Matt's Movie Madhouse Extravaganza 2: Electric Boogaloo [entries|friends|calendar] john_murdoch [ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ] [ calendar | livejournal calendar ]

Altered States (1980) [06 Sep 2006|05:12pm] Directed by: Ken Russell Written by: Paddy Chayefsky Cast: William Hurt … Professor Eddie Jessup Blair Brown … Emily Jessup Bob Balaban … Arthur Rosenberg If you did drugs in the eighties you might not even have to watch “Altered States,” as you probably saw most of it while on E. “Altered States” was made at the beginning of the eighties and looks like it, which would normally be a problem for a movie that relies strongly on special effects, but here the cheesiness of the effects enhance the film. The movie is about a scientist named Eddie Jessup who has an obsession with the origins of man, and as a result drugs and unconventional methods that make you feel as though you are going back through time, specifically a device called the isolation chamber which when mixed with hallucinatory drugs has an unsettling effect. The movie uses its’ odd premise to reflect on what makes us human, which is revealed to us through a man who spends the film trying to discover just that. The conclusion the movie draws however is very different from what Jessup thought he would find. One wonderful thing about the film is that it’s basically a movie about time travel, but we never actually see any of the time traveling as it occurs in a quite logical place, inside of Jessup’s mind. The film is filled with drugged hallucinations that aren’t exactly up to snuff FX wise with even films made in the eighties, but this adds a cheesiness to the film that achieves something films rarely do it’s silly and cheesy but still legitimately good. This should not be approached as a serious film but as a silly mind fuck film, it’s as though “2001” made by horny 12 year olds. If you think about the movie you will hurt your brain, because you will discover that there is nothing that the movie really wants you to think about, it wants to override your senses with visuals and sounds. One scene that I can’t get out of my mind is a scene in which a monkey man is running through the streets looking for safety and food, the scene is crazy and b-movie cheesy, but here it works and makes the movie even better. I recommend the film if you like Science Fiction, because if you don’t I’m pretty sure you wont like the film. Interesting facts: -Author Paddy Chayefsky disowned this movie. -Arthur Penn was originally slated to direct but resigned. -The book was partially based on dolphin researcher John Lilly, who invented the isolation tank, and first started taking drugs while "tanking". -Director Trademark: [Ken Russell] [snake] the dream sequence -In his autobiography, director Ken Russell said he tried mushrooms during the making of the film, which resulted in a bad trip. -In a 1981 interview with the New York Times, Blair Brown said many of the actors and crew tried out the isolation tank. William Hurt actually hallucinated, while Blair Brown found it very peaceful. -Paddy Chayefsky had not seen the film before he took his name off the credits. -Film debuts of both William Hurt and 'Drew Barrymore' . -At one point, Eddie Jessup mentions the work of "Tart, Ornstein and Deikman." This is a reference to Charles Tart, Robert Ornstein and Arthur Deikman, all of whom wrote books about altered states of consciousness, and all of whom have been involved in modern esoteric spiritual movements, such as the Gurdjieff Work. -Ken Russell has alleged in interviews he was 27th choice for director. post comment

Juyuso seubgyuksageun (Attack the Gas Station) (1999) [05 Sep 2006|12:06am] Directed by: Sang-Jin Kim Written by: Jeong-woo Park Cast: Sung-jae Lee … No Mark Oh-seong Yu … Mu Dae-po Seong-jin Kang … Ddan Dda-ra Ji-tae Yu … Paint Yeong-gyu Park … Gas Station owner Like “Snakes on a Plane” all you need to know about “Attack the Gas Station” is right in the title. The entire movie is in fact about four bored teens that spend their spare time attacking a gas station, but they don’t just kick the crap out of the station and its’ employees, well they do the first time, but once they “Attack” again they find a lot more to do. The plot is paper thin as the boys figure out ways to entertain themselves while holding up the gas station for an extended period of time using only large sticks. The movie goes into four quick back stories on each of its’ protagonists, each cheesy and overly sentimental, what the exact point of these flash backs are I’m not sure, perhaps to explain why the boys do what they do, but I sure hope that isn’t their point. The movie certainly isn’t good, and for the first ten or so minutes not much happens, but once things start to actually happen it starts to entertain and keeps picking up momentum as it goes along. If this movie were made in America I certainly wouldn’t recommend it, but being a Korean film I give it more leniency for not being very good. By the time the movie ends you find yourself completely entertained, but you are also left with many questions about obvious plot holes and why things happened that happened. It is easy enough to let these things go because the movie in no way takes itself seriously, and is at its’ best just a bunch of fun. I loved the Korean setting and would probably not like the film if I were Korean because it doesn’t do anything special with the setting. But as it is I give it a slight recommendation if you have nothing better to do. Watching it with friends will probably make it a more enjoyable experience. post comment

Naked Lunch (1991) [04 Sep 2006|10:16am] Directed by: David Cronenberg Written by: David Cronenberg Based on the novel by: William S. Burroughs Cast: Peter Weller … Bill Lee Judy Davis … Joan Frost Ian Holm … Tom Frost Julian Sands … Yves Cloquet Roy Schneider … Doctor Benway In “Naked Lunch” the protagonist, William Lee, walks around in what appears to be, and later we discover is, a drug induced dazed. Drugs are the focus of this film, as the bulk of the film seems like a drug induced illusion. The movie is based upon not just the novel Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs, but also several other stories Burroughs wrote, and many events come straight from his own life. Going into the movie I had not read any of Burroughs’ work, and only had a faint idea of what his life was like. I knew that Burroughs was crazy and this movie very strongly reinforces that perception. One of the scenes from the movie which I feel I can divulge without giving much away since it is a moment taken directly from Burroughs’ life that is one of the things he is perhaps most famous for, is that in an attempt to copy William Tell he attempts to shoot a glass off his wife’s head and the outcome isn’t quite the same as what happened in the story of Mr. Tell. This is a disturbing scene and sets the tone for the whole movie, Burroughs was a crazy drug addicted guy and this movie is as much about that fact as it is about his work. In the film Bill Lee is happy living his life as an exterminator, though his friends feel that he is too much of an intellectual to be in such a field and should instead be a writer. When Bill decides to take their advice his life doesn’t get much better and he becomes involved (at least in his mind) in some sort of drug ring involving lots of talking insects. The movie is as trippy as it is depressing as I suppose it must be when it is deal with the material that it is. The director is David Cronenberg a man who the more I see of his work the more I appreciate what he does and here he seems to be a perfect fit for the material. Cronenberg has an apparent respect for William S. Burroughs and his work that makes the movie work. His style also seems to be in sync with Burroughs, this was a movie that easily could have been a disaster but Cronenberg makes it a fascinating film about drugs and homosexuality, I recommend this film if you’re in the mood for drugs and depression. Interesting facts: -Trailers for this film featured footage of William S. Burroughs shot in the 1960s, with an impersonator providing narration about the irony of how a book that was banned and censored has now been made into a movie. -The movie is packed with characters based on real people and events from the life of Burroughs. Like Bill Lee, Burroughs was an exterminator and drug addict who accidentally shot his wife during a drunken game of "William Tell." Joan Lee is based on Joan Vollmer, Burroughs' wife. Hank and Martin, Bill's fellow writers, are Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Burroughs moved to a section of Tangiers known as the "International Zone," hence "Interzone." Tom Frost is clearly based on Paul Bowles, and Kiki was in fact the name of a young man Burroughs had an affair with in Tangiers... while writing "Naked Lunch." -The character name William Lee is the pseudonym Burroughs used when he wrote his first novel, Junky. One memorable segment from the original novel, "The Talking Asshole," is recited almost verbatim in the film. Early in the movie, a character utters the mangled phrase "No glot, C'lom Fliday" which is the final line of the novel. -David Cronenberg first met up with producer 'Jeremy Thomas' in 1981 with a view to making the film. -This was originally going to be the first Cronenberg film to be made outside of Toronto until a panicked Ontario film board offered the director unparalleled financial inducements and incentives. As it transpired, however, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait scuppered any plans to film in Tangier so the entire film ended up being made in Toronto anyway. -An entire desert was recreated on a Toronto soundstage by pouring 700 tons of sand onto the floor of a former munitions factory. -The shooting of the author's wife is not a fictional creation. William Burroughs did indeed accidentally shoot his wife Joan in the head in 1951 in Mexico in a William Tell stunt that went disastrously wrong. Mexican law at the time meant that Burroughs only served 13 days in prison for killing his wife. post comment

