Orphan (2009) - Horror

Orphan (2009) - The film starts with a startling birthing scene where we learn that Kate (Vera Famiga) has recently lost a baby and that she is struggling emotional, soothing her nightmares with pills while trying to avoid booze.We get a bit of slow back story that fills in the characters, Kate and John have two children, Danny (Jimmy Bennett) and the deaf Max (Aryana Engineer). John(Peter Sarsgaard) and Kate are saddened with the loss of their child and plan on adopting an older child to fill out the family. Although the screenwriter (David Johnson) took time to map this out with the appropriate scenes it still was not very compelling to what the great need was. The couple had two really beautiful children, a dream house and nice cars. They seemed to still have interest in each other and lives that were a bit disfunctional but not unsuccessful. In fact I have to say there was nothing really wasted in this script, each little noticeable detail served a purpose later in the film. The problem was that every detail was written to be noticed.

The couple visits Sister Abigail's (CCH Pounder, a favorite of mine from Warehouse 13) children shopping center... I mean orphanage, and meet the main antagonist Ester (Isabelle Fuhrman). She is doing art and sing in a room off by herself and seems very skilled at painting. "I've had lots of time to practice." she says when complimented. This piece of foreshadowing brought to you by obvious. Sister Abby also mentions to them about the ribbons on her wrists and neck, so at that point one could assume she has some kind of scars. Quickly we get to the day when Ester is part of the family, then the false scares and scary stares begin from the new little girl with the strange accent.

Ester works fast from sweet and interested in Kate and John to creating the perfect triangle and seriously messing with the adults relationship. There is the usual sibling jealousy from the son which Ester takes care of by bullying him. She also befriends little Max and then things start to go horribly wrong. Information about the girl starts coming to light about her behavior. Sister Abigail improbably did not know story of her cruelty prior to the adoption but now that dad loves Ester while Mom does not the good sister tries to warn them. Ester deals with her in the way any good psycho would.

More and more things lead Kate to want to get rid of the girl, but she is just so darn good at splitting her and John that nothing really happens even though the audience see more and more cruel and dangerous behavior from Ester. When she attempts to kill Danny by burning him in the tree house we start to see the movie build to the climax. Kate seems to go nuts enough to be medicated for attacking Ester. John takes her and Max home and then drinks until intoxicated. Ester is succeeding in her plan to have John for herself. She tries to seduce him while in the cut scenes we get the whole Ester story spoon fed to us by a guy talking to Kate on her cell phone. How convenient and just at the right time.

So the climax comes when Kate is rushing home, John has rejected Ester as a nine year old lover and she flips out and wants to Kill Kill Kill. The all to perfect ending has a fun double climax but we really have known all along how this on was going to end. Everything , the shot and the dialog is used in the movie so it is easy to see the twist coming if you are paying attention. This is the biggest flaw in what is a pretty entertaining film though. The feeding of the important plot knowledge is just too obvious even if the twist is cool. It would have been a lot more interesting and disturbing if the father did not out of hand reject Ester. That would have made for some really uncomfortable audience feelings. Politically though it probably would have kept the movie from release so I guess it could not have been. That fact that the actress playing Isabelle was 12 at shooting time would have meant some tricky shooting also to keep her innocence intact. Still in the end it was a pretty standard and entertaining film certainly worth seeing.

Rating (6.5) All ratings above a 5 are recommended viewing

The Killer Inside Me (2010) - Thriller, Noir

The Killer Inside Me (2010) - I am not a writer, and really only do this log to remind myself of the films I see. This is a problem when a movie is good enough that it deserves a proper review that I fear I do not have the skill to give. "The Killer Inside Me" is one such film. A thriller noir that takes you inside the head of Deputy Lou Ford (Casey Affleck), a sociopath murderer who spirals out of control. Ford works and lives in a small Texas town in what appears to be the 1940s. We learn through his behavior that he is a control freak who gets off on hitting and fucking, mostly at the same time. His need is to dominate women, slapping and spanking them. Through flashbacks we learn his mother introduced him to this behavior and the Oedipus like relationship screwed young Lou up. When he is sent out to check on a prostitute Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba) who moved into town. A mutually satisfying violent begins. Alba as Joyce seethes sexuality and they continue to have a relationship through montage of sexual encounters and after these she seems to truly love Lou. The only issue I have with this casting decision and this may not be valid for me to say but isn't Jessica Alba way too beautiful to be a small town prostitute. I don't really visualize really pretty women as needing to prostitute themselves. They would more likely be married before needing to do that. The small town plot she is caught up in, allows Lou to make a vicious plan to avenge is step brothers death. We learn his step brother died at a construction site but it had been set up by Real Estate big shot Chester Conway(Ned Beatty) and the town folk after step brother Mike served time for abusing a small girl. Through flashback we learn it was actually Lou who abused the girl. The plot can be a bit complicated and the writing in the screenplay is stark and tight. Director Michael Winterbottom and writer Jon Curren work with novelist Jim Thompson's work to give the audience just enough information without allowing for predictability. It is more than a murder mystery it is a character study of the sociopath Lou Ford, and we learn everything through his actions. It is designed this way and it works. Lou's plan starts with a way too realistic beating of Joyce. When he hits her the first time it is shocking, then even though very few blows are seen hitting her, four minutes later she is out on the floor a bloody pulp. It is a very disturbing scene with Lou saying he loves her the entire time, calmly smashing her face in. He then kills Chester Conway's son making it look like he beat the girl and then she shot him to death. Revenge accomplished. This is not the case though and because we are seeing the story through Lou's eyes we soon learn he did not think of everything either. Small details he missed come up leading Lou on a repeated cycle of killing to clean up loose ends. Unfortunately for him Lou is a one trick pony and soon it becomes apparent he will not get away with the crimes. When he kills his girlfriend Amy Stanton (Kate Hudson) to try to pin it on a vagrant (Brent Briscoe) who saw his first crime he has gone too far for the investigators to not suspect him of all the crimes.
He soon finds himself held in jail but it seems that the authorities even though they know he is the killer don't have enough evidence to convict. So they release him and drop him at his house and again the town folk will take care of their business their way. Lou knows this and for a climax creates a reception for when they arrive. There is a twist that I predicted early in the film but had forgotten about by the end. It shows the film pulled me in. When the climax comes it is a bit large for the character. Lou does more than his character had done to this point, it was a big finish. It could be that you see all the violent acts as growing in severity making the ending appropriate to where the character was at the end of the film.
The violence towards women as opposed to the men he killed took much more time on screen and was so fucking disturbing. I would complain that this was a bit misogynistic but it really does fit in with the Lou Ford character. It was well established through flashback to his Mother, Amy and Joyce that Lou relished dominating and hurting women, the sociopathic behavior to women fit his character. Still it is hard for the audience to tolerate. The men who are killed are done quick and efficiently but Lou takes his time with the women and it is hard to watch. Rating this film is difficult, it is so well done and accomplished freaking me out quite a bit, but it is a slow burn with many sexual oriented scenes that may have been a bit of overkill. Still a very solid plot and excellent acting even if the supporting cast was underdeveloped.
Rating (8.1)

