Inglourious Basterds (2009) Drama / Fantasy

Inglourious Basterds (2009) - Writer / Director Quentin Tarantino has created a ass kicking conversation driven fantasy war movie that could be the Best Picture of the year. A group of Jewish soldiers lead by Aldo Raines (Brad Pitt) is dropped behind enemy lines in WWII. There mission is to Kill Nazis and sew terror into the German forces. This they did in spades. My wife, as we watched, did not like the length of several scenes but for me they all were a joy. What he did so well was allow the tension that was natural with the situations to build until the viewer was anxious to get to the finish. The dialog in these scenes was not rambling though, it was tight and reflected the characters involved. The builds were great and kept the movie interesting throughout. When it is learned that Hitler (Martin Wuttke) himself will attend a movie premiere in Paris there is not one but two separate plots to end his life. The first by Raines and his men who want to infiltrate the premiere and blow themselves up to kill Hitler and his generals. The second by the theater owner, Shosanna (Melanie Laurent) a Jewish woman who escaped the Nazis earlier in the movie and has the opportunity to kill the man responsible for the death of her family Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). She and her love will lock all the Germans in the theater and burn it to the ground. Will either of the two plots work? Can the allies gain the upper hand and possibly shorten the war by years? When it plays out it makes the movie that much more enjoyable. Brad Pitt was great as LT. Aldo Raines and Christoph Waltz is excellent as Col. Landa. With good supporting acting, and a very well written script this is a must see movie. I also enjoyed some of the movie making, camera angles from above, the spaghetti western extra close closeups, and the accenting music made the watching experience memorable.
Rating (9.4)

Boston Science Fiction Festival Schedule out!

I am very excited to have the schedule for this event, I will naturally be trying to see EVERYTHING. Naturally you can follow my reviews right here, or better yet get your ticket today and see them with me.

http://bostonsci-fi.com

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
35th Annual Boston Science Fiction Film Festival
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS(all shows except the Film Marathon begin at 7:00 PM)

Fri. Feb 5th OPENING NIGHT!
Special Revival!Sundance & Berlin Fest Winner!
SLEEP DEALER
Dir. Alex Rivera. 90 min., Mexico, 2008.
In the not too distant future, water is used for blackmail, security has reached new dimensions, and 'sleep dealers' work in factories.

Sat. Feb 6th New England Premiere!
MUTANT SWINGER FROM MARS
Dir. Michael Kallio. 86 min., USA, 2009.
MARS NEEDS WOMEN! Martians come to Earth and force a mad scientist to create a “chick magnet”!
This lovingly rendered sci-fi spoof parodies films like Young Frankenstein, The Ape Man, and The Nutty Professor with equal measures of Ed Wood and William Castle thrown in. The film features the acting debut of Jack White (pre-White Stripes and Cold Mountain) of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather.

Sun. Feb 7th World Premiere!Director in Attendance!
Q&A Following Screening
CALLER ID
Dir. Eric Zimmerman. 100 min., USA, 2009.
Caller ID is a psychological sci-fi thriller based on real voice mail messages received from a disturbed woman. A group of graduate students study advanced techniques in psychopathology while their professor leads them through a series of bizarre experiments and perverse sexual research involving mind control. The students discover how technology can be used to control minds. Each student must explore the caller’s hidden psyche – as well as their own id. Starring James Duval (Donnie Darko, Independence Day) and Peter Greene (Pulp Fiction, The Mask).

Mon. Feb 8thShorts Program #1
LITTLE SPACE ODDITIES
Boston Premiere!
THEOSAUROLOGY
Dir. Alex Austin. 5 min., USA, 2009.Animated story about the true nature of dinosaurs.
NE Premiere!
EMPATHY
Dir. Benjamin Pascoe. 9 min., USA, 2008.Tragedy sends a man on an surreal adventure.
North American Premiere!
THE PACKAGE
Dir. Oliver Waghorn. 3 min., Australia, 2009.An old VHS tape holds the key to Dave's future.
North American Premiere!
DESTINATION DAY
Dir. Chris Lassig. 7 min., Australia, 2008.Time traveler tries to change his past.
World premiere!
OPERATION BLAST
Dir. Jeffrey Hollins. 10 min., USA, 2009. Laser blasting bots fight where humans once did.
World Premiere!
VHS REPORTER
Dir. Jamie Heinrich. 9 min., USA, 2009. Old and new technologies seep into unknown territory.
North American Premiere!
DIMENSIONAL MELTDOWN
Dir. Ofer Pedut. 7 min., Israel, 2009. A lot of people die in parallel dimensions.
World Premiere!
FRANK DAN COOLO: PARANORMAL DRUG DEALER
Dir. Andrew Jones. 8 min., USA, 2008.A legendary monster stalks Neo-Mega-Ultra Tokyo.

Tue. Feb 9thShorts Program #2
EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL EXTRAVAGANZA
New England Prmeiere!
PERFECT COMPANIION
Dir. Jeff Winograd. 9 min., USA, 2009. New advances in online dating has a few complications.
US Premiere!
ESCAPE FROM DEATH PLANET
Dir. James Cadden. 7 min., Canada, 2009. Unknown lifeforms attack terraformers.
World Premiere!
TYPE A
Dir. Erik Fefferman. 15 min., USA, 2009. Techies awaken a terrifying force.
World Premiere!
MR. BOJAGI
Dir. Marco van Belle. 10 min., UK, 2009. Mind-reading machine finds the perfect gift for any occasion. Starring legendary British actor Brian Blessed.
New England Premiere!
ALL SYSTEMS GO, NEIL ARMSTRONG
Dir. Robert Dohrmann. 3 min., USA, 2009. A mysterious television is your personal guide through outer space.
New England Premiere!
THE KIRKIE
Dir. James Krieg. 13 min., USA, 2008. Enroute to Comic Con geeks get sidetracked in a bar.
World Premiere!
THE LATEST THING
Dirs. Christian Sesma & Hamiltion Scott, 6 min., USA, 2009.***Director Hamiltion Scott in attendance!Brain be upgrades blur the lines between humanity & technology.
New England Premiere!
ENIGMA
Dir. Jason and Matt Shumway. 42 min., USA, 2008. Spaceship Genesis floats dead in space. All are dead! Multiple award-winning mystery!