Accepted (2006) [01 Sep 2006|12:30pm] Directed by: Steve Pink Written by: Adam Cooper & Bill Collage & Mark Perez Cast: Justin Long … Bartleby Gains Jonah Hill … Sherman Schrader Adam Herschman … Glen Columbus Short … Hands Maria Thayer … Rory Lewis Black … Uncle Ben “Accepted” has similar problems to “Beerfest,” it’s humor isn’t always funny and none of the jokes are particularly note worthy. But “Accepted” has something that Beerfest doesn’t, it has an interesting story with a message that may be a bit too preachy, but at least it is a good message. After being rejected from every school, Bartleby Gains decide that he will reclaim his dignity by forging an acceptance letter to an imaginary school. However this one lie ends up sparking a reaction which leads to the unexpected (at least by Bartleby and co.) outcome of Bartleby and his friends beginning their own college. Plans soon go awry however as the dead of a nearby college decides he wants to by the land on which this college stands to build an archway, will they be discovered? If so will they escape prison and public shame? I bet you can figure it out, but that’s not the point. The kind of person (like me) who will enjoy “Accepted,” will not find themselves liking the whole film. The humor is often not funny, though there are some funny moments, but at least the humor is harmless, for some reason a clean joke is better when it is poorly executed than a dirty one. But I found that what I liked about “Accepted” was what was happening outside of the comedy, the characters can be interesting though sometimes one dimensional, the story is enjoyable and engaging, but most of all, I loved the message of the film, as corny as it may be. The film has many flaws some of which it can’t really make up for, but apart from this, and quite possibly because of this, the movie has a naivety and a charm that make you smile. If you do go to see accepted don’t expect a great comedy, expect a good movie. I recommend the film, but it certainly isn’t for everyone, if you ejoyed Beerfest, chances are you wont enjoy this one. Interesting facts: -Most, if not all, of the computers in this movie are shown to be made by Apple Computer, and/or run Mac OS X. Coincidentally, Justin Long became well known in the months running up to this movie's release for his appearance on a series of Get a Mac campaign advertisements. -The Harmon campus was shot at the Chapman University campus in Orange, CA -Harmon is based on Hiram College in Hiram, OH. This is noticeable in several places, notably that the film is set in Ohio and a reference is made to James A. Garfield attending Harmon; in actuality, he was president of Hiram. -The word, "fuck", was bleeped out to maintain its PG-13 rating. 1 comment|post comment

Invincible (2006) [01 Sep 2006|12:04pm] Directed by: Ericson Core Written by: Brad Gann Cast: Mark Wahlberg … Vince Papale Greg Kinnear … Dick Vermeil Elizabeth Banks … Janet Cantrell Kevin Conway … Frank Papale Vince Papale is a 30 year old bar tender in Philadelphia who has hit rough times, he has just been let go from his job as a substitute teacher, he can’t afford his phone bill, and his wife has left him. His friends try to convince him to go to an open tryout for the Philadelphia Eagles his favorite football team. His friends feel he has a chance even though he has only played one year of high school football, because of the talent he displays while he plays street football with them. Low and behold he makes it to the next round and everyone’s hopes and dreams end up riding on his shoulders. Now maybe I haven’t seen enough underdog sports movies to be sick of them, but this one certainly gets the job done very well. It tugs all the right heart strings and is cheesy but not too cheesy. The story and message are nothing new, but they are executed in a way that is both enjoyable and fun. I had no prior knowledge of what happened to the real Vince Papale, so I would fin myself holding my breath to see whether or not he would make it. I suppose it offers nothing new to the genera in which movies such as “Rudy” and “Rocky” said pretty much all there is to say, but if it’s not broken why fix it. The sports underdog movie is a safe genre, if you go to see one you know you’re probably going to get at least an adequate movie, and I would say “Invincible” is better than adequate. If you are the kind of person who has a strong desire to see “Invincble,” you will certainly be more than pleased with the film. However if you are like me, and care very little for sports and even less for football, you will still find yourself having a good time because like most films in the genre the sports take a back seat to the story of the characters. I was surprised at how much I liked “Invincible,” I was never board and I was captivated by the story, the movie gets done what it sets out to do, and it is achieved with skill, so this movie gets my recommendation. Interesting facts: -In the game scene at Texas Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles actually come out of the Dallas Cowboy home tunnel and are on the actual Dallas Cowboy home sidelines. This was done due to the sunlight coming in from the top of the stadium and affecting the cameras. You'll notice that on screen Dallas Cowboys have tremendous amount of sun on their sidelines where as the Eagles don't. -The fans (hired as extras by Who's Nuts production co.) in the stands at Texas Stadium only filled up about two sections on the lower level only during filming in October 2005. The production trailer, the stands appear filled thanks to computer graphics. -The real Vince Papale was at Texas Stadium during filming (Oct 24-25, 2005) as an advisor and in real life actually much larger than Mark Walberg. -Greg Kinnear researched his role by spending time with Dick Vermeil during his final year as the Head Coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. -This picture was made with the support of the Philadelphia Eagles and the National Football League (NFL). -Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista were highly enamored with the production given the exponential popularity of the National Football League. The production was given a green-light secondary to the belief that Papale's timeless story, like that of Notre Dame walk-on Daniel E.(Rudy) Ruettiger or the New York Jets undrafted walk-on Wayne Chrebet, would transcend a regional demographic and be a success at the box-office in the domestic market. -Many of the former Eagles gave permission for Disney to use their names for this production. -A common misconception is that the film is missing a primary character, specifically Philadelphia Eagles veteran QB #7 Ron Jaworski. But Jaworski was still on the Los Angeles Rams during this time frame. Jaworski was not traded to the Eagles until March of 1977. -The boy running in the street with the makeshift number 83 jersey is Vince Papale's real son. post comment

Beerfest (2006) [29 Aug 2006|12:14pm] Directed by: Jay Chandrasekhar Written by: Broken Lizard Cast: Jay Chandrasekhar … Barry Kevin Heffernan … Lanfill/Gil Steve Lemme … Steve “Fink” Finklestein Paul Soter … Jan Wolfhouse Erik Stolhanske … Todd Wolfhouse The truth of “Beerfest” is that unless you are unfamiliar with Broken Lizards previous work and the idea of the film appeals to you, you will probably enjoy it. In “Beerfest” two brothers, Jan and Todd Wolfhouse venture to Germany to place their recently deceased fathers’ ashes with the rest of the family. When they arrive they discover a secret beer drinking competitions between all the countries, excluding America. While they are there the Germans disgrace them, their father and their great grand Nan. In order to reclaim their families’ dignity they return to America and assemble a crack team of beer drinkers to beat the Germans at their own game. I have a place in my heart for “Super Troopers,” but the Broken Lizard crew has yet to live up to that film. “Beerfest” is a gross out “hard R” comedy that tries to live up to the greats of the past such as “Animal House,” but fails due in part, I believe, to a few things, first of all the movie runs nearly two hours, which could have been cut down easily to a much more enjoyable ninety minutes. But the films length wasn’t its’ only problem, though it has many funny moments the filmmakers seem to not be able to distinguish these from the completely unfunny jokes which tend to sink the film each time it begins to really take off. Now I have no contempt for this movie, I enjoyed moments of it, but its’ absurd runtime and the fact about half of the movie isn’t funny but the stars obviously think it is, kind of ruined it for me. It seems like what it probably is, a group of friends coming up with a cool idea and quickly writing a bunch of jokes and gags, stringing them together with a quickly thought up plot and having a lot of fun filming it. This might have worked if the people who made it cared more about the audience than having fun themselves, because it is apparent that the Broken Lizard crew is having more fun making this movie than anyone did watching it, no matter how much you enjoyed the film. The movie is almost passable, and works only to kill time, it will probably fall into obscurity like Broken Lizards previous film “Club Dread,” and it probably won’t obtain the cult status of “Super Troopers.” If you want a couple laughs and an overuse of CG sight gags, “Beerfest” will suite your needs, but with much better comedies out right now, I can’t imagine why you would want to bother with this one. Merely a trifle way to pass the time, not recommended. 2 comments|post comment