[ Rec] 2 (2009) Horror

[ Rec] 2 (2009) - Starting the story moments after the end of the story in [Rec] we join the film with a group of SWAT team members getting their cameras and gear ready as they travel to enter the apartment of the first movie. The group is introduced to a "doctor"Dr. Owen (Jonathan Mellor) who will be the leader when they enter the building. Not thrilled that they will have to wait for Owen's voice recognition in order to be let out of the building makes the SWAT Captain, Jefe (Oscar Zafra) pissed. Still he is a man who know how to take orders and the team with Owen enter the buiding recording POV all the while. Very quickly we learn that the zombies are actually possessed beings and Dr. Owens is actually a priest sent in by the vatican to get a sample of blood of the original possessed girl. The SWAT team is his protection as they search for the sample. Like in the first movie things get crazy fast as the possessed find them in their searching. On top of this is a group including a resident, firefighter, and three teens with a camcorder who get in through the cellar before it is sealed up. This creates enough bodies for mayhem and chaos and we do not have to wait long for it. We learn the very interesting back story of how the possession epidemic started and it is a original and interesting idea. Then it is again a survival story including the beautiful reported from the first movie, Angela (Manuela Velasco) who comes into the film about 3/4 of the way through. No spoilers here so you will have to watch to find out the outcome.
I liked this movie with one real reservation. Since it was developed as a POV shot film in real time, I was a bit put off by a couple times where we go rewind time to see first the teens group and how they got into the building, and then the reporter and her story. It took it out of time to show us some needed story development but it just did not fit in well with the rest. Not a big thing for me but I noticed it.
Rating (7.4)

Dark City (1998) - Science Fiction

Dark City (1998) - Watched the Blu-ray directors cut after so long that I did not remember much about the movie. Dark City is a journey of one man, John Murdock (Rufus Sewell) as he tries to regain his memory and discover the secret of the city and himself. This is a complicated flick in which the protagonist has to discover who he is and what he can do. Early in the movie Dr. Daniel P. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) seems to assist Murdock in breaking out of the control the men who control the city, the Strangers. As Murdock tries to figure out why people all go to sleep at the same time, why there never seems to be a daytime and why he can not get to Shell Beach, he discovers the secret of the city. Here it is: The city is a spaceship controlled by the Strangers, an alien race who are using humans and created memories to try to discover how humans are able to survive almost anything. They think by understanding humans they can find a way to save their dying race. Using Dr. Schreber they implant memories on there human subject during the Tuning, the time they force everyone to sleep and then study the results. What they don't understand is that what makes humans so successful in the universe is evolution, and Murdock has evolved the ability to tune also. When he discovers it as he is pursued by the strangers it sets up a final battle between Murdock and the head Stranger and finally the less than satisfying ending.
What I liked was the dark and creative world created by writer, director Alex Proyas. Creative and cool a world sort of out of time and very film noir. Also looking at Emma Murdock (Jennifer Connelly) is always a pleasure even though her part was insignificant to the story. The idea of the tuning and was cool with great special effects as they change the city to fit the new human lives they have created was good also. Unfortunately the overall premise ends up being a dead end and the final conclusion of the conflict is really very incomplete. So the head stranger is defeated, not all of them are. They are still trapped on a spaceship and have no real lives, the humans' memories and relationships are false and not their own but they will probably have to play them out. Murdock has the power to make the world whatever he wanted and who knows what he would do in the future but the picture leaves us with a sunrise on the beach. eh. Also Kiefer Sutherland was just strange in his choices for the doctor. I think I had a higher opinion of him the first time I saw it but this time I found it a bit cartoonish.
Overall I would recommend this film the story is solid enough even if the ending is not the greatest.
Rating (6.0)

Dracula 2000 (2000) - Horror

Dracula 2000 (2000) - This film was poorly received when it come out and continues to suffer on IMDB.com. Part of the problem is that it really attempts to recreate the Dracula myth which is often ill received by horror fans. In this version Dracula (Gerald Butler) has been closed in a coffin for generations while Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer) uses his blood to extend his own life to make sure it stays that way. He has a cover as an antique dealer with Simon Sheppard (John Lee Miller) who specialize in weapons for killing vampires. When a group of thieves including Solina (Jennifer Esposito) and Marcus (Omar Epps) steal the coffin, Dracula is loosed on the world. The myth in this version that we learn through the film is that Dracula is actually Judas and the punishment he received for betraying Jesus, is to become a vampire. Through the story we find out that Dracula is connected to Van Helsing's daughter through the blood the elder had consumed and Dracula sees this as a good revenge. Mary Heller-Van Helsing (Justine Waddell) is living in New Orleans away from her father and having hallucinations of Drac that are increasingly frightening. He is drawn to her and as he closes in her father tries intervene and kill the other vampires Dracula has created, and save his daughter from the monster. The trio of female vampires he creates are wonderfully beautiful, Jennifer Esposito, Jeri Ryan, and Colleen Fitzpatrick and have there sexy scenes. In the end though the movie does not totally satisfy mostly I think because the connection between Dracula and Mary is not solid enough. Also the vampires seem to keep putting themselves in locations where they can be killed, it come together all too easily to make the climax.
Rating (6.2)

The Devil's Chair (2006) - Horror

The Devil's Chair (2006) - Nick West (Andrew Howard) and his girlfriend find a strange chair in an abandon asylum while tripping on acid. This intro ends badly of course when the girlfriend, Sammy (Pollyanna Rose) sits in the chair and with gore and pain Sammy is dead and Nick has to answer. Nick ends up in a mental institution that is not abandon. Psychiatrist Dr. Willard head at the institute decides the best way to cure Nick from what he sees as delusions he with a team return to the abandon asylum. They do and then it is not long before the team members one by one start dying in the devil chair. It appears to be a door between this world and another where there is a dark murderous monster looking to kill those who made it into the world. The movie has a twist that leaves the viewer wondering how the logistics of the film can exist in the real world. There is a real world and in that real world some people can not have things happen the way they do. So at the end this viewer was left wondering if maybe the writers Simon Boyes and Adam Mason had the twist and then built the movie around it. Well I am not sure I can recommend this movie but there are some people out there who may like it.