Wed. Feb 10thShorts Program #3
PLANETARY PARANOIA
New England Premiere!
SITA
Dir. Tchaiko Omawale. 9 min., USA, 2008. A human in love, living in a post-apocalyptic world, wants to touch someone.
World Premiere!
RATS
Dir. Giovanni Ficetola. 7 min., Italy, 2006. Based on Alberto Ponticelli's comic, a machine run world breaks down.
New England Premiere!
1:03 AM
Dir. Raymond Cinemato. 8 min., USA, 2008. A man scores a bizarre permit, the time to carry out his task - 1:03 am.
New England Premiere!
THE REPLICANT
Dir. David Smith. 13 min., USA, 2008. An underground cloning facility has a few surprises.
Boston Premiere!
DIE SCHNEIDER KRANKHEIT
Dir. Javier Chillon. 10 min., Spain, 2008. In 1958, a Soviet capsule crashes & spreads a deadly virus.
New England Premiere!
UNDER GOD
Dir. Richard Farmer. 10 min., USA, 2009.President Eisenhower gets up close & personal with UNIVAC.
North American Premiere!
AFTERGLOW
Dir. Andres Anglade. 11 min., USA, 2009. Failed alien invasion leads to recriminations and new threats.
North American Premiere!
OXYGEN
Dir. David Norris. 24 min., Australia, 2008. Air-supply repairman faces an isolated life and controlling powers in a polluted world.
North American Premiere!
LIFELINE
Dir. Andres Salaff. 6 min., USA, 2009. Dimension traveling scientist looks for his lost love.
Sundance 2009! Honorable Mention!
ATTACK OF THE NEBULA-5 ROBOTS (El ataque de los robots de nebulosa-5)
Dir. Chema García Ibarra. 6 min., Spain, 2008.Everybody is going to die, soon.

Thur. Feb 11thTBA

Fri. Feb 12thWorld Premiere!Director in Attendance!Q&A Following Screening!
LUOPOLIS
Dir. Matthew Avant. 99 min., USA, 2009.
A conspiracy radio show caller claims that people from the future live on the moon and control our every action. Filmmakers Matt and Sonny chase the story deep into Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin. A ominous underground compound that raises more questions than answers. Threatening encounters, a bizarre and reclusive Church of Lunology, mysterious secrets, alternate histories, time travel,and more.

Sat. Feb 13thNew England Prmeiere!
INK
Dir. Jamin Winans. 107 min., USA, 2009.
When we sleep, two forces emerge. One supports our hopes and gives us strength through dreams. The other leads us toward desperation through nightmares. Then there are the others with unknown purposes. They live in a shadow-world, like the mercenary named Ink. 

Eight-year-old Emma awakens in the dream world. Her soul has been ripped from her by Ink. Evil will find you. There is no safe haven. INK is a cult classic. See it with an audience!

Sat. & Sun. Feb 14 - 15th
35th BOSTON SCIENCE FICTION FILM MARATHONaka THE 'THON
Twenty four hours of sci-fi madness! Trailers, cartoons, classic '50s schlock, prizes & more!
Features (not in order):
Special Discovery! Lathe of Heaven
District Nine
Moon
The Thing
Godzilla Vs. Mothra
Night of the Creeps
9
The Day the Sky Exploded
Night of the Comet
Colossus: The Forbin Project
The Giant Gila Monster
Rabid
plus cartoons, trailers, prizes & surprises!

Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) - Horror

Omen IV: The Awakening - Delia York (Asia Vieira) the adopted daughter of Gene (Michael Woods) and Karen (Faye Grant) is not quite the nicest child in the world. She has a mean streak and her mother is worried. As the story progresses Karen begins to have doubts that the girl is as sweet as she appears in front of her father. Karen digs for answers about the girl attempting to find the story behind her. Her P.I. Earl Knight (Michael Lerner) and others in the girls life have deadly accidents. Karen though is getting information and it is leading to the conclusion that Delia is an omen for the end of times. There is a nice twist in this movie concerning Karen's second child that I will not reveal here. Still most of this movie was a big build up to an anticlimax, and in the end although watchable, many in modern audiences will find the movie a bit dragging.

Rating (4.3)

Pandorum (2009) - Sci-FI Action

Pandorum (2009) - Imagine waking from a long hyper sleep to find the ship you are in is aging and the crew seem to be missing. At first you can't remember much because of the effects of the sleep, then in bits and pieces you realize you are the last surviving humans in the universe. You are trapped in the room you woke in and it becomes clear things are not how you left them the years and years before when you entered your hyper sleep. So it is for the crew members in Pandorum. They are soon to find out through accelerated evolution has created a group of cannibalistic hunter creatures who are between them and the resting of the generators that will keep the ship functioning. Much of this movie felt like the great "The Descent" with the ultra human creatures having a run at any human survivors they come across. It is dark and atmospheric with a subplot about space sickness called Pandorum that makes people a bit paranoid and crazy. Our main character Bower (Ben Foster) is trying to navigate to the engine room to reset the nuclear generator, with the help of his lieutenant, Payton (Dennis Quaid) he works his way through hostile ground and through chance meetings with other survivors Nadia(Antje Traue) and Manh (Cung Le) learns what has happened while he was asleep. This is not a bad science fiction movie, it keeps the set tight and claustrophobic, the action quick and exciting and doles information out at a reasonable pace. The twist at the end is decent although I have seen that some people did not like it. I enjoyed the movie well enough and definitely recommend it.

Rating (6.4)

Broken Embraces (2009) Drama

(Los abrazos rotos) Broken Embraces (2009) - I really like Pedro Almodovar as a storyteller, how he focuses on the relationships and what is not said is as important as what is said. Broken Embraces is the story of Mateo Blanco (Lluis Homar)a director and writer of movies who has a passionate love affair with Lena (Penelope Cruz). Lena the wife of the powerful businessman Ernesto Martel (Jose Luis Gomez) looking for an escape from that relationship but feeling trapped. We meet Mateo as a blind writer going under the name Harry Caine and are shown the story through flashback. I liked how Almodovar shows the path Lena took to get into her marriage with Ernesto, He her boss and she in need with a father dying of cancer, a women who had already done some prostitution to make ends meet, he uses this to pull her into his orbit. She feeling trapped by circumstances allows it to happen.
We learn how when she decides to act in a movie her husband is funding she meets Mateo and they are quickly into each other. There story plays out and then meets a tragic end leaving Mateo blind and Lena dead.
Cared for by his manager/agent Judit (Blanca Portillo), Mateo is still a successful writer and hears about the death of Ernesto leading to the unfolding of the story. Blanca plays an important role in the story. The love of Mateo's life but unrequited she has her own guilt burden to bare. The revelations are wonderful slowly doled out in bits.
I will not share the twists this movie takes, some of it is too clearly foreshadowed but then there are some real surprises. If you like heartfelt drama with interpersonal turns this is a movie for you. You will have to read subtitles though, I had no problem with that as Almodovar is a master storyteller, you will be engaged and interested throughout the entire movie.
Rating (8.2)

Bucktown (1975) Drama

Bucktown (1975) - This was the story of Duke Johnson (Fred Williamson) a city guy who comes to a small corrupt southern town to bury his brother. Inheriting his Brothers bar and not able to sell it for two months Duke makes a go of it reopening the place. Through his brother's girlfriend Aretha (Pam Grier) and local drunk Harley (Bernie Hamilton), Duke learns the town is corrupt. Apparently the police in the town run a protection ring and take the profits of all the local businesses. Duke doesn't play that game though and after a fight with a couple deputies Duke calls his big city friend Roy (Thalmus Rasulala) to come down with some of his friends. The men then set about killing off the police force to end the oppression on the town. This is where the movie takes an interesting turn. Roy after seeing the money flowing through the town coffers he and his crew, TJ (Tony King), Hambone (Carl Weathers) and Steve? (Tierre Turner) take over where the cops left off. The temptation message is clear here, after fighting against the unjust cops the money they are ranking in makes becoming them appealing. Duke wants no part of it but soon Roy and his men are running things harder than the cops did. When TJ come up with a plan to cut Duke out by turning Roy against him we get to the final sequence. Duke tired of the "New Boss" Same as the old boss he goes about executing his once friends. The final battle with Roy is an agreement that whichever one wins the other leaves town.
Rating (6.5)