Angst essen Seele auf (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul) (1974) [29 Aug 2006|11:42am] Directed by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Written by: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Cast: Brigitte Mira … Emmi Kurowski El Hedi ben Salem … Ali Barbara Valentine … Barbara Irm Hermann … Krista Elma Karlowa … Mrs. Kargus This movie is about two things, love and racism, two issues that will probably always be relevant in society, and they just so happen to make some of the most interesting topics to watch a movie about. The story involves Emmi Kurowski a widowed older woman who works as a maid and Ali, a younger man from Morocco whom she falls in love with. We follow the story of the two lovers as they must face the horrors of racism and bigotry, and sometimes each other. The film displays the age old adage that love conquers all, but it is much more complicated than that when implemented into the real world as it is here. The movies topic isn’t something all too original, but the way in which Fassbinder deals with the situation is so real and heartbreaking that it’s almost impossible to tear your eyes away from the screen. One of the most notable things about the story being told in “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul” is that it is not preachy of the horrors of racism and how it is wrong, it doesn’t even preach about love and its’ powers., it merely tells a story, with little bias on the topic that isn’t the characters own or what the audience feels, no message is being forced down our throats, we are merely presented with a situation that we can make whatever we want of. The story is simple and universal, but the way it is presented by Fassbinder is with such harsh truth that the movie is undeniable. It isn’t a happy or sad story it is a story of truth and life, you can come away feeling many things, it’s rare to see a movie that’s message is different for different people, for example, if you were racist you probably would not enjoy this film. There is much more to be written about the film, but I will stop here since the film can speak for itself much better than I can speak for it. Recommended, and it’s not a long film so even if this type of film isn’t your cup of tea you wont be loosing too much of your life, definitely worth checking out no matter who you are. Interesting facts: -The original film title "Angst essen Seele auf" – is grammatically incorrect German, and means "Fear eat up soul". -The film was shot in just nearly two weeks, and was planned as an exercise in film-making for Fassbinder, to fill in the time in his schedule between the work on two other films "Martha" and "Effi Briest" [1]. -Ali is played by Fassbinder's lover at the time – El Hedi ben Salem. Ben Salem committed suicide in a jail several years later. Barbara is played by an Austrian actress Barbara Valentin, who was in the 1980s a partner of Freddie Mercury - a singer of the band Queen. -Rainer Werner Fassbinder himself did a cameo appearance as Emmi's son in law. post comment

Idlewild (2006) [27 Aug 2006|02:11pm] Directed by: Bryan Barber Written by: Bryan Barber Cast: Andre Benjamin … Percival Antwan A. Patton … Rooster Paula Patton … Angel Terrence Howard … Trumpy Here you have a movie staring Outkast with a soundtrack provided almost entirely by the group, you’d think with a band so innovative that the result would be wonderful. However the fact that it isn’t, certainly isn’t the fault of the band, I don’t know exactly where to point the blame but it must fall heavily on the script. Though it is billed as a musical, there are only about four or five musical breaks, and those are certainly the highlights of the film. The film is about two childhood friends, Percival (Andre 3000) and Rooster (Big Boi), who grow up and grow apart, Percival plays a piano at a nightclub where Rooster sings (and I wont mention the fact that their was no hip-hop music when the movie takes place, since the movie doesn’t really care much about period authenticity, as it shouldn’t.) The owner of the club is murdered forcing Rooster to take over, he tries to keep the club going while making a profit without getting killed by Trumpy. All the while Percival is winning the heart of a young woman named Angel Davenport. Both of these stories have very little to do with each other and are extremely by the book. It has short bursts of energy and creativity, but almost all of them are short lived and only total about (and I’m being generous) 25 minutes of the film. The potential of the film was immense, the cinematography is wonderful, and the direction has moments of true inspiration, but the story is so simple, dull and obvious, that the only thing that could have saved it would to have been more musical sequences, which would have made sense. As it is the movie feels as though the script was created from a computer program, and though the Direction and Cinematography is at times creative and energetic, the story never is, creating a rather boring film, that feels less like Outkast and more like a bad movie. It seems as though the Writer/Director wanted to make a film like Moulin Rouge as a lot of the film and its’ story resembles that film, and so does it’s blend of modern music with a turn of the century background, however that film displayed the energy needed to pull such an idea off. The movie is an Outkast movie, but it sure never felt like it, it could have just as easily been a film that just so happens to star Andre 3000 and Big Boi and coincidentally also features Outkast music. Rarely are the two main characters ever on screen together, they have about three scenes where they are in the same frame, and in only two of those do they actually speak. If you are making a movie about a band in order to be successful it should probably reflect both the personality of the band and their music, this film does neither. This is perhaps the most depressing fact about the film, it didn’t feel like Outkast, and had the film reflected the personality of the band, the fact that the script was pretty terrible wouldn’t have mattered because it would have been relying on something more important, it’s stars. For a movie that has been in the works for nearly eight years, from a band who’s music is not only some of the best of modern hip-hop, but some of the best, most creative modern commercial music currently available, this movie is a massive disappointment. The failure probably has many explanations, but its’ lack of energy and its’ forced creativity are more attributed to its’ script that it’s two stars. Outkast I think blew it with their first movie, hopefully the rumors of disbanding aren’t true and the boys will get another chance to make the great film they are undoubtedly capable of, sadly not recommended. 1 comment|post comment

Last House on the Left (1972) [25 Aug 2006|02:36am] Directed by: Wes Craven Written by: Wes Craven Cast: Sandra Cassel … Mari Collingwood Lucy Grantham … Phyllis Stone David Hess … Krug Stillo Fred J. Liclon … Fred ‘Weasel’ Podowski Jeramie Rain … Sadie This film has a reputation for being extremely gory and disturbing and I will admit that it fills both of those criteria, especially for the time it was made. I tend to like movies that are overly disturbing and to an extent this film was, but I felt that the bad acting primarily from the leads, the odd choice of music, and the dopy cop characters hindered a movie that otherwise could have been a great horror film. This was the first major effort from Wes Craven and it looks like a first effort, but there’s always something cool and fresh about a first film, and you get that here, but since I have already seen his next effort, “The Hills Have Eyes” I see how he took everything good about “Last House on the Left” and left out the bad stuff, creating an ultimately much better movie and truly great horror film. I didn’t dislike the film I just thought it did less than it could have. It probably would have benefited from a few cuts since the plot tended to drag at points when not much would happen and a chase scene goes on for a bit too long without building much tension. Wes Craven does do a superb job of showing the juxtaposition between both the parents and girls situation all culminating in the final scene. However his dialogue is often poorly written, and only okay when it’s not drawing attention to itself. It does induce fright though, or at least it is deeply disturbing, but I would have liked them to punch it up a bit, because at times it seemed the movie wanted to be a hokey comedy, completely killing the mood for me. But it is worth seeing once, but repeated viewings probably aren’t necessary, so this film gets a slight recommendation from me if you’re into horror films, but you can do much better with other Wes Craven films. Interesting facts: -When fledgling director Wes Craven took this film to the MPAA, they labeled it with an "X" rating. Wanting an R for wider release, Craven went back and removed 10 minutes of footage. However, this still wasn't enough, and the film still got an "X" rating. Once again, Craven removed footage, this time 20 minutes. But it still wasn't enough. Finally, Craven put all of the original footage back in, got an authentic "RATED R" seal of approval from the film board from a friend of his, put it on the film, and released it. -Wes Craven took Mari Collingwood's surname from his high school. -Wes Craven later used the name KRUG in _Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984)_ for the films villain, "Freddy KRUEGer. Both of which in films are teenager murderers. -Based on the film Jungfrukällan (1960) -This movie has been banned several times in the UK by the BBFC. Originally, in 1974, it received an R rating and was banned. In 1984, it was banned again when it became a "video nasty", and remained that way until 2000, where it again received an R rating. In 2001, it, yet again, received an R rating and remained banned. Finally, a video version in 2002 was passed with around 30 seconds of cuts for an 18 rating, ending a 28 year streak of being banned. -A mixture of red and blue food coloring mixed with caramel syrup was used for the fake blood, which - contrary to most movie blood - actually looks real. -According to various cast and crew members (especially 'David Hess' and Fred J. Lincoln), actress Sandra Cassel was genuinely terrified throughout most of the shoot, at one point walking off-set. -Hallmark and Atlas International (distribution company) when they released the movie in Germany, attempted to pass it off as an actual "snuff" film (i.e. a real murder staged for the camera). -Cameo: [Steve Miner] (production assistant) hippie taunting the sheriff and deputy. -Producer Sean S. Cunninghams station wagon is used when Lucy Grantham and Sandra Cassel are driving in the beginning. post comment