(Rating 4.5)

The House of the Devil (2009) horror

The House of the Devil (2009) - A wonderfully delightful surprise from writer director Ti West. The throwback to a period when horror movies built up to an overpowering dread is captured in this well done little film. The story is simple, in the 1980's a young college women, Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) has a need to earn some cash quickly. She calls for a sitter job at a house in the country that will solve her financial problems. Things are not quite how she envisioned them when she arrives to meet the couple, Mr and Mrs Ulman (Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov) they are strange but not too scary. Instead of sitting for kids she will be minding the house with the old mother upstairs. She negotiates a good price and sends her friend Megan (Greta Gerwig)home until the end of the job and settles in for a night of studying. Megan never arrives home and Samantha is a bit creeped out by the house, it builds and the reveals are well done to keep the tension growing. When the finale arrives the action is quick and well done. The ending is unexpected but follows the movie title well. Building off the satanic cult themes that were rampant in the eighties Ti West crafts a perfectly fitting story. Being a teenager in the 80s I had a real appreciation for the feel of the movie and the slow burn it is. The newer flash and cut method of film making sometimes gets on my nerves but West doesn't do that he brings us along on Samantha's ride without trying to shock us every two seconds. I was so impressed that I actually watch the movie a second time to make sure I was not creating a fantasy about it. Sure enough it is a solid horror movie that truly pays homage to the era it is set in.

Rating (7.8)
P.S. Check out the amazing Finalgirl review of this film at http://finalgirl.blogspot.com/

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009) - Spoilers!!! This review will discuss in detail this bizarre film and will most certainly give away major plot points.

The opening of this film we are introduced to Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser) who we think is a killer as we get to see him aim a gun at a trucker before breaking and starting a scene to introduce our two female leads Lindsey (Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie). They are two American girls on a walk about in Europe and preparing to head to a party in the German countryside. This leads to the inevitable flat tire and then leaving the vehicle because there is no cell phone service to look for a house to call for help. They stumble upon Dr. Heiters home and he invites them in in his strange and off putting way. He says he will call for the rent a car service people but fakes the call from the other room while drugging the water he gets for the girls. When they are captured and drugged and then wake up they are in restraints, and laying with the big old trucker in what looks like an operating room. Scared and crying they watch in horror as the trucker is killed because as the Doctor says "One of these thing does not match. So next we have the doctor arriving with a new body of a young Japanese man Katsuro (Akihiro Kitamura), who has been tranquilizer darted. Now that all three parts have been procured Heiter explains to them that he is formerly the leading doctor for separating Siamese twins but now he wants to do the reverse. He wants to create a human centipede. He will attach the lips of one to the ass of the other and so forth creating a living human centipede with a singular digestive tract.

Naturally the captives are horrified and Lindsey successfully frees herself but not being able to bring herself to leave her friend she is recaptured and is promised the middle spot for the trouble she caused. The operation proceeds and it is a nasty thing this guy does, cutting knee tendons so the victims can't stand and attaching Lindsey's face to the ass of Katsuro while attaching Jenny's Face to Lindsey's behind. Absolute gross to look at we are subjected to the doctor then trying to train them like a dog. We get the requisite shitting in Lindsey's mouth scene and then the climax, when a couple of cops investigating the disappearance of the girls in the area find the doctor strange. I won't discuss the actual ending but I was left feeling like redemption of any kind was never in the plans for any character in this film. So strange and disturbing just talking to my wife about it left her with nightmares. A passing grade for the shocking grossness of the idea but really the film does not have any character paths that grow, only suffering so in the end not a great movie.
Rating (5.2)

Revenge of the Creature (1955) Horror

Revenge of the Creature (1955) - A year after the Creature from the Black Lagoon scared audiences with a new type of monster, director Jack Arnold brought the creature back for a second round. The fact that the creature appeared to die at the end of the first movie just was not enough from bring it back again. This time new actors, capture and bring the creature back to southern Florida as a amusement attraction. Creating the tried and true relationship triangle this time around are John Agar, Lori Nelson, and John Bromfield, all studying and trying to train the creature. This film had several logical flaws in it. The creature is caught in the heart of the Amazon but is brought to and deposited into a saltwater tank with sharks and the such. It seemed these scientists really did not think about what they were doing. The creature revived like a salmon in a stream proceeds to attack everyone in site but no one had the foresight to see this coming? Then it escapes again into the ocean and news reports track it heading south, but it tracks our stars for some revenge instead of staying free. In the end it the final scene is exactly the same as the first film. Few underwater shots outside the aquarium tank and a more confusingly silly plot leave this second out wanting.

Rating (4.4)

Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) Horror

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) - Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson) and is fiance and assistant Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams) are brought into the search for a fossil of a strange part humanoid part fish creature. Financially backed by Kay's former boyfriend Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning) the three and other Red shirts head deep into the Amazon searching for the fossil. What they find is the legend of the black lagoon and the creature, the gill man that still lives there. Driven to make the greatest capture in history, Williams commands the plans for capturing the creature. Things go poorly and even after the initial capture the creature is too strong to be held. Now the survivors must fight for their lives while trying to escape down river. First though they must remove the barricade that has blocked their way. Someone must enter the water, remove the trees blocking the way and risk confrontation from the creature. IN the end sadly the creature is killed along with five members of the starting crew.

This film is a favorite. It is really a sad tale and a love triangle and the outcome leaves no doubt who was meant to be the lead in what initially looks like a film with more than one lead. Julie Adams is worth fighting over in this, the beautiful actress who is still working as late as 2008 is captivating. The story has a very modern pace and their is very little slow time in this film. The creature is great and the underwater scenes are clear and top of the line water photography. An exceptional movie that stands the test of time. I look forward to see what they do with the remake in 2011.

Rating (7.6)

The Descent: Part 2 (2009) Horror

The Descent: Part 2 - The original The Descent was a horror revelation with its all women cast, dark and terrifying confines and scary and menacing monsters. Now four years later we have the sequel, starting just after the American ending in which Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) makes it out of the cave system we open with the search for the women at the cave they were supposed to have explored before Juno switched things up. Hard nosed and headed sheriff Vaines (Gavan O'Herlihy) forces Sarah, who says she can't remember what happened down there, back into the cave system with a rescue team, himself and officer Rios (Krysten Cummings). The scenes that set this up are poorly written with a mine entrance as the access. To get there the sheriff send a deputy with a dog to pick up Sarah's trail, but we know from the first film that she did not come out a mine entrance and thus there is no way the dog could pick her scent up there. It is just an excuse to have a way back down with out revealing too much about the creatures to come.

There is quite a bit of this clunky screenwriting, and example is before they go down the lead rescuer Dan (Douglas Hodge) asks the cops to leave their guns behind because of the danger of a shot causing a collapse down in the caves. Naturally Mr hard head Vaines keeps his gun and you can guess what happens in the cave. Even worse is when they get to that scene Dan points out some rocks and how it looks unstable right before the gunshot starts the collapse scene. grrrrr...

In the caves they quickly have trouble and soon stumble upon the creatures who are meaner and maybe not so soft as they were in the first movie. We also get to see the dead bodies of two of the cavers from the first movie. Sarah remembers and soon turns into the fierce fighter we saw at the end of the first movie. Remarkably the cave experts are all killed off first leaving Sarah, Vaines and Rois fighting for their lives while looking for a way out. They then run into Juno (Natalie Mendoza) who is still alive even after the last movie left her surrounded by creatures and wounded. What a fighter that Juno is! There are some bigger and harder fought encounters from the first movie and the gore factor was increased for the sequel. In the end there is a twist that certainly is setting up for part three so watch your straight to DVD review sites for that. Overall the film is a poor little sister to the first movie lacking a singular vision or writing creativity that make you care about the characters.
Rating (3.2) Skip it , no really, not worth the trouble.