Valet Girls (1987) Comedy

Valet Girls (1987) - Lucy (Meri D. Marshall) wants to be noticed for her 80's Pop singing talent but how to be seen by the right record industry people? Well if you work as a valet in Hollywood you can meet them at parties, hop on stage and perform and be discovered. This is the idea Lucy is going with in 1987's Valet Girls, a screwball comedy with a lot of screw. A rival valet company messes up the new gig for the girls, Lucy, Rosiland (April Stewart) and Carnation (Mary Kohnert), and there has to be revenge. Meanwhile party hostess wants to get back at her partying and promiscuous husband and his equally sexed out friends and joins with the girls in the revenge scenario. All the while Lucy gets her big chance and we all go away thinking..."Wow! someone actually made that into a movie." Director Rafal Zielinski does what he can with this script by Clark Carlton in his only credit but really I can't believe he ever thought he was making a good movie.

Rating (2.5)

Latest Lineup for 35th Annual Boston SCI-FI Marathon

THE LATHE OF HEAVEN (1980)- Classic PBS TV SF film based on the Ursula Le Guin story. One of the best made for TV SF films. This will be a DVD projection. THE THING (1982) - The now classic John Carpenter remake of last year's Marathon hit, both based on the John W. Campbell Jr.'s SF classic story. Features Kurt Russell and Rob Bottin's trailblazing makeup effects!
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/

THE GIANT GILA MONSTER - 50s creature feature with hot rods and cold lizards! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052846/ For more on GIANT GILA MONSTER and it's star Don Sullivan, read excerpts from my interview with Don: http://sf.theboard.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1262918712/1

Previously announced:
DISTRICT 9 - This year's highly acclaimed SF thriller from down under. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/

DAY THE SKY EXPLODED (La Morte Viene Dello Spazio) - This super rare title is an interesting Italian-French co-production directed by Paolo Heusch and the Cinematographer was the great Mario Bava (PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES). http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0051951/

9 Expanded from an Oscar nominated short subject. http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0472033/

COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT (1970): An all-time Marathon computer classic returns! http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0064177/

MOON (2009) Award-winning film by David Bowie's son features Sam Rockwell : http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/

Up in the Air (2009) Drama

Up in the Air (2009) - George Clooney banks on a handsome confidence to get him through this role as a despicable axe man, know it all, who has to question, even for the briefest moments his own life path. He is the expert and there is one thing that Clooney plays well it is the expert. Working for a company that fires people for other companies Ryan Bingham is the sky warrior. He crisscrosses the country plying his trade and has created the perfect isolated life for himself. A couple things happen to interrupt this life. The first is Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) arrives at his company with the idea of creating a video conferencing version of his job. The idea will save 85% on the travel budget and effectively axe the axe men from there travelling ways. The second is Clooney becomes involved with another frequent flier Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) who is looking for a guy like Ryan, and the unattached relationship he can give.

Ryan's boss in response to resistance to the new video conferencing idea send Natalie and Ryan on the road together so he can teach her the ropes about firing strangers. Here is where the philosophy lesson begins about how even the most vile human beings need to be able to have personal contact and interaction with those they are harming. For Ryan he sees his job as a gift to those who he is firing. A benefit to have a stranger say the right things and make the right connections. He is the syrup pored over the turd of being fired. Through there travels Natalie learns how hard this is but fights through to perform in ruins people's lives like the pro she is.

Ryan and Alex have a fun sexual relationship where they meet when there flights are near each other, have a shag and then happily head their separate ways. This is upset when Ryan starts to fall for her. She attends his sisters wedding with him and he tries to take the relationship further. His ideas are crushed though and she is not looking for more then they have already agreed to in their relationship. This was a really poor piece of fore shadowing when Natalie, Alex and Ryan are talking about how they see a good life, for me at least gave away what was to come.

The mini plot above this is Ryan become the youngest man ever to receive a 10 million miles of loyalty points on American Airlines (The biggest product placement ever!). There are also some very good dialog writing in this story. Using humor and candor worked to try to get the audience to like these character who in the real world may not really connect with the rest of us. It was also not a poorly made movie, in fact shots were just long enough and the music was appropriate throughout.

At the end of this movie I was not moved. I think when you are making a movie about bad people the plot has to be more than the small story arc we got here. I was left thinking boy really did not care whether these bad people learned anything. The writers (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner) tried to give us the other side also with many clips of people talking about how it is to be laid off, but really they spend more time trying to get us to sympathize with the scumbags hired to lay them off. eh! This just did not work for me and I came away sorry I wasted $11 on the ticket. I see that the movie is rated 8.2 on imdb.com, and most of the prays shows people liked and sympathized with the Clooney character. I didn't, his ethics were flawed from the start and just because he has them does not make him likable. His big change in this movie is having his heart broken, which would have been decent if it was left at that, but no instead the writers shunt the blow by letting him reach his 10 million goal and pretty much get his travelling job back. This was a manipulative movie that did a poor job at manipulating, at least for me.
Rating (4.0)

The Chaser (2008) Crime Drama

The Chaser (2008) Chugyeogja (Korean) - I did not intend to watch this movie, I was up and watching the College Football Championship Game but with Colt McCoy out injured the game changed into an Alabama lovefest. Instead of sleeping I watched this captivating and incredibly sad film from South Korea. Joong-ho (Yun-seok Kim) is a dirty cop running a prostitution ring, things are going badly because his girls keep running away (disappearing). He is on to the guy who sees the girls just before they are gone. Using his police connections he begins looking for the guy. Mi-jin Kim (Yeong-hei Seo) is a prostitute with a seven year old daughter, she is the next to see the mysterious guy and quickly finds out he is a serial killer. Bound the killer attempts to kill her by driving a chisel into her skull, fails but is interupted by visitors to the house he has taken when he killed the owner. Mi-jin is unconciuos while he deals with the visitors. While he is out for some reason he accidently hits the car of the very cop who is looking for him. The chasing begins! The cop brings him in but because it is not his district and he does not have his badge the officers at the station treat him with hostility for beating the killer. There is a great deal here about the justice system in Korea where the guilty are often released because of either bad behavior by police or the ineffectual system. While Joong-ho attempts to find his girl in the neighborhood he found the killer in, the police bungle the processing and by morning the killer is set free. Becasue of the beating of the killer the cops also want to arrest our main character but he is out in the streets in a race against time to save his prostitute while caring for her seven year old daughter.