The Wicker Man (1973) [25 Aug 2006|01:20am] Directed by: Robin Hardy Written by: Anthony Shaffer Cast: Edward Woodward … Sergeant Howie Chritopher Lee … Lord Summerisle Diane Cilento … Miss Rose Britt Ekland … Willow Wow! That’s my first reaction, my preconceived notions of this movie before actually watching it were completely wrong. First off I thought it was supposed to be a horror film, turns out it’s more of a police detective mystery, and that was the least of the surprises. I would like to mention that every thing I had heard about the film before hand neglected to mention that it is in fact a musical, and I’m not using that term lightly. The first time an entire bar full of Scottish men broke out into a song, I thought well, hey, they’re drunks, drunks break out into song sometimes late at night when they’re in bars feeling happy, right? But shortly afterwards a good three minutes is consumed by a solo song sung by a dancing naked woman. This was a huge shock, but the biggest shock about this film was that I actually enjoyed it. Sergeant Howie travels to Summerisle in order to investigate the disappearance of a little girl. His investigations lead him to believe that he is being lied to by the entire town and that they are all involved in her death. That about covers it, oh yeah and did I mention naked chicks jump through fire and child dance round a maypole while a questionable looking older man sings about where babies come from. The movie is to put it bluntly, fucked the hell up, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it. I suppose it is fitting that the movie is so odd, because we can understand Sergeant Howie’s strong reactions, but even his reactions become absurd as he repeatedly calls the town crazy heathens because they don’t practice Christianity, a concept that is beyond him. You can’t side with Howie, because he’s a dumb ass who we are given no reason to like, and you can’t side with the town, ‘cause they’re fucking crazy. So you just sit back relax and watch the insanity. The movie would seem like a children’s film if it had less naked women and was less creepy. It makes me think of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory if the whole film was shot in the vane of the tunnel scene, with more boobs. I can’t even describe this movie adequately in words, it certainly blind sides you if you are expecting a horror film, so instead expect a mystery set in Scotland with crazy Pagans singing a lot and getting naked. I enjoyed this movie because it is so out there and weird, it’s an experience in it self, but you have to enjoy this kind of cult film in order to enjoy it. It certainly isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but if you like (for lack of a better word) bad movies, oh boy will you get a kick out of this one, recommended. Interesting facts: -Although the film is set in May it was filmed in October and November 1972. -A body double was secretly used for the naked rear shots of Willow dancing. The scenes were filmed after Britt Ekland had left the set. The body double was used because Ekland was pregnant at the time. -The negative and the outtakes of the film were stored at the vault in Shepperton studios. When it was bought, the new owner gave the order to clear the vault to get rid of all the old stuff. Foolishly, the vault manager put the negatives, which just arrived from the lab, with the ones which were to be destroyed. -Robin Hardy originally wanted Michael York for the role of Sgt. Howie. When it turned out he was unavailable, David Hemmings was considered before writer Anthony Shaffer and producer Peter Snell recommended Edward Woodward who had always been Snell's first choice to play the part. -Edward Woodward was always the producers first choice for the role of Howie (despite the director favouring Michael York). -Christopher Lee agreed to appear in this film for free. -This film was intended as a vehicle for Christopher Lee. Lee himself has said that he considers this to be one of his greatest ever roles. -Was filmed in 1972 in Dumfries and Galloway in South West Scotland, and there was some controversy when Britt Ekland labeled it as the "bleakest place on Earth". The producers were forced to apologize to the locals. -John Sharp was second choice to play the island's doctor. -It is rumored that the original negative of the full length version was used as landfill in the M3 motorway in England. Actor Christopher Lee has said that this was apparently done on purpose, because of Michael Deeley's dislike of the film. -The current version available in the USA and UK is still incomplete, despite its 'director's cut' status. Still missing is a lengthy speech made by Lord Summerisle on apples. -Britt Ekland was dubbed by Annie Ross. post comment

Pulse (2006) [24 Aug 2006|07:34pm] Directed by: Jim Sonzero Written by: Wes Craven & Ray Wright Based on the film “Kairo,” written and directed by: Kiyoshi Kurosawa Cast: Kristen Bell (a.k.a. Veronica Mars) … Mattie Webber Ian Somerhalder … Dexter McCarthy Christina Milian … Isabell Fuentes Rick Gonzalez … Stone Jonathan Tucker … Josh Although my faith in horror films was rekindled a little by seeing “The Descent” the first legitimately good horror film to come out in a while, this film released only a week later reminds everyone that films like the decent are a rarity and unoriginal remakes, sequels, and almost unwatchable slasher flicks are what you will get almost every time. This movie has a very similar plot (or lack there of) as the original Japanese version; ghosts begin invading a town through their internet and WiFi connections with no apparent salvation in site. This remake tries to improve upon the nonsensical and un-scary plot of the original but fails miserably. I suppose I understood more this time around, but I think I only figured it out from piecing together this version and the Japanese one. I’ll try to make the rest of this review about why the movie sucks on its’ own merits and not a comparison between the two versions. First off if dirt is scary, good lord this would be the scariest movie, but unfortunately for this film it isn’t. Everything in this movie was scary, their homes were dirty, the streets were dirty, and the school was filthy, I’m certain that the girls restroom alone has hundred of health code violations. This not only isn’t scary, it draws attention to itself and makes us wonder where the hell they are living so that you can avoid it at all costs. Apart from this a minor grievance, the movies central characters all apparently went to the school of “if you hear a creepy noise, investigate!” I’ve seen this movie a hundred times and so have you it’s “The Ring,” “The Grudge,” and worst of all “Silent Hill” all rolled into one. This film has the same look and style of those films and is worse than all but “Silent Hill.” Someone needs to start making good horror films; it saddens me that good horror films are a rare commodity. And not only is this a bad horror film, it is a bad horror film that has no appeal, it’s boring, half the people in the theater when I saw it walked out before the end. It has no gore and no psychological thrills, its horror hinges on its’ “gotcha” scares, which apparently don’t work when the movie is so boring you just don’t care. It’s not scary, it’s exceedingly boring, and worst of all it’s not original, I can understand wanting to remake a horror film that sucked but had potential in order to take advantage of the potential missed by the original filmmakers. This film is just as bad however and just as boring, you can tell the biggest motivation for making this film was to jump on the J-Horror remake band wagon, not to exploit the potential of the original. Strongly not recommended, you could not take my advice and see it, but you’ll be wasting and hour and a half of your life. P.S. Somebody needs to tell Hollywood that CG monsters and ghosts aren’t scary! Ever! Never have been never will be! It’s laughable and lazy! There are many reason the movie is bad besides its’ CG monsters but I would like to stress this one because it is the downfall of many horror movies. Interesting facts: -The trailer for Pulse actually features footage from the original Japanese film. One shot in particular features a plane crashing. It is unclear at this point whether or not the footage will be included in the final film. -Kirsten Dunst was set to star originally and was supposed to shoot before returning to the Spider-Man 2 (2004) set. -Wes Craven was once set to direct, but bailed out, which led the film to be officially canned at one point -Bob Weinstein canceled the film considering it to be too similar to The Ring. post comment

