The claustrophobia and creepy atmosphere from the first film is copied perfectly.  In fact, you could almost believe the film crew never packed up after they finished the first movie and instead just started filming the second.  The actors did a fine job and the creatures are just as creepy as they were before.

The Bad:  Some of the plot devices are completely unbelievable.  The suspense and scares are cut in half because we were already shown most of this the first time through.  Oh, and the completely nonsensical ending.

The Verdict:  I loved the first film.  This is not a bad film either, it was just unnecessary.  There is a reason it was not released (at least widely) in theaters, and that’s because when it wasn’t doing something exactly like the first film it was doing something really stupid.  That’s why the first film was so effective, everything was believable.  This time around we get a lot of “aw, come on!” moments that almost took me right out of the film.  Sure, I squirmed in places, but I was just as much frustrated with what I was being shown.   I would have given this film a solid recommend if it wasn’t for that ending.  As it is, it’s probably worth it for cheap or on cable.

Poster for Shutter

Availability: Released to Blu-Ray and DVD on July 15, 2008

The Skinny: Ben (Joshua Jackson) and Jane (Rachel Taylor) are on their way to a remote cabin for their honeymoon a woman walks in front of their car causing the pair to crash into a tree. After the crash they start to experience strange occurrences through photos and reflections.

The Good: Joshua Jackson and Rachel Taylor try their best with this material.

The Bad: The dialog is poorly written and the story a bit convoluted. And for a horror film this is not scary in the least. This is probably because all the techniques used we’ve seen a hundred times now by all the other Asian horror film remakes.

The Verdict: Don’t waste your time on this film. It’s not worth the 90-minute run time which actually feels much longer.