The Bare Wench Project 2: Scared Topless (2001) Adult

The Bare Wench Project 2: Scared Topless - It is what it says it is really a movie styled after the Blair Witch project with topless women. The story pics up with Nikki (Nikki Fritz) out looking for her twin sister who never came back from the original Bare Wench Project. I have never seen that one so I can't tell you about it. The one who does give a repeat performance is Lunk (Lenny Juliano)who only remembers entering a cave and seeing a bright white light and then waking up in his motel room. He is there primarily to add whiny oohs and ahs when the girls are performing, and to carry a couple empty backpacks around. They are after all camping while hiking through the woods in there search. The women are attractive for the most part and the legend of the bare wench seems to include that she can't get them if they all take there tops off. So there are many scenes of what appear to be badly ab libbed or bare bones dialog enhance with ab libbing while going topless. The women include Samantha Phillips, a music video queen and actress. Arban Ornelas who later would be Vampirella. The lovely Juliet Cariaga, and Alexus Winston and a special appearance of legend Julie Strain as the Bare Wench.

After many sessions of removed tops and walking around the woods they come to the cave where Lunk saw the light. From there the story takes an extraterrestrial turn. The plot though is not the point of this movie, I am not sure guys getting off is the point either as mostly the story and plot just get you really annoyed. I will leave you with a teaser though. Chocolate syrup orgasms.

Rating (3.0)

Basketcase 2 (1990) Horror

Basketcase 2 (1990) - In honor of the lovely ladies at zombiegrrlz.com who in their last podcast covered the crazy assed Basketcase I am reviewing the sequel Basketcase 2. Starting moments after the first film ends. Duane Bradley(Kevin Van Hentenryck) and his growth leftovers brother Beliel both survive the fall from the hotel window. Escaping the hospital the two are whisked away to the house of Granny Ruth (Annie Ross) and her daughter Susan (Heather Rattray). Hidden and recovering they learn that Granny Ruth has been harboring deformed people for years. There is recovery time where Duane falls for Susan and Beliel falls for a deformity in female face. Unfortunately for them a reporter is on their trail and soon they must do what is necessary to keeps Granny Ruth's collection of freaks out of the news. Duane seems never to be able to have the relationship he desires. In this case Susan has a secret that is really funny. There is Beliel freaking out and killing and Duane looking for love away from his brother. There is a hilarious scene of mutant afterbirth making it when Beliel gets it on with his female counterpart. Hot sweaty lumpy love making, that is what we needed. The climax, of the movie rolls in without a spoiler here and in the end you are like "What the fuck?" really though if you take it for what it is it is not horrible. At least this one had less yelling.
Rating ( 4.3)

Avatar (2010) Science Fiction

Avatar (2009) - James Cameron's computer generated animated film about a soldier who goes native on a distant planet called Pandora. Jake (Sam Worthington) a paraplegic marine is recruited to take his twin brothers spot in the Avatar project. Avatars are lab grown bodies that appear like the local natives, the Na'vi, Jake being a twin can make the neuro connection to his brother's and soon in learning the ways of the Na'vi and feeding intelligence back to the military.
When the corporation move prematurely on the Na'vi home tree, Jake must choose sides and does just that. A mix of people and animation I found the world beautiful but also distracting. I have never really been able to get into movies with a lot of animation and I had that problem again. I thought that Cameron did a great job but in the end it just is not my thing.

The story itself was a bit silly, having the rock the mining company is after being called Unobtainium. The story just a moral play about respecting native cultures vs the exploitation of their resources. A mix of native American and eastern philosophies the Pandora, Na'vi connection is nothing really original. As I think about this review I really don't want to dislike the film. It really does hit many of the points of good storytelling. I am sure for people who can get into anim,ated characters this may have seemed really refreshing. I on the other hand am more like thinking the movie was a bit Disney for my liking. The humans in the story are secondary characters and since I just can't seem to connect to cartoons I am not impressed.
Rating (7.1)

Religulous (2008) Documentary

Religulous (2008) - Bill Maher host of Real Time with Bill Maher stars as the atheist asking questions. The strange group of religious people he finds, from a truck stop church, to Creationist museum in Kentucky, to Holy Land an amusement park in Florida. Attempting first to show the irrationality of belief and then the illogical leaps into real world problems created by those belief, Maher uses his skepticism and humor to make his points. He argues against the United States being a Christan nation by using the writings of the founding fathers as evidence as well as historians. Maher in the end, after first exposing the hypocrisy of religion then calls on the growing group of self identified non-religious people to get active and use there votes to change this country.

Rating (6.4)

The Wolfman (2010) Horror

The Wolfman (2010) - Spoiler Alert! Yeah there are spoilers in here! It seems the classic never fade into the past but instead get re imagined into a new (better?) version of themselves. Case in point is the new feature The Wolfman, which in its re imagining stays very true to the 1941 Lon Chaney Jr film about a man attacked by the creature and cursed to transform into a wolf man on the full moon. In the new version Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro), is bitten and has the curse. He has returned to his fathers estate after the death of his brother also killed by the beast. There he learns to love his brother's widow Gwen (Emily Blunt) while seeking the answers to his curse and finding the origin of the beast that harmed him. His Father Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins) is distant and also the original werewolf which leads to a father son wolfman showdown. This was an improved story point and made the dynamics of this film interesting. They did not dwell on the fact the full moon last three days as they did in the original but still it did not really take away from the film either. The senior Talbot after years of locking himself away was now letting his wolf out and the only one able to stop him was the son he had cursed. Overall this movie was very good. You can see how some people would not like it because it was paced like and older movie, but that aside the story and the effects and the music makes this a real winner.

Rating (7.7)