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) [24 Aug 2006|12:17pm] Directed by: Stanley Kubrick Written by: Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C. Clark Based the novel “The Sentinel” by: Arthur C. Clark Cast: Keir Dullea … Dr. Dave Bowman Gary Lockwood … Dr. Frank Poole William Sylvester … Dr. Heywood R. Floyd Douglas Rain … Hal 9000 (voice) I revisited this movie having seen it only once about seven or eight years ago. My recollection of the film was very shoddy; I remembered only key scenes and situations. Turns out I remembered the most famous bits, but they are nothing alone when compared with the whole. The movie is probably if not the greatest at least one of the top three greatest science fiction films ever made, though I would say it is almost impossible to think of a better one, perhaps “Alien,” but that’s all I can think of and besides those two movies are completely different. The movie has somewhat of a straight forward plot, but most of what happens in the movie is left for us to ponder over and probably never figure out (until we see 2010!) The pieces of the plot that aren’t difficult to figure out are these: (NOTE: It is probably in a person who hasn’t yet seen the films best interest to approach it with little to no prior knowledge, but if you really want to know some of what happens keep reading.) The first story is about the dawning of man due to a mysterious monolith that appears among apes. After this story ends we are taken hundreds of millions of years into the future (presumably the year 2001, however the movie never specifically says,) there is a station on the moon that has discovered a monolith exactly like the one we had seen twenty minutes previous, they now want to send a mission to Jupiter to discover where its’ transmitting to. This brings us to our third and final story, the Jupiter mission which follows two scientists and their ships’ computer that ultimately goes haywire. The movie concerns itself little with the plot however, focusing more on the stunning visuals and classical music. The movie often gets criticized for being boring, I would argue that it is not in fact boring, but its pace is slow. It certainly isn’t an action movie, though the premise could suite an action film it resists every temptation to be so. It is a feast for both the eyes and the ears and an overall mind fuck. Like most films that I love this one makes you think, but it might hurt your brain because in order to enjoy the film, you have to exert your brain more than you normally would for a film. I don’t think I even need to say I recommend this film, but if you haven’t seen it you are certainly missing out on one of the greater things in life. Interesting facts: -The Pink Floyd song 'Echoes', which clocks in at 23:27 on the album Meddle was inspired by and is perfectly timed to the 'Stargate' sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey. -The little girl on the picture phone was Kubrick's daughter. -As HAL loses his mind, he begins to sing "Daisy." In 1961, "Daisy" was the first song ever to be reproduced with a nonhuman voice - a computer. Submitted by Phoenix -The leopard lying on a dead zebra was actually lying on a dead horse painted to look like a zebra. The cat wasn't too happy with that scene. -Many of the scenes of the expanding galaxies, as Dave was passing by them, was nothing more than paint being funneled down a tube and pouring out into a glass container full of water with a camera beneath to capture the effect. -The Computer Science department at the Engineering School at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois, have a "birthday party" for HAL every January 12th - the date & place HAL became operational in the movie. -Stanley Kubrick, a chess fan and one of the strongest chess players in Hollywood, named the surname of chief Soviet scientist who visits the space station, after former Russian chess world-champion Vassily Smyslov. Submitted by Kelsey H. -Alex North originally scored 2001. Kubrick eventually decided to go with classical music instead for he used classical music on his sets to set the mood for his actors. -Originally, the astronauts were suppose to head for Saturn but Kubrick found creating the effects for the rings would be too costly; thus, he selected Jupiter instead. -In the ape or Dawn of Man portion of the film, the scenes of the landscapes were created by still projectors near the film camera with a stage in the foreground. This was obvious, in one scene, where the eyes of the leopard were glowing. -The breathing in the movie, according to Kubrick's daughter, was actually done by Kubrick himself. -In the 'Stargate' sequence at the end of the film, the shots that look like colored landscape is actually unused footage from Dr. Strangelove that was colorised. -Almost every company whose product was advertised in this film is no longer in business. -If you take the letters in the computer's name (HAL), and then the next letter in the alphabet after each one, you get IBM. Stanley Kubrick denied it was on purpose but what an extrodinary coincidence. post comment

World Trade Center (2006) [23 Aug 2006|12:02am] Directed by: Oliver Stone Written by: Andrea Berloff Cast: Nicolas Cage … John McLoughlin Michael Pena … Will Jimeno Maria Bello … Donna McLoughlin Maggie Gyllenhaal … Allison Jimeno When I went to see this film, I didn’t go to do my patriotic duty, and I wasn’t turned off at all by the film because it’s “too soon,” which it isn’t. But when I walked into the theater I was expecting to see the film fall right on it’s face and then proclaim afterwards “ha-ha, see you could never be as good as ‘United 93!’”. Now I’m not saying this film is better than or even as good as “United 93,” but it certainly exceeded my expectations. The film tells the true story of John McLoughin (played in the movie by Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (played by Michael Pena), who were trapped under the rubble after the World Trade Center had fallen. That is the only necessary information required before seeing the film, because it is perhaps better not to know the actual story when seeing the film, because knowing the outcome would ruin some of the suspense. Certainly a movie such as this is not for everyone, it’s overly sentimental (as perhaps it needs to be) it’s super sappy, and tailor maid for the American loving, apple pie eating patriot in all of us. If you like that sort of thing you’ll go gaga for the film, if you’re averse to it, you might want to steer clear. I’m not a patriotic person in the least, but I appreciated the fact that the film was as sensitive and patriotic as it needed to be without shoving country love down our throat. It does a great job of recapturing the atmosphere of the time, and I remembered what it was like that day and what it was like just before. The question you must ask though, is do you want to feel that way again, if like some people I know the event had little effect on you at all, the movie isn’t for you. For the mainstream public I think it is an experience worth reliving to realize how humanity (excluding Bush and his cabinet, because they don’t count as people) prevailed at least for that short period during and after the events. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I like to be reminded that people can be good, and I think the cynic in me died for most of the film. It’s a good film, at its’ heart it is exactly what this kind of film should be, that wont please the “too sooner’s” but it worked for me. I should also mention that this is an Oliver Stone film, it is one of the most Hollywood films that I have seen him do, but you can tell at times that it was certainly his film. And kudos to Mr. Stone for not advertising it as an Oliver Stone film. The only major problem with the film is Nick Cage, who does a legitimately good job here, but I had an aversion to seeing him doing something this serious, I just don’t think he’s that good. So Recommended, but to those who knowing it’s good actually want to see it, because if you don’t want to see it, I can’t imagine why you’d like it. (Every one should see United 93 though, it’s better!) Interesting facts: -Oliver Stone used many of the East Coast www.PoliceActors.com members to play cops in the film. All members of PoliceActors.com are active or retired members of a Law Enforcement agency who are also Screen Actors Guild members. -A billboard for Zoolander (2001) is visible in one shot, as the shadow of a hijacked airliner descends over New York City. That film, released shortly after the 9/11 attacks, had images of the World Trade Center digitally removed. -Director Oliver Stone discussed with the real-life Sgt. John McLoughlin a list of different actors of who should portray him in the film. The actor cast needed to define the all-American hero. Among the first choices were Nicolas Cage, Mel Gibson, George Clooney, and Harrison Ford. Stone even suggested reuniting with former colleagues Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, and Dennis Quaid. It was then decided that Nicolas Cage was the very best choice for the role, after all. -Oliver Stone thought of casting Kevin Costner as Sgt. John McLoughlin, his JFK (1991) lead. Costner had narrated the 2005 documentary On Native Soil (2005), about the 9/11 Commission Report's investigation of the causes of the terrorist attacks and what could have been done to prevent them from happening. Paramount Pictures was concerned that Stone and Costner would then delve into another conspiracy theory. -Three weeks before its August 9 nationwide release, producer Michael Shamberg and director Oliver Stone held private screenings of the finalized film for Port Authority officers and firefighters who risked their lives at the World Trade Center. The screenings were held in local multiplexes in the New Jersey/New York area. -George Clooney turned down the role of Sgt. John McLoughlin. -After seeing his performance in the film, Crash (2004/I), Maggie Gyllenhaal recommended Michael Pena for the role of Officer William Jimeno. -As part of his research, Michael Pena moved into Officer William Jimeno's home in New Jersey. -Due to her infamous quote that "America is responsible in some way" for the 9/11 attacks, Maggie Gyllenhaal personally offered to withdraw from the project to Officer William Jimeno and his wife Allison Jimeno. They both declined and gave their blessing for Gyllenhaal to take the role. -John Travolta was in serious consideration for the role of Sgt. John McLoughlin. He declined the offer from Paramount Pictures, citing he had just done a similar role in Ladder 49 (2004). He suggested Nicolas Cage, his Face/Off (1997) costar. -Hilary Swank was once slated to star as Donna McLoughlin when Kevin Costner was attached to the role of Sgt. John McLoughlin. They had both narrated the documentary, On Native Soil (2005) which investigated the 9/11 terrorist attacks. When Costner dropped out of the project, Swank went on to pursue other projects as well. -Mel Gibson was a hot favorite for the role of Sgt. John McLoughlin. Screenwriter Andrea Berloff had Gibson in mind while penning the screenplay. McLoughlin, a longtime fan of Gibson, enthusiastically gave his approval. And due to his commercially appealing name, Paramount Pictures was very interested in casting him in the part. Although Gibson liked the script very much, he turned it down in order to direct Apocalypto (2006). -Nicolas Cage was the first actor to be given the script. Producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher circulated the Andrea Berloff's screenplay over to Creative Artists Agency, where it was given to Oliver Stone and Cage. -Test audiences believed that Dave Karnes (Michael Shannon), the former marine, was a Hollywood invention. This is, in fact, a true story that occurred. Karnes later re-enlisted in the Marine Corps and served two tours of duty in Iraq. -In preparing for his portrayal of Sgt. John McLoughlin, Nicolas Cage focused on accurately speaking with a New York accent. And to also capture the fear and claustrophobia of McLoughlin's ordeal, Cage spent hours in a sense-deprivation tank in Venice, California. post comment

Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre, the Wrath of God) (1972) [20 Aug 2006|03:21am] Directed by: Werner Herzog Written by: Werner Herzog Cast: Klaus Kinski … Don Lope de Aguirre Helena Rojo … Inez Del Negro … Brother Gaspar de Carvajal Ruy Guerra … Don Pedro de Ursua Peter Berling … Don Fernando de Guzman Great works of art always deserve a second look, the initial viewing of that work is perhaps the most memorable, but I would argue that each subsequent viewing is of equal or greater value to the first one. Like a great piece of literature a great film will open up more to you each time you see it and subsequently become interesting for different reasons. Upon my first viewing of “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” I realized I was watching an example of how a film can be as good as a great piece of literature. It requires much thought, dissection, and personal opinion, while at the same time toying with you emotions and senses, creating what movies are made for, entertainment. This is about the point in my writing where I would describe the events of the film, but the events in this film aren’t what the movie is about, in fact with the exception of the leading man, it’s not even about the characters. What it is truly about is not for me to tell you, it’s for you to figure out, I could certainly tell you my opinion, and I might get around to it in the course of this review, but I don’t want anyone who reads this to view the movie with a jaded opinion of what it is about. The plot however is this; it is the sixteenth century and the Spanish have invaded South America taking over and enslaving the Incas who originally inhabited them, to get rid of the invaders the Incas make up a story about a city of gold called El Dorado. The movie tells the story of a small group of people who have been sent up river to search for the city. The majority of the movie takes place on a raft made by the expedition; eventually they are unable to approach land because the forests around them have been flooded. This creates a claustrophobic, “haunting” atmosphere as the men chase down an imaginary dream, until it draws to a conclusion that is such a fitting ending to the film that it hardly seems like the film hasn’t ended at all, as the emotions and atmosphere it has created linger with us long after the film has ended. It tells the story of men living in the sixteenth century, but it is also the story of all humans, and the dreams that we chase down an uncharted river with the only hope of survival being a dream that never existed. I need to see this film again, in the first viewing you barley scratch the surface of the film. I love seeing movies like this, movies that are truly great and give me cause to say that film is an art form just as legitimate as books or poetry. This is truly one of the great films, but as with most great films, and perhaps most great art in general, it may at first be hard to swallow. Herzog likes to keep all of the action off the screen and show us shots that seem inconsequential, but in fact build upon the mood he is trying to create. I admired how most of the violence came from arrows that where shot from off screen and the viewer neglects to notice them until they are specifically pointed out to us. It seems to both make us just an observer, placed far away from the action taking place on the screen making us merely sympathizers for the action and at the same time put us in the midst of the action and eventually even in Aguirre’s insanity. That might not make any sense right now, but seeing the film should clear it up. I do enjoy movies that require you to just turn your brain off sit back and relax, but I enjoy even more movies like “Aguirre,” films that require your minds full attention. It’s a movie to watch when you want to see a movie in its’ highest form, not something that you pop in to watch with friends, unless of course your friends are into that, I know a lot of mine aren’t. I can’t give this film a strong enough recommendation, I feel that re-watching movies is a bit of a hassle for me right now, since there are so many films I want to see and have yet to, but to re-watch this film is something I feel I HAVE to do, and will probably do numerous times after, gigantic recommendation. Interesting facts: -Although the opening titles claim the film was based on "the diary of the monk Gaspar de Carvajal", director Werner Herzog has stated that there is no historical basis for the story and that the monk's diary was invented to lend it more credence. However, a diary of Carvajal does in fact exist, but Carvajal was not part of any expedition with Aguirre, but rather part of one 20 years earlier to the interior. -According to director Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski threatened to abandon the film entirely at one point during the shooting. Werner Herzog says he threatened to kill Klaus Kinski and then turn the gun on himself if Klaus Kinski left - and later declared he was quite prepared to do so. Klaus Kinski stated in interviews that Werner Herzog wielded a pistol to emphasize the threat, but Werner Herzog denies this. -Near the end of the shooting, Werner Herzog thought he had lost all the negatives that the film was shot on. He later discovered that the shipping agency at the Lima airport had completed all paperwork that accompanied the transportation of the film cans, but had not actually shipped them. The cans were thought lost for several weeks before the oversight was revealed. -Most of the film, as well as several other features by Werner Herzog, was shot on a 35mm camera that he stole from his film school. He readily admits to the theft but also attempts to justify it with the significance of the films he's made with the camera. -Many of the scenes depicted in the film were unrehearsed and unstaged, and the dividing line between the cast acting in character and simply reacting to their situations as people became very blurry. For example, in one of the opening scenes, when the carriage holding Aguirre's daughter tips over and threatens to collapse, a hand comes in from the right side of the frame to assist the actors in steadying their hold. That hand belongs to director Werner Herzog. -Werner Herzog claims to have written the screenplay in two and a half days. He wrote a good portion of it while traveling with his soccer team, during games and on bus rides. Following one game, the team was very drunk, and the player seated behind Werner Herzog vomited on his typewriter, ruining many pages of the script. Werner Herzog was unable to salvage the pages, and tossed them out the window. He was also unable to recall what he'd written on them. -During one scene set in a native village, Klaus Kinski hits one of the crewmen over the head with his sword. The blow nearly killed the man, and only his helmet saved his life. -Klaus Kinski claimed at one time that while filming the final scene, he was actually bitten by some of the monkeys. -Ranked #46 on Entertainment Weekly's "Top 50 Cult Films of All-Time" -This was the first Werner Herzog film with Klaus Kinski. It was the start of an extremely stormy, and sometimes violent, professional relationship that lasted 15 years, -The complete crew comprised only eight people. 1 comment|post comment