The end is devestating with chance being put to the test before the resolution of the story. This was very much a compelling film although it did force suspension of disbelief in random meeting odds. Director Hong-jin Na is making a movie currently in the USA and I wonder if it is a remake , entitled The Murderer is could be?
Rating (7.3)

Science Fiction Marathon Confirmed Movies

The Giant Gila Monster (1959) - A couple of teenagers are reported missing in a small Texas town, and it is thought they eloped until their bodies are found in a ravine. Sheriff Jeff turns to his friend, Clarence Winstead, a garage mechanic and leader of a hot-rod gang for help. A series of tragic motor accidents occur and it becomes apparent that a giant gila monster is roaming the area and depleting the town of its hot-rodding teen-agers. And might have plans on attending the BIG record-hop party. Written by Les Adams {longhorn1939@suddenlink.net} from imdb.com

Day the Sky Exploded (1958) italian La morte viene dallo spazio - Scientists discover that a group of meteors are hurtling on a collison course with Earth, and if they hit, the planet will be destroyed. from imdb.com

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) - Forbin is the designer of an incredibly sophisticated computer that will run all of America's nuclear defenses. Shortly after being turned on, it detects the existence of Guardian, the Soviet counterpart, previously unknown to US Planners. Both computers insist that they be linked, and after taking safeguards to preserve confidential material, each side agrees to allow it. As soon as the link is established the two become a new Super computer and threaten the world with the immediate launch of nuclear weapons if they are detached. Colossus begins to give it's plans for the management of the world under it's guidance. Forbin and the other scientists form a technological resistance to Colossus which must operate underground. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net} from imdb.com

9 (2009) - When 9 first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world where all humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they'll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them. Written by Focus Features from imdb.com

Moon (2009) - With only three weeks left in his three year contract, Sam Bell is getting anxious to finally return to Earth. He is the only occupant of a Moon-based manufacturing facility along with his computer and assistant, GERTY. The long period of time alone however has resulted in him talking to himself for the most part, or to his plants. Direct communication with Earth is not possible due to a long-standing communication malfunction but he does get an occasional message from his wife Tess. When he has an accident however, he wakens to find that he is not alone. He also comes to realize that his world is not what he thought it was. Written by garykmcd from imdb.com

District 9 (2009) - In 1982, a massive star ship bearing a bedraggled alien population, nicknamed "The Prawns," appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Twenty-eight years later, the initial welcome by the human population has faded. The refugee camp where the aliens were located has deteriorated into a militarized ghetto called District 9, where they are confined and exploited in squalor. In 2010, the munitions corporation, Multi-National United, is contracted to forcibly evict the population with operative Wikus van der Merwe in charge. In this operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical and must rely on the help of his only two new 'Prawn' friends. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com) from imdb.com

Buy your THON tickets through the Marathon website , Lets meet up there! I will be the newly skinny tall bald guy named Ed.

Swamp Thing (1982) Horror (ish)

Swamp Thing (1982) - It is 1982 I am sure I am in my Chinos and Members Only jacket, getting stoned and heading off with friends to the Neponset Drive-In for a fun double feature and one of the movies is Swamp Thing. As is often the case the blurred memories of the past and the present do not always smoothly fit together. This was my experience watching this movie. I am sure, in its time I thought this movie was fun. I have always had fond feeling for it. Now it could be as a senior in high school the small (and I mean small) glimpse of Adrienne Barbeau' s assets was enough to create such memories. It could be the combination of friends, the Drive In, Pot and alcohol created the right conditions for positive reflection. Whatever it was it is no longer present for me. This movie was soooooo.... hard to watch. Miss Barbeau plays Alice Cable a government scientist/agent checking up on Dr Alec Holland (Ray Wise) who is attempting to grow plants that will survive in the harshest of climates. Hidden in the swamps for some reason, in an underground bunker that looks like a shack from the outside, but has a bunker below it he works and quickly in the movie has a breakthrough. The tone is strange early in the movie with the introduction of villains, Dr. Arcane (Louis Jourdan) and his henchmen. They are very cartoon evil while Adrienne Barbeau and Ray Wise side seem to be playing things very straight. The bad guys evil for the sake of evil are looking a for Holland's breakthrough to exploit it. They take the notebooks detailing the experiments and Holland is covered in his formula and runs out on fire into the swamp to become the creature. Alice escapes with the final vital notebook and most of the rest of the movie is the absolutely silly soldier guys hunting for her in the swamps of South Carolina, while the swamp thing protects her. Eventually the monster is captured and his formula used by both Dr. Arcane and a henchman. Arcane becomes a hairy beast who has the final fight with Swamp Thing. In this there is a lot of explosions, capturing and loosing of Alice, a romance sort of between Swamp Thing and Alice, ridiculous looking stunts where you see the landing pads are pads, Swamp Thing healing ability, silly rubber suits for the monsters, and when it is all over a feeling of regret that I had such fond memories of this film. Director Wes Craven was in a very creative time for him, between the the late seventies, The Hills Have Eyes (1977), and just before the great A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), but he seems to have lost his way on this one. It is not a very good movie.

Rating (4.2)

Invictus (2009) - Drama

Invictus (2009) - The story of how Nelson Mandela embraced the South African Rugby team in their quest for the 1995 World Cup Championship. Clint Eastwood directed this story of how this great leader took the mostly white supported S.A. Springboks team, and made them a national focal point in South African reconciliation. Morgan Freeman plays Mandela as a wise patriarch teaching the youngsters around him in the art of forgiveness. Matt Damon is Francois Pienaar the captain of the team who is called on by Mandela to lead the underdog team through the competition. Damon's role seemed not particularly important in the movie, I mean I see how we are suppose to see his change of opinion of Mandela, but there is so little interaction between the two that it was hard to see this internal change take place. I think there could have been more overt racism on the team and it would have helped this task, instead we have complaining about doing rugby clinics and resistance to learning the new national anthem and that is it. In fact even the most racist character, Peinaar's father really pulled it insulting punches. It was like the movie was very conscious not to be a movie about racism.

Writer Anthony Peckham gives us a standard sports story of the Springboks fighting through and winning the 1995 Rugby World cup, but the slim screenplay whether cut later or designed this way barely focuses on the journey of the team but more on the strategy of Mandela. The team's story is the secondary story and is regulated to some fine slow motion rugby play and of course the big win against the heavily favored New Zealand team. I understand this decision and truly appreciate Mandela as a leader. As it was so well pointed out in expository dialog, the idea was not to take away the white minorities team but to embrace them as a majority. Mandela saw supporting the minority as vitally important in holding the country together in the post Apartheid world.

What I liked about this movie is the focus on Mandela, the man is a great leader in our time and the movie shows this. Through this story we see his greatness, how he is thinking in a different way than many people in his country and it really carries a wisdom, earned through 27 years as a political prisoner. The Rugby scenes were well done and you get a sense at what the game is about.