Shutter Island (2010) Thriller

Shutter Island (2010) - Spoiler Alert! Yeah all over this blog entry! Shutter Island is the new thriller from director Martin Scorsese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley. It is set in 1954 and DiCaprio's character Federal Marshall Teddy Daniels arrives at an asylum for the criminally insane to investigate the disappearance of a patient. They enter with really too loud and disorienting music that had the audience covering thier ears and questioning the decision making of Scorsese early on in this film. Teddy his new partner they begin an investigation that does not end where the viewer would first think. As they work there way through their interviews of staff and patients it is clear that the agents are not in on the full story. It becomes more and more clear to the audience that Teddy is not the most solidly put together agent in the world. The hints are not subtle in this film and questioning the writing as too on the nose in some scenes seems reasonable, but it is a complicated enough plot and the acting is decent. Choices in the writing and directing just did not work real well. The reoccurring hallucination of Dolores Chanal (Michelle Williams) as Teddy's wife was probably the best of the choices. Her reveals were subtle and then she become more important in the end. We become aware as the story unfolds that Teddy may be a patient, which seemed a bit obvious in the previews without ever seeing the movie. His final realization comes when he confronts Kingsley's Dr. Cawley and learns that Cawley is trying this one final ruse to let Teddy play out his agent fantasy and come to terms with his real life tragedy. Again in a really not needed scene after learning in real life that Teddy's wife had killed his children and then Teddy had killed her, we are subject to watching the melodramatic scene. It did not really seem necessary other than a big time actor like DiCaprio was not going to pass up the chance to flex his acting muscles. So everyone in the asylum were putting on this elaborate play to break this one, supposedly the most violent person out of his Marshall Teddy fantasy and hopefully avoid having to lobotomize him. It seems to work to, but the big point is still to come. After the confrontation will Teddy slide back into that character the day after the confrontation? Can he live with his guilt and pain and change his life?
This was a decent movie, it was unfortunate that advertising has to give so much away in order to attract an audience. The director makes some questionable decisions that pull you out of the movie instead of enhancing it and the writer (Laeta Kalogridis) was not shifty enough to "not give away" the plot before its time. Still the acting was good and it was an interesting and engaging film. After listening to the writer talk to creative screen writer it is obvious the things I picked out were intentional decisions, but I still dont think they worked out.
Rating (6.3)

Creative screenwriting interview with Laeta Kalogridis

35th Boston Science Fiction Marathon

The Boston Science Fiction Marathon is the country's oldest continually running science fiction. Febuary 14th and 15th from noon to noon, 14 features plus shorts and other goodies were shown for a rabid audience of enthusiasts.

12:00 Moon (2009) - A wonderful acclaimed science fiction film starring Sam Rockwell as the sole employee on a lunar base. This film was creative and engaging, an older style sci-fi movie in pace and detail. Rating (8.3)

13:40 Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) - Although the scenerio may be dated this film still addresses the idea of how much responsibility for our safety a "thinking" Super computer should be given. Well acted over a stilted scrfipt the film was enjoyable. Rating (6.6)

15:30 9 (2009) - A muddled fantasy computer animated movie about the creatures left behind when man meets his self caused demise. The characters named 1-9 struggle to survive against the machines that want to get them. They finally find a way to accomplish the purpose they were designed for. Rating (5.1)

17:10 The Giant Gila Monster- Not Viewed

18:45 Labyrinth (1986) - Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie in this Jin Henson directed fantasy about a teenage girl trying to save her baby brother. This semi musical foray into silliness is not a great movie but for many has nostalgic value. Rating (4.0)

20:45 Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman (2009) - Very loving documentary about the man who coined the term Sci-Fi, the genre's number one fan. Check out a longer review Rating (7.7)

22:00 District 9 (2009) - A great action sci-fi film with subtext that connects on many levels, see the longer review. Rating (9.0)

00:20 The Thing (1982) - One of the greatest sciencefiction movies of all time. The Thing directed by John Carpenter is a masterpiece of atmosphere and special effects. Rating (8.6)

02:15 Lathe of Heaven (1980) - Not viewed

04:00 Night of the Creeps (1986) - Not Viewed

05:30 Rabid (1977) - Daviv Cronenberg's slow and not great film about a woman experimented on in surgery after an accident who has unwanted consequences. Rating (4.1)

07:05 The Day the Sky Exploded (1958) - Meteors are heading for the earth and arch enemies the US and USSR must work together to stop them. Rating (5.0)

08:55 Night of the Comet (1984) - Silly 80's sci-fi fluff about the end of civilization where the valley girls who survive spend more time shopping than trying to survive. Rating (5.3)

10:30 Sleep Dealer (2008) - Even better with a second viewing this politically spice science fiction future also has a compelling personal story. See the longer review Rating (9.4)

Science Fiction Film Fest - Famous Monster etc.

Thursday night's event:

Replay of FRANK DAN COOLO: PARANORMAL DRUG DEALER

Dir. Andrew Jones. 8 min., USA, 2008.

A legendary monster stalks Neo-Mega-Ultra Tokyo.Featuring CGI and cool stop-motion animation.

Third viewing of this short, and I appreciate it all the more with each viewing. The style of color mixed closeups, Stop motion animation, rat-a-tat dialog, and a cool science fiction premise combine for a fun trip. New Rating (8.1)

Conlang (2009) - A love story wrapped in the premise of a club that is working on a new language. It has Trekkies and other "Con" character types working on this language. When a bully challenges for the club presidency the struggle that ensues pushes the main character towards what is really important in life. Short and inventive this film has its heart in the right place. Rating (7.4)

Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman (2007) - Documentary about science fictions number one fan Forrie Ackerman. Before people collected poster, books and props Ackerman was out there putting together the greatest collection ever, over 50,000 items. Before there was Comic Con, and Science Fiction conventions, Ackerman was there putting together gatherings. Ackerman attributed for coining the phrase Sci-Fi was the genre's number one fan. Ackerman went from being fan to participant in many movies to science fiction icon. With James Warren he created the popular science fiction magazine "Famous Monster of Filmland" which indoctrinated a generation of kids into the world of science fiction and horror films. Although not in the film Ackerman and Warren are also responsible for creating the comic book character Vampirella. The film is a very loving look a man and his passion and how he made science fiction the popular genre we all cherish. Rating (7.7)

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival has been going on since Feb. 5th. It continues through Saturday night. Each nights events start at 7pm @ the Somerville theater. Sunday noon to Monday noon is the 35th Boston Science Fiction Marathon.

Fri. Feb 12th

World 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 where an ominous underground compound raises more questions than answers. Threatening encounters, the bizarre and reclusive Church of Lunology, mysterious secrets, alternate histories, time travel, and more.

Sat. Feb 13th

New 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 and the fight for her soul begins INK is a cult classic in the making -- see it with an audience!

Tickets are still available for the Marathon! at the Somerville Theater Feb. 14th to 15th noon to noon.

Science Fiction Shorts Night 3 - Planetary Paranoia

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival - This new event connected to the Boston Science Fiction Marathon Feb. 14-15 noon to noon is a wonderful addition. Each night from now until the Marathon there will be a feature or a night of Shorts at 7pm at the Somerville theater. I encourage you to look into getting tickets for these events.

Reminder I recommend anything with a 5 or above rating. I am not the toughest guy to please.