Undead (2003) [19 Aug 2006|01:59pm] Directed by: Michael Spierig Peter Spierig Written by: Michael Spierig Peter Spierig Cast: Felicity Mason … Rene Mungo McKay … Marion Rob Jenkins … Wayne Lisa Cunningham … Sallyanne Dirk Hunter … Harrison Emma Randall … Molly Often times you will come across a little known horror film and it will be great, but most of the time if you’ve never heard of it, it probably isn’t any good. “Undead” is a little known horror/sci-fi/comedy that no one knows about for a reason. The story begins as your typical Zombie movie plot, after a meteor crashes into Berkeley, Australia Zombies take over the town and a small group of survivors must fight there way to freedom. Half way through the already bad film, it takes a turn for the even worse, no longer is the movie concerned with Zombies, but now the plot surrounds the aliens who appear to be responsible for the Zombie invasion and a full fledged attack on the world. The movie only gets around to the Zombie plot again a couple minutes before the credits roll, so it fails as a Zombie film and the plot involving aliens seems like a “Twilight Zone” reject, so it fails there too. I certainly did not expect this film to be good, but as I am a big fan of Zombie films, I thought “ehh, I could enjoy this.” And the gore and sheer fact that there was a Zombie invasion was enough to tide me over for the first half hour, but the plot hit the snooze button after it tried to start explaining itself, a big no-no for a Zombie film. Another big no-no for a zombie film is to suddenly stop being a Zombie film and to start being a low budget “X-files” episode. It’s risky business to introduce an alien subplot in a zombie film, and here is a prime example why not to do it. It stopped the violence dead in it’s tracks and it also stopped all the horror and comedy (with a few exceptions,) which if you are not a fan of the genera are the key elements to ones enjoyment of films within that genera. I must be fair though, even when the movie was at the peak of its’ Zombie film-ness, it still wasn’t very good. You could clearly read the films influences, films such as the “Evil Dead” series, early Peter Jackson films specifically “Dead Alive,” and of course the Romero zombie films. But this film pales in comparison to all of those films, some of which were shot on a lower budget, so no excuses there. If you want to get together with some friends I could recommend some much better Zombie films, however if you want a lesser known or even modern Zombie film that is any good you’ll have to do some serious digging and watch some pretty bad movies, such as “Undead.” This film does nothing at all for the genre and isn’t good by any other standard, so there is no reason what so ever to see this film, not recommended at all. Zombie Films to See Instead of “Undead”: Sam Rami Films: The Evil Dead The Evil Dead II Army Of Darkness Peter Jackson Films: Dead Alive (a.k.a. Brain Dead) Romero Films Night of the Living Dead Dawn of the Dead Day of the Dead Land of the Dead Modern Films: 28 Days Later Chances are you’ve already seen those, but those are the cream of the crop when it comes to zombie films. Interesting facts: -Over 600 liters of fake blood was used for special effects during filming. -Most scenes were shot in only one or two takes due to the budget. -There were two months of rehearsals before filming began. -The original screenplay did not have any swearing. Most of the swearing in the film was ad-libbed by the actors. -The film was entirely funded by the directors and their family and friends. -The directors (who are brothers) rendered most of the special effects on their home computers, taking nine months for post production -The backup battery supply that powers the garage door during the escape in the van has the name "Spierigfilm" written on it, the name of the film's production company. 2 comments|post comment

Shopgirl (2005) [19 Aug 2006|01:55pm] Directed by: Anand Tucker Written by: Steve Martin Based on the novel by: Steve Martin Cast: Steve Martin … Ray Porter Clair Danes … Mirabelle Buttersfield Jason Schwartzman … Jeremy Kraft Bridgette Wilson … Lisa Cramer I was not familiar with the novel before seeing the film, so I was completely blind sided by Steve Martin’s talent as a writer. I can say that this is one of the best romantic comedies I have ever seen in my life, if that’s what it would be classified as. The story revolves around Mirabelle Buttersfield a young girl who works at Saks in LA. First she meets Jeremy Kraft an awkward artist, presumably her own age, who doesn’t appear to be a great candidate as steady boy friend. Shortly after, she meets Ray Porter who appears to be a much more suitable suitor for the young lady, he also happens to be at least twice her age, but he’s loaded. I fell in love with this movie half way through watching it. I loved everything about it, the writing acting and directing. It reminds one of the days when Steve Martin was making good films, only this is easily one of the best movies I have seen him in. The comedy is smartly balanced with the drama, taking itself just seriously enough to tug on a few heart strings when it has to. Also, it’s artsy, but not too artsy, it could have been pretentious but isn’t at all. The use of colors and lighting is striking, I noticed a reoccurring use of Autumn colors, such as reds and greens, I have no real reason for mentioning this apart from the fact that it was particularly noticeable to me, and I thought it was cool, so, hey. I have a whole new respect for Steve Martin after seeing the film, not just in his writing, which is of course phenomenal, but his acting is displayed better here than any other film I can think of. I do wonder now why he spent most of his career doing screwball comedies, true he has plenty of talent in that genre, but in a movie such as “Shopgirl” he displays talent that surpasses many of the actors who you might place in the same category. So I loved this film and I have no idea why anyone wouldn’t, so go rent it, you won’t be disappointed, recommended. Interesting facts: -Jimmy Fallon was cast as Jeremy but dropped out before filming began. -When Jeremy and Luther are shopping at Best Buy, the very first shot has a visual in-joke. In the foreground, somewhat out of focus, are row after row of DVD sets for "My So-Called Life" (1994) and "Saturday Night Live" (1975). -In the row of DVDs when Jeremy and Luther are shopping, there is also a DVD set of "Saved by the Bell" (1989). 'Bridgette Wilson-Sampras' (Lisa) used to play an airhead on the show. -Steve Martin had Tom Hanks in mind to play Ray Porter, but as the film's development progressed, he felt he was better suited to play the part since he was so familiar with the work. -The song played by Luther's band in the concert scene is "Lily and Parrot" from Mark Kozlek's real-life band, Sun Kil Moon off their first album "Ghosts of the Great Highway". 1 comment|post comment