On the other side I was put off at times by the sappy music. It was a bit much. There was to be a parallel story between the teams journey and Mandela's agenda but I think it ended up being more about the man and less about the team. There were several places where I wondered whether things were cut. Mandela gives Pienaar the poem Invictus and tells him about how it helped him in his years in prison, then Pienaar talks about how on the bus to the games the guys are in their heads and then they play a song or something to get ready for the coming battle. It felt like they were leading us to a reading of the poem before the big game but nothing ever materialized. There were some scenes that touched upon Mandela's family conflict but they were just brushes with his family through his relationship with his daughter. His estranged wife was mentioned but not included and there was no follow through on the theme. I am not sure there are any Oscars in this film, but it has good entertainment value.

Overall the movie was entertaining and pleasing to watch. Spoiler South Africa did win the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and Mandela did indeed embrace the team. The story told here is decent if not fully realized. Go see for yourself.

Rating (7.5)

Invictus

by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may beFor my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Taken (2008) - Thiller

Taken (2008) - This Liam Neeson vehicle barrels forward at a breakneck pace without thought of whether or not it makes sense or not. It doesn't but that was not enough for me to poo poo this flick. It is an action movie and as such has to just get me onto the edge of my seat and then keep me there for a while. It accomplished that and so even though police are nonexistent in France, and this agent can act with impunity I was into the story. Neeson is a retired CIA operative who reluctantly allows his daughter from his failed marriage, to go off to France with a friend. Very quickly, approximately 3 hours after arriving the girls are abducted and sold into sex slavery. Neeson gets hot on the trail and tracks down and kills many people in the taught plot that leads to saving his daughter before she loses her virginity. This is it! Mostly the action is good and Neeson pulls off being the competent and dangerous agent. Maggie Grace is ridiculous pretending to be his 17 year old daughter. So obviously in her mid twenties I just do not accept the casting decision. There is no one bad guy which really is a shortcoming of the movie. It would have been more interesting to have a single evil bastard for Neeson to get in the end. Writer Luc Besson wrote one of my alltime favorite movies, "Leon, the Professional" but here things are more quick hit and the character development although present is really in the way. Overall though I was on the ride and it past the simple test of action movie.
Rating (5.7)

Pink Floyd The Wall (1982) Musical

Pink Floyd The Wall (1982) - I went to see this movie on the big screen for the first time in over 30 years as part of a Pink Floyd night. Local Boston area rock radio station WAAF 107.3 sponsored a night of music and movies. First my sister and I went to see the Pink Floyd tribute band "The Machine" and then a midnight showing of the movie. I had never been to a tribute band concert and found myself very excited going in. The event was held in Foxboro MA at the Showcase Live restaurant, concert hall. We arrived early enough to get dinner seating and I have to say the food and service were good. It is also a benefit to have dinner there because then you have a place to sit if you choose to during the concert. Even the VIP booths were affordable. So after a good meal we were ready for some Floyd music. The band has a following and the place was not packed but pretty full. We listened as the band stuck to mostly "The Wall", "Dark Side of the Moon", and "Wish You Were Here". I found myself not enjoying it as much I I thought I would. I have seen Pink Floyd a few times and am a really big fan of the music. I thought I could just get into the songs and let myself forget it was not the real band playing them. Unfortunately I don't think the tribute band is for me. I was turned off by the slightly different sound of the instruments, the difference in voices, how the bass player was a bit too quick for some tunes, in all the whole thing did not feel Pink Floyd. This is probably just me, in fact everyone seemed to be having a good time in the room. I found myself not even wanting to look at the band, I was not there after all to see them. So I have mixed emotions about the band, they are all competent musicians but the cover experience just did not work for me.
The movie on the other hand was great to see on the big screen. A collage of images, animation, music and acting power through the story of Mr. Pink Floyd (Bob Geldof ) in his nervous breakdown and how he was raised added to this point in his history. Written by Floyd bassist Roger Waters it explores a mans life, from the fatherless child, overly criticized student, and popular musician who can't hold his marriage together, finally to drug abusing mental case. The album is brilliant and Director Alan Parker has created a long music video to go with it. The animation in a bit over done and on the nose, and the bouncing storyline does not always flow but my love for the music pulls me past these flaws into a state of blissful sounds and images.
Rating (6.3)

Red Cliff (Chi bi) (2008) - Drama

Red Cliff (Chi bi) (2008) - Written by John Woo and a host of others and directed by Woo, this historical story looks at the battle of Red Cliff. In this battle a smaller force defeated the ambitions of Prime Minister Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang) of the Eastern Han dynasty during the Three Kingdoms era of China around 208 AD. In this battle the imperial army want to crush the southern warlords Sun Quan (Chen Chang) and Liu Bei (Yong You)and bring total control to the emperor who is controlled by Cao Cao. The Prime minister brings his massive fleet down river and the movie shows how the smaller southern army is able to win the battle. Done with flair and personality, Woo creates a cadre of characters who shine in this film. The southern warlords each have distinct personalities to play against the ruthlessness of the northern Prime Minister. Through there friendships individual skills are united to defeat the invading force. The final battle is a wonder to watch and Woo is an artist at this form of action. There is a secondary story of the wife of Sun Quan (Wei Zhao) and how the Prime minister loved her from the moment he saw her many years earlier that plays a part in his demise. Visually and musically this film hits all the right notes. I would have enjoyed a bit more character development for some of the secondary characters but see how this could have taken away from the primary story. I watched this with a couple people who are not real fans of this kind of movie but both came away saying they really enjoyed it. If you can read subtitles that at times were fast, you will enjoy this war epic.

Rating (7.2)

The Road (2009) Drama

The Road (2009) - SPOILER ALERT! THIS MAY HAVE INFORMATION YOU MAY NOT WANT TO KNOW>>>> Joe Penhall very loyally adapted the Cormac McCarthy novel about a father and son travelling south through post apocalyptic America. Directed by John Hillcoat and starring Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the Man and Boy. Hillcoat directed the 2005 brutal but fine film "The Proposition" and does a fine job here where it is a challenging story with limited character interactions. In the story we are ten or so years past some catastrophe that has killed all plants and thus all animals on the planet earth. Man is vanishing as well, scavenging for missed cans of food, bodies of bugs and at times other humans. The Man and the Boy head south to escape the ever colder winters of the north. A good deal of what they were about in the book we also see here, a shopping cart of what goods they have, is pushed along abandon roads every closer to there first destination the coast. The deal with the anxiety of roving bands of cannibals and the threat every other desperate soul presents them on the road. This is far from an uplifting story but is is an honest one. When the shit really hits the fan what kind of a human being will you be. Will you be the good guy, resist the hunger and starve before preying on your fellow man; Or will you take the survival of the fittest route? The Man is trying to prepare the Boy to be one of the good people. His story arc is about teaching the Boy that someone has to carry the torch of humanity even when things look bleakest. Viggo does an excellent job in this film, capturing the struggle between wanting to prepare the Boy as he knows he is dying. But also struggling with the desire to stop being so human in these the hardest of times trying to do what was right but not always being correct in his actions. The Boy has his own arc, the reminder to the Man that he is getting close to not being one of the good people. That kindness is not rented but paid for with self sacrifice. He during the story becomes more independent and ready for his future challenges. He is the witness for the Man's fallibility, starting as a cared for child and progressing to a capable survivor. During the trip we see the eating of humans by humans the keeping of people as food stuffs. In this world every encounter with another person can be dangerous, each house you want to search could hold deadly danger. It is because there is love that the Man can bring the Boy through this world and hopefully help him be the next wave of humanity. They did some things I really liked with this story. They increased through flashbacks the story of the Man's wife played by Charlize Theron as she decides instead of surviving in the world to kill herself. The passages in the book were fleeting but here she is a full character exploring the idea that not everyone will fight for survival. He is really haunted by her memory and struggles to let go. I actually like that they changed a couple smaller but significant things. In the book the Man is sick from the beginning of the story and I think you really know what will become of him early on. In the film the writer reveals the sickness more slowly, I think adding to the tragedy of it. Also in the book later on there is the pregnant lady with two guys, who eat the newborn baby. Here in the film that scene is not present. This seems the way to go to me. Besides the obvious grossness of it, it is later in the book and we have at this point in the movie already visited cannibalism. We get the idea of what is happening and it does not need more verification. I loved the landscapes they found for filming, destroyed houses of a post Katrina New Orleans, to the barren wastes of Mount Saint Helen and the Rust belt in Pennsylvania the film captures the poverty of the end of the world that McCarthy is so good at writing about. The neding is just like the book and I was glad for that. This is a tough story and not everyone will enjoy it, but I have to say I did.