SITA (2008) - Tchaiko Omawale directed this story of a faerie who helps and then loves a mental health patient. She brings him back from the brink with her invisible(to him) arms. As he recovers he begins a relationship with a woman and the faerie is jealous and starts her own journey of acceptance. Artistic and fluid with great music. Rating (6.1)


RATS (2006) - Humans are isolated, each living and staying in their space only interacting through the share computer network. Fear of going outside is strong but when the system is in error one man decides to go. Outside is tainted and he worries about safety. When he discovers the problem, he handles it in an appropriate manner. Filmed in polarized black and white it is a distracting choice but does give the comic feel to the world. Rating (4.8)

1:03 AM (2009) - A man brings his paperwork to the government agency in charge and the papers are approved. His time will be 1 minute starting at 1:03 AM, from that time he has one minute to legally murder his cheating wife. Good reveal and pacing, with a decent turn at the end. Rating (6.1)

The Replicant (2009)- Writer and director David Walton Smith did this short about a man getting a new synthetic body. Now immortality is possible, but what happens to his old body. Well it wakes up and runs of course. A quick chase scene and resolution make this short work. Maybe not the most original of ideas but very adequately executed. Rating (6.0)

Die Schneider Krankheit (2008) - A spaceship with a monkey in it lands behind the iron curtain in post WWII (50's?)Europe loosing a deadly disease. The communist science community works for solutions and cures in this part newsreel part propaganda film. Ending with the facts that the cure had not been found but that life could continue but with wearing gas masks. Rating (6.1)


Under God (2009) - President Eisenhower visits UNIVAC the countries first supercomputer. A skeptic of its intelligence Ike is challenged to as any question. He asks "Is there a God" the computer works and then spits out an answer. Writer Director Richard Farmer wraps that answer into some history of the era creating a cool short that mixes science, religion and politics together into a nice package.
Rating (7.8)


Afterglow (2009) - Two local new militia men investigate a report of surviving aliens from a failed invasion of earth only to find something very unexpected. They run out of gas and in the process of finding some they come across an older couple. The couple is suspicious and soon it become apparent they are hiding something. The reveal is a good showing the depth of their paranoia after the near invasion. Rating (6.5)


Oxygen (2009) - A worker in the maintenance department in an isolated community find out things are not what the government has told them. In a constant storm the people of the community have been told the air outside is poison and will kill them. The worker Xavier find out the truth when he discovers a hole in his apartment wall that has been letting in outside air. The police are on to him though and soon he must flee the city for his own good. New and amazing realizations still await him on his journey. Rating (5.8)


Lifeline (2009) - Animated story of a man attempting to travel back in time to be with the woman he loves. The problem is that in order to have love he has to cut the lifeline back to his own time. Rating (5.5)

Attack of the Nebula-5 Robots (2008) - Amusing seven minute short about a mentally ill man who believes that robots from nebula 5 are going to attack and destroy the planet. Each day about the time he saw for the attack he sits in what he believes is the only safe place. Writer Director Chema Garcia Ibarra does a great job at developing character and a story full of humor. Rating (8.1)

Science Fiction Shorts Night 2

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival - This new event connected to the Boston Science Fiction Marathon Feb. 14-15 noon to noon is a wonderful addition. Each night from now until the Marathon there will be a feature or a night of Shorts at 7pm at the Somerville theater. I encourage you to look into getting tickets for these events.

Reminder I recommend anything with a 5 or above rating. I am not the toughest guy to please.

Night two of Shorts...

Perfect Companion (2009) - Story about a lonely woman, Annie (Laurie Slater) who after some reluctance turns to the online dating service perfect companion to meet a guy. The short shows their getting together, dating and love making. One night Greg (Derek Osting) starts to say he loves her but breaks down, literally because he is a robot. The film from shows how the spell is broken and now she can see him as nothing but a robot. Well done the short uses the robot edifice to explore relationships. We could easily substitute a human man with some other character flaw and have the same movie that is not Sci-fi. Connection in humans is so delicate at times and we get into these fantasies about what a perfect relationship is. What real connection is and then a angry outburst, a drunken night, or a program malfunction removes the perfection veil. The Actress came to the screening but Since I get up so early in the morning I could not stay for the Q&A. Rating (7.3)

Escape From Death Planet (2009) - A quick action filled short that has little point or meaning. It quickly drops us into a story of giant centipedes and things going horribly wrong. Three survivors try to find a way off this rock before they are eaten. The car driving through the background at the end was exceptional. Rating (2.9)

TypeA - The Osiris cryonics lab will liquid freeze you dead corpse but they can't guarantee you will stay that way. Workers in the lab are hunted and killed by the frozen. Other than the facility is failing mechanically no explanations are given to why. Three workers hold up in an office to fend off the dead,, for a while. Rating (4.0)

Mr Bojagi (2009) - This was a pleasant little moral tale about gift giving, the two characters were well developed for a ten minute piece. Kudos to writer Kat Wood for that. Mr. Bojagi (Brian Blessed) was over the top but in a Santa Claus kind of way and The Women (Hildegarde Neil) gives a wonderfully subtle performance as a person in need of a lesson. Rating (7.6)

All Systems Go: Neil Armstrong (2009) - A music video with space animation short with a thumping beat by Robert Dohrmann Rating (4.8)

The Kirkie (2009) - The story of three friends who break down on the way to a science fiction convention. The least dorkie one who is not dressed like a Stormtrooper or a character from Tron enters a bar to call AAA. He meets a girl on the date from hell, and is soon drawn into a fight where he must deploy the Kirkie, a two handed chop used by Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek. The little fantasy that leads into this is funny and the outcome expected but also funny. Done with humor and for laughs with many sci-fi references this one was fun to watch. Rating (7.0)

The Latest Thing (2009) - Should the human brain get added software if it can improve efficiency? After watching the number of patches on my windows box I would say no. This light came to the screening but Since I get up so early in the morning I could not stay for the Q&A.hearted short by Hamilton Scott says the same thing. When a family man is upgraded with buggy software some very funny scenes follow. Shot through his eyes we see him interact with his family and the guys writing and selling the software. The director came to the screening but Since I get up so early in the morning I could not stay for the Q&A. Rating (6.6)

Enigma (2009) - Like last night the best was saved for last. Enigma a half movie 42 mins was the best of the night. Very good special effect and set design surround this story of a military experiment that will help the human side win a war against the alien Cnidarians. A Cnidarian prisoner is transported on a ship called Genesis only to escape and kill the crew. The alien ends up dead too, but how? This is the mystery solved by the unfolding of the story. The acting was good and the story very interesting, like I said earlier there was a cgi budget in place and special effects looked good. The twist at the end was decent and you came away feeling the like this was well executed and exciting at times. Rating (8.5)

Science Fiction Shorts Night 1

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival - This new event connected to the Boston Science Fiction Marathon Feb. 14-15 noon to noon is a wonderful addition. Each night from now until the Marathon there will be a feature or a night of Shorts at 7pm at the Somerville theater. I encourage you to look into getting tickets for these events.

Night One of Shorts...