Snakes on a Plane (2006) [18 Aug 2006|05:28pm] Directed by: David R. Ellis Written by: John Heffernan & Sebastian Gutierrez Cast: Samuel L. Jackson … Nelville Flynn Julianna Margulies … Claire Miller Nathan Phillips … Sean Jones Rachel Blanchard … Mercedes Your heart is beating out of your chest, it’s hard to breath, you’re about to witness history, that’s how it feels right before the lights go down before you see “Snakes on a Plane” for the first time. I can’t say anything about the pre-release history of the film that hasn’t already been said, and the title gives you everything you need to know about the plot, but I’ll go a little more in-depth with it, though if you are a hardcore fan you already know it, and if you are going to see the film you probably know as much as you need to from the title, but here goes anyway. Samuel L. (mutha’ fuckin’) Jackson is Nelville Flynn a police detective who has to protect an eye witness to a murder from the infamous clutches of crime lord who hides hundreds of venomous snakes on their plane. That’s the movie in a nutshell, but it really doesn’t matter, why the snakes are on the plane has no relevance the sheer fact that they are there is enough. The movie is everything it should be, it’s a legitimately bad movie, but it is 100% aware of that fact and embraces it, and that’s what makes it so enjoyable. Now to be fair the film gets off to a slow start, and the wait for the inevitable seemed overly long, but once what we were all waiting for happened, the film overcomes any previous boredom and proves to be one hell of a good time. It’s awesomeness is enhanced by the fact that it knows what advice to take from the fans (a good deal of the movie came from the blogosphere) and what to do to be bad in its’ own way. The movie delivers and all you can ask for is a sequel with an equal or better title. Of course I’m going to recommend this film, it would have had to have done a lot to not be enjoyable and it hits all the right notes. The only complaint I think a person could have with this film is that there were so many expectations that no one knew what to expect, so of course some may be disappointed, but what an absurd idea! If you’re going to this film you are most likely going to enjoy yourself because you know exactly what you are getting into, this movie is amazingly both one of the worst and best movies of the year! Strongly recommended Interesting facts: -Ronny Yu was attached to direct, speaking enthusiastically about the project, but bowed out following budget disputes and "creative differences". He was replaced by David R. Ellis. -Samuel L. Jackson only signed on for this film because of the title. It was later changed to "Pacific Air Flight 121", but Jackson demanded they reverse the change. "We're totally changing that back. That's the only reason I took the job: I read the title." -In March 2006 New Line Cinema, due to massive fan interest on the Internet, allowed for a 5 day reshoot to film new scenes to take the movie from PG-13 to a R-rated film (originally the film wrapped principal photography in September 2005). Among these additions is the Jackson character's line, "I want these motherfucking snakes off this motherfucking plane," a line that originated in an anticipatory internet parody of the movie. -Contrary to her credited part, "iPod Girl" is actually wearing a Dell mp3 player. -450 snakes were used including one 22-foot-long Burmese python -In a February 1998 episode hosted by John Goodman, a similar plot was undertaken by Saturday Night Live in a sketch called "When Cobras Attack". -The title image is a reference to the Caduceus, the staff belonging to the Greek god Hermes. If you look closely, you will find that both snakes in the image share the same tail (the one on the left), and the tail on the right is actually disembodied, not belonging to either snake. Whether this is due to an artist's error or intentional is not known. -The phrase "snakes in the cockpit", which is said in the film, is used by pilots in reference to the high number of complex tasks they have to accomplish. -In June 2006, a pilot had a run in with a real snake on his plane.[21] -No United States-based airline currently allows snakes in the main cabin area. However, some airlines allow snakes to travel as cargo. -A rip-off horror B-movie, Snakes on a Train, was released straight to DVD on August 15, 2006, only 3 days prior to Snakes on a Plane's theatrical release. -In the internet flash "Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny", Samuel L. Jackson is shown for a brief moment, and then attacked by small green snakes. The same animator made another movie based on Snakes on a Plane. -The initial script for the film was 122 pages long when director David Ellis signed on to direct the film. After reworking the script along with his producing director and Samuel L. Jackson for more than four months, the script was narrowed down to 103 pages. [4] -The Steven Spielberg film Raiders of the Lost Ark features a snake on a plane. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade features snakes on a train. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom features snakes in lo mein. post comment

Conversations With Other Women (2006) [18 Aug 2006|05:25pm] Directed by: Hans Canosa Written by: Gabrielle Zevin Cast: Helena Bonham Carter … Woman Aaron Eckart … Man Nora Zehetner … Young Woman Erik Eidem … Young Man At its’ outset the fact that this movie is entirely in split screen seems a bit gimmicky and pretentious. But an idea that seems a bit ridiculous turns out to be not only beneficial to an already great film, but also immensely watch able. I should probably explain what the movie is about even though that’s not at all what got me interested in the film. In brief, two people (Man and Woman) meet up at a wedding and we slowly learn about who they are and how they know each other. The plot would be too long and complicated to explain, and anything I would say probably gives something important away. The movie is more than just an interesting experiment in film making, it’s also one of the most well written films of the year. Both the technique in which the film was made and the way it was written work so well together and create more than just a simple story and gives you a lot to think about. And thinking during and after a movie is something that I’m a sucker for. The movie takes a rather large risk and it succeeds, so I have to give it up to both Hans Canosa and Gabrielle Zevin for taking a risk a make it work so well. Both of whose work I’m going to look for in the future. The movie is an indie boys dream, innovative camera work, intelligent script writing, and starring Aaron Eckhart (of “Thank You for Smoking” fame) and Helena Bonham Carter. I’m sure once this movie gets a wider release or at least is released on DVD it will gather a substantial indie fan following. On the sheer fact that it pulls off a so flawlessly a potentially nauseating idea it garners a place as one of the movies you must see this year, but it’s also a good film, so I strongly recommend this film! post comment

The Oh in Ohio (2006) [18 Aug 2006|05:23pm] Directed by: Billy Kent Written by: Adam Wierzbianski Cast: Parker Posey … Priscilla Chase Paul Rudd … Jack Chase Mischa Barton … Kristen Taylor Danny DeVito … Wayne the Pool Guy Miranda Baily … Sherri It’s a concept that sounds funny, with a cast that you’d think you couldn’t go wrong with, but somehow this movie seems to miss its’ mark. The plot goes like this: Priscilla Chase is a young successful woman in a happy marriage who seems to have only one problem, she is among the 30,000,000 women who have sexual dysfunction (she’s never had an orgasm.) This fact tears her husband apart and eventually her marriage (which seems like an odd reason for an otherwise perfectly happy couple to break up), her husband, Jack Chase ends up leaving her and having an affair with one of his students. The story line follows both Priscilla and Jack, the latter of which has a much more interesting story. The major flaw here is that the movie feels unfinished, by the time the credits begin to roll you feel like you’ve missed something or at least have to wait for the sequel for everything to be resolved. Both stories go nowhere and I don’t really see what both characters learned other than besides don’t be with someone if one of you can’t orgasm, hmm… not a very good message. The movie had many opportunities to redeem it, but never did. With an enjoyable cast and good premise backing it the movie might have done better just to fall into convention and be funny but not particularly daring. Instead the movie would rather shake convention, only to end up being more daring than particularly funny. I do give props for trying to do something different than be a mundane, dime-a-dozen, rom-com flick, but it doesn’t know how to do that and still be good. I did enjoy a good bit of the film, mostly the part concerning Paul Rudd, which almost seemed like a different movie when paired with the plot surrounding parker Posey. Though only one person directed the film I would not be surprised if two completely different people had directed the two different plots. The main focus of the film of course is Priscilla Chase and her inability to reach climax, which is executed in an almost cartoon-y fashion. This is a shame, because if both stories had been handled with the straight faced sarcasm of the Jack Chase plot the humor would have matched better and created a more entertaining movie. And though it tries to escape convention it end up teaching us the same lesson most Hollywood films teach us which is of course, an ugly man can get a hot younger chick, but only a hot chick can get a hot guy. Which was entirely disappointing since this is the message the movie leaves you with. It tries and I give it credit for that, but not worth seeing, not recommended. 1 comment|post comment

The Night Listener (2006) [18 Aug 2006|05:21pm] Directed by: Patrick Stettner Writing Credits: Armistead Maupin & Terry Anderson & Patrick Stettner Based on a novel by: Armistead Maupin Cast: Toni Collette … Donna D. Logand Robin Williams … Gabriel Noone Joe Morton … Ashe Bobby Cannavale … Jess Rory Culkin … Pete D. Logand “The Night Listener” isn’t a particularly good movie, but it is still a good movie. It has an interesting premise and it keeps you interested. The story is this, Robin Williams plays Gabriel Noone, a radio show host who reads his stories on air. Gabriel has just read a book by a fourteen year old boy who writes about his troubled past, and who is also one of his biggest fans. A relationship develops between Gabriel and the boy as they have multiple conversations over the phone and corispond through letters, though at a suggestion made by Gabriel’s ex-boyfriend, he decides to visit the boy and investigate the authenticity of the story. It’s an interesting idea and is executed as well as I could have imagined, but at the time I saw the movie I wasn’t really in the mood for it, so it lagged at certain parts. I guess what I’m getting at is that the film could have been a little more interesting as it seemed a bit dry. However it wasn’t enough to completely deter me from the film. If anything redeems the films flaws it is certainly the two stars, and yes I will let this make up for “RV,” but you can see a better movie staring Toni Collette if you see “Little Miss Sunshine.” There performances are fantastic, as are most of the performances in the film and it makes the film all the more watchable. Of the dramas that Robin Williams has been doing lately, this falls low on the list, with “One Hour Photo” and “The Final Cut” leading the pack. If you’re a Williams fan this movie wont give you much, but if you are a psychological thriller fan you will probably like it a bit more. It doesn’t really bring much to the table, but it’s smart and enjoyable, so worth seeing. And I’m sure that Robin Williams will make further amends for “RV” with the upcoming “Happy Feet” and the currently in-production “Mrs. Doubtfire 2.” Slightly recommended post comment

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