Rating (8.1)

Tormented (2009) Horror

Tormented (2009) - This British horror film could have been J-horror, a vengeful ghost kills the cool kids at a boarding school who tormented him in life. Justine (Tuppence Middleton) is the girl of poor Darren Mullet's (Calvin Dean) affection, overweight and unliked Mullet is relentlessly picked on and Justine never even notices him. When he commits suicide she can't even remember who he is. Her friends and his tormentors go on being the cool kids at the school and it seems his memory will soon be forgotten. But some things can not be forgiven that easily. Mullet , in ghost form starts killing his former bullies one at a time. What will Justine be able to do to not be one of the victims? Who will notice that the sudden deaths of these prize students seems strange? The basic plotting of this tales was very passable even with the very steriotyped set of characters. The ending was better than I expected and the kills were unique enough for this type of horror movie. So give first time writer Stephen Prentice some credit for not sticking with the most abvious choice in direction. Still in the end I think a lot of poeple will want more depth and subtext, the whole bullies get their due is far from original and the side story of Justine leaving her original group of friends to get in with the cool kids was barely touched. This movie is not poor but could have been so much more.

Rating (5.0)

Pirate Radio (2009) Comedy

Pirate Radio (2009) - Written and directed by Richard Curtis. It is 1967 and England has banned rock and roll radio, setting up our story of a pirate radio ship off the coast. Carl (Tom Sturridge)arrives on the boat after being dismissed from his all boy boarding school to find a place on the boat with his Godfather and ship owner Quentin (Bill Nighy). His entire story arc consists of losing his virginity and figuring out who on the boat is his father. Surrounding Carl on this journey is a quirky group of DJs each a distinct personality. Philip Seymour Hoffman is The Count, and rival to Gavin (Rhys Ifans) the hotshot American DJ brought on to increase advertising. Their competition is fulfilled through a game of chicken on the ship mast that was inevitable. Playing the heavies in the movie are Kenneth Branagh as Sir Alistair Dormandy the goverment head looking for a way to close down the pirate radio stations, and Jack Davenport as Twatt his henchman doing the actual work. They finally look like they have the answer outlawing the stations and are going to close the ship but can't find it. The ship after illegally broadcasting decides to move. Problem is the ship hits something and sinks leading to the wonderful Titanic style sinking scenes. Left out in the ocean sinking the mayday out the last bit of drama is will they be saved.
In general this is a light hearted story the dramas are small and personal. The audience I was in was mostly people in there 50s through 70s and they just loved it movie with laughter at the right times and smiles all around at the end. Particularly they seemed to enjoy there was a character named Twatt, each time his name was mentions there were giggles around the theater. I found the film passable throw away entertainment but at times I was really annoyed at the movie making. Twatt being one of the things such a easy play for cheap laughs. Then there were the different character pieces like eating the cookies, that were so cute and contrived that they did not feel genuine. If I was to really get down to what I did not like about this film it is that it was too obvious in its emotional manipulations, all movies through character and story attempt to create an emotional response but here it was too out front. When we get to the end and you learn the government is not coming to save the crew as the boat sinks, there is no doubt what they are setting you up for. When the Count and Gavin are on the mast there is no doubt what they will do. When the Count continues to spin records as the ship goes down there is no doubt what will happen to him. When it is proposed that Carl's Dad might be Quinten we know it can't be, and since we know most all the other characters from there spotlight time you should be able to guess who it is. Each piece is so perfectly written and played that it is obvious and thus not really very enjoyable. Still I think I can be a bit jaded at times and most people in the theater really seemed to like this film. I will chalk it up to being that this is just not my kind of movie. What was enjoyable for me was the music in the film, Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, Procol Harem, Dusty Springfield, The Who, just so many great songs on this sound track.
Rating (6.0)

Amores Perros (2000) Drama

Amores Perros (2000) - This is really quite a brilliant movie, heartbreaking certainly but so well done by director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. It is the interconnecting stories of love and betrayal and as the title suggests that "Loves a Bitch". Gael Garcis Bernal is Octavio, in love with his Brother Ramiro's wife Susana (Vanessa Bauche). He uses his brothers dog in the fight ring in order to earn the money so they can run away together. Ramiro (Marco Perez) is a store clerk and night time store robber is risking everything looking for the big score that will help him escape his life also. Octavio's passion for Susana seems to encourage her into a sexual relationship but it seems she is not 100% into this but is into the tenderness he brings to it. When a rival dog fighter shoots Octavio's dog he attacks man and then ends up in a car chase running for his life. This ends in a car accident leaving Octavios friend dead and him in the hospital. Ramiro going for the big score is killed in an attempted bank robbery. Susana now is presented with the choice to leave with Octavio or remain in her life a widow.
Daniel (Alvaro Guerrero) is a magazine executive who is having an affair with beautiful model Valeria (Goya Toledo). He gets the courage up to leave his wife and move in with her. Her car is struck by Octavio's and is broken up badly. One leg is completely shattered leaving her in a wheelchair with instruction not to put weight on the leg. Her little dog gets into a hole in the floor and does not come out. She is in a panic about it, and it seems there is no way to reach the dog. Daniel feels the stress of the relationship being the one Valeria needs to rely on. He feels helpless to save the dog they hear crying regularly. She when alone in the apartment hears the dog and re injures her leg. While she is back at the hospital Daniel manages to get the dog. Valeria loses her leg ending her modelling career and Daniel seems ready to go back to his wife.
Maru (Lourdes Echevarria) is a hitman who travels around with a bunch of stray dogs. He is hired to kill Gaustavo's half brother and business partner. While scoping the crime he sees the car accident that Octavio and Valeria are in and takes the wounded dog back to his place and nurses it back into health. Maru's story is that he was a professor who became a revolutionary. He spent 20 years in prison and secretly watches his daughter who thinks he is dead. When her step father dies his desire to see her increases. When the nursed back to health fighting dog kills his group of strays he seems to hit a critical point and instead of straight up doing his hit he creates a confrontation between the two brothers.
In the end this is a powerful movie about how love challenges people, whether a love that is forbidden, or trying, or lost. How we all struggle for the connection and how difficult it can be.
Rating(8.5)