Theosaurology (2009) - Animated short about the nature of dinosaurs, and their super powers. Yes that's right superpowers, in fact when dinosaurs realized what they were the awesomeness of them covered the planet and set off a superpowers race that eventually was their demise. In an effort to prove their awesomeness the pachycephalosaurus' used their mental powers to pull a meteor to the planet. Unfortunately it meant the end of these Super cool and totally awesome creatures. Alex Austin wrote this cute, under animated short.
Rating (6.3)

Empathy (2009) - Writer / Director Benjamin Pascoe executed this concise story about a man who learns a hard lesson in empathy. Shot in blck and white a father is having an ideal life with his beautiful daughter. Creating the too perfect images is a good turn in this case, forshadowing quickly that things can't be what they seem. When the little girl is hit by a car and killed Stanley must face the grief of loosing his girl. Cut to Stanley in a program that gives him these memories as part of an experiment to Punish(?) people who have killed others while drunk driving.
Rating (7.2)

The Package (2009) - Ah, the days of VHS tape... Dave (Justin Hosking) and Lisa (Liza Catherine-Dennis) are having a horrible fight, well written and passionate by writer Tim Anderson. Director Oliver Waghorn keeps it simple and when Lisa leaves Dave is standing in what could be the aftermath of his relationship. A VHS tape is delivered to the door and Dave immediately plays it. It is him 40 years in the future, future dave relays how this is the moment he makes a string of catastrophic decision in his life. He is sending this tape back to tell past Dave how to avoid them. Good predictable laugh when the tape breaks in the player.
Rating (6.5)

Destination Day (2010) - Tim (Richard Pappas) travels back in time to fix a relationship before it goes wrong. Only can we really change the past and have it come out the way we want in the present? Writer Chris Lassig references Perth's Destination Day where people in the present invited time travellers to a gathering. No one showed up of course which leads one to believe that in the future 1. There is no time travel 2. Human don't exist 3. They have lost records of this event and thus can't visit 4. Have no interest or can't contact those in the past. or 5. anynumber of other reasons. This story though focuses on Tim and Valerie (Audrey Lamont) who work together and have slept together. This is the day after the intimate encounter where future Tim is trying to change the outcome.
Rating (4.9)

Operation Blast (2???) - It is 2017 and the war with the taliban continues, except now little turban wearing robots are attacking us and we are naturally defending ourselves with our own little GI Joe robots. This stop motion animation short by Jeffrey Hollins is cute but sort of pointless.
Rating (3.7)

VHS Reporter (2009) - Stange little film about a group of people coming together and waiting for a ride. Pretty much some introductions to some somewhat strange characters and then the twist that most of them are aliens heading back to space. Nothing really made this stand out.
Rating (3.7)

Dimensional Meltdown (2009) - Parallel universes where a man's girlfriend dies repeatedly and he can not deal. He travels through wormholes to try to change the outcome. Do these things ever come out well?
Rating (4.2)

Frank DanCoolo: Paranormal Drug Dealer (2009) - by Writer director Andrew Jones, Neo-Mega-Ultra Tokyo is the setting for this stylish story told through the investigating of reporter Holly Malone (Priscilla McEver). She follows leads at crime scenes to the Super Natural pill Pucher Frank DanCoolo (John Charles Meyer). He is sells his phsycic brain fluid but has to deal with the side effects of creatures from the other side crossing into this reality. A wonderful mix of 1940s style ratatat dialog, CGI and stop motion monsters this over the top short was a great way to end the night. Although I loved it this coul really not hit spots for everyone.
Rating (8.0)

Mutant Swingers From Mars (2003) Science Fiction

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival - This new event connected to the Boston Science Fiction Marathon Feb. 14-15 noon to noon is a wonderful addition. Each night from now until the Marathon there will be a feature or a night of Shorts at 7pm at the Somerville theater. I encourage you to look into getting tickets for these events.

Mutant Swingers From Mars (2003) - This parody starts as a mockumentary celebrating the deceased movie maker Orton Z. Creswell (Pete LaDuke), with interviews with actors he worked with, clips from his movies and a short biography. Some of this first part was amusing although at times I was distracted by the makeup work to make the actors look older. The script in this area was good except some of the interview material seemed less focused than the narration. Certainly there were odes to B movie maker Ed Wood, and the film uses multiple references to real science fiction movies. In fact some of the funniest bits were the clips of Creswell movies all rip offs of real movies.

Then we get to see the Creswell film "Mutant Swingers from Mars" a standard low budget 50's era science fiction movie, or in this case a 2003 parody of a 50's movie. Martians come to earth to force a mad genius doctor to create a super swinging reanimated dude Fez Fleckman (also Pete LaDuke). He is to hypnotized women of earth for the purpose of the Martian men taking them back to mars and replacing their frigid females. There was an amusing similarity to the Coneheads including the female Martian hiss. The inept aliens actually pull off there plan. Things are going well except that a local cool Dude Rusty Rave (Michael East) keeps is creating a rivalry with Fleckman. They vie for the attention of beauty Mitzy Nussbaum (Colleen Nash) and Fez does well until he mentions Rave's name and then she comes to her senses and Fez has to re hypnotize her. Eventually there is a hip dual between the two for her affection. The Alien plans go wrong and Rave saves the day. The references in this film were fun as I watched I tried to name the other movies this one was quoting, but again the script was a bit unfocused. It makes sense in an Ed Wood kind of way. Writer / Director Michael Kallio does only a fair job here but should get some real points for getting this fun film made. It certainly looks like a good first early career outing.

Rating (5.2)

Sleep Dealers (2008) - Science Fiction

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival - This new event connected to the Boston Science Fiction Marathon Feb. 14-15 noon to noon is a wonderful addition. Each night from now until the Marathon there will be a feature or a night of Shorts at 7pm at the Somerville theater. I encourage you to look into getting tickets for these event, if the rest of the movies are even half the quality of Sleep Dealers it will be a treat for anyone who comes.