Saam gaang (Three Extremes II) (2002) Horror

Saam gaang (2002) Remarkably this film came out a full two years before the wonderful Three Extremes. This mix of Chinese, Japanese and Korean stories is a decent enough collection of three horror stories but it is far from extreme. The first segment "Going Home" is the tale of a mans guilt and the journey of his dead wife's spirit making its way home. Very predictable but reasonably executed. Segment two "Memories" was a story of a cop moving into a run down apartment only to lose his son, be held captive by a neighbor who is trying to revive the body of his three years dead wife through Chinese herb medicine. It is a strange tale with a good twist although the story of the son is incomplete and wasted because of it. The last was "The Wheel" a story about the souls of puppets being tied to there creators and the agonizing consequences for anyone who would interfere with that relationship. This one was a bit all over the place building in several poorly set up relationships and a Oh it was a premonition loop that really did not need to be there.
Overall this is a movie I can liked but it was far from challenging material which is sort of what you would expect with something so titled.
Rating(6.0)

Paranormal Activity (2007) Horror

Paranormal Activity (2007) - After all the hype I finally got out to see this film, or should I say lost footage of someones home movies? Starring Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat the story is about a young couple experiencing paranormal activity. We see through Micah filming the progressively more frightening and violent haunting of Katie. Slowly, ever so slowly we move from quiet to loud noises, from banging doors to footprints ( I think velociraptor tracks). Then finally to the big twist. The big behind the scenes story of this movie is Oren Peli made it for very little money. Then the request a film marketing campaign for it. Well designed it unfortunately made the build up too much for this little mostly boring film to live up to. Seriously now let me ask you this question...If you are being haunted don't you invite every friend you have over to be with you? Do you really just stay with your spouse alone as things get worse and worse? I did not particularly enjoy this film, but it was a decent outing for its small budget. If you are a person who believes in hauntings, then there is something here that will probably scare you.

Rating (6.0)

Trick 'r Treat (2008) Horror

Trick 'r Treat (2008) - This really terrific little movie was the high point of my Halloween. Wonderfully interwoven tales all take place on Halloween night on a quiet street. Veteran actor Dylan Baker is a school principal who likes to take and kill children while showing his little boy how it is done. Leslie Bibb is a party pooper who blows her Jack-o-lantern out too soon and pays the price. Brian Cox is Mr. Kreeg, former school bus driver who after escaping a demonic Halloween creature finds that the past can not be avoided forever. Five preteens get more than they expect when pulling a prank near the old quarry. Finally scooping guys for a party on Halloween night is just the start for four hot young women. This movie does a great job at weaving the stories together seamlessly. with character from the different pieces interacting and crossing paths. Great look and feel with very creepy music when appropriate. Acting was exceptional and the stories interesting.

Rating (7.7)

Drag Me to Hell (2009) Horror

Drag Me to Hell (2009) - I missed this one in the theaters and after hearing many good things about it decided it was a must on DVD. I was not disappointed. Sam Raimi famed director of "The Quick and the Dead" and "For The Love of the Game" takes a stab at horror. Well okay, besides directing the "Spiderman" movies he did do a couple small horror films, "The Evil Dead" and "Army of Darkness" but we all know Bruce Campbell carried him in those. Anyway this one is a somewhat predictable story with some great and gross scenes of bodily fluid exchanges. Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is a bank officer who is plugging away trying to get a promotion. When an old gypsy comes for a loan extension she denies it to impress her boss. Unfortunately for her the gypsy curses her coat button, so that the coat will never match anything she wears. No wait, she will be tormented by a demon who will then come and drag her to hell. Christine over the few days of the story is indeed tormented and works hard with a psychic to try to figure a way out of the curse. After much torment and fluid grossness she finds she can give the button back to the now dead gypsy, so she proceeds to dig the women up. Only problem with this solution was as soon as the papers fell in the car, I knew the ending, shit! I hate when that happens, it may be that I see way too many of these movies but I knew exactly what was going to happen from that point. I really enjoyed the film, the creepy old gypsy (Lorna Raver) was great and the main character has a well defined story arc. The gore and gag factor was wonderfully high. The music is pitch perfect and visually it is a beautifully filmed movie. So the rating...

Rating (7.9)

Drive-In Horror Show (2009) Horror

Drive-In Horror Show (2009) - The first of my full slate of Halloween viewings, this local horror film was a collection of stories tied together with the antics of a ghoulish host. It is the post Apocalypse and the dead still go to the drive in; of course they are going to see horror stories. Written by Greg Ansin and Michael Neel and directed by Neel this was a fairly well put together feature. Five tales connected with the Drive-in skits. I really appreciate someone getting a movie made, there is so much effort needed that it is always a marvel that small independent film gets made. I may get these stories out of order but hopefully I won't forget any. The first "Pig" we have the aftermath of a college party and a young man wakes in a bathtub, clued to the tub. A college prank? No it appears he drugged a young woman and raped her and now she is going to get her revenge. He pleads and pleads for release, offering money and apologizing, but some crimes can not be forgiven as he soon finds out. This was one of the weaker stories and there was little tension, the editing too obviously showed the water level inconsistently. The gore effect as he ripped his feet off the tub was great.
The weakest of the stories though was the last, 'The Watcher" where for young adults go camping and shooting in the mountains only to be hunted and eaten by a cannibal. It had Jenna Morasca from winner of Survivor:Amazon and Ethan Zohn also from Survivor in one of the roles as Cherry. Unfortunately everything they did was stupid and there was really nothing to the story. Note if you are walking through the woods with bright lights on at night the last thing you have to worry about is being quiet.
"Fall Apart" was a cerebral story of a doctor who contracts a disease that rots his body. This one had some wonderful visuals although the story itself was just okay in my opinion. I would think a doctor would know to immediately head to the hospital instead of self treating.
My two favorite both had to do with kids. The first "The Closet" was a story about a boy in a horrible family who loved his sister but did not seem to care for him. A monster in his closet solves the lack of love issues by eating each family member in turn. The great turn, although not realistic of the kid then realizing he can not live with the hassles of life was cute in its way.
My favorite was "The Meat Man" a smartly written piece where a couple of kids think their father is the "Meat Man" killer. The writing in this one is wonderful as characters each take the same facts but craft very different stories.