Sleep Dealers (2008) - The setting for this film is a near future in Oaxaca Mexico, a young man named Memo (Luis Fernando Pena) is dissatisfied with his life. He seems destined to follow his father as an existence farmer on a small piece of family land. Once a more prosperous man his father now barely get by. The change on his fortunes came when the water source for the valley was privatized and the river dammed. Now the family pays most of their earnings for water to grow just enough food to live on. Here are a couple of very interesting ideas in the movie. The traditional turned upside down by a futuristic and not too unrealistic idea about resource management. Milpa farming of corn, beans and squash have been a tradition in Mexico through its history and the movie takes the time to recognize this. It is not using the location to exploit the character but to give a sense of them in the story to come. Memo sees this change with the dam as a trap and struggles with his father's idea about living on his own land at such a disadvantage. He would rather be somewhere else earning more money.
On his self constructed radio intercepting radio he hears the voices of people talking about working in the north for the Sleep Dealers. They are companies who import labor through virtual factories. Employees have implants that allow them to plug into a network that routes them to control machines in the United States. The labor force never has to actually be in the US, from the factories the workers all standing in a room can slaughter pigs in Iowa, to build a skyscraper in San Diego. Hearing about the success of the workers compared to sustenance farming is appealing to Memo. He listens in the evenings and dreams about a new life in the day.
One night while listening in of the airwaves he intercepts the signals of the US drone air force. This branch of the military is in charge of flying drone aircraft to enemy targets and destroying them. It has been popularized in a television show and unfortunately for Memo they trace his signal. This was another very interesting idea that is current but the movie takes to the next incarnation. No longer does the military just fight wars, but have been expanded into a corporate strike force protecting resources around the world being ship to the United States. They intercept the signal from Memo's house and put it on the list for investigation. When the drones arrive controlled by Rudy (Jacob Vargas) a new pilot serving in the military following in his families footsteps. A bit cliche for movies but certainly true for many servicemen of today. Rudy is commanded to blow up Memo's home, unfortunately Memo's father is in the house. Memo is at his uncles and sees the Drones show live and runs to try to save his father. The house is bombed and his father crawls out and looks into the drone camera, Rudy is ordered to kill him and does.
Two stories begin at this point, Rudy filled with doubt and guilt wants to know more about the man he killed and Memo without his father's will to hold him decides he must go north to earn money for his family.
We follow Memo as he moves north and meets a girl on a bus named Luz Martinez (Leonor Varela). She is a young woman who earns a living, collecting and selling her memories. She takes an interests in Memo and when she uploads her memories of him she is found by Rudy online. He thinking this young man is part of the story of his kill asks her to continue to collect information about Memo's father show he can be sure. There are again some very interesting ideas at play in Luz's relationship with Memo. On one hand she is doing business but because we are human she is also making emotional connections. The idea that she sells her memories of him is cold, but the thing this market finds valuable is that human connection. I think social networking is similar to this. In one way it is a superficial connection to more people on a daily basis but it also gives us more chances at actually making more deep connections if we choose to use it that way. Being human ultimately is about meaningful emotional interaction, we strive for that and feel healthy in our lives when it can happen. Social networks although allowing us to avoid deep contact also give us more opportunities to pursue them if we choose to.
Memo and Luz develop a fine relationship, she helps him get the implants he needs to work for the Sleep Dealers and gives him a friend in a strange place. He works and send money back to his family. Rudy learns that this is indeed the son of the man he kills and that he was not a terrorist and begins to doubt his mission. He decides to travel to Mexico and meet Memo. The storyline with Memo explores his work and draws a very nice parallel he is like the water in his home village a resource being drained by a foreign power for its gain but not a mutual one. Is this the solution the corporate world is looking for in our free market society? A workforce that is just a resource but not people?
The film climaxes with the meeting of Memo and Rudy and the interactions contained in that powerful relationship. Rudy agrees to do anything for Memo to somehow make up for his horrible error. I won't go into it here but it was satisfying.
Rating (9.3)

Phoenix the Warrior (1988) - Action

Phoenix the Warrior (1988) - The copy of this I have is titled "She Wolves of the Wasteland" waste being the significant word fragment here. This late eighties post apocalyptic adventure is about a world that is lacking men, in fact other than two characters the entire cast is women, with big eighties hair and a severe lack of appropriate clothing. It is a world where one woman, the Reverend Mother (Shiela Howard) runs a desert shanty town of gun toting leotard draped warriors. She is a wheelchair bound hag with wires and tubes sprouting from her head set on controlling the last sperm in the world and building her perfect world. When one of her experiments escapes, the pregnant Keela (Peggy McIntaggart) she is hunted by the Reverend Mother's team lead by Cobalt (Persis Khambatta). Helped by travelling warrior Phoenix (Kathleen Kinmont) Keela escapes. This starts a strange jumping through time adventure where the viewer is repeatedly subject to scenes of women walking across the desert, interspersed with them being found and the worst choreographed fight scenes I have seen in a long time. They escape the first time by finding a cave in the desert that leads to an oasis where women warriors bath topless in a waterfall. They are identified by the white paint masks across there eyes. Suddenly it is nine months later and Keela is giving birth. Then the bad girls find them and so we are not confused they have red paint on their faces, a battle ensues and only Phoenix and Keela and the baby boy escape. Suddenly it is five years later and the women decide to try to get to some island, so more walking across the desert. They are again found and the dune buggies are sent out to get them. They hide in a shack, and wow there is a man there, he escaped from the Reverend Mother years before. Soon more silly fighting takes place, Phoenix is captured while the other three escape. Phoenix becomes a gladiator while her friends set out to rescue her. They do and this time there are driving across the desert scenes since they steal a car. They head to the wastelands where they are caught by some deformed mutant people who worship the TV Guide. The men are sent back to the Reverend Mother while Phoenix and Keela are left as sacrifices to the Guide. The women escape with the help of another former gladiator who just happens to be tracking them. Then the three women head back to save the boy child and man. There is the inevitable battle between Cobalt and Phoenix, Keela confronts the Reverend Mother to save her child, and we learn that all the people of this time are actually the children of the Mother. She is rebuilding humankind, why we are not sure, and why she chose the desert, or to be militant are questions we just can't answer here. In the end though, Keela wins and the Mother is no more. There are now two very lucky men in the world, End Credits.

Rating (3.2)

The Hangover (2009) - Comedy

The Hangover (2009) - After so much time and so many people saying how great this comedy was I finally pulled it down and gave it a watching. Now before we start with the summary let me be honest about me and comedy. We have a hot/cold relationship, so much depends on the mood I am in when I see a comedy, what I find funny on one day I don't on a different day. Except Monty Python which is wacky fun at a funeral. This night I was in a very good mood and so found myself enjoying this story of four guys trying to piece together a drunken night in Las Vegas. It is a collection of revelatory bits, why is there a tiger in the bathroom, where did that baby come from? Where is Doug (Justin Bartha), is his wedding really in a few hours? We follow Doug's three friends ( Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifinakis) as they try to piece together the night before, find Doug and get him to his wedding on time. Spoiler: It was Mike Tyson's tiger! Slowly one clue leads to another until they save their friend from the roof of the Hotel, return the Tiger, have self realizations and make it to the wedding. Along the way there are some truly funny bits.

Rating (6.6)

Thirst (Bakjwi) (2009) - Horror

Thirst (Bakjwi) (2009) - This South Korean film is about a priest who participates in medical experiments where most of the participants die. He lives though with the side effects that he has become a vampire. To stave off boils and other physical ills he must drink human blood regularly. Priest Sang-hyeon (Kang-ho Song) struggles with the moral consequences of his affliction. He attempts not to kill but instead to feed off coma victims in a hospital ward he volunteers at. Things are complicated further by the fact that the vamperism seems to increase his desire to sin. He finds himself lusting after the wife of a sick man. She is Tae-ju (Ok-bin Kim) and she is trapped in what she portrays as an abusive relationship with an over bearing Mother in Law (Hae-sook Kim) watching her every step. She says she is trapped and she sees the priest as a way out of the marriage. Sang-hyeon after realizing that it is too hard to follow God and his lustful ways leaves the priesthood and with the help of Tae-ju kills her husband Kang-woo (Ha-kyun Shin). Guilt is a terrible companion though and soon Sang-hyeon can not tolerate the life he has chosen and the acts he has committed. He is further driven with the knowledge that Tae-ju was never abused and lied to get his help out of her situation. He then makes a decision and executes a climactic plan that is worth the wait. Not to spoil it here it is a very in character approach for the former priest.

Rating (6.9)

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)