The connecting Drive In theme was cute but I am not sure it really added anything to the film. It was a bit goofy a real throwback to the Creepshow movies. Each movie finished with a downer though, there was not a positive outcome in the bunch. I take it that it was intentional and certainly the best horror is unpredictable, but I think this was a bit predictable and I wished for a surprise ending in at least one of the pieces.
Over all the production values were low budget but hey this was a local film so you can't take too much away from it for that. Three of the stories were good to fair. We had a great atmosphere at the theater, STUDIO CINEMA 76 Trapelo Rd Belmont MA. The film makers and some of the actors were in the house, we had a costume contest and it was good fun even though it was freaking cold in the theater.

Rating (5.0)

Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) Documentary

Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)- Michael Moore is a fine filmmaker, he knows how to draw a story and make a point. He is far from the "Cinema Verite" style documentary film makers ascribe to and instead is forceful with elaborate antics to get his points across. He is not a traditionalist when it comes to form, Moore does document what he sees going on and does this pointedly in Capitalism :A Love Story. Starting with a comparison to the pre-collapse Roman empire with the current United States, he points out the excesses of then to the conditions of now in a humorous cross cutting ploy that starts his film off in chosen direction. Seeing the United States as country drunk on power and collapsing from the inside with corruption.
Moore tries to tap into the popularist anger that comes with the collapse of our economy and focuses on some of the more underhanded as well as over the top schemes companies in this country are pulling. He show the connecting lines between the top politicians who write financial regulations to the very banks they are supposed to be regulating. He looks at how the people put in charge of running our economy are the very same who caused the meltdown we are still suffering through (Robert Rubin, Henry Paulsen, Lawrence Summers, Timothy Geithner). These Goldman Sach's former leaders are now administering the economy and Goldman's is benefiting more than most.
Although Moore doesn't make the connection we can see how Niomi Kline's theory of Shock Doctrine may be at work. Looking particularly bad is Senator Chris Dodd democrat of CT, after receiving sweet deals $1,175,133 on loans from the very banks, Countrywide he helped.
The movie looks at companies in our free market economy have so corrupted the system that it can no longer be trusted. Like the companies that without letting their employees know take out life insurance policies on them. They call the policies "Dead Peasants" policies. Unfortunately the company is the beneficiary not the family of the employee. Moore names companies and shows the opinions of surviving family members when they learn the companies profited from the death of their loved ones. Walmart in particular looks bad in this section with many of the deceased employees families not being able to afford burial while Walmart collects secret insurance money.
Another example of how privatizing harms us at a Pennsylvania detention center that paid off judges to send kids to it. The judges took hundreds of thousands of dollars and sent kids to detention for minor offenses.
At his best Moore paints the plight of the average man caught up in a system he has no control over. There are interviews with regular folk to show just this. He explores how after we save industry from itself with tax dollars how cold and heartless it can be to regular Americans. Moore does rely on antics that take away some of the seriousness of his subject. He tries to do citizen arrest on Wall St. He tapes off the area with crime scene tape. He does a bit with Jesus(from movie clips) disagreeing with capitalism. They are distraction he does not really need in this film.
Rating(7.7)

Paranormal Activity (2009) - Marketing strategy

Paranormal Activity (2009) - No this is not a review. This is one of the smartest marketing campaigns I have seen in recent years. The movie must be decent of this would have died out very quickly. Paramount Pictures goes with a limited release but says if you vote for it, it can come to your area. The buzz has built and the movie grossed half a million in midnight showings in a very limited release. Now it will expand to 40 cities and the campaign is a success BUT I have to say I am getting annoyed with the "Is it in your city?, No! then Vote." approach. It feels manipulative. If your movie is so good then just release it and be done. Let it stand on its merits. I don't want to hear that crap about you can't afford it. It has enough buzz that Paramount Pictures could release it nation wide. Why don't they? Because they are playing us to create a buzz for their movie, to maximize what it can gross. They are trying out a new model where they try to slow burn a movie into a success. Currently you get a few weekends and then movies stop grossing much. Hell most horror movies only get a few weeks in theaters and then they are gone. Here they are trying a different approach. This though, is the thing, backlash can be an ugly thing. People don't mind the underground word of mouth but when they find out it is the studio spreading the word they will turn on the film. I am already in the camp that I don't want to campaign to see a movie. I am paying to see movies, Am I going to work to get to my area and then get to see it free? No! Paramount gets us to do the selling and then charges us to see the movie, what is with that? So if Paramount is as smart as they seem they will quickly end this campaign.

Zombieland (2009) - Comedy / (Horredy)

Zombieland (2009) - A fun romp through a post apocalyptic world of Zombies. Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has his rule for surviving in the US of Zombieland and we are treated to a crash course early in the film. He is making his way back to Columbus when he accepts a ride from Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) who is surviving and in search of Twinkies. The two men are scammed a couple times by Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who are heading to an amusement park they have fond memories of. The four travel together and survival adventures and bonding ensue . There is a hilarious cameo by Bill Murray being himself. When the girls split off to do the amusement park the lights and noise attract all the local undead and the girls are in real trouble. Columbus and Tallahassee come to save then in the action filled finally.

This was fun. A story about people coming together and being a family when all around them has gone to hell. When survival dictates that being alone is better, but being human means joining and connecting what do you do? This movie is about that struggle. The light approach to the film making worked to set the tone as light and comedic but with that feel good story underneath. Splattering the camera with blood, having the rules appear on the screen and the voice over all work in the playful approach this film takes. Harrelson must have had the Tallahassee role written for him. He was perfect for it. Emma Stone was competent as survivalist and just sexy enough to pull off her role. Eisenburg was good as the guy with the rules of survival the goofy guy to Harrelson's quirky straight man.

I looked around the theater and saw the laughter at the right times and the smiles the rest of the time. I really think this movie pulled off what it was trying to do.

Rating (8.1)

Grace (20009) - horror

Grace (2009) - New Age mom to be Madeline (Jordan Ladd) loses her baby in utero after an accident that kills her husband. She decides to finish the pregnancy instead of having a medical intervention. The still born is delivered by her former lover and now doctor and midwife Patricia (Samantha Ferris). It is a surprise when the baby comes back to life and seems to be perfectly healthy. Madeline retreats to her home protective of her child. Mother in law Vivian (Gabrielle Rose) struggles with the loss of her son and plots to get the child away from what she sees in a hippie daughter in law. It is the last part of her son in this world and she will have it. When madekine realizes that her baby did not come back to life without issue things get a bit difficult. She must deal with the strange aroma of the child and how it is attracting flies, but that is the least of her problems. Instead of breast milk the baby craves blood and Mom is hard pressed to provide enough of her own. What is a mother to do?
The selling of the new age women to old school mother in-law is a bit over the top, but is sets up the Vivian character well. My wife wondered aloud why a new mother would not take a child to the doctor? Besides the set up of being over protective there was little explanation of this. New agers may believe in alternative medicine but they are far from being anti doctor. Jordan Ladd was not the most convincing of characters and paled in the scenes with Gabrielle Rose who was very good in the grieving mother role. Still when we got to the part where the stress of supplying food for the child grew, Ladd seemed more believable. Samantha Ferris was good, she sold the former relationship and her inability to move on from it. The movie was a bit slow in the middle and the ending was a bit to campy for the earlier dark tone of the film.
Rating (5.3)